- - Making Amends - -

Chapter Six, Finally He'll See

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"…I didn't want you getting hurt."

"You're too late then," Roy blurted out, and then his eyes widened. He snapped his mouth shut, and shook his head.

"…Roy?"

"I'm—I mean, nothing. It's nothing." Roy stuttered out, outright avoiding meeting Mullet's eyes, in fear of what he would see.

"It's not nothin', Roy, but you gotta tell me what this something is." He said quietly, and held onto Roy's hand with his free one.

Roy looked down at their entwined hands with shock slapped onto his face. Mullet looked down, oblivious, and then, when he noticed what Roy was staring at, quickly removed his hands from the other boy.

Roy's face crumpled into a solemn frown, and he got up from the bed. Mullet Fingers watched him as he paced.

"You can't fix it."

"How do you know that?" Mullet asked with surprise. "You didn't even tell me what the problem is. How can you be so sure that I can't fix it if I don't know what needs to be fixed, Roy?"

Roy's face turned sour, and his expression was bitter.

"It doesn't matter, because your actions speak more than you can with your mouth, Mullet."

Mullet Fingers got up from the bed, and grasped Roy's shoulders with his hands, and spun him around to look at him.

"Look, Roy, I really want to be your friend again, even though it doesn't seem like it at all. I already told you that I was sorry for leavin' you for so long, and that I was right there with you even when you didn't know it! This… thing… that needs to be fixed, it's the only thing keeping us from being friends like we were!"

"We'll never have anything close to what our friendship was back then." Roy said sadly, and turned his head to the side, away from Mullet's prying blue eyes.

"Of course not, not for a while. I'll need to regain your trust I lost, of course. It's something I'm worth waiting for." Mullet said confidently, and shook Roy gently as he said it.

"My trust isn't the only thing that's broken," Roy sighed, and Mullet looked baffled.

"…Huh?" He said intelligently, blinking owlishly.

"Mullet… it's what I'm not telling you that makes all the difference in our friendship you're trying to build back up," He continued. Mullet's jaw snapped together as his jaw muscles clenched.

"You… So you don't… want to be friends with me anymore, is that it?" He asked hoarsely.

"No, I don't. I don't want to just be your friend, Mullet, even your best friend." Roy whispered, and Mullet's eyes hardened to two orbs of pale blue ice. "But—"

"Save it, Roy. If you didn't want to be my friend in the first place, then why'd you even bother, huh? Was it… revenge, or somethin'? Because you got me pretty good, I'll give you that," He growled out. Roy's mouth formed an 'o', and before Roy could argue back to Mullet that what he suspected was completely the opposite of reality, Mullet had quickly unlocked and opened up the window, hopped out into the still-pouring rain, and ran. Ran faster than he did when Roy first spotted the strange person he knew then as the Running Boy.

"Mullet!" Roy shouted out into the rainy Coconut Cove, to no avail. His knees buckled, and his chin landed hard upon the metal frame of his window as he stared out into the grey world that matched his mood, and cried.

Wow, he could honestly say he didn't see that coming. Maybe Roy had become stealthier over the time they'd been apart…

Still, Roy's idea of revenge worked wonders: Mullet Fingers couldn't ever remember feeling so glum in his life, except the few occasions when Beatrice came to him looking horridly mangled. He hadn't felt so horrible when he realized that he had to run away from home!

But why did it matter to him so much? Why was there a stab at his heart, not just his ego, when he replayed the scene over in his mind? Mullet guessed that that was how Roy must've felt when Mullet Fingers left him those years back… unless that whole thing was an act, too.

He pounded two cold, cramping fists into the floor of the dingy shoe factory, and didn't let out a hiss of pain from the blood that spewed forth from small cuts in his knuckles. He stare grimly into the distance as more thunder echoed around him.

Why did he feel this way? He remembered whenever Beatrice had boyfriends, and how she would cry like nothing ever before whenever it became rocky, and when those relationships ended. It was a surprise to Mullet, at first; at how easily Beatrice could put on a stony poker face when dealing with almost anything most would crumble over in pressure from, but how easily she could break whenever her heart was on the line. She would stay with Mullet late into the night, holding onto his usually dirty shirt and crying like there was no tomorrow.

Could it be relatively the same for Mullet, only the fact that it was where friends were involved? He felt like shedding a few tears himself, and that was completely new to Mullet; he'd only cried when his pet fish died after his mother neglected the poor thing while he was at a summer camp to 'reform' himself. That was when he was five. He'd left his home for good when he was seven.

Whenever he thought of Roy, Roy Eberhardt, with his cowgirl-love for the state of Montana, his no-sass attitude whenever he talked to people, and his smile that would make his whole face glow… He remembered how much he missed the boy's worrying actions, his friendship...

…Mullet couldn't remember ever feeling so confused. He couldn't recall Beatrice ever describing Roy in such a way, and Roy was as much his best friend as Roy was Beatrice's. Where in burning hell's name was Beatrice when you needed her!

Roy's mother found him in the same position as he was hours ago: he stopped crying hours ago, and he stared blankly out into the wet Florida land. The rain had stopped falling not too long ago, and it was nightfall. Everything was soggy, and the land looked misty.

She came up to him, and patted his shoulder. He looked up at her with vacant eyes, and got up, sitting on his bed. Mrs. Eberhardt shut the window, and came over to Roy, hugging him gently.

"I think I blew it mom." Roy mumbled into her blouse, and his tears slowly flowed once more.

His mother could only comfort him with her presence as he held onto her and eventually slipped into a crying-induced sleep. She knew her son was practically an adult now, but he would always be her baby, she thought wistfully as she patted his auburn hair.

Roy awoke the next day, feeling clammy, cramped up, and tuckered out. He was tucked into his bed, courtesy of his mom no doubt, and it was probably noon. The Florida sun didn't show any memory of the rain shower last night, and he could faintly hear some birds chirping outside.

He stretched slowly, and felt completely filthy. He opted to take a long shower, and he didn't expect to see Mullet's clothes, still damp, on the tiled floor. His throat shrunk and his heart thumped, but he kept his eyes dry and his expression blank. He bent over and picked up the maroon jersey and the khaki shorts, and held them in his hands. The clothing material was worn out from so much use, and there were dirt and grass stains all over them. He put them to the side, deciding that he would clean them along with his wash after he came out of the shower.

He stripped out of his clothes from yesterday while the water for the shower warmed up, and quickly hopped in when the temperature was just right. He sighed out loud, and closed his eyes; he let the steamy, warm water run along his skin, washing away the pain and sadness, if only for the time being.

He thought of Mullet, even though he tried not to, and sighed. He shouldn't have said that! It obviously made him look like he hated Mullet. Which, of course, was not true at all. If he'd just outright said "I love you", it would have made things so much different. Like, for instance, Mullet would be away from him for good, but for a better reason than a misunderstanding. The most extreme thought was that they would wake up in Roy's bed together-clothes on, of course! - and they would be together, just like Roy imagined it.

His mind was swamped with what if's, and maybe's, and that bugged the heck out of Roy. He didn't like doubting anything, really, and he didn't like not knowing some things. What if he told Mullet his secret? What if Mullet liked him back? Maybe Mullet did… Maybe Roy was insane! Stupid, stupid questions ran through his mind, as if on a looped reel.

He had no other choice: he would have to go to the abandoned shoe factory as soon as he was dressed, the dirty laundry be damned!

Roy, as expected, felt incredibly nervous, and very scared. The cursed questions still were glued to his thoughts: What if this is just a stupid idea to break my heart even more? What if Mullet left for a new hideout, far away from me? What if… His mind stopped along with his feet, when he saw a familiar blonde head from the leafy tree he stood behind.

He quietly looked around the trunk of the tree, and peeked at Mullet.

Mullet had swapped the long lounge pants Roy lent him for a pair of loose-fitting black shorts and changed out of the Montana shirt and replaced it with a green jersey similar to the red one Roy had now.

He was busy packing up his things: the mismatched, few clothes he owned were messily shoved into a drawstring bag; the sleeping bag was rolled back up and tied together with frayed twine; the small kit of necessities he owned were stuffed somewhere within the folds of the sleeping bag. He was just tying together his two old sneakers by the laces, to drape over his shoulders, when he heard something behind him. He paid it no mind, and looked into the shoe factory, which was soon to be empty like it had been before.

Mullet didn't expect to feel a smaller pair of hands grip his biceps, and he definitely didn't anticipate seeing the very brunet he was avoiding, the very reason he was leaving his home he knew since he was young. Roy frowned as he looked to Mullet, and Mullet Fingers was prepared to snarl something out at Roy, like 'go away', or 'get lost', but what he wasn't prepared for was the small, soft lips of Roy's to magnetically meet his, just like that. He had his eyes opened wide with shock, and the surprise quickly ebbed away when he saw Roy's eyes slipped closed, and Mullet mimicked him, pulling the smaller boy closer to him, wrapping his arms around Roy.

When the kiss eventually ceased, Roy breathlessly looked up at Mullet Fingers, rejection clear in those hazel eyes.

"I don't even want to be your best friend, because that's not enough for me, Mullet." He uttered softly, his eyes slid nearly shut, his brow furrowing.

"I'm definitely sorry for making you misunderstand me last night," He sighed, "And I just wanted to come here to make sure you were on the same page as me before you left for good."

He looked up into blue, and frowned, fighting the urge to cry.

"I love you, Napoleon Bridger Leep." He whispered.

With that, he unwrapped Mullet's hands from his waist, although he wanted them to stay there, and turned to leave. He took a few steps away when a hand firmly grasped his.

"I don't know how love feels," Mullet started, and Roy looked back at him, questions he had visible from his expression.

"But I know I like you, Roy." He said quietly, and Roy turned around completely to stare at Mullet. "I like you a lot."

Roy only stared blankly at Mullet Fingers. The other boy grew slightly uncomfortable, and laughed nervously.

"If B were here, I'd probably know better." He joked, scratching the back of his head. Roy tilted his head to the side, and didn't say anything.

"So…" Mullet trailed off uncertainly, the silence growing awkward for him. Suddenly, he had an armful of Roy, and as Roy attacked him with his lips, Mullet slipped his arms around Roy's waist and pulled him flush against himself.

A little while later, Mullet was laying down, his head in Roy's lap as his eyes remained closed. He sighed out, and Roy looked up, playing with a golden lock of hair.

"What?"

"What does love feel like?" He asked randomly, not opening his eyes. Roy bit his lip for a moment, and replied,

"It feels like… well, there's no way to fully describe it, but it feels like you can never stop thinking about someone, and you can't imagine your life without the other. You feel free and happy when you're with them, and you wouldn't trade the feelings you get when you're with them for anything in the world."

"Really?" He asked, opening his eyes slowly. Roy looked down at him, with a soft smile on his face, and nodded.

"It's not exactly correct, but it's as close as I can get."

"Roy," He whispered, "I'm sorry. Three years… or… wait, did you like me back then?" He asked, looking confused.

Roy blushed but nodded slightly.

"I only figured that I loved you when some girl tried to kiss me in my freshman year." He shuddered at the memory.

"Some girl?" Mullet asked, suddenly interested.

"Just some random girl, she was probably a bit younger than me." Roy nodded, and Mullet frowned.

"How'd you figure it out then?"

"When she was just about to plant one on me, I panicked. I thought of you, and… well, I just came to it then."

"She didn't try to mess with you after?" Mullet asked.

"Nope. I told her to bug off." Roy grinned, and Mullet chuckled.

"Good."

With that, he lifted his head up and kissed Roy once more.

Wow, finally Mullet-thickhead-Fingers realizes something's different about how he feels about Roy. Took him long enough.

I had this all written up after I posted the last chapter, but I wanted to wait a bit before posting this one, since I didn't want the story to end sooner. :D Lol.

Next chapter's the epilogue… a.k.a. the end! I'm definitely going to miss writing this story. It was fun trying my hand at something new for once, and it was great to do on the side, while I tried to come up with things for my Harry Potter fan fiction. Grins I like how this story came out for the most part, except in the beginning, I would have talked about what Mullet was up to more.

Oh, and maybe in the epilogue you'll find out what exactly Mullet was doing behind that bush! Cackles evilly

Here's a new thing: a poll! I'm not exactly sure what Mullet was doing myself, but here are a few options. Tell me which you prefer for the end result! I'll use whatever the majority of reviewers chose if I decide to include that in the epilogue.

He was digging for worms while he watched Roy from the corner of his eyes!

He was having some "Mullet Fingers Time" (Lol, like "Sam's Time" in Transformers!)

He was just sitting there watching Roy!

It's all up to you, people! So let me know!

Thanks, it's been fun, and I'll definitely have to write more one shots and ficlets about Roy and Mullet in the future, no doubt about it!

Sincerely,

Inkyish.