Hi!

Omg, finally! I feel like I`ve been working on this chapter forever, as I just couldn`t figure out what Sulley, Mike and Randall was going to do when they spent a day together! Museum? Gym? Just hang out on the couch? I had such a hard time making a pick, and you can see what I eventually landed on below. I think it works; tell me if you agree or not;)

This is the chapter were Mike notices how Sulley acts around Randall; the crush is becoming clearer, and it will increase in the future chapters. I`m sorry to say that the kiss still is a few chapters away, but I can comfort you with this: after the first kiss, things will escalate quickly;)

I hope you`re up for a read now, please enjoy the new chapter!

Chapter 13: Long time, no see

"You`re home rather early..!"

Mike narrowed his eye as the blue monster he lived with entered their apartment around 8.30; he hadn`t been expecting Sulley home until later in the evening (or tomorrow, maybe) after his big date with Sophie Boggs. Something wasn`t right here.

Sulley didn`t say anything at first, just stood foot in the hall while trying to come up with a good way to tell his best friend that the plans had been changed in the last second, and that he had spent the past few hours with Sophie`s brother instead;

"Well, you see, there was…" he had a hard time finding the right words; "Something came up, Mike; I never made it over to Sophie`s."

Mike`s reaction was exactly what the blue monster had been expecting and dreading all evening. The green one got up from his chair, raised his voice and gained the facial expression of someone who had just learned that the world was coming to an end;

"What? You promised me you`d give it a chance!"

"Well, technically I didn`t, it was you who -"

"What on earth made you cancel?!" Mike walked over to the hairy monster in three big steps; he was getting angry now, his best friend couldn`t possibly know his own good.

"I got a phonecall, Mike; from Gladys, Randall`s neighbour, she -"

"Seriously, Sulley -" Mike wasn`t shouting anymore, but the tone his voice had captured now made Sulley feel even more uncomfortable; "You are not going to tell me that you cancelled your date because of Randall – are you?"

"Yeeeeah, I kinda did…" Sulley grimaced, and his big, blue eyes rested on Mike as he continued;

"But the dinner with Sophie wasn`t a date in the first place, I`ve told you that, I`m not crushing on her, and Randall wasn`t feeling very well, and his neighbour wanted me there, and -" Sulley stopped himself, and chose not to tell Mike that Randall had been crying; it felt a little too personal.

The green monster let out a sigh as he allowed the information to sink in; sometimes he had troubles understanding his best friend`s choices, and this was one of those moments – who would skip a date with a girl who likes them in order to spend the evening trying to recover a former enemy? This was going out of hand, and Mike thought the time had come to say so;

"Listen, Sul; I`ve told you before that I`ll always be here for you, and that I`m interested in the things you care about."

Sulley tried to interrupt, but Mike raised his hand in order to keep his best friend silent - he wasn`t finished yet;

"But I must admit, I have a hard time following you on this one; don`t you see that you`re taking this looking-after-Randall-thing a little too far..? Tonight you actually picked him over a girl! I know you want to help him, but… you`re giving the guy too much space! He`s interrupting your private life, he gets in the way of your plans..!"

Mike looked Sulley directly in the eyes; he meant every single word he had said – Sulley was spending way too much time with that lizard, and this was far from normal. The little monster`s face still had the same expression as he continued his pep-talk;

"Are you planning to visit him again tomorrow..?"

"Yeah; I`ve already told him I`m coming over".

"Then I`m going with you".

Sulley raised his eyebrows in confusion; the fight he was preparing himself for didn`t seem to come after all. Mike was going with him?

"What? But you just said -"

"I`m worried about ya, big guy -" Mike continued; "I want to see exactly what happens over there, to make sure the guy`s not threatening ya, or anything".

"Mike, there`s no need to – he`s not threatening, he`s depressed, and -"

"Well, sounds like he needs a proper cheer-up, then; and I happen to be the most successful monster on the laugh-floor, so I`m probably the right one to tell him a joke or two".

Sulley felt uncomfortable; this didn`t sound like a very good idea. Mike and Randall didn`t go that well together, and as far as he knew, they had hardly talked since the short period they had been friends in college; besides, Sulley didn`t think Randall was very keen on him bringing Mike over to meet him.

But good-hearted as he was, the blue monster didn`t want to hurt his best friend`s feelings; after all, Mike always stood up for him, and Sulley thought the least he could do in return was to accept his support.

"Okay, Mike," he said eventually, sending a smile in his friend`s direction; "you can come with me tomorrow. I`m not sure Randall will like it, he tossed me out the first time I was there, remember, but I guess it`s worth a shot."

"Great!" Mike replied with a grin and two thumbs up, and Sulley felt more nervous than he had done in a while.

Saturday was cold and cloudy, and the blanket of snow was still covering up all the parts of Monstropolis that weren`t already hidden underneath a building. The city was quiet; almost everyone had chosen to stay indoors - even the pigeons in the park had found themselves a warm and dry place to rest.

Silence ruled in one of the apartments in the city, too; three monsters sat around a table, and not much was said between them - although they all knew each other, and had done so for many years.

The purple one stared at the little, green one sitting on the opposite side from him - he couldn`t believe Sullivan had brought along Wazowski; they had barely exchanged a word since college, and it hadn`t exactly been a pleasant surprise to see him here. So at first, the lizard had yelled and told him to get the hell out, but then Sulllivan`s facial expression had been too much for even Randall to handle; his new friend had looked as if his entire world would come down if Randall didn`t give his flat-mate a chance, and Randall had ended up inviting Mike in - although with a desire to stab himself; damn it, he was getting soft.

Gladys Lorenzo had left the boys to themselves for a while, as she insisted on making them all lunch over at her apartment across the hall; it wasn`t every day she was lucky enough to meet two friends of her sweet Randy. However, her lunch-invitation made the situation even more awkward for the little group of three; they couldn`t really do anything, just sit around, waiting for her to be finished.

Sulley looked at Randall. Randall looked at Mike. Mike glanced at the door, then over at Randall, and then up at Sulley; then he narrowed his eye. The blue monster eventually noticed that the green one was looking at him, and tried to smile in return; although it came out as some sort of a grimace. A bird flew away from outside of the window.

"So -"

Mike thought the time had come to say something, and the sudden break of silence caused both Sulley and Randall to jump slightly in their chairs.

"What`s up then, Randall..?" Mike smiled in the purple monster`s direction.

"I`m being babysat by this dope…" Randall gestured towards Sullivan, who let out an artificial laugh;

"Yeah, but you know I`m only doing it for your own good; I`m your friend, I don`t want you to -"

"I know". Randall lowered his gaze, and Sulley could swear a little smile was present on his face; he let out a breath by the sight of it. Mike coughed.

A new, long pause followed. Sulley`s eyes were still glued on the lizard, and once again Mike thought it was up to him to start a conversation;

"Not a lot going on at the moment then, Randall? Anyway, it`s good to see ya back..! You look -" the green monster took a glance at his host and tried his best to come up with a compliment; "- good..! Hey, have I mentioned my current project yet? I happen to be very busy these days!"

"With being a clown?"

"No – or… well… yeah, that too. But I`m working on this great musical on the side, it`s for the upcoming company play!" Mike didn`t notice Sulley`s desperate gestures to make him stop, and continued in an eager tone;

"It`s called "Put that thing back where it came from or so help me", and it`s about - ouch!"

Mike rubbed his leg underneath the table where Sulley had just pinched him, and the blue monster finished the sentence himself;

"It`s about… friendship."

Mike finally understood the blue one`s point; perhaps a musical describing Randall`s latest actions at Monsters Inc. wasn`t the best subject in a conversation to cheer him up. The green monster coughed a couple of times before he played among with Sulley;

"Yeah..! Friendship, that`s it! And ya know what, Randall? I can get ya front row-tickets..!"

Randall mumbled something similar to "good grief", and then all three fell silent again. It came as a pleasant surprise when Mrs Lorenzo popped her head through the door around ten minutes later and told them lunch was ready.

Randall`s neighbour clearly had a talent for cooking. For lunch, she had made her "three special boys" scrambled eggs, pancakes, bread, baked beans and hot dogs. On the table there was homemade jam, cheese, a variety of vegetables, fresh fruit and a tray of cookies which appeared to come straight from the oven; they filled the entire apartment white a sweet scent that caused every tummy to rumble.

Sulley and Mike needed a couple of minutes to take it all in; this was miles away from the lunches they`d normally prepare at home, which usually consisted of a simple sandwich or some yoghurt. Randall, on the other hand, was clearly more used to it, and sat down on what Sulley guessed was his usual seat, and started pouring himself some tea. The blue monster noticed that his lips were moving, but didn`t catch what he said;

"Huh..? I`m sorry, I didn`t get that..!"

"I said would you like some tea?" Randall held the pot over the cup placed next to his own, and eventually Sulley understood that he was expecting an answer, and nodded his head;

"Yeah; thank you". He sat down next to the lizard, and as he did, his arm brushed against one of Randall`s. The touch caused them both to withdraw right away, and (although he didn`t fully understand why) Sulley could feel himself blushing beneath his thick layer of fur; and the fact that Mike was looking at him with an expression Sulley hadn`t seen on him before wasn`t helping much.

Mike was given the chair next to Mrs Lorenzo, who pinched his cheek and told him that he reminded her of her late husband; Mike replied with his most charming smile, but it wasn`t hard for Sulley to see that he didn`t exactly love the situation.

The meal was divine. Gladys really was an excellent cook, and once again Sulley could see why Randall had allowed her to cook for him; even back in the days before he got friendly. Even Mike had to admit that spending the day with Sulley`s new friends hadn`t been such a bad idea after all, as he munched on his fifth or sixth cookie.

When they were done eating, the three males all acted as they should and did the dishes, before leaving the old lady to herself for a while; it was nap-time.

Unfortunately, the good mood that had been present around the table seemed to decrease the minute Sulley, Mike and Randall made it back across the hall and entered the lizard`s apartment again; they didn`t have the meal to talk about anymore, and although Sulley tried to keep a conversation running, there wasn`t much help to get from the other two.

Randall still acted like a three-year-old at times, and spoke to Mike only when he had to. Luckily for him, Mike didn`t seem that interested in talking with him, either; the little green monster said a word now and then, but mostly he stayed close to Sulley and kept his mouth shut – something that was extremely rare for him.

After around half an hour on Randall`s couch with hardly any conversation, Sulley suggested that they could all go outside for a little while; the blue monster thought that things would probably loosen up between them if they had something interesting to do. The two others weren`t hard to ask, as they both wanted to escape each other`s company in the apartment. So before Sulley knew what was happening, they were all out on the street, walking towards the centre of Monstropolis.

Randall still looked angry, and the furry monster was worried about it; he didn`t want the scaly one to lose his new-won trust in him, and tried to keep a conversation running while they were walking. It wasn`t easy; the only answers that escaped the purple one`s lips were short statements such as "yeah", "no" or "I don`t care". Sulley tried to look to Mike for help now and then, but the green one just smirked back at him, leaving the blue one rather confused – Mike was acting weird.

As they walked deeper into the city, Sulley decided it was the time to come up with something to do, something that perhaps didn`t require a lot of talking. He stopped walking, turned towards Randall and tried to pull a smile;

"What would you like to do, Randall?"

"I`m here, too", Mike shot in from behind Sulley`s back; he didn`t like to be neglected like this.

"I know that, Mike -" Sulley sighed; "Now, what would you like to do; Randall and Mike..?"

"I don`t care". Randall crossed all four of his arms and tried his best to keep his eyes off Mike. The little eyeball was just as annoying as he remembered, and he didn`t see how Sullivan could possibly stand to be friends with him.

"Perhaps we could see a movie?" Sulley remembered that they were only a couple of blocks away from the movie theatre; that would be perfect - there was no need to talk in there.

"But it`s still early in the afternoon, they never show anything good at this time", Mike complained; "Why don`t we rather play paintball or -"

"A movie sounds good", Randall shot in before Mike got to finish his sentence – he started walking in the right direction, causing the two others to quickly follow him;

"You know Sul, if he gets to be in charge all the time, this three-friends-thing aint gonna work..!" Mike gave Sulley the evil eye, but the big one only have him an angry stare back in reply.

When they got to the movie theatre, it became clear the Mike had been right; there weren`t any good movies showing at this time of day. The three "friends" ended up buying tickets to a romantic comedy with bad reviews, and when the movie started they were the only three monsters present; apart from two teenagers on the back row that were clearly ditching school, who were too busy making out to even notice there was something going on at the canvas in front of them.

Sulley sat in the middle seat, with Mike to his left and Randall to his right; Mike had insisted on getting snacks for the film, and had ended up buying something wrapped in a bag that made loud noises every time he stuck his hand into it. Luckily he ate it all during the first twenty minutes of the film, and he used the rest of it to blame himself for not buying two.

The movie really was terrible; Sulley laughed a couple of times, but only because what was happening on the big screen was so bad. It surprised him that at his right side, Randall chuckled at the exact same parts, and at one point the purple monster even noticed that they were both laughing; he turned his head in order to give Sulley a grin, wordlessly spelling out "what the hell?". It caused the blue one to look at the canvas again instantly, wondering why the event made him blush.

When the movie was finished, they all headed back to Randall`s apartment; now they finally had something to talk about, and they discussed the movie while they were walking – it turned out Mike was the only one who had actually enjoyed it, and he talked about bringing Celia along to see it a day during the next week; Randall looked at Sulley, and the blue one had to look away so that he wouldn`t start laughing.

Once they made it back, Mrs Lorenzo was waiting for them, freshly restored from her nap. After making sure it was okay for Randall to be left with her for the evening, Sulley and Mike decided it was probably time for them to head home; Sulley told Randall he would check in again tomorrow, and then they all said goodbye.

Gladys gave Mike a hug and another pinch on the cheek, and for a moment Sulley was wondering on whether he should give Randall a hug or not. He found himself staring at the lean, purple figure with feelings he had a hard time explaining; he eventually ended up patting Randall on his shoulder, before he quickly exited through the door with Mike.

Not much was said between the two best friends on the way home. Sulley had never struggled this much with talking to Mike, and wondered if his best friend was angry with him; the blue monster tried to start different conversations by making small statements on the weather and things around them, but the only replies he got from the green one were "yes"-es and occasional smiles.

It wasn`t until they entered through their own front door Mike finally turned to look at Sulley; his face was serious, but there was still a hint of a smile present there. Sulley recognized the look; it was Mike`s I-have-something-very-important-to-tell-ya-look, and the blue monster looked back at him, not knowing whether he was ready or not.

"Sulley -" Mike started, placing his hand on one of Sulley`s arms; "I just want to say I believe you now".

"On what?"

"You don`t have a crush -"

Sulley couldn`t help but interrupt; was Mike still going on about that whole Sophie-thing? The furry monster`s voice was almost a yell as he replied;

"Come on, that`s what I`ve been telling you all along; I don`t have a crush -"

"…on Sophie." Mike raised his hand to shut Sulley up and gave him a know-it-all smile; "You don`t have a crush on Sophie".

Mike turned around, saying he was going to take a shower, and left a questioning Sulley in the hall; the big monster listened to Mike`s whistling, and although he still didn`t fully understand, a part of him knew all too well what the green one had meant with his last statement.

Mike has realized what is happening..! Yay! And Sulley isn`t that far behind XD

I hope you liked chapter 13, don`t forget to leave me a review or PM now; I love those, and your opinions and thoughts inspire me:)

I`m working on the next chapter, and I hope to get it out on Monday or Tuesday. Please be back to check it out!

Until then, take care everyone, and thank you all so much for your support:)