Haven sat on the floor of the kitchen while Oswald stood over the stove, stirring the noodles.
"Do you have a crush on anyone, Ozzy?" Haven said suddenly, causing Oswald to drop the spoon in the pot.
"I-no, why, did you hear something?" He stammered and fished the spoon out.
"No? I just figured there had to be someone you thought was pretty besides yourself." Haven teased and pushed her hair over her shoulder.
"No, I don't really like anyone; aside from you, of course." Oswald turned off the stove and picked up the pot to strain the water out.
"Boys are weird." Haven sighed and chipped off the paint on her fingers.
Oswald watched from the corner of his eye. He knew that she hated the nail polish her mom made her get on their frequent nail salon trips. He also knew she only picked it off when she was anxious and wanted to say something. Oswald read the contemplative look on her face, whether she was finding the courage or the right words to say to him, he wasn't going to push her to say anything.
"Oswald?" She finally asked, her voice sounding tense. Haven never used his full name unless something was wrong.
"What's up?" He asked, opening the door to the fridge to pull out butter and milk, pretending his hands weren't shaking and his heart wasn't in his throat.
"I . . ." she trailed off and looked up at her best friend.
She couldn't tell him. She couldn't, her poor best friend was stressed out enough. He may be significantly smaller than the rest of the guys at Gotham Middle School, but he would stand up for her and ultimately get his ass handed to him. She trusted him with everything, hell, Oswald kept track of her periods and kept tampons around for her in case she ran out. He learned how to get blood out of clothing that day. She couldn't tell him, not now. Haven wanted to enjoy this moment with him. Just the two of them.
"Nothing, just . . . you're a really good friend, Ozzy." Haven smiled at him softly, her eyes gentle and loving.
Oswald felt his heart drop to his feet, this was not what he was hoping to hear. He scooped half the pasta into a chipped white china bowl and the other half into another. He brought the bowl over to his friend and sat next to her, pressing his shoulder against hers. Something he did to comfort her, knowing something was on her mind that she wasn't telling him. Oswald watched as Haven pushed the mac and cheese around the bowl with her spoon, chewing her lip.
"Come on, after we eat, I'll grab some nail polish remover my mom has and we'll take the nail polish off, okay?" Oswald said, nudging Haven lightly.
She gave a small smile and nudged him back. She tucked her hair behind her ear and took a spoonful. As she chewed, she laid her head on Oswald's shoulder and stared at their feet. She would tell him eventually. She had to.
A few days later, Haven hadn't been in school. Usually she'd call Oswald in the morning asking for him to take notes and grab her assignments. She didn't this time and it worried him. Maybe he had some attachment issues, especially with females. He was so used to his mother hovering over him all the time, and Haven took care of him; it distressed the boy when his best friend went awol.
Where are you?
Oswald sent a text in first period, maybe she was running late. That wasn't like her though. It was hard for him to focus all day. He kept an eye on the door in every class, hoping she would walk through, saying she had a doctor's appointment or something. When the final bell rang for the day, Oswald looked at his phone again. No new messages. He was really worried. He didn't have homework to do and could stop by her house to check on her. However, his mom expected him home on time. He took the half hour walk alone, thinking of the worst that could've happened. Maybe her family had left Gotham on short notice. Maybe she had gotten into an accident and was in the hospital. Maybe Haven stopped caring about him and transferred to the prep school. Once again, Oswald felt his heart in his throat as anxiety set in. He took a deep breath and pulled out his phone, dialing Haven's number. The phone got to 5 rings before going to voicemail.
"Hi, you've reached Haven Kooris. I can't get to the phone right now, but leave a message and I will get back to you as soon as I can!" Her cheery voice came over the speaker.
"It's Ozzy, I'm worried. Please call me." Was all he said before he hung up.
A few blocks later he reached his house. He walked in and his mom was listening to some operatic music as was her routine around this time. He muttered a brief hello before running upstairs to his room.
"Oswald? Oswald!" His mother called after him, hearing the pounding of footsteps, a strong indicator her baby boy had had a rough day.
What could she do? Everytime she had gone to comfort him, he would yell at her, ignore her, or even slam the door in her face. He was a growing boy, emotions were a hard fact of life and he needed to learn to control his. Gertrude Cobblepot did her best to raise her son to be the great man, she knew he was.