Something About George

by Mortal Anonymous

Binky is supposed to not be a bully anymore, but he's still mean to George. George doesn't know why. Binky doesn't know why. But feeling this is unfair, the Tough Customers give Binky the ultimatum of working this out or bullying is back on the table for all of them.

Rain was pouring itself in thick sheets over Elwood City Elementary, so for the students of Mr. Ratburn's third grade class, that meant they would be spending their recess square dancing in the gym. Mrs. MacGrady the Lunch Lady had pulled out her trusty boombox and microphone, and instructed the children to all hurry up and find a partner as usual.

George, the awkward moose boy of the class, fidgeted with the hem of his untucked orange button-up, glancing around. Every day they'd had dancing before this, he was always left to last to end up with whoever was leftover, but today he was looking at Francine as she too began looking around. She and George had had a great time ending up as partners in a dancing contest not too long ago, and he dared to hope that perhaps he could have a chance to not feel so relegated to the background. That perhaps he could shine just a little bit if he got the chance to partner with his more popular peer, who was in fact the athletic star of the entire third grade.

"Ah. Arthur! Over here!" The girl with the bob lifted her hand to identify herself to the yellow-sweatered boy who had been her consistent square dance partner the entire school year. George looked down at the floor. Oh. Well, he shouldn't be surprised. Those two were the iconic duo of the class. Still, he would have liked a chance to have shown off how good he was too.

Coming to meet her partner, Francine caught George in the corner of her eye and immediately connected what he must have been thinking. "Oh, um..." She hadn't even considered the other boy. She was just too used to dancing with Arthur in school. It was automatic. She might have felt a little awkward, too, but ultimately shrugged. It wasn't like George had spoken up or anything.

Luckily, she didn't have to say anything to dismiss the antlered boy. But it wasn't because he left. Rather, a large bulldog boy flew to George's side and firmly grabbed hold of him. "Don't worry, I'll take him!" he announced readily, then turning to the shorter boy and noting, "I've been wanting to see what you can do for myself ever since dance class with you guys anyway." It had been no surprise Francine could dance, but especially since Binky himself had become such a dance enthusiast, he'd been shocked at how well the moose boy had done. Their relationship was a complicated one, but he saw this opportunity for a curious critique and so took it.

"O-Oh, um...okay?" George blinked, somewhat stunned. He never could read Binky. Half the time he bullied George, and half the time he was a sensitive friend who enjoyed the arts. He was also the person who paid the most attention to him in the entire school, which made it even harder to pin down what that meant to the larger boy. Did he pity him in some way, or was George just an easy mark and a convenient toy to fill time with?

Well, at least George didn't have to be stuck with any leftover picks today. That honor went to Muffy. Walking past, hands on her hips, the snobby girl in braids noted, "Fine by me. Enjoy having your feet crushed by that big oaf, George." She usually ended up stuck with Binky, but today it looked like she got a different extra to work with. "Come on, Jenna. You'll do."

"Hey, who you calling oaf?" Binky bit in offense.

Dragging her new partner away, Muffy passed back, "Well, if the designer shoe fits..!"

Binky scoffed. "Why that rotten little..!" He never had approved of Muffy's mouthiness. Somehow he always ended up with her as a partner, too. In recess, Gym class, after school activities, or the class he'd taken with George and Francine. And in all reality, she was the problem when it came to dancing. Muffy thought she was too perfect to make a mistake, but her arrogance made her insufferable in that regard. She had no partner communication. Just another reason to drop her for a chance to try George out.

"D-Don't worry about it, Binky," George hurried to say, afraid of conflict, "Let's just circle up." He pointed to where most everyone had already entered formation, Mrs. MacGrady pressing the play button on her boombox and tapping her foot to get into the rhythm of playing Caller.

Hackles lowering, Binky relented. "Oh, yeah." Grabbing hold of George's hand, he darted over to one of the circles still needing to be filled. George just let out a short 'woah' as he was tugged. Once in place, he rubbed his head nervously, not sure how this was going to go, meanwhile Binky looked towards Mrs. MacGrady with an anticipating smile.

Once she saw that all of her students were in place, the elderly tanned woman happily started her calls. "Alright everyone..! Now here we go. Bow to your corners, bow to your partner, weave the ring and do si do~!"

On cue, everyone began walking in circles, meeting their partners and then performing smaller skipped circles around one another. George's posture was tense, almost worried that he was going to be stepped on carelessly, and certain that if either he or his partner made a mistake, Binky would blame him for it entirely. Possibly punish him after. However, to his surprise, as they went, he found that Binky appeared to be silently reading his movements just as attentively as he was reading Binky's. George was not trampled, and in fact Binky was deft on his feet as they stepped around and with one another.

"Relax, will ya..?" Binky muttered out of the corner of his mouth when they pulled close for a moment, "You're ruining your flow. But other than that, form checks out. I can see why you'd make a good partner."

George blushed shamefully. "Sorry." A blink. "R-Really..? Thanks..!" A compliment? Not only was that a relief, it was kind of flattering.

Then Mrs. MacGrady made her next call and the pair backed away from one another. Feeling encouraged and more relaxed, George couldn't help a smile across the way.

"Swing now, on my count, and then get ready to thread the needle!" Mrs. MacGrady announced.

Eyes still locked, both boys nodded. George would have been submissive to the intimidating boy regardless, but it seemed to make sense that the smaller of the two ought to take the position of follower in this case. He stepped up and allowed Binky to take him in his arms in a leading pose, carrying him in a circular ballroom step before twirling him and lifting their arms up to fall into place as everyone formed a tunnel for partners to pass through.

Gee...Binky was right. When he was more relaxed, the flow was so much easier to find. Just like with Francine. He'd only needed to let himself have fun to be good with her too. And the way Binky so effortlessly skated him across the floor...it was like they were floating. Finding synchronization with him was actually the easiest thing in the world, oddly enough.

Binky found himself thinking rather similar thoughts. George was such a natural at giving into him, it wasn't surprising that he fell into following Binky's lead, but the way he effortlessly adjusted to it from being the lead himself was. His body language read so much differently than a few moments ago too. It was easy to tell he was loosening up, and it was...kind of nice to see him having fun. It was weirdly infectious, and Binky found himself smiling along, almost losing himself as he shifted from critique to just enjoying the moment. This was the best connection he'd ever felt with a dance partner. As he took his turn ducking through the arms of their fellow students, he suddenly decided he wanted to do more. Test the limits of it.

As Mrs. MacGrady made more calls, Binky went a little off-script. He added more complex footwork to the moves, George flustering and being a little confused, but keeping up well. When Binky sent him a challenging expression, he seemed to understand though, nodding back confidently. As the minutes followed, both boys seemed to forget that they were meant to be following the lunch lady's orders, and ended up in a cross arm skater pose, the rest of the kids giving up to encircle and watch as their legs worked with impressive speed.

Mrs. MacGrady hardly seemed to mind. She was used to these dances getting a little disorganized, but just as much she was impressed with this particular display.

"Oho~!" she beamed, "Looks like we might have a new star dancing duo in this here hootenanny!" On the sidelines, Francine crossed her arms with a curt 'hmph', hating having the spotlight stolen, while Arthur tried to look invisible lest she push him to try and outshine the two in the center of attention. Muffy too was dismayed, sure Binky had only ever done so poorly with her as an act of sabotage.

Having only been staring at the boy in front of him, it came to Binky's attention that the bodies around him weren't actually moving anymore when he finished his impromptu skate dance performance with a sharply-struck pose. He and George had one set of held hands jutted upward as the other set fanned out and their back legs were stepped dynamically. After a few deep breaths, his smile fell and he glanced around, seeing his class now break into a smattering of applause and whistles.

Oh no..!

Taking it much worse than the boy beside him, who seemed quite happy at having this chance to display his skills to his peers, smiling and giving a bashful wave, Binky quickly stood tall and turned his brow downward. Curtly, he ripped his hand away from George's, wiping the smile off the moose boy's lips as he now looked stunned again.

"Aw, jeez, look what you made me do!" Binky barked.

Shrugging meekly, George questioned, "Have...fun..?" Wasn't that pretty much what Binky had been telling him to do?

Blushing furiously, Binky's lips frazzled in anger. How dare George bring that up directly? "No!" he hastily denied, and tried to come up with a good excuse to blame on the other boy, "You...you made me look like an attention hog! That's Muffy's job!" Ignoring Muffy's offended 'hey' and jabbing a finger into George's collarbone, he argued, "And you got palm sweat all over me! Gross! You're gross, George!"

Lastly, he gave the smaller boy a hard push, George letting out a sharp note as he lost balance and landed on his seat. Turning on his heel, Binky marched curtly away as the others gasped and moved to either address George or look to the adult in the room.

"Bin-ky..!" Mrs. MacGrady called after the departing boy with a certain level of authority, but when he didn't turn back, she let out a small 'hrm' and moved to help George up. "You alright, dear?" she asked softly. When he nodded, she offered a gentle smile and held the microphone forward. "Glad to hear it. You maybe wanna take over calling for a bit? We seem short one at the moment, and I think I ought to go lasso him up." She was sure George would likely not want to keep dancing after being embarrassed like that, either.

"Okay...sure, Mrs. MacGrady," George nodded. She was quite right about him not wanting to dance. He was a bit sore and definitely embarrassed, but confused more than anything. Really, what was Binky's deal? George was never going to understand him.

Sure she could trust the kids to be on their own for a moment, the white-haired woman took her leave and strolled as swiftly as her creaky limbs would let her out of the gym. "Binky? Binky Barnes!" she once more addressed authoritatively, the bulldog boy not having gotten more than a hallway away. He was soon enough in her sights and hunching at having been called out.

Rather than running away, he turned to face the older woman as she caught up to him, staring at the floor and sulking. "You'd better just take me to Mr. Haney's office, 'cause I'm not gonna say I'm sorry."

Placing her hands on her hips, Mrs. MacGrady gave the boy a measuring look. "Hold your horses on that conclusion jumping, there, bucko. Can you at least tell me why you did it?"

Further sulking. "I...no. Not really. I just..." A short moment where he truly seemed frustrated at being unable to find the words. "Everyone just saw me having fun with George..!"

Mrs. MacGrady's head went back a small degree. "And is that a bad thing?"

"Yes! No...well, it's complicated..." A small, deflated sigh. "Just take me to Mr. Haney, will ya?" It was far easier to take a punishment for lashing out than try and explain why he'd done it in the first place.

Gently, Mrs. MacGrady offered this boy a smile too. "How about we sit down instead?" Gesturing to a nearby bench, she moved to take a seat herself. "Easier on the old bones." Patting beside her, the offer was obvious.

Uncertain, Binky let his eyes flick left and right before feeling oddly compelled to take it, sitting beside the elder with his hands sandwiched between his thighs.

"Now tell me," the tanned woman prodded, "What's so complicated? Why does it matter who sees you having a good time?"

A strange sort of grunt. "It's not that, it's...it's George..!"

"Oh? How come? Isn't he your friend? And didn't you choose to partner up with him?"

Binky's hands came up to open uselessly. "Well yeah, but not like...to have fun..! I just wanted to check out his chops, y'know..? It's his fault I got carried away! He's always doing stuff like that, making me forget how much of a loser he is. Even more now that I've stopped bullying. I just...every time I catch myself feeling something I don't like, it's always been around him, and it just boils up outta me. You know what I mean..?" He doubted she could. Mrs. MacGrady was so laid back it seemed like she'd never been angry in her life.

"Hmmm." Mrs. MacGrady likely understood more than Binky could have thought. She was a very empathetic woman, and had seen many a student in her day, all with a slew of problems they were sure no one could ever understand. Binky's issues in dealing with emotional outlets was no different. Rather than spell it out for him, however, she liked to give students advice that let them work through their issues themselves.

"Hard to restrain, unstable is this mind," she offered sagely, "It flits wherever it lists. Good, it is to control the mind. A controlled mind brings happiness. Buddha."

Binky quirked his brow. "Wha..?" Their lunch lady was full of kooky Zen sayings, and they didn't always make sense right away. "You think I'm unhinged?"

Unable to help a short chuckle, Mrs. MacGrady shook her head. "Not even a little bit. I do think, however, that you might want to reflect on your reasoning a bit more. Do a little soul searching. There's always a reason someone makes us feel a certain way. The answer might be simpler than you could have thought."

"Oh. And then you think I'll be happy?"

"Well, hopefully you'll at least find a little more peace. And remember, no matter what you find, you, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserves your love and affection. Also Buddha."

With a small smile, Binky nodded. "So you mean like...if your heart is pure, then all things in your world are pure."

Another small chuckle from the elderly woman. "Ryokan. Good one." Binky always had been a rather poetic student at heart. It should be no surprise he'd be familiar with a Zen poet. Tilting her head, the woman noted kindly, "Just promise me you'll be a little more thoughtful about George. And I do think you owe him an apology."

Hemming, Binky rolled his eyes ever so slightly. It was better than getting in trouble. "Oh, alright..."

He did let Mrs. MacGrady escort him back to the gym, but he sat out, knees curled to his chin as he watched the rest of his class from the gym's perimeter. He stared at George in a pout, the moose boy happily calling moves with Mrs. MacGrady now, dancing slightly with her when applicable now that Binky refused to participate. The audacity of him to be so carefree. George seemed completely over being shoved, and wasn't seeming to give Binky a second thought. But he was all Binky could think about for the remainder of the period.

Mrs. MacGrady ensured George got his apology, and it was accepted graciously, but it didn't make Binky feel any better. In fact, the next day, he doubled down on making sure George didn't get any funny ideas about him thinking he was actually keen on him or anything.

The sun was out today, so during recess, he gruffly stomped over to the boy, George playing on the teeter totter alone like usual. Pathetic.

George saw the bigger boy's demeanor and sighed in readiness, expecting a water balloon, as was the Tough Customer usual. "I knew the break was too good to last...well, lemme have it," he mumbled, tilting his head up and opening his arms in reception. The gang of bullies had supposedly disbanded, and for the most part Binky had lightened up on outright attacking him, but George had thought it was too good to be true. It looked like he was right.

Rather than hitting him with a water balloon, Binky reached forward and fisted both of George's antlers, yanking the boy up. Shocked, George began kicking in panic as he felt himself held aloft, and clawed for Binky's fists. "H-Hey! What're you doing? Let go!" This was new.

Ignoring the boy's plea, Binky laughed. "Nah. I was just thinking, you always did look like a coat rack. So why don't I hang you out to dry?" And he began walking toward the nearest tree.

George's eyes widened. "Huh? That...that doesn't even make sense! You don't hang a coat rack up! You hang coats on it!"

Grimacing over being corrected, Binky barked, "Shut up! You are whatever I say you are, and you go where I put you!" Proving his point, he reached up and shoved George's antlers between the branches of the small but thick tree he'd chosen, leaving the poor boy dangling by his wedged head, kicking desperately for the ground and pawing his hands at the trunk to try and wiggle free. He was locked in place good and tight.

"O-Okay, fine!" George agreed fearfully, "Very funny. Please get me down now! This is really uncomfortable!"

Binky folded his arms in satisfaction, a cruel smirk in place. "Nah. I'd say that's the perfect look for you." Leaning forward, he let his face stern as he growled, "And let this be a good lesson!"

Really starting to fear the other now, George could feel tears forming at the edges of his eyes. "But...what did I do?" Frantically, all he could think of was trying to correct the other. "I-I said it was funny..! Please, Binky! Get me down!"

Faltering upon seeing the struggling boy begin to sniffle, Binky felt a sharp pang of guilt. He suddenly wanted nothing more than to get George out of the tree and into his arms, hold him and comfort him until he stopped being afraid of him forever. But it was that very instinct that forced his brow to harden more.

"You know what you did..! You're doing it now! Cut it out...wuss!" Binky scolded, and with fists formed, marched away from the boy.

Even more confused, and even more afraid, George's eyes widened again as he was abandoned. "What..? B-Binky! Binky, come back! Please! I'll do whatever you want, just don't leave me here! Binkyyyy!" Uselessly, he flailed all the more trying to free himself. Maybe it was just a really mean joke. Binky hadn't done anything on this level to him for months, so maybe he just hadn't got the hang of being nice completely yet. Or maybe he really had offended Binky in some grand way that he hadn't noticed. Either way, the older boy wouldn't just leave him here, right?!

It shortly became clear that George was indeed being left here, Binky's large steps fading away and making no sign of return. As such, George began calling for anyone to come help him, but alas, he was facing away from the playground, and on the outskirts of the noisy yard. No one paid him any heed. Like usual.

Heading to the jungle gym, Binky looked down at his hands and flexed them, curiously thinking about how he'd expected George's antlers to be hard and spiky, but they were weirdly velvety. Then catching himself at this, he gave himself a gruff grunt and grabbed the cold metal bars to climb up and join his friends in their favorite hangout spot instead. Pulling out a box of toothpicks, he leaned over one of the rails on top and crossed his ankles, chewing on his chosen pick and giving off a rather broody demeanor.

"Yo, Binky." A wolf boy with a backwards ballcap came over and leaned himself backwards against the same railing. A long-haired rabbit boy and a rabbit girl with a shaggy bob came to join them. The first boy carried on, "Saw that piece of work you just did with Antler Boy."

"Yeah? What of it?" Binky asked back coldly.

The others all felt a chill. This demeanor was like the old Binky. The one that had led the Tough Customers, before he'd given the position to Molly, and before they'd stopped bullying all together.

The wolf boy, Rattles, put his palms up in peace. "N-Nothin'. Really. Normally I'd be sayin' good work, but uh...you do got me just a little bit confused, I have to admit."

"Confused about what? It's George. George has always been our number one target."

Molly, the rabbit girl, scoffed. "Yeah, when we were bullies. I think I speak for Rattles when I say it seems more than just a little hypocritical that you keep being mean to that kid when it was your idea to break up the Tough Customer agenda in the first place. And...let's be real here. You never did anything like that to him."

Lips thinning, Binky had to take a second look at what he'd just done. In his mind, he watched it all over, and recalled the true fear in George's eyes. Heard his pleas as he walked away from the boy. Oh man...maybe he really had gone overboard.

"Yeah well..." he tried to excuse, "He had it coming. Now he knows not to assume I...think he's...cool or anything."

Blank blinks from the other three.

"Um...did he ever think that?" Slink, the boy rabbit, wondered while scratching his head.

Resolve slipping, Binky grumbled, "Prob'ly not, no...but still! He might've! Especially after I got stuck dancing with him yesterday..!"

"...riiiiight." Slink may not have been the brightest bulb, but even he thought that sounded like a pretty baseless excuse to punish someone, much less so harshly.

Binky scoffed. "Oh, can it, Slink! George is the one who started all this in the first place, y'know! He's the entire reason I ended up founding the Tough Customers!"

More blinks. Rattles asked, "Wait...really? I thought it was just about showin' people who's boss, and respect and junk."

Molly added, "Yeah, I never heard this. How does that work?"

With a sigh, Binky turned to face the others as they all leaned against their chosen bars. Figuring he might as well share the origin story of their friend group, he reminisced, "George was the first kid I ever wanted to bully. It all started back in Kindergarten. I always had trouble finding ways to express myself. You know that. Especially if any of it was all soft and gooey."

Nods from the others.

"Well, there was just...something about George. Maybe I was jealous of how he never seemed to have trouble with his soft side despite being such an outcast. Maybe it annoyed me how he never seemed to be mad when he got cast out in the first place, like I was. But whatever it was, he just really got under my skin. I could never ignore him. He was always so nice, and didn't even cry when I stole his juice. He just asked me if I needed more 'cause I was bigger and offered to share his cookies too. He was a total pushover! I can't even explain how it made me feel. It just felt...weird, and even when he figured out I was picking on him, he still never seemed to take the hint completely. We've hung out, and he even came to me first thing when his dummy went missing that one time, just assuming I'd help him out with it."

"Well...didn't you?" Rattles noted.

Binky waved that off. "That's beside the point!" he insisted, "The point is, George is the first person I picked on, and it's because of him I started picking on other kids that annoyed me too. And then I found you guys."

"I guess that makes sense..." Molly supposed, "But that still doesn't explain why you're still going after him. You made me stop bullying everyone, and made a huge deal about it. What makes it okay for you?"

"Well I..." Binky was kind of caught there. Then as he struggled, Mrs. MacGrady's words echoed in his head and he pushed to dig a little deeper. "I guess old habits die hard? I never really was sure why I wanted to bully George...and I've gotten pretty good at expressing my softer side, owning stuff like my love of poetry and dance, but...yeah. I dunno. Maybe there's something soft I'm missing about George that I can't express." Looking around at his friends, he polled, "What do you guys think? I do feel kinda bad. And you're right, it was my idea to stop bullying. Do you think I'm jealous? I mean come on, that kid can't be anything but nice, even when he went through Tough Customer training!"

Rattles rubbed his chin. "Mmmmaybe...when it comes to lashing out, you said you were usually trying to squash something you were feeling, right?"

"Back when I did that, yes," Binky agreed, then acknowledged, "And...I guess still do. I don't...I don't like the way George makes me feel."

"Okay, so..." Slink shrugged, "How does he make you feel, then? If you can figure that out, you can figure out how to deal with it without beating him up, right? Do you feel jealous?"

Binky's brow went up at the sound logic, then turning his eyes to the wooden planks they stood on as he turned his thoughts inward. "Well, no...not really. I mean it's always been off and on, but once we denounced bullying, I've hung out with him more than ever, and it's been...alright. I might feel a little guilty about being mean to him for so long, but I returned the favor. I took the blame for him that one time he broke that group project." He flourished his toothpick here as he recalled the toothpick sculpture to which he was referring.

"Hm," Molly noted, "And you think that makes up for four years of being your favorite target, huh?"

A stutter. "Well I...maybe not..." When it was put that way, it sounded like a pathetic way to even the odds.

"So when you say you've hung out with this kid," Rattles speculated, "Like...what do you do? Do you do normal friend stuff with him, or his he like your backup, or what? Why do you wanna hang out with him at all if he's such a dweebus?"

"That's...a good question." Binky didn't even know. "I guess usually it just ends up that no one else is around for either of us. We just end up...together. And I guess it just works. We've flown kites together, I've run into him at the park and he's played his guitar for me, we've done a little Frisbee, a little roller skating, we've been to the fair...normal friend stuff, I'd say. Yeah. And when no one else is around, it's actually kinda...nice. But then if someone else is around, that's when it starts to feel weird."

"So...he's your backup," Slink concluded.

A note of frustration from Binky's nose. "No, it's like...more complicated than that...you don't bully your friends, right? But for some reason I wanna bully him...but when I see him I also just wanna...be near him. Only it only ever feels...safe..? I guess? When we're both alone."

Molly tipped her head back and sighed. "As much as I love playing therapist for you, you're not making this very easy with such wonderfully vague descriptions." Her short patience was already wearing thin.

"Well sor-ry!" Binky snapped back curtly, "Feelings are hard to describe!"

"Whatever." With a swish of her bangs, Molly looked off to the side. "Just figure this out quick, 'cause I want this nipped in the bud. It's unfair that you still get to bully someone and I don't."

A little more sympathetic, Rattles adjusted his backwards cap as a fidget. "Jeez, ease up, Moll. The guy's tryin'." When the girl didn't answer, continuing to look off into the distance, Rattles took what he'd been told and offered to Binky, "Maybe you do actually want to be his friend, uh? But maybe it feels weird 'cause you started out bein' mean to him, and now you're pushin' him away 'cause you don't know how to deal with your past."

Binky blinked now. That felt the closest so far. "But...I've made friends..." he pointed out, "There's you guys, and like half my class..." The kids in his class at least, he also had a history of bullying.

Slink shrugged. "Okay, but...do you at least like the twerp?"

Binky's brow went up. It was a really simple question, but hearing it phrased that way sent off a click in his brain. "Oh my gosh, do I?" A softness he couldn't express or put his finger on. A funny feeling consistently striking him since he'd met the boy. The times he'd opened up to him, bonded with him when no one was looking, and even enjoyed how he could freely hug him once he'd shed his bully label...even if half the time he still caught himself and pushed George away.

Slink seemed a little put off. "I dunno. That was the question. Do you?"

"I think...I think..."

Binky gasped dramatically.

"Oh man! You guys! I'm not jealous of George! I admire him! I mean sheesh, why else would I have wanted to have that party all about pointing out we know he exists? And on top of that, I've been terrified of him all this time!"

Rattles quirked his brow. "Terrified? Of that little pipsqueak?"

"Watch your redundancies, Rattles," Binky scolded, "But yeah! He never got angry about being different. He's stronger than I ever was in that regard. And he terrifies me because every time he makes me lash out, it's been because of...butterflies! He was my first crush! No wonder I never noticed! I've never had a crush on anyone else to compare to! All that time, I'd really wanted to get close to him, but was afraid of wanting to do it."

An absorbing silence ensued, until Molly clapped her hands together once.

"Well, that's easy enough. Just tell him about it and move on. Problem solved." Then he could join them in the world of ex-bullies properly.

Hunching, Binky took a glance off toward where he'd left the younger boy. "Uh...it might not be that simple."

Molly shrugged back. "Why not? Say you're sorry, explain you liked him in Kindergarten, but now you've figured out what was eating at you and you can start over."

Binky shook his head. "No, uh...I mean I kinda...still think I might like him. I mean I'm still going through all that stuff, and it's been driving me so nuts that I can't handle liking him that I just treed the poor guy..!"

Glances between the other three. Again Molly shrugged. "Same diff. A little weird to like a kid you've made miserable for so long, and you just said you don't like how he makes you feel, but y'know. Whatever."

A scoff as Binky shook his head. "That's just it..! I know what it is now..! It's not whatever..! I like romance. I know I've never told you guys, but I've kind of always wanted a crush. If I like him, well, I kinda wanna like him. I wanna not hate it. I wanna understand it, and if I can do that, I'd also like to say something about it and...kinda want him to...like me back, y'know? And I don't think he's going to be thinking very favorably of me right now."

Slink breezed, "Eh, how long can it take to get over being treed? Like an afternoon?"

"Yeah," Rattles chipped in, "Like you said, he's Mr. Nice Guy. He'll understand."

Molly finished, "Besides, if he likes you, he likes you, if he doesn't, he doesn't. Either way you can work past it and stop being a hypocrite."

Binky was about to bite back how she just couldn't understand that it was a little more important to him than that, when the bell rang, signaling recess was over. All heads turned toward the doors now being held open by their principal as he ushered the student body with a hand overhead.

"This isn't over." Binky pointed at his friends before they all hopped down to head inside. The largest boy took one last look over his shoulder towards where he'd hung George, too afraid to go confront that situation. Instead, he paused by the doors, looking up to the suited man by the entrance.

"Mr. Haney?" he informed, "Um, it's prob'ly nothing to worry about, but I think I heard something coming from over there. You might wanna check it out." A thumb went to the area where he'd left his victim. Who knew? Maybe George had already gotten himself loose.

Apparently not, for Binky took a distinct note that George was absent from class for the next period. He stared at the empty spot, feeling a growing sick knot of guilt in his gut and wondering what could have possibly happened. All Mr. Haney had to do was lift the moose boy down, right? George should have made it back to class no problem.

Finally, in the middle of Math, the door slowly creaked open, and George was there, accompanied by Mr. Haney as the grown bear had a gentle hand on George's shoulder. The principal's eyes were on the class' teacher while George's were on the ground, wet with tears but trying to hold them back.

"Nigel, could I speak with you a moment..?" Mr. Haney addressed the rat man running the class. Clearly concerned, Mr. Ratburn rose.

"Of course."

With a soft smile, Mr. Haney ushered George forward. "Go ahead and be seated, young man. Try and relax some. Don't worry, you're not in any trouble."

With a short sniffle and a nod, George shuffled slowly toward his seat, trying to ignore the burning sensation of everyone staring at him. Binky stared too, trying to catch George's eye for a hint of what might have happened. As George sat, he did lift his head for a split second, catching Binky's gaze, but just as instantly, pain flashed in those eyes and they fled, turning to the wall as George slumped into his arms to hide.

Binky blanched, jaw dropping open helplessly. What the..? He hadn't actually hurt George or anything, had he? What was that expression? What was this sting of dread shooting through the bulldog boy's heart?

Along with the rest of the class, Binky strained to hear what Mr. Haney and Mr. Ratburn were discussing. The adults were talking quietly, and several students were already gossiping about the state of affairs, but luckily Binky's seat was close to the door and he could still make out the important parts.

"...darnedest thing...had to get Mr. Morris to help...then call...cut him loose...nearly lost...says it was an accident...climbing...not sure I believe it, but if he says...poor boy...very upset...send him home?"

Mr. Ratburn nodded along. Binky heard him say "call the parents" and not much else before the two parted and the teacher turned for the class.

"Settle down, everyone, there's nothing to fuss about," he assured sternly, "George, if you're not feeling comfortable to stay, you may wait in the nurse's o-"

Before he even finished, the sharp squeak of a chair dragging across the floor sounded and George had darted for the door at a full sprint, his head down. A semi-distant 'oh..!' was heard from Mr. Haney as he was no doubt barreled past.

With a small 'mh', Mr. Ratburn didn't even yell at the boy for running in the halls. Rather, he called, "Herb, look after him, will you?" Upon hearing confirmation, he directed his attention to the class. "Settle, people..! Yes, George has had an experience, but it is not up to me to discuss it. I understand it's also natural to be curious, but I would hope that you would all show a bit of compassion and let him recuperate in peace. Now then, as I was saying about long division..."

Binky felt like all the blood had been drained from his face. His ears were ringing. Forget covering for a broken group project, it sounded like George hadn't even tattled on him for this?! And he seemed really shaken up! He'd had to be cut loose? Had Binky really left him stuck that badly? Oh man, how was he ever going to talk to George ever again after this? A fine time to figure out he actually liked the guy..! George looked so hurt...he'd probably never thought Binky could put him through something this bad. And Binky felt beyond rotten. He felt worse than the time he'd laid Arthur flat with a punch. He'd discovered long ago that he didn't actually like hurting innocent people, and now he'd hurt someone worse than ever. This was real bullying. Ugh, and he'd only done it because he was mad at himself for not understanding his own feelings again! Well, look what that had gotten him! Now he was starting to feel mad at himself all over again for doing this before listening to Mrs. MacGrady.

Another wave of nausea washed over Binky. Gosh, he hoped George was alright...

George wasn't in school for the next two days. After the first, Binky called his house, only to hear from the moose boy's father that George wasn't up to it, nor was he up to taking any phone calls. Binky's gut twisted in more knots.

The Tough Customers didn't seem to think this was a big deal, assuming George would be back soon enough and things would be normal, like he was just sick, but Binky knew he'd messed up big time. George was avoiding him and the place he had to see him. He'd really, truly hurt the boy on an emotional level, and it might not ever be alright again.

The second day, Binky called again, getting George's mother this time. Binky asked if George was any better, and if he could talk to him today. He was informed that the moose boy still seemed shaken, but that no, he wasn't willing to take any calls today either. Binky asked her to relay the message that he was really, really sorry and that he wanted to make it up to George. The woman was confused, as she'd been told George had slipped while climbing a tree, but Binky insisted he wanted to make it better anyway and she agreed to pass on the message.

On the third day, George was back, but he didn't look willing. His posture was bristled and his eyes were kept down, insisting curtly to everyone that he didn't want to talk about what had happened, causing several of his classmates to label him as 'touchy'. Binky felt even worse watching this happen, but today George didn't even look in his direction, pointedly avoiding it. He really was nothing like his usual self, and Binky felt worse. He felt like he might have broken the poor boy.

After school, he called George's house again. And every day for the rest of the week. Finally, on Saturday, the boy's father answered again, and this time Binky could hear the man turning to insist George speak to the person on the other end, telling his son it was a friend of his that was very concerned for him. Binky heard the sound of the phone being snatched, and a tone he'd never heard George use on him snapped, "What!"

Taken aback, Binky tried to work through his fluster and jumped right in insisting, "George, please! I'm really sorry! More sorry than I've ever been! I never should have done that to you and I don't want you to feel bad! I wanna make it up to you!"

A gruff 'mh' noise, conflicted with impatience and appreciation, sounded over the line. Ultimately, George's upset won out. "Yeah, right!" he sniped, "All you've ever done is hurt me! You pretend like you want to be my friend, but then you always end up doing something like this! I could never understand you, but now I do! I'm a toy to you! You want me to be miserable! Well, good job! I am! No more back and forth. I'm miserable for good! And you got away with it, so just enjoy the victory!"

Each word made Binky choke up harder as they all confirmed what he'd been thinking. George was beyond hurt. He was damaged. And he truly thought Binky saw him as a plaything he got pleasure out of manipulating. He thought Binky's goal was to crush him. And maybe at one time, Binky could have turned down such a vindictive path, but now that was an idea that terrified him. He never wanted to be seen as that boy again.

"N-No!" he croaked, not realizing how tight his throat had gotten just listening. Coughing to try and clear his voice, he also realized he was tearing up in a mix of panic and regret. He had to fix this! "George, you never did anything wrong! It was all my fault! I was mad at myself! I don't know why I had to take it out on you, but I mean it that I'm really sorry! I never never never never want to do anything like that to you again! You don't have to forgive me, but I'm serious about making it up to you! I don't wanna be the person who ruined your life. And I...I know why I was mad at myself. I'll explain that if you wanna hear it, but it's fine if you don't. I don't...I don't deserve you as a friend, George. I never did. You're way too tough for me."

Silence. Binky was sure he'd hear the dial tone any second now.

"George..?"

"Are...are you...crying..?"

Blinking, Binky realized that yes, sometime during his desperate bargaining, he'd ended up full-on sobbing into the receiver.

Not even caring, he admitted readily, "Yes! And I haven't been able to eat dessert, or sleep well, or pay attention in class..! Well, more than usual. It's been eating me up inside! I just want you to be you again, George. You aren't a toy, and you aren't my lightning rod. You're...you're my friend, George. More than that. You're my favorite person." It felt like maybe going a little too far after he'd said the last part, but Binky just bit his lips and let it hang as it was.

On the other end, George blinked, not really knowing what to feel, but somehow his hackles lowered. Maybe it was just because he'd never heard Binky cry like this, or how honest he actually sounded, but he felt cracks in the shell he'd been forming around his heart over the past week.

"M-Me..?" he questioned, having to sit down on a nearby stool. "Your favorite person? Me, tough?!"

Binky sniffed again. "Yeah. You're like...an emotional powerhouse. You've always managed to smile through even the toughest stuff. You're so nice I can't even wrap my head around it. And you've given me more chances than I've ever deserved. That's more than I can ever say for myself. I never thought you could break. Don't let me break you."

Another silence. Another moment of worry from Binky.

"You know...they had to call in the fire department. Not one of the big trucks, but it was still really scary. And embarrassing. And they almost couldn't find a way to get me out without sawing an antler off. I've been thinking a lot about that."

Binky's brow pinched. "Me...me too...I'm really glad they didn't. Saw anything off, I mean. It had to have been awful. I swear, I'm really sorry. I'm never even going to so much as call you a name after this. Please don't like...change schools or anything?"

George glanced to the side. "Well, that did actually come up..."

A fresh sting through Binky's chest, hearing he may well have destroyed his entire foreseeable future around the other boy.

"...but since I told my folks it was an accident, they decided to wait and see. For now."

Binky sighed audibly in relief. George noted curiously how sincere all of Binky's worries seemed to be. He'd actually had this much regret over putting George through that ordeal? This much stress? It almost sounded like as much as George had suffered himself. And his frequent calls every afternoon...maybe the moose boy could actually believe that Binky valued him. It could still be some sort of trick, but he held his doubts that Binky would go so far as to cry and apologize so much to him just for that. Tentatively, George found himself willing to soften.

"So...why were you mad?"

Thrown off a little, Binky faltered, but also chose to swerve away from the topic. "Uh...I said I'd discuss it, and I will, but maybe right now isn't the best time. I'd wanna do that in person, and it's something else that's kind of hard. Let's hear about you. Have you been...doing alright? As much as possible? Did Wally have any good advice for you?" Honestly, he did want to prioritize George, but also being asked to clarify so soon was intimidating. He'd almost hoped he wouldn't actually be asked, and even now hoped George would forget about it. He might have promised in the moment as a thoughtless bargaining chip, but he still didn't want to do something so scary. It might scare George even more to boot. Binky felt it was best to wait on addressing such a topic until he was sure they both could handle it. If he could ever handle it.

Luckily, it seemed George found this reasonable, and allowed himself to vent more about how he'd been dealing with his anger and sorrow over the week. He'd made his friend Carl afraid of him the one time they'd seen each other at the community center, and regretted doing so, thinking he might have to stop seeing the boy altogether if he couldn't keep his emotions in check. His dummy Wally, who he sadly considered his true closest friend, was his best option to help him work through them, in his opinion. Talking to himself by bouncing his thoughts off his alter ego in such a way usually helped him, but well, doing so this time is what led him to believing he'd just been Binky's plaything for four years in the first place, and that isolation might be the best solution.

Binky listened patiently, never really having sat down and listened to the way he'd personally effected any of his targets. It was hard to sit through, hearing that even though he'd always thought this boy in particular was always one to bounce back and be impervious to the effects of bullying, he'd been feeling so much under the surface. He'd almost never seen George get angry at all, but the more he listened, the more he realized he'd been doing more damage than he ever could have thought. George had emotions. He'd been angry lots of times. He was super nice and didn't like to be angry, but the world was very unfair to him, and he just wasn't built to let his emotions out over it like Binky had. In fact, in a different life, he may well have been another Binky.

Binky felt the largest, hardest hollow pit of guilt he'd ever felt form in his chest. He really had been this final straw away from destroying the George he knew. It very much occurred to him that he'd been building toward this with his own actions since he'd met the boy. He had to make it up to him. He didn't deserve to think he should get the opportunity to confess to George, but he more than owed it to him to undo the confusion and hurt he'd put the other through over the years.

Come Monday, after a long while pondering how strange it had been to get such a heavy and sincere phone call from his bully, George found himself once more uncertain, but in a better way? He felt oddly better to have had that confrontation. Dare he say, he was even grateful. It had felt genuine, and he'd gotten a lot off his chest about how Binky made him feel. As he'd lain awake at night, he'd started to think that maybe Binky finally understood, and had been honest about not treating him like a chew toy anymore. It was a nice thought, and as he walked through the school hallway to his locker, he actually felt a sliver of hope. He was a lot less broody, at least, and kept a curious eye out.

However, as he put his backpack into his locker, the only kids approaching him were Francine, Arthur and Buster.

"George! Is it true?" Francine leaned into his personal space to nose, making the boy lean back, only to find his space invaded from the other direction by Buster, "Were you kidnapped?! That's why they had to call in the cops, right? Was there a ransom?"

Buster shook his head. "No, not kidnapped! Abducted! You were abducted by aliens, weren't you? That's why you've been acting all different!"

"Come on, guys, be reasonable," Arthur rolled his eyes, the third side to this cornering triangle, then looking to the antlered boy. "George, just tell us what really happened so they can see all these rumors are getting out of hand."

Cowering in a hunch, George felt a panicked mix of swirling emotions. People were still talking about his incident? People were making up their own wild stories? And he was still being hounded by the same people who thought he was being 'touchy' about it, prying even harder to get him to relive the embarrassing, awful experience for their own gratification.

As the questions kept coming, layering over one another as the three argued in addition to hounding, George felt himself shrinking. He didn't feel enough of his hardened shell anymore to bristle and bite back. "I...I...uh...I don't want to...can you just leave me...um...guys..." Slowly, sure he wasn't even being heard, as usual, George felt himself sliding downward to sit on the floor, knees to his chest as he covered his eyes and just wished for the whole thing to go away.

Having shifted into pointing accusing fingers at one another, the trio surrounding George only snapped out of it when a curt voice cut in, shouting, "Hey! He doesn't wanna talk to you, so leave him alone!"

Blinking, the three surrounding George glanced down to see the boy turtling away from them, but then found it more pressing as they looked up to find Binky running towards them with his arms up and motioning like trying to break up a cluster of pigeons.

"Go on, scat! Go learn to respect some personal boundaries, you...pesterers!" As the three fled in fear from the larger boy, Binky left one fist up to shake after them.

Cautiously, George lifted his palms to peek at the retreating backs of his classmates, and then glanced up to find Binky leaning down to offer him a hand up and tentative smile. Hesitant himself, George glanced between the hand and the smile for a moment before reaching to take the hand. "Um...thanks." Binky had just answered his prayers, and as awkward as it might have been to see him so suddenly after everything, George had been curious about seeing how things would go.

As he stood, he noticed Binky was carrying something in his off hand. "What's that for?"

It was a muffin basket, adorned with flowers and with a small plush bear holding a valentine in the middle. Binky now turned to address this. "Oh yeah. This is for you. I wanted to show you how sorry I really am, and I dunno, this makes sense, right?" Holding the basket forward, he dropped it into George's arms.

George blinked at the lavish gift in uncertainty, reading the valentine in the bear's arms. "Happy Anniversary..?"

Binky shrugged. "It was all I could find on short notice. I'm not even sure they make 'sorry I ruined your life and really wanna un-ruin it' ones...also I wasn't sure if you were allergic to anything, but I went with nut-free just in case, 'cause I'm allergic to nuts and I'm not sure what else there is in muffins to be allergic to."

Taken aback by the level of care Binky had taken here, despite clearly being naive, George felt a new wave of embarrassment just for the fuss. He didn't like being fussed over. "No. That's okay. I don't have allergies. Just dyslexia. Um, you didn't have to do all this, though."

"I want to, George," Binky said with a sincere grimness, "I want you to know I really feel rotten, and I'm going to do everything I can to protect you from these stupid rumors until it goes away. If kids are giving you trouble like those guys, you let me know, and I'll make 'em shut up." Pointedly, he pounded one fist into an open palm. "I'll squash this entire thing and make it go away by myself if I have to."

Blinking again, George was taken aback by Binky's adamance this time. Fussing aside, it was actually kind of flattering. Seeing Binky so set on doing something on someone's behalf was actually kind of admirable, especially if he was using his powers for good. George had only experienced it on his own behalf once, when Binky was the cop on the case to find his missing ventriloquist dummy, but George had also asked him to do that. Hearing Binky admit that he wanted to solidly commit to righting this wrong on his own was surprising, but...yeah. Very flattering. George found himself smiling just a little bit and moving to put the basket in his locker.

"Well...I appreciate the thought. Really. But maybe don't beat anyone up? Please? I thought you were supposed to be past all that...until, you know..." Here the smaller boy did glance to the side a little nervously.

Binky blanched. "Right. Yeah. I knew that." He rubbed the back of his head, unsure how he was supposed to enforce anything without being aggressive. He didn't want to scare George by still acting violent, even if his aim was to bully for good. "But I can still threaten to beat people up, right..?"

George couldn't help a small snort. Binky was trying. It was kind of cute how dense he was sometimes, "Uh, how about only if my actual person is threatened?" he offered, "You know...like a bodyguard."

Binky perked. "Yeah! Like a bodyguard! From now on, Binky Barnes is your official bodyguard." He flexed his arms like a wrestler. That sounded like a really cool occupation to him. The perfect use for his bulky frame.

And so, in class, when he saw Buster leaning in to clearly whisper something to George, he thumped a fist onto his own desk and shot the rabbit boy a sharp glower. Buster's ears went down and he backed off, only to again try to speak to George later on when a quiz was being passed around. Binky glared even more sharply, and Buster tried to meekly mouth and gesture that he just wanted to ask George for a pencil, but Binky's eyes narrowed further and he made a sharp motion to signal that he had his eyes firmly on Buster. Buster gulped and placed his palms up, leaning back into his own desk space. Binky smirked smugly before shooting George a thumb up.

Too used to being hounded at his desk by Buster, for gossip or for loans, George didn't even mind the indiscriminate intimidation and returned the thumb up with a pleasantly surprised beam.

At lunch, Binky sat with George, their sides practically touching as he glowered at every kid passing by the table only seating the two of them. A protective arm would hug George close to him if Binky was particularly suspicious of someone, like his own friends, and he'd growl. Most people were put off by this guard dog display, some rolled their eyes, but George actually found himself feeling the safest he had in a week. Not one person tried to ask him anything uncomfortable. He was used to eating alone, aside from the nosy classmates crowding him as of recent, but it didn't even feel lonely to return to isolation. Weirdly, he did still get along with Binky, and was happy to hold a normal conversation with him, calmly just eating his sandwich and getting pinned in a half-hug when Binky felt danger loomed.

In a soccer game, from his seat on the sidelines where he'd been benched, Binky gasped to see a ball coming for George while he was distracted, and dramatically called out in an elongated 'nooo', charging forward and leaping to take the hit as if it were an assassin's bullet. George turned with a small 'huh?'

As a result of this stunt, Binky found himself scolded for jumping into the game when he was sitting out, but defended himself by saluting and saying simply that the package had been in peril. While their coach said he didn't care and that Binky had earned himself a permanent time out, George couldn't help putting a modest hand over his mouth and snickering at how seriously Binky was taking his role. It was endearing in a way, if not getting overboard to a silly degree.

Binky noticed George's amusement in the corner of his eye, but rather than taking offense, he smiled. That was the first time he'd seen George laugh all week. He'd made George smile. That felt...good.

During recess, George was now brought along while Binky hung out with the Tough Customers. Rattles, Slink and Molly watched with unimpress while George doodled sketches of things he'd like to build in his notebooks or serenaded them with his music, sometimes stealing Binky away to use the teeter totter or the swings, or play Hopscotch. Once George started a game of Tag by tapping Molly, only for the rabbit girl to fold her arms and refuse to participate. She and the others were dismayed when Binky scoffed at them for arguing Tag was a dumb kiddy game, and waved them off to go play with the rest of the third graders.

On the mark of another two weeks after Binky had declared himself George's guardian, the Tough Customers deemed it time to confront the bulldog boy about this.

Tugging Binky away from George as they all hung out in the secluded shade underneath the jungle gym, Molly was blunt in opening the floor.

"When are you gonna be done keeping that wuss around?" she snapped gruffly, "Just because you like him doesn't mean we do. Have you even told him about that yet?"

Offended by the tone, Binky placed his fists on his hips. "Don't insult George! He hasn't done anything to you! And if you tried a little, you might actually get along!"

The others looked at him flatly. Rattles chipped in. "I might dig the harmonica alright, but while maybe he's got some okay licks on that guitar of his, he doesn't even play electric. He's crampin' our style, yo."

Binky pushed back, "You never cared when I played classical clarinet..!"

Rattles shrugged. "You're a little more intimidating."

While Binky dealt with the realization that his friends might not have always been honest about their opinions regarding his interests, Molly's arms crossed in her trademark sign of putting her foot down. "And based on the way you dodged the question, I'm going to go ahead and say you haven't even said a word about liking him."

Paling, Binky knew there was no way to dodge a second time. Molly was serious. Regrouping, he scoffed. "And so what? Maybe I don't need to!"

Slink took his turn to speak up. "You do if you want us to stick around..."

Blinking in confusion, Binky's head went back.

Molly nodded. "I can respect your poor taste in kids? But I can't respect you just bringing that kid into our space and waffling around like this! You might be fine calling yourself his bodyguard or whatever, but we never signed up for that! Either you tell him and he's fine with it, and you hang with him separately like a normal person, or you tell him and he's not fine with it, and we still get to have you back without you clinging to that loser like a pathetic puppy!"

Binky's brow went downward. "It's not that simple, Molly!" he argued, "This isn't about me liking him! It's about making it up to him! I hurt him really bad, okay? Some of us need more than a mass letter to the school to say we're sorry. Maybe I'll feel up to admitting my feelings someday, but I'm not going to think about that until I'm sure he's emotionally safe!"

Slink put one hand on his own hip and turned his head in doubt. "Sounds to me like you're just chicken."

Binky flustered and shook his head. "It's not just..! There's more than..! I'm serious, you guys, this isn't just about hypocrisy anymore..! You should be happy, I'm not bullying anybody, and that's what you wanted..! What's it to you how long I take to tell George I like him?"

"What it is to us is that we didn't ask you to stick him in our group!" Rattles shot back. "He already flunked outta joining up once, and this time he's not even trying to be tough. It's like Molly said, we don't like him, and from our perspective, you're only dragging him to hang out with us 'cause you're afraid of bein' alone and havin' to have that talk with him."

Binky puffed. "That's not even close to what's going on..! Are you guys even listening?"

Molly's head tipped a small degree, her expression flat. "Hm. Well, I've been listening to one thing. I think Slink's right. I think you're chicken."

Slink pumped his fist. "Yes! I was right about something!" Rattles passed him an unimpressed face.

Molly stepped forward, poking a finger into Binky's chest. "Kid seems pretty 'emotionally safe' to me. He hasn't looked upset for days. I think you're happy being his lapdog because that's what's safe. You get to be with him every waking moment without it being weird." Here her palms went to her cheeks as she mocked, "You can be all, 'ohhh, I'm just making it up to you, George~' without having to think about your own feelings. Or ours." Her arms folded once more. "Well I'm sick of looking at this. And if you don't want to respect our feelings, I'm more than happy to do the job for you."

Leaning around Binky, she put a hand to her mouth as she called, "Hey, Antler Boy, come over here! Binky's got something he's been meaning to say to you."

Looking up from the notepad he was using, George's face expressed curiosity. He rose, leaving the pad with his bookbag, and came to the summons. "Wh-What is it?" He was a bit nervous looking between Molly and Binky, the atmosphere feeling weirdly tense.

Not seeing why this would even be so hard, Molly bluntly began, "Yeah, so it's really simple. He just wants to tell you he l-"

Shoving himself in between Molly and George, Binky interjected, "I just wanted to tell you...there's something on your shirt!" He pointed down at George's breast pocket. The boy blinked in confusion and glanced down, only to be greeted with Binky's finger flicking up and swatting his nose.

"Haha! Gotcha! Just a little joke..! Okay bye." After this hasty cover, Binky turned and marched swiftly away. Turning his head, he barked at his friends, "And I am officially mad at you guys! Your traps better stay shut or we're through!"

The Tough Customers exchanged glances. Slink offered a shrug and asked for all of them, "What did we do..?"

George rubbed his nose in perplex, able to tell something was very off. "Binky..? Binky..!" Such a prank was well within the bigger boy's sense of humor, but this seemed out of nowhere, and the entire tone of the scene had felt wrong. Hearing he was apparently mad at his friends was the biggest clue. Wanting to get to the bottom of things, George hastened after the bulldog boy.

"Binky, what's wrong?" he called, having a hard time keeping up with Binky's longer, swifter strides.

"Nothing! It was just a joke! Now leave me alone!"

"It doesn't sound like nothing..! If they put you up to that, it's fine...and if not, I'm also fine. I'm not offended, if that's what you're worried about." Binky might have said he wouldn't even call George names anymore, but George knew better than to not expect at least some teasing in his future. And he wasn't completely fragile. He could handle names and pranks.

"Mh," Binky hemmed in frustration, "It's not that! Look, I told you I'd protect you, and that's what I did, okay? Now I mean it! Leave me alone!" Pointedly, he sped up, refusing to glance back.

Slowing to a stop, George puzzled as he watched the bigger boy depart. Protect him? From what? Were Binky's friends trying to harass him? Had Binky stood up to them for him? George felt a bit guilty, not wanting Binky to suffer in his self-imposed job. He'd actually thought Binky had been having fun with it for the most part, which was why even if he was enjoying the protection, he hadn't spoken up about telling Binky that he might not need such tight security anymore. George had actually forgiven the bigger boy already. He also liked spending time with him, maybe more than he ever had previously. But if Binky had gotten hurt because George hadn't been able to stand up for himself, or he'd caused a rift between Binky and his friends...even if Binky had hurt him a lot in the past, he still felt bad.

Turning around, George felt his fists forming in a tense sort of determination. He walked back to the jungle gym to find the Tough Customers rooting through his bag and flipping through his notepad as they critiqued his sketches.

Not caring about that so much, sadly no stranger to such careless treatment of his things, George came to a stiff, widely-stanced stop behind them. "H-Hey! What did you guys do to make Binky upset?"

Glancing carelessly over her shoulder as she let the pages of the notepad she was flipping through fall, Molly breezed, "Oh, look. It thinks it grew a spine."

Rattles and Slink snickered.

George felt himself tremble, but clenched his fists harder to hold steady. "I mean it..! He's your friend. And he's also my friend, and friends aren't supposed to make each other feel bad, so..." So what, George? Why was your mind going blank?!

Letting a dismissive noise out her nose, Molly turned to face the smaller boy, Rattles and Slink automatically rising to aid her in surrounding him.

"Look, kid," the redhead informed evenly, "Friends fight. And normally, I'd say it's none of your business why. But in this case, it's actually all your fault. So okay. I'll tell you. It's about you." Sharply, she ripped one of the pages out of George's notepad, making him flinch, and crumpled the page harshly before dropping it and grinding it into the ground with her heel.

"M-Me? But what did I do?" George's drive for answers won out over his fear.

Another page torn. "Ha! What did you do? You ruined Binky, that's what." As this page was ground into the dirt, Rattles and Slink supported Molly with 'yeah's and small shoves of George between them.

"Huh..? Wh-What do you mean ruined..?" the timid boy asked despite being pushed. He didn't even try to save his notepad. He knew too well from experience how poorly that would go for him, though he was a bit confused. Weren't the Tough Customers disbanded as bullies? He could tell they still didn't like him. He wasn't dumb. But at the very least weren't they supposed to be acting the part?

Another rip made him flinch. Molly scowled. "Binky started this group because of you, and he ended it because of you! If it wasn't for you, Binky prob'ly never would have forced us to turn our ways around! I would have never had to have taken over the Tough Customers! And to be honest, I never really liked the idea of turning our ways around to begin with!" Maybe she didn't like the idea of her baby brother turning out the way she had, but the adjustment was so much harder for her than the others. It almost felt too late already. When she was upset, it felt like it would have been so much easier to give up on being good and force her way like she always had. And if this kid wasn't such a sweet little goody-goody, Binky might never have been corrupted by him.

Scowling at the boy, she accused, "Just because you're friends with him, doesn't mean you're friends with us. We're not your daycare. Besides, he went back on his word. I'm owed one more go at bullying you too. And if you weren't such a perfect...sweet...goody two shoes...acting like being nice is the easiest thing in the world..!" With every punctuation, she destroyed another page.

Slink and Rattles started to get uneasy the more the girl seemed to lose herself in what she was doing. Watching her stomp the increasing litter of papers in the dirt, Rattles cautiously addressed, "Uh, Moll..?"

"Moll, I think you might be losin' it..." Slink noted with uncertainty. He and Rattles were followers on instinct, willing to go along with her in Binky's absence, but they both felt like this was a little uncalled for.

Sensing pain in Molly's words, despite the fact that she was aggressively destroying his property and the fear he felt from it, George gulped in another bid to steel his nerves. If this really was his fault, he'd already come this far. He wanted to fix it. From what it sounded like, Molly blamed him for somehow making Binky soft..? And she wasn't handling the changes to her group dynamic very well.

Cautiously, he took a step forward, then another.

Rattles held a warning hand up slightly. "Uh, kid, I dunno if that's the best idea right now." Confronting Molly when she was in a mood was not generally safe.

Brow firming, George ignored the warning and took a final step forward as Molly ripped one more page from his notepad, and firmly wrapped his arms around her, his own eyes crushing shut in apprehension.

Molly froze.

Rattles and Slink froze.

Arm held aloft, fisting her latest shredded sheet of paper, Molly could only puzzle, "Wh-What..?" She'd been blaming this kid for everything wrong in her life at present and destroying his precious sketches in front of him, and he was...hugging her. How did that even make any sense?

Squeezing tighter, heart pounding in his chest as he anticipated pain, George assured, "Change is hard. I know. Changing yourself is even harder. I used to be so scared of other kids, I never spoke to anyone. But then I learned to speak up through ventriloquism, and then without ventriloquism. And I'm still learning. I don't always read and write so well, but I work hard to change that so I can do my best to be a better me. The me I want to be. I don't know what I did to make you think I changed Binky, but maybe he just wants to be his better self too. And he's your friend, so I'm sure he wants that for you guys too. If you're his friends, then maybe you should respect his decision. From what I've seen, he's really sure about it, and even if you don't like it, Molly, maybe sometimes change can be good. Maybe it's worth it to keep trying."

A fresh silence followed, Rattles and Slink extremely unsure of how such a speech would go, and expecting Molly to lash out. They themselves might have laughed at such words at one point, but honestly, after having witnessed Binky giving up bullying, and having gone a spell without it themselves, they had to find themselves ashamed for following Molly's lead on this. Antler Boy had wisdom.

For what seemed like ages, Molly didn't move. And then, suddenly, she gave a light sway and fell to her knees. George let out a stunned note and went with her as her elbow locked around his neck. He was sure her frown spelled displeasure until he gasped to see tears leaking from under the red bangs that hid her eyes.

"Brave words, Antler Boy. Brave words."

"Er..." George was tongue-tied again, not sure how to proceed. He'd spent all of his bravery points on confronting the tough girl, and quite honestly, hadn't expected anything like this as a reaction. "Thanks?"

Seeing Molly collapse in tears, Rattles and Slink shared a look before coming forward. They too dropped to their knees and offered support in the form of joining the hug.

"Don't worry, Moll," Rattles assured confidently, "You always got us! We always got your back!"

Slink chimed in, "Yeah! We hate change! Kid has a point, though. Binky prob'ly didn't even mean to rub him in our faces..!"

Engulfed in a nest of warm embraces, Molly felt ridiculous all of a sudden. But...not ridiculous enough to shove the boys off.

"Right..." she relented. Slink probably didn't even know that he'd just said something smart. It was easy to blame Antler Boy for inspiring Binky to be all soft and kind like him, for corrupting Binky away from wanting to be a bully, especially after the tale Binky had told them, but really, Binky had been walking away from bullying on his own for a long time. Every time his friends had pressured him into something like punching another kid, he'd regretted it and confronted them about it later. He'd always insisted that his friends were way too aggressive and never seemed to have truly liked that part. And the more open he'd become about being himself and not worrying what people thought of his artistic hobbies, the more openly sensitive he became, the less the group had actually seemed like bullies, even under Molly's reign.

Blaming the way Binky was on George was stupid, Molly knew. Blaming her own struggles with change on him was stupid. Maybe it was mainly for her brother's sake that she wanted to break the abuse cycle and improve herself, be a better example, but she still wanted to do it. It was just so hard to stick with. So hard to watch her old lifestyle die out when it had gotten her everything she used to want so easily. And it was hard to watch someone she'd respected change so much and go all gaga over someone she once would have deemed such a sap. Seeing George be so perfect made being a better person seem like even more of an impossible goal on top of everything.

Feeling quite awkward now that the hug had become a clump, George frazzled, but managed to find some more words. "I almost gave up myself recently, but well...I'm glad I didn't. You don't have to be me, either. You can be a good person without using me as a scale, and I'm sorry if you felt like that's what I was. I don't think Binky was trying to rub me in your face, for that, or for anything else. And if you ever doubt yourself, I'm sure Binky can help. He's...he's a good friend. I know he's helped me."

Molly tutted. "Actually? I think you make for a pretty good influence yourself, Antler Boy. Here." She passed over his notepad. "Um...sorry." The apology was quiet, as she wasn't very used to that word, but it was said. The loose page was tucked awkwardly back underneath the cover.

George blinked to hear himself approved, but took his notepad anyway with a small smile. "Thanks. Don't worry. I'm sure I have plenty more ideas where those came from."

"Uck, I was right the first time. You're way too nice! At least say you wanna deck me for it," Molly scoffed, then looked sharply to the others. "Alright, get off me already..! What do you think this is, Mary Moo Cow snuggle time..?" Her arms flailed to get everyone off her, then crossing along with her legs in a tough projection.

This must have been Molly's way of saying she felt guilty about being forgiven so easily. George chuckled softly. "Does this mean you'll apologize to Binky too?"

A sigh. "Fine. I'll consider that a fair punishment," Molly relented, and gave George a friendly punch on the shoulder. "For real, though, I think he was right about you. You are tough. Maybe I might like you after all." Whether he'd toughened up from being around Binky, his own merits, or a little bit of both, those boys were clearly good influences on each other.

George's eyes widened. "Woah. Really?" He hardly would have expected trying to make peace to have resulted in something like that.

All three of the others nodded back, Slink and Rattles having to agree with Molly's assessment.

"Yeah. You got some real nerves," the wolf boy noted, "I don't think I'd've hugged Molly if she was in a good mood normally." In chide, he elbowed the rabbit girl, only to get an affectionate noogie back.

The next time George saw the Tough Customers, they were talking to Binky in the halls, the bulldog boy looking shocked at what he was being told. Molly was giving him a pat on the shoulder and smiling, Rattles giving a pair of thumbs up, and Slink nodding along happily.

Binky looked around at a loss, clearly not expecting what must have been his friends extending an olive branch and hoping for an answer to materialize. His gaze did find George a ways away by the drinking fountain. George waved with a smile, glad the friends all seemed to be making up, but then puzzled when Binky turned and walked away. He looked at the others, only to get shrugs back.

At the beginning of this school year, George could have never expected to end up friends with the Tough Customers either, but well, here he was. Now at lunch, his table was full of them, though oddly enough, Binky had taken to distancing himself for some reason. Any need for protection was filled by the others, but any prying into George's hanging incident had died naturally thanks to his new associations. Now everyone was just curious how such a meek boy had ended up on good terms with all of the toughest kids in school. Most of them fourth graders.

Honestly, he didn't really have an answer for that one. He just said it kinda happened.

Buster was more sure than ever that aliens had a hand in it.

Binky, meanwhile, hadn't spoken to George since telling him to leave him alone.

He wanted to, but didn't want to at the same time. It was a good thing his protection services didn't seem needed anymore. Molly had told him how George had stood up to her and the others on his behalf, and how he'd been really impressive. She told about how she and the others now respected George. Binky couldn't believe it. He'd been the one trying to protect George from a sensitive situation, and George had gone and turned it around, throwing himself into an even worse situation to protect him from getting hurt by his friends. And it had worked!

Binky was beyond impressed. He was wowed. He wanted to tell George how he never should have bothered doing such a thing, how he didn't deserve it, and that he had no idea what he was really protecting. It was just a few stupid words that Binky couldn't spit out. George had fought for something he didn't even understand, and now was being touted as the guru kid of the Tough Customers. Amazing.

Binky wanted to say all of this, but now just the idea started getting him really sweaty and flustered and he didn't know what else to do to make it stop besides avoiding George altogether. If he tried to approach him, he was sure he'd only have further instincts to cut those reactions off with another mean joke. It was just how his emotions seemed to burst out of him, and they'd never been stronger.

From what he could tell, he really seemed to like George more than ever. And that was another thing he'd love to mention, but how could he even bring it up? At this point, if he didn't, he might end up pushing George away entirely, but if he did, he might accidentally lash out and push him away anyway. The moose boy seemed to be accepting the way he distanced himself, still sending Binky the occasional curious look, but not going out of his way to approach when Binky turned away. Maybe he thought Binky hated him for acting for him. Maybe he thought Binky felt weak to have to have George defend him.

Part of Binky didn't want to have to confront George in case the boy was still not ready to hear it in any way, on top of everything, but the way his own mind was reacting, Binky felt like he was on a time crunch to find that perfect moment to bring it up. He didn't want George to hate him, and he didn't want to take so long that he dropped himself from George's life on his own.

Some of his worries, he did tell his friends, but Molly still didn't see what the big deal was. If it was her, she said she'd just say it. In Binky's opinion, she was just saying that because she'd never been in love before. Rattles and Slink openly admitted to never having crushes, and therefore not even knowing what they'd do, which was even less helpful.

Molly again offered to just tell George for him, in a less rude way this time, but Binky declined. This was the last hurdle in conquering his own emotional expression, he felt, and he wanted to accomplish it himself. He had no trouble saying he liked George to them, so why was the idea of telling George to his face so terrifying?

Molly said that proved her point about how it really shouldn't be, earning an indignant scoff, but then Slink offered simply that maybe it was just because they weren't George.

It wasn't the most insightful comment, but it did allow Binky to connect the dots. He gasped, realizing that he trusted them, perhaps too much, so maybe practicing with someone a little more outside their circle would be a good place to start.

This is what led him to approaching Sue Ellen, the ginger cat girl who had once been the only kid bold enough to stand up to the Tough Customers, and who was now Binky's respected rival in everything from martial arts to improvisational jazz.

They weren't exactly friends, but they weren't strangers either, so it seemed like a nice stepping stone, until Binky had already hailed her after school.

"Hey, Binky. What's up?" Sue Ellen greeted as she slowed her steps, allowing the bulldog boy to catch up with her.

"Uh...not much," Binky responded, immediately changing his mind about this whole thing.

"O...kay..." Sue Ellen faltered, not sure why she'd been flagged down in that case. It had sounded like Binky had had something in particular on his mind. "Do you wanna come to my house, then? My dad just got this really cool shekere from his Yoruba friend in Nigeria, and he's going to teach me how to make one..!"

Sue Ellen came from a rather well-traveled family that moved around a lot, and sometimes said things that made absolutely no sense to Binky. This was one of those times.

"Your whatta who now..?"

Always happy to educate, the girl started with, "Shekere. It's a traditional West African instrument used by the Yoruba tribe, and the sound is made mainly by woven beads rattling...against..." Seeing Binky's eyelids drooping already, Sue Ellen sighed. "Or do you maybe just wanna go shoot some hoops?"

Perking, Binky declared, "Now you're talking my language..!" Maybe taking his mind off of things would help. So long as it wasn't educational.

Soon, he was losing to Sue Ellen in HORSE by a score of three games to one. He was nearing a fourth loss when the cat girl asked, "So Binky, are you sure nothing's on your mind? You seem a little out of it." Truthfully, though she would readily admit to being talented, their scores were usually a lot closer than this.

Indeed, though his goal had been to forget his problems and not use Sue Ellen as a method of practice after all, Binky could not help the idea nagging at the back of his mind. Nor could he stop thoughts of George floating through. He'd had one daydream while standing here, wondering if he could simply force the boy to accept his feelings, picturing a representation of that in George being dragged around in chains, and quickly realizing that was no way to go about it. Was he scared of rejection as much as making himself vulnerable?

Before he could stop himself, he blurted, "Have you ever had trouble talking to someone?"

Dribbling in place, Sue Ellen asked back, "You mean like...public speaking? Not really. Have you tried picturing them in their underwear? I hear that helps."

Binky blushed, eyes wide. "...I don't think that's going to help here." He shook his head. "No, I mean like...just one person in particular. Like you have something really important you wanna say to 'em, but you're afraid of how they'll react, or that it might be the wrong time, or just like...lots of stuff."

Quirking a brow, Sue Ellen jumped and took her shot. As it swished through the net and Binky caught her rebound, she wondered, "Like...breaking it to someone how much you don't like their new outfit or something..? I mean, I haven't really had a problem with that, either...I don't think Muffy's ever going to forgive me for telling her her Winter hat looked like a dead gopher." Especially not since Muffy herself was a gopher.

Binky groaned. Was everyone he knew so carelessly blunt? That was hardly a matching stressful scenario, either. Unfortunately, it looked like he was going to have to bite the bullet.

"No..! I mean like...say you had a crush on, oh, I dunno...George."

Switching spots so Binky could shoot, Sue Ellen quirked her brow again. "I wouldn't have a crush on George. If I did have a crush, I think Fern or Arthur might be more my type, but..." A small gasp. "Wait, do you mean you have a crush on George?"

Already astounded by the fact that Sue Ellen openly listed potential options for herself without hesitation, Binky then blushed again when the smaller girl caught on so quickly.

"N-No! That's not what I mean at all! Shut uuup..!" he insisted, gripping the basketball close.

"Aww," Sue Ellen smiled, seeing right through the denial, "That's cute. Is that why you've been hanging out with him?"

Groaning, Binky figured he might as well go through with the original plan now that he'd been caught. "Alright, fine," he relented, rolling his eyes. Alas, he'd learned that speaking to someone outside his closest friends was still embarrassing. He guessed he just didn't like being vulnerable. He took his shot and missed. "Maybe. And maybe I thought it'd be a good idea to work up some courage by telling someone else. But I don't think that's such a good idea anymore. And if you tell anyone, I'll clobber you!" A fist formed her way.

Unimpressed, Sue Ellen hemmed. "You know I can take you," she informed, seeing Binky falter to remember that yes, such threats would not work on a girl more than capable of taking him down. Sue Ellen went on, "Besides, you're not wrong. That's actually a very good idea."

Binky blinked. "It is?"

Picking up the ball from where it had bounced, Sue Ellen nodded. "Yes. Practicing tough topics with someone you trust always helps."

"Oh. Well I was thinking the idea was to try it on someone I didn't trust so much..."

"You don't trust me..?"

A meek hunch. "Well, I mean...not like...a lot a lot...I don't know you that well."

Sue Ellen rolled her eyes. "Well, you should. I assure you, I'm very trustworthy. I'll even help you roleplay if you want."

Blanching at the thought of going that in depth, Binky waved his hands negatively. "Can you just tell me how you can say all that stuff without getting embarrassed? Molly's like that too. But like how can you just say you might like Fern? Like what if she heard you say that? Wouldn't it be really awful?"

Sue Ellen blinked, honestly perplexed. "Why? What's so bad about being liked? Doesn't it make you feel good knowing someone likes you, or thinks you're special? If I liked someone enough to have a crush on them, I'd want to say it. I'd want someone to say it if they had a crush on me, too. It'd probably make me smile, whether or not I liked them back. And if I didn't, it's still easy enough to say thank you and let someone down kindly. In my experience, it's just best to be direct, because you never know how long you're going to be around someone."

Binky's jaw fell at the very first counter question. Sue Ellen already had such a good point. What was wrong with being liked? What was wrong with liking someone? And then the girl just kept going, spouting truths like they should have been the most obvious things in the world. Maybe they should have been, but in an effortless minute, Sue Ellen had just unraveled the knot Binky had been tying his mind into for several days. She was even more blunt than Mrs. MacGrady, offering straight insight with none of the riddles. Even the last part made sense. He'd already almost lost the moose boy.

"You make it sound so easy..." he marveled.

"That's why I suggested roleplay," Sue Ellen noted, "I know it doesn't come naturally to everyone, and practice is good." Putting the basketball down, she moved to push her frizzy side buns up over her ears to vaguely resemble protruding horns.

"See? I can be George. How would you tell me you liked me?"

Crossly putting his hands on his hips, Binky insisted, "That's just it! I don't like you..!"

Sue Ellen hemmed. "I mean pretend I'm George...I'm not really supposed to be him..!"

"Oh." Binky stared at her for a moment, considering, then waved a hand. "Nah. I'm just not seeing it. But hey, thanks for the advice. You made some real sense. Now give me the ball." He'd lost, so it was his turn to make a shot for her to match.

With another sigh, Sue Ellen corrected her hair. If Binky didn't want to try and practice, there wasn't much she could do about it. He had always been more about assertion. She hoped for George's sake the larger boy could pull a sensitive confrontation off better than he'd asked for advice.

That night, while Binky was brushing his teeth, he pondered the words Sue Ellen had given him, and pictured simply walking up to George. Just telling him plain and simple that everything he'd ever done to the boy was motivated out of liking him.

Watching his frothy reflection in the mirror, he opted for one bit of practice after all and sampled the phrase aloud. "George...I like you."

Sue Ellen made it sound easy, but as he thought about the particular context surrounding him and George, their turbulent history, he had his doubts. The words he'd spoken rang in his ears, sounding dumber with every second. Sue Ellen was the new kid. She'd only been here since the start of the year. She didn't have four years of history with anyone, much less anyone in Elwood City. Maybe that's what made things easy for her.

Now Binky imagined George hearing that one simple phrase and laughing at him. Laughing at him for having the audacity to think that he could ever take him seriously after taking Binky's abuse for so long. Asking if he really thought a week or so of acting nice to him was going to fix it all.

Even worse, what if Sue Ellen blabbed? She'd said she was trustworthy, but that's what anyone would say, wasn't it? Binky pictured George laughing at him for a different reason. He'd heard it through the grapevine already, and laughed at Binky for not having the courage to tell him himself, finding it ironic that he had no trouble bullying the moose boy, but couldn't even be the first to tell him he had any positive feelings toward him.

Everyone was laughing at Binky now. Literally everyone had known already, and Binky was the last to actually say something about it. Students and teachers alike laughed and pointed, surrounding Binky to mock his confirmation of his most vulnerable truth, surrounding and closing in on him, growing taller and taller. Their bodies and faces fused into each other as he spun in place, becoming a swirling mass of inescapable ridicule.

When he'd moved to get himself into bed, Binky didn't know, but he shot upright with a gasp, the sound of his alarm clock cutting through the nightmare of amorphous horror. Panting, he registered that it had become morning, and then dropped his head into his hands. One thing was for sure. If he didn't say something, this was never going to be over.

Binky spent the morning paranoid, jumping at every whisper in the halls. Sue Ellen could have told anyone. The Tough Customers might have even lost their patience and told someone. And then that someone could have told someone else, and then they told someone, and someone else, and someone else..!

He didn't see George before class, so Binky remained tense during Mr. Ratburn's lectures. This time it was George who passed him a curious glance, only to see Binky's spine stiffen and the larger boy turn away. Confused, George furrowed his brow and continued to wonder why he was clearly being avoided. Also, today Binky looked kind of sweaty.

It felt like it took ages to arrive, but eventually the lunch bell rang. Binky took his seat with the rest of the Tough Customers today, prompting welcome surprise until he started simply wolfing his food down at alarming speed.

"Uh...Binky? Are you okay?" Slink quirked an unseen brow.

Elbows on the table, Rattles was more visibly troubled. "Yeah, you got a screw loose or somethin'..? No hello..?"

"Fine. Never better. Hello!" Binky returned, speaking with stuffed cheeks and not making eye contact with anyone. Amid stunned silence, he quickly polished off his entire tray before finally looking up at George, who was seated across from him.

"You done with that? You're done, right?"

Taken aback, George glanced down at his own tray. This was the first thing Binky said to him all week?

"Um...no? Not really. I just started. Why, do you want it..?" In his experience, Binky usually only asked questions like that if he planned on stealing. George didn't really want to give it up, though.

Impatiently, Binky swirled his wrists. "Well, hurry up then..! I need to talk to you..!"

A blink. "What's stopping you? I'm right here." The others seemed to be thinking similarly.

Binky passed a glower around the table before landing it back on George.

"Maybe, but I think I feel a really important trip to the bathroom coming on..." Under the table, he kicked with each note of emphasis.

Slink flinched twice and let out a pair of 'ow's as each shin was assaulted before Binky found proper aim, and George took his turn hissing in pain.

"Fine, ahh-hh..!" Slink caved easily, curled on his side and rubbing both legs, "But I don't know what you need me for..!"

Binky slapped a palm over his face, accusing, "I don't. Your shins just got in the way."

"Oh...sorry."

Binky opted not to respond to the boy in the fetal position, instead sending George a fresh firm glare.

Taking the hint, George stood. "Well...um...now that you mention it...boy, that tapioca sure does go through ya..! I'll just...take this with me..?" Completely befuddled, he picked up his lunch and started heading out of the cafeteria with a small limp. Promptly, Binky followed.

Behind them, the remaining Tough Customers watched in mild wonder before Rattles looked down at Slink and scooted closer with a smirk, milk carton in hand. He picked Slink's milk up along the way and raised his hands. "Clear!" he called in jest, and applied both cartons to his friend's shins as makeshift ice packs, grinning at the way Slink squirmed and complained about the cold.

Molly put her head in her hand and tossed a french fry into her mouth, smirking as this quickly devolved into horseplay. The two goofballs in front of her always put on a pretty entertaining show.

Meanwhile, George had been able to shake his limp off within a few steps, but not his sense of impending dread. As glad as he was that Binky appeared to be talking to him again, he didn't know what to expect here. Was Binky mad at him for some reason? Last George knew, he'd fixed things up for him and his friends, and managed to break the ice with them himself, meaning they could all get along. Why that had seemed to make Binky retreat, he didn't know, but maybe he'd somehow inadvertently offended the bulldog boy, and now he was going to get an earful. Or worse. Maybe Binky was going to kick him out of the group. George had never had a proper, consistent friend group. Losing that would be terrible.

Shortly, the two found themselves in the boys' bathroom, and George supposed he was about to find out what he was in for. He set his tray down overtop one of the sinks and picked up one half of his sandwich to resume eating. He was still hungry. He hoped whatever this was was something he could effectively multitask.

Binky took a deep breath, something he instantly regretted doing in the boy's room, and took a moment to cough before starting over.

"Alright," he began matter-of-factly, "I'm sorry if this isn't the right time or whatever, but I can't take it anymore..! I have to clear this up before the rest of the student body does it for me..!"

Chewing, George quirked his brow. "Clear what up?" Was there some new rumor going around? He hadn't heard anything...

"I'll get to that, if you'll let me..!" Binky scoffed, "But everyone you've heard from is wrong!"

Only more confused, George pressed, "Heard what from? I have noticed you avoiding me. Is that what this is about?"

Looking to the ceiling, Binky shook his head in disbelief. "Is that what this is about, he asks...as if it could be anything-"

A flush sounded, and one of the stalls creaked open, a tall grey rabbit boy trying to sneak out of it and over to the door as invisibly as possible.

Binky pointed at him.

"This guy knows what I'm talking about! Right, kid? There are spies everywhere!"

Frozen, the kid was clearly uncomfortable, not wanting to be involved.

"I just wanna get back to my class..."

Changing his tune, Binky folded his arms and rolled his eyes.

"Ugh, whatever, spy. It's not like this is any of your business anyway. Just get outta here. But wash your hands first!"

Under Binky's authoritative gaze, the rabbit kid hastily obeyed, washing his hands promptly before eagerly darting from the room.

George quietly finished his sandwich half and sipped some milk while waiting.

With the extra party gone, Binky took the opportunity to check for anyone else, having forgotten to initially, before dragging the garbage can to block the door.

Perturbed by the extra layer of paranoid security, George took his turn to speak up first. "Binky, I really don't think you have to worry about spies. But I've been worried about you." Seeing Binky look at him, he added, "You've been acting super squirrely lately, and I've been concerned. But I didn't wanna pry in case it was something really personal. Or somehow my fault." He glanced to the floor. "Is it? Did I make you mad? Did I overstep somehow in how I spoke to your friends..? I just didn't want you to have to think you needed to watch me every second...I wanted to show you that you didn't ruin my life. That I can handle things."

Shoulders going slack, Binky realized that his worries were showing far more than he could have expected, and he'd caused George grief again. Poor George had been spending all this time worrying about him, when Binky had been worrying about the world's reaction to a single sentence. How George would react to that sentence. But really, it was George they were talking about here. George, the sweetest, softest, most empathetic, kindest kid Binky knew. If anyone could make this the easiest thing in the world to say, it was that boy. If anyone deserved to hear those words, it was that boy. It would feel better to say it.

Binky sighed.

"I like you, George."

Looking up, George blinked, then smiled and let out his own breath. "Oh. Well that's a relief. I thought you hated me all of a sudden. Or got scared that I hated you, and I've been wanting to tell you that I already forgave you, and-"

Binky cut him off, feeling a nest of nerves writhing in his stomach. He could have played it off, but he needed to clarify, "Yeah, okay, but I mean it..! I've been avoiding you because I really like you..!"

George paused, registering for a moment, but then his eyes inflated as he took Binky's meaning. "Oh-!" That was a bit different..! In a flash, his face felt hot and he tugged his collar nervously. Not a turn he expected this to take! His mind reeled a bit, trying to settle on an emotion, anything he could use to respond a bit more intelligently than a single syllable.

Looking down at the tile now, Binky felt his own face burn. It still felt embarrassing, but in a better way, he felt like a massive weight had left his chest.

"Yeah," he had to fill the silence, "I always have. I'm sorry I had such a hard time figuring out my own feelings, and how to express them and junk, and I don't expect you to just forgive me for the way I've treated you since Kindergarten, but...yeah. You're a really amazing kid, George, and the way you went behind my back to confront Molly for my sake, it's just...that was the single most bravely underhanded act of kindness I've ever heard of..! And all for me after I hurt you so badly..!" Sniffing, Binky lifted his forearm to wipe his eyes on his sleeve. "I just couldn't stand it anymore..! You are definitely my favorite person ever. I don't deserve a friend as awesome as you..!"

A pang of sympathy resonated in George's chest, and it motivated him into finding a few words.

"N-No...I get it. Emotions are scary. I'm super shy and have had problems with them for forever."

With another sniff, Binky looked up, still trying to dab his eyes clean with his cuff.

"Yeah..."

He knew that about George, but the way the moose boy was referencing it now to comfort him was strangely effective.

"And...I don't know about deserving or anything...I think friendship just kind of...happens. I've been a little confused about you in the past, but...whenever we've been friends, it's been fun. And it's...actually kind of nice to have a solid stance on your opinion about me for once." A small, nervous chuckle.

This was returned softly.

"Yeah..."

Then a thick, awkward silence as they both stepped into their own heads for a bit. George continued to eat his lunch.

"Hey, Binky..?"

"Yeah..?"

"Even if I didn't like you the same, I definitely would want to stay friends...but is it okay if I'm okay with you liking me..? And would be okay to like you too..?"

Binky's eyes blinked wider. "W-Woah, what? Really? You know you don't have to say that to make me feel better, right? I'm not gonna force you."

"Well, no..." George acknowledged, "It's just...hearing you say that kinda...makes a lot of things make sense." All of the confusion he'd had about Binky's hot and cold attitude towards him, and all of the ways he'd been picked on, when put into the context of Binky figuring out he had a crush, it all fell into place. And with the confusion cleared, George could understand every action in a whole new light. A kind of endearing light. "And I meant it when I said being with you is fun. Now that all this is in the open, if you won't explode at me anymore, I can see liking you more like that."

Another brief silence.

"You're serious?"

Gripping the hem of his shirt, George nodded bashfully. "If that's okay..."

A swell of joyous glee formed near instantly in Binky's chest. He couldn't believe it! It was more than he ever could have hoped for in telling George his feelings! In his glee, Binky couldn't contain himself and rushed forward to squish the smaller boy in a bear hug. His eyes were misting all over again.

Suffocating, George's eyes bugged once more as his arms went at odd angles. Binky had one arm hooked under both his armpits while the other was reached to grab one of his antlers, pulling their cheeks to smoosh together as the moose boy was lifted off the ground.

As silly as the sentimental rush to hold him had been, George found himself blushing anyway. It actually felt kind of nice as he adjusted to it. Binky was super warm and soft, and the hold on his antler was strangely welcome. Classmates had poked them curiously before with his permission, but only now was he confirming that he kind of liked them touched in such a way, especially after Binky started rubbing that hand in a natural sort of affectionate manner. It accompanied a nuzzling cheek.

As he rubbed, Binky noticed he was doing it too and noted, "Hey, y'know, I like how your antlers feel. They're all fuzzy." It was nice to take a touch without being aggressive about it.

Hearing that from the other boy in such a context darkened George's cheeks further. "Th-Thanks. Everyone says that...only they don't usually touch them so much...or while hugging me like this..."

Realizing how tightly he was squeezing the smaller boy without even asking, Binky startled and loosened his hold.

"Sorry! Did I make you uncomfortable?"

"N-No..!" George rushed to assure, and somewhat embarrassed to admit it, continued, "In fact...can you not stop? Actually? You're kind of cozy."

Both taken aback and relieved, Binky blinked at the other for a second, but then brushed it off.

"Works for me..!" Deep down, he would call himself a snuggler when it came to certain things he liked. Stuffed animals, pets, his baby sister, his clarinet sometimes...being allowed, nay, asked to snuggle the boy he liked seemed fair enough.

A thud at the door interrupted any further reveling in personal discoveries, followed by an older man's familiar befuddled voice. "Oof! What in the world..?"

Releasing George, Binky hurried to move the trash can and open the door for their principal. "Sorry, Mr. Haney..! Forgot I put that there."

Rubbing his head in puzzle at this statement, Mr. Haney entered the bathroom, assuring, "Not to worry, young man, I'm sure it happens to the best of us...eh, George, why are you eating your lunch in the restroom?" This too seemed out of place to the man.

Glancing to his half-finished tray, George realized that yes, this entire situation likely seemed unusual to the principal. Offering a smile, he excused, "Oh, I'm just...trying to stay active while I eat..! You can never get in enough steps, right, sir?" Picking up the tray, he started heading for the door. "Don't worry, I was just heading back to the cafeteria now."

"Oh, yes...well, it is good to stay active...hm." Watching the two boys go, Mr. Haney just kept scratching his head. "The things children come up with these days...well, it's nice to see such creativity going into staying fit, I suppose." Content with this reasoning, he put it out of mind and went about his business with a happy hum.

Meanwhile, George and Binky shared a side glance as they walked down the hall, stifling a need to laugh, but then failing to contain it and sharing a burst of nervous giggles.

"Busted..!" George declared.

"Walked in on by the principal, right in the middle of a moment...I guess that's one way to do it," Binky agreed, running a clawed hand down his cheek. Talk about lousy timing! "Maybe the bathroom wasn't the best idea."

"I dunno, I guess it makes the whole thing kinda memorable," George tutted, "At least he didn't catch us hugging." They might have been able to talk their way out of that still, as Mr. Haney was famously kind of dopey, but there was also a chance of having to sit through an incredibly awkward lecture on the types of touching and what was okay at school.

"Heh heh...yeah. Sorry. That was on me." Looking away, Binky scratched his cheek absently.

Eyelids lowering, George looked coyly off in the other direction. "Yeah, but I was the one who told you not to stop..."

Binky's eyes flicked back toward George in surprise, and sensing this, George looked back at him before letting his gaze drop to Binky's hand. Though feeling a flutter of apprehension, he also felt an emboldened sense of excitement, and let one of his own hands leave his lunch tray to take the larger boy's. His eyes slid back up as he offered Binky a smile.

Binky's brow went up as he was caught entirely off guard. Jeez...that was forward. George must have really meant it about liking him back. The moose boy didn't even let go when they approached the cafeteria. No doubt people noticed.

Flattered, amazed, feeling like he definitely didn't deserve to have the boy next to him in his life, Binky formed his own shakier smile and walked forward with the other. Inside he was kicking himself for not putting the pieces together sooner, and for wasting so much time pushing George away, right to the brink of losing him. Thank goodness he'd ended up salvaging the situation, and now he was going to to do his very best to spend every day making sure he did the complete opposite of pushing him away. Binky felt like he had very much conquered his final fear, and the resulting prize was just too good.

As the pair returned to the table, the Tough Customers certainly noticed the mutual link between the two. Rattles and Slink were on the floor, full-on wrestling now, the wolf boy holding the thinner party under him in a headlock.

"And Nurse Rattles delivers twenty CC's of pain, directly to the patient's corteeeex~!"

Molly snorted. "The cortex is part of the brain, doofus. And I think Slink's is too numb to feel any pain anyway."

"Yeah!" Slink shot smugly, despite his obvious disadvantage, "I'm so brain damaged, I'm immune!" This did catch up to him and he let out a distasteful 'heeey', but not before his friends had already cracked up at his self-admission of idiocy.

Wiping mirth from his eye and giving Slink a playful, sympathetic ruffle to his shaggy hair, Rattles looked up to find George and Binky taking their seats.

"Eyyy. And the roving Romeos return," he beamed, "I take it by the out-and-out, if my eyes don't deceive me, that signs point to a positive outcome."

"Uck. Quit trying to be Wordy Guy, Rattles, it's so not you!" Molly complained.

"Well, excuuuuse me, Princess Vocabulary!"

Ignoring that, Molly turned her head a small degree to face the arrivals. "But yeah. Like he said. Good talk?"

"You betchya!" Binky confirmed, taking a one-eighty on his stance of nervousness now that he'd managed to brave the odds. He had George, and so he was going to be proud of that fact! Holding their hands up, and upsetting the bite the smaller boy was in the middle of trying to take, Binky declared, "I owned romance! We're together now, and anyone who doesn't like it can go suck a lemon!"

"Great," Molly said as dryly as ever, "Glad that's finally settled. Hey Antlers, Binky may have scarfed down all his betting goods, but what do you say? Cookie on Slink to make a comeback?" Leaning on one elbow, she flipped the offered cookie and caught it in her hand like an oversized coin.

"O-Oh! Um...sure!" George had never taken part in lunchroom betting, but hearing an inclusive invite like that, he couldn't say he wasn't enticed. With a beam, he pushed his own dessert forward to form a pool. "Should I add my pudding..? I already ate some."

A snort from the redheaded rabbit. "Only if you're really confident in Slink...I don't even like tapioca. I didn't get one, so you'd just be hoping to get it back."

"Oh. R-Right." Shyly, George retracted the notion. Still, he turned and offered the pinned boy a supportive fist. "You got this, Slink..!"

Dismayed at first that it looked like George did not in fact have that much faith in him, the scrawny rabbit boy then smiled when he was given a supportive cheer. "Wow...I've never had my own cheering section..!"

"Like it's gonna help you," Rattles scoffed, "Prepare to have your suplex suplexed!"

Unseen, but audible in her tone of voice, Molly rolled her eyes. "A suplex isn't even a body part! It's just the wrestling move. You, of all people, should know that, Wrestle Head..!"

Brow lowering in annoyance, Rattles challenged, "You announce the match then, if you're so smart!"

"Gladly." With a smirk, Molly formed a fist and half stood, half knelt up on the wooden bench, barking into her pretend microphone, "We now join Doofus A and Doofus B live in the fourth quarter of the Lunchroom Lockdown, an entire stack of cookies on the line! Can Doofus B make a comeback before Mrs. MacGrady notices the scuffle and gets everyone sent to the principal's office? Only time will tell, but they'd better get wrestling, because once that lunch bell rings, it rings for theeeeee!" A second fist came overhead as she did a fair impression of a hype announcer's growl.

Greatly encouraged, though having minor complaints about their wrestling names, Rattles and Slink grabbed for one another and began scuffling energetically, rolling around on the floor.

Slightly apprehensive about the intense nature of this kind of play, George did still recognize it as play and simply tried to appreciate the rougher style his friends enjoyed. With a glance to the boy beside him, he noted, "Um, Binky? If you don't mind...my arm is getting kind of tingly."

Having not moved since announcing his definite security in his new relationship status, arms still in their brandished poses, Binky was just a bit perplexed and perhaps a bit dismayed at how the others had paved right over his bold and stunning declaration. It seemed nobody thought it was nearly as grand a conclusion as he did, nor did they care to offer him any accolades for the small speech. The world didn't shatter, and it likely wouldn't have if he'd gotten turned down either.

Huh.

He'd really been making a big stink out of nothing all this time, hadn't he?

Relaxing at last, Binky shrugged and shifted, putting an arm around George and pulling him in close, rooting for his rambunctious cohorts to clobber each other and encouraging the moose boy to get swept up in the thrill of it. The way George timidly offered a slow set of reserved, uncertain claps was adorable.