The hangout wrapped up around late six in the evening, mostly because Travis had a curfew and Penguin was his ride.

It had been an awesome time, though. After she stopped trying to smack him to death, they spent the rest of the afternoon talking and joking and playing one of his board games. At some point, things got heated between Ash and Penguin, and they started their own pillow fight, which was honestly a little terrifying.

While he and Penguin fought like kids messing around, she and Ash fought like they were actually trying to kill each other. It was brutal. When Sal finally worked up the nerve to ask why they were fighting like that, they brushed it off as 'normal girl bonding,' which didn't make it any less scary to watch.

Ignoring the chaos, he and Travis actually ended up talking while the others egged the girls on. Travis admitted, in a quiet and halting way, that his mom had left that fateful day in middle school. He didn't go into detail, but he did say he took it out on Larry when he shouldn't have — and how everything had just spiraled from there.

Penguin, apparently, had been the one to break through all of that. He said she wouldn't leave him alone, no matter how much he tried to push her away at first. Little by little, she'd gotten him used to the idea of having someone to talk to again. He wasn't exactly gushy about it, but the way he described her made it clear she'd become the person who didn't let him go too far. She let him have his moments, sure, but if he crossed a line or started lashing out without reason, she'd be right there to yank him back by the metaphorical scruff. Maybe having a little brother gave her an edge when it came to keeping someone in check, he said.

Somewhere in that conversation, Travis also managed to slip in at least four thinly veiled threats about what would happen if Larry ever hurt her. He had to admit — he was a little impressed.

He really should've known Travis would pick up on what was happening between him and Penguin right away. The guy already knew how she felt, so all it probably took was catching Larry staring at her for a little too long or laughing at one of her jokes a little too hard to put the pieces together.

He almost felt cheated by how fast Travis caught on. Like, come on, he hadn't even said anything yet.

But of course he knew. Of course he did.

It probably didn't help that at some point, Penguin pulled back from the board game to let Travis play and spent the rest of the time behind him, braiding his hair without a word.

And god, if he could purr, he would've been doing it the moment her nails started raking through his hair to section it out. He barely held himself back from melting completely into her touch. He kept getting side-eyes from the rest of his friends, which told him his face probably gave away just how much he was enjoying it, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Not when her fingers kept brushing his scalp like that.

In a moment of weakness, he had leaned back and let himself fall on her a little. She squeaked — god, what a pretty sound — and her arms wrapped around him like instinct, holding his weight.

"Larry!" she had hissed, grumbling almost immediately about how heavy he was and how she wasn't done with his hair, but her voice was softer than it should've been. More flustered than annoyed.

All he could focus on was the fact that when he looked up, her face was right there, pouty and flushed and impossibly cute.

"You good there, Johnson?" Todd had asked, barely holding back a laugh as he took his turn.

"Peachy," Larry muttered, not bothering to sit up, even though he was pretty sure he looked like an idiot with his head against her chest. He saw the exact moment Penguin realized just how close they were. Her breath caught, and then she flushed deeper and looked back toward the game.

Now. He's seen and taken note of her scattered moles. Dark little dots, not quite freckles, scattered on her cheeks. He's seen one on top of her hand, and she had a couple on her forearms.

But this one was right under her jaw.

And he doesn't want to talk about what he thought when he saw it. How soft her skin must be there, how he wanted to trace it with his thumb, how easy it would be to lean up and—

Nope.

Absolutely not.

He grabbed that thought, strangled it, and shoved it into the furthest corner of his mind. It'd probably come back to haunt him later, when he was lying in bed and trying to sleep, but that was a problem for Future Larry.

After the board game wrapped up — Ash crushed them all, of course — someone dug out a deck of cards. The rest of the time turned into a chaotic mess of slapjack and bullshit. Todd kept catching them all in lies, and Sal was weirdly cutthroat with how fast he smacked the pile.

Neither Travis nor Penguin knew how to play, though, so they mostly sat back and watched. He had to admit it was kind of funny seeing Travis actually relax for once, laughing instead of scowling, kicking his feet out and leaning back like the world wasn't out to get him. He guessed that was Sal's and Penguin's influence.

Then Travis' watch beeped, and they had to go.

For goodbyes, Penguin walked up to each of them and leaned in to press her cheek against theirs — a soft little semi-kiss that felt way too casual and affectionate for his brain to handle. He could tell she was nervous when she was getting to him, because her hands fidgeted at her sides, and her smile wobbled just a little.

It was almost enough to make him freeze and back out, but she moved on to Sal first and her glasses smacked against his prosthetic loud enough to wake the dead.

She jerked back immediately, a hysterical giggle escaping as she grabbed Sal's shoulders. "Oh my god, Sally, 'm so sorry."

"It's fine," Sal assured her quickly, though he was obviously trying not to laugh.

Todd wasn't so kind. He wheezed hard enough that he had to clutch his side, and Ash was right there with him, nearly falling over from how much she was laughing. Even Travis was covering his mouth with a hand to muffle his chuckles.

Larry was too distracted laughing at them to realize what was coming.

By the time she stepped up to him, there was no backing out. She reached up without hesitation, grabbing where his neck met his shoulder to tug him down just enough — and then she leaned up to press that soft goodbye kiss against his cheek.

His brain stalled.

It was over in seconds, but all he could focus on was the warmth of her face against his, the light press of her skin. He was definitely as red as a tomato, but she just pulled back like nothing had happened. Of course, that was before she realized and flushed, quickly turning to follow Travis to the door without sparing them another glance.

"Bye-bye y'all!" she had called over her shoulder, waving as the door swung shut behind them.

And that's where they were now, because the second that door closed his friends pounced.

"Laaaarrryyy~" Sal practically sang, dragging out his name like he was announcing a scandal.

He whipped around to glare at him. "Don't start—"

"Oh, we're starting," Ash cut in, already grinning like she'd just won the lottery. "God, you two were all over each other!"

"What?! No, we weren't!" he tried to defend, heat flooding his face as he stepped back, only to bump into Todd, who gave him a knowing look over his glasses.

"You did seem rather… physically affectionate," he added, far too calm about it. "Especially when she was braiding your hair."

"I— That doesn't mean anything!" Larry spluttered, gesturing wildly as Ash cackled.

"Sure it doesn't," she teased, smirking. "You only sat there making heart eyes at her the whole time."

"I was not making heart eyes!"

"Oh, you absolutely were," Sal said, backing her up without hesitation. "You even leaned back on her."

"And you let her hold you," Todd added. "Like a koala."

He groaned and shoved his hands into his pockets. "You guys are the worst."

But that just made Ash double over laughing again, and Sal yanked him down to throw an arm around his shoulders, eyes crinkled in a grin.

"You're welcome," Sally said, not even trying to hide how smug he was.

"Yes, yes," he huffed, throwing his hands up. "You offered up my room and made Penguin come over and woohoo, she fought me and braided my hair and we spent the whole time together— you're sooo smart…"

The more he talked, the hotter his face felt, and by the end of it, he could barely look at any of them without feeling like he was going to combust.

Larry needed to escape. Immediately.

He turned sharply to stalk back to his room — ready to huff about their teasing in peace — only to freeze mid-step. Because there, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed and the biggest grin on her face, was his mom.

His stomach dropped. "Oh my god."

"Hi, sweetie," Lisa said, still grinning. "So… did I hear something about heart eyes?"

"No," He said — or, well, squeaked. And cracked. His voice picked a terrible time to betray him.

He tensed when he heard footsteps and turned just in time to see his traitor friends slipping out the door. Ash even had the audacity to wave at him before disappearing behind the door with the others.

Cowards.

He spun back to his mom, already feeling his face heating up again. "How— how long have you been standing there?"

Lisa tilted her head innocently, which made him even more nervous. "Long enough."

Oh god.

Did she catch him leaning into her like a giant lovesick cat? Or was she there to see the way he practically melted into her hands when she braided his hair?

Or — God forbid — did she see Penguin kiss his cheek goodbye?

Larry swallowed hard. "You didn't… see anything, right?"

Her grin widened. "I saw enough."

"Mom—"

"You picked a polite and cute one."

His ears burned. "Mom!"

"I already have you guys' wedding planned."

"Ma!"

He choked on his next breath and immediately turned on his heel, heading for his room so fast it was almost a run, though not quite fast enough to count as one. That would only make it worse. He could already hear her stifled laughter following him, so he wasn't about to give her more ammo. Still, he couldn't help but speed-walk like his life depended on it, practically slamming his door shut behind him as if that would keep her teasing out.

"You'll have to tell me about that lovely girl during dinner!" Lisa called from outside his door before her footsteps retreated down the hall.

He could never show his face outside again.

Groaning, he dragged himself to the bed and flopped down like a corpse, yanking his pillow under his face to muffle the scream he absolutely had to let out.

Seriously. Couldn't he get a grip?

He liked her — a lot. He could admit that now without feeling like he might die, but this? Spiraling every time she so much as looked at him? He wasn't built for this. And his friends sure as hell weren't going to let him live it down anytime soon. He'd be lucky if they didn't start calling her his girlfriend right to her face just to see what would happen.

At this rate, they weren't going to stop until he actually told her.

He sat up with a sigh, letting the pillow drop to his lap as his hands reached up to tug at the braids she'd left in his hair.

Her fingers had been so careful, so gentle. He huffed out a laugh, the memory making his chest squeeze. She didn't even ask before grabbing him, didn't think twice about pushing her fingers into his hair and tugging him closer. Like it was normal. Like it was just… them.

And maybe it was.

She was touchy with Travis too, he knew that, but it wasn't the same. She hadn't gone out of her way to play with his hair. She hadn't grabbed him and practically dragged him down to her level just to press her cheek to his.

Larry stilled, braid halfway unraveled.

God, she kissed him.

It didn't matter that it wasn't really a kiss — it was a goodbye thing, a casual thing, and he doesn't think her lips even touched him — but it was close enough. And she didn't even hesitate, didn't seem embarrassed about it at all until afterward when she realized how close they'd been and turned red. And then she'd run off, leaving him with his brain in pieces.

He dropped the braid completely, scrubbing his hands over his face with a sigh.

Nope. No more thoughts. He was cutting himself off from thoughts about her for today.

Not that it mattered when his brain decided right then was the perfect time to flashback and remind him how it felt when she sat on him during their 'fight'— her weight pressed against him, thighs snug around his sides—

"Fuck!"

He shoved his hands into his hair and tugged hard, like that might yank the memory out of his head completely.

It didn't.

Instead, it just played on repeat, looping like a broken tape and making his stomach churn in ways he really didn't want to unpack right now. He fell back on the bed again, staring up at the ceiling as he tried to will it away — tried to think hard about literally anything else.

Homework.

Groceries.

The weird smell in the basement hallway last week.

Sal's stupid fucking prosthetic clunking against Penguin's glasses.

Her legs around him.

Whining, he flopped his pillow back over his face as heat crept up the back of his neck.

Stupid body.

He'll need to deal with that before dinner.