So, the last chapter of a 5 chapter group. Some stuff is gonna happen. And we're gonna figure out what the cliffhanger is.

And! I'm gonna make up for no Blush in the last chapter by having Blush here :)

Enjoy the Blush fluff...before Stuff happens...

(ooooh that rhymed haha)

Enjoy! :)

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"I don't believe it!" Mush cries happily as he opens his front door.

"What is it, honey? A million dollars? Gold? Pumpkie pie?" Kid Blink calls.

"No, you dum-dum!" Mush calls back to him reproachfully. Maybe they're in their late 20s, but that doesn't mean they don't let out their childish immaturity from time to time. "It's Race and Spot!"

"Race and Spot!" In a matter of moments, Kid Blink is standing next to Mush to welcome in their unexepcted guests. "Hiya, fellas!"

Race grins. "Hi Blink. Sorry I ain't a million dollars or pumpkin pie."

Kid Blink hugs Race. "You're worth more to me than either of those things. Ten times over, in fact."

Race grins and hugs him back.

Mush blinks warmly at Spot. "And how have you been, Spot?"

Spot smiles. "Having an adventure."

After Blink and Race finish hugging, Mush hugs Race, and then they welcome Race and Spot into their cozy little living space. "What brings you here today?"

"Well, we need some place to spend the night," Race explains, "and I've been meaning to make my rounds. So here I am, accomplishing both at once."

Mush slaps Race lightly on the arm. "There! I knew you had an angle!"

"I'm in this for the cooking I've heard so much about," Spot jokes.

"Same," Blink winks.

Mush blinks and turns to his lover. "Louis-"

"Uh oh, the real name!" Race's eyes widen, grinning at the chaos. He's proud to say that he played a part in it.

And Spot stands next to him, grinning too. His perfect partner in crime.

"So, what have you been up to?" Race asks as they all settle down.

"Ah, you know, same old, same old," Blink answers breezily. It does not go unnoticed that his eye follow Mush lovingly as Mush goes to check on the food in the oven. "But you've been the ones moving around for a week. So why don't you tell me what you've been up to?"

Before Race can respond, Mush calls out, "Wait, I wanna know too! Come help me set the table and we can talk about it over dinner!"

And so they all get up, Blink complaining about his joints, Mush swatting him with a towel saying he's too young to complain about his joints, Race and Spot actually helping while Mush and Blink bicker lovingly.

I hope this is what Race and I look like when we're their age, Spot thinks dreamily as they sit at the table, the loving couples on either side of the table, Race's knee brushing against his. Judging by the vibrations Spot feels, Race must be bouncing his leg that is not touching Spot's. Race has explained over the years that he needs to bounce his leg sometimes, and he can't concentrate if he doesn't. Spot had said that he was okay with that, just as long as Race doesn't rattle Spot along with him. And so this has become Race's way of doing both, by letting his leg not touching Spot bounce.

Honestly, Spot hasn't been bothered by it that much recently. Come to think of, he's stopped noticing when it happens and notices more when it's absent; he has come to learn that if Race is still, then something most likely isn't right.

And so Race recounts what they've been up to, Blink has made some bad jokes every now and then, resulting in Mush flicking a pea at him, making them all laugh.

And so the banter goes on.

And Spot smiles, happy that he's a part of it all.

And that night, as he and Race cuddle on Blink and Mush's couch, all he can think is, I'm so lucky to have this.

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Uh oh.

Today is going to be one of those days.

Race can already feel it.

He blinks his eyes open wearily, feeling off.

It takes a moment for him to re-orient himself; having spent the past few nights in different places, it's sometimes hard to remember just where he is. That's when he remembers that they surprised Louis and Mush last night. And sure enough, as he raises his head, he can already see Mush in the kitchen. He inhales the lovely smell of the breakfast-to-be.

As much as his body loathes him for it, he forces himself to at least sit up.

He's had times like this before, and unfortunately, he's sure that they're going to happen again.

Race doesn't know why it happens, or how it happens. Sometimes, some small detail will set him off. Sometimes he wakes up and immediately something is off. This is one of those times.

But he's had some experience now. And he's no longer a little seven year old or thirteen year old drenched in sorrow. He knows how to handle himself.

I hope.

He tells himself off for thinking that.

Come on. You might feel better after some water and food. No, it hasn't always gotten rid of the problem, but it has certainly always helped.

"Breakfast is ready!" Mush calls out to them, springing Race from his staring contest in the wall as he was deep in thought...his heart breaks a little as the mood he's in has put a filter on Mush's cheerful call, making it grate on his ears and nerves.

He closes his eyes, takes a deep breath in, deep breath out.

Mush is acting like he normally does.

There's no reason for Race to take it out on him.

He may have a raincloud over his head, but that's no reason to dampen Mush's sunshine.

He startles as Spot's arms tighten around his middle.

"Tell'em ta gimme five mo' minutes," Spot mumbles drowsily.

Race chuckles. "But ya don't want no cold food, do ya?"

Spot grumbles, getting Race to chuckle more.

See? It might not be such a bad day after all.

But then Kid Blink starts the conversation with "So, what are ya plannin' on doing today?" and suddenly Race feels like he's one second away from exploding.

He closes his eyes and bites back a retort. For some reason, small questions like these have alwyas bothered them, though he can't for the life of him imagine why. Blink is just asking a standard question. A practical question. So why does it set Race off so much?

Luckily, Spot swoops in. "Well, we don't have a set plan, but we know that we want to go back to the Brooklyn docks."

"What's there?" Mush asks curiously.

Race digs his fingernails into his palms to keep from speaking rudely. He hates himself for wanting to speak harshly. This conversation is just going too slow. On a normal day he might be a little impatient, but today it feels like every dialogue is another nail on a chalkboard.

However, he has learned that speaking faster and harsher won't make anyone happy and just drag the conversation out even further, so he swallows down his word, feelings, and breakfast.

"We met this awesome kid named Emiliano," Spot answers Mush. "Do you wanna tell them about him, Race?"

Race sits up a little taller, bad mood finally easing away. "Yea-yeah. So a couple days ago we met this kid..."

And so he tells them about Emiliano, and Fabrizio Sosa, hands gesticulating. He can feel his mouth curl up in a grin.

This is good. Race likes this.

He hopes he stays like this the rest of today.

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Through much of their walk to Brooklyn, they walk in comfortable silence, saying something every now and then. 

But then the storm cloud comes over Race once again and he gets lost in his thoughts, lips pursed. He can feel any words he was keeping in his mouth slide back down through his throat.

Spot glances at Race as they walk across the bridge, breaking their silence that has been existing for most of this walk. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

Race tilts his head away from Spot, not stopping his pace. "'Bout what?"

Unfortunately, Spot is really attuned to Race. "You're feeling something different right now. I noticed it this morning too."

Race's fingers curl into a fist. I don't think I'm getting out of this one. "I don't know."

"You...don't know what I'm talking about, or you don't know what's going on?" Spot asks gently.

Race stops, body stiffening. Then his shoulders sag in defeat. "I...don't know what's going on with me."

Spot stops walking. "Wanna sit down and talk about it?"

Race purses his lips and looks towards the ground, contemplating. A minute goes by. Spot waits patiently.

"Sit and talk I guess," Race grumbles.

"Come here." Spot takes Race's hand in his, and after leaving the bridge, he finds a shaded alleyway for them to talk in peace.

Spot's eyes are wide with empathy as they sit down. "Now, tell me as best as you can."

Race sighs. "I wish I knew. It's just...another one of those days where I just feel...icky."

"Any idea what could have caused it?"

"I said I don't know," Race snaps, then he flinches as he realizes what he just did. "I'm sorry, I-"

"It's fine," Spot interrupts in a clipped tone.

Race deflates. "I'm sorry, Spot. I didn't mean to do that. And that's no excuse. I shouldn't have done that in the first place."

"Hey, it's okay," Spot assures him gently. "I get it."

Race sighs. "No, I...you shouldn't always have to be alright when I...do things like that. I know that I don't like it when people snap at me. So I know that it probably does not feel good for you, 'specially since...we're together."

"You're right, I don't like it either," Spot responds slowly, picking out his words carefully one at a time. "I don't like it when you snap at me. Or when anyone snaps at me. But I also know that it can be hard to hold on to patience some times. And that there are some days where you can't help but not feel right. And I also know that if I snap back, it won't help anything. In fact, all it could do is make things worse."

Race exhales deeply, and looks appreciateivly at Spot. "How are you such a wonderful human being? What did I do to deserve someone like you?"

Spot smiles. "You deserve someone who can love you wholeheartedly, no matter what your disposition for the day is. As for being perfect..." he smirks. "I was born perfect, in case you didn't know."

"Get out of here!" Race waves an arm at him, but he's chuckling too.

"So, anything I can do to help with your mood?" Spot asks.

Race grits his teeth regretfully. "I wish. I wish there was a cure-all or something you could do...but the thing is, I still don't have the answer yet."

"And that's okay," Spot assures him. "We have time to figure it out. How about, for now, you try not to let anger get a hold of you, and I work on my patience?"

Race glances at Spot. "I think you have a leg up in this race."

"Well, contradictory to popular belief, I'm actually not perfect," Spot responds in a joking tone, then more seriously, "I wanna do right by you. And to do that, I gotta be patient. That's what you always said, right? That the people you were closest to in the lodge were the ones who were patient with you?"

Race nods, thinking back to those years. "Yeah. Yeah they were." He glances at Spot. "I'm really glad I have you, Spot."

Spot smiles. "I'm glad I have you too." He opens his arms. "Come here."

They embrace for a good long while.

"Would having some of the best pane cheer you up maybe?" Spot murmurs in his ear, eyeing Moretti's.

Race grins. "Actually? I think that might do the trick."

And so they pull away, and then walk to their favorite Brooklyn restaurant hand in hand.

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Awwww cute ending.

Do y'all ever just have those days were the vibes just aren't right? And you can't fix them?

Love how even after 3 1/2 years I think I'm writing Spot the same way, which is I'm giving him all the traits I see as a walking green flag/the perfect partner haha.

As a neurodivergent person, I don't always understand the importance of small talk. And sometimes, when I'm having an off day, every single small talk question is like a nail on a chalkboard. The questions just make me want to explode or set something on fire sometimes (when my feelings are extra intense). So I incorporated that here, and how Mush and Blink unknowingly and inadvertently asked small talk questions that set Race off.

Spot here is like. The perfect human being. And like I know people poke fun of characters in fanfics that speak like they've been in therapy for ten years but shhhhh they're actually just really emotionally mature 19 year olds shhhh don't worry about it.

What did you think? :)

Please, no homophobia/tranpshobia/aphobia, profanities directed at other users, hate etc in the comment section at all times.

Best,

~Your Beloved Author (who honestly wants to cry some times over how beautiful nature is)