"That boy did not knock a girl up you fucking idiots!" Juno squeaked, looking at them in disbelief.

"You're right, you're right, we're just overreacting." Brennen nodded, slumping back on his seat. "But like, what if he lied to me about having a brother?"

Juno pouted playfully, "Aw, poor Bren Bren is sad that his little boyfriend lied?"

"Aw, poor baby." Bradlee joined in the teasing. Brennen rolled his eyes and huffed, crossing his arms,

"Y'all are a pain in the ass."

The girl of the group chuckled and hit his arm lightly. "Why don't you just go ask him if it's bothering you so much?"

"Because it's weird! 'Hey Colby, I saw you around the mall with a baby, who is it?' " he mocked, making his friends laugh. "I don't even know why I care anyways."

"Because you like him," Bradlee muttered in between fake coughs, earning a slap to the arm from Brennen.

"B," Juno said, her tone growing more serious. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to know."

The blonde-brunette sighed and trailed his eyes back to Colby, who was hauling the diaper bag over his shoulder. He watched him stand up and push the stroller out of the food court until he disappeared from sight. "I just want to know because... Well, he's not that bad," Brennen admitted out loud, making Bradlee's smile grow,

"He's great, and I've only met him once." He added.

"I think he'd be a good friend, Bren." Juno nodded, purposely avoiding the word boyfriend, or partner. She wanted her friend to be comfortable, knowing that when he rushed into things it never ended well. "Hell, I want to meet the guy. Why don't you go introduce me?"

"I would but he already left."

"That doesn't mean we can't catch up with him! Cmon!" Bradlee encouraged, grabbing Brennen's arm and pulling him up before he could protest. Juno grabbed her bags and followed suit, pulling Brennen up so that they could all rush over to the direction Colby was headed. "Excuse me! Oh! Sorry! Sorry! We're coming through people!" Bradlee yelled through the packed floor of the mall.

Brennen let himself be rushed by his friends, muttering a couple of apologies as he squeezed between people.

When there was finally a break in the crowd, and the group could finally breathe, they spotted Colby right in front of them on his phone, waiting for an elevator. Bradlee smiled and pushed Brennen toward him, which resulted in him stumbling.

The younger tried to catch himself, causing his shoes to loudly squeak on the shiny white floor. He failed to do so and ended up seated on the floor in between his friends and the desired target.

This caught the blue eyed brunette's attention, successfully pulling him away from his phone to help. He tilted his head as he figured out who the person who had fallen was. "...Brennen? Are you okay?"

Brennen groaned and glared at his older friend, who was pretending as if he hadn't done the deed. His eyes shifted to the sweet boy above him, who was clearly concerned as to why he was on the floor. "Oh... Hi." He stupidly said, having not heard Colby's question.

"Hello," he smiled, holding out a hand for Brennen. The older graciously smiled and pulled himself back to his feet with Colby's help. "Are you hurt?"

"If he's hurt from that, he's a whiny ass baby." Bradlee butted in, smiling at Colby when his attention went to him.

"You're the one that pushed me." Brennen muttered.

"Hi Bradlee," Colby giggled, "Why did you push Brennen?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to push your boyfriend, I hope you're not mad at me." He responded, earning an even deadlier glare from Brennen and a slap to the arm from Juno. "Ouch!"

"He's not my boyfriend.." Colby responded quietly as blush grew on his cheeks.

"I mean he could be-"

"Bradlee!" Both Juno and Brennen snapped.

"Ugh you poor boy," Juno sighed, walking toward them.

"I know!" Brennen agreed, holding his aching arm.

"Not you. Colby." She responded, laughing when Brennen's jaw dropped. "I'm Juno by the way,"

Colby smiled, "It's nice to officially meet you, Juno. You're very beautiful."

"Awh! Can I keep you?"

They both laughed softly before the elevator dinged, and the doors opened to reveal an empty lift. "Are you guys going down?"

Bradlee began giggling because of the joke that popped into his head, but decided against saying it in order to not upset Brennen any further.

His best friend did catch his drift however, so he gave him another smack to the arm. "Ow! I didn't say anything!"

"Yeah, we are, excuse these to idiots." Juno replied, waiting for Colby to push the stroller into the elevator before following him. Bradlee and Brennen soon joined in. "Who's this little bundle of joy?" She asked as she stared at the baby napping in his ride.

"Jonah," Colby smiled, "He's my baby cousin, I'm just babysitting him for the day."

They all immediately sighed in relief and Bradlee even muttered a "thank god". Colby looked at them confusedly and before he could ask, the elevator dinged and opened up again. The group  of friends rushed out to avoid any awkward tension caused by their actions.

They all walked together toward the exit. "Brennen are you alright?" Colby asked him quietly, noticing that the older was still clutching his arm.

"Hm? Oh. I'm fine." He reassured, believing that the slight pain in his arm would soon numb away.

"Are you sure?" Colby slowly came to a halt and reached out for Brennen's arm, gently pulling up the sleeve of his hoodie. He frowned at the reddening skin, "I don't think it's broken, but it might be sprained. Can you move it?"

Brennen slowly moved his wrist to feel an aching sensation. "I mean yeah but it hurts a little bit."

Juno and Bradlee, who had walked on ahead, went back when they noticed the boys weren't with them anymore.

"What's wrong?" Juno asked peeking over at their hands.

"Brennen might've sprained his wrist." Colby answered.

Bradlee gasped, "no he didn't!"

"Yeah, and it's all your fault!" Brennen blamed.

"I didn't even push you that hard!"

"Guys quit talking so loud, the baby is gonna wake up." Juno said, making both of them stop. "Anyway, does he have to go to the hospital or something?"

"Not necessarily," Colby shrugged, "If you think you can take care of it yourself, you don't have to. But if it really hurts you should go."
Brennen sighed. He had to go home, which was the last thing he wanted to do. Colby caught the look of distress in Brennen's eyes quickly and offered, "I can bandage it for you if you want."

"You have a bandage?"

"Well n-no, not here. At my house.." Colby felt strange telling someone to come over at his home. No one had ever been invited there other than his family.

"Can I come over then?" Brennen asked, not seeing any problem with getting help from the boy.

"Can we come too??" Bradlee asked enthusiastically.

"Of course." The younger nodded with a soft smile.

The group walked out of the mall and into the parking lot, where Colby headed to his car and the rest followed. Two gasps were heard when they arrived at the G wagon, causing Brennen to chuckle. "I know right!"

"This is your car?" Bradlee squeaked, almost as shocked as Brennen was the night before.

"Yeah," he giggled shyly, opening the back door to reveal a baby seat. "Do you guys want to ride with me, or did you bring your own car or...?"

"I'll take them with me." Brennen spoke up, "I brought my car and they're gonna be bothering you."

"No!" Bradlee whined, "Besides, you can't drive! Your wrist is fucked up!"

"He's right, you shouldn't drive." Colby agreed, carefully hauling the sleeping babe into his seat.

"Fine." Brennen shrugged, fishing his keys out of his pocket to toss them to Bradlee. "You drive my car, I'll ride with Colby."

"Ugh! I hate you." He groaned, disappointedly trailing to Brennen's car. Juno and Brennen laughed before she followed Bradlee, leaving the other two alone.

"Your cousin is cute." Brennen commented, watching Colby fold up the stroller to haul it in the trunk of the car.

"I know right." He smiled, closing the door.

After getting settled and driving for about ten minutes, Brennen looked over at Colby. His blue eyes were so calm, they looked like the ocean itself. "Can I tell you something?" Brennen asked.

He smiled gently and nodded, "Of course you can."

"..You know Jamie, she's been acting weird since Friday." Brennen said quietly, almost afraid of the boy's reaction.

"Mhm?" He hummed as he kept most of his attention on the road.

"Well, my friends and I were talking. She seems to be upset with you for some reason."

"Y-yeah, I noticed."

"Did something happen between you two?" He asked. Colby chewed on his lip and stopped the car when he got to a red light, taking the time to shift his eyes down to his lap. "Colby?"

"Nothing happened." He responded quickly. "It's just- it's not important."

"Actually it is." Brennen said, "I need you to tell me."

"I can't."

"Why?"

"Because..." He sighed, jumping when a car honked. The brunette looked up to see a green light and returned his hands to the steering wheel, beginning to drive again. "If you want an answer, you'll have to get it from her. I'm sorry."

"What did you do to her?" Brennen asked, frowning when Colby didn't answer. "What did you do??"

"I didn't d-do anything." His voice began shaking slightly. "Brennen, I promise I didn't mean to do anything, nor did I, nor will I."

The older grew confused. What did he mean by that? He didn't mean to do something he hadn't done? Or will do?

The drive grew silent as Brennen began thinking of all the scenarios that could've happened.

Maybe Colby liked Leo and Jamie found out?

Maybe they used to be good friends and Colby did something Jamie didn't like?

He was utterly confused. How could this innocent boy upset Jamie so bad? They had never even talked as far as Brennen knew.

All he knew was that now Colby himself was upset. The calmness in his eyes had turned to chaos, and it was all Brennen's fault.

"I'm sorry," he heard himself whisper. "I didn't mean to blame you."

"It's okay. I know you didn't mean to. You're just worried about your friend, that's all."

Brennen was obsessed with how understanding this boy was.

"I'm still sorry."

Colby's smile returned, and it was as if the darkest storm had been overcome by sunshine. "It's okay."

"You sure?"

He nodded and looked over at Brennen for a split second... but it was the most glorious split second. "I promise."