By the time we had decided on a final design for my suit, Geoff was tiptoeing his way past the fine line of tipsy, Gia's hands were splattered with ink, Milo was still adamant on staring at me, and I was beginning to nervously sweat because Milo was still staring at me.

It was only when we were buying sheets of Kevlar off the internet that Milo got up from my bed to stand behind me. I stubbed my toe on the leg of my desk, swallowing back my hiss of pain when Milo's hands pressed against the desk's edge, pinning me in. His arms had tucked themselves under my wings, and I could feel the displacement of my feathers as his arms rubbed against them.

Oh my God, what the hell is he doing?!

All I could concentrate on was how Milo's chest was pressed against my back, his body hot, and his breath fanning across the back of my neck, making me hyperaware of his presence. My wings were tensed, toes curled. Even though he was a little taller, we were similar enough in height that he didn't quite swallow my form up, but the way his weight leaned on my just slightly made me feel like my chest was being crushed. 

Or was it just my heart?

I couldn't tell, because Milo was so fucking close.

I had been much closer with other people before - hell, way closer with no clothes in the way - but this was different. This was Milo. My straight best friend Milo. 

Straight. He's straight.

Right?

Okay, so maybe he was not bothered by the whole 'I was in love with you for a handful of milliseconds of my life as an early-pubescent teen' thing. Maybe he was just staring at me because he thought I was being weird about  it. Because I was being weird about it. Very weird about it.

Milo was probably super chill about it. Yep, yep, super chill. Chill enough to not be bothered by being close with me like we usually are. 

Milo was chill about it, so you should be chill about it, Culver.

Chiiiillll.

"Don't use your credit card to buy it, idiot," Milo said, voice low. I could feel the rumble in his chest as he spoke against my spine, which tingled.

Actual tingles.

Fuck, fuck. You don't just tingle Culver, what is this, a romance novel? Chill the fuck out.

"Why not?" I asked, focusing on keeping my voice steady. Nice. Easy does it. Super natural, nothing amiss. My heart isn't racing, and I'm not acutely aware of the way his hips sometimes bump my ass. Nope. Everything is normal.

"It's better to be careful. People are probably going to end up finding out about you if they start reporting on a man flying around saving kittens and the occasional person dressed in a unique Kevlar suit. A smart person would probably be able to track you down based on your online purchases, because what average 18-year-old from your neighbourhood goes around buying Kevlar," Milo said.

Tinglestinglestingles. NO.

"Well, if people track my purchases they'll probably be more interested in the toys I ordered the other day," I said lightly, Gia giving me a knowing look. "And yes, I don't mean kids toys, my friends."

"Jeez, you need to get laid," Gia said, shivering at my words. 

I could feel Milo's body grow rigid behind me, and I gulped.

"Uh, anyway. How do we pay for the Kevlar then? And where do we send it to?"

"Prepaid gift cards can work, as long as you paid for them with cash. And you can send the parcel to an institution, like uni or something," Milo said, his arms flexing around my sides.

"O-Okay then. We should go buy some gift cards tomorrow, and then place the order. We could send it to Lark's dorm? There are heaps of people living there, we can probably just use a random name and tell her to pick it up?"

I felt Milo's disgruntled huff at my neck, and I couldn't take it any more.

"Gotta poop," I said quickly, making my wings flutter to get Milo to let go, the movement working. Milo stepped back, and I quickly used the space to run into my ensuite bathroom, closing the door behind me and locking it. 

'Oh my God,' I mouthed to myself silently, sitting on the edge of the large bathtub in the room.

My heart was racing, and I could still feel the heat from Milo's body pressed against my back and wings. My feathers were ruffled as I shivered, clumsily palming my back pocket for my phone before typing a frantic message to Lark. If there was anyone I could talk to about this, it was Lark.

Dovey limp dick 👌- 8:12pm
Lars
Lark*
LARK
CODE BLUE BALLS CODE BLUE BALL HELP
asfhoidsnfocqnos

Stale songbird 🐤👅- 8:12pm
Im here whats up?

Dovey limp dick 👌- 8:13pm
I kinda accidentally told Milo that I like liked him
in 9th grade
u know, after the whole thing with that guy I told u about
and hes been weird
but ive been weirder and now I cant stop thinking about it an
andd
ans
AND* fuck
JUST WAHAT DO I DO
I literally locked myself in the toilet pretending to take a shit rn

Stale songbird 🐤👅- 8:14pm
wait WHAT?!?!
omg you didnt
did you? 
OMG YOU DID IM IMPRESSED DOVEY

Dovey limp dick 👌- 8:14pm
Impressed?! why tf are u impressed
THIS IS A DISASTER

Stale songbird 🐤👅- 8:14pm
No this is GREAT
Fantastic
Sublime
Gosh I never thought id live to see this day

Dovey limp dick 👌- 8:15pm
This DAY?! U MEAN MY IMMINENT DEATH

Stale songbird 🐤👅- 8:15pm
No, the day you open you fucking eyes
You said that you told him that you liked him in year 9
We all know that you still like him
even though you refuse to admit it
SHUSH I SEE YOU TYPING STOP
Dont deny it dovey, we all know

I sat there on the edge of the bath, chewing on my thumb nail as I read Lark's message. She was right. I wouldn't be acting weird if I didn't have some kind of feelings for Milo. I wasn't going to readily admit that I did still... like like him, but I maybe thought of him as more than just a best friend. Maybe. Probably. Definitely.

Shit.

Dovey limp dick 👌- 8:17pm
Ok ok yes MAYBE I do kind of like him
but hes my best friend LArk!
and he isnt into guys, remember?

Stale songbird 🐤👅- 8:17pm
He told you that in NINTH GRADE
when he was literally getting groped by your boyfriend
how do you know he wasnt spewing random shit bc he was freaked out?

Dovey limp dick 👌- 8:17pm
He said what he said, Lark
who am i to tell him what his sexuality is?
i cant just go pushing my homo onto him because u think he lied when he was 13

Stale songbird 🐤👅- 8:18pm
ok true youre an idiot but sometimes youre not THAT much of an idiot

Dovey limp dick 👌- 8:18pm
well thanks
but Im so screwed, Lark
idk what to do
I dont wanna lose him because of this
fuck FUCK i fucked up

Stale songbird 🐤👅- 8:18pm
having feelings for someone doesnt mean you fucked up Culver!
what would be fucked up is you just keeping it all bottled in
its gonna eat you alive from the inside, Dovey

Dovey limp dick 👌- 8:19pm
Why does that sound like u want me to talk to him about it?

Stale songbird 🐤👅- 8:19pm
Because I want you to talk to him about it

Dovey limp dick 👌- 8:19pm
That is a disgusting idea HELL NO

Stale songbird 🐤👅- 8:19pm
Communication is key my dear
Now get your ass out of the bathroom
your boy's gonna think you're taking a monster shit right now

Dovey limp dick 👌- 8:19pm
You're the worst I hate you
and your idea is a terrible idea

Stale songbird 🐤👅- 8:20pm
You adore me
and you love terrible ideas don't lie

Dovey limp dick 👌- 8:19pm
I agree with only 1 of those statements
🖕

Stale songbird 🐤👅- 8:20pm
🖕

Dovey limp dick 👌- 8:19pm
😘
Oh and also Im probs gonna order something online and send it to your dorm
dont open it
dont question it

Stale songbird 🐤👅- 8:20pm
Ooh sounds shady
Im definitely going to open it

Dovey limp dick 👌- 8:19pm
I hate u

I pocketed my phone, exiting the bathroom. Gia turned at the noise, giving me an odd look. 

"Dude, did you even flush or wash your hands after your massive dump? Pure filth," she said, and I rolled my eyes. Milo stared at me again, knowing that I probably wasn't taking a shit.

"Constipated. And I, uh, was talking to Lark," I said, not even lying. Milo's eyes narrowed, and I pointedly ignored his stare to sit on my bed, grabbing a pillow to hug in an attempt to distract myself. "I told her I was gonna send the stuff to her place."

"And she was cool with that?"

"Yeah, she's chill," I said, Gia nodding as she stretched in the chair.

"Anyway, while you were talking to your lovely ex, Milo here has been working on a design for your flight goggles," Gia said, smiling with excitement. I turned to Milo then, curious.

"Uh, I thought we were just going with the ski goggles? They work fine."

"Okay, first, the ones you currently have are fluoro green," Gia said, dry retching. "Lovely colour, just not with your outfit. And Milo's idea are way cooler than just regular old ski goggles, but I don't get the technical mumbo jumbo, so I'm gonna pass this on to him." Pretending to hand over the microphone to Milo, who just rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, Gia turned back to her suit design sketch to make the finishing touches.

"Well, I could probably design and rig a pair of goggles with computerised lenses. I know you have your weird birdy-senses, but I could set up some sort of GPS system, and it could display your altitude, speed, temperature and things like that. I would also be good to get some sort of communication device in so we can talk with you while you're... doing your thing," Milo said, and I blinked.

"Okay, Tony Stark," I said slowly, managing to coax a small smile from Milo, the boy scratching the back of his neck. "I don't get the technical stuff, but if you can somehow make that, I'd be so down. That's sick."

"You think so?" Milo asked, mouth twitching as he looked at me. 

"Yeah," I breathed, suddenly feeling a little dizzy. "It's amazing."

You're amazing.

"You're going to be an actual superhero," Geoff suddenly said, eyes widening. "Wow, I don't think I ever really processed that before."

Gia, Milo and I looked at each other, before bursting out into laughter.

"Yeah, well, I couldn't do it without you guys," I said earnestly, Gia letting out a touched 'aw' as Geoff bounded over to me, flopping to hug me energetically. "Seriously, you guys are my Parliament."

"Parliament?" Geoff asked, confused. "Uh, we're not politicians though."

"No, Parliament," I said, emphasising the word. "A group of magpies is called a Parliament, so I figured that's what you guys are. You don't have wings, but you're like my family, you know?"

"Aw!" Geoff squealed, hugging me tight again. "I like that. The Parliament. Sounds cool. Ooh, but if we're part of this secret club, we need to have code names too!"

"Shotgun White Crane," Gia said, grinning. "Always liked that aesthetic."

"Uh, since I'm your brother, I should be called Black Crane or something then," Geoff said, and I shoved him off the bed with my wing. Geoff just backflipped off the edge of my bed, landing on his feet gracefully. 

"I'm already Black Dove, dude. Don't go plagiarising my name!"

"Oh, right, I forgot," Geoff said. "Then, Red Crane. Red is cool. Red brings good fortune is what my mum keeps telling me."

"And this party pooper has to be called Eagle Eye. Because he watches over us and judges the shit out of everything we do," Gia said, Milo flipping her off. "Hey, I ain't lying, man."

"That's actually a pretty fitting name," I mused to myself, thinking about how Milo was always looking out for me, since we were 11 until now. Milo gave me an odd look as he searched my face, and I coughed, flopping over to lie on my stomach, cheeks hot.

I can't go on like this.

I should talk to him.

But that's a problem for another day.

A/N: I have an early morning lecture, so what better to do than to update this story a few hours earlier than usual! Thank you for reading, and I hope you're keen for the next chapter folks~ (☞ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)☞