Tadashi didn't understand the situation he'd walked into immediately.

          As he observed, on one side was Linder and Eden, standing opposite each other. While on the other side was Lily and next to her was Mikhail, who sort of pouted.

Everyone in the room looked shocked. Everyone but Mikhail; where all of their attention seemed to be drawn. Tadashi's lips twitched upwards. How was a child so cute?

Everyone turned to him when he got in.

Mikhail took steps towards him and stopped to look up at him, his pout gone. Everyone else just watched. Tadashi did too, for a short while, trying to figure out what was happening.

He placed the groceries on the counter and gave the boy all of his attention, crouching to his level and smiling.

He silently prayed he was doing the right thing when he, yet again opened his arms wide. His first instinct was to always smother the child with affection, he didn't know if Mikhail liked it or not. But he still did it anyway.

To his relief and what felt like genuine happiness, Mikhail walked into his arms and let him embrace him.

      Once again, his arms circled his neck and it automatically caused Tadashi to smile, in that moment, only the two of them existed in the room. "I m–m..." Mikhail whispered against his ear.

       Tadashi had never been so curious in his life like he was at that moment. He what? ... mistook him for a starfish? He mumbled in his sleep? Or was it.... He ... he missed him?

         He rubbed his hand across his back and kissed the side of his head before releasing him. Tadashi felt it would be wrong for him to pressure the boy to say anything he wasn't ready to say yet.

         When he looked back up, Linder's face had summed up the word shocked. And he didn't even bother to hide it.

          Tadashi boldly kissed his cheek. "Hey," he said. It seemed to throw Linder off balance and back to his senses in one go.

        His hand immediately went to cover where Tadashi's lips had just been before blinking. "H–hey," he replied.

"What's going on?" He asked as he kissed Eden just like he'd done to Linder.

         Eden shrugged in answer. When he looked at Linder, he turned his head to the side and pulled his lips to a scowl like he was the victim in the situation.

"Hey Lily," said Tadashi. She immediately motioned for him to follow her into another room, which he did. Confused as he was.

"What the fuck was that?" She asked while folding her hands and fixing him with a hard glare.

        He couldn't believe it. He was being scolded by a probably thirteen year old. A very angry one at that. And he still didn't know why.

"What are you talking about?" He asked.

"His name is Eden right? You go ahead and kiss Lin, as you should. But then you go ahead and kiss ... Eden. Right there where we can all see you!" She shook her head. "The nerve. I'll fucking crush you."

"What–"

"You might not know, but take it from me, it's not okay to kiss someone else in front of the person you're dating. Lin really likes you, so you better treat him right. Because I'm not a nice person, but I'm especially not nice when you fuck with mine," she said looking directly into Tadashi's eyes.

          The man was a little blown away, but when he realized what she was actually saying, he smiled at her.

         Tadashi then blew out a breath and grabbed a handful of his hair and pulled the strands back, only to fall back in place again.

"Did you think Linder and I were dating?" Asked Tadashi.

"You're not?"

            Tadashi shook his head and laughed a little. "We're not."

"You like him," said Lily. "I can tell."

"And I won't deny it, I do," said Tadashi. "But... he likes me?"

             He really wanted to know, like his life depended on it. The answer though, was a little confusing.

"Heh, this should be fun," said Lily.

           Her eyes didn't stop assessing and studying Tadashi. "So why did you kiss Eden?"

"I like him too."

           He wouldn't blame her if she thought that was weird, it's not like he didn't think the same.

"Oh. That's complicated," she said.

"Yeah."

"Fine," she said. "As long as Lin isn't hurt in the end."

"I wouldn't hurt him," said Tadashi with absolute seriousness.

              Lily raised a brow before starting to walk past him. Whether she believed him or not, he didn't know.

"Nice nails," said Tadashi.

"Hmph," she said as her only reply.

          For some reason, Tadashi's smile only widened.

•••

It seemed like Linder accepted that there was nothing he could do, especially now that Tadashi was here.

When he emerged with Lily from the other room, Eden could only wonder what they'd been up to.

"I'll just quickly make him the spaghetti and then we'll be gone," declared Linder.

    Eden didn't even expect his own reaction.

"Can't you just stay?" He asked. He stepped out of line and held Linder's arm tight. As if willing him to stay through the contact, as if he'd agree because of that.

           They stared at each other for a long while; after Linder had looked at the hand gripping him, he fixed his stare on Eden.

           After what seemed like too much time, Eden snatched his hand away from Linder and took a step back.

            Eden walked away, well aware of the eyes that remained fixed on him. He didn't want to do something stupid, like lock the door and swallow the key.

              His mind was working too hard. So much that he sat on the first thing that looked like a chair, somewhere away from all the eyes in the room.

            He didn't know how long he sat there thinking but Mikhail was suddenly next to him.

              Eden pulled him close and tried to get rid of the frown on his face. "Hey sweetie," he said, then remembered. "Oh I should make your spaghetti."

           The little boy shrugged. "Lin let you touch him like that."

"What?" Eden asked. He'd only held his hand. There shouldn't be anything to it.

"He didn't fight you off," Mikhail added, like that explained everything. "He also said he'd stay a little longer. So why are you sad?"

           The boy held his cheek and waited for an answer. Eden's love for him intensified.

"I'm... uh..." Eden fumbled. "Let's go make you that spaghetti mmh?"

"Okay," replied Mikhail. "But Lin already started, I think he's waiting for you."

"What do you mean?" Asked Eden.

"I don't know, but I think so. Sometimes, Lin tells me I can read his mind," Mikhail shrugged.

             No matter how difficult it was to read Mikhail. The way he loved his brother seemed to go beyond anything else.

"Well then..." said Eden, smiling and lifting Mikhail up in his arms. "Let's go."

            Linder had indeed started on the spaghetti. Eden felt awkward as he approached him.

             Surprisingly, Linder spoke first. "Hey uh... I guess you should do it. I'll tell you... you know, how he likes it."

            Eden shook his hands to decline the offer. "It's alright, you should. I'll just watch you and learn from that."

"Lin you can't even cook," said Lily bluntly.

          That brought a moment of silence between them. Eden's mouth formed an 'o' shape and he looked at Linder.

             Tadashi wasn't really shocked. He knew Linder couldn't cook. He was only a little confused because Mikhail always said that Linder had made him something to eat.

"I can't cook either," said Eden with a nervous laugh.

              That one surprised Tadashi. "Eden you just made us breakfast this morning."

"Well... uh, breakfast is easy so..."

     He was really wasn't convinced but he turned to Linder.

"And Mikhail always says he isn't hungry because you prepared something for him," said Tadashi.

"Mikky just loves everything Lin puts his hands on," Lily clarified.

"Ahh," Tadashi crossed his arms and nodded, then moved one hand to rub at the back of his neck.

     Both Linder and Eden excused themselves to go figure out how to do it right.

"Look at them," said Tadashi, a soft and fond smile on his lips.

      Both Linder and Eden had their backs to them. They pretended to move and work together, like they knew exactly what they were doing.

        Lily scoffed. "Like helpless babies."

        Tadashi decided it couldn't be helped. He took charge of the situation.

"I think I should take it from here," he said while stepping between them both and putting each of his arms around their waists to pull them away.

         He smiled when they tried to argue. "We've got it under control," said Eden.

"Hmm, I bet," replied Tadashi.

"We do!" Added Linder, ignoring the fact that they were both being pulled away.

            Tadashi resisted the urge to kiss them both. Instead, he loosened his tie and started to roll up his sleeves.

"I'll do it, you can tell me how he likes it," said Tadashi to Linder while he rested both his hands on the counter and leaned forward.

"Fine," said Linder. He sighed like it tired him to say it. "Tomato based sauce.... of any kind. But with lots of cheese in it."

"Alright," Tadashi nodded and got to preparing the meal.

           Both Linder and Eden, who had given up, watched him.

           Eden's gaze slowly shifted from Tadashi to Linder, studying his profile and trying not to crack his knuckles.

             The intensity with which Linder watched Tadashi in its own, made Eden nervous.

              That was the man he couldn't stop thinking about, the man he knew he wanted, no matter how much he tried to tell himself otherwise.

            That was the man he wished deep down was his, and yet looking at Linder stare at him like that made him feel nothing but curious.

            He noticed how Linder adjusted his glasses, then subconsciously licked his lower lip.

            Eden decided he'd watched enough when Linder tucked his hair behind his ear. He felt confused and a little dumb. What the fuck was he doing?

"A little help here Linder," said Tadashi.

"Yeah," he replied and walked over to him.

    Eden watched them huddling close and Tadashi asked him a few questions. With their muffled voices, he didn't bother trying to hear anything. Not with his thoughts going haywire.

He felt something.... something he genuinely wanted to explore.

    When the two turned back, Linder looked directly at him. And he looked a little nervous.

"It's uh..." Linder pointed behind him. "It'll be ready in a while, we uh..." he said carefully. "We have to go now."

Linder seemed like he wanted to lay it down as carefully as possible to him, seemed like he didn't want Eden to react the way he did before.

Eden really didn't want him to go, but he couldn't just tie him up and force him to stay.

He sighed and rubbed his hands over his face, then nodded at Linder, trying to keep his face as neutral as possible.

"Okay," said Linder. He pursed his lips and much to Eden's surprise he blushed.

"Okay," he said again, rather awkwardly. And as he made to keep moving, he tripped.

       Eden couldn't understand how Tadashi caught him in time before he could fall. But he did. "Careful," he told him while righting him.

Eden couldn't stop thinking about how good they looked together. But what was more confusing was how Linder's blush deepened when he looked at him again.

    Someone tugged at his sleeve and Eden turned to see Mikhail. "Hey sweetie," he smiled.

"It smells good," he said and Eden was delighted.

"I know! I might eat it all before you get a taste," he teased.

       Mikhail started to frown. "No. I'll bite your ear."

        Eden laughed and covered his ear. "But I don't have any ears."

         Mikhail climbed his lap while trying to pry his hands off. "Yes you do."

"No I don't!" Eden poked his side, exposing his ears.

           Mikhail smiled and pulled one of them. "Then what is this?" He asked victoriously.

             Eden's face turned sour. "Ow you got me... I know, it's that beautiful smile of yours."

            He was right, Mikhail seemed to take the praise  negatively. All traces of a smile were immediately lost on his face.

            He'd keep trying. But it still made his heart squeeze to see the boy struggle.

             The two didn't notice that they'd gotten all the attention in the room. They didn't know that everyone had stopped to stare at them.

             Lily spoke as soon as Eden's eyes had landed on him. "How did you make him smile?" She asked suddenly. "Who are you?"

               The question surprised Eden but he didn't let it show. Should he just say he really loved Mikhail and didn't even know what he was doing half the time?

"I'm not sure, but if you come back again, I'll tell you the entire story," he told her with her smirk.

              She looked back as if to challenge him, but all he could think of was how much of a pretty child she was.

             She didn't respond but instead turned her gaze to Mikhail. "Cupcake, come give me a hug before I go."

            Mikhail nodded and rushed by her side. Lily took him up in his arms and twirled before setting him back down. "I love you," she poked his nose.

"Me too," the boy replied and rested his chin on her shoulder.

            Linder then showered his face with kisses and just like that, they were leaving.

       Eden couldn't stand to watch them leave. So he left it to Tadashi and Mikhail.

     He was restless, it took everything in him not to go to Linder and pull him and his sister back.

             He didn't even notice Tadashi was back and talking to him till his shoulder was tapped and he nearly flinched.

"What?" He asked.

"What's wrong?" Tadashi asked as he crouched next to him, taking his hands in his, and rubbing the backs of them soothingly.

         Eden shook his head. "This isn't right."

•••

"Care to explain why you were going all red faced back there?" Lily pinned Linder with the question on their way back.

"Argh," Linder raked a hand through his hair. "Don't remind me."

"Even I was confused," said Lily.

"I don't get it either," replied Linder. "But let's not talk about it," he smiled sheepishly.

          Lily scoffed. "I love seeing you like this. I'm going to force you to go back more often."

"You'll come with me. Don't think I didn't see–"

"Who was he?" A deep voice suddenly asked.

          Linder jumped at the sound of it, then immediately pulled a reluctant Lily behind him.

"What do you want Carl?" Linder asked. "Why the fuck are you stalking me? We're over!"

            His eyes lingered on Linder before quickly assessing Lily behind him. "You know I won't hurt her..." he said. "When did we get like this?"

"You're delusional," Linder's lips pulled back in disgust. "There's no such thing as we."

"Why won't you leave him alone? He doesn't want you, he never will," said Lily. "Go cry about it."

   Carl took a step forward and Linder did too, as if daring him to get any closer to her.

He stopped. "Who was he?" He asked again.

"Someone who will knock your teeth off," said Lily.

"I can get rid of him," he said hopefully, like it was the only sensible solution.

"Stupid fuck," Lily said under her breath. Carl ignored her this time.

     Linder opened his mouth to speak but Carl beat him to it. "Why don't you come with me Linder, I promised you we'd be happy."

"Fuck off Carl," said Linder. "Stay away from me."

             He thankfully didn't follow them as they continued on their way, but Linder knew if he looked behind, he'd see him staring at them and probably ticked off.

         What he didn't know was how much Carl was seething.

_______

I know this chapter could have been better and probably needs more work, but I got so tired of editing it over and over so I just posted. 🌝

Have a great day/night🖤🖤