A bit of a forewarning... this chapter includes going to Spencer's. I didn't write anyone actually going in the store, I just wrote the reaction of someone who went in, so uh. Yeah 👍

*   *   *

"Are... you okay?" Scott asked, struggling to keep up with Jimmy's pace.

Jimmy sighed, aggressively wiping at his eyes. "Great," he answered sarcastically. "I feel great. Just got yelled at and told by one of my best friends that he hates me, and the same 'friend' rubbed it in my face that I have no chance with the guy I like because he has a boyfriend who's a dick."

Scott looked down at the floor. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I didn't mean to-"

"You didn't do anything," Jimmy interrupted. He stopped walking and, sighing, turned to Scott. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be... taking this out on you."

The cyanette shook his head. "No, no, it's fine."

"Except it's not."

"It is."

"I'm not even mad at you."

"So?"

Jimmy sighed again, shaking his head. "It's not right," he breathed. He smiled gently, changing his demeanor. "Was there anything else you wanted to do?"

Scott's brows furrowed in confusion. "Why are you asking me? You seemed to have an idea of what you wanted to do already. Why let me intrude on that?"

"I-" Jimmy paused. "I didn't have anything planned," he confessed sheepishly. "I was just going to go wherever Fwhip went."

"Oh." Scott nodded. He looked around for a moment before snickering. "Ever been to Spencer's?" He wore a cheeky, mischievous grin that Jimmy couldn't tell if he should be worried about or not.

After a moment of confused hesitation, Jimmy shook his head. "No," he said slowly.

Scott's smile grew. "You're in for a treat."

*   *   *

"Oh, my god, I can't believe you made me go in there," Jimmy groaned, walking briskly out of the store with Scott cackling behind him. "What kind of mall has a store that sells-" he paused, then whispers, "-sex toys?"

Scott let out another snort. "This one, I guess." He quirked a brow, a pink tint on his cheeks highlighting his pale features. "Are you- are you blushing?" he teased.

Jimmy covered his face with his hands. "No," he mumbled, the sound muffled into his palms.

"You totally are."

"Well, I am now that you've pointed it out!"

Scott burst into another fit of giggles, and Jimmy couldn't help but smile a bit at the sound. "You're adorable," the cyanette said, leaning into Jimmy for a moment as they walked throw the hallway of the mall. They shared comfortable silence for a moment. "Hey, Jimmy?"

"Yeah?"

"What did... uh, what did your friend mean?" Scott asked curiously.

Jimmy glanced over at Scott. "What?"

Scott sighed, shoving his hands into the pockets of his pastel knitted sweater. "He... he said something about you... liking me?"

"Oh." Jimmy looked away. "Just... forget about it." They stopped walking and Jimmy looked over the railing and down onto the lower level beneath them.

Leaning forward against the guardrail, Scott hummed. "Kind of hard to forget someone telling me a cute boy likes me," he said, nudging Jimmy with his shoulder.

Jimmy snorted. "Cute boy?" he echoed. "Don't you have a boyfriend?"

Scott scoffed, rolling his eyes. "I can't call a cute boy cute?" He smiled and leaned into Jimmy a bit as the latter chuckled. "You like me?" the shorter of them asked softly.

"Yeah," Jimmy breathed. "I... yeah." He stiffened. "This doesn't make things weird, does it?"

Scott hummed again. "I don't think so. Gives me more of a reason to want to be friends with you." He turned his head to look up at the blonde. "Do you think it makes it weird?"

Jimmy hesitated before shaking his head. "I guess not."

They smiled at each other for a moment before Scott pushed himself off the railing and pulled Jimmy by the hand. "Come on, let's go get Dippin' Dots."

*   *   *

"Um, what is he doing with you?" Joel asked incredulously when Jimmy and Scott approached the table he and the others were sat at, looking Scott up and down like the teenage blonde girls from high school movies.

Jimmy turned to Scott with a smile, and Scott refused to make eye contact with anyone. "Scott seemed kind of lonely, so I let him hang out with me," Jimmy explained, and Joel snorted.

"He was lonely?" the brunette repeated. "Where's his ugly, stuck-up boyfriend?"

"Don't say that about Zach," Scott said sternly. "He's not stuck-up, he just... he gets a little cocky sometimes."

Fwhip scoffed, earning a glare from Jimmy. "That's exactly what stuck-up means," the ginger said. "Are you dense?"

Jimmy's eyes narrowed. "You'd know a thing or two about being dense, wouldn't you?" he remarked sourly.

"I think you'd know a bit more than I would, Jim," Fwhip said with an unusual calm tone in his voice, making Jimmy angrier. "Besides, I'm not the idiot who decided to hang out with an asshole all day instead of his friends and sister."

"At least I'm not always tagging along and third-wheeling."

"Last time I checked, I actually have friends." That comment earned a gasp from Lizzie.

"Fwhip," the pinkette breathed, swatting at his shoulder. "What is wrong with you two? I get that you had a disagreement, but this bickering is unnecessary!"

Fwhip shrugged and turned away from Jimmy while the latter sighed.

"Sorry, Liz," the blonde mumbled.

Scott crossed his arms. "I don't think you should have to apologize," he said. "He was the one who started it. You were just defending me."

Joel scoffed. "Yeah, because you of all people know about defending people," he spat. "Sorry, Mr. Popular, but this is supposed to be a fun trip to the mall. Douchebags aren't allowed."

"Joel!" Lizzie flicked her boyfriend on the back of the head. "As long Scott isn't causing trouble, he's fine." She huffed, crossing her arms. "Besides, you all are being no better than Zach with these ruthless comments. Knock it off."

A song started playing in Scott's direction, If you don't know, now you know... I'm taking back the crown...

"Oh," Scott jumped and pulled out his phone, sighing. "I'll be back," he whispered to Jimmy and stepped off to the side.

Grian laughed. "Is his ringtone Panic At The Disco?" he asked. That question was the first thing he'd said since Jimmy found them sitting back in the food court.

Fwhip gagged. "Of course it is."

Jimmy glared at the ginger and opened his mouth to speak, but Lizzie spoke first.

"Jimmy, keep your mouth shut," she said. "That goes for you, too, Fwhip. If you guys can't be nice to each other, you have no reason to even open your mouths."

Jimmy mumbled another apology and kept quiet.

"Well, fuck you, too," Scott shouted into his phone. He hung up and typed aggressively, mumbling something that the other's couldn't hear. He pocketed his phone and began to storm away.

Jimmy frowned. "Wait, Sco-" His phone beeped, and he sighed, pulling it out of his jacket pocket to a Snapchat notification.

Scott sent a chat!

Jimmy opened the snap.

i have to go.. see you on monday?

Smiling, Jimmy quickly typed back, Yeah. Cya :)

"What's up with him?" Joel asked, watching strangely as Scott walked through the revolving doors.

Jimmy pocketed his phone. "He said he had to leave."

Joel nodded, and they all sat in silence for a moment.

"Well," Lizzie said finally, breaking through the thick and uncomfortable atmosphere, "why don't we go get some dinner?" She stood up. "Then we can go home and watch a movie, how's that sound?"

Grian's eyes lit up like nothing happened previously, standing up and hopping from foot to foot. "Sure!"

Lizzie laughed. "Alright, then." She shrugged into her coat before helping Grian into his when he couldn't find the left sleeve. "You guys ready?"

Joel nodded and stood, grabbing a coffee cup that Jimmy hadn't noticed before. "I'm all set."

At Fwhip's final nod, they were making their way outside to Lizzie's SUV. They'd passed the aux around every few songs, and by the time Joel had gotten hold of it, they were blasting music so loud that the words were barely comprehendable to Jimmy.

"I've got your picture, I coming with you," Joel and Grian sang over-enthusiastically. "Dear Maria, count me in! There's a story at the bottom of this bottle, and I'm the pen!"

Lizzie laughed as she made a sharp turn. "You guys are obnoxious," she said, just loud enough that she could be heard over the music.

Grian nudged Jimmy, who sat next to him in the backseat. "Come on, Timmy, sing!"

Jimmy rolled his eyes. "I'm not singing."

"Make it count, when I'm the one who's selling you out," Grian and Joel continued to shout, sometimes out of key with the music. "'Cause it feels like stealing hearts calling your name from the crowd!"

"Live and let live," Jimmy began to mumble along to the song, smiling cheekily when Grian's eyes lit up. "You'll be the showgirl of the home-team-"

Suddenly, the melody changed and Grian whined.

Joel snorted. "Sorry, I sat on my phone by accident," he explained. "This song's good, though." The brunette began to hum to the intro music before singing along, "I wake up every evening... with a big smile on my face. And it never feels out of place!"

Grian threw his head back in a laugh before he started to sing, too. "And you're still prob'ly working... at a nine-to-five pace! I wonder how bad that tastes!" The two had said the last part a little too aggressively, as they both leaned torward each other as they sang the line and bumped heads.

Fwhip, who Jimmy was positive had fallen asleep somehow, snickered. "You guys are too energetic," he said groggily, proving Jimmy was right.

Grian scoffed. "You have no room to talk after you just slept through fifteen minutes of blaring music," he teased, causing Fwhip to roll his eyes.

The song changed again in the middle of the chorus, and Fourth of July by Fall Out Boy began to play.

"Dude, your playlist is trash," Grian scoffed. "Gimme the aux."

Joel snickered. "This isn't even my playlist. It's a recommended playlist."

Grian rolled his eyes. "Give me the aux!"

Lizzie sighed. "Don't be fighting over it, or I'm forcing you to eat steamed asparagus for dinner," she joked.

Grian ended up getting hold of the aux for the rest of the car ride (much to Joel's dismay), and after another half hour of whining about each other's terrible tastes in music, they'd arrived back at Lizzie and Jimmy's house. Lizzie had left not much later than arriving to order pizza while the boys hung out.

Joel had the bright idea of making popcorn on the stove.

"Why is there so much smoke?!" Grian swatted at the air in attempt to shoo it away as he walked into the kitchen. "What are you doing?"

Joel was over by the window, opening it and trying to fan the smoke outside. "I was just trying to make popcorn-" He gasped when the smoke alarm began to go off. "Shit, Lizzie's dad-" The last thing I need from a guy that already hates my guts is for him to think that I'm trying to burn his house down!

Fwhip came down the hallway behind Grian, confused. "What in the-"

"Someone turn on the fan," Joel said frantically, gesturing a bit too aggressively toward the set of switches next to Grian on the wall. "Where's Jimmy?"

Fwhip shrugged, walking into the kitchen as Grian stepped aside to figure out which switch turned the fan on. "He said something about getting a shower, I think." He stared a the oven for a moment before snorting and walking over. "Y'know, it might help if you turn the stove off."

Joel rolled his eyes. "Okay, smartass," he practically growled. "Help me get rid of this smoke before-"

"What's going on down here?" a deep voice said, coming from the spiral staircase in the hallway.

"Shit," Joel hissed as he frantically fanned the smoke with a towel. Luckily enough for him, a good amount of the smoke had cleared already.

From the hallway emerged a tall, blonde man with a scruffy beard and little black, wire-framed glasses. He wore a pair of jeans dirtied from what looked to be oil stains, and a red plaid flanel.

Joel cracked a nervous smile. "Oh, uh, h-hey, Mr. Daniel," he said, his voice much higher than he intended it to be. "How- how are you?"

Daniel raised a brow. "I'm well," he answered. "Why is my kitchen full of smoke? Should I call the fire department?"

"Uh, no, sir," Joel muttered. "Everything's fine, don't worry."

"I shouldn't be concerned at all, then?"

"Nope! We're all good. Nothing to worry your little tush about." Joel winced after saying that last part, not sure if that would've gotten him into more trouble or not.

Daniel nodded slowly. "Mmhmm," he hummed skeptically. "And where are my children?"

"Jimmy's in the shower," Fwhip said calmly, answering for Joel. "Lizzie's getting pizza."

Again, Daniel nodded, not taking his gaze off of Joel. "Stay away from the stove, don't burn my house down." And with that, he turned and took his leave.

Joel let out a long, pent-up breath and slid down the wall and onto the floor when his girlfriend's dad left. "Oh my god," he mumbled, bringing his knees to his chest and burying his face in his hands. "That guy is terrifying."

Grian snickered. "He's only terrifying because you look like you go to bars late at night and deal drugs to the highest bidder," the boy said, crossing his arms and leaning against the cabinet.

"It's a leather jacket!" Joel whined.

"And sunglasses, dyed hair, combat boots, camouflage cargo pants, your half-dead motorbike you got from your boss who also looks sketchy as heck, your black pick-up-"

"Okay, okay, I get it," Joel groaned, cutting Grian off. "Jeez."

"Uh... I don't think this is edible," Fwhip said, grimacing at the burnt popcorn as he sifted it around in the pot.

Grian laughed. "I wonder why."