This chapter feels kind of all over the place, so I apologise in advance :')

.•°*°•.

Scar gasped as Mumbo shoved him down onto his bed, stealing his lips in a heated kiss. The brunette couldn't help the small smile that formed as Mumbo cupped his face in his hands, kissing him sweetly.

"You're a good kisser," Scar breathed when they parted, the two of them panting.

"Well, I can do I lot more than just kiss you," Mumbo said with a wink, making Scar's face turn red. He leaned back down to kiss Scar again, moving his legs to sit in Scar's lap as they made out. Mumbo placed his hands slightly underneath Scar's shirt on his sides and lightly massaged him with his thumbs.

Scar sighed happily as Mumbo moved to kiss along his jaw, then gasped when his hands moved further up his stomach. "Wait, Mumbo-" He squirmed and watched in slight horror as Mumbo paused to give him an odd look.

"Are you wearing a crop top under this?"

.•°*°•.

A knock on the door had Joel jumping in his seat. "Come in," he said, and the smell of toast and avocado filled the room when the door opened. He turned to see Lizzie holding a plate of avocado toast. "Oh, babe, you could've asked me to leave my schoolwork for a minute so we could eat together."

Lizzie smiled softly at him. "It's okay," she whispered as she walked into the room. "Grian's asleep." Joel took the plate from her. "He's been eating pretty well, and he hasn't thrown up again. He's actually finished everything I've brought him."

"That's good," Joel said, standing up from his desk. "Come on, let's eat together. It'll be like a stay-at-home date."

"Aww, that's so sweet," Lizzie said, humming softly as Joel kissed her. "But I'm not hungry. I'm actually pretty tired, so I'm just going to go to bed."

Joel's smile disappeared and he nodded. "Right. I'll move to the kitchen, then."

Lizzie frowned. "What? Why?"

"I don't want to disturb you."

"Oh, honey, you won't be disturbing me," she said. "You'll be keeping me company. Stay, I like being around you."

Joel sighed. "Oh, alright," he caved.

"Just don't work any later than nine-thirty," Lizzie said.

"But- It's already nine-fifteen!" Joel protested, his voice higher in pitch. "I need more time to study-"

"You need more time to sleep," she corrected him, lifting a hand to run over his cheek. "You're exhausting yourself. How do you expect to be a present father to Grian and your baby if you're always so tired because you neglect yourself?" Joel stared at her like he wanted to argue, but couldn't. "Exactly. So, go ahead and get some stuff done, but I want you in bed at nine-thirty so you can get some well-deserved sleep."

Joel nodded and kissed her again. "Alright, dear."

.•°*°•.

"Sorry about getting home late, Dad," Jimmy called as he toed off his shoes at the front door. "Scott wanted me to have dinner with him, and then we went to an ice cream shop, and then we went and watched a movie-"

"James," Daniel said sternly in the hallway, making Jimmy freeze. His father almost never called him that. "I told you to be home before nine. It's almost ten o'clock."

Jimmy fidgeted with his hands. "I know, I'm really sorry-"

"I was worried sick," Daniel interrupted, and it was only then that Jimmy realised his father was crying. "You've never been out later than I've asked, I thought something happened to you!"

"It was only an hour-"

"A lot can happen in hour, James Solidarity." Daniel sighed and rubbed at his eyes. "I want you to be able to hang out with your boyfriend and have a good time with him, but if you're going to be late, then tell me. Don't make me worry like that."

Jimmy nodded and looked down at the floor. "Right, I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I didn't mean to upset you."

Daniel sighed again and came forward to hug Jimmy. "I'm just glad you're okay, son," he said softly. "Text me next time."

"I will, I promise."

.•°*°•.

Scar lifted his knee to kick Mumbo off of him, scrambling against the headboard of his bed. "I asked you to wait!" he shouted as Mumbo clutched at his stomach. His voice had gotten really high.

"I didn't hear you," Mumbo groaned.

Scar was tearing up at this point, wrapping his arms around himself. "Get out of my room," he said quietly.

"Scar, I don't care about the crop top," Mumbo said, looking hurt and more than just physically. "Frankly, I think you'd look pretty good in a-"

"I said, get out."

The ravenette blinked. "I'm sorry-"

"Leave."

"...Right." Mumbo nodded and turned around to leave the room. "You'd look really hot in a crop top, by the way," he added before closing the door behind him.

Scar let out a long, upset sigh and fell into his pillows to sob. He didn't mean to kick Mumbo or send him out of his room. He just panicked, not wanting this to be the way Mumbo found out. Scar wanted to say it on his own terms, his own way, and to both of his boyfriends. He didn't want it to be like this. He wanted to accept himself first.

.•°*°•.

Mumbo stood outside Scar's room, hearing his boyfriend sob behind the door. Mumbo didn't mean to upset him. And he wasn't lying; Scar would look fantastic in a crop top. But why was Scar so upset about it? Mumbo thought he made it clear that it really wasn't a big deal. If Scar wanted to wear crop tops, it wouldn't make a difference to Mumbo. He loved Scar either way.

He checked his watch and saw that it was already nine-forty-five. He'd been there all day, which meant-

Pulling out his phone, Mumbo winced at the amount of missed calls from his mother. "Welp," he sighed, "while Scar's cooling down, I guess I'll take care of this." He dialed her number and put the phone to his ear.

"Mumbo!" she shouted, answering almost immediately. "I've been worried sick, you insolent little brat! Where the hell did you run off to?!"

Mumbo sighed again. "I'm at a friend's house," he said simply.

She laughed. "A friend's house?" she echoed, then laughed again. "Last time I checked, you were crying to me because you don't have any friends. Where are you really?"

"I do have friends, Mum," he groaned, leaning against the wall.

"I won't tattle if you're out at a club somewhere."

"Mum!" The boy slid down the wall to sit on the floor. This was a huge mistake. "Just- Can I spend the night over here? It's already late and I don't wakt to walk home now-"

"Oh, yeah, sure, leave your mum all by herself at night so she can be vulnerable to anybody who decides they want to rob her," his mother said.

"I-"

"No, no, it's fine." She yawned. "I'm fine with criminals bursting into my home and hurting me."

Mumbo gasped, then groaned. "Okay, fine, I'll come home," he said. "Just give me a minute to-"

"No, you stay over there," she snapped. "I don't want you here." With that, she hung up and Mumbo took a deep breath.

"Love you, too, Mum."

.•°*°•.

Scootie Patootie
you home?
jimmy
hellooooo?
mi amor
:(
babe
baaaaaabe
answer me
pls
<3
honey
babe
jimmy
i will call daniel
answer me or ill do it
jimmyyyyyy

Jimmy
Sorry, I'm home

Scootie Patootie
oh yay! :D
i wanna call

Jimmy smiled as not even two seconds after sending the text, Scott was already calling him. "Hey, babe." He waved at the camera and Scott beamed at him.

"Hola, querido," Scott said with a sleepy giggle.

"Oh, that's a new one," Jimmy said. "What happened to, uh, co- cori- no, cora- cora... um..."

"Corazón?" Scott finished. "'Dunno. I wanted to try something new, I guess. Why didn't you answer my texts?"

Jimmy sighed. "My dad was upset that I got home late," he said. "I scared him."

"Aw, I love your dad." Scott yawned, then propped their phone up so they wouldn't have to hold it as they laid down on their bed. "He's so sweet." They sighed. "You should've asked to sleep over," he murmured, his eyes closing.

Jimmy laughed. "Yeah?" He set his phone on his night stand and got comfortable under the covers, then paused when he heard Scott snore. He melted at the sight of his partner sleeping so peacefully, not a hint of stress of his face as he snored softly. "You're so cute." With a yawn, Jimmy settled into his pillow and closed his eyes to sleep.

.•°*°•.

Scar had woken up at around seven the next morning and wandered into the living room, letting out a squeal of shock when he found Mumbo sleeping on his sofa.

"Good morning, Scar, sweetie," Scar's grandmother said, startling him even more. "How did you sleep?"

Scar blinked. "Nana, why is he sleeping on our sofa?" he asked, confused.

"Ah, he's been having trouble at home so he asked to stay the night," she explained, and Scar frowned. "Come, have some breakfast. I'll wake up Mumbo."

Scar nodded and sat down at the table, where his grandmother had already set two plates of waffles and toppings.

Mumbo looked rough when he got up, like he'd only gotten an hour or less of sleep. "Are you still mad at me?" he asked as he sat down at the table, and Scar shook his head.

"I didn't mean to blow up at you," the brunette murmured.

"It's fine," Mumbo said with a yawn, ignoring the plate of waffles in front of him. "Will I ever see you in that top?"

Scar sighed. "It's, uh... not a crop top," he said awkwardly as his grandmother handed him a few pills. "Thanks." He grabbed his glass of orange juice and took the medicine. "It's... a binder."

Mumbo blinked. "A binder?" he echoed, tilting his head. "For what?"

Scar stared at him for a moment. "To... bind my chest," he said slowly.

"Why do you need to do that?"

The other boy blinked. "Are you- Are you actually being serious right now?" he asked, and Mumbo looked even more confused. Like, genuinely confused. "Because I'm- I'm trans, Mumbo."

Mumbo narrowed his eyes. "Huh?" He paused a moment, then gasped. "Scar! Why didn't you tell me? I've been calling you a guy this whole time!" He ran his hands down his face. "Oh, gosh, I'm so sorry for misgendering you. Are you changing your name or sticking with Scar?"

"What?" Scar shook his head. "Now I'm confused. You haven't been misgendering me at all."

"Huh?"

"Mumbo, I'm a trans guy."

Mumbo's eyes widened. "Oh, god, I'm sorry," he said, then yawned. "I thought you meant you were a trans girl. You scared me, I thought I've been hurting you this whole time."

Scar snickered. "Are you kidding? You scared me," he said with a laugh. "When you said you've been misgendering me, I thought you were calling me a cis girl."

"No, no, of course not!" Mumbo let out a small laugh. "I'm just- I'm kind of shocked... You pass really well, Scar. I never would've thought you were trans."

"Thank you," Scar said shyly.

"Gosh, now I know why you were so upset last night," the ravenette said. "I'm sorry, Scar."

"It's fine." Scar shifted a bit. "This doesn't change our relationship, does it?"

Mumbo gave him a confused look. "What? No, why would it?" he asked.

Scar looked away. "Because some people don't like to date trans people," he mumbled.

"I love you no matter what," Mumbo said definitely. "Being trans doesn't make a difference to me. You're still my boyfriend." He smiled at Scar, and Scar smiled back. "Does Grian know?"

Scar shook his head. "I always figured it didn't matter, so I never told him," he said. "I don't know if he remembers when we were little and I dressed like a girl, though..."

Mumbo reached over the table to hold Scar's hand. "Well, I'm sure it won't make a difference to him, either," he said. "I'm glad you trust me."

Scar smiled at him. "I love you."

"I love you more."