Chapter Text
As the vehicle slows to a stop on the side of the dirt road near the rustic looking house, Sprout seems slightly uneasy, mentally steeling himself- or something- for what's to come. The two were just visiting his family? Cosmo wonders if there's something wrong between them as Sprout begins to wordlessly step out of the car.
Cosmo does the same, closing the door and walking to the backseat where their bag is stored. They were planning on staying very long, so just one duffle was enough to hold their clothes, device chargers, ect. As Cosmo retrieves the bag and shuts the backseat door he hears loud cackling coming from the driver’s side of the car.
Curious, he walks around to the other side to see an Apple-headed toon hugging Sprout tightly, laughing uncontrollably with the widest grin on her face, ruffling his hair leaves. “Cuz!! Ahahahaha!! I missed ya!” She shouts, squeezing Sprout nearly as tightly as Cosmo did.
“Ahhh Abbs!! I can’t breathe, haha!” Sprout protests, trying to break free of her affection. Reluctant, she yields, stepping away and raising her palms. “My bad.. Heheh.. Just got super excited to finally see ya! You haven’t visited us all in, pshh, seven years?” She responds, raising a brow. She hasn’t seemed to notice Cosmo yet.
“Yeah I was uhm.. Busy with work, you know, at Gardenview?” Sprout explains, gesturing vaguely is a direction. “Anyways..” He waves off the thought. “I brought along my.. Best friend,” Gesturing to Cosmo, and the woman turns to look at the shorter pastry toon. Cosmo waves shyly, smiling at her. “Cosmo, this is Abbie, and Abbie this is Cosmo.”
“Well Heya!” Abbie chirped, extending an arm to shake hands. Cosmo took it, jostled a little by the vigor behind her handshake. “Hi..” He replies, putting his hands in his pockets. “Oh!” Abbie perks up, “You’ve still gotta say hi to everyone! Cmon!” She turns to Sprout and practically drags him towards the house. Cosmo follows in order to progress the plot.
Once through the front door, she lets go of Sprout and jogs over to a flight of stairs, only going up a few before shouting through the house, “ He’s here!! ” Soon enough, another strawberry toon nearly sprints down the stairs, looking nearly identical to Sprout. He laughs, similarly to Abbie, and tackles Sprout to the floor.
“Lil’ bro!!” He yells,- and Cosmo notes how loud this family is-, and ruffles Sprouts hair again. “Agh-!!” Sprout lets out as he hits the floor, “Get off, ugh Stalk you dick!” He shouts back, trying to wrestle the stouter man off him.
Freeing himself, Sprout stands up, dusting off his pants and punching the other berry in the shoulder. “Cosmo, this is my asshole brother, Stalk. Stalk this is the friend I said I was bringing, Cosmo.” He says unenthusiastically, gesturing to the respective toons as their names are said.
“Asshole older brother!” Stalk retorts, a wide grin, uncannily similar to Sprouts, on his face. Sprout rolls his eyes as Cosmo waves. “Hi– Sprout does everyone in this family greet each other with violence?” Cosmo greets, turning to Sprout to add the last statement. Abbie snickers, pulling everyone’s attention back to the stairs and the two other toons descending the stairs. A raspberry and another strawberry, the strawberry seeming more into her years than everyone else.
The strawberry pushes her way past everyone to give Sprout a big hug. “Welcome home my baby boy!” She coos, seeming to tear up a little too. “Oh- Hey, Ma.” He says, returning the hug. The two separate and Sprout turns the shorter woman towards Cosmo. “Ma, this is Cosmo, the friend I said I was bringing. Cosmo, this is my mom!” He introduces the two, “Oh, and that’s my older brother, Sebastian.” He adds, gesturing to the staircase where the raspberry stood. “Hi you guys!” Cosmo greets, waving and adjusting the bag over his shoulder.
“You two must have come very far! And it looks like it's getting late, Sebastian, go get Gama and Anne, I’ll get dinner started.” Sprout’s mother spoke, walking over to the kitchen area, which was nearly as big as the commercial one in the Gardenview diner. This family must cook a lot, Cosmo thought as he looked at how much counter space there was.
Abbie bounds over to the trio of people left by the door. “Lemme show you two to your rooms.” She says, grabbing Sprout by the wrist (again) and practically dragging him up the stairs. “Ugh- I can walk you know..” He says, shaking his hand out of her grasp to offer to Cosmo instead, smiling softly at the shorter cake toon.
Cosmo smiles back, locking their fingers together and leaning his head against Sprout’s shoulder as they walk up the stairs. Awww I love gays.
The trio make their way up the stairs and to a door, which Abbie opens and gestures for them to go in and check it out. “Anything seem familiar, Cuz?” She chirps, smiling at the taller. “Yeah– Is this my childhood room?” Sprout realizes, looking around at all the features, the twin bed in the corner, the tall bookshelf against the wall, a plush rug on the floor.
“Yep! All dusted off and tidied up. You’re welcome!” Abbie proudly proclaims, resting her hands on her hips and smiling wide. “Thanks, Abbs. That’s really thoughtful. Uhm- But what about Cosmo?” Sprout asks, gesturing to the shorter.
Abbie grits her teeth, looking away and huffing awkwardly. “Yeah- uhh, about that. We’re kinda storin’ some stuff in the guest bedroom downstairs so.. Ya might have to share a room.” She says slowly. “That’s fine! Preferred actually-” Cosmo began, only for Sprout to interrupt. “Yeah, yeah that’s alright, we can deal with that uhh- later. Ehem.” He clears his throat, deciding to change the subject. “So! Why don’t you let us get settled, yeah? We’ll join you all in a few!” Sprout shoos Abbie out, shutting the door and cringing a little.
“So sorry, Cosmo…” He apologizes, wrapping the shorter in a hug, burying his head into Cosmo’s shoulder. “I was going to tell you when we got out of the car but I got distracted by my family and everything.. But I’m not exactly out to my family yet…” He explained, hugging Cosmo a little tighter at that final confession. “It’s alright… They all seem very nice, why don’t you tell them?”
“That’s the thing… I’m a little scared to be honest– Gama’s old, and my parents, even years before I left for Gardenview, were always so worried about me getting a girlfriend– I don’t think they’d take it well.” He elaborated, straightening. His face bore a somber expression, his hair still a little disheveled from the earlier ‘greetings’ of his brother and cousin.
Cosmo smiles reassuringly, reaching up to tidy his leaves. “Alright, then. Until you’re ready, we’ll just act like friends around them, alright?” Cosmo suggests, dropping the duffle bag to the floor to grab Sprout’s face with both hands.
The berry blushes a little, smiling at the shorter. “Alright. Thanks Babe.” Sprout laughs softly, leaning in to deliver a soft kiss to Cosmo’s lips. The two both giggle after the kiss’s end, repeatedly pecking each other on the lips until they’ve both forgotten the complicated situation before them.
–
Cosmo glances over at the window from the bed, seeing beautiful oranges, reds, and pinks in the sky as the sun dips low. He gently shakes Sprout awake, who had been napping in his embrace. “Mwu- huh?” Sprout hums, blinking his eyes a few times and looking at Cosmo. “It’s getting a little late, we should probably go see your family downstairs for dinner now?” He says, pinching Sprouts cheek to fully wake him up.
“Right, yeah, thanks.” He says, sitting up and rubbing his eyes, Cosmo gets out of the bed, stretching from laying down for that long. Sprout tidies his hair, giving Cosmo a quick peck on the cheek before walking out of the room, down the stairs, and to the dining room. Cosmo follows, but not too closely.
The pastry sees how an apple seed toon hugs Sprout, being introduced as Auntie Anne, and then as sprout introduces Cosmo to a rather wise-looking (old) pie toon, Gama, Sprout helps to set up the table, grabbing plates, forks, and knifes for everyone. Seven in total, if anyone’s counting.
Soon enough, the food is plated for everyone, as well as a glass of water, everyone thanking Sprout’s mother (who Cosmo has since learned the name of, its Sophie.) for the meal before digging in. Sprout seems confused, looking at the empty end of the table.
He opens his mouth to say something, before deciding against it. He’s soon given an opportunity to talk, though, as Abbie asks how he’s been at Gardenview. “I’ve been great, thanks for asking! Cosmo and I are the bakers, we make food for events and such.” He explains, Cosmo chiming in. “We are! It’s a pretty sweet job, actually. We get to do what we love for a salary!”
“Sounds pretty gay…” Stalk murmurs, nudging Sprout with his elbow, laughing as Sprout retaliates with a slap to the back of his head. “That’s enough, you two. No fighting in front of Gama.” Sophie scolds, getting the brothers to stop. Gama protests. “Let 'em fight, television is getting boring these days..” She (HOPEFULLY) jokes, Cosmo doesn’t want to see his boyfriend fist fight anyone.
When the table quiets down again, Sprout glances over at the empty chair again, seemingly gaining the courage to say his original thought. “Hey, Ma?” He asks, looking up at her. “Yes, Sprout?” She asks, granting her attention.
“Where’s dad?”