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Gansey and Blue had been sitting silently for fifteen minutes. On the couch across from them, Ronan and Adam continued to fight. It was a curious thing, watching those two boys sit side by side, Ronan’s long arm on the back of the couch, Adam tucked against his side, and at the same time listening to their crass words shoot back and forth. When Adam got exasperated, he’d lean his head back against Ronan’s bicep. When Ronan got particularly defensive, he’d turn his face away with a clenched jaw but bury his fingers in Adam’s hair. Gansey and Blue found themselves glancing at each other, wondering if those stupid boys knew what they looked like.
“C’mon, Parrish, do you really think I drive that recklessly with Opal in the car?”
“Maybe you don’t drag race, but you still act as if the speed limit signs don’t exist.”
“I’ve never gotten pulled over with her in the car!”
“Not getting caught doesn’t make it okay!”
The oven timer went off in the kitchen. Ronan stood and crossed the room while saying “everyone but you speeds a little, Parrish! My brothers and I survived my dad’s driving, Opal has survived mine.” He shoved through the kitchen door and yelled over his shoulder “it’s just a part of being a Lynch!”
Adam huffed and threw his head back on the couch. He seemed to have forgotten his other friends were in the room. Gansey and Blue looked at each other, then back at Adam, and then at the kitchen door as Ronan strode back in.
“And you’ve been in the car with me hundreds of times,” Ronan continued as he set the towel-wrapped pan of brownies on the coffee table. “I speed, but I’m still a good driver.” Ronan resumed his earlier position next to Adam, two forks in his hand, as Adam picked up the brownie tray and placed it on his lap.
“You totaled the Camaro.” Ronan handed Adam a fork. “You’ve gotten a dozen driving tickets, not just for speeding.” Adam held the pan steady as they dug their forks into the uncut brownies. “The only reason I haven’t had to do thousands of dollars worth of work on the BMW is because it’s a dream thing.” They simultaneously shoved brownie into their mouths.
“Exa-ly,” Ronan mumbled around his brownie. His fingers were in Adam’s hair again. “It’s a dream thing, it can handle things normal cars can’t.”
“You guys realize this is the third Friday in a row you've done this?” Blue asked.
Adam and Ronan’s heads snapped up. With their stricken eyes and brownie-stuffed cheeks, they looked like a comedy sketch. Adam glanced down at the messy pan of brownies.
“Did you guys want some?” he asked.
“Yes,” Blue answered as she stood. “But I think Gansey and I are going to go out for dessert.”
“We are?” Gansey asked. Blue gave him a pointed look and gestured at the other boys, who clearly were in no place to share. “Oh, yeah, we are.”
They shuffled out the door, walking to the Camaro hand in hand. Adam and Ronan were now the ones sitting silently, staring at the spot they last saw their friends. Then Ronan loudly swallowed the bite of brownie still in his mouth.
“More for us, then,” he said. Adam nodded in agreement and dug his fork back in. Their fight was forgotten for the night, as per usual.
Moments later, Opal came bounding in, a spoon clasped in her small fingers.
“Finally,” she sighed. She forced herself in between Adam and Ronan and helped them finish the pan. When there was nothing left she hopped up and made for the kitchen. Before she skittered off, she turned and said “I like fast cars.”