Archive of Our Own

Another placid summer day was drifting by. Your daydreams were chasing each other, none sticking around long enough to becom a firm plan. But you really didn't mind that right now.

A tapping worked its way into those dreams. Focusing more, you realized it was coming from your window. A grin popped on your face as though it had been waiting all day for this moment.

Heading to the window, you could see Cove outside. His habit of climbing this way really was a true Cove-ism. He'd rather scale your house than wait the couple extra minutes for you to come down.

You offered Cove a hand to help him. Once he was mostly inside, he took it to help steady the last bit of his entrance. He needed the help, despite how many times he'd done this.

"Hey, (Y/n)." His voice was gentle, together with his smile. Grinning back at him, you answered enthusiastically.

"'Sup. Welcome home." Thinking about the green-haired dude climbing through your window, you felt the need to crack a joke. "You think my moms should invest in some bigger windows?"

Cove laughed at that and took one last look at his exclusive entrance. He hummed with a teasing look on his face. "It'd make my life easier, that's for sure." His voice came out quietly, with a strangely pleased smile on his face.

"Did something happen?" Cove opened his mouth to answer, only to have your phone ringing cut him off. You both turned to where it rested a little further up on your bed. It was still faced downwards, so you couldn't tell who was calling.

"It's okay." Your attention shot back to Cove. He smiled at you awkwardly. You can't deny that his cuteness pulled a smile on your face.

"Go check, it could be important. I'll wait." Happy that he understands, you answer swiftly."Thanks."

You shuffled forward and scooped the little noise maker into your hand. The dolphin keychain Cove gave you a long time ago, now has found its place on your phone. You flipped it over and checked the caller ID.

"It's Miranda." You told him. He immediately perks up at the name of your friend, his eyes closing and a his goofy smile turning into a simpering one.

"Oh! You should answer it. I wanna say hi too." With a nod, you accepted the call and set it to speaker.

"Hi, Miranda." It took a while before she answered, but when she did, you frowned, knowing something was amiss.

"...Hi." Cove met your gaze and you saw the same confusion in his expression.

"Have you heard from Terri at all? Or did you hear about her from Cove?"

"Huh? No, she hasn't called me. But Cove is with me right now." He joins the conversation too.

"Hey." He greets her. "Oh. Hi, Cove."

"Is that what you were going to say?" You raised an eyebrow at him. He shook his head no, before realizing it wasn't a good enough answer when one person couldn't actually see it.

"No. Terri hasn't called me today either. Is something wrong?" At that, Miranda couldn't hold herself together any longer. The muffled sobs from the other side of the line were unmistakable.

"Terri doesn't like me anymore, if she ever did!" It was sudden, and the two of them always being so close made you feel shocked.

"What?!"

"That... that doesn't sound right. You're probably her best friend out of all of us." You agree with your guy."Yeah. Why do you think that?"

She sniffled, and there was a pause as you could hear her shift the phone to her other hand. "Terri was here the other night watching movies with me. We were up super late; she realized her parents probably went to bed so they couldn't pick her up. My mom and dad were definitely asleep then. Dad works early. I tried telling her it was okay to just spend the night and she could text her parents what happened, but Terri really didn't want to."

You glanced at Cove. He looked equally unsure as you about where this story was going. It didn't sound like a friendship ending situation.

"I suggested things to make it easier if she was nervous, like she could sleep by herself in my room while I stayed somewhere else." If Terri didn't want to stay because she felt uncomfortable, she did the right thing.

"Yeah."

"And I said we didn't have to sleep at all! We could've kept watching movies until one of our parents woke up. I wouldn't have minded. I know not everyone can do sleepovers, but Terri wouldn't even tell me what was really wrong or what I could do to help. I thought we could tell each other anything. I guess I was wrong." Something she couldn't even tell Miranda?

"Did she stay in the end?" Cove asked her.

"No. We got too loud in the kitchen and my dad woke up. He offered to drive her home when he heard what was wrong. She texted me apologizing for my dad having to do that when he needed to rest, but that was it. She isn't talking to me anymore." You could hear every bit of the tears and heartbreak in Miranda's voice. This continued to be a shock for your neighbor. But Cove recovered and spoke gently.

"I'm really sorry. There's no way Terri wanted to make you feel this bad, or that she's just done with your friendship 'cause of this." Miranda's sniffing continued; you hoped she had plenty of tissues handy.

"I hope Terri is alright." Miranda gave only a feeble hum in response to you. Your brain struggled to get a grasp on this whole situation. Her voice sounded a little bit more collected after finishing her story, but you knew that the crying was far from being done.

"I thought she'd have reached out to one of you by now. Maybe she's not talking to anyone..." Since Cove also didn't get something from her, there's a big possibility that she's avoiding all of you in general.

"Yeah."

"Sorry for bothering you and Cove about this." It is not a bother at all to you, and you're sure you both will try to help the two friends.

"Apology accepted. Don't worry about it." "Right. You can tell us things." He added.

"Thank you." You can imagine her smile when she said that, as if she had breathed a huge sigh of relief. Her shaking voice finally conveyed a little optimism or at least comfort that she wasn't dealing with it entirely on her own.

"If you do hear from her or anything, could you let me know if she's alright?" You nod, unconsciously.

"We can."

"Thanks... Let's talk later, okay? Bye." You and Cove both said goodbye before thinking about it.

That didn't really seem like an especially productive point to end the call, though you also weren't sure where to go from there. Looking at Cove, his face seemed as lost as yours.

With no alternative, you hung up and put your phone back on your bed.

Cove crossed his arms, a frown creasing his face. He began to pace the length of your room, clearly trying to put the pieces together in his head in a way that made sense.

You were worried.

Biting the inside of your cheek, you stared at the ground. Hearing Miranda so distraught like that was not easy. And what about Terri? The uncertainty was tearing you up.

The empty state of your head before learning this was not helping you now. You couldn't put two thoughts together, and floopping back on your bed, you stared into space.

"We should probably try calling Terri." Cove's voice managed to drag you back to some grounding. He'd stopped pacing, but you still saw a perturbed look on his face.

"Yeah. I'm worried about her too." You bounced up and moved to his side, ready to act on whatever plan you two could come up with.
Cove started with the easiest thing: he pulled out his phone and called Terri. Cove let it ring, and ring, and ring, and ring... Terri didn't answer. There wasn't even an option to leave a voice message.

Your shoulders slumped, and Cove looked even more troubled, if that was possible. He turned to you as if for some lifeline.

"Could you try calling? I'm gonna send a text, just like, 'hey, I was trying to reach you, call me' or something."

"Yeah." Why not? You doubted that she would answer but you still wanted to try anyway.

You took up your phone once more. Unfortunately, after another set of interminable rings, the line went dead. No answer. No voicemail.

Hanging up, you saw Cove visibly deflate. He rubbed his arm, eyes distand, openly struggling with the whole affair.

"I don't like this at all. They're fighting, we barely know anything, and we're supposed to... just wait and see?!" Despite it only being a minute since he texted Terri, Cove checked his phone again. He was desperate for progress, for something and you frowned as you watched him.

"You need to try to relax." Cove stared hard at the screen though he was trying to will a new message to appear. As your words sank in, his gaze slid over towards you.

"...Just a little bit? Come on, you're working yourself up." Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and released it slowly. It wasn't much, but you could see him ease up slightly.

"Yeah, you're probably right." Cove was still gripping his phone with both hands as though it might fly away if he let go. He looked to you with almost painful earnestness.

"Should we... what do we even say if we do hear from one of them?" His pacing resumed, as he attempted to answer his own question.

"We should probably tell them to talk to each other instead of only us, maybe?" He slowly came to another halt, like a gear winding down.

"We should find out Terri's side of the story." Nothing could be done until you knew what she thought of this, that much was certain. Cove nodded slightly in agreement. For several minutes, you both remained there in silence, drowning in your thoughts. Eventually, Cove turned around.

"I'm gonna text Terri that we already know what's going on. Maybe she'll have an easier time talking to us because she won't have to pretend or explain." Although you did understand where he came from, Miranda didn't tell you if it was alright to tell it to her like that. It could have been a secret or something.

"You can't do that! Miranda didn't say it was alright to admit she talked to us."

"Miranda called you, asking if Terri had opened up about it, and then she told us about what happened in private. She didn't know if Terri would be okay with any of that."

"That doesn't make it fine to do that to her. Terri isn't talking to Miranda at all. If you want to tell Terri, we could still talk to Miranda about it first."

"We could, but if Miranda wanted it to be a big secret then she should have just said that. And if she does want to hide it, I don't think we should." So he was okay with telling Terri about what Miranda said, even if it could be a big secret? You feel the irritation bubbling inside of you. He should think about Miranda too!

"Being tense doesn't mean it's okay to act like this."

"Act like what?" Inconsiderate, childish, not thinking of what Miranda and Terri actually want you to do- But you can't just say this to him.

"Stupid. Like a kid." His eyes grew wide. The words had escaped like a caged bird seeing freedom, and you felt liberated by it, too.

"You can't just step on everyone else's feelings so you can force things." You tried to explain him as calmly as possible, though still having a harsh undertone to it. 

Cove's eyes narrowed into sharp slits, a look that was almost unheard of for him to direct at you. His tone of voice was equally as cutting.

"Is this what you want? For us to start fighting too?" You stare back at him after hearing his comment. He's blaming you because you scolded him.

"That's not what I want, but that doesn't mean it isn't what's happening." You tried to collect your thoughts. "What you're saying doesn't help finding out what happened to Terri." He shifts as if he demands something. Your gaze intensifies, eventually glaring daggers into him.

"Seriously, what do you want from me? What do you want me to say?" 

"Why don't you say nothing? 'Cause anything you have said just makes everything worse." 

"It has not!" You reject the thought. You were the one who came up with ideas, who wanted to be considerate.

"And how do you think what you've said has helped?" Your irritation quickly turns into anger.

"By bringing your nonsense back to reality! Somebody has to do it." Cove stole one last look at his message-less phone and then put it away. He ran a hand through his hair and shot you a cold look, those aquamarine eyes turned into twin stones.

"My nonsense? How do you think you're any better (Y/n)?" When will he finally understand he has to think about this before suddenly exposing Miranda?!

"You are being inconsiderate of both Miranda and Terri's feelings. You can't just do that to them! It's not like your way of handling things is always right Cove. Think for once before you do something or speak!" Your voice gets louder, like his is right now. He doesn't even notice that he's screaming at you right now.

Scoffing, Cove stands, leaving your bed.

"At least I'm honest! Why do you need to fuss over every single thing said huh?!" Said about you, he means. It doesn't go unnoticed. It's not like you can just fade your self consciousness away like that!

"Because I care about my reputation! You really need to stop acting like you're the most important person in the world. Have you never been told off by your parents because of the way you act?" You don't dislike his parents at all, this is more an insult towards him, but Cove clearly doesn't see it the same way. He only grimaces more, making him look furious. You have never seen him like this before.

"Are you insulting my parents for not raising me correctly?"

"I am not, but knowing you, you'll think I am anyways." Spitting back a comment about his stubborness back at him, you clench your fists.

"You are." Rolling your eyes, you are being reminded of your ignored comment.

"So what if I am or if I'm not? It won't change a thing in your eyes."

"You can't just insult my parents like that (Y/n)!" Nothing is coming through that thick skull of his. Maybe you really do have to insult them if that will make him angrier.

"I told you I was not insulting them! But seeing how you react, I maybe do have to do that. I'm actually not surprised that your mom left you with your dad, even since you were a kid you've been acting like this." You don't mean it, but he really needs to throw his absurd thoughts and conclusions away.

"Well, at least I have parents!"

...

He's.. not wrong. It hurts, but you have gotten over it already. What's reality, is reality. You can't deny it. Cove backs off. Scoffing at him one last time, you make the final blow.

"At least my parents don't think they're able to bribe a person into starting a  friendship." You immediately regret your comment.

"..What?" He is utterly confused.

"Like I said. Your dad offered me 20 dollars to become friends with you." You do regret it, you really do, but your mouth keeps running on in anger.

He looks so angry, bringing his right hand up towards a height where your face would be. And for a single moment of instinct, you fear that he was going to hit you. Rational Cove would never do something like that, he's the definition of a pussy. But an angry Cove? You don't know what to expect.

Preparing for the worst, you shield your face with your arms, pushing them in front of your face, flinching, but it never comes. Bewildered, he ruffles his own hair, thinking. You peek from behind your arms towards him and he finally notices as you let them down. A look of concern flashes across his face.

"Oh my god, (Y/n). Did you..." his voice softens, the anger he had been speaking with the whole time had vanished away. "Did you really think I was gonna hit you?"

Cove is known for being very emotional at some times, and this is one of them. He pushes you into his chest, hands around your waist wrapped tightly as he keeps apologizing.

"I'm so, so, so so sorry... I was being an asshole and should've listened to you.." Cove starts shaking and you return the embrace, thinking that you were stupid to think something like that.

"It's okay. I was kind of being a dick too and I don't know why I thought you would ever do that to me."

"No!" His sudden and loud comment makes your shoulders tense up. "I.. I made you scared of me. I made you think I was going to hit you.." Being the emotional guy he is, Cove begins to cry. You feel bad for him. "Hey. It's really okay. I know you'd never do such thing." Patting a hand on his back, you try to calm him down. He does feel a bit more comforted.

"Cove, it's not your fault. I was just surprised to see you that angry." But this doesn't really help the fact that he's feeling horrible. It only worsens it in fact.

"I.. was screaming at you. Of course you'd be surprised." He's muffling himself by putting his chin on top of your head, which is leaning on him. You don't even remember what you were fighting about.

"I understand Cove. I know you want to help the people you care about and have some responsibility. Some control over it all." You calm him down with your voice, making him relax more and stop shaking.

"I wish... I wish it didn't have to happen, but... that isn't possible. So, oh well... I guss." He confesses, understanding the situation in the same way as you do. His attempt at giving a nonchalant shrug after that was pitiable. It was still shaky, though he stopped shuddering. Cove lets go of you, wipes away the tears on his face.

"True, but it can't be helped." The smell of dishsoap and the sea enters your nose as you change your position, giving him some space as you sit at the other side of your bed.

"I know..." He replied like he could barely muster the strength to speak.

"Well, we just have to focus on the things we can impact. Or at least try." You turned to Cove, hoping your eyes conveyed the message you were feeling better than words. His gentle nod told you that they did.

But there was a question you had to ask.

"...Is it because of what happened with your parents?" Cove ran a hand through his hair again, a strained smile spreading across his lips. For him, this pain struck close to heart.

Just as quickly as it had come, his smile was gone, lost amidst his faraway gaze.

"Yeah, you got it, it's like my parents..." Despite knowing him for so many years, Cove had never spoken of the years before he moved to Sunset Bird, before his parents separated, in any detail.

He whispered his thoughts distantly, almost unconcerned with whether you could hear them or not as he frowned.

"They used to fight all the time. I-I think they got along when I was a baby, I mean they had to have wanted to be with each other at some point, but when I was old enough to remember anything... it was already bad. There was always something wrong and I could never help. I just wanted them to be happy." You tried to imagine your moms breaking up, and the very idea scared you. But Cove had to endure that for real. Fiddling with your fingers, unsure what to do, you apologize to him for what he has gone through.

"I'm sorry." You whisper softly. He had to go through that every day of his life.

"(Y/n)... It's okay." Despite that revelation, Cove gazed reassuringly at you.

"It's not like that anymore. Things are so different now. I don't even really think about it..." Again, the sorrow reasserted itself. When he continued, you could barely hear him.

"Though, I guess it's pretty obvious I haven't forgotten either." The tears were visible in his eyes, they made you sad too. Reaching out to him, Cove's eyes widened. He shot upward, waiting with a nonplussed look.

When you collided into him, wrapping your arms around his middle and knocking the air out of his lungs, all the mystery was gone. Cove squeaked.

"Oh." He returned the gesture longingly. Exhaling, you pressed your cheek into the warmth of his chest. The tension stuck inside you released like a river flowing into the ocean that was Cove. The firmness of his hug told you he didn't plan on letting go anytime soon. You both needed the comfort and closeness for just a little bit longer.

When he finally did, he kept hold of your hand. The two of you sat next to each other on your bed.

Silence stretched out between the two of you and eventually, Cove spoke up.

"Today was a lot, huh?"

"Yeah, it was..."

Now holding it with both of yours, your thumbs lightly brushed his skin as you admired it for a moment, and then you laced your fingers with his again.

Cove studied every move you made with a doting look.

"No matter what happens, we can make it work." His mouth pulled into a bent smile at that. You chuckled.

"I think so too..." He couldn't stay still anymore.

Cove leaned in, delicately pressing his lips to your forehead, and he raised one free hand to lightly touch your jaw. The breath got caught in your throat, your stomach tightens at the sweet action.

When you remembered to breathe, blood rushed to your face, turning your skin a deep red. You tried not to think about how hot you were feeling, because after everything that happened today you were just grateful for the moment.

And for a while you stayed like that. A comfortable quiet fell between you, and the sun fell with it...

The warming calm ended when Cove gasped sharply. You spun, half-expecting to find him nursing an injury, but instead found him staring straight ahead.

"What?" You asked him, wanting to know what's wrong.

"I think my phone just vibrated." Terri and Miranda-!

"Well you better find out if it did!" "Right!" He patted his pockets, fumbling in his panic and yanked the phoneout. The force of the action nearly catapulted the device out of his grip entirely but he caught it just in time.

His eyes honed in on the screen.

"It's Terri! Thank God. She says she's sorry." He looked back to you, eyes wide as his nerves started to fray once more. "What should I say?"

"Give it a second. I need to think." Wouldn't want to act rashly and make her panic or something of course.

"Sorry." Cove's intense stare went from you to the small message, his mouth and brow pinched with remorse. He hadn't meant to put his stress onto you. His thumb trembled as it hovered over the screen and then his phone buzzed further.

"Ah- It's Terri again. She's talking to us!" You leaned in, watching the conversation unfold on Cove's screen.

"She's gonna actually call." Cove held his breath as you waited. Though he was good with people, he'd never been at ease managing conflict.

His phone rang out. Cove jammed the answer button. He switched the phone into speaker mode, allowing you to participate in the conversation. But despite his immediate reaction, his voice lacked the same resolve when he spoke.

"Hey." It was tentative, a white flag fluttering in the wind. "(Y/n) is here, too."

"Hey Terri!" You greeted her. "Hey, buddies..." Terri's voice was barely recognizable without her usual quick patter and energy.

"Are things okay?" Terri shrugged. "I don't know. Probably not." Cove tensed, his free hand coiling into an anxious fist.

"Can you talk to us about what happened?" You heard her sigh over the phone as she unburdened herself.

"Pretty much. I was at Randy's house. We decided to watch some movies she super liked that I'd never even seen before. Turns out there's a lot of those. We watched one, then another, and another. We were having so much fun. Each time one finished, she had another one to share with me. I didn't really think about the time. I only wanted to say yes to Randy and watch her movies." She spoke wistfully but her words were full of affection.

"It was Randy, you know? I wasn't thinking about my schedule or what time it was."

"Totally."

"Then I finally saw the time. And oh no, it was way too late! I already knew I couldn't stay." She took a deep breath, her voice becoming softer when she resumed talking.

"I was so stressed out. I just couldn't - couldn't deal with it. Miranda wanted to help. She kept coming up with ways to make it better and trying to figure out why I was so upset and stuff. I was trying to answer her questions - and there were so many! But I couldn't really answer all of them, I didn't even know why some of her ideas didn't work with me. It made my head ache; I still had the first problem and Randy there, trying to help, blasting all these questions and suggestions at me faster than I could even think." She gulped audibly, sniffing.

"I got frustrated and told her to just leave me alone. But then she wanted to talk about why I wanted that. And - and we started having a fight in the kitchen. It woke Randy's dad up. We told him about how I wanted to go home but my parents couldn't get me, so Mr. Eckert offered to do it." You don't really get the problem.

"Problem solved?" Her reaction was more confused, trying to convince herself.

"No! I mean - yes, kinda, but... I accepted, 'cause I definitely couldn't stay then, not after throwing a racket and turning it into a big deal! But I feel awful. And embarrased! Why did I yell at Randy and hurt her feelings? And I made her dad lose sleep by waking him up and having to drive me home. What do you say after that? I have no idea! I don't know where to start! And I don't want to make it worse by saying the wrong thing and fighting again. So... I'm not talking."

"Terri... Randy isn't mad that you didn't want to stay or that you fought. She just wants to feel like you can talk to her. I mean, you can say whatever you want! She'll listen. Not talking to her at all is pretty much the only wrong way to go about it." Terri lamented mournfully on the other end of the line. But he had a point: unless she faced Miranda again there would be no resolution.

You looked at Cove, hunched over the phone, staring pensively into it and searching for a solution. This couldn't be solved with the other key party missing. But what if you brought them in? Your phone was still free.

"I've got an idea! What if we called Miranda on my phone? Cove and I could make sure your conversation didn't fall off the rails." Cove brightned up. The concerned furrow in his brow, which had taken root when Miranda first called, eased.

"That could work. Terri, are you up for it?" She made a noise that wasn't a word but nevertheless conveyed her hesitation and worry. But she brought it to a close with a decisive exhalation, as if pushing all negative thoughts from her body.

"Alright. I'll do it." Cove nodded. Now that you'd received approval from everyone, you pulled out your phone and called Miranda. You set it to speaker and waited for her to pick up. Luckily, she did.

"Hi, (Y/n)." Her voice was still distant, as if her thoughts were elsewhere, but it was loud enough for your needs.

"Hi. You're on speaker. Terri is on speaker, too. On Cove's phone."

"Oh." She paused while she digested this information. You watched the phone screen, hoping that she wouldn't hang up as a result.

"Oh! Um... Really?"

"Yep. It's really me. Can you hear my voice all the way from your house, to theirs and then mine?"

"I can." You and Cove exchanged looks, waiting for the wall between them to break, and wondering who would be the one to do it.

As the quietness dragged on, you caught Cove chewing his cheek. He must have weighed up the same question as you: whether to encourage the conversation along or leave Miranda and Terri to resolve it themselves.

The answer came in the form of one sniff, followed by another from Cove's phone.

"Sorry, Randy. I... hope you still like me."

"What? You were the one acting as if you didn't like me." Her tone was defensive, no doubt a result of her wounds from last night still being raw.

"No way! Everyone likes Randy. You're wonderful." Your eyes met Cove's. His phone was tilted towards you, capturing the call indirectly. You moved your phone closer to his, hoping that the signal was strong enough to convey every nuance of tone.

He did likewise, bringing his cell right next to yours, even bumping against it as he shifted his grip.

"I didn't know what to say. That's the only reason I wouldn't talk to you. If I had known the answer, I'd have told you right away." Miranda murmured on the other end of the line.

"You didn't want to stay, anything I tried to do bothered you, and you could've told me you didn't know."

"Yeah. I think... I was angry at myself. I did a dumb thing and I didn't want help with it. I wanted to be mad and just deal with it myself. It made me keep doing dumb things." A feeble "Oh..." Came from Miranda. When she answered, it was quiet, as tender and vulnerable as the words.

"Staying up late watching stuff was all my fault. I had to find a way to fix it. That's what I thought anyway. But I should've given you space. I'm sorry for being so pushy and sensitive."

"Hardly! Miranda Eckert having a flaw? I've never heard of such a crazy thing." Miranda let out a ghost of a giggle. Cove cleared his throat.

"Uh, maybe you should call each other now?"

"Sorry!" The purple-eyed girl exclaimed. "Can do. Thanks for giving me the kick in the butt to do this already. Randy-Mandy, I'm gonna call you right now! Bye (Y/n) and Cove!" She hung up after squeezing in another quick 'bye', though not giving you or Cove room to respond in kind.

Miranda laughed, the noise tinkling gently like wind-chimes in a summer breeze.

"Thank you for listening and helping. I'm gonna hang up now so I can answer Terri's call. Bye."

"Bye! And good luck." Cove replied. You followed quickly after. "Bye! You got this." She hung up, still chuckling softly as your call ended.

The room felt emptier without the other voices in it. Cove expelled a sigh that crashed through the newly-fallen silence. He dropped his arms to his sides, letting his head hang down like a puppet at rest.

"Thank God."

"I'm so relieved it's okay." Cove scratched at his face, his expression cloudy.

"I think I need to find better ways for dealing with conflict because that was awful." Remembering the incident earlier, you didn't comment.

Cove meekly smiled as he rubbed at his eyes, weariness creeping over him, and mumbled his next words.

"I'm still so sorry. We can talk about it another day..." Ah...

"Also about conflict resolution methods?"

"Huh, oh no. Forget it." Your eyebrows rose and then a light bulb went off in your head.

"Before Miranda caleld, didn't you say there was something you'd wanted to say?" His original visit had been thrown off so kilter that it was a struggle to wind your memory back to when he'd first turned up.

Now you did, though, you remembered he had been perky when he'd arrived this afternoon.

"Was it good news?" Cove brushed his hands against his now folded arms shyly.

"Well, yeah, maybe. I'm not exactly sure it counts as 'news' or even 'good'. It just... is what it is. I'm happy about it, though." Your curiosity got the best of you.

"Come on, no more hints! You've gotta tell me now." Cove chuckled awkwardly, a hand creeping up to ruffle the hair on the back of his head.

"It's fine. If you wanna hear, I can tell you." He shifted on his feet, as if a different posture might give him the support he needed for the conversation.

"I didn't want to make it a big deal, but I kind of - well, not kind of - I just know what my sexuality is now."

"Oh!"

"A real subject change, huh?" He chuckled. True, it was unexpected, but you were excited that Cove had come to understand himself more, and glad he wanted to share that with you.

"Ahhh, that's great! Tell me." Cove drew a breath straightening up.

"I'm demisexual. So, you know, most of the time, I don't really have those kinds of feelings- physical wants and stuff. It's only in some situations when I'm already really emotionally and romantically connected to someone, that I start to ever think about anything sexual and it's only with them. I hadn't heard the term until pretty recently and it just... made a lot of sense, once I knew what it meant. I had a word that fit how I felt. And I'm panromantic, 'cause I've never had a preference for a specific gender or anything. So. Yeah."

"That makes sense." Cove looked down at the floor. Being so open and direct about a matter that personal, which you were sure he'd spent a long time trying to figure out, seemed to be kind of weird for him.

Despite that, there was a small, proud smile on his face, and when he looked up again his gaze was steadfast.

An idea popped up in your head, a sly smirk spreading over your face quickly.

"So, does that mean you're thinking sexual things about me?" Cove flushed and frowned equally hard at the statement. He struggled to get out a response.

"Yeah." He looks away from you, turning his gaze towards the floor as his cheeks flushed. The smirk widens. "What kind of thoughts?" Pouting, he answers your question.

"(Y/n)... You don't need to ask that." You weren't sure that was true but couldn't help chuckling at how bashful he was. And no matter what, you wouldn't be getting a more explicit response than that right now. The topic was dropped.

"Hey, we should probably head downstairs soon. If your moms are there." You nodded.

"Yeah, that's right." With a renewed spring in your step, you let the way out of your room. You got downstairs to find the others already assembled and waiting.

"Hello." Your big sister greeted the two of you. "Hey!"

"Good to see you both." Eventually, Mr. Holden also spoke up.

"Hi! Here we were, trying to corral everyone into a group, but the two of you were already upstairs this whole time."

"Hey Dad. We... had some stuff to talk about." Cove answered, making you agree with him. "Yeah."

"But we made it, so what's the plan?"

"Hm. How about cards?" Liz proposed. There was a murmur of interest from the others.

Smiling, you decided what you wanted to do.

"Let's do it!"