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Miles knows that he's more than enough for himself and knows that his father thinks he's the best son. That didn't mean he always felt that way. Sometimes he felt like he wasn't enough; today was one of those days. His gaze fell onto Phoenix.
Huh. That was weird. It was the beginning of June in California, so why was he wearing a baggy sweater? He would die in that thing. Did he forget they were in a heatwave again? Phoenix always did forget those things.
Miles touched his arm, trying to get his attention. The reaction he got wasn't what he expected. Phoenix jolted and moved his arm away from Miles. He had never done that before. Was something wrong?
"Phoenix, is something wrong?" Miles gave him that worried glance he had seen on Miles' father's face. Was it just something they did or was it in their genetics? Phoenix would believe either one.
Phoenix looked around, making sure no one was listening in on them. "Can I come over after school? I don't want anyone hearing it."
Miles tilted his head. "Sure, my father loves having you over. He even has a surprise tonight. Something important from the sounds of it." Something important? Phoenix knew it would be more important than what he had to say. Mr. Greg was a super important grown-up, and he was just a kid in elementary school.
Phoenix gave him a smile and a laugh. "That sounds interesting! Now I'm really excited to come over!"
Miles waited by the front gate after school for Phoenix for a whole twenty minutes. Was he even going to show? Miles started to walk home when he heard Phoenix run to catch up to him. Ah, he was running late, again.
Phoenix started to breathe heavily. "Sorry, I'm late. I was distracted by something." Miles assumed-wait was that on his sweater? It looked like he had gotten a red stain on his sweater, Miles sighed. That was Phoenix Wright for you, a clumsy kid through and through. At least he was cut-good-natured; being good-natured offset most of his flaws.
Miles picked up his pace, wanting to get home before 4. He was already going to be late. He was trying to come up with an excuse he could give his father. Maybe say that he was being distracted, distracted by what? A cute girl. Yes, that would work. Wait, no, no, it wouldn't. He told his father before that there's a boy he likes and that girls weren't attractive to him. He had already put himself in a corner. What about telling his father he was distracted by a cute boy? Maybe that would work.
His eyes drifted over to Phoenix's arm. How was THAT possible? There was an even larger red stain on his sweater. Was the color bleeding out? It did look like it was an older sweater. He shook his head and led him inside.
As they were putting their bags down; and getting started on their homework, Greg and someone came into the dining room. Who was that? Miles didn't recognize them. Maybe they were one of his father's employees?
Greg and this person sat down at the table. "Miles, could I have your attention for a minute? I would like to tell you the surprise now." Miles quickly looked up. Maybe it was a new law book, or it was a-no, no way. There was no way that person next to him was his new boyfriend or was there? "Miles, this is my boyfriend Ray; he's in his last year of law school. He's going to become a defense attorney like me." Well, at least he wasn't going to be a prosecutor. A prosector and a defense attorney together? That idea made Miles want to laugh. They were enemies, weren't they? Yes, they were. He would never become a prosecutor, and even if he did, he would never marry a defense attorney.
Ray smiled and sat down next to the boys. "Hey, what's your name, sweater boy?"
Phoenix looked up. "I'm Phoenix. I'm going to be a musical theater actor one day." Wow, this kid's dreams were pretty big. He could see why the two kids were friends now. They were both ambitious.
Phoenix went back to his work as Ray and Miles went into the kitchen, looking for snacks to eat. Phoenix put his pencil down. "Mr. Greg, I wanted to tell you something."
Greg furrowed his eyebrows. Was something wrong? "I've been hurting my skin." Hurting his skin? Did, did the small child in front of him mean that he was cutting himself?
He held the small child in his lap and rolled up a sleeve on the sweater. The cuts were deep enough that the blood was seeping through his sweater. So that was what the red stain on his sweater was. Greg got him wrapped up in bandages and took him to the couch.
Phoenix couldn't look him in the eyes. Greg already knew why he was cutting. He wasn't blind to the way the two boys acted towards each other. "Phoenix, I'm sure he feels the same way you do." How did he know? It wasn't like Miles told his father how he felt, right? Wrong. Miles had, in fact, already told Greg how he felt months ago. "Now, why don't we go see Miles and tell him what has been going on with you, okay?" Go to Miles about what he had been doing? He wasn't sure about that, but if Mr. Greg thought it was the right thing to do, then he would tell Miles everything.
Hopefully, Miles did like him back. If he did, then they might be able to date sometime down the line. Maybe that was a bit too far away for him to think about at that time, but maybe, just maybe, they could be a thing now.
Phoenix hoped that Miles wouldn't be mad at him for what he did.