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"I swear you put something stronger in this tea, Sammy." Kenji joked, taking a reluctant sip of his sweet tea.
"My abuela always says if you're not puckerin' up it's not sweet enough!" Sammy laughed, pouring more into a mason jar for Darius.
"Kenj, you should be used to this, you love mom's juice." The younger man replied, hopping down from the granite counter and taking the cup. Biting back the taste of pure sugar he smiled.
"That's different! Juice is meant to be diabetes in a cup, tea should be…" he waved his hand while he looked for the proper word, "Earthy, no, subtle."
"Oh Brooklynn's gonna love knowing she turned you into a tea connoisseur" Yaz teased as she put the pitcher into the fridge for later, "What's next, only drinking earl gray?" The Nublar five were gathered in the Gutierrez-Fadoula kitchen, waiting for their final member to join. Brooklynn's boyfriend Hassan was back from some work trip and she was showing him around Texas before he came to stay for a few days. The group didn't have a problem with him, at least not openly. Yaz and Sammy thought he was a little odd but meant well, Ben thought he was an ableist piece of shit, Kenji hated him for being an ableist piece of shit and Darius— no one really knew what Darius thought. Anytime Hassan came around he coincidentally had something to do, away from him.
The two met through work and had been dating for a little over two years so clearly something had to be going well, but her friends couldn't help but be nervous. After all, it was Brooklynn's first time dating someone who hadn't known her as "Brooklynn, member of the Nublar Six." There was a lot of baggage there that only they could understand.
"Hey y'all!" Brooklynn called from the front door before heading into the kitchen. They all kept their doors unlocked, it wasn't like there was anyone around to rob them besides the cows. Their closest neighbors were Sammy's parents and even they hardly stopped by. The group watched as Brooklynn came into the kitchen with no boyfriend in sight. "You're having tea without me?"
"It's spiked." Kenji muttered.
"Is not! C'mon Brooklynn, it's nice and cold." Sammy swatted at Kenji then poured a glass for her friend, "Where's Hassan, did he not like sightseeing?" Sammy frowned, she picked the itenary!
"No, no he loved it!" Brookylnn smiled, letting out a satisfied hum as she downed her drink. Kenji looked on in horror. "The heat just got to him so he went back to the hotel to rest. I mean he'll have to get used to it if he's gonna live here." she chuckled.
Sammy shoved the pitcher back in the fridge to avoid dropping it, chuckling as well, "Moving in? That's— that's a step."
Yaz placed a steady hand on Sammy's shoulder, saying the words her wife was too afraid to, "Brooklynn, you know we're fine with Hassan visiting but there's things to talk about before he just- lives here, y'know. Like- money." Living on a ranch with four other people wasn't just kitchen conversations and constant hangouts, it was six sets of bills and budgets and living below their means. From the few times they saw the man he seemed to have Kon family levels of wealth, but that didn't mean he used it well. It took months of financial planning and monitored accounts for Kenji to stop making impulsive purchases and save his share of the money.
"I know! Don't worry, that's why he's here, he said he wanted to talk to you all about something, it must be the logistics of all that." Brooklynn shifted nervously, smiling at her friends exchanging suspicous glances.
"Right…" Darius mumbled, wordlessly moving to the living room. The rest of the group followed, taking their respective spots on the couch. Sammy and Yaz curled up on one end while Darius sprawled out on the sectional, moving a child's toy out of the way. Brooklynn leaned against the back of the couch, idly braiding Yaz's hair. Kenji took the opportunity to use Ben's lap as a seat, parked next to the sectional incase his legs began to hurt.
"So, what makes you think he wants to move in?" Yaz asked, fidgeting with her Sammy's hands to distract her. Hopefully this was all a big misunderstanding and they could all keep their sense of normalcy. This Hassan guy seemed fine but he'd have to leave if it meant he would disrupt her wife's only safe space.
"Well, he's been talking about the future more lately, what our jobs would look like if we settled down. He wants to go back home to New York, but you guys are all here, and he knows how much you guys mean to me." Brooklynn answered, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "Plus, he's been on his computer a bunch, I think he's been house hunting incase he can't come here." Everyone's opinions aside, she did seem genuinely happy, or atleast content, in her relationship. That was all the camp fam wanted.
"You never actually told us how y'all met, I wanna hear the love story!" Sammy chimed in.
Brooklynn chuckled, finishing off Yaz's braid and letting it unravel so she could start again, "There's not much of a story, I've told you guys most of it. We met at work," after escaping BioSyn and taking down Santos Brooklynn began working for a dinosaur welfare group that did political and awareness campaigns around the world, "He was the only one who didn't see me as Brooklynn 'from the Nublar Six' and instead as an actual person, with ideas. We kept getting paired together for projects and he helped me with my book. One day he asked me out to dinner and the rest was history."
Kenji shifted, trying not to frown. This all felt too familar, the sidekick turned boyfriend trope. This time, instead of helping her investigate poachers on a dinosaur-infested island, this guy was helping her take them down. If it wasn't for the gnawing pit in his stomach and the fact he hated the man's existence, he would have felt bad for him.
But he didn't, so instead he asked, "So…what do you see in him?"
"Kenji!" Ben scolded.
Brooklynn chuckled, cheeks tinging red, "It's fine. I mean, have you seen him?" Kenji had to admit the man was attractive, which was why it irritated him so much more when Hassan tried too hard to prove it. He was taller than Ben, with large muscles and strong features, he was every girl—and guy's dream— if only he had the personality to match. "And he's smart, and funny, and loves dinosaurs, and spoils me—"
Without thinking Kenji said, "So you have a type." This earned him glares from the rest of his friends, and a shove from Ben that felt more offended than playful as he landed on the couch, or rather, his brother's legs. "Ow! Why are your legs so hard?!"
"Because they're bones!" Darius yelped, curling up against Sammy like a cat. Yeah, Brooklynn was happy to be home.
~~~
The next day, Yaz and Sammy took their daughter, along with Brooklynn horseback riding, leaving the boys to their own devices. Well, they would have been left to their own devices if Hassan hadn't gathered them in Brooklynn's house for an "important" conversation which led to the three sitting at the dining table, staring Hassan down. He looked so pretentious in his cable-knit sweater and slacks, no wonder he got heatstroke. He would never survive in the Texas heat much less on the farm. He checked his Rolex and paused for a moment, rolling up his sleeves. Kenji couldn't help but smirk, he was already sweating out his hair pomade.
"So, I know we've had…issues in the past." The man looked between the three, sitting up straighter, "But I know you all matter very much to Brooklynn, and she told me if I ever did this I should ask you three instead of her fathers."
Darius raised a brow. He can't be serious.
"I would like your blessing to marry Brooklynn."
He was serious. "No!" Darius said immediately.
"You don't even live together!" Kenji added, voice rising.
"That's custom in some cultures." Hassan shrugged, leaning forward and placing his elbows on the table.
"Wh—"
"Hold on, hold on." Ben cut in, petting his service dog nudging his knee, "Let's hear him out." He copied the man's movements, "What's Brooklynn's favorite color?"
"Yellow." Hassan answered.
Ben nodded, at least he knew something. "Why did she tell you to ask us instead of the people that raised her?"
Hassan thought for a moment, then blanked.
"Do you know why we call her superstar…?" Ben gave him a second chance to answer. He blanked again. "Do you know anything about her from before she started working with you?" He raised a brow, even his fake relationship was more detailed than this. All Hassan had to answer with was a frown. "Exactly my point. When you marry someone, when you agree to spend your life with someone you should know them inside and out. You should want to know everything about them. This is just…" He gestured to the man across from him, "Pathetic."
"You know what I think?" None of the men cared but they let him speak. Hassan leaned back, chair creaking under his weight, "I think you two", he waved a finger between Darius and Kenji, "Just don't want to let her go. You're still in love with her."
"Oh my godddd, give it a fucking rest!" Kenji groaned, dragging his hands over his face, "It's been years, Brook and I got together when we were teenagers! I have a boyfriend, now!" He gestured to Ben, who was currently frowning and not looking at either of them. "We've both moved on, me with him and her, unfortunately, with you. You are the only one still hung up on that."
Hassan glared at Kenji, pointing a finger at Darius. "But he—" he started, only to be interrupted by Darius storming off, the slam of the front door shaking the entire house.
"He's her friend." Kenji snapped, rising to his feet, "Her best friend. If you really wanted to make her happy you would remember that" The man rushed after his brother, looking around frantically before peeking around the side of the house. Kenji sighed, slowly approaching his cowering, trembling brother pressed against the rough siding, "Hey…D, can I sit?" The man slowly lifted his head to nod and Kenji sat in the sandy grass next to him. "Sorry, I don't have a tissue, uh—" he offered his sleeve.
"Ew, dude, gross" Darius let out a sad little laugh, wiping his eyes, "Besides, I'm not crying."
"It's okay to cry dude, especially after that." He was trying to reassure him but he couldn't help but want to go back in there and give Hassan a piece of his mind. Darius never did well with confrontation, but how was Hassan supposed to know that? He barely knew anything about his so-called fiancee.
"I don't want- it— it's not like that! I love her!" Darius cried, slumping against Kenji's shoulder.
The older man gently scratched his brother's scalp, speaking softly, "I may not fully understand you two's relationship but I know what it's like—"
"You don't, r-respectfully. This isn't like when you were pining after Ben while he was with Gia." Kenji raised a brow but let him finish. "I love Brooklynn and all I want is for her to be happy, and I know she wouldn't be happy tied down to him, or me. I hate to say it but…all that time she was off solving mysteries and busting dinosaur smuggling rings was the happiest she's ever looked. Like she was truly in her element…"
"Yeah…you're right" Kenji sighed, he didn't like to think about it but she'd always been like that, even before everything. He spent six years with her being stood up on dates, not listened to and feeling more like a crime fighting partner than a romantic one. Like he told Hassan, it'd been years, he was over it, happier, but a relationship was never something she could fully commit to.
Darius sniffled, "I wanna go pet the chickens."
Kenji looked down at him for a moment then snorted, standing and holding out his hand. "Alright then, chickens it is."
After a while the girls came back from their adventure and everyone gathered in the dining room for lunch and a card game. Well, everyone except for Brooklynn and Hassan, they were in the living room, hopefully talking through their misunderstanding.
"Wait, so he's planning to-" Yaz lowered her voice, "Propose? They've only been dating for two years? Go fish."
"We're playing Uno." Darius chuckled, setting down a card.
"What's wrong with being married in two years?" Ben mumbled, they all looked at him for a second before a noise made them all shoot up like meerkats.
No, not noise, voices. Yelling, from the living room. "How could you embarass me like that?! You're such a bitch!" Then a slap.
Before the others could blink Kenji was out of his chair and they were all chasing after him. "Don't you EVER put your hands on her you son of a bitch!" Kenji had Hassan pinned against the wall with Brooklynn trying desperately to pull him away.
"It's just a prank, Kenji, stop!" Brooklynn yelled.
He finally let go of Hassan, leaving him to clutch his bleeding mouth, but only to turn his anger to Brooklynn. "A prank? You think this is funny?!" His eyes locked onto the phone camera propped in front of them, then Hassan again. Right, the Internet prank of "pretending" to hit your girlfriend, Kenji saw it all over social media. It didn't make him any less angry, "This is how you treat the woman you want to marry?!"
"Who said anything about marriage?!" Brooklynn yelled, causing everyone to freeze. "Why is everyone going crazy?!" Well fuck. Hassan grabbed his phone, pressing a kiss to her forehead with a promise to talk later before storming out.
Kenji frowned, stepping back, "Brook, I'm sorry he-"
"Why the h— why did you do that!" she yelled, crossing her arms. Everyone stared at her dumbfounded.
The man blinked, brows furrowing, "Are you seriously mad at me? Brooklynn he called you a bitch, he hit you!"
"It was fake, Kenji! Do you have to solve everything with violence?!" she glared, looking to Yaz and Sammy for support.
The girls shook their heads. "I would have done worse." Sammy snapped.
She turned to Darius, but he had checked out of this conversation long ago. Everyone was mad, and loud and he just wanted to hide in a hole forever. "I- I can't-" he said, fighting to get his words out before running off to calm himself down.
Then there was Ben. "Don't look at me, I never liked the man."
"Benjamin." Sammy scolded, but he continued.
Ben took a deep breath, petting his dog that had come back to his side, "I have tried and tried to be polite, but you are the only one tolerating his behavior." He kept going before Brooklynn could cut in, "He doesn't know anything about you, he doesn't care that he's ruining your relationships with your friends and— I don't know how this doesn't bother you considering you're disabled— but he's ableist!" The other four glanced over as his voice dropped an octave.
"Has he ever seen you without your prosthetic?" he asked, getting his answer as Brooklynn hid her right arm behind her back, rubbing the metal. "Has he ever helped you with phantom limb pain?" He raised a brow, getting more skeptical by the minute, "Does he even know what happened?!"
"I mentioned it once or twice." She muttered.
"Oh you mentioned it once or twice, that makes it all fine and fucking dandy doesn't it? This isn't a once or twice thing! When Kenji I started dating we had to have constant conversations about my disability, my needs and undoing the ableism he learned. Hell, I still have to correct him sometimes!"
"Ben, chill-" Kenji squeezed his shoulder to get him to calm down, wondering how he became part of this conversation
He did not chill. "We've been dating the same amount of time and you've barely talked to him about this? About something that's going to affect you for the rest of your life? And he has the audacity to want to marry you?"
"You-", but Brooklynn couldn't get a word in.
"When will you realize that the way he treats others is how he thinks about you?" Kenji's grip tightened on his shoulder. "Y'know I've tried to give you the benefit of the doubt, Brooklynn. Tried to convince myself that you just don't see how he treats me. But I know you do because you sit there and you don't say anything everytime he babies me and pities me and treats me like a fucking object! You didn't say anything until I punched him in the fucking face!" He yelled, and even Yaz and Sammy in the corner shifted.
"You didn't have to-"
"I did! Because unlike you I respect myself enough to know how I should be treated."
"Ben! Enough!" The other three snapped in unison.
Ben peeled his boyfriend's arm off of him, wheeling out of the room. "I know I can't tell you what to do in your relationship, I just hope you find better. And act better.
~~~
"I just can't believe they would-" Brooklynn groaned, buried in Sammy's lap. The six had all gone their seperate ways to blow off steam but Brooklynn needed some much needed girl talk.
"I mean they did have some good points B. Even without the ableism and other stuff, anyone who pretends to hurt you, even as a joke isn't someone you want to spend your life with." Yaz chimed in.
Brooklynn picked her head up for a moment, "That's just it though, I never wanted to spend my life with him, atleast not yet- I don't know."
Sammy gently squeezed her friend, "If I may, why did you tell Hassan to ask for the boys' blessing and not your dads?"
The girl sighed, sitting up fully, "Because they know me better than I know myself, and I know they wouldn't want me to be with someone that makes me unhappy."
Sammy hummed, "Well, today's made you pretty unhappy and this guy doesn't seem to know anything about you so—maybe it's time to kick this fella to the curb."
"I know" she pouted, "I just-" a knock interrupted her train of thought. Fuck, he did say he was coming back to talk. She reluctantly got up, going to open the door.
"Brooklynn-"
"I'm breaking up with you." she said immediately.
"What? Why? I love you!" Hassan exclaimed. He frowned, seeming genuinely upset.
"No, you love the version of me you made up in your head. You don't care about my feelings or wants, you hate all of my friends, you're insecure and you're ableist as heck." She held up her right arm, flipping him off with her prosthetic. "Honestly, I only stayed with you because we work together, but I'll make sure that doesn't happen anymore. Goodbye Hassan." Okay maybe that last part was a bit harsh but she didn't care anymore.
Then she slammed the door in his face and Brooklynn was a free woman.