anything can happen [rarlnid ✓]

twenty-two

Trigger Warning: Abuse Mention

After that, the three of them just got in Ron's car and drove around town. They were still banned from Jacqui's, the ice cream store, so they drove out to the spot by Lake Not-Trespassing with Starbucks.

"Yo, holy shit," Enid said, sipping her drink. "Can you believe that like, a few months ago we were just here as friends?"

"Gay," Ron said. "And since then we've been here once, because you guys are afraid of a fucking goose."

"They have teeth, Ron, weird, sharp little teeth." Carl emphasized, making Ron laugh as Enid nodded.

"They eat souls, Ronald." She insisted. "But the sunset is nice."

They nodded, faces glowing pink as the sun shone on their faces. "Do you guys think the moon landing was real?" Ron asked randomly, looking up at the faint sliver of moon through the grey clouds.

"Yeah, duh." Carl scoffed.

"Hmmm... no." Enid shrugged, making Carl look at her across Ron incredulously.

"You... You're kidding, right?" Carl asked. "How can you not think it's real? There are pictures!"

"Yeah, and there's a picture on my phone of Soph and Scarlet Johansson together. Things can be faked." She said. "I mean, come on, Neil A backwards is alien. Wake up, Carl."

"That has nothing to do with whether or not it's real!" He said, both Ron and Enid chuckling at how worked up he was. "The other countries would know if America lied about the moon."

"That's exactly what the government wants you to think," She countered mysteriously, and Carl just shook his head and leaned back, watching stars slowly start to dot the darkening sky.

"Man, you guys are the best." Ron sighed, leaning back against the windshield as well. "Like, wow."

"Aw, thanks Ron. The Ronster. Ronnie boy," Enid listed, leaning back against him. "I gotta come up with some more nicknames for you boys."

"The Ronster sounds good," Carl chuckled, and Ron elbowed each of them gently as they laughed. "It's getting cold."

"There are blankets in the car, if you guys wanna stay and watch stars." Ron suggested. He actually wanted to go home, but in the fading light and opening stars, they looked too pretty.

Enid slid off immediately, opening the trunk and rummaging around. Carl shivered slightly and scooted in closer, Ron turning his head to the side and kissing him on the forehead happily.

"I got the blankets, they kinda smell like dog, though." Enid said, face obscured by the large, piled up comforters in her arms. "Get up, we can put one down to sit on and then cover up with the other."

The two boys got off, helping her adjust it enough so they could crawl back on without wrinkling it. Finally, the three of them were back under the dog-smelling blankets and the stars, shivering. Carl was jolted by shivers before Ron wrapped an arm around him, pulling them both in closer.

"You guys know I... really like you, right?" Ron said slowly, looking at each of them with a wide smile. When Carl thought about it, he'd never seen Ron really smile much before the three of them started hanging out. The thought made him smile and return.