"Hey... you okay..? Well.. of course you're not. That was such a dick thing to say.." Futoshi hugs you from behind and closes the bathroom door behind you, so nobody can intrude on you two talking.
You look up to him and cuddle into his arms, trying to breathe instead of crying. "Yeah.. I don't know why he would say that.. I thought he was nicer than that.. you know?" You turn around to hug him facing each other, still looking up to him.
"He is nice, I don't know what got into him just now. That was so weird.." he rubs your back and tries not to hug you too tight to watch your bruises. "Don't think he's like that all the time, my guess is he's just jealous you mentioned another boy." He chuckles and you roll your eyes, honestly just annoyed right now.
"He doesn't get to be jealous, he doesn't own me. Plus, I'm gonna be honest, I barely know him. I barely know you!" You awkwardly smile and back away from the hug, feeling like you're getting close to these people too fast.
"Hey, hey, hey, you barely know us but you're comfortable with us because you know you can trust us. It's okay." He opens the door behind him and steps to the side. "You can leave if I'm making you uncomfortable, that was never my intention."
You frown and shrug. "No, you're fine, but thank you for the offer." You smile and hug him again, closing the door. "I bet the teacher's so confused." You laugh a little and Futoshi chuckles with you.
"Yeah, probably." He rubs your back again and kisses your head, looking down at you while you look up at him. "If you ever do feel uncomfortable around any or all of us, just let me know and I'll give you an escape plan." He smiles and chuckles again and you smile with him, nodding.
"I think I'll be okay." You snuggle against him again and he kisses your head again.
"You get enough of a breather?" He puts one hand on the door knob.
"Yeah, I think so. I just don't wanna look at Freddie right now." You roll your eyes.
"How will he apologise if you dodge him?" He opens the door and lets you out first.
You groan and leave the bathroom. "I guess you're right." You shrug and drag yourself back to the seats, but the teacher signals you over first.
Futoshi heads back while you head over to teacher. "Hey, you okay? Mind if I ask what happened?"
"Yeah, I'm okay." You smile at her. "Just a little misunderstanding that made me mad, but we're better now."
"Okay.. well.. if you ever wanna talk, I'm here." She smiles and sends you on your way back to your seat.
"Alrighty." You smile again and walk back to your seat, and you can see Futoshi strict talking Freddie, chuckling underneath your breath.
Freddie stands up and looks down at you, you cross your arms and glare up at him again. "I'm sorry, Y/N. Aiden doesn't deserve anything that happened to him, I just don't like seeing you hurt and I reacted too quickly and negatively." He rubs his arm in shame and you frown, feeling kind of bad but not bad enough to feel guilty.
"It's okay, just don't talk about Aiden like that again. He's hanging out with us at lunchtime and I don't want any of you being mean. He's never had true friends before and I want to be the first he can actually trust, including you guys because I trust you guys as much as I want him to trust me."
Both Freddie and Futoshi smile, and Freddie nods his head. "Okay, we'll be here for him whenever he needs it. I'm sorry I assumed he was a bad person. I'm sure he isn't."
You smile and Futoshi winks at you, making you laugh a little, confusing Freddie. "You're fine."
"What are you laughing at?" Freddie looks back and forth between you and Futoshi, making you guys laugh more from his confusion.
"Oh, nothing." You sit down inbetween them again and pull out your work, working on it with the two of them, all helping each other.
•••
The bell eventually rings and you pack up with Freddie and Futoshi, heading to the cafeteria for break, waiting for Aiden when you get there.
"Aiden?" Freddie asks, standing beside you, Futoshi finding a spot to chill.
"Yup." You smile up at Freddie and turn back to look through the door for Aiden.
"Alrighty, well, I'll be with the rest of the group." Freddie smiled and headed off, leaving you to wait alone for Aiden, hoping he would show up.
You wait about five minutes and see him waddling down the hallway, reading while he walked down the hallway, easily dodging all the people in front of him walking slower than him.
Aiden's about to pass you but you're tiny enough for him to recognize you and he stops. "Hey, Y/N." He smiles and puts his book away while you wait for him.
"Hi! I can't wait to show you my friends." You hold his hand and walk around the cafeteria, trying to find your friends when Freddie waves you over.
You stop in your tracks and frown, rubbing your face with your other hand. "Why is SHE there?" You groan and wave back, walking over slower than before.
"Who's she?" Aiden asks, raising an eyebrow, genuinely curious.
"Some stupid, clingy, cringy girl from Freddie's art class. She's sooo annoying and she won't get off his back like they're together or something."
"...what if they are?" Aiden turns to you and you guys stop.
"No, they're not." You go to walk again but pause as you see Freddie and that girl laughing together, she's touching him a lot. "At least, I don't think so.." You take a deep breath and sigh.
"You like him, don't you?" Aiden winks at you and starts poking you, teasing you.
"No, no!" You start giggling and Aiden starts tickling you, making you run away from him to the table where your friends are.
"Never!" He yells at you, chasing you down and laughing with you.
You get to the table and hide behind Futoshi, Aiden running around Futoshi to get to you, tickling you as you sit down, causing you to almost fall over but Aiden sits down and catches you om his lap. "Don't kill me!" You laugh even harder and hold your stomach in pain, looking up at him.
"I won't, I won't." He smiles and rubs your head slowly, as to calm you down, causing you to smile at him, too.
"I'm guessing this is Aiden..?" Futoshi raises an eyebrow and smiles at the both of you.
"Aww, you're talking about me already?" Aiden smiles at you and Futoshi.
"Oh yes, how can I not?" You reach your hands up to Aiden's cheeks and pinch them. "You're so darn cute!"
Futoshi rolls his eyes but keeps smiling. "I guess we both got penguin boyfriends now, huh?" He laughs and you giggle, too.
"Oh yes, totally." You sit up and hold Aiden's arm, Aiden putting his arm around you, both of you playing the role of being together well.
You look over at Freddie and see him trying not to glare at Aiden, putting his arm around that girl that's already superglued to his arm. "I'm Freddie." He sticks his hand out to shake Aiden's, and Aiden does.
"Aiden, I was gonna say you probably haven't heard of me, but I'm sure you have by now." He smiles and looks at the whole group.
"Some of us haven't, actually." Baddi smiles and waves at Aiden. "I'm Baddi, it's nice to meet a new friend of Y/N's."
"This is my boyfriend, Akari." Futoshi pushes his seat back and reveals Akari hiding behind him. Akari waves and smiles, Aiden waves and smiles back, making Akari blush a little from the friendly gesture. "You and Akari have a lot in common, I believe, actually." Futoshi smiles.
"Oh yeah? Like what?" Aiden smiles and holds your hand underneath the table, rubbing the top of your hand slowly and softly.
You blush and wonder what he's doing and why he's holding your hand, not stopping him, though.
"Well, you're both very quiet, you both like to read and be alone. I'm sure you can find others, too." Futoshi chuckles a little and Aiden smiles, you can tell he's happy that he already feels like he's fitting in.
~
Sorry for not getting this one out immediately, I had school work. Here you go, though! Idk when the next one will come out, hopefully not another few months. 😅 Thank you for choosing my story! Happy reading! 😊💕