At this point in time, I had already run out of facial expressions to use with each piece of news I'd discover or every bit of nostalgia that would wash over so I put my hands up in defeat and entered my house to finally have some lunch. And lo and behold, the interior was definitely squeaky clean but there was no semblance of food whatsoever.
And yeah, my 'good' friend Ben knew what we had stashed in our cars so he wouldn't even let me open the MY fridge to prepare us light food for once. However, I noticed that Lopez was the only one who didn't come in because he looked like he wanted to double back and check on his wife ASAP.
He looked desperate for once, "I... I need permission to visit my wife and—"
"No."
"Wai— Why?! You think I'd try to escape?"
"Not really, I think you need to have some food first."
He shook his head furiously, "I've already eaten a lot because they took my blood when—"
"Right. Go ahead, I already put a tracker in you anyway—"
"YOU WHAT?! HOW?!"
"D'you know that you talk in your sleep? Of course, I'm fucking kidding! Numb-nut. But yeah, I wouldn't let you out of my sight without a chaperone or two so you'd still have to wait for two of us to finish eating so they could come with you. If not—"
"I'll come with him," JP suddenly raised his hand.
"Me too! I'll come too!" Lucas followed like a loyal dog.
When that happened, Lopez looked at the two approvingly but his face still turned solemn as he turned to me. I could only sigh because I didn't know what JP and Lucas were trying to do but since I could easily call Andy and tell him to not let them drive away when they're not with us, I just let them go because we did have some packed lunches stashed away.
It's just that it was hella awkward when we saw them off but just for a little insurance, I made them leave their gear before they hiked their way towards the hospital.
In any case, I still tried to look for fresh vegetables in MY pantry but Ben blocked me like his life depended on it.
"C'mon, dudeee~ You know the food situation over here! The vegetables are fresh and crisp but I gotta have some meat, alright?!"
Cass butted in, "I brought you some sausages from the Academy yesterday—"
Ben's eyes had never been so round as he stared Cass down, "It was two little pieces, Cass—"
"Hmph! Then I'll have what I brought today for myself because I definitely would appreciate not just the quantity but the thought—"
"It's not like that, Cass— I sincerely thank you for that but meat's meat, alright?"
Cass had never looked so confused, "I... I don't even understand what that meant."
'Did I say something wrong? Did I praise her too much? Was that it?'
Even when we started eating, she took bites like she didn't just run the whole way here and she was even sighing at points that was grabbing everyone's attention.
But yeah, I eventually put two and two together—with a little bit of nudge from Kaley—because it seemed like my denseness had started to act up again. I can actually pick up social cues or simple signs if it was ever thrown at me so I decided to remedy the situation by giving Mimi another slice of our strip steaks.
"We know you cannot grow taller anymore but you gotta beef up! Put some muscle in ya, y'know?"
She never looked so confused as she turned her head to me, "W-What?"
"..." everyone else.
I turned to Kaley instead, "Should I have given her more potatoes?"
Everyone exploded, "NO! YOU FUCKING DUMBASS! CAN'T YOU SEE THAT SHE HAS FEELINGS FOR YOU?!"
I chortled as I waved everyone off, "Whaaat? No way, heh. We're just really good friends—best friends, if you will—right, Mimi? Besides, I did say we're like brother and sister so it's gonna be weird if—"
Mimi cut me off, "Y-Yeah... d-don't get the wrong i-idea guys... We're... We're just— I just really missed him and I thought... yeah... t-that's it... yep..."
I turned to everyone with a smug smile, "See? I was—"
Before I got to finish my sentence, Mimi just straight up left the table and headed straight for the door and I had to get beat up by Kaley and the Alpha Bitches to finally understand what was going on.
I was ordered to hurry up and run after her but let's be fucking real here, she wouldn't reach far with her legs and I actually caught up to her in less than a minute. But yeah, she tried to slap my hand off her arm but she really should've eaten more because I felt fucking nothing.
Though joking aside, we sat down under this huge tree that was just a small sapling when I was still studying here and we started to talk for real this time.
I was just about to apologize to the things I've done and said but she took me by surprise and apologized first.
"I-I'm sorry for c-causing a scene... It was just... A-All the emotions coming together a-and... you know, seeing you after a-all this was too much and I-I can't believe that—"
"Mimi."
"W-What?"
I gave her a faint smile, "Breathe, alright?"
"R-Right... Ha... Haaa... Haa... Yeah, I think I'm okay now—"
"See—"
Then she suddenly blew up, "Y-YOU B-BIG GOOF! YOU GOT M-MARRIED?! WHAT— I CAN'T— WAS SHE— YOU— AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"