"A picture?!" Mickey all but screams in the crowded hallways causing various heads to turn our way.

"Shut up!" I hiss angrily as he bites his lip trying to stifle his giggles. I give him a warning glare before we continue walking.

"He did? Bacon Bits took a picture of you!" He whispers harshly as he jumps around a little crazily, Bacon Bits was our code name for Beckett.

"I don't think it's a good thing. I think my hair was messed up and I was sweating a l-"

"Shut up! Shut up!" He says angrily. "This is a good thing." He instructs me harshly as we approach my locker.

"How?"

"He clearly likes you, as a friend I mean. But that can be altered." He says making me scoff at the ridiculous idea.

"Bacon Bits is straight and I know that. I'm trying to keep my crush to a manageable low, if I think I have a chance I'll basically kill myself trying to win him over." I say with a sigh as I switch out books from my tidy locker, I considered putting in a mirror so I could watch him from my locker but I wasn't smart enough to work out the science of that.

"But he's so snackable! Like.."

"Bacon Bits...." I finish for him as we sigh together.

"I think something's starting up." He says looking at me seriously. "It has to."

I look at him for a bit opening my mouth to reply but shut it quickly.

We branch off into another conversation as I gather my things before we set on our course to hell again.

I groan loudly when I bounce into someone for the fourth time for the morning sending my shit flying to the ground once again. I glance up to see who was my fourth victim as I searched around aimlessly with my hands for my belongings.

"Hey."

My heart stops as I find myself looking into those heart clenching, forest green eyes that made my stomach swirl.

"Hi." I say recovering quickly, it was getting easier to talk to him the more we did. "Sorry for bumping into you." I say guilty as I stand to my feet along with him after gathering all my things.

"Don't worry bout it." He says before giving me a weak smile and walking away. I frown a little as I watch him disappear into the crowd, I wish we could talk more, just five minutes. That's all I wanted.

I get dragged out of my thoughts by a deafening scream that Mickey emits causing the whole hallway to come to a standstill. I watch him with wide eyes as he clenches his chest tightly with a paper crumpled between his fingers and a blinding smile that was a bit too bright.

"Holy fuck!" He shouts before grabbing my wrist and dragging me through the crowd that slowly started back up their usual routine. I stumble behind him completely confused whilst he pulled me like a rag doll that had no purpose. I give up on asking him where we were going after about the twelfth time of doing so and receiving no answer. He pushes me through a random door, making me stumble into a pitch black room with no source of light. He shuts the door behind him making me squeak a little as I stand there silently, a light comes on thankfully revealing the empty, small room that we were standing in the middle of.

"Nice place you got here." I say sarcastically.

"Shut up!" He shouts jumping, yes jumping, up and down. "Shut up! I don't know how you missed it, I really don't!"

"Missed what?"

"This!" He shouts pushing the paper into my chest. Unfolding it carefully, my eyes widen considerably as I stare at the ripped piece of paper with several digits and a little note that made me heart beat faster.

Text me. And when are you coming over?!

"H-h-h-h-h-e..."

"Yes bitch! Yes! He wrote this! For you! Bacon fucking Bits wants you to text him and go to his house! Again!" Mickey screams loudly as he jumps around with me who was now screaming and jumping.

"I'm dreaming." I say staring at the paper before rubbing my eyes. "I have Beckett Stone's number."

"His fucking number!" Mickey screams back to me.

"Oh my goddess....this is the best day of my life! Oh my goddess! Oh my goddess! Oh! My! Fucking! God!"

"Text him!" Mickey commands in a deadly, deep voice.

"I can't." I say immediately clamming up as I settle on my feet that now felt like they weight a ton and a half. "Too soon."

"He literally said to text him." He says encouragingly but I just shake my head no. He sighs deeply before inhaling slowly while his eyes meet mine. No sign of life, dead inside with an unrecognizable emotion that sent shivers down my spine. "Emitt Smith, if you don't text that beautiful angel man right now, I will personally saw off your balls right now."

"Okay, okay. Damn Saw, at least give me a game before heading for the deadly part." I reply as I dig in my pocket for my phone. I type in his number into my contacts nervously feeling my body getting strangely hot. "What do I say?" I ask as I stare at the open whatsapp page.

"Nothing big. Just say Hi, this is Emitt." He says calmly and supportively.

"That sounds really formal." I reply he glares at me making me gulp as I type out the message. "Okay I did it." I say locking my phone immediately.

"You did?!"

"You told me to!"

"Yeah but I didn't think you'd actually do it!" He shouts back nervously. "That's so soon."

"Mickey!"

"I'm sorry!" He says burying his face into his hands, letting out a small cry. "I'm a fuck up, you know this!"

"What am I go-"

I'm cut off by the feeling of my phone vibrating in my hands making me jump a little as I almost drop my phone with a hammering heart. Looking down I see Beckett's name appear making me scream as I actually drop the phone this time and jump away from it.

"He texted me back." I whisper staring at the phone that was lying face up on the floor. The bell for the first class rings making us both jump in fright, thank Goddess we were so high up that no one could hear us. I didn't mind skipping first period, this was way more important that learning about my brain.

"Shit, we're so unprepared." Mickey says pacing again when the bell stops. "Um, um. Just open it up and see what he said."

"Okay. Okay." I say yet I make no move of checking the phone. "Shouldn't I wait? Like a minute at least."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll time it." He says nodding to himself as he comes to a stand still and starts his phone timer. That minute had to be the longest minute I've ever experienced in my entire life, I swear I'd been standing there for at least five minutes.

You are not cut out for this - Chris mumbles, making an appearance for once.

Your crush. Your problem. I'm merely a spectator - He drags lazily making me groan little.

I reply cheekily, I could feel my ears heating up considerably telling me that I was right from how embarrassed he felt. He disappears immediately making me sigh, for an asshole he was so shy about his feelings. I knew he liked Tobias and I also knew he hated himself for it, he knew our mates could never be them but yet we'd allowed ourselves to grow feelings for the two and now we were royally fucked. The only hope was that we kept it as crushes and nothing more.

"A m-minute's up." Mickey stutters, his nervous behavior was just worsening my nervous behavior.

I walk over carefully to my phone before picking it up and opening whatsapp to read his reply.

💦😍👉🏻👌🏻🍆

"I can't handle this." Mickey said before bolting out of the room, Goddess he was a little shit under pressure.

Me: Yeah. Easier this way.

Sorry. I've been busy. I can come tonight. It's a Friday night after all.

Oh yeah? With what.

I hate you!

Bye.

.

I take off my phone as I slide to the floor leaning against the naked wall of the little room. Did that beautiful specimen call me donut? Did he mean to? Will he say it again? Fuck why did it make me hard!

Why am I such a mess?

-------------------

"Why not?" Aiden says lowly with a frown.

"Because I have stuff to do." I groan trying not to look into his shades, that scared the shit out of me, it was like staring into the devils eyes. They were pitch black yet every once in a while I swear I could see a little, red glow behind them.

"You never have stuff on a Friday night! It's party night, you know this!" He exclaims in clear annoyance.

"Well I can't tonight." I say apologetically. "We can hang out tomorrow? Watch a movie or something?"

"I don't want to watch a movie!"

"We can go out tomorrow then."

"No. Tonight."

"I can't to-"

"Fine whatever." He growls before slamming his locker door and walking away.

"Aiden.." I groan feeling like a shitball, he flips me off as he continues to walk away.

I hated making Aiden mad, he was my best friend, the guy who always made sure I was okay when no one else would. He was a sourpuss generally so I hated making his mood more shitty if I could avoid it. Friday night was party night, it was the night we let loose and Aiden would actually have fun. He'd joke around and act like the kid I used to know, not the person he'd become when he came back when we were younger. I missed that guy and seeing him whenever I could was a priority, he only got like that when I was there with him, so I felt like a little fuck for not going with him.

I walk out the deserted hallways with a slight pout as I clench my books tightly, I walk mindlessly as I make my way to the bus stop. A car honking brings me to reality as my eyes shoot up to see Beckett with his head out of his car window with a gleeful smile on his face that warmed my heart a little.

"Glad I caught you, get in." He instructs before slipping back into his car, I oblige and get in without a word as he takes off. "I'm stopping for food first okay, is Wendy's good with you?"

"Mhmm." I hum making him smile as he continues driving. Music was playing so it wasn't entire awkward, I usually was quiet around him cause I was too busy admiring him but I don't know, I felt like a mute after talking to Aiden.

"What do you want?" Beckett asks making my eyes shoot up making me realize we were already at Wendy's.

"Triple baconator, large fries, large sprite and one a-, no two, apple pies." I say quickly reciting my rehearsed order I practice whenever I came here. When Beckett looks at me like if I was mad I just smile and offer to pay my half but he refuses and puts in my order. "Sorry I'm such a cow." I say as he drives towards his pack lands while I eat my fries.

"You're not a cow." He says chuckling a little. "You're an Emitt."

"Thanks?" I say questioningly.

"You're welcome." He says with his head held high, I keep quiet after that and continue to eat my fries as we make our way to his pack.

-----------------------

(I'm changing cause: a) y'all love his POV and b) I feel it'll be better from his perspective here)

Something's wrong.

He's quiet, well quieter than usual.

He's downcast as well, barely smiling with a dead voice when he does talk. His eyes focused on his food and his mind somewhere I couldn't find.

What's wrong?

After getting Emitt cleared for entry, I drive into the pack heading straight for my house. He doesn't react at all when I stop the car in front of my house, he just looks into his bag of food as he puts another fry into his mouth.

"Emitt.." I call, his head snaps up as he looks at me before looking around wildly.

"Oh we're here, that was quick." He says with a nervous chuckle before sliding out of the car before I could anything else. I follow behind him as we walk into the house together.

"Emitt, are you okay?" I ask carefully before opening my door as he turns to face me, I look down at him as his large, green eyes stare up at me with wonder filling them.

"I'm fine." He replies smoothly but I knew it was a lie. He wasn't. Something was wrong and it was annoying me, I didn't get why though. Why did I care so much? Why did I want to see him smile again? Why did I get so excited when he texted me, why I waited everyday for him to come over or why I want him near me all the time nowadays?

I couldn't say all this to him of course, I wouldn't possibly tell him that I knew he was lying. That I wanted to help fix things, it'd just scare him away.

"Are you sure?" I ask instead.

"Yep." He says popping the p as an effort to sound happy but I saw right through it.

"Okay." I say opening the door for us to go inside. "What movie do you want to watch today?"

"Lilo and Stitch!" He says excitedly, the light returning to his eyes for a split second.

"Okay." I agree, I'd actually watched this one before but he was so excitedly I couldn't say no. "Well set it up, I'll get the plates for the food."

"Okie dokie." He says before disappearing, already knowing the house by the back of his hand.

I smile to myself as I pull out a couple of plates from the microwave, the house was already livelier with him here, more comforting with his scent filling the space. It was just better when he was here.

"Mind if I get a cup for my Sprite? I don like drinking from the cups.." Emitt says shyly walking into the room, his hands behind his back as he twirls his foot behind him.

Fuck that's cute. Wait, what?!

"Y-yeah, no problem." I stutter out, shocked by my own thoughts. "Cups are up there." I say pointing to the upper cabinets, he nods before heading over while I drown in my thoughts again. It wasn't the first time I thought he looked cute, every time I saw him in that picture of him I....I don't know...

"Uhh! Hmph! Ugh!" I'm snapped out of my thoughts by Emitt's groans as he tries to reach the cups that were too high for him.

Okay, that's fucking adorable.

"Let me help." I say chuckling as I approach him, he sighs in anger as he continues to try and reach the cups. I lean over his back as I get the cup with ease, freezing when I inhale his scent from the nape of his neck. I always got faint strands of it but being this close, I smelt him entirely, he smelt of sweet strawberries and raspberries. I felt my insides twirl a little as I inhale the scent deeply.

"Did you get it?" Emitt asks innocently snapping me out of my trance as I realize how close I had gotten. I back away quickly as he turns around to face me, I hand him the cup making him smile widely before he heads to the fridge seemly completely unaffected.

-----meanwhile, in Emitt's mind----

Did he notice that I was trying to feel his dick with my ass?! He was so close, I took a chance!

I hope he doesn't notice I'm in the fridge for no reason!

-------------------------------------------

"I'm going up to change. Mind taking out the food?" I ask carefully.

"It's fine." Emitt replies keeping his face hidden behind the fridge door.

I leave without another word as I head up to my room, closing the door behind me as I lean against it with wide eyes.

What's wrong with me?

I underdress quickly before throwing on a muscle t and some basketball shorts. I stop myself when I reach the door, my mind wandering to Emitt. Should I give him something too? Would he wear it? I grab a large, grey sweater I rarely used and returned to find him sitting on the couch with the food and movie ready.

"Thought you might want to get out of those clothes. I have a sweater if you want?" I say awkwardly, wishing I'd just left it upstairs. This was weird. Who offers another guy their clothes to wear? What am I doing?

"T-thanks." He stutters with reddened cheeks. "I have some sweatpants in my bag, g-give me a sec."

He disappears towards the bathroom as I sit down into the soft couch letting out an exhausted breath. Before I can gather my thoughts, Emitt reemerges with the large sweater coating his body and a pair of sweatpants that looked more like tights to me the way they hugged his legs so nicely. He looked good, in my clothes I mean, really good.

Stop - I warn Tobias as I feel him scratching at the surface. I didn't know why we were acting this way, but I knew it couldn't possibly end well.

"Ready?" I question as he props down besides me.

"Yeah."

The movie plays on yet all I could think about was Emitt. That scent that was caressing my nose so teasingly, it now slightly mixed with my own now that he was in my shirt. Our proximity didn't help either, I didn't know why but my body was going haywire and it was quite frankly scaring the shit out of me.

I sneak a glance at him to see him deeply immersed in the movie, yet I could see that he was still not himself, not really. He looked hurt and that was troubling me more than it should.

I try to focus on the movie and I manage to until a hear a faint sob, my eyes dart across to Emitt as I watch him hugging his knees with teary eyes as he watches the movie.

Was he seriously crying because of Lilo and Stitch?

"Ohana means family, and family means nobody gets left behind." He mouths the words as Stitch says it before he starts full on wailing making my eyes wide in surprise as my body acts on its own.

I pause the movie before pulling him into my arms in complete shock as he continues to cry while he automatically clenches onto my shirt. I didn't know what to be more surprised at, the fact that he was crying or that I had him sitting in my lap.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I say gently as I lift his chin up a little so he looked at me. His tear glanced eyes making my heart squeeze itself as he sniffs a little while still clenching onto my shirt.

"I left him behind." He sobs out making my frown in confusion. "I left Aiden behind."

"What are you talking about?" I question as I continue to wipe his tears away, my skin buzzing at the feeling of having him so close. I knew now wasn't the time but I was relishing in the satisfying rush I got feeling his skin against mine, feeling him clench onto me, having him sit on me, his scent so close. I wanted to devour him.

"I'm a horrible person." He cries looking up at me with a wobbly lip that made me bite my own.

"No you're not. You're the sweetest guy I've ever met." I say with a kind smile.

"But I left h-"

"I don't know what happened but I know you love Aiden like I do Julian and sometimes, we can't be there for them always. You can't hate yourself because you took time for you." I say comfortingly, surprised by my own actions and words as my hand slips down to his waist to pull him in closer as I caress his cheek with the other.

"You think he hates me now?" He questions nervously, I chuckle as I look into his beautiful eyes.