Lover Behavior (Floyd Leech/Yuu)

8 ~ My Choice

"Floyd, you're dating Yuu, aren't you?"

Floyd caught the basketball he'd been repeatedly tossing above him and gave Jade a quick glance. "Yeah."

"How come you didn't tell me? I'm a little wounded." He sat at the edge of the bed, watching as Floyd turned so he was facing Jade, hugging his basketball.

"Didn't think it was that important."

"But you've been pining after her for quite some time~ You used to always gush to me about her, yet once you finally get together, I hear nothing of it?"

"You're being nosy, Jade."

"Shall I ask again when you're in a more pleasant mood?"

"Here's a better plan: don't ask at all. Lil' Shrimpy's none of your business."

Jade brought a hand to his chin. "Interesting choice of words."

"Ugh, since when are you so annoying?"

"You say she's none of my business. Not your relationship with her, but her herself."

"It was just a random sentence. You think I'm thinkin' that deeply 'bout how I phrase things? I'm not you or Azul."

"Normally, you'd say something like 'believe what you want'. Have you, perhaps, a deeper interest in Yuu than I thought?"

Floyd let out a long sigh. "Jade." He sat up, rolling the basketball under his desk and turning back to Jade, resting his chin on his knee. "It's none of your business," he muttered with a dark look in his eyes.

Jade let out an amused chuckle. "Is that supposed to be a threat? You should know me better than this, Floyd. That won't work."

"...You're almost as annoying as Crabby and Mackerel and Sealie."

"Ah, so that's what this is about? You've grown infatuated with her, haven't you?"

He raised an eyebrow at Jade, and Jade continued talking.

"Normally you don't grow this attached to people, but you're more attached to Yuu than you should be. I do hope you get this all out of your system, soon; I would hate to see you do worse than choking Deuce Spade in a closet without a proper reason."

Floyd's expression hardened. "I don't need to get anything out of my system. I love Lil' Shrimpy and I don't wanna share her with anyone. What's wrong with that?"

"Oh, Floyd..." Jade sighed, his lips curling into a pitying smile. "I do hope you're able to work things out yourself before it's too late. You're becoming awfully predictable."

He turned off his lamp and pulled his blankets over him, leaving Floyd to his thoughts in the darkness.

Floyd had to stifle a laugh. He was aware that what he was doing was wrong, but he couldn't help his insatiable desire to have his Little Shrimp all to himself. And when Floyd wanted something, nothing could stop him.

Around the same time in Ramshackle dorm, Grim, Yuu, Deuce, and Ace were sitting in her room, much more quiet than their sleepovers usually were.

Yuu checked her phone. "He just sent me good night text, so I don't think he's coming."

Deuce let out an exhale of relief. For the past few days, he had been trying to tell his friends what had happened, but Floyd interrupted every time. They all turned to face him with anticipation.

"...Okay. So, as I'm pretty sure you guys have figured by now, Floyd Leech's involved."

"Yeah, yeah, we got that," Ace said impatiently. "Get to what happened."

"He kinda... pulled me into the custodial closet and choked me," Deuce spoke, glancing around nervously before pulling down his collar. The three others all gasped at the sight of the bruises on Deuce's neck. It was faded, but still fairly prominent.

Yuu's bottom lip quivered. "Are you sure it wasn't Jade?" She didn't want to believe Deuce, but she knew that he wouldn't tell a lie like this.

Deuce nodded, his eyes flitting over to Ace and Grim. "Are you gonna tell them?"

"Tell us what?" Ace asked, confusion prominent on his face.

Yuu brought her hand to her mouth. "Grim already knows," she muttered.

A hurt expression played slightly on Ace's face. The thought of three of his friends sharing a secret and not telling him upset him, but he could tell that it was something serious. "Are you gonna let me in on what's going on?"

Yuu pursed her lips together, staring at the floor. "If you won't say it, I will. Ace should get to know," Deuce said warningly, but Yuu remained silent.

"Yuu and Floyd are dating."

Ace's eyes widened. "Wait, so your boyfriend really went and choked out one of your friends!? Did you know about this?"

"No! You think I'd let him hurt Deuce?" She gripped her pants tightly. "I don't know why Floyd would..." Grim patted her shoulder awkwardly, trying to comfort her.

"He said that he's jealous that we get to see you more than he does," Deuce replied. "So he basically beat me up to get his anger out."

Ace turned to face Yuu. "Hey, can you tell us about your relationship with him? Like, how he is and stuff?"

So Yuu recounted to them how it started to all of the little things he did; basically everything she could recall about him and how he acted. A few of the ghosts even joined them to listen in.

"...Dude, you need to break up with your boyfriend."

Yuu grimaced slightly at Ace's statement; yeah, she knew that Floyd had a few red flags, but he was still such an amazing boyfriend to her. He always remembered the little things and made sure to express how much he loved her.

"Anyway, this is all a secret, okay? Keep this quiet," she said.

Ace crossed his arms. "You're seriously still planning on dating him? He's a maniac, Yuu! He literally tried to kill Deuce!"

"Yeah!" Grim agreed. "And he's always making this spooky face at me whenever I'm around you!"

"He wouldn't've-he wouldn't actually kill him!" Yuu protested, though she knew how stupid she sounded. "I can... talk to him!"

"Are you insane!? You're still gonna go out with the guy who dragged one of your best friends into a closet and choked him out!? I thought you were, I don't know, more sensible than this!"

"Stop yelling!" Deuce shouted, making both of them turn to him. "Ace, we can't dictate who Yuu wants to be with! And Yuu, I have to say that I agree with Ace, but it's up to you. But please don't say anything to him... you're already not supposed to know as it stands."

Ace let out a sharp huff. "At least one of us is talking sense," he grumbled. Yuu pulled a pillow into her lap and buried her head into it wordlessly.

"...You guys should probably stay away from me."

"Huh? Why?" Deuce asked, followed by Grim saying, "How am I supposed to do that!?"

Yuu lifted her head from the pillow slightly so her voice wasn't muffled. "I know I should, but... I don't wanna break up with him. But he might hurt you guys if you stay around me, so..."

"Tch. I can't believe you," Ace spat, rising from his seat. "I hope you have fun with your psycho boyfriend when he kidnaps and kills you, Miss 'I-can-fix-him'!"

She watched as he exited the room, ignoring Grim and Deuce's protests. Eventually, Deuce followed, leaving her sobbing in the company of Grim and the ghosts.