scapegoat ━━ mike schmidt

𝟬𝟮𝟯 bacon

SCAPEGOAT / Chapter Twenty-Three

"Oh my God!" Abby shrieked. Malakai winced—she'd definitely gotten that from him. She pressed her two hands together, making them kiss obnoxiously, "You two are in loooove!"

Mike's expression was pure mortified. On the other hand, Malakai could only let out a soft laugh, "Yes, we are. Do you want some bacon?" He gestured to the meat sizzling in the pan with unfeigned nonchalance.

Confusion growing, Abby abruptly stopped her teasing, arms crossed, "Why aren't you reacting? You're supposed to get annoyed!"

"I have been a victim of much worse teasing," Malakai told her as he remembered the shit he'd endured in his childhood. His jaw clenched and he let out a long sigh through a laugh. Abby's teasing was actually welcome to him. It was with friendly, non-harmful, intent. "I'm immune to you. So, bacon?"

Throwing up her hands, Abby let out a huff, "Fine! Meanie."

Chuckling, Malakai turned to the stove. He wasn't the best cook—he couldn't qualify as a cook at all—so he let Mike make the food whilst he dished it up. The first plate went to Abby, though she seemed perfectly fine nibbling on a handful of grapes she'd yoinked from the fridge. The second to Malakai and the third to Mike. They were about to sit down when the phone rang.

Confused, Mike picked it up. His frown deepened as he listened to the person on the end of the line. Eventually, he held out the phone, "Kai, it's for you."

Malakai was puzzled but took it from him anyway. "Hello?"

"Hi, Malakai!" Rachel's relieved voice filled his ear, "Hey, I was just wondering if you were okay. I saw that you called me last night and I couldn't pick up, I'm sorry—"

"It's fine, don't worry about it." Malakai cut in quickly. It was the middle of the night when he called, of course she didn't pick up.

"So, are you okay, Malakai? Did something happen?"

"Uh, something happened," Malakai nodded before glancing over at Abby, who was chatting excitedly to her brother. "But, um, I don't think where I am right now is the best place to talk about it. Wait — how do you even have Mike's number?"

"You put him down as your emergency contact. Remember?" Rachel laughed.

Malakai chuckled back, "Oh, yeah. Um, but about the thing that happened, maybe I should just talk about it in one of our sessions."

"I'm mostly free today, so we could reschedule this week's session for today if that works for you? Same time?"

"Uh, yeah, sure." Malakai was surprised by her offer. OK, so maybe the entire world didn't suck and maybe Rachel did actually care about him. Or was she just doing her job? He couldn't tell.

"Alright, see you then, Malakai. Stay safe." Rachel's smile was audible before she ended the call.

The Schmidts and Malakai sat at the dining table and tucked into their meals. Mike was a brilliant cook. Another of the countless reasons to love him, Malakai thought.

"Who was that?" Abby asked, pointing to the phone with her fork.

"It was Santa Claus. He says he needs Mike as one of his elves this year," Malakai replied instantly. Abby burst into laughter—despite the fact she was more suited for elf height than her brother—and Mike scowled. Malakai kissed the sour expression away.

"So," Abby started with a mouth full of scrambled eggs, "Are you guys gonna get married now?"

Mike's eyes widened. He almost choked on his bacon, failing to cover it with a cough. "Uh..." He didn't know what to say. Reason number one, gay marriage was illegal and he didn't want to get into that difficult conversation with his sister. And second, with a nervous glance toward an amused Malakai, he realised that they hadn't even defined their relationship. If they were in a relationship at all.