"Because the guy's a waste of precious space!"

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Giles
    Fall was obvious all around us. We got out of the car and walked to the front door of what would more accurately be described as a rustic mansion. Val rang the bell and waited patiently. "Who is this?" a voice crackled through an intercom.
"One of the few people you tolerate Jane," Val grinned massively, "I brought a kid with fluffy hair for you to feed," The door swung open and a woman stood at the door. Her hair was greying, shoulder length, and wavy. One thick, dark eyebrow was raised as she studied me.
"Who," she poked my chest, "are you?"
"He's a friend," Val smiled, "Giles, this is Jane. Jane, this is Giles,"
"You're not related to me," Jane frowned.
"No," I looked at Val, hoping for an explanation. Valkyrie was no where to be seen.
"Are you the boyfriend then?!" she hissed.
"No,"
"Then what are you?" Jane seemed genuinely confused.
I frowned, "I'm just a friend,"
All of a sudden Jane stood straight and eased up, "Oh, well, why didn't you say that? Come on it, Valkyrie's inside,"
I sighed my relief, "How did you get to know Val?"
"I've known her since she was a baby. A few days old maybe," she shrugged, "I was sort of obligated to love and take care of her,"
"Pardon?" I raised an eyebrow.
Jane looked at me like I was stupid, "I'm her grandmother,"
"Oh," I blinked, "How come the first name basis?"
"Being called 'grandma' makes me feel old," she explained as she led me to the kitchen, "Eurus calls me granny when he wants to be annoying. Gigi calls me Jane too,"
"The kettle's boiling," Val smiled.
"Uuu," Jane smiled back, "I'll make us some hot chocolate,"
    Val sat down on a couch and grinned at me, "Did she question you?"
"Sort of," I confessed, "She was making sure we weren't dating,"
"Yeah," she smiled," When she first met Harry she threw a hair dryer at him. How she knew to keep one around, I don't know,"
"Harry sounds like a trooper," I laughed.
"Oh he is," Valkyrie assured me, "Poor fellow had to charm my mom and then he had to get us to like him too," We kept talking, she told me about her family a little, of her brother and her mother, and her step-dad. "The wedding is actually in December," she explained, "and we found out this morning that because we'll be eighteen this November, we can't take Harry's last name. We're affiliated to our father forever,"
"Why is that such a bad thing?" I frowned.
"It's just not—"
"Because the guy's a waste of precious space!" Jane yelled from the counter of the kitchen, "Serving the country or not, that man is an ass and does not deserve to have such a strong young woman with his name... and I guess he doesn't deserve Eurus either,"
"Why? What'd he do?" My frown deepened.
"That's a really long story that I'm not willing to tell right now, nor do I want you to know," Val confessed with a tiny smile, "Sorry,"
"Oh," I tried to not act hurt, "Don't worry, I get it,"
    We'd only really talked today. It was entirely understandable that she keep to herself. Letting me meet part of her family was already a huge accomplishment for day one. I wanted to get to know her and be friends, and I was willing to put effort into it. But it also meant time. "Hot chocolate's ready by the way," Jane pulled me out of my thoughts, "Giles, be a dear and get me three mugs from the cupboard there? Valkyrie, get the powdered cocoa and the cream please?" We both got up and did as instructed. Jane served the hot chocolate, and proceeded to add some cream to it and powder cocoa above it. She grinned, clearly very proud of herself, "Instagram worthy isn't it?"
"I'll take a picture if you'll let me," I joked.
"Go for it," she smiled. I grabbed my phone and took a few pictures of the pleasing sight.
    We stayed with Jane for the rest of the morning. She offered we stay for lunch, but Valkyrie said we had to get back to school at some point. So we were off, back into town. I didn't feel like going to back to school, but I didn't have a good enough excuse to miss. "I don't want to go to class," I muttered at a red light.
"Oh, we don't have to," Val looked up from her phone, "I texted Ms. Navas that you were feeling ill this morning and that I drove you back home. Only I found out when we got there that you'd be staying alone and you really weren't in a state to be left to fend for yourself so I stayed with you until one of your parents could make it home. Unfortunately, they could not and I've stuck around,"
"She believed you?" I laughed.
"I have insane persuasion skills," she smirked, "Plus I keep a few pictures of Eurus under a million blankets to use as meme material with him, and I just sent her one,"
"Oh, where to then?"
"I suggested our whole morning, so you decide on lunch,"

Valkyrie
    Looking back, spending the day with him was one of my worst ideas. My hormones couldn't deal with close proximity to him and there I was, opening up about my life, sharing a couch, driving around town. I could be stupid sometimes. It made me wonder what my brother's dumb choices were like. I let him choose lunch in attempts of not having to speak, but all I achieved was another interrogation (this one about allergies, preferences, dietary restrictions, etc). He thought of everything and it was annoying because it made me feel like he cared and he wanted to see me happy. My head was saying, "Don't be weak, he's just a kid in high school," My hormones and those weird emotions people talked about were all saying, "CAN WE KEEP THIS ONE?!" No hormones, we cannot.
    We ended up at a small Tex-Mex place. Giles, the idiot, had the nerve to hold the door open for me and pull my chair out. I didn't like that he did all the fluffy things that Harry did for my mom. A pretty waitress approached us, "Hello, how are you guys? Can I get you guys a table or a booth?"
"Booth," we both said at the same time.
She grinned, "Aren't ya'll cute. Come this way," Her hand was on Giles' arm for no reason and it stayed there for way too long. I was oddly possessive of this fluffy haired boy. It wasn't healthy. We followed her to a booth and slid in, opposite to each other. "So what's it gonna be?" she asked as she handed us the menu.
"I'll have a plate of wings," I smiled, "And a lemonade please,"
"I'll go for a classic burger, and another lemonade," Giles nodded to himself.
"Sure thing sugar," the waitress winked at him. I coughed to hide my slight laughter.
    Once she'd left, he cringed, "I could feel her ogling me,"
"That girl was making eye babies," I laughed. Giles rolled his eyes at me before going serious.
"Why aren't you like this at school?" he frowned, "You're fun to be with,"
"Because people tend to hate those that have their act together," I lied, "If I pretend to be a mess, no one hates me and only the people I chose to let in can get into my life," The truth was far from that. I was a mess. I could be a nice mess, a likable mess, but still very much a mess. I hadn't decided if he was allowed to know I was a mess or not.
"Will I be allowed in?" he looked at me hopefully.
I smiled, conflicted by my head and my emotions, "Maybe,"
"Two lemonades," the waitress chirped. She'd undone two buttons of her uniform shirt. I tried really hard not to comment, but it sort of slipped out.
"Babes, your buttons came undone," I smiled sweetly and winked, "We don't want to give anyone a show without them earning it," Giles took a sip from his lemonade, but I could see the grin. She cleared her throat and left. She came back with our food and told us to enjoy.
    Giles and I talked while we ate. When we were set to pay, he insisted that he'd invited me so he should pay. I asked him to split the bill with me, and (after some persuasion on the basis that we were using his car and his gas) eventually he agreed. We left and realized we had two hours to kill. Giles and I walked to a nearby park and just started walking around. "How come you let me in today?" he finally asked.
"I don't know," I confessed, "I don't usually run off with fluffy haired boys,"
"So are we just doing this today?" he frowned.
I stuffed my hands in my pockets, "We can't skip school everyday. And you have your friends. Believe it or not, I have mine..." I trailed off.
"We have study hall together," he pointed out, "We can hang out there,"
"Giles, we both have very different realities. You have decent friends, good hobbies, parents that support you... I'm pretty sure you get uncomfortable when people curse and you blush when sex is brought up," I laughed dryly, "I'm me. I'm Valkyrie Queen, the madwoman that supposedly spent a month with the marines, the girl that's rumored to have fucked half the student body for fun,"
"What are you saying?" he frowned.
I shrugged, "I'm a time bomb for your reputation and your friendships. It'll be cool that you talk to me for a few days and then you'll be sucked into the same mess I'm in. You can't sacrifice all your friends for one person,"
"This is getting real cliché," he smiled, trying to lighten my mood.
"It isn't, but good try," I smiled back, "You're a great kid, and you're really fun. If anyone else tries to hit you, I'll be there," I assured him.

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