SomeWhere On... (BXB)

...Monroe Avenue - December

Honestly, there's only one house on the entire block that's decked out for the holidays. And, like, from watching movies 'n shit, you get the idea that everyone decks the halls.

No. Murph's family's set up a Christmas tree and stockings. That's it.

I mean, the house's already pretty warm. His aunt keeps actual fires in the fireplace going throughout the day. So while Murph's at work, I'm on his computer by the fire. It's real nice.

"Where do I go now?" asks Brooke.

I scroll down the wiki. "Turn left. You're going into Twilight Fields for the key."

Brooke looks at me from the card table by the windows. "I can't go there, I don't have the passcode yet." She's on her computer playing some game I can't remember.

I shake my head. "Nah, I got the code already." I look down, then back to her. "Whenever you're ready."

She nods, this glint of determination on her face.

"0, 4, 5, 1. There's an ambush behind the door."

I hear her character reload, and then the door opening, followed up with gunfire. Brooke looks at me, grinning. "Hacker voice. I'm in."

The big doofy smile apparently's not an inherited trait. Lizzie and Brooke don't have it. But they do have dimples.

Also I don't know what she said but I've learned to just nod.

But the door opens and Murph walks in, cheeks red and nose pinkish. His glasses fog up. "Hi!"

I grin as he takes off his scarf. "Hey, luv. I'm helping Brooke cheat."

He rolls his eyes. Murph takes off his glasses and cleans them on his shirt. "Well, at least you're doing something productive," he replies, sneering. He throws his hat and scarf on me before asking, "Hey. I need to shower fast. Can you come up? I wanna talk to you."

Brooke nods when I look at her. "Just remember. The next time I die, it's on you."

"Love you, too, Brooke." I stand and take his things upstairs.

Murph's room's a lot cleaner now. No more cans of soup on the desk. No more books 'n crap everywhere. It's organized. There's open space for shit. Probably because I cleaned it the first couple months I was here.

So many tears. From him. Trying to convince Murph that he doesn't need four copies of the same book is like trying to tell a kid can't have sweets before dinner.

I close the door (a privilege that his aunt's only recently given us) and ask, "What's up?"

"Okay, hear me out first," he says, taking off his socks. They're wet and slap on the wood floors when Murph throws them.

"Pup, just tell me."

He stands and looks at me. When did he take off his glasses? "I'm sorry." I'm about to ask why he's apologising, but then he says, "For not being able to move out. But..." Murph holds up a finger and grabs his backpack. "...I have something." He pulls out a pamphlet and waves it in my face. "It's a thing!"

I grab his wrist. Because this – his, like, flailing – isn't that cute anymore. It's annoying as fuck. Sometimes. "Pup, that tells me nothing." I look at the pamphlet and ask, "What is this?"

Murph swallows and looks hard at me. "Someone from work recommended me as a paid teaching assistant at the college."

"Really?" I ask. I'm kinda surprised. Only because he doesn't really seem to talk about the people from work in a good or bad way. They're just people who're around him a lot of the time.

"Mhm," he says, nodding. "I...don't really know why they recommended me, but I'm confidently not going to question it." Murph hands the pamphlet to me. "And...sorry."

I blink. "For what?"

Murph gestures to himself. "I get I'm...a lot to deal with and..." He chuckles and looks down. "...I can tell there are times where you get mad at me."

"Not...really."

"You're a bad liar, Tommy," he sighs. It's like a reminder to me.

I wanna say that he's just overthinking. I wanna say he's just seeing things when we fight and disagree on stuff. "I'm sorry I'm not more...honest."

He smiles. "Still," he starts, snaking his fingers through mine, "I waited a good long while for you. I'm certainly not going to throw it away because of some...incompatibility issues we overlooked." Murph looks at me. "Again...I'm glad you're here. Even if I don't say it enough, I'm glad you're here."

I kiss him. He doesn't let me forget that he's happy I'm here. "I love you," I murmur against his lips.

Murph sighs. I can tell he's smiling. "I love you, too." And he kisses me back.

"Hey." He pulls back to look at me. "Our first New Years together."

He goes red and begins bouncing. "I can't wait to kiss you at midnight. I've had dreams about it."

"Like your dreams about kissing me under mistletoe?" I ask. He's had those dreams, too.

Puffing out his cheeks, he glares.

I snort. "Pup, I'm kidding." And I kiss him again. "Tell me where you want me to be and I'll be there." Because his daydreams are so fuckin' cute it makes me sick to my stomach that I'm in love with such a mushy romantic.

Then again, this is Murph.

But he takes my hand and heads back towards the door.

I gently pull him back and kiss him again.

His lips are soft, but only for a second before Murph begins leaning into it. His hands find their way around my neck and just hold me until he pulls back, grinning. He smells unmistakably like the Old Spice body soap in the shower – the tropical one because he loves citrus smells. It's bright and reminds me of the cruise.

"I love you," I whisper. I don't mean it like that.

And he knows it. "I love you, too," he whispers back. And then pulls back to ask, "...you know the 'shower' thing was an excuse to get you up here, right?"

I nod. "That's your go-to when you need to talk to me."

He turns red and adjusts his glasses. "Is it that obvious?"

Trying not to snort isn't possible. "Probably."

Murph's hands run down my arms and take my hands again. "Come on. My aunt willll begin screaming if we're not downstairs."

I nod again and we head out.

And just like Murph says, he kisses me at midnight.

It even makes me giddy.

I wanna die.