Milo - Date gone wrong (Patreon)

A/N: In a distant future when things have settled.

The door rolled open only marginally and Milo slipped through the crack, a wild look set in his amber eyes. When Milo was stressed, his freckles stood out starkly against his ruddy skin. Tonight, the smattering across his nose was the darkest I had seen in a long while.

“I’m sorry,” he said breathlessly.

I glanced around us, looking for who he was directing the apology towards. It couldn’t have been me. I had just arrived and hadn’t seen him for close to three days. Like always, the alleyway was empty, and Milo had every ounce of internal anxiety contained within the slow rocking of his body.

“Are we canceling our date?” I asked.

“No! No,” he assured almost aggressively. “We are just going to have a little bit of a hiccup to said date.”

“What kind of hiccup?”

“Uh– well… you see…” A loud crash from inside interrupted us and sent Milo tearing back through the old distillery doors, leaving the rolling door open as he took the metal steps down to the living area, two by two. In his kitchen, several bowls and plates had been shattered on the ground, strewn among what looked like red sauce. 

“Oops.”

Ever was standing on the counters, still short for her age but just tall enough that the fall was going to be something fierce. She had several cookies in her hands and only looked slightly apologetic.

Milo, on the other hand, looked murderous. “What the fu–”

“Language!” Both her and I shouted at once.

Milo, taking a few deep breaths, marched over to the kitchen counter and grabbed Ever around the waist. He carried her past the wreckage of his kitchen where she promptly waved a quick hello to me, before putting her down into the living room. She was unbothered as she munched on her cookie.

“Ever is going to be spending the evening with us,” he said, looking at me with a tight expression. “Ma dropped her off a few hours ago.”

“Oh?” I asked, brows raised. Usually, Milo was elated to see his mother and sister. Years had been spent without any proper form of a family and he took the opportunities as small blessings each time they were around. Tonight, was not one of those nights, however. “That’ll be nice,” I told him, uncertain of the situation I had walked into.

“Uh huh.”

Ever was grinning. “Milo is trying to be romantic, meaning he wants to get laid.”

He whirled on her, eyes bugging from his head. I had to hide my laughter behind my hand. Brother and sister stood toe to toe, their hair wild and unmanageable around their faces, looking like different sized versions of each other. As Milo stared down at her, fists clenched at his sides, she very deliberately took another bite of her cookie.

“Who the hell taught you that word? Was it Nolan? Bet it was, the bastard.”

“I like Nolan,” she countered.

“His name is dumb.”

“So is yours.”

I blinked. “Who is Nolan?”

“Mom’s husband,” Ever said while Milo snapped “Nobody.”

Just past Milo and Ever, the soft flickering of candles caught my attention. Near the edge of the room, beneath one of the skylights, a blanket had been spread out. A bottle of champagne was chilling in a silver bucket and a plate of cheese and crackers was delicately arranged. My heart melted a bit. He really had been trying to plan something romantic. Even his clothes said he had been putting the effort in. Gone were the suspenders and grubby work pants. Instead he wore a nice, deep blue button down and a pair of dark pants.

Milo caught my look and softened a bit, running his fingers through his hair. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “We might have to rethink tonight. Especially since it looks like Ever sabotaged dinner as well.”

Ever snorted. “You’ll thank me for that.”

Milo was going to lock her in a closet. I could see it on his face that he was willing to put his baby sister back outside and onto the crate she spent most of her childhood haunting. I had a feeling from the moment Ever had been dropped off, the siblings had been at each others throats. 

I walked over, taking Milo’s hand in mine, and placing a small kiss on the back of his knuckles.

“Cheese and champagne are still perfectly acceptable dinners,” I told him. They weren’t. But I wasn’t going to indicate otherwise when I was certain that Milo had forgotten how hard he worked to help Ever recover her humanity now that she was a seven year old who took great joy out of tormenting her brother.

Squeezing my hand tight, he tried to smile. “It is,” he said, eyes on Ever. “So that’s what we’re going to do. Ever. Go color.”

She rolled her eyes. “I don’t color anymore.”

“Do it anyway.”

He tugged me towards the blanket, taking my coat before sitting me down. He then settled himself next to me with a small sigh. The candles created a heady little bubble for us, lulling the tension of the week away. It was nice to sit with him after a few days apart, leaning against his body and allowing the moments to tick by with a newly discovered ease between the two of us. Milo reached over, popping the champagne and pouring us both a glass. Turning, he handed me mine before plucking up a piece of cheese. 

“I’ve been looking forward to this night,” he whispered, feeding me the cheese, his eyes glinting as I nipped his fingers. “I’ve missed you, darlin’. More than you’ll ever know. Bedtime isn’t the same without you by my side. I got nothing to hold onto.”

“You hold onto that stuffed bear of yours,” Ever called out.

Milo’s cheeks went red, his grip on his champagne tightening. “Ever. Disappear.”

“I’m just saying you probably shouldn’t lie. When you’re alone in bed you cuddle Betwixt. I’ve seen it.”

“Shut the fu– Just shut up, Ever! Go do something that’s not here.”

She cackled, walking into the kitchen to clean her mess.

“Betwixt?” I asked with a raised brow.

“Eat some more cheese,” he said, trying to change the subject. Hastily, he grabbed some, offering it to me. My gaze had already traveled to his bed, however, looking for all the places a stuffed bear might be hiding. Milo took me by the chin, physically turning me back to him and shaking his head. “Darlin’, I’m trying to salvage this date. Please don’t feed into my kids sisters attempts to ruin my life.”

I leaned forward, placing a soft kiss against his lips. They were still a little chapped from the cold weather but he melted into the touch just as I suspected. “Of course not,” I told him. “But I am really going to need to see this bear.”

Milo’s head dropped to my shoulder with a groan. “No.”

“So you admit it?”

“Alright. Date’s done.”

I laughed loudly, grabbing him by the hand as he attempted to rise.  “Milo, I’m kidding.” I scurried forward, wrapping my arms around his neck. He grabbed my hips, making sure I couldn’t crawl into his lap. We both knew it would be over if he did such a thing.

“Ever, get off the damn counter!” he yelled, while simultaneously removing me from his lap but also not letting me go in case I ran to the bed to find his stuffed bear.

“I’m hungry,” she protested. “Your cooking is awful and I haven’t eaten since breakfast!”

“Not my problem!”

“It is your problem! You’re taking care of me!”

“‘Bout ready to throw you out into the streets,” he mumbled. I knew there was no heart in it but clearly, Milo’s patience was thin. I stopped my gentle teasing then, this time taking him by the chin, and kissing him soundly. When I pulled away, I smiled encouragingly.

“Raincheck on the date,” I told him.

“No, darlin’. No. I’ll just go talk to her and we’ll make this work. I’ll give her something to make her sleep or–” I placed a finger on his lips, shaking my head gently. It took only a few seconds for his shoulders to fall as he too realized how futile this was. “Remember when I was so desperate for a family?” he asked.

I ran my fingers through his curls, scratching at the back of his skull. “You wouldn’t trade this for the world,” I reminded him. “Now. Let’s take her to go get some food and maybe the three of us could play a game tonight.”

He looked resigned. “Yeah. Fine. But I owe you a good date,” he told me.

“Milo Next, after everything you’ve done, you owe me the world,” I teased. “But this here? Helping you take care of your sister. Being a part of your family? I owe you for that.”

He wrapped his arms tightly around me, hands spanning the length of my spine. “Thank you.”

“Love you,” I told him.

“Love you, too.”

“And I love food!”

I snorted into Milo’s shoulder while he groaned before pulling away. “Ever, I’ll be getting you food. But when mom returns, I’m telling her what you did here. You can explain to her why my kitchen is in the state it is.”

“And I’ll tell her you’re lying.” She chirped. She was standing within a clean kitchen. Perhaps cleaner than it had been before. She had her hands clasped behind her back, the dimple her and her brother shared prominent on her cheek. “Can we get fried noodles?”

Before Milo could answer I stepped forward, holding out my hand for her. She quickly bounced forward, taking it. “If you listen to your brother,” I told her gently.

She nodded. “Anything for noodles. I swear.” Then, she tipped her head against me briefly, a gesture so like Milo’s that my heart melted. “You’re staying, right? I missed you.”

“I missed you, too,” I told her. 

Milo shoved a hat down over her head. “Alright, come on. Fried noodles.”

Ever pumped her arm up and down. “Yes.”

And the three of us headed out into the night, me on one side of Ever, Milo on the other. As she chatted, we traded a small smile over her head. The champagne could wait. Perhaps for that evening when I shared it with him, letting the two of us get drowsy on the couch together.

But when he fell asleep, I was going to find that bear.