Doki Doki Movie Club! - A SM AU Fanfiction!

13: Picking Sides!

"KEVIN" (KEVIN ROUTE PT. 0.2)

"Uh.. shit, okay.. Rick.." I begin, nervous of what I should say. "I think—I was.. I was kinda impressed by what you wrote today. And I was impressed by what Kevin wrote too. But—there's no need to bring that up when Kevin probably just wanted suggestions."

I can see Rick glance away nervously. I try to continue speaking in a softer tone. "Of—Of course, I don't think you meant any harm. But it probably came across as a little rude to Kevin when you just straight up told him you didn't really know what to say."

"See?" Kevin gestures with his palm toward me, his lips still curled into a frown as his dark eyes flash with irritated satisfaction. "Even they think that—"

Before he can finish, I cut in with a more stern tone, taking a step foward. "Kevin—that's enough."

"Wh—What? But he was the one who—" Kevin practically whines, his irritated expression being replaced by a more desperate one as he looks on at me.

"Look.. what we talked about yesterday was right. Stuff like this can be kinda personal and people shouldn't judge eachother for it. And even small criticism can lead to a fight." I chided him calmly. I could see Radford nodding with a rather proud grin on his face as he looked on at the scene from the corner of my eye.

I sigh, looking at Kevin with a weak but reassuring smile. "I know what Rick said might have made you feel threatened or like you were being judged—but I'm sure he didn't mean any harm. You're good at this, Kevin. This whole writing thing, sharing with others.. and I'm sure you doing it in a different way doesn't make your way of writing any less valid."

Under the light, I can see Kevin's face darken—his cheeks flushing with a color I couldn't make out under the cozy atmosphere. After a few moments of sputtering, Kevin looks away while scratching the back of his head. "..well, thanks. I guess.."

I look back over to Rick, who appears to be staring down at the ground with a little bit of regret in his eyes. I can feel my heart hurting just looking at his face. I let out another sigh. "And—Rick.. I'm sure Kevin didn't mean what he said. I'm also sure you probably didn't mean some of the stuff you said either—"

Rick pauses, staring. He then tries to open his mouth to speak, but Kevin cuts in. "Hey! Jeez.. I can apologize myself. No need to do it for me." He then slowly turns to Rick, his arms crossed as his facial expression softens with a little bit of regret as well.

"Look.. I'm sorry.. I—I don't know what came over me. I guess I just felt a little tense since this is our first time sharing and everything.. I didn't mean what I said." Kevin softly frowns, taking a step foward as he looks up at Rick. "I'm—I don't know what I can do to make up for it, but I'll try doing whatever you want me to if it makes you feel better."

"..it's okay. I think I was a little tense too." Rick blankly replies. "..sorry for making you feel like I didn't like your script. I just really didn't know what to say about it.. I'll go outside and give you some time to—"

"No. No.. it's fine." Kevin immediately says, waving his hands. He then thinks for a moment, and then awkwardly suggests with a sheepish smile, "..do you just wanna hug it out?"

"..no thanks. But.." Rick reaches out his hand, and grips Kevin's palm before gripping it. "I'm okay with just shaking on it."

"Uh.. okay.." Kevin utters, and then lightly shakes Rick's hand with a wobbly smile on his face.

Watching the scene with a satisfied smile at the peaceful conclusion of the argument, Ethan let's out a sigh. "Okay.. I think we can end the club meeting for tonight. Clearly we're all a little tense right now. But—it was a nice change of pace from just doing absolutely nothing around here. Maybe getting a new member was just what we needed." Ethan glances over to me, and I can't help but feel my face become warm at his very stare.

"But—we still have a little bit of time before we usually leave, so we can probably just relax around here for a little while. After all, that's probably what we need right now." Ethan smiles.

"Yeah.. oh, maybe we can watch one of those action movies I got to take our mind off things!" Radford excitedly exclaims. At his very excitement, I can't help but let out an amused sigh. Even though he was kind of annoying, deep down, I was hoping he'd never change.

Ethan chuckles lightly as Radford swiftly moves over to a corner of the room where a few sets of DVD's appear to be piled in an area of the shelves. I can see Kevin weakly smiling in amusement at Radfords exhilaration, along with Rick calmly staring ahead as always and moving over to the table.

"C'mon, dudes! It'll be sick!" Radford cheerfully says. "It's a superhero one, so I think you guys'll like it!"

"You always say that.." Kevin utters with a laugh.

"Well, I'm usually right, aren't I?" Radford responds, retrieving the DVD. The banter between him and Kevin continues to go back and forth, causing me to laugh too. But I can't help but feel relied. At least that little argument ended peacefully.. along with the meeting.

———–

"RICK" (RICK ROUTE PT. 0.2)

"Fuck.. uh.. Kevin.." The moment I say his name, I can see his expression immediately perk up. "I did like what you wrote down, and I think you have a reason to feel like he was judging you.."

"Yeah! See? Even they—" Kevin angrily speaks, before I cut in immediately.

"Wait, wait, wait—I'm not finished. That—that doesn't mean that you can just pick a fight with him over your scripts though!" I say, taking a step foward while trying to speak in a more firm tone.

Kevin's eyes soften with a child-like exasperation, practically pouting. "Wh—What? But that's not what happened! He's the one who's judging what I write and bringing you into the conversation even though—"

"Okay—okay, I understand. I understand.." I reply, trying to sound calm so I didn't make him any angrier than he already probably was.

I then turn to Rick. "Rick, you provide good feedback from what I've seen of you in this club so far. But I think you not providing feedback to Kevin while sharing with him just made him feel threatened a little, or like you were judging him. Especially considering he already saw you talking with other club members about their scripts and giving them actual feedback."

"..I see." Rick calmly utters, but even though his expression is blank, I can see a little bit of regret start to fill his eyes. Sheepishly glancing over to Kevin, he mutters, "..sorry.."

"And.. Kevin.. I think you might have taken it a little too far. There's no need to pick a fight with someone because of some movie scripts you both made. If anything, I think you should be apologizing right now." I turn over to Kevin, speaking in a firm tone yet again as I furrow my brows.

"I—" Kevin tries to speak, but can't seem to find the words as he appears to realize more and more that he's in the wrong here. He then frowns and let's out a sigh.

Ethan frowns. "Kevin, if you need to calm down, you can just—"

"Yeah, yeah, I know.. I'm just.. I'll be back." Kevin begins to march toward the door practically, and the moment he gets close enough to it, he forces it open and marches outside of the room—presumably to take a walk and clear his head from the situation so he can calm down a little.

After he marches outside, I turn to Rick. Softly, I inquire, "..you okay, man?"

"..yeah.. I'm okay." Rick replies, still looking at the ground. "Sorry for getting you involved like that.."

"Huh? No—no. Don't worry about it. I was just helping you out." I awkwardly said, smiling at him in the most reassuring way I could. "I understand why you might have gotten a little frustrated with him. Theres no need to apologize."

"..okay." Rick reluctantly says. He then turns around, slowly making his way toward the bag of soda's that he still had with him. "..I'll go get some soda for everyone. And one for Kevin so he can have one when he's calmed down.."

"Heh.. good idea, man." I smile softly. I feel a bit of relief wash over me. At least the situation resolved peacefully.. somewhat anyway.