Cinderfella

Chapter Seventeen

"Alright, now tell us what happened."

Mikey curled up into a ball on the couch next to his driver, Josh. Maddy stood across the room, Alice perched on her shoulders. After reading Freak the Mighty year's ago, they had taken on the pose of Alice riding on Maddy's shoulders when she could. Ethan sat in an arm chair next to the couch, waiting for Mikey to speak.

"Well, first, I have some big news," Mikey said. He squirmed in his seat, a smile and red blush on his face. "Guys, this is Josh. We met last night and," Josh took one of Mikey's hands in his, "we're dating."

Ethan smiled. Across the room, Alice almost fell off of Maddy's shoulders. Maddy covered her mouth, a squeal escaping.

"Mikey," Alice spoke up, "that's amazing. We're so happy for you!"

Maddy nodded, unable to put words together.

Ethan reached across the arm rests and took Mikey's other hand. "Good for you, man. I'm so happy for you."

Josh smiled and wrapped an arm around Mikey, whose face was burning red. "He's a great guy, and I swear I'll look after him." He leaned over and set a kiss on Mikey's cheek.

Maddy squealed again, shaking and almost throwing Alice off. "Mikey, this is incredible!"

Mikey nodded and smiled, stretching up to set his face next to Josh's. Ethan had only seen him this happy when he'd promised to be his friend no matter what. He felt his stomach erupt with butterflies, and for a moment, he felt better than he did on the ride over.

"So, you have a boyfriend now," Alice interrupted. "But can you please tell us what happened last night?"

Mikey nodded. "Sorry. When the alarms went off, I started having a panic attack. The guys I was with led me out the side door, and there was a group of kids back there. They started the fire that tripped the alarm, and when they saw us, they started-"

Mikey was shaking. Josh held him closer. "It's okay Mikey," he said sweetly. "I can finish if you want."

Mikey nodded and rubbed his nose with his sleeve. Josh looked across the room, not making eye contact with anyone. "We got out there, and by this time, Mikey wasn't all there. Basically, these kids were trying to get everyone there in trouble for the fire, and when we got out there, they started attacking us. We got away, but some of use got beat up."

Maddy rushes across the room, nearly throwing Alice off again. "Is that what happened to your hand?"

Mikey looked down and turned his hand around. "No, it happened later."

Josh nodded. "Mikey wasn't responding after that, so we took him to our friend's house. His mom is a doctor, so we figured she'd be able to help Mikey with his attack. Well, we had ten guys trying to get into two cars with the police and fire departments yelling at use the whole time to hurry, and in everything, Miley's hand got slammed in the door."

Alice winced. "Man, that must have hurt."

Mikey shrugged. "I couldn't feel anything. It's just sore right now. I woke up this morning on their friend's couch, and it was all wrapped up. Josh and a few others stayed the night, and this morning," he sighed and burrowed deeper into Josh's side, "I woke up, and he had fallen asleep right next to the couch so he could watch me. He took me out to the balcony and we kissed."

Josh's face went red as everyone squealed. Mikey looked up at his boyfriend with eyes full of love. Josh smiled back, leaning down to capture Mikey's lips again. When they pulled away, Mikey's face was full of bliss. The butterflies in Ethan's stomach began to die, jealousy taking over that he had let Kyle go so he could find Mikey. He shut those feelings out, refusing to think so selfishly.

There was a knock on the door, and a minute later, Nicole made her way into the house with her arms full of target sacks. "Alice, a little help," She grunted, struggling to the kitchen.

Ethan was the first up, and he made his way over. He took the bags from Nicole and set them on the counter. "Thank you Ethan," she praised, giving him a sincere smile. "It's nice to get some help once in a while."

Alice dragged herself into the kitchen. "Hey! I help! I'm just busy right now."

Nicole made her way to be door. "I can see. Who's over right now?"

She looked across the room at Mikey and Josh and smiled. "Mikey, when did you get here?"

Mikey stood up as Nicole walked towards him. He gave her a hug, letting her hold him at arms length and inspect him. "Just a few minutes ago. I got a ride home."

Nicole took Mikey's bandaged hand. "What happened here?"

"I got it shut in a car door, it's fine. Dr. Prince wrapped it up and it doesn't hurt."

Nicole clicked her tongue and turned to Josh. "And you are?"

Josh stood up and offered her his hand. "I'm Josh, Mikey's boyfriend."

Nicole didn't miss the smile on Mikey's face as he introduced himself. "Well, it's very nice to meet you Josh. Now, can someone help with the rest of the bags?"

All five teens walked out to the car to help Nicole with the bags. Ethan didn't miss the five target sacks filled with new clothes. Nicole set a hand on his shoulder when she saw him looking through them.

"I thought I'd save you a trip to the store, so I grabbed anything I thought you would wear and grabbed it. Just try them on later and let me know what you think."

Nicole grabbed a bag and handed it to Mikey. "And I thought you could use a new jacket."

Mikey blushed and accepted the bag. "Thank you, but I can't take it."

Nicole waved it off. "Just tell your dad it's an early Christmas present from me."

Mikey smiled. "I will. Thank you Nicole."

Ethan smiled and shut the trunk. "Early Christmas present?" he asked Alice.

She looked back at Mikey. "Yeah," she whispered. "His dad works hard, but money's tight for them, so my mom tends to buy Mikey a lot of stuff, to help out a bit. Just don't bring it up, he gets embarrassed."

Ethan nodded. "Noted."