When It's Time

Chapter Eight

It was late November and the SQUIP squad was meeting at Jake's newly repaired house on a Saturday afternoon for a games night. It was originally supposed to be a pool party but Michael had opposed this idea on the basis that it was winter and he didn't want anyone dying from hyperthermia. He later divulged to Jeremy that he didn't feel comfortable wearing only swimming togs around their new group. Which is why Jeremy had suggested a games night instead.

So, there they were, Jeremy and Michael getting ready to go to Jake's party. Jeremy lay facing the ceiling on his bed scrolling through Tumblr while Michael fiddled with the sleeves of his hoodie. The Pilipino sniffled and his friend looked up to see if he was alright.

Tears were falling silently onto Michael's cheeks and he wiped them away hastily, which somehow did nothing to impede the endless flow. Jeremy automatically leapt up and wrapped his arms around his friend's stomach, sensing his resistance to the contact. He had a fair idea what this was about.

"Shh, it's alright Mikey. I'm here. I'm worried too but it's not going to be like last time, I promise."

"H-how do you know?"

"Because this time, there's nothing on gods earth that's going to let you out of my sight. I won't let anything happen to you." He sounded confident but felt just as shaken as Michael looked.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure." He said, taking Michael's hand in his own and giving it a kiss, lingering for a few seconds longer than he should have before mummering a soft, "no homo."

They fake smiled at each other, neither boy sensing the other's displeasure with the phrase. Jeremy squeezed Michael tighter, longing for more, "We can cancel if you want, it's alright. I don't mind."

Michael shook his head, leaning into his friend, "I think we should go."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm good." He pecked Jeremy softly on the cheek, "Thank you. I need to get ready though." He unwound Jeremy's arms from his body and headed in the direction of the bathroom across the hall.

Jeremy touched a hand to his cheek where Michael had kissed him. He smiled, his mind drifting to what Christine had said to him some weeks ago. He needed to confess. Tonight.

~Time Skip~

"Fuck off Christine, Jake and I want to be the car."

"Rich, I really don't care-"

"You heard him, we wanna be the car!"

"Now, that's not a very nice way to treat a lady." Christine huffed as Rich flipped her off and snatched the silver monopoly car from the box triumphantly. Jake shot her an apologetic look.

"Fine," Christine continued, "Then where's the dog?"

Michael whistled and looked into the distance. Christine's eyes narrowed, "Michael," she said warningly.

"Huh?" Jeremy laughed at his friend's feigned innocence.

"Do you have the dog figurine?"

"Pft no," he said, passing said figure to Jeremy, who laughed even harder.

Christine smiled sweetly, "Jeremy, we're good friends right? Wouldn't it be a shame to throw all that away?" She clutched a hand to her heart, "Actually, do you want to do a trade?"

"I'm sorry Christine but I have PTSD from this time when I tried to play with the dog when Michael and I were kids and I can tell you, the pain of using another piece is far less than what you would have to endure if you deprived Michael of the dog."

The two boys high fived as Christine scowled jokingly, "Fine! Jenna do you want to pick?"

"Is the battle ship alright?"

"Ah yes, perfect. Be prepared to fight to the death you two." She pointed at Jeremy and Michael who shrugged.

The group turned their gaze to Chloe and Brooke, the last pair to choose their weapon for battle. Brooke simply took a ring-shaped monopoly piece out of her pocket and placed it on the board.

"What the fuck?"

"Very eloquent Michael."

"Oh, shut up Jeremy. You were thinking it as well."

Jake spoke in awe, "Is that the limited-edition ring token?"

"Yes, it is," Brooke spoke proudly.

"She loses every time when she uses it but insists it's part of her 'Brooke aesthetic'." Chloe rolled her eyes.

Brooke stuck out her tongue and Michael laughed, "Are we going to play or what?"

Rich and Jake ended up going first and the game took off from there. It was an epic two and a half hours and eventually it came down to Christine and Jenna versus Michael and Jeremy. The girls had all the train stations and most of the monopolies whereas the boys had an empire of hotels and utilities. They had an advantage in that they knew each-others playing style so well that they didn't have to communicate any more than the occasional quirk of an eyebrow or a shrug, so no one knew what their tactics were. It looked like they were going to win until, down to their last two hundred dollars after splurging on a hotel for their green monopoly, landed on the 'super tax' square.

Michael held his head in his hands and the girls squealed and danced around, high-fiving. Jeremy collapsed on the floor in defeat.

"Alright," Jake stood up from where he and Rich had been making out on the couch, "I'm gonna order some pizza. Who wants to play Mario Kart?"

A cheer arose from the group of teens.

"As long as Michael and Jeremy promise to go easy." Brook and Jake nodded in agreement with Chloe.

Jeremy smiled over at Michael who shrugged, "Yeah, that's fair."

All in all, it was a pretty great night. They boys were exhausted as they hopped into Michael's PT Cruiser after spending the afternoon with their competitive friends. Michael played his Skyhooks CD (Australia represent) and hummed along softly.

Jeremy's mind was elsewhere and he felt consumed by worry over what he was planning to say to Michael. He knew that if he didn't say anything now, he probably never would. Tonight was the only option. He found that he didn't need to think too hard about why he wanted to confess; Michael was like his own personal burst of sunshine and he craved to be closer to him. To give him the world and help make him happy.

They pulled into Jeremy's driveway and Michael turned the volume on his stereo down so he could bid his friend goodnight. He was going to blast the volume the second he was back on the road.

Jeremy had his own ideas, "Umm, could you stay the night? Please? Just because I like only ever sleep when you're around." He looked down at the dashboard as his cheeks turned red.

Michael grinned, "So you noticed that as well eh?" He chuckled at his friends deep red face, "Of course I can stay."

"I also have something I need to tell you!" Jeremy blurted out, "I'll, I'll head inside."

He jumped out of the car and scuttled up the driveway as Michael called after him, "Yeah, I'll just park the car on the road so your dad can reverse." He shook his head in confusion, pondering over what his friend wanted to talk about.

g]M!