I Like-Like You

Chapter 9: Booker Learns From Pedro

Author's Note: Thank you guys for reading!! I'm glad other people are enjoying this ship as much as I am! Please comment if you have any ideas, suggestions, or just like something :) Stay safe!

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As soon as Booker got in bed that night, he told Levi everything. The younger boy was silent for the most part, and Booker worried that he fell asleep, but after a while, Levi spoke from his bottom bunk. "Booker, you shouldn't have told me that about Tess." That confused Booker so much he had to lean over the top bunk to look down at his little brother.

"What do you mean? I tell you everything."

Levi sighed and leaned over the edge of his own bed so he could see Booker better. "This is different, you just outed Tess without her permission." He explained.

The older boy furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "What's outing and how did I just do that to Tess? Why do I need her permission?"

"Tess likes Nia, right?" Booker nodded, and Levi continued. "That means that Tess is probably gay, or bisexual, or pansexual, or-" Booker put a hand up to let Levi know he got it. "Since you told me that about her, it means you just outed her. You need someone's permission to out them because it's kind of a big deal."

Booker didn't know what to make out of all of this. "But why is it a big deal if Tess likes girls?"

Levi shook his head, "It's not about Tess liking girls, it's about her deciding who she tells. She gets to decide who knows, not you or anyone else."

Booker thought about it for a moment, then nodded in understanding. "I get it, it's kind of like my visions. I would be pretty mad if Tess told someone without asking me first." Levi smiled in the darkness, glad that Booker was finally getting it. "I'll say sorry tomorrow." He decided, before rolling over and getting comfortable in bed again. "Hey, how do you know so much about that stuff anyways?"

"Oh, Margarita from Love, Pedro came out as a bisexual so there was an episode on it." Booker tried his best to keep from laughing. His little brother and his soap-opera habits were so weird, but they did come in handy sometimes.

The next morning, Booker didn't even rush to beat Nia to the bathroom, which she noticed immediately.

"You're not pulling a Lightning McQueen this morning?" She asked, raising an eyebrow as she opened the bathroom door.

Booker shook his head and draped his towel over his shoulder. "No, I just want to make sure we're cool, since, you know." He dragged out the last part and swore he saw Nia frown for a second before she put on an obviously fake smile.

"Yeah, most def, bro!" She 'playfully' hit his arm, but Booker winced in pain. Since when did Nia have any sort of upper arm strength? "Just, don't do all that gross coupley stuff in front of me." She said it in a joking manner, but Booker could tell that there was a little bit of hurt in her words. Why did this bother her so much? Before he could ask, she practically slammed the door in his face.

He decided he would just get ready later and made his way to the living room, where Tess was practically inhaling a sandwich at the dining table. Since no one else was around, he took this opportunity and cleared his throat to get her attention. She looked up from her sandwich, a drop of ketchup on her chin. "Look, I have to tell you something-"

Tess swallowed her bite and put a hand up to tell him to wait. "Dude, you can't break up with me, we've only been vibing for a day."

Booker rolled his eyes and took a seat across from her. "No, it's not that. I, uh, I told Levi everything last night and-" He could see the panic start to rise in Tess's eyes. "He told me that I shouldn't have, because it's your thing to say, and I'm really sorry."

"You really couldn't keep my business to yourself just this once?" Tess asked, her voice cracking more than usual. The fact that she didn't even call him some insulting nickname just further proved to Booker just how serious this stuff was to her. It made him feel a million times worse.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know how important this was. I won't tell anyone else, I promise." He held out a pinky to her and she sighed.

"What is it with you Baxters and pinky promises?" She grumbled, before interlocking their pinkies for a split second and letting go immediately after. "Now, how is this dating stuff gonna work? I'm not hugging you with all of that stench you got, dumpster boy." She motioned in his general direction and Booker feigned offense.

"I'll have you know, this is a manly musk." He defended himself, flexing his arms for good measure. Tess rolled her eyes. "I don't know, we'll just go on a date next week, fake a huge fight, I'll break up with you and leave you in tears! Done!" Booker looked proud of himself, while Tess looked unimpressed with his plan.

"Yeah, tears of happiness." Booker shook his head in dismay. People just never got his brilliant plans. "Anyways, make that in two weeks. Me and Nia are going to Zeena's party Friday night."

"Speaking of Nia, does she seem weird to you?" Booker asked, genuinely concerned for his sister. He felt bad lying to her, but he was also worried about her in general. She seemed less herself since yesterday. At dinner last night, she barely spoke a word.

Tess shrugged. "She'd probably weirded out by this." She motioned between her and Booker. "I know I am."

"Hey!' Booker whined. "I'm not that bad of a boyfriend."

"Fake boyfriend," Tess reminded him, and Booker groaned. Girls were always so worried about specifics. Before he could defend his honor, Nia walked in, a bit more dressed up than usual.

"Hey," she greeted, the air thick with awkwardness as they all looked at each other. This was the first time they'd all been alone since the "date" yesterday.

He glanced over at Tess, who was gazing at Nia with the same expression that he used to see his dad look at his mom with. Suddenly, he felt like an idiot for never seeing it before. Tess was like, really obvious. "Uh," He got up, feeling like he was intruding on a moment. "I'm gonna go shower now. See you guys later."

Tess seemed to break out of her trance and looked at him as if she forgot he was even there. "Later, B." She said, and Nia ruffled his hair before taking his chair. Did she really have to mess with his waves?

"Make sure you actually use the soap this time," Nia teased, and the two girls laughed, the awkwardness leaving the air as he walked away. Leave it to Nia to be the bigger person and break the ice between them. Maybe this wasn't so bad, he could deal with two weeks of this.