I yawned as I walked in the kitchen, stopping dead when I saw Drew and Dad eating breakfast together.

"'Morning, sis," greeted my brother, as he smiled and spread his arms open.

I rolled my eyes but I couldn't help the amusement off my face as I went to him and gave him a hug.

"Missed you, booger," he cooed, squeezing the life out of me. "Heard someone dropped you off yesterday."

I pulled away and raised an eyebrow at Dad, but he averted his eyes and sipped his coffee like he didn't just gossip with my brother.

"He's just a friend," I said, before going to the counter to get myself some coffee. Good thing I wasn't Pinocchio from repeating this lie too much.

"Since when have you been friends with Scout Crimson?" asked Drew, skeptical.

"Since he goes to the same university and we have a class together."

When I glanced at Drew, it was obvious he didn't buy it.

"He's also a pledge," I added. "And you know how small the Greek world is, since you forced me to it."

"Which house?"

"Alpha Alpha."

He whistled. "Such rep."

I shrugged a shoulder. "They're not so bad."

"It's growing on you, huh?" he teased, smirking.

I glared at him, and changed the subject. "I need to go buy some stuff for dinner. Are you going to drive me to the store?"

He nodded, grinning. "I'll get my keys."

Turning to Dad, I asked, "D'you want me to get you anything while we're there?"

"Nah, I'm good."

Without saying another word, I left the kitchen and met Drew out front.

"Where's your fiancée?" I asked, as soon as I was settled in the passenger seat of his SUV.

"Kate's family is having this huge dinner thing in Chicago," he answered, like it wasn't a big deal. "She actually wanted me to join them."

"So why are you here?"

He reached out and ruffled my hair. "Do you really have to ask me that?"

I made a face, before pulling away and staying far from his reach. "Ugh, why does everyone keep messing up my hair?"

Drew laughed as he put both of his hands back on the wheel. "You and Dad need me right now. She gets it."

"Drew, we're fine. You don't have to set aside your happiness for our sake."

"Trust me, I'm not setting aside my happiness. I just know when to prioritize." He paused. "Speaking of happiness... What's the real story between you and that Crimson kid?"

Yeah, like I'd tell him. He blabbed to Oz about me joining a sorority. He couldn't be trusted with this kind of information.

"We're friends," I simply said.

"You can say that shit a billion times and I still wouldn't believe you."

"Your call."

He shook his head, muttering something like, "Stubborn ass."

* * * * *

"Dad told me about Parents Weekend."

I pretended not to hear him, and continued pushing the cart down the aisle.

"I didn't know, Con. I'm sorry."

I hated hearing him apologize for something he didn't do.

"It's not your fault," I told him.

"He feels really bad, though."

He shouldn't have ditched me, then.

But I didn't want Drew to see how much it affected me, so I just shrugged as I picked up a cranberry sauce jar from the shelf and put it in the cart.

I heard him sigh. "I don't understand why you guys don't just work shit out."

I didn't say anything because I didn't have an answer for him. I didn't have a problem with Dad. He was the one who had a problem with me.

"Is Alfie still coming over for dinner?" Drew asked, out of the blue.

"He always does, doesn't he?"

"I wasn't sure, since you have a new boy—"

I stopped to whirl around and punch his arm. Hard.

"Ouch!"

"Shut the fuck up," I snapped.

He was about to say something but then his eyes widened at something behind me. "Oh, no! Watch out!"

There was a crash as our cart collided with another one.

Since I let go of our cart suddenly when I faced Drew, the thing on wheels went on its own. Good thing it wasn't going too fast so it only made a loud banging sound, but its contents were still in place.

"Oh, my God." I rushed to the person whose cart we crashed. "I'm so sorry!"

She laughed softly. "No harm done, dear."

I blinked, stiffening on the spot.

The middle-aged lady with a warm smile did a double take as she recognized me. Her red hair was up in a bun, like how mothers usually wore it. Her freckles were scattered on her beautiful face, which her twins inherited.

"Connie?"

"Y – Yes," I stammered, taken aback. "Hello."

"Goodness, I haven't seen you in so long!" she exclaimed happily, a radiating smile spreading across her face.

She left her cart to go to me and give me a warm hug, and I awkwardly returned it. I caught Drew's face, he was eyeing me questioningly.

"Snow," I mouthed to him in answer.

I used to hang out at their house. I didn't see Scout much back then, but Snow was the homebody between the twins. When she wasn't out on dates with Oz, she and I hung out in her room while their mom brought us snacks.

"How's it going, Mrs. Crimson?" I asked.

She pulled away to get a good look at me. "I missed you back at the house. You always appreciated my baking skills more than my own children," she added, giggling.

That was because I didn't have that growing up.

"You bake the best cookies," I told her truthfully.

Her eyes lit up. "Oh, I have an extra batch back home. Would you like some?"

"Uh—"

"Wait, I have a better idea. Join us for Thanksgiving!" She looked at Drew and beamed. "You must be Drew? Congratulations on making it to the NFL. I don't know much about the sport, but I know it's a big deal."

My brother returned her smile. "Thank you."

Mrs. Crimson stepped closer to me and rubbed my arms. "Forgive me for being rude, I was just too excited to see Connie again."

Her gesture wasn't lost on Drew, but he played it cool.

"No worries," he said politely. "As much as we'd love to accept your offer, I think our father would like to spend our first Thanksgiving at our new house."

"Ah." She nodded in understanding. "That's right."

"Thank you so much for offering, though," I told her, with a sad smile. "I missed eating anything you cooked."

She smiled at me, patting my hand gently. "Come by anytime and I'll be happy to feed you."

"Thank you, Mrs. Crimson. I'll keep that in mind."

After saying her goodbye, she waved a hand and went over to the cashier. Pretty much like the Golden Boy, everything knew and loved Mrs. Crimson. She just radiated that aura that made you feel warm and cozy.

"Now I know why you were always there whenever I texted you back then and the boys weren't with you," said Drew.

"Yeah," I murmured, watching Mrs. Crimson as she laughed with the cashier. I only noticed then how her son had her charm.

Scout didn't know, but his mother was the mother I never had. Mrs. Crimson made me realize and see what I was missing.

Whenever I was there, I liked to pretend that she was my mom. It was sad, sure. And I thought deep down, she knew.

But she let me, anyway.

* * * * *

I heard shouts coming from the living room.

"Woohoo!" Alfie cheered, when I came to check on them.

My best friend was sprawled on the couch beside Drew. He was hanging out with my dad and brother, watching football because what else would they do?

"You're gonna be like that next week, man," Alfie told Drew. "Why aren't you training?"

"They gave me permission to come home this Thanksgiving 'cause from next season onwards, I won't be able to."

"I'll come to you, son," Dad promised, slapping my brother's shoulder.

'I' not 'we.'

Alfie met my eyes, silently telling me not to give a shit about what my dad just said. I pretended like I didn't hear anything as I turned back to the kitchen to continue with the dinner preparation. But then, the doorbell rang.

I stopped and waited, but nobody made a move to get the door.

Fine, I would make sure to make enough damn mess in the kitchen that they'd have to clean up all fucking night.

I grumbled on my way to the front door, thinking of ways to create more chaos. But when I opened the door, I blinked.

"Happy Thanksgiving!"

What the – What the hell was he doing here, looking all hot and smelling all yummy like this?

Scout grinned, raising a transparent plastic container filled with cookies. "My mom asked me to give this to you."

"Oh," I said, when I finally found my voice. "Thanks."

"I didn't know you were close," he mentioned curiously.

"Not really," I tried to explain. "I used to go to your place a lot and hang out with Snow before..." Before she and Oz broke up, and all hell broke loose along with them. "I liked watching your mom bake. She let me help sometimes," I added, smiling at the memory. "Your mom's really cool."

Scout watched me closely now. "I had no idea you were the one she kept talking about back in high school."

I tilted my head. "What do you mean?"

With a lopsided grin, he said, "She kept on and on about how sweet my sister's 'beautiful friend' was. She never mentioned any name so I didn't know. I just found out when she told me to bring this to you."

Oh, God.

"Can you come out for a sec?" he asked.

"Why?"

"So I can hug my girlfriend."

I tried to stop the broad smile daring to show up, glancing back inside the house before I stepped outside and closed the door behind me. Scout immediately pulled me to him and put his arms around me.

"I miss you already." He sighed.

"Clingy much?" I giggled. Fuck, I giggled.

"Thank you."

I wrapped my arms around him, too. "For what?"

"For being kind to my mom."

"I can't imagine anyone being mean to her."

He chuckled, before he pulled away and stared into my eyes for what felt like ages. His attention wandered to his thumb caressing my cheek.

"My parents are getting a divorce."

My eyes widened. Oh, wow. I didn't expect that. They were the town's epitome of a perfect family.

"Scout... I'm sorry."

He softly stroked my hair. "That's the real reason why I chose the university that's closest to home, so I'm not too far away from her in case she needs me."

I reached up and touched his cheek, my fingers grazing his freckles. "Where's your dad?" I asked quietly.

"He's home for tonight, but he mostly stays in the City now." When he saw my expression, he shook his head and added, "No, there's no third party. They're just... not happy together anymore."

I nodded in understanding.

I was so absorbed with my own life and my own shitty problems that I just now realized that neither of Scout's parents showed up for Parents Weekend, too.

"Contrary to common belief, the Crimsons are not so perfect." He looked at me. "Disappointed?"

I shrugged. "Perfect's boring, anyway."

A slow grin stretched across his face before he leaned down to kiss me. And I let him, despite the fact that anyone passing by could see us.

"Come on, I'll help you bring this inside."

"I think I can manage one container." I snorted, reaching out to take it.

He pulled it out of my reach. "Nope."

"Alfie's inside," I warned him.

But Scout was unfazed, as always. "Yeah, I saw his car." He nodded to the truck in the driveway.

My eyes narrowed. "You trust me, don't you?"

"Of course."

I studied him. He didn't look like he was up to something, nor did he look like he was jealous.

"It's cold out here." He gave me a puppy dog look. "At least let me warm up for a bit inside before I go?"

I rolled my eyes, giving in. "Behave," I ordered, pointing to him.

"Like a saint."

I let out a small laugh as I let him in. We entered the living room and three pairs of eyes landed on him.

Scout waved a free hand, smiling politely. "Happy Thanksgiving, everyone." He nodded to Alfie and greeted, "Hey, man."

My best friend nodded back. "Hey."

"Mrs. Crimson sent cookies," I explained.

Drew whistled. "Wow, she followed through."

"Yup."

"We ran into her at the store earlier," he further explained to Dad and Alfie. Turning back to Scout, he said, "Nice to see you again."

Scout smiled. "You, too."

"That's very generous of her." Dad got to his feet and shook hands with Scout. "Please send her my thanks."

"I will."

Alfie's face was dead calm, but his eyes were blazing and his jaw was set.

"What's your name, son?" asked my dad.

Ha, as if he didn't already know.

"Scout Crimson, sir."

"Wanna join us, Scout? Game's getting good."

Alfie lifted up his chin, liking that idea. Shit. I started to shake my head but then Scout spoke.

"Thank you, sir. But my family's waiting for me."

"Ah, alright." Dad patted Scout's shoulder. "Won't keep ya, then." With that, he went back to his chair.

Alfie's eyes switched to me, I knew what he was asking me.

'What the fuck is up with this shit?'

Ignoring him, I faced Scout. "Let's get that to the kitchen so you can go."

Alfie made a move to stand up but Drew held his arm to stop him. My brother shook his head, silently telling him to back down. Alfie breathed hard and his jaw clenched, but he stayed put.

Scout followed me to the kitchen, stopping by the doorway as he looked around the mess. It wasn't totally messy. But I was preparing dinner for three grown men, and myself. So I had to cook a feast.

"You can place it on the table over there," I told Scout, pointing to the one where we usually had breakfast on.

Scout didn't appear to hear me, though. His eyes were traveling everywhere – from the turkey in the oven, to the potatoes on a bowl, to the carrots on the chopping board, to the bundle of vegetables on the counter, to the pot on the stove, and many more ingredients scattered on every surface around us.

"Scout?"

"Are you doing this all on your own?" he asked, still not looking at me as he eyed the room.

"Yeah." Finally, I got where he was going with this. "They'll clean up after. That's the deal." I waved a dismissive hand, like it wasn't a big deal though I was planning on creating more mess after he left.

Resolution crossed Scout's features, before he placed the cookies on the table I pointed to. He removed his hoodie, placed it neatly on the back of a chair, and rolled up the sleeves of his sweater.

"What do you want me to do?

"Uh, go home to your family?" I said, chuckling.

"I'll help."

My amusement was instantly gone. "Scout, no."

"I can't let you do this on your own."

"I've been doing this for as long as I can do it."

"Great, now you can tell me what I can do to help."

Hanging my head, I gave him an exasperated look. "Why are you doing this?"

He walked over to me and lowered his voice, before saying, "Because I wanna lessen your burden. This is me taking care of my girl." He stole a quick kiss on my cheek before he grinned and stepped back. "Now, do you need me to peel these potatoes?"

I was dazed for a moment. "Uh, yeah." I cleared my throat and shook my head. "Yeah, then rinse them before boiling them in a pot. After that, mash them together."

"Gotcha." Without another word, he went to work.

Just when I thought I couldn't fall harder, Scout proved me wrong yet again.

* * * * *

He really just did that.

I was sitting on the lounge in the patio, contemplating on what just happened.

Scout helped me prepare dinner and set the table earlier. He didn't mind that he was late for their family dinner. He said he wanted to make sure that I was good before he left me. It was the sweetest damned thing.

"We never had that talk."

I looked up at Alfie as he joined me outside.

"Yeah, bummer."

I knew he knew that Scout stayed longer than he said he would.

"What the hell was he doing here?" demanded Alfie.

"He dropped off the cookies his mom promised me," I answered, with a shrug.

"He stayed."

"He helped out," I corrected.

"Wow, how fucking noble," he commented, leaning on the pillar and crossing his arms. Funny, it was something I would've said three months ago.

"I know." I sighed, staring up at the night sky. "He's too good."

"Do you like him?"

"Everybody does."

"I couldn't give less fuck about anybody else. I'm asking if you do."

I looked at him with a blank face. "I'm one of the many."

"This is how you're gonna play this, huh?" he said, the corner of his lips turning up.

"I'm not playing, Alfie." I was dead serious.

He was quiet for a moment, before he asked, "What the fuck happened, Con?"

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

When I looked at him again, I told him the whole story – up to the part where we were only pretending to date. Of course, I had to leave out some details like Scout confessing his real feelings for me, and us officially dating.

The key to lying: Tell some of the truth so it was still believable.

"That's it?"

"Yup."

Alfie looked skeptical. "He didn't look like he was pretending that morning when he showed up at your building."

"Look, Alf," I started, turning in my seat so I could fully face him. "You asked me what happened and I told you. Now can you drop the overprotective act and bring back my arrogant jackass of a best friend?"

He stared at me for so long that I watched as his expression softened. Gone even more was the playful Alfie, and in his place was the part my best friend tried to bury inside him – his vulnerability.

In no more than a whisper, he said, "I don't wanna lose you."

I could only melt at his words.

"Never," I promised.

"Ride or die," he swore, as he raised his pinky.

Without hesitation, I linked mine with his.

"Ride or die."

___________

Next update: Thursday (April 16)

Coming up next... Chapter 30: Call It What You Want
See you at Oz's place for the party! ;)

#SavageMeWP