A/n: can I wake up with comments that'll make me survive another school day

Hey baby, got a message from Janson that Minho left the camp with you. You sent me your phone number through the other phone, remember? That's why I'm able to text you.
Anyway, you mind giving him the phone? I want to have a talk.
x Jen

Oh, hi !
Yeah, sure

I snuggle closer to Minho, who woke up a while ago, but didn't beg to leave the bed for food this time.

"Your mom's texting me. She wants to speak to you," I whisper.

"Mhm," some kind of groan mixed with a hum escapes.

I laugh. "Come on. Maybe it's urgent."

Three seconds later, she is calling us. I push the phone in Minho's hands.

"Yes?" He mutters into the device, voice sleepy.

"Excuse you? Don't sound so bothered by me," she snarls. "I get calls from both Janson and Jorge, worrying the shit out of me that you haven't been at the camp for two days. No message, no call, nothing. Then I figure out you're at Lelia's. Did you ask permission? Nope. Did you lie to her parents about getting my allowance? Yup. I swear to god—"

She rambles on for the following the minutes. I listen attentively. She manages to yell at him but also let him know she's doing it because she's worried. I aspire to be like her once I'm older.

"So next time I see you, you won't get your phone and you for sure won't be allowed to lock yourself up in that forbidden, stinking room. Do you understand?" She finishes.

I wait for Minho to reply. When he doesn't, I turn my head.

He fell back asleep.

"Hello?" Jennifer snaps. "Minho!"

And he awakes again, rubbing his eyes. "Yes... eh, what?"

"Do you understand?"

"Yup."

"Good. Now pass me the phone to Lelia."

With his eyes back closed, he hands the phone to me.

"Hi, Jen," I greet. It's hard to hold my laugh. "How're you?"

"Amazing, baby," her tone changes in something ten times sweeter. "What about you?"

"Could be better. But today I feel good," I summarize. I mean, after yesterday... "Sorry for worrying you—"

"No, no, not your fault. I bet he didn't even tell you he never asked permission."

"Uhm... no, he didn't," I say slowly, side-eyeing the boy. He innocently shrugs.

"Little rat. How is it there?"

"Someone threw a stone through my window yesterday, so great," I murmur. "We had to steal Lyndon's room after all."

"Well, who will mind? What does that boy have to hide? Exactly, nothing. But it is kind of rude to not ask him, even though you had no choice. I say that's the perfect opportunity for you two to visit us and spend as many nights as you want."

"Oh, yes!" In a second, I'm sitting straight up. "That would be awesome."

"No it wouldn't," Minho says into his pillow. I elbow him in the side.

"Alright. Should I come pick you up? I can immediately meet your father and stepmom."

"Eh, possible," I say.

Dad tends to make things like this very awkward.

And Hiram is the calmest person ever. Would that be a good or bad combination?

"Huh? Oh," Jennifer says on the other side of the phone. Clearly, those words are meant to someone else. "Hiram just told me we apparently have a plans today already. Newt and Thomas's parents. We're good friends with all four of them."

"Oh, then we'll come by another time—"

"No, no. I think we should meet up. Might as well bring your parents so we can all meet. I'll call the camp so Newt, Lyndon, and Thomas can come, too."

Uhm.

I'm not sure if that's a good idea.

No one but our friends know about Lyndon's recent news, let alone him and Newt being a couple and—

Wait, that is kind of the only problem.

Thomas's wounds from getting beaten up were almost healed when we left, and it's already three days later. The parents won't have to know.

We might survive just fine.

"Sure, I guess," I decide slowly. "I'll tell Dad. He's trying to repair my window. Amina's downstairs."

"Okay. Just instruct them to drive to our house. Be there around six, yeah?"

"Got it. Bye, Jen."

"See you." She makes a kiss sound, then hangs up.

"We're gonna die," Minho groans.

I run my hand through his hair, attempting to fix it. "No, we won't. Your parents are nice, I guess mine are fine, just awkward, and Lyndon survived at Newt's house, so his parents are also okay, and Thomas's parents are fine."

Minho presses his head in my side. "His dad for sure is."

"Not funny. We're talking about his stepdad here. His parents are nice, right?"

"Yeah, sure." And his arms wrap around me. "I want to stay in bed with you all day."

"We already did that yesterday. We're gonna go to that dinner. See our friends again."

"My mom is gonna embarrass me," he adds.

"So? Thought you were confident."

He grunts under his breath. "Can we stay here for a little longer?"

"How long?"

"Three hours."

"No. I need at least two hours to get ready."

"No, you don't."

"Yes, I do. I need to do my hair, makeup, choose an outfit and fix my nails."

"Nope. You already look perfect." His arms wrap around me so tightly at this point that I don't think I'll even be able to escape.

"Not for a dinner."

"Even for a dinner."

"What if I tell you you can decide my outfit and hair?"

"Keep it like this."

"Minho." I throw my head back in annoyance. "I'm wearing nothing but undergarments and your shirt. My hair's a mess."

"Looks pretty." He pulls the blanket further on top of us. "Can we take another shower?"

"We can get ready and tell Dad and Amina about the dinner," I say. "Come on. Let me go."

"No."

"What if I tell everyone you're actually a freaking baby tonight?"

"No is no."

"I think the roles are reversed. I said no to you clinging around me."

"Technically, you didn't."

I open mouth, then close it again. Yes, it is very nice to lie here with him, but we have other things to do.

"Now I'm telling you no," I say, even though I don't want to.

He easily rolls off me. "Alright, then. You're very serious about it. Let me see the outfit options."

Satisfied, I get off the bed and pull him with me. Dad must already be done with checking my window and calling people who will repair it.

Minho intertwines our fingers as me make our way to my room. I open my closet and step aside so he can have a look, even though he saw most of my clothes when we cleaned.

"You choose a few things you like and then I'll decide," he says, "because this is too much to choose from."

I easily do what he says and drop some things down on my bed. Minho makes multiple face expressions at the objects and eventually points at an outfit.

"Too casual," I say. Straight leg jeans with an off-shoulder, long-sleeved white shirt.

"You literally lay it down there for me to choose."

"Okay, tell me this, how neat are your parents dinners when you get adult guests?"

"Like a fucking five star restaurant."

Triumphant, I nod. "Exactly. I can't wear jeans."

"But in the summer, we eat outside, so that long dress won't be very nice," he says, tilting his head to the side.

Quite a while later, we've decided on a blue skirt and strapless white top. "Not too revealing for a family dinner?" I frown.

"It's just family dinner, indeed," he assures.

I put the clothes on, get a look of approval and a whole damn kiss, then sit down at my desk slash makeup table. Put some rollers and hairspray in my hair. "What're you wearing?" I ask, taking my moisturizer, followed by concealer and blush.

"Jeans and a shirt."

"We did not just spend this much time on my outfit just for you to show up in that."

He whines, "That is just fine."

"No. You're wearing something nice, too."

"Thomas and I were always the ones who didn't match the theme, and Newt was neat."

"Okay." After that, I go on with my makeup, unbothered. Minho lingers around me a bit, head mostly on my shoulder and watching me until I 'accidentally' smear lipstick on his cheek. Then he spends the rest of the time playing with the bottles.

I can't wait to tell Teresa, Sonya, Harriet, and Miyoko he's secretly a three-year-old.

"Done." I take the last roller out of my hair, about two hours later. In that time, we also told Amina and Dad about the dinner and had some small things to eat.

"You look amazing."

"Hey— don't kiss. You'll ruin the makeup." I chuckle, wrapping my arms around him. "Thank you, though."

"Is my shirt full of makeup now?"

"Nope. You're safe."

Minho smiles at me, eyes twinkling. He pulls me closer by the waist. "Kiss my cheek."

"You'll get a lipstick mark."

"Yeah."

I pull a face. "That will look ridiculous."

"Alright, my neck, then," he insists. "I wanna show you off."

"To our families?" I question.

"Yup. Kiss my neck."

Sighing at how ridiculous he is, but internally blushing, I place a kiss on the side of his neck. He's grinning in satisfaction when I look at him again.

"Perfect. Now we can leave." Together, we walk down the stairs. Dad and Amina wait for us to put on our shoes. They either don't see the kiss or don't talk about it— I'm hoping both. Then we get in the car.

The drive is quite long, so, unfortunately, my hair is ruined by the time we arrive. Oh, and of course we're the ones who arrive last.

"There you guys are!" Jen opens her arms to give me a tight hug. I, again, close my eyes and try to stretch the time as long as possible.

Then she sees Minho, and I can feel her mood change.

"You." She roughly pulls him inside. "We're gonna have a talk after this dinner, you hear me? I bet you weren't even listening on the phone."

"All I did was not call you," he whisper-yells, so Dad and Amina won't hear.

"No. As I said, you worried the shit out of me. I can't lose you, and now I am pissed at you for doing that," she tells him before turning to Dad. "Just a little inconvenience here. My apologies."

Thank God she didn't ruin Minho's reputation.

"My name's Jennifer. I'm Minho's mom. My husband Hiram is providing everyone else of drinks." She shakes their hands. "Come in, come in."

Inside, I greet Hiram, then follow Minho outside. Newt and Lyndon are sitting on the garden lounge as Thomas is getting confronted by a woman who must be his mom.

"—thinking you're happy and doing well there, but no, you get into fights—" I hear.

An audible gasp leaves my mouth when I see him in an even worse state than last week, bruised and all. I slam a hand on my mouth when I get a few looks.

"Oh, you must be Lelia." The woman greets me. "I heard nice stories about you. My name's Daphne, and that's my husband Asher. Good to meet you. And hi, Minho. Good to see you again."

He gives her a nod, then quickly pulls me toward Newt and Lyndon. Halfway through, he gives up and sprints towards them.

"Oh my God!" I swear a squeal almost leaves his mouth. "Congratulations." He slaps Newt on the shoulder. "I'm so proud of you. Good fucking job. Who made the move? Tell me everything. I've been waiting for years, Newt."

As Thomas still gets confronted at the long table Jennifer and Hiram set up, Newt tells most details about their kiss.

"Hi." I sit down next to Lyndon. "I'm proud of you, too."

"Thanks." He clears his throat and scoots to the side so I have more room. "You look nice."

I smile softly at him. "Thank you."

He is nervous like never before. I can tell.

I don't think he was prepared for this dinner at all and it got announced way too shortly before for him to plan coming out, yet he hates hiding things, so he feels like he has to come out.

"You don't have to tell Dad and Amina straight away," I assure, taking his hand to give it a squeeze.

"I think it's better if it's off my chest."

"Maybe. But it's whatever you're more comfortable with," I say. "Just try to calm down. It's okay. Dad and Amina won't get angry or anything. They don't have to immediately know. For all I care, you tell one of them first, or you do it in private. It doesn't have to be here."

Slowly, he nods. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." I nod back. "How has it been at the camp?"

"Alright. We saw Noelle and she apologized," he says.

"And now? You didn't forgive her, did you?"

"I told her that, yeah." He looks down at his fidgeting hands. "Told her I didn't forgive her and that she needed to apologize to Newt."

"As you should've. I'm proud of you for that as well." I get up from the couch. "Now I'm going to talk to Jennifer."

Minho looks up at that. "You love her more than me, don't you?"

"Not after the previous days."

Well, maybe it equals.

Lyndon raises an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Just at the same time as Newt says, "Why do you have a kiss on your neck?"

And then I'm off before the first round of chaos breaks out.