"Your guys' project looks amazing!" Mrs. Morrison complimented as she passed by their desk the next day. Bradley had worked on it more that night while he was home, referencing the flower pots he already had to make it really come together. Despite the fact that he only had one hand to work with, his vine hand used mainly to (roughly) keep it in place, he was proud of the work he put into it. Mrs. Morrison added, "Find a way to smooth out the clay, and it will look like it was professionally done!"

Bradley felt pride well up within him, and a quick glance at Milo's telltale grin told Bradley that he felt the same way. For once, Bradley felt like he and Milo understood each other. Maybe not everyday for Milo was a search for a quest for greatness, but he got them often; for Bradley, it was a search for something eye catching to use to be seen. Right now, the best kind of achieving something great was happening to both of them. It was a small kind of achievement, one that shouldn't matter, but someone cares, and you worked hard, so it ends up mattering more than most, so of course both of them were flushed and smiling, looking down at their creation.

"You did a really great job," Milo commented, taking a closer look at the rim that Bradley had scored onto the pot, "Really! I'm impressed!"

"Thanks," Thanks Bradley replied, "You gave me a good start."

"That sorry excuse for a flower pot?" Milo laughed.

Bradley laughed as well, "It turned out fine in the end, didn't it? Well, except from the faint marks my vine left behind." He traced the shallow outlines with the tip of his index finger. "I tried to get it out to the best of my ability, but I have to hold it with something. I'm getting better at gently gripping things, but even so..."

Milo shrugged with a soft smile. "I'm sure that you'll get the hang of it."

"Working on this has helped a great deal, honestly," Bradley admitted. He didn't know why he was telling Milo all this, he was just in a better mood than usual. Or maybe it was that he wasn't being ignored, even if the person listening to him in question was Milo Murphy, of all people. It was a little worrying for Bradley, though, to have Milo know so much about him (Although he knew that, with the way Milo got to know people, Milo probably thought that he didn't know Bradley at all, and Bradley was more than okay with that.).

He didn't have to worry about it for very much longer anyways, as Melissa and Zack came up from behind them.

"Very nice, Milo," Melissa commented with a hum of amusement, Zack nodding in agreement, "I didn't know you were into gardening."

Milo hurriedly corrected, "No, this is Bradley's project, and he did a lot of the work."

"And the correct term is botany not gardening," Bradley clarified, "But thanks, Melissa."

Melissa ignored him. Of course she did. What else was I expecting? he thought. He tried to look like he didn't care. "How much did you do for this project?" Melissa asked Milo.

"I started it for us, actually," Milo announced proudly, and then, with a shy chuckle, added, "I didn't do a very good job. That's when Bradley took over."

"I hope there hasn't been too much conflict," Zack stated, glancing at Bradley a second, a gesture that Bradley noticed even though it looked like Zack had meant to signal only to Milo.

"There hasn't been," Bradley insisted firmly in retaliation, "I, for one, have been having a great time, and I'm sure that Milo has been also."

Melissa shrugged with a coy smile. "Is it true?" she asked, eyeing Milo.

"Uh huh!" Milo confirmed with a grin and a nod, "No fighting! Just a few small mishaps with Murphy's law."

"And Bradley lets you work on the project too, right?" Zack wondered.

"Yes!"

"Weren't you listening? He said I let him start!" Bradley argued, feeling a little hurt.

Zack shrugged shyly, "No, not really."

Bradley huffed, more sad than angry, and crossed his arms. Milo cut in, "Bradley has been doing his best working with me. Sure, at first we didn't really get along- like we really didn't get along, but we've both made an effort to learn about each other and he understands Murphy's law better now. It's been..." He paused trying to find the right word.

"Interesting," Bradley finished for him, with a small smile.

"Yeah, that's a word for it," Milo agreed.

"So, you're friends now?" Zack asked.

"No," Bradley replied, and then froze, because Milo had answered yes at the same time as him.

He and Milo exchanged a look, and- Had Bradley ever seen him frown before? "You don't think..?" Milo said softly.

"I thought we felt the same on this," Bradley answered back, his voice equally quiet, "I definitely sort of like you now, enough that I don't want to hurt you the way I used to anymore, but honestly, that doesn't make years of dislike insignificant, right?"

Milo hummed thoughtfully, as if he doubted Bradley, but replied, "Okay."

Zack let out a drawn out, "Wow."

"Yeah, things here are really awkward," Melissa agreed, "I think me and Zack are going to go back to working on our project."

"Okay, alright, that's cool," Milo rushed out with a nervous chuckle.

"I-" Bradley started, then stopped talking, not knowing what to say.

"It's alright. Really, it is," Milo told him, not sounding reassuring in the slightest. In fact, Bradley was afraid that Milo was going to start crying. He didn't know it mattered to Milo that much (or at all). Milo sighed, looking away from Bradley. "I think maybe I should leave a moment," Milo said softly, getting up and beginning to walk away.

"Wait," Bradley replied quickly, grabbing Milo's hand. Milo turned to look at him, a little shocked and flushing slightly. "I'm sorry," Bradley apologized, "I didn't think you'd even want to be my friend anyways. I didn't think we could be- that I was allowed-"

Milo perked up in surprise, his mouth in a small o shape. "Of course you're allowed to be my friend!" Milo responded, almost shouting.

Bradley paused, a little taken aback by what Milo said. "I don't know how you can like me at all," he muttered.

"I like you a lot," Milo replied softly.

"You do?" Bradley asked, "Why?"

"I don't know, do I have to have a reason?" Milo asked, "I just do."

Bradley let that sink it. "I think I like that, actually," Bradley admitted, "Being liked for no reason. It doesn't make sense to me, but it feels nice..."

Milo smiled brightly yet gently at him. "Anyways, the bell is about to ring, so you want to work on it at my house again?"

Bradley had almost forgotten they were supposed to be working on their project. "Yeah, definitely!" He wouldn't admit it, but he far preferred being at Milo's house.

"Alright!" Milo cheered, then quietly added, "And I hope you change you mind sometime. I'd really like to be friends."

Bradley gazed out the bus window again as he waited to arrive at Milo's house. There were so many streets that he was unfamiliar with. Sometimes he wondered what would happen if he walked down those streets and explored forever instead of going home ever again. Maybe then there'd be more to his life than his flaws. No one would be there to demand that he change or that nothing he worked for would ever be enough because he wasn't perfect-

"The weather is nicer today," Milo commented.

Bradley glanced up at the sky, clear, blue, and beautiful. "Yeah," he agreed. A smile crossed his face. He was grateful that Milo had pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Do you like looking at the sky?" Milo wondered.

"What?" Bradley asked.

"You just seem to like to watch out of the window on the bus. You've done it every day of this week."

"Our project only started Wednesday," Bradley pointed out, "You don't know if I did it everyday.

Milo shrugged. "I was just curious."

There was a pause. Bradley sighed, "I just sometimes wonder what it's like for them, you know? The people who live out here, down these roads, in these houses. Is it better? Worse?"

"I guess I never thought of that before."

Bradley fidgeted with his hands. Who could he have been if only he had... Anybody. Anybody who would listen. Anyone who appreciated everything he did to get good grades. Just anyone.

The bus came to a stop, and Milo stood up. Bradley stood up behind him, and followed him off the bus. They began their short walk to Milo's house. Bradley usually enjoyed silence, but he found Milo's silence to be eerie.

As if he'd read Bradley's mind, Milo's voice rang out. "Bradley?"

Bradley hummed to let Milo know he was listening.

"Are you... Okay?"

Bradley glanced at him. "What do you mean?"

"When you're at home, are you okay?"

He didn't want to lie. He didn't want to answer, either. "Why?" Bradley finally asked.

"The way you talk about your parents," Milo explained, "They don't pay attention, and they tell you that you have to be a certain way."

Bradley was speechless for a moment, his face heating up. "Well, yes. They are that way," he finally answered, his voice strained, "But that doesn't mean that I'm not okay! I just sometimes wish- wish-" He didn't know what he wished. Maybe he wished they would listen to him, actually see him, or maybe he wished he had different parents entirely.

"Oh! I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you cry!" Milo stammered. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a portable pack of tissues. He handed one to Bradley.

"I'm not crying," Bradley argued, wiping away the tears. What a horrible lie.

Milo smiled sadly. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Bradley nodded. "There's not much to say, though. You said it all. They make fun of my interests, and tell me if I don't man up people will think I'm a- well, I don't agree with the things they think they can say. They ignore my very existence if I'm not disappointing them, and they're never home."

"That sounds hard," Milo said gently.

"Yeah. And I know I probably seem like a whole lot of bad things, but I really just want someone to be there for me," Bradley admitted, "No one is ever there."

"Oh, you won't have to worry about that anymore, I promise," Milo whispered.

"Why?" Bradley breathed.

"Because I'm gonna be there for you from now on," Milo vowed.

Bradley stopped, his sobs mixed with choked laughter. "I've been nothing but a nuisance since we've met, and now you want to help me?" he wondered, "What did I do to deserve this?" He buried his head in his hands.

Milo turned towards him, gingerly taking Bradley's hands and lowering them away from his face. "Hey," Milo muttered, "Look at me."

Bradley looked him straight in the eyes, even though it was difficult.

"You want to know something?" Milo asked.

Bradley nodded.

"Nothing you've done has really been that bad," Milo told him, "In fact, I think a lot of the things you tease me over is really funny. I don't even mind that much when you call me the j word."

"The j word?"

Milo whispered it as if it were a taboo, "Jinx."

"Ah, didn't realize that was a bad word."

Milo laughed quietly. "It is in my household."

Bradley also laughed, his tears drying. "Hey Milo?"

"Yeah?"

"I want to be your friend."

His eyes lighting up instantly, Milo beamed. It was a contagious smile, and Bradley had a large smile on his face too after seeing it. "I knew I could do it!" Milo cheered, "I knew I could be your friend!"

Bradley chuckled. "Yup. You got me."

Milo threw his arms around Bradley in a hug. Bradley tensed up instantly, not expecting the sudden touch. Milo pulled away quickly, his face flushed, "Sorry! Sorry! I should have asked."

"It's alright," Bradley assured him. He opened his arms back up. Milo's smile widened even more somehow, and he accepted Bradley's offer. It was nice. Bradley had been hugged before, but not like this, not like he was being protected. It made him feel content and safe, and he hugged back softly. Bradley realized he didn't want to let go when it was over, but he knew he couldn't make it last forever.

"C'mon, we gotta get home before my parents get worried," Milo told him.

Bradley nodded. Usually he'd sulk that his parents probably wouldn't be worried if he came home late, if they were even home at all, but right now he just felt grateful that there were good parents in the world at all.

"You think you can stay for dinner this time?" Milo asked.

Bradley hummed, "Mhm."

"So you got permission this time?"

"I never said I needed permission, I just said I needed to get home. I had to walk," Bradley explained, "I wanted to get home before dark so my parents wouldn't be concerned. They hadn't even noticed, though, so I don't care anymore."

"Oh."

The pair walked up to the house and stepped inside. "Oh, if it isn't Bradley!" Bridgette greeted, "Milo has told us a lot about you!"

"He has?" Bradley asked cautiously.

Milo laughed, "All good things, I promise!"

"Well, I know you boys have work to do, so I'll let you get to it. Want any snacks?" she asked.

"No, that's okay," Bradley mumbled with a nervous smile, "Thank you."

"I want a snack!" Milo chippered.

"Cookies and lemonade?" she asked.

"Yes!" Milo cheered.

"I'll bring it up to you guys," Bridgette informed them, turning away to the kitchen, "Have fun!"

"Not hungry?" Milo asked as they both went upstairs to his room.

Bradley shrugged, "I didn't want to bother her."

Milo laughed. "You wouldn't bother her! She offered."

"I guess."

Milo plopped his backpack down next to his bed, somehow causing a drawer of his dresser to topple out of place and spill an array of shirts onto the ground. As Milo cleaned up the mess, Bradley placed their pot on the desk. Milo finished putting his clothes back and came over to where Bradley was with their project.

"So all we have to do is smooth it out, right?" Milo asked.

Bradley answered, "Yeah, I think so."

"How are we gonna do that?"

Bradley shrugged. "You're probably going to have to do it," he admitted, gesturing towards it.

Milo stepped forward. "Are you sure? Even with my Murphy's Law?" he wondered.

"I can't do it with only one hand," Bradley pointed out, "Besides, I know I used to be all prickly about it- in fact, that's probably an understatement -but you're very resourceful, Milo. I'm sure that whatever happens, you'll be able to keep it from getting squashed or something. And hey, if worse comes to worse, it only took a few hours for me to make that, I can do it again."

Milo smiled at him, eyes sparkling. Bradley had never had someone look at him that way before, and the nice warmth that filled him from head to toe stayed strong long after Milo turned back to the pot to smooth out its edges. Casually, Milo commented, "We might want to take some of the books out of this work space while I work on this." As if on cue, one of the books tumbled over, but Milo's hand shot out to catch it before it smashed into the clay flower pot.

Bradley quickly took the book from Milo's hand, and gathered the rest of the books on the desk as well. "You like Frankenstein, huh?" Bradley asked as he picked up the last book, "I never took you for a fan of horror."

"I'm not, honestly," Milo confessed, "I'm a sci-fi guy. But that one's a bit of both, and it's really good."

Bradley nodded, "I like it, too." He flicked through the pages, allowing them to slip into each other with a satisfying flapping sound. He placed the books on the ground and slid them under the bed. "Do you think this is a good place for them?" Bradley asked.

"Yeah, they're out of the way under there," Milo agreed, "Just help me remember where they are, alright?"

Bradley laughed. "I'll do my best."

"Boys! Here's your snacks!" Bridgette called, entering the room. The sudden noise made Bradley jump, but Milo jumped up in excitement.

"Thanks mom!" he cried, running over to her and grabbing his lemonade and cookies. She gave him a kiss on the forehead and Milo giggled. Bradley felt a gross, cold feeling start to seep into his chest as he watched.

Suddenly, Bridgette walked up to him, and offered him his own glass of lemonade and cookies. "I know you said you didn't want any, but I thought that by now you were probably hungry."

The cold feeling dissipated back into warmth in an instant, as Bradley took the lemonade and cookies from Bridgette. "Thank you, Mrs. Murphy!" he called after her as she left the room, unable to disguise the disbelief in his tone.

With a sip, he found the lemonade was perfect. It wasn't too sweet, too sour, or too watered down. After he tasted it, he couldn't stop drinking until he was holding an empty glass. Then, he bit into his cookie. It was a gingersnap, and a good one at that. His mom never made anything like this before. He hummed in enjoyment as he chewed. Soon, he found that his snack was gone, and his tummy was happy. Looking at Milo, he knew it was the same for him.

"Shall we continue?" Bradley asked.

"I think we're done, to be honest," Milo replied.

Bradley walked over to the small pot. Milo was right, the pot was smooth. "I... Guess I have to go home now," Bradley said quietly, picking up the pot. He never thought, at the start of this project, that he'd be sad to leave Milo Murphy's house. Life is full of surprises.

"Wait."

Bradley looked up at Milo, hope sparking up in his eyes despite himself trying his best to keep his expectations down.

"At least stay for dinner," Milo asked, concern as plain as day on his face.

Bradley put the pot back down. "Sure."

"I could even ask Mom and Dad if you can spend the night. If you want to, I mean," Milo continued.

"I would like that, yeah," Bradley agreed.

"So what do you want to do until then?" Milo asked.

"You got any board games?" Bradley asked, "Checkers, maybe?"

"I'm sure we have checkers around somewhere," Milo commented, "Although I'm fairly certain that many pieces are missing. Also, I've only ever once finished any kind of board game. Murphy's Law.

"Was it checkers?"

"It wasn't checkers." With that, Milo produced a box from the top of his closet. He placed it in the middle of the floor, and lifted the top off. Inside was a checkers board. He picked it up and spread it out.

Bradley sat down next to Milo on the floor. He reached in and grabbed the pieces. "Let's see here," he hummed, looking at the red and black tokens in his palm, "We have four blacks and three reds."

"You think that'll be enough?" Milo asked.

Bradley tilted his hand and let the token slide back into their box. "No."

"Oh. Sorry."

"Don't be," Bradley told him, pulling out his phone, "I have an idea." After a quick search, he found an app that let you play checkers with a friend on one phone. He placed his phone on the floor, and waited for it to download.

After a gap of silence, Milo said, "So... What's your favorite flower?"

"Strelitzia," Bradley answered without missing a beat. Then he went dead silent again, flushed. He knew he could trust Milo with this now, but he wasn't used to it. He still felt as if he was breaking a law.

"Why?" Milo prompted, a welcoming smile on his face.

"It's just so pretty and orange," Bradley continued to ramble, "I really like how it's petals-" He was cut off my a ping! as his phone finished downloading the app.

"Oh! Checkers time!" he peeped, picking up the phone and starting a game. He moved his piece, then slide his phone over to Milo. "Your turn."

Milo moved his hand down and tapped his black checkers piece to move it. That moment, the phone screen went black. He moved his hands back quickly. "I'm so sorry! I- I didn't mean-!" he started to stammer, but then Bradley's laughter cut him off. Milo gave a confused hum.

"You- Oh my God- It-!" Bradley chuckled, "You touched my phone and the whole thing crashed!"

Milo looked back down to the phone to see that it was restarting. He also started laughing, both relieved and humored.

"Let's try again," Bradley suggested.

"But what if something worse happens?" Milo asked, "What if the screen shatters?"

"What do you want to do if we aren't playing checkers?"

"I want to talk," Milo answered, "Can we talk?"

Bradley smiled softly. "Sure."

"So, do you like any tv shows?"

"Not many," Bradley shrugged, "Dr. Zone is alright."

"Dr. Zone is my sister and I's favorite show!" Milo interjected. Milo jumped into an explanation of all his favorite parts of the show.

Bradley leaned back, his back against the ladder of Milo's loft bed. He enjoyed this. Milo's ramblings were fascinating. Bradley admired the energy and passion Milo poured into analysing the show. In fact, he found that the show had more to it than he first thought after listening to Milo.

He was almost disappointed when Milo was cut off by Martin popping in to tell them that dinner was ready. Despite how badly he wished to continue to listen to Milo talk, his stomach growled. The boys walked down the stairs and into the kitchen together. Bridgette served them plates full of spagetti and sent them off to sit at the table, following them with her own plate soon after.

Bradley had imagined this scenario with his own family before. Everyone seated at the table for dinner, talking and laughing. They all talked about how their day was and what they did. Bradley was lucky if his parents even made dinner instead of ordering food all the time, and he couldn't even hope for them all to sit together for a meal, much less talk to each other. For the first time in his life, Bradley wondered if his parents even loved each other, not just if they loved him.

"Mom," Milo asked, "Can Bradley stay the night?"

Bridgette's eyes darted to Martin, who smiled and nodded, and then to Sara, who also nodded. "Of course," Bridgette agreed, "I don't see why not."

"Yay!" Milo cheered. He turned to Bradley, "We are gonna have so much fun! We're gonna play video games and talk about flowers and watch Dr. Zone-" Milo continued to list off things to do, and Bradley grinned. He liked this. He could get used to this. He couldn't believe he had kept himself from this for so long.