You couldn't quit staring at your phone. Cracker's number was pulled up and your fingers hovered over the keys as you debated on what to say. You'd taken the time to sleep off your mood and waited till after work to even think about texting him. The hard part was finding the right words.

At face value, what you'd yelled at him about yesterday seemed understandable. If he saw you as a friend and thought you saw him the same way, it'd make sense that you'd want space once in a while, your own space, and quiet time. But what you said wasn't the issue, it was how aggressive you got with it. You let your emotions get the better of you and it wasn't right. At the same time, Cracker had done the same thing with the whole needing a girlfriend issue. Yeah, that was something you should talk to him about too.

And as much as you truly enjoyed having him around, it hurt knowing some other woman would always get his full attention in a way you wouldn't. That alone made you want space from time to time and it was actually a good part of your frustration. You were jealous and the hard part was you couldn't talk to him about it, or at least you felt you couldn't.

But this wasn't going to take care of itself. You pursed your lips together determinedly, pushing back the anxious feeling that wanted you to just ignore everything and sent him a quick text before you could change your mind.

— Can we talk now?

You weren't expecting your phone to start ringing only a couple minutes after the text was sent.

"Uh, hey." You started awkwardly as you crawled into the couch and dragged a blanket into your lap. It was quiet on Cracker's end as you plucked at the loose strings of the blanket. "So.....I'm sorry for yelling and being a bitch yesterday. It was uncalled for and you were right, I've got a lot on my mind and it's been getting to me."

"Did you.....want to talk about it then?"

"Well, there was one other thing I wanted to mention before that, if you decide you still want to talk afterwards then....."

There was some yelling on his end of the phone and it sounded female.

"Did I call at a bad time?" You asked quietly to mask the slight quiver in your voice.

"No, it's just–I swear, Pudding, if you don't stop touching my shit I will drag your ass back over to mom's!"

More muffled yelling immediately started back up in retaliation and a wave of relief washed over you. Pudding was one of his sisters, not a potential girlfriend. She was probably at his place to bother him about a new pastry that was being added to their ever growing list of treats on the market. You knew about it since you were one of the people helping make it, besides the co-workers in your kitchen and certain members of the Charlotte family. It was being kept under wraps until it was out on the market but somehow the younger siblings had a knack for figuring out when something new was coming up.

And this was exactly why Cracker came to your place all the time, to escape being hounded by those like Pudding. He had to be staying home this time to leave you alone and a small part of you felt a little pity for him putting up with the incessant pestering from his family.

"No it's not Brulee, it's (Y/n)." He growled, still addressing his sister. "And no you can't talk to her, go do your homework! We're having an adult conversation."

Pudding continued to yell at him but the sound faded away and you assumed that meant she was leaving him alone.

"Sorry." Cracker sighed. "She's being a bit of a handful right now."

"Isn't she always a handful?"

"Yeah." He chuckled. "But this time she's pissed that Katakuri couldn't have her over today and she got stuck with me instead."

"Tough day."

"She'll get over it. Anyway, what were you going to say? It sounded like something was still bothering you."

"There's a few things bothering me." The truth slipped out with a sigh.

".....Tell you what, Pudding is still being a brat, I just saw her stick a wad of gum under my table. I'll take her ass home and then swing by so we can talk in person."

"Oh, that's not–"

"I'll see you in a bit."

"Right." You mumbled into the quiet phone. "Of course you're going to come over, you always do."

You'd stayed on the couch and almost dozed off in the calming silence of your home. This particular spot was a little different than your chase and it took you a little while to figure out why. It was usually Cracker's favorite place to take up when he was over and because of that, the fabric seemed to have permanently taken in his scent. He wasn't one for cologne but then again, things like that were discouraged from being used at your work place. It just smelled clean, like fresh soap. There was also the subtle undertone of lavender with it and the smell immediately reminded you of his hair. It was the right color.

You blinked slowly, too comfortable to realize now wouldn't be a good time for a nap. The blanket around you was warm and sitting in your crush's usual spot was relaxing, especially now that you knew he wasn't angry with you. A yawn escaped you and you gave in, letting your head fall to the arm of the couch. Cracker could wake you when he got here.

----

The constant sound of tapping slowly woke you. It wasn't loud or sharp, but it would pause for a second and then resume. There was no rhyme or reason to the pauses and no matter how much you focused on it, you couldn't figure out what it was. You gave up on trying to guess at it and cracked your eyes open. While you slept, it felt like one of those naps that left you feeling more tired than before. That usually meant you'd slept too long.

As you peered around the room, you found the source of the noise. Cracker was on the other end of the couch, fingers dancing along the screen of his phone. He was typing, which solved the tapping mystery. He hadn't noticed you were awake just yet so you took the time to watch him. Half of his hair was pulled back and put into a small bun, the rest fell across his face in a thin curtain. The hairstyle was normally very feminine yet he somehow made it anything but.

His face was neutral, impossible to read. The discolored skin of his scar scrunched up under his eye in a way the rest of his skin didn't as he smiled at his phone. A pang of jealousy went through you. You hoped you made him smile like that when you two texted.

You shifted around, sitting up more to both stretch out your legs and alert him to your being awake. It worked well, his eyes darted to you as he let his phone's screen go dark and placed the device on his thigh.

"Hey there sleepyhead. You must have a lot on your mind for it to be making you so tired. Don't think I've ever seen you so beat before."

"You coulda woke me." You grumbled back, feeling a few satisfying pops as you stretched.

"Nah, taking Pudding home took longer than expected, I haven't been here long anyway."

You readjusted until you were sitting sideways in the couch, legs crossed so as not to take up any of his space and the blanket still wrapped comfortably around you. With a small sigh, you rubbed your forehead.

"So I think this is important." You started.

"Right, okay."

When you looked up, you frowned. Cracker's eyes flicked up and down your frame quickly and he looked like a deer in headlights. You didn't get why, there was nothing to look at with you being completely covered by the blanket. You decided to shrug it off.

"I'm sorry for how I talked to you yesterday but not what I said, not exactly at least. I could've worded things a little better but the attitude wasn't necessary. Now that being said, I was more than a little frustrated that you'd done something similar before and that was somehow okay while my outburst wasn't."

"Something similar....." His lips twisted into a frown and you could see the apology in his eyes. "Shit, I didn't think about that (Y/n). I guess I should apologize for being an asshole when I came to you about my mom's demands."

In your humble opinion, you handled his angry, snappy attitude when he came by letting you about his need to find a partner of some kind very well. It was hypocritical of him to have his fit and then turn around and tell you yours was wrong. On a good note, he recognized the problem and was quick to make amends. You figured it was a matter of him just not recognizing the whole scenario for what it was and with the way he was handling it, you were willing to move right past it.

"It's fine, I'd just like to avoid something like that again." You gave him a small smile.

"It's not fine." He let out a frustrated groan. "I'm such an ass."

"Not all the time."

"Well I can promise that won't happen again."

"I'll hold you to it." You giggled, glad that part was over.

"You never got to tell me what you were up to yesterday that had you gone for so long." Cracker saw the perfect time to change the topic smoothly, taking it right to what you actually wanted to talk with him about.

It didn't really involve him but you needed someone who could listen. Your friends that lived out of town had been busy lately, which you understood, but sometimes you wished they had a little more time to talk with you. Luckily, Cracker seemed to have an abundance of free time, compared to his brothers at least.

"That's actually what had me a little moody yesterday actually." You said. "I was trying to think things through and long story short, it's my dad. He showed up a couple days ago, not long after you'd left actually, and told me who he was and that he wanted to reconnect. We were spending some time together when you called."

"No shit!" Cracker grinned excitedly, scooting a little closer and giving you a pat on the shoulder. "You've got some family around after all!"

"Yeah." You blushed from his touch but he didn't seem to notice. "He's been sincere so far but I've just been worried about giving him a chance."

"If you want advice, I'll tell you nothing is better than family. They've always got your back, even if they're a pain at times. I'm sure things will go well with him."

"What about your dad? Would you give him a second chance if he came back around?"

"I like to think I would. Mom on the other hand, she'd probably try to beat him within an inch of his life." Cracker snickered. "But this is good, you really shouldn't have to worry about it. If you say he seems to want to reconnect, then I bet he does."

You nodded, nibbling at your bottom lip. If anyone knew about family, it'd be a Charlotte. Sweets aside, that was what they specialized in and if he said things would be fine, you wanted to believe it.

"You're probably right, I guess there wasn't really anything to worry about."

"Course there wasn't."

There was one last thing to go over and though you didn't care for the topic, you were curious as to what his answer would be.

"You know, I never asked how your date went." You said.

It was better to tackle this now rather than wait for him to suddenly say he had a new girlfriend and you were off the hook. You wanted to be prepared for when that day came.

"Better than I thought actually." He hummed happily. "She was really sweet, attentive, interesting. We have another date on Halloween. There's a bar doing some kind of party she wanted to go to."

You didn't like any of this, for a couple different reasons. "What about the party at your family's place?"

"No worries, I've got it all planned out. I've told Nami I have to make it to that one and she wants to go to one with her friends afterwards. I'll drop her off at hers and then come back for the family one."

"Are you going to have time for that?" It sounded like he was going to be cutting things a bit close.

"Of course, it'll be no problem."

"If you say so..." You weren't so convinced but you weren't about to tell him he should be rescheduling his date either.

Cracker was a grown man, he knew what he was doing.