based around the season four episodes 'malcolm holds his tongue' and 'boys at the ranch'

❛ I'm in my room it's a typical Tuesday night
I'm listening to the kind of music she doesn't like
And she'll never know your story
Like I do ❜
- You Belong With Me, Taylor Swift

Reese and Alison have been going steady for more than a month. If I'm being completely honest, I didn't expect that at all.

It's nice seeing him happy, though. Despite the fact that Alison gets really mad at him sometimes. That's pretty much inevitable when it comes to Reese.

Malcolm has a girlfriend, Reese has a girlfriend. Who's next? Dewey? It will probably be Dewey who gets a significant other before I do.

After we get done having dinner at the Wilkersons' house, I see Malcolm rush out the door—probably to see his girlfriend, Nikki. Meanwhile, I help Lois with the dishes, a routine at this point. She thanks me like she always does, trailing off on how she wishes the boys were more like me—my ego boosts significantly. Dewey goes to sit on the couch and I see Reese walk into his room, since Lois and I are done, I follow him in. He's just laying on his bed, throwing a ball up and down. I silently walk in, sitting on the edge of his bed.

"So, what's up? We haven't talked in a while." I nudge his shoulder and he sits up.

"I don't know, I'm just stressed." I scoff at his reply.

"But you're never stressed," I reply, cocking my head.

"Yeah, I know. But Alison has me worrying about how we're going to get a ride to that stupid concert, and no one wants to take us!" He looks at the red ball in his hands.

"You don't even like that band..." I trail off, he's never been into the current pop rock music scene. All he likes is metal and the occasional pop-y ballad—but he'd kill me if I told anybody that.

"That's not the point, she said she'd let me get under her bra if I went!" My face contorts when he blurts that out. I did not need to know that. His face twists in realization at what he just said to me, "I mean... I'm going for her, she likes that kinda music," I slowly nod at his attempt to cover up what he meant. A strange, sick feeling in my stomach begins to manifest—it's unfamiliar to me. I brush it off and try to unwind.

"Well, uh... I'm sure you'll find a way to get there somehow," I lay down next to him, putting my hands behind my head, "for now, why don't you just relax?"

He plops back too, "I've been trying to. Her voice just keeps ringing in my head," he does an impression of her and I can't help but laugh. "The other day, she got mad at me for doing that one prank, you know, where I mess up the person's hair, like geez—it's just a joke... But other than that, she's really cool." He smiles at the thought of her, there's that terrible sensation in my stomach again.

"Yeah, I guess she is... Not everyone is accustomed to your humor, you know. I can tolerate your pranks, but other people are only so strong," I smirk at him and he nods in agreement.

He starts throwing the ball up and down again, I catch it once, then twice. After that it becomes a mindless game of us alternating between catching the ball, until it eventually falls off and rolls on the ground.

"Oh, well. I'm not getting that."

"Me neither."

I sigh after a few moments of comfortable silence. "D'you wanna play some music?" I get up to check out the radio he has on his desk, I'm surprised it has survived for this long. I turn it on and nothing but static plays, I change the channel and a song blasts. I immediately recognize it. It was one of my favorite songs as a kid, a Tim McGraw one. I turn to Reese as soon as I hear it with a gasp, but he just has a confused look on his face. The song is about halfway through already. I don't want to waste any time, so I immediately begin singing to it. Reese looks at my dancing figure in amusement. "What? Do you not remember this song?"

"Oh, I remember it," he laughs at me tossing my hair back and forth to the upbeat tune. I grab his arms so I can get him off the bed to join me. At first, he stays rigid, only moving because I'm practically forcing him to. I'm not the most graceful dancer, I flail around with my long limbs—I could hit something any minute.

He suddenly grabs a pen off the desk once the bridge starts to make an imaginary mic, and begins to sing along with that ridiculously terrible singing voice of his. We always have full blown concerts in the car, but this is a whole solo performance from him.

"I gotta wash my truck
And dress up
Pick her up to watch TV
When she sits down on the sofa
She'll move a little closer
She can't get enough of me"

He belts out the last part with an exaggerated country accent, so out of tune. A loud laugh escapes my lips. He does that hilarious childish giggle as the song ends, and we turn off the radio once a new song begins. The dancing tires us out, so we collapse back on his bed. It's starting to get a little small for the both of us, our legs almost tangle and our knees bump. 

It's 9 PM, if we don't want to be exhausted for school tomorrow, we should definitely go to sleep soon. Lois is bound to send Dewey for his bedtime any time now. We laugh and joke for what feels like just a few minutes, but is actually half an hour. He says something stupid, which is almost everything he says, and my hand goes to his waist to tickle him. Nobody knows it, but that's his weakness. His hysterical laugh is so loud it probably can be heard from blocks away, but it's so contagious. He kicks his legs and squirms so much he almost falls off the bed and has to hold himself up.

Lois must have heard us, because our voices remind her of how late it is and she sends Dewey off to wear his pajamas and get ready for bed. Not a few minutes later, Malcolm is back home too. His mother scolds him for being late and he proceeds to go into the bathroom with Dewey to get ready for bed. Reese is already wearing a short sleeved shirt and his plaid pajama pants, which I know he'll be sleeping in, so he doesn't get up to change. Instead, we crack a joke about how Malcolm was probably over at his girlfriend's.

The two boys are in their bed pretty quick, they're really quiet so they're probably asleep. Hal comes in to check on Dewey and his eyes lay on Reese and I. I don't notice him until Reese looks up and I turn to see what he's looking at. Hal being Hal, doesn't mind us and just gives us an awkward smile as he closes the door. I've been laughing so much that I snort and he teases me for it, but he doesn't have the most musical giggle either—he sounds like an evil goblin!

Reese and I continue talking, just in a more hushed tone now—almost whispering to each other about how I beat him in Mortal Kombat five consecutive times last week. He keeps denying it, but only the scoreboards can tell—and they were practically all flawless victories. I blow a raspberry at his face. "Loser." He props himself up with his elbow, and I push him so he falls back into the bed. "I totally won, by a lot. We can have a rematch tomorrow if you wanna make sure." He gives me a lighthearted frown.

"Pass."

"You just don't want to lose again."

"Okay, then you're on!" a challenging look crosses his face.

"You're setting yourself up for failure," I say, yawning. I shift, these jeans aren't exactly comfortable.

It's so easy to talk to him, I can just shut my mind off and be in the serene, simple life of Reese that is filled with pranks and childish antics. I don't have to worry about anything else when I'm with him, that's how it's always been. He rests his head on his hand again and he looks down at me, and his silhouette gets fuzzy against the moonlight peeking from the curtains behind him. My eyes flutter once, twice. And then I'm fast asleep.

-

I can hear the sound of cluttering coming from another room and birds chirping outside, which signals it's morning already. However, the bright sunlight doesn't pull me out from my sleep like it usually does; because it's shielded by something this time. I soak the calming feeling in. It's really warm, despite it being mid-winter. The faint smell of fabric softener makes its way into my nose, the pillow under me is strangely not as soft as it usually is. Although that's made up for by the soft blanket around me and... is that someone's breath?

I'm still overtaken by the usual morning confusion and drowsiness to care that there is a person sleeping next to me—I've always been the heaviest sleeper. I shift in my place a bit, but I'm a little constricted by an arm wrapped around my waist. I discover the soft fabric under my hand isn't the bed when I come in contact with skin. Okay, this is getting weird. I force myself to open my eyes, much to my dismay.

Only now do I remember I fell asleep in Reese's bed last night. I can't remember exactly how. But now, we're both tucked in the cover and have our arms wrapped around each other. I've shared a bed with Reese multiple times before, but this time he's too close, I can feel his slow breaths fan out on my cheek. I don't want to wake him up. He looks so peaceful, he always does when he's sleeping.

I look over to Malcolm and Dewey's bed and they're not there, I can hear noises from outside the room though. God, are they having breakfast already?

I try to remove his arm from my waist so I can get up, but he doesn't budge. He lets out a whine and tries to mutter something before pulling me even closer. My shirt rides up and his warm fingers come in contact with my cold back, I shiver.

"Reese, wake up." All I get is another whine, he's like a child. He's about as heavy of a sleeper as I am. I try shaking him awake and he groans even more.

He takes his arm from around my waist and rubs his eyes so he can open them, "Tess?"

"Yeah, come on. Get up, everyone's awake." My long hair cascades down on the bed as I prop myself up, it's a bright shade of blonde because of the daylight shining on it. I squint my eyes to protect them from the bright light. God, I just know I have the worst bed head right now. Good thing is, I haven't had a good night's sleep like this in ages.

He blinks at me a few times. "What time is it?" He stretches, his legs hitting mine. He's talking in that morning voice of his that I'm so familiar with. It's always hoarse. Mine is too, but his more so because of his deeper voice.

I think for a moment, "I don't know. But you have to get up, we've got school." I'm sitting up now. I should never have slept in these jeans, they're so uncomfortable that I feel the urge to rip them off and tear them to shreds so that I never have to wear them again. Unfortunately, I have to keep them on for school today.

"Okay, okay," he pulls the cover off himself but doesn't get up just yet. I stretch my legs and go to use the bathroom. As soon as I lock the door, I can hear Malcolm walk in. He says a few things to Reese, already yelling at him in the morning. I can't stop myself from overhearing as their conversation progresses.

"I don't know what you're thinking sharing a bed with Tess. You probably think it's normal but you have a girlfriend, Reese." I can almost see Reese make a confused face and scoff in my head.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know. It's weird. I have a girlfriend, I wouldn't hug Tess while I'm with her. That's kinda what it means to have a girlfriend; you don't hang out with other girls as much and—if anything—you share a bed with your girlfriend. Not Tess. You guys aren't five anymore." I felt a pang of guilt. I lean against the sink as I continue listening. What Malcolm is saying makes sense, but it was never my intention to do anything to harm Reese's relationship. I bite my lip and fiddle with the star charm on the necklace Reese got me that one Christmas, it's become a nervous tick of mine. Reese doesn't seem to get where Malcolm is coming from, he keeps arguing with him.

I exit the bathroom after fixing my hair and washing my face, and Reese follows in after me, still his clothes from last night. When I go outside, Lois is in the kitchen making waffles like usual.

"Hi, Tessa. You haven't slept over in a while, it's nice having you so early for breakfast," she smiles at me.

"Yeah, I guess. But, I think I'm going to pass on breakfast for today. I think I'm sick," I lie. Really, I just don't have an appetite.

Her face transforms into a concerned one. "Well, okay, if you need anything I'll be here." I smile and thank her as I leave.

I meet my Dad when I'm at the door, he's hurrying to leave for work. I guess he's late. For me though, school doesn't start for an hour. He pauses when he sees me. "Where were you last night?"

"I slept over at the Wilkersons," I say casually.

"And you didn't think to—you know what, nevermind. We'll talk about this when I'm back." I roll my eyes and he walks past me to get in his car. As if I would be anywhere else than literally next door. I go to the bathroom to brush my teeth and then change my shirt and at least try to look presentable for school.

When I'm done, I grab my backpack and walk to school with the boys—they walk ahead of me, talking to each other. It gives me time to think about everything, and I don't know if I like that or not.

Just two days later, Reese ends up leaving for the concert. He thinks it's a good idea to trick Craig into driving him and Alison there. But when he comes back at 3 am in the morning, sulking—I know he didn't have a good time, let alone actually go to the concert. He wakes me up and we go to sit on the roof. He tells me all about it, a terrible day like that seems like a breeze coming from his mouth.

If I had a day like that, I'd be crying in bed because of how terrible it went. But no, he talks about it like it was a comedy show episode—even though underneath all of it I can tell he's deeply upset. We only climb down and go to our beds once we see the sun begin to come up.

The next week, he and the boys go to the ranch to visit Francis and Piama. Surprisingly, I don't go with them. It's a 'the guys only' thing, as Malcolm told me. It's just for two days, but I talk with them on the phone each night, all night. Of course, they somehow ended up making a giant explosion with some kind of firework. That makes me wish I was with them. I miss Francis so much, and I had already begun to miss the other three boys.

Weekends are boring without them. Everything is.

AN:
THEYRE SO CUTE IM DYING
childhood bffs to lovers trope <33
also the song mentioned is i like it, i love it by tim mcgraw. its such a fun song.