What was Dex thinking? He barely waited before going after Keefe. He had waited two minutes. Which was less time than one could need to use the washroom. But that look on Keefe's face, having to see his crush be affectionate with someone else was familiar to him. He knew that he'd need comfort. Dex also figured that Keefe wouldn't stop by the nearest washroom, so he could have more privacy. Which he was right about. After all, he had done the same before too.

If racing after him wasn't bad enough, he just had to go and mention that there was someone out there that loved Keefe. It was true, Keefe was pretty popular and attracted a lot of girls. It was the way that Keefe would have interpreted it.

But the words just came out of him without a second thought. He could feel his cheeks burning, and it was impossible to make eye contact after that. Also, his hand was literally resting on Keefe's shoulder, so he was bound to feel all those emotions coming from him.

He wanted to take back those words.not because they weren't true, but they might very well be. Keefe was kind, strong, determined, loyal and funny. He always came off as confident, but he knew that it wasn't so true.

Then he thought of his looks. He was attractive, with his sharp jaw and slightly toned muscles. Ice blue eyes that twinkled in the light, unless he was upset. Freckles dusted his cheeks and only made him look more adorable. And his hair, soft to the touch.

He liked those things. He adored those things. But was he able to say that it was love? Dex considered love to be such a strong word for this new feeling. It'd only been a few days since he'd been feeling this way. It was probably just infatuation. There was no way that he would fall in love that fast.

The real reason he wanted to take back his words though, was because his feelings were not reciprocated. Keefe was still in love with Sophie.

Dex kept quiet for the rest of lunch, doing his best to make sure he had proper control over his emotions. Nobody had noticed except Keefe, who was also quiet. He had a determined look to his face, his gaze set on Sophie and Fitz. As if he was going to get used to it. To force himself to get over her.

But even then, it didn't quite matter. Even if Keefe didn't like Sophie, it didn't mean that he would like Dex. That entire moment would not leave his mind, and he found it difficult to concentrate during his next class.

After Foxfire finally ended, he shut himself in his room. He grabbed a blueprint and a half-made gadget. Hopefully technopathy would distract him, flood his thoughts with all those projects he wanted to work on.

Later, his room door opened. His mother peeked her head through the doorway.

"Dex, are you doing okay?" She asked.

"I'm fine," he grumbled.

"If there's something going on, you can tell me. I'm your mother, I know how you behave. You've been like this both times you've realized that your crush didn't like you ba-"

"I said I'm fine," Dex repeated. He winced when he realized how angry he just sounded. "Sorry, I just... need a little space."

She pursed her lips, opening the door a little more. She looked almost guilty.

"I won't make you tell me anything. But, your father and I are about to go out together, and we were hoping that you'd watch over the triplets."

"Seriously?" He groaned. At his mother's raised eyebrow, he added, "I'll do it."

"Thank you. We're heading out now, see you later tonight." Then she left the room.

In reality, it wasn't actually that bad. It would be better than being cooped up in his room. The triplets would definitely distract from his problem- even if it was by making a new one. He left his room to look for them, which wouldn't be hard. All he would have to do is follow the sounds of screaming and objects breaking.

Except that the house was strangely silent. That would only mean one thing: they were scheming.

Before Dex checked on them, he grabbed a large portion of ripplefluffs and cinnacreme and hid it in his room. The triplets ate a lot of food, and if he didn't take now, he wouldn't be left with anything.

He entered Bex's and Rex's rooms, but they weren't in there. He was shocked to find them laying on Lex's bed, peacefully doing homework.

"Wow," Dex remarked. "This is a first."

They got up from the bed and hugged him.

"You seem all sad, so we're giving you a short break," said Rex.

"That's sweet," he said. "Thank you for caring."

Bex pulled away and scrunched her nose. "Don't be ridiculous. We like you, but you're not as fun to annoy when you get all depressed."

"If you're complaining though," Lex continued. "We might just pra-"

The other two elbowed him. "How about we be nice siblings so we can ask for favors later?"

Dex rolled his eyes. "Should have known there was an ulterior motive. But fine. There's cinnacreme in the kitch-"

They were already gone from the room.

"Take only one cup!" He yelled, but they probably wouldn't hear him. Or even if they did, they probably wouldn't listen.

Knowing that they'd be fine and occupied for the time being, he went back to his room. Just in time, as his imparter rang. His heart rate increased when he saw the name. Keefe.

"Hey, what's up?" Dex greeted, trying to sound casual.

That was awful. You have to hide and not sound too nervous. Or too casual. He's an empath! He might figure it out!

"My dad's being annoying again. Was gonna ask Wonderboy if we can play base quest. You wanna come?"

"Sorry, gotta watch the triplets."

"We can hear you mention us!" All three of them yelled.

"Yeah, I'm telling him just how annoying you are!" He screamed back.

When there was no reply from them, he grinned.

Keefe hummed. "Maybe I can spend another day before the apology," he murmured.

"What?"

"Well, I had said something mean about Fitz, and haven't apologized. I was gonna apologize today, but I don't think I'm quite ready yet."

"Okay."

"Also, can I come over? I don't think I can handle Wonderboy and Bangs Boy on my own."

"This sounds like some epic battle. The 'Master Prankster' vs the Wonderboy and Bangs Boy. Also I'm on your team now."

"Well obviously! We're the Ultimate Prankster Team!"

Dex smiled, "Yeah."

"That was cheesy and please stop!" Ro called out from the background.

Keefe rolled his eyes and ignored her. "Where do you live again?"

"Rimeshire."

As he waited for Keefe to arrive, Lovise spoke.

"Ro's right, that was very cheesy."

It took a moment for him to get accustomed to her voice. She didn't really speak often.

He hummed. "I guess. But it feels nice, y'know?"

"Being included?"

"Yeah."

"I understand."

He wanted to ask for more details, but there was a look on her face that made him not. Not quite solemn, just remembrance. He nodded in acknowledgement, and went to let Keefe inside.

Keefe stepped in, his gaze darting everywhere. His hands twitched as if he itched to run his hand along the icy walls.

"You haven't been in here, have you?" Dex asked.

"The others have already been here? Why wasn't I invited?" He looked offended, but in a mocking way.

"Uh... oh," Dex remembered why. "You were with the Neverseen."

"Oh yeah," Keefe murmured, looking down at his feet. "I can't believe you live in an ice castle! That's way cooler than my place!"

Dex groaned. "That was awful."

Keefe grinned. "I'm just the master! What can I say to that?"

"How about nothing?" Ro replied.

"Rude!"

"I'll be back in a moment," Dex said. "Lovise, can you show them where the kitchen is? You can all take whatever food is left over."

"Okay."

He went to his room so he could clear out some of his work. He folded the blueprints and packed away the gadgets in his locker. As he was putting away the last of them, he was interrupted.

"Can I come in?" Keefe asked.

"Yeah, sure."

"Ro and Lovise are having a conversation nearby. Anyways, were the triplets always this nice? They greeted me and immediately brought me here."

"They're trying to be nice so I can owe them favours."

One of the blueprints fell from his hands, and opened up.

"A chair that moves however you want it to?" Keefe asked, his voice scarily close. "That's so cool!"

Dex practically jumped. Keefe was just now at a healthy distance, but suddenly they were standing by side.

"I guess," he said, taking a small step away. "But I haven't actually gotten it to work yet. And I haven't looked at it in a while."

Before he could stop it from happening, Keefe picked up another blueprint, eying it curiously. Then another. And another. He hummed approvingly each time, and Dex was left frozen.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you were like... in the top five technopaths ever," Keefe stated.

He looked down. "I wish."

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" The tone of his voice had changed drastically, causing Dex to look back up at him. "You stepped away from just earlier. Sorry if I am."

"I'm not really used to being praised for my inventions," he admitted.

Well, technically true. His inventions were only looked over if they had some major significance, otherwise his technopathy was generally ignored. So the sudden attention was different. But what changed things even more was the who. He wasn't sure if he could handle the praising and the proximity that just seemed to lessen despite his efforts.

Maybe he could have asked Keefe to stay away. But as nerve-wracking as the closeness was, it wasn't bad. He kind of liked it. And also, Keefe was naturally affectionate, going up to someone and draping a shoulder or making other small physical acts. He didn't really want Keefe to necessarily stop.

"Who wouldn't be amazed by the stuff that you create?"

"I-"

"I mean, even if they don't amount to anything," Keefe continued. "I still think that the stuff that you create matters. After all, you're the one making them."

What does that mean!?

"If you wanna ramble about technopathy, I'll listen. I get how it feels to have hobbies and stuff that don't really get attention, so you can come to me."

He was so sincere! How did he not notice this earlier? He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, because holy crap!

"And uh..." Keefe's face shifted into one of embarrassment. "Where's the washroom? I gotta go now."

Oh. That was all?

Dex pointed to the door with the washroom. As Keefe left, he heard snickering.

"Come in Bex," he called out.

As he thought, she walked in, a smirk on her face. Her eyes gleamed dangerously.

"What are you plotting?"

"Nothing," she said with a casual shrug. Too casual. "Just curious about Keefe. Haven't seen you hang out with him before."

"Am I not allowed to hang out with my friend?" He asked.

"Yeah, obviously you can. But... never mind. He's pretty nice."

If he didn't know better, he would have assumed that she was genuinely making that compliment and was interested in getting to know him. But he did know better. The tone of her voice sounded almost like it was implying something.

Before he could ask what she meant, she was already making her way out of the room.

Did she notice? Was my crush obvious? Was this her way of supporting it?

"Your brother's also pretty nice!" Keefe yelled.

Bex turned around and stuck out her tongue at Dex. "Not as cool as you though!"

He rolled his eyes. Once she was gone, he took out the ripplefluffs that he had hidden. Everything was quiet as the two boys ate their snacks in peace.

A little bit later, there was a knock on the door. Probably Rex, he was the only one who would actually knock.

"What is it?" Dex asked.

He entered the room. "We're bored."

He raised an eyebrow. "What am I supposed to do?"

Keefe got up with extreme speed and dashed towards Rex. In one swift motion, Rex was lifted into the air. "We're going outside!"

"You sure?" Dex asked. He went up to Keefe and whispered so Rex wouldn't hear. "They can be a bit much to handle sometimes."

"I think they need to run around for a bit," Keefe whispered back. "Trust me, I know how it is. Uh... I don't have a jacket."

Dex grabbed his jacket and a spare, tossing it over to the blond. "You can borrow that."

They were then outside, searching for the spot with the best snow. Keefe threw a snowball at Lex. Rex and Bex laughed, while Lex threw one back. Keefe dodged it, sticking his tongue out teasingly. Dex smiled, before joining in. It quickly became a full on snowball fight, dozens of balls flying around with the help of telekinesis.

In the end, the triplets surrendered, as they were cold and exhausted. Dex brought out the remainder of his hidden cinnacreme.

"I can't even remember the last time you took us outside," Bex whined. "This is why Keefe's cooler."

"I hope you realize that you three are not easy to look after. And I'm very much aware that you've decided to be on good behaviour. Keefe, wait until they start being bad."

"Maybe we'll be good if you take us outside," Lex argued.

"I doubt that."

Keefe shrugged. "Maybe I should come here more often."

The triplets all beamed. They looked like little balls of sunshine at the moment. "Yay, more Keefe!"

He smirked. "Looks like even the Dizznees can't resist the Keefester."

Don't take it the wrong way, don'ttakeitthewrongway-

Dex barely suppressed his groan as his face burned and his hands felt the urge to move around. It was a good thing that Keefe wasn't looking at him. But Bex was, a wicked smile on her face as she wiggled her eyebrows. He gaped at that, then glared. Fortunately, her face went neutral.

Hope he didn't notice that. That would be awkward.

"Bex, take a shower," he ordered. He needed her to leave so he could keep control of his emotions.

She crossed her arms. "I don't wanna."

"Go do it before your stinky brothers contaminate the shower. Go first!" Keefe said.

She giggled at that, then ran off.

The other two triplets glared at each other, and Dex already knew what they were going to say next.

"I'm not the stinky one! He's stinkier! I wanna go next!"

Dex watched in horror as Keefe took off his panic ring, but sighed in relief as he hid his hands behind his back. "One of you guess which hand has the ring. Whoever guesses it right goes next." He put his arms in front of him.

"Left!" Rex screeched.

"Fine, right," Lex sulked.

When he opened his hands, it was revealed that the ring was in the right hand. "You win Lex!"

Lex cheered while Rex pouted.

"How the heck did that work?" Dex whispered.

"They're children," was all Keefe said.

"They're younger than me by like two years."

He sighed. "Yeah, but they weren't forced to grow up like we were. They're still children, and you might be a bit strict on them. I'd know."

Oh. That makes some sense.

"I probably should ask more about what they want. But I do think that over-indulging them isn't too good either. But maybe I should let them out a bit more."

"I guess having them over all the time does change things a lot," Keefe agreed. "So yeah, you should ask them."

"Dex, Bex, Lex and Rex!" Juline called out. "We're home!"

"Mom! Dad!" The two little brothers cheered. They ran over and tackled their parents.

"Oh Keefe, welcome!" Kesler greeted them, walking towards them. "Haven't seen you around in a while, what brings you here?"

Keefe's posture tensed a little bit, and Dex knew that he wouldn't want to talk about it. So he put a finger to his lips while making eye contact with his dad.

"Anyways," Kesler continued, catching on. "You're welcome here anytime you'd like!"

Keefe nodded, relaxing. "Thank you. Also would it be okay if I stayed the night?"

"That's no problem," Juline answered. "I'm sure Dex wouldn't mind."

"N-no, I wouldn't mind," Dex agreed. "My room has slightly soundproof walls, it'll be quieter there. I'll go get a sleeping bag for you."

He went and brought out the sleeping bag, and came back to see Rex and Lex talking to his parents.

"And we had a snowball fight!" Lex said, his hands waving around as he continued his story.

"It's fun having Keefe over! He should come around more often!"

Bex came and gave her parents a hug. Then she turned to Lex and Rex. "Which one of you is showering next?"

When Lex raised his hand, she turned to Rex. "Hah! You'll be the stinkiest of us!"

"I'll show you stinky!" Rex roared and proceeded to chase her.

Dex, Keefe, Kesler and Juline stood there smiling, watching the scene in front of them.

"I'm surprised they haven't broken anything yet," Kesler remarked. "We really should let you over more often."

"I'm cool with that!" Keefe replied. "Hey Dex, let's go back to your room now."

They went to his room and sat on the bed.

"Can I look at more of your inventions?" Keefe asked.

Dex shrugged. "Sure."

That's how they sat for a few minutes, Keefe complimenting every single one of them. When he couldn't handle all this attention anymore, he went and took a shower. Keefe took his too, and then they were back, the room a little darker.

"I'm tired," Dex said with a yawn. "Are you?"

"I guess. But I can't really sleep. Haven't really slept since you did that massage. That knocked me out quicker than I had in a long time. Would it be okay if you did it again?"

Crapcrapcrapcrap- Okay, get it together! This is super risky. He'll be able to feel my emotions, so get it together! I'm not gonna refuse because he really needs to sleep.

He laid down by the sleeping bag, so Keefe could rest his head on him. He locked away his feelings, so he wouldn't think about how soft his hair was to the touch. Instead he focused on breathing. If he did that, his emotions wouldn't get the best of him.

It was more difficult than it sounded though. Every once in a while, Keefe would make a small sound, similar to a cat being petted. It was absolutely adorable! Wait, breathe. In. And out.

He seemed to be doing a good job at keeping his emotions at bay, as Keefe didn't make any comments or ask any questions. Before he realized it, the blond boy was fast asleep, emitting a soft snore as he did so.

Dex got up slowly, careful to not wake him up. As he turned to leave though, there was a tug on his arm. It was like those human romance movies, where one person would hold on to the other. The person awake would be the one pining madly, and that very gesture would do a lot. It took all of his willpower to not give in and curl next to him.

But he wouldn't. He couldn't do that. He wrenched his gaze away from the warm hand on his, then slowly peeled the fingers off of him. The fingers were warm and soft and-

Not the time!

Once he reached his own bed, he let out a sigh. That barrier that he'd built up shattered from all the emotions pounding against it relentlessly. It was all so exhausting, and soon he was asleep.