"You are the cutest!" Lisa reassured him and even wrapped her arms around him so he would be happier again. "And Mick was all 'I know you are dating someone else.'" She did her very best impression of Mick's voice and proved to pay more attention than Mick and Leonard thought. "I don't need to date you to love you. Then Lenny went to sleep."
Mick loved Leonard? Oh God. Oh no. Barry felt his heart sink. He went to sleep? Wait. Did they go into Mick's bedroom 'forever' then and just sleep. Oh man, his head hurt. He hugged Lisa back, just to appear her but he wasn't getting any happier. It left him uneasy and he just wanted to go home now and hide in his room. "Thanks, Lis. Real reassuring."
"You are okay too. But Mick is so important." Lisa frowned and climbed on Barry's lap, hugging him still. "Don't make Mick leave. I need him. And April needs me! She is so tiny."
Mick was important. To Leonard, to Lisa and apparently he was the one in the way of this. It was such a headache. Since when did he end up the one on the outside like this? It wasn't fair. "April? Who's April?" She was apparently tiny. Did Mick had a daughter? Oh great, just what he needed. An older, more mature love rival.
"April is Mick's baby. She is sooo cute, right, Axel? She laughs and she only cried a little. I think Mick got her from the baby place and that's why he left Lenny." She wasn't quite sure how it all connected. "I'm April's big sister."
"She has tiny hands! Leonard gets all happy when he holds her too, like she's special." Axel added as he jumped off the swings and came over to Barry, bouncing up and down. "Mick went and bought a baby and I think it made Leonard sad but now he's seen the baby, maybe he wants Mick back. Mick is kind of scary but he let me ride on his shoulders." So that made him okay.
Barry slowly tried to digest all of this. Was he being told his boyfriend was about to leave him by two tiny kids? Ouch.
"Yo, Scarlet. Everything clear?" Leonard came up behind them and his initial assumption had been that someone had gotten hurt, since they were all sitting on the bench around Barry, Lisa on his lap and hugging him. But there weren't any visible injuries, so Leonard was confused. "What's up?"
"Nothing. It's all good, everyone's okay." Barry had the tone of someone who'd just seen their dog get run over but, to be fair, he was pretty sure his relationship was about to crash and burn so yeah... that kinda sucked. Well, at least he'd get to be the ringbearer when they get 'weddinged'.
Axel stood up and petted Barry's hair before coming to the edge of the bench and holding his arms up to Leonard in a clear 'hold me, I want attention' move. "Leonaaaaaaaard. Did you see Mick today?"
"Nah." Leonard rolled his eyes and picked Axel up, pretty much throwing him over the shoulder and then letting him hang upside down for a few seconds before he set him down again. "Why, do you need something from him?" After all, Mick was technically his guardian. Leonard glanced at Barry again, wanting to know what happened. "Scarlet, did something happen at school?"
"He said he'd get me red vines!" Axel bounced on the edge of the bench before leaping off and running across the park, clearly playing some kind of game with himself that involved loud sound effects he was making. Barry smiled at Lisa, who was still sitting in his lap hugging him, and pulled her back a little.
"Nah." Barry shrugged at Leonard as he smiled the best he could at Lisa. "Do you want to go play with Axel?"
"Yes! Axel, I want to play!" Lisa took Barry's hand and put it in Leonard's, then she ran off after Axel, already making sounds along with him before she even knew what any of this was about. Leonard looked down at their hands and gave Barry's a squeeze, smiling before he sat down next to him.
"There's nothing to talk about. It's all good. I'm all good, you're all good. It's good. We're good. Did I say good a lot? I guess I could say great but now it's too late because I said all the goods so yeah. You know. Good." Barry rubbed the back of his neck, unsure what to say or do and he didn't want to assume anything, he wanted to have some faith in Leonard.
And maybe just, you know, cry a little into his pillow tonight like a grown up did. "Did you have a nice day?"
"Not really. Paying bills and taking care of business, so far the highlight of my day is you. As usually." Barry was in ramble mode, which meant that there was definitely something wrong. However, it also meant that he'd crack soon and tell him just what was wrong. "Sorry the kids got dumped on you. Promise it won't happen again."
"It's okay, I like the kids." Even if they basically told him he was cute but that was about it whereas Mick was the perfect, wonderful soul mate that Mick needed. He basically felt like some cute puppy Mick and Leonard would pet and play fetch with and nothing more. Nice. Barry sighed and slumped against Leonard a little. May as well enjoy him while he had him. "The kids were telling me about your friend Mick."
"Yeah? He made them grilled cheese the other night, they're very impressed. Kids are easily bribed." Leonard turned his head to bury his face against Barry's face for a moment as he casually slung an arm around him. "What about Mick?"
"How he's big, strong, amazing. He makes you sleep and takes care of you." There was a lot of stuff too but he didn't want to sound stupid, petty and jealous. Then he'd really sound immature and pathetic and that wasn't really a vibe he wanted to give out. He wanted Leonard to like him. "I didn't realise Mick and you were so close. I mean I know you said you were friends but Lisa made it sound more like you were exes."
"We kind of are." It was complicated, but "ex" was definitely it, which was why he'd used that word to introduce Axel to him. "He bailed on me. But I needed him so I could keep Axel and he stepped up." Maybe the simplest summary. He couldn't deny any aspect of this and he didn't want to, anyway.
"He also has a baby, right? April. Lisa says she's her sister." And frankly, Barry didn't want to get in the way of this if it was thing. Mick and Leonard could have a cute little family together and Barry was in the way. Being all cute and stuff. God, this was a lot of pressure. What was the right thing to do?
"Yeah. He freaked, didn't trust me enough and left, because he found out about the baby." Essentially the summary, cutting right through the emotional scars. Wounds. Leonard looked at Barry, trying to get a feeling of what was going through his mind. "I ain't getting back together with Mick. I'm with you."
"Yeah, no, I get that! I mean, you're with me and you like me. I'm special. Not in a weird way! Or a bratty way like Lisa says it, it's just that you said it that once and you know what I mean. It's not like I think you're going to leave me, or I hope you don't, I don't want to be the ringbarry. I lose everything and something that valuable, I'd lose in a second.." And he didn't want to lose Mick and Leonard's rings, even if they ditched him and then invited him to their wedding... wait, would that be a nice gesture or a some kind of power play from Mick? Ha, I got your boyfriend and now you can give us a ring. Oh God. Rude. Barry found himself squinting at Leonard.
"If you marry someone else, can you not invite me? It'd be weird."
"What?" Leonard would have liked to reassure Barry, but for that he would have liked to at least have an inkling about what he was talking about. "I'm not getting married, Scarlet, I ain't exactly planning on marrying anyone. I've no idea what any of the rest of that means, you lost me there."
"I'm just saying, if you get married, I don't want to hold the rings cause that's too much for me and I get it, you know, you married someone more handsome and strong and I respect that. Cute only gets me so far and I will always have that but I'm not exactly good at keeping things safe. Just ask Joe about my turtle, Speedy." Barry babbled as he sort of fiddled with his watch and glared at the floor. "Also it's kind of weird to have that much of a pivotal role in the wedding as your ex so I have to assume Mick is doing it to be mean."
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Barry slowly tried to digest all of this. Was he being told his boyfriend was about to leave him by two tiny kids? Ouch.
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Axel stood up and petted Barry's hair before coming to the edge of the bench and holding his arms up to Leonard in a clear 'hold me, I want attention' move. "Leonaaaaaaaard. Did you see Mick today?"
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"Nah." Barry shrugged at Leonard as he smiled the best he could at Lisa. "Do you want to go play with Axel?"
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"Now, talk to me."
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And maybe just, you know, cry a little into his pillow tonight like a grown up did. "Did you have a nice day?"
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"If you marry someone else, can you not invite me? It'd be weird."
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