How Green Becomes Wood

"I don't think I'd break it just by kicking it," Sloan teased, "At least, not the first time. And I'd be holding the microphone, and I bet that's a big part of the expense. I just want to yell and break stuff and disappoint my parents. That's my favourite kind of music, you know? And I'd be able to backflip off the stage and do splits and stuff. And it'd be an all-woman band. But I think that's the sort of thing everybody who can never actually be a musician fantasize about."
 
"You could always be a guest singer in our band," Xander smirked.

"Still no kicking the mic stand, unfortunately. It's not ours, and the area between the stage and the audience is so small you might actually hit someone," Alec told her.

"Some of the older ones sit so close I'm expecting them to be on the stage itself every time I turn around," Xander grumbled.
 
"You heard me at karaoke, I think if I joined you on stage you'd probably get laughed out of the pizzeria." Sloan replied with a shrug, "It's just a fun think to think about. And I think only Xander would really enjoy the punk songs I'd like to cover... I mean, Marina and the Diamonds are electro-pop but..." She chuckled, trailing off, "I don't have a good pair of stompy boots, anyway."
 
"I'm kind of surprised we haven't been laughed out already with some of the mistakes we've made, but we're getting better!" Alec grinned as Xander casually leaned sideways to get a good look at Sloan's feet. "Oh, the bell's going to ring soon. We should get to class. And we should totally do karaoke again sometime! That was fun. But next time, let's skip the barbecue step."
 
"Yeah, I'm already in trouble enough. It's for the best to not recreate the mistake just for the fun of it." Sloan said, standing up, wearing her drawn-on and worn-out converse she always wore, rather than the big boots of her dreams, "But it would be fun to do it again. Maybe with a bigger group of people, so there's not as much pressure."
 
"I would think a larger group would add more pressure," Alec remarked curiously. He grabbed his pink backpack and hopped down from the bleachers. "But if that would make you feel more comfortable, I bet we could arrange something."
 
"I mean there's a larger crowd, but also if you're someone who doesn't want to sing, then it's less obvious, you know? If there's only three people and one of those three doesn't want to sing, it's really obvious. I mean, I don't mind it, but I also don't always want to go immediately, you know? And in a group of three, you pretty much have about ten minutes to prepare yourself once people start singing." Sloan explained, holding her bag over one shoulder and walking with them towards their respective classes.
 
"Hmm, I guess that does make sense. I hadn't thought of it that way," Alec admitted. "Thanks for explaining! Well, this is us. See you at lunch!" He nudged Sloan's arm playfully and hurried into the classroom with Xander not far behind.
 
"I'll see you at lunch!" Sloan waved, and the school day began for real.

When lunch finally did roll around, she was at the cafeteria like she always was, but Milo, as promised, was waiting under the bleachers.
 
Xander started walking toward the cafeteria, as usual, but Alec caught his arm and pulled him around toward the gym instead. "What's going on?" Xander demanded, confused.

"We need to go do something really important," Alec told him urgently.

"Okay, what are we doing?" Xander asked, following him willingly. Had he forgotten an assignment? A friend promise? Something for Dark?

Alec tried to tell Xander something, but the crowds were too heavy. He just shrugged instead and led Xander back to the gym and under the bleachers.

Xander glanced between them as Alec tugged him in farther. "Okay, now I'm really confused."
 
When he heard the door open, Milo pressed himself against the wall and stood perfectly still, just in case it was a member of staff, but when through the slats he spotted the twins, he relaxed, but only somewhat. The fact Xander was there made it immediately clear he had been set up, which instilled in him a different brand of anxiety compared to the normal worries he was about to get caught. Something was about to happen. Clearly.

But there was nothing he could do, really, so he nudged his bag over to alert them he was there.
 
Alec glanced between the wary, clearly nervous Milo and the wary, somewhat annoyed Xander. He held up both hands. "I want to start by saying I promise on my favorite blue shoes that I will absolutely never, ever do something like this again unless it's for something like a surprise birthday party. Promise." He lowered his hands. "However, it seemed you two seriously need some help talking to each other."

"Hey, I was going to get around to it," Xander protested, glancing away guiltily.

"Uh-huh," Alec said in a tone that said he didn't believe his brother. "Anyway! Milo, this is Xander. He's a rage-aholic who uses anger and defense tactics to try to push people away when he's feeling vulnerable and in danger of being hurt. While he is a good person and has a good heart buried under layers of anxiety, he is also an admitted coward when it comes to facing people he's wronged."

Xander reddened. "I wouldn't say coward..." he mumbled awkwardly.

Alec ignored him. "Xander, this is Milo. He is an avoidance addict who uses hiding and stealth tactics to keep people away when he is feeling vulerable and in danger of being hurt. While he is a fabulous person and has a good heart, he is very much a 'once bitten, twice shy' type of fellow.

"Unfortunately, when you mix your two brands of anxiety, it means problems are harder to fix because you're both scared. So!" Alec turned and held out his lunch box to Milo. "I packed you both a special lunch, and there are pillows under the bench for you two to sit on. If it doesn't work out, that's okay, but I think you two need to spend a little bit more time with each other. I'll be in the cafeteria with Sloan when you want to yell at me." He turned and bolted, running out as fast as he could before the two could stop him.

Xander stared after him and then awkwardly glanced at Milo.
 
"You shouldn't make light of addiction," Milo mumbled to Alec as he awkwardly took the lunch from the box, but he didn't try to keep him around or argue with him. It didn't really seem worth it. It wasn't like Alec was trying to get him to talk to the people who liked to smash his face in whenever they got the chance, so... He shifted awkwardly and looked briefly up at Xander before saying, "We fell for the oldest trick in the book... and your brother's a Disney Channel Character..."
 
Xander hesitated and then shrugged, nodding. "Yeah, that pretty much sums him up." He sighed and went looking for the pillows. They were there as promised, and he took a seat on the ground before investigating his box. Alec had gone out of his way to pack some of his favorites, and it looked like Milo had an assortment to choose from. Xander picked at his box, trying to think of a way to start. "He didn't mean to make light," he said carefully. "At least about me... guess he's not wrong. Dunno about you."
 
Awkwardly joining Xander on the pillows, Milo picked at the ends of his sleeves, which seemed to be something he did often, at least with this particular sweater, "People don't... understand... what addiction is like. You can't be addicted to anger, or to hiding. You can have anger management problems or be conflict avoidant or not know how to express what is bothering so you explode or implode but it's not... an addiction. Compulsions aren't addictions."
 
Xander opened his mouth to argue. What else was a compulsive disorder than a type of addiction? He knew a bit more about addiction than Milo thought. Maybe not as much as Milo, but he wasn't an idiot. Then he stopped himself and shook his head. This wasn't the right time. "Maybe. Bottom line, both suck in different ways. Anyway." He took a deep breath and huffed it out, trying to focus himself. "How's the case? Does it fit? I can make some small adjustments if you need me to."
 
Seeing the look on Xander's face, Milo clenched his jaw slightly and looked away, only feeling like he could breathe again after Xander switched topics, which meant he didn't have to argue about the nature of addiction. "It fits fine. It was a little tight to put in, but leather relaxes with use, so I think it just needs some time to give."
 
"Cool." Xander fiddled with his lunch. "It wasn't to buy your forgiveness or anything like that. I really was going to give it to you later and just wanted you to have if there wasn't a later." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry that I gave the wrong idea. I am... I didn't mean to hurt you, but I wouldn't do that."
 
"I figured you didn't make the entire thing overnight." Milo replied, still tugging at the cuffs of his sleeves, "I don't know much about leatherworking, but it didn't seem plausible. I just... I wanted you to know that... in the future, if you did something like that again, you couldn't just... make or buy something... and expect it to be okay."
 
"Yeah, I get it," Xander nodded, accepting Milo's statement. After a moment, he nodded toward Milo's arms. "Are you alright? I think they're about to rip off. You... you wanna maybe tell me something?"
 
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