An Apple's Feather

by oofgamin

Summary:

Chip (accidentally) starts a false rumor about Engel and Abbie being more than just friends. However, Engel soon feels like he’s gonna end up making that rumor not so false.

Notes:

this is my first fic that i ‘ ve uploaded let alone written so uhh yea h

Chapter 1: Rumor

Another week, another Monday. Engel Demi is sitting at lunch with some of his close (and only) friends: Bubble, Abbie, and Lana. Abbie is just poking at the food on his lunch tray, the usual worried expression plastered on his face, as Bubble listens to Lana yap about sewing. Though, someone is missing from the table this time around... Claire. He scans the cafeteria nervously for his sister, but to no avail. He looks down at his food, a bit stressed out. Claire doesn't share a class with him before lunch, but she always meets her in the cafeteria afterwards. Abbie, on the other side of the table, seems to notice his unusual mood.

"...Engel? You okay?" His soft voice catches Engel's attention. "Huh? Oh, uh, yeah.. Um.. Have you.. seen Claire since last period?"

"..Nnnno? Why?"

Shit , he curses under his breath. "N-Nothing, just wondering..."

"Oh.. Okay.." Abbie goes back to picking at his food as Engel just stares at his. Minutes pass as he waits for Claire.

---

The infamous bully trio is sitting just the next table over, giggling as they chatter. Chip is there as well, tapping around on his sister's phone.

Oliver looks at the empty seat next to Engel. "Huh.. Claire's not showin' up. Who wants to bet she ran home or somethin'? Hah!"

"Ten bucks she's dead," Edward blurts jokingly.

"Eddie!" Zip scowls.

"Whaaat!" Edward protests. "You literally tried to get her killed. She would've been dead if it weren't for her lame-ass dad."

"A) It was Oliver's idea--”

"Thanks for the cred!" Oliver blurts.

“-- and B) I feel differently towards her now..." A simultaneous "Oh?" arises from Oliver and Edward. "After I-.. The fuck you ‘Oh?'ing for??"

"Nothin', nothin'... Go on," Oliver says, a sly smirk plastered across his face.

Zip shoots the other two a look before continuing. "Whatever.. After I apologized to Claire and all -- which was genuine by the way, OLIVE OIL. (Oliver snorts.) -- I.. started to see her differently... I still pick on her, obviously, but it's more like.. playful teasing-"

"Dude, just admit you have a crush on her already," Oliver blurts.

"I- NO?! No , I won't admit it!" Both Oliver and Edward grin at her, letting her process what she just said -- "...GOD FUCKING-" -- before breaking out into laughter. Zip puts her head in her hands, steam floating off her from embarrassment.

"Hey, don't sweat it, Zippy," Edward butts in. "Wanna be a fruit? Be a fruit. Just kinda odd you're crushing on Claire of all people, that's all."

"I'm not a fucking fruit.. let alone for her- "

"Calm down, bruh. We're on your side," Oliver adds, Edward nodding. "By the way, Eddie, you just lost 20 bucks."

"Wha-" Edward starts before getting elbowed by Oliver, pointing with his pencil arm. Claire can be seen rushing out of the lunch line with her tray. Edward groans as Oliver and Zip snicker at him.

"..Sister?" Zip looks over towards her little brother. "What do you want, Chip?"

"I wanna ask that guy a question. The one with the feathers." He points with his tiny nubs-for-hands.

"You mean Engel? Uhh.. Sure, I guess."

He pushes her phone to her and waddles over to the other table.

---

"Big Brother!"

The voice catches Engel's attention, looking up from his lunch. "Claire! There you are. I was getting worried about you..."

Claire quickly sits beside him at the table. "Sorry I was late... I had to stay after class."

"Ah.. Well, I'm just glad you're okay." He hugs Claire tight as she reciprocates.

"I'm sorry, Big Brother.. I-I didn't mean to leave you here alone.."

"Nononono, Claire, don't apologize.. It's okay.." Engel gently pets her head, staying careful of her horns as he tends not to be. Their short moment is cut shorter when Engel feels a tug on his shirt accompanied by a "Bwaah." This gets the siblings' attention as well as Lana and Bubble. Abbie simply glances.

"Engel? Engelll.. Engel!" Chip repeats his name as he pokes his cheek with one of his nubs-for-hands.

"Okay, okay, I get it." Engel pushes the little one's nub away with his finger, letting out a light chuckle. "Whaddya need, kiddo?"

"I has question for you..."

"Uhh.. Sure? Go ahead." All eyes from the table are on Chip.

Chip seems to space out as he says that, the single thought in his head vanishing behind his eyes. Engel snorts at Chip's goofy expression right before the latter suddenly gains consciousness again.

"Are you gay for Abbie?"

Engel freezes up as his friends look at Chip, the whole table shocked. Even Abbie snapped back to reality, him and Engel exchanging embarrassed looks. "WHAT?!" Both parties yelp simultaneously. Meanwhile, the bully trio at the other table break out into laughter, Oliver in particular shooting milk out of his nose.

"Wh- How did- Why-" Engel can barely make a sentence. He looks around, seeing that more eyes from other tables were looking at his table. He starts to sweat a bit from the attention.

"I saw pictures of you and Abbie kissing on Zip's phone," Chip adds. Zip yelps his name from the other table.

"What the f- Why does- ZIP??" She throws her arms in the air as if to say ‘I DIDN'T DO SHIT!' She looks at Oliver, who's grasping his nose (or rather, where it should be) in pain.

"ACk! It f uck ing BURNS -"

"Big Brother?? I didn't know you had your first kiss..!" Claire comments.

"N-NO? I DIDN'T KISS ABBIE! I DIDN'T KISS ANYONE !" Engel counters, embarrassment tainting his face. Chatter and laughter about them rise from the other tables. Engel looks at Abbie again. Anxiety coats his entire face and then some. "Abbie, vouch for me here!"

Abbie, with the focus suddenly on him, forgets how to speak English and fumbles his words terribly.

"N-Nevermind, Abbie, just-"

The cafeteria is interrupted by a loud ringing filling the room. Saved by the bell. Engel sighs with a mix of relief and embarrassment. He gets up and leaves the cafeteria, putting his head down as he speed walks to his next class. He can feel a hundred eyes on him the entire time.

Chapter 2: Thoughts

Notes:

not me taking almost a year to write like > 80 % of this chapte r ;v;

Engel sits in the back of Geology class, his head full of illegible thoughts. Unfortunately for him, he also has to spend the class after lunch without Claire. Real inconvenient schedule, especially during times like now when he needs his sister the most. The fact that he forgot there was a test today didn't help at all either. At least Abbie and Lana are there with him, so he's not completely alone. Thing is... Abbie's there. The person he was just accused of kissing only ten minutes ago. His face tints red thinking about it. He zones out, staring at his nearly empty test, listening to the occasional chatter throughout the classroom.

He only zones back in after a few minutes when something fabricy shakes his shoulder, accompanied by a southern whisper. "Heyyy... Earth t' Engelll..." He looks to his left to see a sock puppet shaking him into reality.

"Wakey wakey, Engel." His eyes land on those of Lana Douchaurent. Forgot she was there.

"Ehfdg... Whuh..?" Engel responds, turning to fully face Lana.

"There you are!" Lana smiles for a moment before replacing it with concern. "Ya alright there, bud?"

"Oh, um... Yeah, I guess... Just kinda stressed..." Engel looks up at the teacher. He's holding the geode of his head in his hand. Another migraine.

"Mh. Lunch, I'm guessin'?"

Engel sighs softly. "Yeah..."

"Ahh, don't sweat it. I'm sure Chip was just messin' with ya. I don't even think he knows what 'gay' means."

"Mh.. I mean, didn't he say something about Zip?"

"Did he? Ah, must be Zip makin' dumb fanart again to spread rumors. And I'll have ya know, rumors 'round here last a while ."

"Yeah, I- ...I know..." Engel looks at his test. He's made very little progress. "...How does she even get away with using art ? Shouldn't it be kinda obvious it's not a real photo?"

"Eh, look around ya. I don't think it's too far off." Both parties shrug. Engel returns to his test, but he struggles to make any more progress. That moment from lunch -- what Chip had asked him -- kept replaying in his head, over and over.

---

The rest of the day just feels like a blur to him. Before he knows it, the final bell rings and people rush out of the classrooms to go home. Engel and Claire walk beside each other on their way out of the building, trying to avoid getting shoved by other students.

It's Claire's turn to remember what happened at lunch; thinking about Chip's question about Engel and Abbie. Thinking for a bit, she sinks into a teasing mood. She looks up at her brother with a little smirk on her face. "Big Brotherrrr..."

Engel looks down at his sister, confused by her smug expression. "Yeah? ...What's with the look?"

"What are you thinking about?"

"Uh... I don't know... Mind's kinda flooded..."

"Is it about Abbie?" she jabs. Engel's cheeks tint pink. Claire takes immediate note of this and smiles wider. 

"I-... Maybe? What about it? ...You're not saying I actually kissed him, are you?"

"Mayyybe..."

"Well, I didn't. It's just some stupid rumor!"

"Yeah? I bet you still like him though.."

"Pfft... Shut up, sis," Engel says lightheartedly, although more stern than he intended.

Claire's mood completely shifts down. "...Sorry..."

"No no no, you're fine... I didn't mean it like that. I just... have a lot on my mind right now..."

"...Okay... My fault..."

"Wh-... Why would that be your fault..?"

"Because I teased you about it, and..."

"No, sis, I-" he starts before being interrupted by a firm tap-tap on his shoulder. He and his sister turn around to stand face-to-face with a concerned Geology teacher. Engel turns pale. "Uhhh... Mmmister Geode..?" he questions.

"That's my name, yes," the teacher responds. "You alright, kid?"

"Uh... Yeah? Why?"

Mister Geode reaches behind his back and pulls out a (slightly crumpled) Geology test. Engel's heart drops six feet under when he sees the red ink at the corner of the paper. He must have failed the test. He's never failed before, let alone in his favorite class. He steps back a bit, not knowing what Mister Geode was going to do to him.

"Nonono, please don- ...Wha?" Mister Geode raises a confused eyebrow at him. Engel looks at the test again, seeing a red ‘IC' where he could've sworn was an ‘F'. "Wait... What does-?"

"You alright there, Engel?" Geode interrupts. "You seem on edge." Engel falls silent, leaving the teacher dumbfounded for a few moments. He processes his stance and how he confronted Engel before finally facepalming in realization. " OH! Oh, you thought I was gonna kill you!" he exclaims. "Oh no nonono, I would never , kiddo! You're way too kind."

Engel sighs like he's been holding his breath for several minutes. "I-it's... It's fine... But... what does the, uh..?"

"Incomplete," Geode clarifies. "You didn't fail, but you didn't finish. Although... that does worry me. You never turn in stuff late..."

Engel feels a pang of guilt in his chest. He glances at Claire, who also seems guilty despite not even having Mister Geode on her schedule. "S-sorry, Mister Geode, I-"

"Hey hey," he interrupts again. "It's okay, kiddo. Advisory's on Wednesday. You can come see me then to make it up. Full credit."

"O-oh... Okay..." Engel still seems timid.

"Alrighty." Mister Geode stuffs the test back into who-knows-where. "See ya tomorrow, Engel!" He says, patting Engel's shoulder before walking towards the front entrance -- "Sh- GOD, forgot my sUITCASE-" -- and then running into the opposite direction.

---

The siblings are some of the last students to exit the school. They see their father, Herod Demi, sitting on the usual bench beside the front entrance. Both parties notice each other immediately, and the children run over to the music teacher.

"Hi, Father!" "Hey, Pops," says Claire and Engel respectively.

"Hello, children," Mister Demi says, hugging them both. "Took you a bit long... I was starting to get a bit worried, aha..."

Engel's heart sinks slightly. "Yeah, I, uh... Mister Geode stopped me in the hallway."

"Ah... Remind me who that is again?"

"He... literally has a geode in his head. Kinda hard to miss."

"Oh yeah, right..." Demi rubs the back of his (non-existent) neck. 

Don't ask why Don't ask why Don't ask why Don't ask why Don't ask-

Mister Demi stands up and holds Claire and Engel by their shoulders. "Well, I suppose we should get going."

Thank God, Engel thinks, sighing and nodding. The family starts to walk home together. It's short, but... uncomfortably quiet.

---

After getting home, Engel boots up his father’s old NES to wind down; take his mind off things. Claire decides to sit next to him, leaning on his shoulder as he plays. She remains silent for a while.

"...I'm sorry, Engel..." she finally says. Her brother glances down at her, concerned.

"Sorry for what..?"

"For teasing you earlier. I still feel bad..."

"W-... Why? You didn't do anything wrong ..?"

"But you seemed upset... Weren't you upset?"

"No? If I was, I'd tell you. It's fine, really."

"I don't know... I feel like you're still mad at me..."

"I was never mad at you?"

Claire pouts in uncertainty, hugging her legs now.

Engel sighs and pauses the game. "Claire, please, it's fine. It's okay, alright? Don't worry about it."

"Are you sure..? Because-"

" Claire. " Engel holds her gently by the shoulders. "I need you to trust me. You... do trust me, right?"

"I... Of course I do, Big Brother," Claire responds.

"Okay... Then please, just... take my word for it, okay?"

Claire sighs. "Okay..."

"Thank you..." Engel lets go and picks his controller back up, though he just kinda stares at it, fidgeting with it in his hands. He keeps looking back and forth between the controller and his sister. He eventually tosses the controller to the side, instead wrapping an arm around Claire as he stares at the ceiling. The two stay like this for a long, quiet while.

Notes:

sorry again for taking literal ages to upload thi s . i thought i could get it done more easily after i graduated , but guess who was wron g . i have no idea why it was so difficult to finish chapter two , but it ' s out now , so i guess that ' s what matters in the en d ...

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 1 of FPE: Lavender Mix