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[deweydewdrop]

Getting one last little laugh out of Tiffany before she left the ball was an accomplishment in itself, satisfied with their conversation as they went their separate ways. It was unfortunate that Dewey ran into Randy not long after, and the night had gone completely south from there. Now his family was pissed at him again, he was staying with his best friend, and he wasn’t sure how Tiffany was going to feel once she knew he and Randy got into a fight that night. He had been anxiously waiting for her to reach out to him since then, a small part of him wondering if she even would at all. Did he screw up his chances with her?

When she finally reached out for him to come over, Dewey was relieved but also nervous. He wasn’t sure what Randy had told her, how their conversation went together, and where Tiffany stood now. But there was only one way to find out. His face still sported some evidence of the fight when he got to her house, forcing a smile as she opened the front door. Normally he wouldn’t need to force a smile around her, but his nerves were making it more difficult this time. It wasn't like him to overthink so much. “Hey..”

Dewey pulled a little laugh out of Tiffany with his agreement that she was the toughest bitch he knew, and she was grateful that he was able to lighten her heart when it felt so heavy, even if it was hard to hype her up as “tough” when she had just been sobbing. Hopefully he wouldn’t have to see her like this again, once all this was settled and done. She promised to call him soon, and then went to find Candice.

After spending the night at her best friend’s house, Tiffany went back home the next day to break things off with Randy and found that things had somehow only gotten messier after she left. He and Dewey had gotten into a fistfight, and she was torn between being glad that she hadn’t witnessed it and sorry that she hadn’t been able to prevent it. Would her being there have helped, or made it worse? Randy had also told her some things that she wasn’t sure how to feel about, but after everything, she just wanted to talk to Dewey. She spent that night alone, letting herself feel the end of her relationship with Randy separately before calling and inviting Dewey over the next day, waiting anxiously until he was at the door.

[deweydewdrop]

“Of course,” Dewey muttered, unsurprised by his brother’s refusal to believe him. If the middle triplet wasn’t so stubborn, Dewey probably wouldn’t have even bothered. Huey would never understand — which was probably true even if the siblings didn’t have tension from the bombing. It was one thing to not understand though, Dewey was well aware how different he and Huey were — but to completely dismiss Tiffany? And, even worse, to accuse her of tricking him? Dewey was fuming now, almost more so than when he was fighting with Randy. It felt much more personal when it was his own brother who was against him.

“Seriously!?” He asked at first, dumbfounded by the accusation. Why would she trick him? What would be the reason? “You have no idea what you’re talking about,” he answered, his anger becoming more obvious from his tone. The truth was that Dewey didn't owe Huey any explanation when it came to this situation — he didn't know Tiffany or Randy, so he wouldn't know how closely tied they were together, how they shared a house and a dog and an entire friend group. Even their jobs were intertwined! At the end of the day, Louie had finally talked to Dewey again, so did anything else really matter? It seemed like Huey just wanted to be mad just because. “You know what, I’m starting to think that you just don’t want me to be happy," he continued. "You can be pissed about everything that happened before, that's completely valid, but Tiffany is the one thing that has helped me get through all of this. She's a good person. If you can’t accept that, and you’d rather believe your own twisted version of what happened tonight, then I don’t even know why we’re still arguing and wasting each other's time."

“No!” The eldest scoffed, in complete disbelief that Dewey hadn’t had any part in starting the fight. Say it was true? And say that it was the other guy who started things? Why instead of doing the sensible thing and walking away or going to security for some help, did his brother decide to fight with this guy in return? That’s one of the main things that had Huey the most frustrated!! Because his brother always tends to do things without ever thinking them through, and fine— he can completely understand that when in the heat of the moment, thinking other solutions may have been difficult, however the fact that they were in a public establishment and surrounded by all sorts of people? One would think that Dewey would’ve at least tried to find a more peaceful and logical solution instead of getting into a full-blown fight. 

Huey completely dismissed the correction of that girls name. In his mind, it didn’t matter what her name was, her name could’ve literally be Lizabella of the Southern Isle for all he cared, that didn’t change the fact that she had a boyfriend, his brother knew she had a boyfriend, and yet Dewey still thought it was a bright idea to chase after her! And as a connoisseur of all things love and romance, the eldest of the two wished he could say he was happy that Dewey had found someone he really liked and saw himself dating. He wanted to be happy for him, and maybe if the situation had been different and there wasn’t other pressing issues weighing not only between the two of them but with the family as a whole, Huey could’ve been happy for Dewey. But to go after a taken girl? He thought his brother was better than this. “It’s always my job to lecture you, and you should count your lucky stars that it’s me who is doing so right now.” Huey snidely remarked with a roll of his eyes. Even if Uncle Donald had gotten to Dewey first and lectured him, that wouldn’t have stopped the elder of the two from giving his own two cents as well. And as his brother still tried to explain his side of things, the oldest crossed his arms. “I can tell you like her a lot— you wouldn’t have been doing any of this otherwise. Or at least, I would hope you would have enough brains to not be doing any of this if you weren’t sure about your feelings for her. But a taken girl? If her boyfriend is that much of a jerk, why hasn’t she broken up with him yet, huh? How do you know she isn’t tricking you and making you think he's a jerk? Have you ever considered that?"

[deweydewdrop]

Despite the harshness in the glare that Webby shot in his direction, he would take it — she was acknowledging and listening to him. Before, he may as well have been invisible. Between the way everyone started to treat him after what happened, it felt like he was beginning to disappear within the manor the longer he stayed. Dewey had always been the triplet who needed the most attention, but sometimes he couldn’t figure out which was worse — the negative attention he received from some of his family lately, or being ignored completely by the others. They both stung in different ways, but right now he wanted Webby to finally listen to him. He wanted to try and fix what he broke.

Webby looked away from him, the hurt in her eyes replacing the anger, but Dewey continued anyway. He had to keep trying. Webby’s tears were quick to fall by the time he was finished, and Dewey felt his heart break as he heard the hurt in her voice. His mouth fell open momentarily, stunned by her words. She really didn’t believe him. “Webby, why would I—“ but then he stopped himself. Of course she thought he was a liar; she watched him lie to his brothers the entire time they were looking for Della. Instead of finishing his sentence, he explained sincerely, “You’re my best friend. Our sister. Of course I miss you. The only reason I left was because I feel so unwanted here. I was becoming a ghost.” You’ve become a ghost, he wanted to add sadly, but he didn’t — because the truth was that in some ways, they all had: Louie, Huey, even Donald. Not only had Dewey’s mistakes crushed Louie’s leg, his mistakes crushed their entire family — their trust in him and their spirits. “You wouldn’t even talk to me while I was here, so how would I know that you wanted me to stay!?” The truth was that Dewey may have stayed if he knew that they didn’t want him to go. He felt even more awful — like once again, nothing he did was right. Like everything he touched, he destroyed.

“The only reason Louie finally talked to me again was because his friend punched me in the face,” he continued with a hint of desperation in his voice. “Is that what you need? To punch me? To hurt me back?” He knew Webby was strong, and the thought of her punching him was a little scary but he’d let her anyway, if that genuinely would help them mend their relationship. He sighed. “I’m sorry that I left, but I couldn’t keep living like this. I wasn’t trying to hurt you more by leaving.. I was trying to make things better, because apparently when I’m around I make everything worse..”

As soon as her gaze landed on Dewey, Webby felt a range of emotions. First and foremost, she was most definitely still angry at him. Angry at the fact that not once he took her concerns to heart whenever she tried to convince him to tell Huey and Louie the truth about what they were doing, and how it was not until after everything literally blew on all their faces is when he’s finally realizing how he should’ve. But then the blonde felt a wave of envy at the sight of Dewey— envious of the fact that despite it was the both of them who had lied and hid everything from their brothers, Dewey was the one Louie had decided to forgive. That flash of envy in return had then changed into guilt, as the fact remains that for as angry as she was at the middle triplet over the situation he had put the both of them in— Webby couldn’t one hundred precent put the entire blame onto him. Because at the end of the day, she had gone along with Dewey’s antics, from the very start to the very last second of when harm was thrown at Louie. Which is why she’s been beating herself up way too much over the last few months.

But among all the emotions, the one she ends up settling into wasn’t anger anymore— it was hurt. That wave of anger she had displayed had dissipated as quickly as it came, yet the blonde continued to glare at him even as he sighed in defeat and apologized to her. This wasn’t the first time Dewey had tried to apologize to Webby. In fact, he’s been trying to apologize to everyone here, that much she knew. And yet, as much as she would have liked to turn back time and go back to when she and Dewey were like two peas in a pod, thick as thieves, and overall the best of friends— she wasn’t so sure she could forgive him. Not just yet. Hearing his apology of how he should’ve listened to her from the very start, the girl finally broke her gaze and looked away from him. She didn’t turn back around, although she wanted to, but she did stay where she stood and continued to listen as he went on to admitting how he keeps screwing up over and over again, but how he was trying to be better. At that she blinked, eyes slowly starting to swell as she shook her head with disbelief. Oh yeah, he was trying to be better alright— seems like being as far away from all of them was doing him some good, she bitterly thought. Webby didn’t say anything in response to that, the urge in wanting to start crying overwhelming her as he decided to continue on. But what broke the damn was when Dewey said he missed talking to her, for tears finally started to fall down the blonde’s cheeks before she shook her head at him. “You’re lying.” Webby finally spoke, her tone coming broken. “Please stop lying, I can’t take anymore lies. You don’t miss talking with me. In fact, you don’t miss me at all, do you?!” Her voice started to raise once more as tears continued to fall. “Because if what you said is true, then you wouldn’t have moved out! You would have stayed here at the mansion but instead you took the easy route and left all of us behind! So of course you miss ‘talking to me’— You left me!” 

[deweydewdrop]

Although Dewey probably should have saved the sweet gestures for after Tiffany and Randy broke up, one hand still holding hers while the other rubbed her back soothingly, he genuinely couldn’t help himself. It had already been difficult enough holding back while they hung out as friends before this — once again, he was doing the things that Randy should have been doing, comforting and loving his girlfriend. Why did he make it seem like such a hard task? Dewey was able to effortlessly. As Tiffany nodded, the triplet smiled at her words. “The toughest bitch I know,” he replied playfully, in an attempt to get her to smile.

Even as he attempted to lighten the mood though, they both knew it was time for Tiffany to leave soon. Her sigh indicated it was that time, even if they didn’t want to separate yet. Nodding his head, Dewey finally let go of her hand, his other hand lingering on her back only a moment longer. “Anytime. Call me if you need anything, alright?"

She knew it was going to be hard. It was going to be rough as hell breaking up with Randy after so many years together, after a lifelong friendship that ran underneath their relationship and a life where they were so intertwined from their shared home to their career to their entire friend group. Tiffany didn’t feel ready right now to do it, but she knew that once she steeled herself, she would be. And she knew that by the end she was going to be okay, even if she wasn’t right now. She told Dewey as much with a nod as he asked her, answering with a hint of irony in her voice, “Yeah. I’m a tough bitch.”

Letting out a deep sigh, Tiff knew it was time to get up and get out of here. The longer she was here with Dewey, rubbing her back and kissing her hand, the less she wanted to leave, and that was dangerous where Randy could still come out of the ballroom and find them any time. She didn’t want anything to happen between the two men, which seemed inevitable if her almost-ex-boyfriend found them like this. “I think I’m gonna go find Candice and stay with her tonight. Thanks for being here for me.”

[deweydewdrop]

There was a distinct difference in the way Webby and Dewey interacted with each other since the hotel bombing. The two were once best friends, but now they may as well have been strangers. It was even worse now that he was staying with Morty and Ferdie, which wasn't Dewey's intention at all when he agreed to the idea. Even if he was grateful for the opportunity, thankful for a chance to leave the depressing walls of the manor that he used to love so dearly (it didn’t feel the same now that everyone who lived there didn’t want him around), he still understood that the choice only added to the tension with his family. It was partly why he attempted to apologize again, as he had a backpack on his back that indicated he was stopping by the manor to grab more of his belongings from his bedroom. It was easiest for him to do so at night when most of the family was already in bed, but tonight he accidentally timed it as Webby got home from a late shift. Watching the blonde attempt to go by him as if she hadn’t seen him at all made him break the silence — he didn’t want to be astray like this from his best friend forever.

Webby’s reaction to his apology stung, but it was to be expected. No one seemed to accept his apologies anymore. He sighed in defeat, removing his backpack straps and letting the bag fall to the floor to emphasize that he wasn’t leaving yet — not until Webby heard him out. “I have a lot of things I want to say Webby, but no one will even give me a chance and listen,” he answered. “And even then, I don’t really know what else to say because I don’t think anything I say will make it better.. I just want you to know I’m truly sorry." He met her gaze, desperately trying to get her to look at him and understand. It wasn't the first time he'd apologized, and it certainly wouldn't be the last — though this was his first attempt again since staying with the twins. He continued before she could walk away, "I should’ve listened to you from the very beginning, and I know it's too late to change that.” He’d managed to somewhat be on talking terms with Louie again after Halloween, but the fight between him and Randy that night didn’t do him any favors with Huey and Webby’s feelings toward him. “... I keep screwing up and screwing other people over in the process, and I know I need to be better. I’m really trying..” He sighed again. If things were different, if he and Webby were on good terms, he’d be excitedly telling her about his new relationship with Tiffany, how fun it is to live with Morty and Ferdie, and how Dewey was finding his place in the world despite that other parts of his life had fallen apart. It was unfortunate that it took feeling out of place in his own family home for him to start being more independent. On their current terms though, he knew better than to seem like he was bragging about how his life was doing since moving out. He was lucky that he even got Webby to stop and listen to his apology. The triplet didn't know what else to say for a moment, unsure if Webby had anything she wanted to get off her chest — if she wanted to get angry or upset with him some more, it was at least better than silence. “I don’t expect you to forgive me right now... Or ever. I just, I miss talking with you.."

"I'm sorry.. please don't be too mad at me." -Dewey ( @deweydewdrop )

As the door leading into the mansion closed behind her, the blonde let out an exhausted sigh. It was a pretty long and rough day at the House of Mouse, and all Webby wanted to do right now was migrate back into her room and sleep. With that thought set it mind, she turned around to start making her way towards the direction of her room, when her eyes caught the sight of another. Dewey. Instantly, her body began to tensed up, and as quick as her gaze had latched onto his, the blonde looked away from him. What was he doing here? Ever since a couple of weeks ago where he decided to move out and into Morty and Ferdie’s apartment, Dewey hasn’t exactly stopped by the mansion to visit as often. Or maybe he has? Webby wouldn’t know, she’s barely spoken to the middle triplet since the aftermath of the hotel bombing.

‘Maybe he tried to talk to Huey again?’ She thought, knowing that she wasn’t the only one who has been avoiding Dewey lately. Huey himself had been keeping a good distance away from his brother, the only one outside of the older adults who seemed to be willing to give him the time of day being ironically enough, was Louie himself. Webby had caught the two talking among each other once not too long ago before, and not going to lie— it had stung when she saw that considering how Louie still refused to talk to her, much less look towards her direction. But Dewey was his brother, so she should’ve known that he would forgive him sooner. Pretending like she hadn’t accidentally caught his eye, the blonde started to walk towards the staircase, needing to cross Dewey’s path as she did so, and when she did, all it took was for Webby to make it up a single step when he spoke up. Hearing him apologize and plead for her not to be too mad at him, something within her snapped and she turned around. “Please don’t be too mad at you? Seriously?” Webby glared. “That’s all you’re going to say to me?”

[deweydewdrop]

Dewey’s smile grew bigger, now excited at the thought of staying with his best friend. Despite that it was due to some not-so-great circumstances, at least there was something positive to look forward to. He was already mentally planning when he could go back to the manor to get some of his things, comforted at the thought that someone in his life truly did want him around. He was so lucky to have a friend like Morty. "This is gonna be awesome!" Dewey held up his dominant hand to signal the start of their best friend's handshake, giving Morty a knowing look.

The mention of Tiffany brought another smile to his lips, though this time not as confident. “Yeah. Sort of… When we kissed, it was before I ran into Randy,” Dewey clarified, surprisingly uncertain about what would happen next. It was the nagging feeling in the back of his mind that nothing seemed to go his way lately — he hated that he was always waiting for the other shoe to drop, waiting for the few people left on his side (like Morty and Tiffany) to start turning against him too. What if she became upset about the fight? What if Randy twisted the story and convinced her to stay with him? A lot could happen in a short time of them talking... Dewey tried his best not to overthink it. “I’m giving her some space for now,” he continued with a shrug. “She was pretty upset when I saw her, and I don't want to rush things, you know?”

“Of course. You don’t even have to ask.” Despite the circumstances leading to this, it was actually pretty exciting to think that Dewey would be staying here, perhaps for a while even if only as a non-permanent living situation. Morty already got one of his best friends as a roommate when Ferdie moved back from England—now he was gonna have his other (non-related) best friend living here, too? Total win for him, even if it was unfortunate for Dewey’s sake that he was doing it to escape a tense family situation at home. “Don’t make yourself too scarce,” Morty countered the promise that he would hardly notice his presence here with a smile. “We’ll be happy to have you around.”

It was a little surprising to hear that Louie didn’t think Dewey had won the fight; it seemed clear from the breakdown that the person being pulled off from the other had won after literally pummeling their opponent into ground…but then again, it also tracked that the youngest Duck triplet would doubt his brother’s recounting of events if he hadn’t seen how bad the other guy looked yet. Morty believed Dewey without question, but Louie had probably earned the right to be skeptical. Either way, even if Dew hadn’t physically won the altercation—“You won in every way that matters. I mean, you got your girl, right?”

[deweydewdrop]

Dewey grinned as Tiffany agreed, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her closer to him on the couch. With Randy no longer living at Tiffany's and Dewey still crashing at Morty and Ferdie's, the couple could at least enjoy some time together at her place quite a bit. Still, Dewey was excited to show Tiffany off to the world, on social media and in real life. He had hoped that things between his family would be less tense by this point, wanting his family to properly meet his new girlfriend and be able to spend time with everyone together, but all he could do was hope that things would get better with more time. For now, he'd just enjoy finally being Tiffany's boyfriend.

"I dew too. And people totally will be," Dewey agreed confidently, kissing Tiffany on the cheek afterward. It was so easy to be affectionate with her — like he needed to make up for all that lost time when they weren't together. Randy didn't treat Tiffany right while she was still with him, so Dewey's job now as her new boyfriend was to ensure she did get treated right moving forward. He planned to do that for her and more. "We'll be the hottest new couple on the isle."

@deweydewdrop said: “I can’t wait to show you off”

“Ugh, same.” Tiffany felt freer than she’d been in a long time now that her love life—and therefore the rest of her life—had been overhauled. There were still parts that hurt, things about her relationship with Randy that she didn’t feel had gotten proper closure when they broke up and he moved out, but her feelings about him had been complicated even when they were still together; so now they were complicated but her daily life wasn’t a constant struggle and headache. It was still a total upgrade. She felt so emotionally secure with Dewey, and they’d been able to spend so much uninterrupted, guilt-free time together lately, it was a dream.

The only problem was that their newfound relationship was only semi-public. Their friends and families knew, but it was hush-hush on social media until a respectable amount of time passed since the news of her and Randy’s breakup. Tiff and Dewey could still go out together like they always had as friends, but nothing overtly coupley. For two people very used to putting themselves out there online, it was so hard to resist showing off how obsessed with each other they were. “Is it insane that I want everyone to be jealous of us?”

[deweydewdrop]

Dewey almost sighed at his brother’s question, but he held back, instead pursing his lips as he thought of how to answer. Even he could sense that this conversation was dangerously inching toward a potential argument, which could easily escalate into something worse. The middle triplet really wanted to avoid that, considering this was their first somewhat normal conversation since before the bombing. His initial thought was to say you had to be there, but he feared that would strike a nerve with Louie (because if the accident never happened, there was a good chance Louie would’ve gone tonight…), so he avoided wording it that way. “Yeah, she had left, but … you didn’t see how upset she was. Randy was drunk and being a complete asshole. He probably would’ve gotten kicked out anyway.” He kept his eyes closed intentionally as he let his head rest on the back of the couch, both because of the pain and because he didn’t want to see if Louie was starting to get mad at him again. The annoyance in his brother’s tone was obvious enough, and the last thing Dewey wanted was to argue or nitpick what he should or shouldn’t have done — he’d just let Louie take the win on this one. “Clearly not, right?” He answered, his hand motioning to his face to point out the evidence of that (which was also on his hand, his knuckles aching too). Dewey was in no condition to deny stupidity on his part; even if he felt justified, it didn’t mean it was smart, and he knew that.

A moment of silence followed after Dewey confessed to ditching their siblings, and he had yet to open his eyes. Was Louie going back to the silent treatment again? The middle triplet wouldn’t have blamed him. His brother's voice finally broke the silence though, and Dewey smiled at the irony. Hearing that Louie thought Huey was edgy lately was really saying something, all things considered. “Must run in the family,” Dewey answered lightly, hoping the younger triplet didn’t take it the wrong way; they’d all been edgy in their own ways recently, even their uncle. His eyes finally opened as he felt a blanket fall into his lap, surprised that Louie was still being nice to him (in his own Louie fashion) after learning the events of tonight. He knew better than to question or point it out, instead just appreciating it while he could — the quiet before the storm of Huey's wrath (and Donald's). Dewey fixed the blanket so it was covering his lap as he added, "Huey's gonna flip more than just his lid, no doubt. Uncle Donald, too."

“Defend her from what? You said she’d left.” If Dewey wasn’t physically protecting Tiffany from anything but words she wasn’t even around to hear, it wasn’t worth getting into a fistfight over. That might be nitpicking the details of his story, but it felt relevant to Louie, who was still stuck between taking his brother’s side and feeling bad for his friend. Even if Randy had initiated the fight with him, Dewey should have been the one to de-escalate before things got to the point of violence, or at least walked away instead of engaging at all—something he knew Dewey was incapable of at this point, but every reminder that he could never leave well enough alone drove the wedge further whenever Louie even thought of trying to bridge the gap between him and his brother. “He’s already losing his girlfriend; you couldn’t let him talk his shit and get on with your night?” he questioned, a little annoyance showing in his tone, though it was more for his own remaining anger than in Randy’s interest.

It wasn’t until Dewey mentioned that he’d been kicked out of the party venue before Huey and Webby could find out what had happened that Louie brightened a little. Once again, there was something bitter in him that was placated when he felt some semblance of restitution for his emotional damages. Dewey and Webby had kept their secret search from him; now he was the first to know a piece of juicy drama. Although Huey was last to know both times…at least he still had all his limbs. Speaking of their other triplet—“You’ll be lucky if Huey doesn’t flip his lid when he sees you. He’s been edgy lately.” Which was saying something coming from Louie, who had been moodier than ever the past month and a half. He didn’t bottle it up as much as his oldest brother, though, so he was curious when Huey would finally snap and let the Duke out. Maybe this would finally send him over the edge. Louie tossed the extra blanket over Dewey’s lap, giving him permission to stick around longer; even if he was annoyed, he was still willing to keep talking to him.

[deweydewdrop]

𝗝𝗼𝘀𝗵𝘂𝗮 𝗕𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘁

[deweydewdrop]

"My life's just bad decisions with alternative music playin' in the background." -@kuromifyu

If any other person had said this, Dewey would have immediately chimed in with me too! (though he'd argue he's more of a pop music vibe) followed by an attempt at making a beat to match their energy. Despite his and Kuromi's similarities though, he was still too competitive to see the rival as a friend. If he weren't so stubborn, he'd likely have eased up on her by now — since the bombing, Dewey didn't have many people in his corner anymore. It was no secret that the middle triplet needed friends lately more than ever, but his attitude remained the same. Instead of relating to her statement, he asked, "So is that why you became a DJ?"

[deweydewdrop]

Finally being able to kiss Tiffany after so much waiting was an incredible feeling — like coming up for fresh air after being stuck underwater. He'd been drowning all this time, between the bombing and the heartache and the loneliness, and Tiffany was here to save him, finally. In a sense, they were saving each other, and maybe that was what made them so special. Even if they had technically kissed when he was in Randy's body, even if they'd kissed before when they had hooked up in the past, this was more special than any of those moments. It was the rainbow after the storm, at least he hoped so for Tiffany's sake; she didn't deserve to be hurt anymore.

Dewey wished he never had to pull away from the kiss, but there was an unspoken feeling that there would be plenty more in store in the future. Instead, he squeezed her hand too, with a small smile to remind her that it would be okay. I'm gonna break up with him would normally be a sad statement, but Dewey's heart was doing backflips in his chest at the news. He nodded his head in understanding, wanting to celebrate at the thought of them finally being together soon, but struggling to do so with seeing how hurt she still was. As her fingers pressed into her temples, Dewey brought his other arm up to rub her back soothingly. "Take all the time you need, I'm not going anywhere," he promised. With the hand that was holding hers, he brought their hands up so he could kiss hers softly. "Are you gonna be okay?"

Tiffany couldn’t bear to hear Dewey say that he destroyed everything he touched without proving him wrong, because he was touching her, and for at least a moment everything that made her feel unlovable disappeared and it was just them in the world and he needed to be kissed. For a few seconds, everything was perfect. Reality settled back in slowly as they pulled apart, the truth that Tiff was still in a relationship as of right now; even if she knew in her own heart that it was over, she had to make sure Randy knew it too before she continued moving forward with Dewey. Squeezing Dewey’s hand, she spoke softly but decisively, “I’m gonna break up with him.” He hadn’t asked her to, but she didn’t need him to. She didn’t need him to ask her out either—not yet. There was an unspoken understanding between them of what was happening here. They didn’t need to discuss it right now to know what the endgame of all this was going to be.

“I think I just need a night…I don’t even want to go home right now.” Tiff sighed, slowly detaching her hand from Dewey’s to press her fingers into her temples. The stress and crying was starting to get to her head. She offered a small, slightly strained smile and asked, “Can we talk in a couple days?”

[deweydewdrop]

“Thank you,” Dewey replied stubbornly, eyebrows narrowing as Louie pulled the amulet out of his back pocket. Of course he had it on him this whole time. He brought his hands up to take the amulet from his brother’s grasp, but Louie paused. Dewey wasn’t sure what else to say, watching as he eventually dropped the amulet to his palms. It was obvious no matter what he said, Louie would remain frustrated about the whole thing. It would likely be much different if it wasn’t one of Louie’s friends that Dewey was getting in between his relationship. He attempted to give his brother another smile, despite knowing it wasn’t going to do much. “Just leave it to me, you’ve got nothing to worry about,” he reassured Louie (and himself) as he brought the amulet over his head to rest it around Randy's neck, his brother only in his sight for a moment longer before he was suddenly brought back to his own body.

“As long as you can admit that.” Louie automatically relaxed a little hearing his favorite words: you’re right. Coming from Dewey, it was a refreshing sentiment. But it didn’t fix everything. It was just a baby step in a situation that required giant leaps to get back to a place resembling normalcy. And with Dewey immediately tacking on another claim that he wasn’t worried about whatever was going to come of this, it felt like another step backwards. Louie matched his brother’s sigh with one of his own.

“Okay, you know what? If you wanna handle it yourself, I’m not gonna worry about it. This is on you.” He pulled the amulet out of his pocket, starting to hand it over but stopping before Dewey could take it. “My advice was ‘be careful,’ but since you’ve already failed that, I'm not sure there's anything else I can say.” He dropped the amulet into Dewey's hand, only so willing to put it back in his possession because he knew it would be staying with Randy's body and Louie would be able to collect it from him after they had swapped back.

[deweydewdrop]

Watching his brother pace back and forth in front of him was only adding to Dewey’s growing headache. Despite that he tried to explain his side of things, Huey still didn’t seem to understand. The middle triplet was feeling more and more like an outsider in this family, unable to do anything right even if he had good intentions. Huey’s sudden glare was impossible to ignore, Dewey wanting to glare right back but instead his eyes were pleading. “Will you please just believe me when I say I didn’t start this?” It likely wasn’t enough though, because even if Dewey didn’t start the fight, he had it coming for him for a while now, likely longer than Huey even realized. He was smart enough to piece it together on his own though.

His attempt to hold his own anger back faltered as soon as some girl escaped Huey’s lips. “Some girl? Her name is Tiffany—” Dewey spoke over him as Huey continued, their voices rising to both get their points across. He groaned in frustration, having so much he wanted to say to the eldest triplet but biting his tongue. He already dug his own grave, there was no use in digging deeper. Still, Huey’s lack of any understanding in Dewey’s perspective was growing more infuriating. Didn’t he want his brother to be happy at the end of the day? With the laugh that Huey followed with, he took that as a no — he was practically laughing at Dewey’s future misery. “I know, that’s my point. It’s not your job to lecture me,” he continued sharply. It was as if Huey wanted Donald to wake up to the two of them arguing. Dewey much rather wanted the lecture from his uncle to come when he was at least well-rested. The middle triplet wanted to be stubborn and continue arguing, but at the same time he was tired of no one understanding his side of things. He didn’t feel that he owed an explanation, but he really had nothing else to lose. “I know you’re gonna keep refusing to see my side of things, but I really like her, Huey.. and I wasn’t chasing after her tonight, I found her crying because her boyfriend — soon to be ex — is a jerk!”

Angrily pacing back and forth in front of his brother, Huey still couldn’t believe what had just unraveled. Dewey had gotten into a fight! A very public and highly unnecessary fight! And all for what? Because his idiot of a middle brother just couldn’t keep it in his pants any longer over how deeply invested in this girl—Tiffany was it?— whom he was even aware of how taken and completely unavailable she was! Oh! And to top it all off, it was her boyfriend Dewey had violently started to fight with! And he wasn’t even about to start thinking about how his brother also ran off with that girl, as if getting into a fight with her boyfriend wasn’t going to be the consequence of doing so when she was still attached to that other guy!

“Still! For all we know the cops could’ve been called and they could be well on their way to arrest you and that guy for causing a public disturbance!” The eldest of the two remarked right back, halting his pacing around so he could once again glare at his brother. It didn’t help that Dewey was still in hot water when it came to Huey, the older triplet still angry and hurt by his brother choosing to keep a huge secret from not only him, but from Louie as well. And considering how by doing so had resulted in their youngest brother getting severely injured, it’s no wonder Huey was still angry at him for it. Tonight just so happened to doubled down on all that anger Huey felt. “I highly doubt that!” he scoffed, crossing his arms “Maybe if you took an actual second to think that chasing after some girl who came here with her boyfriend, none of this would’ve happened to you.” Dewey’s apology did nothing to simmer Huey’s anger down as instead, the older let out a laugh at the mention of their Uncle Donald. “He's going to do more than lose it on you! Uncle Donald's going to go ballistic on you when he finds out! Aunt Daisy too if she's there when he hears what happens, which he will!” 

[deweydewdrop]

The high of winning the fight was going to eventually wear off for good, Dewey knew that for sure. Despite that he finally felt like he and Tiffany could have their chance together, there were still the negatives: pissing off his family yet again the main one. Morty did have a point though, that they never did stop being mad to begin with. He shook his head in response, sighing again. Still, Morty always knew how to cheer him up. The offer to stay there lightened him up, a surprised smile replacing the frown. “Really?” Maybe he did just need some space from all of them. Since Louie’s injury, everyone has been around the manor more than ever, no space from each other and no time to move past Dewey’s mistakes … He knew there was a chance that it would make his family more mad at him, but at this point he couldn’t win anyway. Everything he did was wrong in their eyes, so he may as well embrace it by stepping away, taking himself out of the equation entirely.

“Thanks, man. You’ll hardly even know I’m around,” the triplet promised, though only time would tell if that were actually true or not. He’d never lived without his family before, so a roommate-type experience was certainly going to be new grounds for him. He chuckled as he suddenly remembered another detail to their previous conversation — he’d much rather think about that fight than the fighting within his family. “You know, Louie doesn’t actually believe that I won the fight.”

When Dewey had come over sporting a black eye and busted lip, Morty knew he was in for a wild story—but it was even better than he could have expected, a tale of vindication and triumph against the guy Dew had told him about months ago, who was dating his crush. Needless to say, Morty wouldn’t usually support cheating—in any other circumstances he wouldn’t encourage stealing anyone’s girlfriend out from under their nose. Morty had even told Dewey that he just had to wait it out and let Tiffany come to him when she was ready to leave her boyfriend. But he couldn’t help being happy for his friend for finally getting a win in, especially one that had been so long coming. And just picturing the fight from the reenactment, he couldn’t help thinking it was pretty badass. If he’d been around at that moment, he’d have been cheering Dewey on—though Morty couldn’t regret missing it that much, because he’d probably been with Bubbles at that time in the night…

Before his thoughts could stray too much, he focused himself back on his best friend; this was about him right now. “Did Donald and Huey ever stop being mad?” he asked, not to dismiss the situation, but to suggest that at least it couldn’t have gotten worse than it already was…could it? Morty slapped a comforting hand on Dewey’s back as he sat beside him. “You can crash here for the night, if you want,” he offered. “Or for as long as you need.”

[deweydewdrop]

Dewey was forced into silence (probably for the best — it was a surprise this didn’t happen more often) as Mei’s hands went over his mouth. His confused expression grew more confused, until she commented on how loud he was being. Oops! He obviously got overly excited and forgot what an inside voice is; it wasn’t the first time. “Sorry,” he finally muttered under her hands before she pulled them down and seemed to relax. Still, Dewey’s confused expression never disappeared. “Why not?” He repeated, listening to Mei’s explanation and his expression sort-of falling. “Oh.. I mean, from where I stood it looked like he was into you,” he attempted to reassure her, though he couldn’t really do much if Slightly did swear off dating anyone. “Maybe you should still talk to him,” he continued with a shrug, as if he should be giving any sort of dating advice right now. No one was really taking Dewey seriously lately, mostly for good reason, so maybe he was just grasping at anything to feel normal again. Giving a friend some advice was a nice distraction from his own complicated life recently. He gave Mei a nudge on the shoulder. “It won't kill you to try.”

When Dewey proclaimed a bit too loudly about her and Slightly not being a thing yet, the redhead panicked and leaned over to collapse her hands over his mouth. “Shhh!!! Do you have to say that loud enough for everyone to hear!” Mei claimed, shushing her friend and ex-boyfriend, before shifting her gaze side to side. When she saw that there still was no sign of her date being anywhere near them, she ended up relaxing and pulling away from Dewey. “You’re right! We’re not a thing yet, but that’s most likely because we won’t ever become a thing!” She confessed, now letting out a sigh as her shoulders sagged at the reality of where things may be going between her and Slightly. Would she like it if the two of them got together? More than anything, but even now with the both of them being each other’s dates, the redhead was still unsure of where things stood between them. “Because! He may not actually be into me like that, and even if he was, Slightly sworn off dating anyone, so, I can’t make a move on him!”

[deweydewdrop]

Obviously, this wasn’t what Dewey had in mind when preparing to talk to Louie again after all this time of silence. He also didn’t expect it to be this effective, though — Louie was speaking to him again as if everything were normal, and it was like a breath of fresh air. He had practically been holding his breath as he waited for it, for the small part of him that believed that Louie would end up more angry at him after getting all of the context.... But he didn’t. Suddenly, Dewey didn’t feel so alone in all of this. His brother is still here for him, even if he did fuck up beyond repair before. Old wounds were finally starting to heal, it seemed.

He watched as Louie opened up the spot beside him on the couch casually, looking from the empty seat to Louie again. He only hesitated for a second before taking the gesture as a good sign. He was so relieved to not have his brother mad at him right now. Sitting beside him, Dewey shrugged his shoulders. “I mean I hope so .. I don’t know if this complicates anything," he admitted, thinking back to the fight already. "I had to defend her though." He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, the pain of his injuries becoming more apparent now. Still, he didn’t mind suffering a little longer if it meant talking to Louie again. He smiled at his final remark, eyes still shut. “I didn’t think you would be.” He wondered what Randy’s side of the story would sound like, if he’d admit to losing to him. "Also ... I got kicked out before Huey and Webby could even know what happened .. I think they're gonna be pissed when they get here.”

As soon as he said he wasn’t sure Louie wanted to know, Louie became sure that this had something to do with Randy and Tiffany. After a moment, he was proven right. There was a lot to process with everything Dewey laid out in rapid bullet-point fashion about his night, but Louie was too glad for the excuse not to discuss their own familial issues tonight like he’d been dreading since telling his brother earlier that they could talk. Unpacking this drama was at least going to be entertaining, if not mildly frustrating. Why couldn’t his brother ever leave well enough alone? Why did he keep causing trouble everywhere he went? He was like a magnet for mess. Louie had warned him to be careful with this shit, and here he was now with a busted face, clearly reaping his consequences. Maybe that was enough to teach him better for the future, but knowing him? It was doubtful. Especially as he finished his recounting of events by saying that Tiff was planning on breaking up with Randy. So, Dewey got everything he wanted and only had to pay the price of a little facial bruising that would heal up in a couple weeks. It was honestly kind of impressive how well he’d gotten away with this scheme, not that Louie would show it.

“Am I even surprised?” he questioned himself aloud as he continued to study Dewey’s minor injuries, as if trying to decide if he was satisfied with them or not. Dewey still looked a little too pleased with himself, he concluded, but Louie was somewhat appeased by the damage. He was probably a little evil for actually enjoying seeing his brother hurt, but the blame he still placed on him for his own pain made this small karmic retribution feel almost sickly satisfying. Picking up the extra blanket that had been discarded in the spot next to him and moving it onto his lap, he silently cleared a spot for Dewey to sit, though he didn’t invite him verbally. “So now it’s just a matter of time before you and Tiffany start going out, huh?” Louie wondered how he would be feeling about all this if he wasn’t so numb lately. It all seemed like petty drama from a TV show that he was tuning into, nothing that involved him, even though it did concern his own family and friends. Maybe he should visit Randy sometime soon; he must be feeling like shit…But should Louie also be happy for Dewey and Tiff if they were happy together? Even if he hated his brother right now, he still loved him…Maybe, someday, he would even forgive him. “Still not convinced you won the fight though.”

[deweydewdrop]

Dewey grinned, genuinely wishing that they could be like this together as himself. It wasn't fair that Randy would end up with the glory at the end of the day, especially for right now. She genuinely thought this was her boyfriend being so cute and sweet, when in reality it was Dewey's charm, and genuine feelings toward her, that was making her smile this morning.

Even if she still had to stream later, that still gave them plenty of time together. Besides, he wasn't sure how long this would last, so he had to think quick on what they should do together. "How about .. picnic on the beach?" He suggested, quirking up an eyebrow. It was different, romantic, gave them some alone time.. he already knew Tiffany liked the beach from the times they'd walked it together playing Pokemon Go .. he felt pretty confident with the on-the-fly thinking, a confident smile present. "I won't keep you all day, I'll make sure we have time to stream later," he promised, with the assumption that this was only temporary and unsure for how long. "You in?"

She could have asked what had gotten into Randy this morning to make him so snuggly and sweet (it was seriously almost gross how tender he was being) but Tiffany was too weak to resist the romantic moment, as rare as it was. “Stop being so cute,” she said, pushing his shoulder, but the smile returned to her face and stayed this time. His suggestion to skip streaming and do something fun together instead was compelling; she was tempted to ask if he was just trying to get out of working, but he’d typically just do that on his own without dragging her away from work, too, if his goal was just to be lazy. It seemed like he actually wanted to spend time with her today, just the two of them.

“Mm, I can post and tell my sweethearts that I’ll start streaming late today…What do you have in mind?” This was a fun side to see of him, and Tiff found herself eager to see just what he would come up with. Their choice destinations and activities were usually much the same as they had ever been—arcade, candy store, driving around, a party here, club there, back around to the old haunts. With this unexpected change in attitude, though, she couldn’t help thinking he might have a new idea or two up his sleeve.