Misunderstood (Neighbor from Hell (YA) 1)

Chuckling, Sebastian pointed out, “I had help.”

“True,” Jonathan murmured as the sound of their bedroom window opening drew their attention to find Mikey breaking into their room and–

“Stupid window,” she mumbled sadly as they watched in amusement as she climbed through their window only to stumble and fall on her adorable ass before she got back up with a sigh and closed the window.

“I knew you missed me,” Jonathan said, nodding only to duck out of the way of the stapler that Mikey grabbed off their desk.

“What are you doing here?” Sebastian asked as he watched her make her way over to his bed.

“Keeping you out of trouble,” Mikey said with a heartfelt sigh as she dropped down on the bed next to him.

“How do you figure that?” Sebastian asked as he moved over to make room for her.

“Well, by coming here, I’ve saved you from breaking your word to your parents and leaving you with no other choice but to sneak out just to come see me,” Mikey said with a nod as Sebastian couldn’t help but note that she was wearing his sweatshirt again.

“And why would I feel the need to come see you?” Sebastian asked as Mikey snuggled in closer to his side.

“Because you missed me,” she said with a heartfelt sigh.

“He just saw you two hours ago,” Jonathan pointed out.

“And they were two of the most difficult, heart-wrenching hours of his life,” Mikey explained, making his lips twitch.

“They really were,” he readily agreed, knowing that would please her.

“See?” Mikey said as she stole his pillow. “I saved you.”

“Saved me from what exactly?” Sebastian asked, stealing his pillow back.

“From getting in trouble.”

“Is that how you see it?”

“It really is,” Mikey said only to grumble when he refused to let her steal his pillow again.

After a moment, she settled in closer to his side only to sigh. “What do you think will happen to Braxton?”

“I honestly don’t know,” Sebastian said as they stared at his bedroom ceiling.

“Uncle Jason was pissed when he found out what happened. It took Aunt Haley an hour to calm him down and stop him from going after Braxton’s father,” Jonathan said, making them both frown.

“There’s gotta be something we can do,” Mikey said as she moved to pull a ball out of her sweatshirt only to discover that she didn’t have one. With a grumble, she grabbed his right hand and busied herself by inspecting his fingers.

“Aunt Haley said that she was going to come up with excuses so that he can spend more time with them,” Jonathan said, sounding thoughtful.

“Do you think that will work?” Mikey asked, tilting her head back to throw him a questioning look.

“It couldn’t hurt,” Sebastian murmured, watching as her small fingers explored his. “But I doubt that his father would do anything to risk pissing off Mrs. Blaine right now.”

“True,” Mikey said as she returned her attention to his hand.

“Hey, I almost forgot to ask. Was that Coach Dilmore crying at the baseball fields the other day?” Jonathan asked, making Sebastian chuckle.

“He didn’t seem to take it well when he found out that Mikey had managed to break a hundred mile an hour fastball and was now playing for his team’s biggest competition next year,” Sebastian said, taking immense satisfaction at the memory of Coach Dilmore breaking down and begging Mikey to give him another chance.

Mikey had been too stunned to enjoy the moment, but thankfully, Coach Jackson had the presence of mind to pull out his phone and preserve the occasion. He’d already sent Mikey a copy of the video, which she’d watched a few dozen times already with the cutest damn smile on her face.

“I’ve gotta go,” Mikey suddenly announced, not sounding all that happy about it.