#skyromeitch

[tinycatlady]

Caught in the Middle- Part 3

Jerome's P.O.V.

The three walked downstairs. Mitch went first, then Sky, Jerome lingered behind to look at his desk.

Everything seemed to be in order. He hoped Mitch or Sky didn't look at anything. Well, he wasn't that worried about Sky. Mitch on the other hand- he was used to treating Jerome's house as his own.

The Bacca shook his head and walked out to catch up to the others.

Once downstairs, he found them already sitting on the couch. Jerome sighed. What if he lost both of them tonight?

'No, don't think like that. Everything will be fine.'  He thought to himself.

"What do you guys want to eat?"  He asked, the question directed more at Sky than at Mitch. He knew Mitch would eat almost anything.

"I'll just have an apple if you have one." Sky said. Mitch didn't answer.

Jerome shrugged and got an apple for him anyway. It was late, and he knew for a fact he had eaten all of his food sprinting to the arena they fought in.

He walked into the living room and handed them each a fruit.  Mitch looked up at him surprised. "Thanks..." He muttered.

Sky smiled at both of them. Jerome smiled back. It wasn't that he didn't like Mitch. He always had and he always will- but for some reason, Sky also made his heart melt like that. Both of them gave him the same butterflies. He couldn't choose. He really wanted to choose Mitch. They planned out a whole summer together after all, but it didn't feel right.

He sat down on the recliner off to the side of the room, a small sigh of nervousness escaping him. What would he even say?

"So... Why did you two even start fighting in the first place?" Sky asked hesitantly.

Mitch looked down at his lap. Jerome looked away. For the longest time, it seemed like neither of them would say anything.

Jerome looked back at Mitch the exact same moment he looked up. Gosh, they were so in sync it hurt.

"I guess... it's mostly my fault..." Jerome found himself saying.

Both of them focused on him. He felt a lump in his throat. What now? What could he say so that they both didn't hate him?

'Maybe finally talking about last summer would help'.  He thought.

Taking in a shaky breath, he began to speak.

"I planned the trip, I confessed my feelings, and in the end I messed it all up." He took in another breath. He didn't want to get too emotional here. He didn't want them to feel sorry for him.

"I don't know what's wrong with me, I thought I would be happy with Mitch but something was off and I couldn't ignore it."

Mitch was looking down again. Sky spoke up.

"What... What exactly was last summer to you two?" he asked.

Jerome opened his mouth, but before he could say anything Mitch began to talk.

"It was what I was waiting for my entire life..." He mumbled, "It was everything I had ever wanted... up until the end."

He looked back up at Jerome. "Why did you do that? Why did you make everything perfect if you knew I wasn't who you wanted?"

The bacca looked away. Mitch kept talking.

"What kind of sick joke was that? Why am I not good enough to actually be with you?"

Jerome looked back to see Mitch staring right at him, eyes watering. It hurt seeing him like this. Seeing the most confident person he knew doubting himself.

"Mitch... Of course you're good enough. You're amazing. All those things I told you when we went away were true. It's just that my stupid heart can't decide. I really wanted to be with you. And trust me, I still do. But I don't know what's wrong with me! I love both of you and-"

He covered his mouth. That was too close.

"And Sky is just way better than me huh?"

Jerome closed his eyes. Didn't Mitch realize that Sky was in the room still?

"I can't say I blame you, of course he's better. He's nicer and doesn't die all the time. He comes in to check on you when you respawn. No wonder you'd want him over me."

Sky was staring wide-eyed at both of them, mouth open to say something that wouldn't come out.

"Mitch it's not that i'd rather be with him than you! I don't know what it is but I want to be with both of you! If that's even possible? You're both my closest friends. I love both of you but... I just can't choose! I don't know why. I thought the getaway would make me choose. But it just messed everything up!"

He could feel the tears soaking through his fur. He covered his face with his hands. He probably lost both of them. He was going to be alone.

The world was still for a moment. Jerome felt like everything was about to come crashing down, so he hoped things would stay frozen longer. He didn't dare look at them. If he did he would only be seeing them walk out the door.

But that's not what happened.

Instead he uncovered his face when he heard both of them walking towards him.

He was scared. His eyes were wide and his instinct to run was flaring up. There wasn't much a Bacca was afraid of.  There were even less things one would run from. His heart was racing and he feared that they were both going to call him out to his face before disappearing from his life forever.

But that's not what they did. Instead, they both hugged him, and the waterworks began to flood.

Jerome didn't know how long they sat there crying. Mitch muttering apologies for the fights and Sky sniffling.  Jerome was sobbing as well, both relived and terrified of what would come after this.

But for now, they were here. They didn't hate him. The relief outweighed the anxiety. So the three of them hugged each other, all trying to squeeze onto an armchair that could barely fit Jerome on his own. But it didn't matter.

Things were out in the open now, and so far it didn't seem like it would be too bad.

[tinycatlady]

Caught in the Middle- Part 4

Sky's P.O.V.

Sky thought he was the first to wake up.

He found himself on Jerome's couch, a flannel hoodie covering him like a blanket. He was wrapped up in it, the night was cold and he was grateful for the warmth.

He didn't remember much about what happened after they all began crying. His guess was that he fell asleep on the couch and Mitch covered him with his hoodie so he wouldn't get cold.

He looked around. Mitch wasn't there.

Jerome was still snoring on the recliner. No doubt that he was still asleep,  but Mitch? Sky got up and looked around. Maybe he went upstairs to sleep? He decided to check there.

He went up the stairs and into Jerome's room. He wasn't there either. Maybe he went home? But how would he get there? Sky checked his inventory. His keys were there. No way he sprinted back after only eating an apple.

Sky was getting worried. Where was he? He wouldn't run off after all that was said, right? Well, maybe he would... But why wouldn't he tell them?

He shook his head and decided to go downstairs. "Oh gosh, what if he's hurt out there in the forest? What if he died?" Sky muttered to himself as he reached the first floor.  "He would've respawned at his house, maybe I should go check there after Jerome wakes up?"

The door opened and Sky looked up. Mitch walked in, whistling as he headed to the kitchen.

"There you are!" he yelled.

Mitch looked up and smiled. "Oh, hey Sky."

He hurried to the kitchen and found Mitch washing something in the sink.

"Where did you go? I got worried." Sky said with relief in his voice.

Mitch turned to look at him and held up a bunch of berries. "I went to get some food for breakfast." He said triumphantly, "I have some wheat and eggs in my inventory if you wanna help me make pancakes."

Sky nodded, genuinely surprised. Had he missed something last night? This was a quick turnaround from them killing each other.

He didn't say anything and washed his hands. Mitch got out a bowl and a pan, knowing where everything was as if it were his own house. Sky plucked the berries off the branches they were on and put them in the bowl after the other ingredients were mixed together.

The curiosity was eating at him as Mitch poured the batter onto the skillet.

"So... when did you wake up?"

Mitch shrugged. "Around sunrise?" He laughed to himself,  "Jerome doesn't have any clocks and my phone is dead."

"Wow." was all Sky could say as he looked around. There were, in fact, no clocks.

"Wow, you didn't sleep much then."

Mitch nodded. "Yeah, don't worry though, I'm not tired. I was sleeping a lot when we were fighting..." a faint smile formed on his face, "I missed wanting to be awake."

Sky nodded. "So, you two are good now?" he asked.

He shrugged again. "Not completely. You fell asleep first, but we stayed up and talked. A lot."

Sky waited for Mitch to continue. But he kept flipping pancakes and began humming to himself.

"What did you guys talk about?" He finally asked a few agonizing moments later.

Mitch smiled, "Well I'm waiting for Jerome to wake up. It's his idea mostly."

That did nothing to help his curiosity. What idea where they talking about?! But he nodded anyway. He plucked berries in silence until there were none left.

Mitch grabbed some plates from a cupboard and set the table. Jerome woke up when he brought the the pancakes out to the table.

"Mmm?" He murmured. "What smells so good?"

He sat up in the arm chair and looked at the table. His eyes lit up.

"Good morning, you loud-snoring bacca." Mitch greeted.

Jerome smiled. "You made me breakfast?"

Mitch motioned for Sky to come to the table. "We made you breakfast."

Sky shook his head, "Mitch did most of it." He said quietly.

Jerome got up and hugged both of them. "Thanks." He said. He sat down at the table and piled 3 pancakes onto his plate. Mitch brought out a bottle of honey and piled up his plate with pancakes too.

Sky grabbed one and ate it slowly as they scarfed theirs down. It almost seemed like they were competing to see who could finish them the fastest. By the time Sky was about to reach for his second one, they had eaten at least five each.

"Ah-ha! I won!" Mitch said through a mouthful of pancake. Jerome shook his head. "They gotta be in your stomach, Mitch. Yours are still in your mouth!"

Mitch swallowed his food and groaned. "No fair." He pouted.

"This is why you don't challenge a man of the Bac!" Jerome countered, a playful grin on his face.

Sky smiled, seeing them like this again was comforting. But he was still confused. They were actually killing each other yesterday. Could talking really fix this much? What did they even say? What idea did they come up with?

"You thinking about something, Sky?" Jerome asked.

He looked up, not realizing that he had zoned out. "Oh, sorry!" He said out of habit.

"You don't gotta apologize." Mitch said, "You just went quiet and we got worried."

Sky nodded. He was unsure if he should say something about this idea or if they were going to bring it up on their own. He really wanted to know what it was.

Mitch and Jerome stared at him, then looked at each other. More silence. Sky couldn't take it.

"So, what did you two talk about last night?" He asked in as casual a voice possible.

Jerome raised a paw. "Hold on, we're still trying to figure out how to say it."

Mitch nodded. "Yeah. Kind of hard to explain everything."

"Why do you need to explain it? Just say it." Sky suggested, a bit impatiently.

It was like a light bulb went off in their heads. "Good idea!" They both said in sync.

Sky had to hide his laughter. It was cute how they were so intertwined that their minds shared the same thoughts. He had no idea what Jerome saw in him, Sky could never become that close with either of them.

"Well, what's the idea?"

They glanced at each other one more time and nodded before saying it.

"Will you go out with us?" They said at the same time.

Sky smiled, about to nod until the words registered. It was like a delayed reaction. He was fine for a few seconds, then the weight of the words they said hit all at once.

"Wh-what?" He choked out.

Mitch nudged Jerome to say it again.

"Well, we talked. We both like you in a romantic sense. And both of us like each other romantically, obviously..." He looked at Mitch.

"We just thought, 'hey, why don't we all go out with each other?' It made sense last night. Why limit ourselves, you know?"

The room was spinning for Sky. Suddenly everything was bright. Where did he leave his sunglasses?

"You don't have to say yes, we just thought we'd give it a shot..." Jerome's voice was far-away.

"I don't know. Give me a minute. I need my sunglasses." Sky found himself saying. He got up and stumbled to the couch. His glasses were on the coffee table. He put them on and things came into focus again.

He sat on the couch. He didn't know how to respond. Could he even respond? What was he supposed to say? Was it even right to date more than one person at a time? Wasn't that cheating?

But they both asked. They both wanted to. It wasn't like cheating. Cheating implies secrets. This was out in the open.

Mitch and Jerome walked into the living room. "Are you okay?" Jerome asked.

Sky nodded.

"So, it's a no?" Mitch added.

More silence for a few seconds.

"It's- it's not a no..." Sky mumbled. His heart was racing, "I just- I don't know how it would work? Is it even possible?"

Mitch nodded. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"I've never seen anyone else dating more than one person before."

Jerome chuckled. "Since when do new ideas scare you?"

That struck a chord. He was right. He was Sky R. Ess. He was always trying new things.

They sat down next to him, each on one side. He smiled and grabbed their hands.

"Okay. I'll give it a chance."

The unstoppable duo looked at each other and smiled. They hugged, Sky caught in the middle of them.

"We're gonna make this work." Jerome said.

Mitch nodded. "Yeah. We'll be the best trio there ever was!"

Sky smiled.

'The unstoppable trio?'  He thought and looked at them both.

'Yeah, I like the sound of that.'

[tinycatlady]

Caught in the Middle- Part 2

Mitch's P.O.V.

Mitch closed his eyes and sighed as Sky pulled onto Jerome's cobblestone driveway. He really didn't want to do this.

But he had to, there was no way to get out of it without disappointing Sky. He already felt like he was liking Jerome more right now. Just because he killed him. Maybe if he had gotten killed Sky would be on his side.

The car stopped and Sky opened his door. Mitch hesitantly got out as well. He hadn't actually been to Jerome's house since that summer...

He shook his head. He didn't want to think of that summer right now. He had already thought about it too much.

Sky knocked on the front door. Jerome didn't have a doorbell. Never had, and never will. He told Mitch that when they were younger. They had known each other for so long that Mitch forgot exactly how old they were when he said that.

When no one answered the door, Sky began to get worried. He knocked louder.

"Jerome! It's me. Mitch is here too, but he's going to apologize."

Mitch rolled his eyes. He said he wasn't going to apologize. Hopefully Jerome wouldn't answer.

"He's not here." He said flatly. "Probably didn't respawn yet. You know they say the longer you take the less marks it leaves.

Sky sighed. "Well we're not leaving until we make sure he's alright." He looked around. "There's gotta be an open window here somewhere..."

"Woah, you're gonna break in?" Mitch chuckled.

"No! That's why I asked if there was an open window. I'm not breaking anything. Now wait here while I check the back."

Mitch smiled and didn't  say anything, but was still aware that it was nighttime. If a creeper showed up and blew up Jerome's house, he would be so sad. He worked so hard to build this place for himself...

Not like Mitch cared or anything.

But Sky said he didn't want to break anything, so Mitch walked over to a gravel patch by the bushes leading to the front door. He ran his hands through it, looking for something he hoped was still there.

"Ah! Okay so if you boost me I can probably reach the balcony!" Sky said triumphantly when he finished circling the house.

Mitch was already putting the spare keys into the lock though. He jiggled the doorknob a couple times and it opened. Sky looked at him, confused.

"How did you open that? It couldn't have been unlocked this entire time, right?"

He shook his head. "Nah, I just know where he leaves his keys." Mitch hung them on a hook next to the door without even looking. He knew this place. It was like a second home to him. Or- it used to be at least.

"I haven't been here in ages." Sky gasped, "He really fixed up the place, huh?"

Mitch shrugged halfheartedly. It was the same to him.

"Let's just get this over with," He muttered. He walked to the stairs and headed to Jerome's room.

Sky followed him to the second floor and down the hall. Jerome's room was the last one to the right. He threw open the door. Nobody was there yet.

They both looked around. Mitch frowned when he noticed that the picture of him wasn't on the desk anymore.

He stepped closer, trying to get a look at the papers the Bacca left on his desk. There didn't seem to be much. A few unopened envelopes, crumpled-up papers that Mitch didn't want to unfold. Looked like Jerome was still as disorganized as always.

And then he saw a paper with his name on it.

Sky wasn't paying attention. Instead he was looking at the bed, waiting for Jerome to respawn.

Mitch was so tempted to read whatever else was on that paper. It shoved was underneath a few books, like Jerome was trying to hide it but failed miserably.

He kept staring at it. He reached out to grab it. After all, he and Jerome used to share everything. They used to tell each other everything. He could look at it if he wanted to.

His fingertips barely touched the paper before Sky yelled.

Mitch spun around, leaving the note on the desk. As expected, the Bacca was starting to sit up in his bed.

"Jerome! You're back!" Sky yelled as he hugged him.

Mitch looked away, cheeks flushed red. He was jealous, yeah. Ever since Jerome broke his heart, he did kind of have a crush on the butter-loving guy. Sky was the only one that could stop their fights. He did care enough to bring out healing potions so he wouldn't die alone in the woods.

But Mitch knew that the Bacca liked him too.

Jerome was dazed. Like one usually was after respawning. But he recognized Sky. There was no sign that he's noticed Mitch yet.

"Hey, What're you doing here?" He asked, smiling.

"Heard you two got into another fight. I had to make sure you both were alright."

Jerome groaned. He covered his face with one of his paws.

"Oh yeah..." He muttered, "I swear he must've had half a heart when I died though... Betty wouldn't let me down like that- WAIT WHERE'S BETTY?!"

He closed his eyes, probably to look through his inventory. Mitch rolled his eyes. He should know it was empty. After all the times he had died...

Jerome opened his eyes again and he looked like he was about to cry. "Oh no, Mitch must've taken her- I'm never getting her back he's probably gonna throw her into lava-"

"Hey! You know I would never do that!" Mitch exclaimed, then quickly covered his mouth.  Both of them turned to look at him. Jerome glared.

"What are you doing here!?" He yelled.

Mitch crossed his arms. "Sky made me come in here. Trust me if wasn't so close to dying I would've ran back to my place."

Jerome growled. Sky stood between them.

"Hey! I don't want you two to fight! Look, Jerome. I have Betty." He pulled the axe out of his inventory, then put it back before anyone could grab it.

Jerome let out a sigh, shoulders relaxing a bit. "Oh thank everything..."

Sky kept talking, "I'm not giving her back until you two talk things out though!"

Jerome scoffed, "What's there to talk about? He hates me and that's all there is to it."

Mitch frowned. "I don't hate you! You're the one that hates me!"

The two glared at each other, Jerome bared his fangs. Mitch was so close to getting his sword out.

"ENOUGH!" Sky yelled, successfully getting them to look at him.

"I'm tired of all the fighting! I'm tired of being the only one that comes out to save you two from each other! Tonight's the first night in a long time I didn't stay up late worrying if you two were alright and I got woken up by this anyways!"

He looked frustrated. Both Mitch and Jerome looked away.

"You two were best friends! What happened to the unstoppable duo? You two topped the charts at hunger games every week as a team! Now you're killing one another! It used to be fun when you two were in a room together. Now it's just stressful because it feels like you'll get into another fight! None of our friends like this! I don't like this!"

Jerome sighed softly. "Honestly? I don't like this either, Sky..."

"Same here..." Mitch added. He turned his gaze to look at Jerome. He was already looking back at him. His eyes were full of hurt. asking 'What happened to us?'

Sky lowered his voice. "You two should talk. I'll be here so that you don't fight again. What do you two say?"

Mitch nodded. Jerome nodded. They looked at each other in silence for a long moment.

"Let's go downstairs and get some food," Jerome finally said, "We can talk this out in the living room."

[tinycatlady]

Caught in the Middle- Part 1

So I decided to start a big fic again because being at home all day gives me a lot of free time...

Anyways, here’s a Skyromeitch fanfiction! It’ll be posted on here and on my Wattpad! (@TinyCatLady) hope you all enjoy!

Sky's P.O.V.

Sky sighed as put on his sunglasses and looked at his phone. The light from the screen was blinding at 2 AM, but it woke him up with all its buzzing. He knew something must've happened. In fact, he had a pretty good idea of who it involved too- The same Bacca and Benja as always.

When he looked at the messages it was a series of texts from all his friends. Lox, True, Ssun, Q... Heck even Seto had messaged him a couple of times. They were all saying the same thing.

Mitch and Jerome got into another fight .

He groaned, but put on a sweater anyways. Looking at the texts, he found out that they were at the abandoned hunger games arena in the forest. That place always gave him the chills. He hoped they didn't kill one another again. Respawning was quick but it did leave a mark every time you did it. And lately those two had been dying a lot.

The saddest part was they were best friends once.

As Sky drove to the outskirts of town where the arena was, he wondered what went wrong. They were so close before. Sure they were a bit competitive with each other, but never like this.

Something changed the summer after they ran off together. Nobody knew exactly what happened, but Sky had his theories. Just like everyone else. Even if they did say they'd never tell the story, it was pretty obvious they had a romantic getaway. But something else happened too. And that was what kept him up some nights.

He stopped thinking after he got to the forest. He grabbed a lantern and a few healing potions from the chest he kept in the trunk and walked to the crumbling arena.

"Mitch! Jerome! Where are you guys?!" He yelled into the night. No answer. He shivered. He'd have to go inside to find them.

Luckily the lantern gave off enough light so he wouldn't be completely terrified. There were mobs out here. He wasn't prepared to deal with spiders or skeletons or zombies. If a creeper showed up he was dead.

"Mitch? Jerome?" he asked again as he walked through a hole in the side of the white quartz wall of the arena.

When he stepped inside he saw someone sitting on one of the starting podiums.

"Oh! Sky, you made it!"

He ran over to where Mitch was. He set the lantern on the ground.

"Mitch! Where's Jerome?" He asked as he looked around.

Mitch's expression dropped and he looked away. "I dunno. Probably respawned back at his house. How am I supposed to know?"

Sky sighed. "You killed him again?! Why?"

He rolled his eyes. "He was being a jerk again. I couldn't not fight him." Mitch looked back at Sky. "How did you even know we were out here? Thought you were fast asleep by now."

"I was." Sky answered as he crossed his arms, "Got a million texts from the others saying you two were out here that woke me up."

"Why didn't one of them come out to stop us then?" Mitch chuckled.

Sky was getting frustrated. Then he stopped to think about it. Why was he the only one everyone texted to stop them. He wasn't even the closest in proximity. Mudkipz lived closer to the forest than him.

"I don't know!" He answered after a moment. He handed Mitch a healing potion. "But I wasn't about to let you two kill each other again. Although clearly I was too late for that..."

Mitch gulped down the drink and smiled. "Well at least you came and saved me. I was at half a heart and forgot to bring food."

"What?!" Sky asked. Mitch nodded. "Yeah. If a creeper or skeleton attacked me I would've been dead too. And then I would've lost this...

He smiled as he pulled Betty, Jerome's prized diamond axe, out of his inventory. Sky gasped.

"What the heck, Mitch?" He yelled as he snatched it and put it in his own inventory. "You know how much that means to him!"

Mitch scoffed, "Well I gave it to him, I can take it back too."

Sky couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"No!" He yelled as he grabbed Mitch's hand and began dragging him back to the car.

"No what?" he asked as he followed Sky.

"We are going to Jerome's place. I'm giving Betty back and you two are going to apologize to each other."

Mitch pulled his hand away. "What?! No!"

Sky turned around. "Why not? I'm sick and tired of you two fighting all the time! You two were best friends, what happened?!"

He didn't answer the question. Instead he glared and pulled out his sword. "Don't move, Sky."

Sky froze. Was he really going to kill him for asking a question? He didn't want to die! Even if he would come back. Mitch ran at him. He closed his eyes and braced for the pain.

But it never came. instead a groan came from behind him, and soon the white puff of smoke that appeared when something died disappeared into the night air.

"Wh-wha-" Sky began to say.

Mitch put away his sword.

"There was a zombie." He explained.

Sky nodded without saying a word. They walked the rest of the way to the car in silence.

When they got in he put the key in the ignition and started the car. Mitch leaned back in his seat.

"Alright. Let's go!" He exclaimed, "I'm tired out."

Sky shook his head. "No way. You can't go to sleep yet. We're going to Jerome's house."

This time Mitch didn't fight. He just groaned.

"You can't make me apologize." He muttered.

Sky sighed. "Maybe not. But you're still coming with me to return Betty."

Mitch huffed. "Fine. You remember how to get there?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

And with that, he turned his car around and went deeper into the forest.

[tinycatlady]

They’re my faves and I get to ship all three of them together if I want to

 >:3

But seriously, their characters are a big comfort for me.  I’m so happy we’re all born with creativity in us so that we can make ourselves feel happy! If it weren’t for writing and drawing I wouldn’t be doing so well in this quarantine. 

Thanks to everyone following me on here! I love and appreciate all of you!

[tinycatlady]

*Throws this out onto my Tumblr* 

[tinycatlady]

Winner Gets All (Skyromeitch Drabble)

Sky was never that good at fighting. Which is why he was really surprised when he began dating Mitch and Jerome. They were the best  team at the hunger games tournaments every month. They practiced three times a week and always said they had fun while in combat.

Usually, Sky would stay behind while they practiced. But this week, they wanted him to come along. Of course he said yes. 

So now the three of them were walking through a path behind Jerome’s house in the forest trying to get to the clearing they had set up.

“Alright! So last week we set up a viewing platform in that tree!” Jerome pointed to one in the far right corner of the field.  

Mitch patted his back. “Don’t worry, I made sure to put a ladder. Not all of us can climb as well as a Bacca.

Sky smiled. “Aw, you guys shouldn't have! I would’ve been alright sitting in the grass.”

They looked at each other and chuckled. “No you wouldn’t.”

Sky looked at them, confused.

“You’ll see what we mean when we start battling.” Mitch explained.

“Now get up there so we can show you how we fight!” Jerome added. Sky nodded and walked to the tree, climbing up the latter and sitting on the platform. 

The other two got their weapons and shields out. Mitch had a diamond sword and Jerome had his prized diamond axe. Sky thinks he remembers him calling it ‘Betty’? He didn’t know for sure, but he knew it meant a lot to him. 

They were already wearing leather armor. They didn’t want to actually hurt each other. While respawning was usually quick, it still took a toll on your body. 

“First one to half-a-heart surrenders?” Mitch called out.

Jerome nodded. “Yeah!” He smiled up at Sky sitting in the tree, “And the last one standing gets a kiss from Sky!”

His golden-colored eyes went wide, but he found himself nodding when Jerome looked at him for approval. 

Mitch laughed. “Oh you’re on! Count us in Sky!”

He nodded, a blush spread on his cheeks. “Alright! Uh, 3... 2… 1… Go!!”

And they were off. At first they charged at each other. Landing direct hits onto each other’s shields. Sky sat in the tree, watching as they kept dodging blows and swinging with full force. They did this for a while until Mitch actually hit Jerome. He winced, and Sky gasped. 

Jerome shook off the pain and began to run away, gulping down a potion while doing so. He smiled as he gripped his axe. “Oh, you’re in for it now Mitch!”

They charged at each other once again, Jerome landing a couple of hits this time. Half the time, Sky had to cover his eyes half the time because even if they weren’t actually fighting to the death- it still hurt to see them hurt. 

He uncovered his eyes as Mitch pulled out a bow and arrow and fired a couple of shots. 

Jerome pulled up his shield, but it was too late. An arrow hit him in the arm. 

“Aw that’s gonna be a pain to get out!” he yelled. He ran again. Sky wondered if this is how the actual games were, or if they were going easy on each other for his sake.

Mitch chuckled and kept shooting arrows. “Haha! You can’t touch me while i have this!” He boasted. 

“I’ll get you when you run outta arrows!” Jerome yelled as he slid in the dirt to avoid getting hit again.

“That won’t happe- oh.” Mitch said just as he used his last one. 

Jerome took this as his chance and ran at him swinging. He got a few hits on him before he pulled out his sword and attacked back. 

Sky watched, now cheering for both of them. “Go Mitch! Go Jerome! Don’t die! How many hearts do you have left??”

They smiled as they heard the cheers and kept hitting each other at full force. It was starting to get a bit scary.

then both jumped away from each other at the same time. 

“What happened?” Sky asked worriedly.

They both looked down in defeat. 

“I only have half a heart left…” Jerome admitted.

Mitch looked up, “What? No way, so did I.”

They looked at each other, then at Sky.

“You know, if you didn’t tell us to check our health we probably would’ve died.” Mitch laughed.

Jerome nodded, “Yeah. Guess we got a bit carried away there.” 

Sky climbed down the ladder and went to both of them. 

“You two went wild at the end! I was starting to get worried!” He stretched out his arms for a hug. 

Mitch and Jerome leaned into him. 

“Yeah. Honestly? When you started cheering it reminded me of what was on the line.” Mitch mumbled.

“Same here.” Jerome laughed softly. “Guess we both wanted that kiss a lot.”

The blush came back. They fought that hard for a kiss? From him?

Both of them were still breathing hard. The arrow was still sticking out of Jerome’s arm. Sky smiled at how dumb they were willing to be to get his affection.

“Hey, it was a tie, right?” Sky said out loud.

“Yeah, why do you-” Mitch began to ask before he was cut off with a kiss. Then Sky turned to Jerome and smooched him too. 

“Well since you both won you each get the reward!” he laughed. The other two smiled and didn’t say anything. Sky grabbed both their hands and started walking back the way they came.

“Now come on! Let’s get you two back to the house for some healing potions.”