Work Text:
Milo Murphy, sunshine wrapped around a soft core, surrounded by an enigma.
Milo Murphy, everyone in their town knew him and either adored him or feared him.
That's the way it always was. Milo was just magnetic that way, he drew people in, and if they liked what they saw? They couldn't look away.
Melissa Chase had spent years learning, studying what it was like to be around Murphy's law, to be around Milo. How to roll with punches, always be prepared, and always, always trust your Murphy boy with all your heart.
Milo was the sunshine in the darkness, a guiding light home, chaotic and full of danger, but so warm, and so safe all at once.
It isn't easy loving a Murphy, but platonically or not, once you loved a Murphy you never turned back.
Oh Melissa did love Milo, he was her best friend . The chaos to her organization, the ying to her yang.
He was smiles and optimism, adorably warm, brown eyes and a bounce to his step.
She loved him for that.
But you couldn't just love him at his best, oh no, when you loved a Murphy you loved them at their worst as well.
The amount of surgeries you'll sit through, staring through a small window wondering if Milo would make it through this time.
The amount of tears he'll spill at night, quietly sitting by your hospital bed, soft apologies and pleas of forgiveness leaving his lips, tears he'll never let you see rolling down his cheeks.
Melissa's seen them. She knows Zack has too, they both have a kind of radar for Milo at this point, it's unsurprising they'd wake in the midst of Milo's midnight asking for forgiveness.
Zack.
Melissa honestly didn't think he'd last, sure she'd bet on them to get back in one piece that first day, but she had no idea that Zach was the missing piece of their friendship.
It had surprised her, honestly, to see how quickly Milo and Zack naturally gravitated around each other, even more surprising when she found herself naturally orbiting with them.
Zack was new, smart in his own way, kind, loyal, and brave to the core (even if he doesn't know it).
The first time he got hurt, Melissa had watched him intensely. For Milo was a sensitive soul, he loved hard, and he fought hard for those he loved.
She didn't want him to get hurt, not again.
Not like so long ago where three bullies in their class had befriended, tricked, Milo into falling down a cavern in the nearby mountains, via Murphy's law the cave crashed down on him and 10 year old Milo was in a coma for six months .
"-his skull is fractured."
"-Look at the damage to his spinal cord."
" -Could never walk again."
" -15% chance of waking up."
" -I'm so sorry."
That had been the longest six months of Melissa's life, and when she wasn't fighting to get the boys who had done this to Milo in trouble, she sat by his bed, reading to his unconcerned form.
He was covered in bruises head to toe, bandages covering almost as much. He was so thin and gaunt under all these lights that she often broke down.
Wishing she could wipe the bruises off him like they were paint.
But it wasn't paint, it was real and it was painful and so Melissa could be forgiven for being so untrusting of Zack at first, she's sure.
That first time Zack got hurt, it was honestly terrifying. Melissa knew with Milo, anything was a possibility, but she had learned to roll with it over the years.
Seeing the branch snap in Zack's grip, his eyes widening with fear, and hearing the wretched shriek from Milo as Zack fell, it haunted her admittedly.
Even worse was the sound of Zack hitting the ground almost two stories below. His leg snapping viciously before he crumbled with a scream.
The next 26 and a half minutes were a blur, between Zack and Milo and the paramedics, the stray hippo and the band groupies they had gathered up.
It was just a lot.
But Melissa prided herself on her stress managing abilities, she could totally handle it if Zack got spooked and broke Milo's heart, right?
God she hoped to be right.
But she had paused, the door was cracked, Milo was crying softly and Zack was laid up, smiling adoringly at him and telling him it was okay, that a little broken leg never stopped anyone, even if it did slow him down a little. The wet giggle that had left Milo. The way Zack had melted in relief at seeing that sunshine smile.
The way Milo had hugged him. The way Zack hugged him back, holding him close as if protecting him from the world.
Maybe Zack was trustworthy after all.
He was . Zack proved to be a true friend and Melissa loved him for it, she adored him and all his little quirks, she learned to dance in tune with him in a different way then Milo. Same as they had to learn their own beat, but all three together? Well, let's just say Melissa liked to think they made beautiful music.
She knew Zack was a perfect fit when Milo got hurt. It was one of the rare times where Milo was injured to the point of unconsciousness, he had a gouge on his forehead that was bleeding horribly.
While logically, Melissa knew head wounds had a tendancy to bleed more so it probably looked worse than it did. There was just so much blood . It covered her hands and her clothes and the ground around them, Milo was bleeding out and they were stuck. No way out, no way to call for help, but Zack, wonderfully grounding Zack, had shaken himself out of his claustro-avoidant haze and grabbed her bloody hands, holding tightly, he told her to breathe, that they would get out, that Milo would be okay.
When the rubble miraculously collapsed on one side and allowed them to crawl out and be scooped up by fight fighters and paramedics, she clutched Zack's hand, watching as they took Milo away, yelling and frantic as they loaded him in the ambulance.
Melissa let out a wretched sob as she stared at Milo, wishing to be by his side, to know what was going on, to help, to do something!
Zack squeezed her hand, tears falling down his cheeks as he followed her gaze, the last time they would see Milo for 2 days would be then, his body seizing in the back of the ambulance from shock.
Zack only left the hospital to bring them clean clothes, this wouldn't have been the first time Melissa's had to stay overnight in blood covered clothes, so she appreciates him even more after this.
When Milo wakes up with hazy eyes and whispers her and Zack's names? God it was almost euphoric.
Unforgettable.
Breathtaking.
Melissa prided herself on being strong, but in front of her boys? she broke down crying, smiling, clutching their hands and thanking whatever deity was listening for blessing her with such wonderful boys.
Chaos.
Disorder.
Destruction.
Stress.
This is what it meant to be around a Murphy. Melissa Chase and Zack Underwood knew this, accepted it, and loved it, all because of what was at its core.
Milo Murphy.
It isn't easy loving a Murphy, but once you loved a Murphy, you never looked back.
Melissa and Zack loved their Murphy and all the chaos that came with him.
~Fin