"You're failing chemistry."
"I'm not failing," Haley Dunphy argued while walking beside Gael through the school parking lot. "I'm creatively struggling."
"That sounds like failing with confidence."
"It's branding."
Gael laughed quietly as Haley bumped her shoulder against his.
Classes had ended twenty minutes ago, and the late afternoon California heat still lingered across campus while students drifted toward cars and buses in loud clusters.
Haley tugged lightly at the sleeve of his hoodie she'd stolen earlier that morning.
"You're helping study."
"That feels unsafe."
"You're smart."
"That's not the sa thing as being able to teach you chemistry."
"It is if you love ."
Gael nearly missed a step.
Haley looked deeply pleased with herself imdiately.
"Oh my God," she laughed. "That face."
"You weaponized emotional vulnerability."
"And it worked."
Unfortunately, it had.
An hour later, they sat in the Dunphy dining room surrounded by textbooks, half-finished snacks, and Haley's increasingly dramatic suffering.
"This," Haley announced while staring at her worksheet, "is proof science hates won."
"That is not how molecules work."
"You don't know their intentions."
Gael leaned back in his chair, trying unsuccessfully not to smile.
Across from them, Alex looked up from her own howork with visible disappointnt.
"You're teaching her wrong."
"I'm simplifying."
"You're enabling."
Haley pointed accusingly at her sister.
"See? This is why nobody likes smart people."
"People love smart people."
"Na three."
Alex opened her mouth.
Paused.
"…That's not the point."
Gael smiled into his water while Haley looked triumphant.
Honestly, afternoons like this had started becoming strangely enjoyable.
Not because of chemistry.
God no.
Because the Dunphy house had fallen into this rhythm around him:
people wandering in and out,
constant background conversation,
soone always yelling from another room.
Lived-in chaos.
"You're distracted," Alex said suddenly.
Gael looked up.
"What?"
"You stopped reading the worksheet."
"That's because your sister declared war on atoms."
"They started it," Haley muttered.
Alex rolled her eyes before standing and walking around the table toward them.
"Move."
Haley narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"Why?"
"Because watching you explain science is physically painful."
Gael shifted slightly as Alex leaned down beside him, one hand resting against the back of his chair while looking over the chemistry problems.
And for the first ti in a while—
the atmosphere changed slightly.
Because Alex standing this close felt… different sohow.
Gael noticed:
the faint scent of her shampoo,
the sharp focus in her eyes while she explained sothing,
the way she spoke faster when excited intellectually.
Interesting.
"You're staring," Alex said without looking up from the worksheet.
Gael blinked once.
"You noticed that without turning around?"
"I notice everything."
"That's deeply threatening."
Haley pointed dramatically.
"Ha! Now you understand how it is living with her."
Alex ignored both of them while continuing the explanation.
"She's balancing the equation wrong because she's treating the oxygen independently."
"That sounds fake," Haley said imdiately.
"It's chemistry."
"Exactly."
Gael laughed quietly.
And before he fully realized it, he and Alex had slipped into one of those rapid back-and-forth conversations where:
one sentence beca three,
sarcasm turned into debate,
and both of them kept trying to outpace the other ntally.
Haley watched them for about thirty seconds before narrowing her eyes.
"Oh my God."
Both looked at her.
"You two flirt like nerds."
Alex looked horrified.
"We absolutely do not."
"You're arguing about molecules with sexual tension."
Gael nearly choked on air.
"That sentence should never exist."
Alex physically covered her face.
"I hate this family."
Haley grinned triumphantly while stealing one of Gael's fries.
"You like him."
"I respect him intellectually."
"That's what virgins say before fanfiction happens."
Silence.
Then Gael laughed so hard he nearly dropped the chemistry book.
Alex stared at her sister in complete betrayal.
"WHAT DOES THAT EVEN AN?"
Haley looked extrely pleased with herself.
Upstairs, sothing crashed loudly.
Nobody reacted.
Gael noticed that too now.
The family had trained themselves to distinguish:
normal chaos,
dangerous chaos,
and Phil chaos.
Different categories entirely.
"You know," Alex muttered while sitting back down beside them, "you're weirdly tolerable."
"That sounded romantic for you."
"It was not."
Haley pointed again.
"She's flirting!"
Alex grabbed a pillow and threw it directly at her sister's face.
"Die quietly."
Haley collapsed laughing while Gael shook his head, smiling into his drink.
And sowhere in the middle of chemistry equations, sibling violence, and whatever this conversation had beco—
Gael realized he was starting to understand why people stayed attached to this family despite the insanity.
Because underneath all the noise—
being here felt good.
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