Archive of Our Own ^beta

The crowded hallways of Jefferson county middle school were bustling with excited chatter and the mild thundering of hundreds of feet stomping their ways towards their individual classrooms.

Amidst these many sets of children was the infamous Milo Murphy, happily making his way around clumps of students and chaos inhibiting his path towards his next class period. It was soon to be his third to last class of the day and he could not be more excited.

Milo’s third to last class of the day just so happened to be art, one of his favorite subjects for the creativity and the fact that art happened to cater towards chaos, something that he knew was in his element.

While skipping his way towards his classroom he couldn't help but notice how loud the halls were today, he supposed it was due to the upcoming football game he already knew he was barred from going to due to Murphy's law.

Exhaling quickly to redirect his thoughts away from the slightly disappointing thought he twisted and pushed his way through swaths of students before finally making it into the relatively quiet art classroom.

Quickly he found his seat and sat himself down, relishing in the lack of auditory chaos, because despite his love of calamity and his shocking ability to manage the frankly quite loud shenanigans that happen as a result of Murphy's law, mundane noise really gets to him.

Whenever someone talks too loud or Bradley wont stop his incessant sniffling during allergy season or whatever grating noise might worm its way through his ears and into his brain, He’s found that he truly can't handle an entire day of regular mundane sound without feeling like ripping his own ears off and screaming at the top of his lungs.

Soon enough the echoing ringing of the bell brings him back from the fog of his thoughts into the present. Looking around he notices Melissa and Zack have taken their regular stations sitting on either side of him, talking to each other loudly about something or other.

Noticing his sudden attentiveness, Melissa turns her gaze towards Milo, smiling and opening her mouth before being interrupted by the art teacher beginning his spiel about continuing their current project, shouting slightly to be heard over the rowdy class.

Smiling apologetically, Milo turned his gaze toward the front of the classroom, listening attentively to the teacher’s instruction. Soon enough the class was set off to grab and work on their projects.

After grabbing his assignment and sitting back down with Melissa and Zack, Melissa resumed what she had been wanting to say earlier.

“Hey Milo! A little spacey today huh?” She said, sounding as fond as usual.

“I'm just gonna assume that's normal for you guys?” Zack said.

“Yeah, pretty much” She replied before turning back to the piece of paper set in front of her, still chatting with Zack.

Taking that as a cue to get started, Milo grabbed his pencil and started sketching. Almost immediately his pencil lead broke. When he stood up to sharpen his pencil it ended up snapping in half in his hands.

Frowning, Milo went to grab another pencil from his backpack. Usually, he wouldn't be bothered by destruction, but this time was considerably disappointing considering he had managed to keep that pencil for a record amount of time without breaking for a Murphy.

Once he had gotten back to sketching, he could help but notice how loud the classroom was. He could hear Melissa and Zack chatting next to him, he could also hear the teacher loudly talking with Mort about chakras or something and the pencil sharpener that had been grinding away for at least a minute straight now.

The more he thought about it the more sensations were popping out at him. People chatting, footsteps, the grinding of chairs on the floor, the happenings of the class next door, the fluorescent lights, the collar of his shirt digging into his neck, It all felt like too much.

The more it swirled in his brain he could feel anger sparking inside him. Pushing his hands against his ears in a feeble attempt to muffle the aggravating noises he could feel a scream building up in his throat and pushing against his teeth.

Spurred on by anger and the fear of lashing out, Milo quickly stuck a hand in his backpack, searching frantically for a distinct slip of laminated paper. Growing more frustrated, he could feel tears pricking at his eyes, threatening to fall.

Suddenly he was nudged lightly in the side. Flinching back, Milo looked over at where the touch had come from only to see Melissa looking at him with a knowing look in her eye, holding out his pass to leave class when needed.

He snatched it up swiftly, silently promising himself he would thank her later. Immediately he rushed up to the teacher, flashing them the pass with one hand still pressed against the side of his face.

The second the teacher nodded he could feel relief crash down on him, although short lived because the continued noise was still assaulting him. Trying to appear normal Milo waltzed his way out of the classroom at a regular pace but the second he got out into the hallway he broke into a sprint to the closest empty classroom.

Soon enough he found one and he quickly made his way inside, ensuring all the lights were off in the room on his way. Sitting down on the floor, he felt himself snap. finally pushed to his limit, leaving him screaming and sobbing on the floor.

Once the dam had broken Milo could feel himself starting to rock back and forth, tugging at his hair and screaming like a wounded animal. As much as he wished he could just be normal he knew the only option was to ride it out.

After a while of sobbing Milo heard the door to the classroom opening. Immediately he went silent, falling into verbal shutdown. Glancing up, he relaxed, seeing Melissa standing there holding his ear defenders. Then Zack walked in.

Despite how much Milo had enjoyed Jack’s presence so far he was worried about how the other boy would react to Milo having a meltdown. Truly he wanted to trust him but Milo had told people he's autistic before and received frankly quite negative responses, even from people who seemed accepting before.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Milo took the ear defenders and shoved them onto his head before hiding his face in his knees, deciding to just ignore the other boy for now.

After what felt like an hour of silently crying and slowly calming down, Milo finally felt ready to address Zack and Melissa and any possible misconceptions and or derogatory language.

Slowly Milo raised his head, sniffling and taking a quick glance at his friends, who had apparently taken seats in front of him.

“Um, thanks Melissa for my pass and the ear defenders,” He said quietly, avoiding eye contact.

“It was nothing dude and to be honest, the ear defenders were Zack’s idea,” she replied.

Shocked, Milo looked at Zack. The boy in question chuckled nervously, fiddling with his hoodie strings.

“Yeah! Uh, I’m actually autistic too!” He squeaked, voice cracking slightly.

“Oh! Oh, I'm so glad. To be honest Jack I was really worried you were going to judge me.” Milo said.

Raising his eyebrows Zack responded “Really? Who would do- actually now that I'm saying it out loud I'm noticing how stupid it sounds.”

Laughing slightly, Milo scootched himself forward until he was in front of Zack and then he held his arms out, silently asking for a hug.
Taking the que, Zack hugged the boy. Milo, not wanting her to feel left out, gestured Melissa forward into the hug. Like she had just been waiting to be invited, Melissa sprung forward, bringing her best friends even further together and completing the group hug.