Summary: Pre-Movie. Candlehead finally realizes what everyone thinks about her, so she runs away, feeling disappointed in herself. Will one glitch be there with her the whole way, or will she laugh? One-shot.

A/N: Yep! Another one-shot which popped into my brain whilst I was taking a shower! Yay! Well, lets read it! And, I've never, ever been good at summary's, so I'm sorry if this one's a little...well, suckish. And, you know what else is weird? I write my summary's before I even type the story up! Weird, huh? Anyway, let's start!

She'll Always Be There

Candlehead giggled to herself as she proceeded to walk around the candy-coated paths of Sugar Rush. She loved taking little walks in the middle of the afternoon. They were so...well, fun. And she enjoyed giggling for no particular reason, only because she thought, and knew for certain, that people loved it whenever she giggled.

She arrived outside Taffyta's fairly large house. It smelt wonderfully like strawberries, which Candlehead loved, since she hung about with Taffyta so much, that she was used to the beautiful smell. Taffyta had promised that Candlehead was allowed to come back to her house today, which is where Candlehead went as soon as she had finished the Random Roster Race.

She proceeded to knock on the door, but she heard many racers laughing in Taffyta's backyard; Candlehead shrugged. Maybe Taffyta didn't want to be alone today, she didn't know, but what she did know was that Taffyta promised that they could have a play-dated, which was good enough for her.

Candlehead decided that she would go around the other way, through the fenced door that surrounded the backyard. She giggled to herself, wanting it to be a surprise. She loved surprising all her friends. Especially her best friends, Taffyta and Rancis. Those two were awesome buddies to be around.

As soon as Candlehead arrived outside the fenced door, she heard laughing once more. Candlehead giggled; her friends were so funny! She decided that she wanted to listen to what her wonderful friends were talking about, which would make her little entrance even better. She put her ear towards the door, and began to listen.

"Man, that girl is stupid!" She heard Gloyd snigger a little. Candlehead shrugged her shoulders, and continued to listen. She sometimes wondered about Gloyd.

"I know, right?" Minty added, "She doesn't even know the difference between left and right!" Candlehead didn't know the difference between left and right, but Candlehead reassured herself, knowing that her friends would never laugh at her.

"She's so stupid that she blew up the planet and didn't even know what was going on!" Adorabeezle was heard next, getting a chuckle from some of the other racers. Candlehead still wasn't sure what was going on, but wanted to find out what.

"I'm telling you, she really needs to see a physicist." Candlehead then heard Crumbelina sigh. The green-haired girl was now put in total confusion. Who were the racers talking about?

"Candlehead's so dumb that she can't even spell her own name!" Rancis chuckled, getting a couple of more laughs from the other racers. Candlehead's eyes widened, her lower lip quivering. Her friends...they thought she was...stupid? No...that wasn't true...it couldn't, wasn't. She felt tears forming in her eyes, and wiped them with the back of her sleeve.

"C'mon, guys! Don't you all know what it's like to be her best friend?" Candlehead smiled a little when she heard Taffyta's voice, "That Queen of the Dumb-Dumbs is so hypnotized by her stupid candle, that she can't even race properly! I mean, what's so special about her candle! The whole, 'I'll just be a head without it,' doesn't even make sense!" She imitated her supposed best-friend, getting manic laughs from the other racers.

Candlehead felt tears stream down her face; this wasn't happening. It couldn't be happening. This shouldn't be happening. They were her friends, especially Taffyta, so why were they laughing at her? She hated the way the others talked about it. It wasn't nice and pierced her heart greatly.

The laughs, the laughs...it went through her brain like nothing else was occurring around her. She clutched her fists together, full of anger and sadness, her candle burning harder. She couldn't believe this was happening. She needed to do something, even if that meant-

Before she could think of any action, she punched down the door, surprising the other racers, some smiling sheepishly at her, like they were so innocent, "Candlehead," Taffyta begun nervously, "W-We...I..we didn't mean anything we said. They were...um...jokes..."

"S-Save your sugar-dust, Taffyta!" Candlehead whimpered a little, wiping her eyes, "I-I don't wanna be your friend anymore!"

"C-Candlehead..." Rancis mumbled in worry, "Please...we were only joking around..."

"Yeah," Jubileena continued, "We didn't mean to laugh at you in any way. We were just...well, joking." Candlehead knew her so called 'friends' were lying.

"I'm telling the King on you!" Candlehead whimpered, before running away once again. She didn't want to see...them again. Why should she? They were big meanies, and that's all they'd ever be. But...was all of that...true? Was she stupid? Was she an idiot? Those questions never occurred her before, and why should they?

She lied about the part that she was going to tell King Candy, only because she knew King Candy would do exactly the same thing as the other racers; laugh at her. Why should she go to someone who would only make things and matters worse?

She continued to run through the sugar-coated paths of Sugar Rush. She didn't know where she was going, nor did she want too. All she wanted to do was get away from everyone. She didn't care about anything now. Now, she just wanted to run away from everyone, and never see them again.


A couple of hours later, or what seemed like an eternity to Candlehead, she finally arrived at a place where nobody could laugh at her; the candy-cane forest. It was relaxing, and, if she managed to get up one of those trees, the view would be magnificent.

However, Candlehead still hadn't recovered from what the other racers had said about her; was she really stupid? OK, she admitted that sometimes she could be a little gullible, and somewhat silly, but not stupid. Maybe, just maybe, she was stupid.

"Hey," A voice disrupted Candlehead from her thoughts, "What're you doin' here at this time of day? Thought your goin' to Taffyta's little party, since your her best friend and all..."

Candlehead didn't recognize this voice; it sounded like a girl, but not any girl she had spoken to before, and she had spoken to all the racers in Sugar Rush. The only way to find out, she guessed, was to turn around. The sight before her shocked Candlehead greatly. It was the glitch, there, laying on her backside of a candy-cane tree, "Sup?" She asked.

Candlehead screamed a little, hiding behind a gummy rock, "P-Please...don't hurt me!" She whimpered, shaking. She heard a faint chuckle.

"You think I'm gonna hurt you? I always think you're gonna hurt me?" The glitch chuckled once more, walking over to the poorly-hidden Candlehead. She outstretched her arm for Candlehead to grab, "But seriously," Her tone of voice changed from sarcastic to fairly gentle, "Why are you out here at this time? It can get really dangerous around here."

"Oh," Candlehead replied, letting Vanellope hold her hand, a couple of tears beginning to spill out, "W-Well, my friends said mean stuff about me...they said I'm stupid and stuff, so that's why I ran away...d-do you think I'm stupid, Vanellope?"

Vanellope was slightly shocked, "You...you know my name? I thought I'm known as the glitch around here." She muttered bitterly, "I mean...that's the first time someone's used my actual name in years, you do know that don't you?"

"Why wouldn't I use your name?" Candlehead replied, slowly drifting off the first topic, "I mean, you're being nice to me. It's kinda weird...King Candy said you're scary and stuff...but you're really nice! So...do you think I'm stupid?" She still wanted to know the answer to that question.

"No," Vanellope replied, "Of course not; you're the first one who's been nice to me. I don't think you're stupid. You're really nice. Much nicer then the other racers, anyway."

"I know, I know!" Candlehead giggled, "So, you like me! Like a friend and stuff?" She asked a little curiously, walking slightly closer to Vanellope's face. Vanellope scratched the back of her head nervously, backing down a little.

"Yeah. But...I thought you hate me...don't you?" And with that, Vanellope glitched a couple of times, blue pixels forming around her body, her code separating for just a short moment.

"No," Candlehead shrugged back, like she hadn't even seen Vanellope glitch, "I told you, you're really nice! Now, do you wanna get some ice-cream! I know an awesome place where we can get some!"

"Oh..." Vanellope replied, somewhat shy, "If you wanna do that. I think It'll be fun." And after she said that, Candlehead, the giggling little girl she was, had already ran off ahead of her.

"C'mon, slowcoach!" The green-haired girl teased, but all in good nature. Vanellope shook her head and began to chase after the racer. It had seemed like both of the girls had made their first, proper friend.

A/N: Yay! It's done! So, what did we all think? I know, I know; it's short, but whenever I get an idea for a story, boy, I just have to type it up!