It was the little things. The way her short red hair bounced as she walked. The little bandages she always seemed to have on her cheek and across her nose from whatever it was that she got up to outside of work. The way she checked in at town hall every day, even on her days off, just to say hi. All these things and more were why Isabelle, the mayor's secretary, was head over heels in love with June Jones, the mayor of the little town of Remnant.
There was just one problem: June had no idea, because Isabelle could never work up the courage to tell her.
She'd tried. Several times she had attempted to work it into conversation.
"Hi, Mayor June! Is there something I can help you with?" she asked, walking up to the mayor's desk. June had just plopped into her big, cushy leather chair and leaned back, hands behind her head, her black mary janes propped up on the desk. Isabelle's eyes glanced across the mayor's form, noting her fishnet stockings, black skirt, and black sleeveless top, the one with the big zipper. These were the clothes June wore the most, sometimes with a star hair pin, and often more than one day in a row - but they suited her, and Isabelle couldn't judge anyway, since she also had a tendency to repeat her wardrobe.
As usual, June's response was wordless, a shake of her head back and forth and a small frown. Isabelle gave a small nod before breaking into her usual spiel, with a few important additions. "All right then. If there is anything, anything at all, that I can assist you with in the future, please don't hesitate to ask. I want to be there for you... I..." She shook nervously, eyes on the ground, paws fidgeting. "I want to always be there with you. I... love..."
Her eyes flashed over toward June's face. With dismay, she realized that the mayor had fallen asleep. Poor thing... June was always out and about helping other villagers, doing what she could to keep the town clean and running smoothly. Like Isabelle, who tended to work late into the night finishing paperwork, June often got little sleep.
"I love you," Isabelle muttered with a sigh, a smile on her face despite her failure. As silently as possible, she crept to the drawers behind the mayor's desk, reaching into one and pulling out a small pillow. Softly placing it against June's arm and head, she barely resisted the urge to give her crush a peck on the cheek.
Another time, during one of the August fireworks shows, Isabelle had tried again.
June had been running around the town plaza, making sure the other villagers were having a good time and that Redd wasn't scamming anyone with his fortune cookies. She wore her purple frock coat, one of the outfits she tended to use when she wanted to seem 'fancy'. This despite the fact that she still had bandages on her face, disheveled hair, and absolutely no one expected her or anyone else to dress fancy tonight. Not to mention that, even though it was night time, it was still hot outside. The dress had a high yellow collar and long sleeves, so it couldn't exactly be the coolest. As if to make up for this, June wore no socks, or even shoes. Combined with the glowing blue flower poppers that were sticking out from her hair on coils, June was an admittedly amusing sight.
Or, at least, Isabelle imagined others would think so. To her, June's eclectic outfit was just one more of the many adorable things about her.
For the most part, Isabelle wore what she usually did to these affairs - a skirt and a t-shirt, the white one with red flowers that vaguely looked like fireworks. This time, though, she had also adorned her head with poppers, something she typically left to the mayor and villagers. She'd chosen the heart-shaped ones, because subtlety was overrated.
Making a tentative approach, Isabelle neared the mayor, who was talking with Pecan, one of the villagers. Envious thoughts always seemed to boil to the surface when she saw those two together... Pecan was gorgeous, and it felt as though June hung out with her a lot. If June fell for her, there was no way Isabelle could compete - not with someone as beautiful as that. She closed her eyes and shook her head, her ears flopping, trying to banish the bad thoughts. Rumors flew through the town faster than the train, so if June had started seeing someone, Isabelle would know. She just had to stop worrying, and make her own move before something disastrous like that could happen.
"Hun, this is so fun!" said Pecan, clapping her hands together. "Thanks for watching the fireworks with me, Fancy J."
June smiled, and Pecan walked away to chat with other villagers. Now was the time! "Um, Ms. Mayor?" Isabelle said, holding a paw out toward the girl who had just started to walk away. June turned around, the look on her face questioning. Isabelle's throat felt dry. "Would you... like to watch the fireworks with me, for a bit?"
June's questioning look quickly gave way to a beautiful smile, followed by an enthusiastic nod.
The two of them took a seat on the low wall surrounding the Town Tree, Isabelle making an effort to sit as close to June as possible, despite how awkward it felt. They still ended up with a good foot between them, though, to her internal frustration. They stared up at the fireworks, or at least June did. Isabelle tried to keep her eyes skyward, but they kept drifting back to June's pretty face. She always had such nice eyeliner wings - though the one closest to Isabelle had gotten smudged sometime earlier in the night. And her little angular nose...
Perhaps sensing she was being looked at, June turned her head toward Isabelle, who hastily looked skyward. Once June's eyes had returned to the fireworks, Isabelle slowly, ever so slowly, scooted her butt over, closing the gap between them. June either didn't notice or didn't care, to Isabelle's relief.
"Um... Ms. Mayor?" Isabelle said hesitatingly. June turned her head again, inquisitive. Nervously, Isabelle pushed aside her bangs, even though they weren't long enough to cover her eyes. "I think... I think you're..." Again her throat felt like a desert... a desert somehow being constricted by a boa. Her little black nose twitched in agitation. "I think the... fireworks look pretty... Er, prettier than usual..." Ugh, she was losing her chance, what could she do to save it? "...since I have someone here to enjoy them with me!" Well, not a complete save, but better, at least. She could feel her cheeks burning, though fortunately, because of her fur, June wouldn't be able to see it.
The mayor smiled warmly, with another small nod. A few seconds later, she looked up to the sky again, even as Isabelle continued staring at her wistfully. With a little sigh, Isabelle looked up at the sky too, the colorful explosions lighting up her eyes for the rest of the night.
This time would be different. This time, she would finally say it. She would finally make June understand.
She pulled lightly at the red ribbon that usually adorned her white undershirt, assuring herself that it was taut. Reaching up to feel the top of her hair, she fluffed it a bit, then suddenly stopped, moving her hands away and shaking them irritatedy. Her hair was fine. She was fine. It was going to go well. She just needed to find June.
She first stopped by June's house, and though the lights were on, no one answered when she knocked. June had a bad habit of leaving her house lights on all the time, so Isabelle was hardly surprised. Heading west toward most of the villager's homes and Re-Tail, she passed Mira, the yellow rabbit who had a thing for superhero outfits. She was a little odd, but nice enough whenever Isabelle talked to her. Isabelle gave a little wave, and Mira waved back with a smile.
"Mira, have you seen Ms. Mayor today?" Isabelle asked, trying not to sound too eager.
With a shrug, Mira replied, "Yeah, a while ago... She went toward the beach, maybe to see someone over there?" She scratched her head, her ears slightly drooped, and shrugged again. "Don't like Rowan and Pecan and stuff live that way? I haven't lived in this town too long, so..."
Pecan!? Not again! She didn't want anyone else around when she did this, especially not that particular squirrel. "U-u-uh, thanks, Mira!" Isabelle said, giving a small bow and hurrying away, visibly flustered.
Scurrying around a bend in the river and passing through some trees, Isabelle arrived at the houses Mira had mentioned. Sure enough, she saw June, and of course the mayor was talking to Pecan... Darn it! Should she wait? No, the time was now! If she didn't do it now, she might never be able to.
"Turnips and bells are pals and that's swell, but... Oh, Isabelle, hello, hun!" Pecan said with a smile as Isabelle approached.
June, who had been facing the other direction, turned to look, visibly surprised.
"We don't normally see you out of the office unless there's an event," Pecan said, her head cocked to the side. "What brings you out here?"
"I, um..." Isabelle began weakly. She swallowed, her throat once again a desert wasteland. She could do this, come on! Steeling herself, she softly stamped her foot and balled her fists, her face scrunched up resolutely. "I need to talk to Ms. Mayor. Alone."
"My, my..." Pecan said, coyly putting a hand to her mouth. "Well I'll just leave you to it, then." She flashed a wry smile at June, who didn't seem to notice, and walked away.
June stared at Isabelle, concern on her face. Isabelle stared back, her eyes briefly moving up and down June's body, taking in her outfit. June wore an unbuttoned black school jacket, her red undershirt showing clearly. She wore her usual black skirt, but with black leggings this time, and black rain boots, despite it being a sunny day. A pretty blue ribbon sat in the spot where her star hair pin typically resided, and the usual bandages sat across the bridge of her nose and her cheek.
"M-m-muh... Ms. Mayor." Isabelle stammered, shaking from head to toe. June's expression grew even more concerned. "Um... J-June."
The mayor's face instantly changed from concern to shock. Isabelle understood - she never used June's first name without attaching 'Mayor' to the front. "I... have something to tell you." Ugh, of course she did, that was obvious. Why couldn't she just spit it out? She opened and closed her paws... were they sweaty? They seemed sweaty. She hoped they were the only parts of her that were like that. "June, I... like you a lot, um..." The mayor's eyes were perfectly round, her blue irises shimmering in the sunlight. "I mean, I... I lo..." Swallowing one last time, Isabelle clenched her fists, closed her eyes and yelled, "I love you!"
Silence hung in the air. Isabelle's fear was palpable, and she found herself unable to open her eyes. She desperately wanted, no needed, to know what June's reaction was, but she couldn't bring herself to leave the safety of the darkness her eyelids provided. Her fear was interrupted by confusion when something soft and warm pressed softly against her cheek. Cautiously, she raised her eyelids to find that June was right before her, her hand against Isabelle's cheek. June was staring at her intently, her face wracked with concern again. Shortly after Isabelle's eyes peeked open, June seemed to realize what she was doing; she frantically pulled away, taking a few steps back, her cheeks bright red. It was the most adorable thing Isabelle had ever seen.
"S-sorry..." June mumbled, glancing back and forth between Isabelle's eyes and the ground. "But, uh... you... you do?"
It was Isabelle's turn to silently but enthusiastically nod. This was... not something she could have ever seen coming. She hadn't known exactly what to expect, but even in her wildest dreams she wouldn't have expected this.
"I, uh... I love you too," June said, practically mumbling it, her cheeks looking like they were on fire.
Isabelle's jaw dropped. "What!?" she said loudly, unable to contain it.
Apparently finding it extremely difficult to maintain eye contact, June said, "I've loved... um, you, well, for a long time." Her foot traced circles in the ground, which for some reason seemed to be an activity that heavily involved the use of her eyes. "I, uh... had a really hard time trying to say it."
Given this was the most Isabelle had ever heard June say at one time, that last part wasn't quite as surprising as the rest. But still... "So... so you... Even back during the firework festival, when I had the heart poppers on?"
Despite her obvious nervousness, June giggled. "Yeah... those were really cute." Isabelle's face suddenly felt just as warm as June's no doubt was. Thank goodness she had fur. "I wanted to tell you, then, when we were sitting there. But then you talked about how pretty the fireworks were and I just... I lost my nerve, I guess. I wanted to say that you were prettier, or something, but it seemed too cheesy..." June's entire face was pretty much crimson. If she blushed any harder her face would probably melt - not that Isabelle's burning cheeks were much different.
Slowly, ever so slowly, Isabelle stepped forward and reached out her paw. She gently took hold of June's hand, and moved her head down to the side so she could look at June's awkwardly averted face. June's eyes connected with hers, and they both slowly brought their heads back up to a normal level.
"M-muh... Ahem," Isabelle started, still nervous, but considerably less so. "Miss June." A smile appeared on her crush's lips. "Would you... like to be my girlfriend?"
Still red as can be, June vigorously nodded, her short red hair bobbing. "I'd love to!"
Isabelle beamed, her fluffy tail wagging back and forth. This was, without a doubt, the happiest day of her life so far.