If you're wondering: Is this a multi-chapter story now? To that I say no. It's now officially a two-shot. A lot of you requested Joy and Fear to really kiss, so wish granted! Haha! It may not be what everyone expected, but what more could you ask for?
I'm not the type of person who does lip-kissing scenes very well, and I'm better off reading them instead of writing them, so I apologize in advance. Don't like the pairing? That's okay! Judge solely on my grammar and you'll be fine.
Flames are for roasting marshmallows. And yes, Anger and Sadness will also get the marshmallows.
As for the plot, I decided to add a bit of real life situation references to this one. It's one of those days where you find somebody you like, and an array of thoughts cloud your mind. You feel happy and excited to speak to that person at first, and at the same time you're afraid you might stuff up and therefore not be able to get along with that person. This chapter is about that situation, so I hope you like it!
Fear couldn't sleep. He had so much going on in his mind. Last night, he had several new experiences. He saw Joy cry for the first time, he heard about Joy having her first nightmare, and above all, he got his first kiss – on the cheek that is. He couldn't let it go. Sure he chose not to comment on it, and pretended to forget about it so that Joy would feel better, but he couldn't let it go. Joy was on Dream Duty tonight, so now was his chance. He threw the covers and slipped away from his bed. Carefully, he tiptoed out of the bedroom and shut the door. Taking a peek at what Joy was doing, Fear saw Riley having a happy dream. It was a dream about Riley ice skating with her crush. He felt guilty seeing Joy put up that dream.
Earlier during the day, Riley started having a crush on a new boy in her class. Immediately, he became popular with the cool kids because he looked cool like they did. The Emotions were thrilled with the way he looked. He was very nice too. Stepping in front, Joy took control. "That guy seems perfect for Riley! Let's go talk to him, guys. What do you say?" she suggested. Anger, Disgust nodded in agreement.
"Well he is cute," mumbled Disgust. Anger rolled his eyes. "Go for it, but he's going nowhere near our Headquarters," he scoffed.
"I guess we can try," muttered Sadness. Joy nodded and prepared to make a move. Riley smiled at the boy and began to walk to him. All of a sudden, Fear jumped in and stopped Joy from taking the wheel. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down there, Joy! We can't just let Riley barge in like that," yelped Fear.
"What do you mean, Fear? It's fine! He's new, so it's okay to say hello," said Joy, pulling a control. Fear grasped her hand to make her stop. "Yeah, but what if the boy doesn't talk to her? Don't you have ANY idea how many girls get rejected just by saying hello to a guy they like!?" Fear cried, implying all the research he did with people and their crushes. Riley stopped in her tracks and thought for a moment. She felt shy all of a sudden.
"Well, maybe it won't work that way for Riley. Maybe it'll be a good start!" Joy said, continuing on. Riley's confidence returned, only to be hung up by Fear. "Trust me, Joy, it's not going to happen. He's too popular for her own good!" Fear said strongly. Riley stepped back and gulped.
"Come on, Fear, trust me on this please?" Joy pleaded. Fear looked at her longingly. He didn't want to upset her like he did last night. But he didn't want Riley to get hurt either. He took a deep breath and sighed. "Alright, but I'm taking the wheel with you," he told her.
"Really?"
"Yeah. At times like this, Riley needs to go slow. I'm helping you so we don't let Riley's reputation fall apart. Of all the girls I've seen in Riley's memories, they were all heartbroken over a boy. We CAN'T let that happen to her either," Fear explained to the star. Joy looked at him sympathetically and nodded.
"So, are we talking to him or what?" Disgust said impatiently. She was very strict when it came to boys, but upon seeing this one, she thought it might work.
Joy looked at Disgust, then back at Fear. She nodded. "Let's do it," she agreed. Fear slowly began to smile as he placed his hand over hers.
With enough confidence, and a pinch of fear and shyness, Riley walked up to the boy along with his new group of friends. "Hi, I'm Riley," she greeted.
The boy looked at her for the very first time and smiled. "Hi," he greeted shyly.
"Ok, that went well… but what do we do now?" Sadness asked.
"We go forward!" Joy suggested.
"Don't go too fast! We need to start them off as acquaintances first," Fear taught, slowing Joy's grip down. Joy looked at Fear, who looked at Riley's point of view, and smiled. He really wants Riley to be safe, physically and socially.
"Can I hang out with you guys?" Riley requested shyly. The boy looked at his friends and they nodded. He smiled wider. "Sure!" he said in agreement. Riley had the biggest smile she could possibly make. "So, what's your name?" she asked.
Her Emotions applauded in success. "We did it, Fear!" said Joy. She even gave the nerve a hug. "Thanks for helping out!"
"Heh, thanks," Fear muttered sheepishly. All of a sudden, a glow radiated and everyone else noticed it. It was a new core memory! Half of it was yellow and the other half was purple. Soon after, it formed another island – an island that can easily fall apart. It was called Love Island.
Everyone looked out from their large window and were amazed. "It's so beautiful, I could cry," whined Sadness.
"I'll admit, this is pretty cool," Disgust said so herself. Anger shrugged, but he was secretly agreeing with her. Joy and Fear looked at it in astonishment.
"It looks so pretty!" said Joy. Fear looked at her and smiled, but looked away once she returned his gaze. Love Island… He liked that. But it looked a little unstable.
Riley had a wonderful morning and kept her smile on until she slept. She was also scared about what may become for her and that boy, but she chose to be happy with where she is now. And hopefully, nothing can go wrong.
All that guilt washed away upon remembering the end of that moment. Riley likes someone now. She was growing up. He watched Joy lovingly as she tried dancing and skating like Riley in her dream. He didn't want to ruin her happy moment by showing up. But upon remembering how he couldn't get that kiss out of his head, he knew can't just let it slip by. Before he went down to her, he was at loss with words. "What should I say to her?" he whispered to himself.
He pretended as if he was going to talk to her. "Hey there, Joy, watcha' doin?" he said before slapping himself. "No, that's not gonna work! Ugh, why am I so horrible at this? Stop being so pathetic!" he scolded himself as quietly as possible. He took a deep breath. "OK I can do this… you've read about this, Fear, and you can't get it out of your head, so there's no turning back now," he said to himself.
Joy hummed to herself as she kept dancing with the dream. She felt like she was living it. She skipped across the ground to check out the new island she and Fear made. It looked beautiful. It was a fused emotion thanks to her and Fear. She couldn't have done it without his help. She giggled at that thought and gave herself a twirl, watching her chartreuse dress twirling after her. Feeling color rise to her cheeks, she gave out a sweet sigh.
"You dance really well," said a familiar voice. Joy gasped and looked at the faint reflection on her window. Fear stood behind her with his hands behind his back. He felt like a no-brainer. She looked back with a smile on her face. "Oh, hey, Fear! Yeah, just living the dream," she greeted. "Can't sleep?"
"You could… say that," Fear said slowly. It's true, he couldn't sleep. And Joy was the main reason for that. Joy danced her way past him and toward the huge windows. "You know, I really like Love Island. Now Riley can't stop dreaming of that guy!" she sighed admiringly.
"Y-yeah... it looks perfect," muttered Fear. Joy looked at him and nodded. Supposedly, Fear came in at the right time. Dancing towards him, Joy took his hands and tried to pull him with her. "Dance with me!" she said.
"D-dance? W-with you!?" Fear asked, his eyes widening after hearing every word. Joy giggled. "Of course!" she replied sweetly. The raw nerve couldn't help but admire the way she was right now. Has this the happiest she's ever been in a while? It has to be. But he was hesitant.
"I-I don't know… I don't dance. What if I fall over o-or what if I hurt you?" Fear whined stressfully.
"You won't. Trust me," Joy promised sweetly. Fear was lost. His antenna was zinging and his chest felt heavy. It's not that he never danced. He did. Joy inspired him to try, so he used to dance when nobody's looking – just in case if he would propose to dance with Joy. But time went too fast and he dismissed it as a forgotten dream. Thankfully, he didn't forget it completely, but he forgot the moves he learned. He felt like shaking his head.
"Come on, Fear, live a little," Joy pleaded again. Fear took a deep breath. Out of fear itself, he wanted to say no. He wouldn't believe it if he heard Joy say it was okay if he declined. There's always something hidden beneath that smile. He realized it the night before. He shook his head anyway. "I'll think about it…" He felt like an idiot for rejecting her. As a matter of fact, he felt like those boys who rejected some of Riley's friends. He was that guilty.
Joy frowned. "That's okay! We can watch the dream together instead. How about that?" she suggested. Fear struggled to pull off a smile. "That sounds great." He mentally slapped himself.
The dream continued on. Riley had fun dancing with the boy of her dreams. She was more graceful there than she was in real life. Fear and Joy watched their girl lovingly. Fear stared at Joy and looked away hastily. He came down here for a reason and he wasn't going to waste it now.
"So… Riley," Joy started, breaking the silence between them.
"Right, right, right," Fear blurted out.
"She's all grown up. Our girl's all grown up now," she sighed.
"Well technically, she's an adolescent now. But, yeah, she does behave maturely lately. I'll give her that," Fear replied kindly.
"She's in love now and I feel really happy for her," said Joy. Now was Fear's chance. "T-that's actually the reason why I came down here, Joy," he mumbled.
Before Joy could ask, they turned their eyes right back to the screen. They slowly moved closer to each other as they saw Riley leaning towards the boy and he leaned in as well. Relating to that, both Emotions stared at each other, then away.
"U-um, J-Joy…" Fear started.
"Yeah?"
"A-about that k-kiss you gave me last night…" he reminded her. Joy blushed. She thought he forgot about it after his thoughts got lost in the dark. "O-oh… that. That was just a thank you kiss. Nothing too special," she said shyly. She half lied too. It was Fear's turn to feel rejected. But then he realized that they're both even now. He was sceptical about she said too.
"I- I was hoping I could return the favor," suggested the raw nerve. He didn't want to say those three cliché words. They were too overrated. Joy blushed. Was he serious? "I… I don't know Fear. I don't want you to faint or anything. Can we just forget that ever happened?" Joy asked hesitantly. She didn't want Fear to forget.
"That's the thing: I don't want to forget it," Fear confessed. Joy exhaled deeply and found herself leaning towards him. "Neither do I," she confessed back.
Fear smiled. He knew it. At this rate, he was no longer afraid. He closed his eyes and leaned in. He also waited for rejection but she gave him none of that. He unconsciously felt his hands touch her face, which made her gasp. As he continued to lean in, she did the same. She always wanted to know what it's like to kiss someone. She heard rumors that it can make anyone feel like the happiest person in the world, but only if they kissed the right person. But what if Fear wasn't the one? It couldn't be. She had feelings for him. With neither of them knowing, the dream ended and the whole screen went black, waiting for another dream to come in a few minutes.
It was dark.
Joy gasped at the sudden blackout. She was afraid Fear might freak out too. Thankfully her glow was there to light the way. But all was silent. Fear didn't let out a single cry of terror. She even gasped at something else. She felt a pair of lips brush against hers. In other words, Fear was kissing her – in the dark! Right now, Fear wasn't afraid of anything. All he wanted was to return the favor. His grown love for Joy gave him confidence, and he showed it. Joy realized that and kissed him back, melting into the sweet moment.
However, the kiss only lasted for a few seconds once Fear opened his eyes. Realizing how dark it was, he pulled himself away from Joy and started panicking. "AHHH, WHEN DID IT GET SO DARK!? See, this is why I hate doing Dream Duty!" he cried while hugging Joy tightly. She was the only light source he had.
"And… he's back," laughed Joy. All of a sudden, a new dream film showed up, and the room was partially filled with light again. Fear grabbed the closest paper bag and slowly breathed heavily into it. He paused once he looked at Joy, who laughed at him. "I-I'm sorry… that's just me being… you know, me," he stammered.
Joy giggled. "Don't be sorry."
Fear raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Why?"
Joy wasn't one to stammer. She looked into Fear's eyes and confessed. "Because… between you and me: You're a lot cuter when you're terrified."
Fear had no words. That was something he doesn't hear everyday. He knew Anger called him a 'Royal Baby' once, still oblivious that it was an offense, but being called cute? He never thought of himself that way. He actually kind of liked it. He didn't want to say he loves her smile. Everyone probably thought of that anyway. "And you're… cute when you cried in front of me first among the rest of the Emotions," he managed to respond. Ok, that was awkward, he thought.
Joy gasped and smiled warmly at his words. That was it. She launched herself at Fear and kissed him once more, surprising the raw nerve. At first Fear expected rejection – he never flirted with a girl this much before. It turns out he was wrong. Shocked, he smiled and kissed her back, wondering why he didn't pass out. They both ignored the new dream that popped up: A dream where Riley was slow dancing with her crush. The music was referenced from Riley's previous school dance.
As the two pulled apart for air, Fear got off the couch and lent her a hand. "Ok, I'm ready," he said.
Joy looked at him confusedly. "Ready for what?" she asked.
"To dance," Fear admitted.
Joy could slowly feel herself grinning. "I thought you said -"
"I know, but I feel confident now… thanks to you," he confessed. His hand was still held out, waiting for her to take it. "What do you say?"
Joy smiled and took Fear's hand. "I'd love to!"
And that's that. I didn't bother to give the boy a name. I don't make OC's for movies. It kind of defeats the purpose of the characters. I don't like making cliché stories to be honest, but hopefully this isn't too cliché. I even made a few references along the way.
In a way, Fear overcame his phobia of the darkness… sort of. He was too focused on kissing Joy, which was sweet. And Love Island… wow… I'll admit, that island's probably the one that can fall easily… if it was created that is. Lovers come and go, and so will that island. Anyways, I sincerely hope you like this one! It may not be as good as the first chapter, but you all asked for a kissing scene. I might make a better one AFTER I watch the movie.
As for Riley's crushing situation, THAT my friends is an argument you may hear inside your head. When you finally have the guts to talk to someone, you'll be all happy about it and at the same time you want to run and hide, trying not to make a fool of yourself. I wanted to portray it that way.
Overall, I consider the Emotions as a family living inside Riley's head. I find it sweet pairing them up together sometimes. If you think it could use some improvements, speak now or forever hold your peace.