A/N:

Sorry that this chapter is a bit shorter than the rest of them. Hopefully, the length of the last chapter made up for it a little lol, considering that was my longest yet. I just felt like where I ended it felt natural and was the best place to cut it off. I have to admit, it is a little difficult trying to write without much support or many reviews, but I'll keep pushing on. Anyway, like always, thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy! :)


Chapter Nine

Ralph rose with the sun the next day. He slept somewhat restlessly, his mind pressed constantly with pestering thoughts of the girl in the room over. He wondered what made her decide to come down to his house when she couldn't sleep.

She feels safe with you. The thought did comfort him slightly, but it also worried him; it put that much more pressure on him not to hurt her. He could feel a small flame inside of him growing, but he knew if it turned into real, tangible feelings...it could be dangerous to the both of them. And his first priority, though the thought was strangely distressful, was not to love her, but to protect her.

Some part of his mind still saw the naive little kid he knew before. And he knew that part of her life still lived on, even though she was blossoming into a young woman. He moseyed slowly into his kitchen, pale dawn light streaming in through the round window above his counter. He stared outside at the 8-bit sun, which peeked just barely over the digital horizon.

He made himself a cup of hot coffee and sipped it slowly as he continued to stare out the window, mulling over his thoughts.

Meanwhile, Vanellope was just stirring in the midsts of Ralph's comfortable blankets and pillows. She stretched comfortably, for once realizing the new length of all her limbs. She curiously stretched her arms and legs out to their full capacity, testing out her new dimensions. She smiled excitedly, looking at her long, lean limbs and lightly toned muscles. I think I'm starting to like this whole update thing.

She suddenly remembered where she was and her face heated with color. She sat up in bed, taking in her surroundings, considering every detail. The night before she hadn't thought to look around; the only thing on her mind had been sleep. And Ralph, her own mind seemed to tease her.

She looked around at the simple yet charming furnishings. The room was decorated with the same deep blues and lime greens as the rest of the house, with dark oak furniture. She noticed an open door leading to what seemed to be a bathroom. She almost went charging in, but wondered if she should ask Ralph about it first. He might have another bathroom he prefers me using.

She climbed out of bed and clumsily ran her fingers through some of the bigger knots in her hair, though she knew her efforts were near hopeless without a real hair brush, which she suspected Ralph didn't own; his hair never exactly looked well-kempt. She giggled to herself at the thought.

She made her way over to Ralph's dresser, where a mirror resided on the wall above it. She tidied her hair enough to look somewhat presentable, and took a moment to appreciate its length. Now, loose, her hair spilled in messy waves over her shoulders and reached to about her waist. Grinning, she collected it and settled it over the front of one shoulder. With a satisfied shrug, she adjusted her tank top and headed out of the bedroom.

She slowly opened the door, noticing Ralph was already up, and standing by the kitchen window, holding a large mug and sipping at it. Sheepishly, she walked towards him, softly shutting the door behind him. He must have been deep in thought, she pondered. He didn't even notice her approach.

"Morning, Stinkbrain!" She greeted brightly, flashing a confident grin towards him, though her heart fluttered abhorrently in her chest. He turned to look at her, his stare somewhat dazed and bewildered. He risked a quick glance up and down her figure, noticeably gulping as he held the mug to his mouth to try and hide his quickly-forming blush.

Of course, still being naive to these little cues, she didn't notice anything. He silently thanked User when she had no reaction to is wandering eyes. He put his mug down shakily on the counter behind him. He didn't exactly know how to deal with this situation. He had never had a girl spend the night before, let alone an attractive young woman.

"Morning," he responded dully, turning away and resuming his dubious position by the window. Vanellope frowned and seated herself at the table with a sigh. "You should probably head back to your game," he continued, still not looking at her. Her brow furrowed and she wondered why he was suddenly acting so cold.

"Oooooookay," she said, dragging the word out slowly. "I-I guess I'll be on my way then." She sighed, staring at her hands as they rested, clasped on the top of his dining table. She realized she finally fit properly into the chair. There's another plus, I suppose. "I should be getting ready anyway," she muttered, mostly to herself. She suspected he wasn't really listening.

Yet something inside made her want to stay. Confused by her own confusing feelings, she figured it was probably best that she left. Ralph certainly didn't act like he wanted her hanging around. "Bye, Ralph," she said quietly, a sudden feeling of disheartenment filling her.

He grunted in response, taking another rather long gulp of coffee. She threw him an agitated glare and hurried out of the room and out the front door. He flinched when he heard the front door being closed somewhat louder than normal. He relaxed from the tense state he had been in and let out a long sigh.

There's no use ruffling your feathers too much over this, he thought to himself. Pushing her away a little is better than leading her on. Now that she's grown, she's bound to experiencing some confusing things...I don't wanna encourage anything. Yet even as he tried to assure himself that what he had done was right, and good for her in the long run...He still felt something press against his chest and his heart seemed to tug at his insides in a disconcerted manner. It seemed to scream at him, "Ralph! What are you doing, you moron?! You hurt the poor girl! What's the matter? Scared of a little emotion?!"

He groaned loudly, resisting the temptation to wreck things as he clenched his fists on top of the counter in front of him. Before he knew where his feet were taking him, he was scrambling to the living room and staring out one of the windows facing the street.

There she sat, in her car, head rested against her hand. She seemed to sigh before finally turning on her cart and pulling away, driving off into the distance. Wait...he realized. Is that a different cart? His heart sunk further down his chest at the replacement of their lovingly made creation. It must have came with the update. He slunk back into his kitchen and sat at the dining room table. Guess now all that's left to do is wait until game day starts.


As Vanellope walked into the castle, feeling more tired and disheveled than when she woke up, she was greeted with a full on body slam of a hug.

"Oof!" She cried out as the blonde figure tackled her to the ground. "Taffyta!" She exclaimed, grunting under the weight of the hyperactive racer. "What's the matter with you? I've just woke up!"

The blonde stood up, helping her to her feet, laughing loudly all the while. Vanellope rubbed her now tender rump gently, giving her a questioning glare. "Where were you anyway?" Taffyta inquired, looking at her with a mischievous twinkle in her eye and crossing her arms. "Did you spend the night at another racer's place?"

"Uh, no," she admitted, suddenly feeling reluctant to divulge any more information. "But we can talk about that later. I need to get dressed. And I am hungry."

"No worries!" Taffyta chimed, skipping away towards the kitchen. "You go get dressed and I'll make us breakfast. Just as long as you tell me everything after we eat."

Vanellope didn't have a chance to resist; her friend was already in the other room. With a small sigh, she rubbed her head and trudged up to her bedroom. She rummaged through her closet and pulled out comfortable looking cream colored racing pants and a dark pink tank as well as one of her new mint green cropped hoodies. She quickly dressed herself, and washed her face in the bathroom before pulling up her hair into its customary high ponytail. She frowned at herself in the mirror, making a split second decision to try something new as she wound her hair into a messy bun atop her head. Smiling, she made sure it was mostly secure with bobby pins and let some strands of hair out to frame her face. She grabbed her gloves and goggles before bounding back down the staircase.

Taffyta was finishing up her infamous strawberry shortcake pancakes when she made her way to the kitchen. She served up a heaping plate to Vanellope, who eyed it with a practically watering mouth. "Taffyta, you are my savior," she groaned, quickly diving into the delicious meal.

The other girl laughed and rolled her eyes, seating herself beside her and partaking in the small feast, gorging herself on pancakes as well.

After they finally finished eating, Vanellope internally searched for an excuse not to talk about her and Ralph as she collected the plates and started washing up. "So," she began, "How was your little exploration of Sugar Rush yesterday? What all has changed?"

"Oh, no, Miss Von Schweetz," Taffyta teased, wagging a finger playfully in the air. "No deetz from me until I get some information from you."

Vanellope sighed, scrubbing the messy platters and surrendering herself to the realization that nothing would keep this insistent girl off of her back. "I went to Ralph's," she mumbled, her face flushing bright pink.

"WHAT?!" Taffyta hollered, springing up to stand on the stool. "RALPH'S?!"

Vanellope shook her head. This is exactly the sort of reaction I was trying to avoid. "So what? I've been to Ralph's plenty of times," she defended, though she knew her case was weak.

"Come on, Van, don't be so naive. That was before your upgrade. Now you're hot, girl, and there's no doubt Ralph has noticed!"

"He has said that guys are looking at me differently now," Vanellope admitted, her face growing hotter by the second as she refused to make eye contact.

"So, what happened?" Taffyta pestered eagerly, settling back down in her seat with an excited glimmer in her eyes.

"Nothing!" Vanellope cried out, holding up a half-washed whisk in the air and staring at her incredulously. "I literally just went there, and went to bed. He slept in the living room."

"Oh," the other racer responded, sounding highly disappointed. Vanellope sighed, rolling her eyes playfully.

"Anyway," she diverted. "Answer my question now." She looked up at her friend with a snarky grin.

"Well," Taffyta began, her tone growing strangely serious. "There's really only one major change that I noticed."

"What's that?" Vanellope pressed curiously, intrigued to know what all the update had brought upon their lives.

"Well...I don't know how you're not going to feel about this, but, we have a new racer."

The brunette perked up excitedly. "So? That's awesome!" She enthused, grinning brightly. "I can't wait to show them the ropes."

"Wait, before you get your candy canes all in a twist, there's just one thing," Taffyta hissed, her voice dropping as she leaned over the counter conspiratorially.

"What? Spit it out!" Vanellope urged, her heart pounding rapidly.

The blonde in front of her gulped apprehensively.

"She's your sister."