A/N: Hey, here's another Aceline chapter! I hope you enjoy it.
Chapter 14: Girls' Night
Later that day, Catelin stood at the edge of the cliffs overlooking the beach, a white dandelion in her hands. She watched absentmindedly as the breeze blew some of the seeds away.
"I wonder..." she hummed to herself. "When is Aceline's birthday? I don't think she ever told me..."
"Let's see. Todd said last night that he was an Aquarius, which means that his birthday should be around..." She scrunched up her nose, trying to remember that page in the book. "... December... no, that's Capricorn... January... 20, through February 18? Yeah, that sounds about right."
"Oh, I hope I don't miss it!" She exclaimed suddenly, as the wind blew the rest of the seeds away. "They're so new, and it's so early in the year..."
Just then, she saw Kapp'n slowly pull into the docks with his boat, and she beamed when she saw Aceline with him.
She ran down to the beach just as she stepped off the boat and thanked him.
"Aceline!" She called, and when the girl turned, she skidded to a stop and grabbed her shoulders. "Quick! When's your birthday?"
Aceline, although stunned, managed to stutter out "Uh, I think it's today...?"
Catelin gasped. "Oh no, oh shoot! C'mon, we have to celebrate! I'm so sorry you had to work on your birthday like this!"
Still stock-still, still wide-eyed, Aceline could only mutter, "H-huh?" As Catelin grabbed her hands and began to drag her away.
"C'mon, let's go do something fun!" The blonde insisted with a big grin. "It's your birthday! As mayor, I hereby demand you come with me to celebrate it!"
She finally snapped out of it and could only laugh and try to keep up as Catelin ran through town. "Okay, if you say so."
When they got to Catelin's house, she threw the door open and almost dove inside. "Alright. My room's up the stairs, go pick out a cute outfit."
"A-are you sure?" Aceline stammered, her eyes flickering between the stairs, Catelin, and back again.
"Go!" She shooed her off with a wink. "Don't worry, you don't have to worry about giving it back to me! Just pick one and take it."
She shrugged, muttered "Okay?" and went upstairs.
Catelin followed her up quickly afterward, and when she threw open the doors of her wardrobe, she sat on her bed, awaiting Aceline's choice.
Aceline sifted through the clothes, eyes narrowed in concentration.
After searching for a bit, she found a black-and-blue corseted shirt and skirt combo. She pulled them out, looking to Catelin for confirmation.
"They'd look really cute on you!" She smiled brightly, standing back up. "In fact, hold on, I have something that'd look great with them."
She rummaged through the shoe rack, pulling out blue pumps and black stockings.
"Here." She handed the socks to her and set the shoes on the floor. "I'll be downstairs. Go ahead and change, and then come downstairs so I can see."
"O-okay." Aceline gave her a tiny smile, to which the girl giggled and skipped away.
After a little bit, Catelin heard the sound of shoes clacking against wood. She turned to see Aceline coming down the stairs, wearing the outfit.
"Oh my gosh, 'line, you look amazing!" Catelin gasped, rushing closer. "Here, turn around, lemme see!"
Aceline slowly turned in a circle, and the blonde jumped up and down, clapping her hands rapidly.
"You have great taste!" She beamed at her. "What do you think?"
"I... I feel great, actually." Aceline looked pretty happy with herself, even if she felt a little embarrassed at the attention. "I left my clothes on your bed, if that's okay."
"Yeah, that's fine." Catelin gave her a hug. "Okay, I'm gonna go change! Be right down."
The noirette watched her go. Once she'd disappeared up the stairs, the girl slipped off the pumps and walked over to the couch, sitting down.
Catelin's room was pretty decorated, she'd discovered, with pictures of villagers everywhere. She'd tried not to snoop, but she'd found an envelope pinned to the corkboard above her bed with vaguely familiar handwriting.
She hadn't opened it and had merely wondered, gotten dressed, and left, but now she was beginning to realize things about her.
"She really is well-liked," she murmured to herself with a smile. If the pictures and conversations from the other villagers meant anything, it meant that they all really loved her.
Then the memory of what they were doing here flickered through her mind again, and she bit her lip, trying to push away her feelings.
Finally, she heard her coming down the stairs, and turned to see her wearing a citrus gingham dress with yellow buckled shoes and white stockings.
"Well?" She twirled around, and the skirt of the dress flared up a bit.
"It looks cute." Aceline stood up and went to the door.
"Great! Let's go." Catelin waited for her to put her shoes on before taking her hand and nearly jogging outside.
"Where are we going now?" Aceline asked, raising an eyebrow.
"We're going to Club LOL! Have you been there yet?" The blonde asked, eyes sparkling.
Once Aceline slowly shook her head, she laughed.
"You're gonna have so much fun!" She exclaimed. "It's that one spot beside Nook's. They've got live music pretty much every night!"
"Do they? Huh." The girl hummed in thought. "Sounds like a good place to spend weekends."
"It is." Catelin turned back to her with a grin. "It's great."
They reached Main Street quickly enough, and when Catelin opened the door to the club, the pulsing music suddenly grew louder.
She winced a little bit, but she didn't have to cover her ears. "Is it always this loud?"
"Is it loud?" The blonde wondered. Then, with a concerned glance, "I'm sorry, should I tell him to turn it down?"
"No, no, no, it's okay." Aceline shook her head. "It's just jarring at first."
"I felt the same way when I first came in here." She agreed. "It takes some getting used to. I think tonight is... 8-bit night, if the sign was right."
"Do they have different nights?" The noirette asked.
"Yeah." Catelin nodded briefly. "It varies. Sometimes, they have 8-bit night, sometimes they have normal nights, and then on Saturdays, they have K.K. Slider. He's awesome!"
"Oh yeah, I have heard of him." Aceline grinned. "I almost convinced my brother to go to one of his concerts one time while we were living in New Felicity."
"Oh! Speaking of Todd!" Catelin suddenly seemed to remember something and she stared at the girl with a determined gaze. "When's his birthday?"
Aceline blinked, folding her arms across her chest. "Um... tomorrow?"
"Oh shoot, I have to get him something!" She exclaimed, gripping her hair and tugging. "What does he like?"
"Well, I think he still likes nice clothing." She hummed, drumming her fingers on her arm. "Like I said, I've only tried to convince him to go to a K.K. concert, so I don't know if he'd like any of his music."
"Hm. Well, I can try." The blonde shrugged. "For now, let's dance! This is my favorite song!"
After a long night of dancing and laughing, the two stumbled out of Club LOL and collapsed on the bench at the cliffside.
"Oh boy, that was-" Aceline giggled, resting her head against Catelin's shoulder, "-that was the most fun I've had in a long, long time."
"I'm glad you enjoyed our trip!" Catelin, although still catching her breath, giggled with her. "Was it a good birthday?"
"Yes." She closed her eyes. "This has been a wonderful day."
Catelin stayed silent, although she rested a hand on the girl's head, absentmindedly running her fingers through her sweaty hair.
She checked her watch and frowned. "Ah... it's eleven."
"We've been here for hours." The noirette commented, letting out a heavy sigh. "I should get back home. Although he doesn't show it often, Todd's probably getting pretty anxious."
"Yeah..." She trailed off, getting to her feet. She helped Aceline up, the two walking home slowly.
They made minimal conversation, the excitement now sobered. It was rather cold, the breeze making the two shiver and huddle closer. They stopped first at Catelin's so that Aceline could change into her other clothes. It didn't take longer than ten minutes, as Aceline was still nervous about what Todd would say when she got home.
When they neared the twins' house, Aceline broke away and thanked her once more.
"I had a great time," she said, her mouth turning upwards into a smile. "Thanks again for taking me."
"No problem!" Catelin chirped. "I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Yeah."
The two hugged and went their separate ways.
After checking her wardrobe at home, Catelin remembered that she kept quite a few men's outfits at her room in the museum. She saw Aceline walking ahead of her, possibly to get a gift for her brother.
The two went different ways when they both got to Main Street, Aceline towards some of the shops, and Catelin towards the museum.
She picked out a tuxedo and went home to sleep the night off.
The next morning, early enough that T&T Emporium wasn't open yet, Catelin awoke and began to put together her gifts for Todd. She grabbed the tuxedo she'd gotten the night before and walked to Main Street.
When she got there, the store was just opening. She greeted Timmy and went for the gift wrap, getting a card while she was there. She found a copy of K.K. Bossa and bought it, deciding to mail it to him. She wrapped the tuxedo and wrote him a cute note, sticking the CD in with it. She mailed it and went back to town, grabbing a peach from one of the trees surrounding her home.
A/N: Sorry if it seemed a bit hasty. I lost some of my determination and I kinda struggled through this one.
And... yeah, when Todd said older by 'twenty minutes', he wasn't joking. Well, kinda. Aceline was born on January 19, and Todd was born after midnight on January 20, only about twenty-three minutes after her, making them twins with different birthdays. Weird tidbit of info, but I guess it could be considered a fun fact? Anyway, please let me know about this chapter.