Here's another chapter because I love you guys. And because I'm trying to buy forgiveness AHAHHAHAAHAH HERE ENJOY KILL ME LATER. Actually I have a third one coming soon. Enjoy this one because I plan on dropping a huge fucking drama bomb in the next chapter BWAH HAH HAH HAH here. Read.

AHHAHAHAHA look at that kid thinking he can out-run me. No. I always win.

At least, that's what I thought… until I realized I had no idea where the arcade was. I slowed to a stop, looking around at the store's signs, searching for anything that would imply an arcade. There weren't any maps either.

Dammit I come here all the time. I should know this mall like the back of my hand. Why have I never taken any note of an arcade anywhere?

He passed me in a blur of green and the flash of a dazzling smile.

No. Not… ugh. I didn't mean that.

I mean c'mon. It's so white like HOW.

Shut up. Right now.

He was laughing. Really loud. It's actually a pretty cute la-

STOP.

Anyway, he turned back around and ran to where I was standing. "Lost, are we?" He asked, panting.

"Psh, no…" I could feel my face heating up. Why does this keep happening? What is this?

"No? Okay then." He turned to go.

"…wait." Laughing, he whipped around and grabbed my wrist, pulling me with all the force of a train engine. Scenery sped past, before I could even register what I was looking at. I nearly ran into a few people, who shouted indecipherable things after us. It actually would have been kinda fun if it weren't for the death-grip on my wrist.

Soon enough, he stopped abruptly and dropped my arm, causing me to speed into his back, face-first. I quickly composed myself, although I couldn't calm the burning sensation still on my face. How is it possible that he smelled nice after running like that?

Ignore that.

The name of the place was practically illegible due to the extravagant font. Not like it matters. Still trying to catch my breath, I looked over at him. Even though he seemed exhausted, his eyes were full of energy. As if moments like this were what he lived for.

"Just take it all in, princess. Magnificent, isn't it?" He gazed into the black-light lit room at the neon colors and the flashing screens. "Oh, and the arcade's pretty cool too."

I punched him on the arm, the arrogant asshole. He just laughed and tried to act like it didn't hurt. Hah.

"So who won?" As if I didn't know. I was simply giving him an opportunity to congratulate himself like how he always does. To be honest, it's rather entertaining.

"I'd say…" he shoved me forward into the room. "you did."

What.

"What kind of man would I be if I didn't pay for the lady on our date?" He laughed and ruffled my hair.

"It's not a date."

"Whatever you say," he grinned. And in an instant, his fingers were wrapped around my wrist again as he tugged me into the room of glowing pastels and blinking lights.

…but this time, it wasn't a harsh pull. More like… he was gently guiding me in the right direction. Which, I'll admit, confused me. So, I caught up to him. Matching his pace, although I had no idea where we were going, weaving between machines and tables of all kinds. I felt his grip relax, knowing I was following and that I wouldn't run off. I thought for sure he'd drop my arm and shove his hand in his pocket, just like the other. But he didn't. Instead, I felt as his fingers slipped down, almost absentmindedly, until they were over mine.

What the absolute fuck.

I looked down at our hands. It wasn't anything like you'd expect. Our fingers weren't interlaced or anything. But his had found the place between my first finger and thumb, and rested over the back of my palm. And I found my fingers had curved around the back of his hand as well. If we had straightened our hands, they would have been perpendicular to each other. It felt natural. I couldn't help but notice that my hands suddenly looked ugly. Skin too pale and I still needed to fix my cracked fingernail polish.

But what the fuck?!

I looked up at him, since he was slightly taller, even in my shoes. His eyes kept scanning the room as we walked, no doubt looking for something. It had been such a casual gesture. And he seemed so nonchalant about it. So I shrugged, gave a small sigh, and shook my head.

Could I…?

I immediately derailed that train of thought. It was bad enough I considered him a friend, while we should be rivals. After all, he was competition too. This was my redemption, and nothing else was more important. I definitely could not even allow myself the option of thinking those things. Absolutely not.

Sorry it's short… I got nothin else. This is HAAAAAARD and I'm busy I literally spent almost a month and a half writing the three of these and i'm still not happy with them but whatever