A/N: Ok, a long one for a change! Thanks for all your reviews, they make me so happy!

"She's, like, not even trying. It's embarrassing."

"I know. Why is he even with her?"

"Beats me. He could get someone so much better, he's like a celebrity."

"You think she'd get a makeover or something."

Have I ever mentioned that I hate, and I do mean hate girls who say things like that?

I couldn't help but overhear them. I was just walking around town, on my way back home to see Emmet, when I heard some frilly, gossipy-girls talking about me. How can they sleep at night saying things like that?

Is that what they think? That I don't even try? I look fine! I put on lipstick and stuff, I…I…well…

I guess that's it.

Oh, who cares what they think.

Shrugging it off, I continue on my way home. Emmet and I are planning to have a nice night alone tonight, Unikitty is staying with Sweet Mayhem for a sleepover. They should have a lot in common, mainly a love for all things glittery.

Emmet came to me this morning and asked me if I wanted to have a big movie night, and by the look on his face alone I couldn't say no. He's just…sweet. Adorable, same as when I first met him.

He's always there for me. Every morning I wake up and find his arms snug around my waist, his breath ticking the back of my neck. Sometimes I think back to when we first met, and how quickly I grew to like him. He's the best.

Do I even deserve him?

I wince at the thought. He tried to change for me…he nearly died trying to be tough for me. He just…he saw that I thought he wasn't tough enough and tried to change. Do I love him enough to do the same?

Despite telling myself those girls know nothing about Emmet, their words just keep invading my thoughts.

I will not care about what those 'cool' girls think of me. I will not. Like avoiding bad reviews to your favorite movie, I will not think about it!

I almost make it home unscathed, but marketing is a cruel mistress.

My eyes wander to a poster smacked onto the window of a mall.

Do you need a makeover? Are girls talking about you behind your back? Do people think you don't try to look pretty? Does your boyfriend sacrifice more than you do?

This is oddly specific.

If you answered 'yes' to those questions, then you're in luck! Come in today to URFANTASTIC and get a FREE trial makeover, everything included! Sale ending today!

No. Don't do it. Lucy, whatever you do, you will NOT go into this mall. You're better than this. You have your self-respect, dignity and pride. You will stand your ground and refuse to give into the gossip and standards set–

"Unikitty?" Good thing I have her number on speed-dial. "Can you meet me at Peg Mall? I'm…getting a makeover. Hello? Unikitty?" All I can hear from the phone is the steady drip of phone-droplets. What happened?

"EEEEEEEEEEEE!" Unikitty yells in my ear after appearing next to me in a burst of sparkles and glitter. "I'M SO EXCITED, COME ON!"

You know, for a unicorn-cat, Unikitty has some immense strength.

We zip by a fast-food place, several jewelry and clothing stores, three kid's shops, six sports stores and five other floors before halting at URFANTASTIC. At least, those are the stores I could catch. It's hard to see when Unikitty drags you at three-hundred miles per hour like that.

"Unikitty, I don't know about this." The smell of artificial perfume is making my throat close up. "Emmet's expecting me home, anyway."

Unikitty shakes her head. "I already called him and told him you'd be late. Don't worry, you'll look amazing!"

Sheepishly, for once in my life, I look down to the floor. "I don't know, maybe I'm being crazy."

Finally getting her breathing back down to a normal level, my best girlfriend looks at me. "Wyldstyle, listen. We won't do this is you don't want to, but I know you'll look beautiful."

I meet her eyes. Maybe she's right. Besides, whatever they do to me is temporary, right? And who knows, maybe I will look cool. After all, Emmet is still a guy, and whatever they do won't look bad, so what's the harm? "Alright, let's do it."

The moment we walk in, a swarm of sales women surround us like bees around a flailing child. They all reek of perfume, chemicals and nail polish remover. "Hi!" One overeager woman who seems to be the most interested in helping me stands at the front of the pack. The top of her blonde hair seems to rise an inch above her head, and the rest falls past her elbows in a waterfall of 75% hairspray and 25% hair. "My name's Candy, I'll be helping you today!"

Apparently, in the world of salons, that means 'this one's mine', because all the rest of the women retreat. I can finally see the rest of the place, which is stark-white, except for the colorful bottles, products, and wall accents. It's…bright. Like, really blinding. Does the CEO where sunglasses all the time or something?

Candy puts an arm around me and leads me to a white leather chair. Several women are smiling at me from the other chairs, encouraging my new endeavor. "Now, what would you like done today? I assume a whole makeover, yes?"

I look to Unikitty, who subtly nods with kind eyes. "Uh, yeah."

Candy gasps through a permanent smile. "Oh, I know you! You're Wyldstyle, the famous Master Builder! Oh, I've been waiting for you to come in!"

Now what does THAT mean?

Before I can question her, she continues, "Now, first thing to start with is the hair."

Oh no.

Despite my lack of makeover experience, I know what she's about to do.

She lifts her hands up to my ponytail, pulls off the band, and lets my cotton-candy hair fall to my shoulders. I can hear Unikitty gasp behind me, and I think several others are staring.

"That's not going to work…" I try to tell her, but she doesn't listen.

Candy's pink eyes are watering with emotion. "You have such thick, marvelous hair! It seems like you've never done anything to it!"

"Done anything to it?" I ask as other hairstylists come over and nod approvingly at my locks.

Candy starts gathering bottles that vary in shapes, sizes, and levels of chemicals. "You know, blow dried, flat-ironed, that stuff. You don't weigh it down with chemicals and heat, that's why it's so soft and fluffy!"

Unikitty leans over and whispers to me, "Basically, your hair is really healthy."

Oh, that makes sense. I nod, and Unikitty steps back again.

Candy starts fingering my hair, feeling it and running her hands through it. Or, she's running through it as far as she can. My hair is really, really knotted. I've broken $60 brushes trying to rip through my hair. "Hm, you have some knots. No worries!"

I smirk. It's been years since I've had that much hope for my hair. Candy doesn't have enough products in all the beauty stores in the whole world for her to fix my hair. Have fun trying, though.

"Good luck, but it's not going to help."

#

Ok, I stand corrected.

She actually got the knots out.

Now, sitting here, (facing away from the mirror) I can actually run my hand though the wet hair with no resistance or pain. "How do I look?"

Unikitty nods eagerly. "Wyldstyle, you look fantastic! Emmet's going to love it!"

"I hope so. Hey, Unikitty? I told you why I came here, right?" I started playing with my hands and looking away from her. Candy is off somewhere gathering torture – I mean hair styling tools.

Uniktty nods. "Yeah, some jerk girls were saying…saying…" Her pink, Easter-Egg color starts to melt into hot-pepper red, so I quickly throw her a glitter cookie. It fixes her composure immediately. "Thanks," she sighs.

"No problem. Anyway, I just…do you think Emmet thinks I'm, y'know…" Ugh, I hate saying things like this. This stuff always makes me cringe. "…pretty?"

Unikitty opens her mouth to respond, but Candy comes back with an armful of products and equipment. "Alright, dear, let's see what we can do with this, shall we?"

Why do I have a bad feeling about this?

#

Two hours and fifteen minutes later…

"Unikitty, I'm never, EVER doing that again!" I rub my eyebrows and wince. Who came up with the concept of waxing, anyway? It's a stupid idea. "How do I look?"

She shrugs. "I can't really tell, you have a towel around your hair and a face mask on, so I can't really see. Oh, and here are the clothes you asked for!"

Yeah, I decided that if I'm going to do this thing, I'm going to go all in. I told Unikitty to go down and find me some, yuck, 'trending' clothes. I just have to trust that society knows what it's doing and that I won't look stupid wearing its ideas. Please, society, I hope you have all this thought out.

Besides, if I do this all in, then I'll know I love him enough to change, just like he did for me. I've done far worse things than wear a little makeup and try some new clothes.

Honey walks over to me with a massive, and I mean MASSIVE trunk. "Ok, now onto the makeup!" Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention that Candy is on break. Apparently, I'm such a huge project that they need multiple people working on me.

"We haven't even gotten to makeup?" How is that possible? I've been in here for hours! I figured it was time for the check! "Unikitty, how much longer will this take?"

Uniktty took a peek at the clock through half-opened eyes. Even she was getting tired. "Uh, I'd say you'll be home by tomorrow morning."

#

"Ok, I think…I can't believe I'm saying this…" Scarla says. "Honey, Candy, come look, I think we're…done." Yeah, Scarla's my third and final addition to my team.

"We're done?" I ask in disbelief. I really don't know if I can believe them. "This isn't like some pre-done, right? 'Done' in my book means that I can go home. No final coats, no more glosses, nothing." I know my clothes are done, I let Unikitty pick something for me and I dressed without looking much at them.

Scarla nods, fluffing my hair up and adjusting it here and there. I'm facing away from the mirror, so I can't see how terrifying/amazing I look. "Unikitty, how do I look?"

Candy, Honey and Unikitty (who have all actually become good friends) walk over. "What, Wyldsy–"

They're staring at me like I just fell to pieces. Not good, not good. Even Honey and Candy are stricken speechless. I'm shaking, my stomach is turning and flipping inside me, I want to see how I look! "Unikitty?"

Unikitty finally manages to open her mouth. "Uhm, wow, you look…different."

"Isn't 'different' bad in the beauty world?"

"You don't look bad!" Unikitty amends quickly. She nears me, mainly looking at my hair. "You just look like a totally new person."

"Honey? Candy?" I don't even know why I'm asking them, it's not like they're going to give me accurate descriptions.

Candy goes first. "You look fantastic, it'll just take some getting used to! This is the shock stage." She looks to Honey, who nods in agreement.

Scarla adds some more hairspray, showering it down on me like rain showers, the type that hit in the middle of July. "You really do look wonderful, that boyfriend of yours will barely recognize you."

I'm not sure if that's what I want.

"Are you…" Unikitty grabs the arm of my seat. "…ready to see it?"

"Yes. I'm ready. This will be fine. I'm ready. For sure. Positively. Maybe." Candy, Honey and Scarla walk away, I guess they figure this is a girlfriend-moment. "Ready, Unikitty?"

She nods. "Ok, and…now!"

She turns the chair.

I open my eyes.

What the…

My hair is still it's Play-Doh, colorful blue and pink.

That's about it.

My hair is layered and trimmed, fluffed up and teased like an 80's girl. It's not huge, but it's bouncy and has several upwards curls going from my ears to my shoulders. A single silver streak lies in the front, shining out from the rest of my hair.

I can see the tar-black eyeliner from a few feet away, and it lies just below Caribbean-Sea eyeshadow. My eyelashes are blue, almost purple. My lashes reach up so high I can feel them touching my face.

Any acne I ever had is gone. Destroyed. Obliterated. Banished. Now, in its place, lies enough blush to make it look like I'm embarrassed.

My lips are a blood, burgundy red and sand out from the rest of my face.

My freckles are gone. I don't know where they went or what's covering them, but they're gone.

I finally force myself to look at my outfit. I'm wearing a short, chocolate crop-top over a white tank, both of which actually fit me. I look down to my new, murky navy jeans and my high heels I know I will not be able to walk in.

"Unikitty," I mumble through an open mouth. "I look…"

"…different," Unikitty supplies. "But nice! You look pretty! It takes some getting used to, but I think you look nice!"

I thank Candy, Honey and Scarla and tip them, but Unikitty is helping me, I'm kind of in a daze. We walk out of URFANTASTIC (which I will never be able to think of without smelling Citrus-Orange-Lemonade-Avocado-Bean-Sunflower-Juice shampoo) and head home.

"Are you ok, Wyldstyle?" Unikitty asks as we walk down the sidewalks. It's evening, the sky looks like a swirling, waterfall mix of reds, oranges and yellows. "You're quiet."

I finally shake myself out of my trance. "Yeah, fine, I'm just…what's Emmet gonna think?"

Unikitty shakes her head. "Emmet's going to love it. He's super sweet, he'll think you like pretty no matter what."

I guess she's right. I mean, I look conventionally pretty, it's just REALLY jarring to see myself looking so different. Oh, and my face still is varying in temperature from the hot waxing and cold facials, it that normal? Also, when do my eyelashes stop hitting my eyelids and go back down where they're supposed to be?

As we turn onto a new street, I spot Batman. "Woah, hey, Unikitty, who's your new friend?" he asks in a non-flirty tone. He's married now, after all. WOW, I can't believe he's married. And…to a shapeshifting queen? Well, whatever.

Unikitty giggles. "Batman, it's Wyldstyle!"

"That's Wyldstyle?" Benny flies over and asks in his usual high-pitched tone. He's followed by Metal Beard, who is giving me a stare that almost makes me back away.

"Tell us somethin' only the REAL Wyldstyle would know," Metal Beard commands, peering down at me suspiciously.

"Emmet's favorite movie, at least this week, is A Christmas Carol." Funny, considering it's June. Only Emmet.

They all nod and accept this. "What happened to you?" Benny asks.

"She got a makeover!" Unikitty announces with mini, pastel fireworks around her. Seriously, how does she do that? I mean, even basic physics say…never mind, Unikitty has never been one to follow physics. "Doesn't it look great?"

Before they can give me their half-baked answers, my phone buzzes. "It's Emmet," I tell them. I answer it and hope like heck a person can't smell perfume through a phone. "Hey, babe. What's up?"

"YOU'RE ALIVE!"

I pull the phone away from my ear only a second too late. "Emmet, are you ok?"

"I'm fine, but I've been calling you like crazy for the past two hours, I started to think you died or got kidnapped or left me or something! I even started writing a letter begging you to take me back."

There's no hope of wiping the soft smile that's on my face. I turn away from the group and reply, "Emmet, I'm fine. I'm on my way home."

"Ok, good. I miss you."

I don't think I ever blushed this much with any other guy. "I'll be home in a few minutes, then we can start the movie. Love you."

"Love you!"

I hang up and turn to face a group of saps with watering eyes. "Oh, come on. It wasn't that bad, besides, how much could you even hear?"

"You had it on speaker." Unikitty wipes away a tear. "Come on, we've got to get you home! Bye guys!"

Everyone waves goodbye, and we continue home. I can't help but feel like everyone's staring at me. They've got to be, right? It can't just be me. Why do I feel like an animal on display at a circus?

We arrive back home within minutes. Now my stomach hurts. My head spins. Right in there, Emmet has no idea what awaits him. "Uh, Unikitty?" I smile sweetly. "Do you mind if I talk to him alone first?"

Unikitty shakes her head. "Of course not, I have to go anyway. Have fun!" She starts to leave, and just before I get the key in the door she adds, "By the way, Emmet loves you. Don't worry."

She leaves me with that piece of advice, and I have no choice but to open the door and face the music.

Breathe.

I open the door, but I don't see him. "Emmet?"

His smiling face pops out from a wall. "Hi, Lucy, how was your–" The moment his eyes opened, his ability to speak seemed to fly away from him. Perfect.

"Uh, hi," I greet. I almost smile; he looks just like the first time we met, back when he was so love-struck that he could barely speak. He told me later I was the most beautiful, amazing, gorgeous woman he'd ever seen.

Why did I think this was a good idea again?

"Don't freak out." I walk closer to him and put my hands on his shoulders, just in case I have to wake him out of this trance. "I got a makeover, alright?"

He shakes his head and clears the fog around him. "Why?" He raises one eyebrow and stares into my eyes, taking in the entirety of my appearance.

With a sigh, I tell him the story. And as soon as I get started…I can't stop. I tell him how some weirdos were talking about me, then why I went in, how much I wanted to prove that I could change for him, and even some highlights of the makeover. "I…I just want you to know that I love you, Emmet. I really do."

He throws his arms around me like I'm a stuffed animal. "Lucy, I love you."

My feet start to leave the ground, he's holding me so tight. "Ow, ow!" Just as I start to wrap my arms around him, he drops me to the floor like he's holding burning coals.

"Are you ok?" I finally notice the bandage on his forehead…and he one on his arm. "What happened?"

He clutches his arm and looks up at me, embarrassed, borderline terrified. He bites his bottom lip and tries to explain, "Well, uh, it's not that long of a story. But, if everyone in town starts talking about 'Emmet's most embarrassing day', don't listen to them, they're exaggerating. I'm sure lots of people fall off the treadmill. And trip while jump-roping. And have to use the kiddie-weights. And started sweating five minutes in."

He…he went down to the gym? "Emmet…" My laugh is light through my breath, lighter than than my touch against his cheek. "You're adorable, you know that?"

He shrugs. "I've been told so."

"So, you're ok if I put my hair back the way it was, get rid of the makeup and go back to wearing a hoodie?"

He nods eagerly. "Of course, I love the way you look! Lucy, remember when we first met? I couldn't even talk, you were so beautiful!" His eyes are sparkling at the memory.

I eye him curiously as he looks my makeup up and down. "Can I make a quick adjustment?"

I nod, and he goes into the kitchen, grabbing a washcloth and wetting the tip. He walks back over to me with decisive eyes. "Stay still," he murmurs. I shut my eyes, but I can still feel him gently wipe the thick, cakey layer of makeup from my cheeks. "Emmet?"

He pulls back and admires his work, satisfied. "Much better."

He puts down the cloth while I go to the window to check my reflection. I don't see anything different for the first few seconds, but like a whirlwind in the Pacific, it hits me.

My freckles.

He wiped away the makeup so he could see my freckles.

"Emmet?" My voice creaks like floorboards in an attic.

Shivers like frost go down my back at the warmth of his arms around my waist, contrasting the black paint that slowly drips over the fire of evening. He rests his head on my shoulder like it's a pillow, not that I mind. It's nice.

His voice is soft, softer than I've ever heard. Like a wave washing over my feet. "I've always loved your freckles, Lucy."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

I can hear him take a breath through my hair. I wonder if he smells the Citrus Coconut Island Junk shampoo.

He leans in closer, burying his face deeper in my neck and hair. "I love you, Lucy."

So, maybe the makeover wasn't a total waste.

"I love you too, Emmet."