A/n: Here I am updating at 3 AM again, I'm really testing myself with this lol. Ignore any errors because I've only re-read it twice. Thank you Cutetyhil for the review on the previous chapter, while this one doesn't exactly redeem Hilary, it definitely sets the tone for it.

Also Max's sister shares her name with my OC (I thought of it first Aoki T.T) so I use a nickname for her, otherwise it's difficult for me to visualise her xD

This one was actually my favourite chapter to write, I hope you enjoy reading it too!

3Crisp Autumn Days

x

Summer vacation this year had been the longest August Hilary had ever experienced in her life, possibly because for the first time, she had spent it all mostly by herself, curled up in her room with only countless books keeping her company.

A few times a week she would meet Kenny at the public library so they could finish all their holiday homework in peace, it didn't take them more than a week to get through all of it, so they spent the rest of their vacation time having long discussions about the books they were reading or the colleges they were planning to apply to next year. On a lucky day, Hilary would be invited to Kenny's house so he could share with her his latest project, having moved on from beyblade mechanics to robotics. She and Kai were the only ones who gave him honest feedback on his inventions, with the others' reactions ranging from being awed by the robot itself or not being able to understand a word Kenny was saying. Every time she made her way to his house, she half hoped and half dreaded running into Tyson there, but to her relief and dismay, he never did turn up. She didn't know if Kenny knew that the two had fought, she definitely didn't have it in her to share the truth about what had happened with anyone, but it did seem strange to her that Tyson was never invited to Kenny's place at the same time that she was.

Max's family had decided to go on vacation together this year, so all she got from him were the occasional photo update and a promise to visit later in the year. Kai had been busy too, he usually stayed at the Dojo during vacations to avoid spending time with his own family, but this year he'd decided to take up a summer job so he could start supporting himself without having to rely on his family for money. The few times she texted him to check in, his replies made it seem like he did not even have time to breathe, let alone sit down for a phone call. Rei had joined a short-term culinary programme in France and was mostly unreachable like Kai, though sometimes she would wake up to a long essay-type e-mail that had a new recipe detailed in there if Hilary knew how to read between the lines, which she always did. Daichi's mother called her over every other weekend, and Hilary obliged because the little troublemaker was already at risk of failing out of school and she was the only one who could get him to sit down and study seriously.

Well, summer hadn't been all that lonely in retrospect, but none of it mattered because hanging out with Kenny or tutoring Daichi would never compare to the rush of excitement she would feel when Tyson smiled at her.

Which he hadn't, not since the day of his kendo match.

They rarely saw each other during the summer break, sometimes when she would be out shopping for groceries with her mother, they'd run into him at the mart and out of courtesy he would greet her mother, only nodding indecipherably at her before leaving. The only truly awkward situation the two had to face was when Daichi's mother invited them for lunch, without telling them who else was coming. When Hilary got on the train that morning, she thought she saw a glimpse of Tyson's familiar baseball cap in the next compartment over, but brushed it aside as wishful thinking, until the only people to get off at the remote station of Daichi's hometown were the two of them.

They avoided each other's eyes and walked at a distance, with Tyson taking the lead and Hilary walking a few paces behind him. She felt it many times that day, the words 'I'm sorry' appearing in her mind but dying in her throat every time she opened her mouth, it was too late she'd tell herself, Tyson wouldn't care for an apology anymore, she had missed her chance. Since when did it become so difficult for her to swallow her senseless pride and admit defeat, since when did she start viewing being truthful to herself as a loss, these questions revolved her around mind constantly and every time she looked at Tyson, she'd be reminded of how he was moving further ahead than her by embodying all the things she valued, how she could no longer bring herself to accept that she was worthy of catching up to him and walking by his side towards whatever awaited them in the future.

It was easier to pretend everything was normal between them in front of Daichi and his mother than to convince herself to accept her mistakes out loud to Tyson. With Daichi wanting to sit next to Hilary, Tyson had to sit across from her and all Hilary remembered from that day was that her neck hurt later that night from keeping it turned in Daichi's direction throughout the lunch. Mrs. Sumeragi talked as much as her son, and all Tyson and Hilary had to do were give a few responses or just nod their heads and smile, and they passed as two people who seemed like good friends, getting through the day without arising any suspicion from their hosts.

In a way, she was glad to have lived through that day, because it prepared her for what awaited her when school started. Every morning Tyson would still be waiting in their usual meeting spot, once he noticed her, he'd start to make his way towards the bus stop, although maintaining his distance. They'd even sit on absolute opposite sides of the bus, with Hilary mostly towards the front and him in the back. On the few days when the opposite happened, she would end up driving herself mad by trying not to look at the back of his head for too long, just in case, Tyson decided to turn around and catch her staring.

At school, however, they didn't see each other at all, not between classes, not for lunch, not even in the hallways when the bell rang signalling the end of the day.

Yet, a silver lining appeared just when Hilary least expected it to.

A few weeks after school restarted, she was invited by three of her classmates to join them during lunch time. These three girls had been in the same class as her in the previous year and were part of the handful of students who had been shuffled into this new class along with her. She was used to greeting them every day, and occasionally helping them with their doubts and homework, but they had never shown any interest in actually being friends with her until now. It made her a little suspicious but it still she was happy to feel included in something after such a long time.

She didn't have much in common with the average teenage girl, she discovered, but despite that, she managed to blend in well with the three girls. Conversations with them ranged from discussions about the drama that had aired the night before, new cafes that were popping up around their town or the latest trends in fashion, and for Hilary talking about these things with someone who was not her mother was a new experience that she welcomed with open arms. The girls seemed to like her enough too, she felt, they happily read the novels or mangas she recommended, and didn't seem to mind gushing about it with her. At one point, she thought to herself that it all seemed a little too good to be true, things had fallen into place too conveniently and she started to feel like she was living in a dream, or a nightmare whenever she watched Tyson turn his back to her every morning when she arrived at their meeting spot.

Even though life felt like it was stuck in limbo for Hilary, it was hard for her to not notice the leaves turning yellow and lining up the sidewalks as October rolled around. And as the days became pleasant, the sunlight warm from hot, the air fresh with a new scent, she was made to realise just how good a judge of character she was, because her inkling about her three new friends turned out to be spot on.

"Tachibana, you haven't been hanging out with Kinomiya these days, is everything okay between you two?"

Hilary almost choked on the bite she had taken from her croquette sandwich, surprised to hear Tyson's name come up in a conversation between her new friends. The one to bring him up was Mayu, a tall girl with short, dark hair and tanned skin courtesy of the tennis club. She had a habit of cutting straight to the point without any sugarcoating, which some people were mostly in awe of, but Hilary found rude on many occasions, for instance, right now.

"I uh-...why do you ask?" Hilary attempted to keep a straight face as she swallowed her food and looked up at the girls sitting around her.

Mayu was sitting on her left, and the calculative look on her classmate's face made Hilary instantly be on guard. On her right was Kana, another girl that she liked to be wary of, she was the same height as Hilary and had bouncy, auburn hair that she always wore in a high ponytail. Kana was friends with pretty much everyone in school and had a bubbly personality to boot which made it impossible to disagree with her, something that Hilary secretly did on many occasions but was afraid to state her opinion out loud as it might hurt Kana's feelings and turn her into a public enemy. Mayu and Kana always worked together in sync, which could be the reason why people could tolerate the former's bluntness, if sweet Kana stood laughing next to her, Mayu was guarded against any disagreements that might've come her way. Even now the pair of best friends exchanged a planned look amongst themselves that did not make her feel better about what would happen next.

Sitting across from her was Emi, the only girl from this trio she didn't mind referring to as a friend. She was a little shorter than Hilary but had almost perfect facial features along with long, straight, hair which were the same shade of brown as Hilary's. They seemed to share similar tastes when it came to fashion and food, so it was much easier for her to strike up a conversation with Emi than with the other two, and the two of them had managed to build up a friendly repertoire which was different from what Mayu and Kana brought to the table. Or so Hilary had assumed, because today for a change, Emi had not bothered to reign in the other two as she usually did when they started uncomfortable conversations and was busy staring down at her lunch, avoiding Hilary's gaze at all costs.

"You guys have known each other for a long time right?" Kana piped up too, bringing Hilary's attention back to the conversation.

"Aren't you two childhood friends?" Mayu followed, not allowing Hilary the opportunity to divert the topic in any manner.

"Uh, yes." She wished she sounded more confident than that, but with the two girls staring her down like hawks, and the only person she thought would provide her with some support ignoring her existence, Hilary had no choice but to stand her ground on her own.

"So, what's up?"

"Nothing..." She managed a tight smile as she looked at Mayu, who only raised her eyebrows curiously at her statement. Hilary took a deep breath and decided that all she needed to do was feed these two sharks a simple version of the truth. They probably had been curious about why Hilary no longer went to Tyson's classroom during lunch, she couldn't blame them for wanting to know what had changed between the two of them. Considering how the two had stuck to each other like glue all the time, a sudden fallout between them was bound to raise questions. With a casual shrug of her shoulders, she added calmly, "We just had a disagreement, that's all. It happens a lot."

"Oh, so you're not speaking to each other right now?"

"Not right now, no."

The question seemed too probing, even by Mayu's standards and Hilary couldn't help but start to doubt the intentions behind this conversation. When she confirmed that Tyson and her were not friendly with each other currently, the mood around their table changed drastically, making her worry that she had said something she wasn't supposed to. A rare frown appeared on Kana's face as Mayu leaned back in her seat with a disappointed sigh, Emi finally indicated that she was still a part of their world by slumping her shoulders as she covered her face with her hands.

"That's a shame," Mayu said, shaking her head as she sent a soft glance in Emi's direction, before turning to look sternly at Hilary.

"You see, our dear Emi over here seems to have developed a crush on him-" Kana folded her arms across her chest, almost defensively, as she too faced Hilary with a sharp expression.

"So Kana and I were hoping that you'd introduce her to him, you know, help break the ice."

Suddenly it all made sense.

The out-of-the-blue invitations to hang out during school hours or sometimes even after, the efforts to get to know her, the genuine interest shown in her, it was all just an act so it could lead up to this moment, the three of them cornering her so it would be impossible for Hilary to refuse their request. She shouldn't have been surprised by this turn of events, after how many times it had happened in the past. Having regularly been seen around town with not just Tyson, but other members of the BBA team, Hilary had always been the point of approach for girls, or even a boy every now and then. She always wondered if trying to push away the girls who only cozied up to her because they wanted to know who Kai was or whether Max lived overseas, was the real reason why she was so bad at making friends with anyone her age.

Maybe the only reason she hadn't doubted the three girls and their intentions was because they had approached her when Tyson and her were in the middle of a fight. Instead of rationalising their actions by thinking that there was no way these three girls could know that she was not friendly with Tyson, Hilary had just been happy to finally receive some attention, to have some people to talk to during the day and not while away her time at school sitting by herself in a corner. Maybe that's also why her chest felt so tight right now because she couldn't believe that she'd made such a stupid mistake of thinking that someone wanted to be friends with her for who she was, and not because of her ties to the boys in her life.

She looked at Emi, sitting across from her still upset and covering her face, and her fists curled in her lap. How could Hilary have missed the hints, of course, a girl who loved pretty much everything she did would have similar taste in boys too. But that was not all that bothered her, it was the fact that Emi was a perfect version of who Hilary should have been. Beautiful straight hair, a heart-shaped face and a petite figure, kind eyes and a polite voice, just the correct mix of assertive yet agreeable, all the qualities that Tyson always teased her for lacking. She could almost picture the two together, standing side by side, looking like a couple on the cover of her favourite manga…

Hilary turned her eyes away from Emi and cast them down onto her lap, fidgeting with her hands she decided to count to ten in her head in an attempt to calm herself. She could not afford to show her real feelings to these girls, who knew what new colours they'd show if they found out that it was not a matter of Hilary not wanting to talk to Tyson because of a fight, but also because she just didn't want to. She had thought that she had the three of them all figured out, but now she decided it was best if she didn't let her guard down around them at all.

"I'm not the best person to be introducing anyone to Tyson right now," she said, her voice polite enough to keep any suspicions at bay, but still definite enough to let them know that she was done with this discussion.

Somewhere deep down Hilary wanted to give the three of them the benefit of the doubt, she wanted to hope that her inability to give them what they needed wouldn't be the end of their friendship, but sadly she had taken them as being more mature than they actually were. Mayu and Kana looked visibly annoyed with her, as if she had failed to serve the purpose they had assigned to her, meanwhile, Emi had finally decided to meet her gaze, with a sullen expression that Hilary had never seen on her face before.

"Maybe we can help you patch things up…" Kana spoke up, with an obviously forced smile on her face.

"Yeah, tell us what happened." Mayu caught Kana's eyes and nodded, a gesture that Hilary did not miss.

She wanted to laugh in their faces and ask them if they really thought she was dumb enough to fall for this trick where they listen to her problems and suggest bad solutions so things between her and Tyson get worse, allowing Emi to sweep in and take advantage of the situation. Hilary wanted to tell them that she spent much more time reading romance novels and mangas than any of them combined, and if they wanted to come at her with a cliched trick like this then they ought to just give up altogether.

"You guys are so sweet! I really appreciate your concern," Hilary said, passing an over-the-top grateful look in each of their directions, "but like you said Kana, Tyson and I have known each other for a really long time, so I'm sorry, but you guys just wouldn't understand how things are between us."

She hadn't told a lie, Hilary comforted herself as the four of them resumed lunch in silence. Maybe the only people who would understand why Tyson and Hilary were fighting were their former teammates, and even then it would take them a while to catch onto why Hilary had taken offence over a joke, or how her selfish behaviour had ticked Tyson off. But while she hadn't lied, she had made the statement in a way that implied she had a special relationship with him, which was far from the truth. And as much as she hated lying, she reassured herself that this was needed and that her sacrificing her friendship with these girls would be her punishment.

Once the bell indicating the end of lunch period rang, all four of them went back to their original seats and Hilary knew, without anyone else having to say a word, that this was the last time she would ever sit and eat with these girls again. When classes got over later that day, the three of them left the classroom without calling out to her, and the next day all she got from them was a stiff greeting out of courtesy. She was like a puzzle piece that didn't fit, but still for the sake of completing the puzzle they'd held onto her forcefully. Until they realised that they didn't need her to fit in after all, discarding her at a moment's notice with no regard for her feelings.

X

She was planning to spend the day with her face buried in her pillow, thinking about nothing and just simply existing in her room, away from all of life's problems. So when her phone made simultaneously buzzing sounds, Hilary let out a loud groan into her comfy pillow before lifting her head to check the messages. Not many people texted her, and after how things had been going recently, she wondered if it was just spam mail as she flipped open the phone, but her eyes lit up at the strew of messages from someone she hadn't seen in a while.

Max.

As promised, I'm here!

I wanna do some shopping and pretend to be a tourist for a day, you have to come with.

Meet me at the station at noon, okay?

Hilary surprised herself with the speed at which she leapt out of her bed and rushed around the house, trying to get ready on time. The excitement of finally being able to spend time with a real friend made her forget all about the possibility that she might not be the only one Max invited. It wasn't until she reached the station, just five minutes before their decided time, and saw Tyson hovering behind Max who was waving excitedly at her from afar, did she realise that of course, the blond would invite everyone, and not just her.

"Hilary! It's so good to see you!" Max came forward to bury her into a hug and she had barely any time to make peace with the fact that she would not only be spending the day with a friend, but also with someone who probably wanted nothing more to do with her, taking away some of that happy rush she had felt earlier.

"I missed you too!" She somehow managed to speak, even with Max's arms wrapped crushingly tight around her.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed that Tyson's whole face had soured at the sight of her, or that's what she assumed from the way he instantly turned his gaze away from the two of them. When Max finally pulled away, Hilary wasn't sure if she would be able to match his excited energy for the rest of the day, especially if Tyson was going to act like her tagging along had ruined his whole day. But somehow she gathered herself and put her best smile forward, blocking Tyson's face out of her mind, she had already decided when she left home that today was going to be the day she had fun, and she wouldn't be Hilary if she let something like a fight with Tyson get in her way.

"When did you land?" She asked Max, as the three of them crossed through the gates of the station.

"Yesterday, and sadly I fly out Monday morning," Max said, sending an apologetic look in her direction.

"Oh, that's…" Hilary searched for the right word to use, but her brain failed her. While she hadn't expected him to stay for long, she had hoped that he would at least be around for a week or two, make her life feel normal for longer than a weekend, something she desperately wanted.

"Not ideal, I know." Max finished her sentence, "Dad had to stay back with Lottie, so I came by myself. I even forgot to pack the keys to the shop and our house, luckily there's always space to crash at the Dojo." He turned and grinned at Tyson, who responded with a casual shrug.

The train arrived as soon as they reached the platform, and much to Hilary's relief was mostly empty. All three of them were able to grab a seat on the same side, with Max choosing to sit between Tyson and her without a word of request from either of them. If he was staying at the Dojo, then Hilary wouldn't get any chances to speak to him, really speak to him about all the things that had gone wrong in her life and maybe get some advice that she could use to salvage this wreck. Tyson had probably already narrated his version to their friend the night before and that put her in a tight spot, one where she might have to justify her behaviour rather than just be honest about what had happened.

Max did not, however, show any signs of being aware of her fight with Tyson as the day went on. Even with the two of them not only avoiding each other's eyes but also standing at a distance, the cheerful blond managed to manoeuvre his conversations with both of them on equal footing, never once making it feel like he was ignoring Tyson while he was addressing Hilary or vice versa. This helped Hilary relax and somewhat accomplish the goal she had set for herself today, which was having fun. She couldn't remember the last time she had laughed so much in a day, and even though Max had made them walk around not one but three department stores searching for gifts for his sister and Judy, her feet felt like they were still ready to run a marathon.

She was grateful that the one to drag her and Tyson along together was Max because she knew that he was the only one out of their friends who could deal with them behaving like they were perfect strangers to each other and not bat an eyelid. Had Kenny been here, he would've been too anxious about upsetting either of them and making things worse that he would've stayed quiet the entire time. Kai would get one hint of an argument between them and he'd just get up and leave, only speaking to either of them after they had resolved their issues. Rei would try to sit them down face to face and get them to talk about their feelings or to resolve the issue which was always a hellish nightmare. And Daichi would be, well Daichi and throw a tantrum about them ruining his fun day away from home.

But Max did none of that, he just let the two of them be as they were, and after all the time her and Tyson had spent apart, Hilary felt relieved to just be able to be around him without wanting to explode from the guilt that had consumed her every single day since his kendo match. And while at the beginning it had looked like Tyson was very annoyed by her presence, as time passed, his face mellowed down into his usual charming features, and he even started to chime in with a joke or two in between her conversations with Max. It almost made her wish that the blond wouldn't leave for home so soon, so when the three of them sat down to have lunch at a family restaurant, Hilary couldn't help but let out a whimsical sigh and voice her thoughts out loud.

"I wish you'd stay for a while."

"I know." Max smiled at her, folding his arms across his chest as he rested his elbows on the table, "But Halloween's next weekend and I've received strict orders from Lottie to be back by then."

"How is she?" Hilary picked up the strawberry shake she had ordered for herself and took a sip, not pushing her wish any further since little Lottie's demands were always top of the food chain in Max's life.

"Surprisingly calm for a four year old." Max laughed, blue eyes lighting up at the mention of his sister.

"Must be news for you." Tyson snickered next to him, reaching forward to pick a fry from the plate she had ordered.

"Hey, I was a very diligent baby!" Max punched his shoulder lightly, and in a taunting voice added, "I'm sure I was a breeze compared to you, as Hiro reminds us every now and then."

And just like that, the conversation turned to what Hiro was up to these days, from which they went on to deduce what Kai's various monosyllabic responses to Max's texts about hanging out over the weekend could mean. Tyson was more defensive about Kai than his own brother, which she found odd but then again he wouldn't so much as look at her but didn't mind eating the fries she had ordered, as if they'd planned to share it all along, so was there ever any logic to what went on in his head?

By the time they finished eating, the sun had almost begun to set at which point Max exclaimed that there was something they absolutely needed to do together. In a hurry to get out of the restaurant, it was Tyson who ended up paying for all of them as Max wouldn't even allow them the time to split the amount. Hilary groaned internally as she realised that she would probably need to talk to Tyson on Monday morning and settle her share with him then. It was difficult to plan out a strategy for that, as Max had linked one arm with her and the other with Tyson, and was dragging them along to what turned out to be a Ferris wheel ride.

Nobody could put up a fight against the big, blue puppy eyes that Max pulled out whenever he needed a favour from his friends, not even Kai, so of course, Tyson and her had no choice but to agree to ride on the wheel with him. He pulled out a camera from his mini backpack and told them that he'd promised he'd get a photo with a nice city view during sunset for his mom, so even though Hilary had never assumed Judy to be someone who enjoyed these kinds of sentimental gifts since Max excitedly paid for their tickets, she happily marched forward when the gondola arrived in front of them.

Max held the door open for her and made a dramatic wave with his hand as she stepped in, mouthing out the words ladies first silently. With her back turned towards the entry, Hilary couldn't tell who entered after her, but she was surprised when the door clicked loudly shut sooner than it was supposed to. She turned and came face to face with Tyson, who looked equally stunned as her. They pressed their noses in unison against the glass windows on either side of the door and watched with their mouths hanging open as the ride started to go up with Max still standing on the deck, pointing and laughing at them as if this had been his plan all along.

Every nice thing she might have thought about Max today was erased from her mind, as Hilary finally took a seat on one side of the gondola, completely defeated. Tyson too took the seat across from her after letting out a string of curses that she hoped were directed towards their mutual friend and not having to share this ride with her alone.

Sixteen minutes.

That's it, that's how long the ride lasted, she'd been on it many times with her mother and she had kept time on every instance. She'd been around Tyson since noon, so what were another sixteen minutes to the mix?

Hilary took a deep breath and rested her palms on her knees, looking up to face Tyson as the gondola began to gain considerable height. While she understood Max's strategy and what he was trying to do here, she just wished he'd locked them up somewhere with a lot more space between them. When her eyes met Tyson's, she could hear her heart beat faster and prayed that the sound didn't reach his ears. It was a bit relieving to see him struggling with the situation too with a pout on his face, he had shoved his hands inside his jeans pocket and was sitting with his legs spread apart.

She thought she ought to talk, about anything, even if Tyson didn't respond or just stared angrily at her, if she were to sit in silence with him for another minute with all this tension surrounding them in this tiny gondola, Hilary would definitely go insane and just end up screaming like a banshee.

"It's actually very pretty from up here, the sunset view, Max shouldn't have missed it."

As she had expected, Tyson stayed silent.

She checked the time on her wristwatch, eleven more minutes.

The sky around them had turned a beautiful shade of pink and orange and the sun had sunk down in between the skyscrapers around the city. Once they reached the top, she was sure they'd be able to watch it disappear beyond the bay. She wasn't seeing it for the first time, yet she felt excitement bubble up within her. While the circumstances were far from ideal, Hilary had always wanted to share a Ferris wheel ride like this with Tyson, she'd asked him many times too, but he'd always claimed it was corny and a waste of time, and now here they were, taking in the view of the city below them together, despite of not having said a word to each other in months.

It might sound silly to most people, but Hilary always felt inclined to believe in harmless urban legends. Her interest had started when her mother had narrated a memory to her, about a long and winding set of stone steps that lead to a shrine overlooking the town they were from. The locals there believed that if a couple climbed the steps together and shared their true feelings once they reached the top, they would stay together forever. Her parents had done that when they'd met during high school and Hilary had ended up falling for this cliched idea of romantic rituals after learning this.

One such urban legend she'd heard was about this Ferris wheel, that if a couple shared a kiss when they reached the top with the sun setting in the background, they'd always remain in love with each other. Hilary couldn't exactly deny the fact that the reason she had always asked Tyson to come on this ride with her had nothing to do with this tale, but now that she had somehow managed to share the ride with him, it would be absolutely delusional of her to expect a kiss at this moment.

"Bet you're thinking about one of those stupid urban myths you like to obsess over."

Tyson's sudden and harsh voice broke her train of thought and Hilary blinked a few times so she could focus on her surroundings again. Her watch told her that there were still nine minutes to go, and looking around she noticed that their gondola would reach the top in the next few minutes. She also felt a blush creep up her cheeks as she realised that Tyson had read her mind so accurately, that it made her feel dumb for being so predictable.

"Wasn't there something about this ride? Kissing at sunset was it?" There was condescension in his voice, which she didn't like, and when he smirked at her, she noticed a furious glint in his eyes, something she had never seen before.

While Hilary had not been the kindest to him these past few months, she was still hurt that he would choose to mock this habit of hers, especially since he knew how her parents were connected to it. She pursed her lips together tightly and did not answer him, focusing her attention on the beautiful scenery outside instead.

A few more minutes and then this ordeal would be over, and she would never speak to Max again.

Suddenly she felt the gondola shake as she turned to find Tyson had stood up, he took a step towards her, making the whole thing tilt dangerously on one side which didn't seem to deter him at all. Hilary was very confused, she couldn't understand what that craving look on his face meant. When he got close to her, he knelt on his knees, reaching with his hands for her face. It would have taken just one forceful shove from her to get him to back off, but somehow Hilary felt frozen to the spot. Her eyes were wide with shock as Tyson cupped her cheeks in his palms, and with one tug pulled her face down towards himself, raising his own head to meet her halfway as he pressed his lips against hers.

It was as if time had stopped for them inside the ride.

Hilary did not know how to describe what was happening because she could barely register it herself.

One minute Tyson had been looking up at her with a mixture of frustration and longing, and the next he was kissing her.

She couldn't- she didn't want to push him away. Even if the kiss was not full of love, even if it was not tender or soft, she couldn't stop herself from kissing him back. They'd kept quiet for months, holding everything they wanted to say to each other in their hearts, and now they could finally tell each other how they felt, without having to use any of those words. When their lips collided, it was with an intensity of a scream that rises from the pit of one's stomach. They poured every disappointment, every insult, every taunt into the kiss, taking something as pure as a first kiss and turning it into a messy, fiery display of their frustration with another.

After what was probably just a minute but felt like an eternity to Hilary, Tyson pulled away, letting go of her face and allowing his hands to drop into her lap as they both gasped for some much needed air.

The gondola had already begun to descend and the sky had turned a deep shade of orange mixed in with purple, giving way to a perfect autumnal dusk. Tyson cast his eyes towards the scene outside and then with a rare, bitter laugh whispered, "Now you're stuck with me forever."

X

A/n: So a little bit about Tyson's pov here (obviously I have to put it into notes because I'm not a talented writer and I can't make the reader guess this through the actual writing itself T.T ) -

He shows up every morning thinking that today will be the day Hilary will apologise, which she doesn't so his irritation with her mounts. Then he sees her just casually hugging Max, which pushes all his frustration with her to a breaking point, which spills over when Max locks them up because he just can't take not having her around anymore, so he acts out with that kiss. Not the healthiest TyHil kiss I've ever written, but still one of my favourites.

Kai will be there next chapter, I wanted to put him here but then realistically I couldn't see him handling Tyson and Hilary being so immature around each other without calling them out, so I let Max handle this one.

I hope the next update is made at a normal time lol, and I'd appreciate it if you left a review. Thank you for reading!