Of Hearts and Mirrors
Ch.10-A Million Pieces
A/N: Things usually get worse before they get better...still don't own FOP or my friends' OC's...
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"Street carnival?" Angela asked confusingly.
"Yeah, it's September, isn't it?" Timmy asked as Cosmo and Wanda poofed into dogs while Holly and Angel were his backpack and wristwatch. Ryan was going to stay as a human and act as Timmy's family member.
"You wanna come?" The pixie blinked.
"Do I have to disguise myself?" Timmy shrugged as he headed for the fronr door.
"Depends...Sanderson and HP didn't bother to in front of Flappy Bob, so why should you?" Ryan shook his head.
"You keep forgetting that there's still Crocker around."
"I guess you're right..better safe than sorry." Timmy agreed. Angela stood there.
"Uh...what do I do?" She blushed slightly. Everyone blinked.
"You never turned into a human before?" Wanda asked. Angela shook her head.
"...We don't learn that in the Pixie Academy...it's considered 'fun'." They groaned and realized that pixies were still dull and boring and disliked fun.
"I'll teach you then." Ryan volunteered.
"...You can?" Angel asked.
"It's not too hard, right?" The fairy boy asked.
"Don't count your chickens before they hatch." Wanda smirked.
"Chicken? WHERE?" Cosmo looked around. After a few minutes of magic gone awry, Angela managed to learn how to be human. Even if she kept stumbling around the room and forgetting to breathe every now and then.
"I think I got it!" She smiled before she ran into a wall.
"...Blame Canada!" Angel said, pointing at the "teacher."
"...Great." Ryan muttered. At the carnival, she was in awe, seeing that she never really been to one. Timmy, the fairies and hybrid spent a majority of the time pointing out the sights and what fun games to play, and basically teaching her human stuff.
"Just don't eat yellow snow cones." Cosmo warned.
"Chances are they're NOT lemon-flavored."
"We don't need to know that, Cosmo." Wanda sighed. About quarter to three, the group split up: teenagers went one way, Cosmo, Wanda, and Timmy went another way. They agreed to meet in a few hours.
"FREEBIRD!" Angel yelled as he ran off. Holly, Angela, and Ryan followed, making sure that he didn't scare the sane people around them. The first thing Ryan did was win Angela a prize. It was quite simple really, considering that the owner of the game was conning people, so he put it right by using his magic to make it fair. Angela squealed in glee as he handed her the soft teddy bear.
"He's so cute! Thank you!" She hugged the bear and smiled cutely at him. Ryan blushed.
"No problem." They walked around a little more before she spotted people around something. She tugged at his sleeve and pointed.
"What's that?" She asked.
"Oh that, that's a photo booth. You want to take a picture with me?" He asked. Angela smiled.
"Why not?" A few seconds of shoving each other playfully and making a few people think wrong thoughts, they emerged from the booth, and the photos printed out. He grinned and gave half of the photos to her.
"One for you, and one for me...that we don't have to argue who gets to keep it." Angela blinked as she looked at the photos. Three of them were silly, but the last one had them leaning against one another. She wondered why they did that.
"...Thank you." Angel popped in between them and looked.
"What nerdy photos!" He announced. Ryan just rolled his eyes and pushed him to the side.
"It's not like you can do any better." Angel smirked as he got in and pulled the fairy enough that his head only was inside the photo booth. Holly glanced at Angela and motioned her to talk while they waited. When they were far away enough that nobody could overhear them, she finally spoke.
"You have feelings for him, don't you?" She asked. Angela shrugged.
"...I wouldn't know." The fairy girl smiled.
"You can tell me...I promise I won't tell anyone." Angela sighed.
"...Well I'm not really sure what if what I feel is right in the first place..."
"It's okay to like someone, it's perfectly normal..what I'm asking is...do YOU have feelings for him?" Holly added. The pixie girl opened her mouth.
"I..." Holly studied her for a moment before Cosmo and Wanda poofed beside them.
"Hey kiddos, it's almost time to go home. Round up the crew and let's get going!" Holly looked disappointed that her aunt and uncle interrupted them, but said not a word. She winked at Angela.
"It's okay, you don't have to tell me if you're not ready." Angela blinked.
"...O...okay." Cosmo munched on cotton candy.
"Tell who da whatdit?" He asked dumbly.
"Nothing, Uncle Cosmo...it's a girl thing." Holly waved at him. In the meantime, Ryan was rolling his eyes at the "poses" Angel was making in front of the camera.
"I'm a smooth operator." Angel smirked.
"...Smooth operator, my ass." The fairy snorted. He was suddenly tapped on the shoulder, and for a fleeting moment, he thought he still had wings and a crown. He turned enough to see Veronica.
"...Huh?" Ryan asked. He didn't expect to the see the blonde girl at the carnival, let alone by herself.
"I need to talk to you." He shrugged.
"Can't it wait until school?" Veronica pulled Ryan to the side and looked pleadingly at him.
"Please, just hear me out. that's all I want." He didn't get to voice his opinion as the girl dragged him outside the carnival borders, and behind a tent. Angel peeked out of the photo booth.
"...Dude, where'd you go?"
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"...Okay. Whats on your mind?" Ryan asked.
"Ryan, I just wanted to tell you that I think you're the most coolest guy I ever met, and that you understand me and everything." Veronica said.
"I'm not that special." Ryan said.
"Ever since that day you came into the store and comforted me, I coudn't help but wonder if you were right..." The boy's thoughts backtracked to that fateful day...and the start of those two girls's uncomfortable affections...but why would Veronica be alone? That's what confused him...
"...Why can't I be her! It's not fair! I want to be loved too!" Ryan felt sorry for her as he went over to comfort her.
"...Why do you even want to be Trixie in the first place?" he asked. Veronica jumped up in shock when she noticed Ryan saw her crying.
"Leave me alone! I am Trixie!" She yelled at him while crying.
"Veronica, take it easy, calm down. I want to help you." He said.
"...Why do you care? You hate people like me!" She yelled.
"...I may have my reasons but that doesn't mean I'm a jerk, so take a deep breath." Veronica inhaled and then exhaled.
"Good. Now, why is it that you want to be like Trixie?" Veronica wiped her tears away before she spoke.
"...It's because…I love Timmy, but he's only interested in Trixie because she's pretty and popular. So I hoped that if I was like her...Timmy would notice me and that I would be as popular as Trixie." she said.
"...But there are even times that I start to think I am Trixie."
'Wow, another girl that likes Timmy, didn't see that coming,' He thought.
"Veronica, you can't let that get to you and lose your identity. Don't be somebody that you're not. You are not Trixie, you are Veronica, the one and only. You should be happy for being for who you are and not for being somebody else."
"Then how would Timmy ever like me?" Veronica asked.
"Do you want Timmy to love you for who you are or not? What would there be? That's not love, somebody should love you for who you really are. Only then, will there be true love for you." He explained.
"Ryan…I don't know why you bothered to help me, but you've really given me a lot to think about. I gotta go." She whispered before she ran off.
"Veronica, like I said that day...I never hated you." Ryan said. She sighed.
"I know that...the real reason I wanted to talk to you was to apologize..."
"Apologize? For what?"
"...For the way I was after you, and for all my desperate attention...I..didn't mean to...I just...you're the nicest boy I ever talked to. Either everyone else either ignores me because they think I'm psycho, or that I have to pretend thy're not worth my time..when the truth is...all I ever wanted was for you to like me..." She whispered, clinging onto his shirt. He gulped a little.
"...Like you?"
"...Timmy doesn't pay attention to me, nobody knows how I truly feel...I'm living a lie by following Trixie...I...I don't have a real friend at all..."
"Look, I don't mind if guys give me attention...but maybe it'll be cool if you guys...well you know, keep your squeals and fangirl issues on the down low? Please?" He said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
"So you're saying I'm a stalker!" She cried.
"No! I didn't mean it that way...I'm just saying, maybe we can be friends...as long as you don't try to choke me or anything." He assured her.
"You mean...that all this time...if just calmed down...I could be your friend? " She asked. He kicked the dirt slightly.
"Pretty much...I mean, if you got to know me enough, maybe you'll have the chance to get Timmy's attention." He flashed a thumbs up at her.
"Y...You think so?" She squeaked. He nodded.
"But..." She started.
"But what?" Ryan asked.
"There's only one person for me..." She murmured. He blinked as he looked at her.
"...Who?"
"...You."
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"...Hey there you are...everyone's about to leave." Angela spotted a burgundy shirt and stepped out just in time to witness Veronica lean in and kiss Ryan. She gasped silently as the small teddy bear dropped onto the ground, forgotten. Nobody heard the sound of a heart breaking into a million pieces as Angela squeezed her eyes shut from that scene. She could feel tears forming and trickling down her cheek as she sank to the ground and cried.
"... I knew i...it...I...I was just fooling myself..." It was a clear fact that he was taken long before she ever came...it was a wonder why he never told her about Veronica, and acted like the cheerleader was someone to avoid. Her chest heaved in sadness as she felt like someone ripped her heart out and stomped it into the ground as she sobbed behind a tent.
"...I thought...I thought..." She never finished her sentence as a shadow dropped over her. She looked up but didn't bother to move from her spot.
"...Auntie? You okay? What's wrong?" Angel asked as he took out his candy apple from his mouth. She shook her head.
"...Nothing...it's just something I saw."
"...Something scary?" He asked. She said nothing but let the tears run down her cheeks.
"...Ah come on, you're a tough girl...you shouldn't let something scare you." She glared at him.
"You don't even know WHAT it was!" She burst out furiously. Angel winced at the anger in her voice and stepped back slightly,
"...Chill Angela...I'm only trying to figure out what's wrong. ...Does it have something to do with...?"
"...I d...don't want t...to talk about it!" She yelled again, her voice trembling.
"...I..I just want to go home..." She whispered as she buried her face in her hands and started crying again. Angel knelt down.
"...You should...it's been a while..." Angel said quietly. She wiped her tears and looked at him.
"...I...I should...I can't stay anymore...he...he..."
"What? Who's..." Angel was cut off when pinged away. Confused, he stood and and stretched.
"I don't really know what her problem is, but she's kinda overreacting..." He turned to go back to the main part of the carnival...when he glimpsed a few feet away, what Angela had seen.
"Oh my God..." He didn't realize he dropped his apple...his mind was numb trying to deny what he saw.
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"! Veronica...w...what are you d...doing?" He pulled her away, shocked and caught off guard by her sudden affection.
"...I...I know that this is probably w...wierd...but I'm in love with you." She confessed. He was taken aback that she had the guts to tell that to him.
"T...that's...no..I...I...Veronica, I don't know what to say..." He stammered.
"...Do you feel the same?" Veronica asked. He stared at her as images from last night flowed through his head. He couldn't think of a reason why he kept seeing Angela's sad lilac eyes on the blonde girl, or the hollow feeling in his throat as he swallowed nervously. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes.
"I'm sorry...I only think of you as a friend, n...nothing more." Veronica looked crestfallen.
"...But couldn't we...?" Ryan shook his head.
"...No." Veronica sniffed and nodded.
"...Okay then...I understand..." Ryan arkwardly patted her shoulder.
"You do...?" She sniffled again.
"...NO MATTER WHAT I DO, TRIXIE ALWAYS GETS EVERYTHING!" Veronica sobbed and ran off. Poor Ryan was confused when Angel suddenly stormed into the scene.
"What the hell was that?" He snarled. Ryan's eyebrows furrowed.
"Look Angel, now's not the time! A lot of things just happened in the last five minutes and I'm overwhelmed!" Angel narrowed his cat-like eyes at his.
"I can't believe you..."
"...Believe what? I don't even know half of the things going on, and here you are, yelling at me for no goddamn reason!"
"You're leading her on!" Angel shouted.
"What're you talking about?" The orange-haired hybrid gritted his teeth.
"Do you even know where Angela is?"
"...No...Veronica made me leave her behind to talk to me when.." A sudden realization fell over him.
"...Oh my God...where's Angela?" He looked around and started panicking.
"...I was hoping YOU could tell me where she is." Angel hissed. Ryan cursed under his breath as he frantically ran around, trying to find the pixie girl.
"Please help me find her!"
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'...I can't stay here anymore...it hurts too much...' Angela threw everything of hers she could find in their room before her hand came upon the photos she took with the fairy boy. Why does IT have to be so complicated? As a pixie, she never really understood what IT was about, let alone feel IT with her ex-boyfriend. ...And now she was starting to experience IT again, and painful memories were torturing her again. Anger over took her as held them before her, prepared to rip it in half.
'...One for you, one for me...that way we don't have to argue who gets to keep it...' She lowered her head and tucked the pictures into her suitcase. Her head shot up when the door suddenly slammed open with Ryan panting in the doorway.
"...There you are! I was so worried about you at the carnival...I didn't realize I left you alone...and I promise to make it up to you! Please forgive me! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" He paused and noticed what she was doing.
"...Angela, where are you going?" He asked as he found the pixie girl packing her things.
"...I...I decided to go home, Ryan...I..I don't need to be a burden on you guys anymore.." She said. He looked confused.
"Burden? What are you talking about? You were perfectly fine...you add excitement to the house...if it was about earlier, I didn't mean to...I.." He started. She shook her head as she zipped up her luggage.
"...I think I...I've violated upon Cosmo and Wanda's hospitality long enough. I'm going back."
"Y...you're going back? B...but don't you hate it there?" He asked. She shuddered a little before she started to walk towards the door.
"I do...but I don't belong here...and you k...know it..."
"...Don't be silly...you're gonna come back and visit, right? I don't want to be stuck with Angel." He joked.
"...Goodbye..." She said, holding her hand out. He stared at her hand before looking at her.
"G..goodbye? Why? It's not like we're never gonna see each other again." He tried to joke again. She blinked back her tears.
"...We're not." He stopped when he realized she was being serious.
"Angela, please...if this is a joke, it's not very f...funny..." He stammered, wondering why she was leaving all of a sudden. She slowly shook her head.
"...Ryan...we...we're parting w...ways from here. I realize that I shouldn't trespass on your life, or anyone else's...thank you for saving my life, and giving me shelter u...until I could come to my senses and go back to Pixies, Inc..." She whispered. He reached out, but she pulled away and headed once more for the door.
"...A...are you saying that once you leave, we should forget about each other?" He asked softly.
"It'll be best...considering that you're already happy with the friends you've got." Angela sighed sadly.
"I...I don't get what you're saying...you know very well that I can't just forget about you...you made such an impact on my life..." He walked towards her again.
"Whatever happened the last few weeks, it was merely k...kindness..." She muttered before thoughts of last night filled her mind.
"It might be, but it turned into something much more than that." He said.
"What, like friendship?" She snorted as she picked up her luggage. Ryan pulled Angela to him and closed his eyes, resting his forehead against hers.
"A special friendship that only you and I have..." She struggled to get away from him, but he resisted.
"Stop lying!" She cried before she burst into tears and started crying.
"I...I'm not."
"You liked it!"
"What? Like what?"
"...I saw you kissing Veronica! You liked it!" Ryan silently stepped back arkwardly.
'...Oh no...she saw her kiss me...oh my God...she thinks that I...oh damn...what have I done?'
"B...but s...she kissed me! I didn't! I never liked it!" He stuttered out.
"LIAR! ...I knew it! You're just l...like HIM! You played me and led me on!" Angela yelled.
"I don't even know who HE is, or why I would do such a thing!" Ryan yelled back. Angela glared at him and said nothing.
"...Y...You ungrateful bitch! I save you, and this is the thanks I get, you accusing me of kissing some girl I don't like? You won't even leave me alone when I ask you to, you slut!" He yelled. Angela gasped before the words even slipped out of his mouth. He realized what he said as he saw the crushed look on her face.
"...No...no I didn't mean it Angela! It...it just came out...I'm sorry..."
"WHO the hell are you to tell me I'm a slut? Do you even know the meaning to that word?
"...Does it even matter what I say?" He snapped. She cried out in frusration.
"...YOU MISERABLE ARROGANT JACKASS OF A FAIRY! I HATE YOU!" She screamed as she slapped him hard across the face. He staggered back, his cheek red.
"...H...Huh!"
"Don't you come after me...I...I swear I'll make you r...regret it..." She trembled angrily as she pointed at him with her cell phone.
"A...Angie..." His voice cracked slightly as he cradled his cheek. He reached out with a hand, but was shoved away by her.
"D...don't call me that...no self respecting loser fairy has the right to call me by my n...nickname...EVER. Especially one who CAN'T FLY!" He growled and glared at her back.
"Well then, I should've let that truck RUN YOU OVER! Saves me the time and energy and one less pixie we have to deal with if you ended up DEAD!"
"Then why DIDN'T YOU leave me to DIE?" She screamed, getting into his face.
"Who the hell KNEW what I was thinking at THAT TIME! Hell, maybe it WOULD be better off if we never even met! Hey, because I have more friends than you ever will, you stupid little pixie girl!" He sneered. She let her tears fall before she looked at him straight in the eye.
"...You're a sad, pathetic fairy boy, Ryan...all I wanted was to tell you I liked you...but y...you never gave me that chance the moment I saw you with Veronica..." His anger faded away as her words washed over him. A deep sense of regret and guilt formed in him as this missunderstanding screwed up whatever friendship they had left. Yes, they both were to blame, but who could ever confess their feelings? Stubborn as they were, they still had a lot to learn about each other because neither of them were backing down. Perhaps they were scared to find out what they wanted from each other...
"..." She then picked up her luggage and stormed out the door, letting it slam behind her. He dropped to his knees and shuddered, hugging himself tightly and feeling hurt, sad, and hopeless inside. He looked up at the door before letting out a silent sob.