Author's Notes

Here we are, on Thursday, as promised.

I basically did some rebuilding for this chapter from the ground up in a single day, simply because of ThinMint's review. But the end result was better than the original, in my opinion. :) Plus it's 500 words over my limit, which is okay.

I had this big announcement that I was struggling with my writing and that the next chapter wouldn't be going up until the week after this upcoming one, but then I looked back on it and... I mentally slapped myself, picked up my pad, and got to work. The reason I was struggling was not from lack of inspiration, but from an overdose of procrastination and video games. I set them aside, as painful as that was, and wrote 3k words that I'm really proud of.

Oh, and the next chapter will go up as usual.

Anywho... Reviews!

ThinMint, ey, I can continue to waste my brain cells! That could be a possibility, though the guy is hellbent on being a soldier. Yay! There almost wasn't any fluff, but then I remembered and fixed the chapter, thanks to you. Heh, don't worry about being melodramatic. It's healthy for you. You and me both.

sOL-'-aLOne, nay, I shall board up the window instead. :P Yes, it would've been, wouldn't it? Heh. Actually, only Thomas forgets, due to the nature of his element (sunlight). Angels are spawned from dreams while demons are spawned from nightmares; a spirit only starts forgetting themselves and loosing their element if not enough people have dreams or nightmares about them, aka Thomas. And there are plenty of spirits, just that they're hidden.

I couldn't help but get into the spirit side of my AU. It's something I like a lot. Anywho, on with the story!

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Kaitlin's POV

I blinked sleepily at the board, not quite processing what was written on there. My head felt heavy on the palm of my hand. I rapped my fingers against the desk, trying to keep myself anchored to this boring plane of reality. The royal teacher snapped her fingers at me, a worried expression on her face. "Princess?"

Jolting awake, I blinked a couple times and rubbed sleep from my eyes. "Um, yeah?"

"Are you paying attention, miss?" the teacher asked kindly.

I suppressed a moan and took a closer look at the board. "No, sorry. Say again, please?"

"During ancient times, what was the most common punishment for endangering the lives of others?" she repeated patiently.

There were three scenarios written on the quartsand board. One was a stick figure chained to a pole, one was another stick figure getting beheaded, and the last was a stick figure grooming. I frowned at the simple drawings. "Uh... jail? I guess?"

The teacher sighed. "Comunitarian work was the most common punishment for endangering others. Nowadays people are imprisoned for a short amount of time. Please, your majesty, I implore you to pay attention."

I rubbed the back of my neck, frowning apologetically. "Sorry. I'll try."

"Thank you," the blaze woman answered, unconvinced.

The next twenty minutes were a sleepy blur. I put my pencil and notebook inside of my knapsack getting up off the chair and walking towards the door along with the ten or so other students. We were all children of somebody living at or working in the castle, but nobody talked to me. That didn't bother me at all, but it did bother my teachers and mother that I had no 'social interactions' with anyone my age.

A gentle hand took hold of my shoulder, stopping me in my tracks. "Princess, if I may."

I turned around, looking up at the teacher. "Of course. What is it?"

The woman sighed. "Look, miss, I know it's hard for you to listen to lectures. All of your mentors do. You just wanna... go outside, and run, and mind your own business. Believe me that I have nothing against that. But the queen truly wants you to succeed in school, and it's not good, for either of us, to report your grades being so low."

I frowned, looking over her at the window. Bright magma cast a beautiful amber light on everything. A ghast and her pup were sailing over to the other side of the molten lake. I wanted nothing more than to be out there. "Im sorry. But it's just... I can't focus on all this. It's, no offense, so boring. I don't learn anything here. Everything you say just kind of... vanishes from my head the second I leave."

The teacher frowned sadly. "I don't think tutoring is that attractive an option to you, is it?"

I grimaced, humming thoughtfully. "No, not really."

The blaze tapped her chin. "What if you received tutoring from someone close to you?"

"I'm not great friends with any of the others," I told her with a shrug.

"I didn't mean any of them," she said. "Theridas was a very good student when he was young."

I blinked incredulously. "You were Theridas' teacher?"

The blaze woman chuckled. "No, I wasn't, but we were in the same class. He wasn't exactly a straight-A student, but he never slacked off either. Perhaps you could ask him for tutoring sessions."

I hummed, thinking it over. "I guess I could. But my mother has him busy running errands all over."

"I'm sure I could convince the queen to give him time," the teacher said. "It is, after all, for the betterment of her daughter's education and grades."

She turned me around, gently nudging me through the door. "I believe you are done for the day, right?"

I nodded, happy to have finished with all of this. "Yeah, we are."

The blaze woman smiled. "Have fun, in that case. I'll see if I can't find her magesty. Don't forget to do your homework."

I was about to run off when I registered her words. "We have homework?"

My teacher chuckled. "Just making sure you were paying attention during class. No, you don't. Go on."

I breathed a sigh of relief, giving her a nod and running down the fortress hallway. I took the many familiar turns and stairs that led me to the mainbridge. I slowed to a walk once my feet touched the ancient netherbrick. The view from here was always enjoyable. We had the same massive lava lake where the fortress was built, the same creepy stalactites, the same pillars of fire, the same clumps of glowstone, quartz, gravel and sand. But it was still a different landscape every day.

Sometimes there were ghasts, arguing or just mingling over the lava lake. The pups enjoyed taking baths in the glowing substance. There were also times when I caught sight of magma cubes bouncing up and down in lava or at the shore. Their little ones preferred stacking up on each other. There was also zombie pigman brawls, which were interesting to watch. Pigmen aren't naturally aggressive, nor are they prone to attack each other. It was like watching two reluctant old men sword-fight with their walking canes.

There weren't many blazes in the wild. They became an endangered a long time ago, when the first nether portals were built and overworlders discovered brewing. Most of them nowadays lived under our care in the fortress, but there were a couple of free cells in the rest of the nether. They never kept to one place, adapting to the harsh reality that mobs from the other realms hunted them for their natural essence, and it was always magical for me to come across some on my walks. It had only happened twice in my entire life, but I remembered both times vividly.

I was five the first time it happened. It was also, coincidentally, the first time I sneaked away from the fortress. On accident, of course. I had crossed the mainbridge, curiously looking at the flaming terrain all around me. It was surprisingly empty that day; there were no monsters in sight. I wandered the caverns, avoiding death pits and sand traps as I went. Being clumsy and little, I eventually managed to trip on my own feet and began tumbling down a rough hillside.

My everything stung. I sat up, tears welling up in my eyes. I wiped them off with a hand, sobbing quietly. Gentle, golden light bathed me, but I couldn't quite see where it was coming from. I blinked a couple times, wiping more tears away. Hovering in front of me was a fireball with a surprisingly kind demonic eyes. Eight flaming rods rotated around a plume of black smoke lazily. The monster leaned in close, looking me over.

I cleaned my cheeks of grime and tears before slowly reaching out to it. The monster fluttered just out of reach, head tilted at me. It breathed out a hot tiny flame. I turned away from its heat, whining my dislike. The blaze moved back a little more, blowing another flame my way. I didn't turn from it this time, watching the fire lick the air in front of me. I smiled, reaching out again. The monster stopped, tilting its head again. I frowned at it and extended my hands.

Blaze people's fire usually comes up much later, when we're eight or nine. But I really wanted to do what the blaze had done, so I focused hard on my hands and closed my eyes. Nothing happened for a moment, but I could feel a slight warmth on my palms the next. I opened my eyes a crack to see what barely counted as fire, waving gently in my hands. The monster watched, interested, as I let out a giggle and showed it what I'd accomplished.

The blaze seemed to laugh along with me, hovering around lazily. I caught sight of a tiny blaze peeking its head around a netherrack outcrop. It was very small, with only three little rods circling around him. Another full-grown blaze showed up behind the little one, just as curious as it. Both of them fluttered over to us, and the one I had interacted with left my side to join them. I smiled, showing them my tiny flames.

What I now assume was the mother blaze stared at the fire in my hands, blowing a little of her own my way. I giggled, leaning away from the heat. The other blaze leaned in as the mother hovered away, blowing a small, beautiful plume in front of me before leaving as well. Their flamelet got really close, releasing a tiny spurt of fire before quickly following its parents. I giggled, wiping a little spot of my face and watching them drift away.

My mother and father were horrified when they found me crossing the mainbridge again, covered in scratches, bruises and soot, on my way back home. They were just about to set out with a thirty-man search party when I arrived. I was in no way punished, because I was so little, but the maid they'd told to watch me got hounded at for quite some time.

I stopped just before the bridge ended and mostly-smooth netherrack began. I took off my sneakers—which I kept in mint condition since they reminded me of my friends in the overworld—and walked barefoot over the rough terrain, smiling and carrying my shoes in my right hand. I was used to walking like this whenever I got the chance to go out on my own, to the point that I no longer felt any cuts or scratches I would inevitably get. My mother disapproved of this habit, but she wasn't here now.

I picked my way over the uneven ground, walking down to the shore. I enjoyed sitting there, watching the beauty of my home for hours on end. Sometimes I brought a book along or, if I remembered to, did my homework here, but most of the time I slept and watched. Larged white heads poked out of the molten lake, chirruping at each other. The cubs shot out, playfully exchanging fire. A bigger shape emerged, looking up at the little ghasts. It moaned, a creepy metallic sound that made the cubs trill sadly and sink back down.

I smiled, watching as the large ghast flew out of the molten lake and sailed away, turning around every once in a while to make sure her cubs were following. The little ones exchanged looks before zipping after her. I stretched my legs and folded my arms beneath my head, getting comfortable before closing my eyes. Maybe an hour had passed when something began shaking me gently.

I groaned, stretching a bit before sitting up and opening my eyes sleepily. Theridas gave me a small bow. "Is it alright that I woke you?"

I hummed, stretching some more. "Myeah, it's fine. What is it?"

"The queen said that you had asked for tutoring sessions from me," he said, a little distrustfully. "Is she right?"

I shrugged. "Sort of. My history teacher thought it would be a good way for my grades to get better."

The blaze frowned. "How bad are they?"

I pursed my lips, looking at nothing out of the corner of my eye. "Mmm... unsatisfactory."

"By what kind of margin?" Theridas asked worriedly.

"Well..." I blew a raspberry, wanting to get over with it. "I'm getting D's all across the board."

The royal servant's eyes went wide. He heaved a sigh, extending a hand out to me. "Let's get started then. We have a lot of work to do."

I frowned at his hand and then looked out at the glowing expanse of lava. I could just barely see a group of magma cubes hopping about onnthe opposite shore. "Could we start tomorrow? Please?"

Theridas shook his head. "You need to improve your grades, princess. It's best if we start as soon as possible."

I moaned, gesturing vaguely at the hellish landscape. "Ugh, could we please, please please please, start tomorrow?"

The blaze grimaced as he stared at the view I was admiring. "I don't get why you like this place so much," he muttered after a while. "It's bland, unforgiving terrain. Some of the monsters that share these caverns with us would not hesitate to tear us limb from limb. What beauty do you see in a realm like ours, when others are so much more colorful?"

I sighed, shaking my head a little and staring out at the lava lake. "It is beautiful, Theridas. The light, the natural formations, the monsters. Gentle oranges and fiery reds. I can't not love my home."

The royal servant huffed. "I much prefer the overworld, despite how cold it gets. This... this view, it's not... it cannot begin to compete with those of that realm."

"I guess that depends on your perspective," I told him, getting up. "When I escaped, there was nothing I wanted more than to come home. I... dreamed, of seeing all of this again. I idolized this place, with its dangers and atrocities. You found love in the overworld, found a home. So it seems more beautiful to you than the nether does."

Theridas hummed. "I guess so." A moment passed as he silently contemplated everything. "I suppose we could begin tomorrow," he agreed eventually. "Have a good day, princess."

"Bye Theridas," I called as he turned away and walked back to the mainbridge. "You too."

The blaze waved at me as he went by. I sat back down, getting comfortable again. I summoned a small flame in my hand, twirling it a little and watching it dance. Maybe I'd go wandering to see if I could find some monsters to spend time with. Or practice my fighting skills. It's pretty much the one thing in school I'm okay at. The other students have their own custom moves and stuff, but all I know to do is to throw fire and run.

Either way I was going to spend some time just lying here and watching nothing in particular. I needed a break from not doing anything.

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Izabell's POV

"The weather'sss a bit upssset. Don't you think it'sss better to ssstay indoorsss?"

Simon pulled his jacket off its rack, turning to our creeper friend with a smile. "We'll be fine. Worst-case scenario, it rains a little. You ready, Z?"

I adjusted my new fluffy coat and made sure my beanie was in its rightful place. "Mhm. Let's go. Bye Ara! Take care of Snowdrift and Flicky!"

The creeper smiled. "Of courssse. Have fun!"

"We will, bye!" the creeper boy called, opening the door for me and closing it behind us. My boyfriend wrapped an arm around my shoulders, giving me a light squeeze. "You look so cute with your little hat," he told me, pecking my cheek.

I pushed him away playfully, feeling my cheeks redden as I smiled. "It's a beanie," I corrected him.

"I know, but what matters is you look cute," he said, taking my hand.

Winter was still desperately holding on to what little time it had left, the most recent couple of days having been cold and cloudy. Spring was right on its heels, though, which was good. Simon had planned for us to explore some of Globe Chapel City, which we hadn't really done so far. We only knew the route to Eba's apartment and all the 'exciting' things on the way. But since he had the day off, the creeper boy decided a tour would be fun.

We took a pleasant walk through the woods, talking about whatever or enjoying the comfort of each other's presence. The outskirts of the city neared, beginning with a few poor homes and little shops. But 'poor' was a subjective term. The houses were lovely, if a bit small, and it looked like the people weren't exactly groveling for food. That was an upside of this place; there were so many ethnic groups and so many clans participating in its growth that even the poor sector looked like middle-class when compared to most others.

We stopped every now and then at the shops to buy food or trinkets. We had some 'honey biscuits' which we liked, fried crickets which we didn't, and some diced chorus fruit, which was okay, and thankfully didn't teleport us anywhere. Simon bought a new fountain pen, and he got me a bracelet with carved wooden beads. I got myself a pair of fluffy socks and a new notebook for him. We came across one last store before leaving the outskirts. It had a bunch of lovely dream-catchers on display.

Simon was distracted with the rest of what the man sold, and I asked the shopkeep to bring a teal dream-catcher down. I paid for it and then showed the creeper boy. "Look! To capture any ideas that might keep you up at night."

He smiled at me, pulling me close and carefully tucking the gift into one of his jacket's inner pockets. "Thanks, I really need something like this. Let's keep going."

We walked down the streets that got busier by the minute. The small trinket shops and food stands were taken over by grocery stores, hair salons, clothes outlets, and restaurants. Simon led me over to an ice cream parlor nearby. "Want some ice cream?" he asked.

I smiled. "Yeah, I could go for ice cream."

The parlor had a glass case showing off buckets filled with various colorful kinds of the sweet substance. There was a line five people long on one side, while a couple others waited to pay at the other. We got in line, looking up at the board with every flavor and price written down.

Small cup - 3 sliver coins / Medium cup - 4 silver coins / Big cup - 6 silver coins / cone - 1 Silver coin

- Sweetberry - Chocolate - Vanilla - Chorus fruit - Pistachio - Mint chip - Coconut - Peanut

- Almond - Grape - Cherry - Lemon - Corn - Cucumber - Chocochip - Mango - Pinapple

I smiled in confusion. "Corn ice cream?" I asked Simon.

"Cucumber too," he said with an impressed frown. "That's a neat selection. It seems everyone likes chorus fruit over here. Which flavor do you want?"

"Mmm... vanilla," I answered, not really wantin to try any new flavors at the moment. The crickets had been enough of that for today.

"I'll take coconut," Simon said absently. "Do you want a small or medium cup?"

"Small for both of us, right?" I asked. "It's kind of expensive."

"I work in the most prestigious engineering lab," my boyfriend reminded me smugly. "It doesn't really matter if it's expensive."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, then I want a medium cup. I'd like a large, but I don't really want to be stuck here for the rest of the day."

Simon nodded, and we waited our turn. It took a few minutes, and then we were at the front of the line. A young woman rubbed sleep from her eyes and did her best to smile politely at us from the other side of the counter. "Good day, welcome to Barlow's Parlor. What can I get you?"

"Good day," the creeper boy said with a nod. "We'll have two medium cones, one for vanilla and the other for coconut."

The lady nodded, taking a metal scoop and a couple of cones from a pantry. She walked over to the buckets of ice cream, gesturing for us to move. "I'll give you your order over here at the opposite counter."

We walked over to the other side, watching her scoop up our ice cream and then drop it into their cones. She grabbed a bottle out of the many lining the right-hand wall on a shelf. "Chocolate covering, on either one?"

I gave her a nod, while Simon shook his head. "Not for me, thanks."

The woman poured some of the dark, sweet liquid on my cone before returning the bottle to the shelf. She placed our ice cream on the counter, taking two cherries by their sticks and placing them atop the mounds of sugar. "Here you go. That'll be ten silver coins."

Simon nodded, rummaging through his pockets and coming up with the exact amount. "Thank you."

The lady nodded, quickly moving towards to deal with the other customers. "Thank you, have a nice day."

We continued walking towards the cultural center area. Simon hummed after trying his ice cream. "It's pretty good. Wanna try?"

I frowned at it before shrugging, having a taste from the untouched side he offered me. "You're right, it is good. Maybe we could take some back for Ara to try."

The creeper boy nodded. "We'll have to see if they give it to go. How's your ice cream?"

I plucked the cherry off its perch and held it in my mouth, pulling the stick out before chewing. "I haven't tried it yet. It jusht looksh too good."

Simon chuckled. "I don't know why you like the chocolate covering. It's a bit too hard and makes a mess."

"It does not," I told him, taking a bite out of it to show him. My teeth complained, but I wanted to prove my boyfriend wrong. The chocolate cover snapped in a couple of places, but thankfully didn't fall off. Sweetness bathed my tongue. "Mine ish very good too," I told him, offering the cone.

The creeper boy hesitated before taking it from me, and trying the part without any chocolate on it. He hummed after a moment. "It's good, but I think mine's better," he said, handing it back to me. "That place just sells really good ice cream."

I nodded, biting some of the chocolate cover off again. "Mmm. We've got to come back shometime."

Simon wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "Now that I have time off every week, we'll be able to go anywhere you want."

I smiled, hugging his waist. "Is that a promise?"

He raised his ice cream cone, keeping a grip on it with three fingers while opening the rest. "I swear on your life."

I giggled, leaning my head on his shoulder. "On my life? Why not yours?"

"I have stuff I still haven't done," he explained with a smile. "If I accidentally break my promise, it won't stop me from doing any of that."

I narrowed my eyes at him playfully. "You are very selfish, Simon."

"I'll take that as a compliment," he answered, giving me a squeeze.

I couldn't help but giggle, following him as he led me along the busy city streets.

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I dragged Simon into a costume store, having seen a beautiful feathery dress and mask. I pulled the latter from its hook, putting it up to my face. "What do you think?"

The creeper boy smiled. "Phew. It's a lot easier to look at you now."

I took the mask off, shoving him away with an embarrassed smile. "You jerk!"

"I'm sorry," he said, pulling me into an unwilling embrace. "You're beautiful in every possible way."

I hummed in mock complaint, not really trying too hard to escape his hug. Simon planted a kiss on the top of my head and let me go, walking over to a bunch of masks to the right. They were very colorful—almost aggressively so—and intricate. Some were wooden with carvings and feathers attached to their edges, others were seemingly made of sticks and leaves alone, shaped into various kinds of expressions and faces, both demonic and angelical.

Simon pulled a mask off the wall. It was painted to look silver, with a few lines and divisions carved into the wood as well as orange and green feathers sticking out its top edge. It looked like it was maybe supposed to be a snake of some sort. The creeper boy put it up to his face and walked over to a mirror propped up against a wall. I followed him, and waited as he took a good look at himself.

"It makes you easier to look at," I joked.

The creeper boy smiled and took off the mask. "That's illegal. You can't use my own words against me."

"I just did," I said, getting a quick hug from him.

"It's pretty cool," he said, placing the mask back in its place. "Kind of gives me an idea. Are you gonna buy anything or shall we move on?"

I hummed, looking around one last time. A pretty feather crown presented itself. I walked over and took it to Simon. "How about this?" I put it on my head and spun once. "How do I look?"

He planted a kiss on my cheek. "Like a beautiful princess. Let's go pay for it."

We walked over to to the counter, where a perky-looking young girl was playing with a mask. She noticed us and smiled, getting up with slight difficulty onto a chair. "Hi! I'm Lily. My mommy's busy at the moment, so I get to sit at the desk!"

We smiled at the little girl. "Hi, Lily," I said, taking the crown off. "I'm Izabell. Could I buy this pretty crown from you?"

She nodded vigorously. "Yep! Where did you find it?"

"On that shelf over there," I answered, pointing at it.

Lily stuck her tongue out, leaning to peek over my shoudler. "It costs three silver coins," she announced after a second.

I gave her a nod, rummaging through my pockets. Simon places three of the shiny circles on the desk. "Here you go. Thanks, Lily."

"Bye!" the little girl said with a wave, picking up the coins and putting them in a box. "Have a nice day!"

"You too sweetheart!" I called as we walked out the door. It had gotten even more gloomy since we left the house. "I think it's gonna rain," I murmured, looking at the graying clouds.

Simon clicked his tongue. "Nah. The clouds are just being fussy is all."

I hummed as we walked on, staring at the sky for a moment longer bore turning away. And the second I did, a cold droplet landed on my face. I stopped and wiped the water off with the back of my hand, turning to Simon. The creeper boy looked just as surprised as I felt. More droplets began falling from the sky at an alarmingly increasing rate. My boyfriend and I ran, not really thinking about where we could go as heavy rainfall began misting up the city streets.

"Okay," Simon shouted next to me with a smile. "I'll admit, I might've been wrong about the rain!"

"You think?" I shouted back, keeping my beanie pressed to my head. I couldn't help but giggle as we tried to outrun the clouds and water. Everyone else that had been on the streets scattered, seeking shelter in the nearby stores or rushing home. I spotted a closed shop front with a concrete overhang, pointing it out to Simon. The creeper boy and I ran under it, both of us breathing heavily and smiling despite the cold.

I pulled my hat off, wringing the water out. It was thankfully not as soaked as the rest of me. Simon zipped up his jacket and sighed. His hair was dripping wet. "Now I wish I had a beanie like you," he said, combing his hand through the wet strands.

I giggled, tucking my own strands of wild hair behind my ears. "You should. It's not only stylish, it keeps my head warm and dry."

Simon smiled, pulling me close and planting a kiss on my cold cheek. We waited a while under our shelter, watching the sheen of rain that soaked the entire area thoroughly. The creeper boy hummed after a few minutes. The storm had not let up in the slightest. "I guess we live here now. With nothing to eat except..." he rummaged through his pockets. "Some chorus fruit chunks and crickets."

I made a face. "Yuck. I think I'll have the chorus fruit instead."

The creeper boy chuckled. "Well, I'm actually kind of hungry. You?"

I nodded. "Yeah, a little. But I really don't want those crickets."

"Me neither," Simon agreed. He walked to the edge of the concrete slab, just out of direct impact range, but close enough to get his shoes soaked. "I think there's a restaurant over there. If we're willing to cross the monsoon to reach it."

I hummed. "Maybe after a few minutes? The rain might slow down."

My boyfriend stepped away from the rain and wrapped me up in an embrace. "Okay, let's wait a while."

Minutes ticked by with the only sound being that of the pouring rain. Simon placed his head on my shoulder and closed his eyes. I smiled, combing my hand through his hair. The creeper boy hummed, relaxing a little. The rain was still going strong some time later.

"I think a while's passed," Simon murmured, straightening up.

"Yeah... I'm a bit cold," I complained quietly.

Simon squeezed me a little. "I know, Z. Do you want to risk going through the rain or would you rather stay here?"

I frowned, grabbing his hand and rubbing it with my thumb absently. "Let's go. It can't be worse than where we are at the moment."

The creeper boy nodded and planted another kiss on my cheek. "Alright. Put your beanie on."

I pulled my hat from my pockets and placed it tightly on my head. Simon extended the neck of his shirt with an 'it's better than nothing' look. "You ready?" he asked.

I put on my coat's hood over my beanie and nodded. "Ready."

Simon brought us to the edge of the concrete slab. "Three... two... one... go!"

We dashed through the rain, my boyfriend leading me onwards with a hand around my wrist. It was only a few seconds we spent crossing the small square, but by the time we reached and had gotten into the restaurant, we were both thoroughly soaked once more. Thankfully, warmth came from various fireplaces set up along the walls.

Simon chuckled, wiping his hands unsuccessfully on his wet jeans. "That was fun."

I giggled, removing my coat's hood. My beanie was nice and dry still. "I guess so."

"I'm glad you think so," Simon said, bringing me over to a table and pulling out a chair for me.

I smiled, sitting down. The creeper boy took a seat in front of me, and looked around. The restaurant was prettily lit with lanterns hanging from the roof, casting an orange glow on everything. There were a couple signs disguised as art pieces on the walls that read 'Terry's'. A young man walked up to our table with a couple of menus in hand.

"Good afternoon, welcome to Terry's. We have a promotion today for warm chicken soup at two for one, if you're interested," he told us, opening a menu and showing us a picture and price for the bowl of soup.

Simon and I exchanged looks, and he nodded. "Yes, thank you. Maybe some coffee, or something warm to drink."

"Hot chocolate for me," I added.

The man nodded. "Of course. Your order will be ready in just a moment."

He walked away, leaving us alone again. Simon hummed. "They wasted no time on that special, huh?"

I giggled. "Yeah. But that's good, though. At least we get a warm meal."

The creeper boy nodded. "I'm sorry our outing turned into such a mess," he said with an apologetic smile.

"Don't be. I've been having fun so far," I assured him, taking his hand. "I'm really really glad to have gotten to spend some more time with you. I missed it."

Simon's lips stretched in a genuine smile. "I missed it too." He kissed the back of my hand and got up, moving to sit next to me. "Thank you for being so patient with me," he said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and pulling me close.

I smiled, placing my head on his shoulder. "Thank you for making it worth the wait."

The creeper boy sighed, kissing the top of my head. "I love you, Z," he murmured.

I wiggled a little, getting an arm out and around his midsection. "I love you too."

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Author's Notes

I always forget how tired writing leaves me...

This chapter had an alarming lack of Izabell and Simon, which was promptly fixed simply because ThinMint reminded me of that. And for that, I thank you.

I'm really proud of how it turned out, despite it being a bit difficult. I hope you fellas like it too.

Thank you so much for your time and support! Have an awesome day!

~ LeMafiaKreb