Reviews :

Snake557 : Indeed!

Burgie : True! It does definitely help :)

Jay Sketchin : Aw, thanks friend! No issue! :D And yes, Turbo deserves all the luffs!


Song Listened To :

Walk Me Home by P!nk


*Chapter 61*

"I loved the look on Gloyd's face," Berri stated with a soft giggle, she shook her head and beamed Turbo a small, sheepish smile; she knew she had to walk on eggshells, for multitudinous reasons.

"Why?" Turbo volleyed curtly, the two sank into the still warmth of his silent loft, still merely left untouched from the slumber Turbo was suddenly rushed from.

"Because, he was like, whoa. Turbo actually helped me," Berri sarcastically gasped and cupped her cheeks, as if to be surprised. She shook her head and lofted her eyes to Turbo's back, though in a sharp, blushing double take, she noticed a whole entire slew of gorgeous, faded tattoos splayed down the broad of Turbo's upper back. She raised her eyebrows in surprise, though before she could sharply switch gears and inquire about the incredible artwork, Turbo grappled another one of his hoodies from his couch and began to urgently yank it over his body. The gears began to angrily turn and crank in confusion, though she shook her head and staggered to get words out, "Y-You're cold?"

"No, I'm going out on my balcony," Turbo muttered, although he was in a bad mood from having been woken up abruptly, not to mention the slew of eyes that were previously on him, he tried his very hardest not to take his bad mood out on Berri.

"Oh, how come? It's freezing out there," Berri furrowed her eyebrows in a splash of now further confusion, she gazed across Turbo's lovely, familiar home, Sugar Rush's massive metropolis sprawled underneath their point in the clouds, a cold, colorful, sky scraper wonderland.

"I'm going to have a smoke," Turbo mumbled as he straightened his dark brown hoodie to correction, and as he inhaled a raspy, deep breath, he grappled for the pack of cinnamon-scent cigarettes on his kitchen island, which was easily clad with a few other messy items.

"...How many hoodies do you have that have your name on it?" Berri blurt into a soft laugh, one that didn't seem to pushy, she desperately tried to pry normal conversation from him; having to learn how to navigate Turbo's now irritated, sleepy moodiness was something she was unfamiliar with.

"It's all I got, Bear, no one else is going to wear my merch," Turbo stabbed with a half hearted, sarcastic laugh, he grappled the chest of his hoodie and pressed on in a now sassy, forced tone of advertising, "Link in bio!"

"Uh, do you SEE ME?" Berri volleyed with an even louder laugh as she grappled the chest of the zip up hoodie she was wearing, of which had Turbo's name proudly down her left arm. Turbo sagged his shoulders, stayed still in his stance across the island, from Berri, and nearly went to roll his eyes as she continued on, "I'll rep your merch any day of the week, dude, hello."

"Yeah, cause you're the only person in this whole Arcade that actually likes me," Turbo huffed, the still look of rising irritation strangely began to mix with cute, coy stubbornness.

"I may even LIKE-like you," Berri pressed, though her tone held a playful twinge as she waggled her eyebrows; although the two were very well aware Berri's words were most definitely true, Turbo still did everything he could to lull his head back, fully roll his eyes, and let out an entirely irritated groan. Berri slumped her shoulders and now began to grow irritated alongside Turbo, "Oh, COME ON. You upstaged every single smarty on Sugar Rush's roster, you should be so thrilled right now!"

"Ask me in an hour," Turbo muttered as he swiftly began to cross his home, towards his lovely balcony doors, which were sealed safely shut.

"Why an hour?" Berri wondered as she jolted to move her sock covered feet about the island, she quickly shuffled after him and was well aware she'd have to keep up with his moody demeanor.

"I'll be fully awake by then," Turbo curtly responded, and as he came to his balcony doors, he gently slide the door to the left and began to clumsily step outside.

Berri raised her eyebrows and was at least thrilled to see Turbo leave the door open for her. Turbo's balcony opened up to a Northeast facing sprawl of grey outdoor tiles, a secured balcony over hang and railing, as well as a cozy set of outdoor couches and chairs, safely hugging a smaller outdoor coffee table. Turbo sat down in a huff, as if it were his tytpical hang out spot for when he smoked. An ash tray hung on his edge of the coffee table, at the ready, and although Berri had seen this balcony before, she furrowed her eyebrows and felt her heart sink at the sight of a whole slew more cigarette butts inside the tray, more than what she has previously seen in the past few days. In another turn of realization, she lofted her glancing gaze back to Turbo's kitchen island and noticed at least half a dozen opened, empty beer bottles. She slowed her roll and felt her skin prickle in tender confusion. She knew slacking on plans with Turbo, last night, wasn't the coolest thing to do, though she now wondered if he had taken it harder than she had maybe thought.

With a new air of understanding and tenderness, she knew she needed to show Turbo a bit more support. She hoped that she could softly ease him out of his bad habits, though as he lit up his cigarette, she felt the urge to lean over and pluck it straight from his fingers. She resisted, knowing that'd only make him more mad, though as if poking a sleeping lion, she wondered just how angry he'd have to get in order to show that vivid, glowing red eye contact only Nox has ever told stories about. With a brave heart, a deep inhale of Sugar Rush's cool air, she stepped out onto the balcony with Turbo and rounded the couch. She knew not to sit way too close to him, though she wondered if pushing her loving, bubbling personality on him would potentially just reverse his bad mood. Berri figured it'd make it much worse, though she shrugged to herself and knew there was simply only one way to find out. With a plop, she sat down next to Turbo as he exhaled a long, fogged breath of his smoke; he kindly blew it opposite of Berri's direction.

"Bo, I know you're upset about last night," Berri stated in tenderness, she wriggled out of Turbo's hoodie and laid it in her lap. Turbo cocked an eyebrow and gave her a gentle show of eye contact, one of which had the potential to softening, "I'm really sorry. It was shitty of me to come back to Sugar Rush and forget to text you... And then to promise you that I'd come over later, and then fall asleep."

"It's fine, Bear, I already said," Turbo sighed after a long inhale of his quickly dwindling cigarette, smoke eased out his nose like a dragon. He lulled his eyes closed and shook his head, "You don't need to keep apologizing."

"Yes I do," Berri bobbed a nod, she knew she needed to be frank, here, "I earned your trust, and stunts like what I pulled only chip away at it. I know you're not one to easily hand out trust to the first person that lands on your door step."

Turbo fell silent and gently gave her now unyielding eye contact, one of understanding and final softness. He sagged his shoulders and bobbed a gentle nod, as if to make clear to her that she was forgiven, and although it maybe was a much bigger deal than he lead on, he still made sure not to make her feel too bad.

"It's not everyday anyone becomes Turbo Black's best friend," Berri's warmth soaked over Turbo's shivering soul, she side-eyed him in a wrinkle of a cute smile, as if to potentially state that they were lucky to have each other, here, "I'm not going to squander it... I hope you can give me a second chance to redeem myself."

"No questions asked, Bear, it was never not an option," Turbo blurt the softest, shyest chuckle, he shook his head and lulled his eyes closed, once more, "I-I'm just scared to get too close to anyone... Last night really hindered my trust, but... I also trust you're not one to just willingly hurt people. I know it was an accident. And it's not that big of a deal... I-I don't blame you, quite frankly. You were hanging out with Gunner. Isn't he like your biggest celebrity crush, or something?"

"I mean, yeah, when I was growing up," Berri shrugged, she tried not to seem too obvious over the fact that said young-years crush came immediately flooding back to her girly circuits, "Still no excuse to shit on plans with my best friend."

Turbo looked off into Sugar Rush's glorious, sunny distance, he narrowed his eyes in smiling disbelief and finally gave Berri a loving stab of bewildered, curious eye contact.

"...You really like me that much?" Turbo wondered quietly, his tone lowered to a tenderness of bashful reveal, as if his hard, hearty and cold exterior was something he'd only briefly shed for Berri's eyes only.

"Didn't I just make that clear?" Berri barked softly as she shook her head; she was thrilled Turbo's wall came down so she could shove his own medicine down his throat; Turbo flinched and finally smiled in irritation that began to rush back to him. Berri eagerly jostled the hoodie in her lap and garbled her voice to a funny pitch of goofiness, "BUY MY MERCH!"

"Oh, shut up," Turbo choked a laugh he desperately tried to hold back, he shook his head and inhaled yet another deep breath of his cigarette.

"Yes, I like you, get used to it," Berri stabbed in tender, smiling, blushing annoyance; as much as they both so desperately wanted to reveal tender, romantic feelings to each other, they both somehow met in a grey area of hovering wait and nervous anticipation, as if maybe it were too soon. Berri heaved a sigh and shooed away said thoughts for the time being, she began to pull out her materializer and knew just how to get a smile out of Turbo, "Besides... Just because I missed jamming out with you last night doesn't mean I can't make up for it right now."

"...You SERIOUSLY brought your guitar over? NOW?" Turbo barked in climbing annoyance, though as Berri began to pull out her favorite lime green electric guitar from her glossy materializer, Turbo groaned a louder noise of whole irritation and looked off into the distance, "Hooo man, you seriously brought your guitar over."

"I know just the thing to make you wake up," Berri prod with a cheesy smile; Turbo so desperately held back smiles and laughter, and was successful.

"Thank User you don't have your amp with you," Turbo muttered as he glossed his eyes all about Berri's person, hoping somehow she didn't forget to unveil a pocket amp, or something of the like.

"I can still make it work," Berri argued, she shook her head and began to lay her guitar across her lap, her fingers prepared to grapple the bridge of her guitar in readiness, "May sound flat, but whatever."

"Kill me," Turbo muttered, as much as he desperately wanted to remain annoyed, he could feel that warmth creeping back into his soul; after a night of feeling lonely and unwanted, his whole body craved Berri's warmth next to him.

"Annnd there she was, out of the blue, bright as the sky, Sugar-Rushin' sweeeeet... BAM!" Berri blurt in sing-song, she strummed her guitar in vigorous playfulness; it strung in weird tunes of dullness strictly for the fact that it wasn't plugged into an amp.

"Annoying as all get-out," Turbo muttered, as if to finish the verse. He slumped over his knees a little more and let his irritated, pixel-cubed gaze gloss over Orion City. It boasted the morning sun with all of it's magnificence, though just as he was about to take another inhale of his cigarette, he flinched as Berri suddenly strummed her guitar a little harder and leaned into Turbo's side.

"ANNOYINNNNG as all get-out," Berri retort, she wrinkled her nose at him in dry annoyance and noticed him go for said puff of his bad habit, though she lulled the guitar in her lap and gingerly plucked the cigarette from his hand.

"Ah- HEY, HEY!" Turbo grunted in high pitched annoyance as Berri flicked the cigarette off of his massive sixty-fourth floor drop. Turbo grappled the railing of his balcony and peered down to the loud city life far below, though he slowly came back to the couch the two were comfortably lounged on. He inhaled a slow, seething breath and desperately tried to contain the thought of rocketing her guitar over the edge, in retaliation. Berri cocked an eyebrow and gave him a stern look of full-blown girly sass, though he glared her down, "Don't you have to meet up with Throttle or something? Some other poor soul to torture?"

"In forty-five minutes," She muttered as she remained still and peered to him with a dull smile, though her eyes twinkled with all the energy and excitement in the world.

"Forty-five minutes, huh... You could go sit in Game Central Academy's Library and, oh I don't know... Hear silence for once," Turbo huffed as he crossed his arms, though he couldn't help but let a wide, annoyed smile plaster his face as he noticed Berri get ready to excitedly strum at her guitar once more. Turbo jolted to sit up, he uttered a hard noise of grimacing annoyance and grappled the neck of her guitar, "DON'T... Make a song about it, for User's sakes."

"You're no fun," Berri prod with a small giggle as the two slowly relaxed from the tense actions of grapples and stiff movements.

"I honestly have never heard that about me, before," Turbo stated in dark sarcasm as he sat back and began to clumsily fumble with his pack of cigarettes.

"I actually realized I haven't used the bathroom since before I fell asleep last night," Berri slumped out of her playfulness and began to put her guitar back into her materializer; the air between them shifted from obnoxious push and pull of irritation to a slump of gentle, poised seriousness. Berri tucked her hair behind her ears and prepared to get up out of her comfortable spot next to Turbo, "May I please use your bathroom?"

"Yes, ma'am," Turbo's deep voice reverberated in his chest, a polite show of tender annoyance as he cast her a simple glance of warm uncertainty, though as she left the balcony, Turbo sagged and knew he needed to potentially wake up a lot faster than he was used to, due to likely being at the very tail end of Berri's tolerance for putting up with his bad attitude.

Turbo knew it was no secret, the sheer fact that he subtly would watch Berri leave, he cocked an eyebrow and bashfully let his golden eyes admire her figure as she left, though once she was gone, he heaved a hard, irritated sigh, to no one but himself, and sagged deeper into his couch. His confidently glowing, golden eyes aimlessly peered down to the new, lit cigarette in his hand, he knew full well that he was enjoying every single last second of this nonsense. Every second he had with Berri even so much as being the most annoying person in the entire Arcade, he swore he'd take it, over being alone, in a heartbeat. He smiled as his eyes aimlessly noticed the little embers inside his cigarette, the warm smoke that so tenderly billowed from the end, he felt his heart swell to bigger degrees he wasn't certain was real.

Turbo finally lofted his gaze across this great, vast land underneath him. A glowing city under his reign, it twinkled with the sunshine that lovingly cast down upon it, like rays that fed a field of flowers, Turbo sighed a hefty sigh and allowed his mind to wander into territories he had desperately tried to avoid. He dared to remember the exciting, new feelings of love he had felt when him and Libby Swirlz first met. The rushing anticipation of skin, of kisses, of hand holding, of date nights, he squeezed his eyes shut and allowed himself to feel the feelings he had shut away for so long, the thirty years he endured being trapped with Libby's coding, he peeled his eyes open in a dreaded stick of coming upon a hurdle to climb over, a hurdle that now included a brand new woman, a feeling he was absolutely certain his heart wouldn't have the strength to feel, ever again. His heart began to pound with realization that was just underneath his nose, the plain realization that he knew was right in front of him, this entire time, though even still he held it at bay.

After about ten minutes of desperately keeping the L word clear from his mind, he shook his head, put out his now dwindled cigarette and began to make his way back inside. He lazily began to tidy his hair, from previously, though as his bare feet gently eased inside, he jolted to a halt at the sight in his living room. With a sharp furrow of his eyebrows, he noticed Berri layed curled on the big bend of his comfortable red couch, she was draped in one of the cozy blankets Turbo kept on his couch for comfort; she was fast asleep. Turbo huffed a faltered breath of uncertainty, though he quickly let out a silent chuckle of annoyance, as if he was sure that whatever kind of a night she had last night, it must've been exhausting. Turbo finally released the bitter feelings of being forgotten and allowed it to slide off of his back for good; he knew Berri meant no harm, the startling jolt of being abruptly woken up and thrusted into a whole pack of peers that detested him only made his attitude sour, he swallowed his pride and knew to stop taking his bad mood out on Sugar Rush's beautiful princess.

As he neared Berri's snoozing figure, he cocked an eyebrow and noticed her phone was still unlocked. He furrowed his eyebrows, leaned down to get a good look as to what was displayed, and was delighted to see that she had only just set a few alarms for herself, not two minutes ago. One for fifteen minutes before her class with Throttle, and one five minutes before. Turbo sagged his shoulders and glanced to Berri's soundly snoozing face, she was entirely lost in exhausted sleep. Turbo shook his head, heaved a long sigh through his nose and tenderly reached his finger down to the touch screen of her phone. He silently disabled her alarms, locked her phone and stood up straight in a slow swell of understanding. He knew that in this instance, he'd now have to text Throttle and let him simply know that Berri wouldn't be making it to her class, all while simultaneously hoping Zed didn't notice her waypoints in the game, which would now remain stationed at Turbo's for the day. Prepared to deal with the backlash, Turbo cheekily smiled and, as carefully as he could, he sat down a few feet from Berri's sleeping figure, on the couch, and pulled his phone from his pocket.

The television quietly drummed on in the background, a tender white noise of commercials and boring, day time tv. Turbo sagged into the couch with a small, cheeky smile, he glanced in Berri's direction and was glad she'd now get a full nap in, as opposed to maybe a half an hour of sleep that would do her no good. He was glad she viewed his home as a safe spot for all her needs, it was very slowly becoming all he wanted, and more, out of their friendship, simply a safety net of trust, an equal amount of give and take they could rely on. Turbo tabbed to Throttle's name, in his own phone, and began to diligently type a message to his big brother. He furrowed his eyebrows into his screen and picked his words wisely, he knew Throttle would likely just attempt to pick the situation apart if he weren't careful. Although Turbo was en route to hoping to avoid said conversation, somewhere, in the back of his mind, he was secretly hoping it'd arise; any excuse to potentially talk about his feelings without bombarding an unfortunate soul that didn't ask.

Black : Hey man, just wanted to quickly message you and let you know that Berri fell asleep at the palace's kitchen island last night. She came over to my loft, just now, to hang out before your class, but she fell asleep on my couch. I don't have the heart to wake her up.

Tee : You mean, you have the heart to NOT wake her up.

Turbo looked off and felt his veins wiggle in a show of annoyance, though with said wiggle of annoyance, it very easily shook the last dregs of stubborn irritation away. He sagged his shoulders, looked down into his phone and finally began to feel his heart pound in unfolding anticipation. He inhaled a trembling breath through his nose and only hovered his thumbs over the digital keyboard on his own touch screen, he wondered why he could feel every single last ounce of blood in his body just pulse in a shedding anticipation, as if he was somehow going through a proverbial molt and Throttle was now due to being witness to it, no matter through text or in person. Turbo finally exhaled an equally as trembling breath and cocked an eyebrow in bashful boyishness.

Black : Guess that sounds more like me.

Tee : It does. It's no problem, my lectures for Beaux and Mara are a bit rudimentary and I can tell Berri gets a little bored, towards the end of class. She IS Tessa's daughter, after all.

Black : Smart girl.

Before Turbo could lock his phone and just call the conversation over for good, he sharply furrowed his eyebrows in whole annoyance at the somehow unending, annoying television commercial that began to obnoxiously play. Although the volume of the tv was low, the words could still be heard; Turbo grunted a noise to attempt to sit up, so to grapple for the television remote to change the channel.

"When I first met Thelka, man... I had no clue what to do with her," Stated the guy in the commercial, the very commercial that Turbo, Wren and Theo were obnoxiously making fun a week or two prior. Turbo furrowed his brow in further annoyance and tried to continue to grapple for the tv remote as the guy, on screen, softly carried on, "She just kept, I don't know... Popping up everywhere I went, even so much as coming over unannounced. I seriously thought I was going to go insane, all I wanted to do was be alone."

"I guess it was just my persistence," Thelka lovingly chimed, a cute couple amidst a white backdrop, as if to be interviewed for this proper commercial.

"We were both on GamerSocial, but I figured it'd be useless... How could someone like ME find someone like HER?" The guy, on screen, tenderly continued, though as Turbo finally had the remote in hand, he felt that pinprickled feeling of warmth finally coat his soul, once and for all, as if to whisper to him to take it easy, to accept these feelings, a hug of reassurance, that falling head over heels would be okay, that falling in deep would be both terrifying and amazing.

"We became fast friends, due to my perseverance," Thelka pressed, Turbo honed his eyes tight to the commercial and felt as if his flat screen had begun to glow, every single beam of sunshine turned into a ray brighter than anything the universe had ever seen, "I figured he finally caved and just was forced to enjoy my presence."

"Oh, it runs much deeper than that," The gentleman deeply pressed, the way the two looked at each other was sapped in love and appreciation, "One day I just... Looked over at her, and it was like... Magic."

Turbo huffed a shaky, faltered breath and, as if it was slowly against his own will, he long blinked in almost dumbfounded surprise and tenderly peered his wavering, golden gaze tight to Berri's figure, just to his left. He felt as if the pulse in his jugular was bound to come shooting out of him, his heart throbbed in a renewed pound of undefeated feelings, as if he now could hardly reign it in, even if he wanted to, even if he programmed his brain to do something different, his eyes glossed Berri's adorable face and felt entirely doomed, in this raw instance of now whole realization.

"Aw, you mean that?" Thelka's gentle voice chimed, Turbo raised his eyebrows in a forlorn show of bewilderment towards himself, as if he could swear his heart would simply not allow this feeling ever again, how foreign it all finally felt.

"Course I do... It's not every day you find yourself falling in love with your best friend."

Berri's innocently snoozing figure continued to methodically inhale and exhale air, as she slept. The tender gape of her pink lips, the adorable curl of her blue eye lashes, the sunkissed freckles on her creamy white skin, Turbo almost felt as if the oxygen in the room was now molasses, and he was delightfully drowning in the whole feelings that now rolled over him in a full force of finalization. He knew it was coming, though he shook his head and was certain it all would dissipate before flirting turned into feelings. Turbo felt his pulse continue to pound on the undersides of his skin, begging him to wake up already, to understand that lost love, from decades ago, didn't simply go extinct. The awakened, refreshed, new feeling of love that now coat over his very honeycombs felt as if he was from a brand new game that just got plugged in. As difficult as it was to finally dip his toes back into romance, he dared to allow his heart to finally ease from the shallow end of flirty banter, to slowly and successfully soak right into the deeper end of it all, to finally fall in love.

Turbo huffed a shaky breath, as if to be beside himself, as if all the distance between him and Berri was now a million miles, and all he ever wanted to do was be glued to her side. He shook his head in disbelief and began to silently scold his heart, as if to angrily warn it just what happened the last time he fell in love, the way his whole life and nearly the entirety of Arcade fell apart due to it. He continued to shake his head and kept his eyes tight to Berri's adorably snoozing figure, her arm almost haphazardly tucked underneath her chin and head for support, the way her legs were curled for comfort, he squeezed his eyes shut and finally sagged his elbows to his knees, he firmly held the sides of his head and scrunched in terror, as if these feelings were about to come crashing down on top of him and there was nothing to save him now. As if the feelings did, indeed, crash on top of him, he warily accepted it, took it like a man, he reopened his eyes and peered down to his bare feet and carpet, knowing full well he was doomed; there was no weaseling his way out of this one. In a shaky swipe, he grappled for his phone and felt a renewed heat under his skin, a new sense of purpose and defeat, all in one.

Black : By the way... Can I talk to you about something? It's nothing detrimental, I just... Need a shoulder. You're my big brother. I just need an ear. I just am a little apprehensive and don't know how to handle the situation I'm in.

Tee : Course, Bo, what's going on?

Turbo breathed a silent, shaky sigh, sat up a little straighter and landed his eye contact to Berri's soundly snoozing figure, once more, eye contact that grew more and more confident as the seconds pressed on. Turbo shook his head in continued disbelief and began to warily type the words he was absolutely certain he'd never be typing in his entire life.

Black : I think I've fallen in love with Berri.


A/N : I drew artwork for this chapter, a whopping TWO YEARS ago. That is insane. The artwork already came with dialog, in which I also wrote two years ago. Seriously wild.

It's titled Blue-Berri Jam on my deviantART, username Vyntresser :)