Reviews :

Jay Sketchin : LOL JUST DO IT SON

Snake557 : Yes there is! You'll see as time goes on :)

Burgie : Yep! Thank you :D


Song Listened To :

Swimming with Sharks - Fly by Midnight


*Chapter 81*

"For User's sake, I never want to socialize ever again," Turbo blurt with a hearty laugh, the way his shoulders were sagged, his chest was out in confidence, the saunter in his step as him and Berri kicked off their shoes and finally sagged down to Turbo's lovely, huge red couch, the mess all about Turbo's home was put on pause. Berri heaved a hard, long, exasperated sigh as she finally was free of her high heels, and in the sag into comfort, of no return, she squirmed off her sleek coat and revealed her light, flowy cami underneath it all. In the sneak that Turbo could afford, he got himself a good eye full of her gorgeous figure before he lulled his eyes closed in cheeky cuteness and sagged his head heavy to the cushion of his couch; his raspy voice pressed on, "I'm glad you showed up at the last minute. That definitely made this one of the most fun nights I've had in, well... Decades."

"Yeah, and considering I wasn't invited, I technically crashed your party," Berri shrugged in cute daintiness, though she stabbed her almost hurt and authoritative eyes into Turbo's, as if to express that she was potentially irritated over this nonsense, though she was prepared to get some teasing distance with it, "I'm glad it was just the cherry on top, for you, Bo."

"C'mon, it's not that I just blatantly didn't invite you," Turbo argued with confidence, something Berri was certain the alcohol allowed, somehow his timid and shy inhibitions were dulled to a mildly brash, thorny and cheeky individual, "It's just that... I-"

"Blatantly didn't invite me," Berri concluded, she was well aware this was likely one of their first arguments, though she was thrilled it was full of smiles and a light hearted air; however, she was prepared to go to war if the opportunity arose, no matter what, "I won't hold it against you. I'll just hold it against you."

"Berri," Turbo choked an unsure laugh and shot her a smile, he shook his head and finally softened to tender apology, "I didn't reach out to you because I knew you had a date with Gunner. I didn't want to conflict with it."

"Well, why?" Berri prod, though Turbo sharply furrowed his brow, looked off and now had to genuinely contemplate her question, "Were you worried I'd say no, or something? Better to just sort of disregard me than to be shut down?"

"I guess that could be my reasoning," Turbo shrugged, he gave her a bold, confident smile and shook his head, "I don't handle rejection well. But, then again, I knew this was an important night for you, and I didn't want to distract."

"Turbo, you want to know what I did on my entire date?" Berri muttered in dismay, though Turbo sharply furrowed his brow again and gave her a wary, unsure look, as if to prove that he really didn't want those kinds of details, though Berri rolled her eyes and pressed on, "I glared down your tower for the entire night. I left the palace lot with the image of Wren, Theo and Chester running away to the teleport pad like... 'TO TURBO'S!'"

"I'm sorry, Bear," Turbo nearly choked a laugh as Berri now sat up a little bit and eased to the edge of Turbo's couch in a fit of fervor,

"Is this just going to be a reoccurring thing? Y'gunna plan house parties on nights I have a date with Gunner?" Berri stabbed, though the look on her face now gave Turbo mixed signals.

"If that's what you think is going on, then, sure," Turbo blurt another laugh as Berri looked off in solid irritation, though it was clear she was trying her hardest not to smile. Turbo raised his eyebrows in boyish, nervous surprise and knew full well that, with his next question, he was setting his own heart up for failure, "You, uh... You have more dates planned with Gunner?"

"Yeah, he asked me on a second date next Friday, as a matter of fact" Berri stabbed in cocky delight, and although Turbo felt his heart sink straight through the sixty-four floors they hovered on, he somehow felt revived with Berri's cute, sassy eye contact, "Y'gunna plan ANOTHER house party on that night too? Something else I'll miss out on?"

"C'mon, you'd certainly rather go on a date with Gunner than come over to my loft for a silly house party, where Nox is an idiot and Wren's and Throttle's sexual tension is absolutely maddening," Turbo now sat up straighter, as well, and, with his knees lightly spreed, he clasped his hands in a hover as his elbows rested on his thighs. He gestured out to the room, cocked an eyebrow and peered to Berri in a volley of sass he was well aware Berri wasn't attune to, "... Only to come over right when the party's ending, and you get to see my sorry ass clean up my loft. Certainly that just adds to your amazing night out, no?"

"That's messed up, Bo. If that's how you want to play it, then fine," Berri suddenly snipped, and it was here did Turbo very quickly understand that he was way out of his element. With the mix of alcohol, the feelings he had for Berri and the jealousy he harbored for Gunner, he felt his skin quickly sting in delight as his body did everything to sober him up. He flinched in nervous sorrow as Berri gently came to a stand, bent over to pick up her heels and softly cued to Chester, across the way, "I just won't come over, like that, any longer. I thought maybe you guys wanted me here, but I'm beginning to see that not inviting me was probably intentional."

"Berri, please," Turbo urged in nervous sorrow as he stood, and as bravely as he could, he eased into her bubble and so gently held his hand to her lower arm, to keep her from walking away. Berri furrowed her eyebrows and stabbed her dominant blue eye contact into his, a great deal of confusion and hurt that soaked over her had his heart pulsing in uncertainty, "I-I didn't not invite you because I didn't want you here... Genuinely. I just... Didn't want to intrude. I knew that date was probably really important for you, and... Who am I to come in between you two, y'know? I just was trying to be respectful."

"Who are you, Turbo? You're my best friend," Berri eased in a gentle sting of sorrow as she gladly hung in Turbo's vicinity, "Sure, I made plans with Gunner, first, but... If you would've invited me first, I would've turned Gunner down, or at least planned a different day. This doesn't have to be hard."

Turbo huffed a shaky breath and bobbed a nervous nod. He lovingly held his hand to Berri's lower arm, as if she was the only thing holding him to the Arcade, he long blinked his golden eyes in tender dismay towards himself. Although he wouldn't dare admit that this was all just an innocent scheme to get her to feel torn, he now felt bad for playing such a game with her. Turbo gently brought his apologetic eyes to hers and silently said his sorries for his dumb decisions, he gently shook his head and heaved a shaky sigh as the two stood tight in each other's vicinities. It wasn't until Berri gently bent down to drop her heels did Turbo feel confidence tenderly come back to his skin, confidence that now lacked a cocky vibe erring on the side of drunken loss of inhibitions.

"Forgive me," Turbo stated gently, and as the air began to finally ease, the two sat back down to the couch, about a foot or two apart so to make conversing easier, "I guess... Another reason why I sort of slacked on reaching out to you was, well... I was confused as to why you were sort of avoiding me, and it was brought to my attention that you found out about Libby and I."

"...Yeah," Berri quipped, as if she possibly didn't even want to begin thinking about it, though she long blinked her gaze in Turbo's direction, in tender confusion, and was now well aware Turbo was in the middle of a sticky situation, with her, and was dealing with it like a champ. Although she wouldn't openly admit it, she knew going on a date with Gunner likely wasn't the easiest thing for Turbo to swallow, much like the knowledge of his and Libby's past was for her. Berri heaved a hot sigh through her nose, looked down to her hands and bobbed a gentle nod of further understanding, "I guess... I didn't really know how to handle all that. I had no idea..."

"Yeah, there's... There's a lot that went on, once upon a time," Turbo stated in mild dread, though he shook his head and smiled, "Though, I dated an INCREDIBLY different version of Libby. Not the Libby you know, today."

"I guess... I know the story, and I know what happened, it just stung, and, I really have no clue why," Berri shook her head and peered deep into Turbo's loving eyes, ones that used to scare her, and it was here did she see the depth of unconditional love just sap his whole being. She was well aware he needed a shoulder, he needed a support system, and it was here did she feel the need to jump up and be that one shining star for him, "That was lifetimes ago. I really shouldn't have gotten bent out of shape."

"She's your sister in law, I can see why you got upset," Turbo shrugged, though he shot her a cheeky smile and shook his head, "The Libby I was in a relationship was very different from Kaji. Both women are like night and day."

"So... Tell me what your version of Libby was like?" Berri prod warmly, as if opening up this wound was likely too hard for her, and it was clear she was gritting her teeth, though in asking this question, she was simply unaware she was asking Turbo to explain all of the things he quite enjoyed out of Berri; he visibly swallowed and looked off, due to this.

"W-Well, she... She was outgoing, bratty, exciting," Turbo listed with a gentle shrug, "We were both racers, we were both... Musicians."

Berri's aimless gaze down at Turbo's coffee table gingerly warmed into alertness, and as the two gently caught eyes in a string of warm knowing, Berri barely peaked a small smile.

"She was opinionated, she was always smiling, she always had a witty comeback," Turbo listed, and it was here did Berri look off in bashful knowing and avoid eye contact with Turbo, the curl of her pink lips held true as she did everything to withhold it, "She loved hard, she was fiercely loyal... When all that crap went down with TurboTime, she heavily advocated for me. She defended me like her life depended on it. She believed in me..."

Berri frowned and peered her curious eyes into Turbo's, and as Turbo's descriptions kept going, she felt her heart begin to sag in gentle realization. The sheer fact that he was now slowly segueing into everything he now currently loved about Berri, a flame of love he was entirely unsure would ever be rekindled, Berri sagged her shoulders and peered to Turbo in gentle knowing, though she did absolutely everything she could to seem unsuspecting.

"When everyone turned on me, she stood up and put her foot down, she spoke highly about me to the people at her favorite coffee shop," Turbo eased, he finally peered down to his coffee table as a shy smile sprawled his face; he bravely continued on, "And, although she likely wanted to tell her friends all about how she was safely harboring an Arcade bad guy inside her game, she protected my identity where it counted. She came to me first when there was a problem... There was a lot of trust between us. Hell, I gave her a key to my loft."

Berri blurt a bashful giggle and looked down to her open palms, her coding being the thing that was said key to Turbo's loft. She felt her heart flutter in excitement, the whole fact that Turbo was very shyly and sneakily revealing his feelings for her, in this raw instance, she almost wondered if this was now how they were going to move forward. A sly, slow moving dance of stepping stones, a gentle ease of tug and release, her vivid blue eyes finally hooked into his, and it was here did Turbo inhale a deep, readied breath and bob a nod.

"My version of Libby was insensitive at times, she would often say things she didn't mean and would play mind games with me," Turbo shrugged, and it was here did he finally return Berri's lovely eye contact, "It sucked sometimes, but... These thirty years has given me time to understand what I want and what I don't want. I'd say my judgement has greatly improved."

Berri smiled down to her hands, once more, and was floored by the heavy compliment she had just been lofted. She knew she very easily had her own glaring flaws that Turbo probably saw, though her heart fluttered at the simple idea Turbo was insinuating; that she was a massive upgrade. Berri shook her head a little and was well aware the woman from Turbo's past was still grand and great in her own right, though she wrinkled her nose in tender curiosity and shook her head in mild confusion.

"So, Kaji just HAS all those memories of you? Even though she's not the same person," Berri trailed off, to which Turbo raised his eyebrows and tightened his lip in smiling irritation.

"Yyyep. That woman knows quite a lot about me," Turbo grunted in nervousness, to which Berri finally blurt a cute laugh, the two smiled on, "She could blackmail me so badly. But, we're cool. We've talked about all of this. She's an entirely different person, and even if she wasn't... Libby wasn't technically good for me. We had a lot of highs, but also a lot of lows. We jumped right into our relationship without any regard. We swapped after two days of knowing each other."

"Holy crap," Berri blurt in surprise, to which Turbo rolled his eyes and lulled them closed.

"I know, not my smartest move ever," Turbo muttered, though he shrugged and peered across his dim home, "But... Libby reversed my coding, last year, and... Although I was really angry at her, at first, I'm super grateful. Yeah, Libby was my swap mate, but... It was a toxic situation. The six months we were dating, our love just got angrier and more constrained."

"How come?" Berri patiently wondered.

"Well, I was a bad guy. I was wanted... I was too afraid to leave Sweet Streets," Turbo shrugged, though he scoffed an annoyed noise at himself and looked off, "I guess... It's not too different from where I stand, right now, but... I was a LOT angrier about it. A lot meaner. I had just lost my home, and I didn't know how to deal with it."

"Sounds like you've done a lot of growing, since then," Berri encouraged, to which Turbo heaved a gentle sigh of relief.

"I like to look at it like that," Turbo nodded, "Helps that Kaji is super understanding. We cleared the air really quick, and before we knew it, I was helping her get through a feuding time she was having with Ace."

"You helped her with her's and Ace's relationship problems?" Berri wondered sweetly, to which Turbo rubbed his temple.

"Well, partially because I caused the whole mess... The second I saw Libby, I jumped up and started making out with her," Turbo uttered through clenched teeth, and although Berri was previously hurt by this information, she now openly laughed and smiled about the situation, "I had absolutely no context, I didn't know she was swap mates with a User that was preparing to delete my ass, right then and there."

"I can't imagine how Ace felt, in that instance," Berri staggered a laugh and shrugged a little, though Turbo bugged his eyes.

"Insanely hurt," Turbo choked with a small laugh to boot, "But, we talked through it, eventually... It was a misunderstanding of a colossal size. We all got through it, but it took a hot minute."

"But Libby still loves you, I know she wants you to be happy, like she is," Berri encouraged, and it was here did the two traipse down a slippery road, once more, "Certainly, you too, could... Go into the city, go on a date with someone, sort of... Restart life, like you deserve. Don't you want that?"

Turbo felt his heart sag in knowing; he was well aware just exactly what Berri was doing, here. Although their silent movie of love was now painfully in black and white, speckled with debris and full of excuses that simply evaporated from the tips of their tongues, he cocked an eyebrow and knew exactly what she was insinuating, no matter how thick the fog between them got.

"I do," Turbo's voice so warmly lilted, the rasp of the years of smoking he had been doing added that depth of masculine, worn endearment to his personality, it was something that Berri was finding herself craving more and more, the longer they were in each other's presence. Turbo smiled down to his hands and almost gave his flooring a look of forlorn regret, "If I ever find my bravery... There definitely is someone I'd ask out, in a heart beat."

"You should ask her," Berri nodded with a warm smile, she could feel her and Turbo metaphorically grapple each others hands and stand on the crumpling edge of their cliff, the urge to peer into each other's eyes and quickly beg if this was the right decision before leaping, she could almost feel the wind in her hair, the rush of their conjoined pulses, the way Turbo's innocent, golden eyes hooked to hers in bashful question. Berri inhaled a shaky breath and eased a gentle giggle as her encouraging voice carried on, "I-I'm sure she knows all the awesome spots, around town."

"I'm sure she does," Turbo grumbled with a smile and a small nod, though he looked back down and heaved a trembling sigh, "If it weren't for my fear of going out in public, any longer... I've... Lost touch with myself. I've become scared. It was something I didn't have when I first started dating Libby, but the deeper our relationship got, and the more hectic the chaos around Arcade got, the bigger this wound got."

"I understand," Berri eased in conclusion, she bobbed a nod and looked down in defeat, "Maybe, if this certain girl kept coming over, you'd eventually be comfortable coming into her domain. The city... And maybe, eventually, the rest of Arcade. Certainly that's something you can handle. I know Libby would want you to carry on and be happy, don't you think?"

"Y-You're not wrong," Was all Turbo's now shivering heart could afford, he nodded and nervously looked off, as if he was well aware just what needed to happen in order to live a normal life with Berri, everything a solid dating life, or even relationship, would entail; he knew she wouldn't carry on without that normalcy, "I've... I've come this far. I can afford house parties. I-I mean, a month ago, that would be something I'd imagine would greet me upon entering hell's gates."

Berri blurt out in hard laughter and covered her face, Turbo beamed a cheeky smile and craved every last ounce of her lovely voice, her contagious laugh.

"It was definitely a shock, to hear," Berri loudly giggled as she tucked her hair behind her ears and tried to compose herself, "W-Wren told me you were throwing a house party and I practically stroked out. I was like, wait... OUR Turbo? That can't be right."

"It was fun," Turbo bobbed a nod, though he lulled his eyes closed in exhaustion and heaved a gentle laugh, "I'm exhausted, but... Was fun."

"I hope I'm invited to the next one," Berri argued in now smiling irritation, to which Turbo rolled his eyes and covered his face in tired, rising agitation, "I don't care what plans I have to cancel, I WILL be invited to the next one."

"Yes, ma'am, you'll be the first person I tell," Turbo assured with a warm smile and laugh in her direction; the two gently hung in suspended easiness, and it was here did Turbo suddenly realize that, although they were only faintly glowing, she still had her circuited stress lines. He furrowed his eyebrows and tenderly leaned in, to get a better look, "Man, those stress lines STILL there, huh..."

"Oh? Yeah, I... Well..." Berri heaved a nervous sigh and peered into Turbo's eyes, "That's... That's actually something I wanted to ask you about. My mom and Libby were looking into it, and, well..."

"I've already gotten the memo, I'm happy to help you out," Turbo pressed warmly with a small nod, "Tessa elected me. She said I'd certainly know what to do."

"Well, do you?" Berri pressed innocently, to which Turbo gave her a warm, encouraging smile.

"Course I do, there's lots that can be done to reverse stress lines," Turbo eased sweetly, "I'm happy to help you through that. It starts with really taking care of yourself, but... There's a lot of different remedies. Some longer lasting than others."

"I'd like a crash course, please," Berri prod in teasing, dire urgency, to which Turbo's rib cage reverberated a tired chuckle, he nodded in warm approval.

"How about you come over this Sunday, on closed Arcade day," Turbo affirmed, he gently gestured to her and gave her a promising, cheeky smile, "I can give you the run down on how all of that works, and what you can do to get the stress lines to disappear."

"Will it hurt?" Berri worried, though Turbo wrinkled his nose and felt his face heat up a little.

"N-No, it won't," Turbo staggered with a confused laugh, "I'll go easy on you."

"... What's that supposed to mean?" Berri wondered in now blushing, riled confusion, though both of their bashful smiles never wavered.

"You'll just have to find out," Turbo's voice lilted in sneaky cuteness.


A/N: Hey guys! I'll be gone for the next week. My mommy is coming into town, for our birthdays, and I won't have any time to write or upload. If I DO find down time, then I'll write again and upload, but as for right now, I won't be back until next Friday, which is July 26th. Thanks for understanding guys!

ALSO, fair WARNING - my next chapter, Chapter 82, is a pretty spicy chapter between Wren and Throttle, which involves sexual themes. For those of you not interested in those kinds of things, you can skip the entirety of the next chapter. You won't miss any major plot points, but I'd check back once Chapter 83 is uploaded! Thanks guys!