Taffyta slowly opened her eyes. Her head was aching like a hammer pummeling it over and over. Her eyes hurt and yet again she felt as though sleep hadn't come easy. It wasn't a Sunday which meant no sleeping in. She hugged the heavenly comfort of her little bed for all of five glorious minutes before rolling over and forcing herself to get up. Today she was part of the random roster race, something she used to feel proud of. Now it just felt like another work day.

Her shower came quickly, unsatisfying but at least she was clean for the day. She donned her signature outfit and started brushing her hair, waiting. Checking her watch, she found that the arcade would be open in twenty minutes, leaving her just long enough to sulk and think.

Oh, joy.

The strawberry themed racer could already see her day, always five steps ahead. She would give her signature catchphrase and wait while the players chose the mystery racer above everyone else. She would be forced to keep up with the mystery girl's crazy antics and to try and void interacting with her at all costs, or else her kart would need even more repairs. This would go on throughout the day until closing.

Then they would all get the night off and one free day with the arcade closed the following day. That made her feel a bit better, but that didn't stop the fact that racing no longer felt fun. It was merely a daily obligation. Like a job.

She could remember a time when things were so much more fun, but even after only two or so weeks from the reset, they felt like nothing but a distant, fading memory. Inside she merely felt cold. She closed her eyes and thought back, unable to resist the alluring urge, because nostalgia was a powerful emotion.

"Hey, glitch! I heard you tried breaking into the kart bakery again, how'd that work out for ya? Oh, wait, I don't see a kart. Better luck next time, you little freak!"

Taffyta gasped while clutching her heart in anger. How could she say something so crude?! What the hay was wrong with her. She had said such hurtful things in the past, and she liked saying them.

"Y- you've got some nerve just waltzing into town. You're not welcome here, glitch!"

Her fists tightened to the point of causing pain from her fingernails. She had said it and meant it. Vanellope had been shoved by her own hand on numerous occasions, and she had wanted to do it.

"What da say, Vanellope? You smell so bad my ears melted off!"

"Oh, Vanellope. It's so… you."

"Wanna come inside, Vanellope? Oh, wait, we just cleaned up and I wouldn't want a klutzy glitch to make a mess!"

The taffy girl started to tear up while she panted for air. All of that had been her. Vanellope had just wanted to be friends, to feel like she belonged. I don't deserve kindness…

Taffyta whimpered and took a few steps to find something to take her mind off of such awful memories, but they kept pouring in.

"Hmm, are those your clothes?"

The raven-haired girl nodded. "Y- yeah, why?"

"I think it's missing something… what could it be…" Taffyta wondered out loud, casually suckling on a sucker. She walked around the nervous girl, looking to her jacket and inspecting her hair. "Oh, I think I know," she stated confidently.

Vanellope tilted her head in confusion.

"This!" The girl nearly shrieked and surprised the poor girl by dumping an entire bucket of chocolate fudge on her head. The stuff splattered everywhere, getting her clothes and hair drenched with the stuff.

"Much better, it really screams you!"

Taffyta could barely remember the rest of that day, only the clear picture of Vanellope crying and running away while everyone else stared and laughed, including herself. She was horrified of her past actions.

"I- I'm just a bully. Ha. T- that's all I am," she said, sniffling several times. A few tears leaked out as she glanced at a nearby shelf. On it held several first place trophies and other little achievements from over the years of Sugar Rush.

Each one plastered with the words Taffyta Muttonfudge Number One Racer.

Over and over vivid images of her past came back to haunt her. Each and every mean thing she had ever done to the poor girl, taunting her. On the verge of outright crying, she did the only thing she could think of to make her feel better. With a shaky hand, the strawberry girl grabbed several of her trophies and hurled them across the room, shattering several glass cases in the process. In a fit of rage, she yanked them from the glass and began throwing them on the ground, again and again. Picking them up and quickly tossing them hard until they too lay in pieces.

She didn't deserve them. She was nothing but the game's stupid bully. She was not the number one racer.

By the end of it, her small living room was completely trashed. Broken trophies and medals lay strewn about among glass pieces and old photographs now clear of their cases. Taffyta clenched her fists and cracked her jaw. She no longer felt like crying. Nor did she even feel like racing, though she knew that was her obligation for the day. Her punishment for who she was.

I'm a monster… she thought.

It was morning in the arcade and Taffyta and long since wiped away any tears. Time to put on a show, for the player's sake. Yay…

It was the same every day for the past two weeks. The players would only choose between the dreaded mystery girl, or Vanellope herself. Which meant a full day of work.

When chosen by a player, it was almost like taking a ten-minute break since all actions were automatic; in a way it was bliss.

But when you had to race against a real player, you had to bring your "A" game and had to make sure you were careful so your kart didn't get ruined. Something that was much easier said than done now that the mystery menace was there for every single race.

Being a real race, there were no actual virtual stands with no one to cheer the players on. It was just silence along with the occasional player cheer when chosen, broken up by the standard Sugar Rush anthem in the background. Already she felt the day had gone on long enough. Taffyta purposely looked away from the president, waiting. Always just waiting.

The Mystery Racer!

Still waiting, even when the blasted mystery girl took her spot, waiting for the countdown. For a brief moment, lasting maybe a few solid seconds, Taffyta could swear the strange black licorice girl made eye contact with her. Though it was difficult to tell, hidden behind a large helmet. Everyone still knew next to nothing about the stupid racer.

3

She's shorter than us, she likes wrecking karts and I hate her. Does that count?

2

Just like you hated Vanellope…

1

…

TIME TO SUGAR RUSH!

Without even thinking and in a fit of rage, Taffyta slammed her foot on the gas pedal and sprang forward past everyone else. It was shocking, to say the least, though her lead didn't last too long. Players had been getting much better with the strange girl and knew that her weird kart was the fastest.

Suddenly the black hooded figure did a trick on her bike, narrowly missing Taffyta and her kart by inches.

It's gonna be a long day…

By the time the arcade had closed, Taffyta, along with her other fellow Sugar Rush racers were beyond exhausted. Several of the karts had certainly seen better days, her own included. She barely registered walking the poor thing to the maintenance garage but glancing down filled her with a bit of despair. Her windshield was broken, one tire was nearly lopsided and the thing was a smoking mess of broken parts. Glancing around, the other vehicles weren't in any better condition.

Sighing, she tiptoed over to the main mechanic and tapped his shoulders. "Uh, e- excuse me. But my kart needs work."

The man smiled and nodded. "I guess you're first then, looks like it's gonna be a long night."

Taffyta nodded in agreement. I've had so many of those. So tired…

The man walked around her kart, murmuring to himself while checking off things from his clipboard. "Erm, here's the bill," he said and handed her a small slip.

Her eyes widened in shock. "Two coins?! It's gonna cost two lousy coins to fix this mess?!" she screamed.

The man nodded. "Sorry, but them's the brakes. Now, uh, excuse me," he said and started examining the rest of the place.

She was still in shock when several other racers started bickering amongst each other. Screaming about turns and other nasty things about the mystery girl, but she barely paid attention.

"H-hey hey! Break it up, break it up!" Vanellope yelled while clapping her hands. The group gathered around her, still giving one another angry stares. "Look, I'll… uh, I'll get Felix here to fix up all your carts, good as new! And it won't even cost you any coins! Sound good!?"

Taffyta blinked out of her thoughts and stared at Vanellope for a good long while. She hadn't expected her to be so generous.

You don't deserve her kindness, you brat. She's just helping everyone to shut them all up, she reminded herself. She tried to talk to you and all you did was scream in her face.

Swallowing a few tears, Taffyta quickly left her kart and started walking away. She wasn't needed after hours on Saturday night, anyway. No random roster race on Saturdays, she noted.

To the untrained eye, it would seem like she was merely wondering around, barely paying attention to her surroundings, but really she was heading for the game's exit.

Need something to drink…

It had become a habit of hers, almost an addiction. Tappers was a well-known establishment in Game Central Station for other game characters to congregate. Or to just have a drink and relax. And while she certainly didn't feel like she deserved to relax, she knew that a good stiff root beer would help her sleep that night.

Vanellope had things handled with their karts. After all, she was their leader. It's what she did.

A leader you left out in the cold and bullied for years, she reminded herself. The girl stopped in her tracks and bit her lip. She wanted to reason with herself, but no arguments seemed to surface. She had done that to Vanellope. She had been the ringleader, the racer that everyone else looked up to. They all followed her and were glad to make the glitch know her place.

"A- all because of me," she said with a whimper. She kept walking and soon she was on the little trolley out of Sugar Rush. On the verge of tears for perhaps the tenth time in a single day, she quickly slapped herself and shook her head. She'd had enough crying for an entire week.

Tappers couldn't come soon enough.

"You know, Taffyta, that's gotta be your third root beer. You sure you can handle anymore?"

Taffyta glanced up, as she did the world seemed to spin around as her vision doubled and re-focused several times. The short stubby little man frowned up at her, waiting for a reply. "I- I can han- handl- handle ju- jus fine," she slurred slightly. Several times her body froze so she could burp or hiccup.

Still looking skeptical, the man raised an eyebrow but nodded. "Why do you come here, anyway?"

"Hmm?"

"Look, it's pretty rare to have game children come here alone. I mean, I've seen them come in groups sometimes, but you just look depressed. Like you're holdin' something in? You've talked a bit about your problems with me before, but you're so tight-lipped… I dunno."

Ordinarily, she would have told him to shove it, but three full root beers and she started to feel a tad giddy, happy even. She stuck her mouth in her massive straw and downed the rest of her drink, the bubbles and nice vanilla aroma going straight to her head.

"Y- you really wanna k- know?" she asked with a slight smile.

The man shrugged. "Only if you wanna share. Not gonna force ya or anythin'."

"F- fourth rootb- beer," she slurred. "O- on da h- house. T- then I'll s- spill t- the beans," she stated and then suddenly broke out into a fit of giggles. The funny looking man shook his head.

"Programmers, give me strength," he said. Despite his better judgment, the man poured her another glass and gently set it on the table.

Taffyta smiled, her problems feeling a million miles away. She casually began to sip even more and then started to speak, "U- used t- to b- be the b- bes- bestest racer around!" she exclaimed. It was strange, but controlling the volume of her voice seemed like an impossible task, but for some reason, it didn't seem to bother her.

"Bestest?" he asked and she simply nodded. "Right. I take it someone's stepped up to bat. Ran ya out of first?"

"T- t- the m- myste- mystery girl!" she blurted out. Her mind first shot to Vanellope, but she felt so angry at the stupid new racer that she didn't have the heart to blame their leader.

"Mystery girl? That like a new feature of your game or…?"

Taffyta shrugged. "W- we d- don't k- know wh she c- comes frm," she said, sipping more and more. "B- bu- but that's nah w- why I c- come here," Taffyta stated confidently.

"Oh? Do tell!" Tapper had been running his game for a long time, he knew how to squeeze answers out when he wanted to, though the strange strawberry racer was incredibly easy.

Taffyta broke down to a fit of giggles. But that soon stopped. She glanced down at her half downed drink with a thoughtful expression.

"I- I us- used t- to h- hate her s- so much," she said truthfully.

"Hate who?"

"V- Vanellope."

"Ah, your princess. Ahem, your true princess. Heard about all of that, nasty business."

The drunk girl nodded. "T- then t-t- th g- game reset. A- a- an," she tried to get out, but instead, she was forced to hiccup and burp several times. "A- a- and I realized somethin'…"

"What?"

Her face contorted into a confusion mess, until she decided that a frown would be best. "I- I don't know why I t- t- treated her that way..."

"You don't?" Tapper asked and she quickly shook her head. "Oh?"

Taffyta mumbled something about herself before she dug back into her rootbeer.

"Oh boy. Look, Taffyta. I'll gladly serve ya. I mean, your money as good as anyone else's, but you can't just drink to forget your problems. It's not healthy, it-"

"H- hey, da- dare sh- she is!" Taffyta nearly screamed, her voice drowning his out. Without thinking, the racer waved at the entrance with a goofy looking smile. She saw the vanilla racer herself along with Felix, of all people looking around. "H- hi- hi, V- Vanellope!" she screamed.

Tapper could only watch the train wreck unfold and he knew it was not going to be pretty.

The mint themed racer gave a shy wave and walked over with Felix.

"Uh, hey, Taffyta. How you been?"

"G- great! Ho- how 'b- 'bout y- you, prezzzzz?!"

Felix shared a nervous glance with Vanellope. Taffyta swayed a bit and quickly went back to sipping on her drink.

"Uh, c- can't complain," she replied with a shrug. "Are you sure you're feeling okay, though? Cause you look kind of..." Vanellope waved her hands in a vain attempt to come up with something brilliant to say, but then went for broke. "Drunk."

"N- nev- neva better…" she slurred happily.

Felix glanced up to Tapper, giving him the stink eye while the little man simply shrugged in reply.

"Right," Vanellope said rather skeptically. When the taffy theme racer wasn't looking, she quickly grabbed her drink and hid it behind her back. "Why don't we get ya back to Sugar Rush and you can sleep this all off so-"

"W- w- w-" She tried to say but suddenly broke out into a fit of coughing and hiccups. "Wh- sh- should I g- go ba- back! I- ish all 'bout' d- da m- m- my- mystery menace! N-n-n- a l- like n- ne- need me…" she finished and started to slump her head onto the cold counter.

The president of Sugar Rush gave the strawberry girl a long look and a very sad smile. Felix nudged her to move over so she could carry the intoxicated girl

"C'mon, we'll take you back," he offered rather kindly. For a split second, the proud racer almost seemed to want to climb into his arms, but then she blanched and froze in place.

"What's wrong?" Vanellope asked.

Her face turned green and the girl darted away from both of them and into the bathroom, faster than they ever thought possible. She had to find an empty toilet and thankfully she did in record time. The world spinning, she barely was able to aim properly before it all came up. It came out so quickly, she was certain the coming pain was gonna make her pass out.

"Arg…" she moaned and continued to occasionally vomit up more of the vile liquid. The giddiness and happy and bubbly feeling thoughts slowly ebbed away as the intoxicating drink quickly left her body in the most painful manner possible. "H- hurts s- so bad…" she slurred. All the while she could only think one thing.

I deserve this...

Vanellope waved Felix off before he could act. "I'll handle this."

"Are you sure?!"

Vanellope looked up to the man and nodded confidently. "I'm supposed to be their leader. And right now ol' Taffy butt needs some guidance. Go have fun with Calhoun, okay?"

Felix slowly nodded. "Alright, but don't hesitate to bring her over if it gets worse. Okay?"

Mustering up as much seriousness as she could, the little girl nodded and slowly walked off. She'd gone roughly ten full minutes without a joke or a quip, that's when you knew things were serious. As she neared the toilets, she couldn't help but gulp hearing the drunk racer vomit her gizzards out. She had consumed Root Beer before, but never more than a few sips since all the Sugar Rush children knew what it did to them. Apparently, Taffyta didn't mind.

There were only three stalls with the other two wide open and empty. The sound of silence was occasionally broken up by Taffyta coughing and crying.

Here goes nothing…

Taking a deep breath, Vanellope gave a gentle knock on the stall door. "Taffy? Are you okay?"

"Gah! G- go away!" the girl screamed. Her voice still sounded slurred and hazy, but there was a definite fire behind them.

Stubborn brat… she thought, not fully appreciating the irony.

"No. I don't think I will, Taffyta. I'm gonna stand here and wait until you're done."

There was a bit of silence but it was quickly broken when the girl suddenly slammed her fist into the stall several times. Vanellope glitched in shock while the racer seemed to have a fit.

"I- I sa- said leave!"

It was pitiful sounding. Even when Ralph had broken her kart, her crying hadn't been that bad. Making up her mind, she readied her mind and forced her body to teleport into the stall. She found Taffyta hunched over the toilet, crying her eyes out and doing a very lousy job of hiding it. She was shaking but thankfully had wiped away any excess vomit from her face.

"I- I s- sa- sai leave…" she protested with a loud whimper.

"No."

"I d- don- don't w- wan- want to se- see you…"

"I don't care," Vanellope said and seemed to surprise the girl by taking a seat on the bathroom floor, inches away.

For a while, the two racers seemed content to stare at one another. Taffyta kept panting for air, hoping the worst had been out of her system.

"W- whatever," she said, looking defeated.

Vanellope slowly placed her hand on the girl's back for support. Taffyta didn't flinch and could only stare back in wonderment.

"Is this what you've been doing in your free time? Just… coming here, alone?"

"W- why d d- do you care," she said, followed by several large sniffles.

"Who the hay said I didn't care about ya, Taffy Girl?" she quipped, not liking how mushy things were suddenly getting.

The response she got was not what she expected. Taffyta's eyes widened to impossible sizes and she started sniffling and crying even worse.

"I- I mean-"

WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!

The broken girl started pounding her head on the bathroom stall, over and over until she was wincing in pain and crying even worse. Blood pooled around a fresh wound which started to stain the bathroom walls.

"I- I'm s- so… s- s- stupid!" Taffyta screamed as she continued to bang over and over.

Vanellope could only watch in horror as the girl continued to scream incoherently, tears falling with no resistance while she just kept on banging her head into the stall walls.

"S- stop! Taffyta, stop hurting yourself!" Vanellope screamed and quickly grabbed her without thinking and glitched away. They landed several feet outside the stall on their bottoms, Taffyta crying in a broken mess and mumbling several very incoherent things. Her head was bleeding and it looked very badly bruised.

Mushy or no, this has to stop, Vanellope thought.

She did the only thing she could think and brought her in for a hug. There was an awkward moment where she positioned her into her lap, but the damaged girl didn't care. Ignoring the blood, the president began to slowly rub her hands through her blonde hair while saying things like "shh" over and over.

They laid like that for a good while. There didn't need to be any words between the two. Though it didn't stay that way forever.

"You wanna tell me what that was about?!" Vanellope asked her own voice hitching and on the verge of tears.

"N- no," she whimpered.

The vanilla girl closed her eyes and started rubbing Taffyta's back in tiny little circles. The time for jokes and small talk was way over.

"I- I don't understand. I can't help if you won't talk, Taffy…"

"A- a- ah'm so- sry…" she finally said, though it came out as a quiet whimper.

Glad I got these big ears, for once…

"You're sorry?" Vanellope said and Taffyta nodded and then buried her face into her mint green jacket. "Why are you sorry?" she asked in the most gentle tone she could muster.

"H-h- hurtin- hurting you…"

It all came crashing onto the president like a ton of bricks. Finally, she started to understand, and it terrified her.

"F- fo- for p- pushin- pushin' y- y- you in t- th- the mud…"

"I-"

"F- f- fo- for the f- f- f- fudge i- in your ha- hair…"

"B- bu-"

"K-k- kic- kicking y- you ou- out of t- to- town," she whined and didn't seem to be able to stop.

"Taffyt-"

"B-b- br- break- breaking your kart!"

"Stop… please stop talking…"

"C- c- cal- call- calling y- you a glitch."

Suddenly Vanellope gently placed her hand over Taffyta's lips and looked her straight in the eye. "I forgave you and everyone else. Okay? I promise. You don't have to… to act like this. I know you're a good person and a good racer. Please stop hurting yourself, okay, Taffy Butt?"

"I'm sorry! I'- I'm a m- mo- monster!" she screamed and buried her head in Vanellope's chest once more.

Vanellope could think to do nothing but pat her on the back while she awkwardly hugged the poor girl.

"No, you're not. Taffyta, I need you to take some deep breathes so we can stand ya up, can you do that for me?"

The crying girl gave a few nods and took some deep, shuddering breaths. Vanellope was incredibly patient and continued to rub her back in little circles. "That's it, just deep breathes. No one's mad at you. I'm not mad. No more hurting yourself, okay?"

Another nod and another few breathes.

Vanellope wasn't stupid. A child? Sure, but she was far from dumb and knew that a few hugs and deep breathes wasn't going to solve the issue overnight. But hopefully, it was a start.

"That's it," she said very soothingly. "Let's just get on your feet. Okay?"

A few minutes later, Taffyta was stood up, leaning on Vanellope for support. "Okay, just one step at a time…"

It took a little while, but they eventually made it to the entrance of Tappers. The man didn't seem to be anywhere in sight, but they didn't care.

"M- m- my h- he- head hurts…" Taffyta whined.

Vanellope chuckled. "Happens with too much soda and, uh, that little number…" she noted out loud, pointing to the big bruise on Taffyta's skull. The bathroom had nothing to clean her with, though the blood seemed to have waned somewhat, thankfully.

The trip on the little trolley back to Sugar Rush couldn't have been more awkward. Need to clean her wound and get her in bed, pronto. And then… I think I need to talk to Felix and Ralph about this…

"S- s- so- sorry b r- ruin- ruining y- yo- your night…"

Vanellope sighed and re-positioned the inebriated girl so her head was leaning on her shoulder, like a pillow. "You didn't destroy all of our karts. You have nothing to be sorry for. That stupid barf brain mystery racer does."

Taffyta snorted. "Y- yeah, I guess."

The little trolley soon docked at Sugar Rush and they were quickly on their feet. "We'll have to walk the whole way, my kart's still at the shop. Think you can manage?"

A shy little nod followed. "M-m- my p-pla- place i-i-is- isn't far."

Vanellope chuckled again. "Sorry, little miss Soda Nut. We're going to my place. It's closer and you need to sleep this off!" And maybe a bit of first aid…

"B- b- but, I-"

"No, butts. We gotta get something on that bruise and you are going to lay down so you can sleep this off. Okay?"

She huffed but nodded. "F- f- fin- fine…"

"Good."

It took the duo roughly a half hour just to reach the gates. By then the constant limping and required support for Taffyta had been grating on Vanellope's nerves, though she kept her temper in check, thankfully. Easy girl. It's not her fault she's like this, Vanellope reminded herself. Her nose wrinkled though and she suddenly smelled more root beer. Mostly not her fault.

Eventually, they made it into the throne room which was relatively empty that time of night. "Sour Bill? Are ya here?" Vanellope called out.

As if on cue, the man himself showed up from a nearby door. "Your majesty, you have a few guests waiting- what happened to her?!"

Taffyta looked away rather shamefully but said nothing.

"Long story, sour man. And what do you mean by guests?"

The sour ball slowly walked to his right, revealing several Sugar Rush racers, waiting rather impatiently in a cramped guest room. But it only took one of them to make eye contact with the two to start making noise.

"Taffyta! There you are! Oh my Sega, are you alright?"

"Why do you have that bruise?"

"Your house was trashed!"

"Did someone beat you up!"

"What's happening!"

Well over a dozen racers started to crowd the poor girl as she clutched her head and shook in fear. Vanellope wasn't a doctor, but she surmised that so much attention likely wasn't good for her headache. "Guys! Stop! Stop! You're hurting her!"

Vanellope forced the two through the crowd, holding onto Taffyta's hand rather tightly. "Just back up and stop yelling, you're making her headache worse."

The other racers looked on in bewilderment but they thankfully did quiet down. Looking at one another, they nodded to a cherry themed racer in the front. Most called her by her nickname Bing Bing but her true name was Jubileena. The pigtailed girl with the cherry helmet stepped forward, holding in her hands a series of strange looking golden artifacts.

"Sor- sorry, President Vanellope."

It's Vanellope! You can just call me by my first name! UGH!

"We got worried when we couldn't find Taffyta tonight and when someone checked her place, it looked trashed on the inside. All of her trophies and medals were… well, just look!"

Her hands reached out and indeed Vanellope could see broken up trophies and cracked medal pieces.

A boy, Swizzle, if Vanellope wasn't mistaken stepped forward. "Yeah and we thought someone broke in and did all of that. When we couldn't find her, we thought the worst…" he exclaimed, looking rather sour.

Everyone peered over to Taffyta, including Vanellope, hoping for an answer. The distressed girl sighed and shrugged. "W- w- was i- in a h- hu- hurry," she mumbled. "Accident…" she said.

No one seemed convinced of that, though they didn't have much time to ponder it. Taffyta started grabbing Vanellope's arm, practically begging her to be taken out of view of her friends in that state.

"Right. Everyone, Taffyta had a little accident and I'm gonna go get her some quick first aid and find her a bed to rest in," Vanellope explained. The other started looking at one another, mumbling amongst themselves. "You're all, um, welcome to stay but we really need to treat her wound so…"

Crumbelina, a chocolate-themed racer with a rather elegant style stepped forward with a frown. "Do what you gotta do, but we're not going anywhere," she stated and everyone else seemed to nod in agreement.

Taffyta blushed from all the attention but still looked away in shame.

"Right, okay. I'll just be right back and I'll explain everything! C'mon, girl. Let's get ya cleaned up…" she said, whispering the last part to just Taffyta.

A few moments later, Taffyta was seated on Vanellope's own bed while the girl in question took out a little white box of medical supplies. The partially drunk girl was barely paying attention to any of her surroundings. Instead, she found her feet rather interesting.

"Okay, this is gonna sting a bit, but it should be over soon," Vanellope said. She gently held Taffyta's blonde hair at bay while using her free hand to press a little wipe over her wound.

Taffyta moaned in pain but it only lasted for a second. The mint themed racer dabbed the cut a few more times then quickly patched it up with a few band-aids. Then she started to clean up.

"There we go, much better."

Taffyta nodded and slowly sunk down into what she presumed to be a bed. Taffyta glanced around and noted that, for a royal bedroom, the decorations were rather plain. Vanellope had a few makeshift looking dolls which rested over on a cabinet, along with various other knick-knacks. But other than the large bed and a few random photographs, the rest was simply bare mint green walls.

"S- so plai- plain…"

"Hmm?"

"Y- y- your room."

Vanellope blushed and nodded. "I like it this way. Kinda reminds me of, well, where I used to hang out a lot." Then she suddenly sniffed the air. "Though it smells a lot more like root beer than diet cola," she noted.

Taffyta smiled and brushed her fingers through the soft bedding as she closed her eyes. The root beer was still swirling through her system, but its overall strength was slowly subsiding. "T- thanks fo- for t- the patch job…"

The president grinned. "No problem! But what about your house? All your trophies and stuff?"

Taffyta groaned and turned over onto her side. Just thinking of them put her in a sour mood. "D- d- don't w- wan em. I…" she tried to say but trailed off, deep in thought. Vanellope stood off to the side, waiting patiently. "I broke them," she finally admitted.

"Why?"

"Don deserve 'em…" she muttered. She felt so exhausted, she just wanted to sleep, but Vanellope at least deserved her respect and to know some answers.

For a few moments, she felt content to simply lay there while resting her eyes, but then she felt something pulled over her body. Cracking an eye open, she found Vanellope tucking her into bed, of all things.

"Y- your bed… I- I don-"

"You deserve a nice place to sleep tonight. And if you ask me, it may as well be somewhere quiet, so here," she said and even fluffed the pillow out as her head was brought over to rest just over them.

"..." Taffyta seemed to whine and started to muster up the strength to leave.

"Ah, c'mon! Your friends are all here. They're so worried about you. Don't you think the least you could do is get some sleep, for their sake?"

Taffyta sighed and slumped back into bed. It did feel a lot nicer than trying to stumble drunk to her house, in the dark.

Just on the edge of full-on sleep, Taffyta couldn't help but mumble out, "Whe- when y- you ge- get so mushy…"

Vanellope blanched. "Ugh, I know. You can blame ol' barf breath for that one."

"Who?"

Vanellope giggled. "Ralph. Big guy, freakishly huge hands, wrecks things."

"O- oh yeah… h- he's ni-nice, huh?"

Blushing a tad, she nodded. "Yeah, he really is. Why don't you get some sleep, okay? Tomorrow's our day off and you can even sleep in! Sound good?"

Taffyta's brain was still swimming. Her problems seemed a million miles away, but there was still something naggin' her, egging her to stay away. "Wh- whe- where y- you sleep?"

Vanellope snorted. "I'll bring out the ol' sleeping bag, soda nut. Now, sleep, okay?"

Taffyta was finally out like a light.

"Sweet dreams," the mint racer mumbled and sighed.

I'd like to thank everyone for their continued support. Everyone in this little fandom is very understanding and helpful. Comments, criticism, ideas or reviews are always welcome. If any writers of WiR wish to join a Discord server of mine for just that (text only), then please send me a PM for details on getting invited. We're small but growing.