The next stop was the mall. Feferi had planned three stops today because, I haven't seen you guys in ages and not making the most of today is a crime in itself! The last stop was the beach, since Feferi was very keen on swimming and they lived in the Eastern part of Georgia.
"I'm so excited for the mall!" Feferi chirped.
"Me too," Nepeta said with about half the enthusiasm as Feferi.
Feferi eyed her. "Nepeta, can you keep a secret?"
Nepeta looked at Feferi, breaking into a smile. "Of course!"
They were at a stoplight, so Feferi turned down the radio and tapped the steering wheel with her fingers like she was in deep thought.
"Remember how in sophomore year of high school Eridan had a crush on you?" Feferi asked.
Nepeta paused. "Of course I remember." She chewed on her lip in thought. "He was always taking pictures of me in photography, even when we were supposed to be studying landscape or object photography."
Feferi tipped her head back in laughter. "That's Eridan for you." The light turned green so she began driving again.
"Anyways, I've known Eridan for...a good portion of my life. Okay, I've known him all my life. I'm pretty sure I've spent more time with him than my mom. I can read his emotions, his thoughts, anyways, yeah, I know him pretty well, we're pretty close. I think...he might like you, again, still, I don't know," Feferi said, beaming.
Nepeta didn't know how she felt about this. "How...what? Are you sure?"
"Well, it was clear he started having feelings for you again when he stood up for you against Karkat, he only ever does that for me," Feferi said.
Nepeta growled. "Why don't you two just date already? Seriously, you just nearly admitted he has feelings for you! You two are purrfect for each other Feferi!"
Feferi giggled. "Oh, I never denied the fact that he has feelings for me. I know he does! I just don't like him back...but anyways quit changing the subject, you're changing the subject! What I'm saying is he likes you. And you can't do much better than a smart rich guy. Plus, he is a real sweetheart when you get to know him..."
"...and he's not too bad-looking," Nepeta added.
Feferi squealed. "Ohmigosh! You totally like him don't you?!"
Nepeta scowled and hung her head. "No, Feferi. I do not like him, okay? Can we please stop talking about this, you're gonna make it awkward between us-more awkward than it already will be!"
"Alright, I'm done, but just saying...you two would be cute!"
"Bitch please. I don't need no man to be cute."
Feferi giggled and they pulled into the parking lot. She checked her rearview mirror and smiled deviously.
"Nep! Look who's behind us!"
Nepeta leaned her head out the window and spotted Eridan's white Kia Optima right behind them. She also saw Karkat giving her a confused look from the passenger's seat.
"Get back in here!" Feferi yanked on Nepeta's sweater and pulled her back into her seat. "Watch this!" She stomped on the brakes and they lurched forward.
Behind them they heard a car honk and screeching tires.
Nepeta leaned back out the window to find both Karkat and Eridan throwing a fit and shouting at the top of their lungs. They were also throwing hand gestures at them, but Nepeta only laughed and sat back down in her seat.
"They're calling you number one," Nepeta said, giggling.
Feferi flipped her hair dramatically. "At least those idiots know one thing!"
They found a parking space and bounded up to the front entrance, where two angry guys immediately stormed up to them, shouting and swearing without pausing to take a breath. Nepeta and Feferi only giggled and clung onto each other, trying not to fall over from laughing.
When they both finally seemed to calm down a little, Feferi asked "So, can we go shopping now or what?"
"Whatever," Karkat said.
Feferi and Nepeta linked arms and skipped into the mall. Behind them, Eridan mumbled something about stupid girls but they were too busy not caring to notice.
They first went into a Wet Seal, where Feferi found a new bathing suit she just had to have and matching sandals because hey, why not?! Karkat found a tank top he thought was nice, but it shows off too much of his white skin.
"It's got a lot of color! I've never seen you wear neon colors like this!" Feferi urged.
"It's nice. But it shows off my arms too much."
"Come on, Just try it out, see how it goes."
"No, Feferi, I'm not going to buy it!"
"Fine then, I will!"
"Feferi wait-!"
They next went to a Macy's, but everything there wasn't really their taste. But right as they were exiting the store, Feferi spotted a pair of shorts that totally match this top I have that I've been looking for an excuse to wear!
They were looking for their next store to dive into, when Feferi's face suddenly lit up. "Hey! Who all brought a swim suit?"
Everyone but Karkat raised their hands.
"Karkat! Ohmigosh! You absolutely must have something to swim in! Come on, I know a great store for swimwear and I have a coupon! Score!" Feferi said, grabbing his wrist.
"Feferi, no I don't want to-"
But there was no arguing with Feferi. She had his wrist in an iron grip and was nearly running, pulling him in tow.
"Should we follow them?" Nepeta asked Eridan.
"No. They seem to be doing just fine without us." Eridan said.
"Yeah," Nepeta agreed, her heart sinking.
"Who cares though. Who needs them," Eridan said.
"Well actually, I was hoping to get closer to Karkat today, but yeah...maybe, maybe I don't need him," Nepeta said. She walked over to a nearby bench and plopped down on the end. Eridan sat next to her, a little closer than the average friend would.
"Tell me about it. I've been trying to get Fef to date me since we've been old enough to have romantic feelings."
"Don't worry, you guys will probably marry. Keep a rich family bond."
"I don't want that though. I want to marry someone who's in love with me. Not just because our parents are business partners and we're close. That's not marriage. That's an agreement."
Nepeta looked over at Eridan. He looked genuinely sad, his face tired and his figure hunched.
"You know Eridan, I used to think of you as a rich prick who thought he was better than everyone else-"
"Wow, thanks."
"-but now, I don't know. In the light that both of the people we're in love with aren't interested in us at all...you seem...kinda nice, a real sweetheart," Nepeta said, her cheeks burning. She couldn't believe those words had just come out of her mouth. She meant them, but she couldn't believe she'd just said them.
Eridan's head snapped over to her and his brow furrowed. "I...uhm, thanks."
He mentally punched himself in the gut for saying that. "Uhm thanks, I haven't really liked you for like four years or anything. Oh wait, actually, I have."
"Wow this is awkward," Nepeta said, looking at the floor and scratching the back of her neck.
"Yeah. Let's go shopping and try to forget that happened," Eridan said, standing up.
"I don't have any money," Nepeta protested.
"That's okay. If you really want something, I'll get it for you. Consider it a 'no one loves us' gift." He offered his hand to her and she took it.
They first went into a Journey's, where neither of them found anything, but they did try on some Osiris's just for the hell of it.
"Too junior high." Eridan remarked, looking at his reflection.
Next they went to an American Eagle, where Eridan bought a sweater that looked exactly like the one he was wearing.
"You already own that, except without the little bird on it," Nepeta commented.
"This is obviously different than what I'm wearing, the color's darker and the fit is different," Eridan said matter-of-factly.
"Obviously."
They went into a Forever 21, a Hot Topic, and a few other stores they found nothing of interest in until they were at the end of the mall, at a JCPenny's.
"Alright, you haven't even made a comment at anything this entire time. You're going to get something here, you don't have an option," Eridan said.
"Really, I'm fine. I just haven't found anything I liked," Nepeta protested.
"Ugh. Come on, I'll feel like a total asshole if you didn't get anything but I did. Just find something, even if it's like fuckin', socks, or something. I don't care, anything," Eridan said, annoyed.
"Alright, alright. I'll find something," Nepeta said, breaking into a grin.
They walked around the majority of the store in an awkward silence, not finding anything. Nepeta really was trying to find something she liked, she truly was, but nothing was sparking her interest. The only section she had yet to go into besides the lingerie section-and there's no way in hell that was happening-was the dress section. So she took in a deep breath a tried to get this over with.
"I didn't know you wore dresses," Eridan remarked when she began looking at tags on the dresses.
"I don't really...but this is the last section we have and I can't have you feeling like an asshole, now can I?" Nepeta said.
She was too busy looking at the tags to notice the smile stretch across his face.
Nepeta wasn't even sure what her dress size was. Her mother had always taught her to not let anything go to waste, so she was planning on wearing whatever damn dress he bought for her today. She decided to just grab one that looked right and try it on, to see how it fit.
"Is that what you're getting?"
"No...I'm just going to try it on, to see how it fits."
"Nepeta Leijon in a dress...can't say I've seen that before," Eridan said, smiling deviously.
Nepeta giggled and playfully punched him in the arm. "Shut up."
She got a dressing room from one of the assistants in the back and went to quickly change.
"So, are you two dating?" The assistant asked Eridan, who was politely waiting outside the dressing room area.
"What? Us? No."
"Ohh okay, it's one of those 'no, not yet' sort of things, right?" she asked.
"No! Mind your own business!" Eridan protested, his cheeks turning red.
She smiled to herself and walked away.
Bloody lower classmen. If anyone here knew what was good for 'em, they'd leave Ampora's most-promising alone. Eridan thought, toying with a ring on his finger.
Nepeta came out of the dressing room. "Hey."
Eridan snapped to attention and frowned. "You're not wearing the dress."
Nepeta smiled. "Because I didn't like that one. If you want to see me in a dress, you'll have to wait until I find one I like."
The next five minutes Eridan pointed to every dress he saw and asked her, "Do you like this one?" In which the answer was almost always a 'no', or the rare 'kind of.'
"Your enthusiasm spent towards seeing me in a dress is kind of creepy," Nepeta noted.
Eridan nervously laughed.
Nepeta was getting ready to give up her quest when she found an olive green party dress that had a puffy skirt and had sparkles all over it. It was made of some sort of silk-like material and had a shine to it.
"Wow...this looks, really pretty," Nepeta said, holding the bottom corner of the skirt and holding it out for both of them to look at.
"Do you want it?" Eridan asked.
"Lemme try it on first..." Nepeta looked through the rack until she found her size and then headed back towards the dressing rooms. Eridan waited in a different spot this time, hoping to avoid that dreadful assistant. He made eye contact with her when she went out to return something, but she didn't say anything.
After a few short minutes, Nepeta walked out of the dressing room and folded her arms. "I don't know if I like it-there was nothing else to look at and I feel bad about-"
"Nepeta," Eridan said, walking up to her. "Don't worry about it-you don't have to get anything...but for the record...you look amazing in that dress. And I would pay a lot more than whatever's on that price tag to see you happy in it."
The dress reached to above her knees and was strapless. It hugged her figure snugly, but in a way that made her look nice-not fat or chunky. The dark green complimented her fair skin and green eyes nicely. She had her blue vans on, and the whole outfit looked right on her, like it was something she wore often.
Nepeta's cheeks burned intensely. "I...ohmigosh Eridan you're making me blush...I...thanks. I think I'll get this."
Eridan smiled. "Good."
Nepeta returned back to the dressing room and leaned against the door. She smiled and sunk to the floor, placing a hand over her heart to keep it from beating out of her chest. "Oh Mr. Ampurra, you know just the right things to say to a girl," She whispered quietly. She then rushed to get changed, to not keep him waiting for too long.