Boy howdy have I been looking forward to writing this chapter. Things about to get interesting lmao. I mean it only took 10 chapters for me to say that but hey. It just makes me appreciate it all the more that you guys are here and enjoying it as much as I am.
Song Suggestion: Sorry Not Sorry by Demi Lovato
Disclaimer: I'm just a fangirl that is having way too much fun with writing as quickly as possible to see how much I can get done. This is fan fiction and I'm not associated with CapCom. please don't sue.
December 31st, 11:59 pm
The apartment building was awake and lively as each tenant stood in their open doorway. The Russos had put out a radio for everyone to listen to the countdown together, along with an old recorder player that eked out an old Italian tune. The older couple slowly danced together with small, gentle steps, their age starting to catch up to them. Time slowly ticked away until the countdown eventually began.
Bastion looked across the hall to Chris before gesturing with his head towards Emma.
Ten…
Chris stared at Bastion with an expression of confusion. What?
Nine…
The nail tech gave him an exasperated expression in return. You're an idiot.
Eight…
Chris' expression shifted from confusion to annoyance. Well, fuck you.
Seven…
Bastion returned the annoyed stare. Fuck you, too. I'm trying to help.
Six…
Emma glanced between the two, confused. What's with the faces?
Five…
Bastion shook his head and walked over to Emma.
Four… Three… Two…
Bastion put an arm around Emma's shoulders.
One…
January 1st.
"Happy New Year!" the radio announced as Bastion gave Emma a peck on the side of her forehead while the Russos kissed as well.
"There, now we'll both have good luck for the new year," Bastion said with a smile before ruffling her hair. "With any luck, we'll both find a man."
Hearing this caused Emma to laugh. "You're ridiculous," she said, smiling all the same. "Well, thank you. I appreciate the New Year's luck."
The Russos went back into their apartment for a second before returning with glasses and a familiar bottle, the wine Emma had gotten them for the holidays.
"Here, a toast to the New Year," Mr. Russo said as he put the glasses down on the shelf by Bastion's door. He poured out enough for the five of them, which emptied the bottle. Once everyone had a glass, the older Italian held his out towards the group. "Cheers, to a year of good health and prosperity."
"Cheers," the others echoed, each taking a sip from their glass.
"Any big plans for the day?" Bastion asked the group.
"Sleep," Mr. Russo said with a laugh.
"I'm too old to stay up this late." Mrs. Russo nodded in agreement.
"I'll probably be going to the park with Chel, Jack, and the girls. Summer has been really eager to visit again," Emma answered.
"Lobo talked the squad into doing laser tag later," Chris replied.
"Sounds fun. Well, I'm going to be working because New Years is a cash cow. So, you'll have to excuse me. I need my beauty sleep," Bastion said before downing his drink.
"We should probably call it a night as well," Mrs. Russo chimed in. "Just leave the glasses on the shelf. I'll pick them up in the morning." She smiled before heading to her door with the empty bottle.
"Sounds good. I should probably do the same," Emma agreed, and Chris nodded. "Good night, everyone," she said before heading inside.
'*'*'*'*'
"Auntie Emmy, look! I'm doing it," Summer said as she shuffled her feet to move backward across the ice at the pace of a snail. In all honesty, she is just walking backward using the toe picks.
"Good job, sweetie. Keep it up," Emma replied as she watched from the side, standing next to Chelsea and Jack before she looked at the girl's mother. "Give it five more minutes, and she'll be out cold for you by the time she gets home." Emma snickered.
"Thank heavens. And thank you for coming out here with us. The girls have been really excited about this," Chelsea stated with a grateful smile.
"Not a problem. It's a nice warm-up," Emma responded with a laugh.
"So, are you going to be showing off again later?" Chel asked with a teasing grin. "I think someone here would love to see you." She wiggled her eyebrows.
Emma rolled her eyes but smiled all the same. "I signed up for one of the earlier solo skater slots to get some practice. Shouldn't be too much longer. It's getting late."
"Emmy! Emmy, I wanna go fast again!" Summer called over.
"Again?" Emma asked as if this was shocking. It wasn't.
"Yeah!" Summer cheered.
Emma laughed. "Okay," she said as she walked over to the rink entrance and took off the covers for her blades to join Summer on the ice. She took the little girl's hands before carefully skating backward to lead Summer to the outer edge of the rink, where the more experienced skaters were doing laps. They weren't really going that fast, but giddy laughter and cheers proved that Summer was having a good time all the same. "Careful Summer, don't pick up your feet. Let yourself glide."
"You do it all the time, though," Summer pointed out with a sour frown, which caused Emma to laugh.
"I have been skating longer than you have," she retorted. Before long, an announcer's voice could be heard calling for the skaters to get off the ice. Emma led the two off the rink and puts her blade covers back on.
'*'*'*'*'
"I can't believe you got us kicked out," Canine said, laughing.
"What? How was I supposed to know not to move shit around to make better cover?" Lobo said in his defense. "It's not realistic."
"It's laser tag," Umber Eye pointed out, though he seemed amused as well.
"Yeah, and I still kicked your ass even though you were cheating," Chris said with a smile.
"Huh..." Tundra paused as she looked over to see a well-lit ice-skating rink that stood out against the dark night. "Was that there before?" she asked, confused.
"Maybe? The place looked different during the day," Night Howl said with a shrug.
Soft classical music could be heard as a couple skated alone on the ice with a large crowd gathered around the rink. The crowd cheered as the music faded away, and the couple took a bow before gliding off the ice.
"That was Oscar and Olivia Averillo skating to Emile Waldteufel's 'The Skater's Waltz.' Next up, a solo routine by Emma Swanson," a distant announcer's voice could be heard from the rink.
"Ain't that your neighbor?" Lobo asked curiously.
"Yeah," Chris said with an expression of confusion.
"Well, this I gotta see," Tundra exclaimed before motioning for the others to follow and walking toward the rink to get a closer look.
A soft but quick melody started to play as the group walked over.
"Go," said a voice over the speakers as Emma rocketed onto the ice the second the music started. Instead of her usual office wear or fitted T-shirt with jeans, the young woman wore black sports leggings, light-brown leather ice skates, and a bright peach-ish orange sports bra with a thick silver zipper in the front and an unusual top over it. The top was a similar peach color, but it looked like it was only the neck of a t-shirt attached to two long sleeves that bunched at the wrists like any other cotton long-sleeve shirt.
"Day-um, look at her go," Lobo said with a laugh as the group watched her make her way around the rink, weaving, spinning, forward-backward, then forwards again, gliding around to the music at a snappy pace with the biggest smile on her face. As the music picked up speed, so did she, and her various stunts took on more precision. Then she turned to go towards the center of the ice rather than the usual lap.
Baby I'm soooorry…
Emma leaped to make a tight spinning double rotation before landing on one foot and skating backward.
Suddenly, what Chris noticed while training Emma made sense. She had a decent core and lower body strength, and she knew how to stay balanced on one leg and stay stable.
Baby I'm soooorry…
She landed a second aerial spin before going back to her laps around the rink. Each time the long, main note of the chorus is sung, the same trick was landed as she used the brief pause in between to keep up her speed. When the melody returned, she performed ground tricks, using the built-up speed to spin in place on one foot, before crouching down while continuing to spin, grabbing her lifted foot. Then she stood up again to regain momentum as she raised her foot over her head for a few seconds before going back to laps to regain speed.
"Huh, she's actually pretty good at this," Canine said as he clapped along with the music.
As the conversation went on, so did the routine. Another chorus meant four more jumps, and Emma was starting to sweat as she kept up her pace, trying to move even faster as the chorus led into the main high note for the song.
As the high note was sung, she attempted a tighter, faster spin for a triple rotation, only to land wrong. The momentum sent her tumbling across the ice, slamming into the wall. The music stopped as there was an audible gasp from the otherwise silent crowd.
"Are you okay?" the announcer asked, and Emma gave a thumbs up to signal she was fine.
Chris was about to hurry over to help her but paused and watched with confusion as some random guy quickly skated over to her. He helped her up before carrying her off the ice. The crowd cheered all the same as Emma and the mystery figure left the rink.
"We should go check on her," Umber Eye suggested, and the others nodded in agreement.
"Right," Chris agreed.
They hurried over in the direction they saw her carried off in.
"That was reckless," an unfamiliar voice chided as they approached.
"I'm fine. Honest," she said with a wince as the guy knelt in front of her, wrapping her ankle.
"You're going to need to keep off it if you can help it," he instructed. "Where did you put your street boots? You need to get your foot in there before it swells any further, so you can go home."
"Ey yo, Emma," Lobo called to get her attention before she could answer. It surprised her at first, but then she looked over and smiled.
"Well, if it isn't the wolf pack," she said. "What are you guys doing here?" Oh gosh, they saw me eat ice. Great.
"Lobo got us kicked out of the laser tag place," Canine explained, earning a solid punch to the arm in retaliation from Lobo as Emma laughed. "That was amazing, by the way."
"You guys are too much," Emma said, shaking her head.
"Who's this? A friend from work?" Tundra asked.
"Tanner Penmark," he said with a smile to try to mask his annoyance. "And no, I'm in Bio-Med for stem cell research."
Great, Bio-Med. I already hate him, Chris thought with a frown.
"Emma is my skating partner. We've been doing routines together for a few years now," Tanner explained further before looking between Emma and the group. "It's nice to meet you guys. A friend of Emma's is a friend of mine, but this is actually pretty serious. So, you should go," Tanner said in an attempt to shoo the group off.
"No worries, Emma. Did you want us to walk you back?" Umber Eye offered. "We were heading that way anyway."
"That—" Emma paused but nodded. "Yeah, actually, that would be great," she said to Umber Eye with a weak smile before looking at Tanner. "My boots are with my bag over by Chel on the other side of the rink," Emma said in answer to his earlier question. "I know the girls were going to stay longer to watch your routine. You should stay," Emma suggested with a defeated tone. She really wasn't happy about it, but she couldn't stay here like this. Her ankle would only get worse the longer she waited.
"Right," Tanner said with a disappointed frown before giving a short sigh. "I'll be right back." With that, he walked away.
"Well, this sucks," Emma said, shaking her head.
"You okay?" Night Howl asked, causing Emma to look over at him in surprise.
Oh, crap, that was out loud. "Y-yeah, I was just looking forward to this, is all," she said with a shrug. "Oh well, injuries happen." So much for New Year's luck...
Tanner returned shortly after with Emma's bag, which she accepted so she could swap out her skates for snow boots.
"Thanks again, Tanner. We'll have to reschedule some time," Emma offered, as the guy gave a short laugh. He wrapped an arm around her waist to help her stand before pulling her in for a side hug.
"You worry too much; we skate every other day as it is. Get some rest," Tanner said with a gentle smile.
Emma nodded. "Right," she replied, attempting a smile as she returned the hug before picking up her bag and walking over to the Hound Wolf Squad.
"Ye ain't gonna wear a coat?" Lobo asked, confused.
"Didn't bring one," Emma said as she continued to walk with a slight limp. "It's not that far to the apartment," she added as the group walked with her back to the main park pathway.
They barely get four steps past that when Night Howl started patting down his pockets. "Hey guys, I think I left my keys back at the laser tag place. I'll be right back."
"You're my ride hold up," Canine cried as he and Umber Eye followed after.
"Hey, wait for me," Lobo called shortly after before running off as well.
Tundra shook her head. "I should probably make sure they don't burn the place down. You got this, Alpha?" the woman asked, looking at her leader.
"Yeah, I got this," Chris replied with a slight frown. They were ditching him, and he knew it.
"All right, well, package secured then. See you at work," Tundra said before walking after the other four.
"They're certainly a lively group," Emma said before she started walking again.
"Yeah, good people, though," Chris agreed with a shrug, noticing she was limping.
"So, what happened to get you guys kicked out? Did someone get tackled?" she joked. She got no response, but her hand felt light, her shoulders heavier, and her feet no longer touched the ground. "What the heck?" She gasped as she tried to understand what just happened, only to find that she was being carried and had the coat she gave Chris over her shoulders.
"I did end up tackling Umber Eye, so that was part of it," Chris admitted as he continued walking back to the apartment with Emma in his arms and her bag over his shoulder.
"You guys are terrors. What the heck?" Emma laughed as she relaxed.
"Terrors, huh?" Chris repeated.
"Absolute menaces," Emma affirmed with a smirk. "I don't think I've ever met more childish adults."
"So I'm a child?" he added with mock offense.
"The biggest man baby I ever met," Emma replied with a teasing grin as she chuckled at her own joke.
"I'm sorry, that sounded an awful lot like 'Chris, please drop my ass and walk away,'" Chris sarcastically said as Emma clung to him.
"Chris, don't you effing dare," Emma cried, genuinely concerned that he would drop her. She wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Effing... really?" he teased instead, earning a sour frown. "Relax, I won't drop you."
After a moment, she eventually relaxed her hold on him to sit more comfortably and allowed herself to rest her head against the man who was carrying her. Even with their joking around, he really was kind to her. Yet, at the same time, as much as she enjoyed being around him, she couldn't ignore the feeling that she didn't really know anything about him. Comfortable silence wasn't enough anymore.
"Hey, Chris?" Emma said.
"Hm?" he replied.
"What's your favorite color?" she asked, watching the scenery pass by.
"Why?" he asked curiously, only to get a shrug in return. He pondered it for a moment. "Blue."
"Least favorite?" she asked as she thought of random questions that people would be able to answer about their friends.
Chris contemplated again as memories of fieldwork come to mind, dead bodies and vacant, empty stares. "Red," he replied quietly.
"Bad habits?" she asks.
"I'll have a smoke when I'm stressed to calm my nerves," he admitted as they exited the park and continued towards the apartment.
"You shouldn't do that," Emma chided, though it was half-hearted. She did ask, and no one was perfect.
"I know," he admitted in an even tone.
"Mmkay," she said with a shrug.
"You're unusually curious tonight," Chris pointed out, causing Emma to chuckle.
"I just realized I never asked, is all," Emma replied, and Chris shook his head. "Birthday?"
"March 22nd," he replied as he walked up the curbside stairs to the entrance of the apartment building.
"Huh, so that's coming up soon," Emma said, mentally stashing that info away.
"Yep," he acknowledged as he kind of figured what her next question would probably be. "This coming March will mark forty-five years, and the world still hasn't figured out how to kill me."
"Oh, stop that," Emma said, giving his chest a gentle swat as he unlocked his apartment door.
"Hey, it's made some good attempts." He grinned.
"I don't want to know," Emma replied, laughing as he put her down on his couch. Wait a second. "I don't think this is the right apartment," Emma pointed out hesitantly as Chris walked away.
"I have some medicine that will help you heal up faster," Chris said, heading over to his supply bag with a spare med injector. That stuff worked fast. It was honestly overkill for a sprained ankle, but it had the vaccine for the virus mixed in there as well. It couldn't hurt to be careful, and this would be the easiest way to give it to her without flat out telling her about it. He walked back over to find that she'd already taken her boots off and fiddled with Tanner's bandage wrapped around her ankle.
"Is that an Epi-pen?" she asked as she saw the device.
"Sort of," he replied as he shifted to sit on the floor in front of the couch. He wasn't really sure how to properly explain it without getting into trouble back at HQ. Emma was quiet but allowed him to hold her leg and remove the bandages. "It's going to pinch," he warned.
"Okay," she said with a nod. This was weird, but he'd proven to be pretty trustworthy since she'd gotten to know him, so she'd go with it. A click and a jab later, the device was pressed against her injury, causing a sharp pain to run through her leg, which tweaked a nerve. She instinctively kicked out her leg and clocked Chris in the nose. He stumbled back while holding his face where he was kicked.
"Chris! Oh my gosh. I am so sorry. Are you all right?" she asked as she got off the couch to sit on the floor in front of him. Emma gently reached out to hold the sides of his face, trying to get a look at where she kicked him. "Let me see it," she requested to make sure she hadn't hurt him too badly.
He eventually moved his hand away, repeatedly scrunching and releasing the muscles in his face to make sure nothing was broken. A small nervous chuckle escaped Emma's lips as she stifled full-on laughter, but as she did so, Chris started to chuckle too, and soon they both were laughing about what happened.
"I warned you it was going to pinch," he said through his laughter as Emma continued holding his face. Well, he knew her kick was getting better, at least.
"I know, I know you did. It just happened," she said with a sheepish grin through her own giggles. "I'm so sorry," she repeated. "You're okay?" Huh, his eyes are a very nice shade of blu— Wait. Oh shit, she should not be this comfortable just grabbing his face like this. Hands-off, hands-off. What was wrong with her? Just because she was comfortable around him didn't mean she could just get in his space like that.
Chris' laughter slowed to a stop as he realized he was staring at her. "Yeah, I'm fine." He looked away.
They both shifted to stand up while avoiding eye contact, only for Emma's panicked thoughts to distract her. "Wait... My leg isn't swollen anymore?" she said, surprised, as she tapped it against the floor and felt no pain.
New topic accepted. "I told you it would help. It should be completely healed by now," he told her while trying not to think about certain things... Why did he feel like he was forgetting something? "If you don't believe me, do you want to test it out?" he offered before patting his side and taking a training stance.
Emma looked at the clock on the microwave across the room. 9:20pm. Okay, if you keep acting so embarrassed over nothing, you're going to make it awkward. "Alright um." She hesitantly took her own stance and attempted to kick him.
Chris tried not to laugh. "What was that? You barely nudge me. I promise it's not going to hurt. Try again."
"I know. It's- I just missed," Emma replied while trying to recollect what was left of her resolve.
"Sure."
After taking a breath and allowing a moment to focus, Emma tried again. This time a thump could be heard from the more genuine impact.
"Better," He approved while remaining in position. "One more try."
Again she repeated the motion. What started as a simple exercise to prove a point continued on as habits set in. Punch, punch, kick, punch. As they continued, the annoying presence of furniture became hard to ignore and was moved out of the way. Kick, punch, punch, kick. Chris got the pseudo mat from the couch and put it out. While it wasn't Thursday, the unexpected routine felt peaceful and relaxing to the pair all the same since they ended up practicing at his place more often than not since she didn't have access to a mat.
The pair stepped onto the mat and got started. Chris held up his hand as a target and moved it after each hit, so she could practice switching between kicks and punches. A kick and a punch later, Chris grabbed her wrist and pulled her into a pin, which she broke, only to have her leg taken out from under her and end up in a different pin against the mat. It was their own wordless song and dance. Hold, break, pin, break, hold, break.
This particular pin ended up stumping Emma as she tried and failed to get away, causing her to laugh. She tried kneeing him to get him to budge, only for it to land below the belt, missing anything particularly sensitive but still too close for comfort. Emma looked guiltily up at him. "It was an accident."
"Mhm," he said as he shifted his position to a much more difficult pin, which kept her from being able to move her legs.
"I didn't mean it, I didn't mean it, I didn't mean it," she repeatedly said through nervous giggles. She wasn't sure what was going to happen, but she knew she was in trouble. Despite this, she felt no real threat. Trouble didn't mean danger when it came to Chris.
"That's not an apology," Chris pointed out as he dug the top knuckle of his thumb between two of her ribs and pressed into a nerve, making her laugh.
"AHAHAHA no, no, no. He he, that's not- hah hah, that tickles, ha ha ha," Emma tried to speak through her laughter but failed.
"Sorry, what was that? I can't hear you," Chris replied in a bored tone despite his smirking.
"Sorry! I'm sorry," she cried, smiling ear to ear while trying to get away.
"Better," he said as he let her go and rose, helping her up as well. "Coffee?" he asked.
Emma checked the clock once more. 10:32 pm. It was a bit late for caffeine. She'd be a zombie in the morning, but spending more time with him didn't sound too bad. "Yeah, thanks," she agreed and walked with him past the closed apartment door to the kitchen.
Chris got the coffee maker started before thinking about it more. "Oh. That's what I forgot," he said, which caused Emma to raise an eyebrow as Chris walked away.
"You forgot something?" she asked curiously, only to see him return with a small, oddly shaped gift.
"It's late, but I didn't have time to get anything until recently," he explained as he offered it to her and remembered the whole debacle it caused.
'*'*'*'*'
Chris cupped his hands to his mouth and breathed into them to try and warm them up as he walked into the office. It was getting cold out quickly as winter set in. He had just made it to the kitchen to drop off his lunch in the fridge when he ran into Umber Eye.
"Alpha, looking sharp," Umber Eye said with a laugh. "You finally got a new coat that fits?"
"Thanks, and yeah," he said, nodding in response. "It was a gift from the neighbors."
"You mean a gift from Emma," Umber Eye corrected with an amused grin. Chris didn't deny it. "She's a sweetheart, that one. You got her something, right?"
"Haven't really had the time," Chris admitted.
"So you're going to make time, right?" Umber Eye pressed.
"I'll get around to it," the team lead said with a shrug. "The case with that new virus strand takes priority."
"Just don't let Tundra hear you say that. She's taken a shine to not being the only female voice, and she'll put you through the wringer if she finds out," Umber Eye jokingly warned.
"Don't let Tundra hear you say what?" Tundra asked as she walked in with an 'I dare you to lie to me' expression.
"Emma got him a gift for the holidays," Umber Eye replied, rather quickly throwing Chris under the bus.
"Ah, so he's bitching about going shopping," Tundra said, unamused.
"It's that obvious?" Chris asks with a scowl.
"I've known you for how long? You have never gone shopping for the holidays. You've even been putting off getting clothes that fit properly. It's not a hard guess." Tundra smirked. "All right, what did she get you?"
"Coat," Umber Eye chimed in.
"Right," Tundra said with a nod to Umber Eye before looking at Chris. "Look, if you need help, just let me know, but try not to put it off, or you'll forget, and I need her to count cards for me next poker night," she said and went to get her cup of morning coffee.
Chris chuckled at that and continued with his workday. They hadn't really found any leads yet on the source of the new virus. Not that it was surprising, it had only been three days.
On his way home, he noticed the exit that led toward the local mall. After a very quick internal debate, he took the exit to the mall's parking garage. Finding himself in the oversize shopping complex, he took out his phone to text Tundra.
[Chris] Ideas?
[Tundra] Jewelry?
[Chris] No.
[Tundra] Sheesh.
He walked around in one of the stores until he found a set of bath salts and sent a picture of it to Tundra.
[Tundra] Is she your grandmother or the cute girl next door?
[Chris] Hey, I'm trying.
[Tundra] You do not buy women hygiene supplies unless you're related to them or sleeping with them. Get out of the B&B.
Chris put down the container and walked out of the store to keep looking.
[Tundra] She seems to enjoy cooking? Maybe something for the kitchen?
[Chris] Pretty sure that's just as bad as the B&B.
[Tundra] God, you're difficult. Fine. Um...
[Chris] She has a dog?
[Tundra] You're shopping for her, not the dog.
He rolled his eyes at that and continued looking around in a few stores while bantering back and forth via text before something caught his eye. He took a picture and sent it to Tundra.
[Tundra] That actually could work. Unless you want to keep looking.
[Chris] It's been an hour, no.
With that, he headed to the checkout counter.
'*'*'*'*'
Emma accepted the gift with a gentle smile. "You didn't have to get me anything," she said as she opened it and stared at it in confusion. It looked like a small house made of metal raised by four legs and a metal tray to stand on. "It's cute," she said, looking it over and discovering that the roof came off. Inside the tiny metal house was a small package with a few dozen thin strips of paper and matches. "A candle holder?" she guessed before looking at Chris to see if that is right.
"Not quite," Chris said with a slight frown. This would have been easier if it came with a box. "More like an incense burner. The shop said it's called a worry hut. You write down things that are bothering you and put it in the hut to burn it."
The explanation made Emma to laugh.
"You don't have to be rude if you don't like it," he said, giving her a playful nudge.
"No, that's not it. I love it," Emma affirmed before setting the tiny metal hut and its tray down on the island. "Let's try it out and see if it works?"
She took the package out of the top to offer Chris one of the slips of paper. He accepted it before grabbing a pen from a small cup on the counter, which he offered to Emma. She started writing. Chris grabbed a second pen and tried looking over Emma's shoulder to read her paper, only for her to cover it. "No peeking," she chided as she put the pen down and folded up the paper.
He shook his head. "Fine," he said before writing down a short message of his own, then folding the paper as well. "Ready?" he asked. Receiving a nod in response, they both put their papers into the little metal holder.
Emma put the roof back on top before speaking. "May I do the honors?" she asked as she took out one of the matches from the small paper book.
"By all means," Chris agreed with a nod as he poured two cups of coffee.
The young woman struck the match and placed it into the house through the small 'door' opening, allowing the papers to catch fire. It didn't take long for the air to smell of vanilla and cinnamon. Chris handed Emma a mug as she took a deep breath and smiled before relaxing and resting her elbows on the island. "I think it works," she said, taking a sip of the coffee.
Chris nodded. "Yeah, I think so too," he agreed, doing the same as he leaned back against a counter. The two peacefully enjoyed their drinks while waiting for the small flame to die down.
The burning papers, while illegible now, hid similar messages before fading to ashes to eternally hold their secrets.
I think I have feelings for him.
I think I have feelings for her.
eeyy a mostly happy chapter~ but with some new additional questions to be had. looking forward to writing more for this soon 3
Review Responses:
Guest- I'm so glad you're enjoying the story so far 3 if you've made it this far then the break-in plot is pretty much wrapped up but that doesn't mean I'm done with twists and turns so hopefully, I can continue to earn your support.
Ink Scribble- Thanks so much! I was really nervous to write this since it was definitely out of the norm so hearing that you like it makes me really happy! I was able to update pretty quickly since I had the week off work. So things are probably going to slow down a bit after this but I'm hopefully going to finish this by the end of June ish? maybe. I'm thinking this will be around 20 to 25 chapters in the end. I just don't know what all of those chapters will be yet haha
