*Chapter 41*
"How long have you guys been out here?" Vanellope hollered in an annoyed tone as she came out of the back of the cabin. Ralph, Candlehead and Taffyta had all made themselves at home in their large, steamy jacuzzi. The jacuzzi was housed in a delicately lit gazebo, it was draped with wild, green winter twizzlers. Vanellope crossed her arms and quickly made her way across the cold stepping stones that led from the back door to the jacuzzi.
"About ten minutes," Candlehead said as she peered over the swallowing edge, the steam made it almost impossible to see all of them.
"Did no one care to tell me?" Vanellope glared as she came closer, the steam made her skin crawl with confused goosebumps.
"You locked yourself in your room," Ralph said gently as he watched Vanellope come closer, his face turning red; she was in her pretty, mint bikini. His eyes curiously wandered her body. He knew he had that same body in his grips last night, but he kicked himself at missing the chance to really get a good look at it.
"Ever heard of knocking?" Vanellope barked as she carefully and slowly sunk into the large jacuzzi in between Taffyta and Candlehead.
"Sorry, Vin," Taffyta said softly as Ralph heaved a hard, frustrated sigh and lifted his arms on the edges of the jacuzzi. He sunk down into the water a little and closed his eyes in annoyance. Taffyta rolled her eyes and glanced at Candlehead. Candlehead smirked at her and shot her eyes to Ralph before quickly gazing at Taffyta with an eager look. Taffyta lifted her head a little, as if to acknowledge hers and Candlehead's silent conversation.
"You know what I just realized," Vanellope breathed as she gazed past the gazebo's delicate peek above them at the dark, starry sky, "Getting out of this jacuzzi is going to be the worst event of the night."
"Why?" Taffyta asked as she slowly scoot closer to Ralph. She glanced Ralph a knowing look. Ralph wrinkled his nose at her before raising his eyebrows and silently chuckling. All three of them glued their eyes to Vanellope curiously.
"Because, it's hot in here, but the air outside is freezing," Vanellope sighed as she sank deeper into the water, practically up to her mouth, "We're going to be running back to the cabin, I hope you guys understand."
"Maybe we can all just huddle in Ralph's arms," Taffyta stated plainly, Vanellope tensed and shot her a glare, "He'd keep us warm."
"I-I guess so," Vanellope said deeply as she glared at Taffyta, she felt her heart sink as she sunk into the water up to her nose. She kept her eyes angrily trained to the situation across the jacuzzi, through the steam. Ralph smiled at Taffyta, causing Vanellope to grit her teeth, her glare practically forming hot coals. She could swear steam was coming out of her ears.
"I guess I never realized how strong your arms were," Candlehead said in a girly voice. Vanellope winced as both Taffyta and Candlehead scoot closer to Ralph, who looked rather smug.
"He wrecks buildings all day long," Vanellope barked as she threw her arm out of the water towards her friends, "What do you expect?"
"I guess you could consider that my workout," Ralph beamed down at the two girls, who gazed up at him with adoring eyes.
"You look so intimidating, but you're such a teddy bear," Taffyta chuckled as she glanced at Vanellope before giving Ralph a knowing look, all three of them playing along with each other to poke at Vanellope.
"A TAKEN teddy bear," Vanellope growled as she inhaled a deep breath and held it. She felt her head spin with uncertainty, she didn't totally know how to handle what was happening before her. Ralph chuckled over her and lulled his head in a nonchalant way.
"C'mere," He smiled at Vanellope, though he kept his arms up on the edge of the jacuzzi.
"Chill, Vanellope," Candlehead chuckled, "We'll share him."
"Share him? SHARE HIM?" Vanellope hollered she she quickly stood. All three of her friends froze, suddenly knowing that prodding her probably wasn't the best idea. Before any of them could calm Vanellope with reassurance of their playful nature, Vanellope turned around and threw her fists up in the air with the proper wrecking form. Ralph widened his eyes and quickly threw his arm out to try and stop her, but before he could make his way to the other side of the jacuzzi, Vanellope harshly threw her fists down on the solid concrete that surrounded the jacuzzi. It shattered and jolted under her angered pressure, causing the water in the jacuzzi to pop and slosh at the sudden tremor. Every single inch of the concrete around the jacuzzi shattered to pebbles, causing the hot water in the jacuzzi to just barely eek out into the cracks. Everyone froze.
"Vanellope, we were just playing," Ralph breathed softly as she whirled around. Her eyes were billowed with tears, her facial expression nothing short of hatred. Ralph flinched and froze in his spot as Vanellope tore her eyes away from Ralph and left the jacuzzi. She slowly trudged all the way back to the cabin, a shivering, glitching mess of hot purple. Ralph slumped his shoulders and watched her leave.
"Well, that didn't go exactly as planned," Taffyta breathed as she rolled her eyes and slumped into the water. She quickly yanked her hair out of the low ponytail it was in.
"I-I guess we should've assumed that would've made her mad," Candlehead said through a hard sigh before she rubbed her forehead in contemplation.
"Well," Ralph sighed as he sat back down, now across from the two girls. He gazed into the hot, steaming water beneath him, "At least we know she cares."
"I think that was kind of cruel of us," Taffyta chuckled nervously, "I guess, I thought she'd laugh or take it a little easier."
"We should've known better than to mess with the queen of competition," Candlehead smiled nervously before she averted her eyes to Ralph, "You should go talk to her."
"Yeah," Ralph breathed as he gazed back at the cabin with a small, nervous look.
"Share him," Vanellope growled as tears spilled down her cheeks.
She stepped into her bedroom. She grabbed the door with both her hands and slammed it shut, causing the hinge to come loose slightly with the force she set upon it. She let out a loud sound of frustration and clenched her fists. She could feel Ralph's binary shoot adrenaline through her veins. She inhaled a deep breath and relished in it, loving and hating the presence all at the same time. She shook her head before sending her fists into the wall, causing the cabin to creak a complaint; large pieces of the wall crackled under the pressure. She inhaled a sharp, shaky breath and began to take her bikini top off. She took a few steps towards her bed as she finally got the string to untie, but in doing so, she clumsily tripped over her towel on the ground. She hit the wooden floors with a thud and yelped in pain. She clenched her eyes shut and held her shoulder in pain before her bedroom door swung open; she didn't look up.
"Vanellope," Ralph breathed before he widened his eyes and quickly made his way over to her, "Are you okay?"
"I-I'm fine," Vanellope barked as she quickly tried to cover up her chest with her unwoven bikini. She felt her face get hot as Ralph gently wrapped his arms around her, "I just tripped."
"Let me help you," Ralph said gently before picking up her towel and draping it around her semi bare body. He wrapped it around her shoulders and chest to cover her up sweetly.
"I said I'm fine," Vanellope barked as she yanked the towel around herself as if to fix Ralph's wrapping job. Ralph frowned down at her and held her shoulder. He breathed a chuckle with a small, apologetic smile.
"Vanellope, we were just playing," Ralph said gently.
"Just playing?" Vanellope hollered up into his face, Ralph flinched, "That was below the belt, Ralph."
"I know it was…I'm sorry," Ralph said gently, keeping his hand firmly on her shoulder, "We just wanted to show you how silly it is to think I'd actually act on flirtatious actions from other girls."
"You looked pretty cozy," Vanellope spat.
"We were honestly just playing," Ralph cooed, "You can ask Taffyta and Candlehead."
"Very funny, joke's on me," Vanellope spit venom. She glared at Ralph's chest and inhaled a shaky breath, "Go away."
"What?" Ralph frowned in surprise down at her as she hugged the towel closer to her body.
"I know you're a brute but I didn't think you were deaf! I said go away!" Vanellope hollered as she glared up at Ralph through teary eyes. Ralph flinched before he slowly removed his hand from Vanellope's shoulder and eased his way out of her room. He stood in her mangled doorway for a second and gazed longingly and sadly towards her. She glared down at her bed, tears streaming her cheeks. Ralph frowned a hard, sad frown before slowly closing the door behind him.
"Guh," Vanellope muttered as she slumped her shoulders and gazed sadly at the door Ralph just closed. She shook her head and wiped her tears, feeling the anger slowly subside. She gazed at her bed, figuring a good night's sleep would make this all go away.
Vanellope spent half of the night tossing and turning. She wondered how such a great trip could quickly go sour just with the prospect of a few tiny, harmless mind games. She rolled over for the tenth time before heaving an annoyed sigh and sitting up. She gazed across the room to her fireplace. The logs inside of it crackled as the embers began to go out. She frowned and shivered, wondering if it was a crazy idea to go out to get more firewood.
She slowly emerged from her bed and threw her coat on over her night shirt and comfortable pants. She clumsily threw on her snow boots and head towards her mangled door. She opened it just barely and peered out into the hallway. Everyone had gone to sleep, and their cabin was dark. She inhaled a breath before slowly making her way out into the dark house. She glanced around, feeling the stillness of the cabin creep up on her. She exhaled a small, nervous sigh before making her way to the front door, hoping she wouldn't wake anyone. Without any hesitation, she stepped outside.
She silently shut the large, wooden front door behind her before she took a few steps out from the front porch and gazed around. Their three race cars sat in the field, their shiny coats of gloss glistened in the cold moonlight. She quickly stepped away from the house and head towards a small shed that was gently tucked at the opening of the forest nearest the cabin. She shivered like crazy, knowing that the faster she moved, the faster she'd be back in her room with warmth from her fireplace. As she quickly approached the dark shed, she heard the trees suddenly rustle as a cold wind picked up. The trees silently howled, causing Vanellope's heart to drop. She suddenly felt scared.
A small, cluster of nervous pixels shot up her spine as she slowed down and glanced around. Her eyes had finally adjusted to the dark, and she averted her gaze every which way, feeling as if she was going to jump out of her skin. She quickly approached the shed and opened the large, creaking door. She quickly reached her trembling arms in and grabbed a cluster of firewood that had been safely stored away. She breathed a nervous sigh, her breath fogged the air before her. She stood up quickly and shut the shed door behind her with her foot.
She quickly turned to head back to the cabin, but before she could continue, her eyes landed on a figure in the middle of the field. As if she was sitting in a pile of molasses, she felt all the code in her body jolt clear out of her skin. She felt her heart jump in her chest as her hands suddenly dropped all the fire wood she was holding. A lingering, pale, familiar figure holding a candy tree sword sheathed in blood stood menacingly near their race cars. Vanellope did all she could to get her legs working properly. She barreled towards the cabin, running as fast as she could, her eyes wide with fear.
