*Chapter 70*

A week and a half had pased in the arcade, and Sugar Rush was slowly welding back to normal. The tension that hung in its sweet air had finally been lifted, or so they all thought. Ralph grew more and more nervous with each day that grew closer to the final New Year's countdown. He was confident in Vanellope's answer to his burning question, but he worried about the execution. He figured he had hatched a brilliant plan; only thing that kept him nervous was Vanellope's reaction.

After a long day of wrecking and fixing, Ralph finally moseyed into the Niceland's penthouse with Tammy and Gene as Felix left to go see Calhoun at Hero's Duty. Ralph inhaled a hard sniffle and rubbed his nose in annoyance as he sat down at the bar. Tammy eagerly joined in and sat next to her uncle. Gene gave Ralph a worried look as he began to clean his bar tops with a wet rag.

"How's that cold treating yah, there?" Gene asked nervously.

"Like death," Ralph barked before he rubbed his face in an irritated manner, "I swear, this is going to be the end of me."

"It'll be over soon," Tammy beamed a girly smile as she handed her uncle a tissue. Ralph blew his nose and coughed a few times, his cheeks were flushed.

"Are you sure you're not contagious?" Gene asked as he wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"I'm not contagious, Gene," Ralph said through his stuffed up nose as he lulled his eyes closed in an annoyed manner.

"I hope you can keep this up for the rest of the week, Uncle Ralph," Tammy worried but she smiled a small, curious smile.

"Yeah," Ralph breathed with difficulty, "I'll-"

"RAAAALPH!" Taffyta's screech could be heard from all the way down the hall from the elevator. Ralph's eyes widened as everyone threw their attention to the closed doors of the penthouse. Taffyta suddenly barged into the penthouse, the doors flew open with a loud pang. She was dressed in her dusty racing clothes, but what blatantly stood out was the fact that she had a gnarly black eye. Ralph's eyes widened at the sight; he opened his mouth to let out a billion questions. Taffyta quickly stormed over to him and shoved a finger in his face.

"I swear to User, Ralph, you have GOT to knock off the code swaps with Vanellope because that girl can throw a MEAN punch!" Taffyta shouted; Ralph's face flushed with many different emotions, for different reasons.

"Taffyta, I-I…W-we haven't code swapped since before our month= long separation," Ralph said sheepishly and quietly, hoping he wouldn't weird Tammy out.

"Sorry, Ralph, I tried to stop her!" Rancis worried with a wide, knowing smile as he quickly entered the penthouse. He tenderly grabbed Taffyta's arm and tilted his head, "Taff, Vanellope didn't mean to hit you."

"A likely story! She wants to win our game over bet, it's not fair that it's come to such barbaric measures!" Taffyta hollered into Rancis' face. Ralph stifled a small laugh at how pathetic Taffyta looked in this moment. Taffyta inhaled sharply, "I'll hit her back if that's how she wants this to go down. I'll play her little wrecking game!"

"She threw her hand up in excitement, that the game day was over, and you just so happened to be standing there," Rancis said. He so desperately tried to keep a straight face but his beaming smile and stifled laughter sent Taffyta over the edge.

"How am I going to fix this?" Taffyta barked as she motioned to her black eye, "I'm currently tied in a bet with her for who can go the longest without a game over. There's no way I'm risking our bet for a measly black eye!"

"Just get Tammy or Felix to fix it," Rancis stated calmly.

"No!" Taffyta barked, "That's cheating! Any injury either one of us gets has to be healed normally or else Vanellope wins the bet."

"O-okay then let's just put some ice on it," Rancis chuckled as he continued to hold her arm. He lulled his head at Ralph and rolled his eyes, "User forbid you have to actually take care of yourself."

"It's okay, Taff, we can just suffer together," Ralph said through his clogged nose as his eyes began to water, "I'm pretty sure every single human that graced our cabinet today thought I was going through puberty or something. My voice would not stop cracking."

"At least the arcade is only open for two more days," Rancis said to Ralph and Taffyta, trying to quell their worries, "Just put some makeup over your eye, and Ralph…maybe don't make too much noise."

"Kind of hard when you're destroying a building," Ralph chuffed with an annoyed smile.

"Auntie Taffyta, just keep your racing goggles on all game day. No one will think that's weird," Tammy suggested with a small laugh and a shrug.

"Fixer's got a point," Rancis said to Taffyta softly.

"Taffyta," Vanellope suddenly complained as she bursted into the penthouse, "I swear I didn't mean to!"

"I will end this game over bet right here, right now," Taffyta barked angrily, though Vanellope knew she was being playful deep down.

"Taff, I promise I didn't mean to punch you in the face," Vanellope stifled laughter as she tried her very hardest to keep a straight face. Rancis bent over and blew a raspberry before practically falling over laughing. Tammy put her hand over her mouth and tried not to giggle as Ralph rubbed his face and beamed a knowing smile.

"I don't suppose you all think this is hilarious?!" Taffyta barked as she eyed her friends.

"You and Uncle Ralph are NOT having an easy go, are you guys," Tammy laughed. Vanellope suddenly furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"What's wrong with Ralph?" Vanellope worried as Taffyta and Rancis quickly whirled around to look at him. He rolled his tired eyes and inhaled a long sniffle.

"I-I think I'm getting sick," Ralph mumbled. Vanellope frowned and slowly approached him.

"I hope there's not a code virus going around," Vanellope worried as she tenderly placed her hand on Ralph's forehead. He exhaled a rough breath and closed his eyes as he leaned into Vanellope's care,

"You should try and take it easy for these next two days that the arcade is open. You wouldn't want to be sick for the New Year's ball."

"That wouldn't be good," Ralph frowned as he tried to open his tired eyes to look at his girlfriend.

"C'mon," Vanellope urged softly as she slipped her hand into Ralph's, "You need to get some rest if you're going to be able to function properly before the break."

"Yeah," Ralph breathed, his whole demeanor was practically lifeless. He stood carefully as Vanellope linked arms with him and led him towards the penthouse doors.

"He gets attention when he's hurt, whose going to help me?" Taffyta barked at the two as Vanellope shot her an apologetic look as they left the penthouse.

"S-sorry Taff, I'll be back to help you once I get Ralph settled," Vanellope called as the two left the room.

"Am I suddenly more so a piece of chopped liver than I was previously?" Rancis said through an annoyed chuckle as he lulled his head in her direction. Taffya whirled around and gazed at Rancis in surprise before she finally allowed herself to smile a small smile. Rancis inhaled a breath to continue as he gently grabbed her arm, "C'mon now, sit. Sit."

"N-no, Rancis, I-"

"Do you want your eye to feel better or not?" Rancis snapped at her with a cocked eyebrow and a teasing smile.

Taffyta raised her eyebrows before slumping her shoulders and nodding just barely. Rancis stepped to the fridge and fashioned together a bag of ice. Gene mumbled something incoherent towards the two and slowly made his way out of the kitchen. Tammy followed as her and Gene began to tidy up the far end of the penthouse. Rancis finally came back to the side of the bar that Taffyta was sat at and sat next to her, the bag of ice was firmly in his grip.

"Thank you," Taffyta said, her whole demeanor humbled. Just as she was about to move to take the ice pack from Rancis, he carefully lifted it and steadied it by Taffyta's eye. Taffyta gazed at him in surprise before just barely leaning into his support. She froze as Rancis carefully tucked some of her white hair out of the way of her eye before he tenderly pressed the ice pack to her bruise. She flinched and gasped at the coldness and the soreness of her injury before heaving a small sigh of relief. She closed her eyes as her cheeks tinted a pink blush, though she frowned. The two were silent for a few minutes as Rancis studied her annoyed face. He lulled his head to the side and chuckled, his close presence to Taffyta was comfortable and warm.

"You honestly believe Vanellope would just flat out hit you for no reason?" Rancis said softly to her.

"Yes," Taffyta snapped before she opened her good eye and peered at Rancis. He cocked his eyebrow and gave her an amused, knowing look. Taffyta rolled her eyes and looked away from him, "Nooo…"

"At least you have all of the break to get better," Rancis said with a small smile as he adjusted the pack to her cheek and eye gently.

"I'm going to need it," Taffyta said through grit teeth as she slumped her shoulders and gazed down at Rancis's chest.

She avoided eye contact with him. She could sense that Rancis was practically bursting at the seams with questions and concerns of their past. She was hoping to avoid the conversation altogether, but she knew it was all going to come spilling out eventually, now that Rancis was back in the picture, and not as Sugar Rush's only bad guy. She could tell, by the way he was taking in breaths, that he was thinking really hard about how to approach this sticky subject. She let her eyes remain glued to the chest of Rancis's dark brown hoodie, she didn't dare look up at him. She knew they both had wrongs to right, but she wanted to do everything she could to prolong it. Her heart was swollen with fear and uncertainty, she suddenly felt weak; she held her breath and waited for all of Rancis's hopes, dreams, fears and questions to come overflowing. She flinched as his mouth finally formed words.

"I-I can't think above all the nervous chatter going on in your head right now," Rancis suddenly chuckled as he gazed at Taffyta in a loving, apologetic way. Taffyta finally let a smile beam across her face.

"I'm just thinking, leave me be," Taffyta barked quietly, but playfully, as she wrinkled her nose.

"What are you thinking about?" Rancis asked gently, though he knew the answer. He gazed at her sincerely, but he was prepared for this sweet and sour situation to quickly head south for the winter. Taffyta was quiet for a few, prolonging moments. She looked down to the counter and gently took the ice pack from Rancis. She tenderly pulled it off of her face and set it on the counter before her. She fingered the bag a little, the ice inside was beginning to melt. She exhaled a rough, tired sigh and glanced at Rancis. His deep, curious blue eyes locked onto her with patience and understanding, though he looked just as hurt and confused as Taffyta was. She locked eyes with him for a moment and felt her heart swell with a thousand different emotions. She could almost feel tears sting her eyes as she inhaled to speak.

"Look…I-I know you're probably, really upset with me. Everything that has happened, to cause all of this, has been entirely my fault," Taffyta rushed, she quickly began to feel awkward. Rancis furrowed his eyebrows a little and kept his undivided attention to her.

"It wasn't all your fault," Rancis sighed softly, "I-I guess, I could've handled your rejection a little better."

"You think I rejected you?" Taffyta asked quietly in disbelief; Rancis stared at her in confusion as he froze.

"Yes?" Rancis said with confidence. Taffyta exhaled a long sigh and looked down.

"I-I didn't, push you away because I lacked feelings for you, Rancis," Taffyta admitted softly, her whole face turned red as she looked down.

"Sure seemed like it," Rancis breathed; Taffyta glared at him briefly.

"Of course it did," Taffyta barked sarcastically and quietly as Tammy and Gene slowly moseyed out of the penthouse; she was thrilled she could have privacy with Rancis. She inhaled to continue, "I-I told you that Vanellope was looking for a King because…because I just felt rushed. The fact that you so quickly frolicked after her is what really hurt. The fact that you didn't stick around to help our situation, you left it to make things worse."

"I didn't know you wanted me to stick around," Rancis said in gentle surprise, "Th-the only reason I moved on so fast was because…User, I don't know, Taff, d-do we really need to get into this right now? This wound has been around for a whole year and it's still fresh."

"Well, we're already traipsing down this road, why stop now?" Taffyta barked sarcastically as she threw a hand up.

"You want to have this talk now? Fine, we'll have this talk now," Rancis spat back, though he tried to remain calm, hoping not to scare her. He tensed a little and tilted his head, "You remember what I told you at Honeydew Ridge. You lied and told all your friends that you couldn't remember what I told you… But I know you remembered. I know you're hiding your true feelings for me. You're scared everyone's going to think of you as the fool who fell in love with crazy candy tree sword guy."

"You made that User forsaken sword to spite me," Taffyta said loudly as she stood and threw her arms up. She moseyed in a lulling, contemplating circle before facing Rancis, "You didn't make that sword to impress Vanellope, she wasn't even looking for a King, Rancis."

"You, lied to me?" Rancis said in shock as he stood, his shoulders tense. He furrowed his eyebrows in anger, "You made ALL this bull roar up? And for what? Look at all the hurt you put everyone through by lying to me!"

"I couldn't let you in, Rancis!" Taffyta hollered, her eyes billowing with tears, "It freaked me out that someone actually was getting as close to me as you were. I had to cut the strings."

"Why?" Rancis practically begged out of anger, "Everything was going great! Where you came from was so out of left field."

"I just realized how pathetic it all was," Taffyta said deeply as she tilted her head down, though her eyes remained glued to Rancis'.

"How pathetic our relationship was?" Rancis asked in shock before putting his hands on his hips and continuing deeply in return, "Or how pathetic you were?"

"Say that again, I dare you," Taffyta spat as she quickly marched up to him, she clutched the collar of his shirt in her fist and glared at him. Rancis put his hands up defensively.

"Hit me," Rancis barked, "Can't be any worse than what Vanellope can do."

Taffyta glared at him with fuming anger before firmly shoving him away and stepping towards the large windows of the penthouse. She shook her head and let out an angry breath as she put her hands on her hips. She scoffed and spat a few undecipherable things to herself. Her whole demeanor was tense with anger. She fumed to herself as Rancis heaved a long, patient sigh and cautiously made his way over to her.

"I'm sorry," Rancis said gently, "I didn't mean that, you're not pathetic."

"Yeah, well you still are," Taffyta barked as she looked in his direction.

"Noted," Rancis scoffed as he lulled his head sarcastically, "Why does it freak you out that someone actually loves you and has feelings for you? You're fine with your sisters. You and Ralph have a pretty good sibling relationship. S why is it so hard for you to accept it from me? I was there for you when you needed me most, all those days that Vanellope was too busy for us, and we had all that time alone… Don't you remember any of those good times we had? I certainly do."

"Of course I remember it," Taffyta hissed as she looked away, tears spilled down her cheeks, "Not a day goes by where I don't remember it."

"So what was holding you back?" Rancis asked sadly as he gestured with his arms a little.

"I just, didn't want to split our group of friends," Taffyta said softly, she kept her face and gaze away from Rancis, "I was worried, that if we made our relationship public, and dated like normal, that we'd eventually split leaving our group of friends torn in half."

"Taff, don't you realize that you accomplished that already?" Rancis scoffed, "If we would have dated publicly and split, I would've stayed away from the castle, and you, Vanellope and Candlehead would obviously continue to hang out and stay away from me."

"What's your point?" Taffyta asked gently.

"My point is, you split your group of friends by trying to avoid doing just that," Rancis chuckled but slumped his shoulders, "You split it so much so to the point that I practically timed out forever. It would've been better if we dated and split, because at least then, I would've been able to live and my old racing friends would still trust me…"

"I-I, never thought of it that way," Taffyta admitted as she sniffled a long inhale.

"I always thought it was so bizarre, the way you pushed me towards Vanellope," Rancis said softly as he took a step or two closer to her, "You made it seem like she was madly in love with me… But what with Ralph hanging around, and she always talked about how sweet and kind he was. It's not easy being rejected from all angles, Taff."

"She seemed pretty impressed when you made that stupid sword for her, during hers and Ralph's split," Taffyta barked.

"Of course she was impressed, it was a double stripe I managed to capture," Rancis yelled. Taffyta whirled around and gazed at him angrily.

"I know you got that stupid branch to spite me," Taffyta hollered, "You were vengeful, I get it! You don't need to rub it in more! The fact that you caught a double stripe branch makes it legendary as it is. It's REAL humble of you to continue to flaunt it."

"You think I caught that branch after we split?" Rancis hollered as he took a step closer to Taffyta, "I caught that branch for you!"

"For, me?" Taffyta said firmly, though her voice softened as her eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Yes you!" Rancis hollered, his eyes became glassy, "Who else! The day after I caught that branch, for YOUR engagement ring, was the day you pushed me away! There! Secret's out, I hope you're happy!"

Rancis threw his arms up and quickly stormed across the penthouse in an angry fury. He scoffed and shook his head multiple times before finally settling a few windows down the penthouse from Taffyta. She felt her heart practically drop to her stomach as she gazed at Rancis in shock. She held her breath and felt as if her entire being was about to turn into mush. She felt a thousand mixtures of emotion shoot through her code. She shook her head in surprise before she finally exhaled a breath of uncertainty. She looked down to the ground as tears welled in her eyes once more. She inhaled a shaky breath and let a very small smile play across her face as the impending tears spilled down her cheeks. She slid her eyes from the ground back to Rancis, across the way. She heaved a raspy, long sigh and smiled out the window of the penthouse before she gently began to approach Rancis.

"You were going to propose to me?" Taffyta asked gently as she stood a few feet from Rancis. He scoffed quietly and avoided eye contact.

"There was nothing I wanted more," Rancis admitted sadly. He exhaled a nasally breath and shook his head as he subtly tried to wipe a tear or two from his face, "But knowing that you don't like getting close to ones you love, I'm glad I didn't…Being rejected on bended knee would have probably ruined me."

"Rancis," Taffyta scoffed with a small smile as she looked down, "I-I don't know what to say."

"I wish you wouldn't have said anything and just let your answer be yes," Rancis said through his stuffed up nose as he looked down to the ground.

"I'm so sorry," Taffyta said softly as she too looked down to the ground, "I'm a wreck."

"You'd think the wrecker of the group would be the wreck," Rancis chuckled as he shoved his hands into his hoodie pocket, "He seems to have all his sprinkles lined up."

"Well, that guy has thirty years of rejection under his belt," Taffyta scoffed with a small smile. She looked down again and inhaled a nervous breath before opening her mouth to continue, "I will admit, the second I pushed you out of my life was the biggest mistake I've ever made."

"It was?" Rancis asked softly as he locked his eyes on her in shock, "You made it seem like you were so thrilled to be free. I was starting to believe you really didn't have feelings for me after all."

"I hide my emotions well," Taffyta said softly through a smile that wouldn't go away, "I thought about approaching you and apologizing, but I just didn't want to seem needy or clingy. And the fact that you looked like you moved on from me pretty fast made me hesitate even more. The second Vanellope told me that you gamed over for good… I can't tell you how hard I cried that night."

"You, cried for me?" Rancis asked in shock as he gazed deep into her eyes, "I could've sworn, this whole time, that my feelings were extremely one-sided."

"Nope… There are two sides, to this sugar cookie, dude," Taffyta chuckled as she continued to avoid eye contact with Rancis. She felt her cheeks get hot as she could feel Rancis's presence slowly approach her. He very tenderly took her hand in his and tilted his head down to make eye contact.

"I think this whole fiasco needs a restart," Rancis said softly as he squeezed her hand, "I'm tired of looping around this never-ending check point with you. Let's just, start over. Forget any of our hurt feelings, anything negative ever said or done. I was given a one up, and I plan to make the most of it this time around. What do you say?" Rancis asked sweetly as he finally let a small smile prowl across his face, his gentle blue eyes gazed into hers.

"I can live with that," Taffyta said softly with a renewed smile before sniffling a little.

"I'm Rancis," He said through a chuckle as he held out his hand.

"Taffyta," She giggled, almost in annoyance, as she gently took his hand for a hand shake.

"Nice to meet you," Rancis smiled as he held onto her hand, they sank between the two.

Taffyta beamed and gazed deep into Rancis's eyes. She wondered how he could so easily forgive her for all of the pain and grief they both had caused together. She let her expression soften to a warm glow as Rancis very gently tugged on her hand. She let a small, knowing chuckle escape her figure as she quickly wrapped her arms around his neck. She shoved her face into his shoulder and held onto him tight. She exhaled a nervous breath as he quickly hugged her around her middle. She shut her eyes tight and clung onto him, as if she had forgotten what he felt like, what he smelled like. Tears spilled down her cheeks as she latched onto him tighter. She began to feel nervous with how weak she was allowing herself to be with him. She knew it was this exact feeling in her gut that made her turn heel and run. She bit her lip and stayed put. She knew she had to trust in their little ember of love. Rancis breathed a small laugh as he squeezed Taffyta harder to him, he lifted her in the air for a few seconds before setting her back down. She laughed a soft, happy laugh as she scrunched her shoulders. He lovingly held her, his hand rubbed her upper back in a comforting way.

"I missed you so much," Taffyta admitted in a whisper as she continued to cling onto him. Rancis beamed and rubbed her back a few more times before gently pulling away from her. She kept her hands glued to his shoulders as his hands held her upper waist.

"You have no clue," Rancis chuckled as he gave her the most loving look he could, "You were my best friend, Taff. Losing you was almost too much for me to handle."

"Yeah, well, at least I didn't die on you," Taffyta giggled as he tenderly reached up and wiped a few tears off of her cheek, "That practically made ME game over."

"Well," Rancis sighed with a wide smile, "I'm back. Even though I'm not allowed near the castle, I know things are looking up."

"One and a half years later," Taffyta scoffed sarcastically.

Rancis opened his mouth to speak but was quickly cut off by a loud sneeze that echoed down the hall that Vanellope and Ralph vanished down awhile back. Taffyta and Rancis froze and stared at each other with shocked facial expressions before they both began to quickly, and warily, walk towards the small doors of the penthouse. Taffyta and Rancis quickly came around the corner and caught Vanellope and Ralph quickly scrambling down the hall, as quietly as they could. Taffyta slumped her shoulders and beamed a wide, annoyed smile.

"Ohhhkay," Taffyta hollered as Vanellope and Ralph immediately froze, "Eavesdropping smarties, front and center."

Vanellope and Ralph very slowly, and sheepishly stumbled to turn around as they moseyed nervously down the hall to Taffyta and Rancis. Taffyta crossed her arms as Rancis lulled his head back and laughed to himself. Ralph sniffled long and hard as he rubbed his face. He shot Vanellope an apologetic look.

"I told you to hold your breath, Ralph," Vanellope barked to Ralph with a wide, annoyed smile. Ralph gaped.

"You try holding your breath for as long as you asked me to!" Ralph hissed as he threw his large hands up.

"You have big lungs!" Vanellope scoffed loudly, the two locked in a teasing, glaring contest.

"Cat's out of the bag," Rancis said as he lulled his head in Taffyta's direction.

"You picked today of all days to have this talk with Taffyta," Vanellope laughed as she motioned to Taffyta's black eye.

"Seriously," Taffyta spat as she put her hands on her hips and gave Rancis an annoyed look, her cheeks were blushed like mad. Vanellope curiously eyed her and felt a giddy whirl inside of her. She bit her lip and tried her very hardest to restrain herself.

"Sorry," Rancis chuckled as he glanced at Vanellope and Ralph before landing his eyes on Taffyta with a small, loving smile, "I'm glad it's over with. Didn't think we'd have an audience, though."

"It reeks of Vanellope, to be honest," Taffyta teased, "Ralph is too honest to pull something like this."

"Hey!" Vanellope laughed as she crossed her arms.

"It's true," Ralph nodded, "I want to go home. I'm tired and groggy and sick and-"

"Okay, okayyy, let's go get you rested," Vanellope rushed as she pushed on his large arm, he turned around and slowly began to march down the hallway. Taffyta and Rancis followed them to the elevator.

Everyone piled into the elevator in silence, but Ralph's sniffles were constant. Vanellope eased into Taffyta's side before she quickly began to nudge Taffyta's side with her elbow over and over. Taffyta wrinkled her nose and quickly shoved on Vanellope's shoulder with a wide, confused smile.

"Vanellope!" Taffyta whined, Vanellope poked her sister's arm over and over in a giddy way, her eyes wide with happiness. Taffyta rolled her eyes with a wide smile, her cheeks rapidly turning red again, "Okay, okay, I get it! Tease away, I know, I deserve it."

"Oh, I will," Vanellope said firmly as she pointed a finger, "And you won't hear the end of it." Vanellope finished as the elevator came to a stop. Her and Ralph traipsed out of it and head for the front doors of the Niceland building.

"I'm sure I won't," Taffyta beamed as her and Rancis slowly followed far behind them, Vanellope waved in a teasing way before Taffyta threw her arm out, "Hey, hey! No funny business, I think it might storm tonight!"

"Taffyta," Ralph barked with a stuffed up nose as he whirled around, "Does it look like code swapping is what's on my mind right now? There's no way I'm going to risk getting Vanellope sick."

"You can transfer viruses through code swapping?" Rancis asked honestly, Taffyta rolled her eyes and nodded.

"I'd chance it," Vanellope said teasingly to Ralph as they came out of earshot of Rancis and Taffyta.