TUoC: Chapter 13

It was August 8th, Double D's fifteenth birthday. Jennifer was finally released from the hospital today, around 6:30 p.m., and both were being driven home by Jennifer's parents. As they were riding home, Jennifer noticed Double D was still wearing long-sleeved gloves this whole time; he had not even attempted to reach out to her at all, much to her sadness. He was still scared that he could still hurt her by accident.

They soon could see they were approaching the Cul-De-Sac, only to see all the decorations around the circle parking lot despite how late it was, "W-What's going on?" Jennifer asked.

Jennifer's mom made a smile at them, "It's both a welcome back party for you and a birthday party for Eddward. Your friends and neighbors set everything up for you two!"

The two teens were surprised, "T-That's… very kind of them to do," Double D replied with a small smile.

Everyone soon exited the car, only to be immediately greeted by their friends.

"Jennifer!" Zoey cried as she and Marie both came over to Jennifer to give her a hug, "Are you feeling better?!" Marie asked.

"Yes, I'm much better now," Jennifer stated back, giving them both a hug in return, "Thank you."

Ed, Eddy, Serena, and Matthew came over to Double D, with Serena giving him a cautious hug, "Big brother! I'm so happy you're home!" She stated to him.

Double D smiled at his little sister as she let him go from her hug, "Everything is alright now, Rini. We're all together again."

He could feel Eddy's hand on his shoulder, "It's good to have you and Jenna back, Sockhead," he said.

"And to you as well, Eddy," Double D stated to him, "I'm sorry I didn't visit you at all. I was more worried about the others…" he then made a smile, "Besides, I knew you would be okay, you're way too stubborn to stay down for long."

"Wha — Hey!" Eddy retorted to him, "Is that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?!"

Double D laughed a little, "Consider it both; it's just how you are."

The teens then walked over to where everyone else was; Kevin, Nazz, and the rest of their neighbors. Professor Layton was also there, as well as Double D's parents, Eddy's parents, and Zoey's parents. Everyone greeted them with hugs and smiles.

A few minutes passed by before Eddy got everyone's attention for something with Zoey beside him, "I got an announcement to make!"

Everyone turned to the two teens in confusion, "What is it, Eddy?" Ed asked.

Double D and Eddy's parents already knew what they were going to announce, based on what Double D found out the other day with Zoey and what he told his parents.

"I just wanted to say that me and Zoey are officially a couple!" Eddy stated with a big smile.

Their neighbor friends only chuckled at him, "We knew that already, you Dork," laughed Kevin.

Zoey then reached into her shirt collar to reveal the necklace that she was hiding this whole time, the promise ring Eddy bought was hanging at the end of it, "Well, it's officially official now."

That was when everyone widened their eyes in disbelief at the ring, "Whoa!" Nazz started to say, "That's some very serious commitment. Congrats to both of you!"

"Thanks!" both Eddy and Zoey smiled at everyone before looking at each other, giving each other a hug. Everyone started to cheer for the young couple.

Jennifer smiled at her friends before glancing over to Double D, who was also smiling at Eddy and Zoey. She could suddenly feel her heart beating faster and faster in her chest when she looked at him, blushing as she did. Jennifer then started to briskly walk away from the party and towards the playground, trying to hide her face as she did.

Of course, Matthew was the one who noticed her walking away, "Hey, Double D," he started to say as he poked his brother's shoulder.

"Hmm?" Double D questioned as he turned to Matthew, "Is there something wrong?"

"I saw Jennifer walking off towards the playground just now," Matthew stated to him, "It kind of looked like she was in a panic."

Double D widened his eyes, "Oh dear…"

He then started to walk off to find her, only to see her sitting on a bench near the playground. Jennifer was rocking back and forth a little from where she sat down; he could tell the party had probably started to take a toll on her anxiety.

Double D started to walk over to her, "Jennifer?"

She widened her eyes in surprise as she turned to Double D, who was approaching her from her left, "H-Hello, Eddward…"

Double D sat down to her right on the bench, "Are you alright?" He asked.

"Yes, I'm… I-I'm fine," Jennifer replied, "I just wanted some time to myself for a moment. S-Sorry…"

"It's quite alright," Double D stated, "I was making sure everything was okay…"

The two teens looked up at the starry skies above them, the full moon shined down to them very brightly.

Jennifer glanced back to Double D before asking, "Umm… Are you going to keep wearing those gloves?"

"… Yes," Double D replied, looking down at his hands as he did, "I know they said they reworked that awful drug to make it so that the icy side effect would no longer happen to my skin, but I'm not sure how much I believe them on that…" he closed his eyes in sadness, "I don't want to hurt anyone again, so I'll keep these gloves on until I know for certain that the drug is out of my system."

Jennifer could see how upset he was as he said that; it looked like he did not even want to attempt to see if what they said was true or not. It was then that Jennifer grabbed Double D's left hand to take off his glove before holding his hand tightly in her hands as she did, much to his horror, "Jennifer! What—"

"It's okay now, your hand isn't cold anymore," Jennifer said to him with a smile, "Take my word over theirs. I'm not lying to you."

Double D widened his eyes in shock at what she said, it looked to be true; nothing bad happened when she grabbed his hand, "… I-I thought for sure I couldn't interact with anyone like this!" he started to say as he pulled her into a hug, "Thank you so much."

Jennifer's heart started to race again at how close he was to her, "Uh… u-umm… I-I, uh…"

"… Jennifer?" Double D questioned as he let her out of his hug, only to see how red her face was, "Are you…?!"

"I-I'm so sorry, Double D!" Jennifer started to say, looking away from him and trying to cover her face as she did, "The others explained to me what I was feeling, b-but I STILL don't know what to do! What do I even say to you?!"

Double D stayed silent for a second before realizing what she was trying to say, widening his eyes again as he did. He quickly took off the glove he still had on his right hand, setting it aside on the bench.

Double D reached out to Jennifer to lower her hands from her face, "Listen, I feel the same way for you, Jen. Everything's alright."

Jennifer looked up at him in surprise because of the nickname, "But… b-but I'm so—"

She could feel his hands holding onto her hands, even tighter than before, "No, you're not useless!" Double D started to say, "It doesn't matter what others say to you or what you have," he made a warm smile at her, "I just want you to be happy because I love you."

Before she could even process what he said, Double D finally leaned in close to Jennifer, giving her a kiss on his lips. Jennifer widened her eyes in shock at him for a second before closing her eyes, accepting his kiss back with her own. They stayed like this for a few long seconds before separating from each other, blushing at one another as they did.

Double D held out his right hand a little to her, "Umm… I have something I can do for you."

Jennifer looked down at his hand, only to see something happening that surprised her. Double D was using the remaining ice powers he still had to form something in his hand, "I guess this awful power I have can still be used for something good…" he stated to her.

It was soon that Jennifer realized what he was doing, beginning to tear up as she did. Double D was forming an ice sculpture of the fictional flower she liked in his hand; the ice petals of the Elpis Bloom looked more like how it does in the game than the wooden flower he made before.

Double D then handed the ice flower over to her, "I want us to be more than just friends, Jen," he started to say with a big smile, "I want you to be my girlfriend."

Jennifer took the ice flower from his hand before giving him a hug back, "Y-Yes! Yes, I accept, Double D!" she started to say, crying a little into his shoulder, "I love you too!"

Double D embraced Jennifer back with his own tight hug once again. Unknown to the two teens, their six friends were off to the side, spying on them from a fair distance away behind a bush.

"About freaking time!" Eddy stated with a sigh, "For a while there, I thought they would NEVER say anything to each other!"

"Oh hush," Zoey shushed him, "We knew it was going to happen, but things like this take time!"

Marie made a smile to her friends, "I'm really happy for both of them."

"Yeah, I am too," Matthew replied before noticing something out of place, "… Wait, where did Ed and Serena go?"

Eddy could see both Ed and Serena running up to Double D and Jennifer, giving them a hug as they did.

"Hey!" Eddy yelled out to them, running over to them as he did, "You two just blew our cover!"

Zoey, Marie, and Matthew only made a sigh at their antics, walking over to them as well. Double D and Jennifer looked slightly surprised at their six friends but could only smile at them afterward.

"Honestly, I had a feeling you were nearby," Double D stated, looking at Ed and Eddy, "You two have always been too nosey."

Ed and Serena let them out of their hug before she looked back up at the moon in the sky. Serena widened her eyes, "Wow…" she said in awe, "It's as bright as I thought it would be!"

She then could feel herself being picked up by Ed as he sat her on his shoulder, "You're even closer to it now than before!" Ed cheered with a smile.

"Uh, Ed, I don't think that's—"

Zoey quickly hushed Eddy from saying anything else, "Don't ruin their moment!"

Eddy blinked at Zoey before realizing what she meant, "Oh, my bad," he snickered.

The eight teens all looked up at the full moon, all of them smiling.

'It really is fortunate for us to have all met like this, despite the trials we went through to get here…' Double D thought to himself with a small sigh of relief, his hand was still locked with Jennifer's hand.

Meanwhile, back over at the party, Aiden and Wendy were looking towards the playground where their kids were now, smiling at them as they did. Professor Layton also noticed the eight teens over in that direction.

"Seems like everything has finally come to a close now," Layton stated to Aiden and Wendy with a smile.

"Yes, and I can't be happy enough that this nightmare is finally over for everyone," Aiden sighed with relief, "Thank you so much for your help, professor."

"It is no problem," Layton started to say, "Honestly, if it wasn't for your son's memories that helped us find out the culprit's last name, this case would have gone south very fast. He's a very bright young man."

Suddenly, a small ping could be heard coming from Layton's cell phone. He took it out to see what it was; it was a text message from Scotland Yard. He opened the message to read what it said, sighing a little after he read it, "Well then, guess there really is no rest for me, is there?"

"Did they ask you about another case?" Wendy asked.

Layton nodded his head, "Sort of, it seems like my old assistant wants me to fly out to where he is to help him with a case; he's currently living in Steam Bison."

Wendy gasped at that statement, "Oh! Steam Bison is the new city that was built out in the far west around Nevada, right? I hear everything in the city runs on steam."

"I believe so, yes," Layton replied, "Thankfully I'm already here in the States, so getting there won't be too much of a problem. Though I do remember hearing you can only enter the city through a special kind of transportation method…"

"I remember hearing that as well," Aiden stated, thinking about it for a moment, "I think it's through some kind of unique blimp?"

Layton looked back to the eight teens once again before turning back to Aiden and Wendy, "Either way, I should get going soon. I should try and schedule a flight tomorrow."

"Yes, it is very late right now," Wendy stated as she and Aiden waved goodbye to the professor, "I hope you get there safely!"

"Thank you," Layton stated as he walked away from them, heading back to the car he rented that was parked nearby.

Before Layton entered the car, he could see the eight teens nearby at the playground again. He could see that both Double D and Jennifer could see him from where they were sitting on the bench. They both waved at him with a smile on their face. He tipped his hat back to them before getting into the car and driving off, 'Off to solve another mystery,' he thought to himself.

The End

Author's Note (October 3rd, 2023): YAY! This story is DONE! As I said before, there is one more story that's tied to this one that I will make later on, but it is more like a short epilogue story that ties up some loose ends, and it won't be a crossover.

I also felt like mentioning a game that I want to recommend to everyone reading both this story and the story before this one, Melancholy Times. It's a game called "To The Moon" that's currently available on Steam, Nintendo Switch, and Mobile devices.

As I mentioned in the summary of Melancholy Times, that story is a retelling of an older fanfic I made several years ago called The Aspie Girl. I made that story back when I was 17/18, and now I am currently 33. A lot has changed over the years, like drastically. But the one thing that hasn't really changed much is the fact I'm still living at home this whole time… I can't live anywhere else alone, even now.

Anyway, the reason I'm mentioning/recommending this game at the end of this story is the fact that if you're on the spectrum, like myself, you NEED to play this game; as well as have other people you know go play it. It really gives some insight into what it's like to live with Autism, both for the person who has it and for anyone who lives with them. The game itself never clearly states what the character's wife had, but it is very obvious that she is on the spectrum, and… It really hits home for me.

"Everyone with it is different." "Just because she struggles to express it, it doesn't mean she doesn't feel anything."

… That's all I can really say now. Thank you for reading these stories. It still means a lot to me.

Chapter 13's Song Title: "Everything's Alright" - To The Moon