(Be prepared for a lot of screaming.)

My head is ringing! Whose idea was it to give me liquor? I can't survive after one cup. Did someone spike the apple cider? Was someone stupid enough to spike the cider? It shouldn't surprise me. It would be a plot twist that the cider is a hallucinogenic elixir. Let's focus on the muscles. My back is sore. I could move my fingers. I tried moving my toes; they're good, too. I have no broken bones. Swore limbs but nothing major which is good for me. I forced myself to open my eyes. My vision was blurry for a moment until it got clearer. I was met with a wooden ceiling; sunlight streaming through a nearby window. Feeling the cushion underneath me, I know I'm lying on a bed. I sat up and looked around. I was in a normal room, a clinic maybe.

"Master!" My face was attacked by none other than Mrs. Cuddles. Her size was reduced to her original height. Her tears of joy were wetting my face." I miss you! I thought you were never going to wake up!" she yelled close to my ear.

I grabbed the back of her neck to look at her. I noticed she had a few bandages around her belly and limbs. She had it rough. "What happened?" I asked.

"I defended your honor!" she said.

"She tried. All she got was bruises on top of her bruises", the worm said. I saw him relaxing on the bedside table. Warren was sipping on a drink from a thimble. I gently put Mrs. Cuddles down on the bed. "You, my young Goth, were rammed into a house."

"I'm not Goth, I'm Emo", I said. Flashes of events appeared. Leo was chased by the Beast. He chased after him to the village. I remembered colliding against a house then everything was fuzzing after that. I was lucky to be alive.

"Is Leo okay?" I asked, fearing the worst.

"Yes, yes. Your turtle boo is fine if it wasn't for the town's hero. He saved both the town and your boyfriend. I don't know about you but I'm on Team Greg."

"Why are you here? Shouldn't you be with Leo in case he's in danger again?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Question. Can salt kill worms instantly? I'm willing to test that theory."

Warren matched my glare. "You wouldn't dare."

"Cuddles?"

The said rabbit leaped into action. "I know where the kitchen is!" she exclaimed. Just then, Leo and, ugh Gregory, walked into my room.

As my turtle friend saw me, a smile spread across his face. He instantly went to my side. "You're awake! Thank the Supreme Pizza in the Sky!" he sighed in relief. His response made me chuckle, but I stopped noticing the giant third wheel in the room.

Greg stepped forward. He gave me a gentle smile. "Yes, I too am happy you are alive and well. It was a good thing I made it in time otherwise the Beast would have ended your and Beauty's lives", he said. I hate how he praised himself. A big giant with a big ego to match.

"I'm too stubborn to die", I said, offhandedly, "Your praise isn't appreciated."

"That's Merrill's talk for thank you", Lee defended. I decided to look out of the window. Outside was a pot with a little daisy on it. "Thank you, by the way. I don't want to know what would've happened if the Beast did hurt us." ...anddddd I want to barf.

"Please. It was my pleasure. I am the town hero. I have a role to fulfill. Not as a hero but as your future spouse." Now I'm more eager to barf. What is he? A saint? Mr. Perfection? "Oh, and Merrill, thank you for your permission." My body tensed at the musclehead's words. You fucking asshat!

"Permission? What are you talking about?" Leo asked, looking between us in confusion.

At this point, I was starting to sweat. "Uhhhh, Greg? Now's not the time to bring it up."

"Bring what up?"

"I gained Merrill's permission to wed you", Greg stated. Leo's eyes grew wide.

"...what?"

"Hey, Greg. Do me a favor. Get lost!" I said through gritted teeth.

"Merrill's right", the slider said making me turn to him. His sweet smile was bittersweet. "Can we be alone? The next few words I'm gonna say aren't for your ears."

Greg stared for a while. Then said, "Alright. I will be at the blacksmith. I require his audience. My weapons need to be sharpened." The buffed man left us alone. The door shut quietly.

"He's such a boy scout." I looked toward the silent turtle. He was pinching the bridge above his nostril. "...Leo?"

"Shut up... I can't believe you... You gave Gregory your permission to marry me off... what is wrong with you?" Even without the mind link, it was obvious he was pissed.

"In my defense, it's not real! It's all an act! Besides, you were supposed to say yes anyway to follow the plot! If anything, I did you a favor!"

The red-eared slider glared my way. I flinched at it. "In your DEFENSE?! Doing me a FAVOR?!" Okay... not my choice of words...

"Ummm... can we restart this conversation?" I could feel my throat closing.

"Let's continue this conversation. You're a roll. Please enlighten me on how it's okay to give me away like I'm a pretty little gift basket."

"Leo, I don't see you as a gift basket. The plan was for you to be Greg's fiancé. This story relies on it."

"Oh, the story relies on it?"

Man, this was turning out how I see it. "Yeah! How else are we going to find out where the author is? Everything resets the moment you died!"

"Don't remind me. I'm just lucky I don't remember."

"See, now you see my point. I don't get why you're angry."

"The fact that you don't know why irritates me."

"Again. I don't see why you're getting dramatic."

"Dramatic? Dramatic?! You gave Gregory your PERMISSION for my hand in marriage which I said NO to!"

"Uh, you said maybe."

"Ugh! You know what I mean!"

"Well, it's a good thing you said maybe, though. It's not a definite answer." I got out of bed to stretch my sore limbs.

"No." I paused.

"What?" I said, turning to see Lee crossing his arms.

"You heard me. I said no. Do you ever thought what I feel or what I think?"

"Of course, I do!"

"No, you don't!"

"Name one!"

"The second time we met. You told me to leave while you fight Meat Sweats! With us together, we could've taken down Meat Sweats faster! But noooo! You wanted to show off how strong you are!"

"First of all, Fat Ass wanted to eat you! And I don't mean the sexual kind! I'm talking about forks and knives and a brewing pot with your name on it! I'm lucky I managed to get there on time."

"You barely hold your own against him."

"How was I supposed to know Fake Gordon Ramsey could do that with his mutant powers? Besides I took him down!"

"Funny. When me and my bros got there, it was the complete opposite. You were a boy in a pig's blanket!"

"Again. How was I supposed to know he could suck up the silverfish and multiply it into tiny piglets? And again, not the sexual kind. Not enough evidence!"

"Alright, I'll bite! Exhibit B: the Homecoming Dance!"

"Are you talking about your date with MC Hammer?"

"Not a date!"

"You had to flirt with the hippo. It's not like I asked you to put your tongue down his throat!"

"That doesn't make it any better!"

"You were captured! All you had to do was bat your eyes and stroke his ego a bit!"

"That pedophile almost kissed me! I was going to have nightmares for the rest of my life!"

"I made it on time!"

"I was dragged and held hostage!"

"The Furball saved the day!"

"You're not seeing the point!"

"You agreed to help save the school!"

"You never ask me! Or what I think!"

"Guys, I think you should simmer down the yelling. The rabbit is close to breaking the ceiling", Warren said, breaking our "disagreement". I looked at Mrs. Cuddles who was getting bigger with every yell we threw at each other.

"Cuddles, get your fluffy out of here. Break through the window if you have to and get as far away from us as possible. Go to the forest if it's necessary", I ordered.

"Yes, sir!" As instructed, the vampiric rabbit burst through the window and ran.

I shrugged. "Problem solved."

Leo rolled his eyes. "Right. Another plan without considering her injuries. Do you ever think about anyone besides yourself?"

"She's a yokai. Besides, her injuries will heal faster than a human. She'll be fine", I defended, "Where were we? Now I remember. I was telling you Furball saved the school."

"We didn't know Mayhem would be with us!" Whelp. We went back to the yelling.

"I still saved you since I had your odachi", I countered, recalling the event precisely.

"Ugh! Do you always want to win, or do you want to be right? Because you can't have it both ways!"

"Lawyers do it all the time in court! I don't see a big difference!"

"We're not in court! We're stuck in a twisted fairy tale of Beauty and the Beast where I'm the fricking protagonist marrying the hunter! Do I look excited about this? NO!"

"Leo, you just need to act. You sound like you're selling off your soul to the Devil."

"Oh, no, that's what you did. You sold my soul to the Devil. Last time I checked that's not what friends do."

"Well... I'm not the one who ran off during a public proposal!"

"I didn't say no, I said maybe! You didn't have the right to say I would go through with the marriage! Have you ever considered if we ever escape? That if we fail, I'll be walking down the aisle with Gregory!"

"Why do you keep calling him Gregory? Is he that good-looking you remember his name?"

"No! Is it hard to forget Gregory's name?"

"No! It's stupid! What kind of mother names her son Gregory?"

"We're distracting ourselves! I'm upset that you have the last say in our relationship!"

"I'm not seeing it! The "evidence" you displayed didn't cover your argument!"

"You want evidence! Fine! How about last month? You outed us to my brothers and our friends! You told them about our past lives, our mind link, and us being soulmates! Not once did you ask if I was okay with it! I wasn't ready!"

"They were going to find out eventually! Our connection is deeper than ever!"

"Heh, is that what you tell yourself every night before sleeping?"

"Why are you getting mad? I did it for us! You just had to act like you wanted this like how you kissed Xander!" Shit! I didn't mean it!

Leo was at a loss for words. "That's not fair... I had to make him believe I wasn't up to something! I had to gain his trust!"

"It's the same thing here as back then!"

"No, it's not! You weren't on stage having everyone lock eyes on you knowing the anticipation of me saying yes! I didn't want to because..." Leo stopped. "...because... because I didn't want to!" He wanted to say more. I know he does.

But the douchebag that I am, continued, "Oh great argument! I should applaud you! You didn't want to go through with the plan because you didn't want to go through with the plan! What? Maybe we find another person to play Beauty since you wuss out at the last second!"

Big mistake.

I was met with a fist colliding with my cheek. I touched it but I hissed in pain. My cheek was going to swell. I looked over to Leo who was breathing heavily. He was clenching his fist tight even to show his blood veins. "You..." he began, "you... are such... an asshole!" Leo bolted.

What have I done? "Leo!" I called, yet my friend slammed the door in my face leaving me staring at it.

"Great job, Romero." I looked over to the worm and glared. "What? Don't look at me like that. We both know it."

"Callate, cabron", I said. I went to grab the door handle only to hear a whimper from beyond it. Leo was on the other side, crying. Fuck, Merrill! Why couldn't you just shut your fucking mouth?! I pressed my palm against the frame while resting my head on it. I listened to his soft cries. Should I open the door and hug him?

I don't think it's a good idea.

We should stay apart. He's right, though. I am an asshole. I was relying on Leo to be the focus point and I didn't consider how he would react. I won't rely on you, Lee. I'll find a way home. And when we get back, you have every right to forget about me.

Because I deserve it.

~Lady Ai~

My head rested against the door as I covered my mouth trying to muffle my sniffles. Does Merrill ever consider my feelings? Am I just a friend to him? Does he ever care? I know he's an asshole and I'm willing to accept that but why couldn't he understand how uncomfortable I was. Does he really want to hear how right he is? Wdn't he see how this affected me a lot? How much pressure is displayed on my shoulders?

Why couldn't he see I love him so much to go through with the plan?