Revamped!

[And now, here is the beautiful conclusion to Thorne's arc.]

A Thorne in His Side: Part Ten

Cress didn't walk back home. She stopped on an empty bench about five blocks away and sat right in the middle with her knees squeezed up against her chest. People who passed her spared no thought towards her but why would they? They don't know or care about what she's going through.

The image of Thorne and Kate kissing was burned into her mind and her legs felt like they would give out if she continued to venture on. And if she went home, she knew she would drop on the first soft thing she saw and cry until it became soaked in her tears. At least if she stayed here, her face would remain dry since there's no way in the stars that she would cry in public.

Suddenly, she feels raindrops slowly patter on her head. Cress looks up and groans at the horribly timed movie cliché as it starts to rain harder. She puts on her hood and starts to trek back home. At least now she could cry and her tears could be mistaken for raindrops.

Why did she feel mad? It's not like she and Thorne were exclusive or anything. And Kate Fallow was his first, his ex-sweetheart. Her reappearance before Cress could be something more was just another example of some perfectly timed movie cliché. Either way, it hurts.

She's now at that point where she isn't sure if there are tears on her cheeks or raindrops. If a raindrop falls directly into her eye and rolls down her cheek, did that make it a tear?

"Cress, get into my car."

Her heart stops. Cress's common sense is telling her to run because it sounds like a kidnapping attempt, but her gut that recognizes the voice so she turns around only to face the brightest blue eyes that she's ever seen. The longer she looks into them, the more she senses that he's lost in his gaze of her.

And he is.

When he looks into her big hazel eyes, all he sees is how much love she has for him shown by the stars that cluster in there. She doesn't realize how happy she makes him with just one smile.

"How the stars did you even find me?" Cress asks, starting to shake not only because it's cold and rainy.

Thorne makes his way closer to her. "Not to sound like a perv, but I've watched you walk long enough to know what you look like from behind."

She should've smiled but she's devastated. There are tear stains running down her cheeks being washed away by the rain as her hair droops down. Despite her wearing her heart on her sleeve, she's a strong woman who would often need encouragement to hold her head high, but now she looks defeated and he knows the feeling. That was how he felt when he saw Kate cheat on him. To say that his heart dropped to his stomach was an understatement.

Cress just turns back around and continues walking away. Sometimes, a woman's silence is external proof that she no longer gives a spade and they're no longer worth her energy, but Thorne doesn't buy that one bit and continues following her, and she's aware of that.

"You still have feelings for her, don't you?!" Cress asks him.

Thorne is taken by surprise by her asking that. "Stars, no!"

"Really? Because you texted me to get you and I saw you kiss her in the skate park and you seem to love everything that I'm not."

"I do but from your perspective."

Cress stops only because she's confused by what he meant and needs an explanation.

"I love that she's everything you're not because you're everything I could've truly wanted," Thorne explains. "First off, you're someone who loves me more than I love myself which I didn't think it was possible and second, you would much rather see the world than your reflection in the mirror."

"Then why did you go see her and ask me to come save you?"

"At first, I felt like a dick seeing and unintentionally kissing Kate because of whatever you and I possibly had. I'm worried that you think I'm playing with you or leading you on. I felt nothing but her lips when she kissed me and that was her ultimate plan. Kate doesn't want me. She wants you."

Cress is taken aback. "What?"

"That came out wrong. She wants me to be with you."

"Don't lie to me," Cress says as tears start forming in her eyes and she backs away. "I'm going home. Don't follow me and don't watch me leave."

"I can't. Not now because I already know how you feel about me and I have for a while."

And at that moment, Cress is cold, soaked, and drained of energy, but nothing mattered because with Thorne, the world makes sense again. People make mistakes but they have to decide if their mistakes are bigger than their love for them. How could she stay mad at someone who lights up a room just by existing? Cress stares at him, unable to process what he's saying. She's shocked and stunned into silence. If he already knew how she felt (and for a while), then why did he leave her waiting, and why did he bother seeing Kate Fallow? That angered her even more than before.

Cress turns around and looks up at him with furrowed brows. She tries to slap him but Thorne grabs her hand and stops it before it contacts his face, pulling her towards him and locking lips with her to shut her right up. He kisses her passionately as if he's releasing her anger with him that she had bottled up inside of her, pulling off her hood so his hands could mess around her hair as the rain falls on it. It's like he's telling her that everything will be okay, that despite his kiss with Kate, Cress can still trust him. That she should trust him.

"I shouldn't have waited to tell you this but you're the perfect height to kiss," he says quickly before going back in.

Thorne finds himself locking in this familiar body, which grasps onto him tightly as he pulls her in closer. And just like that, he feels as if he's embracing the dependency of his existence, all while thinking that he strongly adores Crescent Moon Darnel. She takes his breath away. She drowns reality with her angelic presence.

"Rain is romantic, right?" Thorne questions.

"The flu isn't," Cress responds, smiling.

Thorne laughs as he cups her face. He closes his eyes as he continues to kiss her again and it felt like he could finally breathe again. He inhales her scent that she always wore and it dawns on him that she's his person. Thorne tears up as Cress holds him tighter and with that gesture, he loses it. He could feel his knees getting weaker as he lets himself absorb her.

"I promise I'll tell you everything that happened with me and Kate," he says, wiping away his tears. "Just let us enjoy this for a moment longer and ignore me crying. Aces, Cress, I really love kissing you."

And he kisses her again. It's the greatest kiss she's ever had, which she realizes isn't saying much but it's one of those world-expanding kisses that she's out against any other kiss she's had or will have.

Cress wonders if this is all a dream. It just has to be because this feels like one. Those were some words she's been waiting to hear. She feels as if she slipped into some alternate reality - the kind that exists in those young adult harlequin novels, where public declarations of love were abundant and happy endings were promised. This kiss changes everything and as it deepens, whatever happened before becomes ancient history.

And they part for good this time, both breathing heavily as they stare right into each other's eyes.

"Are we good?" Thorne asks. "If you say no after all that, then I'll go cry in my car and leave you alone if you wish. Please don't wish for it."

Cress nods, suddenly feeling a bit giddy. "I feel better than good."

Thorne smiles brightly as he holds her by the shoulders. He leans in closer towards her ear. "If we weren't both soaking wet and crying now, I would take you now in my car."

"You wouldn't really…" Cress starts blushing and swirling one of her hands to get to her point without having to say it.

Thorne clears his throat awkwardly. "Okay, maybe not at this very moment but I want to take you up to the moon and back, and while we're up there, I'll steal some stars for you to keep. Now, come on."

"What?"

"I want to spend time with my girlfriend."

Cress smirks this time because she isn't sure if she heard that right. "...again, what?"

Thorne smirks as he wraps his arm around her to pull her close. "C'mon, Crescent Moon, we both know that you're my girl now. And we'll my car for real this time because like you said, the flu isn't romantic."

They both know that their friendship - their relationship - would never be the same again.

[And now, there is one final person to get their arc to bring an end to season one of Once Upon a Selfie.] [2020: Finally.]