Chapter 5 A Box of Rocks

Celia walked into her house with a steep frown right around sunset. She turned on the light, unsure how to feel about everything. Making her way over to the couch, she sighed and took a seat. She hadn't felt this horrible in a long time. To think that ever since her parents got back together, she believed she would be free from heartache. Did that belief show how naive she was?

Groaning, Celia lowered herself onto the couch. She looked up at the ceiling, not really focusing on anything. At this particular moment, she wanted to turn her brain off. If she zoned out enough, maybe she would get her wish. Maybe she'd be able to sit here without thinking about anything, ignoring the heavy feeling growing in her heart.

"Celia! You're back!"

Blinking, Celia lifted herself up and turned. Ruby stood in the doorway to her bedroom, smiling brightly. Celia forced on a smile, hoping that the expression would fool her mother into thinking that everything was okay.

"Hey, Mom. It's good to see you."

Ruby came over to the couch. "I thought you would be back yesterday."

"Well, I ended up staying the night in Bowser's Castle. Roy and I went to a restaurant afterward, and we just talked and stuff. You know, we wanted to reconnect."

"Really? That's awesome! How did that go?"

Celia felt a pang. She turned her gaze away from Ruby, uncertain if she could even speak right now. Ruby, sensing the heavy mood, took a seat on the couch.

"Celia? Is everything okay?"

Celia debated telling Ruby the truth before ultimately deciding that she should. "When we were out, I decided to ask Roy if he was willing to give dating a try." Ruby did a double take and backed up a little bit, blinking as Celia continued. "After everything that's happened, with you and Dad getting back together, I felt like I had my life sorted out enough to reconsider dating. I mean, Roy had asked me if I wanted to give it a try before when we found Dad. I said no though, that I had some work to do before I could think about that."

"I see. So, since you brought the question back up, I imagine he was happy about that?"

"I thought he would be. But… he turned me down."

"Ohh…" Ruby's brow furrowed and her eyes shined with sympathy as she placed her hand on Celia's shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Honey. Rejection is never fun to deal with."

Celia let out a breath. "Thanks, Mom." Her voice was so quiet it wasn't even funny. "I…" She shook her head. "I don't understand why he said no. I really don't. He said that he had a lot of duties that he had to deal with as a prince, but… I don't know how true that is." She bit her lip. "Something about the way he talked when he said no was just off. Like… I don't even know how to describe it."

"I see." Ruby sat in place for a second before spreading her arms. "Come here, baby."

Her eyes felt misty as Celia accepted Ruby's offer. She held onto her mother as it felt like everything in her world was being thrown into question. She was so neck-deep in the questions and the worries that she didn't even have the strength to speak. She felt so small, so insignificant.

"Is it me?" Celia asked. "Is there something wrong with me? Does he not want to date a commoner? Or… a hybrid?"

"I don't know, sweetheart." Ruby rubbed Celia's back. "I'm sure he had his reasons." She paused. "And… maybe it'd be best if we don't know what the answers are. Sometimes, the answers hurt more than the questions."

Celia sniffled. "That is true." She whimpered and squeezed Ruby tighter. "I just thought that everything would work out. Roy is so special, and I thought that he felt the same way about me that I do about him. But I guess I was wrong." Celia whimpered again. "What's wrong with me? I should've known that asking him was stupid. I should've known that he could've ended up changing his mind, that thinking about dating him was silly."

"Celia, stop. It's not silly. There's nothing wrong with you." Ruby pulled away, giving her the opportunity to look into Celia's eyes. "Roy just has different priorities. He has his own life and his own struggles." Ruby smiled, the expression solemn. "And just because it didn't work out with him doesn't mean it's not going to work out with someone else. I'm sure you'll find another guy."

"Who? Where? No one in the Mushroom Kingdom wants me." Celia pushed back the tears, knowing that she didn't want to cry at the moment. "I want to be with Roy specifically. He made me feel seen. He supported me. He helped me put my entire life back together. If romance doesn't work out with someone like him, then who is it going to work with?"

Ruby bit her lip. "I don't know."

"Yeah." Celia pulled her legs up to her chest and hugged her knees. "Me neither."

A silence settled over the scene, weighing down on both Celia and her feelings. Like she did during her walk back to the Mushroom Kingdom, she thought about the lunch she and Roy had together. All sorts of emotions filled her; shock, sadness, and even anger. Part of her was so bitter that Roy said no. Sure, it was his right, but still. She held him in such a high regard. Did he not feel the same way about her? Did he not like her? Did he not think bout the encounter they had together? Did he hate her?

Hate her. That possibility made her want to slam her fist into a wall. The whole world had hated her for so long. The Toads who bullied her when she was in school were filled with hate, overflowing with it. Her grandparents hated her with every fiber of their being, which was why she grew up without a dad. And now, the one person who Celia thought was someone special and important hated her. The key to her family getting back together hated the girl who he had helped; he just lacked the balls to say it.

Frowning, Celia got up off the couch. "I'm going to bed, Mom."

"Okay, sweetie. If you need anything, just let me know.

Celia nodded and made her way to her room.

…

"You did WHAT?"

Roy cringed and rubbed the back of his head as he stood in front of his siblings in the common room. "Yeah. I know it's surprising, but…"

"But what?" Wendy asked while he hesitated. She took a step forward, shock and surprise present in her expression. "I thought you liked Celia! Why would you turn her down like that?" She frowned. "You know you broke her heart, right?"

Roy's cringe got even stronger. "Yeah. I know."

Iggy took a step forward. "I honestly fail to see the logic. You and Celia established a strong bond when you were together. There were instances where you expressed that you missed her, which has led you to seeing what her life was like through a memory sphere. Why would you turn her down if you cared so much about her?" Iggy raised an eyebrow. "Has she fallen out of favor with you, is that it?"

Roy bit his lip. "I…" he sighed and went over to the couch, lowering his body down into it slowly. "It's complicated."

"How?" Wendy asked. She made her way over and took a seat beside Roy. "How exactly is it complicated? Please explain it to me, I really want to know."

"We all want to know." Lemmy came up and sat on Roy's opposite side. "What went wrong, Roy? Is there something you're not telling us? Or Celia?"

Roy thought about things. He debated telling his siblings the truth before ultimately deciding that he should.

"I just…" He put his hand to his head. "I don't think being in a relationship with Celia is the best idea, mostly because…" Oh, this hurt to think about; could he even say it? "I've been thinking about Judy."

Ludwig blinked. "Judy?"

Larry groaned. "Dude, I thought you were over her! Now you're in love with her again, how does that make ANY sense?"

"No, no, I'm not in love with her again. I AM over her; that hasn't changed." He looked down at the floor. "I've just been thinking about what happened when we were together." His other siblings crowded in, looking like they were hanging onto every word. Roy counted to ten in his head to mentally prepare himself for this explanation.

"When Judy and I were dating, I constantly made stupid mistakes. Like, forgetting to pay for lunch, or forgetting about important stuff that she told me. Or outright being and idiot and saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. It all builded and builded until when she decided to break up with me because I destroyed a family heirloom of hers." He paused. "Yes, you could argue that she was mean when she broke up with me, but that's not the point. The point is Judy constantly said I was stupid, and you know what? She was right on the money. I did act stupidly toward her, so much so that she ended up hating me in the end."

The Koopalings gawked at Roy. "And you're worried that the same thing might happen with Celia?" Morton asked.

Roy nodded. "I am."

Iggy frowned. "I… can see where your concern is coming from, but I will argue that is just your insecurity talking. Especially so because you recognized the areas that you needed to improve when it came to Judy. Because you do, that means you can take your past experiences and grow from them. You can learn from your mistakes."

Roy bit his lip. "But what if that doesn't work, and I just make everything worse?"

"Roy…" Wendy reached out and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Roy, that's not going to happen. You like Celia, and Celia likes you. I highly doubt that she would end up hating you in the end."

"Judy did…"

"Well, Judy's a bitch!" Wendy said as her eyebrows slanted. "I didn't tell you, but I never even liked Judy; she acted REALLY shallow whenever she and I interacted with one another. She wasn't the girl for you, Roy. Celia might be."

"Yeah!" Larry said. He stepped closer and leaned down so his eyes were level with Roy. "Buddy, you deserve to be happy. I know I trash-talked Celia before, but I think she is legitimately nice. Not perfect, but nice. And you clearly like her, so I think a relationship between the two of you could work out nicely."

Roy stared at Larry in surprise before sighing. "Well, thank you for that. That's all really sweet to say guys, but I really don't think so." He stood up. "I'm stupid. You can't say otherwise; I'm as dumb as a box of rocks. And stupid people don't learn. They don't change."

The Koopalings stared at Roy, stunned. "Roy…" Ludwig said.

Roy ran his hand over his head. "Now… if you guys don't mind, it's getting late. I want to sleep. You know, it can be hard to deal with sleep defecation."

"Sleep deprivation," Iggy said.

Roy's face grew warm. "Yeah. That." With that, he exited the common room.