"Geez... Was I really an engine on those tram tracks-" Thomas murmured quietly to Carter. Carter smiled, glancing out the window before chuckling. "Yep," he confirmed. "You were."
Thomas blinked. "Blimey," After all this time of keeping it buried deep inside, he had finally let it out. And to be honest? He felt better. Just having a few friends know about it—ones who didn't judge him—made him feel lighter than he had in weeks. So much had changed since he let it out. He had told Carter how he felt.
After he confessed, Carter had wrapped an arm around him, holding him close. "I'm so happy that you feel better, Thomas," he had said. Thomas had hugged him back, smiling warmly. Then, Carter gave him a small kiss on the cheek. Blushing, Thomas looked away.
"Hehe," Carter giggled.
"What are you two doing~?" A curious voice chimed in, Mei.
"Ahh!" Thomas gasped, looking up. Mei was peeking over the bus seat.
"M-Mei!" Thomas whined.
Carter just chuckled. "I gave him a kiss, and now he's stuck in a blush attack," he explained.
Thomas pouted. "Blush attack? I-I'm not blushing!"
"Thomas, your whole face is as red as my Panda," Mei pointed out.
Thomas blinked, then glanced at Carter, who was giggling at him. Pouting, Thomas crossed his arms and faced forward. Mei just laughed before sinking back into her seat. Carter was still giggling.
"What are you giggling at?" Thomas huffed.
"Your silliness," Carter said.
"Oh yeah? Well, I'll give you something to laugh at~" Thomas smirked mischievously.
Carter tilted his head. "Huh?"
Before Carter could react, Thomas reached over and started tickling his stomach. Carter bounced back, erupting into giggles, his back hitting the wall of the bus. "O-Oh! I'm sorry!" Thomas said, laughing. Carter playfully pushed him.
Mei slowly peeked at them again. "What happened?" she asked.
"Nothing!" Thomas blurted.
Carter just stared blankly at him.
"Um... okay..." Mei said before sitting back down with Miriam.
Once she was gone, Carter looked at Thomas and snorted, then Thomas started laughing softly. But while Carter was distracted, Thomas poked him in the belly button.
Carter giggled, pushed Thomas's hand away from him, and blocked his belly with his hand. "Noooo," He playfully whined. "Stop tickling meeee,"
"Why?" Thomas chuckled cheekily.
"Because I'm really ticklish!" Carter whined.
Thomas came closer to Carter and rested his head on his shoulder. Then, Carter tilted his head to rest on Thomas.
They sat there for a while, until Thomas reached over, and stuck in finger in Carter's belly button all over again.
"Thomasssss-!" Carter laughed, smiling. "What is with you and tickling?"
"I love to hear you laugh," Thomas admitted.
"There are many ways to make me laugh, not just by tickling," Carter countered, crossing his arms.
"Like what?"
"Jokes... duh," Carter said.
"Jokes? Well... uh... I'm bad at making jokes," Thomas confessed.
"So? I might still find them funny."
"Um... okay, I got one." Thomas sat up straighter. "I tried to get a job as a railway engineer, but they said I couldn't. You know why?" He looked at Carter expectantly.
Carter shook his head.
"They said I didn't have enough training!" Thomas snapped his fingers. "Ha! Get it?"
Carter blinked. "Okay... no more joke-making for you," he laughed, shaking his head.
"Hey! That was a good one!" Thomas snapped.
Carter just shook his head. "You got another one?"
Thomas thought for a moment. "Ummm... how about this one—"
"What do you call a sneezing steam engine?"
"If you say 'Achoo Choo Train,' I'm breaking up with you," Carter joked, laughing a little.
Thomas pouted. "Damn it."
"You were, weren't you?" Carter snorted.
"Wait! Okay! I got a good one—"
"I hope so," Carter laughed again.
"Why couldn't the steam locomotive sit down?"
"I don't know, why?"
"Because it has a tender behind."
That one made Carter giggle a little. "Okay, that was a little funny," he admitted.
Thomas grinned.
"But not all engines have tenders. You don't." Carter pointed out.
"You're right, I don't have a butt at all," Thomas said.
Carter leaned back slightly, peeking behind Thomas before smirking. "I wouldn't say that~"
Thomas's face turned red. "C-Carter!" he sputtered.
Carter giggled teasingly.
Just then, Tyler threw out his own joke. He had been listening. "Yo mama is like train tracks—she's been laid all over the country."
Thomas's eyes widened, and he turned to stare at Tyler.
Percy snorted loudly.
"Tyler! The hell?!" Mei yelled, though she was clearly holding back laughter.
"PIFFFTTTTTTT," Abby snorted.
"You sure you wanna date this dude, Percy?" Miriam half-joked.
About half an hour later, the bus turned into the street. The CN Tower stood tall in the distance, with the Skydome right next to it. The bus rolled over a bridge, passing the railroad lines before pulling into the near-empty parking lot. The only vehicle there was the one-and-only 4*TOWN bus.
"Guys, 4*TOWN is here!" someone on the bus yelled excitedly.
Turns out, a lot of students were huge fans, judging by the excited whispers and bouncing in seats.
"I guess there are more fans of 4*TOWN than we thought," Miriam said.
"You're telling me—look how happy they are," Mei added.
"I can't wait to see Tae Young again!" Abby erupted.
"Calm down, Abby, don't die before we get inside," Miriam giggled.
The bus pulled up to the entrance. As soon as it stopped, the students buzzed with excitement. Everyone was just eager to stay still.
"Now kids, when you enter, make sure to check in. We need to confirm everyone who signed up for the school's Valentine's event is here," their teacher reminded them.
"Come on, Thomas, let's go," Carter said, grabbing Thomas's hand.
Once inside, the students gasped at the massive Valentine's setup. Drinks, food, decorations—it was even bigger and more elaborate than previous years.
"Wow... we really worked hard on this, didn't we?" Mei said.
"Robaire and the rest definitely couldn't have pulled this off without our help," Pyria added.
"No way. I'm really glad we helped," Thomas said.
They had barely stepped inside before Abby zoomed ahead. "Look at all those drinks!"
"A-Abby, calm down!" Mei laughed.
Thomas chuckled. "Well, she's happy."
"She is. I wish she had a date here," Miriam noted.
Carter nudged Thomas. "Hey, let's grab a drink."
They walked over, each grabbing a cup. Abby, on the other hand, had five.
"Abby, are you really going to drink all of those?" Carter asked, amused.
"Yes! Why?"
Carter smirked. "You're gonna spend the whole day in the restroom."
Abby shrugged, unfazed, and carried on.
"She's definitely going to regret that later," Carter laughed, looking at Thomas.
"Totally," Thomas said with a small smile.
Carter leaned against the wall, sipping their drinks. "You know, it's funny," he started. "I know you thank me for helping you get closer to Mei and her friends, but... I wasn't actually close to them before."
"You weren't?" Thomas asked, surprised.
Carter shook his head. "Nope. You know who my real friends are—Shane and Eli. I was just... kinda acquainted with them. But after I introduced you, I started getting closer too. I'm really glad it worked out this way." He smiled. "So thanks for that, dude."
Thomas blushed. "Y-You're welcome." He planted a kiss to Carter's cheek. "Guess we both helped each other when we needed it, huh?"
Carter smiled, then set his drink down. "So... may I have this dance?" He extended a hand.
Thomas giggled. "Dance? With no music?"
Carter grinned. "You've never heard of silent dancing?" He started swaying playfully.
Thomas shook his head, laughing. "That's not a thing!"
"No, but seriously, where's the music? This is a 'dance,' isn't it?" Carter glanced around. "Since 4 Town is here, isn't it supposed to be live?"
"Yeah, but they're not on stage..." Thomas looked toward it. "Maybe they're still getting ready?"
"Maybe," Carter said.
Thomas glanced toward the hallway leading to the dressing rooms. He remembered exactly where they were. A thought crossed his mind. "Hey, you wanna go backstage and check on them?"
Carter blinked. "Check on them? Backstage? Can we even do that?"
Thomas shrugged. "I mean... we practically bonded with them, didn't we? We can just knock on their dressing rooms. I know where they are."
He started walking, and since Carter was still holding his hand, he followed. "How do you know where their dressing rooms are?"
That's when Thomas remembered—he never told Carter about how he had been checking the dressing rooms earlier... or about Nerraw lurking around at that part. "Oh... Well, it's kind of a long story," he said vaguely.
As they reached the backstage area, Thomas noticed something odd. It was wide open.
"Huh? Shouldn't this be, like... off-limits?" Carter asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm not sure," Thomas said.
Usually, the backstage of anything wasn't this easy to access. He walked right up to a door with Robaire's name on it and knocked.
But there was no response.
"Hello? Robaire? It's me, Thomas! You know... the boy who can turn into a locomotive?" he called out.
Still, silence.
Thomas glanced at Carter, who just shrugged. "He probably just stepped out for a bit," Carter said.
Feeling a little uneasy, Thomas moved to another door—Tae Young's. He knocked again. Nothing.
Carter checked Aaron Z's room. Also silent.
"Huh? They all can't possibly be in the restroom at the same time," Thomas muttered.
Carter smirked. "Girls do it all the time—why can't guys?"
Thomas laughed but shook his head. "I don't know... something feels off."
He hesitated before gripping the doorknob. It turned.
"Thomas, what are you doing?" Carter hissed.
Thomas frowned. If Tae Young wasn't in there, the door should have been locked. He pushed it open.
Carter stepped beside him. "Dude, you can't just open a famous boy band member's door like that!"
But Thomas wasn't listening. His eyes widened in shock.
Tae Young was in the room.
But not in the way they expected.
He was floating.
His body lay suspended in mid-air, arms and legs slightly drooping downward, as if caught in an invisible current. A glowing, pulsating pink heart-shaped crystal hovered just above his chest, shimmering with a strange energy.
"W-What the hell?" Carter breathed.
Tae Young's body drifted slightly, up and down.
Thomas swallowed hard. "C-Carter? What is this...?"
Slowly, Carter stepped forward. Thomas hesitated but followed.
The crystal above Tae Young's chest shimmered—a deep, radiant red, sparkling like a Valentine's heart. It was mesmerizing.
Thomas instinctively reached out to touch it.
Carter slapped his hand away. "No! Don't touch it! We don't know what it is!"
Instead, Carter carefully shook Tae Young's shoulder. "T-Tae... wake up," he urged.
No response.
"Tae, can you hear me?!" he tried louder.
Still, nothing.
"H-He... is he...?" Thomas stammered.
Carter turned to him, his expression darkening. "Thomas... I think I know who did this."
Thomas blinked, then his breath hitched. His fingers curled around his necklace.
A dark mist swirled before them.
It twisted, taking form.
A shadowy figure emerged.
It was back.