Chapter Text
Velvet without hesitation slammed the door in Ritz's face. Veneer could hear the door slam from the other room.
"Who was that?" Veneer called out from the kitchen, his voice still kind of stuffy.
"No one. Don't worry about it." Velvet answered back.
Out of curiosity, Velvet peaked through the peephole and saw Ritz still standing there.
He seemed fidgety and was looking at the ground.
She couldn't care less about him, but him not leaving was starting to really tick her off.
Velvet opened the door again, peaking her head through the half-opened door. She whispered to make sure Veneer wouldn't know who she was talking to.
"Get off our property, I'll file a restraining order on you if you don't leave." She spat at him, Ritz felt a bit surprised at that comment.
"Wait, just let me talk to your brother, really quick. I promise it will be only 5 minutes max." He tried to compromise, but Velvet wasn't having it.
"I don't care. Not my problem." She rolled her eyes.
Ritz couldn't lie that he felt intimidated by her a bit.
He sighed, "Please." He looked at Velvet with pleading eyes, only for her to laugh in his face.
Her expression of laughter quickly changed to a more serious expression.
"Get out."
He felt disappointed that he got kicked out by Veneer's sister.
He didn't even know why she hated him. It was crazy!
Ritz mumbled to himself as he walked away.
Velvet, at the door, felt pleased with herself. That she had gotten rid of Ritz.
She closed the door and walked back to the kitchen. Her brother was sitting on the couch, channel surfing.
"All of these channels suck.." Veneer muttered to himself.
He had wrapped himself in a blanket and was watching some TV to distract himself from what happened earlier.
Velvet knew that she was protecting her brother from Ritz.
Besides, relationships would distract both of them from what really mattered. Keeping their careers in check.
The Mount Rageous media is ruthless. They will find some brand new popstars, shine them in the spotlight for a few weeks, and then forget about them entirely.
Velvet had seen it happen, she was not willing to let it happen to the both of them. Since they have been in the spotlight for a month, which is very impressive for Mount Rageon standards.
Even Velvet could admit she was sort of a hypocrite when it came to the relationship part.
She and Veneer had both agreed to refrain from dating while they were famous, but Velvet had had a few secret dates without telling her brother.
Velvet leaned on a counter behind the couch, watching whatever Veneer decided to watch, which in this case was some series he had been watching a few times.
Velvet remembered when he had rambled to her on and on about the new series he discovered. She hadn't really taken the time to care about it, let alone watch it.
Velvet spoke up, "We have a show tomorrow by the way."
She noticed as Veneer didn't respond, he looked like he was deep in thought.
"Veneer!" She got his attention, Veneer turned to look at his sister.
"I don't think I can Velvs.. Can we just take a quick break?" He asked.
Velvet shook her head, "No! Have you seen what happened to those other star celebrities?! They went on some week-long hiatus and then people forgot about them. You don't wanna lose all your fame and money, then we would have kidnapped some troll for no reason." She seemed frustrated that her brother didn't seem to care as much as he used to about stardom.
"I'm not saying that Vel, I'm just not in the mood to sing-" Veneer sighed.
"Then get in the mood! We already have a reservation at a show at 2, we can't back out now!" She threw her hands around exasperatedly.
He didn't really want to perform but just sighed, he was getting tired of the constant shows if he was being honest.
Sure, yes, being famous with his sister was fun, but they needed to take some breaks.
Besides, they were running out of songs to cover.
He shook, "C'mon sis- I'm already down in the dumps, can't we reschedule?"
She rolled her eyes, "Listen, I know you're all heartbroken and stuff, but please.." She pleaded, "We've been working our way to get the Lifer Award for 2 weeks now! We're almost there.."
Veneer sighed again and gave in,
"Fine. I just need some rest."
Veneer walked up to his room and closed the door.
Velvet felt bad for Veneer, she really did. But their careers mattered more than anything to her.
Ritz was getting in the way of that.
Who knows what he could be planning? Maybe he was trying to uncover dirt on them..
Velvet sighed and sat down, she wished her brother saw how much she really cared about him.
She was protecting him from Ritz, whether it was wanted or unwanted.
Over time, Velvet saw that Ritz tried to talk to Veneer when she was around, but she shut him down.
Veneer and Velvet were at the mall, inside an expensive clothing store, shopping for high-end fashion brands.
Velvet was holding a light pink crop top and was admiring it, not caring to look at the price tag, while Veneer was looking at the shoes at the front of the store.
He saw Ritz passing by the store, on his phone.
He looked the same since he had last seen him.
Velvet had blocked Ritz's number from Veneer's phone to try and help him move on.
Veneer was afraid to face him but wanted to know how he felt.
He felt sort of guilty leaving him without a word for a few weeks and felt miserable without talking to him. Veneer wondered how he felt about that kiss and if they could still be on good terms after that.
He gathered enough courage and made sure his sister wasn't looking when he approached the blonde and blue-haired boy.
"Ritz! Hi!" He tried to sound confident, but his voice slightly cracked.
He cursed himself internally as he felt a wave of awkwardness come over him.
He realized.
He didn't know what to talk about.
Ritz looked up from his phone a bit startled and looked at Veneer.
He was geniunely shocked to hear from him, he thought that he hated him since he seemed to have blocked him without a word.
"Veneer?"
Veneer awkwardly chuckled, "That's me.." He gave a sheepish grin as Ritz returned the same goofy grin.
"It's been awhile-" Veener chuckled a bit, trying to spark a conversation, "Yeah.." Ritz said as he trailed off.
Veneer took a deep breath, "Look. I'm really sorry about what happened last time- I swear I don't hate you and I hope you don't hate me. I'm really sorry and I hope that we can still be friends." He seemingly blurted out.
Ritz raised his eyebrows slightly, he wasn't expecting Veneer to talk about what happened when he last saw him.
"It's fine, I honestly thought you hated me- Since you blocked me-" He chuckled.
Veneer chuckled along with him, "Vels didn't really want me talking to you since she thought It would be better If I moved on-"
Ritz raised an eyebrow, "Velvet did that?"
"I mean, she advised me to- If you will-" He started.
Ritz chimed in, "'If you will?' Did you become more literate since the last time I saw you?" He teased with a slight grin.
Veneer playfully scoffed and rolled his eyes, "It's been a week, and I've always been this literate!"
Both boys laughed at the stupidness of the conversation.
The laughter died down and they both fell into comfortable silence.
"Friends?" Ritz asked Veneer, hoping for a yes.
"Friends." Veneer smiled warmly at him.
He couldn't help the warm feeling he got when he stared at Ritz with a warm smile.
Ritz was just fun to be around, what could he say?
The sound of Velvet angrily calling his name snapped him out of his daze.
"Oh! I have to go! Sorry-" He quickly waved to Ritz and turned to leave before stopping.
He turned around to say something else.
"Me and Vels are having a concert tonight, I have a backstage pass- If you wanted to catch up that is." He smiled.
Ritz grinned at the offer and shrugged, "I have nothing else to do, so why not."
Veneer had a smile slowly creep onto his face.
"See you tonight then!" He quickly walked back into the store to find his sister who was holding up two shirts.
She was annoyed that he took so long. Veneer just hoped that she didn't see Ritz from where she was.
The concert started and the two walked out onstage as the crowd went wild.
Ritz was in the crowd as he watched the two, mainly Veneer.
He felt people next to him slightly bump into him as they were dancing to them.
Ritz felt a sense of relief and admiration as he watched Veneer.
He was happy they were both on good terms.
After the show finished, Velvet hyped up the crowd some more as Veneer watched.
"I love you all! Thanks for coming to our show!" She ended the concert, and the two siblings headed backstage just as they felt the troll's essence start to wear off.
The adrenaline coursing through their veins faded away and the two were hit by exhaustion like a truck.
Velvet grumbled as she walked to the dressing room, with a bad headache.
The essence made her less moody and more happy, Veneer noted.
Veneer was about to head back to the dressing room when he saw a familiar face.
He quickly looked back at his sister, she was too exhausted to notice Ritz and stumbled into the dressing room.
He sighed contently and walked up to Ritz excitedly.
"Ritz! Hi, glad you could make it!"
Veneer's mascara was slightly smudged from the long concert, his lipstick was slightly smeared. It made him look messy, in a good way, Ritz thought.
"Yeah- You guys were awesome out there!" He praised Veneer, Veneer chuckled and blushed a bit at the flattery.
"You really think so?" His eyes lit up, Ritz just answered that with a warm smile and a nod.
Veneer felt a small smile slowly form on his face as he tried to hide it. "Well I'm glad you enjoyed it, It took a lot of practice and stuff- y'know-"
Ritz nodded as he listened to Veneer talk, he was taking in his appearance and everything about him.
He seemed to have changed slightly since he had last seen him.
Ever since the kiss, Ritz had been confused. He had never thought of guys in that way.
As corny as it sounded, the kiss he shared with Veneer felt different.
He had kissed people before, but the kiss with him felt right.
Ritz didn't think too much of these feelings and never wanted to unpack them.
The two decided to hang outside behind the building, away from people for privacy, so Velvet wouldn't see the two hanging out.
Ritz sat next to Veneer on a curb. The night sky and stars being the only sources of light. Ritz was thankful it was dark out since it hid his slightly red-tinted cheeks.
He couldn't place the feeling of why he felt nervous. After all, he had been wanting to hang out with Veneer for a while and missed their little chats together.
The two sat in silence for a bit before Ritz decided to speak up,
"The stars are pretty." He smiled and looked up at the sky, sneaking a quick glance over to Veneer.
Veneer was fidgeting with his pants before he looked over at Ritz. "Yeah.." He smiled at Ritz.
The star's light aluminated Veneer's features.
His green hair, which normally was gelled up, was starting to fall downwards. Veneer's blue eyes had a hint of red in them. Was the red always there? Did Veneer have an eye infection? He didn't think about it, It was like he was mesmerized.
He could understand why Veneer had so many fangirls now.
Ritz realized he was staring until Veneer awkwardly chuckled, snapping Ritz out of his trance.
"Sorry- You just look different with your hair down."
"In a bad way or good way?" Veneer raised an eyebrow, causing Ritz to quickly explain himself.
"In a good way of course! It suits you."
Veneer tucked a bit of his medium-length hair behind his ear, "Aw thanks." Veneer giggled.
Ritz laughed with him, still taking in his features.
He wanted to close the distance between the two of them but was stopping himself.
Ritz felt scared. What if Veneer had completely lost feelings for him?
He didn't want to hurt him as well, since it would look like he was toying with Veneer's feelings.
Veneer seemed to notice Ritz's usual outgoing, laidback demeanor was different. He seemed a bit more hesitant and nervous around him.
The tension between the two of them was very noticeable.
"Is something on your mind?" Veneer asked, breaking the silence once again.
Ritz took a deep breath in before speaking.
"Yes, actually." He started, waiting to see Veneer's reaction before continuing.
Veneer had an expression of curiosity.
"So the last time we hung out When y'know..." Ritz said, not wanting to say the words.
Veneer's face went red at that and he looked at the ground in embarrassment.
"When that happened. I wasn't exactly.. against it-" Ritz said slowly.
Veneer's ears perked up at that and he looked at Ritz.
"So you'd do it again?" Veneer asked him. Ritz's face felt warm as he thought more and more about it.
"Probably- I mean you weren't a bad kisser." He joked.
Veneer had a small smile on his face as he giggled at that.
"So you're down to try it again?" He said while slowly inching his body closer to the blond and blue-haired boy.
Ritz felt his body slowly start to move closer to Veneer, his heart rate was increasing by the moment.
The two slowly leaned closer to eachother.
Veneer felt a surge of confidence flow through him. He wasn't sure if it was the tiny remaining parts of troll essence, or him just wanting to kiss him.
He pulled Ritz in and closed the distance between the two of them.
The two's lips crashed together into a slow passionate kiss.
Ritz's breath hitched as he closed his eyes and tried his best to melt into the kiss. His hands playing with Veneer's loose strands of hair.
Veneer's hands rested themselves on Ritz's waist as the kiss continued.
Neither one of them wanted it to end. It felt right.
The reality hit Veneer slowly as the last specks of the troll's essence faded away.
He pulled away from the kiss, noticeably more anxious than before.
Ritz was concerned, "What's wrong dude? You okay?"
"What if Velvet finds out? I promised her I'd stick with her! She always told me to have no relationships when being famous, since it's a distraction! What if she finds out Ritz?! She'll never let me see you again!" He started to spiral into a panicked state as his breathing increased.
Ritz didn't know how to help but comforted him nonetheless.
"She won't find out Ven, trust me." Ritz placed a comforting hand on Veneer's shoulder.
He seemed to calm down a bit but wasn't fully calm just yet.
"Thanks.." He gave Ritz a small smile of appreciation. In return, he gave Veneer a small peck on the cheek.
Veneer let out a small breath and appreciated Ritz being there for him. He pulled them into another kiss.
They both got lost in the kiss, not seeming to care about anything other than the other person.
Veneer stumbled backward, Ritz stumbling forward on top of him.
The kiss continued as the passion slowly grew more and more.
The sound of a faint camera's clicking lasted for a quick second, neither seemed to notice in the heat of the moment.
Veneer pulled away again to catch his breath, but Ritz quickly pulled him back into the kiss.
Ritz's mouth had smeared green lipstick on it from Veneer when they both finished their little makeout session.
He quickly tried wiping it off.
"Shit.." Ritz mumbled under his breath. Veneer noticed him struggling and started to dig through his pockets for something.
He pulled out a makeup wipe and handed one to Ritz who thanked him as he started to wipe the green lipstick marks off of him.
Veneer realized how long they have been out here.
"Crap! I forgot about Velvet!" He quickly ran towards the building, waving to Ritz as he quickly ran.
He opened up the door to the dressing room that Velvet was in.
Velvet was lying on the couch, bored out of her mind. She seemed pissed, but too tired to lash out.
"What took you so long? You're my drive home!" She groaned in annoyance.
"Sorry- sorry- Just had to do some things really quick. C'mon, let's go." Veneer helped his tired sister up as they both walked into the car.
Veneer got into the driver's seat and the twins drove back to their mansion.
Velvet took off her heels before she left the luxury car, holding the pair of heels in her right hand as she walked barefoot towards the front door.
"UGH! My feet are KILLING ME!" She groaned loudly.
"Tell me about it-" Veneer chimed in as he followed his sister.
The platformed shoes basically were stabbing into his feet. It looked stylish yes, but beauty was pain I guess.
Velvet opened the door and yelled for Crimp.
"CRIMPP!" Her booming voice pierced through the mansion. Veneer was sure that almost all of Mount Rageous heard her scream.
The only sounds of movement being quick paper shuffling that were aproaching the stairs. A small orange pile of construction paper ran down the stairs and towards them both.
Crimp had her signiture stupid smile on her face and her ugly green lensed glasses. If the twins really cared enough, they would have given her a makeover already.
"Put away our shoes and prep me a bath." She commanded and she through her heels in hand at Crimp who flinched. Veneer slid off his platforms aswell, leaving them messed up on the ground.
"On it!" Crimp said as she started to put their shoes away. It would be a bit harder for her, since the twins were 3 times her size.
Velvet walked upstairs, the lack of essence made her grumpier and tired.
He pulled out his phone and saw that he had a text from Ritz.
He smiled and hummed to himself and opened the text,
'Hey, If you wanna date in secret I'm open to that.'
Veneer exhaled a laugh out his nose and responded almost instantly.
'Just as long as we don't get caught!'
He was exsausted, his eyelids felt heavy as he stiffled a yawn.
Veneer walked upstairs and towards his bathroom.
He decided to take a long warm bath to help him relax a bit.
He turned on the water with the gold-diamond faucet and waited for it to fill up, allthewhile being dressed in his favorite white fluffy robe.
Veneer leaned against the sink as he impatiently waited for the tub to fill up. He tapped his fingers in anticipation.
Once the tub finished filling up, he stepped in and relaxed.
After his bath, he walked back into his bedroom and changed into some fluffy pajamas and stumbled into his bed.
He closed his eyes and felt himself fall asleep almost instantly.
He woke up and checked the time. It was later than usual. He wondered why his sister or Crimp didn't bother wake him.
He walked downstairs and saw his sister waiting for him.
She seemed quieter than usual as she was glaring daggers at Veneer as he headed downstairs.
"Morning Vels!" He smiled at her. She didn't smile in return and was silent as she just continued to stare at him angrily.
He didn't know what he did this time. "What's wrong?" He sat down in the seat next to her, but she coldly shifted her chair away.
"What's wrong?" She echoed him, "WHAT'S WRONG?!" She snapped at him, causing Veneer to flinch a bit.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!" She held up her phone to show him.
It was a news article. About Veneer.
FAMOUS SUPERSTAR, VENEER HAS A SECRET LOVER?!:
He felt his stomach drop.
Had someone seen Ritz and him?
Veneer was speechless as he saw the picture of him and Ritz kissing last night on the curb.
Fuck.