Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Gwen didn’t think much of it when she started coughing flower petals. There was an illness just like it back on Argon VI, but it wasn’t too serious, only infectious. So she did her best to avoid her friends, to make sure that she didn’t pass the virus to them. She just had to wait a couple of days, and it would pass, no big deal!

She did find it strange that they were earth flower petals rather than the leaves from her planet. Maybe Earth had a similar virus? But she never saw anyone else coughing up Earth plants during her visits to the planet. Most likely they were being smart and just staying home to prevent passing their sickness to someone else.

Keeping to herself in the remains of her old rocket on Argon VI, she stared at the colorful petals that lay in the palm of her hand. She smiled at the sight, definitely finding them much more appealing to look at. White, soft, and curved petals were much nicer to look at than dull, greenish-gray leaves, even if the petals were tipped with her blood.

She was curious: what kind of Earth plant did they belong to? She grabbed the book she had about Earth plants, flipping through the pages, coughing up a few more as she searched for some sort of image to match.

It took her a while, but she finally came to the conclusion that they belonged to acacia blossoms, which were definitely beautiful. She read a bit about the acacia plants as a way to pass the time; what better way than to learn more about your birth planet? Not to mention reading up on the plants was a pretty fun thing to learn!

It was pretty interesting, really. They could be shrubs or trees, and there were over 800 kinds all over the planet! Their petals could also be yellow and, very rarely, red or purple. Earth was pretty diverse! The flower also apparently had a meaning on Earth: concealed love.

There was nothing in the book about its petals being coughed up in some sort of disease, though. Maybe it was covered in a medical book rather than a book about plants? That made sense. There really was no need to put the effects of some sort of sickness in some nature guide, anyway.

The next morning, she hadn’t coughed up a single petal. The virus had probably passed by that time, which meant she was safe to hang out around her friends now! Good thing, too, since they had planned a picnic at a park. A little basic, but Gwen enjoyed every second spent with her friends!

Bethany, Owen, and Orion were setting up everything when she came, Gwen being the earliest to arrive out of the other four who didn’t live in this world. “Hi, guys!” she greeted them excitedly, hugging Owen and giving Orion a nod of acknowledgement.

Bethany smiled up at her as she placed down the paper plates. “Hey, Gwen!” She paused what she was doing, giving Gwen a hug just like Owen had.

With Bethany, Gwen held onto the hug a second longer than her hug with Owen. Ever since she met Bethany about four years ago, she knew she always really liked her. Even if Bethany didn’t seem to return the feelings, hers never really went away as time went on; it only grew.

But she didn’t mind. Bethany’s happiness was more important to her than what she wanted. As long as Bethany was happy, she’d be happy. 

“Hope you’re feeling better after that weird Argonian virus you had,” Bethany said, adding a pat on her back.

“Yup! I definitely am!” It became a little harder to breathe as she pulled away. Gwen just brushed it off as nothing important.

“I’m not late, right? Please tell me I made it to the right time!”

The girls turned to find Kara, ready to hit her timewatch in case she came late.

Bethany just laughed. “You’re fine, Kara,” she told her. “We’re still waiting for Kiel and Charm to arrive.”

For some reason, it was difficult to breathe when Bethany said Kiel’s name. Maybe she still had some petals lodged in her throat? Well, nothing a few sips from a water bottle couldn’t fix!

Grabbing one from the basket, she took a gulp, then two, then more, downing half the bottle. It didn’t seem like it was working, and her breathing remained the same.

“And the party has arrived!”

“You don’t need to introduce yourself like that.”

Kiel and Charm walked up, Kiel in his usual outfit from his series and Charm wearing clothes that resembled Earther clothes more. Her robotic parts were concealed by magic, an illusion to hide the fact she had those robotic parts.

Gwen smiled, happy for a distraction. No time to worry about whatever was in her chest when her friends were now all here and together!

“We’re actually all here!” Owen exclaimed, his smile lopsided. “I mean, all of us here together!”

“It’s been forever since we all did something like this!” Gwen added, taking another sip from her bottle. 

And it was true. When was the last time they all just hung out together, the seven of them? Sure they spent plenty of time with each other, but never with the entire group. The last time Gwen could remember the group together was maybe over a year ago.

It had definitely been way too long since then.

“Hey, Beth!” Kiel greeted his girlfriend, sitting next to her and giving her a small kiss on her cheek.

Gwen couldn’t fight off the urge to cough. Water sprayed from her mouth as she struggled to even take in a breath, something coming up her throat.

“Whoa, Gwen, you okay?” Kara asked, patting her back.

“I’m… fine…” she managed to choke out between wheezes. It took a moment for her to be able to stop, taking a deep breath to ensure she was fine. “I’m okay, guys, just accidentally choked on the water!”

She watched as their shoulders fell, relief on their faces, minus Orion’s. He glared at her from across the blanket they sat on, dripping with water. “Next time, aim your coughs somewhere else,” he said, still glaring. “Like at Bethany.”

“Hey!”

They all erupted into laughter, Gwen included, until she felt something in her mouth. She spit it into her hand, only to feel her stomach drop at the sight.

Pink round petals, tipped with blood like the acacia blossom petals were.

Her breathing quickened. Had the virus not passed? Was she still sick?

She looked up, no one having noticed her as they ate and chatted. She quietly sighed, relieved. It was better that they didn’t know. This was no time to worry them over a sickness that was nothing. She could easily hide it for another couple hours.

But for some reason, it was harder to suppress whenever she spied Kiel and Bethany together, doing anything to express their love for each other.

The Earth disease never seemed to go away. Whenever she thought she was better, she’d be coughing up petals when spending time with her friends, usually different ones each time.

The acacia blossom petals sometimes came back. So did the pink ones, which she learned to be camellia petals. There were more as well, such as the coral rose petals and the white gardenia petals, always tipped in blood. Even if she was sick, she enjoyed learning about the different plants that grew from her birth planet!

Reading about them, though, she noticed the weird trend of how their meanings always related to romance. Maybe it was just a coincidence? The Argonian version of the disease, pulmin, only had one kind of leaf that would grow, and it had no significance in Argonian culture. Earthers sure had a weird thing for flower symbolism.

Somehow, she managed to hide the fact that she was still sick from her friends. Which was good. She didn’t want them to worry about her, especially when she was sure that she’d be all right. She just had to wait for the virus to pass and she’d be okay again!

But it was taking quite a while, and it didn’t look like it was getting better. Her throat was only getting more sore, and breathing was sometimes a pain. It also became more difficult to hide.

A couple months after the picnic, she was with Owen and Bethany, the three of them just talking right outside Owen’s house. Even if the others weren’t there, she enjoyed these small moments when they weren’t doing anything just as much.

Gwen couldn’t help staring at Bethany whenever she spoke, watching the way she moved. The way she pronounced her words, the way her red hair shone in the sunlight, the way her eyes lit up when she smiled, she loved every bit of it. The small things that made Bethany her were the things Gwen loved the most.

“Orion said I’d find you here!” Kiel came walking down the street, in something less grand than his usual clothing. It felt more like a medieval peasant, if anything.

“And why are you wearing that?” Bethany demanded, her tone light and joking as she motioned to the rags on his body.

Kiel just smiled. “Didn’t want to be noticed.”

“Oh, I’m sure everyone will notice you in that!”

Owen and Gwen both giggled. It was true; who wouldn’t notice him out there in such dirty clothes?

“Well, he still manages to rock the look, though!” Owen pointed out, still laughing a bit.

Kiel rolled his eyes, chuckling along with them. “No, I mean, I won’t be noticed on Magisteria in these. If I wear my cloak, everyone will know I’m the amazing Kiel Gnomenfoot, and as awesome as I am, I’d like to spend a day being normal.”

“What’s the special occasion?” Gwen asked him, tilting her head.

“There’s a festival happening right now, and I just wanted to ask Bethany if she’d like to come.” He turned to her, winking like he usually did.

Something was building up inside of Gwen’s chest. She tried to swallow it down.

“Of course I’ll come!” Bethany answered, her eyes lighting up that special way that they did when she was with Kiel.

Gwen couldn’t hold it in. Bringing her hands to her mouth as she coughed, she shot up to her feet. “Be right back,” she managed to hack out, rushing to the backyard of Owen’s house, trying to breathe again.

She spit out the camellia petals into her hand, now covered in blood and saliva. Her throat felt dry, and the taste in her mouth was awful. 

Why were there so many? Why did it feel like there were more petals each time this happened? Why wasn’t she getting better?

She leaned back onto the wall, closing her eyes and taking deep breaths. She was fine. This would pass. She didn’t have to worry.

“Are you okay?”

Her eyes flew open, finding Owen standing in front of her. His dark eyes were filled with concern as he stared at her, the petals still in her hands.

Her hands flew down to her sides, the petals slowly falling to the grass. She put on her happiest smile.

“Oh, I’m fine!” she assured him, making sure to use one of the most positive voices she ever used. “The pulmin just never actually went away yet, but it’s getting better, I swear!”

Gwen wasn’t one for lying, but it wasn’t a lie if she was positive she would feel better soon, right?

Owen wasn’t convinced, though. “Are you sure it’s… whatever that disease is?”

Gwen only shrugged. “Well, it’s not it exactly, it’s just the Earth version of it, since I’ve been coughing up Earth flowers instead of pittle leaves, so maybe it takes longer to– what?”

Owen’s eyes were wide, fear now on his face. “Gwen,” he started slowly, “we don’t have a disease on Earth that makes you cough up plants. At least, not this Earth.”

Now Gwen started to worry. “W-what?” Her smile faltered, and she was no longer as sure of her recovery as she had been before.

If there wasn’t an Earth disease that made this happen, then what? What was wrong with her?

Pursing his lips, Owen motioned for her to follow. She stepped behind him, beginning to fear for her health. Was she going to be okay? She had to be okay. RIght?

She followed him back to the front of the house, where she noticed Bethany and Kiel had left. The thought of them seemed to force the petals back into her throat. She did her best to keep them in.

They made their way into Owen’s bedroom, where he locked the door and started up his computer. “I know I just said we don’t have a disease with your symptoms,” he said, typing in his password, “but I think I know what it is.”

“So it is an Earth disease?” Thank goodness! She sat down on the covers of Owen’s bed, sighing with relief. At least she’d know what this was. Better than thinking she had some unknown, incurable illness.

Owen only shook his head, clicking on the Google Chrome icon on his computer’s desktop. “Not really. It’s… only a disease in fanfictions and fanart. It’s not supposed to be here, in the nonfictional world.”

Gwen’s heart skipped a beat. That wasn’t good. If she knew anything about fictional worlds, it was that things weren’t always happy, especially when it came to characters falling sick. What kind of sickness did she have? Was it deadly? Was it going to kill her? Was her death going to be slow and painful?

“Here.” He handed her his laptop, releasing a slow sigh. “It’s called Hanahaki disease.” He pointed to the name, which was the title of some sort of wiki page.

It was apparently some sort of fictional disease that caused a person to cough up flowers when experiencing one sided love. If left untreated, the victim could die of suffocation, and the only known cures were for the person of the victim’s affections to return the love or for the victim to receive surgery.

There was more on the wiki page, but it was only different ways the disease was used in fiction.

Gwen felt her breathing become unsteady. One sided love? But that couldn’t apply to her, could it? Sure, she still had that crush on Bethany, but that was all that it was! Just a crush! Right? And crushes didn’t mean the same as love!

“I don’t… I can’t have this…” she finally said after forever. She slowly handed him back his computer, shaking her head. No, she couldn’t have Hanahaki. Sure, she loved her friends, but not like that!

“Maybe you just don’t know who it is that you love,” Owen suggested as he placed the laptop back onto his desk. “We just need to figure out who it is, then we can try to get them to love you back. Do you know the flowers you’ve been coughing up? Usually the flowers in fanfictions are symbolic of the person you love.”

“You saw me with camellia petals earlier… and the first ones I coughed were acacia blossom petals.”

Owen’s eyes widened. “Wait, you’ve been coughing up multiple kinds of flowers?”

She nodded. “There’ve also been coral roses and gardenias,” she added, in case it was important to know.

“Maybe you love multiple people? You might be polyamorous.” She watched as he began to type in the flower names in the Google search bar.

“Don’t worry about looking them up. My book about Earth plants already had their meanings in it.”

He turned to her, expecting her to continue. She did. 

“Camellias, pink ones specifically, represent longing. Acacia blossoms mean concealed love. Coral roses mean desire, and gardenias can be secret love or used to tell someone that they’re lovely.”

Owen’s brows furrowed together, taking it all in. “Weird. I don’t think your flowers represent who you love, I think they just represent how you feel.” He leaned back in his seat, putting a hand to his chin. “We’ll have to figure this out a different way, then. So how do you feel about me?”

Gwen couldn’t help but laugh. “Sorry, Owen, you’re sweet, but just a friend.”

He smirked. “I know, I pretty much feel the same.” He paused a moment. “How about Orion?”

“Just a friend, too, but needs to lighten up a bit more.”

“Kara?”

“Cute, but still only a friend.”

“Okay, Charm?”

“Also a friend.”

“Kiel?”

Gwen sighed. “Owen, I appreciate you helping me,” she told him. “I really, really do. But I don’t love any of you guys like that.”

She stood up, ready to walk out.

“How about Bethany?”

Something got lodged in her throat. “Talk to you later, Owen.” Maybe that was a little rude, but she wanted out of his house right that second. Walking faster than usual, she unlocked the door in his room and opened the front door of the house before he could go after her.

No, she definitely did not love any of her friends like that. They were all important to her, so her love for them was definitely more platonic. And just because she had a crush on Bethany since she was twelve didn’t mean anything!

On the sidewalk, she coughed up more petals, yellow ones, along with a full blossom with blood where its stem should be. She recognized it as a daffodil.

Finding out she had the Hanahaki disease really didn’t help her in the week to come. With the knowledge that one of its only cures was for the love to be returned, it became harder to stay positive about this now.

She considered the other option for just a moment: surgery. However, the possible side effects were more than enough to keep her from doing it. She didn’t want to forget any of her friends, whoever it was that she had these feelings for, and the thought of losing the ability to love unsettled her. Was it just losing romantic love? Or was it losing all forms of love?

Besides, it wasn’t like she could easily have the surgery done; in Owen’s world, they didn’t even have Hanahaki. That meant there probably wasn’t a surgeon who specialized in removing it. Would they have to find the right portal to a fictional world with doctors for it?

She decided that she’d just try to deal with it. Maybe her romantic feelings might go away, and the disease would just stop. There wasn’t anything she found that said it could be cured that way, but it didn’t hurt to try.

It was difficult, though.

She was at the mall with Bethany, Charm, and Kara, the four of them just having girl time. They mostly just bought ice cream and walked around as they ate, checking out the different things that they wanted to buy. Gwen was pretty fond of a Funko Pop she found of Moana.

“Hey, Gwen, do you think this necklace looks nice?”

Gwen turned, Bethany holding up a pendant with a silver chain. The gemstone on it dazzled brightly, matching the color of her eyes.

“You would look incredible with that,” Gwen said. And she meant it. It was as if the necklace was meant for her.

Bethany turned to a nearby mirror as she held it by her neck, studying her every detail. She gave herself a small smile. “Yeah, it looks pretty good.”

“If you tied your hair up, you’d look even better.” Gwen showed her, putting her hair up for her. A few small strands of hair fell loose, but it was fine. With most of her hair out of her face, it was like it shone brighter. Her eyes seemed more vivid, the red from her cheeks more prominent.

She watched as Bethany’s eyes lit up more, in that special smile she had. The way the corners of her mouth curved up, small dimples appearing on her cheeks. The way she tried to hide her teeth, only to have some of them show through between her lips. The way her fingers delicately pushed back a loose strand of red hair and tucked it behind her ear so carefully, like handling something fragile.

Gwen watched, and she could feel herself choking up. Literally.

“You look amazing like that, Bethany!” Kara exclaimed, coming up to the two. “Doing anything special tonight?”

She nodded, Gwen releasing her hair as she walked up to the cash register, taking out her mother’s credit card from her bag. “It’s the anniversary of when Kiel and I started dating,” she said, her smile still on her face.

Why was it getting harder to breathe? Why was her chest hurting so much?

“We’re thinking of doing something fancy, and my mom is letting me buy something nice for it. I’ll be borrowing one of her dresses.”

“Wow, congrats, man!” Kara gave her the biggest smile, smacking her a little hard on her back.

“Yeah, congratulations for putting up with Kiel for a whole year,” Charm told her as she rubbed the spot where Kara had hit her. 

Gwen unfortunately couldn’t say anything. She could feel the flowers quickly rising up. She covered her mouth, trying her hardest to suppress the coughing, to no avail. Dropping her bags of some of the stuff she bought, she ran out, struggling to take in a breath.

She started to make her way to the bathroom, only to find herself rushing to the exit, unable to breathe. Tears stung at her eyes as she continued to run without catching even one breath.

Leaving the mall, she didn’t stop, not until she felt the world spinning, lightheaded and dizzy. Her vision was going black, and she needed to breathe.

Her body forced the flowers out of her chest, and she couldn’t stop for what she felt was a good, long minute, some petals falling from her nose. She could taste the blood from the flowers, her throat was burning, and her chest still hurt, but she could breathe.

She inhaled with deep breaths, thankful for the first time in her life for the ability to breathe. The tears slowly crawled down her cheeks as she closed her eyes, leaning against a lamppost, exhausted.

When her breathing felt normal, she finally opened her eyes, wiping the blood-saliva mix from her mouth.

Red blossoms lay by her feet, the blood almost difficult to notice on its petals. A rose? No, a red carnation. She recognized the flower from the musical Hadestown.

Why had she suddenly thrown up the flowers? Why was it happening now? All that happened was her admiring the little things she loved about Bethany, and she felt her throat closing up the same way it was doing now. Then she brought up her relationship with Kiel, and—

She threw up another one, the blossom falling right onto the palm of her hand.

Was it Kiel? Was she coughing up the flowers because of Kiel?

No, she never once had a crush on a boy. Boys were nice, but she could never imagine herself with one. But the flowers always seemed to come up when she thought of Kiel and Bethan—

Feeling another flower rise up, she realized it: it was Bethany.

She was in love with Bethany.

No. No no no no.

She couldn’t love Bethany. Yeah, she did, but not that way! Bethany was in love with someone else, and she was in a nice, healthy relationship!

Gwen started to run again, spitting the flower in her mouth.

Bethany was happy, why couldn’t she be okay with that?! It was her happiness that mattered to her, and she was perfectly content if Bethany didn’t choose to love her that way.

Right?

Did her emotions not agree with that?

She did her best to think of anything other than Bethany, not wanting to cough up more flowers. She kept running, her legs in pain as she forced them to keep going, not stopping to rest until she made it to her destination.

Out of breath from both the run and the flowers, she desperately pounded on the front door, half hoping that no one was home.

Someone was.

Owen opened the door, immediately concerned once he saw her, blood dripping from her hand as she still held onto the red carnation.

“Gwen, are you o—”

“It’s Bethany,” she interrupted. She wasn’t smiling. She couldn’t find a way to make this positive. “I think I’m in love with Bethany.”

“Bethany, huh?”

Gwen nodded, still not smiling, feeling flowers starting to come back up. Since she had confessed her discovery to Owen the previous day, she hadn’t said another word. She prompted to binging on Owen’s Netflix account for the rest of the afternoon and well into the night, not even talking to Ms. Conners when asked why she was staying.

(Luckily, Owen hadn’t told her the details, just said that she was going through things.)

Gwen just remained on their couch, not even touching the food that Ms. Conners had offered during dinner time. After throwing up so many flowers, it hurt even to swallow, and she didn’t have much of an appetite. She just kept watching as many mind-numbing shows and movies she could find, something that could help her keep her mind off of Bethany.

Until she had apparently fallen asleep on the couch.

Now she was sitting on Owen’s bed like she was about a week ago, when she had learned that she had the Hanahaki disease.

“At least you know who it is now, right?” He offered a small smile, probably trying to be the positive one. She didn’t have the energy to even try to put a good spin on this. She didn’t have it in her to smile.

And she definitely didn’t have it in her to answer.

Owen just cleared his throat, probably feeling awkward. She didn’t blame him; she was supposed to be the one who helped her friends, the one who supported them through tough times, the one who comforted them through the worst of life.

Look at her now.

“Well, since you know it’s Bethany, why don’t you just tell her?” he suggested. “She might return your love.”

“No!” It was the first word she had spoken since how long. She shook her head, the flower in her throat trying to get out. “No, don’t… I can’t tell her. Especially not while she’s with Kiel.” How could she even think of doing that, confessing her love to a girl who had a boyfriend?!

“Well, she could still like you,” Owen tried, clearly still trying to remain optimistic. “She might be polyamorous.”

Gwen shook her head, swallowing down the flower. “I can’t do that to Kiel.”

He didn’t seem to understand, so she continued.

“If Bethany did like me, how would Kiel feel? What if he’s not comfortable with a polyamorous relationship? Or what if Bethany starts spending more time with me than with him? I don’t want to make Kiel jealous, and I don’t want him to feel like I’m trying to steal his girlfriend away from him.”

Any of those things could even drive him away as her friend. If that happened, would earning Bethany’s love be worth losing her friendship with one of the most important people to her?

“Are you jealous of Kiel?” Owen asked after a good amount of silence.

She looked down at her lap.

Was she jealous of him? She hated to admit it, but she wanted to be with the girl he loved. She wanted to be the one that Bethany loved. But in no way was she resenting Kiel. There was no anger in her heart against him. 

She shook her head. “I enjoy seeing him happy,” she answered softly. “It just doesn’t seem fair that I have to suffer.”

She looked back up to Owen, almost pleading. “Please don’t tell anyone about this.”

He opened his mouth, probably to protest, before just nodding his head and accepting it.

Gwen knew that keeping quiet about it wasn’t right. But if her friends learned the truth, she was afraid she could ruin things between them. Plus, she didn’t want to be the person who ruined Bethany’s and Kiel’s relationship, not when they were perfectly fine together.

Silence filled the room again. Owen hesitated a moment before his next question. “How about getting the surgery? We could probably find some fanfiction on AO3 with the Hanahaki disease in it, print it out, and have Bethany jump us in to make it easier than finding a portal to a world with Hanahaki.”

Gwen’s eyes widened quickly. “No,” she said, a little bit of fear slipping through her voice. As much as she hated the suffering, there was no way she was going to even consider that option. It was too risky.

“We don’t need to tell Bethany that you have the disease for her,” Owen started. 

Gwen cut him off. “No, it’s not that. It’s the side effects I’m more worried about.”

“We don’t know that that’ll happen, maybe you’ll be able to get rid of it without losing your memories or ability to love.”

“But I don’t want to take that chance!”

She could feel her eyes beginning to well up.

“If I lose my memories of Bethany, I’ll also lose the memory of meeting you and Charm and Orion and Kiel and Kara. I’ll lose the memories of our adventures together, from when we tried to stop Nobody in Jupiter City, and everything we did after. And I’ll be losing the memory of seeing Earth with my own eyes for the first time, and that memory is so important to me!

“And how would Bethany react if I forgot her? How would she feel if I didn’t remember her face or her name after knowing her for four years? I can’t hurt her like that!”

She couldn’t hold her tears back. They began to fall, and they kept on coming.

“And if I lose my ability to love, what will happen to me ? Will I lose the ability to love someone romantically, or will I lose the ability to feel any kind of love?

“I could live without romantic love, I’d be perfectly okay with that, but if I lost the ability to love you like a friend, or love my parents back on Argon VI, what would become of me? Would I just stop feeling joy when I’m with you guys, or empathy when you’re in need of comfort?

“I can’t lose that, Owen, I can’t lose something that helps me enjoy life and makes me who I am.”

She could feel her nose running as well. For the first time in her life, Gwen was crying in front of one of her friends.

She felt vulnerable.

“I don’t want any of that. If those happen, it’ll only hurt you guys.”

Wordlessly, Owen only nodded slowly in understanding. She could see the sorrow in his eyes, most likely worried for her.

She couldn’t talk though, and only continued crying, trying to wipe her face with the shirt she wore. She hated feeling this way, and she hated how she couldn’t even be the emotionally strong one this time. She was supposed to be the comforter, not the one who needed comforting.

Wiping her nose for the millionth time, she felt Owen wrap his arms around her. She buried her face into his shoulder, still sobbing.

She hated the pain she felt whenever she thought of Bethany, but she hated the thought of hurting her friends more.

Maybe it wasn’t the smartest thing to do— far from it, really— but she decided that she’d avoid Bethany for as long as she could. Until her feelings died down. Maybe the less time she spent with Bethany, her romantic feelings would eventually disappear.

Would the Hanahaki disease go away then? She wasn’t sure. It didn’t hurt to try, though.

It wasn’t like she was isolating herself from her friends, though. She spent time with the others, she just… didn’t spend any time with Bethany. Which kind of hurt.

Her special phone that Charm had made for the seven of them buzzed with unread texts and missed calls from Bethany. They only kept growing. She continued to ignore them.

But the flowers at least didn’t grow as much with Bethany out of her mind. She managed to hide her pain behind her smiles around the rest of her friends.

One thing Gwen forgot, however, was how stubborn Bethany could be.

Orion had invited Gwen to join him in the observatory back in Jupiter City. The two of them absolutely enjoyed watching the stars together, finding the different constellations that floated in the night sky. Gwen of course said yes.

What she didn’t expect was for Bethany to be there as well.

“Sorry to lie to you,” Orion apologized, dressed in his Kid Twilight outfit. “It was the only way to get you to come and talk.” He gave his sister a nod before jumping down to the nearest rooftop.

There was a part of Gwen that felt like she should’ve been feeling betrayed. But she wasn’t. She knew she should’ve been expecting this. Bethany wasn’t one to ignore a situation like this.

“Did I do something to hurt you?” It wasn’t accusing, and it wasn’t angry. It was a simple question, with some sadness in her voice.

For the first time, Gwen couldn’t look her in the eye.

“No. No, you didn’t.”

She could feel it coming up again. She fought to keep her composure.

“Then how come I haven’t seen you for so long?” There was pain in her tone, like she’d been hurt.

Which was what Gwen had been trying to prevent. But she’d be in more pain if she knew the truth.

“It’s… it’s nothing.” She smiled wider, ignoring the petals tickling the back of her throat.

“Gwen, I know you, you’d never do something like this.”

Breathing became harder. She tried to swallow. It didn’t help.

“I’m fine, I swear! And I’m not upset with you in anyway, I promise!” She swallowed again, her smile faltering. She struggled to breathe normally, or even look like she was.

Bethany didn’t look at all convinced. “Have you been avoiding me?” she asked softly, looking to the ground.

Gwen’s heart hurt, from both the flowers and the guilt. She had made Bethany feel this way.

“No, it’s just… it’s complicated…”

Bethany looked back up at her, her eyes pleading.

Gwen pursed her lips, doing her best to keep the flowers in her mouth.

“Whatever it is, just let me help you!”

It was painful to see Bethany like this. But being around her hurt just as much. She couldn’t breathe. She needed air.

“I’m sorry,” was all she managed to say before she ran off, vomiting the flowers in her hands. She ran down into the city, hoping to conceal the flowers from the rest of the world.

Unable to keep going, she hid in a dark alleyway, probably not the safest place in a world like Jupiter City. More flowers came up, out her mouth and out her nose, tears on her cheeks from the pain.

Her throat felt raw when it finally stopped. A familiar metallic taste remained on her tongue. She could feel her blood and saliva dripping out of her mouth. She tried to slow her breathing, taking in deep breaths. Her chest was still in pain, but she could breathe again.

She stared at the purple flowers overflowing in her hand. Some of them were attached to their stems. That was new. All of them were stained with blood. That was not. What were they? Hyacinths? Not that she cared.

She bit her lip, wiping her mouth with her hand. Her tears wouldn’t stop running. She sank to the ground, too tired to stand.

Why did loving someone who didn’t return the love have to be so painful?

She didn’t want to risk having to see Bethany again. So she stopped seeing her other friends. She ignored all messages from her phone. She even isolated herself from her parents on Argon VI, who were most likely worried about her.

She spent most of her time alone in her rocket, away from other Earthers and Argonians. There wasn’t much to do, except reread many of the books she had and throw up flowers, now minutes at a time. She barely ate, and rarely drank. She was just thankful that she didn’t need to use her lungs on Argon VI.

Sometimes, though, she went to visit Owen on his Earth. He was the only one who knew about her condition, so she figured he was the only one she could go to for this.

Of course, he’d sometimes suggest confessing to Bethany or having the surgery, and each time, she always refused. While it would’ve been much better to be able not to suffer, she still stood by her reasoning why she couldn’t do either of those things. Even if it was painful right now.

She made him promise to her that he wouldn’t tell the others anything, especially Bethany, no matter what happened. He reluctantly did so.

Oftentimes, she’d sit in his room in silence, the two of them listening to different musicals. They rarely spoke, Gwen just appreciating the songs they listened to without having to think about Bethany. She noticed that Owen always skipped over the romantic songs, though. Maybe it was for the better. At least she wasn’t coughing up the flowers.

Sometimes, they would talk. They discussed movies or books that made them happy. They’d talk about favorite childhood memories. They always spoke about something to help keep her mind away from Bethany.

It didn’t always work.

“How did you get over Charm?”

Owen was clearly caught off guard by the question, the way he looked at her as he paused Hamilton. A blush began to rise on his face. “Is this relating to…”

She gave a single nod.

He fidgeted with the edge of his desk. “Well, I mean, it was pretty much a mutual thing, us deciding to break up, since I was trying to adjust to high school, and she was stressed with her whole president thing. And I dunno, after we decided to just be friends, my feelings eventually died down? Not that I never loved her, it just took some time getting used to. Besides, we might get back together in the future, we might not. We’ll see.”

Gwen pulled her legs up to her chest. She felt her throat constricting.

Why couldn’t it be that easy for her, just accept it and move on? Maybe like another girl, like she was sure Owen did? She’d noticed the way he’d look at Kara. Why was she still stuck loving Bethany, a girl who clearly wouldn’t love her back the same way she did?

Unable to stop them, she vomited flowers onto Owen’s bed. They kept coming, going on for what felt like forever. Gasping for air when she had finished, she watched as her blood and tears stained the blanket. The white flowers were gathered in a giant pile, their petals tipped with red, some of it not from her blood.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. 

She hated this. She hated this so much.

“No, don’t worry, I can clean it up.”

He left the room, quickly returning with a plastic bag. He began sweeping it off his bed, before carefully picking one up with his fingers. “Any idea what kind of flowers these are?”

She shook her head. Why did it matter? They felt all the same to her: painful.

“They kinda look like the flower from Hadestown… ” He typed into his computer, scrolling Google until he found a match. “A striped carnation, meaning ‘Sorry I can’t be with you.’”

Owen immediately cringed, realizing how saying the flower’s meaning did not help at all.

It just made her feel worse.

She buried her face into her knees.

Why did the flowers have to constantly remind her of her predicament? Why couldn’t they leave her alone?

She felt a shift in the bed and looked up.

Owen sat down next to her. “You wanna talk about her?”

She wiped her eyes with the palm of her hand. Why would talking about Bethany make her feel any better?

She did it anyway.

She told him the little things she loved. The small, unnoticeable habits she had. The way her smile looked. The way her laugh sounded. 

She told him about how she loved her bravery. She loved her determination, and the fierce love she had for all she cared about. She loved how she’d never give up, not accepting failure as an option.

She described every bit of Bethany that she could, both the good and the bad. The things that she admired in Bethany, and the flaws that she still loved. 

All the while, she kept vomiting the carnations between her sentences.

Talking strangely helped a little. It was better than bottling up the feelings she had.

Too bad it couldn’t cure Hanahaki.

It kept getting worse.

There was a day in Owen’s room when she couldn’t stop heaving flowers. Daffodils. Endless bouquets of daffodils.

She couldn’t stop. Tears flowed down her cheeks as she begged wordlessly for it to end.

“I’m sorry, Gwen, but I have to break part of my promise.” She heard beeping, like he was dialing someone. “Bethany, you need to come quick, it’s an emergency.”

The flowers were drenched in blood. It was almost impossible to see their yellow color under the red.

“Yeah, I have the papers with me, just be quick!”

The edges of her vision began to go black. She wanted to breathe. Petals flew out her nose. She couldn’t get a break.

Bethany was there in a matter of seconds.

“Owen, what’s going on with her?!”

“She has Hanahaki!”

Tears blurred her vision. She fell to her knees, dropping into the pile of flowers. Their stalks scratched the back of her throat. Everything hurt.

“You mean that fanfiction disease?”

Why wouldn’t it stop?

“We have to get her to Argon VI, she’s suffocating!”

“But that won’t stop the disease, she needs to get the surgery! It’s the only thing that can save her right now!”

Their voices grew distant. She felt herself growing distant.

“Then write something on this, write a sentence about a hospital that deals with it!”

The room was darker. She felt lighter. Her chest was burning. She needed air.

“Hurry!”

“I’m writing as fast as I can!”

Everything was darker.

Please stop…

“Why are they different?! Why are the flowers different?!”

Their voices were farther.

Please…

“...sweet pea flowers and cyclamens…”

She heard nothing else.

Chapter Text

“Hey, again,” Bethany greeted the grave quietly. She gently knelt beside it, careful not to disturb it. In her hands, she held a bouquet of mixed zinnias. 

She was greeted with silence.

She gave a small smile, the usual one that didn’t reach her eyes. “Sorry I was late coming this week. Had a lot of stuff going on. You know, life?”

She chuckled a little, her heart not into it.

Not that Gwen would care now.

Losing her smile, she reread the words on the headstone. She had them already seared into her memory. The words never changed.

“You know, Kiel is also here today. He’s just not here here with me at the moment. I think coming into the graveyard makes him nervous.”

Not that she’d blame him. The idea of death seemed to make him uncomfortable.

She sighed, looking at her bouquet, gently caressing the flowers with her fingers.

“It’s been over a year, and I still don’t know why you let this happen to yourself.”

She had jumped Owen and Gwen with her into the sentence Owen wrote, rushing Gwen to the emergency room as quickly as she could, but the doctors had told them that it was too late. They hadn’t come in time.

“I mean, you probably didn’t want us to worry, knowing you. You wanted us to stay happy.”

Argon VI was in shock upon learning their hero was gone. While Earthers now came to their planet more often, no one would ever be like Earthgirl. She had saved them countless times in the past, she was important to so many Argonians.

“But we could’ve helped you, you know? Then things wouldn’t have to be like this.”

The funeral was held on Argon VI, many Earthers and Argonians attending. The burial, though, was held on Earth. It felt only right to send her back to the planet she was born on for her final resting place, even if it wasn’t the same Earth she came from.

Bethany could feel the tears stinging her eyes, and she didn’t stop them. “I miss you…”

It’d been hard for the rest of them to keep going without Gwen. Charm and Orion had even pinned the blame on Owen the minute they learned that he knew about Gwen’s condition the whole time. At least they softened up when learning that Gwen had begged for him not to say a word. It took a while, but at least they knew it wasn’t his fault.

Things were never the same without Gwen. It was harder to be happy. It was harder to see the positive in most things.

But they took turns helping each other. They took turns pointing out the little things in life that made it worth living. They took turns being the one to seek comfort in. They took turns in finding the beauty in everything. 

None of them could ever be Gwen, but they knew that she wouldn’t want them sulking about. She’d want them to keep going, in spite of what happened. And that’s what they did.

“Hey.”

Bethany looked up, Kiel standing right above her. He knelt down next to her, his eyes unable to meet the grave. His face was downcast, something she rarely saw in Kiel before Gwen leaving them. His eyes weren’t as bright as often as they used to be.

“Do you ever wake up, forgetting that she’s…”

Kiel nodded grimly. “Every day.”

She leaned onto his shoulder, Kiel leaning into her as well.

“Did Owen ever tell you who the disease was for?”

Bethany shook her head. Owen refused to say a word. “He said he made a promise to Gwen, and that he still wants to honor that.”

Kiel heaved a heavy sigh. “I understand that, but I wish he would just tell us.”

“I think it’s better not to know. If he told us, whoever she loved might feel guilty for not returning the feelings.”

There was a part of Bethany that wanted to know who it was. But at the same time, she was afraid to know.

The two of them remained in silence, sitting by the grave as they reminisced of the days with their beloved friend.

“I hope she’s happy, wherever she is,” Kiel said, breaking the silence. “I know people from your world have beliefs about ending up in different places when they pass, and I hope Gwen is in one of the good ones. She deserves to be there.”

Bethany smiled at the thought. “I’m sure she is.”

Gwen had been nothing but kind to everyone she met. With hardly any anger or resentment in her heart. She more than deserved to be happy now.

They said nothing else for a long while, hearing nothing but the blowing of the wind. After a lifetime, they stood up, ready to leave.

Bethany placed down her bouquet as carefully as she could onto the grave. “I’ll see you next week, Gwen, okay?” she promised it. Part of her was hoping it would speak, assure her that Gwen heard. She wanted to hear her voice again.

The grave only responded with silence.

Chapter Text

The moment Owen marked a period at the end of the sentence, Bethany grabbed both him and Gwen and jumped them into the page. Please work, please work, please work...

It did.

They were just outside of an emergency room.

Gwen limp in her arms, she ran in. “Do you have any doctors who deal with Hanahaki?!” she blurted out as she and Owen burst through the doors. “She’s dying!”

The receptionist at the front desk jumped slightly at their entrance, before regaining her composure. “Yes, o-of course, I’ll call down a doctor right away!” She grabbed the phone in front of her, pushing a button and requesting someone to come down.

About a minute later, Gwen was placed on a gurney, being wheeled away from them.

“Your friend will be okay,” the receptionist assured Bethany and Owen, probably noticing their worry. “The doctor will be with her very soon, he’s among our top surgeons who deal with Hanahaki, your friend will live.”

Bethany sighed, feeling as if a weight had been lifted from her. Gwen would be all right. That was all she cared about.

“We just need you two to fill out some paperwork here.”

They did. From the looks of it, Hanahaki was a special case, and didn’t require too much to fill out or sign, just really Gwen’s name and any important contact information. Bethany was just glad it didn’t require any insurance details; she wasn’t sure if there was any insurance on Argon VI, or how she’d even explain it.

Tired from what had just happened, she collapsed into one of the seats in the waiting room of the emergency room. She closed her eyes, allowing herself to breathe.

She didn’t know how long it would be before they could see Gwen, but she knew it would take a while. She and Owen sat in silence for a lifetime.

“How long have you known that Gwen’s had Hanahaki?” She turned to Owen, who looked away, his face beginning to turn red.

“I’ve… I’ve actually known for a while now… Maybe several months…”

Bethany bolted up in her seat. “What?!”

This whole time. This whole time, Owen could’ve helped her. He knew about her condition for that long, yet did nothing to help her. Part of her wanted to smack him for being so stupid!  

“Why didn’t you tell any of us?!” she exclaimed. 

Had they known sooner, Gwen wouldn’t have been in this situation. They would’ve been able to help her, without her being so close to death.

Owen shrunk back into his seat a bit. “I’m sorry,” he muttered. “But she thought if you guys knew, all of our friendships could be torn apart.”

Bethany was about to protest, until she realized: that was pretty much something Gwen would do. She wouldn’t want them to worry, plus had they known, they would’ve asked her who it was she was in love with. They would’ve tried to get them to love her back.

But if the one she loved couldn’t return that love, how would everyone feel? Would they become furious for that person being unable to save her? Would that person feel guilt for not being able to love her the same way she did?

Not to mention the surgery.

Fanfictions always said there was some cost to getting the surgery. Sometimes it was memory loss. Sometimes it was losing the ability to love, whether it was at all or just the person they had once loved. Was there someone important that Gwen would forget? Would she be able to feel any love at all?

How would that affect their group? Wouldn’t they find out who it was that Gwen loved? Would they become frustrated with each other for not knowing? And who would Gwen be without the love she had to give? Was it only romantic love that she’d lose?

Bethany suddenly didn’t feel so sure about bringing Gwen here. Was this a good idea? Had they made a mistake?

Maybe none of that would happen. Maybe she’d be able to have the surgery without losing anything. All Bethany could do about it was hope.

It was probably hours before they heard anything about Gwen’s state.

“Is there anyone here for Gwen Terran?”

A man had stepped into the waiting room, clearly someone from the hospital. Probably a doctor or a nurse.

Bethany and Owen immediately stood up. “We’re here for Gwen,” Owen told him. “We’re the ones who brought her in.”

The man looked at them quizzically. “Are you… Ms. Terran’s family?”

Both of them shook their heads. “Friends,” Bethany replied. “Her family didn’t know about this, and we just found her suffocating on the flowers.”

“Ah.” The man nodded his head. “Hanahaki victims do have a tendency to hide their symptoms. But I’m sure you’ll be able to relay this information to her family, Hanahaki is a unique case after all. Follow me.”

They did. They stepped behind the doors separating the rest of the hospital from the waiting room with the man.

Once inside, he gave them a gentle smile, offering both of them handshakes. “I’m Dr. Levi, the doctor who operated on Ms. Terran.”

“Is Gwen okay?” Bethany asked immediately. That was all she cared about.

“Ms. Terran is alive and well. There were no complications during the procedure.”

Bethany sighed thankfully, Owen shooting her a smile of relief.

“However, performing the surgery to remove Hanahaki does have side effects.”

Bethany felt her smile diminish.

“What side effects?” Owen asked, the question that Bethany was afraid to know the answer to.

“We aren’t sure as to why these side effects happens. If we knew, we would be able to perform without causing them.”

Dr. Levi cleared his throat, giving the two of them a sympathetic look. “Sometimes, the patient may end up with memory loss, with all memories of their object of affection disappearing. Other times, the patient loses the ability to love entirely, which affects their other emotions.”

“Why would it affect other emotions?” Bethany asked.

Dr. Levi smiled sadly. “Love is intertwined with every emotion we have: happiness when we’re with the people we love, sadness if we lose the people we love, anger if someone hurts the people we love… I think you understand where I’m going with this. Without love, we don’t have empathy, so the patient may seem emotionless or apathetic.”

He sighed, shaking his head slowly. “I just wanted to warn you in case Ms. Terran seems different to you. She should be waking up soon from the anesthesia. I’ll take you to her room.”

They walked behind him in silence as he led them down the halls, making a few turns.

“Here.” He motioned to the open doorway that they stopped in front of. Inside, Gwen lay on the hospital bed, her eyes closed and her body almost unmoving, except for the slow rising and falling of her chest. From the looks of it, her mouth and nose were free of blood and flowers. 

“I’ll leave you guys some time on your own with her.”

Bethany and Owen watched as Dr. Levi turned around, leaving the two of them in the room with Gwen, who remained unconscious where she lay.

They remained quiet, no sound aside from the steady beeping of the monitor beside Gwen, tracking her heartbeat.

“Do you think she actually has any of that?” Owen said softly, his voice wavering. “Do you think she might forget y… someone? Or lose her ability to love?”

Bethany didn’t take her eyes off of Gwen. “I don’t know,” she replied, just as quietly. “I just hope not.”

They stood by her bedside, waiting for her to wake up.

She did, minutes later.

Bethany couldn’t stop the smile on her face. “You’re okay!” she cried out, holding back from tackling the other in a giant hug. Instead, she gently squeezed her hand, tears crawling down her cheeks, thankful. “I was so worried about you.”

Gwen returned the smile, but she didn’t seem as into it. “Hey, Bethany,” she replied, but not in the usual Gwen way. It wasn’t fatigue in her voice; she sounded empty.

“How are you feeling right now?” Owen asked her, almost tentative.

Gwen looked up to them, her smile unfaltering. Her eyes were dull, as if all the life had been removed from them. “I don’t know.” Just a simple statement. Apathetic. Like she didn’t care. Like it didn’t matter.

“Do you feel anything at all?”

Her face remained unchanging. “Nothing.” Lifeless. Uncaring.

Bethany’s tears continued falling, and it wasn’t from joy now. A sob escaped her throat.

She’d lost Gwen. They saved her, but at what cost? 

She felt Owen take her hand, giving it a soft squeeze. Her tears kept pouring. Silently, the two of them mourned their friend who had lived, yet still died.

Chapter Text

“Gwen, please, stay alive, I can’t lose you!”

She didn’t wake up, the blood and flowers overflowing from her mouth.

“Please, I love you!”

She didn’t realize what she did. When she did realize, the first thing she noticed was that her lips were on Gwen’s. With wide eyes, she slowly pulled away, processing what just happened.

What was she saying? And what was she doing? She had a boyfriend! She was in a happy relationship! She couldn’t just throw all that away because her friend was dying!

“Owen, are you finished writing?”

He nodded.

She didn’t bother to read the sentence. She lifted Gwen up in her arms, Owen holding on to her, and she jumped the three of them into the page.

How did she feel about Gwen? There was that crush she had back around the time they first met, but her feelings never really grew past that. Did they? She loved Kiel now, she had been dating Kiel for over a year.

Unable to speak, Owen did it for her. As they ran into the emergency room, he told the receptionist what was going on. She wasted no time getting a doctor down, Gwen soon being rolled away on a gurney.

Bethany collapsed onto one of the seats as Owen filled out the paperwork.

She still couldn’t understand. Why did she kiss her? Why did she think that was a good idea? She had a boyfriend, was she stupid?!

“Do you love her?” Owen sat right next to her.

“W-what?!” Bethany stared at him. He couldn’t seriously be asking that question.

“I saw what happened before we came here.”

“What do you mean?! You don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Why did it feel like forever for there to be any update on Gwen?

Owen didn’t reply for a moment. “How do you feel about Gwen?”

She felt herself blushing madly. Was this how Owen felt every time someone did something? “I-I dunno, she’s nice, she just makes you feel this way that-that makes you believe that things are probably better than they seem, o-or the way she looks at everything, with that wonder and amazement, or…”

But she still loved Kiel. There were still feelings for him. She could feel them. But she also had feelings for Gwen. She felt them there, too.

What was she going to do?

“Is there anyone here for Gwen Terran?” a woman called out into the waiting room, something in her hands.

Bethany and Owen immediately shot up to their feet, Bethany just glad for a distraction from the conversation.

“We’re here for her,” she replied. 

The woman nodded to them. “Friends?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s okay that you are, chances are that her family never found out she had Hanahaki. Follow me.”

They walked through the doors that separated the waiting room from the rest of the hospital.

Was Gwen okay? Did the surgery go well?

“I’m Dr. Xu,” the lady told them, shaking their hands. “You brought Ms. Terran in for Hanahaki, correct?”

Both of them nodded.

Dr. Xu nodded. “Well, when checking on her condition, we found something interesting. Have a look.” She handed them what she was holding: some photos of some X-rays.

“Are these the flowers in her lungs?” Owen asked, pointing a finger to the dark, weird, twisted and bent shapes behind the ribs displayed.

“Were,” Dr. Xu corrected him.

“So the surgery worked?” Bethany asked, hopeful.

Dr. Xu shook her head. “We didn’t perform the surgery, but she isn’t dead,” she quickly added, probably seeing the way their faces fell. She pointed to one of the ends of the twisty things. “See the way the flowers are shriveled up?”

She was right; if you looked closely, they resembled dying flowers, those that usually needed water rather than unrequited love to satisfy them.

“This means that the love she felt was returned. While she’ll still be coughing the flowers for a little bit, it’s just her body getting rid of what remains, so she’ll just be coughing up dead flowers. Her lungs will be Hanahaki free pretty soon.”

Bethany grinned. Gwen was okay! She’d be okay!

“Can we see her now?”

“Of course.”

They followed Dr. Xu down the hallway, passing by several rooms until they reached Gwen’s. “She should be awake soon,” Dr. Xu told them. “I’ll return in a bit to check up on her vitals.”

After thanking the doctor, Owen and Bethany just stood by the bedside, waiting for their friend to wake up.

“You love her.” It wasn’t a question, it was a statement. He sounded so sure.

Bethany opened her mouth to protest.

“You know, it’s you she loves.” 

Bethany kept her mouth open, her jaw ready to fall to the floor. “She… w-what?”

Owen nodded, giving her a gentle smile. “She had Hanahaki for you.”

“I have a boyfriend!”

No, this was crazy! She had a nice boyfriend, she was in a nice relationship, she didn’t need to break it up on the spot because of more feelings!

...but did she need to break up with Kiel? She loved him, and she loved Gwen. Could they make it work?

“What do you plan to do?”

Bethany sighed, watching the way Gwen’s chest rose and fell. “I’ll talk to both of them.”

The moment Gwen could be admitted from the hospital, the first thing Bethany did after jumping them all out back to the nonfictional world was seek out Kiel. She contacted him, arranging for them to meet up in front of her favorite ice cream shop.

“Good luck!” Owen told them as they left his house.

Gwen’s hand in hers, the two girls made their way down to the ice cream shop.

“It’s… I still can’t believe I really didn’t need the surgery,” Gwen mused, smiling her beautiful smile.

Bethany smiled back, just glad to have her back to normal. 

She remembered how confused Gwen was when she woke up, without any loss of her memory or any loss of her ability to love. She had believed that she had the surgery, finding herself in the hospital, but didn’t understand why she didn’t have any of the side effects. Discovering that Bethany loved her, well, she was both shocked and thrilled.

“Do you think Kiel will be okay with this?”

“Doesn’t hurt to try, right?”

Bethany had enough love for both of them. She figured that as long as she was honest with him, Kiel would be fine with this situation. It was better to tell him than to hide it from him, right?

As they walked together in comfortable silence, Bethany couldn’t help but sneak a couple glances at Gwen. The way her tied-back hair bounced with each step she took. How her eyes lit up with everything around them. How natural her constant smile was on her face.

She was falling in love for a second time.

Arriving at the ice cream shop, she was surprised to find Kiel already waiting, seated at one of the tables outside.

“You’re actually early!” she exclaimed, her smile still on her face.

Kiel winked. “Of course I am!” he replied. “You said it was important, so I’m here!”

Bethany couldn’t help but laugh, loving that about her boyfriend. She sat down in the chair across from him, Gwen taking a seat right next to her.

“Kiel,” she said, beginning to lose the smile on her face, “before I say what I’m about to say, I just want to remind you that I love you a lot, and that you mean the whole world to me.” She took his hand in hers, giving it a small squeeze.

Kiel nodded. “Of course.”

She sighed. “And while I love you a whole lot, I found that… that I think I also love someone else.” Her other hand slipped into Gwen’s, who she saw seemed a little more nervous than usual, despite her smile.

Kiel’s eyes widened a little. “You and Gwen…?”

Bethany pursed her lips, before nodding. “Yeah, me and Gwen.” She gave him a small smile. “But please don’t worry, I still love you just as much as before, my love just reaches out to more than just you.”

Kiel returned the smile, as if he wasn’t bothered at all. “Of course, you just have more love in you to give.” He gave Gwen a gentle look. “And with the two of us, you’ll also have more love to receive.”

“You mean you’re okay with us?” Gwen’s smile grew wider, Kiel nodding at her.

“Of course I am! I’m just glad you guys told me!”

Bethany couldn’t be more overjoyed. Thankfully, she gave her boyfriend a kiss, along with giving one to her new girlfriend.

“How are we gonna tell the others?” she brought up as she pulled away from them. They all knew about her and Kiel of course, they just needed to tell them how Gwen had joined them now as well.

Kiel laughed, winking as he did. “Let them find out on their own,” he replied with a smile. “I, for one, would love to see how they react!”