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John didn’t know when it all started.
Maybe it was the first time they met,
Maybe it was after that dance when Conrade had comforted her,
Maybe it was after that first kiss with Hero,
Or maybe it was when they first moved in together.
But there was one thing that John de Aragone did know, and that was that she was hopelessly in love with Conrade Bellia.
Well- Perhaps she didn’t know it quite yet.
—✩—
Their graduation party was a sight to behold. She had been glad that she got a party, even if it was thrown by her mother, and was much less extravagant than the party Pedro had been thrown two years prior by her father. Her father still gave her a gift though, so at least that was… nice.
She didn’t mind that the dessert was not a fancy french dessert or a big cake and that it was just some brownies and cookies. But what made her light up was the cake that Conrade had brought, even if it was poorly decorated.
It was a chocolate-coffee cake, with chocolate frosting and rainbow sprinkles all over it, with We Survived! written in red icing.
It may have looked a little… different, but John thought it might have been the sweetest thing someone had done for her.
“I know it doesn’t look that good, but I found a recipe for a chocolate-coffee cake that I thought you might like,” Conrade says softly.
John admires the cake as Conrade sets it down on the counter, everyone else pity-complimenting it. But John didn’t pity it. She jumped into Conrade’s arms repeating over and over how much she loved it.
There were laughs all night, from everyone who came. Of course, Borachio had come. Pedro said he wouldn’t miss it, then showed up 20 minutes late with his entire group of annoying friends (Of course including her ex-boyfriend. Just her luck .) And even if things had been strange between her and Hero, she came and had a few laughs.
But when the noise became a bit too much, It was Conrade who she sat outside with on the patio, eating the cake she had made and some ice cream with it on the side. The two stared at the old, broken swing set they had sat on and talked about anything and everything since they had met.
“So, do you know what university you’re gonna pick?”
“No. I’m sure my dad is just going to pick for me. It will probably be some prestigious school like Pedro’s I’m only getting into because of the whole princess thing.”
“I mean, at least you can go to a good school right?”
“I guess. I would really rather stay in school with you and Borachio. It would be way more fun.”
“Well, I promise I’m not going anywhere. Even if you get shipped off to some school in London or god-forbid America, I’ll always be here for you.”
John laughed. “Thank you.”
“Of course. I mean… what are best friends for, right?’
Their giggling had come to a halt as another person stepped out onto the patio.
There he stood, tall with his dark brown hair and blue eyes. Conrade looked to John, before patting her hand and standing up. “I’ll leave you two to talk.”
Claudio stands in place, and John sets down her plate, joining him.
The two only look at each other in silence, both of them not even knowing a thing to say. It stays like that for a couple of agonizing minutes.
“So, how are things?” She asks.
“Things are okay. First-year of college, you know, that stuff.”
“Yeah, n-not really.”
“Oh, right, you’re not— uh, sorry.”
“It’s okay… um,” She doesn’t know why she can’t get the words to come out. “I’m glad things are okay.”
“Thanks. W-Well congrats on graduating.”
“Thanks…”
She watches him desperately try to search for anything to say.
“Well, Is your dad still going to make you do the whole… model thing?”
“Y-Yeah. He wants me to at least have something to make my own money, but he’s dead against office jobs so…”
“Well, that’s good… I’ll um— lookout for whatever magazines you’re in or… whatever .” She doesn’t know why, but his voice gets softer as he continues.
There’s more painful silence before John finally finds the words she couldn’t say that year ago.
“I’m sorry,” She blurts. “For embarrassing you that night, a-and breaking up with you the way I did. I’m sorry.”
He only looks at her like a hurt puppy, the same way he did when she told him the day after the dance that she hadn’t loved him, and that they were better off without each other.
“You deserve way better than how I treated you. I was… so stupid and confused. But that doesn’t change that I hurt you.”
“You know, that night when we were slow dancing… I wasn’t— I only wanted—” He sighs. “I just wanted to know what you thought. I-If you wanted to, well, y’know. I’d never force you to do something like that...”
“I know you wouldn’t. I was just a little too quick to judge on it, and… well ended up screaming that I was a lesbian.” She half laughs, half sighs.
“Well, I may still be getting— used to the idea that I dated a lesbian for a year and a half but— I’m happy you found yourself, at least.”
Before he goes to leave, they hug as some sort of subtle apology, and he kisses her forehead like he used to those years ago. As he opens the patio door to walk back inside, she stops him.
“For what it’s worth,” She calls out. “You were a good boyfriend.”
He nods. “And for what it’s worth, I really adored you.”
John watches as he goes back inside, and she sits back down with her head in her hands.
Conrade comes back out and joins her.
“So, what happened?”
“Nothing, I just feel like the shittiest human being on earth.”
“Hey, don’t beat yourself up about it. It was a long time ago, things have changed.”
John only stared at her with a doubtful look.
Conrade huffed. “Okay, we’re getting you out of this mood. It’s present time.”
“What— Presents?”
“Um, yeah. I wouldn’t forget to get you a gift for your party.”
“Hey— this isn’t just for me, a-and I don’t have anything for you!”
“So? That doesn’t matter. Look if you really have a problem with it, think of it as a late birthday gift.”
John watches as she picks up a small gift bag from beside her, and places it on John’s lap.
“You really didn’t need to do this—”
“Just shut up and open it.”
And so John did as demanded, pushing past the tissue paper and revealing a tiny drawstring jewelry pouch, with a band of bracelets in it. As she opened it, she saw an emerald beaded bracelet, a black, green, and red braided bracelet, as well as a plain black string one with a small charm on it. She could immediately tell the braided one was handmade and by Conrade no doubt. It made her beam with joy, and suddenly the feelings from before subsided.
“Oh, Conrade, they’re adorable.”
“And, they match, see?” Conrade shows John her wrist, before helping her to put them on. “Borachio’s got the third one, I gave them to him yesterday.”
John admires the bracelets, not even trying to hide her smile. She gets distracted by the bareness of her arms thanks to her t-shirt. How Conrade notices her smile fade and even realizes the cause of it, astounds her, because in no less than 5 seconds had she draped her zip-up hoodie over John’s shoulders.
Conrade scoots herself closer to John on the bench, moving a stray hair out of her face.
“Hey, you know I love you, right?” She says sincerely. “I-In a platonic way, of course! But, I care a lot about you. You can tell me anything, okay? You don’t have to be scared or anything…”
John smiles, and gives her a peck on the cheek, her black lipstick leaving a mark from her lips. “Thank you.”
“Y-You’re welcome.”
“Wanna go back inside?”
“Sure,” Conrade says softly.
And so that's what they did, joining the party once more hand in hand. They hadn’t known it then, but that would become a habit for the two.
And neither of them would ever take those bracelets off.
—✩—
“Conrade! Have you seen my bracelet?”
“Which one?” She called back from the other room.
“Uhm— The one you made for me?”
“John, did you seriously lose that bracelet right before we have to walk out the door!?”
“I had it before my shower okay!” She says, almost tearing apart her entire room.
Conrade makes her way into John’s room, seeing John in complete anguish, still in her bathrobe and completely unready for the day.
“Oh my god, you aren’t dressed yet?”
“No! I’m not!”
“We were supposed to leave thirty minutes ago! How is it gonna look if we're late to a wedding!? ” Conrade groans, clearly more put together than her panicked friend.
“I know! Just shut up and help me find it! I swear if I lost it—”
“John.”
But she’s still busy digging through her drawers to listen to her name being called.
“John.”
Still, she can't think to look away.
“John! ” Conrade grabs her by her shoulders, shaking her a bit.
John stands there stunned for a second, before Conrade grabs and lifts her left hand, to reveal that the bracelet in question was securely on the wrong hand. This realization only elicits a soft, ‘Oh’.
Conrade throws her hands up as she walks out of the room, groaning once more. “God, why did I ever decide to move in with you!? Get dressed! ”
“I’m glad you exist too!” She teases (in slight fear.)
So John threw on a black dress, coat, and pumps, rushing out the door with her purse and dragging Conrade along with her.
“Come on, we don’t want to be late!”
Well, at least, she didn’t. If there was one thing she couldn’t wait for, it was free food.