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The cold autumn air slips into Noelle's room through her open window, it barely affected her through her light brown fur, but it felt nice in a way. She couldn't wait a second to jump out of bed, and her heart was beating like crazy, almost as much as the moment Susie told her mother to her face that she was bringing Noelle to the festival.
Just remembering that... it made her get goosebumps all over.
As she started getting dressed for the day, she could hear people outside finishing setting up everything for the festival. It was a nostalgic feeling. It made her mind wander back to the times when she was as excited for the festival every year as she was right now, back when she was a kid, back when she had someone to go to the festival with—no! She promised herself that she wouldn't dwell on the past anymore, especially not on a happy day, like this one was going to be.
She quickly finished putting on her green and red sweater and black skirt and headed downstairs. The house was eerily quiet, her mother was probably managing the event outside, so she didn't have to worry about meeting her right now, at least. She couldn't help but let out a relieved sigh as she made her way to the front door.
"A-Alright... now, to meet with Susie."
The whole town was decorated with balloons, flags, and lots and lots of flowers. The sight made her feel warm inside, it was one of the things she really could look for every year. Even if she couldn't spend it with her family this year, she still had someone special to go with!
Kris couldn't remember the last time he had a good night's sleep, the... thing inside him made it difficult to relax. It would make him walk everywhere, interact with everything, talk with everyone... it was exhausting. He was absolutely certain that today would be no different... if anything, it would be even worse.
Walking downstairs, he could not find Toriel nor the unwanted guest that made getting any sleep near impossible. Good. He didn't feel like seeing any of them. The sound of people and music outside reminded him of what day it was. Not that he has forgotten, but... it really slipped his mind with everything else that had happened the day prior.
It made him step outside, not leaving much time for thinking about his next step. Maybe it was better this way. Thinking just made him feel more tired at this point.
"Hey, Kris!" He heard a familiar, husky voice calling out to him. "I was wondering when you'd wake up. Check it out, the festival's already started!"
Her loud voice would have made him even more annoyed than he already was with everything, but it didn't. He couldn't quite understand why himself.
"Oh, right... uhh-" The lizard girl rubbed the back of her head bashfully, something that never failed to amuse Kris a little. "Did you sleep well? Last night was..."
With a head nod, Kris lets her know he's fine. Or at least make her believe so.
"Alright, then. So... we're going to the festival, right? I mean, even if we still have to save the world and all that crap, it's not like we can't enjoy ourselves." She says with a huge smile, the one that made even him feel warm inside.
The search took a while, but she finally found her! Aaand of course, she was with Kris. Not that she minded!
"Susie! Kris!" Noelle waved her hand at them. "It's nice, isn't it? The festival..." She blushed a little while approaching them.
Susie turned to Noelle, clearly happy at the sight of the deer girl. "Yeah! I don't think I've seen anything like this before... Does this happen every year?"
"Well, yeah! Kris and I used to always... um..." She could feel something tightening in her chest, suddenly feeling very aware of her childhood friend's presence. "We always went to the festival together... it was fun."
Kris' mind goes straight back to the day before, when he had tried to keep the soul from looking for Dess' guitar—when he had to hide inside Dess' closet. When he heard her say how they weren't even that close—how he was just the weird neighbor she had. "We're just neighbors," "We just ended up seeing each other a lot, that's all."
It was stupid. It was no use getting hung up on that now that he knew the truth.
"You're coming with us, right?" Susie's carefree voice stopped his thoughts from getting any worse. "H-Huh? Oh, um... I thought we would..."
Letting out a defeated sigh, Noelle just nods and stands next to Susie. "Yeah... let's enjoy the festival."
The group of three teenagers started walking through the crowd of people, and Kris naturally led them, for some reason. Of course, Kris' soul would make him interact with everything on his path, talking with everyone along the way, too. It was annoying. To Susie, it was pretty much the exact same as always, but Noelle couldn't stop thinking how weird it was for Kris to do any of that. He wouldn't normally talk to someone he didn't need to—not the Kris she knows.
As they walked through the festival, Susie would get some of the food being sold by the people there, most of it coming straight from Noelle's expenses. Not that she particularly minded, in any case. "So... is there anything you'd like to do first? There's the ring toss, target shooting, apple bobbing, the Ferris wheel..." She suggested with a clear intention.
"My dear Noelle, I've finally found you! And Susan is present as well!" With a glance from the side, Berdly lets out a sigh. "Kris is also with you, I suppose."
If the plans Noelle had for today weren't going well already, Berdly was the last nail to the coffin. "H-Hi, Berdly... I didn't expect to see you here today..." She said, with a voice carrying pure defeat.
"Not expecting to see me? Haha... how you jest! We're enjoying the festival together, aren't we? Don't you remember the phone call from yesterday? At least... before Susie tried to stop you from accepting, just so she could have me all for herself... she has truly become yandere for me." Berdly began talking and talking, making sure to be as unable to read the room as possible.
Kris could just throw up on the spot, but in that moment, he felt the soul's influence on his body. He could almost see the options presented to him: (Run away with Susie) (Run away with Noelle) (Run away with... Berdly?) That last one made him shiver.
Suddenly, he grabbed Noelle's hand and started dashing away from there with her. "K-Kris!?"
Noelle could hardly understand what had happened, really. Susie forgetting that they were supposed to enjoy the festival together, just the two of them... Berdly showing up to make everything even more uncomfortable... and now Kris dragging her somewhere else. Was today just not her day?
By the time they stopped running, Noelle looked at Kris, who was now covered in sweat. "What was that for? Is there something wrong, Kris?"
"I... I don't know." He said, not realizing where he had unconsciously brought them. Noelle looked up and suddenly got quiet. "Kris...?"
When he turned to look where her gaze landed, there it was. The toy that they hadn't rode together in years.
"Why did you bring me here? Do you have something to tell me, or...?"
Had the soul brought them here? Or maybe it was really him that unconsciously wanted to come back here with Noelle? In any case, it couldn't have been a coincidence.
"I..." He couldn't think of what to say. What is there to say, really? Whatever attempt he made would just make him embarrass himself.
"...um, Kris?" Noelle adjusted her skirt bashfully. "If you want to, then... I wouldn't mind riding it with you."
What? Did he... hear that right?
"Ride it?" He looked at her, then back at the giant rotating wheel with lights.
Before either of them realized it, there they were, inside a gondola. They were sitting opposite each other, neither of them daring to look anywhere but their own feet.
Kris could feel his heart rate increase as the time went on. Why did he even accept getting in with her in the first place!?
"I remember..." Noelle's voice made Kris freeze. "... when you would wait for us to get to the very top of the ride, only to start jumping and shaking the cabin." She said with a tiny, bashful smile.
Kris couldn't think of say anything to that, nor did he want to.
"Yesterday... when we were in Dess' room..." Kris could feel his heart rate spike now. "Did you hear what Susie and I were saying?" Her voice was quiet. Worried.
"...yes." Was all she got in return.
The following moments were silent, heavy for both of them. Noelle could feel her face getting warmer from embarrassment and shame.
"Y-You know, I just didn't want Susie to get the wrong idea! If she thought we were close—I mean, we are close—M-Maybe not as much, but...!"
If she could, Noelle would just jump out of the cabin to escape the awkward situation she just created for herself.
"It's okay, it's probably even better that way." Kris said. His tone was as dead and stoic as always, but Noelle could feel her stomach turning into a knot.
"It's not." Her hands, resting on top of her knees, were now shaking slightly.
"I-I... I didn't mean anything I said... I just didn't want Susie to think we were... too close. I know I was a jerk, but..."
The cabin slowly reached its peak, being so high you could practically see Hometown in its entirety from there. It didn't really matter, since the ones inside it couldn't bring themselves to turn their heads to look outside the windows.
"I don't know why, but... seeing you now, I-I can't help but look back at what I said yesterday..." Noelle's voice suddenly got shaky, and that was enough to make Kris look up from the floor. "I miss you, Kris... so much..."
The boy's hands were now sweating coldly. He was too flustered to say anything or do anything.
"I know things can never be like they were before, but... It just feels wrong! Seeing you at school every day, only to not say a single word to each other... like we're strangers..." She could feel tears gather in the corner of her eyes, but she didn't dare to wipe them away. "I still bring an extra pencil in case you asked for one, you know...?" A tiny, almost silent chuckle leaves her mouth.
Kris stared. It wasn't anything unusual for him to just... stare. Noelle knew he didn't mean anything by it, but it still hurt her, seeing him not say anything after she had just-
"I do, too." He said, in a tone that made even Noelle raise her eyebrows. "I miss you, too."
...
...
...
That was it. Nothing else.
"Heh... heheh..." Noelle giggled quietly through her tears. "Really?"
"...yeah."
As the gondola slowly started to lower down, Noelle finally wiped her tears with her sleeves. It might not have been much, but hearing Kris say that he missed her, too... It had made her day. Maybe the dream she had at the library was a sign? She didn't know, and she didn't want to think much about it right now, either.
"Hey, Kris...?" He didn't quite meet her eyes, but his attention was directed at her. "Do you want to enjoy the festival together, the two of us...?"
He simply nodded, and a tiny, almost unnoticeable smile formed on his lips. One only Noelle could have caught.
By the time they leave the cabin, Susie and Berdly were there waiting for them, looking quite impatient.
"What the hell, man! Why did you leave me there with Berdly?" Susie's discontentment was pretty clear, but not really that intense. Maybe they actually had fun during the time Kris and Noelle were on the Ferris wheel?
"And what's with the hands?" She asked, sounding a bit more confused than upset.
Noelle and Kris both looked down at their hands, which were locked together. Despite the embarrassment both of them were experiencing right now, neither of them made any effort to pull away. "U-Um... y-you know, Kris actually forgot something at his house, so... We'll meet you guys later!"
Noelle then made a run for it, losing Susie and Berdly as they ran through a crowd of people. "I can't believe I'm doing this... and just when I could have the whole day with Susie, too..."
Noelle then looked back at Kris, who still had that teeny tiny smile on his lips. That alone was enough to make Noelle forget about what the day could have been and start to think of what they could make it be right now.
"So... what should we do next? We still have the whole day..." She could barely contain her excitement as she looked at Kris.
...
...
...
"Apple bobbing."