Work Text:
Thank you...
A knock at the door.
You wake up. It's your mother’s voice.
-Good morning, Kris!
She opens the bedroom window, bathing the room with light.
-Today is finally the festival! Get up! Are you not excited?
You lift up your head with a tired look.
At the same time, seeing how bad you look, she also loses all of her previous excitement.
-Is everything alright, Kris? If you are not feeling well, I suppose you could stay at home for today...
You shake your head and say you just didn't have a good night of sleep.
She had a bit too much fun yesterday while being so drunk, she probably doesn't even remember being her fault, although you won't say it to her.
-Is that so? Then I suppose you could get some more-
Suddenly, the doorbell.
-Oh! Who could that be at this time? Susie? I will go check it out. -Stay here and rest a little, ok?
Before she leaves, she gives you a last worried look, then gets out of your room when you continue to not say anything.
While you're alone, you start to get lost in your thoughts.
Yesterday felt like forever, with all the dark worlds... and...
Noelle...
You don't even know if it was real or just a dream. You do hope it was all a dream.
All the memories of those events are foggy in your mind, you can't seem to remember them well. Except for one thing, her face. Her terrified face, looking at you like a stranger would, and can you even blame her? It wasn't really you.
You get out of your thoughts when you notice you can hear some of the things your mother is saying to the person at the door, not very clear, though.
-Yes, they are... You can... They don't seem... but...
After some time, you hear someone walking up the stairs. Who could it be?
...
Another knock at the door, followed by a greeting.
-good morning, Kris!
It's your neighbor's voice. Noelle’s voice.
When you hear it, you feel your body freezing. Why is she here?
Only then do you remember the message her mother left you yesterday, she was really looking forward to seeing you today.
Immediately after greeting you, she opens the door.
She stays at the door and smiles at your sight, although you don't understand why.
-How are you today?
You still can't bring yourself to answer her. Not after what happened. Not after what you did to her.
-Your mother told me you weren't feeling well right now, but said maybe if I talked to you, you could get a little better.
You truly don't understand why, after all that, she can still look at you with a smile, come to your house and be excited to go with you to the festival.
You ask why she is doing this.
Her expression changes from a smile to a genuinely confused look.
-What do you mean? Doing what?
While you’re still on the bed, she comes closer so she can talk to you better. And then climb into your bed to hug you tightly, while caressing your hair.
-If you were talking about yesterday... It's okay, you don't have to feel bad, you didn't do anything wrong!
When she says this, you get an uneasy feeling. And she continues, holding you even tighter than before, as if she doesn't want you to go anywhere else, and especially not away from her.
-Kris…! I just really wanted to go to the festival with you again…! I want things to go back to how they were before…
You ask her if going together is what she wants, then why come here in the morning? It only starts at noon...
-So that I can stay here with you until it begins. I want to stay with you for the rest of my life.
She then gently leads you both to fall into bed, still embracing you.
You don't fight back and let it stay like this for a while. Just the two of you.
...
When you two leave the house, she offers you a hand. And although you hesitate, you feel obligated to take it.
You two arrive at the festival, is still soon in the day, so there aren’t a lot of people yet. Is very cold. She guides you through the festival without saying a word, looking happy all throughout. She seems more confidant, though you’re not sure that’s all that good, and you wonder what she’s thinking.
You then close your eyes for a while and start to wonder how Susie is doing. At some point you thought the three of you could all go together. Guess it will not be that way. You feel bad about leaving her all alone while she was clearly excited to go with a friend for the first time. But now, if Noelle hadn't “convinced” you... You wouldn't want to go either.
After some time, she breaks the silence.
-Do you want to go in the Ferris wheel together?
...
The wheel stops spinning, and the two of you enter the cabin together.
At first nobody says a thing, Noelle just looks at the city through the window with a nostalgic look. Only breaking the silence with a sigh.
-Do you remember when we did this back when we were kids? And you jumped in here to shake the cabin when we reached the top, just so you could scare me, fahaha.
She pauses and readjusts herself, moving her face to start looking at the ground.
-Things were so easy back then. She continues. -Dess was still here, we all would go into the woods and play together. Don’t you miss that time, too?
She looks up at your face, staring for a moment, only to break it with a smile. While you don’t say anything.
-But at least, some good things come with change, I was so weak and cried at anything. Always needing Dess to defend or comfort me, as I couldn’t do it myself.
She pauses, as the Ferris wheel reaches its peak.
-But now? I have you. I can do things I never imagined being possible, things I could never even fathom on being capable. You made me stronger.
Then, she starts getting closer to you.
-so…
She gets closer and closer, till the distance between you two almost disappears, but only after saying one last praise.
-thank you…
She closes her eyes, as she finally breaks the distance, leaning for a kiss while putting a hand on your cheek.
Your body freezes again, this isn’t right… She should like Susie, not you. But even then, you can't do anything to stop it.
You don't exactly hate it, but you don’t feel good, either. You feel that if your soul never did any of that, this wouldn’t happen. So, does she even like you? You are not sure. But does it matter? It already happened, and there’s nothing you can do to change it.
After it ends, she holds you in her arms, and you feel the only thing you can do is return the embrace.
While she holds you, you notice her hand. There’s blood coming off her finger, with a torn, resembling a ring.