Chapter Text
The last time Noelle had gone in the lake, it was summer, two years ago. Toriel had taken her and Kris, with a picnic basket of snacks and all their water toys shoved in a great big tote bag, and set them loose at the beach. Kris had armed themselves with a squirt gun and spent most of the day perfecting their aim or vanishing beneath the surface to grab Noelle by the ankle. She had gone home sun-baked and pleasantly exhausted.
This time is — similar, in many ways, and yet so different. The sunset casts everything in golden warmth, deeper and richer than the brightness of summer. Her fingers are faintly sticky with ice cream. Kris is also here.
More importantly, Susie is here. Susie is holding her close enough that Noelle can feel her heart beating, can smell the warm, earthy smell that she's only ever gotten hints of. Susie is keeping her just above the water, so that her clothes stay dry, so that Noelle can do something impulsive and crazy without the consequences, and she has never felt so safe or so free.
Even as she's carried back to the shore, even as Susie pitches forward and Noelle shrieks and digs her fingers into Susie's jacket, she's happy. Her heart races so fast she feels dizzy with it.
Something hits the water with a splash. Her pocket suddenly feels lighter.
"Huh," Susie says, straightening. "What was that?"
"Um," Noelle says. She pats at the pocket, and— "Oh, no, my phone!!"
"Damn!" In an instant, Susie sets her down on the shore. "Crap, sorry! I'll find it, just a sec."
Susie vanishes under the water entirely, only her hair left to float at the surface. Noelle scrambles to her feet to help somehow. And then she doesn't need to, because Susie emerges, hair plastered all over her face like a wet mop, holding a phone triumphantly in the air.
"Got it!" Looking like a swamp creature from one of the better kinds of horror movie, Susie hauls herself, dripping, onto the beach. "I'm really sorry about that, Noelle. Uh, here you go. Is it… okay?"
She holds out the phone, and this time it's much less romantic than before. Not entirely unromantic. But less, definitely. The mood has been ruined just a bit by the spike of anxiety because if her phone is actually broken then Noelle is going to seriously freak out. She takes it and presses the power button.
Slowly, the screen flickers on. Half of her nerves vanish instantly. A warning message flashes across, suggesting that she turn it off until it dries out fully. Well, her phone probably knows better than she does, here. Noelle powers it off entirely.
"It's fine, Susie," she says, tucking the phone into her pocket again. "I'll just put it in a bowl of rice when I get home."
"Cool, yeah." Susie nods. Her hair kind of goes everywhere. It's… really cute. "Do you have enough for me, too?"
"Fahaha! What, to swim in?"
"Yeah!" Susie grins. "Wouldn't it be sick? You could go swimming in one pool, then jump in another one to dry off. It would be like, super efficient."
Noelle tries her best to be normal about the mental image of Susie in any sort of swimming pool, rice-filled or otherwise. "It— it sure would be!"
"Plus, free snacks."
Susie laughs, and Noelle can't help but join her. The last lingering thread of anxiety fades away, until she's left with that feeling of safety once more.
And then she's just staring at Susie, smiling and golden and beautiful even when she's soaked with lake water. It's like the whole world is holding its breath for a moment, tensed and ready for something important to happen.
This is it, Noelle. This is your chance. Say something, before…
"Susie—"
"Noelle—"
They both stop, flustered. Noelle giggles.
"You go first," she says. If she's right, then it won't really matter which one of them says it first. She really hopes she's right.
Susie's cheeks turn fuchsia and her gaze darts around like she's scared to make eye contact.
"Noelle, I…" She pauses and turns to look back over the lake. Shoves her hands deep into her pockets, then immediately takes them back out, probably because her pants are soaking wet. Finally, she looks back at Noelle. "Today has been one of the best days I've ever had. Because of you. And I… really like you. Whatever you want that to mean."
The wonderful thing is, it doesn't even feel like a revelation. Her heart is racing, of course, but that's normal. Noelle smiles.
"I really like you, too, Susie," she says. "And I… want it to mean—" No, wait. "That is, I want to try—" Argh, no! "I mean!! If you want to be girlfriends!! Then!! I'd like that!!"
Huh. Susie's blush spreads all the way across her snout sometimes. Neat.
Wait, no, that's not what she meant to say at all! She's coming on too strong, and Susie will be weirded out, and—
"Yeah that sounds good I'm going to get more ice cream now be back soon okay bye!!!"
In a burst of speed that would serve her well on the track team, Susie sprints back to the picnic tables, grabs Kris by the arm to peel them off where they'd been laying face-down, and vanishes back toward town.
Noelle is left standing there, a weird, floaty feeling in her chest.
"She said yes," she whispers. She sinks to the ground, because her legs don't feel entirely functional right now. "She said yes??"
Noelle asked if Susie wanted to be her girlfriend, and Susie said yes. And then disappeared to go get ice cream. Frankly, having the beach to herself to freak out is probably for the best right now. She lets out a squeal and hugs her arms around herself, grinning wildly.
She spends the next few minutes staring at the grass and replaying the events of the day in her mind. Susie taking her hand in the haunted house. Susie ringing the bell at the strength tester. Susie's arms holding her safely up above the water. Susie, Susie, Susie.
After a little while — she glances at her watch, which isn't very helpful since she doesn't know what time Susie left — Noelle begins to wonder if everything is okay. It can't take that long to get more ice cream, surely. Even if Susie is also freaking out (is she? Was she also left weak-kneed and exhilarated? Noelle hopes so), she should be back by now.
Slowly, Noelle gets to her feet. She casts one last look at the lake, the sun now low enough to turn it purple in the dusk. It's still beautiful.
As she walks back toward town, she tries to imagine how she'll tell her parents. Dad will be so embarrassing about it, and he'll probably give Susie some awful shovel talk. But then, he'll also be happy for her. Proud that she finally did it. Maybe he was right earlier, and there will be two Queens for the Festival this year. Wouldn't it be nice to not need to tell anyone, and simply show them all, her hand in Susie's in front of the whole town? A little scary, sure, but the good kind of scary.
Something draws her from her fantasies of leading the parade. She's passing by Flower King. Earlier, when they'd stopped in on their way to the beach, she'd thought about buying some flowers for Susie. It would have been silly to get them while they were all together, but now…
Asgore seems to have packed up most of his display from earlier. There's only a few bouquets left outside, overflowing from the box they're packed into. Wild roses and poppies, marigolds and snapdragons. Noelle stands in front of them, debating. Roses are classic, but maybe they're overdone? Isn't there some extra meaning for the different flowers in an arrangement? What if she picks one that means something weird?
Ugh, she should just go inside and ask Asgore directly. It's always a little awkward to talk to him these days, but she'll need to go in to pay, anyway.
On the ground near the door, almost missable if she hadn't happened to look at the right time, is a playing card. She bends down to pick it up, the cardstock soft with wear and flexible between her fingers. It's surprisingly familiar — the jack of spades from the deck that used to be Kris', before it got donated to the school, counterfeit aces and all.
"Strange," she mutters. She slips it into her pocket. Tomorrow, before class, she'll return it to the supply closet with the rest of the deck.
She opens the door to the flower shop. For a split second, something cold throbs through her veins. That, too, is familiar.
And then everything goes dark, darker, yet darker.