Best Days We'll Never Know

Will They vs. Won't They

Luigi opens the front door to their apartment, barely lifting an eyebrow when he sees Mario and Pauline kissing on the couch.

Once they notice him, Pauline gets up first "Hey, Luigi."

"Nice to see you, Pauline." Luigi replies, stealing a cheeky grin at Mario, who blushes.

"I should...go." Pauline says lamely, so Luigi steps out of the way, allowing her to open the door and shut it behind her.

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"Hey, stranger!" Mario calls out to Pauline, upon tracking her down at Cornell, bottle of cheap champagne in hand.

"Jump Man!" Pauline greets, gesturing for him to join her.

"Didn't think I'd let you come here without celebrating it, did you?" Mario holds up the bottle, making Pauline squeal.

"Oooh, that sounds yummy." She takes it.

"We can finish it off together, can't we?" Mario holds up two plastic flutes.

After uncorking the bottle and pouring some for both of them, they start chatting.

"I seriously can't remember the last time I actually got a full 8 hours of sleep." Pauline says, taking a sip.

"That just means you're doing something worth losing sleep over." Mario replies, clinking their glasses together. "Good for you!"

As Mario sips, he looks around the quad. "Nice school you got here.", he points. "Betcha that's your dorm."

"Close. The mess hall."

"Ah, the mess hall." Mario laughs. "Bet you love every second."

"Well, I am becoming somewhat of a teacher's pet." Pauline shrugs. "So I got that going for me."

"Hey." Mario comes closer. "The teachers should be sucking up to you."

"Can you tell them that? Please?" Pauline jokes. "So whaddaya think of Cornell? Honestly."

"I think I was smart to not take you up on your offer to pull some strings." Mario replies. "Place like this would've eaten us alive."

"Hey, stop that." Pauline chides. "Any school that has Mario Mario in it is a school with good taste."

"Sorry, did you just bash your alma mater out in the open for me?" Mario points out.

"Maybe." Pauline teases.

"How can I express my gratitude?" Mario keeps it going.

"Like this." Pauline says a second before she kisses him.

He kisses back, reaching a hand into her hair, setting his plastic flute down so he can put the other one on her cheek.

And just for a moment, Mario lets himself enjoy it.

Until he finds himself pulling away and saying, "Wait.", and now that they've stopped, he's able to think more clearly. "I'm sorry."

He backs up, a completely apologetic look on his face as he says, "We can't blame this on the champagne, can we?"

"No...?" Pauline poses it like a question.

"No, we can't." Mario decides, then goes on,

"Look, last time we got to this point was right before I got rejected from this place, and nothing happened. Anything we try now wouldn't change that. So...what does that mean?"

"I think you're right." Pauline says, cheeks pink. "That's kind of why I was gonna offer to use my resources to track down a better job for you."

Mario takes another step back, not expecting that.

"We'd see each other more often when I'm not working on my dad's campaign trail." Pauline continues. "And we both know Luigi's lying when he says he doesn't hate working at the Wrecking Crew. If we're really gonna try and make this work, we can."

"Well, first off, wow." Mario says. "But now's where I have to be honest. If this had been before we'd been hired at the Wrecking Crew, it would've been a no-brainer. But now, just the thought of saying yes and moving here to Ithaca, without any family supporting us..."

"But you'd have Luigi." Pauline points out, knowing Mario too well. "And me. We don't even have to be together. Just three friends pursuing careers that are bound to cross paths."

Mario just stares at her, and she can tell he's tempted.

"What's the worst case scenario? We can just play it by ear, see how we feel as we go."

"Or it could all blow up in our faces." Mario adds. "Pauline, come on. Let's face it. If me and Luigi are like the sun and the moon, you and me are like...photography and watercolors."

"What's wrong with that? Both are art!"

"I just don't want to lose...us." Mario says. "What if it ends badly and we can't go back to being friends? I like us how we are."

"And what if it doesn't?" Pauline challenges. "What if this is the moment that everything changes for us? Is it so wrong to think we can still have that? What if we end up walking down the aisle, with Luigi as your best man?"

"Thinking about any of that scares the crap out of me." Mario says. "I'm sorry, but I can't. Not like this. I don't want to do it like this. Not just so you can help us get better jobs. I respect you too much for that."

Pauline knows when she's fighting a losing battle, so she sighs, "Okay. I understand."

"But that doesn't mean you have to do the same thing." Mario says, surprising her. "You're still young, and you're probably gonna break a few dozen hearts before you're elected mayor. Enjoy them while they last."

"Yeah..." Pauline says thoughtfully.

"Seriously!" Now Mario's smiling. "You have my blessing. Don't wait for me." Then he thinks, "Unless you want to wait. I can't stop you."

Pauline just nods, "Alright."

Mario nods as well, "Alright."

"Alright, what is this?" Luigi comes up behind him and snatches the paper Mario's writing on.

"Hey! Give that back!" Mario demands, trying to grab it. "It's nothing."

"'Nothing'?" Luigi repeats, then after getting a good look at it, asks, "Mario, are you...designing a logo?"

"No!" Mario denies, then bails, "Maybe."

"What's it for?"

"Just...I've actually been thinking on this a lot, since we got our certificates. We only joined the Wrecking Crew to get experience in the field, right?" at Luigi's nod, Mario continues, "Well, I just realized, we've worked there long enough to consider ourselves professionals. So now what?"

"This have anything to do with your visit with Pauline?" Luigi asks, making Mario look at him, surprised. "You said she looked really, really good."

"She did." Mario turns his chair around.

"So what happened?"

"It...didn't end well." Mario confesses, wincing. "She offered to pull some strings help us get better jobs, and I told her absolutely not, and gave her my blessing to move on from me."

"You said that to her?" Luigi asks incredulously.

"Yeah." Mario confirms. "I did."

"I don't get it. You two were playing Ross and Rachel all through high school, and now you suddenly decide you're not gonna talk her off the plane?"

"Lu, I don't know, okay?" Mario throws his hands up in the air. "I was already overwhelmed, seeing her in her element, surrounded by peers I could never hope to be on the same level as, and the thought she still wanted to be with me despite all that..." he facepalms. "I messed it up. Big time."