Life is Funny Like That

Thyrtee. The Literal Best (arc)

"No, seriously, you would still be a perfect angel if I hadn't come along," Kimmy said. Her face showed stifled frustration, not with Noel, but herself.

"Being the perfect angel..." Noel looked down, his face falling further than she thought possible. "It's suffocating. Kimmy, you showed me how to breathe."

"No, I showed you how to live like an outcast and a slacker, Noel!" Kimmy said, realizing it as the words fell onto the sidewalk. "I'm a hopeless case, and I dragged you down with me. I pulled you away from your family and-and-"

"Look at me, Kimmy." Noel took Kimmy's other hand. "I was never very good at school, and I never liked it. I was living for the wrong things like expectations and honors. I should've done a lot of things differently but we're still young and I won't let myself be swayed by my parents' accusations. I'm gonna try to do the right thing, not what's cool or to piss off my parents, but for what I love and believe in."

Kimmy glanced down at the crucifix hanging from a rosary as it dangled out of his pocket. It caught the sun's beams, casting green little lights onto the cement like confetti.

It was all the time, she would find his fingers messing with the jade beads on the chain. He had been doing it more and more often, these days. She wondered why.

"But I was scared. Scared to tell you that I love and believe in you. If I pushed too hard, it might send you over the edge and I could never get you back." Pain glistened in the rims of his eyes. "I'm crazy about you and I don't want to lose you. So, we're gonna open that diner and become useful citizens in this society and we're gonna forget about our crappy parents and-and-you're gonna stop stealing from your dad cuz we'll have enough money-"

Kimmy's hand piled on top of his mouth. She looked at him, surprised, dazed, almost sad. 

"What are you saying?" she whispered, eyes searching as deep as he allowed her.

"I'm saying..." Noel looked down, pulling her hand into his. "I'm saying we should fix our lives and you know, make pie and listen to 60's music."

"Okay." Kimmy barely smiled. "Okay, let's do it."

"I mean... we can do that without a high school diploma, right?" Noel asked, a nervous laugh catching him.

"Yeah." Kimmy scrunched her eyebrows, giving a nod. "Yeah, we totally can."

Life seems to always take the surprising lefts nobody ever suspects. The bad girl fell in love with the good boy after the cliché in the leather jacket didn't stay for her. The good boy changed the bad girl, but really, in all honesty, they changed each other. For better or for worse. They were different people when the diner's sign officially began to spin.

"You've been married this whole time?!" Adrian's permanently dropped jaw falls even further.

"Kimmy," Noel turns to his wife, a pouting expression on his big round eyes. "You never told them about me? Do you really hate me that much?"

"Oh, can it, Noel," She grabs his hand. "I couldn't say anything because of the promise, which YOU broke."

"But it was for a good reason!" Noel says. "I had to come and announce the news in person. We got the loan, the diner is officially ours!"

At first, it's a painful silence as if even the music is paused in anticipation. Kimmy stares at her husband, looking unamused, but the expression slowly slips off her face as she realizes that Noel is serious.

"You're not joking?" 

Adrian and Daffy stare in awe as the glory of Kimmy's surprised face shows to all the world. The most emotion he's ever seen her have, she radiates as a thousand versions of surprise, happiness, and confusion dash against one another like a windy ocean shore.

"I'm 100% serious, Kim, we can finally put up that big, blue sign of yours." Noel emits his joy with a giant grin, the years that he lived, not showing on his face.

"I, uh...." she falters, looking away. "I think I need a moment." Kimmy crawls over Noel's lap and disappears into the kitchen.

Noel gives a knowing look, the twinkle still in his eyes.

"She processes with ice cream," he answers the silent question and the group all nods, letting out a quiet 'oh'.

"So, you're prolly wondering why Kimmy hates my guts so much that she won't even mention my name here." Noel grins even though his statement was expected to make the air change into one of harsh pity.

Adrian gulps. Daffy gives a cautious nod.

"My pie, you know that stuff?" he points to the forgotten slice of pie by Adrian. "It's the best." He leans back in his seat, crossing his arms.

The two across from him wait for more but all they receive is a smug grin.

"The literal best."

One beat.

Two beats.

Three beats of silence pass.

"And?" Daffy and Adrian exclaim together, the confusion becoming unbearable.

"And I almost got sued for it. People tried to steal my recipes, tried to claim them for their own. I and Kimmy fought back, but it got us into a load of trouble. I had to go secret if I wanted to keep providing pie for the diner. Can you believe all that trouble over some d**n good pie?" He sighs, pulling the piece of pie towards himself and taking a fork. "Kimmy was pretty scarred by the whole ordeal. It might be a coping mechanism, why she doesn't talk about me here. We sort of promised to stay low so it wouldn't happen again, but I think you two are trustworthy enough, Kimmy's basically claimed you as her own." Noel's smile glimmers at them. "The kids she always wanted."

Kimmy appears at the table again, her ice cream carton in one hand, a spoon in her mouth.

"Move," she orders, softer than normal. Noel obliges, pulling the plate of pie with him as he moves towards the wall. 

Kimmy remains silent as she continues to eat her ice cream, Noel stares at Adrian and Daffy. Adrian watches his pie disappear, and Daffy folds the hem of her dress up and down.

Everyone is processing. Except for Noel. He scrapes the crumbs up and gives a final lick to the fork.

"Who's up for more pie?"

===============Mar-20-22===============
Pub, Jan-15-23

yah, i wrote all these chapters in one day....help me.... T_T

also, does editing even matter at this point? does anyone even know what's going on? cuz i don't