𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞, 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐛𝐨𝐨.

𝟐𝟓 | 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 + 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝

the walk to the restaurant isn't long, but long enough to ensure there isn't much silence.

juliet seems content, where she is right now.

silently walking and stealing looks at the boy next to her every chance she could get.

he was wearing his normal apparel, a bright colored, super detailed button up, pants and a belt that look like something kids in the nineties would wear, and his shoes.

the shoes that he's had for who knows how long.

juliet thinks he's got a weird attachment to them.

he does that.

one time, in class, she wasn't there,

there was an insect in the class, he said it was a butterfly, but it landed on him during math.

it stayed on him the whole hour, and once the class was over, the teacher asked him to bring the pretty thing outside.

he refused, as the usual stubborn fifth grader would do, and said he wanted to keep it because it reminded him of her.

juliet's pretty sure he thought she was dead.

but in the end, he had to let it go, he cried with juliet that night.

and yes, with, because juliet just can't seem to resist sympathizing with the poor sad boy.

and when he cries, she cries.

it's a cycle.

a weird one at that.

' we're here. '

tommaso's.

a new restaurant that had just opened in venice about a month ago.

ranboo remembered juliet pointing it out on their way to the beach, and he thought this would be a nice place for their first date.

and only date.

this can't go on.

it's going to hurt both of them in the end.

ranboo shrugs himself out of his thoughts and opens the wooden door for the pretty girl behind him.

neither of them were dressed formal, but they didn't care.

they weren't really formal people.

' ah! special dinner for the happy couple? ' the waiter says, speaking up randomly, startling the two teenagers.

' i- '

' yes, it's our two year anniversary. ' juliet replies sweetly, motioning for ranboo to take the hint and play along.

' oh well, a due year anniversary is big, yes? we make you a special desert? you can be our taste testers. '

this was a nice guy, they shouldn't play him.

but it's not really playing if they tip well, is it?

probably not.

' oh that'd be wonderful! right, '

juliet stops in her words, ranboo fearing what's going g to come next.

' right dante? my love? ' she finishes.

oh she's really in it now.

' yes, bruna, my love. '

this is fun.

' ah, dante and bruna. what a lovely couple! ' the waiter says happily and leads them to a table.

' we have special on menu tonight, tagliatelle. '

' i haven't had that in ages! ' juliet exclaims, putting a little more enthusiasm in her voice than usual.

' why yes, bruna, it had a bad effect on your stomach remember? '

as soon as ranboo says that, juliet's face turns the slightest bit red, but she masks it quickly.

' alrighty, no tagliatelle, i suppose. '

' no, no we'll both try it. '

' wonderful! ' the waiter says, holding a skeptic look on his face before turning towards the kitchen.

' oh my god, why would you say that? '

' what? you called me dante! '

' it's not a bad name! '

' for me it is. '

' is this about the guy who stole your basketball in sixth grade? '

' no. '

' oh my god it is! '

' you're still hung up about that? '

' im hung up about a lot of things. '

' you and me both. ' she relates.

her eyes are prettier than usual.

' are you wearing mascara? '

' yeah? it's only a little bit, should i take it off? '

' no! no, it looks great. ' ranboo rushes out quickly, not wanting to give her the wrong idea.

' i just think you look just as amazing without it. '

' just as amazing? ' juliet raises an eyebrow.

' yeah, but, you know, like, in a friend way? '

that made something flip in her.

her eyes darkened a bit, and her shoulders slouched the smallest amount.

did he do something again?

he's asked himself that question more times than he'd like to admit.

' are you alright? '

' yeah, sorry. ' she replies, her face contorting into some type of forced smile.

can the food be here now? he's getting impatient and really doesn't know what else to do but look at her.

her, her, her, her.

it's all her.

the person who shakes and completely jumbles his mind with just a look.

yeah he really needs a distraction.

' your drinks, lovebirds. '

that's a new one.

yay, drinks.

that atleast occupies some of their time.

he really had this all planned out, them talking the whole night, having hopefully really good food, hearing her laugh as much as he can.

it's not quite going that way.

but no matter, there's nothing authentic italian food can't change.

he thinks.

' so, do you think it's going to rain tonight? ' ranboo asks, a feeble attempt at trying to start a conversation.

' not sure, it looks like it though. '

' it's been raining a lot lately. '

' it has. '

' i like the rain. '

' so do i. '

' remember the day we walked to the beach? '

he could never forget that day.

or the day they had a water fight in her kitchen.

those, and many other moments with her, are tattooed into his brain.

plastered and painted in his skin like permanent ink.

' i do. '

' you kissed me that day. '

' i know. '

' do you ever plan on doing it again? '

' what? '

' its just a simple question, i'm getting fed up with your little sneak attacks. '

' oh. uh, no? '

' okay. '

' is that it? is that what you want me to say? '

' no i just- '

' because i don't know what to say to you anymore!' ranboo says, a little too loud for a calm nice restaurant.

' oh, i don't know, maybe an explanation! '

' you want an explanation? '

' why are you yelling?! ' a voice on the other side of the room says.

' yeah, ranboo, why are we even talking about this? '

' maybe we should talk about this! '

' you want to talk? '

' yes! '

' alright. '

' outside? '

' yes outside! '

' fine. '

it feels like there's fire flaring around them.

' explanation. now. ' juliet demands once they're a good distance from the restaurant, light sprinkles of rain tapping on every surface.

' okay. here's your explanation. '

' mhm. '

' i just felt like it. '

' you felt like it? '

' what kind of horrible explanation is that? '

' it's the one i have. '

' how about you tell me why exactly you felt like it huh? why you did it twice. because you like to be very secretive about that. '

' i, god, i don't know! '

' really? '

' i'm leaving ranboo, your inability to not commit to absolutely anything has finally hit me in the face like a brick. '

' i, okay, wait please don't leave! ' ranboo's hands are now threading through his hair, his nails probably leaving marks on his scalp.

' why? ' juliet asks, wanting a reason as to why she should stay with him and put up with this continuous torture like feeling.

' because! '

' im going to need you to do better than that. '

now they're yelling, rain once again drenching them.

they've been in this position far too many times.

' because i like you! okay? '

' huh? ' juliet shouts over the rain, not able to hear the boy correctly.

' i- '

i love you.

' you're all i think about, okay? '

now she can hear him, she's allowed herself to get closer.

' all the time, i just head your voice even if you're not near me. '

' you've, god, you've invaded my brain! '

' you make me do things i don't even realize i'm doing, and it sounds so bad but i don't care! '

i love you.

no, anything but that, he thinks.

' just; everything about you! you're great okay? and you may not realize it, or accept it, but you are! '

' and, '

' and what, ranboo? ' juliet yells.

she wants to hear the words too.

' i love you! '

' i really, really, love you. ' he continues.

' and you don't have to feel the same way, it's a- '

he's about to take it back, but once he sees that juliet is getting closer and closer to him, he just decides to be quiet because he, doesn't, he can't ruin this.

and juliet does something that she's wanted to do for a while.

she kisses him.

like he kissed her, but with more love than she thought he could reciprocate.

but he did.

and she loves him too.

thank god.

that would've been awkward.

wait,

what about the food?

- six days later

' oh look at the boy! he's practically sweating! '

' i am sweating, mrs. vattene. '

' now ranboo, what did i say! ' she said it as a question but if it was in writing, it definitely deserved an exclamation point.

' to not drink as much soda? ' ranboo said with a nervous smile.

juliet's mother asked him to call her by her first name, he has yet to follow through with that.

' i have a rose! a rose has been found! ' juliet's dad bursted in the door, as expected, a pink rose in hand.

' only one? ' ranboo raised an eyebrow, he should have planned this out more.

but he did plan it out.

he was just a bit distracted, juliet was less than ten feet away from him at the time.

' do you think i own a flower shop, boy? ' the man set the flower into ranboo's hand, not bothering to tell him that the thorns were still sharp on the stem.

' no, of course not. '

ranboo's hands shook with nerves.

she already likes him, why is he so nervous?

maybe because asking her to be his girlfriend is sort of cementing their relationship.

or because he can't keep still around her and never has been able to.

' are you sure you don't want to wear a suit? i'm sure juliet would love it. im not sure if you've noticed, but you're quite a handsome boy ranboo. ' her mothers tone had ranboo completely sure she was being serious.

juliet would definitely make fun of him for wearing a suit.

oh god, juliet.

julietjulietjulietjuliet.

the girl who had plagued ranboo's mind for years.

and now he's going to ask her to be his girlfriend?

that night that they "confessed their love for eachother" was nearly six days ago.

did juliet expect him to ask her then? or would she rather them not date at all but still kiss and hold hands and stuff?

he's not doing this.

what is he thinking? of course he's doing this.

should he put on a record?

no juliet would think that was too cliche, even though ranboo has seen her face tint a pretty shade of pink and eyes contort into an expression of complete awe because of every single "cliche" romantic comedy they had ever watched together.

the lock on the vattene's front door made a sound and the door knob jiggled.

juliet's parents quickly rushed up the stairs and disappeared.

oh god.

nope.

he's leaving.

he'd never leave her.

he wouldn't even leave her if she asked.

atleast he would leave her physically, of course he would, if she asked, but a part of him would still be with her even then.

is that creepy?

even more creepy than ranboo looking through his own window and looking at juliet through hers?

its not creepy.

not creepy at all.

' ranboo? '

her hair was braided, it was so long that it was down past her hips, so braiding was the only option when she went to the beach.

her face was pink as well.

probably not as much as ranboo's, considering hers is most likely from a sunburn and ranboo's is purely because his crush of like, forever, is standing right in front of him.

' hi. ' he said softly. with a long breath at the end of it.

' you look great, you smell great too, but why are you standing in the middle of my living room while your hand is bleeding? '

ranboo let out a soft laugh at her words and almost blurted out the big question, but then he stopped.

because his hand was bleeding. a lot. he also realized that he had been death gripping the rose juliet's father probably stole from the old woman on the left of their house, a nasty woman. she used to throw shoes at ranboo and juliet when they would carelessly get too close to her rose bushes.

' oh shit. ' he said, eyes wide.

blood has never been his thing.

juliet pulled him over to the kitchen sink, her hand in his hand pressing hard so blood wouldn't fall onto the tiles of her house.

the rose was in the hand that wasn't holding his, it sat in her fingers delicately.

they stood in front of the kitchen sink and she let water run over and into the, honestly, quite harsh pricks the thorns had left.

' i have actually no idea what i'm doing. ' juliet laughed breathily as she was turning ranboo's palm every which way to get water in every bleeding part

ranboo just looked at her.

looked at her with the shine of the sun, looked at her with the glow of the moon, looked at her with his eyes, the eyes that had admired her ever since they'd became bestfriends.

sure, he didn't know when they were five that he was in love with her, but he knew she was the only one he wanted to play at recess.

and at the park.

and the only one he ever wanted to do his homework with.

and fall off swings with.

and now, he knows, that he definitely fell in love with her.

' okay, ' juliet started as she put random bandaids in awkward positions on ranboo's hand. ' what's up? why are you here? you didn't text me you were coming over. '

right.

yeah.

okay.

' so.' ranboo didn't know how to start.

' you're like really pretty. ' he said.

okay. this is okay.

juliet's cheeks tinted a shade darker, ranboo wants to paint his room that color.

' thank you. ' she said quietly with a smile, her hands fiddling with the hem of her tank top.

' and- not just that, you're really smart. like not in the child prodigy kind of way but just the way that you have such an admirable outlook on everything and it makes you look sophisticated and i really like that about you, ' he breathed out deeply, ' love that about you. '

juliet still hadn't completely caught on, but her smile was growing with every sentence.

' and you just, i dont know- '

words. words.

come on ranboo, you think them, you feel them, so why can't you say them?

' like- i feel so good when im around you? and that's probably obvious to everyone around us and they always ask, like, if we're dating, or something- '

okay, now he's just winging it.

her eyes held a curious but excited look.

' -and for so long i've been thinking, "i want to tell them that we are dating" but you know, we currently aren't and never have and, '

ranboo stopped for a second, then admitted,

' i would really like you to be my girlfriend. like a lot. and our zodiac signs are also compatible, if that helps your answer to lean to the "yes" side. '

juliet's mouth dropped open and ranboo squinted his eyes and pulled his mouth tight into a very uncomfortable expression, like he was preparing for a punch.

she shut her mouth, smiled even wider, and said,

' what will you do if i don't? ' oh she was cruel.

ranboo scanned his brain, searching for any answer she might like.

' i'll uh, i'll pull a regulus black? '

and her mouth dropped open again.

' you know who that is? ' she sounded amazed.

' uh, yeah? ' he didn't know how to defend himself, he found out that timothee chalamet was regulus blacks usual faceclaim and researched the character from there.

ranboo brought it up again, now sounding more confident than he had been a few minutes ago. ' so? do you want to be my girlfriend jewl? '

juliet stood on the tips of her toes, which still was barely tall enough, gave him a very quick kiss, and said,

' yes, pretty boy. yes i will. '

-

that night, ranboo had slept over and they watched every single one of the favorite movies together.

juliet couldn't believe it.

couldn't believe him. how he was so unorganized but managed to be the most romantic person ever?

this nervous, awkward, uncoordinated, amazing, considerate boy, was hers.

her neck ached from sleeping on the couch, and the time it took for her to rise and sit up straight was honestly a bit concerning.

the sun was bright in her eyes, her hair was touching the back of her neck, the blanket that was on her was itchy,

but as she turned her head to see the note on the other side of the pillow she slept on, she no longer cared about the sun, or her hair, or the incredibly itchy blanket.

she cared about the horrible, but charming, writing on the tiny piece of paper next to her.

it read,

Went to get donuts,
didn't want to wake you :)
Love, your BOYFRIEND,
Ranboo

in honor of 50k reads on this book, i added over 1200 words to this chapter as of july fourth 2022, the earlier part of this chapter before the ' six days later ' was written in august 2021. i wanted to add to this chapter because it felt very unfinished. (i also miss writing this book lol)

anyway, happy fourth of july <3

rest in peace technoblade. you were such a light for so many people. someone people felt comfort and security in and you still are but in another way now. you were so so cool. <3

techno's cancer research foundation which is still up as of now: https://tiltify.com/+team-technoblade/tests35352

your dear sad melancholy author

this is the 'last' chapter of the book.

im sad

je t'aime

i love you all