A/N: Choo choo the Frednielle train is showing up on the horizon and coming nearing~ :D
I'll say this before things start Going In A Direction: trust the process lmao. I penned the ending long ago and I think you'll like it :) we just have to get through teenage love drama first.
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It was past midnight and Fred was still playing Oasis Origin with Danielle. Now that they knew who each other were, they'd turned to voice chat so they could yell at each other more efficiently. And Fred did mean "yell", because they certainly screamed a lot at each other and Danielle was easily excited. He'd gotten used to Danielle's high pitched screams in his ear.
It was addictive and a good way to destress. A new event had launched and they both had items they wanted, so why not grind for the event currency together to make it easier? So they embarked on duel after duel, and steadied into a reliable rhythm with a nice 75% win rate. Before they knew it, they had played for almost two hours.
"I wish we didn't have school tomorrow," Danielle whined. "Or more like today."
"Yeah, damn, it's getting late," Fred said. "I hope Easter comes faster."
"It's like a month away, it'll come soon enough. But I feel like I'll be stressed over the May exams during spring break."
Fred gave an exaggerated groan. "Don't mention those cursed things, Dani!"
"Sorry? I guess?" Danielle's voice took on a snarky tone, which Fred liked because it meant Danielle was more comfortable with him. He'd heard too much from Eugene about Danielle being mean to him (or maybe Eugene just liked complaining about Danielle. Or simply talking about Danielle).
"Anyways, I guess we have to go to bed now. Can't be too tired for class tomorrow."
"Aww, look at you being the responsible one, Freddie. But yeah, you've got a point."
(It was nice hearing Danielle say his nickname.)
"See you tomorrow at school."
"See you tomorrow."
Ideally, Fred would go straight to bed after hanging up. But obviously, he was a procrastinator, so he ended up scrolling through Instagram reels for a good twenty minutes before he actually decided to lay down in bed. And lying down didn't guarantee he was going to sleep. Idly, he decided to go on Forging Friendships.
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Name: BlueInk
Posted on: March 8. 12:45pm.
Message: CAN WE FAST FORWARD TO EASTER ALREADY
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Very quickly, Fred received a response from Danielle, who was probably also procrastinating on sleeping like he was.
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➔ Name: LilacBerry
Commented on: March 8. 12:47pm.
Comment: BUT EXAMS
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➔ Name: BlueInk
Commented on: March 8. 12:47pm.
Comment: SHUSH
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Fred then refreshed the "Sea" of messages and noticed one that Danielle had sent out some minutes ago.
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Name: LilacBerry
Posted on: March 8. 12:32am.
Message: listening to music is a bad idea lol now i'm too hyped to sleep... dancing in my room imagining myself screaming out loud YOU MADE A REBEL OF A CARELESS MAN'S CAREFUL DAUGHTER, YOU ARE THE BEST THING THAT'S NEVER BEEN MINEEEEEEEEEE >.<
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Looked like Danielle's Swiftie tendencies were always with her. Fred looked at a few other messages, then returned, and to his astonishment, Danielle's message was gone. Thinking it was a network error, he refreshed the page.
Nope. Still gone. But her reply to him about exams were still there.
Huh.
Fred knew he shouldn't overthink, but he also, astonishingly enough (or not), had common sense. And Danielle sharing lyrics about "you" never being "mine" seemed like a fairly obvious reference to something Fred now had confirmation about.
Which was probably why she deleted it. And Fred had a feeling Danielle knew she shouldn't had posted it, but she was emotional and impulsive and was like "screw it". Then he came online and she actually went "screw it" and nuked the post.
In a way, he was just like her. Impulsive and champion of making bad decisions and being chronically unable to get over first crushes.
Fred shut his eyes and tried to sleep, but his mind was awake. The events of the past few weeks came washed over him like waves on a beach during night. Although a small, immature part of Fred was selfishly glad that Arthur was now out of the picture, the majority part of him was upset that Alex had gotten hurt and had gotten embarrassed by someone she loved and trusted. Like, okay, okay, Fred wanted them to break up because he was a stupid obnoxious jealous teenager, but he'd always kind of hoped it would be amiable so at least Alex would be fine... kind of.
... But to be honest, Alex did seem okay after the breakup. Of course she was hurt and melancholic, but it wasn't to the point of despair when Rook was forced to ditch her during her campaign to save the Lynn Building. Fred, nosy as always, couldn't help but compare the two in his head. Maybe Rook had caused more emotional damage, but it wasn't like he wanted to hurt Alex, plus he had family issues and was working a part time job. It was unfair to be harsh to a struggling teen with an ill parent, plus Rook kept a respectful and civil distance from Alex and seemed fairly harmless now. Rook's situation was unfortunate, but at least they'd both made peace with it.
But Arthur was supposed to be the mature and cool leader or whatever. But the way he acted towards Alex didn't seem very mature. And maybe the honeymoon phase had finally ended (after three months) and Alex decided they weren't a right fit. Either way, to Fred at least it seemed like Alex had learned from her previous relationship and wasn't going to let this one shatter her. And Fred was proud of her strength.
But at the same time, it felt weird. Fred felt weird. Because there was this aggravating nagging voice in the back of his head reminding him that Alex was once again single, and it wasn't like he had a completely non-existent chance (even though it was basically non-existent).
But Fred had a feeling that Alex was disillusioned with romance. Heck, he felt disillusioned with romance. Why was it so complicated and wacky? A friend was what Alex needed, and if she needed him (as a friend), he would be there (as a friend).
And besides, Fred knew he had foolishly pined after Alex for years now and had staunchly never made any moves for many good reasons. And maybe he should never make those moves. His feelings had kind of died down anyways, if he were to be honest. Ever since November, he'd been trying to get over her. And it was probably a sign of emotional growth for him to move on from something he developed years ago. Especially because it was unfeasible and could potentially mess up their friendship (and by extension, their entire friend group).
At this point, even though it was painfully obvious to everyone except the twins, Alex could never know about Fred's secret pining. Fred was certain it would screw things up. She would see him differently and in a bad kind of different. Sure, Fred had romantic feelings or whatever, but damn man, friendship was just as important, if not more important! Fred was smart (on occasion). He wouldn't risk it. He wouldn't risk it for his (fading) one-sided feelings.
Soooo. Best to shut that door for now. Or maybe forever. Fred knew he was tired of unrequited love.
Which brought up the second point of overthinking: Danielle.
Fred had an inkling he was thinking about Danielle more these days. Maybe more than he should. But who could blame him when he knew she had a crush on him, and had a crush on him since day one and said crush had somehow persisted even when she'd seen how obnoxious and silly he could be?
Was Fred an egotistical asshole because he liked being liked?
And would he be an even bigger asshole for liking her back because she liked him first?
It was human nature to be flattered, right? And Fred did genuinely enjoy Danielle's company. Because they were friends, he felt affection for her, and she was cute... and it was kind of hot when she was confident stood up for herself. The only reason Fred added "kind of" was because he didn't want to send his inner monologue to jail. Well, to a deeper layer of jail than it was already in.
And Fred had a feeling a certain Eugene Lee would take murder tips from Bree and stage an accident in the basketball team changing room and then use his skull for a soliloquy or whatever those drama kids did these days.
Okay. Okay. Danielle was cute. And a good friend. And they got along really well.
And she liked him.
She liked him.
She liked him!
(The emphasis on different words each time was important.)
Fred knew people liked him. He knew people had crushes on him or whatever. But as he'd established earlier, somehow, it hit different when it was Danielle. Because she'd liked him for years, didn't seem to have stopped, and continued liking him even when he was a friend and not some distant hot classmate of hers.
And she still had feelings even after the mortifying reveal. It had been once again confirmed not even thirty minutes ago.
And so considering all of that, it wouldn't be horrible for Fred to start thinking about her in a less platonic way.
Although once Fred's train of thought went there, he realised he'd started thinking about her some time ago. Before he was conscious about it. Before Alex and Arthur broke up.
Okay, romance was weird, Fred was weird, it was too late, he was definitely overthinking. And it was probably even more weird because Fred had to rewire his brain to consider someone else as a potential... crush figure? He'd been used to his futile pining for so long. Now he was switching it up, or at least attempting to, or more likely he'd subconsciously switched up anyway and ugh he didn't even know what the hell he was thinking right now.
New things. Scary things. Feelings. Bad feelings. Good feelings?
... Great. Fred's crazy, exhausted brain was delving into intelligent monkey-speak. Surely Danielle found that attractive.
Oh God. Why was he thinking about whether Danielle found him attractive? What was he even thinking? And why did he already know the answer (she liked him) (she had a crush on him) (she had feelings for him) (these were all synonyms) (both him and his inner monologue as dictated by beyond the fourth wall should sleep)?
Maybe this was like a mosquito bite. By the time it started to itch, the catalyst had long happened.
And once he went down that diabolical train of thought—
What if he tried? What if he actually tried to open up his stupid mind? Tried to consider liking someone else?
What if he liked someone who actually, sincerely liked him back?
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(So at school, maybe Fred did try to approach a certain girl. Just to test the waters. Not to imply they were anything other than friends. Just trying to see if he could coax his brain to feel the Feelings.
So at school, maybe someone did notice. A certain someone who was a drama kid who may or may not be performing soliloquies with a skull (that probably wasn't real).
And maybe, just maybe, a seed of jealousy was sprouting.
And maybe, just maybe, the long-standing one-directional arrows of unrequited feelings were slowly turning.)
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Name: CloudShift
Posted on: March 8. 9:45pm.
Message: ugh academic burnout is getting to me so bad. feels like ive been thrown down a flight of stairs
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➔ Name: DollyLlama
Commented on: March 8. 9:48pm.
Comment: dude...
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➔ Name: CloudShift
Commented on: March 8. 9:49pm.
Comment: what
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Name: LilacBerry
Posted on: March 8. 10:01pm.
Comment: why am i listening to august on loop it's literally march and still cold
wanting was enough >.> for me it was enough >.> living for the hope of it all
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➔ Name: CloudShift
Commented on: March 8. 10:04pm.
Comment: yeah pining for someone who would never like you is such a mood haha. hahhwhwa
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➔ Name: UndeadFox
Commented on: March 8: 10:07pm.
Comment: cloud...
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➔ Name: CloudShift
Commented on: March 8: 10:08pm.
Comment: Yes?
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➔ Name: UndeadFox
Commented on: March 8: 10:08pm.
Comment: Nvm.
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➔ Name: CloudShift
Commented on: March 8: 10:10pm.
Comment: You're gonna tell me to get therapy aren't you
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➔ Name: UndeadFox
Commented on: March 8: 10:12pm.
Comment: Hm. Well.
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Name: Anonymous
Posted on: March 8. 10:26pm.
Message: Feels like im stuck in a horrid love triangle in which literally everyone is losing :/ Hate inflicting what I feel to someone else
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➔ Name: DollyLlama
Commented on: March 8. 10:30pm.
Comment: bros got rizz
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➔ Name: Anonymous
Commented on: March 8. 10:31pm.
Comment: I ALMOST WISH I DIDNT NOW
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Name: TrueQuill
Posted on: March 8. 11:46pm.
Message: These days feel like a limbo... I'm stuck. I'm moving forward. I'm moving backward. What is going on. The time between winter and spring is supposed to be cheerful and optimistic or whatever but it just feels weird
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➔ Name: DollyLlama
Commented on: March 8. 11:50pm.
Comment: at least it isn't April yet... because April is the cruelest month :)
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➔ Name: TrueQuill
Commented on: March 8. 11:52pm.
Comment: Wowww look at you being literary
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➔ Name: DollyLlama
Commented on: March 8. 11:52pm.
Comment: :D
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➔ Name: UndeadFox
Commented on: March 8. 11:55pm.
Comment: You know what they say about never trusting yourself after 9pm? Yeah sometimes sleep does stop the spiralling about feeling weird
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➔ Name: LilacBerry
Commented on: March 8. 11:56pm.
Comment: so says the person who never sleeps
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➔ Name: CloudShift
Commented on: March 8. 11:56pm.
Comment: +1
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➔ Name: UndeadFox
Commented on: March 8. 11:57pm.
Comment: Wow guys. I sure feel the love (:
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A/N: Yayy spring is coming :) sunshine :) rain :)
Thanks for reading! :D