Quick note: in this universe Emma doesn't exist. Or she does, but she's in England. This is not because I hate her or anything (on the contrary, I quite liked her character) but because in this timeline her whole character would be useless. Ámbar really doesn't need more motivation to fight for Simón that she already has, so what would be the point of throwing Emma in here if she'd just be in the background doing nothing? skdfns
Anyway, that's that. Thank for reading this oneshot that somehow turned into a multichapter 😂
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Being the manager of the Roller was way more work than she thought it would be.
Technically she had the directors of Vidia to help her out, but in truth, she had mountains of paperwork to fill out on her own and some of them she didn't even understand. She got down to it, putting all her effort into doing it perfectly because she needed to prove that she could handle it, but it was turning out to be difficult.
Which sucked, not only because she was stressed out but because it had prevented her from talking to Simón since that morning.
And they really needed to talk.
Last night had been... something. Sure, it was out of impulse, but it had been great. Best night of her life, probably. The only problem? That they were found out right after, and, as always, Simón freaked out. Well, she freaked out too, it's not like she enjoyed being found covered only by a sheet and in a compromising position where there was no way to misinterpret the situation. But she knew how she felt, she knew what she wanted and she had gotten it... or so she thought, because he didn't seem so convinced.
All that time telling Emilia she wasn't going to fall for Simón... it was so laughable because she never fell out of love with him. And she tried, believe her, she tried. But it was like he could disarm her with just one look. One smile.
Lately, he didn't smile at her that often.
She knew Emilia thought he was a loser, but she didn't think so. Half the things she had spat at him the previous day she didn't mean them. Okay, maybe sometimes she did think he was a coward, but she knew that he didn't believe he was better than her. Simón wasn't the kind of person that thought he was better than anyone; Benicio was.
Oh, Benicio.
She did kind of feel bad for him. A little. He acted like he just wanted to be with her to have a partner in crime and because she was beautiful though, so it'd probably only be a blow for his ego, but still. Kissing someone else would've been one thing, but having totally mind-blowing sex with said person? That was something else entirely.
But what she had told Simón was true: she never said anything about dating. She liked letting Benicio say that in front of Simón because she expected to get a reaction out of him, but it was never her intention to date him seriously. She even told him plenty of times that he shouldn't get confused, that she knew what she wanted and it wasn't him.
She shouldn't have used him like that, that was her bad.
Anyway, there was no point in crying over something she couldn't change— what was done was done. What she could change was what would come after... and that was why she needed to talk to Simón. She needed to let him know what it had meant to her, what he meant for her because she didn't have the strength to deny it anymore.
And she needed to do something about Benicio because, if she wanted to be with Simón, he was in the way. But she didn't have time to do that either. She'd break up with him right now over text but she wasn't that heartless. These were things you're supposed to do in person. And besides... she didn't want to end up alone if Simón still didn't want her.
Which she was starting to think was the case, because every time their eyes had met that day, he had looked away instantly.
God, she wanted to shake him. How could it be possible for him to act so distant after spending the night together? Did it not mean anything at all for him? No, he must have felt something, there was no way he didn't. She could still hear his raspy voice saying that he was crazy for her... but then again, maybe it was a heat of the moment thing. Ugh, how could things be so messed up?
Maybe he thought she didn't feel anything? After all his monologue of them being different and saying she refuses to be better maybe he was scared of that. How could she prove that this was serious for her? How could she show him that, with him, her walls and defenses didn't work? That she didn't want to feel but she couldn't get him out of her heart? How could she show him that she was willing to do things right for him?
She could tell him but words didn't seem to work between them. Last night was an example of that.
What about actions then? Was there anything she could do as a gesture of good faith?
As she filled up the papers of the Roller's inventory and deliveries, she came up with an idea.
**********************
It was afternoon when Simón witnessed alongside his friends how Ámbar gathered everyone and announced her idea of making a Flash Open. All day long they had been exchanging looks from afar, but he quickly looked away every time it happened.
He still wasn't over the fact that he had slept with his boss. No, they hadn't just 'slept' together— They'd had completely screwed each other's brains out, which was a whole different matter and it made his temperature rise only thinking about it. He only wished he had been thinking before any of it happened, or during, instead of just throwing himself at her without a care in the—
Wait.
Simón put down the rental skates he had been fixing in the lockers room and racked his brain for a memory of last night. A memory he didn't find, because it didn't happen.
Oh god, he hadn't worn a condom.
He whined and dug his face in his hands. How stupid could he be?!
So not only he had slept with Ámbar, who was in a relationship, and was his boss, but he also hadn't thought about protecting themselves while at it.
This was just great.
But she hadn't said anything either so maybe she had that covered. That was most probably the case now that he thought about it. Ámbar was a smart girl, not like him who was an idiot.
He'd still had to ask her though, he had to make sure.
Hell, how had he ended up in this mess? ...Okay, he knew exactly how, he remembered quite clearly. But the thing now was, how did he get things back to normal? ...Did he want them to?
He loved Ámbar, he knew he loved her, but she was dating someone else and she was still adamant on keeping this dark façade. He knew he loved the real Ámbar but... did he love this one as well? If she never changed back to who she used to be, would he be okay with that?
It would get him in trouble with his friends, with his team... Actually, it pretty much would only mean trouble.
But he was still considering it and that said something. Especially when she said she wanted the Open Music to be a boys vs girls so they could all get over their differences and put an end to the war between teams. His heart really soared at hearing that, at seeing her smile at everyone and talk about peace. He caught a glimpse of the Ámbar he knew she could be, and he thought maybe, just maybe, the idea of going back to her wasn't so crazy after all.
... Then he compared Benicio's handwriting with the number of Felipe Mendevilla and he grabbed all of those previous thoughts and sent them to hell.
*************************
Ámbar was taking out the green folder that had the documents she needed from under the bar table when Simón approached her suddenly.
"I need to talk to you."
Ámbar looked at him with surprise. After all his avoiding, she'd thought she would have to be the one to approach him first.
"Me too," she said earnestly, glad that he had come to her. "I've been meaning to all day, but I have all this work and—"
"It'll be quick," he interrupted her, and that was when she noticed he looked serious, almost like he was mad.
Concerned, she put the folder down on the bar and decided she could spare a few minutes, especially since she'd been wanting to talk to him all day. "Alright."
Simón opened his mouth but then seemed to reconsider and sealed his lips. He started again, seeming more sheepish than grim this time.
"Actually, it's two things. The first one it's that, um... Well, I realized that we didn't— I mean, I didn't..." He looked around like checking no one was near before whispering the next part "...wear any protection last night, which was totally irresponsible of me, so I need to know if you..."
He left the question hanging, but the meaning was clear. Now Ámbar understood why he looked so serious. She hurried to ease his mind.
"I'm on the pill, don't worry."
Simón relaxed a little at hearing that, but then just as quickly, he tensed back up and a grimace soured his face. "Right. Benicio. How could I forget," he remarked, bringing his gaze elsewhere.
Ámbar's eyes widened.
"What? No, no, it's not because of him. We haven't— It's not that," she rushed to explain "I just started taking them with Matteo and never stopped cause it helps with the cramps and regulates your cycle." Aaand in her rush said more than she probably needed to. But whatever, it was common stuff.
Simón nodded as he processed that.
"And now that we're finally talking about it," she continued, taking advantage of his silence to get all out of her chest, "I want you to know that—"
"Actually, Ámbar..." He interrupted again, looking down as he said the next words. "... I think it'll be better if we forget about what happened".
Her heart stopped.
"...What?"
She couldn't have heard that right.
Simón remained silent. She huffed out a laugh, weak and mirthless. "You're not serious. Look at you, you can't even look me in the eyes."
He looked up then, and she almost wished he hadn't because the brown of his eyes, usually warm like sweet, melted chocolate, looked as cold as ice when they locked with hers.
"I am serious."
There was no uncertainty she could hold onto anymore— He did mean it.
Her heart, which had seemed suspended in time since he first suggested it, finally fell. She had hoped it had meant something for him...
How could it not mean something for him? How dare he?
"Oh, I get it. You got what you wanted so now we're done, is that it?" She said, crossing her arms in front of her, her voice dripping with venom.
Simón looked scandalized. "Of course not! Ámbar—"
"You're the worst, I can't believe you!" She accused with pain. She thought he was different, she thought he was a nice guy, she thought—
"I'm telling you is not about that!" Simón defended, and he really looked outraged that she thought that.
"Then what is it?" She asked, not knowing what to believe anymore.
"This!"
Ámbar watched as he took out two torn out pages and showed them to her.
"What? Two pieces of paper? Are you kidding me?" She said, offended because it didn't seem relevant and had nothing to do with anything.
Paying no mind to her tone, he pointed to each one with a grim face.
"This is the list of songs that Benicio said he'd agree to sing with us in the Open. He has been impossible to work with by the way," he noted with frustration. "And this is Felipe Mendevilla's phone number. Or so we thought because, if you look at the handwriting, they're pretty similar, and I find it very weird that after asking to see Luna right away he'd just go on a trip and don't return her calls... So, my question is: Did you guys change Felipe's number?"
Ámbar felt her heart rate rise as he looked at her. Now it all made sense— His bleak, serious expression, his cold attitude. He knew. He wanted confirmation but he knew.
He wasn't supposed to find out about that; no one was. It was clear that he was mad, and she couldn't help but think that this was the worst timing possible for him to find out about this. Why did her past always have to come to bite her when it came to him?
She thought about denying it but there was close to no point. Then she thought about begging him to forgive her but she quickly got rid of that idea. She was Ámbar Smith, she didn't beg. And also, she could see why this would bother him but it was still not excuse to ignore what happened between them.
He thought he could sleep with her one day and the next jump at the first opportunity to accuse her? That it would somehow erase his actions? That was not how it worked.
She crossed her arms in front of her and looked at him, defiant. "So what if we did? What's the big deal?"
There. At least she was going to own her doings.
Simón looked at her with wide eyes.
"What do you mean 'what's the big deal'? It's horrible!" He said outraged, which in turn made her outraged.
"What we did is horrible? What about what you did?" She retorted, all the anger from the past days coming back at her.
"What did we do?" He asked, having the nerve to look clueless.
"You ruined our festival!" She growled. The memory of that day, of them entering the rink only to find the bleachers empty, was still fresh in her mind. The soul-eating disappointment had left too big an indentation to just forget. "We lost a huge professional opportunity as skaters because of you!"
Simón looked at her disapprovingly. "We didn't ruin anything, and Luna doesn't deserve any of this."
He sounded so sorry for Luna that she had to roll her eyes. "Is just a phone number, she won't die."
Simón didn't seem to see it that way though.
"It's not just a phone number because, what if Felipe had an awesome offer for her? She's very talented and he saw that and maybe now that offer is lost forever because you changed that number."
"I'm very talented as well and I could've received a thousand offers, but I didn't, and you know why? Because of her. So now we're even."
Simón's eyes looked at her for a long time. The annoyance made way to sympathy, even sadness.
"Ámbar... I understand you're angry and that you were hurt by what happened with the festival. Sometimes we do things we shouldn't when we're angry. But... I mean, open your eyes, Ámbar."
All his body language seemed to be begging for her to understand what he was saying, and she did, deep down she did but—
"In my eyes, she's at fault. She's the one that deprived me of this and I- I'm furious with her. I can't control it, my blood boils and I can't help it," she confessed.
She was frustrated to no end. It wasn't fair that her festival was ruined after they worked so hard. It wasn't fair the audience changed the choreography they rehearsed so much for a spontaneous one on the street. It wasn't fair that Luna always got what she wanted while she didn't— None of it was fair.
"I can see that," Simón replied, solemn. "But you can't just keep doing these things, you're just sinking yourself lower."
Sinking herself lower?
"You didn't seem to care about any of that last night," she spat.
She wasn't going to let him lecture her after what he had done, what they had done together. Maybe he was eager to forget, but she wasn't going to let him do it so easily.
Simón's mouth shut and he looked away, checking once more for any eavesdropping. She was half expecting him to change the subject again, but instead, he closed his eyes and sighed. When he opened them again and stared into hers, there was no judgment anymore. He didn't look mad or distant. He was looking at her openly for the first time since everything and it made her slacken her stance. She let her arms fall to her sides, immediately missing their comfort, but willing to brace it as he spoke with honesty for once.
"Ámbar, what happened between us was... intense. And I won't tell you that I didn't want it because I'd be lying. But I think we can both agree that we let it get too far. I mean, you have a boyfriend and—"
"I already told you that—"
"—And, even if that wasn't an issue, I can't be with someone that wants to hurt my friends."
Ámbar felt a pang in her chest.
"She hurt me first!" She bemoaned, trying to make him see from her point of view. It wasn't like she had done it out of evilness— Luna had taken something from her again, so all she did was get even.
Simón took a step closer to her and his eyes locked with hers with kindness.
"Ámbar... I get it. I understand that you can't control how you feel. But I also know that... the Ámbar I like knows that it was wrong."
His eyes danced between hers and Ámbar felt her anger subdue. How did he do that? How could he ease her with just one look?
"... Maybe, I don't know," she found herself whispering. Maybe she just wanted to be the Ámbar he could see in her. Or maybe, without the anger, she really did regret it— she didn't know.
But she liked the little smile that he gave her.
"See? You doubted there. That's step one. And I'm gonna give you the chance to take the next one."
Ámbar frowned. "What are you talking about?"
His smile turned bigger as he spoke matter-of-factly. "You're gonna talk to Luna. You're gonna tell her everything and apologize, sincerely."
Her eyes widened. "What? No, I'm not." One thing was admitting to him that it was wrong, another very different thing was saying that to Luna.
He looked like he knew she was going to object, but he didn't recede.
"Ámbar, I could tell her myself. But I wanna give you this chance to fix things. Because I believe that deep down you regret it, and that this isn't you. I believe that you're hurt and that's why you lash out but you don't really want to be fighting all the time. You just need a chance to do things right, and I trust you will. Because I believe the real Ámbar is still in there... Please, please don't prove me wrong."
There were those begging eyes again. They were always begging her for something: to be nicer, to be honest, to feel... But this time they were asking her not to break his trust in her, to not let him down.
And that was the last thing she wanted.
"Okay. I'll talk to Luna."
A huge weight seemed to lift from his shoulders as he smiled. "Thank you."
They stared at each other for a moment longer until he seemed to realize what he was doing and he looked away, clearing his throat awkwardly.
"Here," he said, grabbing the green folder and handing it to her. "I won't take away any more of your time, sorry."
"It's okay," she said as she received it. Their hands touched when she did, but neither said anything about it.
Muttering he should get back to work, Simón turned around and walked towards the lockers.
Ámbar saw him go as she hugged the folder to her chest.
She hoped she had made the right decision.
******************
Ámbar spent the rest of the day working, convincing Emilia and Benicio that the Open was a good idea for their public image (which wasn't a lie; it really could work to their advantage) and rehearsing with the rest of the girls for their music number.
She was exhausted, so she climbed to her bedroom right after she ate something and she was about to go in when she heard her name.
Simón had also been working and rehearsing with the guys, so he hadn't gotten the chance to talk to her again since before. So, he chose to do it before going to sleep because he really needed to settle that issue.
"Ámbar."
She turned towards him with a little smile.
"Why, hello there. Came for your goodnight kiss?" Ámbar purred as she got closer, and even if it was just a second, he couldn't help his eyes from glancing at her lips. Damn it.
"No. I came to ask if you talked to Luna yet," he said resolutely, because he was resolute. He had decided yesterday that this matter was top priority over anything else. He had decided to forget about what happened, cross it out as a moment of weakness and go back to his old life where he respected boundaries and knew what was best for him. Love had made him blind, but that thing with Felipe's number was a wake-up call for him.
Kisses weren't apologies, and not because she wanted him it meant she had returned to the Ámbar he knew. It wasn't that easy, no matter how much he wished it was.
And it would be hard, because every time he looked at her he had flashbacks of their night together, it was engraved in his mind.
But he was going to be strong. If not for him, for Luna.
"Why the rush? It's only been one day," she pointed out, and because she noticed his slip up, she inched even closer, her own eyes staring at his lips before returning to his brown ones. "Or perhaps you're using this as an excuse to get closer to me?"
No, it is a reason to stay away from you, he thought.
He took a step back. "I'm serious, Ámbar."
She had been trying to lift the mood with some teasing but, apparently, that wasn't an option.
She sighed. "No, I haven't—" He opened his mouth to protest so she hurried to continue. "I know, I know, and I will, really. But I've been too busy coordinating the Flash Open and taking care of all the legal paperwork of the Roller; I haven't got the time."
"Well, you're at home now. Luna literally lives here as well, talk to her," he stated as if it was obvious.
She looked at him like he was crazy. "I can't just go ahead and do it like that, it has to be in good timing!"
"And what would good timing be?"
She shrugged. "I don't know, I'm waiting for it."
He gave her a look, not amused by that response at all. He shook his head and tried once more to make her see how important this was.
"Ámbar, do you realize that I'm putting my friendship with Luna at risk for you? This is a big deal and I'm keeping quiet because of you, but if you don't tell Luna soon—"
"Tell me what?"
Both turned at the same time, seeing Luna appear out of nowhere. She was looking at them with a question mark on her face and Ámbar felt her mouth go dry.
She looked at Simón and he looked back at her.
"Ámbar here has something to tell you," he told his best friend as he looked at Ámbar dead in the eye.
"What do you have to tell me?" Luna asked in all innocent curiosity and Ámbar had never felt more on the spot. Simón was urging her to tell her but she couldn't, not now, she hadn't even prepared herself.
As fast as she could, she made something up.
"I... was talking to Simón about tomorrow's Open. I had this new idea of having two solo performances, one for each team, and I was wondering if you'd like to be the representative for the girls."
Simón blinked. What?
"Wow, really? Of course! I'd love to!" Luna exclaimed, looking at Simón all smiley and excited. He couldn't do anything but smile back, even if it was fake. "Thank you so much," she said to Ámbar, and he seized the opportunity that she wasn't looking at him to throw daggers at Ámbar with his eyes.
But he didn't give her away. He was frustrated but he understood that it was hard for her. He still had hope that she'd talk to her on her own, he still wanted to believe that she would.
So he just followed Luna downstairs, hoping he had made the right decision in trusting her.
Ámbar saw them disappear and wiped the fake smile from her face. Trust Luna to appear at the worst timing possible— Did she have a superpower that told her when someone was talking about her? It sure as hell seemed like that sometimes. Or maybe she just loved to interrupt others' conversations in general.
Anyway, that wasn't the most important part here.
Ámbar walked inside her room and sat on her bed as she recalled the last thing Simón had told her.
He said he was risking his friendship with Luna because of her. Luna was his best friend, she had seen plenty of times how much he cared about her— He wouldn't jeopardize that for just anyone. But he was doing it, for her.
That meant that he really cared about her, that had to be the reason.
And she was gonna make him admit it.
...
..
.
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On the next chapter--> Roads That Cross... At Open Musics 👀
If you thought this chapter was all chit-chat and nothing happened, wait for that one.
(Edited: 03/02/21)