#slightly5

[pandaameii]

It took a while for Mei to calm down, but eventually she got there. Thanks to Prilla finding her and helping her, the redhead was finally able to become calm enough to the point where she de-transform back into her human self, and though the ears and tail were still very prominent, for once she was happy to not be her panda self at the moment. However, it still took some more convincing from her friend for Mei to go back out into the ball— the redhead still unsure about facing Slightly after he not only had seen her transformed, but also because of the fact that she had ran away from him. What if he wasn’t even here at the ball anymore? Prilla had reassured Mei that he wouldn’t be upset with her, and she even confirmed that her date was still here— waiting for her, but also was concerned about how she was dealing. She didn’t like hearing that she had him worried, but after some more encouragement from her friend, she finally made an appearance at the ballroom.

It was Slightly who had caught sight of Mei first, but as the redhead slowly made her way back towards him, she kept her head down, embarrassed and ashamed. When he didn’t say anything to her at first, her mind right away started to think the worst again, only for the blonde to speak up. The last thing the redhead expected for him to say to her was asking of she wanted to dance, Mei’s eyes widening as she finally glanced back at him. She almost asked why he wasn’t mad or upset with her, but the words didn’t want to come out. Instead, at the sight of the tentative smile Slightly had on his face, she found herself smiling back at him just the same before slowly nodding. “I would like that.”

Despite his hopes to comfort and reassure her that everything was okay, it turned out his hug wasn’t enough to calm Mei down. As soon as they broke apart she ran, and he couldn’t help giving chase, trying to catch her before she disappeared down the hallway, but he was intercepted by Prilla before he could. Prilla gently advised him not to follow, and he had no choice but to accept that she had a better chance of calming Mei down at this point than him, who had set her off in the first place. It was somewhat nerve-wracking, not knowing how things were going with the girls after Prilla took off after Mei and hopefully found her, and hopefully helped her stop crying…

Slightly decided to grab his best friend, who was conveniently left alone for the time being when his own date left him to find Sly’s, and quickly debrief him on the situation. Cubby’s bolstering advice that he still had a chance with Mei kept him from feeling defeat, but it was still a huge relief to see Mei again, human (besides the ears and tail—which were real) and tear-free, albeit with her eyes a little red and puffy. Slightly instantly wanted to reach for her, but didn’t want to make another wrong move. “Do you wanna dance?” he asked with a tentative smile. He would take her home no questions asked if she wanted to leave the party early, but he hoped that she wouldn’t, so he wasn’t going to be the one to offer and put the idea in her head.

[liildenniison]

Witch. He called her a witch and for the first time since she was eight years old, Dani hated it. Because he wasn’t referring to her as one of the good witches they had around Destiny Isle like Binx’s girlfriend, no— Slightly was regarding her as the kind of witch that went out and purposely hunted children for their souls like the Sanderson’s. She was a real villain within his eyes, and now she knew that no matter what she says, he didn’t care. He didn’t care to know if she had been hurt during their relationship because to him, if she couldn’t handle his trust issues than she should’ve broken up with him. And he was right. Dani should’ve broken up with him instead of going behind his back and cheating on him. Her eyes began to sting, yet she tried to fight back the tears that wanted to come out. But that was the thing, she didn’t want to be that person who left their partners because of a reason like them having trust issues. She had known that Slightly had been hurt multiple times in the past. That his trust issues hadn’t just came out of nowhere, but rather it was because he feared of being hurt yet again. And for that, Dani wanted to try. She stayed with him because she wanted to show him that she was willing to deal with his trust issues, that she was understanding of them, and how he could trust her— but she was also human. 

He would never understand that with every accusation he made, it broke her heart little by little. How small he made her feel whenever he spoke badly of her character when before she ever met Glade, not once has she given Slightly a reason to distrust her or what she truly wanted from their relationship. God, he had been her first serious boyfriend for crying out loud! If there was anyone she had been the most open and honest with, it had been him! Even from the first moment they met last summer, Dani’s been honest. From the genuine compliment she gave to his song, to showing him her personal designs, and even when she blurted out that she liked him after they got lost speaking to one another and wanted to see him more. She had been her most authentic self with him, she thought that had been what he liked so much about her in return. That’s why they got together not long after that and why they continued dating even after the summer ended. Her eyes stung even more, and at this point she couldn’t even fight it. There relationship had been so great back then too— so great, Dani even thought she could fall in love with Slightly. Scratch that, she had been falling for him, so hearing him say he had been in love with her? The redhead wanted to believe that was true, and yet she couldn’t because how can he say he loved her when clearly he never trusted her?

Lifting a hand to her cheeks, Dani whipped away some of her tears. “…..You made your point.” the redhead replied, finally realizing that there was no point in her staying here. Slightly wasn’t ever going to want to be her friend again, and there was no use in her arguing to try and make him see her point of view. He’ll never see how hurt she had actually been back then before she ever did anything because he’ll only ever view her as the cheater who broke his heart. The cheating witch who broke his heart. “Believe me or not, I am sorry I cheated on you. I truly never wanted to become another addition to those who had hurt you but— it doesn’t matter now because I still did it.” She made one last apology, turning around so she could go and leave him be. At this point, Dani can only hope that the next girl he falls for can truly prevail and not hurt him like she did. And from what she’s seen whenever she spotted him with that other redhead and how happy he seemed to be with her around, maybe there was a chance. “Make sure to trust and believe in her. You’ll be way happier if you do.” And loved too, she thought, walking away. 

Dani would have had a good point that Slightly serenading her at that party wasn’t her fault—if she wasn’t missing his point entirely. While he certainly never would have gotten up there and embarrassed himself that way if she had told him sooner that she had cheated on him, he still wasn’t trying to place the blame on her for what he did that night. He was calling attention to the fact that she never would have told him what happened back when they were dating if he hadn’t tried to get back together with her. Sly was absolutely sure she would have just kept up the lie as long as they remained “friends,” and his speculation was only further proven by her refusal to answer his direct question about it. Instead of reflecting on why he was finding it impossible to forgive her or want to be friends again, Dani was getting defensive about her side in their breakup, showing to Slightly that her appeal for forgiveness was selfish after all. Maybe he cared more about his own pain than about hers, too, but he wasn’t the one out here trying to talk to her and reforge a relationship. She had come out of her way to ask something of him; he had no desire to rebuild this burnt bridge. If she had wanted to be friends, she should have thought of that a long time ago and done things a lot differently.

“Am I a villain for being jealous then?” he shot back as she cited an unfairness in how she was being treated like one, like he should be considered as equally in the wrong for what went down between them. Maybe he had been overbearing in his fear that Dani would cheat on him or leave him, but he had eventually taken the hint that it was an untenable situation and broken it off, like a decent human would when a relationship completely stopped working. It had only been later that he learned he’d done that too late, and she had already gone behind his back by that point. “So I had trust issues—then you should have broken up with me!” He raised his voice for the first time, frustration with this conversation evident in every facet of his body language and expression. He reigned his temper back in enough to lower his volume, but maintained the heat in his tone as he continued, “If it was such a struggle to be with me, then you should have broken up with me instead of cheating. Do you get it? Fucking another guy as some kind of payback for me not believing you, doing the exact thing I was worried about?” That was more than petty; it was spiteful. “I was—I was in love with you, Dani! I might have had my own issues, but you decided to rub them in instead of walking away. You are a villain to me—you’re a fucking witch.”

[pandaameii]

Mei had given him the okay to hug her, and yet she was still terrified of what he might actually do. So feeling his arms wrapping around her—or at least Slightly attempting to wrap his arms around her due to her now much bigger stature—should’ve been enough to calm her down. Being hugged by Slightly has always been one of Mei’s favorite things to do, the redhead relishing the feeling of having his arms all around her the first time they hugged. It had taken a lot out of her not to transform then and there at the time, the over stimulation of being held by her crush almost enough to trigger her and even after the pair has gotten even closer, she still found that being held by him was one of her favorite feelings to experience. Now shouldn’t be any different, and while Mei did find the butterflies she’s always felt whenever Slightly was this close to her fluttering inside and her heart still pounding, she was still feeling way too on the edge over everything. She just couldn’t get it out of her mind that he will now start to see her differently because of this, and she was way too scared to find out if it was a bad thing or not. That feeling was way too overwhelming, and as much as she wanted to enjoy the hug he had given her, the second Slightly had pulled away, Mei screwed her eyes shut—not daring to see what kind of reaction he had on his face at the moment— and turned away from him.

Mei ran off, down a random hallway of the hotel, and away from Slightly. 

Slightly waited for Mei’s answer—a slow nod of her head yes—before touching her, but as soon as she gave the green light he went for the hug. He threw his arms around her, though he found they didn’t wrap all the way around her fuzzy midsection. Still, he squeezed as tight as possible, as if it were possible to make her feel safe and protected in his hands when she was now probably two feet taller than him and probably had claws? That was so baller. Sly had to remind himself that this whole thing obviously wasn’t as exciting for Mei as it was for him. While he was stunned and impressed by this transformation into the cutest animal he’d ever seen, it was something that Mei had kept hidden for a reason. Whether that was because she didn’t like that side of herself, or didn’t trust him to know about her magic—whatever the reason for it being a secret, that secret had just been revealed seemingly without her intention, as a consequence of Mei losing control of her emotions. Slightly was no stranger to magic; despite being completely ordinary himself, he had no shortage of magical friends. He knew powers could act up due to strong emotion, and right now Mei was upset…and it was his fault. He pulled away after a minute, just to gauge whether his attempt at comforting her was working, and looked up at her face. If he could explain that he was writing the song for her, would that dry her tears, or was it bad timing for that? 

[pandaameii]

Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! At the realization that she had just transformed, the now giant red panda turned girl began to cry even harder. Great! This was exactly what Mei needed to happen right now! As if suddenly bursting into tears while in front of him because she felt jealous wasn’t bad enough, but now he knew the actual truth about her and there was no excuse she could come up with that can make him believe otherwise. More tears fell down her fur. Not only that, but this wasn’t how she planned on telling him, as she had been thinking about doing so sometime after this ball. She wanted to see how things would end up going between them at the ball first, maybe get some actual confirmation on whether or not Slightly did have feelings for her the same way Mir and Prilla had said he did before taking the plunge and trusting him with her biggest secret. But now, all thanks to her stupid jealousy and her emotions somehow already running so high, Mei accidentally transformed instead!

He had to think she was some kind of monster now! Or maybe he was grossed out by how big and harry she was, especially with her tears running down her face. God, neither thought was a pleasant one to have and the more negative thoughts she continued to have, the worst her crying got. She wanted to run away, get as far away from him as she possibly could so he wouldn’t have to keep looking at her any longer. And yet, her paws stayed completely frozen in place, as if she needed to know what kind of reaction he would make before doing anything else. She desperately hoped it wouldn’t be a bad one— deep down, a part of her knowing that he wouldn’t react negatively since he has seen her panda form before from her videos. But seeing her like that in videos and seeing her like this in person were two completely different things, and what if all thoughts of wanting to hug her and thinking she was cute went out the window now that she was actually like this in front of him? Fearing the worst, her eyes tighten even more, the urge of wanting to curl into herself being so great to the point where she didn’t even notice how he outstretched his arms as if to hug her, only to stop himself before actually doing so. 

Hearing him say he never meant to upset her before asking if he could hug her, she tensed up. Then without even opening her eyes, Mei slowly nodded her head at him for she couldn’t make out a single word due to her tears and fear preventing her from doing so. 

Oh, no, no. The sight of Mei crying just about broke Slightly’s heart. He realized suddenly that in all the months they’d been friends, he’d never actually seen her cry before, and to know that he was the cause of it—even if it was all just a huge misunderstanding…He wanted to reach out and wipe the tears from her cheeks, or pull her into a tight hug, or both, but before he could something even more unexpected happened. With a cloud of smoke puffing up around her like a magician performing a trick, Mei was replaced with the red panda mascot from her family’s temple. So many thoughts were bouncing around Slightly’s skull at that moment, they were clanging around and knocking into each other and making such a clatter that it was hard to grab at one, let alone string them all together into a coherent train of thought.

If they were to be laid out in some kind of sensible order, instead of the cluster of noise that really happened within his head in the span of two seconds, it would look like this: Mei turns into a panda? That’s so fucking cool. Why didn’t she tell me? She looks just like the mascot for her family’s temple. Was she the panda in those pictures and videos the whole time? So it wasn’t a mascot suit? Is this why she never let me meet her in the costume? But why didn’t she want me to see the costume? Because I wanted to hug her too much? Did she not want to hug me? She could have just told me that. I wouldn’t have forced her. We hugged when she was human too. Did she not trust me enough to tell me that she has magic? It’s so awesome, though. If she doesn’t like me, why is she crying over thinking I wrote a song for someone else? That is why she’s crying, isn’t it? Shit, she’s still crying. I have to say something! Breaking out of the spell he was under just staring at her in awe, Sly moved as if to throw his arms around her, but it was a halting gesture, suddenly unsure if that was how she wanted to be comforted or not. “I never meant to upset you, Mei. Can I hug you?” The fact that she was an eight foot tall red panda being news to him was second to making sure she was okay.

[pandaameii]

At his hesitation, her lips began to quiver, and a tear ran down her cheek. That confirmed it. The song was in fact about Bubbles, and instead of telling her outright that it was, Slightly was trying to find some excuse to make Mei think otherwise. Or maybe he was trying to think of a way to let her down easily. Although, things between them seemed to be going great earlier, and for a moment there she really was starting to believe Mir had been right all along and he did like her back, but what if the actuality of it all was that Slightly knew from the start how deep her feelings for him ran? And now that he found someone else he really liked enough to want to try dating again, he needed to let her down first in order to do so, yet wanted to do so without hurting her feelings?

But Mei’s feelings were already hurt. She knew she wasn’t entitled to him returning her feelings just because she’s been crushing on him for so long now. She was logical enough to realize that there was a high enough chance of her being rejected, and she thought she accepted that possibility if she mastered up the courage to confess to him a long time ago. But as she recalled the look of excitement he had on his face after making his way towards Bubbles, and how quick Slightly was to pocket the piece of paper filled with lyrics the second he realized she had been trying to read it— because she wasn't meant to see it since the song wasn't for her, that final piece of Mei’s resolve that had been keeping her together all this time finally ..... broke. Eyes tightly knitting shut as more tears fell down her face, a puff of smoke surrounded the redhead, and once it dissipated, where she once stood in her 5’6” glory, dawned sporting a traditional dress for the ball with the only indications of strangeness about her being the set of ears and a tail in which she was able to pull off as fakes, now stood an 8’0” giant red panda in her place. a familiar looking giant red panda at that.

“Not finished,” he emphasized, folding the lyrics up and slipping them into his pocket for safe-keeping. He wanted her to hear the song when it was ready, polished, and performed live with all the bells and whistles—if she already knew what he was going to say, the confession would lose something important. Slightly wanted to wow her. She deserved to be swept off her feet, and he couldn’t settle for anything less than the perfect moment. What if he failed to impress her? What if she found him lacking? All his insecurities from past relationships flared up in him, apparitions of those who had left come back to haunt him with suggestions of why he hadn’t measured up, why they had chosen to disappear or seek satisfaction elsewhere. Mei couldn’t become one of them.

Slightly was so caught up in his concern that Mei had spoiled the surprise of the song and wasn’t impressed—if the frown on her face was anything to go by—that he hadn’t imagined that she didn’t even realize the song was about her. She glanced somewhere over his shoulder and asked if he’d written it about her, and his mind was so far from Bubbles that it took him a moment to process who Mei was referring to. His mouth opened to deny it, but he hesitated. Maybe if Mei didn’t realize that the song was for her, he could still surprise her with it when it was finished—but that thought was dismissed as quickly as it came. It didn’t make any sense to let her think he was interested in anyone else just to play a long game; he might as well just confess the truth now and let the chips fall where they may, even if it wasn’t how he’d wanted it to happen. She either wanted him or she didn’t, and one song (however good it was) probably wouldn’t change that. But he had hesitated before stuttering out an answer, perhaps too late to be convincing even though it was the truth. “No! It’s not about her. Mei, I…”

[pandaameii]

In hindsight, she shouldn’t be reading any of this. She knew this was his personal stuff and he had kept her from seeing it for a reason. And any other time, Mei would’ve respected that and would've waited for whenever Slightly decided to share these lyrics to her on his own accord. But at the sight of him with Bubbles and the way he had deliberately kept her from seeing any of it by balling the paper into his hand and away from her prying eyes— the redhead was now way too curious to see what he was trying to hide from her. "All I know is this could either break my heart or bring it back to life” Mei sang faintly to herself, eyes moving along to each word of the lyric. Break his heart or break it back to life? Was this about Bubbles?!

As her grip against the paper tighten at the thought and her eyes beginning to swell up, she could feel her emotions starting to get to her. But before she could read anymore of his lyrics, the paper was snatched away from her hands, and once again, she was face-to-face with Slightly. At how flushed his face looked and at how defensive he sounded after taking the paper back, Mei frowned. “Not finished yet or you didn’t want me to see it at all?” she questioned, ears twitching once again as she now frowned at him. At the sight of the blonde standing not too far from behind him, looking at them, insecurity flared within her as she shifted her gaze back at him. “Did you write this about her!?”

It didn’t take long for Slightly to realize that he’d forgotten a key component of showing Bubbles the new song he was writing—the actual lyrics to the song. She expressed her excitement when he mentioned his intentions, but then he became instantly aware of how empty his hands were. The note wasn’t in his pockets either, which meant he left it over on the table when he told Mei—“I’ll be right back,” he said, leaving Bubbles behind to run back to the table. When he got there and found his date holding the napkin with his latest song on it—a love song about her—he panicked and grabbed it out of her hand, hoping she hadn’t been able to read much of it before he reached her.

“It’s not finished yet!” he exclaimed, his face flushed. It was supposed to be a surprise for her once it was actually completed, and she was supposed to experience it for the first time with music, with him singing it to her. Mei reading the lyrics first was going to spoil the whole thing for her! It just wouldn’t hit the same, and it mattered a lot to him that he got this right with Mei.

[pandaameii]

As his hand took hers, she smiled and grasp his in return. She had no doubts in her mind that he wouldn’t say ‘yes’, there being no reason to why Slightly wouldn’t want to dance with her when he was her date. Real date or friend date— Mei assumed since he asked her to go with him that he wanted to spend as much time at this ball with her. So, imagine how surprised and confused the redhead became when he told her that he had to speak to someone, basically rejecting her offer despite also promising they’ll dance for the rest of the night afterwards. “Can’t it wait until—” She didn’t get the chance to finish that sentence, watching as Slightly stood from the table, and left in a rush. Mei stood there, her gaze following after him as she wondered what had just happened, until she saw who it was he had ran off towards. At the sight of the blonde haired Powerpuff turning around and smiling as Slightly came to a stop before her, the redhead felt a weight in her chest. 

“Didn’t realize the two were close.” She mumbled, tearing her gaze away and looking back at the table. She then noticed the napkin he had folded away from her line of sight earlier was laying there, left on the table. It had folded open. Reaching over, the redhead picked up the napkin and saw there were lyrics written on it. So this was what Slightly was hiding from her? But why? Glancing back at the two blondes, her right ear twitched as Bubbles squealed at something Slightly said her. Mei looked away and began reading the lyrics. 

The feeling of Mei wrapping her arms around him sent a shock through his system, and he automatically lifted one hand to grasp hers while the other swiftly closed his napkin song. He smiled up at his date and almost accepted her request to dance without a second’s consideration, but he caught himself before answering. Slightly didn’t want to lose the words that were flowing through him now—he’d already scribbled a chorus and a verse, a few other scattered lines, a melody forming in his mind, but there was more he could do while the muses still moved him. He wanted to share what he had so far with the girl who had struck him with inspiration in the first place, knowing her own musical touch would add something to the hopeful duet that he might be missing. As much as he wanted to dance with Mei right now, wouldn’t it be worth it to put one enjoyable experience aside in the present for something that would make Mei even happier later: this electric song?

“Sorry, I have to talk to someone real quick, but after that we’ll dance for the rest of the night,” he promised, squeezing her hand as he stood up from the table and pushed his chair in. With that, he dashed off to find Bubbles where he’d last seen her hanging out. If he wasn’t so distracted (read: if he wasn’t such an idiot) he might not have forgotten the very lyrics he meant to show Bubbles on the table in front of Mei, falling open because napkins don’t fold as neatly as paper.

[pandaameii]

The night was already starting out like a dream. When Slightly asked if she wanted to go to the masquerade ball with him, it took every fiber of her entire being to not let out a big and almost desperate yes! Mei agreed to go with him of course, but she was cool and collected as she can be when she did, as it was likely that he meant for them to go as friends anyways. Oh, but how great it would’ve been if he had meant it as them being actual dates. But the thought that they were going together as it is had been enough for Mei’s ears and tail to pop out, and they had to appear just when Slightly had came to pick her up! Thankfully, he thought it was part of her look for the night, though that didn’t stop her from blushing when he said she looked cute. Once at the ball, the pair stuck to one another at first, and it was only when Mei decided to go off and help herself with some of the punch while Slightly spoke with a friend of his, was when they both finally parted for a bit. Just as she consumed some of the punch, the redhead was found by Prilla and instantly, she pulled her friend towards the dance floor with her.

Mei didn’t know if it was because of how many people there was here or because the song that was being played had her even more hyped than she already was, but she felt a sudden surge of intensity flowing through her body as she danced! The song then came to an end and re-spotting Slightly’s blonde looks at a nearby table as he looked to be busy writing something down, Mei made her way back towards him before slipping her arms around his shoulder. “Hi~ I am, but you know what would be even more fun?” She began, noticing how he quickly folded the napkin,, and preventing her from even seeing what he wrote— Mei frowned for a second before she perked right back up and continued “if you come dance with me!” 

@pandaameii

There was something strange in the air tonight. Slightly had been psyched to lock down a date with Mei to this big Halloween bash, she looked beautiful and they were having a great time, and then he ran into Bubbles and it was like he’d been struck by Cupid’s arrow. He’d known this girl for years and never seen her in a romantic light, but all of a sudden she was glowing and he was confused. He liked Mei. He knew he liked Mei. He couldn’t suddenly be crushing on somebody else out of nowhere—his heart just didn’t work like that. He was a one-person-at-a-time kind of guy! It took him damn long enough just to get over somebody he had fixed himself on; forget having enough energy to focus on two romantic options at the same time. So there he was, scribbling lyrics on a napkin while Mei danced with her friends, trying to get everything out of his head before she came back to the table. He almost jumped out of his skin when she reappeared at his shoulder, quickly folding the napkin shut. “Hey! Having fun? Is the punch good?”

[liildenniison]

Dani knew that saying sorry wasn’t going to cut it. Yet, she felt like she still had to give it a shot— wanting her ex to know that despite what it may seem, she really was apologetic for cheating on him. Maybe at the time she hadn’t been, so caught up with the anger and hurt she felt whenever Slightly would suddenly assume that she was cheating when at first she never was. It wasn’t until the accusations got even worst and when he wouldn’t believe her was when Dani snapped.

“You can’t blame me for what you did at the party! It’s not like I asked for you to go up there and sing me a song!” She defended. How was she to blame for someone else messing with him at the party that he decided to get drunk enough to decide that he wanted to serenade her! If anything, Dani not accepting his drunken confession was a good thing for Slightly. Not only because she knew she couldn’t without him knowing the truth, but what if she said yes and then with a clear head, he realized he didn’t want to get back together with her? She would’ve deserved it if that had been the case, but it would have been such as mean on her exes part messing with her in return since he didn’t know then. “Yes, I lied— but at first I wasn’t! I was being honest when I said I never cheated, and yet you kept on insisting that I did or you would roll her eyes at me, looking like you didn’t believe me! How else was I supposed to take it when my very own boyfriend didn’t trust me enough to believe it when I say that just because some guy was hitting on me that I was interested in him back!” It wasn’t fair. She messed up— Dani knows that, but it wasn’t like Slightly had been a saint within their relationship either! He had been the reason she was pushed to the edge! To why she decided to give in and sleep with Glade. For why it happened over and over again— Dani froze at his next question. 

Would she have told ever told him? She wanted to say that she would have, that she wouldn’t have kept her cheating a complete secret forever. But then she realized that before the party happened, things were going great between her and Slightly. Once her ex had decided to let go of his anger towards her, Dani had every chance to tell him the truth before he invited her to the party. Heck, she could’ve mentioned it before when he was still angry, because at least then he would’ve had a more justified reason to hate her. But then they wouldn’t have became friends again, and though the chances of that happening again was nonexistent now, the redhead wanted nothing more than to go back to when things were going good between them. Because despite their issues back when they were dating, Dani missed him. Instead of answering his question, there was hurt on her face. “…..It’s not fair that I’m the only one treated like a villain here. I’ll tell you everything if that’s what you want, but you weren’t the only one who got burned in our relationship.” 

“Because you—” Slightly was astounded by how far from the point Dani was as she cut him off to guess at why there was no chance he could go back to being friends with her. “You think it’s because you cheated?” Let alone that she thought being sorry was enough to make up for her betrayal—even if Slightly was able to forgive her for the original offense, what cut deeper was the total lack of accountability for it until it was far too late. “It’s because you cheated and lied. You swore until we broke up that you never cheated on me. And then you didn’t tell me the truth until after I made a fool of myself at that stupid party in front of all my friends.”

He paused to let it sink in, still staring at Dani with incredulity. “Would you have ever told me if I hadn’t tried to get back together?” At this point any possible shred of trust left between them had been destroyed, so he couldn’t put it past her to have been planning to stay friends with him and just never let him know what she had done behind his back when they’d been dating. Obviously there was nothing to gain from the confession besides taking the weight of the secret off Dani’s chest—it would have been easy enough to act like it never happened. Until he got wasted over another failed romance and made the drunken decision to ask his ex to try again with him, deluded into thinking his jealousy that had originally torn them apart had been unfounded. The whole time, he’d had good reason to be suspicious, had been right to trust his instincts and break up with her even if he hadn’t had proof back then. “If that’s the kind of friend you are, I don’t want it,” he finished, point made.

[liildenniison]

Somehow, she had hoped this time would’ve been easier. After it being months since their last real interaction, Dani had hoped that maybe Slightly would be more willing to hear her out. Granted, the last time they spoke had also been the moment where she dropped a huge bomb on him by finally confessing to cheating on him back when they were dating. It happened once, and Dani had regretted it, so she made the choice to keep what she had done to herself. But for as much as she regretted her actions, her relationship with Slightly had already been on the rocks by that point, and it wasn’t long after it happened was when they both broke up. Still, he hadn’t known what she did, and with the way he seemed to already hate her even without that knowledge of Dani cheating, it made no sense for her to ever tell him. She hadn’t thought that at some point he would try to reach out to her, apologize for how he’s acted, and act civil enough with her to the point where maybe they could be considered as friends. He had even invited her to a party he was throwing with his friends. And Dani had been stupid enough to accept that invite.

Being serenaded by him at the party had not been something she expected to happen. Nor did she expect for Slightly to ask for them to try dating a second time. And though Dani had been filled with all sorts of conflicting emotions when that happened, some part of her had actually considered his offer. If they had given it a second try, would things have gone better the second time around? But before she could give him an answer, Dani knew she had to be honest with Slightly first. And so she finally confessed to cheating on him, and the way his fell face hearing her say that, she just knew there was no more chances for them anymore. Since then, the redhead has been avoiding her ex like the plague, more so than before. Only times Dani ever caught sight of Slightly was from afar whenever he was out with his friends or with this other red haired girl he seemed to have gotten really close to. And whenever she saw him, Dani felt more and more regretful for what she had done. But now it’s been so many months, and somehow she gathered up the courage to sought her ex-boyfriend out and got lucky enough when she found him alone for once. And when he didn’t just walk away from her, that’s when she blurted out how she liked it if they were friends. Slightly laughing at her had been expected, and though that had discouraged her a little, but she made a brave face when he questioned her of “why?”

“Because, things were going so well between us back when we made up before, so why couldn’t that be the same for now?” Dani replied, already bracing herself for the counter point he will make. Because she knows what he will say, she continued, “—And I know, I know what you’re going to say— I cheated, but I want you to know that I really am sorry for that!” 

@liildenniison said: "I know this is too little, too late, but I'd really like us to be friends."

Slightly let out a single, incredulous laugh—something between “hah” and “huh.” Not only was she right that it was too little, too late, but he didn’t understand why Dani would even bother at all, knowing that. Knowing that he would instantly decline that generous extension of the olive branch. What could she possibly get out of coming back months after they’d had their final falling out, and claiming that she wanted to be friends? “Why?” he demanded, shrugging almost aggressively in his dubiousness of her intentions. “Why would you want to be my friend?” What didn’t need to be spoken was the natural companion question, Why would I want to be your friend? He’d like to know if her reasoning was that, despite all appearances and actions to the contrary, she actually cared about him—or if she just wanted to stop feeling guilty over the way they’d ended and thought becoming friends would provide some form of closure. Not that she would likely be honest with her answer if it wasn’t what she thought he wanted to hear.

Of course, she had been honest in their last conversation, and perhaps he should give her props for that—for not taking him back under false pretenses when he had drunkenly serenaded her last March, and letting him into the truth about their break-up before he could debase himself by getting back into a relationship with her. He had been too busy reeling with the sting of learning that he had been cheated on mixed with the humiliation of just having asked her to take him back, to appreciate her honesty at that time. And now he wasn’t so inclined to care about it, because he felt no more regret over their failed relationship, nor any desire to try and patch up a friendship from the rubble.