Before the Friendship Games: Sugarcoat

Sugarcoat closed the door to the basement, then walked into the living room where her parents were waiting. She sat down and looked at her mother, who was looking slightly ashamed of herself. "Okay," Sugarcoat said. "Mom, I want you to know that I appreciate the intentions behind what you did this morning. However, I think you might have gone a little bit overboard."

Crystal sighed. "I agree. I know I did."

"I think calling it 'overboard' was an understatement, Sugarcoat," said Sizzle. "I mean, honestly," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Even though your actions led to Neon and our daughter getting back together, you could have handled it better. I mean, you're a guidance counselor, for god's sake," he exclaimed, throwing his hands up. "You're supposed to be calm when dealing with students, not a loose cannon cop! If I had known you were going to act that way when you said you'd have a talk with him, I would've tried to talk you out of it!"

Crystal sighed again. "I was just so angry," she said, then she looked at Sugarcoat. "The hurt expression on your face. The tears you shed," she said, choking up. "It brought me back to when you were in that abusive relationship. It broke my heart, Sugarcoat. When I saw Neon this morning, I saw nothing but red."

"You're lucky he didn't decide to press charges against you," Sugarcoat said. "Mom, you could have lost your job!"

"I said that I'd willingly sacrifice anything for you, Sugarcoat," said Crystal.

Sugarcoat smiled and walked up to her mother, then placed her hand atop Crystal's. "I know you would," she said with a smile. "I still can't believe you got my ex kicked out of the school," she said with a smile.

"What can I say, Sugarcoat? If you fuck with my daughter, I fuck with you," Crystal said. "Besides, I had some pull with Cinch. It didn't take much to convince her to expel him," she said with a smile.

Sugarcoat hugged Crystal. "Thank you for that," she said.

Sizzle got up off of his chair and walked to his wife and daughter. "Just promise us you won't fly off the handle like that again," he said as he joined the hug.

Crystal smiled. "I'll try. I can't make any promises, though."

"At least you're being honest," Sugarcoat said. "But really, do try your best. You're supposed to be trustworthy as a guidance counselor, not intimidating."

"I understand," Crystal said as the trio broke the hug.

Sugarcoat walked over to the basement door and opened it. "We're done, babe," she shouted down the stairs, then walked away. Several moments later, Neon appeared from the door to the basement and looked at Crystal. "Hey," he said with a small wave of his hand.

Crystal smiled and walked over to Neon, then gave him a hug. "I just want to say again how sorry I am for earlier today, Neon. I hadn't been that mad in a long time, and it just took hold of me," she said softly.

Neon smiled and returned the hug. "It's okay, I get it," he said. "You're 'a mother first, above everything', after all. You did what you thought was right. Even if you roughed me up a little," he finished, raising an eyebrow with a smile. Crystal snickered. "Hey," Neon said. "What's done is done, and we can leave it behind us." He gave a meaningful look to Sugarcoat. "'If we don't move on, we can't move forward.'" Sugarcoat smiled and nodded.

"T-thank you," Crystal said as she wiped a tear from her eye. She broke the hug with a smile. "So," she said, "where do we go from here?"

Sizzle took out his phone and checked the time. "Dinner, maybe," he asked. Sugarcoat, Neon, and Crystal all looked at each other for a moment, then shrugged.

"Sure, why not," Crystal said.

"All right, then," Sizzle said as went into the kitchen. "It'll be a while, so you guys can just go do whatever."

Crystal looked at Sugarcoat and Neon. "I'm assuming you two want to go back down to the basement," she asked. Sugarcoat and Neon looked at each other.

Neon smiled. "I'm up for another makeout session if you are, hon."

Sugarcoat returned the smile. "Nah, I think I can hold it in until after dinner," she said. "But that doesn't mean I don't want a good snuggle while we wait," she said as her smile widened.

Neon grinned. "Making out, snuggling, mind-blowing sex...it's all good if I do it with you, Sugar," he said. Sugarcoat giggled, then took Neon by the hand as she led him to the basement door once again.

"I'll call you two when dinner's ready," Crystal said as Sugarcoat shut the basement door.

Sugarcoat led Neon to the couch again, where he laid down. She laid down into Neon back first, then sighed happily as she scooted into him and rested her head on his neck. Neon gently ran his hands through her hair as he nuzzled her. "It's only been a day, but I've missed being with you," Neon said softly.

Sugarcoat smiled warmly at Neon's touch. "I've missed you too, hot stuff," she said as she put a hand on his chest. "We should make tonight as special as we possibly can."

"How so," Neon asked.

"Why don't we take it slow tonight, then see where things go from there," Sugarcoat said. "It'd be draining if we just let all the pent-up lust out in one go. We probably won't be able to walk the day after." Neon snickered. "I'm serious," Sugarcoat said. "With how hard and often we've fucked up until yesterday, I wouldn't be at all surprised if that was the case. Besides," she said in a slightly alluring tone. "It's something we haven't done before."

Neon smiled. "Sure. We start slow, then see where it takes us. Let our instincts do the fucking." Sugarcoat snickered, then took off Neon's glasses and stared into his eyes, her own half-lidded. The couple enjoyed the silence and got lost in each other for an unknown amount of time.

They were snapped out of it by Crystal, who called out "Dinner's ready!"

Neon and Sugarcoat sighed, then got up and went upstairs to eat dinner.

After dinner, Neon and Sugarcoat exchanged romantic glances before they left the table.

"Have fun, you two," Sizzle said as the couple headed towards Sugarcoat's door.

Once Neon and Sugarcoat reached her bedroom door, they smiled. "No waiting this time, hot stuff," Sugarcoat said. "Just come on in. I want you so badly right now," she finished with a whisper.

Neon smiled as his heart began to beat a mile a minute. He gently caressed Sugarcoat's cheek and her neck. "I love you," he said softly.

Sugarcoat smiled warmly. "I love you too," she whispered, then entered her room with Neon and shut the door.