Frenefits

Pinkie’s house was...bigger than Jason expected.

He knew it’d have to be decently sized, to be able to house Pinkie, her three sisters, and unless her parents were divorced and live separately, both of them. When Pinkie texted him the address, after being initially surprised at how her house was only about a block or so away from his apartment, he double checked to make sure he had everything he’d need and headed over.

It was very easily the biggest house on the street, if not the entire block. It was a relatively suburban neighborhood, the kind you’d see in tv shows; rows of houses a fair distance from each other with enough space in front of it to have a small yard and a driveway for the cars. He was a bit worried he wouldn’t be able to spot her house from the others, since they all looked so similar with only a few distinct differences.

Oh boy, was he wrong.

While most of the houses were about a story tall and only big enough for a small family, The Pie Family’s house was at least three stories tall, more than enough for six people. It looked to be made out of a sturdy dark oakwood, the roof made out of bright white fibre cement pointing upwards. It was perfectly polished and almost seemed like the house was just recently made, it was clearly very well taken care of.

There were a total of six windows, two for each floor, but none of them he could see into due to thick dark curtains on the other side. The door was made out of dark black iron, a small glass window at the top that was hard to see through, and had various swirls and other patterns on it. The doorknob looked like it was made out of pure steel, so clean he could see his reflection in it. Every few feet on the walls was a light attached to it, none of them were on right now, but he had a feeling if they were all turned on at once it would be almost blinding.

*Is her family rich or something? This is more like a miniature mansion than a house!*

He walked up to the door nervously, extremely hesitant to knock. Jason was intimidated, similar to a time when he was younger and he accidentally hit a baseball into the window of someone’s house, somehow he was more anxious now than then. He eventually worked up the courage to knock on the door, still a tinge of fear that by some horrible mistake he had the wrong house.

He felt that his fear had almost become true when he didn’t hear anything for half a minute, or maybe because his knocking was so light and brief it went unnoticed. He was about to double check the address Pinkie sent him and knock again, before what sounded like someone rapidly running down stairs from the inside. The footsteps came to the door and briefly stopped, he could just vaguely see something pink and bouncy through the top window of the door before the doorknob turned, revealing Pinkie Pie on the other side.

“Hiya Jason! You got here quick, I haven’t even had time to get out of my school clothes yet!”

While that was true since she was still in the outfit he always saw her in at school, he doubted that it was because of a lack of time. Jason might have been terrible at noticing small details, but even he could see that she had put on a considerable amount of makeup since he’d last seen her in the library.

There was no sign of the dark bags under her eyes he had only ever seen once, and her cheeks looked rosier than usual. There wasn’t a single blemish or anything on her face at all; it was completely smooth and flawless. Her eyelashes were also longer than usual, it might have been a mistake, but he could have sworn she was batting them at him. She was also wearing dark eyeliner that worked perfectly with her baby blue eyes, which somehow had more life in them and were brighter than usual. Her hair was a bit padded down in some areas as if she had tried to groom it, but it retained most of its curly, bouncy shape to an almost stubborn extent. The smell of strawberries he had picked up from her before was stronger now, and while he quite enjoyed it, it came off a bit more overwhelming than he’d like. To top if all off, she was wearing scarlet red lipstick.

Jason was completely blown away by her appearance, caught completely off guard at how different she was with makeup on and how well she did it. Where did girls even learn how to do stuff like that? However, while she was incredibly more attractive with it on, he’d even go as far as to say downright gorgeous, it still bothered him a bit.

He understood why some girls chose to wear makeup, sometimes they wanted to feel pretty or were fishing for compliments. It wasn’t his place to judge. Even so, he never liked it, preferring that they didn’t wear any. To him it just seemed so...forced; like they were worried about their looks and cared too much about their appearance. Jason found it difficult to feel attracted to a girl if he felt they were trying too hard, or if they seemed insecure about their actual personality when it came to dating.

Maybe that was another reason he liked Diane so much, anytime they met she wasn’t wearing an ounce of makeup, not even friday night when she came over and they...did what they did. Everything was natural about her, from how she looked to how she acted.

*At least, that’s what I thought. She still hasn’t texted me back.”

Jason shook his head as he tried to avoid thinking about Diane, turning his attention back to Pinkie. “Wow, you look...really good Pinkie, I don’t think I’ve seen you wear so much makeup. What’s the occasion? Are you going somewhere?”

“Just to my room, silly billy.” She said with a playful giggle, gesturing for him to come inside. He flinched a bit at that, trying to ignore how similar she sounded to Diane. “What are you waiting for, come on in! It’s not like we’re going to be studying outside!”

Albeit a tad confused, he obliged and entered her abode, shutting the, surprisingly heavy, door behind him. He didn’t understand why she had put on so much makeup if she wasn’t going anywhere, there’s no way she did that just for him, he had only come over to help her with math.

Right?

He was beginning to suspect there was a bit more to this than just studying. He was about to ask Pinkie about that when he turned around, his words caught in his throat as soon as he did.

Directly in front of him were lavish stairs, covered in a thick red carpet that was cleaner than anything he had in his apartment. To the left of the stairs was the living room, but it was a lot different than any living room he’d seen. The walls were a dull brown, which was jarring to Jason, he had honestly expected her house to be colorful and full of various decorations. In comparison to that, this was actually pretty boring.

What filled the room was three, yes three, different plasma screen TV’s. Sitting on a large TV stand, one sat in the middle while the other two were on both sides of it. They were currently on and playing some cartoon, the TV screens were connected and were showing it all on one screen. He knew that could be done with PC monitors, but not with TV screens!

Also on the TV stand, connected to the TV’s was every game system he knew of, a small aisle of drawers adjacent to it, which he imagined were where the controllers were kept. On both sides of the TV stand were large bookshelves, but it wasn’t books they held. The left one held video game cases, each row being for a different system. The bookshelf on the right held movies, everything from VHS tapes to CD’s.

The only other thing in the room was a very large, and very comfortable looking, black couch on the opposite side of the room. A coffee table in front of it, which had a surprising lack of drinks on it, and a small mini fridge beside it.

*That room probably cost more than an entire years worth of rent for my apartment.*

He turned his gaze to the right, a mixture of fear and curiosity at what luxurious room was there. To his shock, it was the kitchen, and it actually appeared pretty normal. There was one rather large fridge, an oven, a sink, a microwave, and an almost disturbing amount of cabinets and drawers. While he couldn’t see it, he had a gut feeling that there was an abundance of sugar filled snacks.

Strangely enough, he also had a feeling that the fridge was actually only filled with whipped cream.

“Whatcha looking at?” Pinkie asked as she got up in his face, following his line of sight to the kitchen.

Jason found himself to be a bit speechless, the revelation that Pinkie was a rich girl was a bit staggering. “Pinkie...what do your parents do for a living?”

“Rock farming.” She stated in a matter of fact tone, like it was the most obvious fact in the world.

Somehow her response just made him more confused, he raised his eyebrows and waited a few seconds for her to elaborate.

She didn’t.

“Um...you mean they’re geologists?”

She shook her head back and forth and laughed. “No, that’s Maud! She’s very clear about making that distinction! Maud’s a geologist, and my parents are rock farmers!”

Pinkie was very adamant when she told him this, similar to a teacher telling a student the difference between multiplication and division. She wagged her finger back and forth in front of his face almost dismissively.

*I...have several questions, but I feel like asking them would just cause more questions.*

He stood there in silence for a few moments, trying to resist the urge to rub his temples. Before he had time to say anything, she had grabbed him by the hand and began leading him up the stairs.

“That’s enough standing around, come on, I’ll show you my room. The sooner we get done, the sooner we can chillax!”

Usually, someone touching him so suddenly like that would cause a surplus of anxiety. But, either because it had happened so often with her, or just because it was Pinkie Pie, he had become less bothered by it over time. As they walked up the stairs, his nerves began to steady. The less anxious he was, the more he noticed about her hand. Like Diane’s, her hand was very soft, with skin about as smooth as it looked. The distinct difference between hers and Diane’s was that Diane had a certain firmness to her grip, while Pinkie’s was much more gentle; almost like she was afraid of hurting him. Not just that, but other than Friday, Diane’s entire body was always incredibly steady and never shook. While with Pinkie he could see her shaking a bit and her hand was even a bit sweaty. If he didn’t know any better, Jason would say she was nervous.

That didn’t make sense though, what could Pinkie possibly be nervous about?

It didn’t take them very long to reach her room, the hallway they went down only had three rooms he could see. One on the right, the door being a bright pink which was a stark contrast to the dull brown doors. One at the end, which he assumed was the bathroom, and one on the left directly across. Jason didn’t think it’d be a stretch to say the room on the right was Pinkie’s room, it was the one on the left he was a bit more intrigued about.

Other than the vibrant colors, there were no signs or anything on it, he half expected there to be various stickers or something. The door on the left was a dark black, almost scarily so, and reminded him of a chemical tank with how many labels and warnings were on it. Warning signs, caution symbols, a handful of ‘Stay Out’ signs, and one in bold letters that said ‘No Boys allowed.’

Everything about it just screamed ‘Rebellious Teenager’.

“Yeah...That’s Limey’s room, I think she’s in there right now. I didn’t tell her I was bringing anyone over, so just be reeeeeal quiet.” Pinkie said in a hushed tone, emphasizing her point by placing her finger against her lips.

She let go of his hand and opened the door, walking in and gesturing him to follow her. The same anxious feeling he got when he first saw her house sprung back up, but for a significantly different reason. He was reminded that this would be the first time he entered a girls room, which really shouldn’t have made him as apprehensive as it did, especially since he had a girl over to his just a few days ago.

He gulped nervously as he hesitated to walk forward, closing his eyes like he was stepping into a whole new world. The first thing that he noticed was the smell, it hit him as a bit strong and sweet. Kind of like when he would enter the shops of a mall and sometimes he’d enter one with a lot of cologne, but instead of cologne it smelt like candy and flowers.

He slowly opened his eyes, expecting the walls to be blindingly pink. Instead, they were a bright yellow, having patterns of balloons of various colors, mixed in with large, pink hearts. It wasn’t a very large room, probably a little bit larger than his. To the left of the room was a medium sized bed, it had three large pillows with a lot of patterns, the sheets and the blanket on it also had the same heart and balloon patterns as the wall. The headboard was normal except for the top, which was carved out into a heart shape. There was a large curtain like over top that seemed like it extended outwards, though he wasn’t sure how comfortable that actually was.

The only thing on the bed was a somewhat small alligator stuffed animal, it was bright green with small, purple eyes. He wasn’t sure why, but even though it wasn’t alive, its eyes pierced into his very soul. His entire body shuddered when he briefly made eye contact, and he tore his gaze away from the inanimate eyes while he still could.

To the left of the bed was a small shelf attached to the walls, having only a few things on it like a mirror and a toy chest full of fake treasure. Above it were a handful of framed pictures on the wall, some were her with her friends, others were her with people he didn’t recognize. A large, brown sign in the center of it, the words ‘Live, Laugh, Love’ engraved on it in bold white letters. To the right was a small nightstand, a pink lamp and a picture of her with her family sitting on it.

The only things else in the room was a large rug with a sunflower on it, a window to the opposite of the door with pink curtains, and a very large wardrobe against the wall on the right side of the room. The wardrobe was open right now and was filled with various types of clothing, everything from nightwear to dresses he found hard to imagine Pinkie Pie even wearing.

He sort of knew it before, but seeing her room just confirmed it. Pinkie was, in every sense of the term, a girly girl.

“You like my room? It’s been like this since I was twelve, and I love it just as much now as I did then!”

“It’s...unique.” Jason said absentmindedly, looking around the room for a table or something they could study at, but there wasn’t one. “So...are we just going to study on your bed? I don’t see anywhere else.”

“Yuh-huh! My bed’s super comfy and has plenty of space! You can go ahead and get comfy, we miiiiiight be here a bit.” She said with a wink, spinning in a circle several times and then walking towards her wardrobe. “First, I gotta change into something else. Wearing my school clothes after a while gets stuffy!”

She reached into the wardrobe and pulled something out, but her back was turned to him, so he couldn’t see what it was. She placed the clothing over her arm and walked towards the door, hiding the clothing from him so well it almost seemed intentional.

“I’ll be right back, I’m going to go change, I’ll be back in...five minutes or so.” Pinkie said as she shut the door behind herself.

He listened as her footsteps got more distant, then heard the sound of a door opening and closing. He laid his backpack on the ground beside her bed and grabbed the few things he brought to help with the studying. A calculator, a mostly clear note-book with the exception of a handful of doodles he made while he was bored in class, and a math textbook.

It only took him a thirty seconds or so to get it all out, he went quickly, realizing this was the opportunity to look around that Sunset said he might have. His hands shook a bit out of a fear of getting caught and guilt from betraying Pinkie’s trust. He clenched his fist, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. A slight feeling of resolve washed over him that he’d never felt before.

*Pinkie will understand if she catches me. I can explain, this is for her, Sunset and I are just trying to help.*

He started by just looking around the room, seeing if there was anything out of place or that might have shown any distress Pinkie had been suffering from that she was hiding. On the surface, nothing seemed wrong. Actually, to his surprise, the entire room was very neatly and meticulously organized. He didn’t really think that was something she cared about.

Not a single picture was crooked or out of place, all the clothes in the wardrobe were folded or hung in order of colors. The pillows, sheets, and blanket of her bed resembled one of a bed at a five star hotel rather than a personal bedroom. Some part of him expected there to be crumbs or some remnants of snacks, but there was nothing.

After about two minutes of searching around the room and looking under her bed and behind some of the frames, he didn’t actually expect to find anything, and his expectations were met. He wasn’t even sure what it was he was trying to find, her journal maybe? If that was true, he didn’t think he could bring himself to read it. He knew to girls that was an incredibly private thing, and it was forbidden for anyone but them to know what was written in it.

He sighed as his eyes slowly scanned over the room, there was nothing else he could see that he hadn’t already searched. He didn’t hear Pinkie’s footsteps, but he didn’t think he had much time left. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw that the drawer of her night stand was slightly open, he didn’t know how he hadn’t seen that before. Maybe he knocked it open a bit when he was searching around?

Out of a mixture of knowing Pinkie would notice it, and that it bothered him a bit that it was so out of place with everything else in the room, he had an urge to put it back in. He walked over to it and put his hand on the small knob to push it back in, stopping abruptly when he saw something inside.

A pack of cigarettes.

He opened the drawer a bit more to make sure he wasn’t mistaken, and as much as he wanted to be in that moment, he wasn’t. It was small and white, the words ‘Morely’ in a golden sticker on the front. There was also a small, see through lighter sitting beside it, and since he could tell it was half empty, it had clearly been used fairly often and recently.

Jason was tempted to pick it up and check how many had been smoked, but he had a feeling that Pinkie would know somehow, so he just shut it back. But, the damage was already done, he’d already seen it. His mind was running a mile a minute, dozens of thoughts and questions running through his mind.

*Why would Pinkie be smoking? Don’t most people who smoke do it because they have a lot of stress? Or have an addictive personality. Pinkie doesn’t peg me as someone who gets easily addicted, but I’m not exactly the best judge of character, so why?”

Something Sunset Shimmer mentioned in their talk came to mind, about how she used to smoke and that it was Pinkie’s idea to use candy cigarettes as a substitute. It sounded like an idea she’d come up with, but what if it was more than just that? What if Pinkie had done it herself? It was possible she had an on and off addiction to cigarettes, but why? What would have caused her to start?

He didn’t have any more time to think, he heard the sound of the door opening and closing, quickly followed by the far footsteps of Pinkie Pie. He got so nervous he was borderline nauseous, moving to sit on the bed probably faster than he ever had before. He shifted into multiple positions, trying to find one that appeared the most natural. He ended up settling with just sitting on the edge, his legs on the floor and his arms crossed. His right leg was tapping rapidly and he had a strong urge to bite his fingernails, but he resisted the best he could.

As soon as the door opened he put on a strained smile, about to make an awkward joke about her falling in. Luckily, it never left his mouth, as his jaw almost dropped at Pinkie’s outfit.

Her skirt was replaced by pink shorts with blue stripes, they were fairly short and went about five inches up from her knee. He’d never seen them in person before, but she was wearing thigh high socks. They were a dark purple, covering her feet and going up to her knees, leaving only her thighs visible.

The blouse and vest she wore at school was gone, replaced by a single piece of clothing. A bright white, sleeveless t-shirt, it was clean and also a size too short. It clung tightly to her chest, basically the only thing it covered, but not tight enough to see whatever bra she was wearing. Her midriff was completely exposed, her waist was surprisingly slender, all the skin she was showing didn’t have a single blemish and looked as smooth and flawless as her face did. Her belly button was so small it was almost unnoticeable. Her metabolism must have been ridiculously high for her to eat as much as she did and her body still be so perfectly shaped.

Speaking of her chest, her breasts were massive! They must have been covered by all the clothes she wore normally, because right now he could tell they were as big as Diane’s. They were perfectly round, perky, and weren’t sagging in the slightest. He wasn’t sure if that was because of a bra she was wearing, or if they were like that naturally.

He watched in pure shock as she moved with stride over to the wardrobe, placing the clothes she was wearing before in a basket inside. She bent over, showing off her large posterior, he could almost see up the shorts she was wearing from the angle he was at. He quickly turned away, his face flushed as he tried to resist the urge to glance.

He heard her turn around and begin skipping towards him, a bounce in her step he wouldn’t be able to mistake as anyone else. He felt the spot beside him collapse in on itself as she sat down. She turned toward him, but didn’t say anything. She remained eerily silent. He found himself afraid to turn to look at her, knowing he would find it difficult to keep his eyes off her body.

The bed strained slightly as he felt her weight shift, and suddenly he felt hot air blowing into his ear. Shivers went up his spine as he brought his hand up to his ear to stop it. He turned to Pinkie to confirm that she was actually the one doing it, not like it could have been anyone else.

“Sorry, but I’ve always wanted to try that, your reaction was as funny as I thought it’d be!” Pinkie said with a giggle.

Something about her laugh made his heart skip a beat, and he suddenly found it difficult to take his eyes off of her face. Seeing such a blissful and innocent expression on her and knowing that he caused it made him a bit happy.

“As fun as it is to mess with you, we really should get started. I don’t like studying, but I dislike procrastinating even more.”

Pinkie’s voice took on an uncharacteristically serious tone as she reached down to grab a pencil from the pencil case he brought, twirling it in between her fingers in her right hand. She grabbed the notebook on the bed and flipped it open, smirking at one of the doodles she came across, and then flipping again until a clear page.

“Do you mind if we start with factors? They’re what I have the best understanding of, but it’s rough at best.”

They spent the next thirty minutes going over some math problems, Jason calming down rather quickly as he got into it. Doing math had always been soothing to him, as long as it was math he understood, anyway. The process of using numbers and letters helped him to focus his thoughts, maybe that was part of why he was good at it.

Well, he was relatively calmed down, until Pinkie started getting a lot closer than he was entirely okay with.

It wasn’t anything intentional, at least, he was pretty sure it wasn’t. It started as just her hand tracing his whenever she’d point out something, which was easy enough for him to ignore. He wasn’t quite sure when, but as they progressed, she seemed to be getting closer to him, inch by inch. Her soft legs began pressing against him, and her breasts eventually enveloped his arm, leaving a lot of her cleavage visible if he looked at her, nevermind just how his arm felt sandwiched between them. His heart was beating so hard and loud he thought his ribcage was going to crack. His entire face was hot and he was sure his cheeks were red, Jason was sure she noticed, but if she could hear his heartbeat, she didn’t show it.

That wasn’t the only thing that bothered him, it was how easily she was learning. He’d never tutored anyone before, but Pinkie was progressing faster than normal. Sometimes he wouldn’t even say anything, she would skim over a page in the textbook and write down the example problem, solving it perfectly without even saying anything or asking a question. Anytime she did, it was more rhetorical. Like she was explaining how to do something in the form of a question, and he would just nod to confirm it.

She also constantly had that confident, knowing smirk on her face. Never hesitating or slowing down, he barely had to say a single thing or help her at all. It was like he was just a placeholder, she was tutoring herself at this point.

He inhaled deeply as he prepared to ask her something. It was presumptuous, and came at the risk of sounding like an asshole, but it would irk him if he didn’t say something.

“Pinkie, you didn’t actually ask me here to help you with math, did you?”

She stopped whatever she was writing, her lips curving downward into a frown. She didn’t look up at him, her gaze transfixed on the problem she was in the middle of solving. She remained silent for what felt like forever, a tension in the room he normally associated with Diane.

Without a word she laid the pencil down onto the notebook, shifting away from him a bit to where she wasn’t touching him anymore.

“Jason, what do you honestly think of me?”

There was a cold sternness to her voice, her face mostly unable for him to make out as she turned it away from him.

“I....” Jason paused as he tried to collect his thoughts, the question completely blindsiding him. “I think you’re a fantastic girl, you’re so social that you know how to get along with anyone. You can hang out with just about anyone, and yet you still choose to go out of your way to talk with me. You’re really nice. If I’m being honest, you’re the best friend I’ve ever had.”

Everything he was saying was true and what he genuinely felt, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that it was the wrong thing to say. Pinkie’s body slouched down a bit, her hair deflating slightly. There was something sad about her body language now, reminding him of his talk with her earlier that day.

“That wasn’t what I was asking about.”

Her voice was meek and barely more than a whisper, if he hadn’t been so close he wouldn’t have heard it. His jaw tightened as he tried to figure out what to say.

“I-”

(Somewhat sexy stuff starting, skip if you want.)

He was interrupted when she suddenly jumped forward, her lips enveloping his in an instant, his eyes widened out of shock into a bug-eyed expression. The notebook, textbook, and pencil fell off her lap to the ground as she placed her hands against his chest to balance herself.

Jason’s mind had turned into tv static, unable to think or react in any way. He didn’t kiss back or move at all, the pencil he was holding in his hand clattered to the floor. His first thought wasn’t why she was kissing him, or even how he should react.

It was the fact that she tasted exactly how she smelled; like strawberries.

She took advantage of his lack of reaction, pushing him down onto his back against the bed. In a moment she was on top of him, straddling his hips and pushing her body against him. Her kissing was passionate, and yet there wasn’t any lust behind it. It was like she was trying to express what she was feeling the best she could, which was through kissing.

Her hands began to move down his body, getting to the edge of his shirt. Her soft hands about to move under it, reminding him of when Diane touched him like that, bringing him back to his senses. He firmly grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her off of him, their lips breaking contact with a thin trail of saliva between them.

She slowly opened her eyes, having closed them at some point, they were half open and she had a hazy look in them. There was a bit of lust like he’d seen in Diane’s eyes, but there was something else he couldn’t identify.

“W-what...are you doing?”

Jason was out of breath, the sudden make out session leaving him winded. As much as he hated to admit it, he was also aroused, he was sure from the position they were in she noticed. His mind was telling him he shouldn’t be, but with how close she was to him and how scantily dressed she was, it was impossible to stop it.

Her breathing on the other hand was remarkably calm, it almost sounded like she was sleeping. Her body language gave away how she was really feeling though, her entire body shook similarly to how he did in times of extreme social anxiety. The thing was, he couldn’t tell if it was because she was nervous, or afraid.

“Kissing you, obviously.” She said as her voice cracked, shaking a bit like it was hard for her to speak.

“Why? You know Diane and I are-”

“Not together, right? You guys are just friends who have sex, you AREN’T a couple.” Pinkie quickly countered, her emphasis having a bit of snark to it.

Her statement left him conflicted. She had put so much conviction into it, she sounded so sure. Her snide at the end surprised him; it was the closest to being mean that he’s ever heard from her. What she was saying was true, but hearing her say it like that caused a stab of pain to his heart. He broke eye contact with her, not even noticing he was making it with the cauldron of emotions he had.

“It’s...a bit more complicated than that.” He managed to stutter out, something about the way she was looking down at him made him feel small and his throat dry.

“Does she have feelings for you?” Pinkie asked, tilting her head like a dog.

“I don’t know.”

“Do you…” She paused, her jaw tightening for a brief moment. “Have feelings for her?”

Her grip on his shirt tightened, she hid her eyes behind her hair, her voice sounded a bit strained. Jason hesitated in answering, he knew the answer; he’d been thinking about it too much that entire weekend to not. But to say it out loud took more courage than he thought it would, not just that, the situation he was in right now was fragile. He could tell Pinkie was holding back whatever she was feeling for his sake.

Despite that being the case, he had to be honest, honesty was one of the few things he had,

“I...I think so. I don’t have any experience with romance or anything, but I think...I like her.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, he could literally see the dejection hit her like a truck. Her entire body drooped and her hair deflated more than before, parts of it losing its normal puffiness. She slowly lifted her hands off his shirt, holding them tightly against her chest. Since his hands were still on her shoulders, he could feel how violent her shaking had suddenly gotten.

She had hidden her face so well behind her hair he could only see her chin, he heard her make a noise that was somewhere between a sigh and a sob. This was the most upset he had ever seen her, such a drastic change to how unchangingly happy she was any other time, and he couldn’t ignore the stab of guilt that his words were what made her like that.

Before he had the chance to try to comfort her, she suddenly lowered herself to him, wrapping her arms around his back and placing her head on his shoulder. He gasped as her large, pillow like breasts pushed against his chest, her mess of hair poking into his cheek.

“I like you, Jason.”

She whispered the words directly into his ear, her hot breath sending shivers down his spine. She hugged him as tightly as she could, almost desperately so, like she needed to be comforted in that moment.

“W-why?” He managed to say, his mind barely able to think coherently as he tried his best to ignore the urges a certain part of his body was telling him to give in to.

She didn’t say anything for a while, hugging him exactly like that without making a single sound, her hot breath hitting his neck every time she exhaled. She was still shaking, but it was less so than before, he could feel her heart was beating just as erratically as his.

“Because,” She abruptly let go of him, raising her body to where she was straddling him again, placing her hands on his chest to balance herself. There was a smile on her face that was unlike any he’d seen on her before, it was pained, he could detect that sadness behind it. Yet there was also a bit of relief and content, in a way, it was reassuring. Her eyes were more or less the same, though they were still half open and she had that unique light in them that he’d only seen in Pinkie’s eyes.

It made him realize something, that was the most genuine smile he’d ever witnessed from her.

“I don’t...know a lot of guys, not really. Sure, I’m friends with a lot of them, but I’m not close with any of them. Sunset and the others are my closest friends, I’ve tried getting closer to guys but, well, they think I’m weird. Some think I’m friendly in all kinds of ways and I sleep around, others just find it hard to see me as anything else but the girl everyone’s friends with. You’re the first guy who hasn’t straight up told me they aren’t interested, and you aren’t like most people I’ve met. You’re sweet and I know you don’t like it, but your shyness and how flustered you get is cute. I could go on and I’m not even quite sure when, but I started crushing on you. You might not remember, but…”

She fidgeted and shifted around uncomfortably, unintentionally, or maybe intentionally, rubbing against his bulging erection. He stifled a groan by biting his lip, grabbing her by the waist to get her to stop. She moaned slightly at his touch, but otherwise didn’t react at all.

*We really need to get out of this position, I don’t know if I can keep holding myself back like this. She’s so soft and her waist is so slender, what do all these hot girls see in me?*

“I told you about how girls with insecurities would look for guys like you, and I...have a lot of insecurities. It was kind of my way of telling you I was interested, but I guess I shouldn’t have expected you to get something that subtle, that’s my b!” She said with an innocent giggle, shrugging her shoulders and bringing her hands to her chest again. “It...doesn’t help that my friends are so perfect. I’m not beautiful like Rarity or Fluttershy, not smart like Twilight or Sunset, and I don’t have a muscular body or athletics like Applejack and Rainbow Dash. I really don’t have a lot going for me other than I can get along with basically anyone, which is surprisingly lonely in a strange way. But…”

Her face suddenly got flushed as she lowered her hands, grabbing her shirt by its bottom and lifting it over her head before tossing it to the side. She was wearing a dark black bra, they looked a bit tight on her, pressing against her breast and preventing them from sagging. He couldn’t tell if that was because it was a push up bra, or it was just a size too small for her.

The black bra was extremely familiar to him, it was identical to the one he’d seen Diane in, down to the same color and made out of the same material. It didn’t seem weird at first, sure it wasn’t likely for them to own the exact same underwear set, but it wasn’t impossible either. Something was telling him there was more to it than that.

He didn’t get more time to think about it, as right before his eyes her hands went behind her back and undid the latch on the bra, tossing it to the side with the shirt.

Her breast bounced out of them almost eagerly, confirming a question he had been asking himself since she walked in wearing that stupidly small shirt: Yes, her boobs were naturally perky. The first thing he thought of comparing it to were two large, completely inflated balloons. They were round and large, and bounced with each movement she made. Her nipples were fully erect and were a lighter shade of pink than the rest of her body, and would have been hard to notice otherwise.

She now sat on top of him, not wearing anything on the upper part of her body, it’s near perfection being shown in its full glory to him. There wasn’t a single flaw he could see across her body, and the rest of her was likely as soft as her waist. Both of her arms were under her breast holding them up, not like they needed it, her hands fidgeting as she resisted the urge to cover herself with her hands. She was blushing furiously, blinking rapidly and trying to look anywhere but him, clearly embarrassed but enduring it for him.

His hands were shaking, it was taking every ounce of his willpower to keep his hands where they were. He had been so anxious over Diane the past three days that he hadn’t masturbated at all, he was more pent up than he had been in a while, so it just made this entire situation worse. Every throb of his cock felt more intense than the last, almost to the point of agonizing. The only thing that was stopping him from giving in to his libido was the guilt he’d feel for leading Pinkie on and betraying Diane, but that was ebbing away every minute.

“I’m willing to give you everything I am, I’ve wanted to be in a relationship for a long time. I know I’ll probably mess up a lot, but please, I just want one chance. Guys like girls that put out, right? I can do that, I don’t really mind all that much. But, I have next to no experience, so I don’t really know what I’m doing.”

Jason’s mind was working in overdrive, trying to understand everything that was going on, how to react. He desperately resisted the more overwhelming urge by the second to run his hands all over her body like a kid playing with a new action figure trying to find every feature it has. Not only was this the first time a girl was confessing to him, but she was doing it while barely wearing any clothes and on top of him.

Suffice to say, he was struggling to even speak at this point.

“P-Pinkie...I…”

He was interrupted by Pinkie rubbing her lower body against his, eliciting a sharp gasp as he felt just how thin the shorts she was wearing were. She lowered her body once again against his, slipping her hands under his shirt, and tracing her fingers against his skin. She let out a shaky moan as she pressed her bare tits against his chest, he could feel her erect nipples poking him through his shirt.

“You...don’t have to worry about me getting pregnant either, I have endometriosis, and I take birth control to help deal with it. So, it’s like, reeealllyyy hard for me to get preggers. You can...finish in me as much as you want, all I’m asking is that you give me a chance.”

She was trying to sound seductive, but Jason could make out the desperation in her voice. She wasn’t doing this because she was a sexual person, she was doing it because she thought it was the best thing she could think of to try to persuade him, even if she was getting turned on from it.

It made him feel bad, because it was working, he was getting more aroused by the minute and it was making it harder for him to say no. Once again, he was reminded of Diane, specifically when she was telling him about her boyfriend. She said she was only dating him out of desperation to be in a relationship, to be loved and to make someone happy, it was really hard to say no to.

“But...Dian-”

“You have a girl half naked on top of you offering herself, and you’re still thinking about someone who you aren’t even sure has feelings for you?” Pinkie asked, slowly raising her body. Her cheeks were slightly inflated in a pouting expression. “Am I not enough for you? I d-”

*Yeah, I can’t be in this position anymore.*

Out of a desire to get out from under her, and prevent himself from getting any more aroused than he already was, he placed his hands on her shoulders and flipped her over. She didn’t have time to react, and before she knew it she was on her back against the bed with Jason over her.

His face was inches away from hers, his legs firmly on the bed and his hands still firmly on her shoulders, his entire body imbued with mind numbingly warm lust. His pants felt tight against his erect member, everything inside of him was telling him to ravage her. It would be so easy, she was practically begging him to!

But he wasn’t that far gone, he knew while it would have been easy, it also would have been wrong.

(Somewhat sexy stuff over.)

“Pinkie…” Jason said as he took a deep breath, keeping his eyes closed and trying to focus on his breathing. “There’s nothing wrong with you, you’re amazing, really. You have no idea how much it’s taking right now to not give in, you are very attractive and have a great personality, anyone who doesn’t want to get with you is just missing out.”

He wasn’t entirely sure where he was getting all the confidence to say this, any other time he’d be in this position he’d be so wracked with anxiety he’d be stuttering every other word. Maybe it was because his mind was overwhelmed with lust and emotions that it didn’t have room for his usual social anxiety. Or, maybe he was finally getting better, and was breaking out of his loner shell like Diane and Pinkie had been trying to get him to.

*Yeah, right.*

Instead of making her feel better, it actually made her more sad. After recovering from the surprise of Jason’s sudden actions, her lips dropped into a frown, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. “Then...why don’t you want me?”

“If I had met you first...maybe I would have, but I met Diane first. I don’t have any experience with romance at all, probably even less than you. However, doing something with someone else, when I haven’t even gotten to properly confess and know if she reciprocates what I feel for her at all, would be…” He paused as he grit his teeth, trying to think of the best way to put into words what he was thinking and feeling. “Wrong, it would make me feel really bad. What would make me feel worse would be using you as rebound, you deserve better than that, Pinkie.”

“I...don’t mind being used as a rebound, if it’s by you.” She said meekly, so quietly it was more like she was saying it to herself than him.

Something about the way she said that made him upset, he slowly opened his eyes, doing his best to keep his gaze on her face and off her chest. His eyebrows furrowed into a scowl, something he rarely ever did.

“I do. Why do you think so little of yourself?”

She recoiled at his words like she’d been hit, her nose scrunching up and her lips pursing, he was reminded of a dog when it was getting yelled at. She brought her hands up to her face and covered her eyes, he wasn’t sure whether it was because she couldn’t look at him, or if she just didn’t want him to see her cry.

“The s-same reason as you, I just do.”

Her voice was muffled and he could tell she was on the edge of crying, he suddenly found himself glad she was stopping him from seeing her face.

*Great, now I feel like an asshole.*

He let go of her shoulders, raising himself off of her and getting on his feet as he felt the last bits of arousal fade away, driven off by the guilt rising up in him. Without saying a word, he reached down and grabbed the studying supplies he brought, the backpack was left open and on the floor, so it wasn’t difficult to put it back in.

As soon as he put everything in he zipped it up and slung it over his shoulder, sluggishly walking over to the door like a zombie. Pinkie didn’t make a sound, keeping her face hidden beneath her hands except for her quivering lips, biting them like she was trying to stop herself from saying something. She hadn’t moved, her back was still against the bed and her chest exposed, but Jason didn’t think he could get aroused right now if he tried. Her body was shaking again, he had to ignore his urge to comfort her; he was the reason she was on the verge of crying after all.

He was more conflicted in that moment than he thought he ever had been in his life. He wanted to just leave; he hurt her enough and knew what happened here would keep him awake for many nights to come. His words were what caused the damage, and yet he wanted to say more, even if he couldn’t change his feelings.

There was at least one thing he could say.

“I’m sorry, Pinkie.”

That was the final push, he heard her let out a heart wrenching sob, Jason was sure if he turned around right now he’d see the tears she’d been holding back rolling down her cheeks. He opened the door and walked through, closing it behind him.

He was also glad that Pinkie’s room was sound proofed, he wouldn’t have been able to take it if he heard her crying.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

He didn’t walk any faster than he usually did, nor was the distance from his apartment to Pinkie’s house any longer, and yet it was the longest walk home he’d ever experienced in his life.

He couldn’t get her out of his head, how pained her face was when he said he couldn’t reciprocate her feelings, how her voice shook when she was trying her best to not cry in front of him, it hurt to think about it.

He tried to think about anything else, even Diane, but it all somehow came back to Pinkie. By the time he got home, his mind was so focused on what happened with her, how he could have handled things better, and how he missed all the signs before, that he barely even paid attention to the world around him. He unlocked his apartment and walked in, shutting the door behind him but not bothering to latch and lock it like he usually did. He trudged up the stairs to his room, tossing the backpack somewhere on the floor and jumping head first onto his bed. With any luck the sweet embrace of sleep would take him and he’d be able to stop thinking for a while.

Sadly, it never did. His body was tense and he felt uncomfortable in his own clothes, he couldn’t stop thinking about Pinkie. Most of the time it was the guilt that weighed him down, he’d never hurt anyone like he hurt Pinkie. Occasionally, his mind would drift to Pinkie’s body, how surprisingly voluptuous it was and soft her skin felt.

He hated himself for thinking of her like that after what he did, he had no right.

*I hate being human sometimes, I wish I was a dog or something. Then I’d just be getting affection all the time, instead I get to deal with constant counterfactual thinking and social anxiety. Ya-fucking-hoo.*

He wasn’t really sure how long he was on that bed, shifting around into different positions but never getting in one he could relax in. He closed his eyes as hard as he could and did his best to focus on the darkness and pretend he still couldn’t hear Pinkie’s sob or how strained her voice was.

What finally broke him out of his stupor was his phone ringing, it shocked him so much that he had forgotten it was even still in his jean pocket. He shot up out of his bed with a loud gasp, wondering who could have been calling it. It wasn’t Pinkie, he wasn’t even sure if she would ever want to talk to him again after what happened.

The thought that his friendship with Pinkie was over hurt him a lot more than he thought it would.

He harbored a small hope that it was Diane who was calling him, but somehow he doubted that too. He shook his head and promised himself he needed to try to stop asking himself so many questions about every little thing, he may have been paranoid by nature, but he still took it way too far.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and saw that it was Sunset, and his eyes also widened a bit when he saw it was already eight. She had given him her number after their talk in the library in the hallway, it was a bit awkward since that was the only time he’d given his number to a girl other than Pinkie, but he thought he handled it well. However, he was kind of just expecting her to text him, not call him.

“Hello?” Jason said as he answered the call and brought the phone to his right ear, sitting down onto his bed.

“Jason? Wow, I didn’t recognize your voice for a second, you sound way more normal over the phone. Anyway, how did things go at Pinkie’s?”

He internally debated whether he should tell Sunset what happened, from how things were looking with Diane and Pinkie, Sunset might end up being his only friend. But, he decided not to tell her. At least, not the details. If he said that she confessed, Sunset seemed like the type of girl that would want the details, and he really would have preferred to not do that. He already sort of regretted telling her and the others about his whole situation with Diane, anything else and he didn’t think he’d be able to look her in the eyes the next time they spoke, which was already hard enough for him.

“...Not well. Pinkie...might be really upset at school tomorrow, if she even decides to go. Please, if she doesn’t want to talk about it, don’t ask her.”

“She confessed to you, didn’t she?”

Silence.

“Yeah, I figured as much.” He heard her sigh on the other side of the phone, and then the sound of a door slamming shut. “She’ll bounce back from this, she never stays sad for long. I won’t bother asking you why you didn’t say yes, you have your reasons, and I can tell you’re the type who likes to keep that kind of stuff to himself.”

Jason appreciated Sunset’s words, Pinkie was the social butterfly of the group, but Sunset was much more tactful and gentle. He saw her as the mediator of the group, and he more or less understood why she approached him with Pinkie’s issue. If she brought it up to the group, that would draw a lot more attention to it than Pinkie would be comfortable with, and that would have made things worse.

He was really starting to warm up to Sunset, where had girls like her been his entire life?

“So how did...searching her room go? You didn’t go rifling through her panty drawer or anything, did you?” Sunset asked with a playful chuckle, he could make out the distinct crunching noise of her chewing on candy cigarettes.

He blushed a bit at her words, but knew it was nothing more than a joke. “Of course not, I stayed away from her clothes and checked everything else. I didn’t get caught, I’m pretty sure she didn’t notice. I didn’t find anything unusual, until…” He paused as he asked himself if he should mention the pack of cigarettes he saw, that was Pinkie’s business if she smoked and it might have meant nothing.

Even so, it might have also meant something important, and Sunset was likely the only person he could talk to that would know.

“I checked the drawer of her nightstand, there was a pack of cigarettes in there and a lighter, I’m pretty sure it was at least half empty.”

He heard her sharply inhale, the sound of her dropping something and whispering ‘shit’ under her breath. A few moments of tense silence passed as he didn’t say anything.

“Are you sure?” She asked in a hushed tone, like she was in a crowd of people and didn’t want any of them to hear what they were talking about.

“Yeah, I am. I’m just as surprised about it as you are, actually, you’re probably more shocked since you’ve known her longer. Has she ever smoked before?”

“Never! At least, not as far as I’m aware. And I should know, I used to...look into her and the other girls for stuff like that, when I was going through something. Either she just recently picked it up, or she’s been doing it for years and has hidden it from all of us, that would explain why she knew using candy cigarettes as a substitute for smoking would help get over them.”

There was no sound coming from the other side to indicate it, but he could vividly picture Sunset rubbing her temple right now with her other hand while nervously chewing on a candy cigarette and wearing a detective’s hat. He couldn’t help but smirk at the image of Sunset in a large trench coat and with five o’ clock shadow, busting down doors and interrogating people for answers.

Diane and Pinkie were both good and bad influences on him, never before would he have been thinking about something so silly during such a serious situation.

“Thanks for telling me this Jason, who knows how long this would have gone on otherwise. I’ll...try to talk to her about it the next time we’re alone, without indicating you were involved the best I can. But Pinkie’s a lot smarter than most people think, she’ll probably figure it out.”

*I sure hope not, if what happened earlier didn’t end our friendship, her finding out I betrayed her trust and searched her room while she wasn’t there probably will. Maybe I should have just stayed full loner and not interacted with anyone.*

The more he thought about it, the more he realized that Sunset was probably right. Pinkie gives off this impression of a giddy airhead that doesn’t really pay attention to much, but anyone who really knew her would know that wasn’t the case at all. She was very perceptive and, from what he gathered in the little time they spent actually doing math, a very quick learner. All Sunset would have to do was bring up that she knew about the cigarettes, and it would take her all of maybe five minutes to put the pieces together.

“Hey, so…you mentioned that you used to look into people? I won’t ask about that, but…” This was kind of a long shot, but it was his best chance at learning more about her. “Do you...know anything about Diane?”

He heard her stop chewing on the candy in her mouth, she was so silent for so long he had to look at his phone to make sure she hadn’t hung up.

“Yeah...I met her once, actually. A while back ago I was trying my best to makre sure I got as many votes as possible for The Fall Formal, something like prom where they elect a princess, what I wanted to be. I heard about her from someone else and kept showing up at...raves until she did, if that’s the last time I ever see her, it’d be too soon.”

He detected a bit of animosity in her voice, which sounded wrong coming from Sunset.

“Why? What was she like?”

“She was…” Sunset’s voice was shakier than before, she drew a sharp breathe before speaking. “Dodgy, and quite frankly, she scared me. She was disturbingly good at controlling the conversation, always finding a way to answer a question without really answering it, and directing it back at me somehow.

She...knew things about me I have no idea how she learned, even seemed like she was analyzing me as we talked. She was so cold and emotionaless, at times I wondered if she even felt anything at all. When you brought her up at the lunch table, I wondered for a long time whether it was even the same person, your description of her was nothing like the Diane that I met.”

He couldn’t exactly blame Sunset, he knew Diane could come off that way sometimes, but he wasn’t sure if he’d go as far to say she was scare. She scared him sometimes, sure, but he thought that was just because of his terrible social skills.

*Did Diane act differently around other people? Why, what is she trying to hide? Does she act normally around me? Or...is it just another mask?*

“I was intimidated, yeah, but I wasn’t actually scared until...I brought up Pinkie. I pointed out how they were identical to each other, and could have been sisters. As soon as that remark left my mouth, it’s like all the music and the dancing stopped, and there was nothing but her.” She paused, silent again for a few moments. “Ever since I came to this wo-to this school, I was kind of a bully, but I was never afraid of being physically hurt, not until I said that. The things she said to me...she mixed together so many curse words and slurs I think a sailor would have blushed.

She was strong too, in an instant she picked me up by the collar and lifted me off the ground like I was a toy, I was so shocked I could barely fight back. The second she was done with me and my feet hit the ground I was gone, I haven’t stepped into a night club or anything since, she’s one of the few people I’ve ever met that scared me. That was pretty close to two years ago, and I still think about it sometime. I guess she’s cooled down since then if what you’ve said is true.”

It was hard for Jason to even imagine Diane getting violent with someone, he’d seen her anger before...but enough to get violent? The Diane he met wouldn’t do something like that, not even when Pinkie was brought up, she must have been a whole different person then.

*I wonder if that was before or after what happened with her boyfriend, if I had to guess, she changed after she had to go to the hospitial because of her alcohol poisoning. *

The strength part didn’t exactly surprise him either, while she had a very attractive frame, it wasn’t a small one. He noticed the muscles she had, while they weren’t the kind an athlete would have, they were enough to where he didn’t doubt she could pick up someone like Sunset. He was curious about how she got that way, everything he learned about her just brought up more questions.

“I’m...sorry that happened between you guys, I’ll talk to her about it the next time I see her.”

*Whenever that will be, she’s left me on read for almost three days now.*

“Did you learn anything else about her? I knew that she didn’t like Pinkie, but I didn’t realize it had been for that long.”

“I did...yeah, it’s complicated. I was scared of her, but I was also really motivated to win The Fall Formal. I won’t deny that I was also curious, Pinkie was as much of a sweetheart then as now, I was baffled by what could have happened between them that would cause that. I asked around, and…”

He heard the sound of a door opening and closing again, a sink turning on and water running for a moment before being turned off again.

“Everyone at the school knew Pinkie, but despite her claiming she went to that school, only the people who went clubbing at night knew Diane. Anyone who knew her knew better than to ask about Pinkie with her, she avoided not only talking about her, but even going to the same places she did. I never learned why, but all I can say is…

No one’s ever seen Pinkie and Diane in the same place at the same time.”

Something about the way she said that resonated with Jason, making him think about all the connections between Pinkie and Diane he knew about. He was tempted to tell Sunset everything he knew about Diane so far, but that would include some of the things he told her he wouldn’t tell others.

He was concerned about her, but he didn’t think telling other people stuff about her was ultimately worth the risk.

“Back to the drawer, was there anything else in there? She only has one night stand, and that’s where she keeps her spare phone. Was it not there?” Sunset asked, the apprehension in her voice from before was gone.

“Her spare phone?” He asked curiously, something about that statement got his heart racing.

“Yeah, most people don’t know it, but Pinkie is actually the super cautious type. Instead of selling her old phone when she buys a new one like most people, she keeps it somewhere as a backup, though I doubt it will ever get used. I’ve never seen her so much as drop her phone, breaking it is just straight up out of the question. It’s probably been in there so long it’s started gathering dust. I stumbled across it once in there when I was looking for something, I thought it was weird and I asked her about it later.”

‘Can’t tell you, it’s a secret, all girls gotta have a few secrets.’

Diane’s words echoed like she had just said them. He shot up out of the bed, his eyes widening out of realization, remembering that there was no spare phone in there. What could that mean? Only Pinkie should have had access to it, but he knew she was still using the same phone she always did, so why?

‘So don’t give my number out to anyone, k?’

He began pacing around the room as he remembered the things she said, the gears in his mind working faster than they ever had before. He felt like the main character in a mystery novel near the end, when they had an epiphany and began to piece together all the evidence and discover who the culprit was and what really happened. He remembered noting that Diane was a quick texter, the kind that would suggest she texted a lot of people. The only other person he knew who was like that was Pinkie.

‘Pinkie is a...sensitive subject for me. So just...don’t ask me about it, k?’

‘I can’t even imagine who or where I’d be without my sisters or my friends, they’re everything to me.’

‘I don’t mean to make you worry about all my problems, I just get worried about my friends. Just be careful, k?’

Everything was starting to make sense, all the mysteries and questions he’d been asking himself were being answered and connected with each other, something his unconscious had been working on in the background ever since everything started. It was all starting to make sense.

Why they looked so similar.

Why both claimed to go to the same school, yet Pinkie had never seen her before.

Why Diane thought social media would be bad for her.

Why they used some of the same phrases.

Why Pinkie was wearing a black bra that was eerily similar to the one Diane sent him a picture of.

It was an absurd, and absolutely ridiculous conclusion. Something straight out of a cartoon TV show, or some random, edgy fanfiction. If he said it to anyone else, he’d sound crazy! But…

*It...makes sense, too much sense! It explains everything, way better than anything else I can think of.*

“Jason?” Sunset asked, her voice sounded distant with how deep in thought Jason was, he hadn’t even noticed how erratic and loud his breathing had gotten.

No, this wasn’t something he was just now realizing, he had known about this for a while now. It had been staring him in the face ever since he first talked to Pinkie, he just didn’t want to see it because of how ludicrous it was. He kept pushing it to the back of his mind, searching and hoping for any other kind of answer, but there wasn’t one. Everything he learned kept pointing to the same thing, the phone was just the last sign he needed to where he couldn’t ignore it anymore.

He heard an almost audible click as the last piece of the puzzle fit in, the truth he could deny no longer dawning on him.

“I have to go.”

“Wa-”

He hung up on Sunset without hesitation, putting his phone in his pocket and running out the door as fast as he could. He needed to hurry and get there, if he didn’t talk to her tonight…

He might not be able to fix this.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Averagely, it would take him about thirty minutes to get to the alleyway. Now with him running, which he only ever did when he had to during gym or something, it would be more like fifteen.

He didn’t care if he got there early and she wasn’t there, if that was the case he would wait, until midnight if he had to. He needed to talk to her tonight, he couldn’t wait until any other day. His anxiety and fear would be too much for even him, and he didn’t think he’d be able to pull out the confidence like he had in that moment again.

The second he saw the entrance to the alleyway he slowed down and stopped himself, more exhausted and breathing heavier than he was sure he ever had in his life. At that moment, he didn’t care.

He looked into the alleyway, finding the exact girl he was searching for.

She was in the same position she was in when they first met; sitting on the ground with her back against the wall and her knees to her chest, her long, straight hair blocking most of her face. She was wearing the same small, white sleeveless t-shirt he’d seen her in earlier. The same pink shorts and purple thigh highs, even wearing the same pink furry slippers he saw her in the first time they met.

Her hair wasn’t covering as much of her face as usual, however. He could see some of it, and the bits he could see made him sadder than he was expecting it to. Her eyeliner was running from the crying she had been doing, her lipstick smeared like she’d been eating food with a lot of ketchup.

Even from where he was standing he could see she was shaking, whether that was because it was cold out and she wasn’t wearing a lot of clothing, or something else, he didn’t know. Her lips were moving wordlessly as she silently sobbed, though it didn’t appear anymore tears were coming out.

He took a few steps forward, giving away his presence to her, he didn’t exactly try to be quiet with his breathing. She tensed up as soon as she heard him, raising her head and half opening her eyes to look at him through her hair, he suddenly felt like prey that had just been spotted by a predator.

He gulped as they made eye contact, but she didn’t say anything or make a single move. For once, Jason broke the silence out of more than just because it was awkward, he broke it because he was concerned, and afraid.

“Diane, are you...Pinkie?”