FicWad

(4 months later)

(Party Poison’s POV)
It’d been 4 months since my babies had been born. I was sitting with Fia and Helena now, waiting for Sun to be back from helping with fight class. Fia crawls up to me, gurgling happily when I pick up the pink elephant that Cyanide Killer had sewed for her. She plays with its big, floppy; dumbo sized ears, and then throws it at me, squealing with joy when it hits me. She crawls to her sister, who is just looking at the door, waiting for Mommy. She’d be back to the Block we shared soon. Ari needed to be fed, and I ran out of bottles for the three of them over an hour ago. It was hard, being a Dad all alone with triplets. We’d baby proofed both of our Blocks, mine especially. It had more space, so this is where we mainly resided. I was holding Fia’s hand now, playing peek-a-boo with her.

“peek a boo!” I say, and she laughs, grabbing my hands as I move them from my face. She had a strong grip. All of my kids did. They’d inherited Sun’s genetic modifications. They were developing muscle really fast.

The door opens. I hold my breath in anticipation. One converse steps in the door, and I sigh in relief. Helena perks up immediately, squealing with joy. She garbles something, trying to speak. It doesn’t quite work, though. Ari speed-crawls to his mother, stopping at her toes. “Hey Ari!” She says, picking him up. Helena cries loudly, just starts bawling. She wanted Mommy’s attention, and she wanted it NOW. Neon Sun notices this, and picks her up too. She’s holding Ari on her right hip, Helena on her left. I stand up, picking up Fia easily. Fia wasn’t very fussy, but Helena could be. Ari was such a mama’s boy, alrady. Maybe it was because she nursed im, or maybe because basically all babies loved Neon Sun. It was the eyes. They were just so big.

“Neon, they need to be fed…” I say, while she sits down, laying Helena on her back. Ari needed it most. Instead of taking the time to pump him out a bottle, she just breast feeds him. She still does it with a smile, even after all these months. He’d been moving towards baby food, but he still wanted Mom’s milk, which she agreed to. She was weaning him off it, replacing it with half-pumped milk, half formula, usually more on the formula side. Fia and Helena had basically been trying to quit cold turkey on Mom, chosing to eat the nasty smelling baby food mush we found. Helena liked the peas one, Fia liked applesauce instead. They still fed from Mom for two out of three meals a day, usually. Ari was the first to get teeth, and Sun was paying for it.

“Ouch!” She exclaims as quiet as she can, so as not to startle him so he bites more. “Easy baby Ari… please try to not hurt mommy…”

I smile at her, and go to make Helena some of her nasty baby food in a jar. I heat it a little bit, stir it for her, pick her up, place her in the wooden high chair a KIT had constructed for all three of my children, and place the food infront of her, dipping the tiny spoon we’d stolen from the towns into the small glass container. Scooping some of the nasty smelling green mush Helena automatically opens her mouth. “Zooooom!” I say, playing that whole ‘here comes the airplane’ game with her. She accepts the airplane of food happily, quickly trying to grab the spoon to get more from me.

Ari musn’t be very hungry for Mom today, because he finishes quickly with her, while Sun redresses herself. She picks up Fia, while Ari goes to play with his blocks and his penguin stuffed animal (a gift from Sun’s sister). He bangs the blocks together, which we at first thought was bad, but later found out was normal development (actually, slightly advanced) for his age. The fact that they cold almost stand on their own while holding on to something was remarkable.

“Sun?” I say, still feeding Helena. She’s in the kitchen, getting Fia her applesauce. She preferred the strawberry kind. Just like Neon Sun did. Like mother like daughter, I guess… “Angel?”

“Yeah?” She asks, digging for the applesauce. Fia was already attempting to climb into her high chair. I lift her up, having to leave Helena for a moment. Helena doesn’t respond well to that, and promptly something gooey and green is flung at my head by a very angry 4 month old. Instead of hitting me, it hits the window with a wet sounding splat. The goo slowly slides down the window, leaving a puke green trail in its path. All at once, all hell breaks loose. Ari starts crying, Fia starts banging on her table, and Sun drops a spoon on the tile of my small kitchen, which makes Helena cry and start screaming at me.

Before I can calm any of my children, Sun flies into mother mode. She has applesauce and a new spoon, which I get handed, already prepped for the first spoon full for my blonde haired daughter to eat. She let’s Helena try to feed herself. It doesn’t work, but Helena calms down, when Neon Sun gentley wipes her face with a warm, damp, soft cloth. Neon is over in a flash to Ari, giving him a chilled teething ring. He’d had us up at all hours of the night, crying his eyes out because he was cutting a tooth. So now he was gnawing happily on the cold blue ring of rubber.

I had no idea how Sun managed to take care of just him, much less all three, without dropping dead of pure exhaustion. I don’t think she slept much any more. I helped as much as I could, when I didn’t have to teach in the morning. I usually got up with her, in a show of solidarity, but there was only so much I could do.

The Block returns to being filled with some small noises of gurgling and laughter from the kids quickly, now that Sun has appeased all three babies in the room. She sighs in relief, continues feeding Helena. “What’d you need, Party?” She asks, never taking her eyes from Helena. Helena was quite pleased with that, I could tell. Fia was less fickle about getting all of my attention, and didn’t mind when I paused a bit to talk to Sun about what I’d planned for the night. She instead decided to just kinda look up at the ceiling. I caught her doing that from the corner of my eye. I’d painted the roof with random swirls, to give the kids something to look at.

“I got a sitter for tonight.” I say proudly. “Violet and your sister and Ryan are all gonna watch the kids. Violet will watch Helena, Fia will be taken care of by Spark, and Ryan specifically requested Ari be left in his care.” Sun laughs at that last bit. “But we’re gonna go out tonight. For your birthday.”

“I don’t need a party.” She says simply. “These three were the best gift I could’ve gotten. Not to mention you came back.” We share a quick peck.

Apple sauce hits my face just as the green goop hits Suns’ cheek. We both laugh, wipe ourselves clean. Our girls didn’t put up with much PDA from the two of us. Especially during meal times. Even when the kids were screaming, unidentifiable substances were in both Sun and I’s hair, and we couldn’t figure out why Fia and Helena and Ari were all crying (either by themselves or in groups), I knew I wouldn’t have it any other way. All the nights of being up, getting no sleep… they were worth it knowing I had Sun in bed waiting for me to hold her again, or somebody to share a shower with, just somebody who got it. I’d never trade those first few weeks with the kids back in my old block for anything. I’d event taken to smoking less, as per Sun’s request. I changed clothes after I did. I had an outfit designated for when it was 2 am and I needed a smoke while Sun was up changing diapers, singing lullabye’s, feeding kids whose appetities seemed to be infinite in their depth.

“But we’re going out tonight. I won’t take no for an answer. Wear something nice, it’s kind of a fancy affair. I’ll have to put the black goop in my hair, though.” I say with a small, sad smile. Fia touches the corner of my mouth, trying to poke the corner back up to make me smile. That one act does make me smile. She knew it too, from the way she gurgled and smiled. Ari was quiet. Sun covertly checked on him, still giving Helena the majority of her attention. Helena seemed to be finished with her nasty baby food, so Sun goes and stores the rest for when she got hungry later, putting it on Helena’s food shelf in the fridge. “A place in the towns, so you may have to just kinda sparkle yourself into looking slightly different. But we’ll only be there for a little bit. Just to pick up some food. I know you can’t drink, or I’d have wine for us too. Or champagne.”

“Oh, fancy…” She smiles, putting Helena back in her padded bottom playpen to play with the stuffed animals and her brother. They coo and gurgle and make weird noises at each other. Fia wants to play, so I re-seal her applesauce, get up off my knees, place it quickly on her shelf in the small refrigerator, and lower her from her chair into the playpen. It was almost nap time. “All that for my birthday?”

I frown a bit. She catches the quick, miniscule down turned corners of my lips. “You forgot?”

“What…?” She asks, seemingly geniunly confused. Her eyes flicked to brown. Oh, so she really was confused. “What did I forget?” She sounds panicked now.

“It’s our one year at midnight….” I say quietly, looking down a little bit. My hair hung in my face, bright red curtains. I peek at her through the strands.

“Party, you know I can’t mess around.” She says in a hushed tone. The kids all seemed to be dozed off. We pull the curtain we’d devised that separated our bed from their cribs and play pen, lay down together for a rest.

“It isn’t that you can’t, angel. You don’t want to.”

“I’m still nasty looking from being pregnant. I gained seriously like 50 pounds. That’s a lot. And I don’t want to just sparkle it away, because that isn’t who I am, and when I tried letting us mess around when I had pink hair I’d sparkled on, you seemed upset.”

“It was a very unfortunate shade of pink, sweetie. Pepto-Bismal is not a good look on anybody.” I take her gently in my arms. “You’re beautiful, all 120 pounds of you. I know you’ve lost that weight. You workout every day, for as long as you can. You run like crazy. You seriously look just like pre-pregnancy Sun.”

She rolls her eyes, but cuddles me close to her. It was cold in the room, just the way she liked it. “You just wanna get laid.”

“Partially. I just miss being close to you, I guess.” I say with a rather charming smile down at her. She smiles back, laying her head on my chest. “But yeah, one year at midnight tonight. We’re gonna have a good time.”

“This time… no pregnancy, right?”

“I make no promises.” I say jokingly, before giving her a quick peck. After that, we both just lay quietly, enjoying our free time to be a couple. Not even kissing, just cuddling each other, silent. The silence said everything it needed too, though.

(Later that day, around 7 pm)
I was just washing the black goop out of my hair, turning my atomic cherry colored strands a black as dark as Ari’s, minus the white streak. After towel drying myself and my hair off, I exit my small bathroom, walk to the closet I had. I’d picked a Block with a walk-in, so I open the door and step inside, pul the cord that turned on the light. After rummaging for a bit, I find a nice pair of black pants and a black shirt, grabbing a tie and everything. I step into the pants after letting the towel I had around my wasit hit the wood floor of my closet, forgoing underwear due to the tightness of these pants. After I’m half dressed, I exit my closet, leaving my towel. I had more important things on my mind than being tidy at the moment. Like being ready and at Sun’s Block by 8. I re-enter my bathroom, and open a drawer, pulling out an old box.

But what I’m looking for isn’t in the box.

“It’s already heated up.” A voice says from behind me. I let out a girly shriek of terror. This was every horror movie ever. A voice from behind the shower curtain. Except those voices generally don’t belong to gay men. “Chill out, bro!”

“Cyanide.” I pant, still shaking a bit in fear. “Don’t do that shit ever again.” I say, trying to sound firm and commanding. It comes out more like a plea. A very feminine, whimpered plea from a man holding a brush like a weapon.

He laughs at me again, dead legs me to make me sit in a chair I didn’t notice, while he goes to work on my hair. There are sprays and serums, tools I don’t even know how to use… all sorts of things done to my hair. And he seems to know how to use them all.

He grabs a comb and a brush, brushing my entire head, then grabbing some clips and sectioning off the layers in my hair. “You really should do this for a living.” I say.

“I’m much better at sewing.” He says with a small shrug. He picks up a small spray bottle, misting my entire head of hair with it. “This just keeps it from frying your hair, and let’s the black stuff just be a one or two night kinda thing. Even though the black looks amazing on you, with your skin tone and everything.” He laughs again, and I blush.

After about ten minutes, we’re on to layer number two, with more goops of gel, piles of product, spritz of sprays than I knew had been invented. Every layer gets the same treatment as the first and second, with slightly less and less of the product so my hair “wouldn’t look like a big grease bomb” as Ryan told me.

“So. Where you taking her?”

“Oh, you know perfectly well where I’m taking her!” I chide with a small smile. He laughs, head thrown back in joy.

“It’s so cute that you’re taking her on a fancy date.”

“Yeah, well... she’s pretty cute herself.”

“OMG, I know!” He says sounding excited. “Her bone structure is so flipping perfect. Great cheekbones.” He runs his hands through my hair a few times, picks at a few pieces in front to make them go into the right place, then steps back and smiles. “Now… did you shave your face and all that fun stuff?” He asks. I nod. He exits the bathroom, looking through my closet in a flash. He notices immediately what’s missing.

“Ah!” I say, when he grabs me, sits me down, hands me deodorant and then throws me a black shirt and dark red tie. “Thanks, I guess.”

“Don’t muss your hair up anymore than I purposely did it.” He instructs. “See you in 20!” He says, walking out of the room, waving over his shoulder. I sigh, continue getting ready.

(back in Sun’s Block, at 7 PM)

(Sun’s POV)
I had a closet full of clothes, and not a thing to wear. My sister was over with me, helping me with my nails. I had no ability to paint them. She’d hunted around the dorms for students, asked for any cool polish colors. We’d found a girl who was good at nail art. Neon Tiger, actually. She was doing some cool polish type thing to my nails. It involved glitter and a tuxedo theme. Once those were fully dried, my toes were given a French paint job, while I was shown outfit after outfit by my sister and Violet.

“This?” Violet asks, holding up a one shouldered, very floaty, bright red dress. “It’d look geat with the blonde and your tan…” She trails, trying to coax me into saying yes and picking it. I purse my lips to one side, inspecting it. I shake my head. She sighs quietly, putting it on the ‘no go’ pile.

Dancing Spark holds up a silver dress with lots of pleating and ribbons and such. She raises an eyebrow, silently asking if this is it. “No.” I declare almost immediatly

Violet digs some more into my closet. We’d actually gone shopping for tonight. . She comes up with a hanger and a gasp. “This is it. It has to be.” The dress is black and white. Simple, perfectly elegant. Tight in the right places. Black lace, over a cream colored material, with a bow cinching my waist in. The bow was the same color of the material the lace went over. No straps. I nod silently. It was perfect, that was true. I change from my shorts and tank top into the underthings I was wearing. Just the usual corset and underwear get up. After having Violet help me into the dress I’d decided on, I’m whisked away to have my hair fixed by Cyanide Killer, who was in my bathroom, mirror covered, ready and waiting for me to be delievered into his hands. He begins fixing my hair. He’d decided on “playboy bunny” hair. Which meant, long, blonde, curls. Big ones. He’d sprayed a whole bunch of things on to my hair. Half of which I knew the names and uses of, the other half foreign to me. It took almost thirty minutes, during which time, Ryan let my curlers he’d put in my hair set and cool. He did my makeup. He seemed to be going for a look. I saw my usual palette of makeup. No big deal. The lipstick was a new color. I trusted Ryan. He’d not let me walk out looking anything other than perfect. Especially tonight.

“Why do you look so sad?” I ask, while he does my eyebrows with a pencil.

“I’m not sad.”

“you look it.”

“Just excited. I swear.” He replies to my statement. I nod when he’s moved away the pencil from my face.

I have five minutes left. My hair is undone from the curlers, shook out into a rather fabulous mane of long, blonde, perfect curls. Ryan claps happily. I still haven’t seen myself. That bothers me quite a bit. I know they’ll let me see myself. I walk from my bathroom to my main room with Ryan; sit down at my jewelry box. After carefully opening the bottom drawer, I dig in the back, grab a pair of earrings. My only diamonds I owned. A pair of earrings. Square cut. Not huge, but not too small. The perfect size. I put them on, and then add a necklace. Nothing special, just something shiny.

It’s now I’m allowed to see myself. All that’s missing are shoes. Ryan hands me a red pair and I nearly squeal with joy at the sight of them. Perfect. Red. Peep toe. Heels. All my favorite shoe-things in one. I’ve just got them on when there’s a knock on the door, just as my clock begins to chime eight times. I smile, smooth my dress, fluff my hair, spray on Party’s favorite perfume on me, and walk to the door, opening it.

(Party’s POV)
Okay so I was nervous as hell. So when Sun opened the door, my cutesy little “wow, you’ve never looked better.” Speech went flying out the window. Like, soaring out of it. I just opened my eyes and jaw wide, let some noise that sounded like “flugedburgle” come out, and just stare at her. My hand thrust outward with the flower’s I’d SOMEHOW managed to procure in the towns. She blushes, eyes stll the usual purple. Nobody could make the lighting in those rooms look good on them, but she found a way to do it. I continue stuttering and stammering. Apparently, I was the awkward 15 year old kid I was in high school, trying to get the girl I wanted to ask to dance with me, to well, notice me first. But this time I knew that girl wouldn’t laugh and ask who I was. She knew damn well who I was. She takes the flowers from me, and when she speaks, I calm down a bit.

“These are gorgeous.” She says, looking at them happily.

I’m suddenly witty and charming, it seems. “Not as gorgeous as the girl holding them.” I say with a nice, cheesy grin. She laughs, hugs me close. Ryan pulls us inside for a few pictures against her screen, giving us a nice white backdrop. I sneak a few ones of us kissing into the shots we take on a salvaged camera that a kid got to the Academy. After Ryan fawns over us for a few minutes, as do Violet and Dancing Spark, we head out. I race my date to her car door, opening it for her. Even though it was, in fact, her car, I’d be driving. The black muscle car came to life with a nice, strong purr of the engine, and I take off, driving us towards the towns. I had more than enough gas to get us from point A to point B.

“So.” I say, taking her hand. “you look like perfection.” I glance at her for a moment, smiling at the blush I saw on her cheeks. “new dress, right?”

“Oh, you never see me in a dress. Unless it’s casual. This is dressy.”

“Well it looks great on you. You just look great in general. I hope you’re hungry.” I say with a small smile. Why was I so nervous? This was natural. Fancy date, the girl get’s dressd up and prettied up. Not a foreign concept.

“You okay sweetie?” She asks me. I nod. “Hun, you’re sweating…” She sounds anxious. I feel anxious. Another glance at her shows eyes that’re brown and blue. She’s concerned. Very concerned.

“I just… first time leaving the kids. I miss them already.” I answer easily. She nods her understanding.

“I miss them too. They’re our little monsters. Fia and Helena are being good girls for me, when you teach. Ari is having trouble sleeping, though. He doesn’t want to nap.” I laugh a bit. “Don’t laugh!” She says with a laugh of her own. “He LOVES his teething ring though. Quiets him down. Poor thing, it hurts bad to cut teeth.”

“They crawl so FAST!” I exclaim, which calms my nerves. She laughs her agreement out shortly after my exclamation.

“I know. They’ll be walking soon.” She thinks. “Then talking.”

“Helena’s first word will be ‘no’” I say with a slight smirk.

“I think Ari’s will be Daddy. Fia’s will be Mommy. Maybe necklace or shiny or something girly. Helena’s will be art or something. She likes fingerpaints, I found out. That white shirt I used to love now has Helena’s masterpiece on it. Not to mention your screen almost became her canvas.”

I laugh a bit at her recounting of Helena’s artistic endeavors. “Leave it to us to have an artistic daughter. Not much of a surprise, really.”

We continue talking about the kids, our classes we taught, things we loved in some students, tudents we couldn’t stand… all the things we usually talked about. We eventually arrive at the restaurant, just in time. After I get us parked through the valet, I lead Sun inside, holding her hand. I open the door for her, lead her into the best restaurant I could affoard in the towns. Pretty swanky place.

Because we’re now a proper couple, though I was smart enough to request the back room which lacked cameras and surveillance of any kind, we pay close attention to our conversation,. Making sure it stayed the way it needed too, to be sure nobody would over hear anything that didn’t need to be overheard.

Several delicious courses later, I’m leading Neon Sun out of the room, having paid the bill, tipped our young waiter extremely graciously, and have retrieved the car form the valet. Sun gets in carefully. I start driving.

“That was so good. I seriously can’t eat for days after all that food. So good. We need that at the Academy.” She babbles a bit. I smile. She always did when she was full and happy with the food. “Food coma approaching…”

“No, angel. No food coma. We have somewhere else to go.” I say, speeding up, turning out of the towns, towards our next destination. Thankfully, with us being in California, there was a beach nearby. With nice enough sand that my beautiful date wouldn’t break her ankle in her shoes. She really wouldn’t be on the sand that much.

“Where are we going, Geebear?” She asks me, sounding rather excited. “I wanna know!” She mock-whines when I shake my head and smile at her. We travel in silence for another thirty minutes, while Neon Sun attempts to think out where we were on our way to. When I finally pull up, turn down the music we had playing softly in the background, and look at her, she understands immediately.

“The beach?”

“That’s true. But only for a bit.” I say, and we both get out of the car. After I take her hand, we begin walking up the old wooden board walk to the shore. I lead her down it silently, but wearing a huge smile,. She looks nervous about the stairs, which are at a rather steep angle.

“Uh….” She blanches. I can see her gears whirring, trying to figure out if her jumping down them would break her ankle in her shoes or not. Or more importantly, the shoes.

“Hold still.” I say, and she does. I scoop her up in my arms. “120 pounds my ASS!” I say with a laugh. She frowns, not understanding my joke. “More like 90!” She understands what I meant after I clarify, stops the tears that I knew were coming. “You know you’re beautiful, angel.” I say, carrying her down the steps in my arms. Her arms were around my neck, one arm under her knees, the other under her mid back. Bridal style. I carry her down the beach, following the little candles I’d set up. The flames were flickering just right. She looks around, noticing the candles. I’d lined the rails of the boardwalk with red ones. These were pink.

The beauty of being an artist was that I was able to dye candle wax so that I could gradiate them in sets of twenty. Deep red had faded to scarlet, then to a nice shade of magenta, quickly a dark pink, soon baby pink before fading all the way to snow white candles. The effect was quite striking.

I’d set her down about halfway through the pink. She was walking, looking around in awe.

(Sun’s POV)
He’d really done some work planning this, not to mention executing it. Not a single candle wasn’t flickering brightly, and the color gradation he’d set up was not lost on me. We were going somewhere, though, I wasn’t all that sure where. II had his hand in mine, and couldn’t help but notice he was nervous. I decide to pin it on the fact that he was the type that wanted this to be perfect. He felt like he owed it to me, that much was obvious. I would’ve been fine with just a nice dinner at home and a movie, but he decided to go all out. Candles, fancy dinner, the whole lot of things little girls dream about. Roses at the door, pictures, it was all there. I was even in a very nice, very new, very, very expensive dress.

Party stops us, a hand over my eyes. I can hear him swallow loudly. So he was nervous. Maybe a candle had gone out? “Baby… surprise…” He says.

He removes his palm from my eyes, and I see him, standing in a large basket. Connected to a gigantic, brightly colored hot air balloon.

(Party’s POV)
A hand flew over her mouth. She looked ready to cry. She’d confessed, long ago, that she’d always loved hot air balloons when she was little. So I had dessert set up for us, knowing we were both junkies for sweets. Anything that I knew she loved, I’d tried to find or make. Chocolate was the main thing. It covered strawberries, was in shapes… all sorts. Some had caramel inside, some had sea salt on top. I had to wash it down with, and some champagne. She couldn’t drink much, but Ari had enough bottles for the alcohol to run through her system. With it being so advanced genetically, it’d run the alcohol out quicker than usual human mothers could. I smile gesturing to the space for her.

“Sun?” I ask. She walks carefully to the basket, and steps inside. I untie the ropes quickly, smile at her as we lift off. She looks completely happy. I’d never seen her like that. We drift up steadily and slowly; I grab a strawberry dipped in dark chocolate. “Angel, want a strawberry? Dark chocolate on it, just how you like.” When she moves to take it from me, I move it away, teasing. “Open, I’ll feed it to you.” I say, and she smiles. I’d removed the stems and leaves. So when she bites part of it, I get the other half in mine, connecting our mouths in a nice kiss.

We do that for awhile. It was pleasant, something cute we never did around others. We had our private moments that rivaled any chick flick or romance film ever made. I put the Notebook to shame some days. She was the hopeless romantic who tried to convince herself she was just being a silly girl. I was the artist who wrote poems and drew pictures. Her hands were best suited to a piano, or holding a microphone. My hands looked better when they were holding a pastel, a paintbrush, a stick of charcoal.

“I have a present for you, angel…” I say, after we finish off most of our dessert. She looks around, sees all the other hot air balloons dotting the sky. Bright color, illuminated form the flames. I knew where we were now. Right on schedule.

And holy hell was I nervous. Maybe I shouldn’t take us where I was going. Maybe that was a bad idea. Sun was wandering the basket, looking all around, from every angle. She laughs her laugh at a rainbow colored hot air balloon, and I know I need to go through with this, no matter how bad my stomach hurt, just thinking of it. It wasn’t a bad hurt. Just like the butterflies most people get had been given cocaine and energy drinks. So instead of fluttering, they were bouncing off the walls of my very full stomach.

Puking over the side of a romantic hot air balloon date would not make for a very nice finish to an otherwise perfect night. And the poor people that coud be under me…

What if I couldn’t finish this whole thing? God she’d be upset if she ever knew. She’d think it was her. I nearly start hyperventilating. My girlfriend laughs again, waving at other people in other balloons. She could probably see them, her vision was that good. The wind may’ve been cool and crisp, not even strong enough to muss either of our hair do’s up, but it wasn’t helping me stop myself from sweating out every ounce of liquid that was in my body, and probably the air as well…

I take a deep breath or two, close my eyes. “Neon Sun?” I ask, sticking my hands in my pockets. They were kind of chilly, this far up. The heat of the flame that kept us airborne helped only so much. I try to convince myself that breathing is a good idea, because passing out now would be horrible. Horrible timing, horrible memory, all of it. Plus, my girlfriend had no clue how to fly this thing, much less land it.

“yeah?”

“Come, look at this. I see something really cool.” I say, and she wanders over to me just in time to be in perfect sightline of what I was pointing out. “See that?” I say, making the balloon stop moving. She’s off in la-la land, staring at other people flying, though most of them had stopped, looking at the same thing I was. She’s staring off at the stars, they reflect in her eyes.

She starts softly singing a song, something about the moon and the sun. I knew it from somewhere. It hits me. I called her Sun, and she jokingly called me Moon. A tribute to our opposites’ attraction joke. We were rather different in a great many ways, but those differences made me fall in love. She was fiery, passionate, and adventurous. I was the recluse, who’d rather spend all day in a studio with just enough lighting to do his art, whereas if BLI wasn’t around, she’d be on stage selling out arenas with that voice of hers. She wasn’t patient, but I had patience for days. Which is why I knew this was when she needed to pay attention.

“Sun.” I say, grabbing her attention. She looks at me. Her eyes are their natural color, big and purple. I was surprised I could see them, considering how late it was. Brighter than the stars. She has her natural, constant smile on her face, wearing it for all she’s worth. It isn’t even fake, that much I can tell without a single ounce of doubt.

“Yeah, baby?” She says with a smile. I kiss her once, just a nice, soft kiss, on nice, soft lips. Much like the nice, slow, deep ones she’d seen receiving from me all night. I was surprised her make-up had stayed on with all the kisses I’d been giving her all night long. It was impossible not to. “I know it’s beautiful out, but you’re much more beautiful than tonight could ever dream of being.” I was laying on the cheesy statements she tried to convince herself she hated, but I knew she loved. Her eyes flick to purple. A dark purple, and I knew that color. That was the cuddle-after-private-time color. The “I love you” color. I smile at it, kiss her again. “But do me a favor and look down.” I’d had to make the kiss quick, as we’d floated into what had to be the BEST view of what I was trying to show her. She nods, blonde curls bouncing slightly, turns to look. When her brain and eyes finally catch up, a hand flies over her mouth. Her mouth, before being covered by one very nice hand, had been open in a wide ‘o’ of shock.

Well, it was now or never. Here we go.

(Sun’s POV)
I cannot believe this. After everything we’d been through. Fights, beatings, break ups, reuniting, being torn from each other, three babies, finding each other after we thought there was no chance of there being an us… and it all comes down to this.

I choke up a little bit, and Party, I can hear him smiling. It’s silent, the smile, but I know it’s there, plastered on his face in that adorably nervous way he smiles at me. He got his effect that he wanted. I scan over what I’m seeing again, blink a few times. This couldn’t be reality. It just couldn’t be happening. Maybe, I consider this option again, I’d died in childbirth, and this was heaven. If it is, god had a sick sense of humor. Or maybe he really loved me enough to give me the ending I’d have gotten if I hadn’t died and ended up in the big desert in the sky.

On the ground, below us, as we we’re in the air in our hot air balloon, as a clock somewhere struck exactly midnight, Party Poison, , had spelled out in large letters “Scarlet, Will you marry me?”

I turn, and he isn’t standing. I hadn’t been expecting that. Which is stupid, thinking about it in the moment.

“Party?” I ask, and look down, where’s he dropped to the traditional knee, and has taken my left hand gently. It’s safe in his warm hands, making me realize that no, I hadn’t died. And that yes, this was happening.

(Party’s POV)
“Hey Angel.” I say to her, once she’s turned and looked back at me. Her right hand was still slightly over her mouth in shock. “See why I was so nervous now?” I chuckle a bit, but notice she’s still in shock. “I love you. So much more than words can describe. You’re beautiful, you’re caring, you’re compassionate, you’re talented… you’re my everything. The Sun to my moon. My angel. My perfect angel. My everything in life.” and then I pause, taking a small breath, enough oxygen to keep me from passing out. I’d started now, I couldn’t just STOP on her. I knew I could do this. It was easy. And I sure as hell hadn’t blown a shit ton of money on this ring to quit. “And I promise to love you forever and a day, until an act of God tears us apart. And if God somehow finds a WAY to tear us apart, well, I’ll convert from my atheism to Christianity. And even then I’ll love you. No matter what you do or say, I want you to know I love you forever. You know, when you met me.. I was in a bad mental state. Loving somebody who doesn’t love you back, or doesn’t seem to even know you love them.. it can kind damage a guy. But you were always it for me. I’ve never been happier with anybody, than I am when I’m with you for even five minutes, five seconds, even. No matter what, you can always make me, laugh, calm down, and get riled up. You motivate me, to become a better person. You push me to be excellent, even when I think I can’t be.”
I take a deep breath to study myself. “And what the people in BLI labs did to you wasn’t right. Wasn’t right at all. But the ability for you to change yourself on a whim is useless. In my opinion, you are absolutely amazing the way you were born. I love the modifications, though. Love them. Makes you one of a kind, not that I didn’t already think you were a one of a kind girl.” She’s still wide eyed, eyes flashing a million different colors. “Even with all those modifications, I love you. You’re so beautiful, all the time. You even looked good pregnant. Nobody looks good pregnant. And though I wasn’t there for the birth of our children, I’m here now. And I’m not doing this because I’m trying to make you an honest woman, I’m doing it because I know I’m meant to be with you for the rest of my life, come hell or high water. Nothing, and nobody, will ever take us apart again. I’ll always be there, from when you wake up in the morning, to when you go to bed at night. And frankly, Mrs. Gerard Way would suit you SO perfectly.” I laugh a bit again, still nervous. “And though it seems like the world has thrown so many obstacles in our way… I count each one as a way to bring us closer. I thought about this a lot, trying to get back home. The way you looked, the way you sounded when you laughed… how much I loved every tiny, microscopic thing about you, because you were you, not whoever you thought I’d like best.” I’d had this whole speech memorized, but, that whole lovey-dovey romantic thing kinda went out the window when she turned around and I saw her facial expression. “Scarlet?” I ask carefully, using her real name. I dig out a ring box from my pocket, pop it open. Time for the hardest words a man has to ever ask, not including asking for directions, of course.

“Will you do me the honor of marrying me?” I ask, voice firm and steady as I look up at her, holding the box open to show her the ring I’d picked for her.

The few milliseconds that pass feel like years. Her eyes finally settle on a shade of pink I’d never seen before, and she nods quickly, choking up a bit. “Yes. A million times, yes, Gerard.” She says, and I can hear how surprised and shocked and loved and everything she felt. I slide the ring on, shut the box, replace it in its new spot inside of the woven basket that’d held our chocolate snacks, and stand up as quickly as possible, and as she flies into them, I’m taking her into my arms quickly and starting our first kiss as a newly engaged couple.

Authors Note
HEY GUYS! WHAT’S UP! NEW CHAPTER! WOO! EXCITING, HAPPY CHAPTER! I loved writing this bit, it was actually very sweet and romantic. If you wanna see the ring he picked out for her, I’ll include the link at the end of this. And Sun’s dress. But, I figured it was about time for these two to finally couple properly. And I figured a happy chapter would do very nicely, after Fun Ghoul’s rejection in the last chapter.

Now, for explanations. Ryan, you are a big brother in this. I made you older than Sun. You’re about 20-21 at this point. You have a big part in the next chapter that’s coming. There are three more chapters until the end. THEN THERE WILL BE THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THE SEQUEL.

The tentative name for the sequel will be Killjoy Academy Sophomore Slump. And it’s much happier, right from the stop. Every chapter is meant to be listened to with a song playing, and certain parts of that song will match up with a part of the story. Some things I write in to the chapter will be nearly direct quotes from songs, as cheesy as it sounds. I’ll try to tone down the cheeseyness.

So, until the next chapter is up (and no, it won’t be the wedding!), I’m off to go finish picking out all of Sun’s wedding details!

All my love.

-A

SUN’S RING IS EITHER THIS http://www.boodles.com/vintage-classic-cushion-cut-diamond-ring-244.html OR THIS (YOU GUYS CHOOSE!) http://www.boodles.com/vintage-ashoka-cut-diamond-ring-69.html