partners in crime - a tacophone fic

chapter 11 - let's do this

"Uh Taco uh I gotta go uhm win this challenge now sorry!"
I turn my gain all the way off and walk in a straight line through the woods. Baseball isn't in front of me anymore, he probably went to go find his alliance member Suitcase.
But, about Taco...
There's no way that just happened. I'm so embarrassed!
I never expected Taco to take that so seriously! I mean what else was I supposed to do in that moment! This whole thing is such a mess. I mean... Do I like her? Hm. Well I have thought about it. A lot. Who hasn't thought about dating Taco and you know? Kissing her. And... Well...
Haha oh my god what have I just done.
Taco probably thinks I hate her, and now I have this huge competition to get through.
This is so stressful! I have to keep going though, just keep walking forward and hopefully find a flag.
A few minutes pass as I'm walking and Test Tube suddenly teleports in front of me. Her back is turned so I stay extremely still so I'm not seen by her. I don't make the slightest sound and stop dead in my tracts.
"Ugh where is Lightbulb around here?"
She teleports out of my area and I let out a sigh as I continue down the path.
As I'm walking I turn my head to the right and spot a lemon tree. And on the top, a big red flag is waving. Time to climb.
Although the tree hits my button a few times I keep quiet so nobody knows I'm here, I've been working on controlling my voice better in secret so I don't mess up during challenges, especially since Taco is counting on me to win this for us. I successfully make it to the the top of the tree. The red flag is pretty big so I just untie it and sit on the top of a tree branch for a bit to catch my breath.
Well, Mepad definitely wanted to bring some memories back for Baseball huh? If I remember correctly, Nickel would always climb a lemon tree and drop his chocolate on Baseball. This sure could've hit hard if he was the one to see it. I guess we all took totally different paths than Mepad anticipated for. I wrap the red flag around my wrist and I climb down the tree. I'm not ready to turn my gain back on yet and talk to Taco again.
I walk for a long while and start to get a bit tired so I rest myself near one of the trees. It's been a while since I've relaxed. So much for relaxation though because two seconds into relaxing a black floating bow approaches me.
"Taco??"
She turns off her invisibility to show me that it's really her.
"Open your hand Mic."
"Why?"
"Don't question me just do it!"
I open my left hand and hold it out in front of her. She puts a white flag in it.
"You don't know how much I had to go through to get that from Test Tube."
She lingers a bit in front of my hand, not letting it go yet.
"Uh Taco?"
She quickly snatches her hand away from mine.
"Um. Yes Mic? And before you say anything about what happened earlier I just wanted to say that these feelings will most certainly not get in the way of being your business partner... I know you didn't want to hear it and I..... apologize."
"No, I'm sorry Taco. I got too embarrassed and hung up earlier even though you wanted to hear at least something from the other end. This is all just so.. new to me! I mean what am I supposed to say to a confession like that? I mean yeah saying we were girlfriends was certainly an excuse to get Lightbulb to stop suspecting that we are working together but I wouldn't mind if we were something more than just this deal to get the million! You don't seem to like me that much anyways, you always act cold to me so I never bring it up. I don't blame you, I mean what is there to like? I'm boring and socially inept and I can never do anything right and I always need your help Taco! I can never do things myself and I'm always a screw up, on a team or off one. The only reason I'm in the final five is because of you. I'm the worst, I like you even though the only time I ever even got the hint that you didn't dislike me was yesterday!"
I put my head in my hands, this mental breakdown is getting a bit too much for me to handle.
"Hey hey Mic it's okay."
She puts her hand on my arm in an attempt to comfort me.
"you had a completely valid reason to stop talking to me. if I was in your shoes I would've turned my gain off as well. I try to be a little less cold to you because you mean so much to me but I'm terrible at showing my emotional side. Plus, I'm kind of all of those things you mentioned and more, my reputation has been dragged through the dirt. I wouldn't have gotten through this season if I was the one playing without you. I like you a lot, you seem to do things that I could never do and I'm a bit envious of how you can just win challenges without trying hard to. You have potential Mic, the only person not seeing it is yourself, and don't argue with me, because I'm not going to change the opinion I have on you."
I look up at her and she starts to blush and look away.
We are just two awkward losers aren't we? It's funny to think about it that way.
She clears her throat and changes the subject.
"Now Mic, Lightbulb needs to get to her own flag and I could use your help. She's about 4 feet to the right of us and if we take her to her flag then Test Tube has more of a chance of getting eliminated. Are you with me Mic?"
"Yeah, let's do this."