The Red String || A SMG34 fanfic

Chapter 15 - Patient is the night

After gathering all their belongings, the group met up in front of the One-Bed Hotel, ready to finally get home.
By this point, Boopkins had passed out from exhaustion and joy and Meggy was carrying him on her shoulders, making sure to be careful as not to wake him.
SMG3 raised his hand and created a portal back to the Mushroom Kingdom.

"Well then" Meggy said "Me and Boopkins are going to research that red string thing and text you two as soon as we have something useful."
SMG3 nodded "Sure, but make sure to be quick!" pretending to sound annoyed.
Meggy smiled "You know what; Today was actually kinda fun! We should hang out more" she said, giving SMG3 a sisterly pat on the shoulder.

They smiled at each other for a second before Meggy turned towards the portal.

"I'll head off now, you coming, Four?" Meggy turned to SMG4.

"Oh! Sure" SMG4 answered, glancing at SMG3. "I.. I guess I'll see ya tomorrow"

Right, he had to leave as well.

"Yeah dude.. see ya"

SMG3 looked away. He didn't want SMG4 to leave, but SMG4 didn't need to know about that.

They just had a pretty heavy emotional moment and SMG3 wasn't sure what their relationship was like now.
Were they still just friends, or were they... more now?

God, SMG3 was confused.

He looked up from the floor watched SMG4 slowly walk towards the portal.

He didn't want him to go.
He wanted him to stay.

And just as SMG3 wished, SMG4 stopped walking.
SMG4 turned around and looked at SMG3 with a confused look.
"Uh.. Dude?" He said, nodding at his hand which caused SMG3 to look at the red sting.

It was dragging SMG4 back towards SMG3.
Shit.
What did Boopkins say? It reacts to wishes?
Oh god.
Oh no.

SMG3 looked back up at SMG4 and Meggy. SMG4 still seemed confused but Meggy was trying hard to hide her grin. (It wasn't working, SMG3 could clearly see how much she was enjoying this)
SMG3 started to blush and nervously pulled at the string, trying to make it longer again.
"I'm sorry, I- I don't- This-" He couldn't manage to form a complete sentence as the realization, that his efforts to make the string grow were pointless, hit him.

He wanted Four to stay and the string knew.

Dammit.

"I can explain-" SMG3 tried to think of something to say but before he could even attempt to lie his way out of that one, Meggy cut him off.
"Hey! Why doesn't SMG4 stay in the graveyard for tonight?" She said, while pushing SMG4 even closer to SMG3

"WHAT?" SMG4 and SMG3 screamed in unison.
Meggy shushed them, pointing at Boopkins. "Be quiet! He's sleeping"
They all looked at Boopkins, trying to ensure he was still asleep. Boopkins didn't seem to be awake and they all sighed, focusing their attention on each other again.

"Meggy, what do you mean?? I can't just stay here" SMG4 gestured at the forest around him.
"Well you can't walk through that portal either, can you now?" she snapped back while plucking at the red string like it belonged to a guitar.
"And I don't mean HERE here, doofus." She looked at SMG3 "I mean stay with Three for the night."

"HUH!?" SMG3 and SMG4 exclaimed, which caused Meggy to shush them again.
"Sorry" SMG4 tried to be more quiet "but I can't just crash at Threes place? Where would I even sleep" he said, while nervously avoiding eye contact.

"I have a spare mattress." SMG3 said without hesitation.
His intention was to stop himself from imagining SMG4 and him sleeping in the same bed.
But in his rush to stop his own thoughts, he failed to realize that this statement could be interpreted as him agreeing to Meggys plan.

"Great!" Meggy put her hands on her hips. "So it's settled then; SMG4 is gonna sleep at your house for tonight and tomorrow you'll both come to the Mushroom kingdom to deal with this string-thing."

Both Three and Four wanted to protest, but Meggy cut them off before they could say anything: "Now go! You need to get some sleep for tomorrow and Eggdog must be starving by now"

Eggdog! Poor Eggdog! SMG3 had almost forgotten about him.
As much as he still wanted to argue with Meggy, he knew he had to get home to Eggdog as soon as he could. So he just sighed and turned to SMG4.

"Im fine with it, if you are?" He looked at SMG4.
His partner was just looking back at SMG3, the light of the moonlight reflecting in his blue eyes and the glow of the string making his cheeks look bright red.
Or maybe SMG4 was blushing, Three couldn't tell.

"S-Sure. Let's go" SMG4 smiled slightly.

They said their goodbyes to Meggy and watched her walk through the portal before making their way through the pink trees into the pine forest, walking along the path back towards the Starbucks where SMG3 lived.

The path ahead of them was dark and full of branches and stones, which forced them to be very careful and slow on their way back.
They heard the howls of faraway Memes in the distance and felt the cool air around them, making both of them shiver a bit.

But all these things were easy to deal with, compared to the awkward silence between them.
Tonight, both of these men had been more open with each other than they were used to – than they had ever been. They told each other things that were so honest that it even surprised themselves. But now, neither of them knew what to say.

It was torture for SMG3.
His mind was racing, trying to figure out what he could say.

Something.
ANYTHING.
As long as it would break this silence.

But before he could utter the bread-pun he came up with to fill the silence, SMG4 chimed in.

"H-hey.." he sounded nervous, which surprisingly calmed SMG3 down.
At least he wasn't the only nervous one here.
"I just wanted to say.. sorry." SMG4 scratched his head. "I never knew you felt so uncertain about our friendship. I feel bad for making you think I didn't consider you my friend"

SMG3 sighed "It's alright.. I mean I'm not exactly very open about my feelings, am I?" he gave SMG4 a smile which made SMG4 smile as well. It felt good to be so honest and kind to each other after years of having this weird rivalry.
"I'm just glad you actually see me as your friend."
"Of course I do!" SMG4 nudged him with his elbow. "How can I not after the wild stuff we've been through"

Both of them laughed and started recounting their adventures. Joking about the silly things they've done over the years. As their laughter filled the silence of the night, t he air around them didn't seem so cold anymore and the path was suddenly easier to traverse.
They were so lost in their own little world, that neither of them even noticed that the string had gotten so short that they were practically holding hands again.

Only after they've reached the Center of the Internet Graveyard did the string relax again, allowing SMG3 to rush towards a waiting Eggdog, embracing the small creature and giving it lots of little kisses.
SMG4 followed behind him, smiling to himself while watching SMG3 tell Eggdog a short summary of what had happened as they were walking to the Starbucks where SMG3 lived. SMG4 wasn't sure if Eggdog even fully understood what SMG3 was saying, but it amused him to see the usually so sarcastic and cold SMG3 be so kind towards this small dog.

It was almost cute.

When they reached the Starbucks, SMG3 opened the door and lead SMG4 inside.
"Ready to settle down for the night?" he asked while taking off his hat and putting it on a coat hanger next to the door.

By this point, the red string had relaxed enough to allow SMG4 to walk through a portal without any problem. But neither men seemed to notice.

SMG4 yawned. "Yeah, let'sjust go to sleep"