Better (Pure Vanilla Cookie x Reader)

14

"Would you mind listening to me for a moment?"

(C/F) Cookie lowers their gaze from the fire to the envelope in their hands. They're too drained to respond to him.

"First and foremost, I owe you an apology." Pure Vanilla Cookie sighs, "I'm truly sorry. I should never have called you..." He trails off, almost choking on the words as he fails to finish. Lifting his head to stare at the fire himself, he takes a deep breath and continues "My inability to let go of the past has hurt not only you, but my other friends as well. I'm sorry for being unable to recognize it."

They offer no reply. They have nothing to say. They just continue to blankly stare at the fire.

"I'm certain I don't know everything that was going on." He sighs, "But I'm sorry for my part in it all the same. If there is anything I can do to help you..."

(C/F) Cookie silently hands him the envelope, refusing to look at him. They hear him pull it open and see the white paper in the corner or their eye as he holds both halves together to read it.

He does a double take—they hear it in his sharp intake. "Oh..." He folds it back up and tucks it in the envelope. "Oh dear... (C/F) Cookie..."

They sigh, taking the envelope back from him and finally tossing it in the flames too. It belongs there too. They never want to see it ever again.

The two of them sit in silence for a moment, watching smoke curl into the sky.

"(C/F) Cookie..." Pure Vanilla Cookie's voice holds a tremor they've never heard there before. "I have never tried to use you to replace the emptiness I felt because of White Lily Cookie."

"I know." They nod. They never thought he was. He would speak of his time with her fondly, but never act as though they and White Lily Cookie were the same Cookie.

"In... In truth there is something else I must confess..." He looks away, out into the dark forest.

That gets their attention. What is this conversation about to become?

"The reason I've had such a difficult time letting go is... well..." He fidgets with his hands. "Because when we were at the Academy, White Lily Cookie gave me a love potion."

"WHAT?!" Of all the things they expected him to say, that was the absolute last one. "Aren't those illegal?!"

"At the time they weren't..." He sighs, "She didn't tell me what it was either. I'm not sure if she expected it to work."

"Does anyone else know?" They gape at him.

He meets their gaze with sorrowful conviction before shaking his head. "I don't think she even remembers it."

"Crumbs..." (C/F) Cookie finds themself at a complete loss for words.

"I couldn't tell my friends the truth about what happened to her because part of me still didn't want to accept it. I hurt them because of it..." He sighs.

"Wait, what happened to her?" They're not sure they're following his meaning.

"..." He takes a deep breath, "Dark Enchantress Cookie... is White Lily Cookie."

"Oh."

The returning silence is only broken by the crackle of the fire. Neither seemed to know what to say.

Pure Vanilla Cookie finally breaks it with a sigh, lifting his gaze to the moon high above them, "I don't think I'll ever be able to fully let go of her..."

"I imagine not!" (C/F) Cookie sputters. They don't know much about love potions, but it was pretty common knowledge that they were super dangerous and the ingredients to make them are highly regulated. If the effects of the one he had has lasted this long, then they're also likely permanent.