// No POV
Taco was so close. Only a few feet away, but it felt like miles to her. She'd gone all this way... only to lose. She wanted to shout at all of them. For ruining what she could've had. She choked on her words before saying them, causing her to swallow, and not say anything. Her 'best friend', on his side, came up to her.
"Hey, it's okay, Taco! We'll get 'em next time, huh?" Pickle said, smiling reassuringly.
"Aroo!" She'd kept up her child-ish nonsense. She wasn't ready to show them who she was quite yet. Especially not him.
He chuckled. "Still doing that, huh?" He sighed and shook his head. "There's gotta be someone else in there! Behind all that innocence. The... child-like wonder!" He knocked on the top of her shell, almost cracking it from the force.
She winced. Half from the hit, and half because she knew it was true. She had been hiding herself. I mean, she was British, after all. Who would want to show that?
She always seen Pickle as just a cover up. A tool to help her win. To reach that final step. But... maybe he was a little more. An... acquaintance to her. Pickle, though, thought of her as his closest friend. He could talk to her, and she'd listen. He thought it was because she didn't speak all-to-often. Taco knew it was because she wanted to listen. She was a good listener.
She liked to hear him ramble about the game, and how he felt about the other contestants. Especially Knife. They were practically inseparable, playing games and whatnot.
Taco didn't like Knife all too much. He was a jerk to everyone, including herself. Pickle was the only reason he didn't all too often. She'd been lost in thought about all of this. She noticed Pickle's hand waving in front of her eyes, and his muffled voice.
"Hello? Earth to Taco! You there?" He was inches from her face, staring deeply into her eyes, like he'd known who she really was.
Busy in thought, she'd forgotten about the facade she'd put on. "Yes Pickle?" She said, and quickly realised her fault. It was too late to take it back, now.
Pickle put on a confused expression, and started to laugh loudly. "You're so funny, Taco!"
Taco put her playful, child-like expression back on, and went back to her happy facade. "Sour cream!" She never put any intent into what she said, although Pickle would pretend to understand her.
"You're welcome! Congrats on second, by the way!" He smiled warmly.
She'd almost forgotten about her loss this season. She thought for a moment, contemplating if she should tell Pickle about the real her. She was so, so close to getting the words off her tongue and out of her mouth. Her mouth was open, ready to speak, when she was interrupted by a massive explosion. They had no clue what was going on, but others did. MePhone had died. And so did Bow. And they had no way to bring either of them back.
Time skip, watch s1 if you don't know what happened after lol.
The contestants sat, surrounding OJ in a big circle, wondering what he was going to do with the prize money. Maybe he could live rich by the sea, or he could buy whatever he wanted, or maybe he could save it for something important. But OJ was selfless.
"I know! I'm gonna build a huge hotel! That way we can all live here! It won't be much, but.. it'll be nice to stick with you guys after the show!"
The group cheered, shouting various "yeah"s and "yay"s, and a few "ooh"s and "ahh"s at the idea.
Y'know, maybe Taco staying like this wasn't all that bad for her. Maybe, just maybe, she'd keep this up for a little longer. She decided to shout, as she always had.
"Sour cream!" No meaning, just shout.
"She said thanks! She's really happy!" Pickle said, clearly reflecting upon himself, but if it helped him get his feelings out, Taco didn't mind.
Maybe she had seen him as a friend, all this time, without realising it. Maybe that warm fuzzy feeling she'd felt when they hung out was more than just nervousness. Maybe, those bonding experiences of the show really helped them grow together. And maybe, just maybe, Taco had wanted it to be like that. She'd really wanted a friend. She didn't think this would've been the way, but maybe it was better off like that.
If she delayed off telling them for long enough, she'd be able to grow into the character she'd been pretending to be. Still not such a dimwit, but so... energetic. One who didn't need to pretend to be so happy, or pretend like nothing affected her. Because, by the time she'd be ready to tell them, she'd be that contestant already. She'd be the contestant that everyone had loved so much. That was enough for her.
And she'd do it for the sake of Pickle. Pickle had needed that friend for quite a bit. He only really talked to her and Knife. Taco would listen, but Knife had other things to do. Taco couldn't respond back, but he didn't really need her too. If he did, he would've insisted upon Knife being the one to listen.
But he never did. He'd seen Taco as that friend he'd needed, so Taco saw Pickle as the friend she needed as well. The one that, possibly, didn't care who she really was. She wasn't... hurting anyone with the way she acted, was she? She hoped she wasn't. She just wanted to be funny. The comic relief of the stressful moments on the show. And that was enough for all of them to be friends.
// I know this is the third fic I'm writing don't mention it okay when inspiration strikes, inspiration strikes. Uhm yeah I thought really hard and I really wanted to write this! It felt right in the moment! Hope you guys are in suspense about later. Until next time!!! Total word count - 1000 //
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What it Could've Been - An Inanimate Insanity AU
Fanfiction"STOP CHEERING YOU FOOLS!" The words were at her throat, but she decided against it. Maybe it was best. Yeah blah blah blah I don't know something professional. Taco didn't mess up big time in this AU.
