Partners In Crime

23 The Calm Before The Storm

Deadline day couldn't have come any quicker for Derick and Chelsea.

After the pleasantly torturous and utter purgatory that is this investigation, in which they've encountered catastrophic challenges that they would take to their graves, the detectives are now under the last hours before it's all over. And those last hours are dependent on their and Johtny's fate. Even now the kids are cautious with the tremendous weight on their shoulders and the substantial stakes that are embedded.

So for the sake of levity, Derick met up with Chelsea in front of the school gates before the day began. Just to chat  It's something his old self two weeks prior wouldn't have done. Chelsea especially.

The sky was at its typical grimmest and hidden by the clouds with no sun in sight. Then there was the wind, blowing nonchalantly. As days with weather go, this is the most representative. Even the atmosphere was quiet. Cold, ominous and desolate. Being that the school takes place in the deep within some neighbourhood, it kinda tracks. And the two kids just so happen to live in the town, which is twenty-three minutes away by foot. But that doesn't mean the trip by car, specifically, the final stretch where the roads are notoriously narrow, makes what's supposed to be a ten-minute trip a half-hour one. And it's extra asinine when it comes to the morning and afternoon school rushes. Kids from the entire city would come from far and wide to come to this below-average top-notch school, only to deal with this travesty. That's why there are so many kids walking from their various modes of transportation, doubling down on the amount of kids who already walk. Also, it's because it's more environmentally friendly.
But the quadrillion kids all at once is ridiculous, hence why Derick and Chelsea beat all of them to the punch.

"I gotta say you did pretty well back there yesterday." Derick complimented Chelsea.
"Dare I say ingenious. It's something I wouldn't have thought of. Let me guess: how much did that scrunchie cost? Gotta be over £1600."
"I made it myself. I decided to cut down on my spending spree. I want to save up for the new winter scarf that's on sale. They're to die for."

Usually when she said "money" she would say it with a pompous tone. But not even her body language suggested otherwise.

"Oh." Derick was astounded.
"I-I didn't know. I thought that -"
"Thought what? That all I was was some stereotype?" She was teasing.
"Well, I ur, urm," Derick was flustered.
Chelsea giggled.
"You're kinda cute when you're all defensive."
"Wait-did you just call me cute?" Chelsea went bright rosy red. Her eyes were darting up and down like ping-pong balls on a table. She thought quickly about how to cover her tracks.
"Did I? W-what I meant to say is you look like a dork! You're a dork!"
The boy didn't so much as bat an eye as the frost escaped from the blonde's mouth. Even her luxurious winter coat seemed to be frazzled, standing on end.
Derick had at this point taken the insult and wore it on his sleeve. It's one of the many things that had changed in the past two weeks that ordinarily would have infuriated him. Speaking of...

"You know, Chels. When I first started this I had ulterior motives. I only agreed to be with you because I wanted more people to like me when we solved the case. But now, after everything we have been through; from chasing Rodeny, and fighting Trent with our lives on the line, even stealing your friend's yacht to flee from those goons, I realise that none of that matters now. Because if I was gone, life would go on, except for the ones who do know and love me. My family and friends. Including you."
"Including me?" Chelsea didn't know what to say. She was torched.
"Including you," Derick repeated genuinely.

The two were almost odds from as far back as when they first met, with yesterday being the prime example, where Chelsea chastised every little decision the two made. That in itself was something new in particular. And whether the boy would know the reason or not, he knows the blonde cares about him, as he does for her. That's the real power of friendship.