✔️| [2] Straight On 'Til Morning

WHILE YOU WAIT (for Book 2)

SO NicaTheChica gave me a fanfic of my fanfic THAT RIPPED MY HEART OUT AND BURNED IT TO THE GROUND.

LIKE MY POOR BABY VALERIE. 😭💖

So, we thought it would be fun if you suffer with me!

(This doesn't give any spoilers for the upcoming books. Only the fact that Valerie has had a wardrobe change.)

ROLL THE FILM:

Valerie slammed the door to her bedroom, throwing a gust of wind into her face. Her short brown hair blew behind her ears. That gust must have been really strong.

She threw her purse on the floor next to the door and unzipped the zipper to the pink and yellow dress she wore all day. She ripped it off her skin and tossed it on her bed, quickly slipping on a hoodie and jeans. Valerie wanted anything that reminded her of the twenty four hours that had passed crumpled in a dark, cold corner, disappearing forever into the past memories of her mind.

Glancing at her purse which she was suddenly concerned for, she noticed a corner of pink stationary peeking out from the black leather. Bare feet pounded against the hardwood as she stormed to the bag, grabbed the paper, and ripped it into little pieces. The shreds of paper that once read You're Invited! fluttered to the floor like tiny, broken butterflies.

Valerie fell onto her bed and burst into tears. She felt helpless and had no explanation for why. Perhaps it was because the feeling of tearing something up made her feel powerful, which made her feel lonely at the top. So she cried for a long, long, while.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Slipping into a deep sleep, cold memories warmed up between the sobs of her mind and slid into her visuals.

Sitting at a table at the reception. That was what she was doing. There was lace on her knees and tight straps pressing against the top of her feet. The bride, with her long golden hair, laid her head on Tadashi's shoulder. More senses flooded in as Valerie dreamt more. A vibrant song with romantic lyrics could slowly be heard.

Hiro sat a few tables from her near the back of the venue, where the dim lights did not shine as bright. Every once in a while Valerie could see him glancing at her from the corner of her eye, seeing him checking if she was okay.

That was a comforting repetition for a few minutes until something else entered the corner of her eye.

It was a girl.

No, it was a woman. It was a woman in a long blue gown, obviously not a bridesmaid. Long wavy strands of hair fell perfectly onto the middle of her back and framing her fair, freckled face.

She was striding towards Hiro. Valerie turned her head to analyze the situation. Hiro did not look suspiciously at the woman, he had an expression of pleasant surprise. He stood up and hugged the woman. She was his age, probably in her early twenties.

They continued to chat brightly. Valerie's eyebrows furrowed, but quickly returned to their former positions once she realized they were furrowed.

After the dance between the newlyweds were finished, Valerie walked over to them. The light slowly got dimmer. As she got closer, she felt underdressed in her bare knees and shins. The girl's royal blue gown draped all the way down to her toes.

"Hey, Valerie," Hiro said, clearly happy. Valerie returned his smile and glanced at the woman. "Nice to meet you. I'm Valerie." She stuck out her hand for the woman to shake it.

"Wait, aren't you-?" Hiro started, but quickly cut himself off once she witnessed the woman shake hands with Valerie. "Oh. I guess you haven't met." Valerie, this is Gwen. I thought I'd told you about her, but she never popped up in our..." he lowered his voice as if Gwen, who was standing a foot from it, couldn't hear, "visits, so she's never really popped up in the conversation. But I've known her since a month after your first...." his eyes darted around the room, "visit."