No Strings- An ErrorInk Fic

Chapter 17- Surprise

Error's POV

Walking home from school, I went to Ink's house instead of mine. I knocked on the door, only to get no answer.
"Ink?" I said, trying to see if he could hear me. "Are you home? I need to talk to you!"
Suddenly, I heard another door from inside the house open and close. I opened the front door, which was, to my surprise, unlocked. Across the room I now stood in, there was another door. Guessing that was the one that I had heard, I headed that way as well.

Ink's POV

Why?
Why is he here?
"I need to talk to you!"
No! I wanted to yell. I already know what you're going to say!
So I ran out the back door in hopes of escaping, unaware of whether or not Error would follow.
He did. I heard him yelling after me.
"Ink! Ink please, where are you going?"
I just kept running. I couldn't face what was going on, not now, and not ever. This backstabbing was going to be a scar on my side for a long time.

I continued to run through the woods and quickly hid, hoping I was quick enough to hide from him. I knew had to be quiet, but the fact that I was crying didn't help much. Still, I stayed put. I was not going to let Error do this to me!
But I still don't know why...

Error's POV

"Ink? Ink! Where are you?"
I had heard Ink earlier from deep inside the forest. It was silent now, but Ink had to be here. My only question was why he was all the way out here.
Suddenly I heard sniffles again.
"Ink, please! I don't know why you won't listen to me! Please Ink, I just want to talk to you!"
Silence...
"Go away."
I followed his voice, along with the occasional hiccup and sniffle.
"Ink, come on. Quit acting like a child. I just want to talk!"
"Yeah, I'm sure you do," I heard him say harshly. "In fact, I bet ten billion dollars that you came here to tell me how much you hate me." His voice cracked mid-sentence. 
"What?" I said in disbelief. "Who the hell told you that?"
"Swapfell," (Jeezus why is Swapfell always the villain?) he said miserably. My expression fell into a frown.
"And you believed him... because?" I said in an annoyed tone. I heard him sniffle again.
"Because... because you were ignoring me."
Oh shit.
"Blue and Dream didn't know why, and neither did Fell, no matter how many times he attempted to speak to you," he continued. "Swapfell was the first to confront me since then... and I believed him." I heard another sniffle and hiccup. I frowned sympathetically.
"Ink... you must know by now that I wasn't the only bully in the school, right?" I said, turning towards the sound of his voice.
"Mmhmm..."
"I should have told you about Swapfell. He's huge on spreading rumors, and it turns out he hasn't changed a bit." I paused, looking around.
"Ink, please come out. I shouldn't have ignored you. I didn't realize you'd get mad at me. But I don't want you to stay mad at me."
I heard another sniff, then a rustle from a nearby tree.  I then saw Ink jump down from it and land safely on the ground.
"I'm so sorry!" he said suddenly. "I shouldn't have believed him! I had no idea!"
"It's okay, Ink. Calm down," I said soothingly. "I had no idea of what was going on. I should have warned you." I looked at him, then smiled.
"C'mon, I've got something to show you."

Ink's POV

He had told me to close my eyes and follow him.
"How?" I asked. "I can't see."
I suddenly felt his hand grasp mine and pull me along the grass.
W-what?!
He's holding my hand.
Holding.
My.
Hand.
I was freaking out internally. I couldn't decide whether to continue to hold his hand or to pull away, but his grip was like a vise- I couldn't let go.
I was curious as to where we were headed. I kept my eyes closed, but asked, "Where are we going?"
He replied with a simple, "You'll see."
I pouted from that vague response, but continued to follow. He had me step over some sort of wall before stopping. I then heard him again.
"You can open your eyes now."
My eyes slowly opened to reveal the most wonderful thing I had ever seen.

We weren't in the forest anymore. We were in a field full of tall grass and flowers. The sun was going down, and with no trees in sight, I could see the whole picture. I could see all of the sky's colors, changing from oranges and yellows to blues and purples. The light of the sun in front of me glinted off all the flowers and gave off a bright and colorful show.
I turned in disbelief to Error, who was looking away innocently.
"You made this?" I said, exasperated. His attention jumped back to me, and when he smiled, I knew.
"This is amazing!" I said, turning back to look at it again. I had to touch one of the fronds of grass to make sure it was all real.
"I'm sorry." I heard him say as I looked back at him. "I didn't want to ignore you, but I wanted this to be a surprise as well." He acknowledged the beautiful sight. "Blue, Dream and Fell were in on this as well." He added.
I nodded, then swallowed, still mesmerized.
"How did you make this?" I had to ask. "It's amazing! I don't even think I've ever done anything this complicated!"
He laughed, embarrassed. "I guess the anti-void has some good qualities," he said, scratching his neck.
I swear my eyes were shining as much as the sun was.
"Hey, Ink?" I heard him say suddenly. I looked to see him staring at me with a look I hadn't seen before. "What is it, Error?"
"Have you ever thought- and I'm just putting it out there- that someone might like you?"

Error's POV

Ink looked surprised. "N-no... not really. Why?"
I felt like my insides had been compressed. "Well, then you're more ignorant than I had thought."
I don't think I had meant to make it sound so mean, but I didn't seem to care about that. Though not at him exactly, I was angry.
He just looked confused. "Error, what do you mean? Are you saying somebody likes me? As in, has feelings for me?"
I became even more aggravated. "Is it not obvious? It's always obvious whenever someone has feelings like that! Or have I not made it obvious enough for you?"
I stopped, realizing what I had just said.
"Ink, I-"
"Then I guess you're pretty ignorant too."
And with that comment, Ink pulled me down to his height and pulled me into a kiss.

Ink's POV

WHAT WAS I THINKING?
INK, YOU IDIOT!
The two of us broke apart and turned away from each other.
I was quarreling with my own mind.
WHY DID YOU KISS HIM?
BECAUSE I LOVE HIM!
IT'S NOT RIGHT!
YOU DON'T KNOW THAT!
I could tell, though, that I wasn't alone. Error stood behind me experiencing what looked like similar situations. But I still didn't want to turn around. I didn't know what to expect if I did.
Too bad Error didn't either.
I feel like we had read each other's minds, because we turned around at the exact same time.
"Look I-"
"No, you talk first-"
"Wait-"
We were talking at the same exact time, then stopped. I was staring at the ground awkwardly. He was staring off into space, rubbing his neck nervously.
"I'm sorry..." I had to say. He looked at me with sudden surprise.
"Ink..." he said, smiling at me sympathetically. "You're so silly... you shouldn't be sorry. You don't even know how long I've wanted that to happen. I guess I'm not that great at proving it, huh?" We both laughed nervously.
"I... still don't know. You're... really okay with that?" I said in a small voice. "I just-"
"Shhhh..." he said, cutting me off. "Don't think about it too much, Ink. Let's just see how this goes. It'll be fine."
I gulped as he wrapped his arms around me. I had to look up at the sky and think about the place we still stood. I had the nerve to smile. "This is so... amazing!" I said, seeing all the colors again. Error smiled again. "It is." I felt warm with him with me. It made me feel happy.
He then thought about something. He seemed to smile a bit more... mischievously. He looked at me as I questioned what he was doing when he let go of me.
"Y'know... Fell had been messing around with me saying I had a crush on you, not because he knew I did, but because I had done the same thing with him and Blueberry... wonder how he'll react..." he said, grinning.
I blinked. "Fell has a crush on Blue?"
"Oh God, yes!" He said, smiling. "He offers to help him with his homework every chance he gets, stares at him from across the classroom, not to mention totally going nuts every time they-" He randomly burst into laughter, not finishing his sentence. "But really, I think we should get them back. What do you say we do a little... pranking?" He said smiling. I rubbed my hands together with mischievousness.
"Let's do this."

We paused, just kinda staring into open space.
Then we burst into laughter.
Then I pulled at his hand. "C'mon, let's go! I've got a few ideas!" He laughed, and we left the anti-void, joyful faces and feelings all in one.