Crush Culture [M.Wheeler]

[50] I LOVE YOU, NORI

Erica peers through the vent with the flashlight, humming and nodding. "Yeah, I don't know." She says, stepping down from the latter. "You don't know if you can fit?" Dustin asks, leaning up against the wall.

"Oh, I can fit. I just don't know if I want to." She responds. "Are you claustrophobic?" Robin inquires.

"I don't have phobias." She snickers. "Okay, well, what's the problem?" Steve crosses his arms. "The problem is, I still haven't heard what's in this for Erica." She sasses.

***

They all sit at a booth with the girl, surrounded by countless amounts of ice cream, while Steve pushes a sundae down towards her.

"More fudge, please." She pushes it back. Steve looks down at it, not moving. "Go on." She shoos him away.

He slowly reaches for it, then walks away. "Alright. You see this?" Robin asks, taking out the blueprints. "This is the route you're gonna take. Then we just wait till the last delivery goes out tonight." Robin explains.

"Then you knock out the grate, jump down, open the door." She concludes. "Then you find out what's in those boxes?" Erica clarifies. "Exactly."

She hums in response. "And you say this guard is armed." She says. "Yes, but he won't be there." Dustin assures. "And Booby traps?" Erica questions.

"Booby traps?" Nori furrows her eyebrows. "Lasers, spikes in the wall?" Erica informs. "What?" Robin laughs. "You know what this half-baked plan of yours sounds like to me?" Erica begins.

"A fun adventure that you get to learn something valuable from, all while still being able to brag to your friends about it?" Nori suggests. "Child endangerment." Erica cuts in.

"Yeah, that too." The blonde shrugs. "Eleanor." Dustin whispers angrily, nudging her. "What? She has a point." She defends.

"We'll be in radio contact with you the whole time—" Robin tries to reason with the girl, but Erica stops her. "Ah, ah, ah! Child endangerment." She repeats.

"Erica? Hi. Uh.. We think these Russians want to do harm to our country. Great harm. Don't you love your country?" Dustin says.

"You can't spell America without Erica." She nods, before slurping her drink loudly. Dustin pauses, furrowing his eyebrows. "Uh, Yeah, Yeah. Oddly, that's, uh, totally true."

"So, So, don't do this for us." Nori begins, nodding along with Dustin. "Do it for your country." Dustin adds. "Do it for your fellow man." Nori continues.

Erica only continues to slurp her drink while the both of them go back and forth. "Do this for America.. Erica."

"Ooh! I just got the chills." She smiles, earning a grin from Dustin and Nori. "Oh, yeah, from this float, not your speech." She shakes her head,

"Know what I love most about this country?" Erica asks. "Freedom of speech? Because you talk a lot." Nori comments. "No, Capitalism." Erica corrects.

"Do you know what capitalism is?" She checks. "Yeah." They all nod. "It means this is a free market system." Erica explains either way.  "We just said we know—" Nori argues.

"Which means people get paid for their services, depending on how valuable their contributions are. And it seems to me, my ability to fit into that little vent is very, very valuable to you all." She points out, Dustin sighing and sharing a glance with Nori and Robin.

"So, you want my help? This USS Butterscotch better be the first of many. And I'm talking free ice cream for life." Erica demands, plopping a cherry into her mouth.

***
"Hey, Nori. I don't know if your walkie is off, or something, but I just wanted to let you know I'm sorry. I have a completely reasonable explanation for all of this, I just need to see you. Please." Mike says into the walkie talkie as Nori sits in the delivery hallway behind scoops.

Dustin, Steve, and Robin were still out talking to Erica, negotiating on how they would repay her.

"We think Billy is flayed and somehow being controlled. Me and the others have a plan, though. It'd be much better if you were here. I mean, you practically hold the whole group together." He adds. "You always calm me down, at least. And I'm currently the opposite of calm."

"I guess you're probably with Dustin, or something, so if you can hear this, please just.. come over and we can talk it out. Because— that's what boyfriend and girlfriend do, right? Or in our case.. ex-girlfriend and boyfriend? I hoped I never actually would have to say that... but here I am." He rambles on. "Doing just that.."

Nori sighs, leaning her head into her knees. To be completely honest, she felt heart broken from the way he spoke. He seemed so worried, so hurt.

It goes silent for a moment, before Nori could hear Mike sigh. "Alright, I guess you're not here so I've just been talking to no one this entire time. That's fine.. that's.. totally fine." He mumbles. "I'm fine."

"I'll just keep talking in that case, like a fucking dumbass.." he trails off. "I miss you, and.. I thought we really had something going.. and.. I don't know. I felt something strong and now it's just— gone? Like that? Are you really over me that fast?" He questions.

Nori didn't want to answer. It would only make it harder for her. "I love you, Nori. I thought you loved me, too. I.. I guess not. Or maybe you did— at least. But obviously, everything you felt just disappeared. And so did you. Where even are you? Where have you been?"

Nori looks up from her knees in shock, furrowing her eyebrows. "Forget it." He says in disappointment. "You don't care where I am, so I shouldn't care where you are."

"Coming!" Mike yells. With another sigh, you could hear him turn it off.

"Hey, Tiny, you ready? We convinced her to go." Dustin says, opening the door. She looks up at him, then nods. "Y—Yeah. I'm coming."

Mike loves her? She never expected those words to leave his mouth. If he loved her so much, why would he lie?

Did she really love him, too? If she did, why would she break up with him over something so small?

authors note
All I have to say is:
Meleanor = 😳😍🥰🤝😘😌
Those are the representative emojis