"W-what the..." Edgar whispered as he slowly came to.

His surroundings were dark, he could barely see a thing. He tried standing up, only to feel the tight press of rope around his limbs and stomach. He was tied up on a chair.

"H-hold o-"

"Ah, you're finally awake." said a deep elderly voice.

Edgar looked up and saw a familiar figure. A tall older man with silver hair and sharp eyes. He wore dashing green and held an ominous staff.

"Byron?" Edgar asked, confused.

"Ah, it appears you're finally awake, hoodlum." Byron scolded. "Do not be alarmed, this is only a fitting punishment for what you both did to the gift shop."

He was visibly furious. Edgar took a moment to collect himself and look around more. He was surrounded by boxes in a cold metallic chamber. This was definitely the storage room. Looking behind him he saw Colette, still unconscious, but tied up in similar fashion. The two were tied together on chairs facing back-to-back. Edgar blushed a bit but immediately felt frustrated at the sight of her. Suddenly, he felt a cold breeze on his neck.

"W-wait, my neck... " he said with life draining from his eyes. "Old man! Where the heck is my scarf!?"

He felt naked without his trusty accessory. Byron simply tilted his head towards a corner. There, Edgar saw his scarf tied up in knots, wrapping Colette's pink book of relics.

"M-my scrapbook!!" screamed Colette, who had just woken up and caught a glimpse of it.

As she struggled in her restraints, Byron continued.

"Ah, finally. Now both of you are awake." He looked at them with his serpentine gaze, paralyzing them both to pay attention to the slender man. "I believe it would be a grand understatement to simply say that I'm furious right now. Both of you idiots trashed the whole place! We had to explain to the park patrons that we closed for renovations. Tch, embarrassing, utterly shameful."

"B-but!' Edgar stuttered.

"Oh, but what you, edgy idiot!?" Colette butted in with a condescending tone."

The two bickered and ignored the frustrated elderly man. Byron pinched the bridge of his nose and yelled. "Would you two imbeciles please shut up!?"

The two looked back at him, still growling under their teeth at the other.

"You idiots already caused so much trouble, and you have the audacity to keep going? I have no idea what the heck you were fighting about, but if you don't resolve this right now, consider both of you FIRED!" yelled Byron, pointing his staff at the two.

"Tch, kids these days..." Byron grumbled as he left the room.

Edgar caught a glimpse of several robots and construction workers repairing the store, before the door shut, leaving the two teenagers alone in the dark. The air was tense as both of them sat silently, not even daring to tilt their gaze at the other. Edgar waited for someone to open the door and break the awkward tension. Colette simply stared at the ground, face barely visible past her undone white hair.

Suddenly, Edgar heard something. A sniffle. He tilted his head a bit and saw Colette shaking. Very vaguely he could see drops of tears falling from her face as soft whimpers filled up the silence. He turned back and stared at the ground. His chest felt tighter than before. He shut his eyes and thought to himself before forcing himself to say something.

"H-hey, Colette..." he stammered. "Should we talk about this..?"

No response.

"Ugh, can't you please say something?"

No response.

"Hey, freak! If we don't talk this out we're both getting fired, and I'm pretty sure yo-" he snaps, only to cut himself off. He was being cautious of his temper, but Colette could hear his genuine concern.

She finally replies. "Why..?"

"H-huh? Why what?" he asks anxiously.

"Why didn't you just tell me. I thought we were friends?" she asked with a gut wrenching defeated tone.

Edgar replied. "E-exactly, I didn't want to ruin that..."

Colette giggled in a bittersweet way. "So you did see me as a friend, you softie~"

"Y-yeah, well, you're one of the few people who actually care about me!" Edgar was blushing. "I-I was scared you'd hate me."

She sighed. "I can't hate you, Edgar. I mean, yeah, you're a jerk and you keep pushing me away, but I'd wish you told me why..."

He paused for a moment. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you... Sorry I hurt you that way..."

"No, Edgar, that's not why I'm upset." she stopped him. "I'm hurt that you let yourself hold it in like that..."

"I-I don't understand?" he asked.

Colette sighed again. "You just, let yourself be hurt like that, hold it in and hurt yourself inside. You didn't tell me and I kept going on and on about other brawlers, didn't that hurt?"

Edgar wanted to rebut, but just looked down painfully.

"I read your letter. I couldn't stop thinking about how much I must've been hurting you all this time. All this time I just wanted to be friends you were hurting." Colette began crying. "Why? Why did it have to be me!?"

"BECAUSE EXACTLY THAT, OKAY! You actually give a damn about some loser like me!" Edgar had started tearing up too. "I just wanted to get this job for the money and the action, but you kept bugging me and bugging me that I couldn't not notice you."

Edgar looked down again. "But you keep talking about other brawlers, so I thought it'd be bad to tell you. I didn't want you to deal with someone who isn't part of your list of favorites to like you that way.."

"Edgar..."

"I thought I could go on ignoring it, but damn it. I just had to go and write about it on that stupid paper..." he added.

"I-I thought it was beautiful, Edgar..."

The two sat in silence.

Colette continued. "You're a lot more than you put up. Please, stop hurting yourself, Edgar..."

Almost an hour passed after that. They had awoken at around dusk, so no doubt the park was going to close soon. The tension had shifted from anger to awkwardness. Both of the gift shop workers were beaten and defeated. Every once and a while, one of them would look back at the other, only to turn away with a conflicted look. The sounds of construction were now gone, signaling that they had left, including Byron. It would appear he purposely left the two there, no different from his sleazy and cruel character. They were alone, just them, the darkness, and the droning silence.

"Long ago..." Edgar silently began singing to himself. "Just like the hearse you die to get in again..."

"We are... so far from you..."

But that wasn't Edgar. He turned around, surprised.

"Y-you know that song..?"

Colette turned a bit red. "Y-yeah, it's one of my favorites."

"Heh, guess you're an 'edgelord' too, then?" he chuckled.

Colette giggled, reassuring Edgar with her familiar smile. "Hey, I like other music too!"

He returned with an amused smirk and continued. "Buuuurning on!"

Colette followed suit. "Just like the match you strike to incineraaate!"

"The lives of everyone you know!" they sang in unison.

The two took turns singing the rest of that melancholic song. As they sang, the rage and pain in their faces disappeared. Edgar sang his heart out, showing an emotion other than ticked off or indifferent. He kept his eyes shut and sang in a way unexpected of the short tempered edgelord. Colette sang in harmony, yet with a hint of her chaotic expression. Despite the enormous smile of her sharp toothed mouth, she teared up a bit. Every lyric that they sang felt bittersweet, but their faces showed content and sympathy.

"Well if you carry on this waaaay!"

"Things are better if I stay..."

"So long and goodnight, So looong and goodniiight!" they sang in harmony.

Not long after the last note, the tied up co-workers burst into laughter. Tears were shed as the two shared a moment in bliss and dumbfoundedness, cackling like madmen in the dark storage room.

"Wow! You can sing better than I expected!" joked Colette, who had returned to her cheery self.

Edgar turned away, blushing and trying to keep an unimpressed look. "Y-yeah, well, I guess I'm sorta good at that..."

She giggled at his familiar meekness. His mouth twitched trying not to smile, internally panicking for his lack of a scarf to hide his face. Suddenly, Edgar felt something touch the back of his neck.

"H-huh!?" he exclaimed anxiously.

He tilted his head and felt the brush of soft hair against his bare neck. His spine went erect and stiff in paranoia and his face nearly burst feeling Colette lean against him. He bit his lip trying to contain all his overwhelming emotions. Colette simply shut her eyes and sighed in contemptment.

"Hey, Edgar..."

"Y-yeah?" he responded in a cold sweat.

"I guess we can give it a shot..."

Colette blushed and gave a toothy smile. Edgar, on the other hand, was overheating as he felt dizzy in denial and fluster.

Suddenly, a voice breaks the moment. "Huh? What is that doohickey?"

It was an elder's voice, but it was definitely not like Byron's. It was much softer and calm, but still one from someone much older. The door creaked open slowly as a flashlight beamed into the dark room. Edgar flinched, coming to see the quaint Gale looking at him, leaf blower in hand.

"Why, what in tarnation? What are you two youngsters doing in here?" asked the meek little man.

Colette began beaming. "OMG! Gale!" she said, struggling to turn her chair to face him.

"Hi! Oh my gosh, you really do look like an adorable little man up close!"

Edgar's face cringed with conflicted emotions at her calling the old man "adorable."

"Park hours are closed, why're you two still in here?" asked Gale.

"Long story, ehehe..." Colette giggled with both excitement and embarrassment.

The old guy scratched his head in bewilderment, his thick eyebrows moving as he squinted in suspicion at their bruises. Despite this, he simply said an "Oh well" and untied the two.

"Do you two need me to show you to the infirmary?" he offered.

"It's alright! We have other things we gotta deal with anyways." she said cheerfully, looking back at Edgar who was grabbing their precious belongings.

After a session of Colette begging Gale for his autograph and a thread from his wool cap, the two left Starr Park.

"Hey, need me to walk you to your place?" Edgar offered.

"Sure! Besides, we need to finish our little conversation." she giggled as the two beaten employees walked off into the night.