ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

i don't know how the fuck i just did that, but i did.

once val and i pull away from each other, we press our foreheads together and smile in silence.

somehow i told valerie i liked her. she likes me back. we kissed.

it feels like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders.

"should we go back..?" i ask.

"no!" she exclaims. "lets go in town and look at everything." i nod as she drags my arm towards the city.

we walk around and look at shops, take pictures together, and overall bask in each other's presence. as soon as we're about to go, a child stops us.

"uh, hi..." a boy about twelve years old says timidly. "are you tommyinnit?" i laugh.

"yeah! you want a picture?" i ask, recalling what wilbur told me to say to fans, even though i still feel weird saying it.

"yeah... if that's okay... can valerie be in it too?" i turn towards val.

"if she's comfortable with it."

"i'm comfortable," she says, leaning down towards the boy to smile at his camera. he takes a picture and thanks us profusely.

"by the way, you're really pretty," the boy tells val. she places a hand over her heart and hugs the boy, thanking him.

"looks like i have competition," i jokingly whisper in her ear. she laughs and rolls her eyes.

"oh, by the way... are you guys in love..?" the little boy asks. our eyes widen and we stutter.

this twelve year old just asked-

"are we in WHAT?" i say suddenly.

"i... uh..." val starts, stumbling on her words. the little boy laughs.

we suck at this.

"i see, don't worry, i won't tell anyone." he gives us both a pinky promise and skips away to his family.

"he was so cute," val says as we turn to leave.

"he really was," i say.

we walk in silence until she finally speaks up.

"are we gonna tell anyone?" val asks, turning to me.

"about... the kiss? or the boy? or..?" i urge her to continue.

"everything."

"ah... uh..." i scratch the back of my head. i'm not ashamed of valerie, in fact i'd be extremely proud to call her my girlfriend if it ever came to that. but i'm not sure what we are right NOW.

"i think i'd be comfortable telling the group. but not the fans, at least not yet. we don't even know what we are, yet," valerie says, practically reading my mind. i nod.

"i feel the same way. let's tell them tonight at dinner, maybe?" she nods her head in agreement.

we make our way back to the picnic spot, where everyone else is waiting for us.

"there you guys are!" toby exclaims. "my god, wilbur was about to send out a search party. AGAIN." val and i laugh.

"sorry, tubzo," i say, lightly punching his shoulder. i look at wilbur and he catches my eye, then whispers something to niki. i groan and walk over to them.

"you guys are talking about me," i accuse, crossing my arms. niki's blue eyes widen and she looks at wilbur.

"you're crazy," she says with a laugh.

"i'm not."

"well... enough about us. let's talk about YOU, big man. we saw how giddy you were when you came back. did you tell valerie how you feel or something?" wilbur asks, smirking.

"will!" i whisper shout. "now niki knows!"

"i've known for a while, tommy," niki says. "it's very obvious." i sigh.

"i'll tell you everything later. she probably wants us to tell you guys together." wilbur and niki gasp and wilbur grabs niki's shoulder.

"oh my god," they say at the same time. suddenly, they start jumping up and down and cheering.

"FINALLY!" wilbur yells.

"YES!" niki shouts. i cover my extremely red face with my hands.

"stop stop stop you two are embarrassing me," i say through my hands.

"that's our job!" niki exclaims.