Mono + Six Afterstory || Little Nightmares II

Twenty-Two

Regardless of how tense things were between Mono and Six, their closeness urged the girl to relax more quickly, and she had plenty to tell him. "Oh, dude, before I forget—and I definitely will forget—guess where this boat is headed?" She changed the subject abruptly, trying to not only take attention off of her flushed face but also to clue her friend in on what she had learned.

Mono was flabbergasted by the quick flip in tone, but he indulged Six and shrugged at her question, his expression carefree because of their previous joking around.

"The Pale City, genius! You seriously couldn't guess that?" She berated the boy playfully, moving to sit directly in front of him so they could make eye contact if she felt like it. "Apparently, all of these people are survivors from there. They escaped when things got bad. Miss Julie told me." She shared this information excitably, perhaps somewhat out of restlessness.

"That's pretty convenient. We can bring Pericia back to her mom then." He replied nonchalantly, though he quickly learned his lesson when Six pouted, visibly annoyed at his attitude. "Sorry, I just... I can't believe we're safe yet. Just a feeling in the back of my mind, you know?" He explained his lack of enthusiasm, sighing deeply because of his bummer thoughts getting the best of him.

Six rolled her eyes disobediently, realizing what she had to do if it meant Mono would lighten up. She scooted closer to him and grabbed his hands gently, which caused him to blush yet again, even though she wasn't even doing or saying anything embarrassing. "Weren't you the one who said we can overcome anything as long as we're together? We're a team, right?" She referenced his own words from an earlier time, solidifying what he truly believed.

     The boy nodded affirmatively after a minute, although he was even more flustered than before because of her confidence. "I really wish I could hug you right now..." He admitted to his clingy nature, then looking down at Guppy still clinging to him so she understood his struggle.

     "That's okay." She snickered and let go of his hands, scooting back over next to him so she could embrace him from the side. "You know, I can be sweet if I want to. Just don't expect me to do this a lot."

     Although Mono was comforted by her warmth and reassurance, he was admittedly a little distracted just thinking about the future for them...for everything. He couldn't keep quiet any longer about what was on his mind; "Six...I know it'll never be a good time to say something like this, but I-" he cut himself off, flinching as the girl pulled away from him abruptly and stared at him with those piercing eyes of hers underneath her bangs.

     "Hold up. Before you say anything, just give me a second." Six took a deep breath in slowly as to not hurt herself, then releasing the breath the same way. "Mono... I heard you when I left the campfire. I can't keep it a secret anymore. It has literally been killing me." She admitted this all faster than she could think, and while Mono was stunned and about to comment, she shushed him immediately, her whole hand over his mouth rather than one finger. "We shouldn't talk about this right now, but since we have nothing but time for the next few days..." She trailed off, removing her hand from his face slowly.
To make up for her being bad with words, and just generally not being the best communicator, she grabbed his hand and leaned closer to his face, prepared to give him a peck on the lips—Unfortunately, Guppy woke up and interrupted, so she awkwardly moved away and pretended to be doing something else, her face burning with shyness.

"You guys are loud..." The younger boy complained with a slightly whiny voice, crawling away from Mono towards Riley, who was barely a foot away. He snuggled up with him instead, to which Riley smiled invitingly and looked over at Six knowingly. They could literally all hear what was going on between Mono and Six, and it was embarrassing.