Slowly (A Brawl Stars Fanfic)

Filler

Later in the morning, around noon, Shelly finally poked Colt's shoulder and nodded to the entrance of the Bar. He stood up silently and followed Shelly outside.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"I've got a lovely habit of eavesdropping, you know? And, uh, I heard something rather interesting." She started.

Colt remained quiet to listen.

"Eh, so I was listening to a conversation between Bull and Bibi, and she was talking about me..." She paused to collect her thoughts.

"And she said something about having a crush on me." Shelly studied Colt's straight face for a reaction.

All he did was raise his eyebrows. "You're joking?"

She shook her head.

"What the fudge." He spun and looked into the Bar for Bibi, squinting at her harshly.

"You don't have to diss her, I just wanted you to know." Shelly pulled on one of his shoulders so he'd quit being rude.

"Sorry," Colt said, not sounding sorry at all. He stepped back into the shadowy Bar, beckoning Shelly.

They sat back down and neither said anything for a bit.

Shelly glanced at Bibi, startled to find her looking at her. Bibi glanced away, not blushing or ducking her head or anything.

Damn, she's good at hiding her emotions. Most of the time, Bibi did just have a deadpan face.

A while later, Shelly dozed off, head resting on her arms.

~

She woke up many hours later to a single grumbling voice nearby. Momentarily forgetting who she was and what she was doing as she often did upon awakening, she kept laying down on her couch.

Wait, on my couch...?

Shelly sat up rather quickly, swishing her head around to view her surroundings. Instead of the booth, she was laying on her couch, and instead of the Bar, it was her house.

"Uh..." She rolled off the couch onto the carpeted floor, then did a half pushup and stood. Identifying the voice as Colt's, she followed it the the kitchen.

Not giving him a chance to say anything, she got square in his face.

"What the hell am I doing here?"

"It was getting late, so I carried you home." He said, smiling very small.

Shelly stepped back, shaking her head. She was blushing like mad but hiding it rather well with rapid head movement.

"Y-you carried me? Oh my goodness..." She fanned herself like a swooning courtesan, for show. Then poked his upper arm.

"Am I heavy?" She asked, genuinely curious.

"Uh, a little?" Colt shrugged. "I guess 160 or so pounds."

"Human scale, hmm?" Shelly poked him again, then dropped the subject, realizing what he was doing over here.

Cooking, apparently. He was making hamburgers on the stove.

"Where'd you get the stuff to make those?" She glanced at her fridge. There's nothing in there though...

"My house. Because you have literally nothing in your own fridge." He sniffed and flipped the hamburgers, "While I was there, I checked on the progress Carl has made in fixing it. Its nearly done." Colt sounded disappointed.

Shelly was silent for a moment. "You can stay here, if you'd like." She said tentatively.

Colt just smiled and sprinkled more seasoning on the hamburgers.

"While I'm feeling generous, you can even sleep in my room instead of the couch, but you have to stay on your side of the bed, or I'll shoot you and you can sleep in Town Hall." Shelly said sternly.

"Okay." He nodded with a fake solemn expression.

"I'm not kidding though, so mind yourself." She warned.

She punched his shoulder lightly for emphasis and went to go look out the window. It was dark outside, just past sundown. Perfect.

A moment later, Shelly was outside in front of her house. She couldn't help smiling at how quiet and tranquil it was. The air was just the right temperature, too. This was her favorite time of day, as well as the most beautiful.

She wished she owned any books, because then she could sit out here and read in the light of dusk. Or she wished she could draw, because then she'd do that too.

When (if) I leave, I'm definitely gonna go somewhere where even the morning and noon can be this beautiful.

Shelly sighed wistfully, turning to see the remaining bit of the sunset.

~

A while later, once the sky was completely dark, and it was starting to get cold, Colt stepped outside. He walked up and poked Shelly's shoulder, because she was looking kinda out of it.

She flinched and spun around, glaring.

"Dinner's ready..." Colt stepped back into the house, standing to the side of the doorway so she could pass.

"Sorry, I just, I was thinking. I do really want to leave." Shelly ducked her head, going over and sitting at the small table.

"Oh yeah? Me too. Though I'd miss my mother and sister." He flipped a burger onto her plate, and then one onto his own, immediately squirting ketchup all over it a second after.

"You're sister? Why though...?" Shelly put barbecue sauce on hers instead, thinking of the time she'd helped Jessie train, and then got betrayed the very next Showdown.

Colt tilted his head at her. "She's my sister. My family. I've got every right to miss her." He said, taking an oversized bite of hamburger.

"Hmph, so be it." She shrugged and took a much smaller bite.

It was quiet for a bit, until suddenly, Colt sat straighter, looking at Shelly brightly before pulling out another one of those blue, heart-shaped boxes. He handed it to her with that contagious smile of his.

Shelly accepted it gingerly, flipping it over to see what letter it'd have on it this time. Y. Putting all three of the letters together from the other boxes, it wrote ILY.

I. Love. You. Shelly smiled.

"Thanks." She opened the box, finding a small capsule of rose petals and a piece of folded paper inside.

She glanced up at Colt, who nodded, before unfolding the paper. It wrote "You've been my best friend for a very long time. Can we be more?"

"I see you forgot to give this to me a while ago?" Shelly laughed quietly.

"Yeah, you figured it out a lot sooner than you were supposed to." He shook his head in mock exasperation.

"Well, I'm glad we're more than that now, actually. It's more fun this way." Shelly flipped down imaginary sunglasses and clicked her tongue.

"Hah, yeah. True. I'm glad I stepped forward to take a shot at it, 'cause you were too chicken." Colt tossed his hair and rose one eyebrow, trying to look classy.

"Yeah, yeah. Now shoo." Shelly crossed her arms.

"Buzzkill." He laughed.

They chatted back and forth late into the night, feeling much closer than ever before.

______________
I made the title of the this story on a whim, so it's very simple and not well thought out. I've thought about changing it. Anyone have any ideas?

Also, I was listening to music while typing this, so there may be typos. Please make sure to point them out. Thanks.

~LibroDeDragon