tratie one shots, vol. i

[ ending ]

"Well, you've made it!" Travis declared, throwing his hands up towards the constellation-freckled sky in celebration. 

Katie eyed him warily, definitely considering pushing him off of the Demeter cabin's rooftop for his crazy talk. "Who are you talking to?"

"The reader," he explained. "They've made it to the end of the one shot collection."

The pair had been on the roof since nightfall, admiring the stars and, more honestly, each other. They'd been through so much at that point that they were less closed off about their real feelings with each other. (But you didn't hear that from me.)

"That's a little meta, don't you think?"

"Whatever, Katie-kat. You're not the one writing us."

Katie laid back and shifted closer to Travis. "I guess this is the end, then."

He shot up, eyes scouring over her features in the silvery moonlight. "It doesn't have to end."

"What do you mean?"

The boy who'd once been her half-mortal nemesis inched closer to her again, causing her breath to hitch. He whispered, "There's a second volume."

"Really?"

He grinned and sat back with his elbows propping him up. "Yup. A second book here on Wattpad full of even more shots on the best ship on the planet, written by this exact author."

Rolling her eyes, she lightly shoved him. "Best ship on the planet?"

"Yeah. The author thinks so, at least."

Katie eased herself to lay all the way down onto the grassy rooftop. Travis quickly followed, wrapping an arm behind her to cushion her head leisurely. Though they'd once hated each other more than anything in the world, they now found nothing but comfort in each other's presence and touch. They couldn't have been more grateful for the author writing them together, since their canon author apparently couldn't have been bothered.

"Hey, didn't you kill me off in that one?" Travis brought up, casting a disturbed look to the sky.

Katie bristled. "Oh, I hated that one."

At this point, the author would have apologized, but she didn't know how to self-insert her dialogue.

"Whatever. I know you didn't mean it," he ventured. "So long as you don't do it again in the next collection."

Katie waved her hand in the air. "The author likes to see the readers suffer, remember?"

He sighed, but his thoughtful expression was soon traded in for a mischievous one. He rolled on top of Katie, pinning her arms down so she couldn't smack him. "But the author also likes to see the readers fangirling."

She smiled, but before he could press a kiss to her lips, she pushed him off. "Trav, we have an audience."

"If we're talking in this fourth-wall sense, we've always had an audience."

"Whatever. They need to go away and give us some privacy."

He laughed, and her heart fluttered. "Come on, Katie-kat. They'll never give us that, not until Rick makes us canon."

It was true. The author, in the very least, intended on putting out Tratie content as long as she could, since Uncle Rick had said he'd leave the ship to the readers' imaginations. It was a shame he'd never acknowledged how perfect their enemies-to-lovers dynamic was. They were the author's OTP nonetheless, and she knew she'd never escape the fandom or the ship. Her fated branding was Tratie, and she was definitely okay with that.

"So... uh, do you mind?" Katie smiled, but it was clear she was dying for the spotlight to be off of her. 

Travis nodded along. "Yeah, go enjoy the second book if you want more content from the author. She also writes other ships and stuff. This book is officially over."

And that was where the readers were left off, with the image of their ship cuddled together to stargaze the night away. The two spent their time together with peace now, not fights. 

So, now the readers can start it all over again in the next book, if they want to.

The next collection awaits them with open arms and much more Tratie content.

Much, much more.