A Puff Of Purple Smoke (Ámbar Smith X Reader)

Chapter Two: Emergency Exit

After Ámbar bought me a plane ticket to Buenos Aires and I packed up all my things into one suitcase (I know, I really don't have a lot, but I was getting paid minimum wage, so can you really blame me?) we headed to the airport.

But of course Ámbar wasn't travelling alone, that would just be sad. When we got to the airport, her friend Emilia was waiting for her.

"Hey, Ámbar!" she greeted. Then she saw me. "Who's this?"

"This is Y/N. I picked them up at the mall. They're coming back with us to Buenos Aires."

"O... kay?" Emilia didn't look too happy at that prospect.

"Please be nice to them." Ámbar whispered, probably not knowing that I could still hear her. "They've been going through a lot recently."

"I don't care, Ámbar. I'm not gonna be nice to someone just because one of my friends likes them."

Ámbar turned toward me. "I'm sorry." She mouthed.

"No, it's fine." I mouthed back. I knew how Emilia was. "I got this."

I turned toward Emilia. "I got fired from my job for punching my boss in the face."

Emilia looked impressed. "OK, you know what? Sure. They can hang out with us."

Ámbar let out a sigh of relief.

We then headed toward the seating area where you wait for the plane to land. Ámbar then explained that (city where you live) doesn't have a direct flight to Buenos Aires (if it does, just pretend it doesn't), so we have to go to (major city in your country) first. While she explained this, I was thinking up a way to tell Ámbar that I knew who she was without breaking the whole you're-actually-a-fictional-character thing.

"Hey, Ámbar, I probably should've said this before, but I actually knew of you before we met."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, one of your songs was on a Spotify playlist I listened to once," I lied, trying to quickly come up with something. "I thought it was a pretty good song. You have a really pretty voice."

"Aww, thanks! Do you want me to sing you something?"

"I'd love that!"

"Okay, here's a new song I've been working on in English."

"When you're around me, I'm radioactive
My blood is burning, radioactive
I'm turning radioactive
My blood is radioactive
My heart is nuclear
Love is all that I feel"

Ámbar was looking directly at me while she was singing those lyrics. But then she looked away.

"Ready to be let down
And now I'm heading for a meltdown"

(btw this is an actual song. it's called Radioactive by MARINA. here's the song if you want to hear what it actually sounds like)

I clapped. "That was great, Ámbar!"

"Why thank you, Y/N." She took a bow.

"That sounded like a love song."

"Kind of. It's sort of a song about being in love with someone but not knowing if you can trust them because of bad experiences you've had in the past."

"Does that apply to you?"

"I hope it does eventually. I haven't found that person that I can actually love and trust despite everything."

"I'm sure you'll find that person eventually, Ámbar. Someone who loves you despite the fact that you can be difficult sometimes. Someone who understands why that is."

"What? How did you know about all that?"

"I've always been good at reading people." That was kind of a lie, but I did read a lot from her at the mall before I knew who she was.

"Yeah, no shit, Y/N. That was really good."

"First class passengers for Flight 420 to Buenos Aires, embarking in 15 minutes."

"We have to go now." Emilia repeated.

"Yeah, we know." Me and Ámbar replied simultaneously.

"Wow, best friends already, huh?"

"I guess." Ámbar answered. "Don't get jealous though, Emi." She said jokingly. "I can have multiple best friends."

As we embarked on the flight, I was thinking about Ámbar. Would she ever find that person who really understood her that she was talking about? Whoever that ended up being would be really lucky.

It was then that I realized something.

I wanted to be that person.