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Sorry, it's so long that you'll probably have to split it into multiple parts lol. 😭😂

i loved your work!

— Despite having been friends for years, Bear and Y/N have recently started to develop a growing sense of resentment toward each other. Neither of them openly talks about it, but the reason is obvious: they're both in love with Nikki. I'd like this "silent rivalry" to stay true to Bear's personality, so nothing overly aggressive or openly competitive. Instead, focus on suppressed jealousy, awkward tension, unspoken feelings, and Bear's characteristic shyness and embarrassment that hide just how intense his emotions really are.

— Y/N is in the car with Bear and Nikki when she witnesses a conversation that completely catches her off guard. Nikki directly asks Bear whether he has feelings for someone and tells him that if there's something he wants to confess, he should do it now before it's too late. Caught off guard, Bear responds that they're just friends. However, after Nikki leaves, he immediately starts berating himself for not having the courage to tell her the truth and reaches for the box, intending to make the wish. At that moment, Y/N stops him and asks what he thinks he's doing and what his real intention is. Bear grows visibly nervous, tries to dodge the question, but eventually admits that he want Nikki. Y/N gets seriously upset.

— After their argument, Bear decides to temporarily give up on making the wish.

— The next day at work Y/N notices Nikki looking unusually downcast. She's immediately concerned. Her mind drifts back to the conversation in the car the night before and to Nikki's plans of leaving her job behind and moving to New York to pursue her dream of becoming a writer.

— Y/N also can't stop thinking about Nikki's words: "If there's something you want to say, say it now before it's too late."

— The two of them start talking and Y/N tries to comfort her. At some point, almost without thinking, she asks if Nikki is upset because Bear never confessed his feelings. Nikki lets out a sigh and admits that the reason she brought up the topic in the first place was actually to prepare him for a rejection. She wanted to gently make him understand that she only sees him as a friend.

— During their conversation, Nikki rests her head on Y/N's shoulder. Such a simple gesture immediately makes Y/N tense up. For a few seconds, all she can hear is the pounding of her own heartbeat drowning out every other sound around her. Eventually, she relaxes and allows herself to enjoy the moment.

— Gathering every ounce of courage she has, Y/N suggests that they go out together that evening to help lift Nikki's spirits. Nikki raises an eyebrow and gives her a curious look. Y/N immediately panics, stumbling over her words and desperately trying to make it sound casual, which only makes Nikki laugh because she finds her absolutely adorable.

— The two end up spending the evening at an arcade and have an amazing time together. I'd like plenty of sweet and lighthearted moments between them: playful competitions, teasing, laughter and growing chemistry. The kiss should happen naturally over the course of the night starting off shy and hesitant before becoming more confident and meaningful once they both realize they genuinely want it.

— Later that night, they post a picture on social media. In the photo, Nikki is kissing Y/N's cheek while Y/N is completely red-faced and visibly flustered. ( A cute caption)

— We know Bear is practically obsessed with Nikki and constantly checks her social media. When he sees the picture, he's hit by a devastating mix of jealousy, anger, and heartbreak. Overwhelmed by those emotions, he finally decides to use the wish.

— I'd then like to explore Y/N's confusion when, after such a special night, she arrives at work the next day and finds Nikki suddenly being incredibly affectionate and clingy with Bear. Seeing them together like that completely throws her off and leaves her unable to understand what's happening.

— From that moment on, the real problems begin.

what went wrong? | n. freeman

a/n: long ass request good heavens

summary: 3.9k words. after what you thought had been a good date together, nikki suddenly changes her mind about you

bear and you have always been friends, ever since sophomore year when he moved to town. you felt bad for him, mostly. the guy was alone, like, all the time. in the halls, the cafeteria. in class when the teacher would tell people to choose your own partners for an assignment.

you said hi, introduced him to your friends. he was cool. not cool cool, because he was kinda weird, a little rough-looking, and didn't really know how to hold a conversation for longer than seven minutes.

you'd timed him, once.

but despite all that, you figured he was relatively normal.

you were very wrong.

it started with nikki. it seemed like everything was nikki, nikki, nikki nowadays.

not that you were complaining.

nikki laughing at someone's joke, or smiling at you, or being literally the perfect height to hug. texting you in the middle of the night with random videos and "this made me think of you lol." sharing a playlist where you both added songs that the other might like. she had a list on letterboxd of movies she wanted to show you. begging to hear her stories whenever you were at her house, and she'd always give in and then stand in the middle of the room reciting it like some sort of poet.

you couldn't blame bear, really. everyone loved nikki, it was impossible not. like breathing, inevitable even if you try to hold it back.

that didn't mean you didn't resent him, because you did. very, very deeply. a resentment so deep that often, if nikki mentioned him in any sort of manner, you often got the urge to tell her that he liked her.

but then you often imagined her getting excited and running into his arms, so you refrained.

bear knew that you liked nikki. you'd once admitted it after a slightly too drunken night out with him, sarah, and ian. you'd gone out a slurred rant about how you missed nikki, because she was home sick, and then you'd said it.

the next morning you wondered, in a short-lived panic, that bear might go and blurt out the words to someone.

he couldn't usually keep things to himself.

but, you were pretty sure the secret was still safe.

only, after that night, bear was always tense when you were around. shoulders squared, jaw set, glaring at his lap whenever nikki was in touching-range or, god forbid, actually touching you.

watching movies with everyone was the worst. once, bear had gotten up to use the restroom because nikki had kept leaning into you to whisper to you. only, he hadn't come back and once the movie was over, you'd all gone out into the hall to find him slurping down a soda, sulking.

"...you okay?"

"headache."

it was stupid, really. the whole thing would've been solved if only one of you could just admit your feelings. but, you didn't want to lose nikki. having her as a friend was better than not having her at all, especially after you'd had her for so long.

one evening, after a night at the bar, you'd gotten crammed into the back of bear's car with your knees pressed uncomfortably to the back of his seat. nikki sat in the passenger seat, temple resting against the window.

and when bear arrived to her house, she grabbed her purse and left the car.

bear leaned across the center console, neck craning towards the opened window.

"night, freaky nikki!"

your head jerks up from where it was resting against the window, eyebrows raised in surprise.

nikki turns from where she was standing, expression confused. "dude, don't call me that."

bear's expression falters slightly and he clears his throat, "right, yeah. it was just a joke, i was just kidding."

"no, not even like as a joke," nikki says approaching the car door again, "you know how i feel about that."

bear swallows, throat bobbing, and he nods. "i know, im sorry. im sorry."

nikki leans down to the window, watching him for a second, then "do you like me?"

bear stares at her for a long moment, slightly stunned, so nikki continues. "because if you do, now is the time to tell me."

bear gapes at her, and you can nearly see his brain working for a way out. then, he stammers out "i think we're good friends."

nikki nods, firm, and steps away from his car. "okay, good. goodnight."

she turns, and walks up the steps to her house. when she disappears inside, bear lets out a loud, frustrated groan. "fuck," he mumbles under his breath, hands rubbing down his face. "why the fuck?"

he stops for a second, glances at you in the rearview mirror, and then he reaches backwards for his backpack. you watch as his unzips the main compartment and pulls out a small, pyramid-shaped box.

"what's that?" you question, though he ignores you to rip the box open. a loud jingle rings out and he flinches momentarily, then pulls out the contents, a stick.

"dude, what is that?" you say again, laughing softly at the absurdity of this.

he pauses for a moment, then shrugs. "i dont know," he says weakly, "it's supposed to grant you a wish."

"really?" you snatch the stick out of his hands and his eyes widen in surprise, hand reaching with a weak attempt to take it back. "this little thing?"

his cheeks are slightly flushed from embarrassment, his expression slightly shameful as he watches you eye the stick. "i dont know, it said on the box. snap in half, and make a wish."

"mmhm," you hum, looking back at him with an expectant look, "and what, you were about to wish that you had the courage to ask girls out?"

he sputtered for a moment, neck flushing, then snatched it back from you. "no. i was just—well—nikki—“

“hold on, hold on,” you said, holding a hand up to stop him. your eyes narrowed, and he squirmed beneath your gaze. “were you gonna wish nikki liked you? dude, that’s…like, messed up. the hell’s wrong with you?”

“what?” he huffs out, eyebrows furrowing. “i wasn’t gonna do anything.”

“yeah fuckin’ right. also, you literally just had the perfect opportunity to confess your feelings. not that she feels the same because i guarantee that was her way of getting you to spit it out, so she could reject you—“

“you don’t understand,” he hisses out, glancing out the window towards nikki’s front door, like she might come out and catch them. “i just—fuck—i want her so badly. i’m in love with her!”

“so in love with her that you can’t accept she doesn’t like you back?”

he hastily shoves the stick and the box back into his backpack. “just…shut up,” he grits out, visibly embarrassed, “i wasn’t gonna do it. and, it probably doesn’t work, anyways.”

the next day, you got to work early. not on purpose, but because you’d had trouble sleeping night before after your conversations with bear, and you had only managed two hours of sleep.

so you were tired, shaken, and blinking dazedly at the front counter, watching the world pass by out of the store windows.

the bell jingled above the door, and nikki entered the store with a similar expression to your own—tired, drained, slowly making her way past the keyboards and towards the back room.

“hey,” you said, automatically, and she hummed in response. you followed her into the break room, where she clocked in and set her bag down in one of the employee cubby’s, then moves to sit on the table in the middle of the room. “you alright?”

“yeah,” she says finally, letting out a deep sigh. she turns to you, rubs a hand down the side of her face, then manages a small smile. “i’m just tired, i guess. didn’t sleep well.”

“oh. yeah. me too.”

“you too?”

“yeah, i—“ you paused, glancing out towards the front of the store, like bear was going to appear any second. “i just…after you left last night, bear was super weird.”

“oh, really? what’d he do?”

“he just—“ you cut yourself off again, debating whether or not to say what you’d seen. then, with a weak laugh, you shook your head slightly. “i don’t know. he was just being weird.”

nikki smiled properly then, and she leaned towards you, fingertips lightly grazing the back of your wrist.

“if i’m being honest,” she murmured after a second of silence, “i was really hoping he’d, just…grow a pair.”

“…what?”

nikki continues with a short, breathy laugh, “bear. he’s just—he’s always hovering around me, scared. it’s annoying, i was trying to get him to just admit it, tell me that he likes me. then we could just get this whole thing over with, and he’d move on.”

you blinked, eyebrows raising, then—“you don’t like him?”

she gave you a bewildered look, like the idea was absurd. “you thought i liked him?”

“well, i—i didn’t know for sure.”

she laughed brightly at that, genuinely amused, and it softened into a simple smile. then she shuffled her chair, which squeaked across the linoleum floor, over toward you until you guys were sitting side by side.

“you’re so easy to talk to,” she said, an appreciative look in her eyes. “have i told you that?”

“…not that i can remember. you’re easy to talk to, too.”

nikki just smiled at that, and then she leaned over and her head came to rest atop your shoulder. you tensed, at first, but you reminded yourself to breathe. in, out, slowly until your shoulders relaxed and you placed the side of your own head against hers.

"do you want to do something?"

you blurted it out before your brain had a chance to scare you out of it.

your brain didn't need to scare you out of it because with the way nikki tensed beside you, you were scared enough. she lifted her head from your shoulder, eyebrows raised, lips curled into an amused smirk.

"huh?"

"like—i didnt mean, like—chill! casual! friends!"

nikki stared at you for a long few seconds, and your heart pounded hard against your chest. then she began to laugh, soft at first and then harder, till she was covering her eyes with one of her hands and the other was pressed loose against her stomach.

immediately, you wanted the earth to swallow you whole.

"oh my god," she finally managed, out of breath, wiping invisible tears. "phew," she breathes out, which you believe is just to further your embarrassment, and then she finally glances back at you with a softer smile, "i'm so sorry. i didn't mean to laugh in your face like that. that was—that was rude. yes, i'd love to do something with you. tonight, after work?"

your embarrassment lessens, but only slightly.

"yeah...yeah, tonight."

that very night, after you and nikki had both finished your shift's, you stood outside the music store, looking at each other. nikki smiled, eyes narrowing ever-so-slightly.

"so, you asked me on a date, but you don't know where we should go? that sounds like bad planning on your part."

"i said this was a—a friend thing. casual. very chill."

"oh, very chill. alright, fine, i know a place where we can go."

which is how you ended up outside an arcade. you stared at the neon sign, then at nikki. then the sign. nikki. sign. nikki. sign.

"...i'm not very good at arcade games."

nikki simply laughed, and took your hand to drag you inside—it was loud, and slightly crowded, and over the cheering and talking from people around you, you could faintly hear some sort of bubbly pop song playing over the speakers.

"don't worry, i wont judge your skills."

"if i have none?"

"i wont judge your lack of skills."

she led you to a wheel-of-fortune type of game first, because it was only two coins. you spun the wheel as hard as you could, watched it spin around, and around, slowly coming to a stop on...

...three.

"three? three what?"

"congrats," nikki said, grinning as she watched three flimsy little tickets spit themselves out of the machine.

you snatched them up and stuffed them in your pocket anyways.

next came a basketball game, which you only did better at because nikki was too short to be able to shoot the ball into the net.

"someone definitely moved some of the basketball's into your lane, you've got, like, three more than me!"

"are you being a sore loser, nikki?"

twenty-five to twelve.

you wanted to play that one a few more times, but nikki didn't want to waste her coins on it because "it sucks and it's rigged."

next came the claw machines. you never were good at those ones. but, nikki saw a tiny, brown cat tucked away in one corner and demanded she save it from the machine.

she tried her best, really. but to no avail, the cat was stuck in it's cage.

after about four different tries, nikki growing more and more focused each time, she had wasted about ten coins and very, very nicely asked you to try and get it for her.

"pretty please?"

"...fine."

the first try went terribly, but you'd managed to get a small, plastic ball that contained a plastic, green soldier.

the second try went much better. nikki was pressed to the glass, pointing at the cat like you couldn't see it. she kept switching sides, left and right and next to you and then across from you. directing the claw, telling you whether you were too far right or too far forwards.

finally, nikki allowed you to press the button to lower the claw. it seemed like it had lowered in slow motion. the metal fingers expanded, lowering itself around the cat. then it latched onto the head, and guided the cat towards the machine's hole and dropped it down.

"yes!" nikki shouted so loudly, a few people had turned back to stare at you. she hugged you, first, arms wrapping around you so tightly that you nearly choked. and then she was letting go, pushing the lower door of the machine open so she could grab her new cat.

"oh my god," she said, letting out a single bright laugh, "isn't it so cute? what should we name it?"

"name it?"

"yes, name it. we saved it from the machine, we have to name it."

"uhm," you thought for approximately five seconds, then spit out the first word that came to your mind, "rocky?"

"rocky?" she said, another laugh leaving her, "oh, shit, like from that space movie? rocky...yeah, it's nice. rocky it is.. rocky the cat."

then she tucked the cat—excuse me, rocky—into her pocket, even though it didn't really fit.

you raced motorcycles together, and nikki got first place which she was extremely proud of. you got third, sadly. you lost to an npc. tragic.

then you played guitar hero, which you were surprisingly much better at than nikki. you stayed there, wasting coins, for about fifteen minutes with different songs and different difficulties until you eventually stopped recognizing the list of music it had.

after being there for nearly two hours, with no future of stopping if the way nikki kept dragging you to more and more games was any indication, you finally had to sit down and relax. nikki played a few rounds of skee-ball, because you said she should stay in your vicinity. then, after about ten minutes of relaxing and just when your legs had started to stop aching, nikki practically begged you to play air hockey with her.

you were pretty sure she was purposefully aiming for your knuckles.

"ow—shit!"

"oh, sor—yes! i won!"

"that's literally cheating."

"no rules in my game."

when you both had a decent handful of tickets, and nikki had finally started to get tired—thankfully, because you were definitely tired—she had led you over to the prizes.

unfortunately for the both of you, arcade's were ridiculously greedy and all their cool prizes cost more tickets than the two of you would ever see. instead, you added up all your tickets together and bought several handfuls of candy, a light-up yo-yo, and the most expensive prize's—two inflatable swords. nikki challenged you to a duel outside, where she'd accidentally stabbed you in the eye and then laughed about.

"that hurt like a bitch," you said, hand to eye, reluctantly smiling. she laughed once more, bright and amused, and then guided your hand away so she could see the damage.

"i said i was sorry."

"yeah, but you still laughed first."

"because it was hilarious."

her fingers lightly grazed your upper cheekbone, a smile still on her face, and then she dropped her hand. "you'll be fine. you still look great."

that made you pause. you blinked, once, and then again because your eye still hurt and it was beginning to water when you tried to open it. so, peering with one eye shut and the other squinting, you grinned.

"great, huh?"

she laughed, again. probably at your expression right now, but still.

"yeah, you look great. and, i had a lot of fun with you tonight, even though you think i was out for blood."

"actually, i know you were out for blood."

"yeah, well," she paused, glancing away with a small shrug, "i was mostly out for you."

you were silent for a long moment. mostly because you weren't sure you were hearing this right.

nikki chuckled, cheeks faintly pink, then glanced back at you with slightly furrowed brows. "that...didn't make sense, i dont think. i was…trying to flirt. i meant—like—“

she cut herself off with a shake of her head, and another chuckle. “i agreed to come tonight, mostly because i was hoping this was a date.”

“…oh.”

“…oh?”

“i mean—oh! like, in a good way!” you stammered, eyes widening, “not, like, oh like oh. you know?”

she smiled, fond, then shrugs. “i guess? so, was this a date then?”

“yeah, if you want it to be.”

“if i want it to be.”

“…i also want it to be.”

she watched you for a second, then nodded once, and reached down to take your hand. “cool,” she murmured, fingers interlacing with your own, “then it’s a date.”

"cool," you replied, nodding along, staring at your joined hands. she smiled at you, and then she was leaning in. you had about one second to process what was happening before her lips were on yours, gentle and soft and tasting faintly like cherries.

after realizing you hadn't tried to pull away, nikki dropped your hand so that she could take a hold of your face—her hands rest lightly on your jaw and your own took her waist.

she pulled back after a second, smiling, cheeks a little pink, and she let out a breathy chuckle. "i...hope that was okay."

"more than okay."

"good...good."

then, all of a sudden, nikki's expression brightened and she pulled back with a grin. "we should take a picture."

"a picture?"

she was already pulling out her phone, nodding now, opening up her camera. "c'mere—get close." one of her arms moved around your waist, but she deemed that not close enough because she then turned her head towards you, planting her lips against your cheek.

you tensed immediately, and in the camera you could see pink creeping down to your neck. though, you smiled anyways and nikki took the photo.

she pulled away, looking at it with a grin. “we look pretty good.”

“yeah,” you said faintly, looking at her phone screen with a matching grin. “wanna post it?”

you watched as she clicked on instagram, and then pressed her profile picture. she put the photo on her story, thumbs hovering above the screen for a moment, before she clicked the screen a put a small, simple red heart emoji near the lower left part of the photo. then, she put it on her story and slid her phone back into her pocket.

“mind giving me a ride home?” she asked, one of her arms casually looping around your own.

“course. can’t just leave you stranded here. not like you’ve got a license or anything.”

“are you making fun of me for not having a license?”

“i’m making fun of you for being twenty-four and not having a license.”

that earned you a nudge against your side, and a very pleasant laugh from nikki.

you got to work early the next day, because you were supposed to open. so, when nikki had finally gotten to the store, you’d been there for awhile now.

only, nikki didn’t come alone. no, she came inside with bear, grinning at him like he’d just said the funniest joke ever.

“hey, nikki,” you said automatically when she passed by you. only, she barely spared you a glance. just a tight-lipped smile, and then she followed bear into the break room.

okay, ouch.

it was fine. maybe she was tired.

after bear and nikki had both clocked in, after bear had begun unloading supplies and nikki stood by the front counter, watching, you decided to approach her.

“hey,” you said, quiet so only she’d hear. she didn’t turn towards you—only hummed in acknowledgement. “nikki, hey.”

when she finally met your gaze, her expression was almost annoyed. “what is it?”

you blinked, surprised at her tone, and stared at her for a few seconds. then, with a clear of your throat, you shrugged. “i just…i wanted to say i had a really good time last night. i was wondering if you were wanted to get dinner tonight, after work.”

nikki stared at you, watching, and it made a chill creep down your spine. then she turned, looking back at bear. “i have plans with bear. and honestly, i don’t think we should see each other again. spending time with you last night made me realize how deep my feelings for bear were. nobody can compare.”

“wait—wait what? you said you didn’t like bear.”

bear turned, glancing over his shoulder at the two of you, and nikki immediately smiled and waved.

“i was very deep in denial, y/n. you just don’t understand. my love for him is incomparable.”

you stared at her side profile, jaw slightly slack, waiting for the punchline. when it didn’t come, when her eyes continued to follow bear as he organized guitar strings onto a shelf, you let out a breathless laugh.

“are you…joking?”

“not at all.”

“…did i do something wrong last night? i’m sorry if…i made you uncomfortable or something.”

nikki turned to you, then, and let out a deep sigh through her nose. “what don’t you understand?” she said, seriously. “i don’t like you like that. you’re a friend, nothing else. stop trying to get in the way of bear and i.”

and with that, she turned on her heel and rounded the counter. bear smiled, a little awkwardly when she approached him, and nikki took his jaw into her hands and pulled him into a deep kiss.

in the middle of the store.

you watched, mouth slightly agape, eyebrows furrowed, a sharp ache in your chest from hurt, embarrassment, maybe both.

you’d had such a good time last night, with her, and she said that she’d hoped it was a date. she kissed you. now she was kissing bear, right in front of you.

your first thought was that nikki was cruel for this. then, that bear must’ve said something—done something. nikki had been so amused by the thought of being interested in him, there was just no way.

you didn’t know what had happened, but whatever it was had caused nikki to change her mind about you.

there was nothing you could do about it now, except watch her choose him.

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