"Martinus," Nevada eventually said, stepping up to him.

The three of them had been waiting in the parking lot for over twenty minutes as Martinus slowly stopped calling for Elaine, who was long gone into the dark night by then. Marcus and Nevada had mostly been sitting in thoughtful silence until finally she had decided she needed some kind of ice cream and standing in the cold wasn't going to help anything.

"I'm really sorry tonight didn't work out," she told him.

"No," Martinus replied, rubbing his eyes and turning to face her. "I'm sorry you had to give up your performance just so I could screw up worse then I already had."

"Martinus," Nevada said, shaking her head. "You didn't screw up, not completely! Now Elaine knows how far you're willing to go to get her back and she'll admire your determination. Maybe not today, but eventually she will come around."

Martinus gave her a weak smile.

"Thanks for trying to help me out," Martinus said.

"We're not finished yet, young man!" Nevada exclaimed, smiling at him. "But for tonight, I'm heading out. I have to get some ice cream before I explode from stress. You two are welcome to join me if you wish,"

Nevada gave Martinus a gentle hug before she turned back to the building to get her possessions and go binge on ice cream.

Marcus watched as she passed by him and faded into the dark. He went up to his brother and shook his head in bewilderment.

"I don't understand why she is so set on helping the two of you out." Marcus said.

"Because," Martinus replied. "She loves Elaine like a sister and she's a great friend to all three of us."

Martinus then nudged his twin in the side, smriking slightly.

"Plus," Martinus continued, his face slightly amused. "She's totally fallen head over heels for you."

"Me?" Marcus asked.

"You heard the way she gasped when she saw you all dressed up!" Martinus laughed.

"I guess so. . ." Marcus said, giving a skeptical look to where she had dissappeared.

"Come on," Martinus smiled slightly. "Let's take her up on her ice cream offer!"

--------------

Her tired cinnamon brown eyes were focused straight ahead, unblinking. There was nothing but the wall in her sight line and there was nothing on her wandering mind except Martinus. As much as she hated it, she had to admit she couldn't think of anything but him.

His eyes. His voice. His laugh. His smile. They had shamelessly haunted her every minute of this quiet day.

As she rubbed her eyes and sighed into the silence, she began to realize that she couldn't do anything to outrun these thoughts. She no longer wanted to, anyway.

Suddenly there was a painfully loud knock on her door. She growled under her breath and slowly stood to her feet.

Elaine wearily swung open the door and almost immediately slammed it back shut when she saw who had been knocking.

"Elaine! Wait!"

She felt the sudden resistance on the door when she tried to close it.

"What do you want, Martinus?" Elaine hissed, not making eye contact with him.

But for the single moment they had met eyes when she'd carelessly swung open the door, she'd seen the tears in his eyes and the grief on his face.

"I want to talk," Martinus said, his voice breaking.

Elaine bit her lip as she felt the burning tears threaten to escape. Just his presence made her heart ache.

"About what?" She finally managed to whisper.

He didn't reply. She slowly let her gaze rise off the wall to his face. They met each other's eyes for a moment.

Elaine saw his intense pain. Martinus saw her broken heart.

She suddenly tried to slam the door once more as she felt the first tear slip down her cheek.

"No!" He protested, wedging his foot in the door.

"After all you've done to me!" She cried out. "After humiliating me in front of a crowd by singing one of my favorite songs! After breaking my heart in half for no reason! After all the miserable days I've had because of you! You still think you can come back and. . ."

She couldn't finish. Elaine released her grip from the door handle and turned her whole body away, trying to hide the flood of tears overflowing onto her face.

Martinus now easily pushed open the door and tried to step towards Elaine.

"Don't come in here!" She screamed, quickly pointing towards the door. "I'll call the police!"

Martinus stopped short and slowly retreated back out, past the door's threshold. He couldn't believe she was so angry at him. He couldn't fathom she could hate and miss him at the same time.

"Elaine, please!" Martinus called. "Give me another chance!"

Elaine stepped up to the threshold as welk and stared at him, her tear stained cheeks and tired eyes sending another wave of hot tears to his own eyes.

"No!" She exclaimed, trying to wheel around and disappear into her house.

But Martinus dropped to his knees so suddenly and quickly that Elaine had to turn back around. She watched as he threw his arms around her waist and cried out.

She was shocked silent for a moment. And it was just enough time for Martinus to speak his mind.

"I know this is all my fault and I know I've hurt you! But I did all those things you said because I love you! I did them because I know the horrible mistake I've made and I just want to fix it!"

Elaine swallowed hard, barely keeping herself together.

"For all the times I saw your heart break, mine shattered!" He said. "For every time you cried, I sobbed! For every time I saw your anger, I died a little inside! I miss you so much, Elaine! Please, please, give me one more chance!"

Elaine felt herself tremble at his words and suddenly, she couldn't keep herself standing any longer. She sank to the ground and felt his arms wrap around her as she cried into his shoulder, clutching his shirt like a lifeline. In the midst of her tears, she felt a smile cross her face.

"I missed you," Martinus said, keeping her close.

"I missed you too," Elaine said back, shuddering as she continued to cry.

There was silence for a while, with the only noise being gentle tears. Until the two of them heard someone stumble out of a nearby hiding place.

Elaine looked up through her tears and saw Nevada smiling sheepishly. Within a second later, they heard Marcus run around the corner as well.

"You two just had to ruin our moment." Elaine said, grinning at them all as she lifted herself off the ground, dusting off her pants.

She was really happy to see everyone back in their same old fun group.

"Sorry," Nevada mumbled, avoiding her gaze.

"I just saw Nevada so I decided to see what happened." Marcus said. "Looks like everything went well!"

Elaine laughed. Martinus stood up beside her and put his arm around her shoulder. They looked into each other's eyes and thought about how stupid they'd both been.

"So. . ." Nevada said, slowly. "Does this mean you're back together?"

Elaine laughed out loud and wiped the tears off her cheeks.

"What do you think?" Martinus asked as he stepped in front of Elaine.

Nevada watched wide eyed as Martinus leaned down and his lips landed on Elaine's. Nevada's surprise changed into joy for her two friends as Martinus and Elaine shared their sweet kiss.

"I kinda wish it would happen to me," Nevada said, refering to the kiss.

Martinus and Elaine both turned and looked at her, laughing. Nevada suddenly surged forward and hugged the two of them.

"It took you two idiots long enough to get back together!"

"Yeah," Elaine said, turning her eyes to Martinus sweet brown irises, the ones she'd missed so badly. "It did."

Sorry that it was kind of short, I had a lot to do today! Like make cakeballs. Lol, that's mostly it, but cakeballs are not an easy feat, mine venner!