Requested by coolkid3709

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It was Mei's first high school party as a junior. She was hesitant about going at first but it was for "Surviving another round of hell!" so she decided to go. Now, she didn't bring it up to her friends since they didn't want to think of her as reckless. Mei's grades have been slipping recently and she's had a bit of an attitude lately. Normally, she would apologize when she snapped at her friends but now she would just roll her eyes. For the time being, the group stopped inviting Mei to hang out with them.

So when Mei was invited to the party, she avoided her friends and agreed to go. She needed a break anyway since she's been studying all day long to lift her grades again, which thankfully is going well. That C in algebra 2 was driving her mother insane.

"Ayy, what's up panda girl!" Mei was greeted the second she rang the doorbell. It was a boy from their school, he went by DJ.

"Hey DJ," Mei responded as she waved and entered the house. DJ's parents were one of the wealthy people of Toronto, so the party was at their mansion. His parents were away on a business trip which sparked the idea. Mei walked inside, the music was blaring and there were disco lights. Multiple bright colors were traveling around the room and cheers from the students. It was a perfect getaway. She looked around the room and smiled when she spotted a familiar face.

"Hey, Mandy!"

"Whasup Mei," Mandy greeted, taking her cigarette out of her mouth. Mandy was one of Mei's new friends, they used to skip class together and although Mei stopped, their friendship didn't.

"Didn't expect to see you here,"

"Yeah, needed a break ya know?"

"Word, hey I heard some of the boys will be playing spin the bottle later. You in to join?" Mandy offered as she turned her attention back to something else in the room. Mei thought about it but not for too long. It was a party after all.

"Sure! I'll meet you there," Mei walked away from Mandy with a wave and traveled down the hall. She liked Mandy as a friend but the smell of smoke made her stomach queasy. She brushed past some kids and went upstairs.

"You think she's here?" Mei froze, was that Abby?

"Obviously, she's changed remember Abby?" Mei frowned. She recognized those voices, the voices of her friends. What hurt more though was Miriam's response. She knew she changed and she knew how it affected her friends, but she's changing back! That's a good thing.

"Oh... yeah,"

"I still have hope," Mei smiled at Priya's statement. At least one of them has her back still. She leaned against the wall of the hallway and tried to cancel the other sounds out.

"How? She doesn't even look at us anymore!"

"Miriam, we know this hurts more because of that... thing you have,"

"You made it sound weirder than it is- and that's not just it! She's avoiding all of us," Miriam said, creating more curiosity from Mei.

"We can tell it hurts you more though," Priya said.

"What are you doing?" Mei jumped at Mandy's voice and quickly moved out of view from the doorway. Her friends had stopped talking and she knew they were looking at Mandy because Mandy had waved to them.

"Mandy stop it! They're going to see me!"

"Too late, the beanie girl is coming over,"

"Crud!" Mei panicked and ran off, leaving Mandy more confused than she already was. Mei dashed down the hallway, holding in the panda deep within her. Sure it would liven the party up a lot but it would be out of nowhere which she wasn't a fan of. She ran into an empty bathroom and closed the door behind.

"No no no~, why did she have to do that?!" Mei complained as she sat on the floor and transformed into the red panda. She pulled her hands to her face and groaned.

"And why was Miriam at a party?! Or any of them! I just can't see it," She sighed.

"I can't even hide in here forever! I'll probably bump into her or something," Miriam. She missed her a lot but she knew that the damage was done. She was too far down to be forgiven and it hurt but it was true to her.

"What should I do?"

"Get your girl!" Mei got startled at the random voice. Was someone listening to her rant?! Awkward.

"What?"

"I know you're having your main character moment but I have to pee!"

"Sorry!" Mei stood up and breathed out calmly, poofing out of her panda before she opened the bathroom. Smiling nervously, she slid past the person and walked away. Jeez, it was awkward alright but maybe the person was right. Maybe if she told Miriam how she felt it might change things. Scoffing, her mind quickly altered its way of thinking. This person doesn't know what happened, how could their opinion matter?

"Spin the bottle guys!" DJ shouted from the hallway. He was standing on a table while waving his arm around to grab people's attention. Spin the bottle wasn't a favorite amongst some people but those who liked it started moving in his direction. Mei was one of those people and she followed DJ into one of his spare master bedrooms.

"Aight get in a circle, and distribute evenly!" What DJ meant was for the boys to not sit grouped on one side and the girls grouped on the other side. They all listened and distributed evenly. As Mei sat in the circle she looked up while adjusting her glasses and locked eyes with Miriam.

Neither of the girls said anything to each other, in fact, Miriam turned away the second she saw Mei crack a smile. Mei frowned and scoffed.

"Aight, we know how this works. Spin the bottle and you and said person go into the closet and do your thing for 7 minutes," DJ explained and the kids talked quietly amongst each other.

"Now who wants to go first?" Mei's hand shot up. Fueled by betrayal and hurt she grabbed the bottle from DJ and spun it in the center of the circle. The group watched the bottle spin around until it slowly came to a stop in front of...

"Miriam?!" Mei shouted in shock. To say this backfired was an understatement, this was utterly betrayal and if she could speak to inanimated objects she knew that bottle was grinning at her.

"Is this allowed?"
"Who cares, it's a game,"
"Are they actually gonna-"

"You know the rules ladies! To the closet!" The crowd started changing, to the closet, as Miriam and Mei stood up. They locked eyes with each other and stepped over some kids as they entered the closet. The space was kind of cramped and Mei watched DJ set the timer as she closed the door.

"Hey, Mir I-"
"Mei I wanted-"

"Oh, sorry," Miriam tried to back up but hit her head against the wall. She hissed and rubbed the back of her head while Mei leaned closer to her.

"You ok?"

"Yeah, uh, look Mei what happened?" Mei looked away.

"I know you felt overwhelmed by work and all, b-but you didn't have to abandon us! We miss you,"

"Mir, I know I messed up and you make it painfully obvious how badly I messed up," Miriam cracked a sad smile.

"But it's also obvious how you don't want this to be fixed-"

"Hey! Don't put words in my mouth!" Miriam snapped causing Mei to shrink back a bit. Sometimes she forgot Miriam was tall and she was short, definitely intimidating.

"But-"

"Mei," Miriam sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Look, I want the group to go back to the usual. With you this time cause... well, to be honest, I've missed you a lot,"

"You said it's painfully obvious how I feel about this but I have this feeling inside that wants me to rekindle our friendship," Miriam said, smiling awkwardly. Mei noticed Miriam still flashed her braces when she smiled and it made Mei smile too. Her smile fell though as she remembered the conversation she eavesdropped on.

"Just friendship?" Mei asked cautiously. Miriam looked down at her ex-friend and tilted her head.

"I know it was wrong of me to do this, but I heard you have some kind of thing."

"I-I dunno what thing this is!" Mei quickly added when she saw how Miriam's eyes widened.

"You heard us?" She asked and Mei nodded glumly. Mei looked up to Miriam and whimpered when Miriam avoided her gaze. A light glare of light shined through from the cracks of the door and that's when Mei noticed how red Miriam's face was.

"Mir? Your face,"

"Huh- there's something on my face!?" Miriam felt around her face frantically and Mei couldn't help but giggle. Miriam must've got the hint and stopped touching her face, rolling her eyes at Mei but not before smiling.

"Don't do that girl," Miriam chuckled.

"Can you forgive me? I'm sorry for the mess,"

"Yeah. I forgive you," Both girls awkwardly leaned forward hugged each other. The pulled away, Mei's heart was launching fireworks. She was ecstatic that their friendship can be mended.

"So what's that thing?"

"What thing?" Miriam responded quicker than Mei anticipated. It only rose suspicion.

"Mir I know when you're not being honest," Mei said, standing up in the closet and attempting to cross her arms. After realizing that wasn't possible, she sighed and let her arms fall to her side.

"Just know that this'll affect our friendship ok?" Miriam said so Mei nodded.

"You remember when Priya somehow convinced us to sneak into a party in the 8th grade?" Mei's smile crept back to her face at the mention of the core memory.

"How could I forget?"

Mei and Miriam closed the closet door behind them and put their hands over their mouths so they didn't hear the girls' giggles. They heard footsteps outside the closet followed by a huff.

"Goddamn kids," When the footsteps got farther and the door closed, the two girls started giggling uncontrollably. Somehow, Priya managed to convince them to sneak into a high school party, and somehow they made it through. Although Mei didn't approve of the idea at first she became more interested when Priya mentioned a reward. She never said what, but she said they would earn it in the end.

"He was fast,"

"Yeah... so how long until we can leave?" Mei hadn't thought about the exit until now.

"I dunno girl, didn't exactly plan an exit," Miriam said, looking around the abnormally large closet. It had space for clothes and she saw a bin filled with snacks inside.

"Woah, does someone live in here?" Mei laughed.

"Of course not Mir! Probably a secret stash,"

"Hey wait I've had these before!" Mei pointed out, now digging through the secret stash of snacks. She pulled out a pack of chewy caramel balls and held them up for Miriam to see.

"Oh, is there anything that's not so... chewy?" Miriam felt awkward asking that because of her braces but Mei's reaction reminded her why she was so comfortable around her.

"Sure Mir!" No later than a minute, Mei was holding out a bag of potato chips for her. Miriam smiled and took the bag from the, tearing it open.

"Thanks, braces," Miriam pointed to her teeth before she grabbed a handful of chips and stuffed them in her mouth.

"Have you thought about getting them off?"

"Why? Do they look bad?" Miriam asked, her tone more deflated at the question. Mei frantically shook her head and leaned against Miriam for comfort.

"No! I think they suit you perfectly," Miriam blushed when she felt Mei's head on her shoulder.

"Oh," Was all she could say. Mei eyed the caramel balls before putting them back and taking out some chips as well. The two snacked on chips together and every once in a while stopped so people wouldn't hear them.

Miriam and Mei currently sat facing each other. Occasionally one of them would stare at the other but would look away soon after.

"Hey, Mir?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever thought about dating before?" Miriam's head shot up almost immediately. She didn't know if Mei meant dating her or dating other people.

"Other people?"

"Anyone!" Mei moved closer to Miriam and put her hand on top of her, rubbing her thumb gently on Miriam's skin.

"I have, but not for too long," Miriam said, focusing her attention on Mei's hand. She blushed at the contact and only blushed more at Mei's next question.

"Interested in anyone?" Mei locked eyes with Miriam and tilted her head, curiosity written on her face. Miriam gulped and laughed it off while moving out of Mei's grasp.

"It's not important, b-but have you?" Mei frowned when Miriam moved away but immediately lit up again by the question. She sat crisscrossed and patted her thighs as she talked.

"Yeah! It's someone I talk to often!"

"Who?" Miriam breathed out.

"Hey, you won't say yours so I won't say mine. Only fair," Mei said after seeing Miriam attempt to argue back with her. Miriam sighed and crossed her legs, looking down. It was common for Miriam to deflect the question when Mei asked and her curiosity was spiked. She thought, hey we're locked in a closet maybe she'll say something, but nope.

Still secretive as ever.

"Fun night," Mei smiled at the memory the two shared in the confined place. She looked up and caught Miriam staring at her with a smile across her face.

"We're trapped in here like before, and I never told you who my crush was."

"Assuming you still have one," Mei said, though she made sure her worry didn't show. Miriam's smile turned into a sad one and she looked away, dreading what she wanted to say.

"Mei... do you think you deserve to know?" Miriam whispered. She wanted to say yes, wanted to scold her for even asking a dumb question like that. But she didn't. Mei knew the vulnerability Miriam was in right now and a comment like that would just be insensitive.

"Well, Mir, I don't know. We asked years ago so I feel as if I should know, but after the stunt, I pulled I don't think I do,"

"Mei, it's just a crush," Mei stared at Miriam.

"I-I mean, well i-it's like that n-now but- ugh, you know what I mean!" Miriam awkwardly smiled before it wavered and fell.

"Don't..." She sighed.

"Promise me you won't leave me," Mei's eyebrows knitted confusingly, why would she leave Miriam again? She was already forgiven and was currently working on herself so she can click with her friends again.

"I just got you back a-and I don't wanna lose you," Miriam began sniffling and rubbed her nose while Mei leaned closer to her. She attempted a side hug by slinging an arm on Miriam's back and digging her head on Miriam's chest.

"Ok,"

"Promise me please," Miriam hated how her voice cracked but her brain was too foggy to cringe or make any acknowledgment on it.

"I promise," Mei whispered from Miriam's shirt.

"It's you,"

"Wait what!?" Miriam's words hit Mei in the gut causing her to pull away from Miriam. Surprisingly, she didn't try to grab her or beg her to stay in her arms. The feeling was new and Mei didn't like it.

"The thing I had was a crush and it was for you,"

"Miriam what?"

"It's always been, you Mei,"

"But... I was awful..." Mei's nose scrunched up and she shook her head at Miriam, ignoring the pure pain on her face.

"I can't do this-"

"Mei you promised you wouldn't leave!" Miriam reminded, struggling to keep the urge to grab Mei under control. She wanted to put her trust in Mei, to see if she really was back.

"What if I get worse?"

"I'll work with you,"

"What if I hurt you?"

"I'll help you heal,"

"I'll always be here for you Mei, and this time I'm not giving up on you." Mei's eyes were watering and tears were streaming down her cheeks. She chuckled as she wiped her tears with the back of her hand.

"Mean it?"

"As much as I love you," Miriam assisted in wiping away some of Mei's tears.

"To infinity," Mei sniffled and leaned into Miriam's hand, holding it against her cheek. However, when the closet door swung open they both jumped away from each other to keep the secret.

"Still in clothes guys!" DJ joked earning a sharp glare from Miriam.

"That's was a long 7 minutes," Mei muttered but the look DJ gave her told her that it was longer than 7 minutes.

"We kinda forgot about you two, but the confession was beautiful," DJ whispered, eying Miriam as she walked over to Priya and Abby.

"Wait you listened!?"

"You guys are interesting to listen to!"

"DJ your turn!" One of the boys said, pointing at the bottle on the floor. DJ gave him a thumbs up before winking at Mei and nodding his head towards Miriam. Mei began to blush as DJ walked away from her and sat in the circle. She walked over to her friends and smiled at them.

"Hey,"

"Did you finally get your reward?" Priya asked but Mei still didn't understand what the reward was supposed to be even though Priya was talking to her. She shrugged but Miriam sighed.

"Almost, minutes were up," Miriam whispered while cautiously keeping an eye on Mei. Mei looked back and forth between the two before clearing her throat.

"I'm right here,"

"I'm gonna steal Mei really quick!" Abby grabbed Mei's arm and dragged her away from the group. When Abby let go of Mei's arm she lightly slapped Mei across the face.

"That was for abandoning us! Second, you didn't get the reference?" Abby asked while Mei was rubbing her reddened cheek. She shook her head causing Abby to throw her head back and groan.

"When Priya dared you to sneak into the party? What did she say the reward was?"

"She said the reward was us-" Mei stopped. Her eyes widened and she facepalmed, how could she not get the reference?

"Oh crap! Thanks, Abbs!" Mei ran back over to Priya and Miriam before grabbing Miriam's hand and dragging her away. The two ended up in a spare bedroom, Mei locking the door behind them.

"Dude, what are you doing?"

"Shhh, just relax," Miriam silenced herself immediately and awaited for Mei's next step. However, she didn't need to because Mei moved closer and closer to her face, grinning. Miriam blushed as Mei kissed her, soft yet affectionately.

"That was for spin the bottle," Mei said, interlocking her hands and smiling at Miriam. Although she said it was for spin the bottle, Miriam could tell it meant more to Mei than a game. Mei turned around to leave but was stopped by Miriam's voice.

"Mei!" Mei turned back around and flinched when she almost slammed into Miriam. Miriam smiled at Mei and kissed her, causing Mei to blush.

"That was for our reward," Mei giggled and kissed Miriam again, catching her friend off guard. Mei smirked and poked Miriam's nose.

"And that was for me," She whirled around and left Miriam standing in the bedroom with a goofy grin across her face. Miriam stared at where Mei used to stand and put her hand up to her cheek, sighing dreamily.

"Oh Mei,"

Sorry this took so long, schoolwork 'n shiz