happy birthday to you

Tiffany couldn’t have gotten more lucky in the best friend department than having Candice by her side, so naturally sweet and gentle that she could impose on her night like this and not receive even the smallest complaint or impatient eye roll in return. Tiff didn’t think she would even be so kind if she had to take care of a sad mess like herself, but here she was wrapped up in Candice’s bed and given the chance to vent her woes and drama. She felt guilty, now, that she hadn’t told her best friend about Dewey sooner. Maybe if she’d let herself talk to someone about all of it sooner—her slowly suffocating relationship with Randy, the life that Dewey breathed back into her—things wouldn’t have gotten to this point. Maybe she could have broken up with Randy before Halloween and avoided this shit show. She was still more relieved than guilty, even after kissing Dewey, but her lower lip wobbled as she held back from bursting into tears again just from the overwhelming emotion of finally speaking about everything.

This entire situation was so confusing for Candice. Before tonight, she hadn’t even realized that Tiffany and Randy were having relationship issues, at least nothing more than usual. Like sure, she has seen her bestie disagree with something Randy was doing, and obviously the couple has butt heads on more than one occasion, but she’s never seen them get to a point where it was breakup worthy. Even when Randy is caught flirting with someone else, Candice always assumed that it was all harmless and that Tiffany for the most part didn’t pay mind to it because she knew he was devoted to her no matter what. Everyone thought Randy was devoted to Tiffany. They were literally the golden couple among the racers! To the point where Candice found herself jealous at times over how long her bestie has been with her boyfriend. Partly because a part of her wanted to find someone who she can be with for as long as the two of them has, but also because since they’ve been dating for so many years, that meant Candice couldn’t get what she wanted. Couldn’t get who she wanted. So, it was not only strange for her to hear that the two were actually breaking up, but also hearing that Tiffany has already found someone else new. Or she guessed, not so new?

“You mean does Dad get me in the divorce?” Glade rephrased her question with a humorous twist, trying to get a laugh or at least a reluctant smile out of Candice. She was way too worried about something that wasn’t in their control. As far as he was concerned at this moment, Randy and Tiffany’s break-up was none of their business—it was a turn of events that would inevitably shake up their friend group, but whether that meant that there would be a permanent split right down the middle or just a tension that would fade with time, they didn’t yet know. All they could do was roll with the punches and figure it out as it came, but stressing about it wasn’t going to change anything. He genuinely wasn’t even too concerned with picking sides between Tiff and Randy, seeing how they both seemed to want to keep things on the down-low for the sake of their reputations and the Sugar Rush crew’s careers. “I’m gonna keep hanging out with both of them,” he answered with an unaffected shrug. “Even if they don’t want to get together with everyone at the same time, that doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t still hang out. Don't think about it too much, kid.”

With a small nod, Candice continued to stare at Glade with big and wide concerned eyes. Her worries may be an unnecessary one, but being surrounded by the Sugar Rush Crew was all that she knew. Whether the rest truly valued her as a friend or not, the candle loving girl adored and cherished every single one of them— yes, that included Randy too despite now realizing the true extent of how toxic his relationship with Tiff was. But even so, it was like she had said, if their entire crew does end up splitting apart now that her bestie wasn’t with her ex anymore, obviously Candice was going to pick Tiff over Randy. She didn’t even have to think about it! But at the same time, the older girl didn’t like the thought of being apart from her other friends if any of them were to decide to pick Randy’s side. Like Glade— he was much too adorable and precious for her to see only some of the times because he rephrased it— Dad got him in the divorce. “We can do that?” Candice questioned, surprised by Glade’s answer. She hadn’t considered hanging out with both of them, but separately she guessed. Yet, just as that thought came to mind, she frowned once more. “Oh, I don’t think I can do that. I don’t think Tiff would like it if I hung out with Randy, and I can’t betray her like that even if I tried!” 

The fact that Candice was wiping away her tears was further proof to Tiffany just how little Randy actually cared. Both Dewey and Candice were sympathetic, concerned with her feelings, wanting to stop her crying with the gentlest touches because they didn’t like to see her upset; meanwhile, Randy had accused her of faking and told her to stop causing a scene in public. From a romantic or platonic perspective, someone who genuinely loved her would treat her better than that. It only made another wave of tears roll down her cheeks, which Candice took care of before grabbing her hand to take her home. “Sorry for making you leave early,” she mumbled as they waited for a ride outside the hotel. This was a rare event to miss, Halloween only coming once a year, so it was further testament to how good a friend Candice was to leave with her without even a second of hesitation.

“Shh, there’s nothing for you to be sorry about.” Candice reassured her best friend, merely squeezing Tiffany’s hand in comfort as the pair waited for their ride to arrive. Tiffany should know by now that she would drop everything in a pinch if it means being there for her. That includes suddenly leaving a possible once in a lifetime event like this Halloween Ball, regardless if it seemed like the night wasn’t anywhere over— if her best friend wanted to leave, than the two of them will leave. Their Lift arrived soon after that, Candice not once looking back at the hotel and all the fun festivities going on around them. Instead, her focus was on Tiffany and Tiffany alone, still concerned over everything that had conspired but also hoping that now with the two of them heading back to her home, she would be able to cheer her best friend up. As her friend rested her head against her shoulder, the ravenette reaffirmed that thought— she will cheer her up.

Glade’s eyes widened at the bag of orange Skittles his friend produced. He hadn’t expected her to have already pre-picked them out on the off-chance of running into him, but he wasn’t complaining, taking the bag out of her hand and happily popping a few of the candies into his mouth. He watched Candice continue to pout without going off to the bathroom like she’d said was her plan, knowing she was waiting for him to be a good friend in return and ask her what was up. He smiled before finally asking, “Whatsamatter?” For being older than him, Glade thought it was pretty cute Candice still acted so childish sometimes; it was like he wasn’t the only baby in the friend group.

As soon as Glade asked her “Whatsamatter?” that was all that’s needed before Candice decided to let her feelings out. “I’m worried!” She claimed, pouting even more now. “Now that Tiff and Randy aren’t together anymore, what do you think will happen to us? Are we all like still going to be able to hang out and game like we usually do? Or, or— does this mean we’ll have to take sides between the two? Obviously, I’m going to pick Tiff’s because she’s my bestie and I won’t abandon her, but what about those who pick Randy’s?” Candice fired questioned after question, taking a pause so she can pop one of the green colored skittles into her mouth. She really was worried over the new state of their group, the awkwardness becoming more apparent since the events of the ball taking place, but also the tension now that the breakup between Tiff and Randy was official, and her bestie having a new boyfriend. “You’re going to pick Randy’s side, aren’t you? You two are really close so it makes sense if you are.” 

@ccndlehced said: "I am mentally unwell. I'm gonna go eat skittles on the toilet." - Candice

“Here,” Mindlessly, she stretched out her hand, and there on her palm inside a cute ziplock bag with kittens plastered all around it, was a pile of already picked out orange colored skittles. She hadn’t even expected to run into Glade, he happened to have been the first one who found her when Candice made such an exaggerated claim, but she always made sure to pick out the orange skittles and save them for whenever she did see him. Handing the bag over, she began to pout, still very much feeling “mentally unwell” as she claimed to be. And clearly, instead of her making her way to the bathroom like she claimed, Candice once again looked back at her younger friend with that pout on her face, looked all sad as if she was waiting or hoping for Glade to ask her what’s wrong.

After fighting with Randy, running right into Dewey’s arms and doing something she couldn’t—and honestly didn’t want to—take back, Tiffany knew she had to make a quick escape. She had just cheated, kissing Dewey and then basically putting a bookmark in that as she knew she had to break up with her boyfriend before she could take her relationship with Dewey any further. No, she had to break up with Randy regardless of whether she and Dewey got together afterwards; it was just that he had been the one to make her realize it. But she just couldn’t mentally or emotionally deal with doing that right now, not tonight, not after the fight they’d already had, so she didn’t want to run into Randy again. She didn’t even want to go home to the house they shared together knowing that he’d be going home to the same place unless he decided to crash with one of the boys to avoid her, just like she intended to do with Candice.

While she was extremely confused by this entire situation and has no idea what was happening between two of her closes friends or what this current fight between them means, one thing Candice knew for sure was that Tiffany needed her right now. It didn’t matter if she had very little context of everything, all it took was for her to take one look at her best friends face and noticing how upset she was—to the point where mascara had been running down Tiff’s cheeks—for Candice to know that this was going to be a long night for them. One in which will be filled with a lot more tears, hopefully some explanations so she could comfort her bestie even better, at least two batches of cookies they’ll both no doubt will be baking, and the largest tub of strawberry ice cream they can find and stuff their faces with. Yeah, it was going to be a sleepover exclusively just for the two of them, and Tiff wouldn’t have to leave on the following day if she didn’t want to either.

Randy's pout turned into a smile as Candice easily swayed to his attention; it worked so easily every time. All the racers knew well enough that Randy always needed someone to be giving him attention at all times, otherwise he was left to his own devices and bad decision making skills quickly followed. This was likely the calm before the storm of the night — since Randy had lived a day in the life of Dewey, he'd been avoiding rocking the boat with Tiffany, instead playing the good boyfriend part, but they'd been standing on thin ice for quite some time now. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be long before it finally cracked underneath them. He shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, you really don't have to do that." No point when Tiffany was more interested in other people instead. At least Candice was still loyal. "Sure, thanks. Want a drink?"

Her own demeanor peaked up when his pout turned into a smile, Candice once again falling into Randy’s attention seeking schemes, as she would much rather see him smiling instead of pouting. If only she knew that there was way more to come, and that Randy’s need for attention from her wasn’t just because he was momentarily deprived of not being paid attention to, but rather because there was so much more brewing among them. Among Tiffany and Randy. Oh, how she’s been so out of the loop to all the drama and how not so lovey-dovey her two best friends had been with each other. Instead, Candice continued to smile at him and shrugged. “Sure, I could totally go for a drink!” She then gasped. “I’ve heard the punch’s really tasty! Have you tired any of it yet?” 

@ccndlehced​

Coming to a stop at a coffee shop she has never been to before, Candice wasn’t expecting to come across an old but familiar face behind the counter as she walked through the doors. But as she was greeted with a bright smile, her eyes instantly lit up at the sight of him— having not seen Terence since high school, and yet the second her gaze landed on that cute face of his, his name was instantly remembered by her. “Terence!” Candice called out, a clear display that she recognized him too as she made her way towards the counter with a bright smile of her own. “Oh my gosh, Hi! It really has been a long time, hasn’t it?” She asked, arms out as she almost reached over to pull the guy in for a hug when she stopped herself besides the counter instead. “I’ve been amazing— been doing amazing, and you? I didn’t know you worked here? But like, then again, I’ve never been in here before but if I knew you would be here, I totally would’ve came in way sooner.”