Prompt: Write a romance story which involves a bracelet, 'unicorn', 'you're toast', delinquents, and a happy ending566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhvINAQoP5z
This is the part where I say, I love you.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLWf9Yl0H6Q
I open my mouth, draw in a deep breath, and am promptly knocked unconscious by a delicate china coffee cup disagreeing with my temple. I'm not sure which one shattered first.
Sometimes, I wonder what my life would be like if it were a story.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ77eM5dZGx4
First of all, it would be far more interesting; after all, stories are rarely as boring as my daily routine.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY4WHiTC4pp
It goes a bit like this: I wake up at six, I brush my teeth, make breakfast (usually cereal, leftovers from takeaway the night before, or Gladys'), catch an update on the radio, and - oh, stuff it. Even I don't want to hear about that.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3KWE57ytmB
Secondly, I wouldn't always be so bloody miserable. Protagonists in books are hardly ever miserable, and I hope that someday I could amount to something more than the minor character 'annoyed guy across the street', no?566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR5kE407OAB
Thirdly, I should have had a happy ending by now.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡukenYZSReP
I mean, seriously, I'm twenty-nine. And as everyone knows, the age of thirty is practically death. I live alone in a small apartment, have a crummy office job, and really not much else. Oh - I'm also in love. But since when has that turned out well in stories? Like, look at that Romeo guy. I think he dies or something.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ywqhRSDB5
So honestly, I don't have much going for me, for my life. All my friends (ha! friends) guilt trip me about how lucky I am, but to be blunt I can't help feel every morning and every night that I'm on the short end of the straw. You know, the short side of the bendy straw that gets chewed on and spat out.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLlt9Ui8cwt
My mum unfortunately knows this too. She moved into the apartment next to mine to 'keep an eye' on me, to 'lend a hand if you need'. Now in the evenings I'm serenaded by the sweet sounds of her explosive diarrhoea. I'll be filing a thin wall complaint when I get the chance.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzfadhCzAHE
Day in, day out, this is my life.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiJ2d74pMqd
So when is my story going to start?
This is the part where the boy escapes on a Unicorn.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2H2oWbvHwX
My favorite haunt is a tidy little coffee shop on the corner between work and home called Gladys'. The food is good, the coffee is great, and the service is stunning, thanks to a magnificent woman by the name of Ellie. I've memorized her time schedule and make sure to check in when she's around, which is why I'm an hour late to work every Monday and Thursday. Gorgeous brown eyes, little chocolate beads they are, and hair like a preened horse mane, which I assure you is a compliment of the highest degree. Her voice is just heavenly, although I do admit I've only ever heard her say 'The usual? Coming right up!'. She wears a lovely china bracelet too, little swirls of blue on white that she fiddles with constantly. I find it rather endearing.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIS4s1ikgkS
It was a fine Saturday - of course it had to be a Saturday that was ruined. You see, I always like to watch Ellie make my coffee - I assume it's because I become slightly mentally unhinged when I am around her. This time, however, I could not enjoy my morning drink due to a particularly disturbing young man.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf1EeoXCGYU
Now, he was clearly a criminal of some sort, despite looking no older than nineteen. Heavy leather jacket, metal studded jeans, and a swagger that exuded sheer unjustified arrogance. I noticed him approaching the counter just as I was taking the first sip of my extra hot coffee.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNdnx19nrsp
'A piece of toast thanks.' He orders.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcJfr2534u0
'...just toast?' God her voice sounds so soft I could sleep in it.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2hhVGMANC8
'Yes. Just. Toast.' His, on the other hand, was so rough I could feel his vocal chords being sanded down as he spoke.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE1MHIWMJu7
I watch Ellie as she slips the slice of bread into the toaster, the way her curved finger pushes down the lever. The way she drums her fingers nervously as she waits. Why nervously?566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4OMtIhAQlU
ping!566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxiluT6PYua
'Here you are.' She doesn't look him in the eye as she hands over a plate with a single slice of toast. 'Your toast.'566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ92gtMxO1Mx
He doesn't touch it. 'No, Ellie, I've been thinking about those things you said to me - about how I'm too young, how I'm too, what, immature and irresponsible - and I've decided that no, you're toast.'566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGxLYWVnr0j
A question mark hangs in the air. 'Jonas, what do you mean?' She knows this ugly specimens?566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg2wmskW4T2
'Look.' He picks up the toast, and in one gloved hand, crumbles it into dust that falls meekly onto the counter. 'That's what I'm going to do to you for breaking my heart.' He storms out of Gladys', and, angered by the look of upset on Ellie's pretty face, I make quick pursuit with my coffee in hand.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡStEOmp6rYF
'Hey! Hey, you!' He stops and turns around at the sound of my call.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLdzHn8uxdE
'What do you want?' He snarls.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMtGtuQAhGA
'I want you to keep your dirty fingers off that girl!' I snap at him in a feeble attempt at intimidation.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYkJKm4rNSN
'No no no. That's not how it works. A girl turns down the Jonas Jones on a date, they pay the price.' An infuriating sneer, one clearly tempting me to make a move - and that is an offer I'm not going to turn down. I put my extra hot coffee to better use and throw the entire thing into his face, spoon and all.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjY3vwjxxuO
'AIEEEE! You're crazy, man!' His shocked eyes stare at me in disbelief, the attack having startled him enough to turn and flee. I watch as he rounds the corner and clambers onto his motorcycle - a painfully pink hunk of metal with the word Unicorn plastered on the side in blue and white.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxTXAl2hUvM
Smooth.
This is the part where I try Robin Hood on my mother, an adventurous position to put myself in which involves feeling around the front of her dress.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVN6xinjqfJ
My obsession with dear Ellie grows, as does my need to see her happy, after the strange encounter with Jonas Jones. I brainstorm gift ideas - she seems awfully fond of the unconventional china bracelet.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw2jMLmH1WL
My own mother happens to be quite the china connoisseur - her collection of bits and bobs all on display in an IKEA cabinet in her apartment.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr0x9ZguGct
Now, my average job of tedium was never going to pay for such dainty things, nor, I suppose, will Ellie's, so I felt no moral wrongness in the notion of pulling a Robin Hood on my mum and donating some china pieces to someone who no doubt needs them more. Ahem.
The heist begins with inviting my mum one meter down the corridor to have a 'life chat' with me, a strange ritual which she usually enforces on me once a month. Five laxative pills dissolved into the hot chocolate I've made so lovingly for her.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq0h1jwErwQ
I bear through the grueling first few minutes of the talk in which she tells me to 'assess where I want to be in three years' but, much to my pleasure, the rant is prematurely interrupted by a rather rude anatomical sound which I won't indulge with a description.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ioD0a2CW8
'Dear me!' She hobbles toward my bathroom, but I stop her -566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDIuagBAeSe
'The flush doesn't work.' I smile.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkAQlxp5GNw
'Oh, dear, dear, dear!' She's hunched over, and she can't reach into the front pocket of her dress - in which lie her room keys.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡENAkMQ7Xyg
'Would you like me to unlock your apartment for you?'566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAT2jTmtBRa
'Please!'566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhC0v4Ugcg7
What happened next was unpleasant but necessary. Suffice to say, I retrieved the keys from their storage place, remarkably near my birth place.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbG4oAjAOfi
The moment the door to her room was open, she hurried into the bathroom and locked the door - without thinking to show me out first.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFq5kcdb0nK
I collect in a bag the nicest of her china collection - IKEA cabinets don't have much security. An assortment of cups and plates and animals, carefully picked to match the color scheme of Ellie's bracelet. Lovely.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNZ64hnBzOg
I leave the keys on dear mother's bedside table, and quickly desert the premises. The unfortunate woman's bowel structure combined with the help I had given to her digestive system meant that she should be occupied for a while.
This is the part where I abandon my preconceptions of love, abandon my apartment, and abandon my sanity in general.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvlD5P6lPpp
I decided I would not return to the apartment. Mum would surely kill me, or worse. So instead, it being a Monday morning, I headed down to Gladys' with a bag going chinkle chinkle tied in red ribbon and a notetag with 'For Ellie' in my finest cursive. Which isn't very fine, mind you, but it's the thought that counts.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzGRgkjQIrQ
Gladys' was not the most active of places, and it was not difficult to wait for a moment when no one was looking to place the bag on the counter.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOpVRkm490a
I sit, and wait, and watch. Could it be that this might win her heart?566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRv9u8W7xBc
She sees the bag, looks around confusedly, and opens it there on the counter. She gasps, looks around confusedly again, and closes the bag before placing it on the shelf beside her.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWkcQyg0mx0
I walk up to the counter.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡusL4R9gyg5
'The usual?' Angelic.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡflyv8Dz4YT
'Not quite.' I say. In fact, I decide to abandon all of the usual. I wouldn't be showing up to work today, I wouldn't be doing anything of the sort I usually do.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2NtDwMW1n7
Forget everything. This is the part where I say, I love you.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXB9z0OYIJ9
I open my mouth, draw in a deep breath, and am promptly knocked unconscious by a delicate china coffee cup disagreeing with my temple. I'm not sure which one shattered first.
This is the part where I emerge victorious from a deathly battle against cute fluffy creatures.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoyCzb6ZxZa
'owwwww...' I rise from the floor with a grunt. Above me stands Jonas Jones, and his band of delinquents. I note the bag of china in his hands - the bloody nerve of him.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuoG0EklF1e
'If the JONAS JONES isn't good enough for someone, no one is!' He booms.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpGI3U1sxQU
'Leave her out of this!' I protest, noticing Ellie cowering in the corner of the cafe, the few other people inside watching the course of events with an excited but strangely detached interest. 'Let's take this outside.'566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa06KJKsmfT
'Let's go, big boy.' He cracks his knuckles.
RABBIT. UNICORN. PUG. They stand by their named motorcycles, Jonas in the center. 'Rabbit' was a tall and scrawny pimply fellow, whereas 'Pug' was a much more rotund beast, but just as unattractive as the former. To be honest, I couldn't catch the resemblance between Jonas and a unicorn, though.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx1ElKIHFJK
'You boys are going to leave Ellie alone. And her gifts.' Upon feeling a twinge of pain, I quickly added 'And me.'566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyXqqAgNUfu
'Make us.' Rabbit pulls out a knife from his pocket.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNysFBxEcEs
'Now now, let's play fair - ' but my protest is cut off halfway through by a scream that made the windows of the cafe shake dangerously, threatening to shatter.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIyV4GQ3vaW
'WHEEERE IIIIIIS MYYYY CHIIIIIIIIIINAAAAAAAAAAA?!?!?!'566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡup9T2vBoES
I run into the shop, but the gang is stunned still - and I watch as my mother appears over the horizon, face inflamed red like a microwaving tomato ready to burst.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKINQbUHEqy
She looks at the bag in Jonas' hands.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC41vUQO8D5
Jonas looks down at the bag in his hands.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡISfWKYsKBc
Pug grabs the bag and hides it behind his back.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡErCVBNdkAN
Mother morphs into her final form and unleashes her rage.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR9fbyXFlV2
'AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!' I can't tell among the carnage who the sound is coming from, but I don't care - I turn around to face Ellie, and I grab her hands.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡch2njzqqtv
'Ellie.' I say, eyes staring into hers.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWRgwxzc89Y
'Yes?'566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAHjjBwf92w
This is the part.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLqYFmMXwmS
'I...'566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡudpmVejFG3
'Yes?'566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaxMwJJmH3m
'Ellie, I luh. I lughhhh. I, I, I lughhhhhhhh - '566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY4Hj0he4uX
'Oh, shut up.' She lunges forwards and places her lips on mine, and the people in the cafe cheer, drowning out the noise of the scene outside.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0NYIh2WpCB
And so it is, that my story ends here for you, and just begins for me, with an unexpected kiss and a declaration of love.566Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaN4erDnUPk
I even think that mother might approve.
This, my friend, is the part where you stop reading.
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