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The gator was so sick of having to tip-toe around all of the time. Not literally. He was always having to be careful about what he said or did, unless he wanted his perfectly crafted image to be completely tarnished. It was exhausting.
Having to worry and be on guard and always go on the offense whenever someone peeked through the cracks of his fortress to see his hidden secrets. It really took a lot out of a person to keep those walls maintained and crack-free. But, that's when ideas started to appear in that head of his.
What if… those walls are the problem? Like, walls get built for a reason. If there's a wall, there's something it's protecting. Keeping out of sight. If I were to see a wall surrounding something… wouldn't I be curious what was on the other side?
But if there were no walls… would I care? Probably not. If everything was out in the open, it wouldn't exactly be a big deal.
That was the moment he decided to break that fragile wall of his and talk to his biggest offender and most tolerable band mate. Roxy.
He had talked with Chica about what happened on that day, before he broke. She was uber apologetic, saying she never meant to make him feel actually upset.
He believed her. She was very much known for being an airhead and completely oblivious to the consequences of her actions. It was just the type of person she was, talking before thinking. Much like the rest of the band. Except for Freddy.
Speaking of, he never did speak to the bear about it. He hadn't done much wrong and was the least invasive of the Glamrocks. Plus Monty couldn't care less what he thought, so he just ignored him to the same amount as usual.
Roxy, on the other hand… things had been… semi tense between them. They acted like normal, as if nothing was wrong and no harm was done. But Monty was still hurt and Roxy knew she fucked up after hearing about his injury. But they had side-stepped the issue and just joked around like usual.
But Monty was sick of it. The tension was killing him! The underlying feeling of assumed bitterness was practically torture.
So, working himself up for hours, he had finally managed to gather up the courage to go and find her for a chat. She was in her own attraction, polishing a kart with an intense look. Like it was the most important job ever to her. The paint job on that one was different from the others, with green flames decorating it.
Monty never got the big deal with flame patterns.
"Yo! Rox!" He called out to the wolf, snapping her out of her concentration and making her look over to him.
"Uh- hey. What's up, Monty? Here to gawk at my ride?"
"Nope."
She looked surprised by his bluntness, finding herself fumbling with her words before continuing.
"W-well then why are you here? Don't tell me you wanna race me! You'd pound sand faster tha-"
"Cut the gloating."
Again, she was left dumbfounded by how straight forward he was being. In her head, she concluded that he was definitely about to snap and jump on her. She kinda deserved it, not gonna lie.
"I'm not here to do this bullshit song and dance we keep going. I'm tired of it! Do you know how hard it is to be all snarky without actually saying something too harsh? When I'm angry, my sass becomes full-on insults! I don't wanna deal with it!"
"Wh-what are you… the hell do you mean by that??? You saying you're angry? Well woopidoo! What else is new?"
"Drop the attitude, girl! You know that I know you're feelin' like shit about it. I can see it on ya!"
Roxy just stared at him, clearly struggling to keep up with the conversation as it was progressing way too fast.
"Listen. I didn't come to chew you out, as much as I'd like to. I know that's not going to help. Plus, I think getting real on you will make you even more uncomfortable, so that's a win in my book."
"The hell is up with you? If you're angry, then why aren't you yelling or something? You always do that when you're raging."
"Because I'm not angry. I'm just… look! I just want to talk! I want to get an actual apology from you. Some sort of confirmation that you're sorry for what you did without a shouting match. I just… want us to be open for once. No signaling or interpreting. Just straight forward openness."
Roxy looked surprised at that. At such calm and collected reasoning. No emotional outbursts or passive aggressive comments. She really wasn't used to it out of Monty of all animatronics.
She stared at him with a blank expression, as if she had broken right on the spot. But that was proven wrong when she shook herself back to reality and looked around the area, like she was scanning.
"What'chu lookin' for? Think I'm being put up to it or somethin'?!" He asked with an annoyed tone, brows furrowing as he watched her check behind herself. Then the wolf quickly grabbed Monty and pulled him over towards the kart storage, closing the shutters behind them.
"What the fuck-?!?"
"Alright. Fine. You wanna be open? Then let's be open about this."
Monty stared at her, baffled by that out of nowhere reaction of hers. What's with the secrecy?
"By closing us in??? "
She sighed and turned back towards him, looking like she was about to implode on herself from… something. Monty couldn't tell if she was mad, guilty, on the verge of tears or about to confess to him.
The last part made him want to bash his head into the wall from cringe.
She put a hand on his shoulder, glaring at him like she was going to cut every cord and wire in his body.
"Tell anyone about this… I'll end you with your own claws."
"Tell anyone? About what???"
She took a moment, presumably to prepare herself before speaking again.
"I… I think I might have caught feelings for Chica."
…
…
…
"... You what?!?!? " Monty whisper yelled, looking like he was just told Jesus was an animatronic beaver and real. The other Glamrock groaned and covered her face, turning away from him.
"I-I-I just… I don't know! She's cute and peppy and really nice! But she got attitude and she's an idiot! It's the perfect combination of things!"
"H-ho-ho-hol' up! You sayin' ye have a crush on chica??? When did that happen?!"
"Doesn't matter! Geez!"
"Why are you telling me about it?!?"
"... … … Because you wanted to be open. I know about something you were trying to keep private… and I told everyone else about it. It's… only fair you got to know something embarrassing about me."
"... Really? You… you trust me to not spread that around like the plague? Seriously?"
"Well… maybe. I don't know. I just want to make it even in some way… plus it feels better to get this off of my chest…"
"... … … Wait a second… Oh my god! I get it!"
"Huh?"
"YOU WERE JOKING AROUND ABOUT ME AND SUN SO MUCH BECAUSE YOU WERE PROJECTING! OH MY GOD! HAHAHAHA!"
"HEY!!! I'M TRYING TO BE OPEN AND HONEST WITH YOU LIKE YOU WANTED!!! AND NOW YOU'RE LAUGHING IN MY FACE?!"
"Hahahahaha! Ha ha ha ha! Sorry! Sorry, Rox! It's just… I thought you were being a jerk! But you were just insecure!"
"... What weren't you then?"
"Oh Sun is going to LOVE this!"
"WHA- SERIOUSLY?!"
"Calm down, pup. I ain't going to spill yer secrets to Chica or Freddy. They won't know a thing. Buuut… be expecting a giddy Sun, or DJ trying to give you advice. It's only fair that if you get to spread it to those two, I can tell my friends."
"You're… serious? You're not going to tell Chica immediately?"
"Fuck no! The hell do you think I am? Some sort of asshole? What type of person tattles about a crush to the crush?
I won't be letting anyone know who can't keep a secret. Or who would be a jerk about it. That's a promise."
"So… Moon?"
"Yep! Gonna have to worm my way around that one, but I can't wait to see Sun's face!"
Roxy huffed quietly in embarrassment as she looked away, arms crossed over her chest in a grumpy sort of way. But she quickly looked back over at him and let out a sigh.
"I'm… sorry I ratted you out like that. I didn't realize it was that serious to you to have it private. I thought you'd just take it like any other joke we've made."
"I know, Rox. But… It was confusing for me since I had to basically come to terms with the fact that I'm not as big, tough, cool and independent as I made myself out to be-"
"Monty. You know that being friends with Sun doesn't make you less of any of those things, right? You can be his friend and still be tough! I mean, didn't you just recently chew out someone for calling him a 'Creepy circus clown'?"
"They deserved it. He's not creepy at all. I really can't see anything creepy about that sunshine."
"... … … Sunshine?"
Monty stopped in his tracks, feeling that familiar heat rise in his body again as he just realized how often he's been using that new nickname without thinking twice about it. He had just started one day and Sun seemed totally happy with it, so he continued.
Was he being… that blunt about his growing feelings for Sun? What else had he done without realizing it?
"... So… Can you return that favor of me not telling anyone?"
"What are you- w… wait… "
"Ok! Listen! I'm not entirely sure yet how I really feel! It's very confusing and it's still so new. He's the first person I found who I could be so unashamedly genuine with and close to. I'm wondering if I'm just assuming it's a crush or if it's really that!"
Roxy stared at him with her jaw hanging open, stunned into complete silence. Monty growled quietly as it was now his turn to avoid eye contact.
After a few moments of silence, the wolf collected her jaw and put herself together from the shock.
"I just… never saw him as your type. I always pictured some cheerleader stereotype or a rocker. But… I can definitely see why you'd fall hard for him."
"H-Hey! Don't go puttin' words in my mouth! I never said anythin' 'bout fallin' hard!"
"Monty… sweetheart. I can see how you gravitate towards each other. You're so comfortable touching each other and hugging and what not. You practically light up every time! You fell big time ."
Monty stood silent, either considering it or trying to come up with a good excuse for why she was wrong. But, either way, he came out with nothing. So he just sighed in defeat and hung his head low.
"Yeah… yer right. I fell hard. "
Roxy walked closer to him and put a hand on his shoulder, having this serious look in her eyes before speaking.
"... So we both agree to never give each other relationship advice?"
"Oh for sure! I don't think you get to tell me how to handle my crush!"
"Ditto, dude. Then it's settled. Only ever bring this shit up to vent."
"It's a deal, mutt!"
The two tied their hands into fists before giving each other a fist bump of solidarity. They chuckled before Monty headed off back to his green room, waving at her as she went back to her previous task.
He soon made it back and laid down on his couch, staring quietly up at the ceiling as he just contemplated what he just experienced.
"... Wow. Can't believe how easy that was. Why did I never open up earlier? It feels so much better."
He really felt like he didn't need to hide everything if he just found someone to confide in. At first it was Sun. But he couldn't keep telling Sun all his problems and worries. Telling someone else who could relate and empathize really made everything a whole lot more bearable.
And… It made him realize just how much he really liked Sun.
I really did fall hard, huh?