January 29th

The day of winter formal rolled along after quite a stressful week (one involving Skye arguing with her dad over the difference between shades of blue), and Skye meant business. Seeing as her date with Levi was specified to not be just as friends, this would go down in history as one of the most stressful nights in Skye's life. It definitely wasn't number one, but it was in the top ten somewhere for sure. Absolutely nothing could go wrong tonight, and if it did anyway, then she wouldn't be all that surprised. Skye had big hopes though, so she was going to keep up with the positive vibes-only mindset for as long as she could.

Skye sat in a chair while her dad combed her curls and attempted to pull them back into a ponytail, her head almost being yanked back harshly on accident. "Ow!"

"Sorry!" Her dad immediately apologized. "I haven't done your hair in forever."

Forever really meant since junior prom last year, but it still felt like a long time ago for Scott. Skye usually handled her hair on her own, but the hairstyle she wanted to achieve tonight simply couldn't be done by herself, and there was nobody better than the world's greatest dad to do the job. He used to do this all the time during Skye's elementary school days as her mother didn't know how to handle her hair at all, so this was a piece of cake for him (only almost though as he was a bit rusty at the moment).

"Do you want your bangs slicked back?" He asked, gently tugging on a curly, short piece of hair that laid on her forehead.

"No." She replied. To be honest, Skye was a bit insecure about her forehead as she thought she possessed a large forehead (or fivehead as the kids would say to others in middle school). She found that her bangs suited her once they grew out properly and weren't an absolute hack job compared to when she cut them randomly with safety scissors in the seventh grade though.

"Now what about this ponytail you want? High, mid, or low?" Scott questioned.

"High."

"You got it." He nodded, getting back to work with Skye's hair.

Hair gods, please let my hair look flawless for the dance tonight. Just this once. Skye thought to herself while her dad pulled her hair back and grabbed a scrunchie (one that matched her dress) to tie it all together. It was so silly to think like that, but Skye wanted tonight to go well so desperately she might end up going feral once it was all over in a case where she worried so much for nothing.

After doing some finishing touches, Scott was done with his daughter's hair, grabbing a handheld mirror and handing it to Skye so she could see the final result. "Alright, what do we think?"

Skye really had to hand it to him, the guy still got it. Maybe secretly praying to the hair gods worked in her favor because her hair really was flawless. Sure, she may have a massive headache by the end of the night due to the tightness of her ponytail, but at least she looked good!

"I love it." She said, standing up to (carefully) hug her dad. "Thank you so much."

"Anything for my pumpkin." Scott hugged back.

Skye let go of her dad and looked at the time, figuring she should get back to getting ready (and do it quickly). "Okay, I gotta go do my makeup, put on my dress and shoes, and I should be good to go."

"If you need me to zip you up, just call for me." He said on his way out.

"You know I will." She jokingly rolled her eyes. Scott was the ultimate "girl dad", so he understood the struggles of girls attempting to zip themselves in a dress. It's definitely not easy fiddling with a zipper on your back by yourself that's for sure.

After her dad walked out and shut the door behind him (knowing it would piss her off if he left a crack open), Skye went back to winter formal preparations, now starting to put on her makeup for the night. She had looked all over Pinterest for potential makeup looks all week long, including making her own Pinterest board for the occasion. Skye knew what vibe she would be going for, so putting together her look would be quite a piece of cake.

Just as she was in the middle of doing her winged eyeliner (which she had put a bunch of focus on), Skye's phone began to ring. She closed and set down her eyeliner pen then grabbed her phone, seeing it was Levi who was calling. If it were a FaceTime call, she would decline so he could avoid seeing her face until later, but it was just a regular phone call so she answered it and put him on speaker.

"Hello?"

"Hey!" Levi stammered, trying to figure where he was going with his words. "Um, you said baby blue, right?"

"Yeah..." Skye furrowed as she looked down at her phone screen. "Why do you ask?"

"Just checking just because." He lied, which Skye could easily see right through.

"Did you just want an excuse to talk to me before the dance?" She questioned.

"You caught me red-handed." Levi chuckled as his cheeks turned red, thankful that she couldn't see his face right now. "Uh, whatcha doing?"

"Well, I was in the middle of doing my eyeliner until you called," Skye said. It's not like she didn't want to talk to him for no reason, Skye was kind of on a bit of a time crunch, and perfection takes time, so she was trying pretty hard to keep the phone call as short as possible, although she couldn't help but want to talk to him still.

"Oh shit! My bad, I'm sorry." He immediately apologized.

"Nah, it's fine." She assured him. "I'd be mad if you made me mess up on the eye I was working on. I'm a good multitasker anyway."

"Oh, well, I'll let you go so you can continue getting ready-"

Levi stopped with his words as George Michael's Careless Whisper began to play in the background, which wasn't his doing whatsoever. Xavier, who was in his bedroom with him pulled the little stunt, which pissed off Levi. Skye just stayed silent in confusion, questioning the sudden music while Levi yelled at Xavier. "Dude, turn that down!"

"Quit being a hater, man!" He immediately protested.

"I don't care, turn that shit down!" Levi yelled, giving him a threatening look.

"Ugh, fine!" Xavier scoffed, turning the music down and rolling his eyes. This was his way of being a "wing-man", but Levi really didn't need that, especially not over the phone. It was definitely embarrassing for him, but luckily Skye didn't think anything too weird of it and found it hilarious. If anything, Levi needed more of an inspirational pep talk.

Getting back to Skye, Levi briefly apologized and gave his version of an explanation of the events just now. "Sorry, Xavier is being an ass."

"I thought I heard his voice." She said.

"Yeah, I better let you go before he starts playing more dumb shit." He sighed, eyeing Xavier once more.

"That might be best." Skye giggled a little, trying not to laugh too hard over the whole thing. She could save the laughter for later, especially when the dance was in full swing and everyone could laugh at whatever jokes or stunts Xavier would end up pulling.

"See ya later, Skye."

"See ya."

Ending the call, Skye got back to her makeup and touched up what wasn't complete thanks to the brief interruption. Seeing the time on her phone, she still had time to spare, but Skye couldn't exactly go about this too leisurely now. Once she was done with her makeup though, the rest of what she had to do to get ready would be smooth sailing.

After finishing her makeup, Skye pulled out what jewelry she would be wearing along with her dress, not forgetting the matching bracelet she and Levi shared despite that it didn't exactly match her dress. Like Levi, she hardly ever took it off, never forgetting to wear it to school ever since Levi's parents so graciously got it for them on the first night of Hanukkah. If they didn't think they couldn't look any more like a couple, their matching bracelets would easily prove otherwise.

As she stripped herself of her normal clothes and slipped on her dress, Skye called out to her dad for help, needing him to zip up her dress like always. "Dad, I need help!"

"Coming!" Her dad yelled out as he was on his way to her room, knocking on the door before being told he could come in.

Tears formed in Scott's eyes as he laid eyes on his daughter, which Skye immediately questioned as this was quite unlike him. "Are you about to cry?"

"No." He lied, blatantly wiping his eyes to prevent them from rolling down his cheeks.

"Ugh, fuck toxic masculinity." She scoffed, then immediately realized he just cursed in front of her dad. "I mean, screw-"

"You're eighteen, I'll let it slide," Scott said, which let Skye let out a sigh of relief.

"Can you zip me up now?" Skye asked. She couldn't really do anything else until it was zipped up, so Scott got to work and helped out his daughter.

"You know the drill." He replied as Skye turned around for him. Scott then zipped up the dress (which was a little bit of a struggle considering how tiny the zipper is compared to his hands), letting her know she was good to go. "All done."

"Thanks."

"Are you ready for your first real date?" Scott questioned while Skye went to grab her shoes.

As her dad said that, Skye stopped in her tracks as a wave of anxiousness hit her more than previously leading up to the hours of the dance. "Well, when you put it like that it makes me more nervous than I already am."

"Awe, no, baby, no!" He exclaimed, feeling guilty for making her feel like that and walking over to Skye for a hug to attempt to comfort her.

"Watch the hair and makeup please." She said, standing on her tippy toes and lifting her head to avoid her makeup being ruined.

"Right, right." Scott let go, taking a step back and gently squeezing Skye's arm. "Listen, pumpkin, just treat it like any other time you're with Levi. The whole date label doesn't make it that much different. He likes you already, so just be you."

It may sound like he was just saying those things to make Skye feel better for her sake, but it was all true. Levi liked her for her already, so it wasn't like she had to try to make a major impression. Skye had made her mark in Levi's life a long time ago, so tonight was just another contribution to that, even if they both shared the same nerves without even realizing it.

But hearing those words actually put Skye at ease for the most part. Not completely, but it did somewhat help. "Now that is inspirational."

"I'm not exactly good at this whole pep talk thing, aren't I?" He chuckled. If anything, Scott knocked it out of the park even if he was just winging it.

"I appreciate the effort." She softly grinned.

"Well, don't get pregnant and have fun," Scott said, making a swift exit as he didn't want to overdo it and end up ruining the pep talk. "I'll be downstairs."

Skye let out a laugh as he left the room, quickly getting to finalizing her look, having yet to slip out her heels and grab her purse. There was no way she could leave the house without having enough things in her purse, almost like Mary Poppins, but with a small clutch instead of a massive duffel bag like the famous Disney character.

After finally being done and having a moment to sit down, Skye's dad called for her from downstairs, informing her that Levi had finally arrived at the Simmons residence. "Skye, your date is here!"

"Coming!" She yelled back, then immediately went into crisis mode as she prepared to go downstairs. "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit-"

"I'm here, I'm here, I'm-" Skye said as she carefully went down each step (trying not to fall in her heels), coming to a halt when she laid eyes on Levi and locked eyes with him. "Hey..."

"Wow, I didn't know I was taking Cinderella to the ball tonight." He blushed, making a bit of a joke with the color of her dress. Levi stood as attractive as ever in his black suit and matching baby blue tie, holding a corsage in his hand, just like the last time. It was safe to say he never failed to disappoint.

"May I?" Levi questioned, referring to the corsage as he held it out to her.

"You may." She replied, going down the final step and holding her wrist out so Levi could put on the corsage for her. After putting it on, Skye sure remembered how itchy the ribbon around her wrist was like last time, but it looked too good to take it off. Plus, Levi put in the effort to match it match with his boutonnière.

Again like last time, Scott asked to take a picture of the two, except this time he didn't go through any struggle to find his camera compared to homecoming. "Got time for a picture?"

"We got time," Levi said after looking down at his watch, a watch he begged his dad to borrow so he could impress Skye more than usual. The poor guy really took tonight seriously, and it clearly showed despite them not even leaving the house yet.

"For the love of God, don't post them on Facebook," Skye begged as any teenager would. Let's be real, parents really have to stop with that kind of thing.

"My mom already posted a picture of me before I left." Levi frowned, not even daring to mention the caption (which read "my baby boy before meeting his date for winter formal").

"Poor you." She snickered.

"Alright, get in a pose, you two," Scott said, knowing Skye would want to hurry this up.

The two got ready to pose for him, taking a moment to figure out what to do before Scott held up the camera and prepared to take the picture. "Say "Skyevi"!"

"Skyevi?" They questioned at the same time, both furrowing their eyebrows in confusion.

"Xavier told me all about it." He explained, which made sense. "It's your ship name or something like that. Now smile!"

Ignoring that whole thing, Scott took his photos of Skye and Levi, letting them do different poses even if they were awkward or just plain silly. But as Scott's camera was running out of space, he had no choice but to take one last photo and give it a rest. "Okay, okay, I'm done. I won't keep you here too long."

Skye hugged her dad before heading out with Levi, giving him a little squeeze and saying her goodbyes. "Bye, dad."

"Bye, pumpkin." He said quietly, letting Skye go, almost feeling as if he were at a wedding and giving her away like the father of the bride would do.

Skye intertwines her arm with Levi as they walked out, Levi not forgetting to wave goodbye to Scott as they exited the house and walked to his car. He stood by the doorway and watched them leave, yelling out one last embarrassing thing for good measure. "Don't get her pregnant!"

"Just ignore him," Skye said, immediately blushing with embarrassment from that. She couldn't believe he even said that in front of Levi, but it wasn't all too surprising at this point.

"I think he means well." Levi chuckled, smiling at the way Skye grew flustered.

"Pft, yeah."

And then they were off to the dance. Scott kept an eye out as they drove away, a proud smile on his face that wouldn't wipe away for days. If Skye really meant what she said when she told him that Levi wouldn't be leaving her anytime soon, then Scott wouldn't mind him sticking around without a doubt.

•••

MARIA TALKS!

we're back! thank you all for your patience. I have finally managed to finish the final chapter and start the epilogue, so i'm coming back. i will be more cautious with how often i update, and if this story is still ongoing once i visit family in august for two weeks, then i won't be updating during that time. again, thank you for those who were patient. the time off (even if it was longer than planned) has actually been helpful and way less stressful, so thank you.

anyway, a lot has happened since i last updated. for starters, i received my second covid vaccine. and then i went on a date over a week ago (almost two weeks ago actually), but there will not be a second one. that's okay though. it's genuinely for the best. we're just friends now lol. men are confusing. back to angst i guess LMAOOOOOOO

but actually no fr i've turned a negative into a positive and came up with an amazing story idea that may most likely become my next project after this story! i don't have a title yet, but it does include an actual love triangle, so ya know ☕️

anyway, i love this chapter sm. if i could name this chapter i'd name it slipping through my fingers cause of the mamma mia it gives off. this is again one of my favorite story arcs. can you tell i have a lot of favorites? and notice how my favorite arcs are angsty? exactly.

stay tuned (and don't forget to vote) 👀