chapter 4, act one

' better now  '

tw//
mention of online hate, harassment, implied episode of depression.

THE girl stared at the wall, music echoed in her bedroom from her phone.

The blanket covered her whole frame, and she couldn't find it in herself to get out of bed.

It had been a couple of rough days, she had started to get more and more hate the moment she started to talk with Wilbur, but after almost all his friends replied to one of her tweets where she asked to say some songs that she should do a cover of, the hate seemed just to increase.

She knew she shouldn't let their words get to her, but too many messages were words that were once said by people she cared about, people who ruined her and her life, people who were once her happiness and turned to be just like everyone else.

Someone knocked at her door, but she simply ignored it, not bothering to say anything. Just as she looked in front of her, she saw her brother kneeling down in front of her bed so they would be the same height.

"Hey." He whispered, brushing a strand of hair off of her eyes with their hand. Arianna only gave him a small smile, not having the strength to completely ignore him, not when they were the only one who was always next to her.

"Come ti senti?" They kept whispering, making sure to keep their voice low and calm as he knew it helped her relax. She just shook her head, closing her eyes when they sighed. 
{ how do you feel }

"Vuoi qualcosa da mangiare? O almeno un bicchiere d'acqua?" She only stared at them, hating herself even more as she saw the worried look on his face. "Hey, Ari, tutto bene? Rimani con me ok? Non incantarti a guardare il muro." 
{ do you want something to eat? Or at least a glass of water? Hey Ari, all good? Stay with me ok? Don't zone out while watching the wall. } 

"Mi dispiace." Arianna whispered, her voice hoarse after not being used for two days.
{ im sorry }

Her brother's eyes softened and his hand searched for hers before he squeezed it. "Non ti devi scusare di niente, non hai fatto nulla di sbagliato va bene?" He reassured, smiling at her.
{ you don't have to apologise for anything, you didn't do anything wrong alright? }

Arianna squeezed their hand, hoping it would be enough, and with a sigh, Ettore stared into her eyes with emotions she couldn't read, "Io sono nella mia stanza se vuoi qualcosa ok? Starò qui almeno fino a domani pomeriggio che devo fare un lavoro di scuola e a casa mi distraggo troppo. Ho dato da mangiare io a Leo e ho fatto tutto quindi tu non ti preoccupare." { I will be in my room if you need anything ok? I'll be here at least until tomorrow evening since I have to do a project for school and at home I get distracted. I already fed Leo and I did everything, so don't worry. }

They kissed her forehead before standing up. "Riposati un po' e se riesci poi, prova a rispondere al tuo amico Wilbur, mi sembrava preoccupato da come mi ha intasato il telefono di messaggi"
{ rest for a bit, and if you can answer your friend's wilbur, he seemed worried from the way he blew up my phone with texts. }

And with that, Ettore got out of the room. Leaving Arianna with only her music once again.

☼︎☼︎☼︎☼︎

AT the start, Wilbur wasn't that worried when Arianna ignored him, he had seen the hate increase under her tweet and told the fan off himself, but he knew she would maybe need some hours to get back and feel like texting someone.

And so he waited, and waited, and waited. He waited almost three days, in which both him and her new friend kept texting her, hoping to get a notice from her so that they would know she was at least there.

Three seconds, that's how long it took for Wilbur to answer the unexpected call Arianna gave him, at four am.

He sighed in relief as he heard the girl mumble a soft 'hi' along with some sniffles, but decided to not mention them.

He smiled, passing a hand through his curly brown hair. "Hi, how are you feeling?" he asked. He heard her place something down and she let out a small sigh before answering. "Better now. How are you?" She asked, her voice still hoarse and barely audible. 

"Better now that you answered and I know you're ok. Now that we're talking." 

His answer was almost immediate, he didn't think too much of his words until he had already said them and instant regret overtook him. He meant every word, but what if he made her uncomfortable? What if he made her feel guilty for not answering sooner? 

Too many what if seemed stuck on his, that were silenced by Arianna's voice.

"I'm better too now that I'm talking to you." She mumbled. Wilbur swore he could feel his heart melt at her voice and words. "I've... missed talking to you." She admitted, and an involuntary smile grew on his face, his cheeks becoming slightly pink.

"We can facetime if you want." Wilbur proposed, lying down on his bed while he waited for her answer.

She hummed in approval, and Wilbur quickly switched to facetime, making sure he was visible. When Arianna however turned on her camera, Wilbur couldn't stop smiling.

She had her face squished in her pillow, but she was holding up the phone at a not so far away angle from her face.

"Hi."

"Hi." 

Both wishepred before giggling, realizing they talked in sync. "What do you want to talk about?" Wilbur asked her after a few minutes of silence. She only shrugged and looked at him "Tell me about your day." She asked, a yawn escaping her lips.

"I had a fairly normal day. I had breakfast, then I worked on a new project that I have in mind-"

"What's the project? Can I know?" Arianna immediately asked and Wilbur couldn't find the strength to tell her no and he just nodded, smiling widely as she grinned at him.

"You know Lovejoy? My band?" He asked, sitting down on his bed. Arianna nodded, frowning slightly. 

"Well, we want to drop another EP." He explained, laughing as the girl gasped slightly, staring at Wilbur with wide eyes.

"Don't get too excited! We want to drop it around October, and we still have to finish and record some of the songs." He warned, still smiling at her.

"Can I get a sneak peak or somebody will arrest us?" She asked, voice still low but still trying to crack some jokes, just wanting to see the worry in Wilbur's eyes as he looked at her.

He chuckled but got up, sitting on his desk after he took his guitar and placing the phone on the desk, behind it there was one of his monitors so the phone wouldn't fall down.

"You ready?" He asked, Arianna mumbled a small yes and she closed her eyes, enjoying Wilbur's voice as he sang one of their new songs.

And just like that, one song turned to two, and two turned to three, and it went on all day long.

Just her, him and his songs. 

Arianna wasn't sure quite yet how he seemed to be able to make her smile even by simply hearing him sing, but she wasn't about to start complaining. 

Wilbur also wanted to start complaining, his smile only seemed to grow as he, once in a while, looked up from the guitar and towards Arianna, locking eyes with her for about three or four seconds before they returned to the strings of the guitar.

☼︎☼︎☼︎☼︎

TWITTER!

↳
@user1 || user1 
WELCOME BACK MY LOVE 

↳ 
@user2 || user2
bestie youre living the life

↳
@wilbursoot || wilbur soot
youre welcome

↳
@har.mony || arianna

↳ @user3 || user3
AWWW

↳
@TommyInnit || TommyInnit 
@wilbursoot how does it feels being such a big simp buddy

↳
@wilbursoot || wilbur soot
shut up

↳
@user4 || user4 
man is whipped !!!

↳ 
@quackity || quackity 
ADD ME ADD ME ADD ME

↳ 
@har.mony || arianna
adding you rn

↳ 
@wilbursoot || wilbur soot
she actually added him.
I am done doing nice things to her i will let her suffer now

↳ 
@quackity || quackity 
don't worry hermana, mr world wide has been there and done that

↳ 
@har.mony || arianna
ty fr🏧 for your kind words

↳ 
@wilbursoot || wilbur soot
STOP IT I JUST WANT TO KNOW WHAT DOES IT MEANS WHAT IS FRATM

↳ 
@user5 || user5
stop being such a pick me and lay off of the boys bitch 

↳ 
@user6 || user6
youre not even 11 don't make me take you to kindergarten 

↳
@user7 || user
WHAT @user6 SAID!!!
gtfo off of twitter kid they aint gonna look at you 

↳ 
@dreamwastaken || dream
why dont you sing for me on ft @georgenotfound 

↳ 
@georgenotfound || george
you dont even have a face what do you want me to do

↳
@har.mony || arianna
dont worry dream i can let you borrow wilbur for a bit so he can sing to you

↳ 
@sapnapalt || sapnap
nah he got me to sing we dont need another british

↳ 
@dreamwastaken || dream
ty arianna i will gladly take wilbur and you can have sapnap and george i don't want them anymore

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@sapnapalt || sapnap
i hope patches pees all over your bed you dumb bitch

↳ 
@user8 || user8
why was that kinda...

↳ 
@user9 || user9
fuck off we dont care

↳ 
@user10 || user10
just like we dont care about what you think so stfu 

↳
@user11 || user11
glad to have you back!!

☼︎☼︎☼︎☼︎

hating this chapter hours 😻😻

hope you liked it,

Yours truly,

-lunaetiic