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✦ Shelly x Fem!Reader — “Just Friends, Right?”

Dandy’s World | WLW | Secret Relationship | Mutual Pining | Angst | Hurt/Comfort

Shelly had a habit of making you feel like the most important person in the world.

When it was just the two of you, anyway.

In private, Shelly was practically attached to your hip. She’d hold your hand beneath the blankets, rest her head on your shoulder while rambling about dinosaurs, and press little kisses to your cheek whenever she thought you looked particularly pretty. She called you baby, sweetheart, pretty girl, and, on the rare occasions when she was feeling especially sentimental, her love of my life.

She remembered your favorite snacks, noticed when you were having a bad day before you even said a word, and always made room for you beside her. Sometimes, she’d look at you with such genuine affection that you’d wonder how someone could possibly love you so openly.

And then you’d step outside your room.

Suddenly, Shelly was just your friend.

If one of the other Toons caught her holding your hand, she’d let go almost immediately, laughing awkwardly as she explained that you were just close. If someone asked whether you two were dating, she’d practically trip over herself trying to deny it.

“Oh, me and Y/N? We’re just friends!”

Just friends.

The words always stung a little more than you wanted to admit.

Because how could someone kiss you goodnight, whisper that they couldn’t imagine their life without you, and call you their soulmate when nobody else was around, only to act like you were nothing more than a particularly good friend the next morning?

You’d tried asking her about it before. Shelly always had an explanation ready. She wasn’t ready for everyone to know. She didn’t want the others teasing her. She wanted to keep something special between the two of you.

And you understood. Really, you did.

You’d never wanted to force her into anything she wasn’t comfortable with. You loved her too much for that.

But sometimes, you wondered if she was embarrassed of you.

The worst part was that Shelly never seemed to realize how much it hurt.

She’d still come running to you after a long day, wrapping her arms around your waist and burying her face in your neck.

“Baby, I missed you so much,” she’d mumble, peppering your face with kisses. “You’re literally the loml. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

And you’d smile, because you loved her.

You’d smile even when, just a few hours earlier, you’d watched her laugh with the other Toons and casually refer to you as her friend.

You’d smile because you were afraid that if you stopped being so understanding, she’d stop choosing you altogether.

But love was a funny thing, wasn’t it?

Shelly could spend an entire night holding you like you were her whole world, yet hesitate to stand beside you when that world was watching.

And you were beginning to wonder how long you could keep being someone’s everything in private while being nothing special in public.

Especially when, deep down, all you wanted was for Shelly to look at you in a crowded room, take your hand without hesitation, and say—

“That’s my girlfriend.”

And mean it.

Because you weren’t asking her to shout her love from the rooftops.

You just wanted her to stop pretending it wasn’t there.

And Shelly? Well, she still had a lot to learn about the difference between keeping a relationship private and making the person you love feel like a secret.

And unfortunately for both of you, that lesson was about to come sooner than either of you expected. ♡