Lost Loving Souls (Connor x Reader)

Chapter 168

"No, I want to learn more about you. It's up to you, but if we're going to be friends, I would love to actually get to know you, (Y/n). Everything about me is very out in the open. Nobody has to wonder things about me. I never have to share anything because it's already been shared. So, I guess that makes me a good listener because I love hearing what other people have to say. It's about me so often that this really isn't anything new to me. After this...I need a break from myself. Do you get what I mean?" She asked. You nodded.

"Yeah, I understand. I guess I never thought of it that way. I mean, a lot of people know about me now and I've heard the whispers when I'm out in public, but most of my life is still..."

"In the dark?" 

"Yeah." 

"I wish I had that luxury." She chuckled, a far off look in her eyes. You smiled sympethetically at her.

"Hey, keeping things under lock and key isn't always what it's cracked up to be. Trust me, I know that one first hand. Sometimes...it can really start to haunt you."

"It's hard for me because it feels like I can't ever escape the eyes of the world around me. The one thing I can hide is emotion, at least, for a little while."

"Always smiling for the camera." You added. 

"Heh, it's kind of strange to think about. We both have our extremes but all we want is..."

"Something in-between." You both said together. Yo smiled at each other. You both were so different, yet you could understand each other perfectly. You took her hand.

"I think we're going to be great friends." She smiled back.

"Me too."

Connor's POV

I left soon after (Y/n) did. I took the car and drove to the place where Marin and Jaylin had told me to meet them. He was going to be working with his team consisting of his closest friends. I knew a few people in the group such as Jaylin and Alain, but there was a bunch I had never met. Off the top of my head, I recalled the names mentioned: Natasha, Ray, Julien, Luna, and Alex. I also heard him mention a friend of Adriana's. Wasn't his name...Cleon? Yeah, that sounds right. Marin hadn't seemed too fond of Cleon, but I remembered Adriana saying something about knowing Cleon since she was a little girl.

I soon arrived at the bakery Marin worked for part-time. Apparently, the people there had also helped him on his path during his deviancy and they'd become somewhat of parental figures to him. I hadn't met these people either, but it looked like a very sweet place, in multiple ways of course.

I walked inside and the little bell wrung as the door opened. I saw a shorter woman pop up from behind the counter. She gave me a welcoming smile.

"Hello, dear! Marin has told me all about you! It is a pleasure to meet you, Connor." She said, coming over. I studied her outfit. She was wearing a white shirt with a few iron patch flowers on the left side. She had on a deep green apron that was dusted white with flour. I also saw some different faded color stains, mostly likely from either food dye or frosting.

"Hello, Miss Dupen-Chang. I'm sorry to say that I'm less acquainted with you than you are with me." I replied.

"Oh, don't worry about it, dear! Everyone is upstairs right now is Marin's old room that we gave him. They're working on the design of the cake. Natasha is very talented with drawing and with Marin's ideas, I'm excited to see how you all make it come to life!" I finally understood why Marin and Jayln had called me here. What I was confused about was why. I wasn't very good at baking or designing.

"Thank you, Ma'ma," I replied. I headed up and I pushed open the trap door entrance to the room. I climbed into the room and I was embarrassed to see all eyes were on me. Many of them looked at me curiously, but Alain was not one of them.

"Connor! Seems like you're the new holder of the late title, my man!" He said, coming up to me and giving me a huge side hug with a big grin on his face. He was 'the cool guy' as (Y/n) had described him. I could understand why that was fitting for him. Marin smiled and came over.

"Hey, Connor. Thanks for coming. We'll need all the help we can get making the cake." He said. I gave him a smile.

"It's my pleasure. I'm glad to help. Also, (Y/n) would tackle me if I didn't." He laughed.

"Probably now that she has the ability to!" He agreed.

"Yo, man, you gonna leave the rest of the gang in the dark?" Alain asked him.

"Oh, right. Sorry." He replied. "Everyone, this is Connor, (Y/n)'s boyfriend. I'm sure all of you have at least heard of him." They all nodded, giving me smiles. Some were shy, other's were happy.

"I'm Ray!" A short blond younger-looking man said. He was actually pretty small. Still, he looked friendly, spry and lively. I shook his hand, giving him a smile in return. He turned to a tall and slender man who had short black hair, but long black side bangs that were died purple on the end. They covered his left eye (or your right if you were looking at him straight on). "This is Julien. He's pretty shy, but he likes modeling Marin's designs with Adriana! Luna is his older sister. She's a guitarist! Alex here wants to be a professional skater! Alain is a journalist. Oh! And Natasha is in pursuit of making comics, animations, and other forms of art like that!"

"You are all very passionate people. It's lovely to meet you all."

"We're passionate? Man, you're a cop! If that ain't passionate, I dunno what is!"

"I think that's more a 'go-getter' job. What Connor means is we're very into our careers. There's a difference, Alain." Marin told him. Alain nodded.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." 

"Anyway, I asked you to come and help because you have a steady hand. We need more people helping decorate, so I figured if I did it first and gave you some 3D versions to scan, you could help with that while the others do most of everything else." I thought about it.

"I can try, but I must suggest I practice on something aside from the cake itself first a few times to make sure. I would hate to ruin anything." Marin chuckled.

"Sure thing, Connor." 

I mainly listened as they talked over the finalized cake designs and I was honestly very impressed with Natasha's artwork. It looked so real! Her art skills reminded me of (Y/n). I hoped she was having a good time with her own tasks and the people working with her on them.

After all of that was finished, we went down and started working with Marin's adoptive parents on the cakes. His father did most of the heavy lifting while his mother helped with the more delicate stuff. 

While we were working, I had accidentally made a huge mess with Marin. He had a smaller flour bag and I hadn't realized he was behind me. One thing led to another and our clothes, aprons, faces, hands, and hair had gotten covered in flour. Marin laughed about it as did all the others, but my face was insanely blue from the embarrassment that I was trying to laugh off. I was glad that the flour did a fairly good job of hiding it. Marin was the only one who noticed my discomfort. He patted my shoulder, giving me a forgiving and understanding smile.

"Hey, I've done it a million times. It's alright, Connor. Besides, it gave us all a good laugh!" He reassured. I relaxed, smiling thankfully at him.

"You're right." I agreed, beginning to chuckle along. "It did." 

"I bet you'll understand at your own wedding, Connor!" I was stunned.

"O-oh, no, no, we're nowhere near that yet," I assured him, waving it off nervously. He chuckled.

"Well, no matter what, I'm sure you'll both be very happy together from now on!" He told me. I smiled, but it wasn't very convincing for I was now lost in thought.

"Yeah..." I agreed absentmindedly. "me too."

(Btw, Cleon is pronounced like clay-own/on. I'm American so...I don't know how to do the little thing over the E on my keyboard...I'm also kinda stupid, so ya know. You're getting this instead.)