CHAPTER 63: CHAPTER 62: "I THINK I SAW HEAVEN, IT’S PINK."

"Roller coaster!" Levi suddenly announced like a five-year-old discovering fireworks for the first time.

Leo’s eyes lit up. "Yes! Now we’re talking!"

Felicia blinked. "Wait, what, no, I don’t do things that spin me like laundry!"

Leo already had her wrist. Definitely not taking no for an answer. "Too late, sweetheart! You’re riding the scream train!"

"Leo, I swear...!" she yelled, but he only laughed louder, dragging her toward the towering metal tracks where screams echoed through the air. Levi followed right behind, grinning like a maniac.

Armand, watching their chaos, shook his head. "Idiots," he muttered.

Alaric smirked, folding his arms. "You’re joining them?"

Armand gave him a deadpan look. "Do I look suicidal?"

Alaric chuckled and they both veered off toward a booth with basketball hoops, while Oliver and Athena stayed behind. The noise faded a little, replaced by the sound of laughter and the smell of sweet popcorn.

They found an empty bench under the golden glow of string lights, not far from the cotton candy stand. Athena sat down, hugging her big size teddy bear purse on her lap, while Oliver leaned lazily beside her, still holding that air of casual control.

"I’ll be right back," he said suddenly, pushing himself to his feet.

She looked up at him. "Where are you going?"

He tilted his head, giving her that teasing, infuriating smirk. "Jealous already?"

Athena blinked, caught off guard. "Wha...no!"

Oliver chuckled. "Relax, doll. I’m just getting something sweet."

Her lips parted to reply, but he was already walking away, his black suit jacket catching the evening wind. She shook her head, a faint smile tugging at her lips.

Left alone, Athena’s eyes wandered. She caught sight of Felicia screaming her lungs out as the roller coaster plunged down. Leo was beside her, laughing like a lunatic, arms thrown in the air, while Levi looked seconds away from regretting every life decision he’d made.

Athena laughed, covering her mouth. "They’re hopeless."

Her gaze drifted then, unintentionally to where Armand and Alaric were standing by the basketball booth. Armand was focused on his shot, calm and precise. Alaric, though, was leaning casually against the rail, his sharp eyes already on her.

Their gazes met. For a second.

Alaric’s lips curved into a slow, small smile before he lifted a hand and waved.

Athena, surprised, blinked, then smiled back and gave a small, polite wave of her own.

That’s when she heard the deep, familiar voice beside her.

"So that’s how it is now? Waving at other guys while I’m gone?"

She turned sharply to see Oliver standing there, two cones of ice cream in his hands. one vanilla, one strawberry. His expression was unreadable, but his tone carried that teasing warmth again.

"I wasn’t waving like that," she said quickly, her face heating up. "He just waved, so I waved back!"

Oliver handed her the vanilla cone, watching her fluster with an amused look. "You’re a terrible liar, you know that?"

"I’m not lying!" she huffed, trying to glare at him but failing when he chuckled under his breath.

He sat beside her again, passing her the cone. "Relax, doll. I’m only teasing."

Athena pouted, her cheeks still flushed, and took a small bite of her ice cream. "You always tease me."

Oliver leaned back, licking his own strawberry cone. "Maybe because you always blush when I do."

She froze, nearly choking on her ice cream. "I–I don’t!"

He tilted his head, eyes glinting. "Sure you don’t."

Athena looked away, hiding her face with her cone. "You’re insufferable."

Oliver chuckled softly, watching her from the corner of his eye. "And yet," he murmured, voice low enough for only her to hear, "you never walk away."

Her fingers tightened slightly around her cone, and her heart fluttered in her chest. She didn’t know what to say, so she just bit into her ice cream again, but Oliver’s smile only grew wider.

Behind them, another round of screams from the roller coaster made them both look up, Felicia was waving her arms wildly, Leo pretending to pass out, and Levi was just done with life entirely.

Athena burst into laughter again, clutching her stomach. "I can’t breathe!"

Oliver smiled at her laughter, the softness in his eyes hidden behind his teasing tone. "That’s better," he said quietly. "You look prettier when you laugh. Especially when you’re gasping for air."

She blinked at him, cheeks flaring pink again. "O–Oliver..."

He grinned and took another lazy lick of his ice cream. "What? I was talking about your smile, doll."

"Liar," she muttered, hiding her smile behind her cone.

"Guilty," he said simply, and she could hear the smile in his voice.

The roller coaster’s final screech echoed across the park before the cart slowed to a stop, and then...

chaos.

Levi stumbled out first, clutching the railing like he’d barely survived an apocalypse. His hair was sticking up in wild directions(bird’s-nest), and his face was pale like someone who’d just been resurrected.

"Never again," he muttered dramatically, wobbling with each step. "If I die tomorrow, bury me somewhere quiet. I think I cherish peace now.

Leo followed behind him, laughing so hard he could barely breathe. "Oh come on, it wasn’t that bad!" he wheezed, then turned toward Felicia, who was half bent over, still clutching her stomach.

Somebody that literally almost passed out.

Felicia looked like she was both traumatized and thrilled. "Leo," she gasped between laughter and panting, "you...you screamed louder than me!"

Leo froze mid-laugh, then glared in disbelief. "I did not!"

Levi raised a shaky finger. "You screamed, ’MOMMY!’ at the first drop."

Athena, who was sitting with Oliver and licking her ice cream, instantly choked in laughter. The spoon in her hand clattered to the ground as she bent forward, shoulders shaking.

"No,no way!" she laughed breathlessly. "Leo, you didn’t!"

Felicia nodded, nearly crying from laughing. "He did! I swear! The whole line heard him!"

Leo threw his arms up. "It was a reflex! I wasn’t calling for my mom, I was...uh...summoning my spiritual mother for strength!"

Levi collapsed on the nearest bench, his face buried in his hands. "Bro, that doesn’t even make sense!"

Oliver was chuckling beside Athena now, eyes warm as he watched her laughter bubble out freely. "Your friends are something else," he murmured.

Athena wiped tears from her eyes, still laughing so hard she could barely talk. "They...they really are."

Felicia staggered closer, still dizzy but laughing anyway. "I swear my soul left my body on that second drop. I saw heaven. It’s pink."

Leo snorted. "That was just the cotton candy stand."

Felicia smacked his arm. "Shut up, you traumatized child!"

That sent Athena into another fit of laughter. She couldn’t stop, she was actually breathless now, trying to wave her hand as if it would calm her own giggles. Oliver chuckled quietly beside her, leaning slightly closer. Rubbing her back to calm her down, but wasn’t working.

"Careful, doll," he teased, "you’ll choke before their next ride."

Athena tried to speak between laughs. "No...no more rides for them. They’ve had enough fun for the entire school year."

Levi groaned. "Agreed. My brain’s still spinning. I think my organs rearranged."

Armand and Alaric finally approached from a nearby booth. Alaric was sipping on a soda, watching the scene with an amused smirk. "You three look like you fought gravity and lost."

Felicia turned to him with a hand on her chest, pretending to gasp. "We didn’t lose. We just... retreated strategically."

"Strategically?" Levi scoffed. "You screamed the entire time!"

Felicia shot back, "At least I screamed words. You screamed noises!"

Leo dramatically threw his hands behind his head. "I don’t regret it. That roller coaster has seen greatness."

Athena was laughing again, tears at the corner of her eyes. "Greatness? You screamed ’MOMMY’ and blacked out for seconds, Leo!"

Everyone burst into laughter.

Oliver shook his head, amused but silent, watching Athena glow under the golden lights of the amusement park. Her laughter filled the air, carefree and real, something he hadn’t seen in a while.

Leo, still pretending to defend himself, turned to Oliver with mock seriousness. "You saw that drop, right? Even your girl would’ve screamed!"

Oliver raised a brow, smiling lazily. "Maybe. But I doubt she’d call for her mom."

The entire group erupted in laughter again.

Felicia clutched her stomach. "Oh my God, stop, I can’t breathe!"

Levi fell sideways on the bench, laughing too hard to even respond.

Athena tried to stop, wiping tears from her cheeks, but every time she looked at Leo’s mortified face, she started again.

Oliver leaned close and whispered just enough for her to hear, voice low and teasing, "You’re adorable when you laugh like that."

She turned crimson immediately, shoving at his arm. "Don’t...say things like that when I’m trying not to die laughing."

He chuckled, unbothered, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "You were dying anyway."

She rolled her eyes, trying not to smile, but it was useless.

And for a moment, under the glowing lights, surrounded by laughter and chaos, everything felt perfect, warm, bright, and alive.