"I'm falling for your eyes but they don't know me yet." - Ed Sheeran, Kiss Me

DEDICATION: __NLHope for being there from the beginning of this whole extravaganza, so of course I have to end it with you too! Thank you so much <3

I'm lost for words- 80K reads and 9.6K votes?! Incredible. I can't thank you guys enough for helping me end this extravaganza. So here it is, the resolution to the previous cliffhanger. I love you all so much, and enjoy! xoxo

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30 minutes earlier

"You're so weird," Faith retorted, though she couldn't help but let a few innocent giggles escape from her dark, cherry-tinted lips.

Wind fiercely whipped at her face as she gazed out at the calm surroundings, which encased the rooftop she was on. It was rare to not hear the obnoxious honks of cars and incoherent chatter below, but that was what Christmas did, she supposed. Was it Christmas already? Jingle bells and festive cheer was what she was meant to have been feeling, but instead, only sadness enveloped her senses.

Because Tristan was moving to Italy, and there was absolutely nothing she could even do about it.

"You're as mean as I am weird," Tristan whined childishly, though Faith could tell from the playful tone of his voice that he was joking. "Hey, my flight just got called, so I'll call you when I can, okay?"

"Oh! Um, yeah," Faith said half a second late, feeling a thick lump well up in her throat. Did Santa shove coal down her throat this Christmas or something? What could she have possibly done that was that bad? "I-I'll talk to you later, alligator."

"In a while, crocodile," Tristan said quietly, before the line went dead.

Sighing, he stood up from his seat, stretched for a second, and promptly dialled Emily's number. Glancing around at the various optometrist equipment and calming potted plants situated around him, he managed a small smile. One down, two to go. Of course, his master plan had way too many potential flaws than he had anticipated, but it was time to put everything into action.

"What's up?" issued Emily's nonchalant voice out of the speaker.

Tristan jumped, knocking over a pair of sparkly Hannah Montana glasses, before clearing his throat. "Hey, how long can you distract her before I get to the theatre?"

"I'd say around half an hour at most, Fletcher's going up to the rooftop to coax her down at this very moment," Emily clarified, as Tristan nodded to himself in approval. Awesome, Plan Surprise-His-Not-Really-Phone-Girlfriend was a go!

"The recital starts at 10:30, right?" Tristan asked, though it was a rhetorical question; he had already read the thin brochure Fletcher had managed to nab for him, way too many times. "So I have twenty minutes to get to the party I'm going to crash. Maybe with some fancy balloons and sushi scattered here and there, I don't know."

"You have twenty minutes before I go to Westerden Optometrist and boot your butt to the recital." Tristan laughed at Emily's sass, but all she said was, "I'm serious here! You guys need to go make out in a dark corner."

"We'll see, Emily." Tristan replied enigmatically. "We'll see."

Lying to Retina was the hardest part for him, to be honest. When you really love someone, you pour your heart and soul into your words- they had feelings. They meant something. They were honest, filled with truth. And every time Tristan fibbed about packing or being at the airport or whatever, it felt as though the words were glued to his tongue. But how could he reveal his whole plan now? It would be glorious. Burst into the theatre, confess his love. It was going to be fantastic.

Because he loved her. He loved her more than ice cream, more than his job, more than anything in the world. Unrequited love seemed unavoidable- but it was about to be avoided, Tristan thought to himself with a smirk, because he was going to rock up on Christmas Day and deliver better presents than Santa ever could.

It's going to be perfect, concluded Tristan, as he swiftly grabbed his car keys and pushed open the glass door, to reveal the thick layer of snow that he would fight his way through.

Meanwhile, Faith's concentration was primarily focused on Fletcher, who was half-guiding and half-dragging her down the steps of the rooftop. She stumbled blindly, almost smacking her face into the left wall. "Dude, watch it! What are you doing?!"

"Hey, I'm trying my best!" Fletcher protested, gripping Faith's wrist with renewed force and increasing his speed, positively hurtling down the stairs at this point. "I tried a diplomatic approach, then I tried bribing you with ice cream, so now I'm choosing to use brute force. You can't blame me, it's pretty damn effective!"

"Yeah- but like-" Faith paused between each phrase to avoid tripping over each stair after the next. "Seriously, Fletcher? Seriously?!"

"Here you are!" Fletcher said cheerfully once they had reached the end of the steps. Faith, who was panting heavily and leaning against the wall for support, choked out a wheezy protest. Fletcher, on the other hand, wasn't even winded. Jeez, was that kid on drugs?! "Go. Dance. Now."

He gently shoved Faith towards a doorway, but forgot that she could barely see anything ahead of her. The result of that was that she catapulted into the wall, actually smacking her nose against solid surface this time. Paint chips rained around the duo, slowly fluttering down until they scattered onto the carpet.

"Fletcher..." Faith said threateningly, turning to face the culprit, who now looked terrified. "If you don't want a death sentence, I suggest you scram in the next three seconds."

"Sāyonara!" was Fletcher's final word before his long legs, followed by the rest of his lanky body, whipped around the corner and as far away from the seething Faith as possible.

It took her a couple of minutes to recover, as she rubbed her tender nose and cursed out Fletcher under her breath with some of the more innocent profanities in the English language- 'stupid grasshole ', 'clumsy cockroach' and 'ducking moron'. Jeez, first she had to dance on Christmas Day, and now she had to do it with a bruised nose?! Well, this was just turning out to be a jolly good time, wasn't it?

Her thoughts slowly drifted to how Tristan was doing- was he okay? Did he board the plane? Did it explode? Although she had tried to keep her tone with him as lighthearted as possible, there was still that underlying misery infused into her words. Why? Why had Fletcher and Emily gotten their happy ending? Why not Faith and Tristan? It was so unfair! The world was unfair sometimes, yes, but some were just condemned to a depressing fate that was deemed unchangeable.

Because the truth was, she loved Tristan. Faith admitted it, she was jealous of his intelligence, his kindness, his purity. Who cares if they hadn't met yet? True love need not bless the eyes in order to blossom. It was a shame, since Faith knew that Aimee and Delilah- her friends, would have loved him- but only if he was popular too. Yet Faith was secretly ecstatic that she had Tristan to herself, since he was the hidden gem in her life.

As though fate itself had read her mind, just as Faith stepped through the doorway Fletcher had almost pushed her through, two familiar faces popped up in front of her. Surprised, Faith stumbled slightly before regaining her composure and gasping at the friends she hadn't seen in so long.

"Aimee! Delilah! I'm so glad you made it!" she exclaimed in ecstasy, pulling them into a tight hug. The duo seemed strangely robotic, arms squarely pinned to their sides. Neither of them responded affectionately. Faith let go of them after a few short moments of awkward tension.

"Faith," Aimee greeted with a stiff nod of her head. "How are you?"

"I'm good! Gosh, I haven't talked to you guys in so long, I have so much to tell you!" Faith blabbered. "But you first- how are you guys? How are your winter breaks going? Any gossip? How are our social statuses?"

"Yeah, about that," Aimee said slowly. "Your social status isn't exactly at the very top right now, Faith."

"What do you mean by that?" Faith asked, looking mystified.

"We're dropping you like a hot potato, that's what we mean," snapped Delilah, who had always been the most straightforward one in the trio. "Let's face it, you've been going downhill for a whole year now. Distracted, lovestruck, God, you don't even care about cheer or popularity anymore, do you?"

"I- that's- that's not- guys-" Faith spluttered, not believing what she was hearing. "Look, I care about cheer and popularity! It's just that-"

"You're a bitch?" Aimee finished for her. "Yeah, I think we figured that out for ourselves. Have fun being the next whore of our school, I'm sure we'll have loads of fun spreading rumours!"

Cackling to themselves, the duo walked off, Delilah ramming Faith in the shoulder, causing her to slam into the wall once again. Faith stayed there in shock, chest rising up and down in an irregular pattern. She couldn't believe it. How- how did- why? How could they just drop her like that?! It- it wasn't fair! But deep down, she knew it was fair. Because that was what populars did- they swarmed around the next Queen Bee and ditched at the first vulnerable opportunity.

Before more emotions could consume her- shock, rage, hate, disappointment, sadness, Emily magically appeared in front of her with a smile, asking, "hey Faith! Are you ready to dance your little sexy heart out?"

"I can't do this," Faith whispered, turning away so that Emily couldn't see the single tear streaking down her cheek. She had been through so much- was Emily really going to make her dance while she grieved?

"Yes, you can," Emily said steely, gripping Faith's shoulders. The latter opened her mouth to reveal the betrayal of her ex-friends, but decided against it. She didn't want to be condemned with the task of cleaning Aimee and Delilah off the floor after Emily was done with them.

"Emily, I can't see three feet ahead of me in any direction!" she used the more obvious problem as her excuse- though it was true. She couldn't see a darn thing in front of her, how was she going to do friggin' pirouettes?

"Then dance with your eyes closed!" Emily suggested.

"Be my understudy!" Faith said desperately, gripping Emily's shoulders, though it took a few moments for her to feel her way to them, she was that blind.

"Woman, me being your dance understudy will cause more retina damage to the audience than you already have in your own eyes." deadpanned Emily, glancing behind her to see Fletcher frantically tapping his wrist and mouthing, 'hurry!'

"Oh my gosh, I have to go," Faith breathed, catching Fletcher's eye and stumbling over to the thick curtains that shielded the audience from the stage crew. One of the crew members, unaware of her dilemma, gave her a reassuring nod and a thumbs up, whispering, "they're just nerves."

Right, just nerves.

Not that she wouldn't even be able to see a fedora-wearing rainbow llama in front of her if she tried to.

"Good luck! I have faith in you! Get it?" Emily joked, trying to lighten the tension. The attempted humour was wasted on Faith, who quelled Emily with one annoyed glare.

"Shut up," she muttered through clenched teeth. Her fist was squeezing tightly, knuckles ghostly white.

As she heard the first few soft notes being played out on the grand piano nearby, she steeled herself and took a deep breath. It was okay, she was going to be fine. It was a dance she had rehearsed thousands of times! What could possibly go wrong?

Oh, I'll tell you, said her inner self, as she tentatively stepped out amid a small round of applause. You can't see, so tripping and faceplanting on the ground in front of hundreds of people is plausible. What if the cues were off? Would Aimee and Delilah sabotage you? And what about Tristan? He's not here to see the most important night of your year...

And maybe that, Tristan thought to himself, was the reason why he wanted to go to the dance recital in the first place. Not because of the dance, hell no. He couldn't even do a three-step waltz in middle school! But because it meant something to her, it was what she truly adored. He could only hope that she loved him as much as she loved to dance.

As Tristan sneaked into the back of the dim theatre and was about to take his seat, his eyes flickered up at her and his breath caught. The first thing he noticed was that she was beautiful. Golden blonde ringlets cascading down her back, a beautiful crimson dress flaring with each movement she made. If Tristan squinted, he could barely make out the shade of her irises; the blue moons he had predicted- stunning, mesmerising.

The next thing he noticed with alarm was that those beautiful eyes were glued shut as she stepped forwards- as she took the next step, her feet did not find a surface denser than thin air. Instinctively, Tristan started sprinting towards the stage as her mouth opened, screeching a panicked, "AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Oof!" Tristan couldn't help but letting out a gasp after she landed in his arms. Yes, he could easily carry her, but it was a shock to bear her weight in the first place. Hey, have you ever tried catching a girl tumbling down from a stage? News flash: you get winded.

Her eyes opened a tiny crack, just enough to see what had happened. Unfortunately, her gaze was directed at the thinly carpeted floor, so the only thing she murmured was, "wait, why am I not on the ground?"

"You're lighter than I thought, Retina." Tristan set her on her feet, smiling softly. She gasped as she heard the nickname he had always called her, and her eyes filled up with tears as she mouthed, 'peanut...' Tristan had done it! He had saved the day and surprised her at the same time! Not that it had went how he planned, but it worked out anyway. Now the only task left to do was-

It was too late before he realised that she had whispered his nickname to alert him, rather than acknowledge his presence. "I-" she managed to choke out, before collapsing, once again, into Tristan's arms. The latter barely managed to catch her this time, but he gently propped her up against the stage so that his hands were free to rummage through a packed bag.

"Hold still," Tristan whispered, holding up a thin syringe. He plunged it into Faith's arm as carefully as he could, trying his best to ignore her surprised, sharp hiss of pain. "This'll only hurt for a second."

He watched anxiously as her cheeks slowly flooded with colour and her shallow breathing stabilised. Her eyelashes fluttered rapidly, before her eyes flew open. Faith inhaled sharply, as she saw- was that- was that Tristan? Oh gosh, he was- there was no other way of putting it- so attractive! With his ruffled brown hair and rich blue eyes, he was hot! But how could she see him clearly? How did her eyesight clear up? Why was Tristan not in Italy? Wha- what was happening?

"All of you out there and there was no medical expert to take action for her?" Tristan's scathing accusation received no response from the audience, whose breathing could barely be heard within hushed silence. "Shame on you."

"How- what- I thought you were meant to be on the flight to Italy!" Faith whispered, turning Tristan's attention back to her. His sigh was barely audible, but heavy. Yep, he had a hell of a lot of explaining to do.

But the only thing he wanted to do in that moment was smile at her adorable confusion. Why must she be so cute? "The plane's still flying, I just happen to not be on it."

"W-Why not?" she couldn't help but stumble over the words, as they blurted out of her mouth in a disorganised jumble of gobbledegook.

"Long story short, my dad and I to cancelled the transfer request- even though the business deal was a good opportunity, he valued my happiness over it. And also-" Tristan held up a finger when Faith's mouth opened to say 'aww!' "Apparently the bathrooms there sucked, and that was reason enough to stay here."

"I still can't believe you're here," Faith breathed, fingertips lightly caressing Tristan's perfectly defined cheekbones. Jeez, he was even cheekbone goals?! Tristan felt a small shiver vibrate up his spine but gazed back at her, drinking in every drop of those shimmering rivers contained in her irises.

"God, it's so great to see you," whispered Tristan. His gaze flew up and down at the figure he had waited so long to meet- waiting, hoping, wishing. But now she was here, and she was the most magnificent human being that he had seen. Yet speaking of the pronoun 'she'- "Oh hey, I don't know your name! What-"

"Faith Edwards," she cut him off, an amused glimmer in her eye and a mischievous curve on her lips.

"Faith," he tested the name out on his tongue, before breaking into a grin. "I like that very much."

"Un, there's also something you should know," Faith blurted out before she could contain herself, determinedly staring at Tristan's feet. "I've been gorging on a ton of food, and I have no idea why- it's these cravings I get. It's making my condition worse."

Tristan was silent for several instances, long enough that Faith peeked up at him through her eyelashes. He blew out a long breath. "I knew it."

"Knew what?"

"Retina, I think you have Type Two diabetes."

"I- I what?" Faith stammered, feeling every drop of warm blood drain out of her cheeks, leaving only cold skin and a stunned sensation behind.

"Why do you think I gave you the insulin injection?"

"That was insulin?! Jeez, I thought you were poisoning me or something crazy like that!" Faith exclaimed indignantly, whacking Tristan in the arm with more force than she intended.

He lurched backwards, an audible wince escaping from his mouth. "What, no 'thank you for helping me not pass out' or anything? You need a lesson on manners, Miss Ungrateful!"

"You're ungrateful!"

"You're ungratefuller!"

"You're ungratefullest!"

"Do you even English, Retina?"

"What, you don't have faith in my English skills? Disappointing, Peanut. Disa-friggin'-pointing."

"You know what else is disappointing?"

"I'm listening."

"Your face."

"Okay, firstly, that comeback was older than my gran's beloved Cabbage Patch Dolls," Faith retorted, though she was hiding a secret smile beneath her annoyed façade. The banters! She had loved them, wondered what they were like in person. Now she could say that they were fantastic. "And secondly, back to my diabetes?"

"Yes, Doctor Retina," Tristan said mockingly, miming writing words down with an invisible pen, on an invisible clipboard. "I'm listening, Doctor Retina!"

Faith pretended to smack the invisible clipboard from Tristan's grasp; the latter scrambled to 'find' it. "I've never been morbidly overweight, so it's probably from inheritance. I think both my parents had some form of diabetes, I don't know, they were never very open about it. But how does that-"

"Diabetic retinopathy," Tristan murmured, having given up on his clipboard hunting.

Faith paused. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Oh sorry, optometrist jargon," he said apologetically. "Diabetic retinopathy is a condition associated with diabetes- high blood sugar levels damage the retina, which is why your eyes were cloudy. Probably cataract, looking at your symptoms."

"Wait, but-"

"Remember when you said you lost weight? You also mentioned that your eyes cleared up and you felt energetic. Exercise and a healthy diet regulate your insulin levels," Tristan explained, looking sheepish. "So, you were right about dieting."

"Yeah, but I went overboard- I kept myself away from foods I liked, and had loads of binge eating sessions," Faith reassured, also sounding guilty. "I think we need to mash our perspectives together."

"What if this is just all just a hallucination of yours? What are the odds that we could be wrong about your condition?"

"Next to none, since I blow up like a pufferfish the moment I lick ice cream," Faith's tone was bitter.

"That's not the only thing I'd like to lick."

"Oh my gosh, that's gross!"

"Your face is a pufferfish."

"Hey, your face is a pufferfish!"

"Your face is puffier!"

"Whatever floats your puffy goat."

"I can think of other things that are puffy too."

"PEANUT, I SWEAR TO GOD, IF YOU SAY THOSE THINGS ONE-"

"Hem hem," interrupted a seemingly random voice in the audience, before the messy hair of Fletcher emerged. "Are you guys going to make out or what? You have an audience here. We're getting impatient!" The crowd of watchers mumbled in agreement, some with expectant expressions.

Faith and Tristan exchanged glances, before simultaneously shoving Fletcher into the lap of Emily, who had been lurking in the front row and munching on buttered popcorn. She shrieked and popcorn flew everywhere as Fletcher tumbled into her lap. "Oh my God! My popcorn! I hate you guys!"

"You know, I still don't get many calls from annoying girls these days," Tristan remarked, turning back to Faith with a smile.

Faith's initially confused expression grew into a beam as everything, every memory, every laugh and every retort, came flooding back into her mind.

"And how many girls do you find annoying?" she asked, stepping ever-so-slightly closer to Tristan.

The electricity was rising between them; it flared in their bodies, from toes to fingertips, sparking with anticipation. Tristan took it a step further, sneakers only mere inches from scarcely brushing tips of sparkly black ballet shoes. "Well, it depends on what my definition of annoying is, doesn't it?"

"So in theory, what would you do if an annoying girl was standing in front of you?" Faith whispered, taking the last step so that their thin noses grazed in an Eskimo kiss, lost in each other's harmonious blue eyes.

"This." His low voice consumed her ears in a husky lust, before he closed the gap and their lips were dancing in synchronisation. The caress of her lips, softer than he could ever imagine. His mouth, cushion soft and cozy warm, yet lit with a fiery passion. The kiss was slow and steady, yet uncontrollable and feisty at the same time. Faith's hands found their way to Tristan's hair, his ones gently pressed against the arch of her lower back.

Then it was over before it started, when a peculiar sound came from the background- a sharp noise, ringing into stunned silence. Tristan and Faith broke apart, disoriented yet even more aware of their senses than they had ever been before. The noise continued, soon joined by syncopated versions of the same noise, and suddenly the whole audience was up on its feet in a thunderous roar of applause.

Faith dazedly wondered why no one was angry at the fact that the show had been ruined and no one even cared, until she realised she and Tristan were the show. She turned back to face the latter, who grinned and murmured, "you're the retina to my iris, Faith Edwards."

"And you're the peanut to my butter, Mr Optometristan."

"Did you know what I forgot to tell you, Miss Retina?"

"That you're secretly a bald Asian monk?"

"Nope, but good guess. I wanted to say that I love you."

"Well, isn't that mushy of you? But since this is meant to be romantic and all, I love you too."

"And I swear on every peanut in the world that you're never leaving my side."

Tristan meant it, too. Never had he been comfortable with who he was, it had always felt like something was missing from his life, something huge. Being an outcast, a drifting loner; the emptiness in his heart was something he had gotten used to. Meanwhile, Faith had had the misfortune of having fake friends, etched smiles upon synthetic personalities. Was it worth it being popular? The experiences, sure. But truly, it was love that counted, not social status.

So came the conclusion to their love story. As their lips met once again to another round of applause, their eyes couldn't get enough of the other's gaze, sharing the bond they had created since that first call. The love may not last forever, but the moments were what counted. For what was seen could never be truly erased, could it? Faith and Tristan had cleared their visions, and in turn, discovered that love operated in the strangest ways.

And all it took was a smokin' hot optometrist and several bottles of eye drops, to make them see that.

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THIS IS NOT THE LAST CHAPTER. THE EPILOGUE AND FINAL AUTHOR'S NOTE AWAIT YOU, SO STAY TUNED!

Hey spies, a disclaimer here. This story was meant to be cliché, so it has a cliché ending. Not to your taste? Brilliant, at least you're honest. Hate on me for it? Sāyonara, Felicia!

I know, I know! This chapter was rushed, but it was difficult to conclude all our problems in one chapter. I wish it was more cutesy, but it was the best I could do in this position. Anyway, the ship sailed! I'm so proud of Faithy and Tristan! And hey, you'll have to stay to see how their love story will conclude ;)