Chapter Text
Years ago, back when she really started to feel like her own person and not just another one of Magica’s creations, Lena had realized what exactly her feelings were. The way Webby laughed made her heart rate spike and when Webby smiled just a little too brightly, she tripped all over herself. She was so f*cked. The stereotypical head over heels teenager in love with her best friend. And Lena, the hopeless romantic she secretly was, drove her sister absolutely nuts with all the pining. She was on the verge of seventeen when Violet finally put her foot down and gave her the ultimatum. Either tell Webby how she felt, or shut up about it. So Lena did. She put her heart out there, laid her emotions bare at Webby’s feet and felt the crushing of her heart at full force when Webby handed it all back to her.
It was probably the sweetest rejection in the history of rejections. And Lena, not willing to lose her cool and passive persona, waved it all off and spent the afternoon with her at Funso's. A great, painful, platonic trip to Funso's. Which, really, they were a little too old for, but Webby had lost out on so much of her childhood that she deserved the trip to the mediocre pizza place. Either way, they had a great time, enjoyed the food, split ways at the bus stop, and that was that.
Lena had wanted the next day to just pass by like normal. But Violet was extra kind, and her dads were extra affectionate. Her walk to school was a little heavier than usual. She had always been disinterested in class, but that day was just a little harder. At least it wasn’t lonely. Surprisingly, she had friends outside of the McDucks and her sister. But her dads thought she needed her own space to flourish, and her therapist gave her the tools needed to allow people in and connect. They didn’t know everything about her life before Duckburg, but they knew Lena as she was now. And that was enough for her.
Secretly, she liked having her own friend group outside her little found family. They were all just so average, with mundane lives and parents who were worried about grades and curfews. It was just nice to have some sense of normalcy. They knew about Webby, of course, and some of their adventures with the McDucks, as well as her magic, once she was comfortable enough to open up about it. That, and sometimes her anger still bested her. An exploding lunch tray was hard to ignore. It was part of her, and she owned it. Mostly.
“Lena!” Chloe, enthusiastic as ever, excitedly waved her over. Lena dropped her bag onto the floor and plopped down in her spot across from the other girl.
“Is it just you?” Lena asked, pulling her lunch from her bag.
“Yeah. Max didn’t show today, and Brea and Ethan are in line,” Chloe grunted, struggling to open her milk.
“Hasn’t Max been sick, like, all weekend?” Lena asked.
“Apparently. She’s been a big baby about it,” Chloe replied, finally getting her milk open. Lena rolled her eyes.
“Who’s been a baby about what?” Ethan sat next to Chloe, brushing his shaggy dark hair from his eyes.
“Max has been sick and is blowing up the group chat.” Chloe rolled her eyes as she spoke.
“I muted that day one, dude,” Ethan laughed. Brea joined them not too long after and took a seat next to Lena. The group had gone almost half the lunch before Lena was forced to address the weekend’s happenings.
“So, I don’t want to assume, but considering we’ve gone this whole time without anything Webby related, that it didn’t go well.” Ethan yelped, clutching his side where Chloe had elbowed him.
“We told you not to say anything,” Brea hissed at him. Lena sighed.
“It’s fine. I figured it would come up eventually. But, yeah. It didn’t go the way I hoped it would.” Lena slumped down in her seat a bit, staring at her yogurt and poking it with a spoon.
“Tough luck, man,” Ethan said, attempting to be empathetic. Chloe elbowed him again.
“Ethan!” This time, Brea kicked Ethan under the table as she scolded him.
“Ow! Can you two, like, not?” He kicked back at Brea. Lena loved them. Really, she did. But sometimes they could be a bit much.
“Guys, it's fine. It’s not that big of a deal,” Lena said, shrugging it off as casually as she could. It was a major deal, actually. Lena had cried in her room for hours. Her papa had come in with a tub of her favorite ice cream, Violet came up with popcorn offering to sit through those stupid zombie movies Lena was always bugging her to watch, and her papi held her in his arms as she cried herself to sleep. They hadn’t entirely known how to handle Lena’s heartbreak. To be fair, neither did she. Her world felt like it was ending and all she wanted to do was lay in bed.
She’d never admit that out loud, though. After years of pining and seeing signs that apparently weren’t really there, the stab of rejection made her feel like she was bleeding out through a giant, gaping wound. She still wasn’t over it, not by a longshot, and all she wanted to do was lay back in bed and maybe cry some more. And she would, right after she dragged herself through the rest of her school day.
