I know, I KNOW; It's been 2+ months since the last chapter. I'll explain why after this.

Chapter 5: Finding out Why

Somehow, despite ramming into every peppermint tree on the way there, Rancis managed to maneuver the Kit Kart to the starting line of Sugar Rush Speedway.

"Hey, Rance!"A rosy-cheeked, pumpkin-capped boy holding a large piece of candy corn greeted him.

"S'up, Gloyd." Rancis greeted back.

"You're late! You almost missed opening time! What took ya?"

"I didn't get much sleep last night."

"Why not?"

"My fans kept me up all night singing my praises right outside my house." Rancis smirked.

"...No, they weren't. Fans need to sleep, too." Gloyd rolled his eyes, easily seeing through Rancis' lie.

"Yeah, but my fans are so adoring of me, they would stay awake for a week straight for my sake."

"Man, you stink at lying."

"I could name a couple of things you stink at, yourself. Like controlling your sweet tooth."

"Why am I friends with you, again?"

"'Cause you know I'm the best thing that ever happened to you?"

"If my life revolves around you, then I need to ask Vanellope to execute me." Gloyd snickered.

Rancis looked away, unable to accept that he just got told. "Oh, go bite your exhaust pipe, Orangeboar." He muttered under his breath, attempting to retain his dignity.

"Nah, I'll bite this instead." Gloyd shot back, getting another mouthful of candy corn. "By the way, do you know anything about the new ride Taffyta's got? She won't tell me." He gestured toward the pink racer behind him, whose unique kart was attracting many beholders.

"Never seen it before in my life." He replied bluntly, well aware that Taffyta would make sure he paid the price in pain if he blabbed about how she lost her old kart.

"Ah, well. Almost opening time! Good luck out there!" Gloyd stuffed his mouth with the remaining candy corn before hurrying to his kart.

Rancis took a sigh of relief. With that aside, he donned his racing helmet with a yawn. Drowsy or not, he was going to give it his all in the upcoming rush.

Eventually, the business hours of Litwak's Arcade came to a close. Upon Vanellope's request, the Random Roster Race, which usually commenced immediately after the arcade closed, was postponed for a few hours. Rancis knew exactly how he wanted to spend that time; getting some much needed sleep. He cruised to the side of the start line and, laying his head on the steering wheel, quickly started snoring while most of the other avatars cruised off for home.

Meanwhile, Taffyta was reflecting on the day's recent races while licking the usual lollipop until she noticed Rancis snoozing some distance away. She put on a sweet smile as she was just close enough to get a good glance at his adorable sleeping face. Rancis' assistance in creating the new and improved Pink Lightning and words of comfort & support for her bruised feelings the day before were still fresh on her mind. She would have to find some way to get even with him later.

"Hey, Muttonfails!" Vanellope's voice from behind her instantly snuffed out Taffyta's good mood. She resisted the urge to punch the president in the face as she turned around.

"For the last time, It's Muttonfudge!" Taffyta corrected in a huff.

"I know! I thought that rolled of the tongue better!" Vanellope laughed.

Taffyta squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her fists tightly, barely keeping herself from lashing out at Vanellope with every ounce of anger, sadness & hurt in her heart in any way she could think of. Thinking about Rancis, she was able to calm down, but knew that she would reach her breaking point soon if this ignorance of her feelings continued. "Is there something important you wanted?"

Vanellope took a moment to compose herself, placing her hands in her hoodie pocket. "Yeah. Call me curious but, where'd you get the new set of wheels?" Vanellope motioned to the Pink Lightning Mk. II.

"None of your business." Taffyta retorted, crossing her arms.

"Oh, I don't think so. See, I'm the president; your president, so yeah, it is my business."

Taffyta turned her head away. "The Kart Bakery, where else?"

"I see. What was wrong with your old one? Did you send it to the Junkyard 'cause you knew you'd never beat me?"

"NO! It slipped into a taffy pond!" Taffyta shouted defensively before she could stop herself, causing her to cover her mouth in shock over what she had just disclosed. Her built-up, tormented emotions had caused her to reveal the one thing she believed the president would never let her live down. Her eyes began to well up with tears.

"Hey, Taffya, are you alright?" Vanellope's face & voice actually expressed concern, but Taffyta was too blinded by her flooding tears & fear to notice. She started sobbing as she hopped in her kart & drove away at full speed, leaving behind a now confused Vanellope.

Some time later, Rancis slowly opened his eyes. With a yawn, he lifted his head & took a quick scan of his surroundings. The area was deserted...save for a figure sporting a warn grin and a frosting laced beanie right beside his kart.

"Enjoy your nap?" the figure spoke up.

Rancis rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "Candlehead? What are you still doing here?"

"Well, you fell asleep after the last race, and I didn't want you to be all alone when you woke up, so I waited here for you!" Candlehead replied jovially.

"Seriously? How long was I asleep?"

"About 2 hours."

"What?!" He dismounted his kart and faced her. "Two hours!? You really waited that long for me?"

Candlehead happily nodded.

"Thanks, but you didn't have to do that. I wouldn't mind if you left me alone." Rancis explained, trying to sound aloof.

"Don't be silly! I wanted to! That's what friends do!" Candlehead smiled, spontaneously wrapping the boy in a quick hug.

Rancis was a little embarrassed, though he was glad no one else was around to see him looking like a softie.

"Hold on, I've got something for you." He pulled the last two of Taffyta's lollipops from his jacket & offered one to Candlehead. "I got these from Taffyta. They helped me stay awake during the arcade races. She doesn't give these out to just anyone, so here; take it. Don't ask; I just feel generous."

Candlehead smiled from ear to ear, accepting the treat & popping it in her mouth. She then headed for her own kart, the Ice Screamer, and dipped the pop in its mint-green frosting, giving it a taste. Rancis could infer from her scrunched up facial expression that it was not a very tasty combination.

Rancis snickered seeing Candlehead's humorous face. "What a lovable idiot." He took a lick of his own lollipop, but detected something odd. The candy on a stick had a small but peculiar extra taste to it, different from the ones he had consumed during the arcade hours, prompting him to take a moment to study the flavor. His eyes went wide with astonishment when he realized what it was after recalling the previous day's events.

Just before giving them to him, Taffyta was sucking on one of them, which meant...

Taffyta's spit was still present on that particular lollipop, which meant...

Taffyta...had just given him an indirect kiss.

For a moment, Rancis just stood there frozen, his dumbfounded mind trying to digest the epiphany he just experienced. Afterward, he removed the lollipop from his mouth and stared at it as if it was a completely foreign object. 'That explains it.' He thought, slowly putting everything together in his brain. 'That explains everything! The kindness towards her, the dreams about her; it all makes sense. I'm...in love with her...I'm seriously in love with her!' Soon, he began to chuckle, which steadily escalated into full-blown laughter.

Candlehead got curious as to what Rancis was laughing so much about & approached him. "What's so funny?"

"Candlehead, listen. You're not gonna believe this, but I just realized something big!"

"Uh, what?"

"You were right! I'm in love with Taffyta Muttonfudge!"

"...Really? I had no idea! Good for you!" She put on her usual grin, as if what she had just been told was everyday news.

That response got Rancis a little confused. She had no idea whatsoever about this? Wasn't it she who playfully teased him about having a crush on Taffyta yesterday? 'Same old Candlehead.' he thought, amused with her. Candlehead always knew just what to say to make him smile, even if she herself didn't know it. But that was something to admire another time; Rancis had just realized who the girl of his dreams was, & he was going to waste no time in telling her how he felt. He hurried excitedly into the Kit Kart.

'Hang on, Taffy; here comes the answer to all your problems: ME!' He thought smugly to himself before roaring off, eager to surprise Taffyta with his confession as Candlehead waved goodbye.

To be Continued

I know that I would have these typed up a lot faster if I didn't have such abysmal confidence in my ability to write filler text. Although, despite that, I can't help but think I did rather well in this chapter at least. Maybe I'm actually better at this than I'm giving myself credit for? What do you think?

About Rancis: Thanks to a few of you reviewers, I see that I've been depicting the little guy as a little too kind for his character lately, but I think I know why: Because of my inexperience as an author, I sometimes have trouble determining a balance between a character's multiple personality traits. What happened in this story was that I somewhat neglected to apply Rancis' egotistical side. Hopefully, I've managed to correct that in this chapter & future ones without making him seem vain to a fault in the process. ^_^

About Taffyta: I'm glad everyone likes how I portray her soft side! But for the sake of keeping it from becoming redundant, you won't be seeing that side of her again for a while.

Thanks to Painty Trancy, my younger sister, for beta-reading this chapter.