One Last Sunset

The sun beats down on the bright sand all around you, simmering up an uncomfortable heat as it teases you by refusing to move any closer to the horizon. You wipe some sweat from your brow and look back up at the sky, hoping a nearby set of clouds would grant you some shade already. You roll the repackaged bottle of pills around in your hand again, wishing that time would pass by a little faster already. The afternoon sun is the last thing you want to sit around in but honestly it's not like you really had anything to do but wait anymore.

A constant headache pokes at the center of your mind, which is an admittedly pleasant reminder of one of the best nights of your life, even if it was short-lived. You close your eyes and try to imagine the feeling of holding Sunset so close again: the feeling of her hair brushing up against you, her gentle hands resting on your shoulders, the soft skin of her midsection brushing up against yours... it's like a drug and despite the life she doomed you to you can't help but want another hit.

You let out a somber sigh and the battle rising inside you. The last thing you need is another distraction. It's not supposed to matter anymore, but the flurry of emotions is slowly pulling you away from what you came out here to do. A voice in the back of your mind told you that you should hate her, about how she was just scheming and using you for something, but as you close your eyes and imagine that moment again you almost don't even care. What is a little more hurt at the end of her plan if you get to experience things like that again?

Your mind tries to throw a constant stream of negativity at you—all the negative thoughts that had haunted you for so long are desperately trying to get to the forefront of your mind, some of the awful blows to your self-esteem delivered by Sunset herself. For whatever reason the thoughts didn't really settle and fester like they always had before. As you close your eyes, all you can really think of is that gentle flow of the reggae melody and holding that girl in your arms.

You open your eyes and squint at the harsh sun beating down on you again. The last sunset was supposed to make this decision for you, but the longer you stay here the more obstinate it seems to become. It'd be at least a few hours from now and you let out a low, frustrated grumble as you tried to shake the growing heat off your shoulders.

"Out here pretty early, don't you think?"

You jump at the voice interrupting your thoughts. You look over to see Sunset standing over you, a large sun hat granting her face some mercy from the constant barrage of rays.

"Didn't have anything better to do."

Sunset taps her foot on the ground for a moment before finding a suitable spot to sit down beside you. "Me neither, but a nice walk on the beach isn't the worst way to spend your time."

"I suppose not," you say, trying not to meet her gaze—this time it's because of growing butterflies in your stomach fighting against the desperate clinging of your subconscious to apathy.

"Are you doing okay? You kind of left in a hurry last night."

You look out over the ocean for a moment. "I just needed some time to think on my own. I was getting pretty tired anyway."

"Did you have a good time?" Sunset asks, a hopeful smile on her face.

You take in a deep breath, your mouth unconsciously turning up into one as well. "Yeah... I liked that."

"Better than sitting alone in the dark, that's for sure." Sunset lets the silence hang in the air for a moment. "I know we only spent an hour together, but I had a really nice time too."

You dig your feet into the sand again, holding your knees tighter against your chest. The confusion rages even harder inside you at her gaze. Your gut is on the edge of freaking out and telling you to run, that things are only going to get out of control from here, but you sit in place at the promise of something maybe happening like it did last night.

"You want to walk with me for a while? Maybe we'll end up on an adventure or something," Sunset says, standing up out of her spot and brushing the sand off of her behind. She holds out a hand for you with a reassuring smile.

The depressed part of you wants to immediately shoot her down—you're out here for a reason after all—but that part doesn't seem to be in control anymore. The weird feeling in your stomach and the growing eagerness between your legs seems to be in control now. You give her a nod and your hand gladly shoots up to wrap around hers, the nervous butterflies in your stomach flaring up at the feeling of her skin making contact with you again. You do your best to get to your feet before she has to fall over again.

"Well I barely helped that time," Sunset says with an amused grin.

"Wouldn't want to land you in the dirt again. Lead the way," you say, a hint of sadness hitting you as you feel her hand slipping out of yours.

You both start down the beach, a silent moment arriving first as you both appreciate the gentle whoosh of the waves as they brush up against the shore and the occasional gull crying out in the wind.

"You know, there really is a lot to do around here if you want to try it with me. We could have done a lot last night if you wanted to stay."

You look away from her and let out a disappointed sigh. "Could have."

Sunset gives you a quick nudge and a wink. "Hey, we all have our off nights. Do you remember what happened at the Spring Fling last year? I had flipped over three tables and tore—"

You let out a frustrated grunt at yourself and at her as the confusion builds up in you yet again. The sudden thought of the monster she was brought up the constant barrage of questions in your mind again. "Why are you here, Sunset?"

"Can't a girl enjoy the beach for a little while? It's better than being stuck in the snow all alone in that apartment for—"

"No, I meant, why are you here with me? We're not friends. I'm a pathetic loser with no friends because of you. You're probably still the most popular girl in the entire school. It doesn't make any sense that you're out here bothering with me. So just tell me why," you say over at her, a pang of guilt hitting you once you realized how harsh your tone had gotten.

Sunset winces at your tone, but somehow remains calm at the challenge. "Well... is it so hard to believe I just want to be friends? I came out here to think myself, but didn't realize how lonely it had gotten. Finding you was a nice bonus."

"I find that hard to believe, Sunset."

Sunset raises an eyebrow at you, walking a little closer with her inquisitive glances. "Why?"

You don't give any ground. "Ever since I've known you, you've been up to something. You practically ruined my life because I didn't want to be part of one of your stupid plans. How is this going to be any different?"

Sunset winced again at your harsh tone, causing you to close your eyes and shake your head. She pauses for a moment and looks down into the sand. At first you didn't want to hurt her, but slowly but surely the rational side of your mind creeps back in, reminding you of all the awful insults and lost friends she'd costed you. Everything in your life had gone wrong because of her. You're out here ready to die because of what she did on a whim. The anger from so many years of misfortune finally bubbles up to the surface and you stare her down just waiting for a reason to let it out.

"I... I'm sorry for that. I know I have a lot to make up for, but I do just want to have a good time out here, you know. Hopefully make a new friend?" she says with a sheepish smile. You want to return it, but the maelstrom of awful memories and anger at how things have turned out finally have their target and you can barely control it any longer.

You grit your teeth with the sudden rage and clench your fists. The wonderful thoughts of last night finally faded once you realize how much time of her torment it'd never make up for. "After what you did to me? Everyone in school still probably hates me more than they ever hated you. You really think that a few drinks are just going to make everything okay? Like you didn't ruin my entire life? Now you just waltz in like nothing has happened and want to be best friends?"

"Hold on, that's not—"

Sunset's looks at you like one might at a falling cabinet they accidentally tipped over, holding out a hand as if that's going to stop the disaster. You close your eyes and shake your head, unable to stop the torrent of angry remarks from flowing out.

"If it wasn't for you I'd still have friends... I'd still have a future. I'd still be happy but you made sure none of that could ever happen for me. You're hands down the absolute worst person I've ever met and not a day has gone by where I didn't wish for a world where you never existed. So why are you out here now? If you're going to do something that's going to make my life even worse just get it over with because—" You open your eyes to stare at her, but her timid, scared expression is a stark contrast from what you expected. "...because..."

You bring a hand up to your face and rub your eyes. Your rage quickly melts into regret as both of you stand in place with an awkward silence hanging in the air. You let out a frustrated groan and open your eyes to see her looking around the ground, a sad expression growing on her face as her arms fidgeted her behind her back like a scorned child. Her eyes trace across the sand, desperately looking for something to say to fix this.

The guilt hit you like a truck as you watch her. Your stomach sinks as you think about losing her forever over this and never getting to experience the high of the previous night again. You close your eyes and let a disappointed expression cover your face. "I'm sorry, Sunset..."

Sunset brings a hand up to her mouth and clears her throat. "It's okay... I think I deserved that," she says, her slightly shaky tone driving an icy spear into your heart.

You shake your head and grab your arm as you look down at the sand too. "No, you didn't."

Sunset lets out an empty laugh and shakes her head as well. "Man... I even got the police to pick you up in everything to convince everyone," Sunset says, finally gathering up the courage to look you in the eye. "Look, I know I was awful to you. I know I don't deserve your forgiveness or even your friendship, but please believe me when I say I want nothing more than to make it up to you somehow."

You look up to meet her gaze. "I'll try."

A halfhearted smile crosses her face as her eyes drop away. "Thank you." The sound of the waves fills the air again as you both search for something to say. "I get it, I really do. I did a lot of horrible things to you, to everyone. I don't expect anyone to forgive me overnight. I mean, I can hardly even forgive myself, but while I'm still here I want to do everything I can to make sure things aren't like that anymore."

You give her a feeble, halfhearted smile in return as you struggle to look up into her eyes. "Well, it's nice to hear you say that. I've never seen this side of you before, so forgive me if I don't trust it just yet," you say, the butterflies slowly flowing back in to make that uncomfortable feeling in your stomach.

"I understand completely. Can we just try at least? To be friends?"

You give her a soft nod. "Sure... honestly I'd really like that, even if I did just attack you," you say with your own sheepish smile.

"Well, I imagine you probably needed to get that off of your chest, huh? I won't hold it against you. I know I've done a lot to make your life worse."

You clear your throat, appreciating the sudden sappy feelings as they flood your system. "It's a little better now that you're here."

That manages to put a sappy smile on Sunset's face. She lifts up both of her arms with a curious, little cock of her head and you happily oblige her by stepping forward and wrapping your arms around her.

There it was again—that wonderful feeling of warmth spreading through your entire body, melting your worries away in that blissful embrace. You lean down and let your cheek rest on the top of her head, letting out a satisfied sigh as you feel the soft strands of her hair brushing up against your face. As you took in the feeling of her soft skin pressing up against yours again, you open your eyes to realize you're probably holding on a little longer than you should have.

You awkwardly take a step back and clear your throat and she does the same. You don't want to look up at her face, but out of the corner of your eye you can almost spot her cheeks turning slightly red.

"Well it's good to see a smile on your face finally, Mr. Doom and Gloom."

You let out a little laugh, rubbing the sides of your cheeks as the unused muscles grow a little sore. "This is better than sitting around alone, I guess."

Sunset waves you over to start walking with her again as she takes a few steps away in the sand. "I'll say. Now come on, I've got something I think you'll really like. We might even be able to make you happy for once."

The smile drops off of your face. In the moment you were somehow finally able to forget about the life you left back in Canterlot, but in an instant it all came rushing back. The warmth dropped out of your system as you thought about what would happen once you went back. "I don't know about that..."

Sunset looks back at your expression, a hint of concern crossing her face. "Give it a chance?" she says, trying to put on her best reassuring smile.

"Sure..." you say, doing your best to catch up to her. "Look, Sunset. I don't know if I'm going to be around for all of winter break."

Sunset raises a curious eyebrow at you. "Hmm? Why not?"

"I just, uh... I just might have to go back home early," you say, rubbing the back of your neck and looking down to the sand as the lie slips out of your mouth. "I just don't want you to be disappointed if I'm suddenly not here anymore. I'll go with you today but I don't know how much longer I'm going to stay."

Sunset looks over to you for a moment, her pace slowing. An odd sense of concern grows on her face and you look away for fear she might find you out. "Well, let's have some fun and I'll see if I can convince you to stay."

You blink a few times and look over to her, but she's already looking forward again. You expected a question, but you have to purse your lips for a moment as you study her, trying to figure out if she's read you already. No... she'd probably be more concerned if that was the case. You clear your throat again and try to regain a somewhat normal composure. "Alright. So where are we going anyway?"

Sunset shoots a smirk at you then turns her nose up. "If I told you that it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it? Though, we do need to buy you some flip flops and a shirt for it. Now come on."

The flashing lights, the cool blacks and purples of the room, and the constant sound of various games blaring their music or random sound effects, and the wall of prizes full of strange, random, and colorful toys all overwhelmed your senses for a moment as Sunset drags you by the wrist into the small vacation town's arcade. You tug at your new tank top to let some of the air conditioning in, looking around for a moment to see if anyone is staring at the text on it. 'I flexed and the sleeves fell off' was printed proudly on the front—Sunset's choice for you as you both searched through a nearby gift shop—and you're still a little uneasy about wearing it in public. Thankfully no one really seems to care.

"What should we try first? I still need to get to the end of House of the Dead 4. Wanna try that with me?" Sunset asks, a bright, eager smile crossing her face as her eyes dart excitedly between all the games.

You raise an amused eyebrow at her. "I never took you for much of a gamer, Sunset."

Sunset furrows her brow in return and shoots you a 'really?' glance. "You have a lot to learn about me then."

"A welcome surprise, I guess."

"Come on, let's see what we can get into," Sunset says, dragging you by the hand over to the guy working the counter to put money onto some weird credit card thing to swipe at the games. Things have come a long way since the cup full of quarters, you guess.

Sunset's face lights up like a kid in a candy show as she holds the little card in her hand like a precious treasure. You can barely grab your own card before you know it she's off into the aisles of flashing lights. You can hardly keep up as she drags you over to each game and swipes the card in the machine and goes at it with an almost religious fervor. Her hands shoot over the buttons and joysticks on everything from fighting games to pac man, taking the occasional break from the frantic button pressing to squeeze in a game of skee-ball or whack-a-mole.

You almost get out of breath just watching her go at it. On occasion you join her on one of the fighting arcade machines or the shooting games and get yourself thoroughly beat. Her competitive spirit is certainly something to be admired as she goes through each game and hones in to get her little moniker on the high score screen.

While Sunset is distracted with her high scores, you walk around and take a look at the huge wall of circus prizes on the shelves and hanging from the wall. A fondness built up inside you at the thought of handing one of those massive stuffed animals to Sunset and seeing that bright smile light up her face—hell, she might even give you another hug for your trouble. You close your eyes and revel in an imaginary moment, fantasizing about her softness of her hair and body brushing up against you yet again. You look down to your little game card and remember that after every game a ticket counter popped up on the screen as well.

With a newfound purpose you stride back into the rows of games and start experimenting. You do your mental calculations after each attempt to see how much each game gives you and how much you'll need for one of those massive stuffed animals. You run through a good chunk of your money until you finally find the perfect loop of the basketball hoops, a button reaction game, and miniature shooting gallery. The number of tickets pile up quickly on your card until your wrists start getting sore from the constant movement.

"Hey, find something you're good at?" You hear Sunset say behind you as you mash the last button for the reaction game.

"Oh, yeah. Thought this was pretty fun. Get all your high scores yet?"

Sunset sits down on the game's bench beside you, trading you a few apologetic glances with her sheepish smile. "Yeah... sorry about that. I saw some of my favorite games and got a little carried away. I was a little afraid you might've left."

"Why would I...?" you blink a few times as the gears turn in your mind. You haven't even thought about leaving since you walked in here, a stark contrast from your attitude when you first met Sunset on the beach yesterday. Confusion nipped at your insides as you slowly lost track of why you were even here in the first place. As you look over to those beautiful teal eyes lit up by the colorful, flashing lights all around you, you can hardly bring yourself to even consider that anymore. You silently wish today would never end.

"Well, I meant to come in here so we could play some games together. How about we try to beat House of the Dead together? I promise I can't beat you at that one," she says with a playful nudge and a wink.

"Hey, you just got lucky with games you already knew how to play," you say with your own playful nudge back.

Sunset shoots an amused grin at you. "Yeah, that's what they all say. Now come on, we've got zombies to kill."

You can't help but smile as she leads you through the aisles to the huge screen sporting the logo in those red streaks that horror movies love to use. You stand silently as you watch her giddy excitement as she looks over the machine. The way she swiped her card like an excited kid opening a Christmas present, the awe in her face as she picked up the gun in her hand and pretended to appreciate its power, and the confident grin on her lips as she pointed it at the screen.

All the hate and malice you held for her seems to have floated away on the ocean breeze. No matter how hard you tried to bring up those awful memories and thoughts of the life she doomed you to, you can't fight away the warm, fuzzy feeling you get when you look at her smile. A pang of nervousness grips your system as a new question pops into your mind. Is this... love?

"Hey, what are you doing, partner? I need some backup," she says, only sparing a moment to look over at you before she looks back and starts belting out shots at the zombies shambling over at her.

"Oh, right." you scramble around with the card and swipe it as fast as you can. The weird, plastic machine pistol feels odd in your hands as you pick it up and try to aim it, but your first volley takes down a zombie that almost took away Sunset's first bit of health.

Sunset smiles over at you as she bumps the bottom of the gun to reload. "Now that's more like it. Get ready, we're in it to win it," she says before focusing back in to blow the head off another zombie with expert precision.

You don't really know how long you ended up standing there with her. Your already-sore wrists got even more tired as you held that gun up, mowing down hordes of zombies and doing your best to keep from dying when the massive bosses showed up. Inevitably you and Sunset both end up taking hits here and there, needing to swipe again to prevent that countdown from erasing all of your progress.

The sun peaking through the front door to provide some light in the dark room had slowly disappeared as you two went at it. Your legs protest at you for standing in one place for so long, but you can't help but be engrossed as the virtual environments slowly change around you. The intense fighting is only broken up by her amused giggles as you both laugh through the ridiculously cheesy cutscenes. The levels slowly get harder and the bosses more intense as you go on, slowly draining your cards of money. You swipe it on a particularly nasty death and notice the number dropping to dangerously low levels.

"Uh, Sunset? I think we might run out before the end," you say as you pick your gun back up to get the enemies off of Sunset's back before she goes down too.

"What? No way! We're so close we just need to hold out a little longer." You both exchange glances before going back to the zombie slaughter, knowing neither of you would survive without the other long enough to go get more money put on the cards. "We can do this!"

You can feel sweat beading up on your brow as the pressure ramps up. You know you only have a couple of deaths left before you have to give up for good and deprive Sunset of her desired win. You lock in and get serious, tensing your arms and making sure all your shots are as perfect as they could possibly be.

Finally the two of you enter a massive arena with an equally intimidating boss before you. "Alright, I'm pretty sure this is the last boss. This is as far as I could ever get on my own and it took me twice the lives. Let's do this!" In the screen's light you can see the sweat on Sunset's brow accompanying her serious expression as she looks back to the fight. You look down at the little screen that told you how much money was left on your card, letting you know you only had two lives left and unfortunately you're both almost out of health.

The battle rages on and you both take massive damage from the onslaught of your ultimate challenge. You have to swipe again as the boss cuts out bits of your health you can barely keep up with. Sunset desperately tries to whittle down its health but the process is slow and painful. As you watch her you notice she's focusing more on killing the boss than defending herself and it finally costs her another life. She leans down to swipe her card only to find she'd already spent the last of her money in the last stage.

Sunset looks frantically between you and the screen. You both know this probably isn't a fight one of you could win on your own, so this might be it if you aren't fast enough. You lean over to her and swipe your card on her side of the machine, instantly bringing her back to life so you could both finally finish off your foe once and for all. With the final save you both focused in on its weak spot and whittled the last bits of its health away right before it could manage to kill you both.

The massive beast went down and you're both rewarded with the final cutscene. Sunset drops the pistol from her hands and shoots her hands up into the air, spinning around in glee as she proclaims her victory.

"Yes! Finally!" you can only smile at her and appreciate the joy on her face.

That warm, fuzzy feeling returns as you pride yourself on being the one that gave her that happiness. The wonderful emotions explode as she jumps over to you and wraps you up in a massive hug.

"Mmmm. I never would've gotten there without you. Thank you," she says with an affectionate tone into your chest. You wrap your hands around her and melt into the beautiful feeling, a little disappointment at the fact you had a shirt on this time.

"Well, you probably could've done it without me for a lot of extra money..." you say, enticing a Sunset to look up from the embrace and raise a playful eyebrow. "I mean... no problem, Sunset. It was a lot of fun," you say as you let your cheek rest on the top of her head.

She pulls away from the hug, much to your disappointment, and beams that giddy smile at you as she looks back to the score screen. She obviously did better than you, but you're proud of your meager stats anyway.

"Yeah, I'll say. I still can't believe we burned through everything and still made it through. What are the odds, huh?"

"We definitely cut it close. So, you want to go cash our tickets in?" you ask, gesturing back over to the counter.

"Oh yeah, I totally forgot about that. Let's go; I'll get you a spider ring."

The bored cashier at the counter takes your cards and swipes them into his machine. Sunset beams as the number on the screen beams up to almost a thousand tickets. She taps a finger to her chin for a moment as she looks across all of the prizes on the wall.

"So, do you want that stuffed, neon-blue monkey or the blue, cartoon shark?" she says, tracing her finger over to the more reasonably-sized stuffed animals.

"Oh, you're going to spend your points on me?"

Sunset places a hand on her chest with an aura of haughty triumph that she'd grace you with her winnings. "Of course. I need to get you a souvenir to remind of you of our victories after all."

"I guess I like the shark, then."

"Good choice. The monkey doesn't really scream 'beach vacation' to me." Sunset turns her attention to the cashier and straightens her posture and places her hands on her hips. "I'll take that stuffed shark up there. Oh, and also a spider ring and some cherry sours."

The cashier takes the assorted junk down and slides it down the counter before sliding your card as well. You almost break out laughing when you see the triumphant expression on Sunset's face fade at the sight of over five thousand points on the screen.

"Wh-What? How...?" she says, looking back and forth between you and the screen with bewilderment.

"Strategizing. Now which massive stuffed animal do you want?"

Sunset purses her lips and crosses her arms. "I guess you had to beat me at something." She lets out a quick chuckle to herself as she stares up at the assortment of fluffy colors. "The parakeet."

"Really?" you ask as you look up to the massive green bird.

"Yeah, it's a long story."

"Alright then. The parakeet, some of that chocolate, and that sun keychain, if you wouldn't mind," you say over to the clerk. He has to reach up with a pole to get Sunset's prize down and she can only let out an annoyed sigh as the massive plush dwarfs what she got.

You adopt your own smug grin as she stares at the massive bird. She rolls her eyes at you when she catches your look and nudges you. "Enjoy it while it lasts. I'm going to get you something even bigger next time."

You lean over and grab your shark and everything else that could fit into a plastic bag, leaving Sunset to haul her new friend out of the arcade. You let out a chuckle as she tries to lift it, only to hobble off balance in a few directions before finally finding her footing. The massive bird almost looks larger than her when it's finally in her hands. "I'm not sure anyone even makes something bigger than that."

"Wo-oah... Yeah, you might be right. Let's head back before this thing absorbs me entirely," she says, barely making her way over to the front door upright.

The muscles in your cheeks ache just as much as the ones in your wrist as you smile at her on the way out. That comfortable warmth overtakes you again as you watch her. You're almost disappointed that the day has to end, but the thought of walking back with her eases those troubles. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea."

The ocean gently sways in the soft moonlight across the beach, filling the air with its rhythmic waves and making sure the world isn't silent. The stiff boards of the custom chairs of the little beach house aren't making your soreness any more comfortable, but you still can't get the smile off of your face as you look over at Sunset sitting in the other chair, her massive bird propped up on the railing beside her.

"This is a nice, little place you've got. Secluded and quiet. I'm surprised there was even a house all the way out here." Sunset says as she pops another cherry sour in her mouth before offering you the bag.

You take a piece out and lean back in the chair, taking in a deep breath of the ocean air. "Yeah, my grandparents bought the place thinking they'd use it more. I got lucky and convinced my parents I needed some time alone, so it came in handy."

"So... why did you want to be out here alone?" Sunset asks, leaning forward in her chair. You look over at her, but can't quite read her expression in the dark. You heartbeat quickens slightly as you remember the bottle of pills still sitting in your pocket.

"Uh... you know... I just needed some time to think."

"About what?" her joyous tone has quickly faded away as you listen to the concern in her voice instead.

You look down to the floorboards and let out a sigh. "A lot of things. One big thing too, really. I'd just, well... I'd rather not talk about that right now. We had a really good day and I'd rather just think about that right now."

Sunset leans over and places her hand on your forearm, making that confusing mixture of warmth, excitement, and nervousness flood your system again. "I know we haven't been friends for that long, but you can talk to me, you know? If there's something wrong I want to try to help."

You open your mouth to tell her, but pause and quickly think better of it. A 'you can't help me now' isn't going to spark any sort of happy conversation. You feel the joy slipping out of you as you start to think about why you came out here again, the numb emptiness fighting with the feelings Sunset's caring hand is radiating into you. "I'd rather us try to have fun, you know?"

You hear a soft sigh leave Sunset's lips as she leans back into her chair. "I guess I can understand that. How about we have some fun tomorrow, too? Here, I'll text you my hotel address and room number," she says, pulling her hand away and letting the light of her phone illuminating her face as she taps away at it.

You're surprised to feel your phone vibrate in your pocket; you definitely never gave her your number. You pull it out to see the unnamed string of numbers and the address in question along with a sunglasses emote. "How did you...?"

"Oh, you know. I have my ways," she says as the light of her phone dies out, hiding her expression yet again.

You raise an eyebrow at her, something you know she can't really see in the dark, but it gets you wondering regardless. You close your eyes and try to let go of the suspicious thoughts; you just want to enjoy how many ever days you have left with her anyway. It would be more suspect if she hadn't just spent the whole day with you, but your mind still manages to conjure up a few doubts.

"Will I see you tomorrow?" Sunset asks, a hint of that concern seeping back into her voice.

You pause for a moment. Your mind wants to shoot back at her a hundred different depressive thoughts. Why would you want to see me again? Why would it really matter? The more time we spend together the worse it will get... You shake your head and look back over to her. "Yeah, I think so."

"Good. You have my number now, so if anything comes up or if you just want to talk about something, please don't hesitate," she says, reaching back over to place her hand back on you.

You take in a shaky, nervous breath and let your instincts act out for a moment. Before you know it you've placed your hand on top of hers and squeeze it slightly, letting the raging butterflies in your stomach absorb pretty much all of your senses. You panic a little as Sunset's hand twitches at the sudden contact, but she doesn't end up pulling away.

"Thanks, Sunset."

You can almost see the sweet smile on her face in the dark as she leans forward to get closer to you. "Of course. That's what friends are for." You hear a buzzing that isn't coming from your pocket and Sunset flips her phone out to illuminate her face again. You could feel the warmth and comfort start to fade almost immediately once her hand slips out of yours.

"My ride is almost here." Sunset stands up and puts a hand on her massive plush. Your heart sinks at the thought of being alone again, but the day couldn't last forever. You almost open your mouth to offer the couch to sleep on, but your breath catches in your throat as your brain shoots back that you've only been friends for two days now.

You find yourself standing as well, rubbing your hands awkwardly against your shorts as you watch her inspect her phone. "So, tomorrow then."

The chipper smile on her face at your words brings another round of warmth to your heart. "Yeah, we'll figure out something fun to do. Just don't do anything stupid before then, alright?"

You blink a few times at her, confusion most likely plain on your face. Did she know? How could she...? You shake your head and clear your throat. "I'll do my best. I've yet to mess up sleeping so that'd be a first."

"Well, you never know," she shoots back. Your heart pounds in your chest as Sunset steps forward to you, her arms outstretched to wrap around your torso. You immediately return the gesture and melt right back into the embrace, resting your cheek in her soft hair and letting out a satisfied sigh as the rest of the world faded away in her arms.

"I had a really great time today," she whispers into your tank top.

"Me too, Sunset," you say softly, giving her a light squeeze as you both settle into each other.

You silently wish for this moment to never end. The rest of the world had been so awful and unforgiving, but if you could only just sit in this hug for the rest of your days life might not be so bad anymore. You know it can't be, but having Sunset in your arms is a memory you know you'll never want to forget. You feel Sunset shifting around in your arms and already anticipate the disappointment of her leaving, but she decides to ramp things up instead.

"I'm glad," she whispers as she leans up on her toes and into you. Her lips quickly meet with your cheek to plant an audible kiss on it.

The feeling of her lips on your skin sends a jolt of surprise and pleasure through your system like an electric shock. You entire body goes stiff, frozen in the moment even as she leans back and lets her arms drop away from you. Your breath catches in your throat and you can't help but blink in shock as the wet spot on your cheek confirms this somehow isn't a dream.

A distant honking from the other side of the house pulls Sunset's attention away. "There's my taxi." She plants a quick punch into your stiff arm before hopping down the stairs and into the sand. "See you tomorrow, Tiger."

"Y-yeah..." you manage to get out. Before you know it Sunset is gone and you're left standing there still reeling from the kiss.

Your mind explodes with fantasies as you bring your hand up to touch the wet spot on your cheek. You only barely land back in the chair as you slump down with a goofy smile on your lips. You imagine all the other places you'd want to feel those loving lips, all the romantic ways you might upgrade that to an actual kiss. Date ideas flood your mind as you try desperately to find some way to share more of those wonderful feelings with her.

You look back out over the moonlit ocean and try to reach out to the future. For so long all you ever wanted was that last day out here, wandering out into the ocean never to be seen again, but now? All you can imagine yourself wanting is a life with the girl you just had in your arms. Your thoughts refuse to center on anything else as they dance through imaginary dates, a wedding, a life together...

The love train comes to a sudden stop as your mind injects some reality back into your thoughts. Would she even want that? If she's not scheming something, what if she just wants to make it up to you then forget about you? When you both go back to school will it be like none of this ever happened? The realization deflates the joy that was building up inside you. It'd only been two days, but every time your mind thought of her you could feel those nervous butterflies flare up again, the desire to feel her close to you is almost unbearable until you finally feel her hug again.

You can't deny the massive crush you have on her anymore, one that you know that she probably doesn't share. You squeeze the bottle of pills in your pocket and give it a shake to make sure all the contents are still there. Maybe it was a blessing that Sunset arrived and wanted to be around you—you'd finally get some happiness to hold onto before your life was finally over. The thought of going back to school with the way things are, with Sunset going back to her friends and not spending time with you, it's not a life that brought you any pleasure to think about. It'd all go back to how it was if you didn't down that bottle. Everyone will still think you're a terrible person and Sunset won't even risk her reputation by being around you anymore.

The smile slowly fades from your lips. The world wouldn't ever change, but at least you had this time now with Sunset to really enjoy your last few days. At least you could die when all this was over finally feeling some semblance of happiness after so many years of isolated misery. You lean back into the chair, trying to imagine the wonderful days of the dwindling winter vacation to come, wondering just how many good ones you could enjoy before the end inevitably came.