“How long will you be gone?”

Aria smiled at me a little dolefully then socked me on the shoulder.

“Three days, four nights,” Aria said, trying to keep the smile on her face.

It was a little brittle and we both knew it.

I rocked back and forth on the small stone wall I was sitting on. The cold winter wind blew around us and snow was falling as per usual for Canterlot. This city got the full blast of the east ocean’s bitter chill, and every winter the snow came down in waves.

We were sitting side by side on the wall bordering the walkway of the CCU quad. I was between classes and Aria had met me for lunch, as she usually did… well, it was my lunch but her breakfast. She was bundled up in a coal-dark overcoat and purple scarf, both of which went down to her ankles, although she still had her green ballcap. I was wearing a white and red winter ensemble complete with a white coat, warm candy-cane striped leggings, gloves, and a scarf, that Rarity had put together for me. She’d given it to me for the price of materials as thanks for modeling it for her.

“It’s some kinda big lounge-owners convention stripper-palooza kinda thing, I guess,” Aria explained after a few moments of silence. “And ‘Dagi wants us to get our name out there to the wider world, not just Canterlot.”

“Why do you have to go?” I asked in a small voice, and I hated how whiny I sounded.

Two months.

Two months of being together, two months of being head over heels for this girl, two months of spending every moment we could together.

And now she was leaving for several nights.

I absolutely hated how much I hated that. The idea of falling asleep alone practically made me ill and it also made me feel like a clingy, whiny little bitch.

“I get ‘Dagi, because she’s the general manager,” I put up a finger, “and ‘Nata does the books so I guess I get that… but why are you going?”

“I’m the star dancer,” Aria explained, shrugging. “Apparently each lounge has their biggest star strut their stuff in a kind of competition on the second night and for the Note that’s me.”

“Oh,” I said softly.

I couldn’t really argue with that.

“You gonna be okay, Red?” Aria asked, her tone was playful but I could hear the concern in her voice.

“I’ll be fine,” I replied, waving a hand in what I hoped was relaxed nonchalance. “I’m a big girl, I can handle a few nights on my own.”

“Really?” Aria pressed, one eyebrow rising, “because you look pretty down.”

“I’m used to getting laid every night and then some,” I said with a laugh that was only slightly forced. “It’ll be a little lonely but I’ll be fine.”

Aria stared at me for a few moments, and I gave her a small smile.

“You’re worrying about me, aren’t you?” I asked quietly, and Aria practically flinched.

“I- I am not!” Aria snapped. “I just… I’m not going to be here so I…”

She stammered for a few more seconds then clamped her mouth shut and glared at the snowy ground.

“I’ll miss you like crazy, okay?” I said finally. “Is that what you want me to say? Because it’s true, because you’ll be gone and I love you, and I’ll want you to not be gone,” I laughed a little as I said the words and leaned to the side against Aria’s shoulder. “I’ll miss you, okay?”

Aria nodded, then said: “I’ll miss you too, Red.”

“It’s only a few days, though,” I said confidently. “I’m just worried about you getting enough to eat.”

Aria rolled her eyes. “I’ve been gorging myself for two months, Shimmer, I don’t even get hungry anymore which is nuts for a Siren.” She leaned against me, putting more of her weight against my shoulder. “I’ve got enough reserves that I could go a month without a bite and be fine.”

“I’d rather not miss you for a whole month,” I said with a heavy pout that I hoped hid how absolutely horrible that prospect sounded. “You’re sure you’ll be alright?”

Aria rolled her eyes. “Yes, you’ve given me enough to get me through a three day fast, I’ll be fine. You?”

“Yeah,” I said quietly as I leaned down to kiss her softly on the lips. “I’ll be fine.”

I am not fine.

I drove Aria to O'Mare International, saw her to her flight, kissed her goodbye, even got hugs and kisses from Adagio and Sonata who were weirdly starting to treat me like a family member, and then went to the airport bathroom and promptly had a panic attack.

My brain filled with images of Aria’s plane going down, or her getting in a car accident in Detrot, or getting hurt some other awful way. I threw up twice before I managed to get my anxiety under control. Technically three times but, by that point, there wasn’t anything left to toss up, so I managed to keep it to gut-clenching dry-heaves.

It was another hour before I got back to the dorm, and I was surprised to find Twilight there sitting in one of the easy chairs watching tv: some sci-fi drama by the look of it. She glanced up to greet me but I must've looked a fright because her greeting died alone and forgotten somewhere in her throat.

“H-Hey Twi’, what’s up?” I tried to sound cheery but my throat was raw. “No class?”

Twilight looked up at me with concern for a few moments before carefully shaking her head.

“No, it got canceled, the professor is snowed in,” Twilight said, then gave me more a scrutinizing look. “Are you okay? You, uh… okay, I’m not gonna lie Sunset, you look like crap.”

“Uh, yeah, I’m fine,” I said, shrugging. “I just had a bad day… i-it’s nothing, though, I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine,” Twilight pressed, her normally sedate voice become heated as she stood and stalked over to me. “You look like death warmed over! Don’t lie to me and-” she flinched back and wrinkled her nose as she got close. “Sunset, did you throw up?”

I grimaced, I had hoped to make it to the bathroom and gargle some mouthwash before it got to this.

“It’s nothing,” I repeated more firmly, taking a step back. “My stomach was upset.”

Twilight’s expression grew harder.

“I may not be the Element if Honesty, Sunset, but I know a half-truth when I hear one,” Twilight closed the distance again and narrowed her eyes. “Where’s Aria?”

I flinched and Twilight squinted angrily. “I knew it had to do with her.”

“What’s your problem?!” I snarled, my cheeks reddening. “I told you I’m fine!”

Twilight took a step back and held up her hands in placation.

“Except you’re not,” Twilight pressed. “I’m not blind, Sunset, and you know I’m not stupid. There’s no nice way to say this but you like a junkie who missed their fix.”

I shivered and shook my head. “That’s really hyperbolic.”

“Is it?” Twilight asked, never taking her eyes from me. “You’re shivering and pale-”

“It’s cold outside,” I snapped.

“-and you look like you haven’t eaten in a while,” Twilight finished.

“Yeah well, like you said: I threw up,” I said angrily.

Twilight sighed, took my hands, and I realized I must have been freezing because she felt like a furnace. “Sunset, I love you like a sister and I want you to be happy but this thing with Aria…”

“Don’t!” I snarled, trying to pull back but Twilight held on with surprising strength. “Don’t make this about her! It has nothing to do with-”

“She’s killing you, Sunset!” Twilight cried.

“She’s keeping me alive!” I lashed out, finally ripping my hands from Twilight who backed up looking stricken.

“You have no idea,” I hissed, “how miserable I was before her, how empty I felt,” I wrapped my arms around myself and started to shake. “You have no idea how lonely I was… I cried myself to sleep half the time because I felt so alone.”

“S-Sunset, why didn’t you say something?” Twilight whispered, reaching out a hand unsteadily.

I pulled away.

“Because it wouldn’t matter,” I said bitterly. “None of you could give me what I needed… it wasn’t fair to ask, or to make any of you feel bad because you couldn’t do anything.”

“You know better than I do that’s not how friendship works,” Twilight said softly.

“I didn’t need friendship,” I sobbed, still shaking. “I needed someone to touch me, I needed someone to want me, to love me!”

Twilight stared, looking pained and lost for words.

“I know you girls love me,” I said, my voice shallow and ghostly. “But… sometimes it’s just not enough, y'know?” I let out a cracked sob. “And I know that Aria will never leave me… I know she’ll always want me and that she’ll always come back to me. I know that I’m just that important to her.”

“Sunset you say that like-” Twilight began, trailing off weakly.

I shrugged.

“I’ve always been the disposable one…” I said, finally putting to words what I’d never dared to voice. “That mess that one Christmas back in high school pretty much confirmed it.”

Now it was Twilight’s turn to flinch.

It was an incredibly sore topic and no one brought it up if it could be helped. Twilight hadn’t been there for it personally but she had heard what had happened after the fact. That's why she was the only one I'd ever talked to about what it had done to me; about the scars it had left behind.

“I know that Aria would never do that,” I said finally. “Not like everyone else…”

“I never left you,” Twilight said softly, “you saved me, Sunset.” Reaching out, she took my hand again. “And I want to save you… so please listen to me…”

“Don’t…” I begged, “don’t do this to me, Twi’.”

“She is using you, Sunset,” Twilight said firmly. “Aria isn’t a human, she’s not even a predator, she’s a parasite!” I felt my rage building but Twilight kept going. “She has you completely dependent on her! You hardly do anything without her! She’s got you hooked on something and it’s tearing you apart!”

“It's not like that, you don't know the whole story!” I bit the words out shakily.

“She doesn’t care about you-”

“Stop!”

“She doesn’t lo-”

I ripped my hand from her grip and slapped her.

Twilight stared at me in shock, her cheek taking on a reddening tinge from where I hit her. We both stared, eyes wide at what I’d just done. I’d never raised a hand against Twilight in my life, and now…

The guilt was swallowed by a boiling tarpit of rage welling up my throat from somewhere in my guts, though. I’d talked to Twilight about my fears and my insecurities, she knew what those words would do to me. She knew how scared I was of losing people, and of people lying about being my friend… about caring for me.

“You don’t get to do that to me,” I said in a hollow voice. Tears were streaming from my eyes. “You know how bad my anxiety is… you know how easy it is for me to imagine people leaving me… you don't get to try and make me believe Aria would leave me too.”

“Sunset I didn’t mean-”

“Get out,” I said softly, looking down at the floor and away from her. “Get the hell away from me.”

Tears trickled slowly down Twilight’s cheeks, and she nodded.

“I… I’m sorry,” she sobbed as she moved around me, stopping only to snatch up her shoes. “I love you, Sunset, I’m… I’m sorry…”

“Don’t,” I muttered, not turning around. “Just go away.”

I wrapped my arms back around myself and started to shake as I heard Twilight leave, closing the door.

I’d just hit one of my best friends in the face.

Part of my brain was shrieking at me to chase her down. To apologize and beg her forgiveness. The problem was that I wasn’t sure what part of my brain that was. I didn’t know if that was the sane part of my brain trying to run damage control on a huge mistake, or if it was the anxiety-ridden and terror-fueled part of my brain desperately trying to keep my neurotic fears of abandonment from coming true.

I took a deep breath and focused on the facts.

One: Aria loved me.

That was the first fact that popped to mind and I knew it like I knew I needed oxygen to breathe. I didn’t know how to explain it but I could feel it.

It was irrelevant though, my mind told me, and for a moment I rebelled against that thought. Nothing about Aria was irrelevant, nothing!

I took another breath and started again.

Two: Twilight… hadn’t meant to hurt me. I knew that too, just as firmly.

She had taken a step too far, but… she wanted to protect me because she was scared for me. She had seen me falling apart in a bad way and had jumped to conclusions and it had bit both of us in the ass.

Three: Twilight had hurt me, and badly.

More tears joined the bitter, salty tracks that were traced down my cheeks. She hadn’t meant to but Twilight had taken a metaphorical knife and lodged it deep into a place where I was vulnerable.

Four: I needed sleep.

I sagged in place, sobbing quietly as I trudged to my bedroom.

It was only six in the evening by this point but I felt like I’d been awake for two days. A part me wished I had been, both so I could have a legitimate reason for feeling this bad, and because that would mean Aria would be back sooner.

Aria.

I let out another hacking sob as I remembered how empty my bed was going to be tonight. There would be no familiar, slender warmth wrapping herself around me. No waking up to soft butterfly kisses on my neck.

No whispered ‘I love you's’.

I could call her… but she was in Detrot and she was busy. I couldn’t just stay on the phone with her forever, as tempting as that sounded, but maybe…

Collapsing into bed, I pulled my phone out and hit the speed dial for Aria. I waited as it rang over and over, eventually going to voicemail.

‘You got you-know-who, and if you don’t know who then delete this number or I’ll track you down and delete your kneecaps, and if this is you, Red? I love you.’

I violently hit the end-call button before the beep because if I didn’t then all Aria would be getting would be a baffling five-minute voicemail of me crying hysterically over the phone. I briefly thought about calling again and leaving a message but after that, there was no way I was gonna get through two words without breaking down.

Instead, I gathered up my blankets and trudged back out to the living room, dropped into the chair, and turned on webflix. I flipped on an old black-and-white, a noir film that Aria and I both loved, and tried to get to sleep.

Six hours and two movies plus credits later I was forced to accept that I couldn’t sleep.

Not without Aria.

I had cried a half-dozen times, half of them out of loneliness and half over the fight with Twilight.

Between the movies, I’d sent AJ and Rarity a text asking them to check up on Twi’ and explaining a little of what happened, but I also told them to stay away. I wasn’t in the right headspace to talk to anyone face to face and I didn’t want to explode on them. I needed some time alone, to heal and to put myself back together, but more than anything I needed Aria.

For what it’s worth, they both promised they’d do what they could, but they asked me to keep in touch at least, and I promised I would.

Half an hour after that, a pizza had arrived at my door: barbecue chicken and red onions, my favorite kind, with a little note on it: a lightning bolt filled in with rainbows.

Bless your idiot heart, Rainbow Dash.

I ate a little, watched more tv, and that brought me to midnight and the annoying fact that I wasn’t going to be getting to sleep.

Not without…

I blinked and sat up as a crazy idea crept into my head. It was definitely something a psycho stalker would do and as much as I didn’t want to be that… I was sort of already there with Aria.

Moving quickly, my exhaustion dissipated by motivation, I grabbed my backpack and slung it over my shoulder, pulled on my warmest clothes including my winter jacket and my beanie, then I lit off into the hallway and down the stairs praying there was still a bus running past midnight.

As it happened: there was not, but rather than give up like a reasonable person in subzero temperatures I instead chose to walk and let me tell you it was miserable beyond description.

The winds were blowing in force and the snow hammered at me. I pulled my scarf close and my hat down and the part of my brain that I’m certain was the sane part this time around screamed at me that this was the dumbest most reckless thing I’ve ever done including jamming a magical crown on my head and trying to take over an alternate dimension with mind-controlled teenagers.

I knew that I could literally freeze to death out here, I’d lived in a warehouse for almost three years before scraping together enough for an apartment, and prior to that I'd been homeless, so I knew Canterlot winters like an abusive ex. And yet, somehow, that idea was still slightly more palatable than going back to my empty, Aria-less, dorm.

Against all odds, I made it to the Last Note.

It was past three in the morning and I was shivering like a wet puppy as I made my way through the mostly-empty parking lot.

At the door I spied Backstage ushering the last few patrons out, most of them stumbling drunk towards cabs, and he looked to be preparing to lock up.

Still shivering violently, I stumbled up to him clutching my backpack in numb hands.

“Miss Shimmer?” Backstage stared at me in shock as he recognized me under all my layers. “Sorry, but Lady Blaze is-”

“I-In D-Detrot, I know,” I said, stuttering over my words.

“Did you… walk here?”

I gave him a fragile and sheepish grin.

“Good lord, girl,” Backstage shook his head in disbelief. “Well, I figure ya need somethin’?”

“Can… can I c-come in?” I asked quietly.

Backstage’s lips hardened to a thin line. “Lemme check in.”

I gave him a hopeful smile and nodded as he pulled the miniature walkie on his shoulder strap to his mouth and spoke into it in a low voice. It crackled a few times, and I heard someone respond, but not with what words.

After a moment of nodding and replying, Backstage gave me a short nod to go in.

I shuffled past him to the lobby and gasped softly at the feeling of warm air. My whole body prickled horribly as feeling began to return but I didn’t have time to consider the discomfort as Tempest Shadow approached me, her usual sharp suit straining to hold her muscular figure.

“Buenas Noches, Miss Shimmer,” Tempest said, her smooth, rich accent coloring her words. “What can I do for you?”

I blew out a breath. Here goes nothing.

“I was hoping you could, uhm… let me into Aria's room,” I said in a tone of voice that was a lot more fragile than I liked. “P-please?”

Tempest eyed me carefully for several moments. Her sharp gaze traveling over my bedraggled figure, taking in my shaking legs that were still weary from the long walk, my numb hands, and my almost blue lips.

Then she sighed softly. “You must miss her very much to be here like this.”

I let out a tiny, broken hiccup as I tried very hard not to cry.

I was so tired.

“Very well, follow me,” Tempest said finally. “I doubt Lady Blaze will object, and if she hears I turned you down it will be my ass.”

“Thank you so much!” I cried, feeling my heart swell as I followed behind her.

She led me back through the VIP section and towards the small door at the rear of the stage. I couldn’t help recalling how hesitant I had been when I'd first crossed that threshold, and it actually made me laugh a little.

We went down the short set of stairs and to the second door on the left, and Tempest drew out a set of keys and fitted one of them to the lock. The door slid open and Tempest nodded for me to enter, passing me the key as she did.

“I’ll trust you to return that,” Tempest said sternly, then turned on her heel, and left, her footfalls making almost no noise which I still found disconcerting for someone that big.

I palmed the key as I stepped inside Aria’s room and suddenly my world was righted again, not completely but enough, as I was surrounded by her scent.

Her colors.

Her.

Lavender and mint was everywhere, only faintly though, but enough that it was permeating everything in the room. I felt myself relax as I shot a grateful smile back at the empty doorway before I closed the door. I dumped my things off by the bed, stripped out my clothes, then ran to the shower to stand under the hot water for a while as I forced feeling back into my numbed extremities.

I stepped out of the shower about twenty minutes later, drying myself off as I did, then walked back into the room and burrowed under the covers of Aria’s bed. The sheets and blankets were warm and soft, and if I tried I could imagine Aria was about to join me.

She wasn’t, of course, and I knew it. I'd had a long a terrible day, though... my girlfriend that I was maybe literally madly in love with was a few hundred miles away, one of my best friends was mad at me, and all of my other friends were worried sick.

But I couldn't do anything about any of that right now, so instead I decided to do what any reasonable young adult woman would do in my situation: I pulled one of the big, poofy pillows into my arms, buried my face against it, took a deep breath…

And I cried myself to sleep.

A knock came at my door and I looked up.

I’d come back to my dorm after sleeping like a lump of stone at the Note mostly because Finals were creeping up in a handful of weeks and I needed to prepare. Tempest had let me keep the key to Aria’s room for the time being even though she’d told me to return it, and even went so far as to get me a ride back to campus from one of the Note's small fleet of vehicles they use for private escort services.

I really need to get her something by way of thanks.

“Door’s open,” I called, taking a sip of my coffee then grimacing as I realized it had gone cold while I’d been going over my programming notes.

The door creaked open and Applejack stepped in with a slightly worried look on her face.

“Hey there Sugarcube,” Applejack said quietly before holding up a paper bag. “Mind if I join ya? Brought us some breakfast.”

I smelled apple fritters and muffins, and my stomach growled. That sounded way better than the slightly burnt toast I was eating.

“Food bribes are always welcome,” I said jokingly.

AJ smiled warmly before stepping briefly into the kitchen to grab some plates, then took a seat across from me, dishing out a muffin and fritter to both of us. I snatched up the muffin first and took a large bite, it was apple cinnamon and I knew immediately from the quality that it wasn't from Applejack’s kitchen.

It was from Ditzy’s. Written’s Quill but that woman makes the best muffins.

“So… Rares and I talked t’Twilight…” Applejack began, and I grimaced as I took a small bite of fritter next.

“Yeah?” I said brusquely.

“Look, I ain’t gonna beat ‘round the bush,” she continued, shaking her head. “We’re all a mite worried ‘bout ya, Sunset. Have been for a while…”

“There’s nothing to worry about,” I said, trying to keep the irritation out of my voice. “I’m doing fine… better than fine actually.”

“You ain’t lookin’ it, Sugarcube,” Applejack replied, leaning back in her chair. “I ain’t sayin’ one way or t’other on this yet, a’right? I’m just sayin’ what I’m seein’.”

“And what are you seeing, Jackie?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.

She sighed. “I’m seein’ my friend gettin’ swallowed up by this relationship… she ain’t takin’ time for herself or anyone else for that matter.”

Applejack met my gaze and I didn’t see any of the fear or judgment in her eyes that I’d seen in Twilight’s the night before.

Just the usual stolid, unyielding resolve of the Apple clan’s eldest daughter.

I let out a slow breath.

“What I have with Aria is… weird and unusual, okay?” I said after a few moments. “I’ll grant you that, and I’ll grant you that I should probably spend more time with you girls, it’s just… it’s so easy to get caught up with her, but that’s not Aria’s fault, okay? That’s part of what made me so mad last night.”

“Whadya mean?” Applejack asked softly.

I grimaced. “I mean everything thing Twilight threw at me, everything she blamed Aria for… it’s not Aria… it’s me.”

“Twilight’s under the impression you’n Aria are gettin’ into drugs and the like,” Applejack said, and I let out a harsh bark of laughter.

“Yeah that sounds like Twilight,” I said thinly. “Nope, nothing but good old fashioned brain-made dopamine… I can’t say I’m not addicted to her though,” I leaned back in my chair and laughed, “maybe that’s why I looked like a junkie last night, I was going through Aria withdrawal.”

“No drugs? No nothing?” Applejack asked flatly.

I shook my head. “We go out drinking sometimes but even that’s not all that common, so no, nothing like that.” Then I chuckled a little acidly. “Actually if I’m being real with you? I drank more when I was with Rainbow Dash, and it was probably for unhealthier reasons.”

Applejack looked me in the eye for a moment longer, then seemed to relax.

“Thank the lord for that, then,” Applejack said softly. “Ain’t gonna lie, I wondered…. but I also trusted you… wasn’t til the fight with Twilight that I figured I oughta step in.”

“Yeah well, I may be sorry that I lost my temper, and I’m definitely sorry that I lashed out, but…” I shook my head again, “Written’s Quill, Jackie, Twilight had it coming… she said some really shitty things.”

“Like?”

“Aria doesn’t love you,” I quoted, my face twisting bitterly.

Applejack winced. “Yeah a’right tha’s goin’ a mite far, but answer me this: I ain’t sayin’ she don’t love ya, Sugarcube, but how d’ya know she does? No offense but sayin’ it don’t count… a body can say a thing an’ not mean it.”

I stared down at my notes for a few more moments, then gathered them up and pushed them away. I got up to get more coffee, refilling Applejack’s cup too, then took another apple fritter and munched on it as I met Applejack’s eyes.

“Remember the carnival down at the pier a few weeks back?” I asked after a moment, and Applejack gave me a sidelong glance but nodded. “Aria and I went there on a date, okay?”

“Seems pretty normal,” Applejack allowed. “How’s that answer my-”

“I’m getting there,” I cut her off. “So as we’re heading there Aria is just endlessly bitching about how lame carnivals are, and how they’re all just kid stuff, and it gets to the point that I’m regretting ever asking her to come out to it, right?”

“O~kay,” Applejack drawled but didn’t say anything more.

“So we get there, and I’m already feeling like I fucked up,” I said quietly, “Tartarus, I was about to offer to turn around and just hope she didn’t see me cry a little at how bad I had screwed up, and…” I smiled a little at the memory, “and as I look up I realise it’s showing on my face… she sees the look on my face and without another word she proceeds to drag me around to the entire carnival, winning me a prize at every, single, booth.”

Applejack’s eyes widened a little at that.

“It was the cutest thing,” I said, chuckling a little. “We had been all over the pier by the end of the night, ate the worst junk food, and my arms were overflowing with stuffed animals and random trinkets.” I was laughing and maybe crying a little as I retold the story. “Except from the strength bell! Aria is tough but she’s too short and built for speed, not power right? The girl's got no leverage, so she couldn’t get it to the top even after a dozen tries!”

We both shared a laugh and I couldn’t stop grinning at the memory of Aria getting increasingly frustrated to the point of swearing fluently in a language I'm certain wasn't from Earth. One thing I learned being with Aria was that you had to really make an effort to get her to curse in Sirenic.

“So, anyway, eventually I just stepped up, grabbed the hammer, took one giant swing and shot it straight up to the top!” I cheered, then took another bite of fritter and washed it down with more coffee.

“All those weekends helpin’ out on the Acres really paid off, huh?” Applejack said with a laugh.

“Yeah, it did,” I agreed, flexing one arm with a smirk. “So, when I picked out a prize, I got her this big, bright red seahorse plushie the same shade as my hair, and do you know what she named it?!”

“Aria Blaze named her plushie?” Applejack said with a tone of disbelief and I nodded. “A’right, hit me… what’d she name it?”

“Hippocrampus the Period Demon,” I deadpanned.

Applejack snorted and let out a bark of laughter that turned into knee-slapping cackles.

“She did not!” Applejack gasped out.

“Yup, apparently Sirens in their native form don’t get periods or anything,” I said, shaking my head. “So you can imagine how thrilled they were the first time that happened to their mortal bodies.” Applejack winced and nodded. “Aria had, according to her, compared it to having her guts shoved full of angry spiny seahorses, and the plushie had reminded her of it.”

“That’s kinda gross, Sugarcube,” Applejack said, still wheezing a little with laughter.

“But my point leads to this: look!” I reached to the side and grabbed my wallet, pulling out a set of three pictures attached in a column. “At the end of the night, we went to a photo booth… here, just be careful with them.”

Applejack set her food down, wiped her hands, and took the photos gingerly, and her eyes widened a little at what was on them.

All three were of Aria and me; in the first one we had our cheeks pressed together, smiling broadly at the camera, and in the second one we were pulling faces at it.

In the third, we had meant to snap it just as we kissed but, as usual when it came to kissing each other, got overzealous and overshot it a little, and it took the picture the instant after.

In the picture, Aria and I were staring into each other’s eyes; my smile was dreamy, my eyes still half-closed, and my nose was nuzzling hers. Aria’s smile was soft, gentle, and her cheeks were dimpled with happiness.

But it was Aria’s eyes that stopped my heart every time I looked at the picture and I knew that it was her eyes that caught Applejack’s breath too.

There was no lust, and none of that demeaning cockiness or contemptuous laughter in them that anyone else who knew her would have expected. Instead, in that instant, Aria’s eyes were full of warmth and care and love, and it almost made her look like a completely different person.

“You see it?” I asked quietly.

Applejack nodded, and all she said by way of reply was: “Eeyup.”

“Feel better about us now?” I asked.

“Guess I do,” Applejack said, passing the pictures gently back to me. “And I’m powerful sorry I doubted ya, Sugarcube.”

“It’s okay,” I replied. “At least you gave me a chance to tell my side of it first.”

“Ye~ah, I’m gonna go have a talk with Twi’,” Applejack said as she stood up and stretched. “Try not to hold it against her too bad though, Sugarcube… y’all know she was tryin’ her best and only actin’ outta love.”

“I know,” I said softly. “It just… hurts too much right now, y’know?”

“Eeyup, that I do,” Applejack said solemnly before reaching out and giving my hand a friendly squeeze. “We’ll talk later, hon, and don’t be a stranger.”

“I don’t think I could get stranger if I tried,” I said with a small laugh that Applejack shared.

As she reached the door, Applejack turned back to me, frowning as she met my eyes. “You really gonna be alright, Sugarcube? You still look like a mile’a bad road.”

I shrugged. “It’s only three more nights,” I replied. “Being away from Aria hurts like a bitch but she’ll be back soon, so yeah, I’ll be fine.”

Applejack nodded again, smiled, and left.

I might have mentioned prior to this but I was not fine. ‘Hurt like a bitch’ was an understatement of titanic magnitude. But it wouldn’t do any good to bring it up, so I ignored it, went to class, and then went back to the Note and cried myself to sleep again for the second time.

At least that time I got a ride to the Note instead of trudging through the snow, though.

The next day was grayer and duller than the last. I found myself idly thinking about how lucky it was that Aria hadn’t left during finals week because I could not identify a single specific thought that I'd had all day and that would not be conducive to an exam atmosphere.

I moved slowly through the dorm room, tidying things up, getting them ready for tomorrow, and making myself some food.

I think it was soup, but I honestly don’t remember.

Whatever it was, I finished it, washed the bowl and spoon, then set them on the plastic rack to dry.

The whole world was gray and sludgy as I did my tasks, and I had to keep reminding myself that I only had one more day and two more nights before Aria was back in my arms.

One more day, two more nights. One more day, two more nights. One more day, two more nights. One more day, two more nights.

It became a mantra as I finished packing up my backpack. I was just about to dial the Note’s number and ask them to send the car around again when I heard a cacophony of noise hammering down the hallway like someone had let loose a herd of irate Great Danes and told them to ‘sic-em!’.

The noise stopped with a resounding THUD directly on my door that shook the entire thing in its frame and made me nearly leap out of my skin in shock, followed by the strangest sort of scratching; a kind of sharp, scuffing noise like someone was scraping at the metal lock with a needle.

I knew that sound. I'd made that sound back in my good old bad days. That was the sound of someone picking a lock, the lock to my dorm room door specifically. Rather than be alarmed I just walked over to it, slightly impressed at the sheer audacity of it, and clicked the lock open.

The scratching stopped just as I cracked open the door to see a frazzled, frantic, and out-of-breath Aria kneeling at the door next to a carry-on bag while holding a pin and torsion rod, and staring up at me.

I blinked in shock.

She was wearing her lime green ballcap and a loose leather jacket dyed purple with aqua highlights. Aria’s hair was a mess; matted to her head by snowmelt and clinging to her face where it had blown by the wind. Her cheeks were flushed from the frigid winter air, and she was breathing hard.

I saw her swallow, lick her lips, and then grab her stuff and pitch it into the room past me, torsion rod and all which, I think, went skittering under the couch.

“Aria?” I said softly. “You… you’re ba-”

Not to belabor the obvious, but stating that she was back early was literally all my brain had the power for at that moment and Aria didn’t even let me finish that.

She shouldered her way into my room, kicked the door closed, and grabbed my face to pull me down into a desperate kiss.

“I love you-” she gasped, but barely had the last word out before she was kissing me again, “-I love you-” more kisses, “-I love you!”

My knees turned watery and went out from under me, and Aria followed me down until we were just clinging to each other. I shook and sobbed and tried to say ‘I love you’ back but, I’ll be honest: all I vaguely remember is sinking to the ground clutching onto her, kissing her, and just weeping like a bitch, and I half expected Aria to crack a snide joke about it.

Instead, Aria just started crying too.

We laid there on the floor of the dorm room wrapped around each other, not willing to move for fear of not being in complete contact with one another.

There was no reason to ask why Aria was home a day and two nights ahead of her sisters.

You don’t bother to ask a junkie why they’re shaking, after all.

“I missed you so much,” I cried, clinging to Aria and pressing my face against the crook of her shoulder. “I had to be in your bed just to get any sleep… I cried every night, and I-”

“Ssh, I know,” Aria whispered around lips that were damp with tears as she buried her face in my hair. “Me too, I… I’ve been a mess since I left you in the airport… the only way I got through the dance competition was Sonata telling me to pretend I was dancing for you.”

I smiled and let out a hiccuping laugh.

“D-Did you win?” I asked, my voice cracking with a touch of hysteria.

Aria nodded, biting her lip as she shook with a fit of giggles.

Then she kissed me again and I melted against her. My whole world had felt like a faulty chainsaw that I’d been pulling at the cord for ages to start it up only for the engine to just roar to life without warning.

My hands slipped over her body and my fingers found all the familiar curves and grooves of her skin. I let my hands follow those graceful shoulders down to the smooth hills of muscle along her back all the way to the delicate slopes of her gorgeous legs.

Taking a grip, I pulled her close and stood up, and Aria latched onto me, her arms around my neck and draped over my shoulders and her legs locked around my waist. I had a firm grip on her rear end as I carried her to my room.

She wordlessly flailed at her bag as I passed it and I grudgingly pulled one hand off of her to grip it and slide it into the room ahead of us.

I didn’t bother with the lights, I just dropped us both onto the bed and kissed every exposed patch of skin I could reach as Aria writhed beneath me.

Normally Aria and I tended to jockey for control in bed, that was part of what made sex with her so much fun, but not this time. This time I was the ravenous one and Aria was the one starved for touch. I pulled her jacket and shirt off and tossed them away, her bra, skirt, and panties went next.

I trailed her now-naked body with kisses, and she twisted under my fingers. I wanted to drown myself in the feeling of her body, and deep down I knew she wanted the same thing from me.

So I did the next best thing.

I pulled my clothes off, throwing them haphazardly away from the bed, and then slung myself over Aria, my knees on either side of her shoulders and my dripping pussy over her face.

Gripping her legs, I lowered myself to lick and taste her at the same moment she took hold of me to return the favor. In moments we were curled around each other, our tongues slipping in and out of each other, and the soft sounds of moans filled the bedroom.

Maybe it was just the lack of Aria being near me for over two days, but I swear she tasted sweeter than ever. As my tongue found her hood and clit, I worked my fingers into her gently and she let out a shuddering moan as liquid splashed across my lips.

I felt two of her fingers slipping into my cunt and two into my ass and I let out a harsh, sudden gasp of pleasure.

Aria knew where all of my buttons were and just how hard and how fast to press them. I could feel how desperate she was for me because it was at least as much as I was for her.

Without warning, Aria locked her legs around my head and flipped me over so I was in my back, and she straightened out. The full press of her hips were planted over my face and the instant she was stable Aria began grinding her pussy against my face and I moaned softly.

“Fuck yes,” Aria hissed, her hips bucking, “moan for me, Red, you know I love it when you make that sound…”

I did know. I knew it drove her crazy and I absolutely loved doing it to her.

She lowered herself back down and started licking at me again and I jerked and gasped as she slid her tongue against my sensitive folds.

After a few moments the both of us collapsed to a shuddering climax before going limp, still clinging to each other in a tangle of limbs.

Leadenly, I turned over and straightened out so I was laying beside Aria the right way up. She was bent over the side of the bed fishing for something in her bag, so I took the opportunity to lean in and give her pert ass a little love bite.

Aria squealed and toppled over the edge of the bed to the sound of peals of laughter from me.

When she stood up I was expecting her to be fuming. Instead, she was blushing and rubbing her rear with one hand while the other gripped a familiar tangle of straps.

I gave Aria a smoky smile and turned over a little, spreading my legs enough to give her a look.

To my surprise she shook her head silently, started to say something, and then seemed to choke on it, her face flushing a darker red.

“Ari’?” I said softly, “what’s-”

Aria pushed the strap-on towards me by way of response.

I stared down at it in shock and surprise, then looked back up at Aria who was slinking back onto the bed and curling up beside me.

“Are… are you sure?” I asked in a gentle voice.

“Yeah,” Aria replied, her tone uncharacteristically subdued. “I want you to… so c’mon Red, don’t keep me waiting here.”

I nodded and sat up, slipping my legs through the straps and cinching them comfortably secure before sliding the purple dildo into place and pushing the first half inside me.

“Ah… fuck,” I hissed, clenching around it as I got used to its presence.

Then I looked down at Aria, and the sight took my breath away.

She was laying on her back beneath me, looking up at me with pleading eyes. Her hands were resting gently on my shoulders and her legs were already hitched up and ready to accept me. I felt my jaw drop open slightly as I stared into those perfect jewels of hers, and swallowed thickly.

“You ready?” I asked in as tender a tone as I could.

“Yeah,” Aria said quietly. “I want you to take me, Red… like no one else has…”

I blinked in shock. “N-no one?”

Aria blushed. “Not like this… I told you: I’m always on top.”

“Even with the guys that you-”

“Always,” she repeated firmly.

Okay, that’s kinda hot.

I nodded and lowered myself down slowly until I had her smaller form wrapped in my arms. I pressed the tip of the toy to her entrance and I could feel the slickness as it slid over her slit, teasing her, and drawing out a few ragged gasps of pleasure.

I kissed her softly as I thrust my hips a few more times, I wasn’t going to be anything but utterly gentle with her, and I certainly wasn’t going forward until I knew it wouldn’t hurt her.

“Just do it, Shimmer,” Aria gasped, “please… I need you.”

That sent a shiver up my spine, and I felt a surge of lust and passion ignite somewhere near my belly. Looping my fingers through her tangled hair, I pressed my lips to hers as I angled my hips forward and pressed in.

Aria let out a startled cry and gripped my shoulders hard with her hands even as her legs clamped against my hips, almost jerking me off balance.

“It’s okay,” I cooed as I pulled her against me and slid another inch deeper, “I’ve got you.”

Aria nodded almost frantically against my shoulder and I was struck by just how small and fragile she felt in that moment. The middle sister of the Siren’s and my personal favorite of them (entirely unbiased I assure you) had always been the loudest, brashest, and most belligerent of them. Words like ‘fragile’ and ‘small’ simply didn’t apply to someone like her.

Except… tonight they did.

She was scared, I could feel it, but she also wanted this. The fact that Aria trusted me with this… I didn’t really have words for it.

I just pulled her a little closer and slid a little bit deeper, and Aria let out a small moan of pleasure that she muffled against my lips as she kissed me.

“More, Red,” Aria whispered, her eyes half-lidded. “I need to feel you all the way… right up against me…”

I nodded again and pushed until I felt myself hilt inside her, our bodies pressed together firmly, and Aria let out a low groan of satisfaction as she felt our hips meet.

Not wanting to rush her, I waited for a moment as she got used to the pressure, and eventually I felt her moving on her own. She was gently grinding her hips, starting up a slow, bucking tempo.

“Fuck me, Shimmer,” Aria gasped breathlessly. “Just… fucking take me.”

Rather than speak, I obliged by giving my hips a heavy roll and bucking the length of the toy into her. She let out a cry of pleasure that was silenced by my lips as I pinned her down and gave her what she wanted.

The feeling of her writhing beneath me; the way she clawed at my back with those long, beautiful fingers of hers, how she gripped my waist with her lovely legs, was addictive. I felt a low growl build at the base of my throat as I thrust harder, my fingers tangling into her hair and pulling it slowly back to expose her slender neck, and I plunged forward fixing my teeth over the smooth expanse of skin there.

Aria let out a sharp gasp and I felt her buck hard against my waist, and a new wetness spilled across my legs as she hit her peak.

“You’re perfect, Aria,” I lifted myself up til I was staring down at her again. “My Aria…”

“Yours…” she whispered back, shivering softly as she reached up to stroke my cheek. “Forever.”

I lowered to kiss her again, rolling my hips in a slow, easy tempo, knowing she would be sensitive. I relished every quiet gasp from her lips that escaped our kiss.

Pulling away, I ran my hand over her cheeks, tracing the lines of her cheeks and lips, and shivered as she kissed my fingers and palm as they passed her.

I was lost beyond words with her, with Aria Blaze, lost in her eyes and in the feeling of her breath and her touch. My whole sense of self was drowning in the young, immortal woman beneath me, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Gathering Aria up in my arms, I rose slowly, pulling her up with me until she was in my lap. She gasped again as the length hilted even more fully inside her, her body slipping down its length.

For a while we just sat there, unmoving, holding onto each other as closely as we could. Aria’s arms were wrapped firmly around me while I was embracing her as tightly as I could.

The feeling of Aria’s slow, deep breaths was hypnotic, and I trailed my arms down her naked back, relishing the warmth.

“Never leave me, Red,” Aria whispered against my chest, in a tone that almost sounded like a plea. “Two days felt like two months… and I… I can’t ever-”

“I know,” I said quietly, “it was the same for me.”

Aria looked up at me and, reaching a hand up, she cupped my cheek and traced her thumb across my lips. I kissed it gently and she nodded as if deciding something.

“We’re forever, aren’t we?” Aria asked, her voice cracking a little.

I laughed a little, feeling happy tears burning at the edges of my eyes.

“Yeah,” I replied, nodding. “I think we might be.”

Aria leaned in and kissed me, warm and insistent, sliding her tongue to meet mine. We remained like that, my whole world reduced to lavender and mint and warmth until we pulled away.

“Then make love to me again,” Aria said, her amethyst jewels meeting my surprised gaze.

‘Make love’ was never a phrase Aria had used except mockingly.

I wasn’t going to argue though, so I laid her back down to the bed, and showed her my love.

I winced, my hand reflexively tightening on Aria’s as the needle moved across my shoulder. Aria smiled, her face was infuriatingly impassive as her own tattoo was being finished.

“Suck it up, Shimmer, this was your idea,” Aria said with a smirk.

I shot her glare, but my heart wasn’t in it. It rarely was when I was looking at Aria since it was usually a struggle not to smile.

Especially now, with her cap off and her hair cascading freely over one bare gorgeous shoulder. The other was exposed too, the one just opposite to mine.

Her left shoulder and my right.

“My idea,” I hissed, “was getting each other’s names.”

“Yeah, which is lame,” Aria shot back. “My way is better.”

“I’m not disagreeing, strictly speaking- ow!” I blew out a slow breath and pursed my lips at her. “But it sure takes a hell of a lot longer.”

“Pfff, wuss,” Aria snarked.

“Would you two stop bickering?” Adagio snapped, not looking up from Aria’s shoulder. “It’s bad enough I’ll have to put up with you two for the rest of our lives, you can at least let me concentrate.”

Sonata giggled from my side as she worked her own needle with care.

“Oh c’mon, ‘Dagi, I think it’s cute!” Sonata said cheerily. “Besides, you and I both know bickering is how they show love.”

Aria scoffed. “And here I thought that I showed her love by bending her over in an empty parking lot and railing her up the a-”

“Can you not?” I bit out, shooting Aria a glare that only earned a smug grin in response.

“Dunno,” Aria replied blithely, “I’ve never tried.”

“Clearly,” I deadpanned. “By the way, like, not to bring up a downer subject but what do you mean ‘rest of our lives’? You three are immortal.”

Adagio scoffed, and Sonata shook her head.

“Not since the Battle we’re not,” Sonata said, never looking up from her work, and I balked. “Whatever took away our magic made us more or less human.”

“Still gotta eat like a Siren, though,” Aria grumbled. “Which is kinda lame.”

“W-What?!” I gasped, trying not to move as Sonata was still working. “We took your immortality?!”

“Technically you broke the enchantment that was keeping us young forever,” Adagio replied as she dabbed at beads of blood on her sister’s arm. “It’s not a natural Siren trait, we're long-lived certainly, on the order of a millennium give or take a century, but not immortal and unaging... that was a jury-rigged curse with an upside that we sustained by draining people.”

“Couldn’t you tell we weren’t immortal anymore?” Aria asked in confusion. “We’ve obviously gotten older.”

“I… I mean, y-yeah,” I stammered, staring at Aria in shock. “I just figured maybe you did it on purpose with your magic!”

Sonata finally looked up with a quirked eyebrow. “Our magic that you… took away.”

I goldfished for a moment, then shut my mouth and let out a strangled laugh.

“Oh… right,” I said uneasily.

“Are you sure about her?” Adagio asked Aria with a dry expression.

Aria rolled her eyes and laughed a little, then met my gaze and nodded.

“Sure as the tide, ‘Dagi,” Aria said without hesitation.

“Done!” Sonata cheered, standing up and grinning widely.

Adagio let out a muffled curse. “Hers was easier! It was black and white, I had to use about twelve different tones!”

“Aria’s was a landscape, Sunset’s curls and twists,” Sonata replied. “Don’t be a sore loser, ‘Dagi.”

“Tch, fine,” Adagio clicked her tongue and stood up as she, too, finished. “I can’t believe I wagered my bottle of seventeen-twenty-seven Rudesheim on this stupid bet.”

“I’ll give it back if you add in that bar extension I wanted,” Sonata offered with a smirk as she dabbed at my arm and began cleaning the area around it.

“What is even the point of having an entire gin bar?!” Adagio snapped, throwing her arms up. “It all tastes the same!”

“Does not,” Sonata shot back, sticking her tongue out before turning back to me. “Be sure to keep it clean, use aquaphor to help it heal, and don’t shower over it, alright?”

“Sure thing,” I said quietly, standing up from the chair and stretching.

“And don’t scratch it if it itches,” Sonata added, furrowing her brow. “Just give it a slap.”

“We know, ‘Nata,” Aria said, rolling her eyes before turning to me. “So whadya think?”

I looked at the tattoo on her shoulder and felt my heart swell a little. Aria had a riot of oranges and purples done over her whole left shoulder in the form of a gorgeous evening horizon. The clouds spanned up from over the ridge of her shoulder all the way to her left clavicle, and the whole thing had taken Adagio just under five hours to finish.

“Perfect,” I replied, feeling my cheeks warm as I turned my shoulder to Aria. “How’s mine?”

I could practically see Aria’s eyes light up as they traced the image. I had gotten the opening musical score of Carla von Weber’s ‘Wie Naht Mir Der Schlummer’ curling around from the top of my right shoulder and down my bicep and tricep. The musical notes wove and curved like a living thing, making it look like three-dimensional musical notes were dancing around my arm.

“Perfect,” Aria said with a warm smile.

She was looking me in the eye when she said it, and I blushed.

“Time?” Aria asked, and I glanced at my phone.

“Almost seven,” I replied, “we’ve got a half hour before we meet the girls for dinner.”

“And, uh… Twilight?” Aria asked, and I was a little surprised that she sounded genuinely concerned. “You two okay?”

I sighed. “We will be, it was rough for the both of us.”

“We’ll figure it out, Red,” Aria said with a shrug. “Don’t sweat it.”

“Aria, c’mon,” I pressed, stepping forward and taking her hands. “Are we not gonna talk about how… about what I took from you three? You’re going to-”

“Die? Yeah, eventually,” Aria admitted, and Adagio and Sonata both nodded as well. “But we’ve lived way longer than we were supposed to, honestly… so at this point death isn’t that big of a deal for us, I guess… and besides…”

Aria mumbled the last bit, and I leaned in to try and catch what she’d said.

“What?”

Scuffing her feet on the floor, Aria grumbled a little before clearing her throat.

“I said,” Aria began, her cheeks turning brilliant red, “that I wouldn’t wanna outlive you anyway, okay?”

What could I possibly say to that? I just set my hands on her hips and leaned down to kiss Aria, my Aria, and she returned the affection.

“I… I guess I can’t argue with that, huh?” I said in a small voice as I pulled away. “I’m surprised you don’t hate me.”

“Eh, I mean… honestly? I kinda did when we met at the lounge,” Aria confessed. “But… then we, y’know, did our thing and, fuck, suddenly it was like I was drunk on you.”

“I’m glad I followed you back there,” I said with a laugh. “Crazy glad.”

“Me too, Red,” Aria replied, taking my hand. “Ready to go?”

“With you?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “Always.”

Author's Note

Stay tuned for the epilogue