One Last Sunset

 

It's more beautiful than you thought it'd be.

 

The sun clings to the edge of the horizon and sinks lower with every minute that passes. Its magnificent light bounces off of the gentle waves of the ocean in front of you and paints the sand in a soft orange glow. The warmth feels good on your skin, like a comforting embrace from some angelic mother—a stark contrast from the intense barrage of the afternoon sun from earlier. You've watched it go down for hours now, all the while gripping that little orange bottle in your hand so hard that it's left an imprint on your skin.

 

The sun's light is soft now, soft enough that you can stare right at it without it hurting your eyes. The bright white of the glowing orb you sat down to is finally fizzling out to the red and yellow hues that bathe the sky with color. It really is a beautiful sight, one you're glad you picked. A completely clear sky and not a sound to disturb you except the gentle brushing of the waves against the shore is a nice bonus. You look down to your feet shifting in the sand and digging a little hole for themselves, wondering why you didn't do this more while you had the chance. Maybe things wouldn't have turned out like they did. It's a comforting final scene to cap off the awfulness of life, at least.

 

The sun inches further and further behind the horizon, threatening to leave you in the dark completely before too long. Once it's gone for the night, you decided that's when you'd get up from the comfortable hole you'd bored into the sand—just as soon as the light left the world, you want to just leave with it. You shake the bottle in your hand to hear your cocktail of pills rattle around in it. Painkillers and sleeping pills, enough to put you out for days, if not kill you outright. They were all small enough to swallow without much trouble and this time you know it's going to work. It has to. You close your eyes and fantasize about that final swim out into the ocean and finally losing consciousness for the last time like you've wanted for so many months now. Maybe your body might wash up on the shore, but at this point you're beyond caring about something like that.

 

You open your palm and let the little bottle spin around in your hand. The sun is just barely peaking over the horizon now. You close your eyes and take in a long, deep breath. It won't be long until everything is over and it all can just finally end. You gaze back out at the sky as the colors dance away from the bright, beautiful rays of orange and yellow to a dull red and the soft indigo of the night sky creeping in. You take the cap off of the bottle and stare down at the mixture of colors. In any other situation your heart might be pounding in anticipation, but now you can hardly even bring yourself to care. The decision was already made a long time ago, you just need to go through with it now. You enjoy the last few moments of the sun's warmth glowing across your skin and let out a sigh at the thought of the relief finally leaving things behind. You bury your feet even further into the soft sand and lean forward onto your knees, closing your eyes and waiting for that last bit of light to finally leave.

 

"Hey," a female voice says from behind you, sending a jolt of fear through you. You jump and almost spill the contents all over yourself. The quick scramble to hide the bottle in your pocket is probably a little more obvious than you'd like it to be. You spin around to see who managed to find you out here.

 

You slowly turn back around at the first glimpse; you'd know that red and yellow hair anywhere. The one and only Sunset Shimmer is standing beside you, casting her gaze down at you. Her easy going smile is an odd sight considering the bully queen of Canterlot you've always known her as. Your first reaction is to sneer at her presence, spit at her feet and tell her to get lost after everything she's done to you. Your lips start to move with the slight hint of anger, but it quickly fades into the void of apathy you've sunk into for so many months. You lean forward and rest your chin on a forearm to stare out at the sunset instead. It's not like she could make things any worse at this point.

 

"Hey," you say with a monotone mumble.

 

"Do you mind if I sit next to you? You found a pretty good spot out here to watch the sunset," she says with an odd sweetness that grated against your idea of her. Her gentle smile at your presence is an uncomfortable sight that contrasts with the haughty grin you're used to seeing on her. It's been a long time since anyone has smiled at you though. The caring gesture did stir up some satisfaction, even if it is from her.

 

"Wasn't really saving it for anyone. Go ahead," you say. You look away from her as she leans down and settles down on her knees, placing her hands on her thighs and sitting just a little bit taller than you. "Not much left to see anyway."

 

She lets out a long sigh as she brushes some of those red and yellow locks off her shoulder and lets her hair drape over her like a silk sheet. "Maybe tomorrow then. It was a nice walk over here at least. It's nice to see a familiar face around here, too."

 

You can see Sunset look over at you expectantly out of the corner of your eye, but you don't bother to respond. The two of you are the farthest things from friends you could possibly think of and you have to wonder why she's even bothering to talk to you at all. You give her a sideways glance before looking back out to the ocean.

 

You can see her purse her lips at your silence before opening her mouth to try again. "So, how have you been? We never really get the chance to talk in class and I've been meaning to get to know you."

 

"Seriously?" you say, a little bit of malice slipping out as you shoot her a quick glare. You can see her wince a little at the tone, but you can't imagine she didn't expect it, all things considered.

 

Sunset clears her throat and settles back into the sand, her eyes tracing down to the ground. "Look... I know I haven't made life particularly easy for you in the past, but that doesn't mean we can't still be friends now, right?" she says, looking over to you and making her best attempt at a warm smile. It almost makes you uncomfortable. No one has really smiled at you or because of you in months and she expects you to believe it's genuine coming from [i]her[/i]? You look her up and down with a harsh glare for a moment, your mind shooting guesses as to what she could be up to.

 

"Might be too late for that," you say back to her, shifting your focus back out across the sea. She looks away from you for a moment, a little hurt that you didn't return her warmth. You shake your head in annoyance at her game, just hoping she'd leave already. You can already feel the pills pouring out of the bottle in your pocket and with the last bits of sun finally past the horizon you should've had this done already.

 

Sunset does her best to put her warm smile back on. "It's never too late to make a new friend." You don't bother to look over, leaving an awkward silence in the air for a moment. "So what brings you out here? Not a lot of people come down this far for the beach."

 

"Didn't really want to be bothered."

 

Sunset looks at you for a moment like you just shoved her. "O-oh... do you want me to leave?"

 

"I don't really care. Do what you want," you say, not entirely sure why you didn't just tell her to go away. The sun has disappeared almost entirely behind the horizon at this point, only offering a few weak rays to light up the sky with the last hints of the day. Sunset's presence isn't something you want on the surface, but you for some reason you couldn't conjure up the anger to really tell her to get lost.

 

"Okay. Good," she says, the smile returning to her face. "You looked like you could use the company."

 

You let silence permeate the space between you again for a moment. A long sigh escapes your lips and you look down to the sand in front of you. "Why are you out here, Sunset?" you say in a somewhat defeated tone. The day has already passed and that only gave you excuses to wait even longer and suffer through even more sleepless nights and uncomfortable memories. Frustration grows in a slow boil in your torso as the timing of your plan falls apart.

 

"What, can't a girl enjoy her winter vacation somewhere warm?" she says with a playful grin.

 

"No, I mean, why are you out here alone? With me? Don't you have a bunch of new friends now?"

 

"Oh..." Sunset says, her eyes drifting down to the sand as well. "I guess I just wanted to come out here on my own to think about things. I knew the girls would understand." She lets out a little laugh. "Besides, they didn't exactly have the money to come down here like I did."

 

You look over at her with a raised eyebrow. You could've sworn she worked at that sushi place in the mall. "How do you?"

 

"It's a long story, but currency from my old home helps through times like this," she says nonchalantly with a wave of her hand. "It gets me through some of my expenses."

 

"Right, magical unicorn from another universe..." you let out another uninterested sigh. She obviously wants someone to talk to and it doesn't seem like she's going away anymore, so you finally decide to give in and reluctantly oblige her; maybe it'll make her go away quicker. "So, what did you come to think about?"

 

She leaves the question hanging for a moment, her eyes glued out on the ocean "I... do you like to dance?" she asks, her expression turning hopeful as she looked over at you.

 

"Uh, I don't really—"

 

Sunset gets up off the sand, brushing the grains clinging to her sarong and legs. "There's a place down the beach that has a reggae band playing tonight and I know they don't check for ID's" she says with a sly smile, extending her hand out to you.

 

You open your mouth to tell her no, but the word catches in your throat. All you've been doing since you got here is sitting in the little beach house alternating between watching TV, looking out at the beach, and being stuck with the thought of how much you wished you could just end it already. You had finally settled on today to have that picturesque departure, but that's already ruined. If you said no now all it would be is another dull night of boredom and misery, so why the hell not?

 

You raise your hand up to hers, but pause for a moment with a raised eyebrow. She had to be up to something; she was never this nice to you. You look back out to the water and let your hand drop for a moment, thinking about how dull your life had been for the last few months as you worked towards this attempt. One night of something interesting wouldn't hurt before the end, even if it did end with some horrible scheme. Not like whatever Sunset was planning was going to matter soon anyway.

 

"You know what? Sure." You grab her hand and let her tug on you. You're a lot bigger than her though, so her first tug just unsuccessfully tugs your arm at its socket. The second tug involves her swinging her entire weight up and both hands to get you off the ground, but has the unfortunate side effect of making her slip backward and fall into the sand.

 

"Whoops, haha," she says with a sheepish smile, with a hint of frustration cast down at the new layer of sand covering her legs.

 

You do your best to return her smile and it is a little easier at her misfortune. You have to work your jaw for a moment afterwards—those muscles felt odd and uncomfortable as they flexed in your cheeks. It has definitely been a long time since you've even bothered to grin. Your hand returns the favor and pulls her back up to her feet with one quick tug. "I don't think you're supposed to fall doing that."

 

Her face turns a little bit red. "Well I had to figure something out," she says as she wipes her legs off again.

 

"So you meant to do that?"

 

She shoots another grin and a wink at you "Oh yeah, I love taking any excuse to get all sandy. Now lets forget this ever happened and go get something to drink."

 

The air between you is somewhat tense and awkward as you both make your way down the beach. Your face sinks back to its default hopeless stare, only interrupted by some slight amusement at Sunset's awkward glances over at you. Seems like she's used to having more talkative people around and is growing increasingly nervous at your continued silence.

 

Sunset clears her throat and looks back over to you. "So, you have a drink of choice?"

 

You look up into the air and let a quick snort out of your nose. "Not really. I'm only eighteen, remember?"

 

"Right... well, haven't you tried anything at parties or something?" She asks, leaning over to try to catch your gaze.

 

"Nobody would ever invite me after what you did," you say in your same monotone. Sunset winced and stood back up straight, unable to look at you for a moment. You don't bother to share any of that emotion—it all stopped mattering a while ago.

 

"Right... well, for what it's worth, I'm really sorry about all that."

 

You don't bother to look over at her and just give her a lazy shrug. The air between you becomes even more awkward as Sunset fidgets in place and opens her mouth a few times to try to say something, only for it to close again as the thought gets lost in her throat.

 

"Hey, look at that. We're here," Sunset says, some relief showing through in her voice.

 

The little hut with its own bar and stage only held a half dozen or so tables underneath its palm frond roof. There weren't any roads leading to it, so only people making their way down the shoreline around some of the surrounding houses would've found it. As you both made your way in, the only other people around were five older people, probably vacationing somewhere warm in their retirement. Didn't seem like a particularly lively night, but that's not what you really wanted anyway.

 

"Two mai tais, please," Sunset says as she grabs a stool next to the thatch bar. A gentle flow of slow, gentle music plays out of the instruments behind you. The band looks like they've been doing this for 40 years judging by the white hair and ragged shirts, but the bright smiles and rhythmic swaying of their bodies made it seem like they were enjoying themselves. The relaxed music is a nice change from the silence of your room or the constant rush of the ocean.

 

You settle onto the old wooden bar stool beside Sunset and watch the elderly bartender mix the drinks with practiced ease. Come to think of it, you two were the only people here who didn't have white hair.

 

Sunset reaches into the top of her swimsuit for a moment and you catch a flash of green, but you put a hand up to stop her. "No need to expose yourself," you say, pulling some money out of your wallet and slapping it on the bar. You look down at the billfold for a moment, feeling empty from the lack of cards you left back at the house. This was supposed to just be for identifying the body, but oh well.

 

"That's sweet, but you don't need to do that," she says, sliding the money back over to you. "I am the one that brought us here after all."

 

"Just let me pay for it, Sunset. It's not a big deal." you slide the cash over back over to her. The jumble of money was going to be useless to you before too long, so might as well do something with it that might make someone else's world a little better.

 

Sunset opens her mouth to protest, but catches your unamused expression and decides not to. "Alright. Thank you..."

 

You take in a deep breath and look out to the stars as they begin to peak through the darkness. Your mind starts to wonder again, wondering what exactly Sunset is up to bringing you out here. You can't imagine what she's trying to use you for this time as your eyes dart around the older crowd. Doesn't seem to be much opportunity for one of her plans here. You momentarily play with the idea that she actually did just feel bad, but you know her better than that. You look back over to your teal-eyed tormentor as she twiddles her thumbs awkwardly. Something definitely feels different about her, but you can't help but feel a twinge of anger at the thought of everything she's done.

 

As pretty as she is, you know she's the nastiest, most cruel person you've ever known. Six months ago being this close to her would stir up a seething hatred inside you and make you want to hit her or worse, but now you can only let out a soft sigh as you look over her. The intense anger only gets lost in the endless void of your own emptiness now and all you really know how to be is miserable or numb.

 

"What?" Sunset asks with a raised eyebrow. You look up to her eyes, only just now realizing you were staring at her.

 

You blink a few times then glance away. "So where's this going to go?" you ask right back.

 

"Well, the hut probably isn't going anywhere, so..."

 

"What's your plan this time, Sunset? I'm not stupid. You're not one to take losers out for a drink without a purpose."

 

The bartender places the drinks down in front of you, but as you two lock eyes they go ignored. "Is it so hard to believe I don't have one? Well, I do, but it's just to try to be friends."

 

You let out another sigh and grip the freezing cold glass in front of you. "With me? Out here completely alone? Look, there's no way you could've known I was here by chance, Sunset. I know you've got something in the wings. It'll probably go smoother if you just tell me what it is."

 

"It's... it's not like that anymore," Sunset says, looking down and stirring the straw in her own drink. "Look, you have every right to distrust me, and honestly I don't blame you, but please, just give me a chance to prove that I'm not trying anything behind your back now. Can we try that?"

 

You look away from her for a moment and shake your head, then trace your eyes back. "I'm not buying it, Sunset, but honestly I hardly care anymore, so why not."

 

"I suppose that's a start."

 

You lean down and take a sip out of the straw, your face twisting at the odd combination of citrus sweetness and the sour bite of alcohol behind it. Sunset lets off a little giggle at your reaction. "Have you ever had one before?" she says before taking a sip of her own.

 

"Uh..." you cough a few times, trying to get used to the feeling as it goes down your throat. "I can't say I have." You look back down to the orange slurry in front of you—it doesn't look like it'd have that kind of bite, but as it settles into your stomach it spreads around a strange kind of warmth through the rest of your torso. You lean back down and take another sip, doing your best not to grimace this time.

 

Sunset giggles at your attempts again. "Oh come on, it's not that bad."

 

"It's definitely something new..." you say, taking another sip, a little more prepared this time. Once the shock of the alcohol on your tongue subsides the sweet flavor is kind of nice.

 

"Well, you'll be having a lot more fun after two or three more," Sunset says with a big sip of her own.

 

"You trying to get me drunk?" you ask with a raised eyebrow. The tension between the two of you is slowly melting away with each sip and you can feel your own numbness start to fade as well.

 

"Well, that's up to you if you're buying. I should probably be asking you that question instead," Sunset says as she takes another sip of her own.

 

The melodies coming out of the band start feeling different and you can feel your foot start to sway with the beat. Somehow with every drink you can feel the tension of the last few months fading and emotion flowing in from the music. You close your eyes with your mouth settled on the straw, just watching as the strange warmth spreads out through your body and clouds your mind away from the constant barrage of awful thoughts.

 

"[i]Are[/i] you trying to get drunk?" Sunset asks, snapping you out of the momentary reverie. You look over and blink in confusion at her for a moment before you look back and realize just how much you'd taken in: the fancy glass is already almost halfway empty.

 

"Oh, well... not really, I don't think. I guess I was starting to like it."

 

Sunset gives you a warm smile. "Good. Maybe after the next one I can get you to dance," she says, leaning over and giving you a gentle nudge with her elbow.

 

You give her a weak smile. "Don't push your luck." You look back to take in the little beach hut, glancing around the tables as the tiki torches provide the only light in the growing night. "So, why here exactly? Doesn't really seem like your kind of place."

 

Sunset raises an eyebrow at you as she leans back onto the counter with her elbows. "Because it was quiet and I wanted to hear the band... maybe dance a little bit. What's 'my kind of place' to you?" she asks with an amused grin.

 

You give her a shrug and let your eyes wander away from hers. "I dunno, a dark, dirty, evil lair where you mastermind your next scheme."

 

"If I had a mustache to twiddle that'd be perfect," she says with a roll of her eyes. "I mean, what's wrong with here? I thought I fit in pretty well."

 

You raise an eyebrow and look around the crowd. "With all the old people?"

 

Sunset rolls her eyes. "No, I mean with the chill vibe and relaxing music. It feels like a good place to hang out with and have a fun, quiet night. Seems up my alley, don't you think?"

 

You poke your straw around in the rest of your drink. "I don't know... I always figured a popular girl like you would stick around the big parties and clubs, getting drunk all the time with all your friends."

 

"I'm still in high school too, you know," she says with a sly smirk. "My favorite parties still involve Pinkie Pie, pinatas, and cupcakes. Don't think I'll ever be into going to clubs."

 

"Me neither. I don't really know what girls like you do in their off time."

 

Sunset's smile turns warm and you meet her eyes for a moment. "Well, I'm not entirely sure what boys like you do in their off time, so now's a good time to change that and get to know each other, don't you think?"

 

Reality slowly creeps back in as you try to take another drink. That familiar emptiness pushes back against the warmth growing inside you to mash down the hope that there'd actually be any future for what she just said. By tomorrow none of this would matter, as much as you want to smile at the thought of having a real friend in her. You look away from Sunset and out towards the growing moonlight illuminating the beech. You have to remind yourself you are out here in the first place because of her, you want to die because of her, and now you'll have to spend another miserable night in that dumb little beach house because of her.

 

You jerk a little bit at the feeling of Sunset's fingers on your arm. "Hey, is everything okay?" she says, her face actually conveying some genuine concern.

 

You pull your arm away and give her a quick sneer. Of course everything isn't alright—her of all people should know that. "I'm fine," you let out in a terse, frustrated tone.

 

The air quickly grows tense between you. Sunset lets her hand hang in the air for a moment as her smile fades from the harsh tone. You're sure she knows better than to actually believe you, but she doesn't say anything. The moment is cut short by the band ending their song and a normal voice calling out to the crowd. They say something about the massive crowd and thunderous applause, enticing a laugh out of the elderly couples populating the seats. They announce the name of their next song and a gentle, calming tune flows out of their instruments, letting a different kind of feeling settle onto the little hut. It's almost like a love song with its sweet, low melody. You take another deep breath, trying to let the harsh feelings fade. It's only one more night, anyway. Might as well enjoy it.

 

You glance back over at Sunset to see she's somehow downed the entire drink in her hands. A soft redness is forming on her cheeks as she turns to step off of her stool before you can say anything. Sunset holds out an eager hand once she sees you looking at her and looks down her arms expectantly. "Dance with me?" she asks, a hopeful smile on her face.

 

Your brain is hardly in control anymore as you reach your hand out to meet hers. In any other situation that question would get an instant 'no' but with your own warmth spreading what must be an awkward blush on your cheeks, you stand up and let her pull you out in between the tables.

 

"I... I don't know how to dance," you say, trying to talk past the weird feeling of having Sunset's hand in yours combined with the looks of everyone around you.

 

Sunset takes both of your hands in hers as you come to a stop between everyone. "It's okay, I don't really know how either. I've seen some slow dancing in movies though—can't be too hard. Just put your hands here..." Her hands guide yours to the top of her bare hips. A nervous lump forms in your throat as your palms come to rest against her silky skin. Sunset makes things even worse by resting her soft hands against your shoulders and letting herself settle up against you, her bare stomach lovingly caressing yours as you both start to sway.

 

"See, not that hard, right?"

 

"N-no..." the warmth on your cheeks grows hotter and you know it's not from the alcohol anymore. You try to look down into her eyes with each sway, but the growing butterflies in your stomach urge you to look away.

 

Sunset lets off a giggle about the third time it happens. "I'm not gonna bite you, you know."

 

You clear your throat, still looking away. "I know... I'm just not really used to this kind of thing."

 

"Me neither. I came here to get some time to think, but some new experiences would beat being bored out here by ourselves, don't you think?"

 

You have to clear your throat again to stave off an inevitable nervous voice crack. "S-sure..."

 

You can feel your own hands threatening to tremble on her soft sides. Every time her stomach brushed up against you, a new rush of butterflies flooded your system, threatening to send your entire body into a stiff nervousness. You somehow held strong and managed to sway to the beat with her, but you still couldn't look down into her eyes for long. The feeling of her hair falling over her shoulder and brushing up against your skin, the smell of her fruity shampoo radiating up to you, and your bodies being so close together... it's almost more intoxicating than the alcohol.

 

As you melt into the wonderful feelings, everything you remember about the awful girl in your arms seems to fade away. All the contempt and fear are gone and it's finally just... living in the moment. You're supposed to hate her, but a smile creeps across your face at the flood of new, wonderful feelings, tugging on those unused muscles. Soon enough the rest of the world fades away into the night and it's only you and her in this embrace.

 

"Do you like the music?" she asks, breaking you out of your reverie.

 

You have to blink a few times before you realize she actually just said something."Uh... yeah. It's actually really nice," you say, still unable to fully meet her gaze yet.

 

"It feels good to just forget about everything and just flow with the music, doesn't it?"

 

You let out a slow, deep breath around your new, sappy smile as the wonderful feelings consume you. "It really does..."

 

Before you can settle back into it, you feel a tap on your shoulder. You turn around to see one of the elderly couples looking at you and smiling. "I just wanted to say how nice it is to see two young people so in love with each other in this day and age. I hope you two live a long and happy life together," the older woman of the couple says. You try to say something, but your breath catches in your throat.

 

Sunset just giggles. "Thank you so much, ma'am. You two are really cute together too," she says with a bright smile before they both share a happy nod. The older woman saunters back over to her husband and takes his hand to start dancing as well. You look around the hut and notice most of the couples had followed your lead, swaying back and forth to the music together.

 

You look back down to the girl in your arms, this time with a questioning glance. "Sunset, we're not—"

 

"Shhh, I know. I just didn't want to ruin it for them."

 

Sunset takes in a deep breath of her own and leans her head forward onto your chest. The feeling of her incredibly soft red and yellow locks brushing up against your skin sent goosebumps across your entire body. Your breathing becomes a little strained at the flood of new feelings. The girl that had completely ruined your life was now lying against your chest like a tired kitten just looking for a safe nap.

 

The band slowed down their song until it ended with a long, slow note fading into the night. You can feel disappointment flooding through your system as Sunset lifted up her head and the two of you stopped swaying. A new round of blushing starts when the singer points towards you and Sunset and says, "This one is for our two young, lovely love birds. Now close your eyes and let me take you back to those younger days," they say before the next melody resounds out of their speakers.

 

Sunset let out another short laugh. "I think we've got them convinced."

 

"Heh... uh, yeah," you say, almost intoxicated by the feeling of Sunset pressed up against you. You can feel yourself melting under her touch. Every little movement together wipes away another depressive thought poking at the back of your mind until all you can think about anymore is her. The soft palms of her hands resting on the back of your neck, the feeling of her head up against your chest, just the idea that someone would actually want to be close to you like this. The smile on your mouth doesn't seem to want to go away at all the wonderful sensations.

 

You almost laugh at yourself; you're supposed to hate this girl, but now all the sudden you look down at her and your drunken mind starts imagining a friendship... a relationship... the times you could have through this vacation, back in school, college, after...

 

Your smile fades as something tries to tug the warmth away back to emptiness. Why would she ever want that with you? A bit of logic slips through the drunken facade as you remind yourself this is probably just to manipulate you for something. You lose yourself in the disappointment for a moment and Sunset quickly slows down to look up at you with concern. "Is something wrong?"

 

"No... I... no," you try to get out. You squeeze her a little tighter up against you, not wanting the wonderful moment to end. You fight a war in your own mind between wanting to be close to her and reminding yourself how horrible she is. The wonderful feelings of her smiles and her touch easily cloud your mind and make you want more, but the thought of the awful ways she might be using you for whatever it is she's up to refuse to go away. Does it really even matter much? You let out a sigh as you look down into those sweet, teal eyes.

 

"You want to get another drink?" she asks. Can't hide much from her, not that you were doing a very good job of it in the first place.

 

"Yeah, I think so."

 

Sunset takes your hand and leads you back to the bar, pulling out some of her money this time and asking the bartender for two more. You don't bother to protest this time as you close your eyes and try to push the conflict out of your mind.

 

"Thank you," you say with a somber, defeated tone as the next glass drops in front of you.

 

"What happened?" Sunset asks, putting her soft, caring hand on your shoulder. You don't bother pulling away this time.

 

You take a long drink out of the straw before spinning the rest around in the glass. "I just... I've got a lot to think about."

 

"Do you want to talk about it?"

 

You purse your lips and adjust yourself on the stool, feeling the dozens of little pills that spilled out in your pocket. "I have a lot of things I want to do."

 

Sunset opens her mouth, but nothing makes its way out. You close your eyes tightly and try to embrace that familiar warmth again, but this time its comfort decides to elude you. "This was really nice of you, Sunset. I just... I think I just want to head in for the night."

 

Sunset looks down to her own drink and you can see the disappointment on her face forming as she stirs around the orange slush herself. "Did I do something wrong?"

 

You have to blink a few times as you look over at her. That sweet tone filled with genuine worry was a stark contrast from the haughty narcissism and smug grin you'd grown so used to on her as she called you names. The confusion turns the warmth in your stomach to an uncomfortable churning as your mind desperately tries to go back and fantasize about holding her again.

 

"No... no, it's nothing like that. I'm just tired and I think I went a little too fast with this," you say, not being able to look her in the eye.

 

"Oh, well if that's the case maybe you should get some rest. Do you want to do something together tomorrow?"

 

You look over at her with a raised eyebrow, the question catching you off-guard for a moment. The discomfort fades for a moment; it's been a [i]long[/i] time since someone has genuinely wanted to do something with you so you do your best to put on a warm smile for her. Your mind quickly flashes fantasies of what you two might get up to, but then the bottle in your pocket pokes at you again reminding you what you're really here for. "Maybe... I think I'm just going to go for now," you say as you take one last sip and turn to walk out.

 

Sunset grabs your shoulder and blurts out a quick "Wait!" before you step back into the sand. You turn around and expect an insult over something out of instinct, but instead Sunset wraps her arms around your midsection and gives you a sweet, caring embrace that fills your stomach with those familiar butterflies yet again. "Thanks for dancing with me."

 

You stand stiff for a moment at the sudden gesture, until finally letting yourself relax and letting your hands squeeze her back. "You're welcome," you whisper down to her.

 

"I'll see you tomorrow, hopefully," she says as she takes a step backwards, taking that wonderful feeling with her.

 

"Yeah..." you manage to get out, your eyes tracing down to the ground. You turn around and head out to an empty beach, leaving behind all the music and happiness that little hut held. Your head swims in confusion as you try to sort out what just happened. What was her game? Why would she ever care about you? She never has and you doubted she ever really would. You know this is probably going to end badly, somehow, but the part of your mind loosened by the alcohol shoots back: what would she have to gain alone out here? Why would she go through all this effort?

 

You put a hand up to your face and rub your eyes. The cold emptiness had a new rival that's fighting hard against your desire to down those pills already. Those sweet, teal eyes, that warm smile... a fond fuzziness builds up inside you at the thought. In your buzzed haze all you can think about is chasing those wonderful feelings yet again, but the rational part of your mind occasionally broke through to remind you she was probably just going to hurt you in the end.

 

The sound of your feet shifting the sand underneath you added a rhythmic partner to the constant waves in the dark walk back to that old beach house. Another night in those stiff sheets isn't what you want, but it's too late to go through with it now. The thought of the uncomfortably cold water and having to fish out all the pills from your pocket isn't something you want to deal with anymore. A few hours away from the world in that bed sounded pretty nice about now anyway. There's always tomorrow at least.

 

You let out a frustrated grunt as you reach the creaky steps to the old beach house. Sunset wanted to be in your tomorrow. You grip your temples as you head inside the abode, not sure about anything anymore. Your mind chases the feelings again, pushing you to try to get excited at the prospect of more Sunset, but that's not why you're here. You close the door behind you and quickly find your way into the mattress to watch the moon peak through your window. Tomorrow would be another day, at least.

 

Chapter 2 - The First Day

 

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 [i]her[/i]. 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."

 

[hr]

 

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."

 

[hr]

 

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. [i]Why would you want to see me again?[/i] [i]Why would it really matter?[/i] [i]The more time we spend together the worse it will get...[/i] 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.

 

Chapter 3 - A Final Doubt

 

The long hallway of bland plaid patterns and slightly off-white walls looms to either side of you. You don't know how long you've been standing in front of this door, just letting your mind run in this sudden state of rationality. The cold drip of melted ice cream runs down both of your hands as you stare at the room number plaque. It's the right number alright—you made sure to check the text five or six times to make sure, but as you stand there with two ice cream cones a sudden uneasiness starts to overwhelm you.

 

The high of spending time with her yesterday was more than intoxicating, to the point that it's starting to make you nervous. Every time you saw that sweet smile you couldn't help but chase the high, but now that it's faded you can't help but feel like you're getting taken advantage of again. You went from wanting to spit at her when she first said hello to buying her ice cream and bringing it up to her hotel room. When you close your eyes to look away from the dull brown of the door all your mind wants to think about is running around the arcade with her, playing games with her, getting hugs from her. You told her you would give her a chance, but your heart sinks at the implications now that she's got you completely wrapped around her finger. You let a dry, empty smile cross your face at how easily she could prey on you. You consider leaving for a moment, but a flash of panic grips you as a tiny part of your mind screams that she may be telling the truth.

 

You look down to the tacky plaid floor of the hotel and take in a deep breath. How much did it really matter in the end, anyway? If you aren't coming back from this beach, would some nasty manipulation for her own gain really matter that much? You close your eyes, trying to remember that you're supposed to hate her for ruining your life, taking everything away from you, but that hate had already been eroded by apathy for so long. All your brain wants now is another hit of that high, of [i]happiness[/i]. You know it won't last if for whatever reason you don't die on the beach, but is a few days of joy before the end really that big of a deal? Even if it is with the person that ruined your life, having something to smile about was worth more than anything before the end, even if this would end horribly too.

 

Your eyes trace back up to the door. A few more days won't hurt. You know she won't care by the time school starts again and you don't plan to be around to face that rejection, but you can't fight the urge to at least try to get a few more positive memories to hold onto before the end. Hopefully whatever's at the conclusion of this won't hurt too bad.

 

Before you can overthink anymore, the door clicks open, sending a jolt of fear through your system. You almost drop the ice cream in your jump, but quickly switch to awkward fidgeting as you notice Sunset's curious eyes looking you over before she recognizes you.

 

"Oh, hey. I was just about to text you," Sunset says with a bright smile once she notices the ice cream in your hand. She quickly raises an eyebrow at you awkwardly standing in the hall, looking down to either side to check if there was some reason why. "So... just hanging out in the hall here?"

 

"Oh, I was just, uh..." You lift your hands up to present your gift. "I got you some ice cream. Thought it might be a good way to start the day."

 

Sunset beams at the offer and doesn't hesitate to snatch the cone out of your hand and shoving it up to her face to get that first lick. "Yes! Ice cream is by far my favorite breakfast. Well, brunch now, I guess," she says, her focus locked in on the sweet treat.

 

"Yeah..." you say, your face unconsciously mirroring her joy as you watch her. The rush finally comes back in her presence, but the uncomfortable sinking feeling doesn't go away. She's got you hook, line, and sinker at this point.

 

"Well, come on in. Let's not eat out in the hallway," she says, gesturing you back with a nod of her head as she turns around.

 

Your eyes can't help but trace down her body: her loose-fitting CHS T-shirt is normal enough, but the running shorts she had on left plenty of the smooth skin on her legs exposed, letting a few teenage impulses wander into your thoughts. You clear your throat and try to ignore the blush forming on your cheek as you follow her in.

 

You click the door closed behind you and look around the mess she's made. The sunlight from the partially open curtains paints the room and you can see the little hints of Sunset's personality sitting around the floor. Wires fell out of the TV from a game system and its controllers she had sitting on the floor, as well as clothes she'd haphazardly tossed around after wearing them. A sketchbook sat on the sheets, open to a drawing of a cartoon version of the reggae band you'd seen the other day. Snack wrappers dotted the room and the sheets themselves are strewn every which way so you can only barely make out the teddy bear wrapped up in it all. It's all a far cry from what you expected from the mental image of the intelligent, conniving manipulator you used to know.

 

Sunset throws herself down onto the mattress and sends the edges of the sheets whipping into the air after her. "So, have anything you want to do today?" she asks between licks of her ice cream.

 

Another cold drip reminds you of yours still sitting in your hand. "Oh, uh... I haven't really thought about it. Honestly I figured you knew this place better than I would." You lean down to take a bite of your own before it ends up as a puddle.

 

Sunset shrugs. "Only what I could find on the internet. This is the first time I've been here."

 

You raise an eyebrow. "Really? Sure didn't seem like it."

 

Sunset's eyes are still fixated on her ice cream. "Hey, you can find a lot of cool stuff walking around on the beach. We've still got a lot to explore, you know."

 

"Yeah..." Your smile fades as the doubt pokes at the back of your mind again. You sit down on the other side of the bed, only sparing the occasional glances at Sunset as she tears away at her treat. "Can we talk for a while?" you ask, noticing the tone of your voice unconsciously changing with the fear and latent depression gripping at you.

 

"Sure. What's on your mind?" she says with an eager smile as she finally looks up to you.

 

You take in a deep breath and look over at her again. "It just seems kind of weird, Sunset. My grandparent's beach house is a ways away from the town. You coming out here and finding me and trying to spend time with me... it just doesn't make any sense."

 

Sunset's smile fades from her face as well. All you can see is concern in her expression as you try to read her, unable to find any errant motivations. "Well, is it really that hard to believe that it was a coincidence? Honestly, I just wanted someone to hang out with."

 

"You'll have to forgive me if I have a hard time believing that, Sunset."

 

Sunset rolls over on her stomach to look at you. "What else would it be?"

 

"Well, it seems like you came out here with a purpose. Why else would you go that far out of your way to find me? To spend time with me? Don't get me wrong, I've had a lot of fun with you and I don't want that to stop, but you're not the kind of person to spend time with someone without a purpose," you let out. The words felt odd on your tongue. You can't remember the last time you've spoken this much or even cared this much about anything. Your brain misfires as it tries to gauge her reaction, expecting an insult or an angry glare like you'd gotten so used to before.

 

You look over to Sunset and see a hint of anger on her face, only for it to snap and leak out as a disappointed sigh and looking away. "I don't blame you for thinking that way. I know it's going to take a lot to shake off my old reputation, but..." she lets out a frustrated groan and rolls onto her back, her expression turning defeated. "I guess I'd gotten used to people liking me now. That was probably kind of arrogant to assume you'd move on so fast, huh?"

 

You look back down to the cone in your hand and take a quick bite of it to get an enjoyable sensation besides the forlorn dread you felt coming. "Things are complicated. I stopped caring for a long time and now that we're, uh... friends, I guess, I don't know what to think anymore."

 

"What do you want to think?" she asks, looking up to you with some nervous puppy dog eyes that hits you like baseball to the face. You look away and gulp before closing your eyes.

 

"Well... I mean, I'm supposed to still hate you, so part of me wants to think you're just using me for something."

 

"And the other part?"

 

Your eyes trace down to the cone between your hands—your thumbs tap on the edges as you try not to let the awkwardness overtake you. "It's been a long time since I've actually had a good day, you know? Things have been so bad for so long I'd rather not think about anything else and just do what we've been doing, but..."

 

 

"But... you till don't really trust me." Sunset shifts around on her stomach and looks between you and her ice cream for a moment, nervousness building on her expression. "So... which part is winning?" she asks as her eyes carefully trace back up to yours.

 

Her timid expression is hard to handle. A harsh glare could've been met with anger, but this? You aren't sure what to do. Your mind screams at you to drop this so you can just have a good day where she isn't mad at you, but if that's how things were going to go, you decide to just get it over with. "I don't know, Sunset. What are you really trying to do here? If you're using me for something, I wish you would just tell me. If this whole 'being nice' thing is just a lie to get me to do something, just tell me what you need so we can get it over with. The longer we live this lie the worse it's going to get."

 

A hint of determination crosses Sunset's eyes as she pushes herself off the mattress to sit up on her knees. "I'm [i]not[/i] using you. Look, maybe I am trying kind of hard to make it up to you, but if you've gone through what I have you'd understand how important it is to make it up to all the people you've hurt."

 

You can feel frustration building up inside you again. "I've gone through what you put me through, Sunset."

 

She winces at the intense tone then looks back down into the sheets, dejected. "I know. I know I'll never be able to fix all the hurt I put you through and the damage I've done to your reputation, but yesterday you said you'd give me a chance. Are you still willing to do that?" she says, doing her best to look back up with a hopeful smile.

 

Her sweet tone almost elicits an immediate 'yes' out of you, but you clench your eyes shut and shake your head. "I want to, I really do, but I want to hear your to answer my question. What are you really doing here?"

 

"I..." Sunset looks away for a moment, clenching the cone in both hands close to her chest. "Right now I want to help."

 

You finally turn over and raise an eyebrow at her. "Help?"

 

"Yeah. Look, things can get better. You don't have to keep living in the lie that I put you in. I can help, I can try to change something. I made up those rumors about you harassing those girls and I can unmake them too," she says, that spark of determination quickly returning.

 

A tension builds up inside of you and you feel your hands start to grip against the cone in your hands. You have to force yourself not to make it crumble before you swing your gaze back over to her, the frustration plain on your face. "How, Sunset? You got the [i]police[/i] to pick me up in front of the entire school. How are you going to convince everyone that somehow wasn't real?" you shoot back, a sudden fire of anger spewing out of you.

 

"I'll figure something out, okay!?" Sunset blurts out, her tone loud and full of desperation. She blinks a few times as the air goes silent, then looks down into the sheets yet again. "I'm sorry... I really am... I just want things to be okay. I want you to be happy and I want what I did to just be a distant memory we can try to forget about." Her fingers fidget nervously around the cone in her hands. The occasional glances from her timid eyes are enough to make you try to put a cap on the anger seeping back through.

 

"This mistake might not go away so easily, Sunset." You turn away from her and look towards the wall to try to let the seething flow out of you.

 

You can hear the sheets shuffling behind you and before you know it, Sunset's hand is resting on your shoulder. "This one doesn't have to be forever." You turn to see that familiar, caring smile on her face. The contact sends another wave of warmth and joy through your system, but it barely puts a dent into the doubts swarming your mind now.

 

"So why me? Why now? I'm a loser, Sunset. I have no friends and nothing to offer you or the rest of the world. I spend most of my time alone on a computer and all I can really do for anyone is offer low-level tech support to my grandparents."

 

You feel a tug on your shoulder, enticing you to look back over. "I know that's not true. A lot of people at the school liked you before I... well, you know. You have a lot of potential with the skills you already have, you just need some support and I know everything can be better than ever for you."

 

You twist the cone around in your hand, mulling over the possibility that could even be a reality for you anymore. You shake your head once you fail to visualize it. "You and I both know things are never going to go back to normal, Sunset. Nothing you or I could do would ever fix what you did to my reputation. If I go back to school it's going to be the same as it ever was."

 

Sunset blinks a few times in confusion, worry plain on her face. "If...?"

 

A pang of anxiety hits you at the question. "Uh, yeah. Maybe I want to move or something. Look, Sunset, I'm not stupid. I know someone popular like you would never spend a second with someone like me unless they wanted something. So what is it that you want?"

 

"I want to be friends," she lets out quietly, both her tone and expression increasingly worried.

 

Your throat rumbles out a frustrated groan. "Come on. I know there's more to it than that."

 

Sunset purses her lips for a moment before finally letting out a defeated sigh. "Okay, okay. I know you hate me and I just want to fix that. If there's anything I can do to make your life better I want to. I've spent a lot of my time trying to right my wrongs and with you, I definitely did something really, really wrong. Could you at least believe me if I told you I just want to bring something good into your life to counteract what I've done?"

 

"How long do you expect a friendship built on guilt to last?" you ask her, still staring down at the melting ice cream in your hands.

 

"Forever, hopefully," she says, her hand finally dropping from your shoulder.

 

You shake your head. "I know you're not that naive, Sunset. How many people besides your close friends do you hang out with regularly?"

 

"Well, with school events I try to—"

 

"That's not what I asked. When winter vacation is over how much do you really think we'll see each other after you've 'made it up to me'?" you say, a growing harshness in your tone.

 

Sunset finally looks down to the sheets with a slightly furrowed brow looking like she has an uncomfortable realization on her mind. "I... I don't know."

 

"Exactly. If all you really want is for me to not hate you I think you might be wasting your time." You let out a long sigh, your mind going back to what was supposed to be your last sunset. "I don't even care anymore."

 

An awkward silence hangs in the air for a moment and the confusion grows even harsher inside you. You shut your eyes tight as you fight between wanting to apologize and just leaving her to think. Before you can say anything, Sunset puts her hand back on your shoulder again. "Well, you should care. I'm going to find a way to make this better and I'm going to make sure things aren't going to go back to how they were when we go back to school," she says, the determination in her voice growing again.

 

You finally look back over to her. "And how are you going to do that?"

 

"I don't know yet, but you have my word things are going to turn out alright. Just give me a chance, okay? I promise this can have a happy ending," she says, rustling the sheets again as she inches closer to you.

 

"So, no evil plan? No manipulative scheme? You really just want to make things up to me?" you say with a few tentative glances.

 

She gives you a gentle nod, trying her best to keep on a reassuring smile. "I swear, I just want to try to make things right. Pinkie promise." Her hand shoots out to you, a single outstretched pinky finger presented.

 

You almost laugh at the gesture but decide to humor her and put your finger around hers and give it a light shake. "Doesn't Pinkie Pie kill you or something if you break it?"

 

Sunset's determined eyes finally give into a quick laugh. "Not exactly, but it's not something you really want to deal with."

 

"I guess I'll take your word for it then."

 

"Good. I'm going to try to set things right with all your old friends too. Not saying I'm going to ignore you once we get back, but I'll talk to everyone to make sure things get cleared up."

 

Your expression finally lightens up as well. "You'd really do that for me?"

 

"Of course. I mean it's not like everyone doesn't already know I used to be worst person in existence so it's not a big deal," she says with a lackadaisical wave of her hand while looking up into the air.

 

"Well, I don't know if it will really change anything, but I do appreciate the gesture."

 

"If that doesn't work we can try something else," she says, adopting her determined expression again. After a long moment of silence, her eyes turn worried again and she looks over at you with those puppy-dog eyes again. "So, are you mad at me, or...?"

 

You shake your head, your gut finally settling from the constant churning of confusion and finally letting the warmth of her gesture settle back into you. "I... no, nothing like that. I'm just still not sure about any of this. I want to trust you, but all those years... "

 

"What can I do to change that?" she asks, giving you those puppy dog eyes yet again and twisting a vice on your heart.

 

"I don't know, Sunset. These things just don't go away overnight."

 

Sunset gives you a solemn nod. "Believe me, I know. If you do think of something, just tell me how I can help, okay? I'll try to make it up to you any way I know how."

 

You look over at her again and your eyes trace down her arm down to the hand sitting on her thighs. Your mouth opens, almost automatically, wanting to ask for another hug. Your mind is burning with frustration and confusion and all you really want is to feel the high of her embrace yet again to wash it all away. You gulp and look away from her; probably not the most appropriate thing to ask for right now.

 

"Let's just have more days like yesterday," you finally let out.

 

"I can definitely do that," she says, a bright smile returning to her face. "I promise this will be a winter vacation to remember.

 

"I hope so." You look back down to the progressively droopier ice cream melting in your hand and let out a sigh. Today was supposed to be a good day, you wonder why you're still grilling Sunset over things you told yourself you didn't even care about anymore. It was supposed to be a few happy days before the end, not soured experiences because of a bad attitude. You bring a hand up to your face and rub your eyes as the disappointment and anxiety starts flaring, but Sunset's hand on your shoulder quickly snaps you out of it.

 

"So we're okay?" she asks as she shuffles over to be even closer to you. Your heart jumps with giddiness as she opens up her arms to you, tentatively waiting for you to lean forward into her hug.

 

You don't hesitate to meet your chest with hers and let those caring arms wrap around your shoulders. You rest your chin on her and let out a long, satisfied breath that carries with it all the worries that were strangulating your senses. Finally the world melts away until it's just you and her together again. "Yeah, we're good," you say into the sea of hair your face ends up in.

 

"Awesome," Sunset whispers along with a gentle squeeze against your shoulders. Your mind is still racing wildly, but the feeling of the sweet embrace finally gives you some respite from your own confusion. You silently wish you could just stay here in her arms for the rest of the day, but the fantasy quickly fades once she pulls away. Her warm, reassuring smile is always a nice sight, but today it isn't the dominating presence in your mind it once was.

 

Sunset's mouth turns down in shock as she looks over your shoulder. "Oops, sorry." A soft hand brushes against your shoulder, pressing in a cold, damp feeling that makes you jerk forward. "Maybe should've waited until we finished the ice cream for the hug."

 

The edges of your lips turn up into a chuckle as you both take another bite out of your cones. "Heh, yeah maybe so."

 

The race is on as you both accelerate your licking—before too long you'll have to be cleaning it up off of the sheets instead. You both share a few more smiles as the cones slowly shrink after every bite until Sunset decides to break the silence.

 

"So, now that we've got that out of the way is there something you want to do today?" she asks, her bright, chipper tone returning.

 

You rub the back of your neck and look away. "Honestly? I was kind of hoping you had something planned."

 

"Well I have been dragging you around town, haven't I? Hmm... there are a lot of things we could do, but I usually leave the planning up to Pinkie and Rarity, so I've kind of just been acting on impulse," Sunset says, flipping out her phone and looking through something.

 

"What's your impulse telling you to do today?"

 

Sunset looks up to the ceiling for a moment before glancing back to her phone. "Hmm. It's not... uh." You watch her blink a few times before casting a few timid glances in your direction. "We could just hang out in the room together... I mean, if you want..." she says, her eyes suddenly glued down to her phone screen. You can almost swear her cheeks turned a little redder.

 

A soft smile comes over your face. Didn't sound so bad. "No grand adventures today, huh?"

 

Sunset clears her throat. "We can go out somewhere if you want, but it just feels like one of those days, you know? We could order room service or get something delivered and play video games together. I do need my zombie-killing partner to help me with a part of Tirek's Revenge that I'm stuck on."

 

You give her a soft smile, trying to ignore the increasingly annoying doubts poking at the back of your mind. "That sounds nice, actually." You tap your thumbs against the cone again, your mind going back through the conversations you just had and projecting some guilt up to you. "I'll try not to sour the fun this time with a bunch of questions and accusations."

 

Sunset rolls her eyes and gives you a playful nudge. "Oh come on. You're right to wonder about me if we haven't gotten to know each other yet. I was pretty terrible to everyone at one point and I know that doesn't go away overnight."

 

You muster up a slow nod, but purse your lips anyway. "I know, but I just wanted to have fun like we did yesterday. None of that other stuff should really matter, all things considered."

 

Sunset's smile drops away and she quickly looks over at you with concern. "What's there to consider? You should be looking out for yourself and making sure you can trust me, right?"

 

You clear your throat and look away from her. "That would be the smart thing to do, sure... but I just..."

 

Sunset leans in closer to you. "What?"

 

You close your eyes and chastise yourself for a moment. This conversation certainly isn't going to make today any more fun and you can only hide the truth for so long. You give a quick shake of your head to yourself before meeting her eyes again. "It's nothing. I'm just being dramatic. I'm actually getting pretty hungry too, so should we order a pizza or did you want something else?"

 

Sunset's concerned gaze lingers for a moment and your heart speeds up at the thought of her prying, but she seems to let it slide once she puts a grin back on. "Honestly pizza sounds great right about now. There's a place like two blocks from here too so we'll get it super quick. What toppings do you want?"

 

The day quickly gets lost in the sweet smiles and joyous laughs the two of you share together on her bed. After spending an hour or two figuring out a level on Tirek's Revenge between gorging on pizza, Sunset breaks out her CD case filled with dozens of really great games you've been meaning to play for a long time now. The stress from your first conversation quickly fades away as the hours pass and your cheeks get increasingly sore from the long series of jokes you two trade and the occasional spurt of conversation as one of you gets into an amusing story.

 

The overwhelming white rays of the sun outside fades to the soft orange glow of the sunset before you even know it. By the time you notice you hardly feel like an hour has passed, but considering the amount of games you both had gone through and the increasing lethargy from the massive amount of pizza, sweets, and snacks you've both torn through, time felt like it was never even a factor anymore. A warm feeling settles into your chest as you ponder in the occasional quiet moments: this is probably what it felt like to be normal, to be happy. Spending time with close friends and ones you love, not having to reflect on constant failures and your own desire to no longer exist, just living in the moment and finally feeling like a person again.

 

It's much more than just that, though—every time you look over at Sunset's smiling face, those beautiful teal eyes and that wonderful smile, a pang of anxiety hits your stomach and the butterflies rush in again. Every time you close your eyes your mind gravitates back to that wonderful hug, watching her cute, little, determined face with her eyes narrowed and tongue stuck out while she stares at the screen and pounds away at her controller. Despite the horrible past, she's the last symbol of your happiness and you can't help but want more. Between another bite of pizza and focusing in on the games, your mind builds up the fantasy of holding hands, the first kiss, being [i]together[/i]. The thoughts are intensely distracting to the point where Sunset has to snap you out of it a few times with a quick punch to the shoulder.

 

The doubts and confusion refuse to leave, however. Your hate of Sunset had faded away and now you could only center on yourself. Why would she ever want that with you? You couldn't be that important to her. She'd never want to go out with you like that. She's popular and you're a loser, things will go back to how they were after the break. You'd only ever get rejected. She has so many better options than you, it's not even worth thinking about. The endless list of reasons that popped in to try to swat down your feelings weighed on your heart and quickly turned the fantasy into sorrow. A harsh reminder that these are just supposed to be a few fun days before the end.

 

The doubts quickly consume you and by the time night has fallen completely your everpresent smile in her company has faded. The wonderful feelings of her presence are bittersweet once your mind has played its hand to reveal what it really wants. All you can think of now is the harsh future if you did tell her and the lifetime of yearning and disappointment if you didn't.

 

The night hours nip with a familiar sting of lethargy around your eyes and sucks the energy out of your limbs. You and Sunset are both propped up against the backboard in a bundle of pillows, trading the occasional half-hearted joke at the ridiculously bad comedy you found on cable. You can tell she's getting tired as well, though her tone doesn't seem to reflect the same kind of concealed disappointment you're trying to hide. Anxiety is overcoming your system as you debate on whether you should just come out and tell her your feelings already and get it over with.

 

You finally clear your throat and cast a few nervous glances over at her. "So, uh... you have any crushes around the school?"

 

Sunset slowly leans over to look at you, a sly smile forming on her tired face. "Now that's a question I didn't expect to hear. Why do you ask?"

 

You avert her gaze and try to hide the nervousness building up inside you. "I was just wondering."

 

"Well honestly? Not really. After everything that's happened, I've just been trying to build friendships and enjoy life with my friends, you know? A boyfriend hasn't exactly been on my priority list."

 

You gulp and try to stifle your internal catastrophizing. "Don't blame you, I guess. Could unnecessarily complicate things."

 

"Yeah, they could. If I'm being honest though I just haven't really put much thought into it. Maybe it would be nice..." Sunset says, looking down as her thumbs start tapping each other. "Do you have a crush?"

 

"Yeah..." your mouth says before you can manage to stop it. You wince, knowing what's about to come. You take in a long, shaky breath and decide that if you're going to be an idiot and have these feelings you might as well get the rejection out of the way now. "I do like someone, actually," you say, the disappointment preemptively spreading through your system.

 

Another sly smile crosses Sunset's face and she turns over to face you. "Oh yeah? Who is it? I might be able to set you guys up."

 

You close your eyes and shake your head, your body suddenly going on high alert with panic as you try to just get this over with. "It's you," you manage to whisper out.

 

Sunset blinks a few times in surprise. "Huh?"

 

"I like you, Sunset. I don't know what's going on. I'm supposed to hate you, but..."

 

"You like me? Like, romantically?" she asks, her tone reflecting a cautious curiosity.

 

"It's stupid, I know. But you came out of nowhere and spent time with me. You cared enough to talk with me when no one else had in months. You're really fun to be around and insanely beautiful and dancing with you and playing video games and... just everything. I don't want it to stop. I lose myself in the feeling every time you hug me and I just want so much more with you," you let out a frustrated groan and grab your temples. "You ruined my life, Sunset. I'm not supposed to feel this way about you but I do and I think it's ruining everything. I just wanted a friend to have fun with for my last few days and I'm already messing everything up by feeling like this."

 

A defeated groan leaves your lips and you lean back to let the back of your head knock against the wood. "I just figured maybe it'd be better to get the rejection out of the way early. I don't know. This is stupid. I don't know what I'm doing."

 

Sunset looks away for a moment. "It's not stupid, it's, uh... just..."

 

"It is stupid. You've been nice to me for three days and I already think I love you... Might be good to go ahead and ruin this now, I guess."

 

Sunset has to clear her throat before she looks back up to you. "No... no, it's not ruined or anything," she says, but you can hear the uncertainty plain in her voice.

 

"I'm not an idealist, Sunset. I know you can do so much better than me. All you wanted to do was make a new friend to have fun with and I've spent half of today just making things difficult," you say, looking down to your hands laying limp in the sheets.

 

"Hey, things were going to be difficult at the start. I don't blame you for feeling uncertain or... confused."

 

"I just..." you let out a frustrated groan. "I don't know what I'm doing, okay? I want to be with you but I know it'd never work and you'd never really want me like that. I wanted to just wait so we could be friends for just a little while but... agh..."

 

Sunset leans over and rests a hand on your shoulder, sending another cascade of those warm, calming feelings through your body and making you let out the frustration through a soft sigh. "Hey, don't work yourself up too much, okay? Things will be okay. I'm not really... well, I don't really know what to say, but I am really flattered you feel that way. Maybe we could talk about this more tomorrow? I know I'm too tired to think straight right now."

 

The warmth quickly fades, but you give her a gentle nod anyway. You don't really know what you were expecting, but this still doesn't leave you feeling very good about anything. "Yeah, that would probably be for the best."

 

"I do really enjoy spending time with you and I promise you didn't mess anything up," Sunset says, doing her best to put on a reassuring smile through her fatigue.

 

"If you say so..." A sinking feeling grows in your stomach as you refuse to look at her.

 

"Why don't we finish the movie then we could talk about things in the morning?"

 

You finally glance over at her, but the embarrassment building up inside you doesn't allow you to linger for very long. "Sure, yeah. We can do that."

 

"Awesome," she says with a big stretch and a yawn.

 

The usual series and jokes and laughs had long since faded away into the night. The nervousness in your stomach grows with each passing second of silence as your mind races through every little thing you might've done wrong today, or yesterday, or ever, really. Your heart aches after the lack of reciprocation, but you shake your head at the feeling—you always knew it was going to be like this. Sunset would never be anything more than a friend for you, as much as you wished it could be otherwise.

 

You take in a deep breath as the cold emptiness finally returns to completely wash away the happiness of the day. You turn to Sunset to let out a long apology again just to see her eyes closed and her head leaning back, her mouth slightly open as she gently slides across the headboard towards you. You can't help but let off a tired smirk yourself at her adorable napping. A lump forms in your throat as her gradual descent into the sheets lands her cheek against your shoulder.

 

You let out a somber sigh as the fantasies of doing this more often fill your head. The monster you hated for so long looks so peaceful and beautiful as she snores away against you, but this time it's not her that you're afraid of. You push through your fantasies and imagine all the ways you'd make this relationship—or even just the friendship—go horribly wrong. All the arguments you'd have over your insecurities, all the unneeded jealousy and stress you'd bring into her life. It'd never end well for her and you know it. There's so much work you'd have to do on yourself that it'd never be worth her time, even if you could manage to fix things.

 

You quietly slip away from Sunset, putting your hands up against her to gently set her down into her sheets. Despite the horrible feelings gripping at your mind, you still can't help but smile at her sleeping form. She looks like an angel come down from heaven to show you happiness one last time. You know you shouldn't, but you run your fingers across her cheek to move some of her hair out of the way.

 

You gulped as you thought of that walk back to your little beach house. It was time, your gut screamed at you. The more you thought about the future past today, the more you know that you're just going to mess up. Sunset managed to pierce through your negativity to have one last good day, but as the confusion and frustration swarms in your mind, you know after this that things will quickly fall apart because of you. It's the last sign you need to make that final decision.

 

"You'll never know how thankful I am for the time we had, Sunset," you whisper down to her as you run your hand gently across her hair, careful not to wake her up. "It was the happiest I've ever been in my life."

 

You look away and purse your lips for a moment. "I know it might be hard to accept that I'm gone, but I know you'll be better off in the long run. I hope you understand that one day. You have a wonderful life ahead of you and you don't need me to drag it down. I hope you know that I've forgiven you. It's just... better for the world this way now."

 

You lean down and give her forehead a kiss and one last light squeeze of her shoulders before wrapping her up in her blankets and rising back to your feet. After all that you need a rest yourself... a long one. You make your way out of her room, careful to make as little noise as possible as you close the door behind you.

 

You try to keep your mind centered on the good times of the past few days. When you finally make that walk out to the sea, you want your final thoughts to be happy, even if you know the reason you're out here in the first place is a whole lot of despair. Better to end on a high note, right? After today you knew it'd only get worse from here.

 

You let out a yawn of your own as you walk down that endless beige hallway. One last sunset probably isn't in the cards anymore, but the next sunrise would probably be more appropriate. You silently make up your mind and adjust your plans for the last few hours on earth. One more night away from reality before the end sounded nice. Maybe you'll dream about Sunset.

 

Chapter 4 - Sunrise

 

It's more disappointing than you thought it'd be.

 

The sun had already crested the horizon behind you, but you could hardly tell. The dreary, overcast skies above you kept the warmth of day away from you and the tank top you got with Sunset didn't do much to help the piercing nip of the cold winds as they brushed across the beach. You know the waters would be even colder and more uncomfortable, but if you wait for everything to be perfect it would never happen. You close your eyes and remind yourself of yesterday, about the first hints of your own mindset causing problems and how much more they'd surely cause down the line. It's better this way.

 

You roll that familiar orange bottle around your palm as the skies darken even more under a particularly heavy cloud cover. It needs to be today, you tell yourself, things will only get worse from here; better to end it on a high note, right? Your heart sinks as you try to think back to the good times of the past few days with Sunset. You know she'd be hurt, but this is for the best, for both of you. You silently hope she'll understand one day, even if she is upset she couldn't fix everything. With a long, deep breath you pop off the cap of the pill bottle and let it fall into the sand at your feet. Another long gaze out to the endless ocean brought a pang of nervousness to your stomach; this is going to suck a lot more than you'd initially hoped, but it would never be as bad as returning to that endless isolation and added disappointment of your new friend forgetting about you. A little pain now is a small pittance, really.

 

You take your first step forward off of the dry sand and feel the ice-cold water brush against your feet with the waves. The dark, grey world disappeared for a moment as you closed your eyes and put that orange bottle to your lips to let the first tablets of release slid against your tongue. It'd finally be over. The thought is almost comforting, in a way.

 

"Stop!" a harsh scream snapped you out of your trance with the sudden feeling of a harsh smack across your face. The bottle in your hand flew out of your grasp and into the water, its contents quickly dissolving with the building foam of each wave. You turn to see your aggressor as the stinging settles into your cheek and nose.

 

"Spit it out!" Sunset demands at your side, holding a hand under your chin as she glared daggers at you with a fury you haven't seen since you initially pissed her off all those years ago. "Spit it out! Now!"

 

You have to blink a few times at the unfettered rage before you finally comply, letting the pills slip off your tongue and down into her hand. All you can feel is fear at the anger in her face. Even in the overcast sky you can see the disheveled hair and sweat dripping off her body. She's still wearing the clothes you saw her fall asleep in, but now they're damp with sweat as she pants for breath in front of you. Just as she clenches her fist and takes an angry step away from you, you notice the tears running down her cheeks and the wetness of her eyes.

 

Sunset lets of an angry growl charges into the water, throwing the contents against her palm out as far as she possibly could into the ocean like an angry mother attacking someone that just hurt her family. The handful of pills fly into the water, never to be seen again, and Sunset trips under her own reckless rage to splash to her knees in the water. You reach a hand out to her, but pull it back as you hear the angry groans slip into tired sobs. The waves splash up her thighs to coat her face and shirt in sea water, but that seems like that last thing she's worried about now.

 

You take a few steps out to her, unsure of what to do. Your eyes flick to the tablets and the orange bottle in the ocean for a moment, but the medicine is all but gone now. "Sunset..."

 

Sunset snuffs out her pained sobs to look up at you for a moment, her expression an unfamiliar mixture of anger and sadness as she shakes her head at you. "I know, alright! I know why you're out here," she says between her desperate panting for air. "I knew the day we met what you were going to do. It's over, okay? I'm not going to let you." She haphazardly scrambles to her feet to stomp over at you, tapping a finger against your chest and giving you a glare that could kill a man if focused too long. "I don't care what you have to say or why you're still trying, but it's over. If I have to call the police to get you detained I will. If I have to strap you down to a chair until you come to your senses, I will. Do you understand? You're not dying, okay?! I'm not losing you."

 

The tears streaming down her cheeks betray the rage in her eyes. Her pupils dance between each of your eyes as she waits for an answer, her angry demeanor quickly fading back to sadness. "Do you understand?!"

 

You put your hands up for her. "Yes, yes, I understand, Sunset," you blurt out back to her, your heart racing in fear.

 

Her angry scowl fades as she clenches her eyes shut and lets another sob through. She rushes forward at you and for a moment you think she might tackle you, but instead wraps her arms around your midsection for a tight, desperate hug. Her loud whimpers and cries are only slightly muffled by your chest as she buries herself in it.

 

You timidly place your arms around her back, but it's not a hug like it was before. Shame gripped at your stomach for forcing Sunset to experience that, for trying even when she somehow knew. Your entire mood drifts away from the empty acceptance of your death to intense hatred for yourself for putting Sunset in this distraught state. You want to get away from her, to never have to face her again to see those pained expressions contrasting so hard from the wonderful smiles you remember, but you know she's not going to let you go now. You don't know how long you sat there letting her cry into your shirt—the sun refused to tell you through that overcast sky—but it was long enough to make your legs tired from holding Sunset up.

 

Finally her pained sobs slipped into soft whimpers. You run your hand across the back of her head like you're trying to sooth a child and Sunset doesn't bother to stop you. You have absolutely no idea what to say to her and you expect she feels about the same. Your mind struggles to comprehend the reality and the gravity of the situation as you stare over her red and yellow locks out to the crashing, unstable ocean waves whipping about in the wind. This didn't even feel real anymore, but the occasional squeezes from Sunset as she nuzzled herself into your shirt brought you back to the world.

 

You make a difficult swallow past the growing lump in your throat and finally choke out a few words. "How did you know?"

 

A hand leaves your back to help Sunset wipe her eyes and nose. "Is that really important right now?" she asks, a twinge of anger returning to her voice.

 

The fear shoots through your heart again. The last thing you want to deal with is her angry right now. "No, no... I just, I was just wondering."

 

Sunset let out a ragged breath. "I... I need to sit down," she let out. Your heart sank at her request and you put a hand on her back to lead her over to the chairs on the deck of your little beach house. As you step through the sand with her, you can't help but look over at her puffy eyes and tear-stained cheeks—it's the last nail in the coffin for your doubts about who she is anymore. The intense contrast between the haughty laughs after calling you pathetic and the intense sobbing at you potentially dying shattered the last little pieces of her old self in your mind. Now you just want to help her get out of this... to see that smile again.

 

You help her down into the smooth, painted wood of the deck chairs and slip into one yourself. Your hands automatically fidget against each other uncomfortably as you look between her and the floor, still not knowing what to say after the intense experience.

 

Sunset wipes her eyes again then takes in a long, shaky breath before letting it back out and slouching over. Her teal eyes scan you for a moment as she considers her next words. "Look... I just... I've wanted to make things up to you for a while and you know I can get things done. I found out you were coming out here and got your hands on those," she says, nodding out to the empty pill bottle sitting on the beach. "I knew what was going to happen, okay? I had to do something."

 

"Why didn't you say anything before?"

 

Sunset lets off another long sniff. Before looking back over to you. "Would you have stopped if I just came out here and told you all that?"

 

"I..." your eyes trace down to the floor again. "Probably not."

 

"I wanted to give you a reason to stay, you know? Maybe a friend you really enjoyed spending time around would change things. I know they made a world of difference for me." Another sniff and Sunset wiped away a few more tears. "I thought things were going fine, but I woke up and remembered what happened last night... I've never run so fast in my life."

 

"I... I don't know what to say."

 

Sunset adopts another stern glare. "Maybe something like 'I promise I won't do that again, Sunset'?"

 

You look away, unable to meet her gaze. You feel a pit in your stomach grow when you realize you couldn't make that promise to her. A long silence hangs between you before she finally lets out a frustrated grunt. "What can I do? What am I supposed to do to make sure you never think of doing this again?"

 

You blink a few times as you look back and realize she's suddenly standing in front of you, staring down with that frustrated determination on her face. "Sunset, it's not that easy... this doesn't just go away overnight."

 

"So when does it go away? What can we do to get you there? What can I do to make sure you're happy again?"

 

You purse your lips and avoid her gaze. "I don't think there's anything you can do, Sunset."

 

She leans down and places a hand on your knee to support herself. Now that she's looking up at you it's a lot harder to avoid her gaze. "I know that's not true. Please, we can figure something out. You were happy these past couple days, weren't you?"

 

"Sunset... it's not going to work out in the long run. I can't stay stable anymore. How many more fights are we going to have before you don't want to be around me? How many more problems am I going to work up in my own head to push myself away from everyone? Things are just going to get worse from here. It would've been better just to..."

 

Sunset's brows furrow and she grits her teeth again. "No! No, it wouldn't have been better to die. All of my friends have had their problems. We've all had fights and gotten mad and thought we never wanted to talk to each other again but we all got through it. We worked things out and learned from it so now our friendships are stronger and better than ever."

 

"I don't think I can work these things out anymore. I've been like this for too long," you say. You look down away from her face, your eyes going blurry as they lose focus.

 

"You can and you will, okay? Please, promise me that you won't kill yourself on this winter break. Please... not forever, but please give me the rest of the break to try to help," she says, leaning forward onto your knee to catch your gaze.

 

Tears well up at the edge of your eyes as you thought about facing the school again. It's the last thing you ever wanted to do when you came out here. Another day there, feeling that horrible isolation and disappointment, cursed to a life of being a horrible person no one ever wanted to speak to again. "I don't want to go back..."

 

Sunset's face quickly matches your sadness. "It won't be like it was anymore, I promise. Please give me the chance to make things right. To show you there's still some happiness in your life."

 

"Why do you care so much? I'm not worth the effort, Sunset. I'll only ever make life worse for you if you make me stay."

 

Sunset shakes her head hard enough to send her hair brushing against your leg. "That's not true—I know it's not. Yesterday was so much fun. I can't tell you the last time I spent all day with someone like that and didn't get tired of them or want to be alone for a while. I know you've got a lot of bad things you want to talk about and I know there's still animosity between us. I know we'll have problems going forward but that doesn't mean we can't be happy together too," she says, reaching forward to take one of your hands in hers. Her soft, caring fingers send a jolt of pleasure through your body as she lightly squeezes your palm.

 

"Together?" you ask her, a sudden light of hope beaming in your mind.

 

"I don't know. I haven't really put any thought into it until just now. I'm really flattered you like me and it makes me happy that that's what you think over who I used to be."

 

"But?" you say, your tone slipping towards disappointment.

 

"I don't know if I like like you yet."

 

You swallow the lump in your throat and nod to her. "I don't expect you to, I just... I just wanted to get it out of the way and ruin the friendship if that's what it was going to do, you know?"

 

Sunset reaches over with her other hand to rub the top of your palm with a gentle, almost motherly sense of caring. "It won't ruin anything, I promise. I think I want to give it a shot."

 

"Huh?"

 

"I know we've only really been friends for a few days, but I've had a really good time with you. This morning when I thought about losing you... I couldn't bear it. I couldn't let you do that to yourself, not just because I don't want you to die, but because I don't want to lose a friend."

 

"So you want to...?"

 

Sunset lets out one last sniff before she puts on her best bright smile and looks up to you. "I want to try being your girlfriend for a while, yeah."

 

A sudden wave of ecstatic happiness fills you up and your lips turn up as well, only to turn back down once the feeling isn't as strong and you can see the intentions. "Sunset... you can't build a relationship on pity. You won't be happy if you're only doing this to try to keep me here."

 

Sunset nods in agreement. "I know. I'm not trying to do that. At least, I don't think I am. I mean we could count the last couple of days as dates, right? Even without the looming suicidal threat we have had a lot of fun together."

 

"Yeah, we have..."

 

"So we can have more. As a couple maybe. Maybe it won't work out and maybe we're not that compatible, but if not we can always be friends. Unless you're just secretly really mean and manipulative, I'll always want to consider you a friend."

 

You let a tired grin cross your lips for her. "I do my best not to be." You let your free hand over to rest on Sunset's feeling that wonderfully soft skin on your palm to return the sweet gesture. "I would rather you be happy in the end, though. If things don't work out, you should forget about me."

 

Sunset's frustration slips back onto her face. "I'm not going to do that. Do I need to take you to the hospital?"

 

"Wait, what?"

 

Sunset leans back and pushes herself back up to her feet, letting her hands slip away from you and the wonderful feelings with them. "I should take you to the hospital right now, you know. I should tell them you just tried to kill yourself and let your parents know what happened. I don't know if you understand just how [i]serious[/i] that is, but you're still talking to me like it's an inevitability."

 

A pit in your stomach forms at the thought of all that. "No, I... I'd rather not do that."

 

Sunset reaches out a hand to you. "I don't want to do that to you either." You look over the smooth, light skin for a moment then up to her teal eyes looking down at you. Her expression is a far cry from the hopeful smile she first gave you when she offered you her hand, but you grasp it anyway and let her guide you up to your feet.

 

"I might be making a mistake, but I think it could be better for both of us if we just try to have a good time, then when we get back we can sort out what we're going to do with you," she says up to you. Her stern expression fades to those hopeful, questioning eyes as she reads your face.

 

"Sunset... I'm not worth all this."

 

And right back to that stern frustration. "Hey, it's my time and I'll spend it helping whoever I want, got it?"

 

You let out a tired laugh. "Yeah."

 

"I want to spend my break with you, okay? I want to try being together. I want you to be happy and I think us being together could make me really happy too," she says, her face slowly adopting a hopeful smile again. "We've got a lot we need to talk about, but first..." Sunset flips out her phone and taps on it a few times. You crane your neck over to get a peek at what she's up to, but she's done before you notice. "I'm moving in."

 

You have to blink a few times in an attempt to register. "What?"

 

Sunset leans down to grab your hand in hers before looking back up to meet your eyes. "Look, I know this is all really quick, but I've been watching you to make sure you haven't gone through with it when I can. Now that everything is out in the open, I want to be by your side to make sure you have someone to talk to any time you're feeling like that."

 

"Move into the beach house with me?" you say, still incredulous those words are leaving your lips. Your cheeks burn up for a moment as your mind tries to imagine all the wonderful and not-so-wonderful implications.

 

"Yup. No arguments either; I already got a ride for us over to my hotel to pick up my stuff. It's either this or the hospital. Which one you want?"

 

A lump forms in your throat, but this time it's excited apprehension instead of sadness. "I... this... wow... I don't..."

 

Sunset finally lets out a laugh of her own to wash away the intense emotions of the morning. "I'll take that as a yes. Come on, tiger, you need to help me with my bags," she says as she drags you by the wrist off of the deck to head to the road. This definitely isn't how you imagined this morning to go. Confusion is still churning around in your stomach, but in the bliss of watching her hair bob in front of you and knowing she's now your girlfriend, you can hardly bring yourself to think of anything else anymore.

 

[hr]

 

You set Sunset's suitcase down to the floor with a soft clack. A pit of nervousness grows in your stomach as you wait for her to get the rest of her things out of the car. The ride over to the hotel was painfully awkward as you both kept your mouths shut in the presence of someone else, but even more so as the uncertainty gripped at you. How would this ever work? How is this not just going to get worse like you imagined? The confusion in you exploded in the silence as part of you grew ecstatic at the thought of being around Sunset as much as possible, but the pragmatic part did its best to remind you just how fast this could exacerbate the problems you knew were coming.

 

You take in a shaky breath in the short while you had alone. Maybe you should tell Sunset to leave, maybe it would be better just to cut her out entirely before you inevitably make things worse. The sound of her flip flops clambering up the steps puts a timer on your silent thoughts. It'd be for her benefit to cut this off now, but you know she'd never just leave after what happened this morning.

 

"Alright, I think that's everything," she says as she stumbles over to the couch and lets the rest of her things spill out onto them. "Now we're officially roommates." Sunset walks back over to the front door and gives the driver a wave to send them off, then closes the door behind her. The sudden enclosure shot another wave of nervousness through your body at what your unstable emotions might do to her.

 

"Is this really a good idea, Sunset?" you ask her, trying to keep your gaze on the floor.

 

Sunset purses her lips as she slides herself onto your couch. "Honestly? I have no idea. This might be a terrible idea, but I'm trying anyway."

 

"I just... I don't want this to end badly for you, Sunset. Maybe we shouldn't do this."

 

Sunset raises an eyebrow at you as she looks over the back of the couch. "Are you going to try to hurt me or something?"

 

You shake your head. "No, no. I don't want to hurt you or anything, but the argument we had yesterday... I'm not... I don't think I can give you a stable relationship."

 

Sunset gives you a knowing smile then pats the cushion on the couch a few times. "Come sit with me? I think we should talk for a while."

 

You anxiety flares for a moment and you desperately suppress the urge to start freaking out about how badly this might go, but once you see that sweet smile on her face you take in another shaky breath and walk over to the couch to sit beside her. A lump forms in your throat as you spare a few glances over to her smile. "So, uh... what do you want to talk about?"

 

"Well, I try not to make everything about me all the time, but... I know what's going on. I've been there?" she says, leaning over to place a comforting hand on your forearm.

 

Your face twists in confusion. "What? How could you possibly understand? You're the popular girl, Sunset. Everyone at school just immediately started liking you. You have no idea what it's like," you say, trying not to get angry at the attempted empathy.

 

"I guess it would seem like that if you just watched things from the outside, huh? The girls picked me up pretty quickly, but it wasn't immediately. I actually attempted suicide once too."

 

You have to blink a few times in surprise at her. You glance over her face for some sign of a chuckle at the end of a joke, but that caring smile is all that remains. "Why?"

 

Sunset takes in a long, deep breath of her own and glances away. "After the Fall Formal I lost everything. My entire life was built around getting ahead for my one goal in Equestria. Everything I'd done, everything I'd ever learned to do, everything about who I was, it was all to go back and show Celestia how wrong she was for not giving me what I wanted. When Twilight took that away from me, I had nothing."

 

"But you made all those new friends, right? It hardly seemed like you skipped a beat."

 

"Well, the school was closed for a month for repairs, remember? After that the girls and I didn't really start to get along for another two weeks. Those were... well they were rough times," Sunset says, a sudden forlorn sadness taking over her face as her eyes seem to lose focus entirely. She snaps herself out of it then looks back up to you. "I lost everything, pretty much. My life no longer had a purpose and everything I'd ever worked towards became meaningless. I'm sure you can understand not wanting to be around anymore after that."

 

You give her a soft nod. "Yeah, I guess I can."

 

Sunset puts on that sweet smile again and gives your forearm a light squeeze. "I'm just saying that even if I don't know exactly what I put you through, I understand what it's like to feel that way. When I'd finally accepted that what I'd done was wrong, I thought it would be better if I just didn't interact with anyone at all. I mean, all I was ever going to do was end up hurting my friends, right?"

 

You look over at her again and give her another nod, surprise coming over your expression. "Yeah... that's... yeah."

 

"It was a struggle at first as we clashed off of each other, but look at where we are now. Just because we had problems and arguments doesn't mean we can't grow to make a bond even stronger on the other side of them."

 

You let out a soft sigh. "I don't know, Sunset. You didn't have to go through what I went through. It's been a long time since almost anyone has even bothered to talk to me. I had one friend before, but... it doesn't matter now. I don't know how to do anything but make your life worse going forward. I can't give you anything and I think all I'm going to do is need help."

 

The cushions shift against you as Sunset scoots over. "You've already given me a handful of really fun dates. I think you're doing just fine."

 

"That was when I didn't think anything would matter going forward."

 

"What matters now?"

 

You rub the back of your neck and look away. "That I'm going to mess something up. I'm already stressing about it and I know things are just going to get worse from here."

 

Sunset gives you an almost amused smile and squeezes your arm again. "As long as you try, I'll try with you, okay? I know things won't be perfect, but if you just give me a chance I know we can both be happier."

 

You shake your head. "I just—"

 

Sunset gives a quick shake to your arm and leans in to give you a stern look. "Hey, just try for me, okay? Can you do that?"

 

You close your eyes to face the torrent of thoughts running through your head. You want to argue and show her how bad you know things could get if she stays. Part of you screams to just make her leave before she gets hurt, before you get hurt... but you feel something else bubbling up inside you around it: hope. Her sweet smile, the feeling of her caring hand on your arm... maybe things would get better if you just let her try. You take in a deep breath then look back over to her, fighting against your gut to get that one important word out.

 

"Yeah... yeah, I'll try."

 

A beaming grin comes over her face at your affirmation and she scoots even closer to you. "Awesome!"

 

You can't help but mirror the sudden positivity as the warm, fuzzy feelings return in her presence. Her intense happiness, you want to make sure she has it as much as possible as you look over her beautiful smile. Your mind casts away its doubts just to focus on the wonderful feelings that erupted just from being so close to her.

 

She settles into her new spot on the couch with a little fidget of her hips. "So, I'm still a little worn out from this morning, physically and emotionally."

 

Your smile fades as you think about the pain on her face if she'd shown up a few minutes later. "Sorry..."

 

"Hey, you're still here and we're ready to move on. I'm just saying I'm not really up for anything else as intense today. Would you want to just hang out and play video games and eat pizza with me again?" she asks, a hopeful grin on her face.

 

"Yeah... yeah that sounds really good right about now," you say, your body feeling somewhat worn out too after the day you just shared.

 

"First though." Sunset moves just a little closer until her knee is touching your thigh. Your heart starts beating even faster in your chest at her presence and she leans in even closer until you can feel her hair brushing up against your shoulder. Your cheeks burn hot with a sudden blush and you have a hard time giving her much more than the occasional glance. "I want to try something."

 

"W-what?" you ask, doing your best to keep a crack out of your shaky voice.

 

"Well, we have had a few dates now, technically. Maybe we should try a kiss. What do you think?" she asks in a quiet tone as she moves her face even closer to yours. Your heart feels like it's about to jump into your throat once you feel her breath on your cheek.

 

Your neck takes over for you out of instinctual desire to face her. "I... y-yeah..."

 

Her hand leaves your arm and travels up to your cheek as you both inch ever-closer to each other. You bring up a shaky, nervous hand to do the same, but it twitches away from her face at the feeling. You have to force your arm up to settle your fingers on the side of her neck, making the pit in your stomach grow even deeper as your heart runs wild. The feeling of her flowing hair against your hand, her soft skin under your touch, and her warm breath brushing past you as you both timidly lean in is driving you crazy.

 

Then it happens.

 

The sadness, the confusion, the frustration all melt away in an instant as you feel her lips against yours. Your entire body lights up with fireworks of emotion at the feeling of her cheek in your hand and the face that provided you with those wonderful smiles up against you. Your other hand finds the other side of her cheek to cradle her as the excitement overtakes you and pushes out any thoughts other than how much you never want this moment to end. Your senses suddenly heighten and a rush of energy flows through your body as the world seems so much more alive and colorful in her kiss. The smell of her fruity shampoo, the softness of her skin, the warmth of her body, the subtle thump of her heartbeat... it all becomes your whole world and you can't help but lose yourself in it.

 

You had no idea how long you've sat there just reveling in the euphoric feelings she washed over you, but when she finally pulls away it's like losing an integral part of you. You disappointed sigh leaves your lips once the feeling of hers falls away, but you open your eyes to see a satisfied smile and fondness in those sweet, teal eyes of hers.

 

Sunset has to blink a few times and look away to gather herself. "That... that was really nice."

 

Even in the afterglow you can barely bring yourself to think of anything else. All your mind brings up is how to get back to that feeling again, to feel her touch and bask in the embrace of her kiss. An intense heat has spread across your cheeks in the afterglow and it grows even hotter once you realize how much someone between your legs enjoyed it as well.

 

You clear your throat and look away as well, thankful her eyes aren't studying downward. "Y-yeah. We should definitely do that more often.

 

Sunset leans forward again and places a hand on your chest. Her lips grace your cheek and send another jolt of ecstasy through your system at the feeling. You can barely stay upright as your mind focuses in on the little wet spot on your face.

 

"One step at a time, okay? So how about that evening of pizza and video games?"

 

With all your worries drifting off like dust in the wind, spending another night with her sounds like heaven and you can't imagine anything else you'd rather want. "Let's do it," you say, trying to refocus yourself through the swarm of bliss and hormones.

 

Sunset grabs her console off the couch and heads over to the TV with a bright smile on her face. A little happiness creeps in as she plugs everything in. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

 

[hr]

 

The endless sea of cracks in the ceiling around the fan don't seem quite so interesting as they once were. Memories of the nights spent trading thoughts between the ceiling and how much you hated yourself and the world flood through your mind, but it's not something that's as relatable as it might've been a week ago. Your stomach felt slightly sore at the sheer amount of pizza and treats that had been stuffed into it, and your mouth felt the familiar soreness of the past few days at the constant stream of smiles and jokes that had filled the night between the sound effects emanating from the television.

 

There was a lot to be happy about now. A lot of great memories to hold onto going forward, but something still felt wrong. You turn your head towards the light spreading across the carpet from the bathroom door, listening to the rhythmic splatter of the water as it rained down on Sunset from the other side. In any other circumstance your teenage mind might run wild with thoughts of her beautiful form and being even closer to her than with the heavenly kiss of a few hours ago. Right now you can't lose yourself in the happiness though.

 

Your mind flashes Sunsets concerned eyes from the edge of the bed again, her endlessly trying to make you promise you wouldn't do anything while she took a shower. It was understandable after the events of this morning, but you couldn't manage to hold back the intense waves of guilt as reality crept back in. Through all the laughing and button-tapping, you didn't think to consider how traumatic that would've been for her.

 

You let out a long sigh as the sound of the shower finally cuts off. Sunset's beautiful smile plays over and over in your head, contrasted by the tears streaming down her cheeks and the fear on her face of this morning. Your eyes glance down to your thumbs tapping each other across your chest as the sullen realization builds back up: she deserves better. The joy of the day had faded from your emotions and confusion crept its way back in. A frustrated groan builds up inside of you once the stress of it all returns. Now you know you have to make a choice: be the kind of person Sunset would be deserving of, or accept that you're hopeless and will only ever make things worse.

 

The dark side of your mind started again, filling the world of emotion you once enjoyed with that uncomfortable emptiness as it throws a constant barrage of evidence at you to prove you need to give up. You roll over in the bed and grip the sheets, doing your best to push the arguments out of your mind. Inside your gut you felt a sudden spark, something stronger than before. You look up to the ceiling again, trying to force your mind to find ways to make this work, to be better for her. If this didn't end horribly... it could be the one thing that finally makes you want to stay. The dominating presence of your own negativity battles as hard as it can against the new stream of thoughts, but neither would give way to the other any longer.

 

Before you could stew in the battlefield of your mind any longer, the door clicks open and you see Sunset walk out of it, a new set of clothes on and a towel furiously rubbing against her wet hair. "Forgot my blow-dryer," she says with one eye closed.

 

"Didn't remember mine either," you say, a little more confusion building inside you once you feel the smile cross your face.

 

Sunset let out a little laugh as she rubbed the last bit of water she was willing to work on. Your heart eases at the sound of her amusement and you do your best to push away the negativity eating at you so you can enjoy a few more moments with her before bed.

 

"It's going to be a little wet for a while, but you'll get used to it," Sunset says before grabbing a fluffy, purple blanket you remember seeing from her hotel room. She brings it up to her chest and lets it drape over her bare legs as she sits down on the opposite side of the bed.

 

You sit up straight at the feeling of her weight on the other side of the bed, a pang of surprise and anxiety overtaking your expression. "Woah, wait. You're going to sleep—"

 

"Yeah... you okay with that?" Sunset gave you a pointed expression; doesn't look like she's going to let you say no anyway.

 

"I... that's kind of quick, don't you think?" you say as you look away. A nervous lump quickly fills your throat and an uncomfortable warmth spreads across your cheeks at the thought of her sleeping next to you.

 

"It is, yeah," Sunset says, a solemn expression on her face. "But after what happened this morning, I don't want to take any risks, okay? I don't want to have to wake up to you being gone forever until I'm sure things are okay. So we're going to fall asleep next to each other and if you get up I can know about it."

 

The blush on your face grows even darker at the thought of being that close to her all night. Your mind races with all the embarrassing ways that could end up, but a comforting hand finds your shoulder to make you look back over to those sweet teal eyes. "Please. It would really help to keep me from worrying all night."

 

You blink a few times and try to swallow the lump in your throat. "O-okay. We can do that."

 

A gentle, caring smile spreads across Sunset's lips and she slides over on the bed next to you. Her form cuddles up to your side and you can feel the still-wet strands brush against your arm. The nervousness inside you explodes and your heartbeat starts racing as she fumbles around with her blanket to drape it over the both of you. The incredibly soft fabric doesn't do much to ease the stiffness overtaking your body as Sunset nudges you back onto the mattress.

 

You have to keep yourself from hyperventilating as Sunset's cheek rests on your chest and she drapes an arm over you. The feeling of the soft skin of her thighs rubs against yours as she wraps that around you as well, keeping your eyes wide at red alert as your member grows just as stiff at the feeling. Thankfully you flip it up in your waistband before Sunset notices.

 

"Hey, I'm not going to bite, you know," she says as she leans over to look into your eyes with an amused smile.

 

"I... I know. This is... this..." you stumble through, having to clear your throat. "I've just never done this before.

 

Sunset gives you an amused chuckle. "Well, it's easy. Just put your arm around my shoulders and lie back. Should be asleep in no time," she says as she settles her cheek back into your chest.

 

You take a long, shaky deep breath and let your arm fall across her shoulders. The feeling of her presence is... comforting after the nervousness starts to fade. After a long series of deep breaths, your heart rate finally goes back to normal as well and the fatigue of the day starts to catch up with you. Your heart goes back to fluttering as Sunset nuzzles her cheek against you and lets off a tired yawn. You give her a loving squeeze in return and do your best to relax against the pillow, trying to focus only on the wonderful, relaxing feelings of being wrapped up in her arms.

 

You stare up at the cracks in the ceiling, but your eyes don't want to stay open any longer. In her arms you finally felt... at peace. The battle in your mind tried to rage on, but you couldn't give anymore attention to it. All you want to think about now is the rhythmic breathing of your girlfriend against you, the soft brushing of her smooth thighs, and the feeling of drifting away in her embrace. The negative thoughts can wait for tomorrow; tonight you know you're going to sleep better than you have in years.

 

Chapter 5 - Sunset

 

You wake up in a blissful haze with the heat of the midday sun filling your room. Your eyes flutter open at the feeling of a warm breeze brushing across your cheeks and you look over to see the sliding glass door on the bedroom wide open. The gentle, rhythmic rush of the waves across the beach fills the room with its relaxing rhythm as you close your eyes and soak in the relaxing feeling. You grip the blanket with your left hand, enjoying the fluffy softness that Sunset seemed so fond of—you can definitely see why now. You roll over with a content smile on your cheeks to face the girl in question, but a rush of disappointment flows through your system as you lift your arm and realize you're alone again.

 

You take in a long, deep breath and blink a few times in surprise; the sting of fatigue isn't nipping at your eyes today and the constant ache of fatigue somehow isn't present anymore either. The depressive haze that'd clouded your mind for so long feels like its finally gone and you can actually put together thoughts that aren't just self-hatred or suicidal ideation. You can't remember the last time you've felt like this in the morning, if ever, really. Your lips turn up slightly as you settle back into the pillow, feeling more rested than you had in years.

 

Mixing in with the brush of the waves outside is a faint sizzling coming from the other room. You look over to see Sunset standing in the kitchen, fiddling around with some utensils and a skillet and wearing one of your grandma's aprons—an ornate, flowery design that absolutely did not fit anyone under 60, but it doesn't seem like Sunset cares much. Your smile grows wider at the sight of her red and yellow hair bobbing around the kitchen as she reaches around and explores various drawers. You don't remember keeping any food here to cook, but that's a question to worry about later. A warmth grows inside your stomach as you look at her, imagining getting to talk to her yet again. Your smile grows even wider at the thought of that culminating in another soft, gentle kiss. Your body releases its tension as you think back to that kiss on the couch yesterday—every single second would be a treasure to you for years to come.

 

You look back over to her and let your mind run wild with fantasies of feeling her so close again, the fun you might have for the rest of the break... or when you both go back to school. You let out a chuckle at the thought of going back to that awful place with her. She's the reason you couldn't stand the thought of going back, but now she's the only reason you're even considering it. Funny how things work out.

 

Your smile can't last forever though. Your mind betrays your mood to draw your focus back on the school, making your grin fade at the thought of the scorn from all your former friends at your presence, the isolation, the whispers, all the awful memories of your shattered life. The warmth fades from your gut as you roll over to look out to the ocean. You shake your head and tell yourself things will be better with Sunset at your side, but you can already sense your mood dipping.

 

The harsh experiences irritate the still-open emotional wounds and send a wave of sadness through your body. You take in another deep breath as the happiness fights against the encroaching waves of sadness like a ship in a worsening storm, but your mind can't hold out forever. The exciting thoughts of your future with the wonderful girl in the other room slowly become poisoned by the realization of what it'll mean for her. What will the other students think? How much is she going to have to put up with now? Will her friends still want to be around her now that she's with you? The nervousness twists uncomfortably in your stomach with each new thought and your brain drags you further and further away from the wonderful fantasy of a happy future you held onto just moments ago.

 

You close your eyes and try to keep your mind on that beautiful smile of hers, but the thoughts refuse to relent. You desperately want to keep that smile on her face, but the more your mind prods at you the more you feel like you can't be the one to do it. You imagine her fear at the thought of breaking up with you, being trapped in a relationship where she knows what will happen if she leaves. You know you can only do so much to keep the insecurity and anxiety at bay and how much it could affect her happiness. You grit your teeth and shake your head at the thought, suddenly wishing she hadn't shown up yesterday.

 

Panic seizes your heart for a moment as you remember your talk with her yesterday. If she was telling the truth about feeling suicidal herself... You try to shake away the uncomfortable visualization of her feeling these things, but the thought haunts your mind and you can't seem to get it to leave you alone. You finally pull the soft blanket off of you and let your feet touch the cold, wooden floor. No matter how much you try to stop the torrent of your own mind, you can't help but reach the same conclusion that she'd be better off without you.

 

You reach over to pull open one of the nightstand drawers. The malicious wave of negative emotions had won, leaving a stark emptiness in your body with only one more real desire to be found. Your hand slips around the bottom of the drawer until it finds an old chunk of metal to bring out: a boxcutter complete with fresh razors. You close your eyes as you feel it in your hand, silently chastizing yourself for making these contingencies. You can help but think about Sunset's distraught face as she slapped those pills out of your hand—the pain in her eyes alone is enough to make you second guess, but the darkness at the edge of your mind still screamed at you about how much worse things would be if you stayed with her.

 

You let out a frustrated groan and let your head fall back as the confusion tears through your consciousness yet again. Your thought process goes through the motions of planning out the exit strategy, how to hide it from her and get a moment alone, but you grit your teeth and grip the metal handle as hard as you can, trying to push through the autonomous ideas to find that happiness from a few moments ago that made you feel like this didn't have to be an option anymore. You fight as hard as you can to not follow through with your sudden plans, but deep down you know you're going to find a reason eventually. You know you can't fight your own negativity anymore, but you clench your eyes shut and focus on the pain in Sunset's eyes from yesterday, knowing the last thing you want to do is bring any more hurt into the world.

 

Before you finally give in to the urge to hide it in the bathroom somewhere, you feel a hand resting on top of yours. You open your eyes to see Sunset sitting next to you, a sad, disappointed look in her eyes as she places both hands on top of yours and tries to draw your gaze. Your heart jumps and your mind quickly searches for an excuse to deescalate, but you know she's not stupid.

 

"I..." A lump forms in your throat as you look into her pained gaze. You know she wants to ask you why, but she doesn't bother. You let out a somber sigh, the confusion wracking your soul quickly morphing to your own disappointment and self-hatred. Your grip on the tool loosens and Sunset slips it out of your hands and hides it in her waistband.

 

"I know..." Sunset closes her eyes and takes in a deep breath before looking back to you, but the sorrow in her eyes as she looks back to you still shoots an intense pain through your system. "I know you won't get better overnight. I know that's not how it works. I know you'll still have these thoughts even on happier days."

 

You awkwardly fiddle your fingers together as your heart rate rises. You feel like a scorned child, looking down at the floor, unable to meet eyes with the girl beside you.

 

Sunset puts a hand on your shoulder to draw your gaze over to her, but you can only keep it there for a breif moment before looking away in shame again. "I wish I could take all this away, to instantly turn your life around so that you'd never think about doing that again, but I know it isn't that easy. I guess I should ask... why are you still thinking about this?"

 

Her gaze feels like its burning a hole in your cheek as the silence grows. Your thumbs tap together and you open and close your mouth a few times, trying to find something decent to tell her. You close your eyes in frustration and shake your head. "I'm sorry... I don't know if I can... if..."

 

Sunset shifts around in the bed, crawling up onto her knees and letting one hand rest on the side of your head and the other on your shoulder around you. Another lump forms in your throat as she pulls you in closer to let your head rest on her shoulder with her cheek on your forehead. She shushes you for a moment as her hand strokes through your hair. You can't help but sink into her and wrap your arms around her waist as the emotions all bubble up to the surface in her embrace. "I'm so sorry..." you let out as the tears blur the edges of your eyes.

 

"Shh. It's okay. We're okay. Just talk to me about what's worrying you, alright? We can get through this," she says, her tone softening to almost a whisper as she gives you a reassuring squeeze.

 

You take in a deep breath to steady yourself then let it out to try to keep your voice from shaking too much. "I just... I don't want to make things worse, you know?"

 

"How would you make things worse?"

 

You purse your lips as your eyes settle on looking out to the ocean. "When we get back... if things are still like they were, it'll be worse for you just being friends with me."

 

"Why would it be worse?" Sunset asks, her tone turning a little more curious.

 

"The other students... how are they going to react? I mean if you want to break up with me, will I just threaten you with this again? You said... you've gone through this too... what if we both end up like that and I can't help you? There are so many ways this could go wrong, Sunset, so many ways I'll make your life worse," you say, clenching your eyes shut.

 

The stress building up inside you eases at the feeling of Sunset's hand running through your hair and listening to the gentle thump of her heart beating in her chest. She gives you a squeeze with her other arm and lets her cheek rest on the top of your head. "You won't make things worse. I'm a lot better now and we can handle all those problems as they come. No matter what, we'll always be friends, alright?"

 

You hug her a little tighter in return. "Alright..."

 

"I think this is a good thing, honestly," she says, almost flippantly.

 

You raise an eyebrow, taken aback for a moment as your mind tries to process logic in her words. "What?"

 

"Over the past two days, after everything you've told me, you're not thinking about the past anymore. Your mind is on the future, how you're going to move forward. I think that's a good thing."

 

You blink a few times as her words sink in. She's right, in a way—the more time you spend with her, the more you think about the future, even if it's only to stress about how you think you'll mess things up. Your mind sinks away as it starts poking you with that awful question. "Does it really matter?"

 

"I think so. If you're only ever down on yourself about your past mistakes, you can never look forward to see what the future can hold."

 

You open your mouth to protest, but let the words die in your throat. "I guess you'd know that better than anyone, huh?"

 

"You have no idea. I also know the first step towards a better future is turning your head to where you're going instead of where you've been. I think you're getting there even if you don't realize it yet."

 

A dry smile creeps over your face. "Using those manipulation tactics for good now?"

 

Sunset lets out an empty laugh and you can feel her shake her head. "I'm not doing anything to manipulate you, I just want to try to help you to be happy. I'm not going to use my old tactics on you... er, at least not right now anyway."

 

You lean up and away from her for a moment to give her a curious glare. Her sheepish smile tells you all you really need to know. You roll your eyes and keep that amused grin on your face. "Well... I might have... uh, why don't you just check it out for yourself?"

 

Sunset fishes around in her pocket for a moment before pulling out her phone and giving it a few taps. She turns the screen around to you and you have to blink a few more times to really take in what you see. Your old Mystable account is up on her phone with you logged in, but not quiet how you remember it. The last time you saw this page was after Sunset's actions caused the little friend box to go from triple digits to single ones, but now? The notifications on the top bar all read over a hundred. You tap around to see apologies from former friends, dozens of friend requests, and invitations to new gatherings from people that want to include you in things. You stare at the screen for a moment in surprise, wondering if this isn't just an edited page Sunset is showing you.

 

"Wha... I..." you stammer out as you look through all the messages.

 

"Here, now check this out," she says with an excited smile on her face as she slips the phone out of your hands and starts tapping on it again.

 

She hands it back to you to reveal a wall of text that didn't even fit on the entirety of her screen. Her name sits at the top of the post before it rolls down through an extremely long and detailed apology going through every little thing she'd done to ruin your reputation through everyone else. You're impressed that she even included links for proof. Once you finally reach the end of the post there are hundreds of comments from your fellow students talking about how bad they felt and how they want to try to make it up to you.

 

"I did the best I could. I know a lot of your friends aren't that active or weren't already friends with me, so I went out of my way to send them a message myself."

 

Your mouth hangs open in shock as you look through it all. You cast a few glances towards Sunset, but still don't entirely believe what you're seeing is real. So much time spent in isolation, in the darkness of misery and now it's like a beacon in the night has broken through the veil, giving you a spark of hope.

 

"Check out my profile too," she says, slipping her finger over the top of the screen and tapping her name. Her profile comes up to show a much brighter, happier vision than the one you remember, and in the sidebar of her personal information a new line has shown up: 'in a relationship with' reads out and your name shows up with a link to your profile. "I'm serious about trying. I'm not going to be afraid to be with you in front of anyone."

 

A twist in your stomach forms as you try to stammer out a response. You don't even know what to say to her, but the usual mix of negative emotions has disappeared almost entirely. All that's pushing you now is shock and an impending sense of joy that makes your eyes start to water. "Sunset... I... this..."

 

She leans forward and wraps her arms around your shoulders again to hold you close. "I told you I'd try to make it right. I know this won't make up for everything, but maybe just to prove that I really do want you to be happy."

 

You reach around her back and hold her close, nuzzling your face into her shoulder, feeling the soft brush of her hair and smelling the gentle aroma of her fruity shampoo. You clench your eyes shut as tears of happiness sting the edges. You squeeze Sunset tight, desperately hoping that this isn't just some dream you're about to wake up from. For the first time in over two years, the fog is gone, you can see happiness on your horizon, you can [i]feel[/i] joy building in your heart that you know isn't just some fleeting fluke. You nuzzle up against your girlfriend's cheek, thanking the universe for the wonderful girl in your arms.

 

"T-thank you, Sunset... you have no idea... I... I just..."

 

"Shh," she whispers to you, running a hand through your hair again. "I should've done this a long time ago. You deserve it. Things will get better from here, I promise."

 

You let out a quick laugh once the usual rebukes fail to come to your mind. "You know... I think I might actually believe you this time."

 

The muscles in her cheeks flex against your face and you can tell she's smiling. A warmth fills your heart at her happiness and you get the urge to make sure to do everything you can to keep her like that. "Heh, that's really good to hear."

 

Sunset leans back away from the hug, leaving a sudden emptiness without her presence, but when you look into her eyes that all melts away. That sweet, caring gaze and her proud smile beam over to you through those beautiful teal eyes shining like diamonds in the otherwise dark world. Your stomach fills with a combination of warmth and butterflies as you lock in with her gaze and try to comprehend that you're together now. It all feels like a dream as you lose yourself in her gorgeous smile.

 

Her eyes glance over to the kitchen before swapping back to you. "So, I made us some breakfast. Had a few things delivered and figured an actual decent meal would do us both some good."

 

"Yeah, that sounds pretty good right about now."

 

Sunset shoots you an amused grin. "Especially after sleeping for thirteen hours, huh?"

 

You raise an eyebrow and look outside. Definitely looks to be past noon. "Wow, really that long, huh?"

 

"Seems like you needed it. You probably feel a lot better today, right?" she asks.

 

Your eyes trace down to her hips, seeing the bulge of the razor jutting out in her waistband. "Well, for the most part I guess."

 

Sunset puts a finger on your chin to draw your eyes back up to hers. "Hey, we'll get there, okay? Don't beat yourself up for not being perfect just yet."

 

You give her a soft nod and close your eyes, but still let some disappointment in yourself flow through. "Right..."

 

"After we eat, I was thinking we could go out on the town too. How does ice cream and putt putt sound?"

 

A smile returns to your face at the thought of another day with her. You look back up to her reassuring smirk and let the negative feelings flow out yet again. "That sounds pretty great, actually."

 

"Awesome. Just one more thing before we eat," she says, adjusting herself on the bed to get a little closer to you.

 

"What's that?" you ask before immediately getting your answer.

 

Sunset leans even further forward and wraps her arms around you, but this time she closes her eyes and lets her lips land on yours. Your eyes immediately go wide at the wondrous cocktail of feelings from yesterday. All of your muscles go stiff as Sunset pulls you into the moment. The soft skin of her face brushing against yours, the delicate caress of her hair as it falls over her shoulder and touches you, the squeeze of her arms around you again, the warmth of her body as it presses up against you in the embrace, it all fills your world with ecstasy as you slowly melt in her grasp and enjoy the feeling of her lips lovingly pressed against yours.

 

You finally let your eyes close to do away with the unnecessary colors of the rest of the world. All you want now is to let the feelings of Sunset to paint their picture with the feelings flourishing inside you. You let yourself lean into her and her into you until your both absorbed in the state of being connected so intimately. You can feel the muscles in her back relax against your forearms as she lets you hold her up and in that moment you feel something shift. In the embrace you finally let go of the doubts about the girl in your arms. Your mind releases the anger, the hate, the misery all in one sweeping motion as you take in every little detail from the kiss. In this moment you stop thinking things would always get worse and realize that in her grasp life could improve.

 

You let go entirely and lose yourself into the euphoria of Sunset. Each passing second is another moment to cherish in heaven with the angel in your life. This time when she pulls away you don't feel the same disappointment. You open your eyes to see a satisfied smile on her face and gladly mirror it through your half-lidded eyes, still caught in the daze of pleasure from binding your souls together at the lips. Her amorous look tells you it won't be the last time, no matter how much you try to convince yourself the end is near. You take in a deep breath and gently let it out, knowing you'd want to go on if only to see that beautiful smile again one more time.

 

"Mmmm. That was nice," Sunset says as she leans forward to let her forehead rest on yours.

 

You let out a satisfied sigh and let yourself lean against her as well. "No kidding."

 

Sunset lets out a quick giggle and you look to see her eyes trace downwards. "Really enjoyed it, huh?" she asks as she gestures downwards.

 

Your entire body goes stiff again and you jump backwards once you realize what she's referring to. Your shorts do an extremely poor job of hiding the rigid erection poking out of them. Seems like you enjoyed it in a lot more ways than one as the sudden motion makes you feel the precum already splattered on the inside of your underwear.

 

"Sorry! I just... agh," you say, wincing that you let her see that. Your cheeks burn read and your mind starts shooting a few errant negative thoughts your way before you feel Sunset's hands around your shoulders again with her forehead pressing against yours.

 

"Shh. Don't worry about it," she says as she gives you another quick peck on the lips to calm you down. The feeling of her mouth caressing yours is enough to soothe the stress away, but you still fidget in your grasp as you try to hide your member from her. "A boyfriend is supposed to be attracted to his girlfriend, right? It's flattering."

 

You let out a shaky breath and place your hands back on her sides and give her a nod. "Y-yeah... it's just... kind of embarrassing."

 

"It's okay. We have to start thinking about that stuff eventually, right?" she says as she leans back slightly, her arms still resting on your shoulders.

 

"I... I guess," you say back, unable to meet her gaze. The thought of doing that kind of thing with Sunset made your cheeks burn even brighter and the problem in your pants grow even stiffer.

 

"And... just between us," Sunset says, leaning back in to whisper in your ear. "That kiss did make me a little wet."

 

You freeze up and feel like you can't breath for a moment as your cheeks basically set themselves on fire. Sunset lands a kiss on your cheek before bouncing back on the bed with an amused giggle. "How about we eat breakfast before we embarrass ourselves too much?" she asks as she uses the mattress to propel her back into standing. She reaches down to you with an outstretched hand and a genuine smile on her face that made you feel like things really were going to be okay.

 

"Yeah, that would be nice right about now," you say as you take her wonderfully soft hand in yours and let her pull you up to your feet. The momentary relief from awkwardness disappears almost immediately as you stand straight up. Without your hunched position your erect member stands at full mast in your shorts, giving Sunset a pretty good idea of what you had down there.

 

You both realize the mistake a second too late as you notice her eyes lock in like a deer in headlights as she looks down. This time it's her turn to have her cheeks turn red. You in turn freeze in place as your heartbeat speeds up. No hiding it now. "Uh... let me just..." you finally get out as you rummage around the inside of your pants to flip it up into your waistband.

 

Sunset has to blink a few times before she finally clears her throat and looks back up to you. "L-lets... uh... hmmm," she gets out before clearing her throat again. "Breakfast?" You almost laugh as she struggles to meet your eye and uncomfortably points over to the kitchen.

 

"Yeah, let's," you say, hurrying past the sudden awkwardness zone to get into the kitchen. The pancakes and bacon smell amazing and you can't think of a better way to start your day... or at least, a better way to move on from [i]that[/i].

 

[hr]

 

The wooden door to your little beach house bursts open haphazardly as you and Sunset spill through onto the wood. The sound is enough to startle both of you for a moment, but you both immediately go back to laughing and making your sides and cheeks even more sore. The warm of the sun had long-since left your skin by the time you both feel the cool air of the beach house against you. The waves behind you fill the air with their rhythmic sounds until you finally get back inside together and close the door.When you both finally stumble your way over to the couch where you both tumble into the cushions. You finally open your eyes to see your girlfriend squirm around in the couch to finally get upright, hugging her oversized, purple teddy bear you won her at the carnival in town. Your flimsy throws somehow got the perfect bounce against those bottles and Sunset walked away with yet another prize from the vacation.

 

The sight of her bright red cheeks nuzzling against the fluffy, violet fur is enough to soften your smile and give your sore cheeks a rest for the moment. Your head spins around and around in a joyous haze as you try to get used to the new round of mai tais you and Sunset had. You have to close your eyes for a minute, just to absorb all the wonderful memories from the day and do your best to make sure they won't be forgotten.

 

"I haven't been this happy since I was a filly..." Sunset says wistfully as she snuggles her prize, her beautiful teal eyes looking over at you with a sappy smile on her face.

 

You raise an eyebrow. "Filly? Why wo—oh, right," you say, letting your head fall back into the couch.

 

Sunset lets out a quick giggle. "You'll get used to it." She swings her feet around the couch and lets another laugh resound throughout the room. "I still can't believe you tried to breakdance to raggae..."

 

Your smile lights up again and you join in with her chuckles. "Hey, after a few internet tutorials I thought I could do it. That old man blew me out of the water though..."

 

"He really did. Who would've thought a sixty year old man had it in him? You still did a pretty good job though..." she says as she collapses back into the couch as well. A bright smile creeps back up on her face as she squeezes her new plush. "What else should we do tonight?" she says, lazily letting her head slump over so she could cast a curious glance at you.

 

Strange feelings run through your body as the happiness pushes your mind to think of what you could do with her. "We could... uh... play video games? Maybe get another pizza? Or..." you blink a few times, feeling the fatigue from the long day start to nip at your eyelids. "Or..." you gulp as the blush on your face grows stronger. "We could go to bed, kinda like last night... if you want."

 

Sunset rolls her eyes and pushes herself up off of the couch to place her new plushie up against her giant parakeet. The teddy bear looks miniscule in comparison, even though you know how massive it was in your arms when the carni handed it to you. Sunset shakes her head with an amused smile when she turns back to you, giving you a quick once-over before slipping back down on the couch, both of her legs draped over yours and her head leaning against your shoulder.

 

"Not really what I was thinking about..." she says, looking up at the ceiling with a sly look coming over her face.

 

"What did you want to do?"

 

Sunset fidgets up against you for a moment before biting her lip. "You want to do something really stupid with me?"

 

You blink a few times before looking back over to her. "What? Starting a crime spree again?"

 

Sunset lets out a quick chuckle. "No... nothing like that. But... just tell me: yes or no for something fun and stupid."

 

You look down your shoulder to give her a look for a moment, trying to guage what she's up to, but her coy smile only says so much. "Uh, sure... why not?"

 

Her grin grows even wider and she shifts up onto her knees. Your heart flutters as her thigh swings over both of yours and she straddles you. Blood immediately rushes down to your member as you freeze in place, your eyes locked onto Sunset's cleavage showing through her bikini top. Her hands gently slip over your shoulders as she settles down onto you, the buzzed blush growing on her face. Your heart starts thumping wildly in your chest as you finally get the courage to look up into her eyes—the joyous expression from earlier in the day is replaced by a sultry gaze down at you and the nervousness grasping at you only worsens as she leans down.

 

Your confidence erodes as the sudden flurry of feelings overtakes you. You fidget around under her as your length grows hard and presses up against her, and things only get worse when Sunset sways her hips on top of you. There's no way she can't feel it, but by the look on her face you don't think she minds.

 

"Why don't we make this... [i]really[/i] official?" she whispers down to you, not breaking eye contact.

 

You struggle to breath for a moment, questioning if this is really happening or if you're just having an unspeakably amazing dream. You gulp and finally work up a few shaky words. "You want to... have...?"

 

An amused smile comes back over Sunset's face and she gives to a long, slow kiss to ease the building tension in your body. Her hands slip off your shoulders and down your arms until she finds your wrists. Her smooth fingers wrap around your hands and she slowly brings them up to rest on her lightly-swaying hips, giving you a feel of the smooth, soft skin of her body just above her sarong. The heat in your cheeks grows almost unbearable as your entire torso gets set aflame with desire.

 

Sunset finally pulls back and sets her hands back on your shoulders, an excited expression showing through as she bites her lip. "Have sex?"

 

You have to look away for a moment as the maelstrom of emotions shoots through you again. "Y-yeah..."

 

"Don't you?" she asks with a sultry grin.

 

To accentuate her point, her hand traces down your chest until her fingers can find their way under your shirt to draw a sensual line down from your belly button until they find their way under your waistband. You draw in a sharp gasp once you feel the touch of her fingers against the engorged tip of your member. You grip her soft, delicate hips tight as the feeling of her touching you like that makes you want to explode already.

 

"So...?" she asks down to you as she lifts your cock from your body to press it between her hand and her own desire. You start breathing harder and faster as you feel your cock grow uncomfortably stiff in her grasp. Every movement of her soft hand against the top shoots another jolt of pleasure through you and you can barely even bring yourself to think.

 

Finally you catch your breath and look up to her, forcing yourself to nod wildly as your body shifts over to only wanting one thing in the entire world. "Yes. Yes more than anything," you get out.

 

A sly smile creeps over Sunset's face as she grinds against you. "Is this your first time?"

 

Your eager nod turns shy, but you give it to her anyway. Your hands shift on her hips as you look away, a sudden insecurity gripping you at the thought of not satisfying her. Sunset answers you by leaning down and sliding your cock out into the open where her hand can fully grasp it. Her soft hair brushes against your cheek as she leans down to rest on your shoulder to get a full view of you in her hand.

 

"Good... I want to make it memorable," she whispers into your ear.

 

A finger slips away from your shaft and Sunset pulls away her swimsuit to reveal the smooth, shaved skin around her pussy. You look down to see it already glistening in the soft moonlight, but your world goes white with pleasure as she settles downward, letting your length meet the warm, wet embrace of her folds. You let out a long sigh that edges towards a moan as you melt into the pleasure. Your hips gain a mind of their own as they push up against hers, letting the bottom of your dick slide against her throbbing clit. Sunset lets out a soft moan at the feeling and kisses your neck before leaning back up to your ear.

 

"I just got off my period a few days ago too. You can feel what it's like to cum in me if you want..." she whispers, a little less sure this time as her voice starts to falter.

 

You heart jumps at the idea of doing that. You can hardly even rationalize this moment being real at all right now, let alone getting to do... that. The intense heat coming from both of your bodies and the intoxicating aroma of Sunset's arousal is almost too much. You finally gulp and turn your eyes towards your horny girlfriend, desperately wanting to get to the next level. "Should we... you know, go to the bedroom?" you whisper to her, still unable to control the sway of your own hips.

 

Sunset plants a gentle kiss on your neck again before leaning back up with her excited smile. "Mmm. Good idea."

 

With an outstretched hand she falls back on her feet, leaving your penis out to the cold air. You let her take you off the couch and, hand in hand, you both make your way into the bedroom. Your heart goes crazy in your chest and your mind races with all the wonderful possibilities of what's about to happen. Sunset stops just before the bed and turns around, her hands slipping up against your hips and finding their way under your waistband until your swimsuit lands at your ankles. Her hands find their way back up to your shirt and begin the journey to lift it up off of you and before you know it you're completely exposed to her.

 

The feeling of your erect cock plain in her view causes a strange, intense feeling in your chest and all you want is just to be inside her. She smiles and bites her lip at you as her hand falls back down, one of them wrapping around your cock and starting some gentle stroking. The pleasure grips you like a vice and your knees start to feel weak immediately. You can't help but look up and let out a groan at the feeling of her soft hand pleasuring you.

 

"Enjoying yourself already?" Sunset asks with her amused expression.

 

You can barely manage to catch your breath as you place your hands on her shoulders this time for support. You look down your body and still can't believe your eyes as her hand gently strokes up and down your length. You have to clench your teeth just to make sure you don't cum on her stomach right now. "Gah... you have no idea..." you finally manage to get out.

 

Sunset slows down to give you some breathing room, but you can still barely think as the ecstasy overtakes you entirely. You let your hands move to behind her back as you look down at her top, nervousness eeking its way through the pleasure as you think about revealing her too. "Should I...?"

 

Sunset giggles at you before nodding her head. "You'll get the hang of it. Clothes do kind of get in the way here."

 

You give her a nervous nod and tentatively reach around to the string holding her swimsuit together. Being so close to her and feeling her hair brush against you again made your cock twitch hard in her hand, but thankfully she's given you a little time to think as you strip her down as well. Before you know it, the strings fall away and you pull Sunset's top off of her. A massive lump forms in your throat as you take a step back and look at her bare torso. Like the painting of a divine, nude angel standing before you, you can't bring yourself to look away. Her soft, flowing skin presents her beautiful body to you in a way that no screen could ever match.

 

Sunset lets out a little giggle. "They're not that nice."

 

"You're just... how are you even real?" you have to ask as your hands rest against her arms.

 

Sunset laughs again and shakes her head. "We'll we can figure that one out later. How about you..." she lifts her hands up to your elbows and lifts them off of her arms, then guides your back down to her hips. "...feel how real I am instead."

 

You can only blindly follow her directions as the desire grips you again. You pull at the clip of her sarong and let it fall to the floor, then slip your fingers under the straps of her swimsuit, gently tugging at it until it slips down her thighs as well. You breath catches in your throat as you lean down to guide them to her feet. The sight of her bare hips sends a shock of excitement through your system and you can barely control yourself as your face passes by her smooth nethers. The smell of arousal fills the room and you can see the wetness against her thighs. Your heart races as fast as it can in anticipation for finally being connected in the most intimate kind of ways.

 

You stand back up, your body stiff and frozen at the sight of Sunset completely naked in front of you. You never thought you'd ever live to see something more beautiful, but here she is in all her glory, wanting to share the night with you. You do your best to swallow the lump in your throat, but it's difficult with such an amazing sight in front of you.

 

Sunset's breath speeds up a little too now that's she's completely bare. She trades her smile to bite her lip again as she leans on her tip-toes into you, letting her skin rub up against yours and wraps her arms around your shoulders. You let out a long, pleasured sigh as your cock presses up against the soft skin of her midriff.

 

With a quick peck on your lips, Sunset looks up to you with desire in her eyes. "Are you ready?" she asks, a little nervousness in her voice.

 

"I think so..."

 

The moment finally begins as she meets her lips with yours and sways you over to the bed. As you both plummet into the sheets, the gentle caress of just her lips was a thing of the past. You feel Sunset's tongue tease yours for a moment before you gain the confidence to meet the gesture. The warm, eager flesh dances around in her mouth as well and a new cacophany of pleasure overtakes you. The feeling of her skin pressed up against you and the wonderful connection of her tongue against yours almost makes you cum right there, but you clench the muscles surrounding it tightly to give her something more pleasurable instead.

 

You can't help but hold Sunset as close as possible, squeezing her against you so you can feel every little motion of her breasts and bare thighs as she squirms in anticipation. Sunset can't seem to get enough either, as her hips wriggle and her legs caress yours and she pulls you as tight up to her as possible. You can tell she's excited as she pulls away from the kiss and bites her lip, looking down over her breasts to see your member resting against her stomach. You flex it against her belly button for her and she lets out a little gasp and an excited smile before leaning back in to let your tongues dance yet again.

 

Sunset holds her hands against your cheeks, not daring to let you go for a second as you feel her tongue lovingly slide over and caress yours. You open your eyes for a moment to try to see what she's doing, but can't see much through her vast sea of hair as it covers both of you like a blanket as your bodies intertwine. You feel the fruit of her intentions as pleasure shoots through your system like a bolt of lightning at the feeling of both of her thighs resting together with your cock in between them. The intense, warm wetness of her pussy slides against the top of your length and you can't help but let your hands squeeze her bare back against you tighter as you let out a groan into her mouth.

 

You can feel the pleasure slowly getting to her as well. Sunset's hips move back and forth on their own, letting you feel every little fold of her pussy as she traces your cock back and forth across it. Her hands move up from your cheeks and she wraps her arms around your shoulders, gripping you hard enough to start to hurt. Her tongue slips back into her own mouth for a moment as she breaks away, her eager breaths quickly turning into labored panting.

 

Your hands run down her smooth skin until you finally reach her ass. By the time you get your hand around her cheek to give it a light squeeze, you're involuntarily letting out a few moans yourself at the feeling of Sunset's pussy gliding over your dick and her thighs embracing the entire length as you hump back and forth into them. Sunset gives you a quick gasp as she feels your hands grope her cheeks and the hot breath pouring out of her mouth gains a little more volume with each thrust.

 

"Oh... oh Celestia..." she whispers into your ear as her nails dig into your shoulders and her hips start moving in rhythm with yours.

 

You can't help but let your cock twitch up into the warm, wet embrace as the pressure builds up inside of you. You clench your eyes shut and have to slow down before you blow your load early on the inside of her thighs, but just the thought of getting to do that with the beautiful girl in your arms drives you closer to that edge. You finally decide to pull yourself out to stop, eliciting a quick, sharp moan from Sunset as the head brushes past her clitoris.

 

You both take a moment to catch your breath from the intense waves of pleasure until you can finally look each other in the eye in that pale moonlight, sharing amused smiles as you both realize just how turned on you've made each other.

 

"Are you getting close?" Sunset whispers, lovingly resting her hand on your cheek as she looks into your eyes.

 

You give her an embarressed nod and look down to your throbbing member, waiting for him to stop threatening to spill all over Sunset's tummy. "Sorry... I just—"

 

Sunset puts a finger over your mouth and you look up to her to see a gentle smile on her face. "Shh. I bet you could keep going after an orgasm, huh?"

 

You give her another embarrassed nod with a sly smile on it this time. "Yeah... I've done that a few times," you say, thinking back to a few of the more intense masturbation sessions.

 

"I figured... we are both full of hormones, you know," she says, biting her lip and letting free hand slip between her legs. Sunset lets out another soft breath as her fingers shoot a wave of pleasure through herself. She leans into you until you can feel her cheek on yours. "I want to taste it."

 

The thought of getting to do [i]that[/i] in her mouth sends another wave of excitement through you that only makes your length even more uncomfortably stiff. Sunset doesn't bother to wait for any confirmation before she leans down to plant a kiss on your neck, her wet fingers leaving her clit and pushing your shoulder over until you're laying on your back and watching as her luscious locks of hair brush over your body as her kisses trail down your torso.

 

Your heart starts pounding in your chest as her lips press up against your belly button, leaving a wet trail of love down your body until you can feel her hair caressing past your cock and over your balls. The feeling of the soft strands makes you clench your eyes shut as the pleasure completely consumes you, and things only get worse when the touch of that red-and-yellow sheet leaves you and Sunset's lips press up against the base of your cock. You unconsciously let out a long, sigh as your member flexes against her cheek, eager to finally be inside of her.

 

Your stomach twists in excitement and your hips gently buck against her face all on their own as her kisses land all around the shaft and around your groin. You finally manage to open your eyes to see her angelic face leaving little, glistening spots behind across the length of her cock. You have to blink a few times just to realize you're not dreaming as the vision of one of the most beautiful girls in the school lets her tongue slip out to trace it all the way up to the top of your member. You can't help but grip the sheets as Sunset full settles in between your legs and plants a long, loving kiss on the head, letting her tongue linger on the most sensitive areas for just a little bit longer.

 

It feels like heaven as Sunset wraps her hands around the base of your cock and opens her eyes to give you that same sweet smile and a few more gentle kisses. Your breath catches in your throat as you watch her move forward and let your head slip into her mouth entirely, slowly introducing you to the envoloping pleasure of being inside her. Your head immediately falls back into the sheets and you let out a massive groan at the feeling of her tongue pressed up against you so tightly. Sunset goes down as far as she can, letting the head feel the back of her throat before she lets off a slight gag.

 

Once she's found her barrier, she gets started on gently bobbing her head up and down against you, sending your body into a blind ecstasy at the storm of pleasure from everything. Her gentle, soft fingers follow her lips up and down your shaft, completely enveloping your entire length in her touch. You can't help but clench your teeth and curl your toes at the intense feelings. If you could see Sunset's face without you filling her mouth, you know she'd be grinning at the intense reaction.

 

You can feel the pressure building back up inside you almost immediately as her lips trace up and down the sensitive skin. Every motion she makes just pushes you even closer to the edge you were already sitting at, and you can feel the first clench of those muscles inside her mouth, spilling precum onto her tongue. Sunset stops for a moment as she feels it, but the gentle tenses of your penis just amplify the pleasure of her warm, wet mouth as it holds your length inside of it. Once she gets a taste, she just goes back to bobbing her head, letting the soft strands of her hair brush against your legs and hips just to send you even deeper into that world of euphoria.

 

You can hardly take the onslaught anymore and let your body curl up as your hands shoot down to her head. You do your best to be gentle with her hair, but you can barely control yourself anymore as her tongue takes you on the ride of your life. It feels like Sunset can tell how close you are too, as she squeezes her lips a little tighter against your shafter and draws her tongue around her mouth. With one last breath you let out a moan and let your hips press up into her mouth as you feel yourself tip over the edge.

 

Your entire world turns white for a moment as the feeling of cumming in her mouth overtakes you. Even after the first spurt drops onto her tongue, she just stays in place and does her best to suck on you with little squishes resounding from her mouth as it squeezes every little bit of pleasure she can get out of you. You can't even control your volume anymore as your legs twitch and you moan into the air with each contraction. Emptying everything you have into her loving mouth is the best thing you've ever experienced in your life, and every twitch of your member only amplifies the pleasure taking over you.

 

Sunset gently waves her head back and forth a few more times, eliciting out the last few spurts of cum before she lets you out of her mouth before you get too sensitive. All you can do is lie limp in the sheets as you try to catch your breath, still in awe at the best orgasm you've ever had. Sunset gives your fatigued penis a few more gentle kisses before letting it rest onto your stomach. All you can see is the blurry vision of the ceiling anymore, but you can feel the sheets rustling beneath you and Sunset's soft hair brushing up against your body again.

 

You finally gather the strength to look down at her as she rests her body on top of yours, filling your senses with the wonderful feeling of her bare skin rubbing against yours. Sunset lays her chin down on your chest as she licks her lips with a curious expression.

 

"Kind of bitter... though, I could get used to it," she says, a sultry expression coming over her face. She traces a finger along your chest and you can feel her hips wiggling on top of you, giving your cock a little more attention with her soft stomach. "Enjoy yourself?"

 

"You have no idea..." you manage to get out, just barely having enough strength left to look down into her eager, teal eyes.

 

Sunset lets out a satisfied laugh before looking away and biting her lip. You do your best to summon up some energy to let your hands run down her naked sides. "Maybe I should return the favor."

 

Excitement flashes in Sunset eyes as she looks up to you. "...yeah?" she says, her hips squirming even harder against you.

 

You gesture up with your head and pull on her arms gently. "Put your hands on the headboard. I'll see if my tongue can match yours."

 

A sly grin crosses Sunset's face and she shudders in excitement. "Oooh. Yes, sir. I can't wait to see this."

 

She does as you ask, slowly climbing up your form until her thighs are resting on eather side of your head and her hands are holding herself up on the headboard. Sunset's hips gyrate on your chest just below your neck and you can already feel the intense heat coming off of her nethers as they leave a soaked spot on your torso.

 

You slide your hands across her butt and gently lift her up, giving one last glance up to her biting her lip with an intense desire in her eyes before averting your gaze to her glistening, red pussy. Even with it a few inches away from your mouth you can feel the heat coming off of her and each second you spend appreciating her slit up close elicits another squirm of anticipation. Your head starts to feel fuzzy and your heart beats a little quicker again with her sex so close to you. The smell of her musk is intoxicating and as you get closer your cock involuntarily gets stiff yet again.

 

Your breath catches in your throat as you look across her wet folds, still unable to full grasp that this is really happening. Even in the dark environment, her pussy is beautiful as you look it over—her labia are nicely tucked in to the smooth skin between her legs, the pink flesh eagerly dripping with her arousal in anticipation of your tongue. You can see her swollen clit poking out slightly, desperately waiting for attention and once you've absorbed every amazing detail of her, you don't hesitate to lean forward and send Sunset into a fit of moans.

 

Her thighs tighten around your cheeks as the taste of her arousal floods your mouth. You can feel Sunset's heartbeat through her clitoris as you lightly brush your tongue along it, making her hips buck against your head as they try to get as much pleasure from your loving touch as possible. After a few long, slow licks, Sunset reaches down with one hand to let her fingers flow through your hair and grip it a little tighter than you'd like, but the desperate whimpers pouring out of her are more than enough of a consolation.

 

You do your best to remember all the little techniques you've seen on those lonely nights watching your laptop screen; tonight is the night to make it count. As much as you want to stroke your throbbing cock again, you bring your hands around to Sunset's butt as you continue to lick, caressing her cheeks until your fingers find their way to her pussy. You can hear the soft gasp immediately as you pull up her clit's hood to expose it to the air. You smile at the sight of her swollen little nub as her hips squirm in anticipation. She doesn't know what she's in for.

 

Your other hand explores the other end of her slit, stroking around her lips until your fingers find the tender flesh that gives way to their gentle presses. Two digits slip inside her and you can feel Sunset arch her back immediately, letting her long hair fall over her shoulders as her head turns upward to let another strained moan into the air. You poke around inside her until you feel her body give way just above her pubic bone and your smile grows even wider as you press down, eliciting another pleasured gasp out of her.

 

With her g-spot hooked in and her clit ready, you lean forward and swirl your tongue around her button as you drag your fingers up and down inside of her. Both of Sunset's hands shoot down to your head in response as the pleasure overtakes her and she starts moaning louder than you ever could've expected. As her thighs squeeze even tighter around your head, you can feel her toes curl and her body twitch under the onslaught. Her shaky breaths barely allow her to let out her excited coos as she trembles under your touch. You look up for a moment, just barely being able to make out her strained expression as her tits bounce with each twitch.

 

Your member throbs uncomfortably beneath you as you push Sunset closer and closer to orgasm. The thought of this beautiful girl in your grasp losing herself in a sea of ecstasy like she did to you gives you an intense burst of energy and drive, and all you want is to see her succumb to one of the best orgasms of her life. Sunset's entire body becomes shaky and unstable as you lick at her until finally she has to plant both of her hands against the headboard again just to keep from falling over.

 

The feeling of her pussy tightening around your fingers along with the intense smell of her excitment spreading all over your mouths lights a flame of desire in you. You redouble your efforts as your fingertips caress the tender flesh of her g-spot faster and the swirling of your tongue against her throbbing clit presses in even harder. You can feel her heartbeat quicken against your lips as you trade between sucking on her and flicking the tip of your tongue across it, and by the intense panting and strained moans, you know you're getting close.

 

"Please don't stop," she breathlessly begs down to you. "Please... please..."

 

You go even faster, causing her wetness to start dripping along your chest as your fingers draw it out. As your tongue dances around with her swollen clitoris, you're thankful you live so far away from anyone else within earshot, otherwise Sunset's screams of ecstasy might get the cops called on you. Her entire body squirms around in awkward movements as the pleasure sends her closer and closer to that edge, but despite her best unconscious efforts you keep her locked in and her pussy completely attended to.

 

Finally you get to feel it—Sunset's entire body tightens around you and she grips your hair so tight you're afraid she might pull it out. Her entire body convulses around the tight clenches of her pussy around your fingers and she can't help but fall forward, letting her face press up against the headboard. You keep the pressure on her, making sure she gets to feel the sensations all the way through as she cums on your face. The little squeezes of her inner walls send another wave of excitement through you as you imagine how it's going to feel around your cock instead. For now, you just let her clit throb even harder on your tongue until Sunset's intense gasps and moans die down into shallow panting and sighs.

 

Once the last wave of her orgasm subsides, you finally let your fingers slip out of her. She hardly even reacts as your tongue leaves her. You look up to see a dazed look in her eyes before she slides down the headboard beside you, falling completely limp against the pillows like she just passed out.

 

You look down to your glistening fingers and lick your lips of her wetness, a sense of pride washing through you as you realize you just managed to give her the ride of her life.

 

"Did you like it?" you ask down to her, but don't get a response. You have to wave in front of her face before her eyes finally focus back in to look over at you.

 

Sunset tries to swallow through her panting, but it sounds like she just ran a marathon. She gesutres a single finger up at you to give her a moment, so you just give her an amused nod and enjoy the sight of her naked form sprawled out in your sheets.

 

"That... ah..." She reaches down with both hands between her legs to cover her swollen pussy like someone might support a sore limb. Her hips buck upward again and she bites her lip before looking back up to you. "That was the best orgasm of my life..."

 

"Wow, really?" you say with a raised eyebrow, the sense of accomplishment only growing.

 

Sunset has to blink a few more times as she finally catches her breath. "We've got to do that more often."

 

The pleasant memory of her thighs squeezing around you is already something you want to make sure you never forget. "Sounds good to me. Are you still...?" you say, reaching out your wet hand to her.

 

She lazily brings up a hand to gently wrap around your wrist. Before you know it, Sunset has your wet fingers in her mouth, letting her tongue delicately lap her own essence off of them and making you shudder at the feeling of the warm embrace of her mouth again. The sensation draws out a twitch from your penis along with another drop of precum as you remember what it felt like for it to be inside her. Once she's licked your hand clean, she gives you a tired smile and lets her head fall back into the pillows.

 

"I think that was supposed to be the warm-up. We've still got the main course to try," she says, biting her lip yet again and letting her eyes fall to your throbbing cock. "I think someone still needs some attention."

 

It's your turn to let your hips fidget. Your erection is harder than it's ever been in your life, to the point where it's starting to get kind of sore. "You have no idea."

 

Sunset lets out a tired laugh before doing her best to roll over on her stomach. Your eyes go a little wider at the sight of her ass completely bare to you in the soft moonlight. She even had those cute dimples on her lower back to accentuate those two beautiful curves. Your arousal only grows as she pushes herself up onto her knees and gives you those sultry bedroom eyes.

 

"Lean up against the headboard for me," she says, gesturing her chin over. "I want to ride you."

 

With another excited nod you pull yourself up so your back presses against the cold wood. Sunset saunters over on all fours over to you, swinging a thigh over both of yours until you're both in a mirror of how you were before your clothes came off. Sunset lets herself rest with her thighs beside you, her dripping pussy settling on your cock, drenching the stiff length in her wetness as she slides herself up and down along it.

 

"You ready to lose your virginity?" she says as she lets her hands rest on your shoulders again.

 

You can't even bring yourself to answer her as the feeling of her warm sex overwhelms you. A soft sigh leaves your lips as your length slides across her pussy, getting to feel every little fold as the wetness soaks you as well. The eager clitoris that you just had on your tongue rubs up against the head, pulsing lightly so you can still feel her heartbeat. You raise your hands up to the soft, smooth skin of her hips as you unconsciously buck yours against her to feel that wonderful slit between her legs.

 

It isn't until she lets out an amused giggle between her own soft sighs that you remember she asked you a question. "I... I don't think I've ever wanted anything more..." you whisper to her.

 

You look back up to those sly, sultry, teal eyes looking down on you. Her hair slowly falls back over her bare shoulders as she leans down, amplifying the wonderful sensations with a gentle brush of the strands against your chest. Sunset closes her eyes and leans in, pressing her lips against yours as her hips move of their own accord. The slow, delicate kiss sends another wave of comfort and warmth through you as her tongue teases yours ever so slightly. Despite melting in her embrace, your cock still twitches up against her, eager to feel the wonderful inside that awaits.

 

As Sunset pulls back, her gaze is less sultry this time and more... caring, thankfuly even. "I'm glad it's with me," she whispers down to you before biting her lip and tracing her gaze down to the pink tip of your dick peeking out from between her legs.

 

Sunset lets a hand fall away from your shoulder and grace the top with her fingers as she lifts up to let it stand erect. Your breath catches in your throat as you watch her ease down and feel yourself press against her warm, wet entrance. There's a tight squeeze from her hole at first, but she lets out a breath as she sits back and slowly but surely your length finds its way inside of her. The feeling is incredible as her inner walls hug every angle of your member tight. You can't help but let out a groan as she lets her ass rest on you yet again. You clench your teeth tight as the intense pleasure almost gets to be too much. You grip onto her hips a little too tightly as your cock gets consumed inch by inch, spilling precum inside your girlfriend as the pleasure only becomes greater with every second.

 

Finally you feel Sunset's thighs pressed tightly against yours again as the entirety of your manhood is buried inside her. You open your eyes to look up to Sunset, whose mouth is already hanging open from the sensation of being filled. Her nails bury themselves into your shoulder once her hips start on their own to press your length into every side they can.

 

"How... ah... how does that feel?" she says through her own soft sighs.

 

"Like heaven."

 

Sunset does her best to give you a smile, but her face gets overtaken quickly by bliss. Her body finds a rhythm in her wiggling, pressing your cock right up against the sensetive g-spot you just got done working. The wonderfully sweet voice you looked forward to hearing for the past few days sings notes of pleasure down to you as her body shudders at the sensation. You look up into her beautiful eyes and they look down into yours, and in that moment you can say you've never been more connected to another soul. Your thumbs find their place on the top of her thighs and your palms rest on her sides. Wanting to ramp things up even more, you let your butt sink into the mattress before pushing it back upwards, giving Sunset a light thrust inside. The reaction is immediate as you feel her squeeze your shoulders even tighter and close her eyes as another moan leaves her lips.

 

The feeling of being so connected to her overwhelms you and all your mind can think about is the desire for more. Sunset's back arches in your grasp, giving you a full view of her perky breasts and smooth midriff in the soft moonlight. You can't help but lean forward and let the underside of her boob fill your face as your lips begin to plant loving kisses around the supple skin. Sunset jerks in your hands at the initial touch, but quickly relaxes at the feeling of your mouth leaving wet marks all over her blushing chest and stiff nipples. Your hands move across from her hips to wrap around her lower back, pushing the soft skin of her stomach up against you. Sunset quivers under the sudden pleasure and lets her arms wrap around the back of your head, making sure to keep you pressed tight against her breasts as your hips worked up into her.

 

"Oh... Celestia... mmm... aaahhh," she makes out between heavy breaths.

 

Your moth absorbs her eager nipple, eliciting another loud moan as your tongue brushes across it. You savor the taste of her skin on your tongue again, having to break away every now and then for a heavy breath of your own as the intense feeling of her pussy caresses every inch of your cock with every thrust inside her. With the feeling of her pressing up against her, your penis twitches inside her yet again, spilling another drop of precum and threatening to bring you even closer to the edge. You have to stop your thrusting every now and then once the bliss threatens you with those familiar convulsions. Sunset doesn't give you a break as she lets her hips gyrate on you, rubbing the sensetive head against her g-spot even as you slow down your pace. You think about getting to cum inside the angel in your arms and the blush across your face grows even more uncomfortably hot.

 

The moans echo throughout the room as you both ride closer and closer to the edge again. You take a few deep breaths and make sure both of her needy nipples get their attention and you get another soft squeeze of her thighs around you as a reward. Feeling adventurous, you give the eager nub a light nibble and immediately Sunset lets out a sharp yelp and pulls away from you. You look up to her face with fear, only to see her biting her lip even harder as her hands unconciously knead into her own breasts.

 

"Did you like that?" you ask as she continues to hump against you and you keep pushing your cock deeper inside her.

 

"Maybe... ah... a little too much," she lets out. The desire in her eyes intinsifies as she tweaks her nipple between two of her fingers. "Didn't know it'd feel that good. Do it again?" a soft, hopeful smile crosses her face as she drops her hands away back to your shoulders.

 

You gladly bring your face back forward and start planting kisses on her areola again. The feeling of her skin against your tongue and the tight embrace of her pussy around your cock makes your entire body shudder in the ecstasy as you try to keep your mind clear to give her what she wants. After a few more gentle kisses around the pink skin, you take the stiff nub into your mouth again and let your teeth pinch it. Sunset immeiately arches her back into you again and your breath catches in your throat at as you feel her pussy tighten around your cock. A sharp moan fills the room as you roll it around between your teeth and her hands grip your hair just as tight as when you were eating her out.

 

You can barely keep up as your light thrusting and the feeling of her inner walls clenching around your length fills your world with ecstasy. Every time your teeth touch her nipple you get another intense squeeze that causes your cock to twitch and threaten to spill in her yet again. You do your best to make sure the shiver girl in your arms continues her fit of moans into the air and you can feel her fingers grip onto you for dear life, but the wonderful mix of sensations is almost too much and you can't help but break away and catch your breath for a moment.

 

With another light nibble, you feel Sunset's entire body tense in your grasp. Her thighs tighten against your body and she has to lean forward, pressing her cheek against your head and holding on like a storm is about to rip her into the ocean. You keep going, eliciting those coos of delight until they become more breathless and strained. You know she's getting close again and you can feel yourself getting there as well.

 

"Please... don't stop... please..." she barely manages to get out between moans.

 

Sunset tightens her grip around your head until her breast is completely smooshed up against your face. You do your best to keep the ecstasy coming with the light thrusts and with one last push of your hips you get an intense moan that rings out through the room. Sunset's fingers pull on your hair as her thighs pulsate against you, her entire body jerking at the feelings overtaking her. Your breath catches in your throat and a fire lights in your stomach as you feel her, all of her, twitching under the intense orgasm. Her pussy squeezes your length, gently massaging it from all angles like you've never felt before. You almost spill inside her, but the overwhelming feeling of the grip of her inner walls forces you to stop and soak in the sensation, keeping you just at the edge of the ultimate bliss.

 

The waves of Sunset's orgasm slow in intensity until finally she slumps up against you entirely. Even though you want to stay in the moment with her, the heavenly feeling of her little squeezes are gone and it seems like she needs another breather. You summon what strength you have left to ease your panting girlfriend into the sheets, a jolt of disappointment overcoming you as your stiff cock slides out of her. It doesn't take her too long to catch her breath before she's writhing in the sheets with a hand between her legs again, the other coming up to massage the red, swollen nipple you just worked on.

 

A confident smile graces your lips at Sunset's shuddering form. Your dick gets just a little bit harder at the thought that you sent her into that panting mess, that she enjoyed you enough to cum twice so far. You lean forward and slide a hand across those wonderfully-smooth hips. Her eyes flick back up to with gratitude and love flickering in them. Chasing the feeling of the moment, you lean down to kiss her this time, pulling her in slightly to feel her back arch up into your embrace. The feeling of her warm lips on yours makes your nethers ache for more—the soft warmth of her mouth around you is something you'll never forget. Your lips caress each other for a few gentle moments as the world finally grows quiet from your session and now it's her turn to chase the sensation as you pull away, her head lifting off of the pillow trying to continue the kiss unconsciously.

 

"How was that?" you ask, your confident smile returning as you look down to the hand between her legs.

 

Sunset wiggles around in the sheets again before looking back up to you. "Wonderful... though... you still need to finish, huh?"

 

Your mind tries to jump to saying it's fine if you don't, but your penis sends up another ache in protest. "Yeah... you want to keep going?"

 

Sunset takes in a deep breath before lethargically swaying her hand over to your length and giving it a few gentle tugs. You let out a pleasured sigh as the sensations of someone else's touch return and Sunset leans in to whisper to you again. "I want to feel you cum in me."

 

Your vision blurs as her hand slides across your soaked cock. The thought of spilling inside her sends another flame of desire coursing through you and you set your hand on her cheek to hold onto something.

 

"I... ah... yeah, let's do that."

 

The sound of her hand squeezing against the wetness as it strokes you breaks the sexual silence and all you can do anymore is nod.

 

"Any way you want," she winspers. "Fuck me in your favorite position."

 

You do your best to focus as you see the desire returning to Sunset's tired eyes. The sight of her biting her lip in anticipation fills you with a newfound energy to give her what she wants. A thought comes to your mind as you chase the desire to feel those little squeezes against your length again. You lean in to give her one more loving kiss before clambering off the bed to try to stand up straight—not an easy task by any stretch of the imagination. You wobble for a moment as you realize just how much that first orgasm took out of you before finding your footing.

 

Sunset sets her hand on her cheek to look up to you as her foot traces over her other calf to settle in one of those sexy 'draw me like one of your french girls' pose.

 

"See anything you like?" she asks.

 

You know she's halfway joking, but your mind starts racing with fantasies anyway as you look over her bare figure in the moonlight. The desire to plant kisses on her soft stomach, nibble on her erect nipples, spread those beautiful thighs apart and see the soaked flower begging for attention, it all sends yet another intense ache to your loins.

 

"Everything..." You do your best to blink away the sudden trance of horniness to try to get back to business. "Um, could you..." You gesture to the side of the bed.

 

Sunset raises an eyebrow, but crawls over anyway. You do your best to remember the position you read about online, trying to envision the way you'd get on her. A few more suggestions flow out of your mouth for her to move around with both you and Sunset growing increasingly confused until she finally lets out a giggle at you.

 

"Sex doesn't have to be this mechanical, you know," she says, giving you a playful pat with her foot as you look over her body down to her. "Just go for it. I trust you."

 

Taking her advice, you grab one of her hips and flip her to her side before putting a knee over one of her thighs and pulling her into you. She lets out a quick yelp at the sudden action, but her face softens into desire as she looks down to see your cock resting on her ass. her free leg wraps around you and your cock twitches at the feeling of her wiggling her butt against it.

 

"Now that's more like it," she says as the blush on her face grows darker again.

 

You lean your hips back and let your length slide across her ass until it finally finds Sunset's eager folds. You don't hesitate to slip it back in, your vision blurring at the feeling of that warm, wet embrace and the light squeeze of her entrance as your invasion surprises her. You focus back in on her face as her mouth drops open and you can see her eyes start to roll back. You lean forward and take her thigh in your hand to lift it up, making sure the head brushes up against her g-spot in the process.

 

"You like getting manhandled?" you ask with an uncharacteristically confident tone that surprises even you.

 

A sultry, submissive look comes over her face, activating some sort of instinctual drive inside you that causes your cock to spill a few drops of precum deep inside her. "Maybe..." she whispers as you close in.

 

With one hand behind her back, she puts another behind your neck for support. In this position you can see her face clearly as those teal eyes look up to you in anticipation. Wanting to see the ecstasy overcoming her yet again, you let your other hand trace down her thigh until the warmth amplifies. Your hand has to do a bit of awkward twisting, but eventually you get your desired result as your rub against her swollen clit. The first soft sigh leaves Sunsets lips with the new waves of pleasure you're giving her, and things are only going to intensify once you really get started.

 

Even the slow, steady thrusts as you find your rhythm give volume to Sunset's breaths. You can feel the head brushing up against that side with each pump, making sure Sunset got as much out of each one as possible. Wanting more out of the fleshy embrace of her inner walls, you increase your pace until you both can feel it as your hips meet. At first the sound is only of your length pushing into Sunset's wetness, but as the animalistic drive overtakes you the sound of your skin smacking together overtakes it instead.

 

Sunset can't help but let her head fall back into the sheets as the thrusts grow more intense. She buries her face in the sheets to muffle the increasing whimpers and coos flowing out of her, but can't stop them from getting louder and louder as your rub circles into her clit and thrust harder into the sensetive flesh. The arousal spreads with each hump until your groin gets soaked with it. Each thrust gradually gets wetter with her excitement, changing the sound of your skin meeting into a wet plap instead. Occasionally your balls swing against her soft thigh, letting you feel just how far her wetness as traveled as it sends another wave of pleasure through your body.

 

Your hand travels up Sunset's back until it finds her opposite shoulder to grab onto—with both of you writhing under the sudden ecstasy, you slowly fall out of the angle you want and that's the last thing you want. As the bliss from her pussy stroking up and down your cock overwhlems you, all you can think about is getting back to those little squeezes from her orgasm again. You let out a few sighs of your own as you think about the feeling of her quivering against you and eventually they start gaining volume as well. With her in your grasp you know you can only last so long like this, but with how much her legs are curling up against you it looks like you might just tip her over to number three tonight.

 

You resolve slowly whittles away as you lose yourself in the feeling of getting to fuck her like this. It's nothing like you ever could have imagined: the gentle caress of her entrance against your length, the warm wetness welcoming you in with every thrust, feeling every little part of her inner walls as they squeeze and embrace every last inch of your length, and the only thing that would make it perfect would be the gentle clenching of her cumming on you yet again. With all the heavenly strokes of her insides against your length push you even closer to the edge, you worry if you'll push her to the same finish line in time. Your grip on her shoulder loosens and you can't quite keep up the same pass on her clit as your hips start moving on their own.

 

The animalistic part of you starts taking over as your thrusts go faster and faster to maximize your pleasre. Your hand moves up to the back of Sunset's head to lift her out of the sheets and force her eyes to meet yours. It's a bit of a stretch, but you lean forward and bring her up until you can feel the warmth of her lips against yours again. She can't last very long in the kiss before she has to break away for air, but with your faces so close you can plainly see the overwhelming desire in her eyes. She looks up to you with that same submissive gaze as your thrusts rock her body, making sure her entire body is bouncing up and down in your grasp. You lean forward to place one last loving peck on her lips before whispering into her ear.

 

"Cum for me."

 

A sharp gasp resonates from Sunset's lips from the command and you feel her hand grip tighter onto you. You refuse to break eye contact with her, even as the pounding bounces her up and down in your grasp. Sunset's breathing gets shallow as she timidly looks into your eyes, her entire face flushed red and her body writhing at the intense pleasure you're giving her. Finally she gives in and closes her eyes as her mouth opens to let out a few strained moans as the show begins.

 

Her entire body twists as her back arches and she lets out a cry. Both of her legs curl up against you, letting you feel the muscles in her thighs twitch under her soft skin. As she writhes in a pile of her own hair in the sheets, you almost fall forward yourself at the feeling you've been after. In that gentle embrace of her wonderful insides you feel her muscles start to tense yet again. The wet plaps stop filling the room and instead you opt for some slow, gentle thrusts to feel every little squeeze as you pull in and out of her. The feeling alone is enough to make you lose control of her and all you can do is grab onto her thigh as she shudders in the sheets, making sure she doesn't accidentally pull away and remove the bliss from your world.

 

You let out a groan of your own and can't help but tighten your grip on her. The gentle massage of her orgasm gives you the last push you need to fall over that edge as well. Sunset's moan grows a little sharper as your cock pulses inside her, spilling everything you had that didn't already end up in her mouth. You can feel the warm liquid pouring out of you and spreading around her with each flex of your length, amplifying the pleasure of her convulsing inner walls. The orgasm is so much different from all the ones you've had before: your core forces you to lightly jerk forward with every thrust and your mind is completely blank as the euphoria overwhelms you. A comforting warmth spreads throughout your entire body as little jolts of stimulation ignite through the base of your cock.

 

You close your eyes and fully lose yourself in the moment as the last spurts spill your cum deep inside her. With her orgasm fading, you slow down and enjoy the little feelings like her thighs lovingly caressing up against you and the sound of her satisfied coos as she catches her breath and relaxes into the sheets. The intense high of cumming in Sunset blanked out your entire mind and now that it's fading you can't help but feel lethargic. You waver for a moment as you slide back into reality, your hips giving one last unconscious buck into her still-soaked pussy, but after an orgasm that intense the sensation is overwhelming now. With a tinge of disappointment, you slide yourself out of her, another sense of pride overcoming you ass you look down to see your cum at the edge of her beautiful folds.

 

Sunset manages to open her eyes to look at you, lazily stretching out a hand to beckon you down to her. With the fatigue setting into your system you happily oblige and slump down into the blankets beside her and put your arm around her to feel all of her bare body up against yours again.

 

"I take it back..." she lightly whispers as her legs lovingly caress yours between her soft coos. "[i]That[/i]was the best orgasm I've ever had."

 

You bring a hand up to Sunset's sleepy face and brush the messy strands of hair off of her cheek. The glint of her teal eyes shines in the moonlight for you, accentuating the content, thankful smile sitting on her lips.

 

"Mine too... that was... that was the best thing I've ever felt in my life," you say, a little surprised at your own lethargic tone.

 

Sunset drapes an arm over you, then leans in to give you a sweet, gentle kiss. She pulls away and immediately lets her head drop to the mattress. You can't help but let out a quick chuckle at how spent she is. Taking the initiative, you grab her big, purple blanket and slide her up to the pillows, covering you both up in the fluffy warmth. You wrap your arms around her again and she immediately snuggles in to settle against your chest.

 

"We need to do this more often," she says as she settles up under your chin.

 

"I could do this every night if you're up for it."

 

You can feel her cheeks move into a smile against your chest as she lovingly caresses her thighs against your legs again. "Sounds like a plan to me."

 

You take in a deep breath and squeeze her up against you, reveling in the feeling of your former tormentor being the light of your life. You close your eyes with a content sigh and settle into the pillows yourself, ready to drift off with the wonderful sensation of a naked Sunset in your arms.

 

Sunset shifts in your grasp before looking up to you. "Do you think we'll be happy together?" she whispers, worry at the edge of her voice.

 

You open your mouth to let out an automatic 'of course' but have to stop yourself as surprise seeps in. When would that ever be your first response? Even this morning you were filled with doubt and anxiety aboutt he future, but now? You let a smile cross your face as you realize the swarming negativity that so often plagued your thoughts is gone. No matter how much your mind poke around, all your brain wants to think about is keeping the happiness in your arms for as long as you can.

 

"I know we will be," you say, letting the uncharacteristic confidence seep back in.

 

Her teal eyes shine in the moonlight again and you look down to see a satisfied smile creep back over her tired face. She nuzzles herself back into your chest, filling your system with love and warmth and happiness that no amount of negative thoughts can shake off. You take in another deep breath and settle into the pillow, letting your mind run through the last few thoughts before you finally fall asleep cuddling with her.

 

Your thoughts take you to the future, as they often do. You know you'll end up with negativity, with doubts, with anxiety about things... but as your hands trace across Sunset's bare skin, you somehow know you can get through them now. You know they're only ever temporary, that you have the power to work through them to be even better for her. The usualy stream of thoughts about how everything would only ever turn out horribly now has your mind flicking around those scenarios thinking about how you'd fix them instead. Confidence inside grows as you visualize the better version of yourself, a happier person that Sunset would be proud to spend the rest of her life with. Instead of focusing on that little orange bottle as the only thing you'd ever want, your mind rests on Sunset's beautiful smile and doing what you could to keep it on her face.

 

For the first time in a long time, you feel the world without the dread, without the hopelessness. Sunset's soft snoring snaps you out of your own trance, and you can't help but smile at the sudden cuteness. You have to blink a few times just to make sure you're still in reality, that the wonderful girl in your arms really is your girlfriend, that you both did just have amazing sex and are falling asleep together naked. When you don't actually wake up from reality, you can't help but let a smile spread over your face. With her in your arms, you finally feel like things will be okay and maybe, just maybe... that life isn't so bad after all.

 

Chapter 6 - The Rest of Your Life

 

You never thought you'd have to see this again.

 

The dull bricks of Canterlot High surround you on all sides as you lean against the familiar statue. The school stands like an uncaring obelisk of the tortured past, holding a library of horrible memories and unpleasant emotions that make your stomach churn just thinking about them. The endless insults from Sunset and the disgusted looks and distant whispers of your former friends only make your stomach sink more as you mull over the idea of actually going back in.

 

It wasn't supposed to end up like this, you tell yourself. You were supposed to be beyond worrying about this by now. You close your eyes and let a deep breath of the cool January air fill your lungs. It's all you can do to just try to get your mind off of having to walk through that entrance again, knowing the uncertainties that lie beyond it. How would your old friends act now? Would anything even change? The minutes slowly count down until the bell finally rings to usher you into class and you know you won't be able to take another step on your own. Regret flows in as you think about all the awful things that will probably transpire down that checkered hallway. Even thinking about the awful looks, the whispers of disgust, the disdain over the accusations... as the anticipation piles on, you can't help but glance over to the sidewalk and ponder how much it'd matter if you just left now.

 

No... something is different now. Giving up would be incredibly easy and would probably save you some hardship, but now there's something else to do this for.

 

You close your eyes and take in a deep breath, trying to push away the negativity poking at the back of your mind. This time the horrible thoughts don't seem to stick to the walls like mold on an abandoned building anymore. You brush aside the the nervousness and do your best to let it rest like a paper boat in the ocean to be swept away. It was always true that you never wanted to come back to this place, but now you know that even in the darkest of nights, there's always a shimmer of hope to hold onto.

 

"Hey! There you are," Sunset calls out. The sudden noise makes you jump as it yanks you out of your thoughts. Instead of wincing and preparing for the worst like you might usually do, a wide smile unconsciously spreads across your face. Seeing her skip towards you with her own beaming grin spreads a comfortable warmth through your insides that just melts all your anxiety away.

 

"Hey, Sunny," you say, letting your hands fall to her hips as she lines her boots up with the tip of your shoes.

 

Sunset doesn't hesitate to wrap her arms right around your shoulders and lean up on her tip-toes to steal a quick kiss. You happily oblige her, leaning down to let the sudden jolt of pleasure from her lips spread a happy warmth through your torso as memories of the last few nights of your vacation slip back into your mind. You blink a few times as you remember there are other people around.

 

"You aren't... uh..." you say, letting your eyes scan around the curious eyes along the sidewalk, obviously taking in Sunset being lovingly pressed up against you with her hands on your shoulders.

 

She follows your gaze to the awkward gazes and then rolls her eyes. "Worried? Of course not. You're my boyfriend now and I'm not going to be ashamed of that."

 

Your smile returns in force and joy spreads through your system again. "That's... well that's really good to hear. Maybe things won't be so bad after all," you say, more to yourself than to her.

 

"Things are going to be fine. Better than fine, if you ask me. On top of everything, we've got each other for a little... stress relief?" she says, letting her eyes turn to a sultry gaze as she lets her hips sway against you.

 

You pull her close to you and shoot back your own confident grin. "Should've said, 'on top of everything now we've got each other to be on top of too'."

 

Sunset giggles and shakes her head. "I'll have to leave the sex jokes to you. I'll worry about when and where... like my place after school?" she asks, tracing her finger up and down your chest while biting her lip.

 

You lean down to get another kiss, this time letting your lips linger together just a little bit longer to feel that pleasure and warmth at the loving contact spread through your entire body. You hear her let off a satisfied hum as you finally pull back, neither of you caring about the prying eyes of your fellow students anymore.

 

"That sounds good to me."

 

Sunset takes a step back out of your embrace and reaches out an open hand to you. "Ready for our first day back?" she says with an eager grin.

 

The smile resting on your face fades. Your hand lifts on its own at first, but the sudden pit growing in your stomach stops it before you can accept her. Your eyes trace back up to that entrance again, the thought of crossing through those doors pours anxiety into you even with Sunset standing right there. Doubts shoot through your mind again over all the worries you had before your first time with her. The curious stares all around you suddenly seem so much worse and your brain imagines a thousand different scenarios where the wonderful girl in front of you ends up just as bad as you were.

 

Sunset's excited expression fades as concern takes over her face. Her hand slumps down as you fail to meet her gaze, instead looking out to the street, momentarily considering just making a break for it and cutting off the chance of anything bad happening. You close your eyes tightly at the thought of Sunset losing her friends, losing her reputation, losing her happiness... all because of you. If there was even a remote chance of it happening, you know you'd never want to take it anymore. You open your mouth to say something, finally looking into those worried teal eyes, but she starts instead.

 

"We said we'd do this together, no matter what, right?" she says with her trademark determination, sternly putting out her hand for you yet again.

 

"Sunset... I just—"

 

With a shake of her head, Sunset pushes her hand out even further. "No matter what. We're in it together, okay?"

 

You look into her sweet, caring eyes as they soften and her face does its best to put on a reassuring smile. You try to get something out to counter it, but instead you just let out a little laugh at yourself and raise your hand to hers.

 

"Together," you say with a firm nod as your fingers interlock with hers.

 

The swarm of worry building inside you washes away in the light squeeze of her soft fingers. You take in a slow, deep breath as you both turn towards the school. With your hand in hers, you finally look at the looming pile of bricks and awful memories with a different thought in your mind. You look over to your girlfriend's proud expression and she gives you a gentle nod.

 

"No matter what happens, we'll get through it. Together," she says with another light squeeze of your hand.

 

You give her delicate palm a light squeeze back. "Together." A strange feeling hits you as you look back to the school. Suddenly everything felt like it was going to be okay. Suddenly, you want to go back in to start this new chapter of your life... with her. Tears threaten to form at the edge of your vision, not because of sadness or pain, but because you finally let it sink in that in her embrace, the depression could finally be over—you could finally be free.

 

You do your best to swallow the lump in your throat as the sappy smile takes over your face. "Thank you, Sunset... for everything."

 

Sunset's grin grows even wider and she nuzzles her cheek into your shoulder. "Thank [i]you[/i] for trying with me. We're both going to be better than ever," she says, planting a gentle kiss on your sleeve. "You ready?"

 

You give her one last nod and turn your attention back to the school. "Let's do this." You push aside your nervousness and take the monumental first step towards the entrance, the first step towards lasting happiness, and the first step of the rest of your life.