The Fall Chill (Sunset)


                                            >The cool autumn air nipped at your neck after every ring of the bell on the coffee shop door. These days seemed much colder than the last time you'd been in Canterlot, but the warmth of the cup in your hands kept things from getting unbearable. You took another sip and looked out the window to the sprawling reds and oranges of the trees, filling your mind with the memories of playing in the leaf piles and exploring the little patches of forest outside of town.


                                            >The warm memories made a little bit of your stress melt away. You let your eyes trace back up to the other side of the booth to see your favorite shades of red and yellow. Sunset let the coffee in her hands slide away from her lips, revealing a slight smile as she stared out to the trees. Your heart lifted; you hadn't seen her smile like that in a long time.


                                            "Do you remember that petting zoo Fluttershy tried to make our senior year?" she said as the smile grew on her face. She kept her eyes on the landscape, leaning forward to rest her cheek in her hand.


                                            Your face twisted at the memory. "The one with the snakes? How could I forget. I'm sure Sweetie Belle still has to go to therapy for that one."


                                            >Sunset couldn't help but laugh. The joy on her face brought a fuzzy fondness to your stomach that you wish you could feel more often.


                                            "Yeah, that's the one. Right before the Halloween party. We all got together at Sugarcube Corner to try Pinkie's newest attempt at a latte before heading over and you spit it all over Rarity's jacket," she said, a gentle fondness in her eyes as well.


                                            "I thought that was gonna be it, the way she looked at me." Your gaze fell away, the nostalgic feelings falling away as you thought about how many years ago that was, and where her mind might be going now. "Why do you ask?"


                                            Her smile faded and her eyes fell towards the table. "I miss that fall. That night... I think that was the last day I really felt like it would all last forever, that graduation, college... life, would never catch up to us."


                                            You gripped your cup tighter, you stomach sinking at the somber expression overtaking her face. "Nothing lasts forever, does it?" you asked her.


                                            "No, I guess not."


                                            >The warmth twisted in your core into a stressful tension as the clinking of cups and quiet chatter of the coffee shop filled the lull between the two of you. You pursed your lips and looked back out the window, mirroring your girlfriend's thoughts of those better days, desperately wishing you could go back through the years.


                                            >A long sigh left your lips. The uncomfortable quiet became all too familiar over the past few days. One uneasy conversation after months of uncertainty into those dreaded words... "drifting apart".


                                            >The door opened yet again, sending those familiar chills down your neck and erasing what little was left from the warmth of the moment. You opened your mouth, expecting something profound to escape despite your mind drawing a blank. Something could erase all the feelings of the past few months, some words you could say could spark that puppy love you never thought you'd lose, but they refused to come to you. You looked over to Sunset, her face despondant as she searched the trees for more memories.


                                            You cleared your throat. "You remember when this place first opened? We had to sneak around just to get coffee from her or else Pinkie would drag us back to Sugarcube Corner to show us she could make it better."


                                            Sunset let out a quick chuckle that warmed your heart yet again. "She'd always put way too much sugar in everything. We had a lot of really nice dates here," she said as if it was a thousand years ago, piercing your heart with that familiar, meloncholic reminder of a joy that was no longer present.


                                            >The feeling struck you like a knife to the gut, leaving your mouth hanging open again and inviting back that dreaded silence. You searched as much of your mind as you could to find something to salvage the moment, but every memory was stained bittersweet now. You could see it in her beautiful teal eyes how much she missed the life you both left behind after high school. Just a couple hours drive might as well have been another planet to her as you gazed at the regret in her eyes.


                                            "I just wanted us to have the best chance for the future we could, Sunset. I didn't..." you said, gripping your cup harder as if it'd keep things from falling apart.


                                            "I know." She gave you a sad smile—her best attempt at some reassurance before looking away again.


                                            "It's just for a few years. If I could get that promotion when it comes up and just..." you grit your teeth, hating the same tired excuse as it came out of your mouth. As you watched her smile die you didn't even know who you were trying to convince anymore.


                                            "I know," she said again, this time burying her cheek deeper into her hand and letting her hair fall over her face.


                                            >The silence crept back in over the two of you like a fog. The last thing you wanted to do was to go over the same shallow reassurances, but what else was there to say? You closed your eyes, feeling like a bird desperately trying to keep its nest intact in the blustering winds of a hurricane. Sunset's face adorned such a forlorn longing that had become the norm at this point. All you could do was yearn for the days when her default was that joyful smile, knowing how long it might be until you could see it again.


                                            You let go of the tension in your shoulders and felt the stress fall away to invite a defeated sadness instead. "Do you think things will ever go back to normal? Like they were then?"


                                            Sunset's hand fell away from her face and she looked down to her coffee, pausing for a moment to think. "I don't... maybe," she met your eyes and did her best to put on another reassuring smile, but you could tell how fragile it was. "I hope so."


                                            Your mood fell into a quiet resignation. "Me too..." you said, knowing that was Sunset's kind-hearted version of 'probably not'.


                                            >You both turned back to the warm hues of the trees gently waving in the autumn breeze. Every sway brought another wave of orange leaves off of their branches to the ground below, painting the landscape in those same colors and bringing a fresh, but familiar perspective to the quaint streets of Canterlot.


                                            >Your mind desperately replayed all the happy fall memories it had for you as you tried to ignore the uncomfortable silence hanging over the both of you. You closed your eyes tight and shook your head. There was no way to ignore the inevitable. Things couldn't go on like this forever. You glanced back up to Sunset. Her nostalgic smile had faded into a distant emptiness as she stared out the window. The reminiscing could only do so much to veil your situation and you knew the rest of the holiday visit would remain just as tainted as it was on the drive over here.


                                            >Another ring of the bell at the front, another harsh chill down your neck—a haunting reminder of the present keeping you from disappearing into  your thoughts. As you watched the sadness overtake your girlfriend, you knew you couldn't just put it off any longer. You had to make the choice now or put her through even more unnecessary suffering.


                                            >You only played with your options for a split second. The thought of one was too much to bear, so you straightened your posture with newfound vigor and looked Sunset directly in the eye, catching a curious gaze in return.


                                            "Let's move back." The words echoed between the two of you, making all other sounds in the shop disappear. Sunset straightened up herself, blinking at you in confusion.


                                            "...huh?" she said, her voice shaky as if she didn't believe what she'd heard.


                                            "Let's move back to Canterlot. The lease is almost up anyway. We can stay with my parents until we find a new place. We'll be back here in a week at most."


                                            She blinked a few more times. "But... but what about your job?"


                                            You clenched your teeth, fighting back the lingering doubt trying to pull you away from your resolve. "If they won't let me work remotely I'll just find a new one."


                                            "Are you sure about this? I mean... we..." She let out a couple of confused laughs and looked around the room. "We spent so much time there and..."


                                            A tiny smile crept onto her lips through her confused expression. That little bit of joy was all you needed to crush any remaining doubt. "I've never been more sure about anything in my life. Most of our friends still live here. We'll be close to my family. We'll be where we know we're going to be happy. Both of us," you say as you lean forward to take Sunset's hands off of her cup and into yours.


                                            She looks down, almost surprised at the contact, before looking back up to you and lettingt he widest smile you've seen on her in years spread across her face. "I have to tell everyone, oh, Pinkie's probably going to want to throw a party. She's been talking about wanting to get everyone back together. We can—"


                                            >You give Sunset's hands a light squeeze as she talks. Love warms your heart and your lips curl up as you watch her fill with joy. She stops herself in her excitement to return your gaze and soften her expression. Without warning she jerks up out of her seat and leans as far over the table as she can to meet you, earning some startled gazes from the other patrons as the table creaks and the cups clank at the sudden motion. You couldn't care less as her display ends with her hands on your cheeks and her lips pressed against yours.


                                            >Her embrace soothed away every little stress you'd been building up. Your entire body relaxed as you felt her affection pour through you like the most soothing tea in the world. You closed your eyes and everything else fell away, just leaving the two of you pressed together like you were never meant to be apart. Every little movement of your lips just made you wish even harder that this moment would never have to end.


                                            >Sunset pulled away to meet her teal eyes with yours under her veil of hair. The joy that filled her face sent another spark of happiness through your body.


                                            "I love you," she said, her smile growing brighter by the second.


                                            >As the high of the moment slowly faded, both of you caught on to the eerie silence around you. You both looked around the room to meet the confused and irritated gazes of the other patrons. Sunset leaned back into her seat with a sheepish smile on her face and her cheeks growing red with embarrassment. She cleared her throat and looked back at you with a quick giggle while hiding her face from everyone else with her hair as they went back to their business.


                                            "Anyway..." she started before surveying the room again. Once the attention was off of her, she slid her coffee over to you and shuffled herself out of her booth and sat next to you instead. She automatically snuggled up to your side, returning that warm, fuzzy feeling to your stomach. You let your arm rest around her shoulder to pull her in tighter and she happily settled into you as she pulled out her phone and opened up the group chat.


                                            Sunset shook with excitement as her thumbs found their way to the screen. "How should I tell them?" she asked herself, the giddyness in her voice increasing with each word.


                                            >You let out a heavy breath as you thought about the old plans you had in place. Second only to the feeling of the most amazing girl in the world snuggled up next to you was how much better it felt to cut that burden from your mind. You knew that with her next to you, you'd figure things out.


                                            You lean over to kiss Sunset's head and whisper, "I love you too."


                                            >The bell rang, the door opened, and the chill didn't cut quite so deep this time. You rested your cheek against her lush red and yellow locks and let out another breath through your smile, knowing everything would turn out alright.