The Fruits and Vegetables of My Boredom

This is Goodbye

A/N: Not mine, don't worry hahahaha. That's just the title!

Maybe it was not a good idea to come to the revel after all. No matter how shiny the golden apples seemed or how refreshing the punch smelled or how wonderfully intoxicating the mirth was. No matter how welcoming the courtiers were. No matter how much he missed her.

This was not her home.

It never was.

She belonged in a land beyond the brambles and vines. Above the green hills. The place where skyscrapers soared and car horns blared and each day was a mundane repeat of the next.

But, as he looked at her now, none of that mattered.

The only thing she could see was the yearning in his honey-coloured eyes. He pulled away from the throng of chattering fairies, his fluffy hair bouncing as he rushed towards her. He took hold of her hands at once. His gazed searched her face, looking for signs of regret, relief, regard, anything at all.

"You..." The words caught in his throat. He looked away, but held her fingers still. "You vanished so suddenly, I thought perhaps..." Again, he could not finish his sentence.

She smiled, feeling a nostalgic sense of fondness once more. "Did you miss me that much?" she teased.

"Yes," he said with earnest, catching her off guard. "I searched everywhere for you! I tried sending you letters but not a single person in this Court could deliver them to the right place." His lips wavered. "I thought you were killed."

She supposed it made sense. Their friendship had never been looked at with much favour. He was a prince of this Court. And she was a mere human girl.

They had met when he stepped into her world by accident, then just as accidently took her back into his world. From there, their misadventures had begun. Years and years of living off of the highs of glee and the lows of grief. They bonded over a shared trauma and one too many shots of sparkling sugar plum.

Right now, their difference had never been stark. He still looked the same as he had all these years; his round cheeks and bright eyes and soft features unchanged by the passage of time. Her features had long since smoothed out, her height extending above his, and her maturity far out-matching his.

She had grown up.

She did not want to break his heart. But she had to. "I came here to tell you that I'll be moving from this city, old friend."

A/N: I wrote this after reading The Cruel Prince. That series is very good if you're looking for an urban fantasy with fairies and betrayal and enemies to lovers.