You and Me, Always.

Bananas

*A Year Later*

The streets of Camden glistened in the sunlight, casting a bright glow on all the market stalls that had been set up for that morning.
Aljaž had set out to the gym, early so he could beat the crowd that was soon to overtake the town centre. He headed to the fruit stall to collect some ingredients for the smoothie he was going to make afterwards. He picked out some strawberries, some blueberries, pineapple and finally, after staring at them for a while, some bananas. They were Janette's favourite fruit.
He paid for them and continued on his way. He hadn't heard from Janette in a year, he didn't know how she was doing, where she was or even if she was still single. He had tried not to think about her too much, but everywhere he looked, there were reminders of what had been before. He saw yellow and it reminded him of Janette's love of minions, bananas and the other little quirks of hers that made her Janette. Every time he stepped into 'Dance Attic', he was reminded of all those days they had spent together, supposedly 'choreographing' but mostly giggling and talking the whole time. The apartment was empty without her - her 'Zen Area' dismantled, no candles, no plants; the bar stools remained isolated, nobody to sit on them. Her favourite mug of Aljaž's - the one she always used to used, lay at the back of the cupboard, gathering dust. It hurt to be reminded of all of this, but it hurt even more to try and move on. Janette had been the love of his life, and she still was.

Aljaž arrived at the gym and took his usual place on the treadmill beside the large mat. That mat was where Janette would work out while he was on the treadmill. It was the perfect setup. He had sworn that she made him burn more calories by making him laugh than the treadmill ever did. Brushing away any further thoughts before he completely broke down, Aljaž put his earphones in and turned the volume up to full blast. It was the only way to block of the world. He looked out of the window that was in front of his treadmill. The sun was now dazzling its light even brighter over the entire town. In usually would have made him smile, but not much did that nowadays.

He had been running for about forty minutes when he felt a tap on his shoulder. It was probably just one of the trainers giving friendly encouragement like they always did, even though it had been quite a gentle tap. He continued, regardless of what the world around him was doing. A few minutes later, he felt the same tap again. This time, he pressed a button on the treadmill, bringing it to a halt. He yanked out his earphones and turned to see who it was. To his complete shock he saw a familiar face standing there. It was Janette.

"Hi." She piped up in a small voice. A tiny hint of a smile was trying to form on her face, but it wasn't appearing. Aljaž simply stood, mouth wide open, staring at the person who had broken his heart and disappeared from his life for a whole year. What was he supposed to say? Shuffling nervously, he replied, "Err... Hi?" He did not make any attempt to smile, and instead looked on, awaiting Janette's next sentence. A silence overtook for about a minute or so, and the air between them became tense. "I'm so sorry," Janette blurted out, before adding "I don't know what I was doing, or why I left, it's been the worst year of my life." She paused for a second to breathe and continued, "I spent so long trying to figure out why I was feeling that way. I stopped dancing, I stopped everything, I wasn't me." She stopped again, Aljaž noticing the flame in her eyes that used to be so familiar. "Then, I realised. I wasn't myself without you. I realised that I can't live without you, that I'm half the person I am without you and I don't like it. That person is subdued, selfish and cold. With you, I'm complete. I need you." She finished, eyes glassy with tears that were forming. She lifted her head to look up at Aljaž, who was standing there looking back at her. A tear dribbled down her face, and onto her shoe as she looked down at the floor. All of a sudden she felt a strong arm around her back. It was Aljaž. He pulled her in to his chest, one arm around her and the other on the back of her head. He stroked her hair like he had done so many times before, and spoke softly into her ear - "Don't ever leave me again. Never."