“Why?”
Aria hesitated, her mouth moving but no words came out as she sat on the edge of the bed. This was the moment she knew would come to pass. The love she felt for Adagio was hurting her and she didn’t know if she could deal with it any longer.
“Because you are that part of me…” she began as she looked straight into Adagio’s eyes, “that I just wish I didn't need!”
Adagio stood unmoving as sweat formed on her brow, as desperation rose inside her. Within seconds, a hitch in her chest caused her to stumble to her knees and she felt tears start to trickle down her cheeks.
“Please Aria... don’t go,” Adagio whispered, having never felt so small, and yet here she was, begging for someone she loved to not leave her. “Don’t—”
Aria interrupted her at that moment, crying out, “What? Don’t be like Sunset? Leave you and go for someone who’s better for me mentally?”
She was lost for words. Aria was right, yet what the elder siren wanted so badly was to hang onto what little love she had. Yet all she could do was mutter quietly, her head hanging and shoulder’s slumped dejectedly, “Aria…”
“No! J-just go, I can’t talk to you right now,” Aria’s shoulders slumped as she spoke, every word laced with venom.
The moments that followed were filled with silence, a silence that neither dared to break. It wasn’t until a few minutes had passed that she got a response.
“Ok…”
That simple acknowledgement was all she would get from the former leader before she was alone in the room. A pained sigh escaped her lips as the butterflies in her stomach grew more intense.
’Why can’t I just… stop loving her?
Soon enough, the tears came, flowing freely out in the prolonged moments since Adagio had left. She collapsed onto the bed, its soft embrace bringing no solace to her turbulent thoughts.
She sobbed for what felt like hours until sleep finally took her.
It was around the crack of dawn when Aria woke up, and yet the sun hadn't awoken her. Something wasn’t right, the house was too quiet for a Monday morning especially when she knew Adagio was supposed to be at work in a few hours.
Yet when she looked outside the side window, the motorcycle that served as Adagio’s ride was still there. Seconds later it dawned on her that Adagio was on the balcony.
’How did I not wake up to her going out to the balcony? I always wake up when she does, and seeing as it's almost December, how long has she been out there?’ she thought as she got up from the bed, only to reach her the door before she saw the girl outside was visibly shaking.
“Oh my god... that idiot slept out there didn’t she?” she muttered to herself as she opened the door, ”Damn it Adagio!”
Looking up at her, Adagio brought her legs up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them in a defensive position. She turned away, unable to look up at her. “I thought you’d have left by now.”
The wind whipped through Aria’s hair, her mind asking herself why she hadn’t. Yet here she was, concern still laced around her heart, barely holding it together. Her bags were packed, but the idea of walking through that door one final time scared her more than she liked to admit.
“How can you be such an Idiot… Adagio, seriously you could have frozen to death in this weather, with no more than you're wearing!”
Aria rolled her eyes, and, getting no response from Adagio, stalked over to the girl to pick her up in her arms, feeling how cold the meager clothes were on Adagio.
Adagio offered only token resistance as Aria scooped her up and walked back inside, dropping her on the bed and pulling the covers over her.
“Adagio, look. I’ve carried you emotionally, and now physically, for far too long. You need help, and I can’t be the one to provide that for you anymore. I’ve asked you time and time again, but you won’t change.” She strode across the room, grabbing her bags en route to the door. “If you won’t make any changes, I will. Goodbye, Adagio.”
As the door slammed shut behind her, the tears began to fall. Wiping them away quickly, she steeled herself, and marched out of the building, not once looking back.
The lights were off. They had been that way since before Aria walked out, so as far as Adagio cared they could stay that way, even though most of the day had slipped away from her.
Finally moving under her own power, she slipped back under the covers, and let the darkness take her under.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump!
Aria lifted the last of her suitcases up the set of stairs, fatigue setting in as she placed them on the landing. Thus, with the final trip up the stairwell complete, she collapsed against the wall to catch her breath.
Taking a few breaths to recover she pushed herself up, and approached the door at the end of the hall. Ever since Adagio and Sunset had fallen out, she and Adagio had barely seen Sonata. Aria would have visited her friend sooner, but she had not wanted to upset her girlfriend. So when she had called them out of the blue, she had expected to be rejected, however much to her surprise, she had been welcomed with open arms.
Hesitantly, she lifted her hand to the dark, oak door, and rapped on it three times with her knuckles, the impacts resounding through the hallway. The sound signaling the finality of the situation in her mind.
She waited, drumming her fingers against her leg, as the silence dragged on. She let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding as the sound of a latch came from the other side of the door.
On silent hinges the door swung inwards, revealing a shiny modern apartment. Aria never got the chance to see much of it before a blue blur slammed into her. Stumbling backwards, she kept her footing, and slowly realized why she couldn’t breathe - Sonata was crushing her in a bear hug.
At this point Aria would normally push her away, but with everything that had been going on, she decided she not only wanted this, but needed it. She snaked her own arms around Sonata and hugged her back just as tight.
Meanwhile, Sunset came up behind them groceries in arms, before placing them down against the wall and stepping over to the unsuspecting duo. They both jumped as they felt something on their backs, before realizing that Sunset had turned it into a group hug. The pair pulled apart, allowing Sunset into it properly, and they stayed that way for a few more moments.
As they pulled away, Sunset reached down to retrieve her groceries, but one of the bags tore open, spilling its contents across the hallways floor. All three bend down to gather the items, and Aria’s eyes get wider as she starts to list the items being picked up.
“Bread rolls, patties, squeezy ketchup, frozen fries…” She stood up, and looked at Sunset. “Where you buying those because I was coming?” She punctuated her sentence with a small sniffle and a smile.
“Yeah,” Sunset beamed, “Sonata told me they were your favorite, so I thought you might like to…” She never finished because Aria had pulled her into another hug.
Smiling, Sunset rolled her eyes. “You hug more than your rep suggests. Anyway, let’s get these inside and I’ll get cooking while Sonata shows you to the guest room.”
Nodding her assent, the three proceeded inside, Sonata shutting the door after them, giving Sunset a quick peck on the cheek before she disappeared into the kitchen. Aria followed Sonata down the hall, and the blue girl pointed out the different rooms along the way.
“And this is your's!” She spun around, smiling, and held the door open. Aria walked in to explore the room that was going to be her home for the foreseeable future. It was nowhere on the scale of what she had been used to, but there was a saving grace - nothing in it would remind her of Adagio.
“Sonata, I can't thank you enough for this. Nor can I make up for the last two years of…” Aria was quickly silenced as Sonata pulled her in for a hug.
“That doesn’t matter, what does matter is that you are here.” They separated, and Sonata pushed her further into the room. “Now get unpacked. I’ll go set the table, dinner should be in twenty, kay?”
The blue Siren bounced off leaving Aria alone, but she could still feel a smile on her face; it had been far too long since she had had cause to do so. Throwing her cases onto the bed, she began pulling open drawers and filling them. She knew her own place would soon be ready, only a couple of weeks away, but it felt right to treat this place like home for now.
Settled and happy with her arrangement, Aria headed back out into the apartment proper. As soon as she opened her door, her nose was assaulted by the most heavenly of aromas - sloppy burgers and crispy fries. On her way through to the kitchen, she actually took the time to look around.
It was obvious that when they had bought the place it had been painted a clean white, with a lot of the fixtures and fittings made to match, but it hadn’t stopped the pair making it their own. On every shelf, windowsill or end table, there was little nick-nacks, most of which were in hues matching the girl's own color schemes.
It was nice to see that at least one of them had managed to make a happy life for themselves in this dimension. With a wistful sigh, she headed on through, finding the table set and food being laid out. Taking a seat at the table in front of her, she sat next to Sunset, but her eyes stayed focused on the pile of burgers in the center of the table.
Sharing a giggle the couple gave their guest permission to get started, soon discovering they would need to act fast if they wanted to get any food themselves.