Dinky sat and gazed nonchalantly through the side of her coffee, the bitter taste shoving and trickling its way down her throat as she forced it down with a cough. Though she tried not to for some strange reason, she could very obviously see the light coated pegasus sitting across from her, hooves cuffed protectively over his own steaming mug of coffee.
His violet eyes peered directly into the fire of her soul, not only making her shudder with a strange comforting feeling, but sending a pang of guilt coursing through her shaky veins at the very moment.
"I'm sorry," they both managed to stumble over themselves at the same time.
A slight awkward silence filled the tense room till Dinky managed to break it by signaling for him to continue and speak first, also questioning him about why he was apologetic in the first place.
He rubbed the back of his neck for a brief moment before reaching upward the comb the sleek style of his mane as he always did when he was nervous.
"I shouldn't have just surprised you like that last week. And then just ditch school so I wouldn't have to see you." Rumble's guilty eyes shown with embarrassment the moment he began speaking, and if Dinky didn't know any better she could have sworn a faint blush was rising behind his face.
Narrowing her eyebrows and squinting at him, her ears pinned back in mild annoyance. "Thunderlane... told me you had feather flu."
Complete, utter shock fell over the embarrassing state of the moment, and Rumble shoved back in his seat as a way of expressing himself. "Oh! Um." He looked as if he had forgotten about this fact, and sweat was beginning to form under the few strands of his hair that hung loosely above his forehead.
She sighed deeply. "Look. If you didn't want to be around me, you could have just-"
"I do want to be around you," he protested loudly, clearly flustered as several watching eyes of other customers in the busy coffee shop pinned on him. Self-conscious, the equine slid slightly back down into his seat and said in a much calmer, nearly quiet tone: "I do want to be around you. I just... I thought you didn't want to be around me."
She blinked once or twice before making herself take another reluctant short sip of her coffee. The rising steam tickled and brushed her bottom lip as the familiar sight and surrounding of her aura filling the cup's shape levitated the coffee to her mouth. Eventually she spoke.
"Rumble, I was just... surprised. I needed a moment to think."
"Well, you've had plenty," he stated coldly, though his face remained the same and his expression never grew upset.
"I'm not the one who went out of their way to avoid me."
"I'm not the one who didn't return their friend's text messages."
Dinky raised an eyebrow tiredly, though guilt tugged at her stomach. "I was on vacation."
"Vacation." He repeated the word to himself in a hushed voice, as if he was pondering over something. She could very clearly notice and stare deep into the levels of hurt in his eyes. "Where?"
A bad feeling crept through her spine. "Fillydelphia," she choked eventually, knowing what was coming next, "Didn't I tell you?"
He frowned and tapped the table lightly with the curve of his hoof. "No. No you didn't."
She strongly considered apologizing, but embarrassment was mocking her so much at the moment that defensiveness and hostility was provoked in her instead out of fear.
"Thunderlane told me that you wanted to tell me that you wanted me to have fun on my vacation," she hissed, and Celestia, she knew it wasn't his fault and that she was acting like a huge jerk right then but all she could think to do was weakly fight back herself when she clearly wasn't worth it.
"Nopony told me anything."
Shoot. The amount of pain he was displaying wasn't even even subtle anymore, and it tore at her heart. Dinky felt overwhelmed with guilt, and she knew she should have probably said sorry, but being the coward she was she could only defend herself hotly.
"I.... you didn't show up to school for me to tell you that!"
"Why didn't you text me?"
She groaned, not wanting to have this conversation. "I think... I think we just needed to spend some time to ourselves. Without the other around. And now that time is over." She gave him a pathetic excuse for a smile.
"You still could have-"
"Yeah, I know, okay?! I screwed up! We all know that! It's all my fault! Please remind me that thirty more times so I don't forget it! Anything else you wanna add involving how many times I've been acting like a jackass?" She snarled, losing her cool. By now, everyone was staring at them, and immediately the words she had spilled were started to sting. But it sure felt good to get it off her chest, she supposed.
It didn't help the guilt gnawing on her stomach as Rumble stared at her with shocked purple eyes. The unicorn sighed loudly as she began to cool down, anger slowly being cleaned out of her dark soul.
"Look, I... I'm sorry..." Rumble began scratching at the nape of his neck.
Dinky stared him deep in the eyes as she practically felt the tension around her melt into the environment. Both ponies had experienced such hurting, deep emotions recently and had been pining for the other... whether they wanted to admit it respectively or not. She shook her head, gaze softening like the mood. "I'm sorry too."
"I've missed you," he whispered tentatively, tears strangling the brink of his eyes. Just the thought of him crying made her sensitive heart deflate, and she too could feel herself towards the beginning of sobbing. "I thought you would leave me, Dinky."
Like a coward, she couldn't bring herself to meet his pained gaze for selfish reasons. Instead she focused on her chilling cup of coffee which had grown more and more unappealing to her with every passing second. "I would never leave you."
He breathed slowly, and there was no doubt that he failed in trying to conceal the fact that there were tears rolling down his face. She heard the screech of wood on the floor as his chair scooted back harshly, and for a minute she thought he was going to leave till he trampled towards her chair and extended his arms, as if he was waiting for her to return his embrace.
She stood up, too, and sniffled as her hooves wrapped around his neck instinctively and she felt his wings curl around her shoulders, pulling her closer. Dinky felt so comfortable pressed up against her long-time friend, warmth radiating from his soft fur and feathers. She didn't even care that they were in public - she ignored the ponies around them who rolled their eyes and muttered icily under their breath to "get a room."
She whispered softly in his ear, "Let's get out of here."
He silently agreed and gave a purr of satisfaction as they reluctantly climbed off each other. Some other strangers scoffed and rolled their eyes as they walked out together, pressed against each other as if they both couldn't stand being many an inch away from the other.
The two were busy talking and laughing and sharing small, sweet fruit-flavored candies on Dinky's couch, catching up with each other as if nothing had ever happened to cause a rift between them. The TV droned on in the background, reiterating something completely unimportant and boring at the moment, and neither of them were really in the mood to pay attention as they ended up just staring at each other in the eyes.
It was like a strange staring contest - only they didn't try not to blink. Though of course they were both so enamored with the other's company that they very obviously couldn't stand closing their eyes and blocking them out for even a half second if that meant time was draining beneath their hooves. She detected a ray of unhappiness gleam through the purple waves of his irises. Dinky tilted her head.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing. I just, I just think you... I think you're very pretty," Rumble stammered, the words slipping out of his mouth before he even realized it.
She rolled her eyes, hoof connecting with his shoulder lightly as she delivered a playful punch. "Shut up."
"No, I mean it. I think you're very pretty," he whispered, unable to avoid her golden gaze.
Heat rose to Dinky's cheeks, and she broke the unmentioned staring contest they were having before them. "Thanks," she choked, the one syllable strained and hoarse as a result of nerves.
And suddenly their lips met in a flash.
It wasn't anything like either of them thought it would be - that is, it wasn't like the first one. It wasn't slow, awkward or touchy. It was passionate and full of blaze and hope and life.
When they parted, she could read the bittersweet memories dancing in his expression.
A faint glimmer of hope arose in his eyes. "Thunderlane, the teachers and I talked. Pipsqueak is getting expelled." He laughed softly in triumph and at the sight of her face lighting up like it always did when she received happy news.
"It's about time" was all she could even begin to say, but her expression clearly showed otherwise.
"I..." he stammered, tears rolling down the sides of his face like gentle rapids - the place in which they had shared their first kiss. "I'm leaving."
Dinky stood, dumbfounded.
"I'm leaving," he said in a weak, trembling voice when he wasn't given a response.
She stared at him, not believing a word he said.
He was about to repeat himself a third time when she cut him off worriedly. "Why?"
Rumble sighed. "I... I got into a college, and it's in Manehattan."
His heart broke at her devastated expression, and Rumble moved his hoof up to her face, gently caressing the smooth left side of it as if it were as important to him as the universe - because it wasn't. It definitely wasn't.
It was about a million times more important.