"Look who's back," Luneth muttered to Arc. He laid down at the base of a tree with his arms crossed behind his back, relaxing while his friend sat on an hollow, wooden box. His mouth lined into a smirk, clicking his tongue when a figure with white blonde hair walked up to him and Arc. The latter was leaning his elbows on his knees, his palms together. He looked up also.

The blonde grinned when he stopped in front of his friends. Ingus was his name. "Long time no see, eh?" he greeted. Arc beamed back up to his old friend and stood up. He held his hand out to shake hands.

"Definitely. It's been quieter since you last came around here. I guess we were the only ones that stirred things up around here, eh?" Arc responded. Luneth had sat up at that point with his arms crossed, with a smug smile plastered across his face.

"I guess, yeah," Ingus replied.

"Refia's quieter nowadays, too. Didn't think something like that could happen," Luneth spoke up. Ingus turned to him in question. He had a feeling of where this was going. He was pretty sure both Ingus and Arc knew something from the last time he visited.

"I guess something happened recently!" Arc cut in, trying to distract Ingus from Luneth. He was unsuccessful.

"Where is she?" Ingus asked, narrowing his eyes at the moon-colored-haired boy.

"Around," Luneth replied, smirking. Ingus rolled his eyes before Arc managed a gulp.

Before he was able to bend to Luneth's level, Arc stopped Ingus by cutting in and saying quickly, "Her house is the brownish-beige one behind the mage shop. Not easy to miss!"

Ingus turned his attention to Arc, nodding. He glared at Luneth's annoying smirk, wanting to punch it off of him. "Thanks," he muttered before heading in the direction Arc told him to.

"Good luck," Luneth yelled off at the distance. He got no response.

He was an ant by the time Arc and Luneth started to talk again.

"That was unneccesary, Luneth."

"He can't possibly think he can walk back here like things are fine, Arc." Luneth shrugged, leaning his head against the tree. Arc shrugged, standing in front of him. He sat back down on the box with a frown.

"But it's not a nice thing to make him feel bad over what he did to her," he replied.

"Making someone feel like shit always gets that person to do something good. He's gonna apologize to her right now. That'll probably get her to stop sulking and acting moody all the time."

Arc frowned, leaning his chin on his palm. "You are right. I just hope she's ready for him."

Luneth scoffed. "She'll be able to punch him in the face for me. You know how long I've been wanting to."

Arc rolled his eyes.

Ingus walked slower than he should've been. He felt a bit nervous on his way to seeing her. Sure, he yearned for awhile to, but now that the moment was actually here, it was sort of overwhelming. He wasn't sure how she'd act towards him.

He spotted the beige house of hers; the door was open with the screen door in front of it. He walked normal pace now, in case she was watching from a window. He didn't want to look super eager.

"Refia," he called when approaching into the doorway. A smile made its way onto his face when he saw orange blonde hair appear in another doorway from down the hall. She stayed there. Ingus took that as a sign to walk over. Refia just stared at him when he opened up his arms. He became confused when she made no move closer to him. His smile faded.

"How long are you here?" she asked. She crossed her arms and leaned on the table behind her, her expression indifferent. She was stern. Ingus hesitated, knowing an answer to her question was something she didn't care about. Even when he looked in her eyes, they were just solid hazel orbs. They changed from the last time he saw her.

"As long as I can," he answered uneasily. He really didn't know the answer to her question. He never bothered to ask his King how long he was allowed to take a leave of absence when he was granted it. It was just like the King to babble about everything else but the important things he needed to know.

"So what's that? Like a day?" she proposed. He went blank.

"Uh, wh- wait. N-, " he stuttered for an answer only to be interrupted.

"If you're lucky, two days?"

"Alright, Refia. What's going on?" he asked. His hand went impulsively to scratch his hair. He didn't mean to have an edge in his voice. He didn't feel all that bad when he realized that maybe this could work. Yeah. He did want to know why there was some stick up her ass. Maybe not in those terms, but he needed an answer.

"Just wanted to know, you know," she responded. She pushed passed him and walked out of the door he came in from, leaving him standing in the hallway.

Damn it… he thought. This is what Luneth meant.

She ignored his greetings for a week, much to Luneth's entertainment. They would beat around the bush and catch each other's gazes. It was enough for Ingus to know he still had a chance. Several times, Arc tried to talk Refia into giving Ingus a chance to talk to her, but she would never cooperate. The more times she didn't, the more Ingus felt fed up with trying. She wasn't willing to be anything to him anymore, not even a friend. The times she was mad at him would never last this long other times he came to visit. But he would not let it go. He wouldn't let her go.

So he appeared at her house to directly confront her.

"It's not working," was the first thing he said to her. She crossed her arms, her eyebrows raised.

"Oh?"

"You avoiding me or anything to do with me won't make me stop," he said, in a confident tone as if trying to make a point to her. Refia rolled her eyes, almost shutting her door until his foot stopped at the bottom. He worked quickly to push it open and went straight for her.

"Ingus, what-" was all she could mutter before his lips crashed onto hers. His hands were on either side of her jaw. It took her a few seconds for her to finally respond back. He was starting to think this method wasn't going to work - until her lips started to move with his. Who could she fool? She missed his kiss. Every time she tried to make herself push him away, her hands didn't seem to correspond. She was supposed to be fighting against this; she didn't forget she had to. She was lulled into a mixture of confusion and want. Her desires overcame.

Kicking the door closed, he pushed her against the wall, his hands feeling every curve of her body. Her fingers were tangling themselves into his blonde locks, pulling not rough, but in her own soft way. He liked it; it was one of the things made her different from Sara.

He pulled her up to let her wrap her legs around his waist and he laid her down on the dining table behind him. He was laying in between her legs; Refia was sure she was twenty more shades of red from five minutes ago. His lips met hers again and things were moving quicker. His hands went back down to her curves, making their way under her shirt. His fingers were cold against her bare skin and she shivered. It was enough to bring her back to reality.

She took her lips from his and slightly pushed him off. She wouldn't bring her eyes to meet his in the position they were in. In slow response, Ingus sat on his knees away from her. She quickly sat up, her legs dangling over the edge of the table. He stared at the back of her head, wiping his lips with his arm when she did the same.

"This isn't how we should be fixing things," she started. He didn't say anything. "We can't keep doing this." Still, nothing. She knew she wouldn't be able to spit out of these words if their eyes met, so she remained not facing him. "I'm not going to keep doing this. All it does is mess everything up."

"But you know I only come back each time just to see you," he pleaded behind her.

"But you leave all the time afterwards!," she nearly yelled. "You always go back to her. You always leave me to go back to her! You're the one that makes me the happiest. You've always been my first choice, but I don't want to be your second choice whenever you get tired of her."

It was a few minutes until he bit his lip, sighing, as he slid off her table and stood to his feet. He walked to the empty space in front of her, trying to change her view. He needed to know if she meant what she was saying. His palms cupped her cheeks again, trying to bring her eyes to his. She tried her hardest to turn away, pushing his hands off but to not avail.

The first thing he felt on his hands was water; he pushed her blonde bangs away from her face and found tears cascading down from her almond eyes. It was the first time he ever saw Refia show any vulnerability at all. Still, she wouldn't look at him, nor did he even try to get her to look at him. If he did, he thought his legs would give and he would start himself. His insides weren't as strong as they were a minute ago. He felt weak and at the same time, he was boiling. He couldn't do this. He couldn't be in front of her, he couldn't be near her, he couldn't be around her at all.

So he left.

One day.

Two days.

Three days.

Four days.

Five days.

Six days.

A week.

Refia was a long bump under two layers of blankets on her bed. She had been that way since he left her. She was sure he wasn't going to come back to her this time. It should've made her happy, but all it did was break a part of her. She hugged her pillow tightly, wishing she could be doing something else other than lying down. She had no energy to, though, nor did she even try to get up.

She heard her door open and clasp close and footsteps approaching her bed. She figured it would either be Arc or Luneth coming by to visit her like they had been everyday, but it was hard for them to get a word out of her whenever they did. The weight on her bed shifted behind her. She felt a chill when the blankets were pulled up from behind her and she smelled it: his flowery scent. She loved his smell every time she was near him. She smelled it only on him. She knew it was him, but she still didn't move.

She felt his chest behind her back and his arms wrap around her waist and pull her closer to him. His chin leaned on the top of her head and he was silent. She couldn't bring herself to tear his arms off of her and push him off the bed. She needed to, but she didn't want to. He was glad and relieved she didn't try to, either.

"I'm back," he whispered softly, as if it was only for her ears to hear, even though no one was in her room besides them. "I'm staying here," he held her tighter.

"What?" she asked, astonished at how soft her voice became and the way it almost cracked. She only heard in her dreams what he last said. Surely he wasn't actually saying it.

"I quit the King. I told them I was done, that I was leaving. I told Sara I was done," he explained. "It was hard, considering they raised me, but I needed to. I didn't feel right being there and serving them when all I wanted was to come back here."

"This isn't right. You belong with Sara, you belong with the King, you didn't have to leave the castle," she said, turning to face him. She felt guilty he had to go through all that. It was probably a hassle to let down all those people, but he still did it.

His arm still remained at her waist, holding her. Her hazel orbs met with his oceanic eyes. He smiled down at her.

"But you're the one that makes me the happiest."

She stared at him and he stared back, looking to see her approval. When she finally returned his smile, he leaned forward to give her their first free, official kiss.

I wrote this after having no internet and reading all my past stories and having nothing to do because of Hurricane Sandy. Now...what does that say about me? Slacker status. But I've been in love with the Ingus/Refia band wagon since as long as I can remember and couldn't wait to get the ideas out of my head for this.

When I was typing it, I wrote the different sections out of order and it was difficult to write some fillers in between, which explains the section with the one paragraph transition to Ingus and Refia's alone time. Womp. I feel like I could've done more.

But I hope you liked it anyway!