Disclaimer: Not my characters. No violation of copyright intended.
Proper Endings
Fairy tales end when they should.
In a fairy tale, there is only the promise of happily ever after. There is no after in the ever afters; a second of golden perfection lasts forever.
Real life doesn't end when it should.
He returns to London.
She returns to Oxford.
They need time to consider the practicalities of after. Weeks pass before they both realize that their fairy tale ending wasn't a true ending. It was the beginning of another ending, an ending of their own devising.
Fairy tales end when they should. Their life together would end when they chose.
fin