Four years. Amelia and Arthur had been dating for four years, though he still felt like a teenager crushing on the most popular girl in high school. He always looked at her bright blue eyes behind those infernal glasses. He just wanted to yank them off so he could get lost in the ocean of blue that was her beautiful eyes. Her dirty blond hair that reached her elbows. Her laughter. Her silly, stupid nature, but that's what made her so cute. Everything in and out of her was perfect. Exactly what he wanted. What he needed
They were meeting up at a restaurant for their anniversary. Arthur rushed into the double doors, already spotting his lover sitting quietly at the table. She looked slightly worried for whatever reason, but that worry should be gone soon enough. Arthur walked quickly (a gentleman never runs) to the table she was at, clutching a small object in his right hand tightly. He sat across from her and looked once more into those deep blue eyes. A small smile graced her lips.
"Hey, Arthur, what's up?" she asked casually and leaned her elbows on the table.
"Nothing really," he replied and looked over the menu. "Have you ordered, darling?"
An unknown emotion flashed behind her glasses, but Arthur figured he must be seeing things. It was their anniversary after all—they were both happy as could be.
"I haven't. What are you getting?" she finally picked up the menu and glanced over it, though the words looked scrambled to her. Her mind wandered elsewhere.
"The fettuccini alfredo looks good," Arthur said in a wandering voice as his eyes scanned the page, his right hand still balled into a fist to protect the little object inside.
"I'll just get whatever you're getting then," Amelia leaned back in her chair.
"Amelia, love, are you alright? You seem distracted," Arthur raised a bushy eyebrow at his date with curiosity and concern knocking on the lenses of her glasses.
"Arthur, I—"
"Hello, I'm Feliciano! I'll be serving you this wonderful evening! Can I please take your order?" the waiter interrupted them. A bit too cheery if you asked Amelia.
"We'll both get the fettuccini alfredo," Amelia told him hurriedly. "With water to drink," she added.
"Alrighty! Coming up!" the Italian skipped off with their order towards the kitchen.
"You..?" Arthur said quietly, pressing her to continue what she had started to say earlier.
"Arthur…" Amelia bit her lip and looked away before continuing, "Arthur, I'm really sorry…"
"Sorry?" his eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.
"I've been… Seeing someone else."
All was silent as Arthur's eyes were vacant. They dropped lower as his lips parted slightly. The words played over and over torturously in his mind like a broken record. His heart felt like a monster with long, sharp claws just poked it. Prodding it over and over.
"You're… cheating on me?" he verified.
"It was only a few dates! I felt so weird about it all, but he was just so…" her words were rushed together until they stopped abruptly and she looked up to meet his eyes. The emeralds of despair.
Arthurs lips stretched into a small, sad smile. "If that's what you want," he said simply as he stood up. He walked around the table and pressed his lips to her cheek. "I'm sorry I wasn't good enough for you."
Amelia looked completely distressed and how good Arthur was taking this wasn't making it any better. She expected him to be angry with her. Demand reasons why she'd do such a thing. She felt so guilty for doing it and just wanted to be punished before the guilt gnawed away everything she had inside her.
"Arthur wait!" she called after him and ran in his direction.
Arthur halted in his steps, not even bothering to turn around and face her. "What did I do wrong?" he asked sadly, "What's wrong with me that after all the time we've spent together, you just cut it off so suddenly?"
"It's not that I want to break up, I just thought I should tell you!"
"I don't want to be played," Arthur said with anger weaved into his tone for the first time since the news spilled. "I want to be loved, not thrown around like I don't matter while you go sleep around." And he continued walking again, leaving Amelia standing there speechless.
"Ah~ two orders of—hey what happened?" the waiter came back.
"I told him, Feli…" she said quietly as she walked back to the table.
The waiter's face fell and he looked down, "I'm sorry, Amelia… If you really feel bad about everything we've been doing… you can always go back to Arthur. You've been dating him a lot longer than me…"
"I loved him…" she said quietly, "But something's just changed… And I don't anymore. I really want to for all we've done… but I really can't anymore."
Feliciano wrapped his arms around Amelia and whispered "It's okay," in her ear. "We'll talk after my shift. We can also go out for a desert?"
Amelia nodded and began eating the fettuccini alfredo that's cooled a bit now, her eyes wandering across the table to the other untouched plate being taken up by the waiter. Just like her love for the person whom would have been sitting across from her whilst twirling their fork into the pasta before it reached their lips.
Arthur exited the restaurant and walked slowly down the street. He hadn't brought a car since he lived so close, and he planned for a romantic walk home with his lover… He let a small sigh escape him as he finally unclutched his right hand. He screwed his eyes shut as he dropped the item to the floor, unable to look at it anymore. He couldn't go back to the store and sell it back… it'd be too humiliating after all the shouts of "Good luck!" "Be sure to send me a wedding invite!" that he had received.
The small gold ring with a diamond on the top fell into the gutter below him followed by a few tears. The most ironic thing of all was the sentence he got engraved on the metal band. He walked through his front door as the ring fell to the bottom with a clink.
Our love will never fall.