Song: The Sky's Still Blue (Microsoft Commercial Version) by Andrew Belle

~*~13: That Was So Last Year~*~

Fabian stared at the girl in front of him.

He couldn't believe it. It had been a year since the wedding, a year since Fabian Rutter had last talked to Amber Millington. She wore light make-up, pushed back her straight blond hair with a a large black bow attached to a thin black band and dressed in a pair of black skinny jeans, black riding boots, a black skin-tight speghetti strap tank top beneath her see-through, cropped pastel pink button-up blouse. Amber hadn't changed much-her Fashion Line bloomed in Austraila and her blog went from three million subscribers to six million-there wasn't anything that Amber could do to change.

Amber and Fabian had decided to meet up at this Coffee Shop in London-where both of them lived-to talk. But now that they were there, there wasn't much to talk about. Fabian had gotten a new job after returning back to Liverpool twelve months ago. He also graduated from school, suprisingly he didn't fall behind in his courses but he did have to pick up a new class after missing three weeks-even though he tried to file for 'Family Emergency'. He moved from Liverpool to London and got a job as Executive Manager Assistant for a Commercial Manufacturing company.

The two old friends both picked up their coffee mug at the same time and took an equally awkward sip. They had gotten a seat outside on the Coffee Shop's patio-the sound of cars or buses driving down the busy road and people walking down the street in heels or boats filled the pregent silence. Amber blinked uncomfortably. She didn't really now why she said yes to seeing Fabian, the guilt that lingered in her heart had grown and then slowly died over the last twelve months but seeing Fabian made it blossom once more.

"So you haven't heard from Nina...since you know?" Fabian put his mug down trying to start small talk.

Amber sighed, she was relieved that Fabian was the first to make a move. "No-no I haven't, have you?"

"We talk...sometimes." Fabian and Nina had patched up their reletionship some-what. They remained friends, they called each other and she wrote him post cards but that was it-the last time they saw her face to face was at the wedding. Fabian let his head fall down, he'd been searching for her; all he knew was that she had moved out of America. He was tired, he was just so tired. Amber watched Fabian's features twist in pain and she felt bad for him. She had stopped feeling bad for herself, it wasn't her who deserved the pity and it made her ashamed that it took her seven years to figure that out. She took another sip of her now cold coffee.

"Fabian," Amber asked pulling the mug from her lip glossed lips. "Did you love her, did you love Nina? It had been so long since Amber had said Nina's name but she was glad that it was now. Fabian watched Amber carefully, he didn't trust her like he used to but something at the back of his mind told him that he should.

"Yes, I still do, you know?" He smiled but it didn't reach his dead eyes.

"I know."

"Why does it matter though to you? Your life is good-you were the one who did wrong-and yet out of us it was you and him who ended up OK." Fabian had always wondered that, why Amber and Ryan had gotten off so easily and he envied them from where he sat at the bottom of Nina's importance list.

Amber blinked. She knew that she had expected this from him but she that didn't stop her from not wanting it to happen. She set down her coffee.

"I was a teenager, I was a fool and idoit and I know that it doesn't excuse anything! But I wasn't really smart back then, I couldn't stand on both feet without needing someone to lean on so here came this guy and he was sweet and he didn't stand around letting me lean on him but he stood around and taught me how to stand. I felt like I owed him so I loved him. Only later after spending a month with him did Nina email this picture of her and her boyfriend and I found out that Ryan had been using me to cheat on her. So I stayed with him for another month thinking everytime he went away that I'd break up with him when he came back. But I loved him and finally after a month of sneaking around I broke up with him and Nina stopped talking about him. Two years later Ryan came back to Liverpool and he told me that he and Nina broke up: she never talked about him so I believed him."

She paused and continued.

"I guess I kind of knew he was lying but I so badly wanted to believe him. Then Victor died and Nina came, I wanted to tell her that when Ryan and her were together I was with him and that now that they were 'broken up I was his new girlfriend but then her Gran died and I thought I'd tell her later. It was when Nina came back to Anubis House to tell us that she was moving to New York did I realise that Ryan never broke up with Nina-it was his way of getting me to go out with him. It all stopped until I graduated and he started sending messages to me on Facebook as 'Random' and then they stopped again until a week before the wedding he sent me another and I thought that if I just pertended that nothing ever happened it would be OK, both of us could be free."

Amber paused again staring at Fabian.

I'm sorry it took seven years for me to realise that I would never really be free until the truth was heard, and I'm sorry that I couldn't tell the truth and that it had to be you because if I had told the truth a long time ago you could be with Nina right now."

"Amber?"

Amber looked up from her coffee mug. "Yeah?" A hopeful look in her eyes. "It's not me you should be saying sorry to, but for the record I forgive you."

"Thanks Fabes."

And for the first time in a while, Fabian's smile reached his eyes.

Nina sipped her tea and continued typing on her laptop. She was still a Journalist but she was living abroad. Her breath smelled like mint tea, she wore no make-up and had her straight hair long and parted, she was dressed in a black blazer over a violent violet colored dress that went just at the end of her thighs so you could see her knee high, flat black boots. Nina sat at her office desk typing up an article about a new indie rock band called 'Dry Them Tears', she had interviewed them last week. Nina's office smelled like lavender and on the yellow painted walls were pictures, notes, interviews and some of her award winning articles. Her fingers moved hastily across the keyboard, the computer not recognizing some of the key strokes.

Her cell phone buzzed, she rolled her eyes, stopped typing and pressed talk. FABIAN flashed on her screen and her annoyed expression slightly softened.

"Hey Fabian." She looked up at her open door to see if her boss or one of the interns were coming, right now she should be working not talking.

"Hey babe."