HOORAY! Next chapter! Thanks to those you reviewed me! I shall love you forever! Well, not literally, but theoretically.

Artemis stared into her mismatched eyes, seeing that she was telling the truth. She regretted leaving as much as he missed her. She really did love him. But that didn't make everything suddenly better.

He had finally succeeded in pushing her from his mind, and now she was back, flooding it again, filling it with things he didn't need to know, things that would torment him when she left. It was the worst idea he had ever had, falling in love with a fairy.

Now her lips were still dangerously close to his and it took all his will power not to kiss her back. His thoughts were already muddling; she did the same thing to him now as she had when he was still a teenager. It wasn't fair.

"Say something Artemis, please," she begged, searching his eyes for the confirmation she needed that he still loved her too. Of course he did, but she needn't know that just yet.

"Holly, before I trust you again, you are going to have to put a lot more into this," he said in a business-like tone.

Holly sighed and backed away from him again, letting go of his shirt. The disappointment was evident in her eyes, but she knew that she shouldn't have expected any more. She had hurt him deeply and he wasn't ready to forgive her yet.

Artemis straightened his collar. "You have to make a decision Holly," he said, pouring another shot of scotch. "You can come and help me, be with me, and leave the LEP behind. Or you have to go away and never come back. Because this will not work. You can't just pop in here every five years, see Finn, and expect me to be ok with it."

Holy frowned. "Leave the LEP?"

"You can't very well do both at the same time," Artemis told her, drinking the scotch.

"I can't be here on the surface either. Everyone will know I'm a fairy," Holly objected.

Artemis shrugged. "Cosmetic surgery, implants…we'd think of something."

"What about the fact I'm only three and some feet tall?"

"Couldn't the fairies do something about that?" Artemis asked. "You're hundreds of years in front of humans in terms of technology."

"Artemis," Holly said angrily. "Neither way is going to work."

"You could always leave and never come back," Artemis forced himself to make the suggestion. "It's not as though you're actually losing something anyway. Just a Mud Man and your cross-species child," he laughed bitterly, not bothering to use the shot glass anymore and just drinking from the bottle.

Holly slapped him across the face. "Don't you ever say that again! I love you both more than you know." She lowered her eyes to the floor. "I couldn't live with that."

Artemis placed a hand on his cheek as a reflex action but said nothing. He glanced at the almost empty bottle of scotch. Angeline was going to freak.

Holly looked up at him again. "I need time to think Artemis," she said quietly. "I honestly don't know what to do." Tears dripped down her cheeks again. "I'm sorry I've hurt you so much."

Artemis sighed. "You aren't forgiven yet. Not that quickly."

"I understand," Holly whispered, the pain in her eyes unbearable. "I'll be back in three days."

"And you will have made a decision by then?" Artemis asked.

Holly nodded, reaching down and taking the scotch bottle from him. "Don't drink anymore Arty." She placed the bottle on the counter, then flew closer to him again. She hated how he was so much taller than her. It made everything so much more difficult. Maybe she should do as he suggested and get some growth hormone added to her system.

She pushed a stray strand of hair out of his eyes and kissed him quickly. "Take care, alright?"

Artemis nodded, momentarily stunned. He had forgotten how pretty she really was, how her scent reminded him of cinnamon and apples. He had forgotten how much he actually missed her.

And for a moment, he let it show as he hugged her, wary of her vibrating wings. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and they stood that way for a while, until the slam of a car door brought them back to reality.

Artemis let her go and she shimmered out of view.

"Good bye Arty," she whispered, as the heat haze that was Holly flew out the open window.