Arwen sneaked away from the celebrations, well she tried. The other women and especially her mother were watching the other young females with hawk eyes. Apparently a few too many had succeeded in sneaking away, and the mothers were done with the mass births during early spring.

Not that Arwen was interested in that, it only hindered her at the moment.

The other teenagers had an agreement where they would cover each other, and now it was Arwen's turn to sneak away. If only her mother would let her.

"Arwen, where do you think you're sneaking off to with Robert Murray's boy?"

Arwen wasn't sneaking away together with him, they both had merely chosen this moment to disappear in the woods. Alex to look for the sheep, Arwen to look for Ethel.

"Nowhere, just getting some fresh air. I'll be back in a moment."

With that Arwen broke out in a sprint, leaving Alex behind to deal with the wrath of worried parents.

Ethel was waiting for her in the forest, the meeting place had travelled around as much as they had. But it was always close enough for Arwen to come and go without losing too much valuable time.

Midsummer was five days a year, if they were lucky. And now that Arwen wasn't a child any longer, had responsibilities, they couldn't even fully utilise them. Every stolen moment was worth the inevitable punishment she would receive after midsummer.

Her time together with Ethel was too limited, for her to worry about later consequences. And if her parents thought she was off in the woods with some boy, then that was what she would let them think. It wasn't her problem if they never asked her for the truth.

"Ethel!"

The fae turned around when she heard her voice, a smile breaking through her facade of cold indifference.

"Arwen, I already feared you would be unable to make it."

It was the fourth day of midsummer, making it the first and last time they could meet this year. They would have to wait for another twelve months to finish the conversation Arwen had been wanting to have, if they didn't do it now.

Last year had ended in quite an unexpected way, and she wanted answers.

"No need to worry, I'll be here every year. No one will be able to stop me from that. Now, did you have something to show me already, or are we going to stroll around?"

Not that they ever merely took a stroll through the woods, running around was a too fun activity to try, to be dignified young adults.

"Let's go to the moors then, I'm in the mood for some open space and freedom."

Arwen couldn't agree more with that assessment, it was also a great way to return to their last conversation. They had gone to the moors too, that last day of midsummer.

-

"I want to show you something."

Ethel looked nervous as she led Arwen to a secluded part, where no one would see them. Even if the village sent someone with the specific task to find Arwen, they would still go unnoticed.

It was a horse, one that was decidedly not from there. It had an otherworldly appearance, apart from the fact that there were no other wild horses around.

"She can't stay with me anymore, so I brought her with me. The moors could be her new home."

Arwen heard the words unsaid with something a bit too close to fear.

'Someone that can stay with you when I am gone.'

Everything the two of them shared became a lot more real in that instance. They were very close friends, had been since childhood, but now the adult world was creeping up on them.

There were young people in the village that had already married, or were expecting a child.

When they had crossed the line between friendship and something more was a mystery for her, but it was not something she could no longer ignore. Though she vehemently tried that afternoon, unwilling to look for something behind Ethel's kind gesture.

"Flying lesson number 813, we will take off in a moment with one passenger. If everyone could try to stay as close as possible to the flyer, no accidents would happen."

Arwen suppressed the smile that threatened to take over her features, but knew she spectacularly failed at it. Ethel could be a quite dramatic speaker when she wanted to be.

When they had been a few years younger, Arwen had first seen Ethel's wings. Fine, and too delicate to touch, yet somehow able to carry her wherever her heart desired to be. They had tried again and again if they could support Arwen too, but had yet to get any affirmative results.

The wind curled around the loose strands of hair that had managed to escape the braid Arwen had diligently put them into. Her fiery red locks blending together with Ethel's raven ones.

She was certain it looked quite beautiful from an outsider's point of view, especially the way it was splayed over the blooming moor.

Their flying practice had ended in much the same way it had always been, with the both of them falling on the ground. Rolling into the bushes or falling on top of the other, one time Ethel had even ended up in the lake. She had said that even weeks later, she had still found pieces of duckweed in her hair.

This time it hadn't ended as dramatical. Ethel had made a turn too sharp, losing her balance and falling hard on her back, Arwen not far behind her. No one had gotten seriously hurt, once that was established they had dissolved into a giggling mess.

It was too funny, using wings that weren't made to support two people. To see how long it would take for them to fall on the ground.

That was until it wasn't funny anymore, and Arwen noticed how close they were.

Ethel was the first to move up, closing the distance, before Arwen jumped away. Too close.

She extended her hand to help Ethel up, who was looking at her funnily. Something she ignored completely.

It was the last day of Midsummer, with dusk upon them. Arwen slipped away after a hurried goodbye, this would be a problem for another day.

Next year she would figure out what had almost transpired between them, for now she hurried home and hid within the confines of her room.

-

"What happened last summer."

The apple that Arwen had been offering to their horse fell out of her hand in shock.

"What do you mean?"

Of course she had wanted to talk about it, but had been sure the responsibility would fall on her shoulders.

"I wanted to kiss you."

Arwen kneeled on the floor to retrieve the apple, only to let it promptly drop to the floor again.

"Was that thought so repulsive you fled?"

That didn't even come close to the reason Arwen had backed away, fled.

"No! Of course not."

She had been too scared of her own reaction.

"Then why did you run?"

Too scared to admit that if Ethel hadn't moved closer, she would have kissed the other girl herself.

"I- I didn't know how to react."

That part was true at least, she hadn't know what to do with a wish come true.

"So you wouldn't mind if I theoretically would, kiss you I mean."

Ethel was standing close, so tantalising close. Arwen was leaning against the horse with Ethel crowding into her space, taking her breath away.

"No..."

Ethel was still standing too close for Arwen to keep her wits together, but no longer a second away from connecting their lips.

"Is that a yes?"

Arwen closed the distance instead of properly answering the question. Keeping Ethel close, her arms encircling the other's waist.

She could have stayed like that till the sun would set and the moon would rise, without tiring.

Ethel was the first one to take a step back.

The sun was painting the moors in a million colours of purple, red and yellow. The fog rose from the ground concealing the parting of worlds.

"You'll be here next year?"

Ethel's question was carried by the wind, a whisper too soft to be heard by anyone else, as she was carried back to her own realm.

The fog went as fast as it had come, leaving the world none the wiser about the happenings with the fae. A crown, the only hint at their once presence, yellow lily in the company of lilac.

-

Author's note:

I'm getting a bit worried about this story. Romance isn't exactly my thing and we're already at 3k. I have 8 chapters + prologue and epilogue planned, and we have to stay under 10k.

This is going to be interesting.