15 Minutes Ago

I leaned my head onto Sebastian's shoulder as we both quietly swayed to the music. All my past feelings for him were gone but the warmth and comfort remained- memories of his actions a few days ago seeming to be ones of my imagination.

The stress of tonight was getting to me but this was calming me at least a tiny bit. Sebastian moved slightly backward and looked down at me with a charming smile. "Are you alright?"

"I'm okay," I said sweetly with a smile.

"I need something to drink, do you want anything?" He asked.

"Umm, no I'm okay. I'm going to sit for a little bit though," I said as I pointed in Xavier's direction.

He nodded swiftly and walked backward to the bar area. "I'll meet you there."

With a quick nod, I trudged to where the trio was sitting and plumped myself onto a nearby chair.

"Well, you look like shit," Caspian pointed out.

I gave him a fake smile and squinted my eyes at him as if I could burn holes into his head. "Thanks, Cas."

"Are you okay?" Cleo asked.

"I guess," I muttered.

"The night is almost over," Xavier pointed out to comfort me. "And our trip will be here quicker than you know it. Just hang in there, Queen."

"Okay," I whispered.

They fell back into their conversation amongst one another and I busied myself by looking around the crowded room. I recognized nobody here besides the people I was sitting with. Everyone was wearing masks and I was sure even if I saw someone maskless I wouldn't know who they were.

The dimmed lights in the room didn't help either. It just carried a frightening ambiance that was more ominous than anything.

I smiled softly as Sebastian came my way and took a seat next to me. "This feels like prom," he said randomly.

I gave him a disgusted look and shook my head. "Oh please, let's not bring that up."

He laughed softly. "Why not? It was a good night."I gave him a 'really' look and shook my head. "I'm convinced you just don't want to remember our good moments," he said as he smiled at me.

"What was good about prom?" I asked dryly.

He leaned forward in his seat and moved his lips to my ears. "It was our first time."

He moved back into his chair slowly as we made eye contact and my cheeks flushed. That had completely slipped my mind and I wasn't trying to think about it. "I forgot," I muttered softly.

"I've missed us a lot, Queen," he said.

"Okay, Sebie," I mocked, redirecting the conversation. I didn't know what his aim was with trying to bring up past memories, but I wasn't down for it. Especially when I knew Syn would lose his shit if he heard it.

"I still hate that name."

"Too bad."

We laughed together in unison for a few moments until he cleared his throat and laid his hand on my knee, making an uneasy feeling pass through my body. I moved my leg away, reaching for Cleo's drink to make it less obvious that I was trying to get away from his touch.

"Hey," Cleo pouted as I took the glass from her hands. "I sent her an apologetic look before sitting back down and sipping on it.

"Can we go talk somewhere quieter?" Sebastian whispered.

"Umm." I looked around the room hesitantly. I was supposed to stay in the ballroom until Syn came, but he was already so late. I didn't even know when he was coming now.

"Please?" He asked when I didn't answer. I looked back at him and shrugged slightly.

"Sure, I guess."

He stood up quickly and took my hand into his as I set the glass back down. He led me through the crowd and before I knew it we were on one of the second floors of the castle. Sebastian kept walking until we were on a balcony and I crossed my arms as I looked around. I hadn't been to this part of the palace and I lived here, how did he know where this was?

"There, it's a lot quieter up here," he said nervously.

I bit the inside of my cheek, nodding awkwardly as I looked around. "Yup."

"I have something I need to tell you," he said.

"What?" I asked.

He interlocked his hands, letting out a deep breath before nodding and bringing his eyes back to mine. "I'm still in love with you." I raised my eyebrows in fake surprise at his admission. After the gift, he gave me I figured he still had feelings for me, but I didn't think he would admit it-nor did I want him to. "After all these years I've tried to move on, I have. But my heart always comes back to you."

I removed my hands from his and shook my head. "It's convenient how your feelings are all of a sudden back when I'm no longer getting married."

"We had to break up, Queen. We didn't have a choice," he said.

"I told you I didn't want to, Sebastian. You're the one who decided to end things and then you start dating someone else less than a month later."

After my parents told me I would have to marry Justin I tried my best to try to find a way for Sebastian and me to remain together. I would've even run away with him when I was young and dumb, but he just decided to end things.

"What was I supposed to do?"

"Not let it be so easy for you," I suggested harshly.

"So you wanted me to fight the rulers of Heaven?" Sebastian asked in a dry sarcastic tone. "That's insane. Who would do that?"

Syn.

I didn't doubt for a second that Syn would do that for me. And I'd do it for him.

"A person that I want to be with," I said. "And that's not you, Sebastian."

A hurt expression passed his features as he shook his head. "I was young, Queen. I was stupid, but I've changed. I wouldn't let you go now without a fight."

I sighed. "It's too late for that. I love someone else."

"Who?" He asked. "Syn? You're still on that?"He ran his hand through his hair and blew out a large breath. "It doesn't matter. What matters right now is us. How could you want to be with him knowing the shit he's done? The Queen I love would neve-"

"I'm not the Queen you love anymore!" I yelled. "It's been years! I'm not the same girl."

Sebastian looked at me sadly for a long time and shook his head. "You are. You may for some reason not want to admit it but you're still the same." He took a step toward me and I crossed my arms. He moved his hand to tuck my stray hairs behind my ear and I moved away from his touch.

He sighed. "You're still the same girl who beat me up in the playground for stealing your swing." I let out a bittersweet laugh at the memory and shook my head. "The same girl who snuck over to my house every night because I was scared of the dark. You may have gotten older, but you're still the same girl I fell in love with."

I looked into his emotional brown eyes and shook my head slowly. "That's how I know you're not in love with me now Sebastian. You're in love with who I used to be. You saying 'girl' instead of woman speaks volumes."

"I love you, Queen." He insisted as he ignored my previous statement. "Who you were, who you are now and who you'll be," he said as he cupped my cheek. "And I know deep down you feel the same."

"No, I-" Before I could finish my protest he grabbed my face and his lips came down on mine. I froze in shock as I processed what was going and I immediately stepped away from him. Disgusted that he'd don't do something so forceful after knowing what I had been through.

I glared up at him but found him looking behind me with a worried expression. I turned around to see Syn standing in the doorway with a hurt look on his features. "Syn...it's not what it looks like."

"It looks like you told me you'd be downstairs, but you're here alone with your ex, making out," he said emotionlessly.

Tears stung my eyes at his voice that lacked the warmth he began talking to me with. His eyes didn't hold the same passion they previously did when he looked at me. He looked disgusted.

"That's not what-"

"I don't want to fucking hear it," he hissed. "I thought we were getting somewhere, Queen. I trusted you to do this, I-..." My chest pained as his words trailed off and I covered my face as tears fell down my cheeks. This was not the plan for tonight at all.

Sebastian put his hand on my shoulder to comfort me, but Syn stormed over to him and punched him in the face. I screamed in shock as Sebastian fell roughly to the ground and I controlled my sobs as I ran to his side on the floor to see if he was okay.

"Sebastian," I called as I shook him. He wasn't waking up and my tears resumed their free fall. This was all my fault.

Xavier and Caspian came to the balcony and when they studied the scene they noticed Sebastian's state and went to him. "We got it," Caspian said to me.

I moved back from Sebastian and stood up as they picked him up from the floor. My eyes connected with Xavier's and he shook his head at me in disappointment as they left the balcony.

Syn and I were left alone and he was looking out at the kingdom as he gripped the railing tightly. I hesitantly stepped towards him and laid a hand on his shoulder that causing him to flinch away from me as if my touch had burned his skin.

"Don't touch me, Queen."

"Syn you're misunderstanding what happened," I cried. "Just let me explain."

"Why? So you can tell me another lie? You clearly still have feelings for him."

"I don't Syn, I love you."

Syn scoffed and shook his head as he stared off into the night sky. "I thought you did."

"I-"

"We're done, Queen," he said quietly as he avoided my eyes.

"What? No!" I said as I stepped toward him. He stepped backward and held up his hand.

"Don't. Seriously," he warned and I remained frozen to my spot. I looked at him desperately, but he no longer reciprocated any of my body language. He stood guarded and unfazed as he looked over me. It felt like all of our progress since we met just went down the drain over nothing.

"I don't want anything to do with you anymore," he said simply and my heart splintered into a million pieces. This right here was possibly the most painful thing I had endured. I didn't think it was possible for my heart to ever ache this badly.

I stared at his shirt blankly as I crossed my arms. I was longer in control of my body anymore, I was numb. As if I was watching myself from out of my physical body. Syn held his hand out flat in front of me and I slowly looked up at him. "I want the necklace back."

I was wrong to think there was nothing else he could say that could destroy me, but there it was. The final nail that sealed the coffin my heart was in.

"Syn, please..." I begged.

"Give it to me or I'll take it from you," he commanded.

With trembling hands and shaky breath, I unclasped the necklace and held it up for him. He quickly snatched it from my hand and left to go back into the palace, leaving me alone on the balcony.

With his exit, all of my pain and agony came flooding in. Waves of emotional torture wreaked havoc on my heart and body so much so that I leaned on a wall and slid down until I was sitting on the floor. I hugged my knees to my chest and cried into them.

I didn't know how long I remained on the floor, but it was long enough that the music erupting in the palace faded into a lower sound. How unfortunate that a plan he and I created together got fucked up so badly. I just wished I could go back in time and just not have come up here with Sebastian.

As if on cue, fairies flooded the dark sky above me. Leave it to them to come bother a person while they were at their worst. A small violet fairy came down on my shoulder and I remained still as I felt her tiny hand wipe a tear from my cheek. I smiled softly at her and to my surprise instead of trying to trick me, she flew back up into the sky.

She probably could sense that I was already too fucked up to be of any use to her.

I stood up on shaky legs and walked back into the palace. I didn't want to see anyone and more importantly, I didn't want anyone to see me. I walked back to Syn's room and hesitantly opened the door hoping he wasn't there. I let out a sigh of relief to find the room empty, but as I looked around I noticed how empty it truly was.

All his things were removed from his nightstand and table. I walked to the closet for any clues of his presence and found his side empty. The only trace of him ever being in this room lingered in the air and engulfed my senses. I sobbed once again as I realized what this sudden departure meant.

Syn and I, were truly over.