"I have something to show you." Arthur exclaimed suddenly as he jumped to his feet, startling (Y/n) as she chuckled softly. Even after all this time Arthur was still the goofy, funny weirdo that she had always loved. And despite the rather dingy surroundings, (Y/n) couldn't help but feel like she was home.
The two had been talking for what felt like hours, and for the first time since that terrible day all those years ago, Arthur felt as though everything was right with the world, that anything was possible. And even though he didn't want to jinx things, he had to admit that he was happy.
"Do you remember these?" Arthur asked, re-joining (Y/n) on the old sofa and handing her a small pile of pictures.
"My god, Arthur. Where did you get these, I thought that I had lost them?" (Y/n) said, as she looked through the old photos.
"The day I found out that you had left school, Mister Reynolds was cleaning out your locker. He found them and asked me if I wanted them. I've had them ever since. I keep them locked up safe in a little box that I have, and when I'm feeling at my lowest, I bring them out and look at them." Arthur confessed, as he watched (Y/n) stare at the images of the pair of them in their youth. A single silent tear rolling down her cheek.
"Oh geez. I remember that day. Mom and dad took us to the state fair, and even though you said that you weren't hungry, as soon as you set eyes on that giant corndog you didn't stop talking about it, so mom decided that the best way to keep you quiet was to get you one. I remember you insisting that the rest of us had to have one too. You covered yours in ketchup and it was gone in seconds." (Y/n) laughed as the memories came flooding back.
"Yeah, and you thought it was horrible, so I ended up eating most of yours too." Arthur chuckled, remembering that he was covered in ketchup, and spent the rest of the day with a smile as red as the one he painted on for work.
"Yeah. I swear that you had more calories in just those two corndogs than you had had all week. And do you remember that you had that big ice cream for dessert? To this day I still don't know how you weren't sick in the back of the car on the drive home." (Y/n) continued, smiling broadly as she pictured a young Arthur's face covered in ketchup and ice cream.
"And this one. This was the first time that you had ever been bowling. My dad took us to the alley, showed you how to hold the balling bowl properly, and within three tries you had got your first strike. Dad and I were so proud of you, and I told him to take a picture so that you could remember it. My dad said that he wanted me in the picture too, but I told him that it was your moment, and that you deserved to be the star." (Y/n) sighed happily before turning her attention to a picture that until that very moment she had forgot about.
"Best day of my life." (Y/n) said, reading the words that she had written on the bottom of the picture. The photo was simple enough. Just an image of her and Arthur looking at one another, both of them smiling broadly. But its simplicity belied its significance.
"This was taken a couple of weeks before you said.......... You came to stay in our old cabin for a few days, my mom said that it would do you good. I still don't know how my parents talked your mom into letting you go, but eventually she agreed. We would go swimming in the lake during the day and sit around the fire at night. You would try to tell me scary stories, but they always seemed to turn into you cracking jokes instead. We would roast marshmallows and you would make up silly names for the constellations. The big dipper became Frederick the fantastic frog who spent each night shooting out his long tongue in hopes of catching one of the other stars to eat. And you said that the constellation, Pegasus, wasn't the winged horse from Greek mythology, but was in fact a giant squid called Horace who had a girlfriend called Harriet, and that one day they would marry and live happily ever after. I remember on the last day, you asked me if I would be your Harriet, and then you leant over and kissed me on the lips. My mom took this photo not long after. For the rest of the day you called me Harriet, and I called you Horace. I swear that my mom thought we were losing our minds. I never told her about that day, in fact after you told me all those things, my parents never spoke of you again. I think that losing you was as hard for them as it was for me. They always saw you as a member of the family. And for a long time, mom would accidentally set a place for you at the dinner table." (Y/n) told Arthur, the small pile of pictures falling to the floor as (Y/n) dropped her head into her hands. The sounds of her sobbing breaking Arthur's heart.
"It was...... it was the best day of my life too, (Y/n). I have never had a day like it since. And without you I will never have a day like it again." Arthur almost whispered, as he hesitantly pulled the weeping woman into his arms.
He hadn't meant to hurt her by showing her the pictures, he had only hoped to show her that he had never stopped caring for her. But as usual, his best laid plans always seemed to backfire.
"I am so sorry, (Y/n). What I did was.........well it was unforgivable. I know that I can never make up for what I did, but I will spend the rest of my life trying, if you'll let me." Arthur said softly, as he raised (Y/n)'s head, trying to brush away the tears that flowed down her cheeks.
"I........ I'd like that, Horace." (Y/n) sniffed, as she wrapped her arms around Arthur's waist.
"Oh crap, the shoot!" (Y/n) exclaimed as she suddenly sat bolt upright.
"We're supposed to be shooting a music video today, but I can't, not after all this." (Y/n) said, as she looked around for her phone, doing the best she could to calm herself.
"Yeah, I know. I was supposed to be there too. My work is proving some of the extras." Arthur explained, as (Y/n) scrolled through the names in her cell phone.
"Carl is gonna kill me. But I'll just tell him that there was an emergence and I had to leave town during the night, but I'll be back tomorrow. They can just shoot everything that doesn't need me. Sometimes, some things are more important than a damn video. And you are one of those things, Arthur. We still have so much to talk about, so many things to discuss. We have lost too much time already; I don't want to lose any more." (Y/n) told Arthur as she rushed off into the bathroom. Her voice barely audible as she tried to explain her absence to whoever was on the other side of the line.