"I just don't understand," Melanie said as she and Lisa sat at a small coffee shop, sipping their drinks and sharing a few pastries; she added after chewing, "Why would I want to give up me medications and go back to how I felt before when how I felt before was awful? I mean, sure, I don't feel great now either, but like...it just seems counterproductive is all."

"Taking some pills and talking about your feelings is counterproductive. They call living your fantasies 'allowing mental illness to fester' but nothing is festering. Everyone lives in a fantasy! In one way or another, we're all making our lives up. Social media itself is a perfect example of attempting to be the ideal version of yourself, even though you know as soon as the makeup comes off and the filters go away you can't stand how you look in the mirror," Lisa replied, "Because reality is subjective to whoever's experiencing it."

"That just sounds like an excuse to continue being ill," Melanie mumbled, stuffing a bear claw in her mouth.

"Okay, let me phrase it like this, then...if society is as accepting as they are these days, why can't you just be a princess? Even if we actually weren't, which we are, why can't we just be them in day to day life? People can transition genders now, people can be proud of their body types, so why can't we just be who we want to be...who we know we are?"

Lisa had a good point, and one that Melanie struggled to refute. Just then she looked up and saw Gus standing at their table. She smiled at him as he folded his arms.

"Heya," she said, "This is Lisa, she's from group."

"Hi, I'm Gus," he said, without extending an arm to shake her hand, "So you two having a little group session of your own, or?"

"Just girl talk," Mel said, "You know, periods, babies, vacuums, stuff like that."

"Oh, gross, vacuums," Gus replied, making her chuckle, "Well when you get back to the apartment, I need to talk to you."

Melanie nodded, agreeing to this, and then watched Gus walked away. Lisa gave him a skeptical eye as he headed out the front door of the small coffee shop, and then turned her attention back to Melanie.

"Seems like he isn't fond of your so called 'delusions'," Lisa said, picking up a donut hole and popping it in her mouth.

"Gus? Lord knows Gus is the only one who told me it was okay to be who I am, he wouldn't lead me astray..." Melanie remarked, glancing back towards the door and smiling softly, "...he's my esquire."

                                                                                                 ***

"It's like he isn't even considering my feelings on the matter," Emma said, stabbing at her lunch as she and Mel sat together in the cafeteria; Melanie was eating a sandwich and listening to Emma talk about Darren, concerned, but also somewhat jealous.

"How so?"

"You know what it's like not to be listened to. You spent a good few months not being heard," Emma said, and this caught Mel off guard, as she hadn't expected this level of honesty between them; she nodded, indicating Emma could continue, which she did, adding, "It's infuriating. It's my body, but he's the one who apparently gets the say over what we put in it, even if I want nothing put in it? That doesn't sound like equality to me."

"So you're telling me isn't a prince charming?" Mel asked, smirking, even making Emma smile a little.

Ever since Mel had been on her meds, she'd been responding to conversation like an actual human, instead of someone pretending to be human, and Emma appreciated having a real female friend around.

"I don't know," Emma said, exhaling, "He is, he really is, and I don't want to stop him from having a family if that's what he actually wants from life. Lord knows there's plenty of women out there who'd die to have a man who actually wants children."

"And you feel guilty?"

"I don't know. I don't think I owe anything to the 'sisterhood' or whatever to turn my man loose to the right woman who'd want him, but I don't want to keep him from being happy, like I said," Emma said.

Just as Emma finished her sentence, another woman pulled a chair out beside Mel and set their paper bag down on the table. She had short orange hair and was wearing a polo and jeans. She opened her bag and pulled out a small plastic container with a fork.

"What're we talking about?" she asked.

"Men," Emma said flatly.

"Oh," Rachel said, digging into her food, "Sorry, no opinion."

"If your partner wanted to have a baby, but you didn't, would you stay with them and have them possibly resent you or let them leave so they can have what they want?" Emma asked, and Rachel sighed, leaning back in her chair, stirring the contents of her lunch.

"I think," she said, "and this is totally just off the top of my head, don't ever tell Melissa I said this, but...I think I'd stay with them. I know that's selfish as fuck, but, like...how lucky am I gonna get to find someone who understands me the same way she does? Then again the dating pool for lesbians is a lot smaller than it is for straight people, so perhaps my reasoning makes sense."

Emma hadn't thought about it like that. Darren did understand her in a way nobody else ever had, and likely, ever would. She glanced to Mel, who was stuffing her sandwich in her face, chewing noisily. Emma smiled, watching this display; ever gloriously out of sync Melanie.

"What would you do? I mean, if you were romantically entangled," Emma asked, and this made Melanie raise an eyebrow.

"I...I don't know," she said softly, putting her sandwich down and wiping her hands on her pants, her voice getting low, "I...I've never...um..."

She lowered her eyes to the sandwich on the table and didn't say anything further, which Emma didn't understand. Thankfully Rachel knew immediately what the insinuation was, her mouth slightly agape.

"You've never been with anyone?" she asked, "Aren't you, like, in your thirties?"

"So? Does age have something to do with it? Is it weird, to like...not have done something by now? I mean, the occasion just never came up, I guess," Melanie said, her voice sounding far more real than it ever had before to Emma in this very moment, "I don't even know..."

A pause, as Rachel and Emma waited with baited breath for the end of that sentence.

"Yes?" Rachel asked.

"I don't know," Melanie said, opting instead not to finish but adding, "I guess I...can't say it's never come up, it's more like, nobody has ever really been interested, and I thought I wanted a prince charming so badly but, do I?"

Now this was something that took Emma by surprise. She'd never once questioned the fact that Melanie herself may not even know her own sexuality. Melanie folded her arms on the table and looked at her nails. Rachel rubbed her back, letting her know this was something she could figure out on her own at her own pace, and that that was okay, and that was nice, but...she still didn't say anything else for the remainder of the day.

                                                                                                 ***

"Oh yeah princess, you got real big dyke energy," Bea said, making Gus cackle as Melanie paced in front of them on the couch. Bea was sitting, Gus was laying, his head in her lap.

"I'm being serious!" Melanie said, sounding annoyed now, "All those storybooks my father read me, it was all...you know, femininity and princesses and happily ever after but..."

She stopped as Gus sat up and looked at Melanie who now sat on his coffee table and looked at her feet.

"What if," she started, her voice cracking, "What if none of it's true, you know? The medication has made me realize it was all a lie, and if it's all a lie then perhaps who I thought I was was a lie too, and...and if that's the case then...what if I'm one of those people doesn't get a happily ever after?"

"Are you implying that women who don't like men aren't entitled to happiness and love?" Bea asked, and Melanie shrugged, trying not to cry. Bea saw her eyes soften with tears, and she reached across the gap, putting her hand on Melanie's knee, adding, "Honey, hey...I'm sorry, that came off as rude. Um, look, everyone deserves to be loved okay? Even if it's not what your storybooks taught you. Think of all your personal problems in therapy as dragons that need to be slain."

"But what if they're just a Hydra?" Melanie asked, tears falling down her face now.

"What do you mean?" Gus asked, now sitting fully up, completely concerned.

"She knows what I mean," Mel said, nodding at Bea, who nodded in understanding as Melanie looked at Gus and explained, "What if all my problems are just a Hydra? It's a...a type of Dragon, one that has multiple heads, and whenever you cut one off, another comes out, and you can never win. What if that's my mental state? What if being unwell really was what was well for me, because it allowed me to not focus on all the problems I have otherwise? I lived in fantasy, sure, but at least I was happy. Now I live in reality and I'm miserable. At least before I never had to question who I liked...who I am...I spent so long imagining I was someone else that I'm in my thirties and I...I don't know who I am."

"A lot of people don't, Mel," Gus said, "But you're alright, you got us. You have more than a lot of people have, which is a support system. Take as long as you need to to find yourself, okay?"

Bea smiled and kissed him on the cheek as Melanie stood up and grabbed her jacket off the rack by Gus's door.

"Where you going, your highness?" Gus asked as she pulled her jacket over her blouse and zipped it up.

"I need to talk to someone who'd understand," she said, exiting the room and into the hallway.

As she stumbled into the hall, she glanced at Allen's door, considering for a moment the advice of a father like figure, but instead she headed down the stairs and out of the complex towards her destination.

                                                                                               ***

"What are you doing here?" Lisa asked as she pulled her apartment door open.

Melanie pushed her way inside and breathed into her hands, trying to warm herself back up.

"You want some tea or something?" Lisa asked.

"Yes please," Melanie said, her teeth chattering; as she watched Lisa head to the kitchen, she stood in the living room and asked, "You know what it's like to believe in something that isn't real, or other people tell you isn't real anyway. But, like you told me the other day that now everyone is performative, that everyone can call themselves whatever they want, they can change genders, they can...whatever. But the difference is that those people aren't sick, or at least that part of them isn't a manifestation of their illness if they are. But we're sick. We know we're sick."

"Did you seriously just come over here to psychoanalyze a conversation we had like 3 days ago?" Lisa asked, dunking a tea bag into a mug and walking steadily back into the living room.

"No I...I just...maybe you're right," Melanie said, surprising her as she continued, "Like, maybe we can just be whoever we want to, and there's nothing wrong with that, so long as we aren't hurting anyone, you know? And that goes for anybody. People who believe in religion, whatever. So long as they don't use said belief as source of power over another, then what is the harm?"

"Exactly my point," Lisa said.

"Are you..." Mel started, trailing off before mustering the courage back up, "Where do you stand? If we're talking storybook romance, and...and happily ever after, did you wait for a prince charming too?"

"I waited for anyone," Lisa said, setting the mug down on the counter and walking to Melanie, taking her hands in her own and rubbing them, warming them up more and smiling at her, saying, "Who are you waiting for, princess?"

"I...I don't know."

Lisa smirked as she turned and walked back to get the mug, as Melanie unzipped her jacket and let it drape over a nearby chair. Lisa handed Melanie the mug, and she took a few long sips, warming her insides back up from the frost outside. Lisa stood, arms crossed, watching her drink, smiling the whole time.

"You know how the prince knew Cinderella was his one and only? He kept going around and around, putting this glass slipper on her foot until he found the woman it fit. Doesn't that sound exhausting? Most people see it as romantic, like, how far one would go to find the right person, instead of admitting that there is no 'right' person, and that sometimes you need to just pick a girl and sweep her off her feet."

Melanie blushed, as Lisa approached her, taking the mug back in her hands and setting it down on the nearby desk.

"Aren't you tired of going to the ball only to dance alone?" she asked, running her hands up Mel's arms, making her shiver as she leaned up to match Mel's height, one of her hands finding its way to the back of her neck, "There's no happily ever after, princess, there's only moderately alright now."

With that, she kissed her.

Melanie had never been kissed before, by anyone, and didn't really know what to do, but she also didn't fight it, and it certainly didn't feel wrong. She put her hands on Lisa's hips, only to have Lisa hold her hands a moment later, still kissing her, making her sit down on the coffee table. Melanie tried to catch her breath as Lisa sat beside her. Melanie looked anywhere but directly at her, unsure of how her embarrassment by her naivety would come across, but Lisa just chuckled.

"I've never...done anything, with anyone, ever," Melanie said.

"We're not doing anything now," Lisa said, laughing, squeezing her hand, "but I'm not going to make you do something you don't want to."

Melanie stood up and started pacing. She grabbed the mug and continued drinking her tea before finally finishing it, setting the mug down and looking back at Lisa.

"Can we just...can we just lie on the couch, and can you just...hold me?" she asked.

"Yeah, we can do that," Lisa said.

She laid on the couch and waited for Melanie to climb on so she could spoon her. Once they'd assumed the comfortable position, Melanie shut her eyes and sighed. She hadn't been held like this since she was a child, since her father used to hold her after nightmares, and it felt so good to be held by someone again.

"When I was a little girl" she said, holding tightly to Lisa's hands, "my father used to take me to this park, and we'd used to toss quarters into a well because he told me that if I did, my wishes would come true. I think he wanted me to see the world as being more magical than it actually is. I don't blame him for that. But I knew it wasn't true once he was gone, and I spent so many quarters on that well wishing for him to come back."

"I'm so sorry," Lisa said quietly, pushing her face into the back of Melanie's neck, inhaling the scent of her shampoo.

"...thanks for making me not feel crazy," Melanie whispered.

"Anytime princess," Lisa mumbled.

                                                                                            ***

Darren was laying on the bed, reading a book, when Emma came in from the bathroom in her t-shirt and panties, blowdrying her hair. She stopped and looked at herself in the vanity mirror, thinking about what Rachel had said earlier as her eyes scanned up across the glass to watch Darren in its reflection. She smiled to herself. They were young. They still had time. No decision had to be made right now, and right now all that mattered was being together and making more memories, just in case they one day had nothing other than memories to look back on.

She turned and headed to the bed, crawling onto it and laying her head on his shoulder, making him chuckle and stroke her hair with his free hand.

"Hey," he said, "What are you doing?"

"Just...being here," she said.

Across town, Gus and Bea were watching shitty old horror movies on the television, having ordered in a lot of chicken wings and pizza. Bea was somewhat buzzed but not outright drunk, and Gus, as usual, hadn't had a drink all night. He'd really been trying hard, especially since being with her, and he appreciated that she didn't push him to partake in drinking alcoholic beverages with her. He was laying his head in her lap again, as her fingertips traced the curls of his bangs and his oversized glasses.

"You know this used to be my fantasy as a teenager," Gus said, "Cute drunk girl, chicken wings, bad film."

"Boy you had high hopes for the future," Bea said, making him laugh hard.

"...Melanie's become friends with this girl from group, and I don't...I don't know that she's a very good influence on her," Gus said, "I'm worried."

"We'll worry about it tomorrow," Beatrice said, "We deserve a night off."

"Yeah, I guess so," Gus said, sighing and kissing her hand, making her giggle.

She stood up and headed to the bedroom, giving him a look that clearly meant it was in his best interest to follow her. He stood up and followed as she pulled her shirt off in the hall, but he stopped and looked back at his front door. He hadn't heard her come home. He sighed. He knew he had to let it go. She was an adult. A sick adult, but an adult nonetheless, and while it was fine to worry, ultimately he had his own life to live. She'd be fine. She always was, after all, it seemed.

After all...

...princesses always get happy endings.

"Melanie?"

No response.

"Melanie? Sweetheart?" the voice asked again, this time catching her attention and bringing her back from her thoughts. Melanie glanced around at the group she was seated in a circle with, and the woman sitting near her with the clipboard, smiling at her, clearly attempting to involve her in the discussion. Melanie cleared her throat and stopped chewing on her nails. She was dressed in a knit turtleneck and jeans, and her hair was braided. She didn't look like the same woman who, just a handful of months ago, had been a disheveled, completely confused mess of a person.

"I...I don't really know what to say," she started.

"Well, just tell us how you're feeling," the woman said, "How has this week been?"

"This week? Just this week? Same as every week. Weird, and...not....right," Melanie said, "Nothing feels real anymore. I...I don't think this sort of thing is good for me, and I don't think this medication is working, nothing is working for me, only against me."

"Melanie," the woman, Roberta, leaned forward and cupped her hands in her lap, smiling as she added, "You were suggested to come to group therapy because it was considered better for you, socially, to be around others so you could see you weren't the only one struggling with things. Everyone here struggles with some kind of derealization, dissociation or some other variety of unreality disorder. You're among friends. So talk to us, tell us about you. Tell us how you were and how you've been."

"Uh," Mel said, clearing her throat, sitting back and folding her arms, clearly uncomfortable, "I'm...I was fine, before I was told to come here, but now everyone is telling me I'm incredibly sick, so, that's making me unhappy, ironically."

"What was wrong with you?" the teenage girl sitting beside her, her legs pulled up to her chest, asked.

"What wasn't wrong with me?" Mel sarcastically replied, "...I thought I was a princess. Not...not in the way a lot of girls say they're princesses, I mean a literal princess. I used to...I used to honestly believe that I came from a castle, and my father was the king, and that one day I'd return home after finding my prince charming. I see now that that was just a coping mechanism I used to work through the grief surrounding my fathers death. I liked princesses, he played into it, called me his princess, let me wear princess dresses whenever and wherever I wanted, and it just felt like the fairytale was better than reality."

A hush fell over the group, as Melanie lowered her head and whispered.

"Still probably would be too," she added.

She didn't speak for the rest of the meeting.

                                                                                             ***

"Look, they have donuts," Gus said, pointing at the table as they entered the room, making Beatrice smirk.

"Those are for addicts, dude," she said.

"I'm an addict. I'm addicted to donuts," Gus said, reaching for them before feeling Bea's hand on his arm, tugging him away from the table, chuckling to herself as they continued into the room, looking around for Melanie. Gus slid his hands in his pockets and exhaled.

"I've never been to something like this before," he said, "Like...have you? Can you give me some pointers?"

"Sure, what kind of pointers you want? Ones for a guest, or ones for a member? Because I've been both," Bea said, making Gus's eyebrow raise; she smirked and offered up an explanation, saying, "Before I became the Black Knight at the faire, I was just...you know...aimlessly drifting. Like...I had ideas of what I'd like to do, but what I really liked to do was get black out drunk and then call up people who had wronged me and let them have it. Obviously this isn't socially acceptable."

"I should think not, though it really should be," Gus replied.

"It should! Yes, thank you!" Bea said, laughing, "But as a guest, all you have to do is show up. Showing up at all is showing that you care. Though I gotta say...this is kind of a weird date."

"Is this a date?" Gus asked.

"I mean, did we not just have sex before we came here?" Bea asked.

"I like to think of it more as exercise," Gus said, making her laugh again, "Hey, there she is."

The two started walking over to where Mel was sitting, while all the other members of group had gotten up and begun to talk amongst themselves, almost in a party mingling manner, but Melanie clearly had no interest in doing such a thing. Gus and Bea sat beside her, each one in a chair on each side, and Gus slowly put his hand on her back, rubbing it gently.

"You guys don't think I'm crazy, right?" Melanie asked quietly, "I...I know I'm not well, but I'm not-"

"There's no stigma attached to being crazy, not any that's legitimate anyway," Bea said, "You're just you. Nothing wrong with having mental disorders, they're just a part of who you are. It's important to maintain them so you don't hurt yourself and don't hurt others, intentionally or otherwise, but they're not bad or wrong."

Mel rolled her head towards Bea and waited.

"...thank you," she said, "That...actually made me feel better."

Melanie stood up, excused herself to the restroom, and left them alone. Gus crossed his legs, folded his arms and looked at Bea with a smirk. She glanced over at him with an odd look on her face.

"What?" she asked, half laughing.

"Awww. You're empathetic, how pathetic," Gus said.

"You're such an ass," she laughed, leaning in and kissing him on the cheek.

The bathroom wasn't hard to find, especially now that she'd been coming here for a while. As she finished her duty and went to the sink to wash her hands, she heard a stall door open behind her, and turned her head to see another young woman, in dark green slacks and a plain black v-neck, her long curly auburn hair bouncing as she walked up to the sink herself and started washing her hands as well.

"They're wrong, you know," she said softly, "Those people in group. Reality isn't the only way to live."

"I believe that, but everyone wants me not to, and I'm tired of being a nuisance to everyone, so," Mel whispered.

"You're not a nuisance because you're sick," the woman said, "You're a nuisance because they're too close minded. I dealt with the same thing as you, actually. When I was a little girl, my dad used to read me bedtime stories filled with fantastical efforts about dragons and wizards and princesses, and then when he died, I just retreated into the safety of the worlds he showed me because it felt like he was still there somehow."

"I know what you mean," Melanie replied, turning the sink off and grabbing some paper towels, wiping her hands down; as she tossed them into the wastebasket, she turned back to the woman and added, "It's not denying reality, it's a coping mechanism, and aren't those healthy so long as you don't actively hurt others?"

"Exactly my point," the woman said, holding her hand out, "I'm Lisa, by the way. It's nice to meet you, your majesty."

"Hah! Likewise," Melanie said, shaking her hand.

Maybe Gus was right. Maybe coming to therapy wasn't all that bad after all.

                                                                                            ***

"What is this?" Emma asked, holding up a brochure.

Darren was stopped in his tracks, despite sitting at his desk in their home office, and sighed. He rubbed his forehead and then turned in his chair towards her. She was standing in the doorway, one hand on her hip and a look of irritant on her face.

"Listen," he started, but she quickly interrupted.

"Oh boy, anything that ever starts with 'listen' is never a good thing."

He chuckled and continued, "Seriously, it's just...something I wanted to discuss."

"You know I don't want a family," Emma said, "So what's left to discuss?"

"I thought, maybe, the problem was the actuality of getting pregnant and that, perhaps, if we adopted-"

"The problem isn't how to do it, it's doing it at all, how is that so complex to understand?" Emma asked, sounding annoyed. Darren sighed, stood up and walked to her, putting his arms around her and hugging her tight, kissing the top of her head.

"I won't bring it up again," he said quietly, "If you're really that certain, than it's a moot point."

"Thank you," she replied.

Darren wanted to make her happy...but at what cost? His own happiness? All these years they'd spent together, and now this one seemingly small difference might make the biggest rift between them? That seemed cosmically unfair, but he knew he loved her. He knew he wanted her far more than he wanted kids. Maybe, he hoped - despite knowing full well in the depth of his gut - that she'd come around one day, but if she didn't, could he live with the regret?

Only time would tell.

"I'm going to the store to get something for dinner," Emma said, backing away, "I'll be back in a bit."

"Alright," Darren said, sitting back down and watching her exit the room. When he heard the car start, and heard it drive off down the road, he did the only thing he could do at this point.

He wept like a child.

                                                                                            ***

As Melanie, Gus and Bea headed up the stairs to the level of their apartments, Melanie couldn't help but think about the woman she'd met in the bathroom, Lisa. She was saying the exact opposite of everything Melanie was being told was true, and yet she believed her moreso than those telling her the opposites. Melanie wasn't an idiot, she knew what confirmation bias was, but this was something deeper, something...something more real. She could hear Gus and Bea laughing behind her as they reached the landing, and headed to their respective apartments. Gus waved bye, opened the door and he and Bea vanished into his place, as Melanie struggled to find her keys.

A loud thump down the hall caught her attention, and she turned to see a man setting down a large box. He was an older man, somewhat balding, large thick rimmed glasses, but well dressed. She gave up on her attempts to find her key and instead headed down the hall towards him.

"Are you moving in?" she asked, "Do you want some help?"

"That would be absolutely appreciated, thank you so much," the man said, "I'm Allen."

"Melanie. I live just a few doors down," she said, turning and pointing to her own apartment, "Let me see what I can help you with."

After the two managed to bring in a collection of boxes, some light furniture and other miscellaneous things, the stood in the living room and admired the space. Melanie looked around, smiling as she felt the sun shine through the big open window and splash against her face.

"This is a really nice apartment," she said, "I just always assumed they were all the same."

"I'm lucky to get such a space for such a good price," Allen replied.

"What do you do?"

"I'm a photographer, you?"

"I'm..." but she stopped herself, cleared her throat and finished, "I'm between employment at the moment."

"Ah, well, best of luck to you then, it's bad out there lately," Allen said.

Melanie turned and began to head on out. As she pulled the door shut behind her, she saw Gus and Bea exiting his apartment, pulling their coats on. They stopped and Gus looked at her.

"We're going out for something to eat, you wanna come with?" he asked.

"Okay," she replied quietly.

"What were you doing over there?" he asked, as they headed down the stairs.

                                                                                             ***

The three of them sitting in a local nearby pizzeria, Melanie only really pecking at her food while the others engulfed their slices, Gus couldn't help but feel like something was bothering her, more than usual. He finished chewing, wiped his hands and mouth on a napkin, tossed it onto the table and adjusted his glasses, leaning forward.

"You look more depressed than normally," he said, "I know this whole therapy thing has been really weird for you, but...you know you can always talk to us."

"I know," Mel said, a slight smile dancing on her lips as he said this, before she exhaled deeply and added, "It's just so hard to know whether I'm getting better for the sake of others or my own."

"Can't it be both?" Bea asked.

"I mean, I guess, but...people say I'm getting, so why don't I feel any better?" she asked, and Gus sighed, scratching his cheek.

"I used to be a major alcoholic. It's kind of what broke up my family," Gus said, "Afterwards, I only drank even more heavily, until I moved into that apartment...until I met you. I don't think this applies to everyone going through recovery, but I think it helped me to have someone else to focus on. I made me realize I couldn't as regularly fulfill my own selfish desires because I needed to be there to help you, whether I wanted to or not, hah."

Bea smiled and put her hand on his back, rubbing it gently.

"You don't feel better because you aren't better. Once you get better, at least recognizably so, then you'll see just how far you've come, and you'll realize you feel like a much better person overall. You can take your life back from the thing that stole it. Right now? This isn't recovery. Recovery is at the end. Anything before that is just progress."

Melanie nodded. He made a lot of sense, and she wanted to believe him, truly she did, but she also couldn't help but think about how Lisa felt the same way. How Lisa had told her that she had every right to cling to the 'fantasy', as they called it, because in the end, why can't you have both? Why must one face reality with such little escapism?

"I'm gonna go get another slice," Gus said, standing up and leaving the table. As the girls watched him go, Bea then looked back at Melanie and smiled warmly.

"You know, he's a really good guy, and he really does care about you," she said.

"I know."

"And, because I care about him, I care about you too," Bea continued, "We're your friends, whether you're ill or not."

This made Melanie smile the widest she had all day.

As Gus approached the counter, drumming his fingers on the slate, he heard a familiar voice and looked to a few tables past the counter to see Chiako sitting there with....a man? Gus headed away from the counter and over towards their table, where, upon arrival, they both looked up at him. Chiako's eyebrows raised in surprise, and she stood up to hug him.

"Hey!" she said, her mouth half stuffed with pizza as she tried to finish chewing, "What're you doing here?"

"....eating...pizza?" he replied, making them both laugh.

"Stupid question, fair," Chiako said through laughter, "Uh, Gus, this is Jeremy, my...guy....I'm sleeping with but also have romantic feelings for."

"Boy," Gus said, sliding his hands in his pockets, "You sure know how to tug at the heartstrings. I just saw you here and I...I guess I didn't know you were, you know...seeing anyone, hah."

"Oh, actually, I'm going to need you to be with Leaf this coming week. We're going out of town, you're free right?"

"Look at how I'm dressed, does it look like I have social obligations?" Gus remarked, making even Jeremy laugh a little; Gus added, "Yeah, I'd love to see her, honestly. Anyway, I was getting another slice, I just wanted to see you for a moment."

"It's always nice running into you," Chiako said, "I'm glad you're doing well."

"Yeah," Gus said, glancing over his shoulder at Bea, "Yeah, me too."

                                                                                           ***

"People believe in God without any proof, because it brings them peace of mind, so as long as they don't use that belief to hurt others, what's the big goddamned deal with believing what we believe?" Lisa asked, the next time the two women found themselves in the bathroom before the meeting started.

"I guess maybe it depends on whether or not you acknowledge that your belief isn't real," Melanie said, sitting on the bathroom counter, chewing on her nails, "As long as you can tell the difference, then sure, what's the harm."

"Except there is no difference," Lisa said.

Melanie stopped chewing and looked at her. Lisa approached and put her hands on Mel's.

"There is no difference. Who's to say what reality is. They're all wrong, your highness. We're right. We're who we say we are, and we can prove it to them. Don't you want to help me help you prove that you really were a princess like me all along?"

Melanie looked into her eyes, and for the first time since starting therapy, she felt heard.

It just happened to be by the wrong person.

A loud knocking disrupted Gus from his morning cereal routine. He stood up, grabbed his bowl of wheaties and headed out into the hallway of the complex to find a man about his age, with very short hair, in jeans, a t-shirt and a brown suede jacket, banging on Melanie's door across the hall. Gus stood there and ate his cereal, simply watching for a bit.

"Melanie, open up!" the man shouted, "I'm done waiting to hear from you, let me in!"

Finally the man turned around and noticed Gus, who merely waved politely and went right about eating. The man turned back and continued to bang on the door, until he finally sighed and looked back at Gus. Gus walked past him, knocked calmly on the door and spoke.

"Yo, your highness, you got a visitor!" he shouted, and finally the door opened a crack. The man pushed his way inside to find Melanie standing there in pajama pants and an oversized flannel, her hair up, her eyes dark like she'd been crying. Gus stayed in the hall and watched, making sure the man wouldn't hurt her. The man stopped in the middle of her living room and sighed, shaking his head.

"This is sad," he said.

"What are you doing here?" Melanie softly asked.

"I've been leaving you messages for months. You haven't called me back, you won't respond when mom calls, so I'm here to take you to mom. We all need to have a talk," the man said.

"Are you her brother or something?" Gus asked, finally butting in.

"Yeah, this is my brother, Shane," Melanie replied, answering for him, "the rightful heir to the throne, the prince in all his princely glory."

Shane grabbed a coat off the floor and tossed it at Melanie, then picked up her shoes and handed them to her before standing and staring at her, arms folded.

"Get dressed," he said, "We have to go see mom."

Melanie reluctantly pulled her jacket and shoes on, as Gus shrugged and headed back into his apartment. Once Melanie was finished, she and Shane exited the apartment, locked it up and headed down to the street where Shane's jeep was parked. They climbed inside and fastened their seatbelts then Shane started up his jeep and pulled away from the curb, heading towards their mothers house. As Shane fiddled with his radio dial, he glanced over at Melanie, who looked extremely displeased with this entire situation.

"Pouting isn't going to make it any better," he said.

"It isn't gonna make your face any better," she replied, making him laugh.

Despite her problems, Shane had always loved his little sister, and had always sworn to protect her, even if it meant his own life taking somewhat of a hit. He didn't mind. That's how much she mattered to him. He just wished she understood that this wasn't an act of war, it was an act of compassion. Their mother was worried about her, and it was up to Shane to bring the family back together albeit even for a brief moment.

After a bit, they pulled up to their childhood home, and Melanie - reluctantly, considering - got out of the car and followed Shane up the walkway to the front door. Shane unlocked the door and let them both in. The place looked the same as it had for the last 15 years. The furniture was the same, the wallpaper had never changed and the tone of the house was the same as it had been before. Not a single thing had been touched, and the whole house looked like a snapshot, frozen in time.

Finally, from out of the kitchen, their mother, Karen, walked in and smiled at them before quickly rushing forward and putting her arms around Melanie.

"Sweetheart!" she cried, squeezing Mel tightly, "oh god, it's so nice to touch you again."

The three of them took seats on the couches and nobody spoke for a moment as Karen drank her coffee and then offered to get a cup for either of her kids, both of whom turned it down. After a few minutes of just sitting together in silence, Karen finally opened a box of biscottis on the coffee table and handed them to her kids before unwrapping one herself and biting into it.

"I'm glad Shane was able to bring you," Karen said, "How have you been? I've left you messages but you haven't called me back, and I understand why. I just...I got worried after a while."

"Nothing to be worried about," Melanie answered quietly, "I am a teachers assistant, and I'm seeing a therapist. Everything is fine."

This admittance shocked her mother and brother, both of who sat somewhat slack jawed upon hearing this. After a few awkward glances between them, Shane finally spoke again, breaking the silence.

"Seriously? You're seeing a therapist? Of your own accord?" he asked.

"It was a friends suggestion actually, but yes, and it is helping tremendously," Melanie said, "Why did I need to come here, anyway? Was there a reason for my kidnapping?"

"I have some boxes that belong to your father, and I was hoping you could take them to your apartment," Karen said, "I need the room back and I can't bare to go through them. I would hurt far too much. I thought maybe you'd be more interested in that sort of activity."

Melanie nodded slowly, solemnly, and was then led by Shane up to the attic. Inside they found a few cardboard boxes labeled "Chris" and sat down together to open them up. Sitting there with her brother, Melanie could almost feel like she was a child once again, being protected by her brother, but she didn't need his protection now. She could handle this on her own. As Shane began pulling some stacks of papers and a few binders out of the opened lid to one box and set them gently down on the floor in front of them, Melanie cleared her throat.

"I...I think I'd rather do this myself, if that's okay," she said quietly, and Shane nodded, then stood up and turned to leave. Halfway down the attic ladder, he popped back up momentarily.

"Just call me back in if you need anything," he said, and she gave him a thumbs up.

The papers were assorted documents, some legal, some not. Some were things Melanie had written or drawn for or with her father, and some were things her father had written himself. She scanned through these papers, skimming their words, or in some cases, pictures, and then began organizing in a few different stacks. Things she personally wanted and things she thought her mother should keep, and things that could easily be thrown away.

She thought about her father, and what he'd say if he knew she was doing this. Why neither Karen nor Shane felt comfortable doing so made sense to her, even as wife and son respectively they'd never been anywhere as close to Chris as Melanie had, and thus they likely figured it was better for her, psychologically, to go through this. She continued creating her piles for an unknown amount of time, with Shane only coming back occasionally to bring her snacks and drinks, but eventually the attic door lifted up and Melanie looked back prepared to see her brother once again but instead saw Gus.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, lifting an eyebrow as he climbed into the attic and crawled to sit beside her.

"I called your mom and she gave me directions. I figured I should make sure they weren't holding you hostage or anything," Gus said, picking up some papers and casually looking through them, asking, "so...what's going on?"

"Going through some of dads things," Melanie said, as a stack of photos slipped from a handful of papers she was holding and spilled out onto the floor before them. She started to pick them up and smiled at them, showing them to Gus, "see," she pointed out, "this is my 5th birthday party. He had a dragon brought in and found a knight to fight it. He really was a good king."

"That's really cute," Gus said, genuinely smiling at the image.

"I don't recognize this, I think that's my brother being held, this is obviously before I was born," Melanie said, "This must be their old house."

"Who's that woman?" Gus asked, pointing a finger at a woman standing beside the rest of the family.

"I...don't know," Melanie said.

"Anything written on it?" Gus asked, and Melanie flipped the photo over to reveal the scribbled writing on the back.

"Pressure Point Way, 1982, Chris, Karen, Shane and...it looks scratched out," Melanie said, "but it kind of looks like it says Daisy....Gus...who the hell is Daisy?" Melanie asked, looking at him, the both of them confused, but determined to figure it out.

                                                                                         ***

"You know," Gus said, sticking his hand in the open bag of pretzels as Melanie held the binoculars to her eyes from the drivers seat, "if we keep doing this, people are going to think we're perverts."

"You are a pervert," Melanie said.

"Well, fair, but I don't want to be labeled as such," Gus said.

"That's her. I mean she's older but that's definitely her," Melanie said, lowering the binoculars, and adding, "she looks blind. I think she's struggling getting her groceries out of her trunk."

"Go over there and help her," Gus said, and Melanie nodded.

Together, the two of them got out of the car and began to head across the street. The woman they assumed was Daisy was older now, about her mothers age, and was most definitely blind. She dropped one bag on the ground, but thankfully it turned out not to have anything breakable within it, so nothing of value was lost. Melanie knelt down and picked it up and handed it to Daisy, who smiled at her kindness.

"Thank you," she said happily.

"We saw you having some trouble, we figured we'd help," Gus said.

"Are you two looking for a home to buy? Gonna start a family?" Daisy asked, making Gus and Melanie give one another an uncomfortable glance.

"God no," they said in unison.

"I used to live over on Mulberry Branch," Melanie said.

"Beautiful part of town," Daisy said, setting her bags down, acknowledging she was a part of this conversation now and that the groceries could wait a moment, she continued, "My brother used to live in that part of town, and I visited often before we stopped speaking. Back before I lost my sight, and I could see it for how pretty it was."

"Your...brother?" Melanie asked, "Was is name Chris Irres?"

"...who are you?" Daisy asked, her voice changing, growing suspicious.

"I'm Melanie, I'm his daughter," Melanie said, "We...my friend and I, we found a photo of you with my family and I wanted to find out who you were. I never knew my father had a sister."

"...you should come inside," Daisy said, "Help me get these in and we'll talk."

Gus quickly gathered up her remaining bags and, together, he and Melanie followed Daisy into her home. The inside of her home was quaint but lovely. Plants hung from the ceiling and everything was fairly clean, a far cry from how Melanie and Gus lived to be honest. Gus took all the groceries into the kitchen and began unpacking and putting them away while Melanie and Daisy sat at the small round kitchen table to talk.

"Why...why did you stop talking?" Melanie asked, and Daisy sighed.

"Chris was angry," Daisy said, "he saw you were beginning to exhibit signs that I, and our mother, both exhibited. Signs of extreme mental illness. Schizophrenia, dissociative disorder, a struggle to recognize reality. Nobody can control everything, and some folks can't control anything, so that sometimes forces them to create a world that they can control. I created things that helped me cope with other things. But, not until after my brother and I stopped speaking. That was what pushed me to really get help. Reality shouldn't be defined as an overall experience we all partake in but rather a personal experience that is beheld to the individual processing it. Your reality is not my reality, you understand?"

"Not really but please go on," Gus said, making her chuckle and lighten the mood.

"He was mad at me for what he saw happening to you, and irrational as that may be, I didn't have the strength to fight him on it. You were his baby, and he was so angry at thinking what your life might be like if you really were to wind up like me. I think this shows how little knowledge he actually had of mental health and the mentally ill because, as you can see, I'm doing just fine. We cope. We're capable of living our lives. And you too, clearly, are okay, otherwise you wouldn't be here right now."

Melanie had never thought about that before. She chewed absentmindedly on the sleeve of her flannel and waited for Daisy to speak again. Daisy let out a long exhale and then reached across the table and grabbed Melanie's hand, squeezing it gently.

"You're your fathers daughter, but you're not your father," she said, and Melanie finally started crying.

She'd fought so hard her entire life to be her own person, and only Gus really seemed willing to acknowledge that, but to hear that sort of admittance from someone her father was related to really hit home. Gus stood there and watched, smiling a little at seeing Melanie finally get some sort of peace of mind. Daisy excused herself to use the bathroom, and Gus took her seat. He watched Melanie wipe her eyes on her soggy shirt sleeve and then look up at him.

"You okay, your highness?" he asked.

"You just accepted it," she said, "You just...accepted me, right from the get go."

"To be fair I didn't have much choice, you destroyed my rental car," Gus said.

"You never made fun of me for being this way, you never questioned it, you just...accepted that I'm a princess and nobody else has ever really done that, so thank you," Melanie said.

"I always did wonder why you chose to talk so openly to me and not someone else," Gus said.

"...because you listen," Melanie said, surprising him.

Gus smiled and held her hand as well, feeling like perhaps she'd finally found a place she could call home. A new kingdom. A new queen. A new throne to rule.

                                                                                           ***

In her bathroom that night, Melanie looked at herself in the mirror after her shower. She ran a hand through her long blonde hair and she smiled. For the first time in, hell, maybe ever, she felt like the person she had looking back at her was someone she didn't hate, and someone she could learn to recognize. She'd grown up as a princess, but maybe it was time to become a queen, after a bit more hard work on herself. She went into her bedroom and got into her pajamas when she heard the front door open. A minute later, Gus knocked on her bedroom door and then opened it when she said it was okay.

"I come baring gifts for your highness after such an eventful day," he said, "Two pizzas and a whole lot of alcohol."

"Gus, you didn't have to-"

"Naw, I did have to. I had coupons, they were gonna expire," he said, making her laugh as he sat on the floor and opened the pizzas. Melanie sat down across from him and took a slice, beginning to eat as he opened a beer and took a long drink.

"...thanks, not just for dinner, but for, like, everything," Melanie said, and then she set her pizza slice down and rushed to her closet. She pulled out a long real sword and unsheathed it, then walked back in front of Gus and looked down at him; Melanie pressed the blade to his shoulders lightly tapping them and said, with a smile, "I, Princess Melanie Irres, for unwavering faith and impossible devotion, thusly knight Gustopher. Your dedication to the crown is nothing short of tremendous, and the kingdom thanks you highly for it."

Gus wanted to cry, but he managed to not and instead just stood up and hugged her.

"Thank you for believing in me," she whispered, and he squeezed her tighter.

"Right back atcha, princess," Gus said.

The kingdom had been fractured, but thanks to the efforts of a knight and a princess, it would rebuild, and it would grow stronger, and they would soldier on. Just months prior, Gus and Melanie had been strangers, and now neither could imagine their life without the other, and as people who'd both been left by people they'd cared so deeply for in the past, that sort of bond meant a lot. So what if Melanie thought she was a princess. She had every right to. She wasn't hurting anyone with this belief, and Gus was ready to defend it to the ends of the earth.

She WAS Princess Melanie Irres, and no amount of therapy was ever going to change that.

It was dark, and Gus awoke to the sound of soft footsteps in his bedroom. His eyes, not adjusted thanks to his eyesight problems, were blurry and unable to focus, and as he reached for his glasses on his bedside table, he could hear something scraping along the floor. Gus shoved his glasses on his face and hastily turned on the bedside lamp, only to find Melanie standing near his bedroom window, holding a baseball bat.

"So this is how it ends, huh? My valuables in my top left dresser drawer," he said.

"I'm not here to kill you, you idiot, there's someone outside," she whispered as Gus stood up and yawned.

"Well that's a relief, because I don't actually have any valuables," he said, walking over to the window, scratching his back and looking out. He sighed and shook his head. He then started pulling on some sweats and a windbreaker.

"She's been out there every night this week," Melanie said.

"Just stay here, I'll handle it," Gus replied, heading out the door and down the stairs. As he exited the front of the apartment complex, he went around to the side where his window was located and saw a teenage girl sitting there in an oversized hoodie, chewing on her nails. She stood up as he approached.

"My friend tells me you've been out here every night this week. How long do you stay out here?" Gus asked, and the girl shrugged, her voice meek and awkward.

"I...I don't know, until I have to go home, I guess," she said.

"You know that if they found out you were here we'd get in a lot of trouble, right?" Gus asked, and she shrugged again.

"It's not the same without you around," she said, her voice wavering, like she was about to cry.

"You can't keep coming here," Gus said softly, rubbing his forehead.

"Well, you don't answer your phone anymore, so-"

"You can't keep coming here," Gus reiterated.

"Did I do something wrong? I'm sorry if I did," the girl said, sounding desperate, "I'm sorry, I just-"

"You didn't do anything wrong and I'm not upset at you," Gus said, "But for the sake of both of us, you can't keep coming here."

The girl nodded, then headed past him. She stopped and pulled something out of her hoodie pocket.

"I almost forgot, this is for you," she said, putting something into his hand before turning back and leaving. Gus stood there holding the item she'd given him for a brief moment, until he knew she was gone and out of sight. He then smiled to himself and headed back up the apartment, where, upon entrance, Melanie thrust the baseball bat into his stomach and he doubled over in pain.

"What the hell?!" he shouted.

"It could be a bomb!"

"She's a child!"

"Children are dangerous these days!"

She put the bat down and helped Gus back up, before they both sat down on his couch and he looked at the item. It was a small silver photo frame, and inside was a photo of herself. It looked like a school portrait. The two sat there and looked at it for a moment, Gus smiling widely, Melanie somewhat confused. Eventually she excused herself and, grabbing her bat, went back to her own apartment. Gus stood up and headed back to his bedroom. He climbed into bed, put the framed photo on the nightstand, took off his glasses once again, and drifted off back into slumber.

                                                                                               ***

The following morning, Gus was sitting at his coffee table in his living room when a knock came to the door. He sighed, set his mug and paper down and stood up, heading to the door to answer it, only to find an asian woman about his age standing there, arms folded. He sighed and shook his head.

"Yeah, she came to see me," he said, "Let me get my coat and we can go somewhere to discuss this, I haven't eaten anyway. We'll go get breakfast."

"This isn't really a social call, but alright," the woman said.

The woman - Chiako - and Gus got ready and headed down to their respective vehicles. From there, she followed him to a nearby diner, where they parked, entered and sat in a booth. After ordering some eggs and hashbrowns and another cup of coffee, seeing as he didn't get to finish his first one, they sat and looked at one another across the table for a few moments before Gus finally scratched the back of his head and exhaled.

"You didn't invite her inside, did you?" Chiako asked.

"I know the arrangement, I wouldn't violate it," he replied, "She's apparently being doing this every night this past week though."

"I'm actually not here to be angry with you, believe it or not," Chiako said, surprising him, as she continued, "I'm here because I think...maybe she's right. Maybe it's time for you to be involved in her life again. She's honestly having a lot of trouble fitting in right now, and I can't seem to help her, and I know she feels more open around you so perhaps it's time to switch things up."

"I'm...I'm surprised. You seemed rather adamant that this was how things would always be," Gus said, "I mean, I'm glad to hear that's changed, don't get me wrong, but I just...it's surprising is all."

Chiako leaned forward and folded her arms on the table, smiling at him.

"I only did what I had to at the time, I hope you understand that," she said, and he nodded.

"I do. I wasn't happy about it, but I also sort of brought it on myself. I understand, I really do, I'm just..."

"You're not drinking anymore it seems like," Chiako said.

"Not as heavily, no," Gus replied, "I still have an occasional beer or glass of wine, but I've been....pretty good about staying sober, honestly. I'm kind of proud of myself for that. It hasn't been easy, lord knows, but I...I have friends, and they help. Having friends around helps."

Chiako smiled and took a piece of bacon off his plate as the waitress set it down. She ate it and smiled at him, Gus smiling back as they ate in silence.

                                                                                          ***

Melanie was going through her clothes, gathering things up and putting a lot of stuff into a box she'd written "donations" on the front of. She smelled an old shirt she'd dug out of her closet and then tossed it into a nearby hamper, before continuing with yet another old shirt. She was dressed in tight jeans and a v-neck t-shirt, irregular attire from her usual getup. As she tossed a third shirt into the hamper, a knock came at the door. Melanie rarely expected anyone other than Gus to visit her, and he usually just let himself in, so she was cautious, if not curious. She slowly stood open, walked to the front door and opened it, to find Emma there.

"I hope you're not busy," Emma said, upon entering.

"Not particularly, no," Mel replied, "Is everything okay?"

"I don't know, Darren and I had a big discussion and it kinda threw me off center."

Emma sat on the couch and buried her face in her hands, groaning as Melanie stood in front of the couch, arms folded, looking somewhat irritated. Emma threw her head back against the couch cushions and let out a long, rather exasperated sounding sigh.

"It's like," she started, "maybe we moved in together too fast, but we couldn't have, because we'd been together for two years before that, and then if that's the case why didn't we iron out these bigger details before hand, you know? He doesn't know if he wants kids, I think I might, and you'd think that have been a discussion to have before I moved in. Much more before."

"Why are you telling me this?" Melanie asked.

"Because we're friends, that's what girlfriends do, we complain about stuff to eachother," Emma said.

"Frankly, I think you should shut up," Melanie said coldly, surprising Emma, "I mean, you're lucky to even have someone. A lot of us are alone, even though we'd really rather not be. And maybe you won't take me seriously because you think I'm 'crazy' or whatever, but...yeah."

"You being 'crazy' sure is a great excuse for not having to take responsibility for your actions, isn't it? Emma asked, surprising Melanie with her snippy comeback, and thus only irritated her further.

"How dare you."

"I mean what I said. It's kinda convenient in a way, isn't it?"

"You don't even know what's wrong with me, so how dare you cast aspersions on a person you don't even know all that well. If this is how you act, maybe he has a reason for being so cold towards you and whatever possible future plans you might want to include him in," Melanie said, her anger growing exponentially with every word.

"Fuck you your highness! Everything has been about you! You ruined my ren fair, you ruined my birthday, you attack my career and now you're telling me that my fears about my relationship are my own fault?! Maybe if you'd have sought out a therapist on your own instead of relying on people who don't have any responsibility towards you, I wouldn't be as stressed as I am!"

"Why don't you go tell all your little accusations to your precious daddy," Melanie said, turning and beginning to walk away.

"At least I can," Emma replied, surprising even herself at the amount of pure vitriol that had spilled from her lips with just those 4 little words. Melanie turned and looked back at her, and before she knew it, she'd clocked Emma right in the nose, sending her stumbling back against the couch, clutching at her face and screaming. This moment, it sort of woke Melanie from whatever haze she'd been in, and she quickly was horrified at her actions and wanted to help.

"Stay the fuck away from me!" Emma shouted, as she scrambled for the door and left hastily, leaving Melanie to wonder why she'd done such a thing.

                                                                                                ***

Lying in his bed, playing with his phone, Gus couldn't help but wonder why things today had gone the way they'd gone. He glanced over at Chiako, who was flipping through a magazine he'd left on the floor by the bed, and she finally looked at him, lowering the magazine, smiling.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked, "It's not cause you still love me or something, right?"

"God no," Chiako said, "I mean, not to be rude or anything but it just seemed like a fun time. I just don't think we're meant to actually BE together, you know what I mean?"

"So you can't sleep with me but not love me?" Gus asked, making her snort.

"God, what're you, a woman?" she replied, making him laugh; she continued, "it's just...she isn't the only one who missed your presence. You were my best friend. I missed talking to you. I was always excited to tell you about the newest best thing to happen to me. I just don't think we really work as a couple. I should get going, it's getting late."

"You look really good," Gus said, and she smiled warmly at him as she climbed out of bed and got dressed.

"You do too," she replied.

"Oh you don't have to tell me, I know I'm a dreamboat."

Together they dressed and then Gus walked her to his front door. She leaned up and kissed him firmly, before opening the door and leaving. Gus leaned there momentarily in his doorframe, arms folded, before he noticed Emma storm out of the apartment across the hall and then he cautiously entered. Melanie was on the couch, her knees pulled up to her chest, her arms wrapped tightly around them. Gus hesitantly sat on the couch beside her and didn't say a word.

"...everything okay?" he finally asked after a few moments had passed.

"...you're only not supposed to have closure with someone if you didn't say goodbye, right? But I said goodbye, so why don't I have closure?" she asked quietly, "I don't understand it, there's still this...this empty hole inside of me, and there really shouldn't be. I had a good childhood, I was happy, he was a great dad, so if all that's true and I said goodbye...why don't I have closure?"

Gus shrugged and sighed.

"Maybe because closure isn't really a thing, Mel. It's more like manmade concept," he said, "nobody ever really fully accepts that a person they love is actually gone. They just sort of convince themselves that they do so they can go on with their lives. But they're still sad, ultimately. It's the sort of pain that cuts so deeply that it never really goes away."

"...did you know that you're my only friend ever? Outside of my family, I never had any friends. I didn't need friends because I had my dad, and my family, but you...you're the only real outside friend I've ever had," Melanie said, yawning and lying on her side.

"It's okay," Gus said, "I never had that many friends either. You're stuck with me your highness."

Melanie stopped responding, and Gus could tell she'd quickly fallen asleep. He pulled a blanket from the bedroom and laid it on top of her on the couch, then headed back to his own apartment. Once inside, he stood for a moment before heading to the phone and picking it up, dialing. After a few rings, someone finally picked up. The girl who'd visited him the previous night.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Hey Leaf, it's me," Gus said, and he could hear her voice brighten.

"Hi dad," she said.

"Tell me about your childhood", Leah said.

                                                                                                ***

Melanie and her father, Chris, always went to a pancake house on Sunday mornings. She was only 6, but it was their special little father/daughter routine. Sitting across from him, wearing jeans, a t-shirt and a green unzipped jacket, Melanie was flipping coffee creamers on the table, trying to stack them to impress her father, who sat sipping his coffee and egging her on. When she finally got one on top of the other, they both cheered and gave one another a high five.

"Can I get bacon?" Melanie asked.

"Sweetheart, you get anything you want, this is your special day," Chris replied.

"I want bacon. Lots of bacon," Melanie said, "I wanna only eat bacon for the rest of my life."

"Well that's highly unhealthy, but a bit of bacon this morning won't hurt," Chris said, chuckling to himself as he set his coffee cup down and coughed into his elbow. Melanie leaned on the table, posted up on her elbows, and once more began flipping creamers.

"Can we go see the dinosaurs?" she asked.

"Yeah, definitely," Chris said, "Been a while since we've been to the museum. I loved going to look at the dinosaurs when I was your age."

The waitress approached their table and refilled his coffee cup. Chris smiled politely and nodded, thanking her, as another waitress set down their pancake stacks in front of them respectively. Chris and Melanie picked up their forks, but then Chris called after the waitress, bringing her back.

"Yeah? What do you need?" she asked.

"My daughter would like a plateful of bacon," Chris said, and Melanie grinned.

Today would be a great day.

                                                                                          ***

"Your childhood doesn't sound that bad," Leah said, sitting in her chair as Melanie laid on the couch, her hands folded on her chest, staring up at the ceiling overhead.

"It wasn't bad. I had a nice childhood. I'm independent now because I can't return to the kingdom, not without a prince by my side anyhow," Melanie said, "but my childhood was wonderful. The king and I spent all our time together, when possible, and those are the memories I cherish the most. My brother, the prince, he was never as close to the king as I was, and I always felt he was a bit jealous of that. Otherwise we were a fairly happy, royal family."

"Well, why are you here then, Melanie?" Leah asked, crossing her legs as Melanie sighed and waited before responding. A few moments passed, and then she spoke.

"...i don't really know," she said, "someone suggested i come."

"I'm gonna give you some homework," Leah said, "I want you to call your mother. You told me she's been leaving you voicemails, and I think it would help get everything started if you simply called her back. Fairly easy enough, I'd say, right? Maybe you could even work up to going to see her."

Melanie nodded, but she knew this wasn't possible. She could never return to the kingdom.

                                                                                              ***

Melanie was sitting in Frank's kitchen, as he took leftover pie out of his fridge. He sat down across from her and slid some pie on a small plate in front of her, complete with a fork. He smiled at her as she ate, and waited for her to speak.

"Not often I get a visit like this," he said, "What's the meaning of this sudden engagement?...did...did the aliens get to you too?"

"Frank, you believe you're building the ark because someone told you to, right?" Melanie asked, scooping pie up on her fork and eating it, talking while chewing.

"God himself, your highness," Frank said, starting in on his own pie piece.

"Do you honestly believe he exists, and that you're not just...you know...crazy?"

"I'm not trying to run away from reality, your highness, I embrace it in fact and God himself told me to build this ark for a coming storm," Frank said, swallowing, taking a drink of milk and smiling at her.

"But aren't you afraid that, one day, God won't answer you or will stop speaking to you? And you'll find out that everything you ever believed in was ultimately just some sort of...I don't know...mental security mechanism of sorts to keep you from going completely and utterly mad? That everything you ever worshiped or thought will come crashing down around you, and you'll be left with nothing but the shattered remains of what you once thought was true, what you once thought protected you?"

"Honestly, your highness, I'm afraid of one thing in this world, and that's being alone," Frank said, wiping his mouth on his arm, "And as long as you're around, I'll never be alone, so I don't think I have too much to fear."

Melanie smiled at this, but it didn't ease her questioning. She ate the rest of her pie in silence, and then got up and headed home. As she entered the apartment lobby, she saw Gus standing at the row of mailboxes, gathering his mail. He waved at her as he shoved his mailbox key back into his back pocket.

"Where you been?" he asked.

"Therapy."

"Really?"

"Emma suggested I go, so I went," Melanie said, as she headed up the stairs, Gus at her heels.

"And you trusted her? You don't...you don't think it's a ruse or something like that? We're just taking her advice now? Seems odd, I mean, maybe it's for the better, considering you're..."

She stopped and looked at him.

"Considering I'm what?" she asked.

"You know...crazy."

"You're just like my brother, telling me I'm crazy. I am NOT crazy," Melanie replied, sounding colder than Gus had ever heard her before, "I have things to do, and they don't require your presence."

And with that she stormed up the stairs, leaving Gus to wonder what was really going on.

                                                                                         ***

Emma was seated in her car in the parking lot of the school, waving at the kids as they passed by with their parents. She turned the car on, pulled back the parking brake and waited to back out when the passenger door opened and Gus climbed in, surprising her. She looked at him, and he glared at her.

"You have done a terrible, horrible thing," Gus said.

"Which is?"

"Melanie? In THERAPY? That's the most dangerous thing you could do to a girl with her sort of mentality," Gus said, sounding genuinely angry with her, "She's not another one of your students, Emma, that you can just send to the school psychologist if they're having behavioral problems. She's a real ass adult with some, apparently, very serious mental and emotional issues!"

"Well doesn't that warrant her getting help, then, if you're so readily willing to openly admit that about her?" Emma asked as she pulled out and started driving.

"No! Because therapy isn't exactly the best thing for everyone! It works for some people, but Melanie is not one of those people! I know how she thinks, I know how she works, I'm gonna..."

Gus went quiet and looked at his shoes as Emma stopped in traffic, waiting to leave the parking lot. He continued, speaking softly.

"I'm gonna be the one who helps her," he said, "Not some therapist. Me. Because if I don't do something, and I allow someone else to, and they make it worse, I'll always hold myself responsible for that."

Emma smiled a little as she moved forward, getting out onto the street now.

"I used to have a little sister, you know," she said, "She got really, really sick when she was about nine years old, and one day she simply didn't come home from school. When we finally tried to get the police to help, become involved, all they did was put out a little missing persons report. They never even organized a proper search party or anything."

"What does this have to do with-" Gus said, but she interrupted him.

"Just listen, okay? Eventually, she was found, albeit at the bottom of a lake. She'd walked there after school and just jumped off the cliff that overlooked it. They found her backpack there and everything, still on the cliff, still full of homework. She hit her head on a rock and drowned once in the water. Throughout this entire ordeal, I never did anything to help. I never asked her if she was okay, I never tried to look for her myself, and I certainly never put up any flyers of my own or anything. And then, when she was finally recovered, dead at the bottom of a lake, I realized I'd failed my own sister. And that, perhaps, had I just done one single thing, then maybe she'd still be alive today to talk to. I have always regretted never doing anything when I so easily had the opportunity to, and I didn't want Melanie to follow that same path."

Gus stared at her briefly, before sitting back in his seat and looking out the windshield. Neither one spoke for a bit, they just listened to the soft classical music on the car radio and drove through town.

"I'm sorry," Gus finally said quietly, "I'm sorry that happened."

"I know you want to protect her, I know she's your friend, but...she deserves to have more support than just one person," Emma said.

Gus suddenly felt bad about every single mean thing he'd ever said about this woman.

                                                                                          ***

"Tell me about your mother," Leah asked.

                                                                                           ***

Students walking by in the hall could hear the shouting through the principals door to their office. Nobody stopped to listen, they just continued on their way, but they could hear the shouting clear as day.

"This is unacceptable!" Karen yelled, leaning over the principals desk as Melanie, in her dress and princess hat adorned upon her small head, sat in a chair beside her mother, quietly looking at the floor.

"No, what is unacceptable, Miss Irres, is that your daughter could theoretically be doing something to stop attracting all this negative unwanted attention she's receiving, and she simply refuses to be cooperative," the principal responded, sounding stern and irritated with this whole mess.

"You honestly expect her to?" Karen asked, snapping right back at him, "Let's see how well you deal with what's happened at her age! Could you honestly stand there and tell me you would've reacted any better? And what about the students harassing her? They're just not to blame at all, huh? Typical parental behavior, raising little monsters you then refuse to discipline or take responsibility for the actions thereof, because you wanna be their friend, not their parent!"

"This is not about the other students, and it's certainly not about their parents!" the principal replied, his voice growing louder, "This is about Melanie and this goddamned daydream she lives in!"

"It's not a daydream to her!" Karen shouted back loudly, before glancing back at Melanie, leaning in closer over the desk and lowering her voice, "this is not a daydream, Mr. Jeeves, this is her reality now, and I am doing my goddamned best to help my child but there's only so much you can do for a sick child who's suffered such trauma."

"I know," Mr. Jeeves replied, "I do, and I feel for you both, believe me, but this is a problem that should be dealt with at the home, not brought to the school. This isn't the place for it."

Suddenly they heard the door open and when Karen spun around, Melanie was gone in a flash. She streaked down the hallway, her hand on her hat to keep it in place, and burst through the front doors of the school, turned, and then took off again across the field. Once she was deep in the nearby woods, she finally stopped at a small pond and fell to her knees. She took her hat off, slowly, and looked at it, then hugged it to her chest, and sobbed.

                                                                                                  ***

"She defended you in everything you ever did, it sounds like," Leah said, chewing on the tip of her pencil, a bad habit she'd been trying to break lately.

"The queen was great, and she did her absolute best," Melanie said, wiping her eyes, "I don't think I ever gave her enough credit."

"Then why don't you call her up, tell her that now?"

"Because I can't rely on her to fix everything, I'm an adult now," Melanie said, sitting up on the couch, tears rolling down her face, "...I'm...I'm not crazy, right?"

"Crazy is a word we shouldn't use anymore, quite frankly, but no, Melanie, you're not crazy," Leah said, crossing her legs and smiling warmly at her, "Sometimes there's people who just don't fit into what society deems as 'the norm', so they get labeled different things like unique or special, or crazy, but really what you're doing is living in a reality that suits you far better than the one that doesn't suit you at all. In fact, if I had to say so, I'd say I'm jealous. We'd all be so lucky to be so safe."

Melanie chewed her lip and watched as Leah rolled in her chair back to her desk and started writing something down. Finally, Melanie cleared her throat and spoke again.

"Are you happy?" she asked.

"Uh," Leah responded, looking up, caught off guard as people rarely asked about her in their sessions, "Yeah, I guess? I mean, I have a nice job that allows me to live a comfortable life and help others, and I have a good selection of friends and a happy family. I'd say I'm fairly happy."

"...i wanna be happy," Melanie said quietly.

"Well we can make that happen," Leah responded, smiling.

                                                                                              ***

Emma found herself sitting at the kitchen table, flipping through a photo album when Darren came in through the side door. He opened the fridge, pulled out an apple and bit into it, turning to look at her. He came and sat down at the table, flicking through a few of the photos she'd pulled out to inspect.

"Did you ever experience anything traumatic when you were a kid?" Emma asked.

"Well I don't know if I'd call it traumatic exactly but one time I got one hell of a wedgie," Darren replied, making her laugh; he continued, "Is this about your sister? Is that why the album's out?"

"I look at these photos and it just makes me realize how much negativity people cut out of their lives so that when they, or someone else, looks back on it all...they don't see the pain, you know? Photos are made to deceive people, sell you on this false reality, and only show you the good stuff, the stuff people want to remember."

"Well, I mean, makes sense doesn't it?" Darren asked, taking another bite of apple, "Remembering the sad stuff just makes you unhappy."

"Yeah but sadness is just as important as happiness, it's all a spectrum," Emma said, taking a swig of the beer in front of her, "They're both emotions we have and have to deal with, and if we don't, we just...then we're just bottling things up and that's not very healthy."

"Naw, you're lookin' at it from the wrong perspective, Em," Darren said, leaning back, putting his feet up on a nearby chair, "I mean, you're right, don't get me wrong, I'm not arguing semantics with you. Everything you said was completely spot on, but what you're missing is that people don't want to remember the bad stuff. This isn't about whether they should or not, it's about whether they want to or not. If you thought about someone dying all the time, you'd always be miserable, but if you just remember the good times with that same person, you'll feel better. Photos are simply snapshots of time captured to remind us of the good, because life is so much more often filled with the bad. We need these reminders. They're not necessarily lies. They're just a filter."

Emma nodded and sat back in her chair, running her hands through her hair. She picked up her beer and took another drink, then set it back down and exhaled loudly.

"The whole thing is just aggravating, really. My parents made such a big damn deal out of treating us as equals, but then once she died, they rarely mentioned her again. Down came the childhood artwork, the pictures in the frames changed, and it was like she never existed in the first place."

"It's not cool, I agree, but they did what they had to to keep their sanity," Darren said.

"Do you think I'd make a good mother?" Emma asked, surprising him.

"Uh..." Darren said, trying to think fast, "I guess, I mean, yeah. You're wonderful with your students, you're compassionate and understanding and patient, I think you'd make one hell of a mom quite honestly. Can't say I'd make a very good dad though. I'm more like the cool uncle who gets you out of jail and stuff."

"Are you saying you wouldn't ever want children?" Emma asked.

"This is one of those conversations that ends badly no matter what my answer is, isn't it?" Darren asked, "I've read about these."

"You have?" Emma asked, chuckling.

"Hey, when a man is stuck in a bathroom and desperate enough, he'll read a Cosmo magazine," Darren replied, "I don't know if this is the best time to have this discussion. I'm a little buzzed, you've been drinking, I don't know that I can be trusted to be totally honest and-"

"Oh please," Emma said, interrupting him, "People are only honest when they're drunk, it's when they're sober that they lie. Why do you think people lie about being alcoholics? Because they're sober when they're asked."

"I don't...I don't know that I want children, yeah," Darren said, standing up and tossing his apple core in the open trashcan, "And if that's something you might want, maybe we should reconsider things. I'm...I'm sorry."

With that, Darren turned and exited back out the side door, leaving Emma alone with her photos.

                                                                                              ***

"Tell me about your brother," Leah asked.

                                                                                               ***

How many days had a 13 year old Melanie been chased after school, pelted with rocks? Far too many, she figured. As she bobbed and weaved, left and right, covering her head for some sort of safety net, she could hear their jeers and taunts right behind her. Suddenly she tripped on a sprinkler on a lawn and fell on her face as the kids surrounded her, pelting her with little stones and pebbles. As Melanie cowered in the grass, taking it all, a car pulled up and a young man only a few years older than her got out.

"Hey! Get the hell away from her!" he shouted, and the kids took off, scattering in all directions; he approached Melanie and leaned down, touching her gently, "Mel? You okay?"

Melanie looked up at him, her lower lip bleeding, her face caked with dirt, her hair a tangled mess, and he sighed. He helped her up and took her to the car, then got back in and started driving. For a bit, neither one said a word, but finally Shane sighed and spoke.

"Are you okay?"

"I'll have them executed tomorrow," Melanie responded, making him smirk.

"Melanie, this is ridiculous. From now on, wait with a teacher and I'll pick up at the school," Shane said, "That way this whole thing can be avoided. You know mom worries when she comes home and you're all hurt. We need to get you cleaned up now before she gets off work."

"I don't know why people have a problem with me. I don't have a problem with me," Melanie said, making Shane nod, grinning.

"That's a good answer," he said.

                                                                                                ***

Melanie, sitting on the couch, sobbing into her hands, didn't want to look up at Leah. Leah was jotting something down and then set her clipboard on the desk and stood up, walked over to the couch and sat beside her, rubbing her back.

"The kingdom just...fell apart," Melanie said, "and my only option, when I turned 18, was to run as far away as I could."

"I still think you should call your mother," Leah said, "or your brother, or even see your father. Let's make another appointment for this coming week, and we'll see how you're feeling then. Does that sound good?"

Melanie nodded as Leah got back up and headed to her desk to schedule it in.

Maybe she was right. Maybe all Melanie needed to do was see her dad.

                                                                                                   ***

Gus answered his door after the first few knocks, only to find Melanie standing there, in rather civilian clothing much to his surprise, looking worn down. He opened the door a little bit wider and looked at her cautiously.

"You're not gonna yell at me again, are you?" he asked.

"I need you to come with me," she said, "Will you drive me somewhere?"

"...sure, let me get my keys and my coat," Gus said.

Neither one spoke in the car. Well, Gus did ask where they were going, but she wouldn't answer, so he just kept on driving, following her directions. Finally they pulled up, a bit ways out of the city, to the front of a cemetery. Gus pulled his jacket on and followed Melanie out of the car, and in through the front gates. He zipped his jacket up and shoved his hands in his pockets as he tried to keep pace with her.

"Graveyards creep me out," he said, the cold air in front of him clearly showing him his breath, "I don't like being human, cause only humans know they're going to die. Dogs don't have that kind of mental capacity for critical thinking, not on that same level of existentialism anyway. One day they're chewin' a bone or chasin' their tail, the next day they're dead. They don't know what's coming."

"Mortality is a completely natural thing to be afraid of," Melanie said.

"Oh, it's not mortality I'm afraid of," Gus said, "I like knowing that I CAN die, I just don't like knowing that I WILL die."

And then he bumped into her. He backed up and fixed his glasses, then looked at her again, as she knelt on the ground in front of them.

"Mel?"

"Gus," Melanie said, shining a flashlight on a headstone, "This is my dad. Dad, this is Gus."

"Uh, nice to meet you sir, nice place you've got here," Gus replied, awkwardly.

The headstone simply read, "R.I.P. Chris Irres, Father, Husband, Wonderful Man" and his birthdate to his enddate. Gus heard Melanie start to cry, and he put his hand on her shoulder, then knelt down beside her. Without warning, she pushed herself into his chest and squeezed him tightly, sobbing away. Gus just sat there, in the dark, for lord knows how long, letting her cry. He wasn't going to let her be alone. Not anymore.

He was her court jester, after all, and it was his duty to make her happy.

Gus and Melanie were sitting in Gus's rental car, a birthday cake in Melanie's lap, her arms crossed and she was pouting like an angry child as he drove towards Darren's. Melanie opened the lid of the cake box and scoffed at it.

"What?" Gus asked, "What is your problem? It's a nice looking cake."

"She doesn't deserve cake, she deserves a bowl of broken glass," Melanie said, "And then the glass turns into bears and eat her from the inside out."

"Look, when we get there, you need to be on your best behavior," Gus said, "This is her birthday, okay? How would you feel if someone ruined your birthday?"

"I don't celebrate my birthday anymore," Melanie said sternly, "So it doesn't really matter does it."

Birthdays were somewhat of a sore spot for Melanie, not that she ever really talked about it or acknowledged reality outside a few brief bursts. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat and leaned her head against the passenger side window, hearing the tiara on her head clink against the glass. She reached up, pulled it off and put it in her lap, then continued moping. Gus glanced over occasionally as he drove, wanting to say something to her, but unsure what. He could tell she felt bad, but he never really understood why.

"Well, we have to be nice if we want this girl to like us, so keep that in mind," Gus finally said.

"I want to jab her violently in the face with something sharp and pointy," Melanie replied.

"Nobody ever made friends with anyone by jabbing others in the face."

"Gus, if something happens to me in there, I want you to tell the kids I love them," Melanie said, and Gus looked at her, his brow raised.

"You don't have kids," he replied.

"Not my kids, the kids at the school."

"You want me, a man they don't know, to tell children that a woman they barely know, that she loves them? I could get arrested for that," Gus said.

"And do it shirtless," Melanie said, starting to chuckle.

                                                                                               ***

Emma was sitting in her living room, toying with the new keyboard Darren had gotten her for her birthday. He'd woken her up early, made her breakfast - not that that was an unusual occurrence, he did that a lot - and then covered her eyes as he led her to the living room where he then unveiled to her a brand new, and fairly expensive, keyboard. Emma loved it. Her old keyboard was broken in a million different ways, rendering it virtually unusable at this point, so he figured this was something she'd really appreciate. Darren was now back in the kitchen, cooking again so the guests would have snacks when they arrived, and he could hear her playing on it. He smiled to himself.

Emma had always wanted to be a musician, she'd roadied for bands back in the day, and she'd played instruments in school, but she eventually went into education instead, finding it to be a better use of her time. Still, she played a lot at home, and lately she'd been grumbling about wanting to do something more with her musical skills, maybe release a record online or something. Darren was nothing if not supportive of her creative interests, so he figured the least he could do was get her the equipment necessary to create such a thing.

Emma came into the kitchen and poured herself some coffee, then leaned against the island counter watching Darren chop some cheese.

"It sounds good," he said.

"Yeah, it's...it's high end, I'm...I feel kind of bad, I...I make more money than you do and yet you bought me this really fancy thing," Emma said.

"Eh, our money is pooled, so it doesn't matter. Besides, you're worth it," he replied, leaning over the island, touching her chin and kissing her. As the kiss ended, she blushed and sipped on her coffee some more, looking back towards the living room.

"I'd be lying if I didn't say I was afraid though. I've always wanted to make music professionally, but now that I have the chance I'm...I don't know, I'm kind of questioning my abilities," Emma said, "And I know what you're gonna say, so you can just skip the whole 'but you're so talented' spiel, cause I know I am, I won't deny it, but I'm not worried that I'm not talented but more worried whether that that talent won't find the audience I want it to, or that the audience simply doesn't exist."

"I think these are all valid fears for an artist of one manner or another to experience," Darren said, handing her a small cutting of cheese and then eating one himself, "But, you know, you just do it anyway, cause it's what you do. If you make things, you make it for you, because it has to be made, and if it enriches the lives of anyone else? Hell, that's just a bonus."

Emma smirked and hugged him as they heard a knock at the front door. The hug broke and Emma went to answer, leaving Darren to his cooking duties. When she opened the door, Gus and Melanie were standing there.

"Hey!" Emma said, "Come on in, you guys are the first ones here."

The two entered the house and Gus handed her the cake. She took it, smiling politely, and walked it back to the kitchen, leaving them to explore momentarily. Gus walked towards a bookshelf and admired the titles on it while Melanie approached a small glass box towards one corner of the room.

"Oh my GOD," Melanie said, "She is a witch! She's turned this poor person into a frog!"

"Melanie, that's just a frog," Gus said, pointing at the label on the tank, "See? His name is Pooka."

"Does anyone want wine?" Emma asked, entering again, holding a few glasses and a bottle.

"God yes please," Gus muttered, taking a glass from her and waiting as she uncorked the wine and began pouring; his eyes spotted the keyboard, "Wow, nice piece of tech."

"Darren gave me that this morning," Emma responded, smiling happily.

"You play music?" he asked, sipping his wine and approaching the keyboard for a better look.

"Only as a hobby at the moment. I think everyone should have a hobby to escape their work life," Emma said.

"Oh I know your hobby," Melanie mumbled to herself, "turning children into goblins and...and....sucking blood out of people and turning into a bat...no, that's a Vampire, what do witches do?"

"Hey," Darren said, entering the room, nodding at Mel, making her brighten up a bit before turning his attention to Emma, "Your dad just got here."

Melanie's blood ran cold. Emma excused herself again, and as she and Darren exited the room back to the kitchen to let her father in through the side door, Gus's cell phone beeped. He sighed and pulled it out of his pocket, unlocking it and looking at the screen before gritting his teeth. Melanie stood up and approached him as he furiously typed back on the phone, muttering under his breath.

"We had a goddamned arrangement, this is unacceptable," he said.

"What's going on?" Melanie asked.

"I think I have to go," Gus replied, turning back to her.

"No, don't leave me here," Melanie said, "Please. Her dad just got here, I don't wanna be left alone, I barely know these people. You're my only source of protection."

"I'm really sorry Mel, but I have something I have to attend to, it's urgent," Gus said, finishing his wine in one fell swig and then hugging her before heading back out the front door. Just as he exited, Emma and an older man in a suit entered from the kitchen.

"Melanie, this is my father, Patrick," she said, as he held out his hand.

Melanie glanced at the hand and then at Emma and then back at the hand. A million different possibilities of how to handle this went through her head, and she eventually settled with the simplest one. Run away. So, Melanie turned and headed down the hall, towards the bathroom, where she locked herself inside. Patrick looked at Emma, who merely shrugged. Emma then excused herself and headed to the bathroom. She knocked lightly on the door.

"Melanie?" she asked softly, "Are you alright? Can I come in?"

No response.

"Melanie, you have to let me in, this is my bathroom," she said, slightly laughing, "Come on, open the door. We'll talk."

After a few moments of silence, the lock on the door clicked, and Emma gently pushed it open with her fingertips, entering the bathroom cautiously. She find Melanie sitting on the side of the tub, looking at her tiara, tears rolling down her face. Emma sat down beside her and exhaled, wondering just what to say. But, before she could get a word out, Melanie spoke, her voice cracking, sounding tired and worn down.

"I'm sorry, this is your birthday and I'm ruining it," she said, "I just...I wasn't expecting your father to be here. I don't know why I didn't expect your father to be here. It is your birthday after all, it only makes sense to have your family, your loved ones, around you on a celebratory day of life."

"Melanie, I've been seeing a woman for a few months now, her name is Leah Anderson. She's a therapist," Emma said, "Perhaps you should talk to her. I think whatever it is that you're dealing with, she could help you much more than I could. I'm your friend, or I'm trying to be, but I'm not a therapist."

Melanie nodded and put her tiara back on her head, then looked at Emma, who took her hand and smiled before leaning in to hug her and rub her back.

"It'll be okay," Emma said softly.

"Yeah, now kiss her," Darren said, standing in the doorway, watching.

The two of them glared at him, and he quickly exited.

                                                                                               ***

Back at her apartment that evening, Melanie was sitting on her bed, just looking at photos. She rarely looked at these anymore, as all they did was bringing her reality rushing back into her fantasy, and making her extremely uncomfortable. As she flipped through the pages of her photo album, she heard a knock on her bedroom door, and Gus entered, having apparently let himself into her apartment. She looked at him and smiled weakly as he took a seat on the bed.

"Sorry about rushing off like that earlier," Gus said, "I really did have an emergency."

"It's okay, things went better than expected," Melanie replied, "Did I ever tell you about my 6th birthday party? It was wonderful, we had a bounce castle and a fake dragon to slay and my father even hired a jester to tell jokes and entertain us. It was my official royal coronation, and I was so happy. Everyone liked my dress, and my tiara..."

Melanie slowly reached up and removed the tiara on her head, holding it out in front of them.

"...that was this tiara," she continued, her voice sounding weaker, "...this is the same tiara they got me for my birthday. It's made of real gems and metal. It's not just a cheap toy tiara. I was a real princess, daddy's little princess, and this was his gift to me, this tiara. He gave it to me the night before my birthday so I could make sure to really be the daughter of royalty the following day."

Gus smiled weakly, "That's a really nice story, Mel."

"But my birthday didn't go so well, and now I don't celebrate it anymore, and I no longer speak to the king or queen, or even my brother the prince. Life is better for them without me, much as I'd like to return to the kingdom, take my rightful place on the throne, I know it's better if I don't."

"Maybe instead you can make a kingdom of your own," Gus said, holding her hand as she laid on her side and shut her eyes.

"Maybe," she said, yawning, "One day."

Gus sat and watched her breath, falling easily into sleep. When he thought she was done, he pulled the photo albums off the bed and pulled a blanket up over her, then patted her head and set her tiara gently on the bedside table. He smiled at her, and knew that, even for as weird as she was, she really was in need of a friend, and that friendship was now his duty whether he wanted it to be or not. Thankfully, he did. He needed a friend too. Gus turned to leave when he heard her murmur, and he stopped in the doorway, looking back at the bed.

"Don't leave me," she said, and he nodded, coming and sitting back down with her on the bed, rubbing her back.

"Goodnight your highness," he said softly.

Melanie was playing with the radio, fiddling around with the dials, as Gus drove. He continually glanced over at her fingers, twirling the dials in circular motions to hopefully eventually find something suitable to listen to, and eventually he swatted her hand away, gripped the dial with his finger and ripped it out of the dashboard. He then sighed and rubbed his forehead as Melanie sunk back into her chair, looking perturbed.

"You know, this is a rental," she finally said softly.

"Son of a bitch, you're right," Gus growled.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm excited to get to this faire. Will there be magic? Dragons? Games and food and entertainment abound! What are you looking forward to?" Melanie asked, quickly bouncing back and grinning at him as Gus ran a hand through his silky black hair.

"Same thing I look forward to every year..." he said, "...facing down The Black Knight. Ever since high school, I've gone to this faire every year and fought The Black Knight. They always beat me, and I'm always laughed off the field, but that all changes today. This year...this is my year."

Melanie stared at him, her brow furrowed, and she very casually shook her head, sighing.

"That is bar none the worst glory days story I've ever heard," she mumbled.

The drive to the fair was about an hour away, and the whole ride was filled with nothing but Melanie asking Gus about his history with The Black Knight. He regaled her with tale after tale of loss after loss, and even one or two near wins, and she listened intently, completely engulfed in his story telling like a small child in a bedtime story. When they finally arrived at the faire, they paid for their parking - or rather Gus paid for their parking - and then drove around in the lot for a good while struggling to find a single parking spot.

As they circled more and more, it was becoming evident that Gus had not anticipated this setback, nor had he prepared with a backup plan. Melanie was no real help either, continually pointing out spots that either were not big enough, or simply not parking spots, like right between a collection of porta potties. Finally they shouted, pointing at a spot, shaking Gus with her free non pointing hand as she said ecstatically, "There's one! Right there! That gentleman is backing his chariot out!"

Gus smiled, nodding, happy to finally be done with this, and as he positioned his rental car to pull in, another car swooped in front of them and stole it. Melanie looked at Gus, who appeared steaming mad; gritting his teeth, his clenched knuckles on the steering wheel turning bright red.

"Um...are you okay?" she finally asked.

"Stay. Here," he said sternly, undoing his seatbelt and climbing out of the car.

Gus approached the other vehicle and knocked on the car door. The window rolled down and someone wearing a black knight helmet turned to look at him, waving casually. Gus threw his arms up into the air in frustration, beginning to pace.

"Of course, of course it's you!" he shouted, "You would do something like this, because you're evil! You're evil and you eat newborn babies for breakfast!"

The Black Knight got out of their car and sheathed their sword before looking at Gus and shaking their head.

"You need to chill, man," they said, before heading towards the faire.

Gus walked back to his car, fuming mad, as he began to pull away and search for another spot to park.

"Was that them?" Mel asked, and Gus sighed.

"Mark my words, today is my day," Gus grumbled.

                                                                                             ***

Once inside, Gus and Melanie parted ways, as Gus had to prepare for the joust. Melanie, now left to her own devices, simply wandered the fairegrounds until she could find Emma and Darren, all the while taking in the sights and sounds around her, beaming the whole time, feeling like she was finally home. There were blacksmiths and mystics, a tavern and petting zoos, and everyone - young and old alike - were decked out in era specific garb.

She finally spotted Darren over by a tent selling giant turkey legs, one of which he was chomping down on at that very moment, and Emma was nowhere in sight. Melanie waved at him, and began her approach. Darren smiled as she walked towards him and perched herself on a short wooden fence next to him as he ate.

"It's a good thing you were able to make it, we need all the help that we can get," Darren said, "I'm never enough help it seems and every year Emma appears to run herself ragged trying to watch after all these kids."

"That sounds thankless," Mel said quietly, scoffing, as Darren chewed and nodded.

"I don't wanna sound like a jerk, but I kind of agree. I don't dislike children by any means, but I certainly don't think I'd ever want any myself," he said.

"I don't like children," Melanie said, "Or anyone, really, of any age or gender."

"Well, here, she left me this card for you with the students you'll be responsible for," Darren said, handing Melanie a small index card with a collection of kids names on it, before turning towards a group of children at a nearby petting zoo and calling out to them so as to gather them around, where, once gathered, he said, "Kids, you'll be with Melanie today, so do as she says and don't misbehave, alright? Behave."

He looked at Melanie and smiled, before walking away as Melanie glanced down the card before glancing at the kids and sighing.

"Well," she said, "...who wants to go to the tavern?"

                                                                                             ***

Standing in the preparation area, pulling his armor on and muttering to himself, Gus couldn't shake the idea that he might, in fact, just lose this year again. He wanted more than anything else to beat The Black Knight; in fact, since his life fell apart a few years ago, it was all he'd really been looking forward to. He shut his locker door and turned, hearing chainmail swing nearby. Standing there was The Black Knight, leaning on their sword, watching him casually.

"This is my year," Gus said quietly, "You'll see."

"You really think so, huh?"

"I know so," Gus replied, "I watched instructional videos on jousting, I even took a class."

"Gus," The Black Knight said, "Jousting isn't a skill you can learn. It's something that's passed down in your blood, like painting...or being sexually gifted in the bedroom."

"Both of which I am an expert in," Gus said, smirking, making The Black Knight laugh.

"Well," The Black Knight said, "I will defeat you this year, just as I have done every single year. You will fall face first into the dirt, and then walk with your head hung in shame to your sad little car which you'll use to drive to your sad little hovel where you'll sadly cry yourself to sleep wondering when your life became so sad as you beg the lord to make you as amazing as I am."

"That's what you may think," Gus said, now turning to face them, stepping up and pointing in their face, his teeth baring, "But this year belongs to me, you'll see!"

The Black Knight looked down at Gus's shoes and then back up at him, very casually pushing hand out of their helmeted face.

"You're standing in manure," they said, before turning and walking out of the tent.

Gus glanced downwards, realizing they weren't lying, and sighed.

"...I hate this fuckin' faire," he whispered.

                                                                                              ***

Sitting at the bar on a stool, letting the kids run in behind her, Melanie sighed and looked at the bartender who was washing a glass across from her. He glanced up at her, at the sound of the ruckus, and approached her, lowering his voice.

"Hey, these kids can't be in here," he said, "They aren't adults."

"Of course they are, they're...Hobbits!" Melanie said, after thinking for a moment.

"That wasn't actually historical," the bartender replied, staring at her in disbelief.

"How dare you," Melanie said, "I'll have you know, good sir, that you're insulting these brave men and women who lived through the dark times of Sauron."

The bartender shook his head and went to tend to other customers as Melanie dug her hand into a bowl of snack mix on the countertop. She heard the stool beside her pull out and glanced over to see The Black Knight seating themselves beside her, and Melanie's eyes lit up.

"You're the black knight!" she said excitedly.

"How observant of you," they replied.

"I could tell cause you're a knight, in black armor," Melanie sound, sounding oddly proud.

"Wow, you're so knowledgeable, I'm impressed," the Black Knight said, trying to get the bartenders attention, "How'd you get this princess gig, did you just win a raffle?"

"Black Knight!" a voice called out loudly, and everyone looked towards the door of the tavern, to see Gus standing there, in full armor. The Black Knight stood up as well, pacing around the tavern, staring Gus down as he pointed with his sword at them and continued, "Every year you beat me, but I'm calling you out! This is the year, this is my time!"

"We'll just see about that," The Black Knight said, approaching him and lowering their voice to a near growl, "Meet me at the ring in 5 minutes."

Melanie walked up to Gus and looked at his armor.

"How hard is it to walk in that?" she asked.

"Extremely, I'm not very strong and it's very heavy," Gus said quietly.

Gus and Melanie exited the tavern, the children right behind them. Suddenly she felt Emma put a hand on her shoulder, and turned to see she looked somewhat upset. Melanie looked at the kids and put her arms up.

"Everyone, listen to me! Follow Noble Gustopher here to the jousting ring, and wait there!" Melanie said, the kids all listening, before she turned her attention back to Emma and asked, "What's wrong?"

"I need your help," she said, "There's this girl, her name is Sally, and she's extremely upset. Her parents are divorced, and her father hasn't been able to see her much lately but he managed to get a job here this year to spend more time with her and then was unable to make it, and, understandably, she's extremely upset about the situation. I would deal with her myself on any other day, but I just don't have the time or energy, so could you maybe talk to her?"

"What's in it for me?" Melanie asked, folding her arms.

"...feeling like a good person?" Emma responded, confused.

"Well that's a ripoff," Melanie muttered, following Emma to where Sally was holed up, behind a nearby tent, her face buried in her arms, crying. Emma nodded at Melanie, then quietly made her exit as Melanie sat down beside Sally and sighed. For a moment, neither one said a word, and then Melanie finally spoke.

"You're not alone," Melanie said, "Kings and Queens are supposed to stay together forever, but sometimes kingdoms fall apart, and sometimes Kings go away. Kings constantly fail their offspring, even if unintentionally, and rarely seem to think about how their shortcomings affect their own children. They tell lies, thinking they're protecting us but those lies only ever really end up hurting us, not protecting us."

"Did your dad lie to you?" Sally asked, looking up.

"...in a way, yes," Melanie replied, just as trumpets started sounding a bit away from them and both girls looked up and around for the source of the noise; then it dawned on Melanie and she grinned, "The joust must be starting! Come on, let's go watch Gus get hurt, that would cheer anyone up!"

So Melanie picked Sally up, put her on her shoulders and together they ran to the jousting ring, where Gus was standing inside by a horse, brushing it down. Melanie leaned against the rail and shouted at him, making him look her way and smile a little. It was one of the rare times he found he was genuinely appreciative her friendship, taxing as it may often be. He approached Melanie and stared at her for a moment, then hugged her, surprising the both of them as an announcers voice rang out over the crowd.

"Hello ladies and gentleman, and welcome to the 35th annual Jousting Tournament! As is tradition, normal faire going people will be able to spar off the ever present, the ever dangerous, the ever terrifying champion, the Black Knight!"

The Black Knight strolled into the ring, pulling their horse behind them, as the crowd booed and hissed at them. They stopped and threw their arms up in the air, in a rather grand gesture of force.

"Who dare has the gall to challenge me? I  shall defeat thee with my own brute strength, and thou shall fall to their doom!" they roared towards the crowd.

Melanie grabbed Gus's shoulders and started pushing him back towards the center of the ring, shouting, pointing at him.

"Oh, him! He will! This guy, right here! He'll do it! Don't worry folks, he does this every year, and he always loses!" Melanie shouted, cheering, the crowd cheering along with her as she made her way back to the rail and hopped it, standing back beside Sally.

Gus climbed onto his horse, the Black Knight doing the same, as they circled one another, speaking loudly for the crowd to hear.

"So," the Black Knight said, "you wish to challenge me again?"

"I've been telling you all day that I was," Gus replied, as the Black Knight rode up to them and whispered.

"It's for the crowd, man, come on. Play it up," they said, and Gus nodded, understanding.

"Yes! Tis I, Gus The Great, here to vanquish thee foul demon back to the hell from whence you came!" Gus said loudly, getting the crowd to cheer in his honor, as the Black Knight scoffed and rode to their starting point, Gus turning their horse to do the same. He was feeling sick in his stomach, could he possibly do this? Would this really be his year? Would this be the moment his luck began to change? They stood at their respective marks, turned on their horses to face one another, and at the sound of the trumpet, rocketed towards one another, their jousts sticking outwards defensively.

As he listened to his horses hooves clop in the dirt, Gus shut his eyes, knowing he was nearing either yet another failure or an incredible unexpected success. Either way, he didn't want to see it when it happened. And then, it was over; in what felt like a span of seconds, the joust was over, and the crowd was quiet. Gus opened his eyes and was still on his horse. He looked back behind him and saw the Black Knight was getting up off the ground, backing away from him, putting their hand to their helmet in shock. Gus looked out towards the crowd, grinning in his moment of glory.

"I won!" he screamed, "I won!"

He then looked at his arm and saw the Black Knight's lance was sticking through his arm.

"What the fuck?!" he screamed.

                                                                                                 ***

Gus, sitting in the back of an ambulance with his arm in a sling, was shaking his head in disbelief.

Sure, he'd finally won, but humiliated himself in a new, even worse way. He sighed and ran his hand over his face, just wanting to go home. Melanie was helping Emma get the kids on the bus, so Gus was sitting alone when he heard the sound of metal clanking nearby and watched as the Black Knight approached him, taking a seat beside him on the ambulance bumper.

"Well, you have a cool scar for chicks now," they said, making Gus smirk.

"Gee, thanks," Gus replied.

"Plus, you did defeat me," the Black Knight said, "Even if your arm took the sacrifice. Nevertheless, I have to admit, I'm impressed. Oh god, I have to get out of this thing."

The Black Knight reached up and pulled their helmet off, releasing a bundle of long, wavy chestnut brown hair and green eyes. She looked back at Gus as she set her helmet in her lap and smiled, running her hands through her hair. Gus had never seen them without their helmet, and certainly hadn't expected them to be a woman.

"That's better, it gets unbelievably hot in there," she said, grinning, "So, to show you how sorry I am, how about I drive you home? Cause I don't think you can drive yourself. We can even stop and get something to eat, cause I'm starving."

"...that...would be really nice, yeah," Gus said quietly, blushing.

Melanie and Gus met up before he took off, and he informed her of his plans, meaning she was going to be heading home in Emma and Darren's car, which she didn't seem to mind much. As everyone got into their separate cars, Melanie in the backseat of Emma's small car, it felt like the day was a great success. Emma fell asleep rather quickly in the passenger seat, leaving Darren and Melanie alone to talk on the long ride home. Melanie was propped up against the door in the back, looking out the window and sighing.

"Did you have a good time?" Darren asked.

"It was okay, yeah," Melanie said, "...it makes me miss my kingdom though. It was all rather bittersweet, honestly. Just made me want to go home."

"You can't go home?" Darren asked.

"There's a good chance there's no kingdom to even go home to," Mel said, her voice softening, quivering, "...without the king, what good is a kingdom. I can't rule it alone. That's why I need to find my Prince Charming, so he can rule it with me. We could make a great team, unlike the King and Queen, who failed to work together to fulfill their duties."

Darren got a sad look on his face, realizing Melanie was opening up in her own weird way.

"For what it's worth," Darren said, "I can't really go home either. But you know what, I'm gonna help you find your Prince Charming. Everyone deserves to be loved by someone, especially if their parents failed to do the one job they had."

Melanie smiled.

"Thank you, Darren," she said, yawning, "You're a noble knight."

"I really am, aren't I?" Darren asked, chuckling.

Melanie was asleep in seconds after the conversation came to a lull, leaving Darren alone to drive home in silence, thinking. Thinking about his own childhood, his own father who'd failed him, his own mother who'd hurt him. He began to believe that perhaps he and Melanie had a lot more in common than he'd ever considered, and that maybe they'd met for a reason. Maybe they could help one another, in some way. He glanced over at Emma and smiled warmly, realizing just how lucky he was to have found someone like her. Someone he could truly confide in and protect, be a real partner with. He knew what Melanie meant, about kings and queens failing to maintain and union, and he felt like he was working extra hard to prove his own folks wrong about how easy it actually was to be with another person.

Darren began to believe that night, on that car ride home, that maybe Melanie wasn't as warped as he'd been led to believe.

That maybe she was more sane than any of them.

Melanie hadn't expected to be spending her free time with Darren's girlfriend, especially while she worked, but once he'd learned about her job search and offered to set her up as Emma's teaching assistant, there was no way she could say no. She was trying to win him over, after all, so being flexible and easy to work with seemed to be the best way to make a good first impression, she figured. But now, sitting here at the picnic table, watching Emma's students play outside, Melanie was reminded just how little she actually enjoyed children.

"Don't you just love the sound of childrens laughter?" Emma asked, her hands in her lap, her face bright with the happiness her job brought to her.

"Not particularly, no, I find it quite irritating, actually," Melanie replied.

"Well I love it," Emma remarked.

"Almost like a car alarm, or a...a...hot pepper," Melanie continued, paying Emma no attention.

"Children are just so full of life, it just...it makes you feel good to be around them. I want children one day," Emma added, waving at a couple of her students as they raced by chasing a ball.

"Or like some kind of hybrid car alarm that somehow mated with a hot pepper, and now when the alarm sounds, you not only get burned but you also go deaf," Melanie finished, now totally lost in her train of thought.

"Watch the kids, I have to use the restroom," Emma said, standing up and walking away, leaving Melanie alone. Sitting there, watching the kids play, Melanie wasn't at all reminded of her own childhood, mostly because she barely could recall most of it as it was. As she stared blankly off into space, a few kids wandered up to her, catching her attention.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Are you gonna be our new teacher?" one boy asked, and Melanie laughed.

"Lord no, I'm just your teachers assistant, even though I easily could be your new teacher, as I know just as much about history as she does. I grew up in a castle after all, I know all there is to know about lords and kings and medieval times."

"Tell us about George Washington," another boy asked, and Melanie stumbled on her words, quickly realizing she didn't know as much as she thought she did. If she truly was going to become Darren's new love, and replace Emma altogether, she figured she would have to learn all she could, and quickly.

                                                                                             ***

Gus opened his apartment door after a solid few minutes of nonstop knocking, only to find Melanie standing there.

"Here we go," Gus said under his breath, as she pushed her way inside.

"I need your help! I need you to teach me all there is to know about history, and pronto!" she exclaimed.

"I don't know jack shit about history," Gus replied, turning around, hands on his hips as he watched her pace across his apartment floor.

"Well we need to learn, because I told the kids Emma teaches that I'm far superior in my knowledge of history than she is, and they asked me about George Washington and I told them that he lived in England and poisoned 3 women and was therefore executed for his horrendous crimes!"

Gus stared at Melanie blankly, before rubbing his face, groaning.

"That's George Chapman, and he was a serial killer," he mumbled.

"Politician, serial killer, what's the difference," Melanie said, throwing her arms up in the air.

"Well, fair argument, sure."

"The point is, they told me that I was wrong, which means that we must now go to..." Melanie trailed off as she approached Gus, grasping him by the shoulders, her voice lowering to a whisper, "...the keeper of the knowledge."

"You mean the library?" Gus asked, Melanie nodding in response. So, Gus and Melanie got their coats and headed downstairs to Gus's new rental car, which he started up and drove them off to the library in. Once there, Gus helped Melanie gather a number of history textbooks, despite them being somewhat older and not as up to date as the ones used in schools currently, and, thanks to Melanie's insistence, a copy of "The Precious Little Puppy" because, as she so aptly put it, "there's an adorable dog in it." Gus could not argue with this. But once back at his apartment, the two quickly found themselves spiraling into despair, as Melanie's attention span seemed to wax and wane, being unable to focus for more than any particular period of time to learn something, thusly frustrating Gus. Melanie now was lying on the couch, a history book over her face, muffling her voice, as Gus paced, reading from a different history book.

"This isn't working," Melanie whined, "I'm a visual learner, you need to make this interesting! Oh! I know!" Melanie jumped upright, almost joyous, "How about a puppet show!? We used to have them in the castle for my birthday all the time! They're magical, it's a show put on just for you, and it makes you feel special!"

Melanie quickly leapt to her feet and began grabbing a handful of socks off the floor, shoving them into Gus's arms. He looked at this sock lump and furrowed his brow, digging through it until he found two in particular he liked. He pulled them up over his arms, then ducked down below the coffee table and propped his elbows on the top, as Melanie seated herself, giddily, back on the couch to watch.

"Presenting the Giggles and Noodles Happy Puppet History Hour!" Gus exclaimed, in an over the top high voice, before turning one puppet towards the other, "Hey Giggles, I need to learn stuff really quickly because I have a history test tomorrow!", Gus then opened the other socks mouth, stating, "Well it just so happens, Noodles, that I know a lot about history! For instance, did you know that-"

"Gus, I...I didn't think it was possible to suck at puppet shows, but, damn it all, you proved me wrong," Melanie said, resting her chin on her hand, looking extremely bored.

Gus turned one of the socks towards her, and spoke in character, "Well, you could learn a thing or two from Gus, young lady, he knows what he's talking about!"

"Oh come off it, Gus doesn't know anything, he admitted that himself," Melanie said, sitting up, looking annoyed.

"Actually Gus knows a lot! You just never want to listen to him!" Gus continued, via sock puppet.

"That's because he is an idiot," Melanie retorted.

"Maybe you're the idiot," Gus replied, still via sock puppet, thus making Melanie stand up, looking angry.

"Who do you think you're talking to, sock?! I am a princess, thank you very much!"

"Yeah, princess of the idiots, maybe," Gus continued, via sock puppet.

"I don't have to sit here and take this sort of abuse from a polycotton blend, screw you Noodles, go to hell!" Melanie shouted, standing up fully and storming out of the apartment, slamming the door behind her. Gus finally came up from the floor, looking somewhat upset, before looking at his two sock puppets.

"You guys wanna order a pizza?" he asked them, making them nod their heads in response.

                                                                                                  ***

Emma was standing in the kitchen, doing dishes, while Darren chopped some things up for dinner. The water sloshing over her hands as she washed the plates squeaky clean, the sound of water in a pot on the stove bubbling, this was all Darren had ever wanted with her, and now he had it, and was happy as hell about it. But Emma had other things on her mind. She finally turned the water off and turned towards Darren, leaning against the sink.

"Why did you hire that girl to help me?" she asked.

"Because she seems unstable, and she needed a job," Darren said, "I just thought it was nice to do."

"Sure, sure, I get that, I just...I don't need a teaching assistant, first of all, not only because I'm the best at what I do but also because it's elementary school and not a high end course in college where her help might actually be appreciated and necessary. Now she's claiming she knows more than I do, stating she could run my class," Emma said, starting to grip the sink in anger, "Why do the kids seem to like her more? Is she prettier than me?"

"Of course not, come on," Darren said, slicing into a tomato.

"You're my boyfriend, you have to say that."

"No I don't," Darren replied, laughing.

"Well she's not smarter than me, that's for sure, at least not about history. Is she just more overall likeable? Approachable? Is that it? Is that the problem? Am I...scary, or something?" Emma asked, now sounding genuinely upset.

"Scary's a strong word," Darren said, setting his knife down, wiping his hands on his jeans and turning to face her, crossing his arms, "I think maybe she just feels more like a mom to kids than you do. She has a weird sort of comforting warmth to her. She kind of feels like a mom, you know?"

"And I don't? What do I feel like?" Emma asked.

"Uh..."

"Darren?"

"There's no way this ends well for me, is there?"

"What do I feel like?"

"You're more like the distant aunt who went through a rough divorce," Darren said, "But don't get me wrong, I find that much more attractive!"

"You're right, there was no way this ends well for you," Emma responded, starting to go back to washing dishes.

"You wanted me to tell you!" Darren exclaimed.

"So you lie! That's what a relationship is all about!"

"I'm sorry, I'll try to be a worse boyfriend from now on!" Darren said.

"Good, see that you do!" Emma replied, as they both went back to their tasks, both smirking to themselves, knowing moments like these really were why they worked so well together.

                                                                                              ***
Melanie was lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling, when Gus entered her bedroom. She rolled onto her side, away from him, towards the wall, as he approached the bed and took a seat. He sighed and rubbed his forehead, scratching his hair.

"Look, I...I'm sorry," Gus said, "I don't...I've never really had a friend, exactly, so I'm not the best at helping people, because it's not something that's ever really been expected of me. But...but I shouldn't have been so mean. That wasn't cool of me. I know this is important to you, but I also think you need to think about how it feels to Emma."

Melanie sat back up now, looking at him sternly, noticing one sock still on his arm.

"You're still wearing that stupid thing?" she asked.

"Don't talk about Noodles that way," Gus said softly, pretending to cover the socks ears with his other hand, making Melanie chuckle, as he continued, "You threatened to take away the one thing she really cares about, her job and her work with kids, her connection with her students...I mean, just...just think about how you'd feel if you lost the most important thing in your life, you know?"

Melanie opened her mouth to make a counter argument, before noticing a man in a suit standing in the doorway behind Gus. Gus turned to look at whatever she saw, but there was nobody there. He turned back to Melanie, his brow furrowed, looking somewhat concerned.

"Mel?" he asked, "Your highness?"

"You're right," she said quietly, "You're...you're right."

Just then her phone rang, and she looked at the caller ID.

"It's Emma," she said.

"I think you should answer," Gus replied, smiling, patting her leg.

                                                                                              ***
Melanie was understandably wary of agreeing to meet Emma in the small diner she'd asked to meet at that evening, but she decided to go ahead and do it anyway. She figured the least she could do was maybe apologize for her behavior, and hope that Emma and Darren wouldn't "fire" her, not that she'd ever actually been properly "hired" in the first place, and was more just a guest in the classroom than anything. But when Mel got to the diner, she spotted Emma already there, seated in a booth, sipping a cup of coffee. Melanie walked over there and sat down across from her, not making eye contact.

"Melanie," Emma started, "I wanted to meet with you because-"

"I'm sorry," Melanie started, trying not to cry, "I...I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I tried to take the most important thing in your life to you away, I had absolutely no right to do that. You're a good teacher, and a good person, and I'm just some weirdo your boyfriend feels sorry for."

"...Melanie, it's okay, I wanted to-"

"Nobody should lose the most important thing in their life," Melanie continued, interrupting her, "I know what that's like."

Emma smiled, and put her hand on the table, letting Melanie hold it, comforting her.

"Do you want some pie?" Emma asked, "Let me order some pie."

                                                                                           ***

"Am I smart?" Emma asked, lying in bed that night while Darren read a book.

"For the millionth time today, yes, it's what initially attracted me to you," Darren said.

"But I'm more than just smart, right?" Emma asked, "I worry sometimes that that's my sole defining characteristic. I feel so one dimensional, like this is all that I am, a pathetic little school teacher who lives a boring mundane life and-"

"When I was a kid," Darren said, putting his book down and interrupting her.

"Hey, I was complaining."

"I know," Darren continued, "Shut up for a minute and listen to me. When I was a kid, my father, who was not a great guy for the record, took me to some ball games now and then. At one of these games, he pointed at a man collecting bats, and he told me 'Darren, that mans entire purpose in life is to pick up other peoples shit', and while I'm almost certain he meant it derogatorily, in a 'don't waste your life like that guy' sort of way, I took it more as an example of not letting what I do for a living define who I am as a person. Just because you teach for a living, don't let your career for a second make you think that you're boring, because you're not."

"I'm not?" Emma asked, smiling.

"When we met, you were a roadie for a rock band. You were a wholly different person in every single way, except for one...you knew who you were, and who you wanted to be. You didn't let the simple fact that you hauled equipment around define you, and you always were telling me that just because you carry stuff for other musicians doesn't mean you aren't musically inclined yourself. That one day you too would be interested in making music. You're cool, Emma, you're cool and smart, and honestly just because you live a more domesticated lifestyle these days doesn't erase those facets of your personality. If anything, it only empowers them more."

Emma smirked and kissed him, snuggling up to him.

"You said you were gonna be a worse boyfriend, you know," she said, "You're always going back on your word."

"Don't worry, I'll have an affair this week," Darren replied, the both of them laughing as he continued reading his book and holding her.

                                                                                            ***

One distinct memory Melanie did have was the funeral.

She was about 7 years old, seated in a pew all alone staring at the casket at the front of the church, when a man approached her from behind and took a seat beside her, holding her hand, though she barely noticed. After a moment, she glanced up at him and managed a weak smile.

"Hi Uncle Burt," she eeked out softly.

"How you doin', kiddo? You okay?" he asked.

"I'm sad."

Burt put his arm around her and pulled her close, kissing the top of her head.

"Sometimes reality is hard to accept, and it makes us sad. Sometimes it's so much, that it makes you have to take a break and back away from it all. Step away from everything, to maybe finally feel sort of happy again, you understand? You like fairytales, right?" he asked, and she nodded, so he continued, "Alright, so wouldn't you prefer to live in a world like that than the one we have now? That's what I'm saying. We'd all love to do that, escape into our fantasies, but eventually we have to face what's happened. We have to come back to reality. Otherwise we're not really living."

Neither one spoke for a bit, until Melanie pushed her little tear stained faced into his side and hugged him tightly.

"I miss him," she cried, and he stroked her hair.

"I know you do, sweetheart. We all do," he said.

The banging had started again, just like the last few weeks, waking every dog in the neighborhood, cajoling them into fits of barking, filling the night sky with frustrated howls. Melanie groaned, sat up out of bed, put her tiara back into her hair and opened the window, leaning out to see where the noise was coming from. Same place as always...Paul. She crossed her arms on the windowsill and yawned.

"What time is it?" she asked, as Paul stopped his banging and looked up at her.

"6:30 in the morning, I didn't wake you, did I?" he asked, and she smiled sweetly, shaking her head.

"What're you building anyway?" she asked as Paul continued to hammer.

"I'm building an Ark," he replied.

"Why?"

"Because he told me to."

Melanie squinted, a bit confused. She stretched and stood up a bit straighter now, rubbing her eyes.

"Who told you to?" Melanie asked.

"Do you believe in angels, your highness?" he asked, and she nodded.

"I believe in some sort of higher power, some sort of power that guides us along a path of eventual..." Melanie said, stopping and scratching her head as Paul set his hammer down and looked up at her, hands on his hips.

"Destruction?" he asked, and she laughed.

"No, that's not it," she replied.

"Redemption?"

"A path of...like, understanding, you know? It'll show us what we're supposed to do, so if this power tells you to build an ark, then you build an ark! It told me to find my kingdom, and that's exactly what I'm going to do! So what's the plan with this ark once it's done?" Melanie asked, checking the clock beside her on the desk.

"Well, hopefully it'll be done before the flood," Paul said, picking his hammer back up, "I'll save you a throne, if you wish."

"Thank you Paul. I have to go now, I have duties to attend to today," Melanie said, and they waved goodbye to one another. She came back into her bedroom, shut the window and looked around before heading to the closet to get dressed. Melanie picked out her favorite frilly dress, pulled her pointy princess hat from the mannequin head on her dresser and placed it lovingly atop her own, and then put on her little black pumps before finally picking up her purse and heading out the door.

Every morning was the same, and she was getting tired of having to take care of herself. She could remember a time when she had servants and castle staff to wait on her hand and foot, and she missed those times, recalling them fondly. Now she was forced to get her own breakfast, mend her own clothes, tend to her own personal cares. This was surely no life for a princess, she assumed. Locking the door behind her, she turned and saw a hispanic man standing there, locking his own door, and she smiled.

"It's such a lovely morning, isn't it my subject? Are you moving in?" Melanie asked, and he nodded.

"Yeah, I took Mrs. Lieberman's place," he replied.

"What happened to Mrs. Lieberman?" Melanie asked, and the man raised his hands, wiggling his fingers.

"Noooobody knooows," he said, "actually she just moved out."

Melanie sighed and leaned against her door, shutting her eyes, appearing wistful.

"One day I too shall leave this dungeon and move back in with my mother and father," she said.

"And really, isn't that the dream?" the man asked.

"I'm Princess Melanie Irres, it's a pleasure to meet you!" Melanie said, sticking her hand out. The man took it, somewhat hesitantly, and shook it.

"Gus Hodges, nice to meet you too," he said, "I'm on my way out to get a drink if you'd like to join me. It's always nicer drinking with someone than drinking alone. My treat."

"Drinking? Meade, at this hour?" Melanie asked, "Do you have a drinking problem, Sir Hodges?"

"Actually no, I just have other problems and drinking makes those go away," Gus replied, swinging his keyring around on his index finger, "So what do you say, you wanna come? Be the welcome wagon for this new tenant?"

"Well, I was going to look for employment, but I suppose I should eat something before heading out for the day. I'd be delighted to join you, Sir Hodges!"

And with that, the two of them headed down the hall and into the elevator. Standing there, listening to the elevator music overhead, Gus wanted to know more about this woman. She seemed somewhat off her rocker, but he found that rather enlightening. What's life without a little insanity, after all? Normal was boring. So, he cleared his throat, folded his arms and, leaning back against the wall of the elevator, spoke.

"So, you don't work?" he asked.

"Oh no, I should be back at the castle, but that's not an option right now, so instead I'm seeking employment out here on my own. I was thinking perhaps something in the Blacksmithing department," Melanie responded.

"Or, and this is just a suggestion," Gus said, "Something plausible?"

The elevator dinged and came to a full stop, the doors sliding open and allowing Melanie and Gus to exit. As they headed down the main hall in the foyer of the complex and out the front doors, it was there that Gus suddenly realized something...his car, parked on the side of the street, was looking a bit low. As they approached, he knew what the problem was. A flat tire. Gus groaned and ran his hands through his hair.

"This is not my week," he mumbled, before pulling out his cell phone and began scrolling on it.

"What are you doing?" Mel asked.

"I'm looking for a mechanic," Gus said, "I don't know how to change a tire, nor do I have a tire. Least he could maybe patch the damn thing up a bit so I can go over to a discount tire place and pick one up if nothing else."

"I'll never understand why you people gave up horse drawn carriages for these steel death traps," Melanie said, running her hands along the car, feeling its coolness on her palms.

"We're just crazy that way I guess, don't know what's good for us," Gus replied, "Yeah, hello? Hi, I'm over here on River and Paumper street, it's the Cortez Apartment Complex...I have a flat tire, and I was...yeah? Alright, thank you very much, I'll just wait out here."

Gus hung up and slid his phone back into his pocket before turning and looking at Melanie.

"How long do you reckon it will take this wizard to come fix your chariot?" Mel asked, and Gus shrugged.

"The address said he was only a few blocks away, so hopefully not too long. It's not like it's rush hour or anything," Gus replied, sitting on the hood of the car, feeling Melanie join him a few seconds later. Together they sat there and watched the other cars go by, watched the birds in nearby trees, and just listened to the sounds of the city.

"Isn't it a beautiful place to live?" Melanie asked, shutting her eyes, letting the wind breeze across her face.

"If you can ignore the police violence and the constant ambulance screeching, I suppose," Gus said as Melanie took her hat off and set it in her lap. She let the wind blow through her hair and Gus smiled a little. It'd been a while since he'd been in the presence of a woman, specifically a woman who didn't expect anything of him or even want anything of him. A woman who just enjoyed being his friend. He really needed a friend right now, and, weird as Melanie was, she was also incredibly easy to get along with and just goofy enough to make him not want to cut his throat.

"I used to live in the suburbs, well, sort of, and it's much nicer than down here but...but down here there's also real life. Everything up there is so...manmade. So perfect and fake. I'm not saying I wasn't comfortable, because I was, but this is much more real, you know?" Gus asked.

"I understand, the castle was wonderful but it too was almost too perfect at times, and I wanted to experience adventure and excitement, things they say a princess shouldn't want," Melanie said, "but I want them, so I guess that makes me a better princess than most."

Gus smirked just as a towtruck came and pulled up in front of them. A man in a plaid shirt and jeans, with short wavy brown hair got out and walked up towards them, smiling as he approached.

"Are you Darren?" Gus asked.

"That I am," Darren replied, "Is this the car?"

"That it is," Gus said, "Sorry to make you come out here on something so...absolutely...pathetic."

"Hey man, not everyone learns how to change a tire, nor does everyone have the money to just willingly keep spares around, so you have nothing to be ashamed of," Darren said, kneeling down and inspecting the rubber, "In fact, if I hadn't been a mechanic I'd likely not know how to do this myself, so we're kinda in the same boat in some regard."

Gus backed up and let Darren do his thing, while Melanie elbowed Gus and whispered to him.

"Gustopher-" she began.

"Gustopher?" he replied, confused.

"That's him, that's my prince charming," she said, "He rescues people in distress, and he's handsome to boot, what more could one ask for? He's classy and elegant, and all he wants to do is bring help to the people in need!"

Gus glanced back at Darren, his asscrack showing a bit from his jeans.

"Yeah, a real dreamboat," Gus remarked.

"Just you wait and see! He's going to take me away from this mundane life and sweep me back to the castle, lickety split! I guarantee it," Melanie said.

Gus didn't push the issue, but come the following morning, he'd almost wished he'd had.

                                                                                       ***

Gus awoke the next morning to the sound of an alarm blaring in his ear. Unfortunately, when he reached for said alarm, he quickly discovered that it wasn't, in fact, his alarm clock on his phone or watch or any such device. He opened his eyes, letting them slowly adjust to the sunlight streaming into the apartment, and realized he'd fallen asleep on the couch. Gus quickly rose as he suddenly became aware that the alarm was actually his cars alarm. Gus rushed to the window and looked out, spotting Melanie downstairs, standing on his car, beating it with a crowbar.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" Gus screamed, and she looked up, waving.

"Good morning Sir Hodges!" she exclaimed, "I'm trying to summon the chariot wizard again! He came when your vehicle was damaged, so this seemed like the most logical way to bring him back, of course!"

"You didn't even break what he fixed, you broke something entirely different!" Gus shouted.

"Well, Sir Hodges, if I did that, wouldn't that just seem a tad suspicious?" Melanie asked, her hands on her hips now, "I mean, let's be rational about this."

"Rationality went out the door when you decided to destroy my car!" Gus shouted, as Melanie climbed down and headed inside, presumably coming up to his apartment. Gus quickly pulled a pair of pants from the floor on and went to open his apartment door. Melanie handed him the crowbar as she entered and headed straight for the window.

"You should get him back over here now, and please, stick this somewhere," she said.

"I tell you where I'd like to stick it," Gus said, looking at the crowbar before going to get his phone.

Melanie sat on the couch and waited, kicking her heels excitedly like a child about to see her crush again, as Gus went into the bedroom to make a phone call. He was gone for a solid ten minutes before coming back out and tossing the crowbar on the couch beside her.

"Well," he said, "It's his day off, but he said we could come by his house and he'll look at it in his garage, though quite frankly this is more aesthetic damage than actually damaged mechanically, so I doubt there's much he'll be able to do. I hope you're proud of yourself."

"I really am," Melanie replied as Gus slipped on his sandals and she bounded off the couch, following him out the apartment and down towards the car.

                                                                                        ***

Gus and Melanie drove his now beat up car over to the address Darren had given Gus on the phone. They didn't say a single thing the entire way over, and Gus was beginning to question his decision to befriend this woman, who he was starting to believe wasn't just eccentric, but was in fact genuinely unwell psychologically. As they pulled up to the house, they saw the garage door already open, waiting for them. Gus sighed and pulled up in the driveway before parking, unsure if he was supposed to take the car all the way in.

"If it takes the rest of my life I swear I'll get back at you for this," he muttered.

"You won't live that long, you're not that fit," Melanie said, making Gus look at her, half laughing, half in shock.

"Ya know, for a princess, you're kinda nasty," he said, "I like it."

Just then the door leading into the garage from the house opened and Darren came out, with a bookish looking woman following him. They seemed to be laughing and holding hands, which made Gus look at Melanie, unsure what her reaction to this new development would be.

"Look, he's a family man too, he keeps his sister close!" she said.

"I don't think that's his sister," Gus said.

Just as he said that, the girl leaned up on her toes and kissed Darren, making him stumble back into his work bench, laughing as he kissed her back.

"Let's hope that's not his sister, or this is a really creepy family," Gus added.

"Maybe it's a family kiss, perhaps they're just more affectionate than other families," Melanie said, still trying to sound optimistic, until she noted Darren's hands running down to the womans backside and squeezing her closer to him, when she added, "I don't think they're related anymore."

"I've never felt a stranger mixture of eroticism and disgust," Gus said quietly.

Gus and Melanie got out of the car and headed up the driveway as the woman went back into the house. Darren waved at them as they approached, and then stared at the car behind them. Gus and Melanie looked back at the car with him, and nobody said a word.

"Wow," Darren said, "Rough neighborhood."

"You don't know the half of it," Gus said, "So what do you think, you think you're capable of fixing that sort of thing?"

"I suppose, sure," Darren said.

"So...that woman your girlfriend, or?" Gus asked, following as Darren approached the car while Melanie leaned against the workbench back in the garage, looking upset.

"Uh, yeah, she just moved in so she's still unpacking and getting settled and stuff," Darren said, "She works over at Tatum Elementary. She's a history major, big history buff, so she's hoping to eventually move up to teaching history at the college level after working in the public schools for a while."

"That's pretty cool," Gus said.

"Um, I'm gonna need to go get a manual from inside the house, cause this is...this is nasty work," Darren said, "I'll be right back."

As Darren turned and headed back inside, Gus walked back into the garage and sat with Melanie. She didn't even flinch at his arrival, thus proving to Gus that she felt a lot worse than he'd anticipated she would. He cleared his throat, pulled his glasses off his face and wiped them down.

"How you doin' your highness?" he asked.

"This isn't fair, he's MY prince, he's supposed to take me back to my place as the rightful heir to my throne," Melanie said, sounding despondent, "This imposter is clearly a witch who has put him under a love spell."

"Well, didn't he say she worked as a teacher? Maybe that means she'll be going to the ren faire that's-"

"Ren faire?"

"The renaissance faire, it's held yearly up in Northfield? It's a thing where people dress up like, well...you, and they act like it's still medieval times. I go every year, but if she's a teacher, she might be taking her class up to it, which means she'll likely need chaperones. Why not weasel your way into her life via the act of volunteering?"

"Gustopher, you're...you're like a...a dark wizard," Melanie said.

"That's the coolest thing anyone's ever called me," Gus said sadly, as Darren came back into the garage; Gus cleared his throat and asked, "So hey man, uh, my friend here was wondering if your lady is gonna be taking her class to the Northfield ren faire, and if she could possibly chaperone?"

"Uh, I'd...I'd have to talk to her about it but I know she has trouble finding volunteers so it's a likely possibility," Darren said, "What are your qualifications?"

"Well, I'm a princess and ruler of my own kingdom," Melanie said, smiling brightly.

"So, she's certainly responsible," Darren said, making Gus chuckle before adding, "I'll talk to her about it and get back to you."

And with that, the seed had been planted.

                                                                                         ***

After giving Gus and Melanie a lift home, the two of them went their separate ways for a few hours. Gus had some errands he now had to run without a car, while Melanie had some chores around her apartment she had been meaning to get to. When she arrived to her small little home, she noticed the answering machine was blinking red, and she sighed before heading over to it and pressing "play". A mans voice came on over the speaker.

"Mel, it's Shane. You really should pick up, we have to talk. I know you keep changing your number, but please call me back. Miss you," he said.

After it ended, Melanie pressed the "erase messages" button and then sat on her bed as her machine told her she now had no new messages. She sighed and laid back before getting back up, taking a shower and then sitting back on her bed in some shorts and a t-shirt. She read for a good while, but it wasn't until Gus came back and walked into her place, unannounced, with a 6 pack of beer that she had forgotten she had a friend now.

"Daddy's back and he's brought beer," Gus said, placing the beer on her coffee table as she came out of the bedroom and looked at him. She leaned in the doorway and crossed her arms, her hair up in a messy bun.

"Why are you helping me?" she finally asked.

"Because you were annoying me," Gus replied, walking into her kitchenette and opening a bag of chips he'd brought with him, "Besides, you seem like you could use a little help, so why not."

Just then they heard a loud crash and looked towards the window.

"What was that?" Gus asked.

"Likely Paul's lumber falling down. He's building an ark," Melanie said as Gus sighed and rubbed his forehead; she continued, "Do you not believe in the lord, Gustopher?"

"If I believed in anything, I wouldn't be living here and helping you break a seemingly happy couple up, now would I?" Gus asked, flopping down on her couch, "Besides, you have to have been hurt at some point in life to recognize that believing in things only ever lets you down, right? People leave, people die, and why would something that supposedly should be watching over protecting you let those kinds of things happen?"

"...did someone you love die?" Melanie asked, and he shook his head, grasping a handful of chips and shoveling them into his mouth.

"No, it was just an example," he said as she sat on the coffee table across from him, looking downtrodden, "...did I upset you? I'm...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. But hey, look at it this way, even if there's no higher power or whatever, your highness, you still got me."

Melanie smiled, "You're a wonderful jester," she said.

"Jester?! Why can't I be a knight?!"

"If you weren't so funny looking, perhaps things would be different," Melanie said, shrugging as she sat down beside him and fought him for control over the chip bag.

And the two bickered well into the evening, laughing, plotting, discussing life. It was the first time in a long time either one of them had had a genuine friend in another person, and they both needed the company. Melanie, as she said, needed a jester. And Gus...

...Gus needed a friend. Who cared if she was a princess?