Author's Note: I've been so extremely busy and caught up with all my exams and the like, so I'm really sorry not to have updated anything for a very, very long time. I think I will have to put my other stories on a long hiatus, and sometimes I will return to update some of the one-shot pieces like this. Right now, I've more or less hit a standstill with the plot of A Ski Trip to Remember. Since some seemed to want a continuation of what I wrote in the previous chapter, Sunset, I decided to write a follow-up. (: By the way, just in case you didn't get the significance of the title 'sunset', it was intended to show the transition from lighter things to a darker mood, or something along to that effect. Alright, hope you enjoy (:

Midnight

The curtains fluttered in the soothing breeze, ruffling at Atlanta's toes. She stretched and yawned irritably, burying her face deep into her pillow and trying her very best to sleep. It was midnight now and utterly pitch black outside; Atlanta couldn't make out the comforting sway of the trees that she used to listen to. All she could hear was the soft rustling of the wind.

After a bit more tossing and turning, Atlanta decided to get up. There wasn't any point lazing around in the bed and trying to sleep when she could do other things, she surmised as she clambered out of bed. Maybe like packing her suitcase. As she flicked on the light switch, the warmth of light seemed to chase away the shadows that lurked in every corner of the room. There were only a few remnant that refused to go away, but the light was more comforting, she supposed. Shivering, she thought of the battle the last week, and how they had emerged triumphant over Cronus once and for all.

All of sudden, a cold, strange feeling settled over her stomach as she glanced over at her luggage, which sat unobstrusively at the door. Was it all really over? It had been a good four years of fighting for justice, but she felt strangely bereft now that it was over. It seemed that battling Cronus had become something like an everyday occurence for them, and an integral part of their lives. In fact, come to think of it, it had started off everything. It had sparked a good, solid friendship with six other entirely un-like-minded people (but that had went completely peachy), an adventure of a lifetime, and...

The uneasy emotion intensified when her mind thought back to her purple-haired jerk. They had been the bestest buds, done everything together - ranging from Cronus-missions, skate-boarding and even going to the dance - but lately, they'd been out of sorts. You mean, ever since the time when Archie mentioned he liked someone else, her inner voice murmured snidely, and rather all-knowing too, perhaps.

"Oh shut up," Atlanta said aloud to herself, partly out of annoyance and partly due to her discomfort. It shouldn't have bothered her at all, she knew, but for some reason, it did. It bothered her a lot. In fact, if she wanted to be honest (even though she rarely did), it bothered her every day, and almost every single waking moment. It irked her so badly that she had lashed out and hurt her own best friend, and the guilt was still there. After that, things hadn't been quite the same again. It wasn't unusual for Archie to be stubborn, but it seemed strange, almost as though Archie had been hurt by her words.

"It doesn't even make sense," Atlanta grumbled to herself as she walked to the door and opened her luggage. Inside lay all her clothes, tossed haphazardly about - she hadn't actually folded them - and then she spotted her skateboard. She gently took it out and set it on the floor, letting it wheel a bit to and fro. She shouldn't have, because the nolstagia hit her full force. She would miss them all. Theresa, Herry, Neil, Jay, Odie and most of all, Archie, her friend that probably wasn't her friend anymore.

It wasn't as if she hadn't tried to apologise! She had waited around for him after school the next day because she had woken up late, and she had grabbed his sleeve, but then the words suddenly wouldn't come. Blame it all on her stubborn streak. After that, she would try to open her dastardly mouth during lunch, or during the walk home, but it wasn't any good - her throat was wedged shut. Yeah, right, you really tried very hard to make it up to him, the voice chanted again inside her head. You grabbed his sleeve, let it go and stalked off huffily when you realised you couldn't bear to lower your pride to say a single sorry. The other times, you were just hoping he would say that he forgave you and save you the trouble of an apology, wherepon you would probably proceed to banter with him -

Atlanta shushed her mind immediately. "No, I really was going to say sorry!"

Yeah, I know you were, the voice replied sarcastically.

Atlanta mentally locked her infuriating inner voice into a prison and promptly threw the lock away. Sitting on the floor and looking her skateboard, she realised that this would be it. They would be going their separate ways, everyone of them would, and friendships don't always last forever. Some do, but most fade and drift apart, and Archie - She would never get her chance to say goodbye, would she?

Gritting her teeth, she got up to her feet. "Okay, you knock on his door and apologise," she demanded - to herself, that is - resolutely, stalking to her door. "To end off in a good note," she added on a little less determinedly, the effects of an abominable thing called confusion striking her. Good point, why did she care so much? "Friends and all, you know," she answered herself before her nefarious inner voice could reply from behind the mental prison walls. She was sure that if any of her teammates would stumble upon her now, they would think her quite so very insane.

She was just about to open the door when she heard a shuffle of footsteps outside. Instinct kicked in and she threw open the door -

- Thus ending up in whacking her would-be assailant.

Assailant? That looks more like purple hair, and a hoodie... Atlanta's jaw dropped, half in horror and half in embarrassment. She had just flung open the door into her sort-of best friend's face! That single-handedly could go down in history as the worst executed sorry ever taken place in the world.

"Archie? Are you oka-" The words died in her throat when she saw what was with him. His luggage was right beside him, and he had been holding it. With his other hand, he was rubbing his jaw ruefully and alternating between a look of annoyance and another similiar to one like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Archie!" Atlanta couldn't keep off her open-mouthed shock as she took in his sight. He had been trying to creep away unnoticed and leave ahead of time, she could tell. No one heaved a luggage around in the dead of night and acted like a shocked poor animal about to be shot when being discovered. Well, he was knocked down by a door, and no thanks to you, her inner voice said in its usual snarky humour, but Atlanta ignored it. Instead, she shoved away her open-mouthed expression (aka, the voice chimed in, the best fish impression) and gave him one of her best glares. "Were you going to leave?"

Archie got to his feet, seemingly having forgotten being knocked off his feet by Atlanta's door. He didn't even make any mention of his anger, though the traces of pain were still apparent in his frequent jaw-rubbing. "Ssh, keep it down," he hissed, grabbing his luggage. "You're going to bring down the whole building, 'Lanta."

'Lanta. He called me 'Lanta! Atlanta tried to stave off the weird feelings that engulfed her. Big deal, so he hadn't called her by her name in a long while, let alone her nickname. But that didn't really affect her in the least, did it? She was starting to doubt that Archie was just a friend, and the thought made her cringe. She forced them away, locking them into the mental prison with her protesting inner voice, and found her own voice. "Well? So were you going to leave?"

Archie clenched his teeth. "Yes," he replied coldly. "But that's none of your business."

The glare slipped right off Atlanta's face, but the coldness slipped in. It seemed the shadows were taking over the hall, and the light almost seemed to dim. "Why? Why are you leaving?" she heard herself saying in almost a whisper.

"Why not?" Archie returned dryly as he put down his luggage again. His eyes bore a haunted look, and almost as if he was reliving some pain experience that he wished that he would forget. "You want the truth?" he asked wryly, even though he knew the answer. "Well. I wanted to save myself the pain -" he glared at Atlanta in return - "and avoid someone."

Her heart hurtled right down from its place in her chest and it found itself somewhere in between her toes and her stomach. It shouldn't hurt, it really shouldn't - but it did. So badly. He had been talking about her, and she knew it. His body language was practically shouting it to her - his narrowed eyes and crossed arms proved it. "What?! I didn't do anything wrong!" Atlanta shot back briskly, biting back tears she didn't even know were starting to gather in her eyes. "It's the last day before everyone goes their own separate ways, and you want to leave?! We spent four years together, so if you can't stand the sight of me, then at least stick around for the rest of the teammates!"

Archie appeared to soften at Atlanta's emotionally-charged words. "The problem isn't you, Atlanta. The problem is what I have with you." He looked as though he regretted saying it right after he did.

Atlanta couldn't help but roll her eyes. "And that's supposed to make me feel better?" It wasn't after the words left her mouth that she realised that she had indirectly confessed that his opinion of her actually mattered. Thankfully, the darkness also shrouded the light blush that tinged her cheeks (although she would have denied it anyway).

Archie smiled his crooked smile, but it was not without a bit of wistfulness. "Yeah, I guess?"

A moment of silence iced over the atmosphere, and it was so deafening that they could hear the hall clock ticking away in its usual soft self. Midnight was slowly trickling away as the both of them stared at each other quietly. It was broken when Archie finally picked up the luggage, and the wheels of his baggage made a faint scrapping noise that defeated the delicate balance of silence that had settled over them.

"I'm going, 'Lanta," Archie said shortly as he started to move down the staircase. Before Atlanta could open her mouth to say anything further, he stopped in his tracks. "And no, don't ask me to stay." He murmured something else under his breath, and faintly Atlanta could catch the words, "because... wouldn't be able to... bow out and stay..."

"Archie! Don't!" Atlanta rushed after him down the stairs and grabbed his luggage from him at the landing. "I still haven't said -" Her mind whirled as she tried to form the words. Say sorry! Quick! Her inner voice somehow broke free from its prison and was currently hopping around as though the floor was flaming. Say it!

"Archie, I'm - I'm so-"

What happened next made her shocked her so badly that she dropped the luggage right on the floor, barely missing her toes. Archie lurched forward briefly and wrapped his arms around her. Too stunned to give him anything but a, well, stunned expression, she stood rooted to the spot, eyes wide and unblinking. Then he pulled her into a tight embrace, not seeming to notice that she closely resembled a wooden doll, save for the fact that she was very much in fact alive.

"Atlanta, goodbye. You were the best friend I ever had." He paused for a moment, and she felt his embrace tighten a bit. She had to strain to hear his next words, but they gave her the biggest, most tremendous surprise in the whole entire night. "I love you, Atlanta."

She stopped breathing.

Archie this time seemed to notice how inanimate she had become, and he sighed. "No, don't say anything. I don't want you to hear what you want to say. I know you don't feel the same way, but maybe leaving quietly would have made a lot worse." She could almost feel him smiling beside her ear. "At least I got a chance to tell you."

She was so frozen to the spot that her mouth was glued shut by some invisible force. She could only watch as he let go of her, the warmth that had engulfed her quickly leaving her body in a way that made her feel even emptier than before. He slipped by her, picking up his luggage soundlessly and turned around the corner in the hall. All she could hear was the soft click of the door sliding shut -

"Archie!" She snapped out of it, half-stumbling to get to the door, not caring if she brought down the whole house. She grabbed the door handle and almost yanked the door off its hinges. "Archie! Wait! I still haven't told you that -"

The words died in her throat as she all but ran out of the brownstone dorm, still barefooted. It was dark, and only the streetlamps lighted up whatever it could of the walkway. But it shed no light on his presence, and not even his shadow remained. Only the quiet rustling of the wind could be heard, masking every little sound, and what could have been footfalls went unheard. Atlanta paused in her steps, fresh tears starting to well up in her eyes.

Maybe it wasn't 'Sorry' he wanted to hear, her inner voice said quietly. Maybe it was 'I love you'.

But he was gone.

Author's Note: Yeah, I know, that was a tad cruel, and I may write another one-shot to end things off nicely for 'Lanta and Archie, but no promises (: Please do review, I find them most encouraging and I love to hear your feedback, so do let me know what you think!