Hello readers! :) It's been a while, so I thought I would write a quick chapter before the Thanksgiving holiday. This chapter... was written on a whim mostly. Thinking this chapter makes it possible for me to add another chapter or so to the story for you all before the sequel. :P Hope you all enjoy this!

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Artemis sat in the Operations Booth with Foaly. The boy was awaiting Butler's arrival to escort him home. Artemis had spent the day assisting the centaur on one of his newest projects. Mostly, Artemis had been bored with his time there; he had only wanted to keep his mind busy. He had been preparing for starting university in a few weeks, and admittedly he was not quite ready to go yet. It was late August, and his time was ticking down. Not to mention that Artemis found himself missing Diana more than he anticipated. It was only going to get worse too; the boy wouldn't be seeing her again until Christmas time.

"It was nice having your help tonight, Artemis," Foaly broke the boy's pessimistic thoughts. "I would've been here all night trying to fix this if you hadn't been here. I'll have to have Caballine make you some cookies or something."

"No problem," Artemis muttered, staring at his feet. He honestly didn't care about cookies right now, or much of anything else.

Foaly frowned slightly. This was not the typical arrogant Artemis he was used to. Something was not right with the Irish boy, and Foaly was going to find out what it was. "You alright Artemis?" he inquired, picking up a stack of paper.

Artemis looked up from the floor and met his friend's inquisitive gaze. "I'm fine," he answered, although his voice proved he wasn't so sure.

Foaly didn't buy his answer either. "Are you sure? You don't sound like yourself. Heck, you didn't even ask if I was going to give you credit on your contributions to the project."

"I'm fine, Foaly," Artemis insisted, almost in a hiss.

"Damn it, Artemis! You can quit lying to me anytime now," Foaly snapped, dropping the stack of papers he had been shuffling. "I know something is bugging you, whether you want to admit it or not."

Artemis bit his tongue for a moment, debating silently how to answer his friend. "You're a genius, right?" he asked. When Foaly nodded, he added, "Figure it out."

Foaly sighed, somewhat angrily. "D'Arvit... why are you so difficult?"

Artemis had plenty of reasons for that. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could counter Foaly, Holly strode into the room, plopping herself down in one of the spinning chairs. She glanced between the two males, and smirked.

"Well, well. What did I stumble into here?" she asked, resting her chin on her fist.

Foaly snorted. "Your little buddy here is being a brooding fool right now and won't tell me what is wrong with him."

Holly laughed at Foaly, something Artemis was rather intrigued with. "I know exactly what's wrong with him, and I haven't spoken to him yet," she retorted. "The boy is going through a rough time with the transition to the university, plus he's really missing Diana."

Holly was right, just as Artemis suspected she would be. He sighed, resting his head against the wall behind him. "However did you guess?" he asked quietly.

"Oh I was young and in love once," Holly briefly explained. "Right around the time I started the academy too. So... you know life was hectic on many fronts. Much like you, I let it get me down- all the changes, being away from him for so long. It killed me. But I shook it off and kept going. You're a strong boy, Artemis. You can get through this."

This intrigued Artemis. Holly had never told him that story before. He had never known she had been in a situation so similar to his own, otherwise he may have opened up more willingly. Artemis knew he wasn't alone, but sometimes he couldn't help but feeling alone, especially as of recent. "Why are you just now mentioning that? After all these years?" he questioned.

Holly continued to smirk. "Because I knew one day I would need it to talk you out of some brooding state. I just didn't know when or how."

"I just want to know who this guy was!" Foaly interjected after several moments of being silent.

Holly rolled her eyes. "He doesn't matter now. He cheated on me with some pixie." She shrugged at Foaly's shocked expression before adding, "I punched the jerk in the face, so we're totally even."

"Such a touching love story," Artemis mused. "Shame more don't end that way."

Holly resisted the urge to jump across the table and shake the human boy. "I wouldn't say that if I were you. You do have your own relationship now. When was the last time you spoke to the girl anyways?"

Artemis' eyes went wide for a moment, as he was trying to think of the last time he had spoken to Diana, the last time he had heard her voice. Was it a day? Or was it three? The past few days had been so hectic, he couldn't recall what happened when. He decided he couldn't remember, and Artemis frowned. "I don't remember. A lot of my days are blurring together right now..."

"Call her when you get home," Holly instructed. "She probably misses you too. Plus I'm sure she could use some help in the transition to her final year of high school, too." She paused for a moment. "Remember, you two are in this together."

Artemis took a deep breath before exhaling and replying, "I know. I've been a terrible... boyfriend." The word felt foreign to him, having never left his mouth before. But it was true. He had been terrible. He had promised he would call, that he would text, that he would Skype- yet he had hardly done any of that. He felt like he had let Diana down, and that was something he was finding hard to live with. The Irish boy stood, brushing off some of the creases in his pants. "Better yet, I'll call her now." He pulled out his phone before saying, "Excuse me."

The boy stepped out of the lab and into the hallway. After a quick glance to assure he was alone, Artemis starting dialing Diana's number, one of the only ones he had memorized. Admittedly, he was unsure of what sort of reception he would receive given his record as of late, yet Artemis held onto the glimmer of hope he had that Diana wouldn't be mad.

After a few rings, Artemis heard Diana's familiar voice echo through the ear piece. "Hello?"

Artemis glanced at his watch, doing a quick calculation of what time it would be in Flint right then before he greeted, "Good afternoon, Diana."

"And good evening to you, Artemis," the girl replied with a small laugh. "I was beginning to wonder if something had happened to you."

"Sorry... I didn't mean to go this long without calling," Artemis apologized in a quiet voice. "I've just been overwhelmingly busy getting ready to head to university in a few days, and then Foaly wanted my help on some project of his today."

Diana was quiet for a moment. "It's okay, Arty. I was fairly sure that had to be the case." She paused for a moment. "Are you still with Foaly?"

"Yes," Artemis answered. "Awaiting Butler to escort me home."

"How are you getting cell phone reception? Aren't you hundreds of feet below ground right now?" Diana asked, obviously confused.

Artemis had forgotten that he hadn't quite explained everything about how Haven worked. "Foaly has a signal booster, which allows an enhanced cell phone signal. Hence, how I'm able to call you," he briefly explained.

"Ingenious," she replied.

"Indeed," Artemis mused. He was silent for a moment. "How is everything in the murder capital of the world?"

"Well, you know... the usual," Diana sighed. "But if it's any consolation, I'm still alive."

Artemis smiled slightly. "Well, I'm certainly glad you have lived to fight another day, love."

"I'm a tough girl," Diana retorted. "I can handle myself better than most girls my age."

Artemis thought about it. Diana had been through a lot in the past few months, and he had to admit she had been handling everything rather well. With everything that happened to her, Artemis was surprised the girl had been holding up so well since he had left. But he really should've known better. She took everything so calmly during his time in Flint; why would now be any different?

"I miss you," Diana said quietly, breaking Artemis' thought process. He wasn't expecting her to say anything.

"I miss you too," Artemis responded. He took a deep breath, wondering what he should say next. "Diana... I'm really sorry I haven't been able to talk much... and I feel terrible for it."

"Don't feel bad, Arty. I understand. You're a busy guy," Diana assured. "At least you're trying, and that means a lot to me."

Artemis bit his tongue for a moment, as he focused on what he could do to make it up to her. He really did feel terrible, and some way, he wanted to make it up to her. And then an idea hit him, "When I get home, I'm going to write you something, alright? And I hope it'll get to you sooner rather than later; hopefully before class starts."

He could tell that improved her mood a little bit. "Sounds good, Artemis; I look forward to it. Are you going to be leaving there soon?"

Artemis glanced at his watch again. "I should be. I called Butler almost an hour ago. I can't imagine him taking much longer."

"Skype me when you get home?"

It had been even longer since the boy video-chatted with his girlfriend. It had been one of the first few weeks he had been home, and they hadn't been able to since. Admittedly, Artemis missed seeing his girlfriend's face, so perhaps that was just the thing he needed to help pull him through this tough time. "Sounds good to me," he answered. "Talk to you then?"

"Definitely!" the girl answered. "Love you Artemis. Talk to you then."

Artemis smiled for the first time that day. "I love you too. Talk to you in a few hours."

He hung up the phone, stowing it back in his pocket. The Irish boy leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes as his head gently hit the concrete. Although he had been stuck in one of his usual bouts of pessimism, he was suddenly feeling a lot better. Once again, Artemis was beginning to feel a lot like his old self. However, part of him wondered how long it would last, and if simple phone conversations would be enough to hold him over until December. Artemis sighed. For now, he would have to make do with what he had available to him. The boy couldn't remember a time he wanted it to be Christmas so badly.