Artino🌙(?)

—~+~—

The airport was bustling with life, a sea of faces rushing in all directions. I stood amidst the chaos, trying to hold back the torrent of emotions threatening to overwhelm me. This was the place where Artemis and I had first met, and now it was the place where we were saying our goodbyes.

Artemis stood before me, his luggage at his side, and his eyes, normally so bright and full of life, were clouded with a mix of determination and sadness. His two-toned hair, which I had always found fascinating, framed his face as he looked down at me.

"I have to do this, Shino," he said, his voice steady but tinged with regret. "I have to find my mother."

His mother, who had disappeared years ago, had resurfaced in Paris, and Artemis had made the decision to go after her, to uncover the truth behind her disappearance. I had supported his decision from the beginning, but as the day of his departure drew nearer, the reality of it all had started to sink in.

I nodded, my throat tight with unspoken words. I had always admired Artemis's courage and determination, but I couldn't help but feel a sense of dread deep within me.

He reached out to take my hand, his touch warm and reassuring. "I promise, Shino, we'll stay in contact. No matter what, you'll hear from me."

But even as he said those words, I couldn't shake the feeling that something had already changed between us. The distance that would soon separate us felt like an insurmountable wall.

We stood there for what felt like an eternity, neither of us wanting to be the first to break the silence. The announcement of his flight was nothing more than background noise as I tried to etch every detail of Artemis into my memory. The way his lips curved when he smiled, the glint in his lilac eyes, the sound of his laughter – they were all things I would hold onto in the days to come.

Finally, he leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead, a silent farewell. The gesture was both comforting and heart-wrenching, a bittersweet reminder of the love we shared.

Artemis pulled away, his gaze locking onto mine one last time. "I'll come back, Shino. I promise."

But we both knew that promises were fragile things, easily broken by the weight of circumstance. He turned and walked away, disappearing into the crowd, leaving me standing there, feeling like a piece of my heart had been torn away.

The days turned into weeks, and weeks into months. Artemis had kept his promise at first, sending me messages from Paris, telling me about his journey, his discoveries, and the progress he was making in finding his mother. But as time passed, those messages grew less frequent.

At first, I told myself that he was busy, caught up in the search for his mother, and I understood that. But as the months went by, a gnawing doubt began to eat at me. Had something changed between us during his time away? Had he found something in Paris that made him question what we had? Had he found someone? 

I tried to bury those doubts deep within me, to give Artemis the space he needed. I sent him messages, told him about my day, shared the mundane details of my life, but the responses I received were brief and impersonal. It was as if I was talking to a stranger.

I still couldn't help myself, praying that he wasn't in love with somebody else. 

I watched as our once vibrant relationship began to wither away, like a flower wilting in the absence of sunlight. The distance between us felt insurmountable, and the more I tried to bridge it, the wider it seemed to grow.

One evening, as I sat in our now empty dorm room, my fingers hovered over my phone, hesitating before I sent yet another message to Artemis.

"Artemis, I miss you," I typed, my heart heavy with longing.

The response, when it came, was quick and curt. "I miss you too, Shino."

But it was the "too" that caught my attention. It was as if Artemis was acknowledging the absence that had settled between us, the void that had grown in our once close relationship. It felt like an admission of guilt, a silent acknowledgment that something had changed.

I couldn't bear it any longer. I needed to know the truth, to understand what had happened between us. I called Artemis, my heart pounding in my chest as I waited for him to answer.

After what felt like an eternity, he picked up, and his voice, once so familiar, sounded distant and detached. "Shino, what's up?"

I swallowed hard, my voice trembling as I spoke. "Artemis, I need to know... Have things changed between us? Are we... are we still okay?"

There was a long pause on the other end of the line, and I could almost hear Artemis struggling to find the right words. When he finally spoke, his voice was heavy with sadness. "Shino, I'm so sorry. I didn't want to hurt you, but... I've met someone here. Someone who's made me question a lot of things."

My heart sank, and I felt a dull ache in my chest. The truth, painful as it was, hung in the air between us. Artemis had found someone else, someone who had drawn him away from me, from our love.

Tears welled up in my eyes, and I fought to hold back the sobs threatening to escape. "Artemis, I understand. I just... I wish you had told me sooner."

He sighed, his voice filled with regret. "I know, Shino. I should have. I never wanted to hurt you like this."

The call ended, and I was left alone in our empty dorm room, the weight of Artemis's confession pressing down on me. I couldn't blame him for following his heart, for finding someone new, but the pain of losing him was almost unbearable.

Days turned into weeks, and I tried to move on, to mend the broken pieces of my heart. But every corner of our shared dorm room held a memory, a reminder of the love we had once shared.

I couldn't bring myself to erase his messages, to delete the photos of us together. They were all I had left of him, a bittersweet reminder of a love that had once burned brightly but had now faded into the past.

I thought of Artemis often, wondering if he was happy with the person he had found in Paris. I hoped that he was, that he had found the love and happiness he deserved. But a part of me couldn't help but mourn the loss of what we had once shared.

As the days passed, the ache in my chest slowly began to dull, but it never truly went away. Artemis had been my first love, and the pain of losing him would always be a part of me. I had to learn to live with it, to move forward even as a piece of my heart remained in the past.