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ONE

I never thought I would miss the smell of unicorn poop but when I entered the Unicorn House, a wave of nostalgia hit me. I hadn't spent much time as an intern here and yet, this place always felt a little like home. Luckily, I had a good excuse for coming here often.

"Felicity!" I shouted, raising the cups of coffee in my hands.

My girlfriend grinned and paused the wheelbarrow of fresh hay in front of me. There was a slight sheen of sweat on her forehead and her arms were toned from all the hard labour, something I loved to see.

She leaned in to kiss me, infecting me with her smile. I was so glad that we made it through our rough patch because just seeing her always cheered me up.

"Which coffee is mine?" she asked, holding out her hand for one of the cups.

"Who says one of them is for you? Maybe I bought Nissan coffee," I teased while I handed her the one on the left.

Felicity stuck out her tongue. "Cute."

"I know." I took a sip of my own coffee and went over to the fence so I could look at the unicorn herd. They were grazing fairly close by and in the low afternoon light, their silver fur shimmered opalescent and made them look even more majestic.

I sought out my secret favourite, Sticker the rescue, pleased to find him right next to Candle.

They were doing typical unicorn things like nudging each other with their snout and pressing their bodies together.

It would've been a happy sight if it wasn't for a jealous Criss who was giving them shady side-eyes, no doubt waiting for a moment of distraction to steal Candle's attention away.

"So we still have a love triangle?" I noted.

Felicity sighed. "Don't talk to me about it. I've spent most of my morning trying to keep them apart. Criss tried to bite me."

"Did he manage?"

"Luckily not. But he did stomp on my foot so you know, yay for sturdy boots." She leaned on the railing while she admired the unicorns with stars in her eyes. "Even so, I love spending time with them. I don't know why it's so calming but when I'm here, the world always feels so much calmer."

I nodded. "I know what you mean. This is my favourite place on the entire planet."

"Even better than my bed?" Felicity teased.

A laugh bubbled up from within me. "No comment."

Luckily, she didn't look insulted and there was no reason for her to be. Part of what made the Unicorn House so peaceful and wonderful was that I could always find Felicity here and that it was filled with memories of us working together.

Felicity leaned against me, her head landing on my shoulder.

We stood side by side, watching the herd going about their daily business.

The Sergeant at the front, scoping out the terrain for any dangers, while the others grazed to their heart's content.

The old-timer of the group, Jun-Jun, was hobbling at the back.

Her bad leg was getting worse with time, even though we were doing everything we could, and I knew a hard decision would have to be made about her at some point soon.

Unlike people, animals didn't understand prolonging suffering.

Thinking about that put a heavy knot in my stomach so I focused my attention on Sticker who was thriving.

He did a few funny jumps and it brought a smile to my lips.

When he first came in, malnourished and without a horn, I would never have imagined that he'd ever look like this.

He was in great health and living the perfect unicorn life.

The only thing better would be if they were out in the wild.

My walkie-talkie crackled and Jacob's recognisably deep voice came through it. "Jacob to apprentices. Next meeting in twenty minutes at Quarantine."

"Looks like the peace and my break are over," I said as I grabbed the device. I brought it to my mouth to reply. "Charlotte here. Heard. I'll be there."

Some of the others answered too but I ignored them because having a moment with Felicity was more important.

She pulled me closer by my hips and kissed my nose. "I'll see you after work?"

I nodded. "Yours or mine?"

"All my flatmates are going to be at mine. Yours?"

"Sounds good. I do think Tamara will be there but one flatmate is better than three, right?"

She nodded and kissed me again, this time properly. It wasn't something I would want to do in front of people but our only audience was a very ambivalent group of unicorns who couldn't care less.

We broke apart and I checked my phone for the time, calculating how much time I had to get from here to Quarantine.

"Go," Felicity encouraged. "Otherwise, you'll be late."

She was right and that was part of what I loved so much about her, she would never ask me to compromise my career for her. I wouldn't the other way around either.

I kissed her one more time, waved goodbye to the unicorns, and set in motion to find out what animal was in need this time.