I gingerly knocked on Eve’s apartment door, solid wood echoing around the empty corridor. It was a sunny afternoon in Manehattan, a first since the pegasi had scheduled some rain over the past two days.

I hadn’t seen Eve since my date with Rarity four days ago. I had to deal with Star Chaser, Eve’s mousy assistant. When I asked, she informed me that Eve was currently in the middle of something, though she still submitted reports and schedules for the Gentlemen she handled. Then yesterday, Star Chaser called me, saying Eve was calling for a meeting back at her apartment.

I was wondering what the meeting would be about when I heard the clank of the metallic lock before the door swung open, revealing Eve, coat and mane looking like it needed an extra brush or two.

“You okay?” I asked, looking at her from head to toe. “You look...”

“Unkempt?” Eve finished, smiling a bit. “Believe me, I looked worse yesterday. Come in.”

I entered the apartment and took one final look at her before I approached, kneeling down, and gave her a hug. I felt her stiffen in my arms before she returned the hug back, chuckling.

“Well, aren’t you all touchy-feely today,” Eve said.

“Yeah, well, I missed you,” I replied. “Two days, and no word? Plus it didn’t help that Star Chaser has nowhere near your managerial skills. Maybe you ought to train her up.”

I felt her gently bop my head as she extracted herself from me. She gave me a very cute pout. “I see what you’re doing. You’re trying to replace me!”

I rolled my eyes. “Psh. Like anyone could replace you.”

Eve looked at me for a moment, small smile in her face before she shook her head and motioned me to the living room. “Well, come on. And make yourself comfortable.”

I sat at one of the loveseats. “Are we going to drink again? Coz, I gotta tell you, it’s way too early for me.”

“No, not that,” Eve replied, trotting around the coffee table. She looked around for a moment before settling on the couch beside me. She sighed.

I leaned forward and rubbed her shoulder. She looked at my extended arm softly before finally relaxing. “Okay, what’s wrong?” I asked.

Eve took a deep breath. “Harry”—her horn glowed—“there has been something I’ve been wanting to say for a long time. Even now, I can’t just seem to say it out loud, but...” she trailed off as something behind her, a glow, rose up above her head, and slowly made its way to me.

I kept still for a moment, focusing on the floating glowing orb, before I reached for it, grabbing it. As my fingers enclosed around the floating object, Eve’s magic glow dissipated. I looked at her for a moment. Ever since we had met, I have never seen her look so unsure. The pit of my stomach took a dive as my fingers felt the object. I knew what it was.

I opened my hand. It was a beautiful glass orb filled with liquid magic, glowing in bright magenta, held by an intricate silver work of loops and lines forming a heart.

Eve shifted uncomfortably. “I know this might come as a shock to you, but—”

“I knew,” I admitted.

“—Harry, I want...” and she stopped when she heard me. Her eyes widened, jaw slackened as she stared at me with disbelief. “You knew?” she whispered. “How?”

“I was awake that night,” I replied, holding on the vial, “when you climbed on the bed.”

Eve did a very good impression of a fish. She stared at me for a few moments before her expression turned contemplative, eyes closed, lips moving as if she was trying to recall something. Then, she nodded. “That’s why you were acting a bit differently. I thought it was because of Neighagra, but...” she trailed off, going silent again for a few seconds before her eyes hardened and blazed with annoyance. “Why didn’t you say anything!?”

“Hey, you kinda took me by surprise, okay?” I replied, meeting her gaze. “And with what had happened to me that day, I wasn’t exactly thinking straight.”

“You still could have said something afterwards!”

“I didn’t know how to approach the subject, Eve,” I muttered. “For God’s sakes, we’ve been friends for more than a year. I did not expect anyone to harbor any feelings for me, much less you. I needed a few days to think about it. It didn’t help that you just went on like everything was normal.”

Eve stared at me. “You ‘needed a few days’,” she repeated. “Does that mean... you’ve already decided?”

“I... no. Maybe?” I palmed my face with my free hand, muttering, “Oh, God. I thought I was over this, but I’m still undecided, like before.”

“‘Like before’?” Eve asked. “What do you—” and another thought entered her mind. “Harry... did you, by chance, talk to anypony about this?”

I looked at her, slowly nodding.

“Anypony. Okay, so, pony,” Eve muttered. “By chance, is this pony a customer?”

I nodded again.

Eve closed her eyes. “‘Hit a snag’...” Her eyes snapped open. “Oh, she played me!”

“Played?”

“Miss Rarity,” Eve said. “That day, when I picked you up. She played me like a fiddle!” Her eyes suddenly regained that hard edge as she jumped out of the couch, and charged at me. Before I could react, she put one foreleg right between my legs, awfully close to my crotch, and the other on my side. “Were you in on it, Harry? Did you ask her to fluster me?” she demanded, eyes quivering.

I replied by touching her shoulder, rubbing a bit of her neck. I looked at her. “Christ, Eve, I’d never do that to you. You’re my friend. One of my best. I would never try and hurt you like that.”

Eve looked down, nodding. “Yeah. I know,” she said, whispering the last part. She sighed and shook her head, moving away from me. “Sorry. The past few days have been... hard.”

I frowned, my hand going for her cheek. “Want to talk about it?”

She leaned on my hand for a moment before she separated herself from me. “What’s there to talk about?”

“What have you been been doing for the past few days?” I asked.

Eve jumped up onto the couch and laid down on all fours. She looked towards her right for a moment before sighing. “Losing my mind, that’s what.” She used both hooves to massage both sides of her head.

An idea formed in my head. “Eve, where’s your brush?” I asked

“Uh, why?” she asked.

I raised an eyebrow. She raised one back, and after a while, we both grinned.

“In my room,” she finally replied. “You know where, right?”

“Yeah,” I said. “I’ll be back.” I left the vial on the coffee table and immediately left the living room.

Eve’s room was further down the hall, past the guest room. It was as I remembered it—a comfortable-looking room complete with carpeted floors, luxurious-looking blinds, and a large king size bed that was immaculately made and clean.

The white-bristled brush was on top of a mirrored dresser. By the time I was back in the living room, brush in my hand, Eve was on the loveseat, sitting on her haunches, waiting for me.

“Took your time,” Eve muttered as I sat beside her. She slowly shifted her body, back facing me.

“Nag, nag,” I replied. With my free hand, I felt the hair of her coat between my fingers before flattening it with a gentle stroke of the brush. I repeated the procedure a few more times, earning a small groan from Eve.

“You’ve been practising,” she said. “Remember when you first started?”

“You’re not going to let me forget that are you?” I muttered, brushing her barrel.

“Nope,” Eve replied, giggling. “It’s amazing how much better you have gotten.” She paused. “Harry... thanks.”

“Least I can do,” I replied. “Besides, a certain fashionista said that a mare should take pride in her appearance.”

“She would say that,” Eve grumbled. “I’m still a bit ticked off at her. I mean, I spent two days trying to get as much info as I can about her.”

“Why?”

“To see if she was actually serious in buying you from the company,” Eve replied.

“You know she can’t,” I replied. “Gentlemen for Mares don’t operate like the old comfort horse companies, sell out Gentlemen contracts to mares. It’d cause too much of a commotion among us.”

“True, but she can still pay for Exclusivity,” Eve countered.

I blinked. I didn’t think about that. “So, was that what you were looking for? Financial records?”

“Yup,” Eve replied with a short nod. “Had to go comb through a lot of things. Her shop isn’t actually the only business she has. She is heavily invested on other businesses, like Photo Finish’s Modeling Agency, Fancy Pant’s Antiques, and she even does business with Prince Blueblood’s airship company. She’s also been heavily investing in Earth fashion magazines, maybe even planning on publishing something there. She’s been moving a lot of bits and precious gemstones, and if things go right, she’ll probably be able to afford you within half a year.”

“And you got all of that within two days?”

“I am very good at linking things,” Eve said with a bit of pride. “Anyways, her business and investments were not the only things I’ve been investigating. I also looked into the mare in question. She has a reputation on being quite a traditionalist. She could pretty much translate Exclusivity to ownership. And if you were exclusively hers, she can... convince you to just stay with her after your contract expires.”

“I wouldn’t do that...” I muttered.

“Are you sure?” Eve whispered. “Harry... you have plans to leave Gentlemen for Mares. And you admitted that you are pretty much lonely. Miss Rarity? She’s a responsible mare, has her own business, and is pretty smart. If she offered you a way out, a life of companionship with her, you’d most likely take it.”

“You don’t know that,” I said.

“Maybe,” she conceded. “But I didn’t want to risk it. In a way, maybe I should be thanking her. I would never have given you that”—she motioned the vial on the coffee table—“if she didn’t put the possibility in my head.”

We stayed silent for a moment, my hands kept brushing. Eve’s coat was finally evening out, so I started working on her mane. She leaned a bit closer to me as I started doing the initial brushes.

“So... uh, what do you think?” Eve muttered nervously. A first, since I’ve known her. She looked at the vial that was still on the table, then back at me.

I looked down towards my hands. “Why me?”

“Because you have a good heart,” Eve replied.

I scoffed. “Some would disagree,” I countered. “Look at Sea Swirl.”

“You can’t please everybody, Harry,” she said. “Besides, look at your customers.”

I shifted a bit, pausing on the brushing.

“Oh. Uh, bad topic?” Eve asked.

“A little bit, yeah,” I replied softly.

“Sorry,” she said. “Okay. Look, forget about Sea Swirl. She doesn’t know you like I do. You’ve made me laugh, made me frustrated, and made me feel a lot of things—things no other pony made me feel.”

I smiled a bit. Did she really leave an opening like that? “Oh, really?” I asked, chuckling. “Made you feel that way, eh?”

Eve replied by looked at me, her cheeks tingeing with a bit of red. I blinked.

“No,” I muttered in disbelief. “Really?”

“Harry, I’m a mare who has needs too, you know.”

“When?” I asked.

It was her turn to shift uncomfortably. She faced away, eyes forward, and I continued my ministrations, which got her to relax a bit. “When you first stayed here. For the first time in my adult life, I had a single stallion staying in my apartment. I think that’s when I stopped viewing you as just a friend. You became a potential companion, and I learned more about you than when we lived separately.”

I had to pause my brushing. “You were seriously considering on jumping me then?”

“The thought had crossed my mind, yes,” Eve admitted.

“Okay,” I muttered, my hands moving again. “Since then, eh? But that was... quite some time ago. And honestly, Eve, I doubt I would have said no to you then. So, why did you stay silent?”

“I was... afraid,” she replied.

“Afraid?”

“Afraid you’d reject me,” Eve clarified. She sighed. “Harry... you never really looked at me as a mare. I always felt that you just looked at me as... Eve, your friend.”

I winced. “Yeah... I did look at you that way.”

Eve perked up. “‘Did’?”

“Yes, ‘did’,” I confirmed. “Am I going to have to keep watching what I say to you?”

“You can try,” she replied playfully. “So... ‘did’, eh? Did you start imagining me in lewd poses?”

Oh, fucking hell.

“I... uh...”

Eve turned to look at me, a big smirk on her face. “Oh, you did. When, Harry?”

I shifted uncomfortably. “I... look, don’t get mad. Please?”

Eve frowned. “Okay. Why?”

“It was with Rarity,” I whispered, my cheeks feeling hot. “I kinda just... imagined she was you.”

She stared at me for a moment, which only increased the discomfort I’ve been feeling. ”Really?” she asked.

I nodded.

“Wow,” Eve muttered. “I don’t know if I should feel happy, insulted, or relieved.”

“Happy? Happy’s nice,” I said.

Eve giggled. Her horn glowed, and I felt the brush pulled magically out of my hand. Gingerly, she slowly sat back up, to her haunches. I suddenly missed the warmth. I looked at the brush float almost lazily towards the coffee table. Once it settled on the surface, the vial began to lift from its place and floated in front of me, waiting to be grabbed.

“Harry... will you be my col—boyfriend?” Eve asked.

I looked at the vial once more, then back at Eve. She smiled hopefully at me, but I could still see the worry in her eyes. I took a deep breath. She frowned.

“Y-you’re going to say no, aren’t you?” she whispered.

“You’re not the only one who’s afraid,” I replied.

Eve blinked. “What do you mean?”

“Eve... I don’t want to lose you,” I began. I shifted to face her, and she did the same. “You’re one of my best friends. I don’t think I can take that.” I sighed. “I had a friend once... Cathy Biggins.”

“Harry, what does this—”

“Please let me finish,” I said. Eve frowned, but nodded. “Cathy Biggins. You could say she was my mentor. She pretty much taught me all the basics in regards to computers. Databases, programming... I think I mentioned once that you reminded me of her.”

“I remember that,” Eve said, nodding.

“We were a bit inseparable,” I continued. “We attended the same high school, entered the same college. We made plans to team up, work together on her project, something we could both take credit for.”

“What happened?”

“I was an idiot,” I muttered. “I promised I would help her, that I would be there. Except I blew her off because I had a girlfriend that ‘needed’ me more.”

“The one that couldn’t do the Seeing Programming?” Eve asked.

“C-Programming. And yes, the very same,” I replied. “Cathy got her project running of course, but she never talked to me afterwards.” I sighed. “I... I know the situation is different, but I’m still afraid. What if we don’t work out?”

“We’ll make it work out,” Eve replied, leaning forward.

“You can’t be sure that will work,” I muttered.

She placed a hoof on my shoulder. “No one is really sure about the future, Harry. You can’t be sure that it won’t work out.”

“We’ll fight. We’ll disagree.”

Eve slowly pushed me downward. “We’ll also know more about each other,” she said. “We’ll share each other’s world.”

I was on my back, Eve’s face in front of mine, our lips almost touching. I swallowed. “You deserve someone better,” I whispered.

“And I want you.” Her eyes bore to mine. “Harry... yes or no?”

I felt her body leaning down on me, heavy, comforting. I smelled her honey-floral scent gently wafting around me. I felt the tremble of her voice as she asked me that question. My hands wrapped around her chest, encircling her just below the neck.

I nodded.

Her smile lit the room. Her eyes quivered as tears began to form. She slowly licked her lips, wetting them, before she touched mine, gentle, wet. I shuddered on contact. I squeezed her hard.

I was wanted. Eve, my friend, now my current marefriend, wanted me. And as I enjoyed the taste of her mouth, the feel of her tongue, the warmth of her body, and the smell of her coat, I looked at the floating vial of heart, glowing bright magenta and swore to it.

I shall be Eve’s until she says otherwise.

I will be her boyfriend until she finds another.

And she will.

She deserves better.

But I’ll be hers until then.

Author's Notes:

And thus, Gentleman for Mares ends.

Thank you towards the following: shira, coandco, Permanent Temporary, grey_conscience, TownCrier. To murphy for helping me in the beggining. And to AnonponyDASHIE for his input as well in the previous chapter.

Also, thanks to The Equestrian Critics Society, WRITE, Charlezzz, Aquillo, Burraku_Pansa, and Professor Plum.

While Gentleman for Mares ends, Harry's story will continue. Like I said previously, the working title is basically the title of this chapter. It'll be a bit different, focusing more on Harry and Eve. Well, at least I hope that's how it goes.

I still have Feathered Heart to write, the new Changeling fic, and that Gentlemanverse First Year. So... more hard work, I predict.

To my fans, thank you all for following the story, and I hope you enjoyed the ending.