I Wonder if it Was a Dream

[Taylor McCarthy]

Taylor was usually late to damn near everything but today was the exception.  As is he had to force himself to settle down and be only twenty minutes early rather than end up sitting in the diner where he'd agreed to meet Lucy James  for an hour or more.  He had a sinking feeling why his stomach had been in knots all morning even though he continued to refuse admission.  There was no way he'd held onto much of anything genuine after three years.  He must be running off the memories of a time that had passed the both of them by long ago.  Even then, he had to keep telling himself the memories weren't all that great to begin with.  The two of them had driven each other to the brink of madness and for what?  A few months of sitting around in each other's company without trying to strangle one another?  In hindsight it had hardly seemed worth it.

All of that, of course, went out the window the moment Taylor caught sight of the dark haired, blue eyed girl stepping into the diner.

With a long, slow intake of breath Taylor got to his feet and waved a hand to get Lucy's attention.  At that moment he began to recall the strangely affectionate moments shared between the two and nearly had to shake his head in order to rid himself of the errant thoughts.  Instead, he offered an almost polite smile as she drew closer.  He stood like an awkward teenager for a moment as he briefly contemplated how to best greet her.  Was a hug in order?  A hearty handshake?  Surely it wouldn't be acceptable to go in for a kiss.  Would it?

In the end Taylor opted to do nothing and simple reclaimed his seat in the booth before giving a nod.  Try as he might he couldn't keep his gaze from wanting to lock onto Lucy's deep, blue eyes.  "Hey."  He said, breaking the silence with a pointless greeting.  "You made it."  Which would hardly go down as one of the most smooth things he'd ever said to a woman.

[Lucy James]

Pulling out the earbuds and putting her music on pause, Lucy stood outside the diner, wondering whether or not she should have agreed to this. It felt too much like going back a few steps than moving forward. She had put an end to this chapter in her life when he'd left - or so she'd thought, anyways. After four years, Lucy had finally moved into a better place in her life and she wasn't quite ready to fall back into old habits.

Yet, she moved towards the door, opening it and stepping into the diner they'd agreed to meet up in. Her eyes swept over the room before finally landing upon the familiar face of Taylor. She offered him a meek smile as she moved closer, removing her jacket, scarf and mittens in the meantime.

She took a seat at the opposite end of where he was sitting and placed her clothes next to her. "Hey," she replied. "I did," she added, as if pointing out the most obvious thing in the world. "Still as great with words as ever, I see," she quickly added with something of a smirk.

[Taylor McCarthy]

Taylor, to put it bluntly, rarely cared about the opinions of others. This included when he talked to girls. Taylor didn't put much stock in whether or not a girl was interested in him which, in many ways, led to his general success in speaking with the fairer sex. He never came off as desperate or the type who would be plunged into a deep depression if rejected because, quite frankly, it simply didn't matter. There were always other parties with other girls. It was amazing the sheer amount of confidence one could get in talking with another when they were largely apathetic to the ultimate outcome of the conversation. If Taylor had been in the mindset of giving this thought he would have been able to come to the easy conclusion of why he always seemed to find himself at odds with his own tongue the moment Lucy stepped into the room.

"Yeah. Um. Right." His brow furrowed as he glanced down to the table in front of him. This certainly couldn't go down as the most suave greeting he'd ever managed to give but quickly recovered and lifted his gaze back to the brunette. They had so much to catch up on he wasn't sure where, or how, to begin. "You know, last I saw you, you couldn't wait to get out of here." Taylor said with a bit of a chuckle. "What changed?"