So we sat there, for what seemed like hours, the silence was blinding. "It's cold" he murmured, she nodded, "yea, i didn't realize, it is a bit chilly". Silence. She sat down on the damp soft ground, leaned back, and looked up. The night sky always amazed me she thought, he was standing over her, looking her in the eyes. It had been years since she'd seen him that way. Slowly, she rose, almost inspecting him, had closed his eyes, his head was turned upward but she knew he could feel the intensity of her gaze on him.
"Do you think I've changed?" He asked without compromising his stance. He knew what her answer would be, of course he had changed.It had been 5 years since they had last spoken. Since she realized he wanted nothing to do with her, since he broke her, not just her heart but her entire fragile being. He had changed,first when that girl made him. Made him turn his back, made him forget, and leave everyone in the past. And then again when the same girl who claimed to love him beat him down and destroyed him. He had changed, he had become colder, more bitter, and even more unfeeling than before. He was far from the boy whom she had spent windy autumn afternoons with. Far from the boy who played his guitar, who smiled from the inside out, who cared without thought. It had been years since she last saw him and of course he had changed.
Looking down, remembering the hurt she felt when he left, a single tear escaped without permission. Quickly regaining her composure and looking him in the eyes she whispered" We all change whether we want to or not, it's inevitable."
He nodded, It had been years since they had been here, in this place. In the middle of the ancient cemetery under this exact tree, next to the tombstone so old and eroded it was impossible to make out any inscription that had previously existed. Even after he left she would still come here, sit under this tree write songs with no music and dream of the day she'd get away. She remembered the day she escaped that wretched small town, coming back here once again hoping and praying that after 12 months without contact he'd be there with an embrace and a smile and a kiss on the cheek to send her off, just like it used to be. But he wasn't there and she left with no intention of ever returning. However, life has a funny way of bringing us back to our roots, and after almost 4 years across the nation studying and working her ass of she had to return to California.
She was living in Burbank, alone with her small terrier in a small but comfortable apartment. She was supposed to be getting dinner but the minute she got into her car she couldn't stop driving. An hour and a half later here she was, parked in front of the old cemetery climbing over the top of an ancient cast iron gate and walking aimlessly until she reached that spot. And there he was. It was as if he had never left.
She layed eyes on him for the first time in too long she wanted to cry but she couldn't, she was too hurt, all her feelings were rushing back she loved him she always had, why hadn't she told him before it was too late? Why did she let him leave, they were best friends, soul mates, he could have been the one! She was so lost in her own tormented thoughts shed hadn't noticed that she'd been realized.
When she looked at him, she could tell he remembered her. He said her name, more as a question than a statement. They talked for hours. And then realised the time 3am. They both wanted to say they needed to leave but didn't and now here they were talking about change.
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