wish list | daerin

❛ Closing the Distance ❜

⌗ 32
third person ✎ᝰ
➸ Wednesday
_______________

Denial washes over Riley as she sits across her best friend for the first time in what seems like forever. The morning had dawned and brought upon a new day, as well as a surprise visit.

She pinches the skin of her hands repeatedly, entirely dazed and confused at the sudden happenings. A faint red mark takes shape on her dorsal due to the capillaries bursting under her skin. "Are you real?" Her voice wobbly.

Andy looked different. Good-looking is what ran through Riley's head. The latter looked quite charming. Perhaps the distance had made the older girl seem somewhat unfamiliar given their time apart. It felt uncanny in a way.

"Do I look fake?" Andy chuckled. "I'm real, Riley. Are you really that astonished that I'm here?"

Riley tilts her head slightly. "It's not that." She answered. "I just can't seem to fathom everything now that you're here. That's all." Her voice soft.

Andy reaches for Riley's hand across the table. It's warm and tingly. "I need you to know that I'm real. That I'm here. I wanted to see you."

Those words alone had singlehandedly moved her. Riley was almost sure that the sight and feel of her best friend had caused her brain to release oxytocin. It might even be true to say that this stimulated other feel-good hormones like dopamine and serotonin. Just everything,

all at once.

There's a warm smile that forms on her face. "I thought you weren't flying over till a couple days before my graduation?" Riley questioned. "And what about Koen and Nix? Weren't they meant to be coming too? I wanna see them..."

Andy's hand lingers over Riley's a mere moment longer. "I changed my mind." The latter begun. "At first I planned on flying in with those two idiots but I just got too impatient," She chuckled. "I thought to myself that I had to see you sooner or later so...I got on the next available flight."

"And the other two?"

"Koen and Nix will be here tomorrow night." Andy addressed. "For now it's just you and me."

The latter lifts her hand away from Riley's. It invites a wave of coldness that she detests. The sense of connection and belonging hovers away.

The time and distance had made things difficult for the both of them to establish and keep the connection they once had. The work load and life style they both possessed were evidently distinctive given the cultural differences.

It was a lot more laid back at home. Riley could still remember it all too well. But it's different now. She'd gotten so caught up with her school life and her own relationship with Mason that she forgot her best friends little by little.

Andy most especially.

There was an underlying tension she couldn't quite pin point—but it hovered over them like a nimbostratus cloud. It was so different.

"Do you have plans tonight?"

Riley nods. "I do." She smiled. "I'll be coming over so we can discuss things with uni applications and grad stuff. Just that really."