Take Me Back

Authors: FearlesslySpeakNow and SilentDream.

A/N: This is based off of Taylor Swift's two songs Back to December and Haunted.

 

Gabriella’s P.O.V.

Black jacket, red plaid mini dress, and black flats.

It's what I wore the night I met him, and it's what I'm wearing now. Maybe it'll spark a memory in him, make him remember everything but that December night. As I stand on our hill, the one that we had our first date on, the place we shared our first kiss. All of these places that I haven't been to since I made that fatal mistake, but they've played in my mind every day.

"Gabriella?" The deep tenor warms my heart and makes my head spin. My eyes must have been closed, because when I looked, there he was.

Joey Gatsby. There he is in all of his tall, dark, and handsome glory. "Oh," I try to pull back my lips and smile, but I seem frozen. "Hi Joey. You came." I run my hands through my brown hair, hoping to find the courage to do this.

"Yep." His broad shoulders move up and down in a shrug. His guard is up, and he seems like he's keeping it up.

"I'm glad you made time to come here." I divert my eyes from him, focusing instead on a red rose on the ground. Some people use our hill for weddings.

"It wasn't that big of a deal," He smiles, but only slightly. "So why exactly am I here, Gabby?"

My heart lurks at the old nickname. Since I ended things between us, I've made people call me Gabriella. It's safer, like nobody knows me personally enough to call me Gabby. I try to laugh a little, but fail because I'm so nervous. "Oh, I just wanted to see how you're doing?"

"You want to know?" He asks incredulously. His brown eyes look into my green ones, looking for the truth. I've gotten good at hiding that though, so I know he has no clue.

"Yes, I do." I finally smile right.

"Well, I got a new job at Walter Brothers Motion Pictures, so I'm head of the department. And you know, life has been treating me fairly. How about you?" When he talks about WBMP, I want to cry. I was the one who arranged the meeting to meet the CEO of it. I knew he'd be a shoe in for the job.

"How about your family? Elise, Jared, and Kimmy? And your girlfriend, how is she?" I feel funny talking about this, but I know this is how I should.

"I broke up with her. How did you know about her?"

What am I supposed to say? 'I stalk your online profile and have our old friends keep me up to date about that.' Instead, I choose to ignore it. "I always loved Kimmy. Jared and Elise are the nicest people in the world. How have they been?"

"Oh, they're fine. Kimmy has her first piano recital. Mom and Dad are getting by, they almost got divorced, but decided that they actually loved each other." The last part stung, I know he was lying about an almost divorce. He wants me to know he still remembers that December night.

"I'm sorry I didn't call on your birthday!" I blurt out as my eyes graze the red roses. "And I'm sorry that when you gave me those roses, I left them there. And-"

"Gabby, hold on. What are you doing?" His voice cracks, causing me to look up at him. He looks scared.

"Joey, please. Let me explain everything. Why I did what I did. This is why I asked you to come here." I take in a big breath, thinking about the speech I made.

"Please don't." Joey says, but I ignore him. I hurt him enough, what's one more? One that may fix everything.

"When we started going out, you were so good to me. Thank you, I didn't deserve it. I remember in the summer, how we bought snow cones and celebrated my birthday early, just because; how we watched the sun rise and set on the beach. I remember every single thing we did that summer." I look into his eyes, wanting him to know how serious I am. "Fall came next, and