Exposition.

Change.

'Cause all I know is we said, "Hello."
And your eyes look like coming home
All I know is a simple name
Everything has changed.

-Everything Has Changed, Taylor Swift ft. Ed Sheeran.

*

Alex is nervous, to say the least.

As much as he tries to tell himself that it's okay, it's just brunch, somewhere in the back of his mind, there's a tiny niggling voice that says no it's not, you're going to fuck up. In his defence, though, the last time he had seen her, she was telling him that she was leaving.

Which is why his fingers tremble slightly as he buttons up the lavender shirt that he had picked out after several minutes of careful consideration. Alex Salmone, the guy who put on the same pair of stained jeans everyday for a year, actually goes farther than picking up what was closest to him off the floor and putting it on.

It's also why after he has dressed, put on cologne and actually made an effort to brush down his unruly mane, he sits down for a few minutes to think about what would happen if he texts her and tells her he is sick. That he has suddenly contracted some terrible disease overnight that has rendered him practically invalid and unable to move a muscle in the direction of the deli.

It is also why he stands outside the deli for a good twenty minutes, pretending to text nobody in particular, before forcing himself to enter, because then there is no going back.

She looks exactly like she had when he had seen her last. The same short blonde hair cropped at her collarbone. The same perfectly winged eyeliner. The same charm bracelet on her right wrist that tinkles every time she picks up her hand to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear.

Alex feels light-headed as he takes the seat opposite her. His mouth feels dry, and he very nearly passes out when she says hello, because he hasn't heard the sound of her voice in so long.

So, naturally, when Alex chokes out a "Hey, Mom" after so many years, it is with great difficulty.

*

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