Past, Present and the not-so-distant-Future

Happy Reunions

Crystal stood in the middle of the room, her eyes scanning everywhere. There were people laughing and talking all around her, but she was oblivious to all the noise. Her attention was centered on finding one person, and one person only.

Seeing a flash of black, she gasped and headed towards it. Her face broke out into a huge grin. There she was.

"Lindsay!" she called out, running towards her. The other girl didn't acknowledge her and Crystal assumed she didn't hear her.

"Lindsay!' she yelled again, wrapping her arms around the redhead, squeezing her tight.

Lindsay froze, looking at her with an expressionless face.

Crystal smiled. "It's been a long time, Lin."

Lindsay pursed her lips. "Crystal," she greeted evenly, turning to continue her conversation she was having the rest of the group.

Crystal frowned. What the hell was this? "Lin..." she began hesitantly, and Lindsay rolled her eyes and exhaled loudly.

"What is it, Crystal?"

Crystal's mouth dropped open. "Lindsay, what the hell is your problem?"

Lindsay folded her arms across her chest and took a step towards her. "My problem? You're my problem."

Crystal gasped, her heart sinking. "What?" she whispered, the hurt evident.

Lindsay laughed bitterly. "Well, what do you expect Crys? You come strolling back after four years and expect everything to be exactly as you left it? Things have changed, Crys. But you wouldn't know that. You never came back once. Not once." She shook her head. "As far as I'm concerned, you shouldn't have come back at all."

Crystal watched her walk away, tears streaming down her face. "Wait, Lin," she choked out, reaching out to her. "Don't hate me."

Lindsay spun around. "Oh and by the way, Crystal, you're landing!"

Crystal dropped her hand and looked at her, confused. "Huh?"

"You're landing," she repeated. Landing. Landing...

Crystal woke abruptly, looking around completely disoriented. "Lindsay!" she gasped, her heart racing.

"We're landing, make sure you buckle up," the flight attendant said to her as she walked by.

Crystal closed her eyes and breathed a huge sigh of relief. It was just a dream.

She looked at her watch and gasped in surprise. She'd slept for three hours. She took a deep breath and glanced out the window, watching as the ground rushed up to meet her.

She'd called Raymond from the air, letting him know she was coming back a week earlier than she had previously told him. She'd nonchalantly asked if Lindsay was still with Lysandra and Raymond had nonchalantly answered yes, she was. She had been hoping that he would say no, but she knew that it was unlikely. She'd figured out from the 'we's' in Lindsay's e-mail a few days ago that not only were they still together, but also lived together as well.

Raymond was all excited because now she'd be able to go to the big pre-wedding bash at his mom's house the following night. She'd been excited too, it was going to be the first time she'd see Lindsay and it now it was going to be a surprise since the other girl didn't know she was coming home this early. She couldn't wait to see her. She frowned. That dream she just had shook her up more than she wanted to admit, and suddenly, the happy reunion she'd always envisioned wasn't so clear-cut anymore.

She pushed those thoughts out of her head as the wheels of the plane hit the pavement and her heart leaped into her throat. She was home.

After the plane landed and everyone got off, she gathered all her luggage and made her way to the front of the airport to call a cab. She'd barely set foot outside when she was ambushed from all sides by her mother, father and Reg.