A/N Another Serena and Edward thing, set around the time that they met... a few parts... feedback appreciated as always :)
Boston, 1993
She loved it. Was in love with it. The crisp New England autumn. The bright, witty, beautiful people. The work. It was everything that she'd dreamed of and more. She'd feared that she would be homesick because for thirty years she'd lived no more than a ten minute drive away from her parents, but she wasn't. She'd stepped off the plane and it was like coming home. It helped that there was something about living and working in close quarters with the same people that reminded her of her boarding school, and that the people in question were so endlessly fascinating. She'd yet to meet one that she didn't like and she was sure that she'd made friends for life here. In fact, the only cloud on the horizon was that it was a finite thing. In nine months time she would have completed her studies, her student visa would expire and she would have to return home. Not that home was so terrible because really her life was a very comfortable one, but it wouldn't be as exciting as it was here, so she tried not to think about it. She wanted to absorb every single second of Boston and commit it to memory so that when she was tired, or unhappy, or just plain bored she could dust it off and remember the best time of her life.
ooooo
She was walking back to her flat after a late lecture when the world crumbled around her. She had treated herself to an apple pie and a bottle of red wine and she planned to settle down with a good book and enjoy the fact that her flatmate was on a late shift and she had the place to herself. There was a spring in her step and the crunch of the crisp leaves underfoot only made her feel happier. Life didn't get a lot better than this, she thought to herself as she turned the corner and walked past the liquor store on the corner, giving the shopkeeper a cheery wave because she was in such a good mood that she wanted to put a smile on everybody else's face as well. And then her phone rang. Alarm bells should have rung there and then because her mother struggled with the concept of a phone being a two way device, and had never called her in her life, but it didn't even occur to her that something might be amiss. Life was so good that she couldn't imagine anything happening to spoil her mood. And then she heard her mother's voice. That, more than the two or three clipped sentences that made up the one sided conversation, told her that something was very wrong. Her father had had a heart attack. He had been at the golf club, had keeled over at the fourteenth hole. He had been rushed to hospital but there was nothing that they could do. She felt strangely numb as she told her mother that she would try and book a flight home for first thing in the morning. She still didn't feel anything as she walked the last hundred yards to the flat, abandoned her treats in the kitchen and started to pack a bag. It was only when she glanced at her watch and saw that there was still another nine hours before she would think about heading for the airport that she suddenly felt a very long way from home.
ooooo
If she had been thinking straight then she would have headed straight for the airport. There was really no need to wait until morning to try and get a flight, and the sooner she got one the sooner she could be with her mother. Even when the thought occurred to her she resisted it because no matter how alone she felt in Boston, it was easier than going home and facing the fact that the entire landscape had shifted forever. If she had known what was going to happen while she was away then she would never have considered going to Boston. Logically she knew that her father had been dead on the golf course, and that her presence would have made no difference. Even if she'd been in England she would even have had a chance to say goodbye. And yet she still couldn't help but think that if she had been there, in the hospital, with her medical expertise and her stubborn refusal to admit defeat, she might just have been able to bring him back. Ridiculous she knew, but she couldn't help it.
ooooo
Eventually, for want of anything better to do to fill her time, she decided to head to a friend's house. More than anything she needed a friendly face and a hug, and she knew that her friend Laura would provide it without question. She had been there every time Laura had broken up with the latest boyfriend, and although they had only known each other for three months they were close, like the sisters that neither of them had ever had. Laura would know what to do. She threw her bag over her shoulder, checked that she had her passport and her credit card, and hailed a taxi to take her the six blocks to Laura's flat. It was raining, and the weather suited her mood perfectly. When the cab pulled up outside her friend's she pressed a ten dollar bill into the driver's hand, not caring that she had grossly overtipped him, and she stumbled up the steps, suddenly blinded with tears. She pressed the bell hard, and by the time the door opened the tears were falling down her cheeks and she had her hand clamped over her mouth. She was crying so hard that it took her a second to realise that it wasn't Laura standing in front of her. It was a man that she didn't recognise, but she quickly worked out that this must be Laura's new flatmate. Just looking at him she could see why Laura complained that it was a constant struggle not to fall into bed with him. With his close cropped hair, his blue eyes and his easy smile she too would have gone quite weak at the knees if she hadn't already been borderline hysterical. He was gorgeous, and he was looking at her like she was completely insane. Which was fair enough. Having a sobbing stranger turning up on his doorstep probably wasn't what he'd had in mind for his Thursday evening.
'Is Laura in?' she managed to ask eventually, swallowing back her tears.
'I'm afraid not. She's gone to Maine for a long weekend with Alan' he replied slowly and Serena cursed beneath her breath. She knew that her friend was going to Maine for the weekend - Laura had talked about it endlessly for long enough - so really, coming here had been nothing but a horrendous mistake. 'Can I help?'
'No. It's fine. I'll go'
'If you don't mind me saying, you don't look like you should be alone. Has something happened'
'No. Well, uh, yes. I mean…' she found herself stammering because she was unaccustomed to sharing her private business with strangers, and she didn't want his pity or anybody else's.
'I'm Edward, Laura's flatmate. What's your name?'
'Serena'
'Ah yes, the friend from University. I've heard a lot about you'
'You have?' she was surprised at that. Laura made out that she and Edward barely spoke at all except about work.
'Sure. Do you want to come in?'
'No. Honestly, I'm fine. I'll go. I have to catch a flight in the morning anyway, and…'
'A flight?'
'Yes. I've got to go back to England. My, uh, father died' she told him, bracing herself for sympathy that would probably reduce her back to tears.
'I'm sorry to hear that' he told her gently 'Will you at least let me drive you home? I can't let you walk anywhere in this state'
'I can call a cab'
'Don't be ridiculous. Let me run you home' he told her, grabbing his car keys and his coat. Before she knew what was happening she was in the passenger seat of his Chrysler and they were driving back towards her flat.