A/N: If you aren't familiar with this song, I suggest a look at you tube. Not only do I think it fits with what I think their meeting should be, it is also a duet by the mother herself from her Broadway show Once. I don't know about you, but I think that Memory as sung by an English muffin coming out of this girl's mouth really would be the most hauntingly beautiful thing I've ever heard. I also make reference to Love in the Time of Cholera in this story, because it is the book that Ted is reading at the train station in Farhampton. Also, I wrote the majority of this in a car on an iPod, where I couldn't work on You Don't See It. I am on vacation this week, and probably won't get to that one until I get back home.
Falling Slowly
I don't know you
But I want you
All the more for that
He sees her across the crowded room. Well, it was really more of a tent, but now isn't the time to correct himself. As he watches her play the bass, he can't help but think that the last person he looked at with such intensity was dancing with her father at her wedding to another man right now. The girl is stunning. He knows that she was Cindy's roommate, but other than that, he knows nothing about her. It has been so long since he wanted to know more about a girl. He doesn't however, think she was the one, because his 'one' is the woman in the white dress. The one who just married his best friend. He just didn't believe in 'the one' anymore. But he's just gotsta know his girl.
She on the other hand knows exactly who he is. Sure, she'd heard about him from Cindy, but she remembered her first day of class from four years ago. She remembers the excitement that she got when she first saw him. There was just something about him then, and there still is. Yes, she thought that he was her professor, so she knew that nothing could happen, but she just wants to know more about him. Four years later, she is still thinking the same thing. So much had changed for her in those last few years, but that quest to know him more didn't change at all. And for him to be the best man at this wedding, when she has just broken up with Louis feels like fate.
Words fall through me
And always fool me
And I can't react
She looks for him during both of her breaks, but she never seems to be able to find him. She can't help but be disappointed. Not that she would have known what to say to him anyway. She is a little rusty with meeting new people, anyway. After all, she had just gotten out of a long relationship.
Even though he feels that he needs to talk to this girl, he finds himself at a loss for words. He never seemed to have that much of a problem talking to women before, but damn if there isn't something about his girl that makes him speechless. During her first break, he is busy preparing for his toast. During her second break of the night, he is busy dealing with the ensuing chaos. Sadly, the band keeps playing until he has to leave. Whatever. He blew his chance, but it's not like it matters anyway. There is no such thing as a soul mate for him.
And games that never amount
To more than they're meant
Will play themselves out
He feels like all his life he's been a pawn. Stella was always Tony's. Victoria was never his either. Robin was the only one he ever thought was supposed to be the one. And yet she came into his life so that he could help her find happiness. But just like Florentino Ariza, the main character in his favorite book, he can wait for his true love. He can wait for Robin. Maybe he is destined to spend the rest of his life waiting for Robin. That's why he brought this book along. It makes him feel less depressed about losing in the game of life. The piece of the puzzle that he is missing, though, is that he had to give her up to truly win. Fortunately, that win is in a taxi on her way to him right now.
Her relationship with Louis was like a game. She spent her time trying to make him happy. She could never give him exactly what he wanted. It was never easy for them. Just like Fermina Daza, the main character in her favorite book, she feels like marrying Louis would have just lead to unhappiness. But unlike Fermina, she isn't going to make the mistake of marrying a man that she doesn't love for the sake of convenience. That's why she knew it had to end with Louis. He was a nice guy, but they weren't meant for each other. She wasn't happy with him. She wants to be happy.
Take this sinking boat
And point it home
We've still got time
She has hit a low point. All of the men that she has been with have been terrible. It really was a good thing to be out from under Louis's temper, but she still feels incredibly low and depressed. She doesn't know where to turn. She's considered moving back home now that she's finished her degree. But she loves New York, and it feels like her home now. Maybe it's time for her to make a radical decision. Change her life in her own way. As soon as she gets out of the cab, she decides she is going to take control of her life when she gets back to the city. But as fate would have it, when she walks up onto the platform, she sees him. Maybe she's still got time.
He is at a crossroads in his life, whatever direction he takes at this moment will change his life. He feels much like he's sinking. He knows New York is home, but he knows that he needs a break from the happiness, now that everyone has moved on with their lives, while he's still treading water. He thinks that maybe there is something good out there for him and maybe it isn't too late. He thinks of everything that has happened to him so far in his life. It seems that every choice he has made was the wrong one. Maybe he just needs to give up. Maybe he has to stop making things happen for him. Every long term relationship he has ever happened because he insistently pursued her. They all had their reasons not to be with him, but he tried to force each one of them anyway. Maybe he can't be the one to pursue the girl. Maybe he needs to give up, and stop looking. Maybe the right girl will be the one to pursue him. He realizes he hasn't actually been reading and for some reason he looks up and there she is. The girl he has been staring at all night. The first girl that has tied his tongue and put the butterflies in his stomach since Robin.
Raise your hopeful voice
You have a choice
You'll make it now
He's hopeful for the first time in months, but still incredibly tongue tied. He is still wrestling with whether or not to approach her. He really should, but his promise to himself earlier means that she has to approach him. But what if he lets a great girl get away? It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to talk to her would it? But before he can think any further, he sees the train approach. Maybe his choice has been made for him.
She knows that this is her opportunity. Her choice. She needs to talk to him. She needs to tell him that she's been drawn to him for years. That seeing him on this platform has to be destiny. It has to be fate. Why else would she have run into him yet again. She sees the train approach though, and realizes the perfect way to start.
Falling slowly
Eyes that know me
And I can't go back
She enters from a different door, wanting to make her move on her terms. When the train starts moving, she sees him sitting ahead of her, by himself. As she walks towards him, she somehow recognizes that this moment is going to be an important one. So nervous as the world spins whirs around her, she says hi and asks if the seat next to him is taken. She feels his knowing eyes look at her, as if he has been drawn to her too. She has never had anyone look at her with that much adoration before, and she never wants to go back.
He looks up from his book to the girl approaching him. He wonders in adoration if this is the sign he has been waiting for all along. A girl is finally talking to him. The girl is finally talking to him. She wants to sit with him, and he knows as he sits there he will fall slowly, but surely in love with her.
Moods that take me
And erase me
And I'm painted black
He knows that he has been somber lately. The woman he thought for years was the love of his life is now married. He knows his moods have been depressing to his friends, even as he tried to hide them. They really have erased who he once was. He doesn't even know how to possibly talk to this girl. His life has been so black and bleak, that he can't even tell her anything about himself.
She doesn't know how to feel about him. She somehow feels like there is a black cloud hanging over him. She is taken aback by how she feels meeting him, almost as if she has been erased and is ready to make a change.
You have suffered enough
And warred with yourself
It's time that you won
They continue to sit in silence. She argues with herself for half the train ride about what to say. Something about this feels right and she doesn't want to screw it up. She has no idea about him, but she knows that she's suffered a lot lately. Basically all she has going for her right now is the band. She's even had a hard time finding a job since she graduated. Although the groom had given her his card to call about a job working for some sort of bank. Maybe this night is the night that changes her life, maybe it's time for her win.
He feels like the past five years of his life has been suffering. Stella, Zoey, Victoria, Robin. Of course it was always Robin that he would return to. Yes, he pretended he was happy, but he really wasn't. The last six months were the worst of all. It's not that he didn't see them getting back together, but the engagement threw him for a loop. Not only was it sudden, but it hurt him like hell. Then speed at which everything proceeded made the gaping hole in his heart grow larger. The worst part is that he really does want to be happy for them. He loves them both, and they really make sense as a couple, but damn if it couldn't hurt more. He spent many nights alone recently warring with the two opposing sides of himself, the one that wanted Robin for himself, and the one that needed to let her go. He eventually chose the later, which made today hurt like hell, but he feels some closure. Maybe it's time for his win.
Take this sinking boat
And point it home
We've still got time
He knows the conversation is sinking fast, but they are only halfway back to the city. He may not have a chance with this girl, but there is a part of him that knows in his heart he has to take a chance at this. Even if he only gets to see her on this train, and they both go their separate ways tonight, because he doubts that she is moving to Chicago tomorrow, it will have been worth it. Maybe this conversation and infatuation are exactly what he needs to finally get over Robin.
She knows the conversation is sinking fast, but they are only halfway back to the city. Maybe she can still save this. Maybe they will go their separate ways and never see each other again, but maybe it can turn into something more. But if it doesn't, he sure could be what she needs to get over Louis for good.
Raise your hopeful voice
You have a choice
You've made it now
She needs a way to start the conversation. She does have an advantage in knowing something about him. She even knows a little bit about architecture. Maybe if she makes the choice to raise her voice, everything can work out.
At the end of the train ride and after a long conversation, he's close enough to start believing again. She started off by talking about architecture, and they hit it off from there. He felt comfortable talking to her about everything in his life, and he can tell she did too. She loves dogs and scotch, can quote Ghostbusters, she plays the bass, wants two kids someday, and even said that Love in the Time of Cholera is her favorite book too, after seeing him hold it. But he's been burned so many times that he isn't quite ready to give up Chicago just for a girl he met tonight.
Falling slowly
Sing your melody
I'll sing it loud
After they've said goodbye and walked away from each other forever, a gust of wind comes by, picks up her umbrella and sends it sailing down the street. Like any perfect gentleman, he chases the umbrella down the street and catches it. It reminds him of the one he had for a few years, but it's then when he sees it. A Property of Ted Mosby sticker on the handle, just where he left it. It's the same umbrella. And then he believes again. Destiny. She knows who he is, and knew all night. And she still wants to know him more. He knows now that he needs to stay in New York. She's the one. He realizes that he's said that a million times before and his friends would make complete fun of him, but he knows for sure this time. This is the real thing. It feels so different than it ever did with any other girl. Even so different than with Robin. So he hands her back the umbrella and asks her, "I know I have a plane to catch tomorrow morning, but do you want to join me for a drink?"
"Did you finally see the umbrella?" she asks. She's been waiting all night for this to turn into something more. He seems to be the kind of person who believes in destiny. He nods his head. "In that case, I would love to join you for a drink." They end up at her apartment, talking into the wee hours of the morning, and they fall asleep on the couch next to each other. He ends up missing his flight, but somehow she knows that this isn't a bad thing for him, especially with how calm he is about it. Almost like he didn't want to leave, and was looking for an excuse to stay. Before he leaves, she gives him her phone number. But as soon as she shuts the door, her phone rings, and he asks her on a proper date. And she knows in that moment she knows. He is the one she has been waiting for all along.