A/N: The song is called I'd Wait For Life by Take That
There's a place
We used to be
There's a face
That I used to see
Randy was heading back to St. Louis; his plane was already heading in that direction. At the moment, he was thinking hard about the last time he had gone back home. Damn it, he pulled out his cell phone and searched through his contacts. As he stopped at one of them, clicked it once and listened to the other end dial out. Four rings, slow and making him uncomfortable.
"Hello?" A female voice rang out on the other end. She sounded tired or as though she had just been woken up by the call. "Who is this?"
"It's me," his voice trailed off. He checked his watch and saw the time. "I'm sorry I called so late but I just, I wanted to hear your voice." As cheesy as it was, it was the truth. Randy wouldn't be able to sleep through the night if he hadn't called. It hadn't been the first time he called but it had been the first time since he actually responded to the "hello he got. She still seemed confused as to who this was. "It's me, Randy."
Click.
He expected as much, redialing had no effect. Randy put his phone away and sighed deeply. Pulling his cap over his eyes, he turned out the light above his head and tried to get some sleep. The past was running through his mind.
There's a picture
Of you by my side
There's a moment
That I want to find
I don't know where to start
Or how to begin
But I know I love you still
If you ever turn away
If you ever change your mind
If the road ahead becomes
Too hard to climb
"Randy! Randy!" A small five year old ran over to him at the edge of the playground during recess. She had a camera in her hand. "Look what dad gave to me! I told him I wanted to be a phot---someone who takes pictures.
His blue eyes looked up from the pavement he had been stabbing with a stick. "Really? Cool." He looked back down with a frown on his face.
She sat down across from him, "What happened? Did you get your folder signed again?"
"Yeah..." Randy sighed. "I got in trouble for trying some wrestling moves. My dad was teaching me. He's a wrestler." He sat up interested as he explained. "I think I hurt someone. Do you think I could be a wrestler?" His eyes were now fixed on hers wondering she would say.
"Sure," she nodded. "You could do that and not get in trouble for hurting people."
Now he was smiling. He shifted his eyes over to where the teacher was, she wasn't paying attention to him so he stood up. "I'm going to be the champ! I'll come out and do this. Look!" He posed, holding his arms out.
It made the little girl laugh as she watched him and even took a picture. "What are you doing? You got the whole world in your hands or something?"
"Not yet," he heard the teacher call his name so he sat back down, "but I will."
If there's something in your heart
That tells you to stop
All to hold you close
Tonight
I'd wait for life
It wasn't until the next day he planned on seeing everyone. He had been too tired the night before to drive all that way to his dad's house. A yawn escaped him and he rubbed his eyes trying to wake up. Randy took his things and put them in the back of the rental. Getting in the car, he wiped his eyes and turned on some music to keep him awake for the drive.
His parents were going to have to come second this time; he had been putting off this visit for years and regretted it. It took him long enough, but he was finally making up for his mistakes. The one question that kept running inside his head was: would she be willing to forgive would? Well maybe, but she might not even want to talk to him after all this time.
There's a voice
Shouting inside my head
There's space
On your side of the bed
There's a hope
Every time there's a sound
There's a silence
Playing too loud
"Hey check it out, they still have the swings." Randy pointed as he brought his girlfriend to the swing set and let her sit down. He sat beside her looking at the playground, not much had changed since then except that he had grown into the teen years and the girl from the playground was now his girlfriend. Looking over at her, she was barely swinging. "Do you remember?"
She nodded, "When you got in trouble? Yeah I remember." A small laugh came from her. "You were short." That wasn't what he was talking about though, "I remember Randy. You told me you wanted to become a wrestler, you posed. You still pose like that."
"I know," he kicked his feet in the sand. "I still want to wrestle." It was something he was tossing around between school and his after school job. "I could you know. Get in that ring and be somebody. Would you come see me wrestle?"
"Of course," she stopped and turned to him. "I wouldn't miss it for the world. You wouldn't forget about me would you?"
"Never."
I don't know where you are
Or how you may be
But I know I love you still
If you ever turn away
If you ever change your mind
If the road ahead becomes
Too hard to climb
If there's something in your heart
That tells you to stop
All to hold you close
Tonight
I'd wait for life
Randy's stomach churned, he had forgotten about her. His Evolution days were spent with women that were in one night and out the next. Did they have names? Nope, blonde one, brunette two. That's about it. She left a message once and ended it with, "I hope you're happy." That was the last time she had really said anything to him.
He stepped out of his car taking off his sunglasses and looking at the house. With a deep breath he knocked on the door waiting for an answer. While he waited, he looked around; the address was in the phone book. It was a nice place really.
If I close
My eyes
I'll breathe a little deeper baby
Because you are always on my mind
Yeah you are always on my mind
For life
She opened the door and stared him in the face, dumbfounded. "What are you doing here?"
"To see you," he swallowed. "I---I had to see you again."
"I wish you hadn't, you forgot about me. You lied and said you wouldn't." She stepped out on the porch, she wasn't about to let him inside her house.
His eyes were having a hard time not hitting the floor at her words. "Forget? No but I did leave you behind and I shouldn't have. I missed you and I'm sorry."
Still, that didn't feel the void that he had left behind. "Sorry? So you say sorry and all is forgiven? Randy it's been too long for me to just snap out of it and be okay with what happened. How do I know you really mean it?"
"I'm here," he shrugged. "I haven't even seen mom and dad. I came here first. Look you can say all you want but if you didn't think we couldn't work things out, get past our differences, you wouldn't have opened that door to begin with." She couldn't listen to this anymore but he touched her arm making her turn to him, "Don't walk away, I did that. I am not losing you, not again."
What else was there to do? "You had your chance Randy. Why did you have to blow it? I loved you," her voice grew soft, "I still do but I won't let you do this to me again."
Taking her, he kissed the woman and she didn't pull away. "Never again, you won't lose me. You never lost me and I am not about to lose you." He touched her chin.
With all the memories she had of them, growing up with this man, no matter how hard she had tried to push him from her mind he was always there. "You never lost me. I've been here, waiting. You've always had me."
"Come with me, on the road." He said suddenly. "We can be together, on the road. You'll love it, you always wanted to travel. You can bring your camera."
"Okay," she nodded and he still remembered the camera. "For you, I will." She hugged him. "Just don't let go."
"I won't, not now, not ever."
If there's something in your heart
That tells you to stop
All to hold you close
Yeah
All to hold you close
Tonight
I'd wait for life
I'd wait for life