Springfield.

Spend a couple years in Detroit and Springfield actually starts looking kind of good, she mused to herself, a small smile forming on her lips. Lips that had aged a few summers since she was last here. Lips that had grown hungry.

She sat down the two boxes, stacked on top of each other, beside the door after she passed through it and she lifted her eyes to look around. A hand on her back as she cracked her spine a little, sniffing the dust that danced through the air. Just as she stretched out her arm to push closed the door behind her, the ringtone of her cellphone broke the silence.

She sighed good-naturedly. "Hey, mom."

"Did you get there safely? Cause if you totalled the car..."

"No, mom."

"No, what?"

She laughed a little, walking over to the kitchen counter and hopped up on it. "The car is fine and so am I. Would you relax?"

"Ah well, I would've just billed your father anyway." Laughter. Mom must have started smoking again. "So you're really sure about this?"

"Yes, mom, I'm sure. It'll be a breeze. I mean, honestly, it's not like this place has a very high standard. Anyone can get a job anywhere. It hasn't really changed much in that aspect."

Her mom made a skeptical sound, but she kept her comments to herself. "Okay. Well, check in with me once you've gotten your contract in order? We can review it together, make it a video conference and maybe a movie?"

"Mom."

"Alright, alright, okay, I get it, I guess that was too far. But I'm serious about reviewing your contract. I don't want you to get screwed."

She laughed again. "I'll call you tonight. Bye!"

The women hung up and after leaving her phone on the counter, she went over to the door to get the boxes again. Just before straightening up, from behind her hair, she spotted a pair of shoes. Her gaze drifted up a pair of legs and once she was at full height, she was face to face with a familiar sight.

"Jimbo..."

"Laura."

A pause. A somewhat awkward pause. A pause Jimbo was the first to break.

"I saw you were back." His hands were clenching in his pockets. It wasn't hard to tell.

"How? I've been back like, barely an hour. Are you stalking me?" Laura looked somewhere between disturbed and annoyed.

Jimbo's forehead scrunched up defensively. "I was uh, outside the train station, with Dolph. I saw you get off. I wasn't stalkin' ya or anything. It was like, uh, a total coincidence, like... really."

Laura supposed she had no reason not to buy his story, after all, it wasn't a surprise that Jimbo and his gang of goons hung out in places like that. She stepped aside and allowed him into her apartment. "You can come in, but not for long. I have a job interview in about an hour."

The boy looked surprised, in the good kind of way. "Really? Where?"

Laura made a face, unwilling to tell him, or anyone, just yet. Good thing her back was turned against him. "Not important. Do you want something to drink?"

"Yeah." Pause. "I thought you were in college?"

"Nah. Wasn't for me. Dropped out."

"Like, how come?"

She shrugged nonchalantly. "Not like I'm gonna tell you," she told him as she handed him a can of soda. Jimbo seemed to accept her reluctance but the silence crept over them once more. Laura leaned against the kitchen counter, watching her old boyfriend idly as he opened the can and drank. He looked up and their eyes met briefly. Jimbo swallowed visibly.

"Wasn't your shirt buttoned up before?"

God, he was so dumb, bless his soul, thought Laura with an eye roll. But damn, the dim ones were such a turn on. Laura tipped her head back, inviting him to walk closer. He wordlessly complied and it took only a small tug from Laura before their pelvises met and Laura's legs were around his waist. Her hands were already pulling Jimbo's t-shirt over his head and once he was shirtless, Laura pulled him flush against herself and kissed him messily, which he sloppily responded.