Within Arm's Reach
By: Riley
Summary – Both of them knew that he didn't have to think twice about it when he got the offer; he was going to take the job. They were going to make it work. Short Dak/OC one-shot
Dak Zevon had always been slightly skeptically of long distance relationships. In his experience, they never really worked out. They didn't try hard enough, someone lost interest. Their jobs kept each other too busy. But this relationship was different; they were going to make it work. He wouldn't say that he was in love with his girlfriend, Rhuben Jackson (though her siblings said he was), because he knew that there was a good chance that they would break up and go out with many different people before either of them decided to settle down with anyone. They were young, he was twenty years old, she was nineteen, they still had time for a lot of things in their lives. He cared a lot about her though, more than other people in her life had, and he liked to think that was the reason that she liked him, He liked to think that it was the reason that they were together.
He wondered if that was the reason that she pushed him to go to New York to work on A Separate Peace. He wasn't fooling anyone when he tentatively brought the play up to her the first time. Both of them knew that he didn't have to think twice about it when he got the offer; he was going to take the job. They were going to make it work. She was not going to let him turn down something like that just to stay with her.
But could a long distance relationship between them really work? It was already hard enough for them, as every three months she was leaving LA to go back to her home of Australia to work on her music with her brothers and sister. Now it was going to be harder, that when she was back in LA, he was going to be in New York most of the time.
They could make phone calls and they could write letters and they could video chat. But she didn't like talking on the phone much, texting was a lot easier, and the time difference, as well as each of their jobs, made it hard sometimes. But in the end, they made it work, because the two of them were sure that they cared for each other enough to make it work. Sure, Dak got frustrated at times when she didn't openly tell him how she felt about their relationship or if she missed him, but that was Rhuben. She could be shy about that sort of thing at times. Most of the time she didn't have to say anything, he knew how she felt. But those few times that she did say it, whether it was over a video chat, over text, or in person, it made him feel better about their decision.
What really scared him was when things were over and he was able to go back home. His first stop would be to see his little sister, Lizzie, of course. There was no question in that, she was family. But the first person that he wanted to see was her, without a doubt, and nothing was going to get in his way of that.
But still, how was she going to greet him? Would she still feel the same way she did before, despite their time apart? Would things have changed? He couldn't wait to figure it out.
When he finally got to her house, he went up to the porch and rang the doorbell.
The door was flung open in less than a second and as soon as it did, a smile spread across Rhuben's face. In two quick steps, she was in his arms, holding onto him tightly. Dak grinned as he wrapped his arms around her and picked her up. She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist as he spun her in a circle, grinning like a fool, before he put her down. Rhuben nuzzled her face in his neck as and he gave her a kiss on the head before tilting his head down and kissing her on the mouth. When the kiss ended, the two stood there, smiling at each other.
"I've missed you," Dak whispered.
"I missed you, too," Rhuben replied with a shy blush on her cheeks.
Dak's heart felt like it would burst out of his chest at any moment.