Dylan's bold statement was met by the slam of a cab door. Gina didn't even acknowledge the sheer absurdity of his claim. The last thing she planned on doing was handing over her heart on a silver platter for the likes of him. She had been down that road once, only to get burned on her out of town. Their whole relationship had been dangerous for her, broken beyond repair from the start. Gina hadn't liked who she was with Dylan, and she wasn't to go backward again.
However, Dylan wasn't about to give up so easily. Like he had once craved alcohol, narcotics and a few other women, he had Gina Kincaid in his system. She had appeared back into his life uninvited but not altogether unwelcomed. She belonged there, with him, whether she knew it or he was sure of it. Gina had saved him when everyone else had given up on him. She had tried to help him when everyone else just wanted to tell him what to do. He had to believe there was still a part of that somewhere in her.
"Stop following me," she said suddenly, whirly around on her heel to stare him in the eye. Her jaw was set defiantly, dark eyes blazing. She was so beautiful when she was like this, full of life and roaring for a fight. "Do you hear me? I am not interested in whatever line you are selling, Dylan. I have a good life. I'm actually happy."
"We could be happy," he attempted. Gina laughed cruelly and shook her head. He knew it was bad before he said it, completely cheesy and devoid of any real sentiment. "I just want to have a cup of coffee with you. What does that hurt? Nat is still over at the Pit. I'm sure he'd love it if you stopped by to say hello. What do you say? Will you do at least that?"
Gina looked down the street toward the hotel and frowned. She knew that she shouldn't give in. Going anywhere with Dylan couldn't possibly be a good idea. "I have work to do," she declared softly, but they both knew her resolve was already gone. After a few more moments of pretending to be reluctant, she stared at him long and hard. "One cup of coffee so that I can see Nat. I will call another cab from the Peach Pit to take me to the hotel."
"I can bring you back," he offered. "Really, it's no trouble."
"Yes, it is," she disagreed. It was trouble in every sense of the word. "It's trouble for me."
Fifteen tensely quiet minutes later, Dylan parked his shiny yellow cab in a reserved parking space near the rear entrance of the gang's favorite hangout. She greeted the café owner with a warm hug. He had always been kind to her, even when no one else thought she deserved it. Nat knew that Gina cared about Dylan a great deal and that made her part of his family. The two of them left Dylan behind as they caught up over a hot cup of brew and a slice of his famous peach pie.
Before she knew it, a half-hour had gone by, and Gina knew what pretty much everyone was up to. She had seen pictures of Nat's son and then Steve's kids. She had heard about Brandon's new job in DC and about Joanie's new shop just down the street and how Valerie was doing with a new club she'd just opened in Vail. She also was lucky enough to visit with Noah when he stopped in for his morning cup of coffee and made plans to have dinner with him while she was in town. The entire time, Dylan sat back quietly, intently to watch her enjoy the sense of coming home.
Finally, Gina peeled herself from the stool to make a call. The lunch rush was starting to pickup, making Nat's free time less and less available. She thanked him again and hugged him after promising to come by for another meal before she left LA. With one last nostalgic look around the diner, she made her way outside and into the warm Los Angeles sun.
"You don't need that," Dylan announced, reaching for her phone to end the call. Gina was a little faster than him, clutching tightly to her phone as she stepped out of his grasp. Grumbling to himself, Dylan stalked over to Gina's refuge on the street corner. "Come on, just let me take you back to the hotel. This is silly. You're just wasting your money and my time."
"Sorry to inconvenience you," she shot back dryly, raking her hand through her dark hair. Gina was already tired from traveling, and now she was tired of her past. More than that, she was mad. She was mad that Dylan was putting her through this and even more angry that it was getting to her like this. "I told you the parameters before we got here."
"And I never accepted," he pointed out. "Let me just take you home."
"Home is in New York, Dylan," she reminded him. "I am going back to a hotel. You know, just a temporary place I'm staying for a couple days until I go home. Home to New York. You get it yet?"
"I could drive a cab in New York," he thought aloud. "They have great museums there. Lots to learn."
"New York is a big city," she announced. "Look, if I agree to let you drive me back to the hotel, will you leave me alone and quit talking?" Gina knew that she was risking a lot by agreeing to let him have any control, but her resolve was decidedly weak at this point. A compromise was in order.
"That's a start," he told her before taking her hand and leading her back to his car. Dylan held open the back door for to slide in, taking care to make sure she was securely inside before shutting the door. Jogging around to the other side, he slid behind the wheel and pulled out into busy traffic.
When they were a few blocks from the diner, Gina realized that they were headed in the opposite direction of the hotel. "Uh, Dylan, this isn't the right way."
"One last stop, Gina," he announced before turning up the radio, the only sure way to drown her out. Gina was angry but knew that her only means of escape would be to jump out at a light. Besides, now she was a little curious about his mysterious mission. With all the familiar sights of LA passing her by, she thought it best to just sit back and enjoy the ride.
However, jet lag soon set in, and Gina felt herself hypnotized by the lines of palm trees and bright blue sky. She feel asleep easily, her wrap spread over her like a blanket and the cool glass window providing the perfect pillow. Dylan watched her dozing at a stoplight in the mirror. She really was beautiful.
When she came to, Gina found herself still in the cab, sitting idly at the curb in front of a familiar house. It was the house that Donna had watched for her parents' friends all those years ago, the one with the pool where she nearly drowned. Gina hated this place. She hated it and everything that it represented. That had been a very dark day in her relationship with Dylan, one that had nearly cost her everything. It was all because she had loved him and wanted to help it. It was all because he was too selfish to get the help he needed without completely destroying her.
"Get me out of here." It wasn't a plea or a request. Rather, it was a strong statement said with all that hatred and anger of a woman scorned. "I mean it, Dylan, I don't want to be here."
"Me neither," he said softly. "But we have to be here for you to understand."
"To get what?"
"That this isn't me anymore. All of that stuff that day, it's gone, Gina. We're not those people anymore."
"Exactly, Dylan."
"I haven't been that person in a long time. I think you knew that before you left. Yeah, I wasn't fair to you. I thought that there were old things there that turned out to be false. I was wrong. I can admit that now without spiraling out of control," he revealed. "But I think you should know that I also can hold onto what I want without turning it into an obsession. I know you came back here for something totally different, but there is a reason you ended up in my cab. I believe in fate, Gina. I believe that I was meant to see you today. I believe that you were sent back to me to stir up all these old feelings again."
"I'm not some lost little girl anymore, Dylan. I don't need you to find me or put me back together or save me. I don't need your money. I am strong and I am independent. I'm not going to come second to anyone. I have dreams, goals. I want to have a family, be a mother. I love my job. I'm actually pretty good at it. I have this whole life without you and I plan on keeping it that way. You're not worth losing myself for."
"I know you don't need me. I'm not sure that you ever really did, despite what I might have made you think. I'm glad that you're happy, Gina, I really am. I love that you have your life together and that you know what you want," he assured her. "I just think there is room in that life for me. I don't want you to lose yourself. We both know who we really are now. All I am asking for is a chance to get to know that woman. I should have taken more time to do that ten years ago."
Pulling on the ends of her hair absently, Gina contemplated his request. It was simple enough and seemed sincere. And yet, there was that nagging reminder in the back of her head that said she was setting herself up for something terrible. "I'm a writer now, you know," she announced suddenly. "That's something we have in common. I write for a living. I'm actually pretty good at it."
"I know, I've read everything you've written," he finally confessed. The truth was that while, yeah, it had been a coincidence that she had ended up in his car, Dylan had kept an eye on Gina's career. He hadn't interfered or helped at all. He just liked knowing that she was doing well. "I have a lot of the clippings at home. You're good, Gina. You have a gift. More than that, I know you love skating again. It's there in your words."
She smiled widely. His compliment made her overtly proud. "Thank you."
"Well, you're welcome," he grinned back.
Gina spent the next three days busy with her writing assignment and catching up with her old friends in LA. She saw the Sanders and had dinner with Noah and perfected an article that would be published on the front page of the sports section come Sunday morning. Most of all, she spent time getting to know Dylan again. She remembered why she fell in love with him and what made their relationship work and tried not let it all overwhelm her at once. And then, she went home to New York and her great apartment and wonderful friends and missed Dylan terribly.
It took two months of talking daily to convince him to move there and a year of dates and spending nights between his place and hers before he asked her to marry him. She took a week to decide and six to plan the wedding. Everyone thought it was a short courtship, but she figured that it was more than a decade in the making. As the toasted their love with family and friends in that famous diner back in LA, Gina could only smile at Dylan. She was thankful he was at the curb that day and he was thankful that she had been his fair. One last stop was all it took to make her fall in love again. One last stop was all it took to make their lives start all over, together, again.
Fin.