AN: Thanks so much to all my loyal readers and reviewers!! I appreciate your input. This is...the last chapter to this story. I might rustle up an epilogue, but I'm not sure. I hope you like it. The beginning is a flashback to the night they broke up in case anyone may get confused. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em.
VII
My cheek stung from the slap I had received only moments before my mind had comprehended what had fully happened. The look on Raven's face when she opened the bedroom door pulled at my heart, the look of utter shock and disgust making my own stomach churn. I hadn't bothered to button up my shirt as I followed after her, ignoring the looks on the partygoers faces as I pursued her. I caught a glimpse of her in the crowd once again and I pushed past them, hardly hearing their drunken curses. You idiot! You've screwed yourself! I saw her walkout the front door and quickened my pace. I can't let her get away.
"Rae!" I called, the cool night breeze hitting my face. I took long strides as I tried to catch up to her and was soon only trailing a few paces behind. "Raven! C'mon I can explain!"
"Go back to your fuck bunny! Leave me alone!" she spat.
I sighed, "Raven, look I know that looked bad…would you just…" A frustrated noise left me. "Stop." My hand reached out and grabbed her wrist.
Raven tugged her arm back, trying to break my grasp. "Don't touch me, bastard. I have no idea where you've been. I could catch something."
"Damn it, Raven! You can't honestly believe that this is a regular occurrence?" My hand still held her wrist.
Bestowing a viscous glare on me, she hissed, "What the hell do you expect me to think!?"
"Exactly what it is: a mistake. I love you, you know that." I loosened my grip. "I'd never intentionally hurt you and I'm sorry that I have."
Stepping back, she shook her head. "Yea, I'm sorry too. I'm sorry I was such an idiot to have dated you." She doesn't really believe that, I told myself as she moved farther away. "We're done. Don't ever talk to me again."
"C'mon Rae, don't do this." I took a step towards her. "We can work this out. We've worked through harder things before." Another tentative step was taken but for every step I took, Raven took one back.
"No,Garfield. We can't work through this. We're over with. I don't ever want to see you again," Raven said then spun about and stalked off. I moved to follow after her, but stopped myself, knowing that chasing Raven when she was angry was hardly a good idea. She'll cool down and things will be fine, I reassured myself, although I knew that it was nothing more than denial speaking.
And so time flew by, each day feeling like seconds, each one blending together to become one big blur of nothingness. The only thing that was playing through my mind was the fact that I had let her get away once again. I'd called her cell, no answer. Emailed her, no reply. The plain and simple truth was that I had lost her. I stretched as I stood from where I had been lying on my leather couch, finally giving in to my growling stomach. As I rummaged through the fridge for something that was still in date a knock sounded on my door. Oi. Why is it that whenever I get hungry someone has to come visit me? After giving the contents of the fridge another once over, I made my way over to the door. I opened it only to be met with the familiar green eyes of my friend.
"You changed the locks," She stated.
"Uh-huh. I'll get you a new key eventually."
"Right." Kori pushed past me, grabbed the door from my hand, and then closed it. "Still wallowing I see."
"I don't wallow. I suffer in silence. There's a difference, Kori." I watched as my good friend dug around in the worn, brown messenger bag that never seemed to leave her side. "What are you looking for?"
"This," she said, pulling out an envelope and handing it to me.
"The money you owe me from that poker game you lost a year ago?" I asked.
She sighed. "No. Look at the writing on the front, genius."
I flipped over the envelope and noticed the familiar slanted writing on the front. Raven. 'Forward to: Garfield Logan' was written on the front.
"Well don't just stare at it. Read it. In fact I'll leave you to do so," Kori said, reaching for the door handle.
"You already read it didn't you?"
"I was there the day she wrote it. She gave me strict instructions to give it to you today," Kori said. She opened the door and stepped out into the hall. "Oh, and Garfield…" She looked over her shoulder to me. "Her flight to O'Hare Airport is in two hours from now. Ciao." With that she walked down the hallway and turned the corner.
I pushed the door shut and made my way back into the living room, taking a seat on my couch. The sudden visit from Mira had caught me off guard, as did the information she had bestowed upon me before leaving. With a shaky hand – Calm down, Gar. It's only a letter. – I opened the white envelope and pulled out the sheet of notebook paper inside.
Dear Garfield,
I know you like your letters short, sweet, and to the point so here you go: You were right. You have been all along. My feelings for you never changed and seeing how strong they came back after that reunion at the club, it scared me. But you were right.
Raven
"Well I'll be damned," I mumbled, folding the letter back up and doing nothing to suppress the grin that pulled at my lips. I glanced to my watch. "Plenty of time."
The airport had never been one of my favorite places and with the heightened security, it had become the reason why I dreaded traveling. Something told me that Raven would be waiting outside her terminal, outside the security. Please don't let be me wrong here, I thought as I entered LAX. A sudden crowd surged by, obscuring my view as I made my way towards the security…and that's when I saw her sitting at one of the many tables in a Starbucks. Black hair pulled back into a ponytail, a pair of jeans, and a tank top adorning her magnificent figure. I raked a hand through my hair, straightened my spine, and walked over to her.
"Trying to stir those clouds away?" I asked as I pulled the other chair out and then sat down.
Raven looked up to me, "Trying, but not getting far."
"I got your note." Her gaze dropped back to her coffee. "I love you, Rae. I know that I'm a mess and you're a head case, but we work. You're my other half. I'm not whole without you."I was met with silence, something that managed to make something cold creep into me. You'd think that for someone who writes this type of thing everyday, I'd come up with a better romantic comedy type speech, I thought. "Say something. Please."
Raven looked up to me, a smile forming on her lips. "You always did have a way with words."
"So…"
"I love you too, you big lug," she said, placing her hand on mine. "Even if you are a mess."
"Happily ever after then?"
She nodded, "For now."
The End...?
