A quiet picnic in the park was suppossed to be the plan the next day. Just the two of them on a blanket under the same tree they had picnicked under countless times in high school.
That was the plan. But plans change. Especially when an unprecedented thunderstorm pops up.
"I can't beleive you didn't know it was going to rain." Paige said for the third time.
"The weather said it was going to clear and sunny all day." Spinner told her. It was the fourth time he had said it.
Paige muttered under her breath while Spinner unlocked the door to his apartment over the restaurant. Since he lived so close to the park, they had walked over and run back when the downpour began. There was a seperate set of stairs on the side of the building leading up to his place, and they were both aggitated at nearly having fallen on the damp wood in their mad haste inside.
Paige wrapped her arms around herself once indoors. "I'm freezing. Since when is it so cold in August?"
Flicking on a light, Spinner put down the picnic basket Paige had brought over and ran a hand through his soaked hair, going down the hallway to his bedroom.. He went into his room and pulled a tee shirt and a pair of sweatpants out of his bureau and headed back to the living room. Paige was rubbing her hands together in an attempt to warm them up.
"Here." he said handing her the clothes. "Put these on and I throw yours in the dryer."
Piage smiled at him warmly. "Thanks Spin."
He directed her to the bathroom and he grabbed himself a change of clothes from the laundry room and changed in record time. By the time Paige emerged from the bathroom, he was building a fire.
"A fire in August?"
"You're the one who said you were cold." he said.
The fire going and their clothes in the dryer, they decided to spread out another blanket and enjoy their picnic in the living room in front of the fireplace.
"This feels kind of familiar, doesn't it?" she asked.
Spinner drank the last of his soda and looked lazily up at her. "I don't think we ever had an indoor picnic Paige."
She rolled her eyes. "I meant the fireplace. If I rememebr correctly, we spent more than one evening in front of your parents' back in school."
He grinned. "Those were good times."
"Yeah they were." she said wistfully.
"Do you remember the way you and Hazel would always meet me and Jimmy after my shifts in the summer?" he asked.
"When we'd been at the pool all day and Jimmy had been at basketball camp." she said.
"And we'd go watch some dumb movie or go bowling then pig out on ice cream and french fries." he finished.
"God, summer was the best. Do you remember," she sat up from where they had been stretched out side by side on the floor, "that time we talked you guys into playing paintball and Jimmy and I paired up and attacked you two?"
Spinner laughed. "Hazel complained about paint under her nails until October."
Paige laughed. "I miss those days."
"Me, too."
"You ever wish you had a time machine?" she asked softly. Spinner looked up at her in suprise, remembering when he'd said that to her. The night before the last day of school when they had slept together.
"All the time." he answered honestly.
"I really regret the way I ended things Spin. I should have been a little nicer about it."
He smirked. "You mean when you said you didn't want to get back together, or when you dumped me?"
She smacked his arm playfully. "You deserved to be dumped and you know it. I meant the former. I probably should have said something that night."
"About only wanting a one night stand?" he teased.
She turned serious. "It was way more than that Spin."
His own expression grew more somber. "Really?"
"Of course!" she creid. "How could you think you could ever not mean something to me?"
"Well, you weren't exactly nice to me your senior year."
"I was just angry. We all were. I'm so sorry for the way we, the way I treated you. It was horrible."
"Paige, that's water under the bridge. Don't worry about it. If it had been somebody else, I would have done the same thing." he assurred her, placing a hand on her arm and squeezing gently.
She covered his hand with her own. "Do you ever think about what would have happened if we hadn't broken up?"
"You mean if I'd never gotten involved with Manny? Or had that fight with Craig?"
"Yeah. Or gotten that awful harircut." she luaghed.
"Hey! I liked that haircut." he protested.
"Oh come on Spin, you looked like that guy from Flock of Seagulls."
"True." he admitted sheepishly.
"Seriously, if I hadn't broken up with you, what do you think would have happened?" she looked down into the cup of coffee he had given her, almost afriad to look at him. Truth be told, she had wondered that exact question a million times over the years.
Spinner shrugged. "I don't know. I doubt you would have hooked up with Alex." he smiled.
She hit him again. "Stop thinking about it. Perv."
"Okay, to be completely honest, I think we would be married and have kids by now."
Paige stared at him in astonishment. "You do?"
"Yeah. I don't know if I ever told you this, but I told Craig in grade ten that I already knew you were the one for me. If we had stayed together, I probably would have popped the question right after graduation." he admitted.
"No, you never told me that." she whispered.
"I would have. Back then...there was nothing I wanted more than you."
Silently, Paige set her mug on the end table beside the couch and leaned over to where Spinner was still lying on the floor. He watched with half closed eyes as she bent down, her hair falling in a curtain around them both, and kissed him. Instinctively, he wound one hand in her still damp hair as the other snaked around her waist, pulling her down on top of him.
Paige placed her hands on either side of his face, feeling the light stubble on his cheeks. He rolled them over and pulled up slightly, checking to see if she really wanted to do this. She ran her hands down his cheeks and over his chest to the hem of his tee shirt. They locked eyes, a silent question an answer passing between them. Spinner raised his arms and Paige sat up a bit, tugging the shirt over his head and then pulling his face back down to hers.Their mouths crashed as Spinner jerked the blanket from their picnic over toward them. He kissed his way down her throat and she let her ands roam over his shoulders and neck.
They fell asleep in front of the dying fire hours later with the food spilled all over the carpet and Paige's head nestled into Spinner's arm. The rain still falling outside would lull them into a peaceful sleep unlike any either had enjoyed in years where they would both dream of a night years earlier melding into that very afternoon. And neither of them wanted to emerge from their little world when the phone began to ring.