His heart beat a little faster in his chest, causing a small bubble of laughter to rise up inside him and escape from his lips. It was funny how she always pulled that very same reaction from him even when she wasn't actually there. The picture Oscar held in his hand was creased and a little worn around the edges, roughed up from where it had been stuffed inside his wallet for the past two years. Admittedly it was also a stolen photograph – taken from the wall of the girl smiling back at him in the picture.
Rave Sommers.
Slowly the laughter died and the smile slid from his lips. The last time he'd seen her hadn't exactly been on the best of terms but he couldn't really blame her for that. Her brother had bailed with his boyfriend and left Rave behind to deal with life in Acelin, a fact Oscar didn't really make any easier when he came home with a two inch gash above his eyebrow, a split lip and three broken ribs. He'd told her he was done with the gang he'd fallen into and he hadn't lied – she just struggled to believe him so much when he explained they weren't so happy about letting him go. They'd argued that night and the next day she was gone.
He'd come to regret every bad word thrown between them, hated how bitterly it had ended and wondered if she ever missed him too. God, he missed her. He missed the way her hair felt between his fingers, missed the subtle way the corners of her lips would curl as she tried to hide a smile. He missed the goosebumps that would rise on her skin as he kissed her, how-
"Oscar, it's clocking out time." The voice of his co-worker broke through his thoughts and amber eyes lifted to acknowledge him, nodding a little as he stuffed the picture back into his wallet. All day he'd been waiting for work to end, having snagged himself the position of mechanic in the local garage, but once the moment was upon him he started to feel the nerves. The intention was to finally approach Rave after two weeks of knowing she was back home and failing six times already. He got about as far as the street the ice cream shop was on before turning his car around and bottling it, but that day would be different.
He left the garage and took his time driving towards east and twenty third street, gripping the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. He couldn't stop the niggling doubts that raced through his mind at a thousand miles a minute. What if she turned him away? What if it had been so long she just didn't want him walking back into her life? As horrifying as the thoughts may have been he forced himself to push past them. He wouldn't know unless he tried. He wouldn't know if there was still a chance for him. He prayed there was.
The ice cream parlour loomed up ahead, drawing his attention as he parked his car just across the road. A quick glance at the clock told him that it was just ten minutes before their closing up time which meant that she should be leaving the building at any moment. His heart started to race when he saw the door opening, prompting him to begin getting out of his car when he saw her stepping out and onto the sidewalk, but something made him pause. Following behind her was a man he'd never seen before. He watched as he waited while Rave closed up the shop – saying something that caused her to laugh and prompted a sudden feeling of jealousy to curl in Oscar's stomach. None more so than when they leaned in to hug her and pressed a kiss to her cheek, however. Had she moved on?
They turned and went their separate ways, the same moment that Rave lifted her gaze and caught sight of him as he almost braced himself against his car. Shock registered on her face, followed by confusion and a multitude of other emotions before he could pull himself together. She looked like she was ready to bolt so he began to make his way across the street.
"Long time so see," he began, far more quietly than he would have liked, and before he could stop himself he was glancing towards the retreating back of the man she'd just been seen with. He could have kicked himself for being so insecure. If she'd noticed it she didn't show it, instead staring at him like he was a ghost. In a way he was and he hated it. Rave made a sound of acknowledgement and briefly Oscar didn't know what to do. "I thought we co-"
"Why are you here?" The first time in years he'd heard her voice and it almost cut him through to the bone. Inside he floundered, hating that this wasn't going the way he'd wanted it to, but what did he really expect? Her to fall back into his arms like nothing had happened? Like the past two years hadn't happened? He was an idiot.
"Look, I know I'm probably the last person you want to speak to," the way she glanced off to the side at that point was like a shot through the heart. "And maybe it's selfish of me to be here. I know it's selfish. But I… I just needed to see you, Rave. I wanted to talk to you." A hopeful feeling fluttered in his chest when she looked back at him, familiar sea-green eyes studying him as though torn between her own desire to speak or walk away. Perhaps it was the unspoken fact she'd left all those years ago without a word to him that prompted her to nod her agreement, but Oscar didn't care why if it meant they'd still get to speak.
"We can go to the beach then, and talk there." Almost eagerly he nodded, gesturing the way back to his car to suggest that he would drive them there. All he could do, as he walked side by side with her, was pray that the conversation would go as well as he hoped it could.