Chapter Text
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Rebecca stroked the rim of her wine glass, impatiently waiting by the phone for Greg to text back. She had invited him to have a drink or something, and it had been about 2 hours without a reply.
Meanwhile, her friend/ex/ex-fiancée’s friend was buying a ticket to Atlanta, trying to banish the guilt from his mind- he had made his mind and it was final. Rebecca was bad for him, and he couldn’t stay in this town any longer without getting to the edge of his sanity.
As he reached for his phone, he saw the new text notification and felt his heart sink. It was almost like life was trying to make this hard for-
“ATTENTION,” the PA practically screamed overhead. “All trains have been delayed due to weather warnings. Please stay patient and we’ll get the trains up and running as soon as possible.”
People sighed in annoyance all around him. The first thing he felt he needed to do was tell Rebecca he was leaving. That way was so much easier, instead of having to face her again and see the heartbreak inflicted like it was a few months ago.
Greg evaluated some possible explanations, but in the end stuck with:
Hey, Rebecca. I’m leaving for Atlanta now but it was good seeing u. Bye.
And that was when, about a mile away, Rebecca heard the news blare in the living room.
There was a woman with black hair, a raincoat clutched tightly around her shoulders.
“Winds are reaching around 93 mph, and some minor damage has been caused. We recommend staying inside, and don’t turn to any forms of transport right now, because it’s looking pretty bad out here!”
Rebecca remembered the brief text Greg had sent her, and realised he couldn’t be boarding in this weather. She instantly checked the train times, only to notice the last train to Atlanta was 2 hours ago. And she received that text way after that train. So that meant Greg had to be at the station.
She pulled a coat over her knee-length dress and ran outside, kind of terrified, but there was the tiniest bit of hope that her mind pursued. She couldn’t lose him again, because he was the best thing in her life at the moment.
Her hair began to dampen as she ran towards the central town, attempting to ignore the rain shower getting into her eyes and clinging onto her make-up.
Panting, she stopped outside the station and clutched her side. This was the least attractive form she could see Greg in, but it’s not like she cared. Right?
She climbed up the stairs and saw a man with a black jacket and jeans, leaning against a wall and talking to a little boy who was laughing at something he said. She stood by the door, intending to go in, but instead just stood there and smiled almost proudly of Greg.
His eyes soon caught hers, and he said bye to the child, then walked over.
“Greg, let’s go inside, you’ll freeze to death,” Rebecca said.
“No, it’s busy enough already,” Greg sighed, “Did you run all the way here?”
He looked at her soaked brown hair and realised how quick she was breathing and guessed the answer was yes.
“Well, my car wasn’t really a safe option. And, um, since your train was delayed, I thought I could at least come and say goodbye.”
“We know what happened last time when you decided to say goodbye. It wasn’t fun. I had planned to just get back to Emory as soon as I could, then it wouldn’t hurt as much for us,” Greg said sadly.
“Maybe you could say the delay was fate.”
She regretted the words as soon as they came out of her mouth, and looked down in embarrassment.
“Oh Bunch. Just- just, shut up.”
Rebecca laughed slightly, and looked up into his eyes. Dang it, he even looked cute in the rain. There was a moment of aching silence, and that’s when Greg couldn’t take the tension anymore. He brought her head close to his and- to Rebecca’s astonishment- kissed her. In that minute, everything melted away, the rain pelting into their skin, the winds, even the past. Greg trailed his hands through her hair, and she slung her arms over his neck, kissing him the way she wanted to back in the airport, back at the Taco Festival, back in HomeBase when he was making her a gin and tonic. Every moment just suddenly summed up, and both of them felt so weirdly ecstatic.
And for once, neither of them felt any regret, or anything holding them back. Just the two of them, in the middle of this town, under a murky sky, and it felt like the town was lit up by the electricity between them.