Just like last year

By Dee (Darla P)

Summary: Sometimes she wished things would be like it had been last year,
when she was madly in love with him. ONESHOT

XxxxX

When she thought back at the year that had passed, so much had changed with the time. Now they were standing there a year later, the same persons, the same horses, the same place, the same well-known horse competition, but yet everything was so different. She almost wished it would be like it had always been, when she was madly in love with him. It had hurt her to see him with his girlfriend, but it had also made her feel safe. He would never hurt her the way a boyfriend could. She had thought she’d always be in love with Lex, but her feelings had died down when she hadn’t seen him in a very long time.

If she didn’t think too much about it, she could pretend everything was as it had been last year. She wanted everything to be, but of course she couldn’t change her current situation. Now she was the one being in a relationship. She had been so happy from the beginning, she had been sure she had found the perfect man for her, the one who would make all her dreams come true. But only a few months later everything had started to fall apart. Now it seemed like he didn’t even care about her at all anymore. He never called, never answered when she called, she never heard from him at all. She wasn’t sure how much more she could take. The uncertainty was slowly driving her crazy. What was going on with this man? Did he love her? And if so, why did it feel like he was trying to avoid her? More than a month had passed and she was sure he didn’t even want to meet her.

She had been standing alone in the cafeteria, lunch rush was over and everyone was out in the sun watching the horses. It was the perfect time to gather her thoughts. She hadn’t noticed when he entered the room but when she finally looked up he was just standing there staring at her with the usual smirk in the corner of his mouth. Dorothy smiled suddenly feeling nervous.

For a short moment she forgot about her boyfriend and everything felt like it was supposed to.

But why was he looking at her like that? She wanted to ask but she just couldn’t come up with anything to say. She was confused.

“Is it too late?”

She stared at him not having a clue what he was talking about. Her brain could be slow sometimes she knew that, but she usually figured it out. This time she didn’t. Too late for what?

She continued staring, her thoughts running around her head making her dizzy. Slowly it started to come back to her. She recalled the way she had been looking at him, was that the way he was watching her now? Her eyes widened as she thought of it, could it be possible?

Suddenly she understood everything. It had never been clearer. She swallowed hard. “I don’t know,” she answered truthfully. He nodded slowly, not letting their eyes stray.

As they stood there staring at each others she didn’t know what to do, what to feel. She had wanted everything to be as it had been last year. It could be, with a twist. This year he would feel the same. She had dreamed of that for so long, but it still felt surreal. They had been together so many times in her fantasy, but she still couldn’t imagine them being together for real.

Dorothy didn’t want to think back, or forward, now all she wanted was to stay in this moment and see where it would lead her. She had always wondered what it would feel like to kiss Lex…

Without thinking she shook her head almost unnoticeable, but she was sure Lex had seen it and understood the meaning as he slowly moved closer to her. She took a few steps meeting him halfway and before she knew it she felt his lips on hers.

She hadn’t expected to feel anything but she was wrong. She hadn’t forgotten, not at all. And kissing Lex now, after being in love with him for more than a year, made her realize some things are worth waiting for. She just wished this would have happened so much sooner, now things were so much more complicated.

“I’m sorry I didn’t let you know sooner,” he whispered, almost as if he had read her mind.

Dorothy was confused. Did he really mean he’d felt the same all along? But what about the girlfriend? Well, what about her boyfriend? She sighed miserably, why couldn’t anything ever be easy?

She didn’t answer, instead she kissed him again and he responded without hesitation. He gently brushed her hair out of her face, and put his other arm around her waist pulling her closer. None of them knew how long they’d been standing there wrapped in each others arms when they suddenly heard people entering the cafeteria. They quickly moved away from each others, but realized it was too late.

“Whoa that’s something I thought I’d never see.”

Dorothy looked down at her feet, blushing. Even Lex seemed a bit embarrassed as he smiled sheepishly at his mothers amused look.

“Now if you could get your hands off each others for a while I’m gonna need your girlfriend to help me out in the kitchen before everyone comes back for dinner.”

Both Lex and Dorothy opened their mouths to protest, but immediately realized there was no point to even try to explain. Instead Lex just rolled his eyes at his mother before turning to Dorothy.

“See you later,” he said in a low voice, quickly placing a kiss on her lips. Dorothy stood there staring as he left. She smiled to herself. She had thought her feelings had died down. Well maybe they had, but she had awakened them again, and this time she wouldn’t let them die. She didn’t dare to hope too much, but maybe this time, it would be different. Maybe Lex would be the one, hopefully he wouldn’t get tired of her in a few months like all the other boyfriends she’d had. She knew she would have a few things to take care of when this weekend was over, but right now all she wanted was to live in this moment. Maybe things hadn’t changed so much after all, maybe things were just like last year. Hopefully it would always be.

XxxxX

The End