1 Reunion

Elise looks forward, sees Aiden staring back at her, and darts her eyes away.

"Hey," Aiden says, quietly. A simple statement, said in his casual, Aiden-esque style, a thumb half-tucked into a ruffled hoodie pocket. Elise, in her awkwardness, stares at his hand rather than his face, yet in her focus completely misses the way his curled-up fingers tightly press against the palms of his hands.

"Hey," she repeats, just as quietly. "It's...been a while."

He chuckles. "Yeah, what, four years?"

She is seventeen and he is eighteen now, and the last time they spent more than a good five hours together was when they were watching the movers empty out his house while she clung tightly to his shirt, as if that could make him stay just a little longer. The last time they saw each other in person was at least a year ago.

He raises his hand, offering a handshake, and she chances another glance at him as she raises her eyebrows at this formal greeting, but stretches her hand out to meet his. He claps his hand against hers, the way guys do with their friends, and she wryly smiles at this while also feeling somewhat, strangely disappointed.

He's an old friend. True, with the distance, they aren't quite as close as they were when they lived two doors apart, but he's still just that: an old friend. So why does her heart seem to beat just a little faster as she watches him?