coming home (tag; sarah)

[bryan]

[/size][/ul][/blockquote]

[sarah]

[/color][/b] she asked as she walked up towards him. "Hi! What are you doing in Capeside? It's been so long since I've seen you. How have you bee?" Sarah went in for a hug, but then paused halfway when she realized that maybe it wasn't such a good idea. So, then, she just dropped her arms to her side. She was pretty sure it appeared really awkward to Bryan. Well, it wasn't as if this encounter could be any more uncomfortable.
[/size][/ul][/blockquote]

[bryan]

[/b] he said, smiling and turning towards her. He went in for a hug and realized that she stopped short. Was it that bad of a breakup? Had things become that awkward between them? Bryan hugged her anyway. He was over their relationship. After they broke up, he was pretty upset for a few months. Went on a few drinking binges with his friends, didn't shower for a few days. But, eventually, he got over it. Bryan's now a happily married man. His past relationships were nothing but past relationships to him now. "It's been way too long. I actually got a job in the city. I was looking for a nice quiet town and Capeside just happen to be it. It's a nice, quiet, homey, by the water, and only half an hour drive. Which isn't too bad. I moved here a couple of weeks ago." Sarah looked good, even better than he remembered. "How about you? This is your hometown, right?"

Bryan always thought Sarah was the big city type of girl. Her dreams, ambitions, and the way she carried herself. He always thought she was going to do something much bigger than he ever saw himself as doing. But, he was fine with not doing anything big. He wanted something simple. A home, a family, a quiet life. That was one of the reasons they broke up. They just grew apart and headed towards two different directions in their life. It only came apparent when Bryan was filling out his graduation forms and started searching for jobs.

"You know what," he asked her. "We should catch up. Do you have time now? We can find a coffee shop or something." He looked around the marina to find some small cafe. There were plenty of shops and places to eat around the marina. He knew he probably couldn't stay too long. His wife would probably be done shopping soon.
[/size][/ul][/blockquote]

[sarah]

[/color][/b] she said still in disbelief. "I mean, it's crazy, right? I haven't seen you in ages and you come and move here to Capeside? But, you'll love Capeside. It really does seem like your type of town. I left and I couldn't help but come back. I don't know. I guess, you don't know what you're missing until you actually have a chance to miss it, right? I came back, started teaching. So, I ended up being a social studies teacher at my old high school. How about you? What do you do in the city? Something with engineering, of course, right? Sorry, I'm just rambling. I guess some things haven't changed." Sarah laughed. She was always a rambler. She liked to talk a lot sometimes. More than often, she talked too much. It was actually great for a history teacher since history is like storytelling. Though her students loved her, they do find it boring when she goes off on a tangent. She had gotten better at reading at these social cues to just stop talking. And, it looked like she needed to stop talking now. "Yeah, I have time to catch up. I just finished my errands. Why don't we stop by Harvest Moon? They have the best panini in the world."

Sarah started walking towards the Harvest Moon, which wasn't too far away. They continued talking as they walked. "I still can't believe you're in Capeside," she said, tucking some hair behind her ear. "And, to run into you after all of these years is even crazier." It was a small town, after all. They were bound to run into each other sooner or later. Sarah looked over at Bryan and examined him better than she did before. He looked older, but not too old. There was something else. It was a sense of calm and peace. She has never seen him like this. If he had been like this before, she must have missed it. "So, how are you liking Capeside so far? Where are you living?" It was definitely going to be weird to know that Bryan was going to be in Capeside. And, yet, it seemed like it was yesterday that they were walking towards the student center for some coffee.

They made it to the cafe and Sarah walked through the doors first. She walked straight to the counter since there was no line and ordered two coffees; one for herself and one for Bryan, just the way he liked it. Sarah paid for the coffees and went to find them a nice spot by the window. "So, do you still keep in contact with anyone from school," she asked him. They were from two different programs, but they able to find some mutual friends and have a nice little group. Sarah still talked to a few people from their group, but it had been getting tough to keep in touch because of the difference and their busy lives. Sarah always made sure that she avoided asking anyone anything about Bryan. Just because they broke up, it didn't mean they were going to make their friends chose sides. Sarah wasn't petty like that. She knew groups who broke up because a couple within the group broke up. People were free to talk or see Bryan all the want, as long as they know not to bring him up around her. Even when she wanted to know something about Bryan, people were really good at avoiding the subject. Sarah tried to bring him up a couple times last year, but no one was having it. But, now she didn't need them to know about Bryan. She could ask him right here.
[/size][/ul][/blockquote]

[bryan]

[/b] he said, chuckling. "I found myself a job doing medical engineering. It's not as impressive as it sounds. I basically help create things for the medical field. So, you know, like x-rays, c-scan machines, heart monitors. You know, stuff that hospitals and doctors use." Bryan wasn't really a talker. He was the silent type that wanted to examine the situation before he spoke. Some people might confuse that for him being shy, but not really. Bryan just doesn't really have much to say. Sarah was always just so bubbly and just couldn't help but speak whatever was on her mind. It was actually something he admired about her. Bryan didn't have too many good experiences with people. In fact, he mistrusted them because he always felt everyone was a liar or had some kind of ulterior motive. However, with Sarah, he didn't need to worry about what lies she might tell him or what secret motives she might have had. If she didn't like something, she wasn't shy to tell him straight up. There were no games. Just perfect honesty, and it was something he was missing in his life at the point. However, that alone wasn't enough to keep them together.

"The Harvest Moon sounds good to me," he said. "You would know better where to go." Bryan smiled again as he turned to follow Sarah towards the cafe. He looked over at her and he could only remember the good times they had together. All the bad things, all the reasons he told himself they didn't work out was completely erased. "Well, honestly, I totally forgot you lived here. I actually didn't think you would have stayed. I thought you would have been at some big university, teaching and working on a book." He always thought of Sarah as someone too smart to be stuck behind an office desk. She belonged in academia. She was meant to share her knowledge with young people and writing brilliant books and becoming well known in her field. He never thought she would have settled down and became a high school teacher. But, there was nothing wrong with that, either. She was still teaching and sharing knowledge, but just not on a grand scale as he pictured her as doing.

They had finally reached the cafe and Bryan opened the door for her. "I like it so far," he said nodding. "I've never had a real home and Capeside just feels like home. I've only been here for a couple of weeks, but I felt like I was born and raised here. It's great."

Bryan was actually impressed that she remembered what kind of coffee he liked. That hasn't changed, either. He offered to pay, but she refused him money. They walked over and he took a seat from across her. "I can really picture this place for my kids to grow up," he said, as he looked out of the window and watched the people walk by. Then, Sarah asked another question and the conversation was diverted. "Sort of. I still talk to Mark and Kyle." Those were his two friends that were in the engineering program with him. Mark was his roommate the entire time he was at school. "But, Kyle's married with a bunch of kids. So, he's kind of busy. And Mark works for NASA in Florida. So, it's kind of hard to see him. I've been busy myself. How about you? Do you still talk to anyone else?" He drank his coffee as he watched her. His phone vibrated in his pocket and he took it out real quick to see who it was. It was his wife. She sent him a photo text asking which color sheets he preferred. He quickly responded and placed the phone on the table.
[/size][/ul][/blockquote]

[sarah]

[/color][/b] she said, thinking about teaching at a university. "At least at a university, students pay to listen to you. Half of my kids now don't care about history. They like me so they only pretend to care." It would be nice to know if she had effected at least one student's life. But, so far, it didn't seem like she had any impact at all. "But, who knows," she said shrugging her shoulders. "Maybe I'll go back and get my doctorate degree. Then, I'll teach at some fancy college and write an award winning book." That would be pretty awesome.

Sarah thanked Bryan for opening the door for her. When was the last time someone opened the door for her? "Well, I'm really glad for you," she said to Bryan. She knew how much he wanted a place to call home. Maybe that was one of the reasons they broke up. He wanted to lay some roots as soon as possible and Sarah wanted to live life. But, where did that lead her? Was she living her life? No. Real life crept in and she knew she couldn't go around traveling the world with no money. It was exhausting going out to every club and dance the night away.

The crowd outside was starting to thin out. When Bryan mentioned having kids here, she looked over and nodded. It was a nice place, but for some reason Sarah never pictured staying here forever. In fact, she pictured herself living in a big city. However, hearing
Bryan talk about staying here made her want to stay here as well. "Oh, I don't...really talk to anyone. I mean, I talk to a few people on facebook, but that's the extent of it. I mean, everyone's so far away living their life and I'm...stuck here. It would be nice to get everyone together and just catch up instead of talking online and sending a few emails here and there."[/b] It would be great to go back to the days when she actually felt happy again. Right now, she felt like she was in a slump and couldn't get out. Everyday was the same routine and she needed something to change, but she didn't know how to start.
[/size][/ul][/blockquote]

[bryan]

[/b] he said, trying to fix things. "There's nothing wrong with being a high school teacher. In fact, some of my favorite memories were in high school. I actually liked my history teacher in high school." Maybe it was too late to fix things. Now, he actually felt bad. No one's life always turn out the way one thought it would. That was just how life worked. Fortunately for Bryan, things were perfect. Things were falling into place for him. He was happily married, had a secured job he loved, and now has the dream house he always wanted. The only thing missing in this picture was kids, but he was in no rush, and neither was his wife.

"There's always time to go back for your doctorate," he said encouraging. Bryan was done with schooling. He had a job he wanted and didn't see the point in going back to school. He was ready to start his life instead of running behind the school walls to educate himself again. But, some people, like Sarah, belonged in academia. "You're smart. You'll go through it no problem." Now he was trying to make her feel better in order to make up for making her feel bad about the state of her life right now.

"Maybe we should have a little reunion," he said. It would have been a reunion if he invited everyone to his wedding, but Bryan didn't really have time to actually look people up and invite them. He didn't know why, but he thought it would be weird if he invited Sarah to his wedding. Part of him didn't want to see Sarah with a date even though he was getting married. "It would be nice to catch up and see everyone," he said, taking another sip of coffee. "Since we're both here at Capeside, it would be easy for us. Plus, I think it would be a good way for everyone to meet my wife."

Bryan sort of blurted out the last part really fast. Then, he looked out the window as he sipped his coffee. He was trying to avoid her eye contact. Bryan didn't want to know how Sarah reacted to his reveal about a wife. He didn't know why, but it made him feel weird.
[/size][/ul][/blockquote]