True Summer Love

Chapter Five

"You look good." Lance said hoping to end the awkward silence as the two of them sat across from each other in the diner booth. Tiffany snorted and pushed more stray strands of hair behind her ears and ran her hands over her blue t-shirt that was slightly stained and two sizes too big.

"I look like hell." she replied. She had nearly backed out of coming when she had seen herself in the bathroom mirror. She was pale and tired with dark circles under her eyes from not sleeping much the last few nights.

"No, you're beautiful." Lance assured her. Tiffany blushed and then cursed herself for falling for his charm. They each ordered burgers, fries and a pop and then they sat there looking out the window in silence.

"How have you been?" Lance finally asked.

"I've been good." Tiffany replied. She didn't want to tell him about her life because her entire life revolved around Parker and she wasn't ready to tell Lance about him yet. "How have you been?" Lance traced shapes on the orange Formica table top and Tiffany recognized it as another one of the things he did when he was nervous or unsure.

"I made it." he replied looking over at her. She knew what he was talking about and she couldn't help but smile. She had always known that he would make it. He had always brought his guitar along when they would camp out under the stars and he would sing to her and melt her heart and she had never had a doubt that he would make it in Nashville.

"I always knew you would." she replied. She looked at him then and realized that instead of looking proud his eyes looked sad.

"I hated it." he added.

"What do you mean? I thought it was your dream and it was what you wanted." she picked at a tear in the leather seat of the booth. "More then anything." she added. She regretted the words almost instantly because she had not wanted him to know just how badly she'd been hurt by his leaving, but it was too late to take the words back now.

"I did. Dreams change." he replied quietly as he tore the corners of his napkin and stared down at the table. Tiffany was surprised by the amount of anger she felt at those words. What did the man think? That he could just come back here after all this time and she would fall into his arms and be so grateful that he finally considered her to be worth some sacrifice?

""I still don't understand what you came back here for." she said after the waitress had set their plates down. The waitress stared hard at Lance for several moments before finally walking away and Lance breathed a sigh of relief. The last thing he needed was for somebody to recognize him.

"I missed you Tiff. I wanted to come see you." he replied. Tiffany snorted.

"It's been six years Lance. Not once in six years did you act like you missed me so why now?" Lance looked down at his hands. How could he explain to her that he had missed her every single second he had been gone? She had been on his mind everyday. So much so that he had turned away every single woman that had come along the last six years and that had been a lot of women.

"Why are you so mad at me?" he asked. "It's not like you asked me to stay back then. You told me goodbye too." His reminder of her stupidity did nothing to help her temper. She pushed her plate aside and stood quickly.

"Since I said goodbye once, then I believe I will say it again. I am not the same girl that fell in love with you back then Lance. I have had to grow up a lot since you left me and I don't have time for this…. Whatever this is." she added pointing back and forth between them. "I don't know if you thought you could just come back here and I would be so thankful to finally be worth your attention that I would just fall down at your feet but you were wrong." She turned on her heel and stormed out of the diner with everyone's eyes on her and Lance sitting in the booth slack jawed.