Rainbow's POV
As I turned the corner, my heart started racing. It was AJ; AJ was standing there. The girl who I've waited for so long to see. I stood there for a moment, Sunset by my side, as my eyes found their way, staring deeply into AJ's. She reciprocated my stare. The silence grew—the heavy kind of silence, a silence where there is so much that needs to be said, so much that needs to be settled, and yet nobody even attempts to open their mouth. A frozen battlefield.
I haven't heard much about AJ since. . .well. . .since the incident. I tried to reach out to her after it happened, but she blocked me from her phone, and I didn't think I was too welcome at the farm, so I haven't really heard anything at all about her. Come to think of it, she probably hasn't heard much about me either. She probably doesn't know how much I've changed, and with the slouchy shirt tucked into my baggy jeans I picked out to wear this morning, how could she? I look exactly the same as I always have. She, however, wore a very attractive pair of low-waisted jeans, as if she were teasing me. God, she looked gorgeous. She always did.
After a silence held for longer than it probably should have, Pinkie manages to break the ice.
"Soooo, how's everyone finding the event so far?"
Nobody moved. AJ's eyes were still locked onto mine.
"D-Darling, you've done a fantastic job as always! Could I speak to you for a minute? Over here?" Rarity notices Pinkie's clear lack of enlightenment and drags her to one side for a chat. The rest of us still stood in silence.
"Does anyone else think she's gone a little over the top?" All four of us chuckle slightly as Sunset jokes to break the silence. Thank god someone did. . .
"For Pinkie? Nope. If anything, this is understated in her books." AJ replies as she suddenly sparks up. "I-I'm awful sorry. Where are my manners? How are y'all doin'?" AJ hugs both Sunset and me. I didn't expect AJ to be so cheerful, and by the bewildered look on her face, I don't think she did either.
Sunset and I exchanged a look.
'Maybe she's forgiven us?' We both thought simultaneously.
"We're doing astonishing!" I said, way too loudly.
'Astonishing? What the fuck? Pull it together, Rainbow.' I thought immediately.
"Ah. . .o-ok. . ." AJ said, confused due to my obvious nervous demeanour.
What is going on? Usually, I'm totally able to keep my cool. On game days, coach tells us that if we ever get nervous, we should plant our feet as deeply into the ground as possible. Make that all you think about, sinking further and further into the ground. It wasn't working. I started sweating and fidgeting, my hands shaking. Sunset noticed my discomfort. She's been staying with me for about a year and a half now, so by now she can tell when I'm about to have a panic attack.
"Actually, guys, if it's ok, Rainbow and I wanted to. . .grab some food. . .from over there. We'll only be a minute." Sunset excused us as fast as she could.
"No problem, take your time." AJ looked at me solemnly, as if she could also tell that I was having an attack.
Sunset walked me over to the nearest bar, where she bought me a bottle of water that I drank rapidly under her direction.
"Breathe, Dash. You'll be okay." Sunset reassured.
"Did you know she was coming?"
"I had no idea."
I continued to gulp down my water. The drink calmed down my nerves; well, it was either that or being away from AJ, I can't tell.
"Fucking hell, Pinkie. Way to suggest a reunion. . ." I said in all truth. She brought it up a few weeks ago, a reunion. To be honest though, I thought she was joking. She knows that if I had it my way, I would've reunited with AJ and the old gang ages ago, but whether they would have agreed to meet with us is a different story. From what I remember, AJ hates my guts. Maybe she doesn't show it, but trust me, she hates me. Sunset as well, but especially me. And I've never forgiven myself for what I did to her. She's all I've thought about since. . .you know. Yes, I've finally received my permanent placement on the official Canterlot soccer team, move out, been having Sunset stay with me, and finally started working on my sobriety, but it still feels like, even through all of this, all I've been thinking about is AJ. Seeing her again, hanging out like we used to, getting back together. . .
And here I am, a nervous wreck, struggling to even say a few words to her.
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I drank that water way too fast; I had to go to the bathroom.
I flushed the toilet and washed my hands as I heard another flush coming from the only other cubicle being used.
AJ steps out of the cubicle, and we lock eyes.
'Oh god, oh god, oh god. . .' I think.
I look back down at the sink, trying to hide myself in my worst nightmare. I feel my face flushing an alarming red. I refuse to look up into the mirror, as I know that would only make the red on my face more significant.
AJ approached the sink, a few feet down from mine. I felt her looking up at me, but I refused to look back.
"Rainbow, are you feeling okay? I saw you looking rather shaky back there."
'Oh great. . .'
"Uh. . .n-no. . .no, I'm totally fine. Not shaky at all." I reply in a completely normal tone, like the confident bitch I am.
"Are you sure, Dash? You can tell me if you're not feeling okay."
'How was she being this cool about everything? I'm meant to be the cool one. . .'
"I'm fine. . .really AJ. . ." I say, knowing full well that I'm totally, completely not fine at all.
A chuckle appears upon Applejack all of a sudden, somewhat breaking the tension.
"AJ. . .Haven't heard someone say that in a while." She says, chuckling softly.
Her laugh is so adorable. It was one of my favourite things about her. It is one of my favourite things about her. I scoff in response to her chuckle.
"I'm glad to hear that. That one's mine." I say in response, with a sudden boost in confidence as I rinsed off my hands and air-dried them out.
I exchange a brief smile with AJ as I walk over to the bathroom door, pushing the handle, but the door won't budge. I push it harder, but still, the door remains static. Now I'm fumbling aggressively, pushing and pulling at the handle to try and get the door to move.
"Maybe try and kick it or something?" AJ says, noticing my struggling once again.
I do as she says, but still nothing. I bang on the door.
"Hey! Sunset? Pinkie? The door is stuck!" I shout.
AJ dries off her hands and appears beside me, also now fumbling with the door.
"Is anyone there?" AJ shouts.
There isn't an answer.
AJ and I continue banging on the door and fumbling with the handle.
"Hey, you guys! What's up? Won't the door move?" A voice shouts back; we both recognise the voice to be Pinkie.
"No, it's fucking stuck, Pinkie." I say in frustration.
"Yeah, we replaced that door not too long ago because it kept on getting stuck; it seems like the problem wasn't fixed. It's a new build and all, so I thought something like this might happen. Sorry, you guys, but I'll have to call maintenance; you might be in there for a while." Pinkie tells us. This day has so far not gone how I thought it would. . .
"Alright, we'll just wait here, I guess. . ." AJ says, quieter than a shout, but still loud enough to have been heard by Pinkie.
"I'm so sorry, you guys! I'll call the maintenance guy right this second!" Pinkie says as I hear her footsteps running off.
"How 'bout it, huh. . .trapped in the bathroom. . ." AJ says, turning to look at me, trying to lift the mood.
I look back at her. Everything is still for a second until her previous non-expression slowly turns into a slight frown. A frown that looked like it held both her misery and anger from the past. A tension-inducing frown, it seems, as the air grew a slight bit thicker.
We were there again, gazing into each other's eyes, longing for answers, though this time it looked like there was nothing stopping us from getting them, or rather, allowing them to slip out.
AJ then let out a soft but noticeable sigh before shooting me a look that can only be described as 'Right, where shall we start. . .'
AJ opens her mouth to speak, adjusting herself before she does so while still looking straight into my eyes.
"Right, where shall we start. . ." she says.
I guess it wasn't just a look. . .
A/N
Shorter chapter this time, purely because I'm knackered. But. . .HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMENS DAYYY!!!!! (I know it was yesterday but I've been awake for a while so in my head yesterday is still today)
I love women, you should too (the gay ones especially 😎)