"I got it," I called out to my mom after hearing a knock at the front door from someone neither of us was expecting.
When I opened the door, my heart jumped. I couldn't believe my eyes. "Oh my gosh, what are you doing here?"
"Hi, Chloe."
"Uh, hi." Wait, did I just reply in a voice an octave or two higher than normal?
"Listen, I know I shouldn't have just shown up like this, but I took a chance that your information hadn't changed. I had to see you."
After that one little, huge admission, everything went Matrix again. Time seemed to slow almost to a halt because it felt as though we had stood at the door for hours before I welcomed him inside. "I'm sorry," I finally said to him. "Come in. Have a seat."
I watched as he entered our living room. He seemed taller. And just as we had seated and I was about to shoot off my barrage of questions, mom appeared. "Loden, is that you? What a lovely surprise!"
"Yes, ma'am. It's nice to see you."
"Have you been in town long?"
"No, ma'am, not very."
"Well, I'm sure you and Chloe have lots of catching up. Can I get you anything." I shook my head for the both of us. She took her cue and left. Good!
"What are you doing here?" I asked him. I seriously couldn't believe he was there, sitting in my living room, talking to me.
"I know, two years is a long time. By the way, I'm really sorry to hear about your dad."
I lowered my eyes, trying to fight back tears. "Yeah..."
"Listen, if I caught you at a bad time, then I can come back."
"Actually, I could use the company. Everything has been crazy since...ya know..."
"I'm so sorry I wasn't here for you."
"C'mon, Loden, you couldn't have known this was going to happen anymore than I could have. It's just the worse thing in the world and you never expect it to happen this soon in your life. I mean, I think of everything he will miss and all the time that we won't have together. It just hurts."
"God, I'm so, so sorry, Chloe. And I know I keep saying that, but I really am. I wish I could I make things better for you."
I smiled. His sweetness touched me. It's what I'd missed most about him. "You being here is doing more for me than you'll ever know."
"I'm glad," he said, smiling. "I've got lots to tell you."
"You could probably start by telling me why are you here?" I asked candidly.
"Fair enough," he replied. "Well, I graduated last week, so I'm back in town now."
"Back in town?"
"Yeah. The band and I are working on something really big."
"Aww, the band. How are those guys?"
"They're good, really good, but that's part of the reason I'm here, Chloe."
"What the other part?"
"You. You are the other reason. Chloe, I never stopped thinking about you while I was away. And I'm sorry I didn't keep in touch. I was stupid not to fight for you. Trust me, I'm not going to make that mistake again."
Was this guy for real? "Loden—."
"Wait, don't say anything. Let's just enjoy each other's company, okay?"
I nodded. We then spent the next few hours catching up, managing, somehow, to slip back into that familiar place...like old times.