Teresa jittered excitedly as she turned another corner. There were butterflies eating her stomach out in a very unpleasant way. She didn't know what to expect. Would he be there? Or would she be alone in her apartment tonight? Their last conversation had left her very unsure of where things stood.

But there he was, on the floor in front of her door, leaning back as he sat there with his eyes closed. She didn't know whether to run at him or turn and leave all over again. But she took another step forward tentatively.

James opened his eyes and looked at her, a careful smile on his face. He stood but didn't move to hug her. Had things really become that awkward between them?  Maybe this is what months of absence did to a relationship.

She was sure he was thinking the same thing she was, wondering if they'd grown apart, who he'd been spending his time with while she'd been gone. Did he think she'd been hanging out with other guys?

James looked at her, unsure of what to do. She'd come around the corner dragging her bags behind her in a tired, defeated way. Her blonde hair was tumbling in curls out of her lopsided ponytail, her skin had darkened from sun exposure. She wore a pair of tattered cargo shorts and a sporty jacket over a simple v-neck t-shirt.

She was looking back at him in shock like she half expected he wouldn't be there, and after a second she smiled that tiny tilting smile of hers that drove him nuts.

"Tee, let me take your bags."

"What? Oh yeah, don't worry about it," she was flustered he could tell. It was cute in a way. Even though she protested, she let him pull the bags from her hands. She flushed slightly and dipped her head as she rummaged through her sack of a purse for her keys.

"Damn door, always getting stuck," she grumbled as she pushed her weight against the door till it gave way and she stumbled into the apartment. With a grunt James hefted her bags up and into the apartment, trekking into the living room before setting them down.

He'd barely set the things down and Teresa was barrelling into him, "God I missed you, Jamie!"

"I, uh, I missed you too," he smiled; maybe things wouldn't be too awkward. For weeks he'd been unsure of whether or not he should be at her door when she came home. He couldn't say he'd been happy with the way he'd left things. She'd told him she was going and he'd freaked out; "Fine go, but don't expect me to be waiting here for you," he'd said.

And instead of seeing her off, on the day she'd needed the support, he'd skipped out being too hung over to make it there on time. He'd let her leave alone, without letting her know that he hadn't meant it. He'd been too stupid to call, or write, or anything. He wouldn't have been surprised if she didn't want to see him.

"I didn't think you'd be here," she said, "I thought maybe you'd forget about me and move on, or something."

He could see that she was trying to be nonchalant but the thought had really bothered her. Thankfully too, because this whole time he'd been thinking she'd moved on with some new guy she'd met in paradise. She'd always been the kind of girl who called even if they were fighting, and when she hadn't called at all, he'd assumed that she'd meant her final words.

"Whatever, go find yourself another girl. I don't need you anyways." He couldn't believe he'd been so stupid as to let her go, four months teaching in Spain, with all those perfect Spanish guys he'd never be able to compete with.

"Tee, I couldn't possibly forget you. And to move on I'd have to be able to think about something other than you coming back."

Though in all honesty, he'd half expected to hear from one of her friends that she liked it so much she was going to stay there.

Teresa grinned up at him, as she read the look in his eyes, "You didn't think I'd come back did you?" she pushed him back.

"Not really, no," he sighed as he flopped into the couch, "I mean, come on, Tee, Spain? It 's your dream!"

"Spain's amazing!" she affirmed, and he felt his heart drop with the way her face lit up, "but..."

"What?"

"It didn't really feel like home, you know?"

He didn't.

"I don't know, Jamie. Everything I was doing, I just wanted to tell you about it, like it wasn't cool or special unless you knew and we weren't talking so it just felt strange. Like it wasn't right."

"You came back because of me?"

She nodded, her eyes confused, her face apprehensive, looking like she felt stupid for even admitting it. James was torn between jumping off the couch and doing a victory dance and frowning and lecturing her on letting an idiot of a guy ruin her life.

"You're about to have a Dad moment aren't you Jamie, I can see it. What's the point in living your dream if it's not your dream anymore?"

Did she just say that? She looked taken aback by her own words. James looked at her carefully, had she just said that he was her dream? He was sure that wasn't what she meant.

"What?"

Teresa giggled at the strangled way he said it, "What's the point of living in Spain if the whole time I'm there I'm not enjoying it all? The whole time I was there, I was depressed, missing home, missing you. I was a pretty pathetic mess, Jamie, I kept wondering if you were out, I kept
imagining you out with other girls and having fun and not missing me and it honestly almost made me hate Spain."

Hearing her say those words made his insides turn. He hadn't meant to make her hate it. He hadn't meant to make the experience a negative one for her.

"I'm sorry I even reacted the way I did, Teresa," he said softly, "I was just bitter because I felt like I was going nowhere and you were living all your dreams and I'd be stuck here forever. I was happy for you, but I never told you. I wanted you to have fun, really, I even bought you a good luck charm for your trip."

She frowned in confusion, "But-"

He dug his hand into his pocket, and handed her the tiny horseshoe necklace he'd bought her,
"I tried to call you the night before but you'd already disconnected your phone and I was pissed off and I went out drinking with Steve to get my mind off our fight and... well yeah..." he trailed off shamefully.

Teresa held the small charm out in front of her, it was the vintage necklace she'd fallen in love with earlier that year. A simple coin with a horseshoe stamped into it. She looked up at him with a question in her face, why hadn't he given it to her then?

"I got there too late," he mumbled.