xxx

Randy pov:

I heard ray mond landed in the city a few hours ago. Everyone has been crossing her path and reuniting with her. All sounds steady and swell, no imperfections placed in the way. I heard she is looking for me. Heh... It's a funny feeling. something I haven't felt in so long. The feeling of being longed for, being needed by her. I haven't felt this way in a long, long time. With as nice as it feels, I can't help but avoid every stop she's been at. Avoid the cubby, Morningwood blvd, Maldini's... just everywhere. No matter where I go, I can hear her voice in the distance, and see her two braids flop in the air. Her back was always turned to me allowing me every opportunity to slip away into the void of the endless alleyways of Los Santos. Don't get me wrong, I do want to run to her and pick up where we left off, trust me I do. It's just that when she left, she really left. The emptiness of her nonexistent presence lingered where she used to be. Her laughs, her screaming, her nonstop chatter, her loving eyes, and the way she radiated ambition and innocence, just her.. it was all gone overnight, and I had to sit with that relentless hope thinking that she'd show up the next day and the next and the next. Everyday hoping just as much as the hope died away. Until it was gone, and reality caught up with me. It was like taking off the rose-tinted glasses people talk about when they come to seeing the world as it is. My rose-tinted glasses made me see a world where ray mond would be back in my life. It made me see a world where she was next to me running my ears off. I wanted to see this very place, but I realized it was too good to be true.

There were nights I found myself on roof tops, staring blankly up at the space that hung over my head, watching the planes come and go. Even with all hope gone there was still a twang of hurt that curled into a ball in the pit of my stomach. It was like when someone is on the verge of tears, and they have that unmoving knot in their throat that made them feel like they were suffocating. I sat on various roofs, looking out at my friends and family, practically hidden from their line of sight.

As this day has gone by, I still find myself atop a roof that felt like home. A roof, I don't normally go to anymore. A roof full of memories both good and bad. A roof I only go to if called for a meeting on. I find myself leaning on the backs of my hands with my eyes closed letting the cold wind kiss the surface of my skin. A sigh of relief from a day of running blended in with the air as I took a moment to relax with memories of her flooded my mind. Until I heard scraping of concrete against shoe behind me, my head twitched at the sound. "Out of all the places, I find you here." Her voice rang in my ears, lips formed into a small smile before disappearing again.

"Funny how that works." The words fell so freely and dry, it was almost as if they rubbed harshly against her warm ones. The scraping continued again, then reached a halt as her combat boots landed next to my side causing me to trail my eyes to see her in my view. It was when I saw her soft grey eyes peering into mine when the world turned a rosy tint once again.

"Long time, no see Randy."

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