#serendipitous

Your hands froze in place on the tumbler. Slowly, you turned toward the source of the voice, the last person you expected to see in the town you had only called home for less than half a year.

"Wha- It is you! I heard them call your name and thought it couldn't be!" The source let out a surprised laugh and came in for a hug. Stunned, you stood there awkwardly with your arms held out from your sides.

"Timothée? Wha- what are you doing here?" you asked as he stepped back to look at you, your face scrunched in confusion.

"Getting coffee," he replied cheekily. His smile reached his sparkling green eyes, highlighting laugh lines that weren't there the last time you saw him.

You narrowed your eyes at him and playfully shook your head, then turned to replace the tumbler on the shelf before he could see your cheeks redden. "I mean - what are you doing HERE? In town?" You looked over your shoulder back at the man you once called your boyfriend over a decade ago.

"I live here now," he chirped happily.

"Wha- for real?" You spun to face him again.

"Yeah. I just started a new job downtown last week and got an apartment just up the block from here," Timothée answered excitedly. "Gosh...it's just...it's so good to see you! I wasn't expecting to know anybody here. How long has it been?"

"About 15 years since...since the summer before we went off to college." Your voice trailed off.

"Right." His eyes dropped to the floor momentarily. "[Y/N], I-"

"[Y/N]!" the barista interrupted. You held up a finger to pause the conversation and stepped over to get your drink.

"Would you like to join me?" he asked when you returned, gesturing to the table with a mug and a book.

"Oh, uh, thanks but I need to head to work. I just stop in for a drink to go on my way sometimes."

"Ah, ok." Timothée's reply was dripping with disappointment. "Maybe we could catch up over dinner soon?" he asked with a shrug.

"Uh, sure. I really have to go, but I can give you my number and we can set something up. Here." You handed him your phone. "Plug in yours and call so you have mine."

Timothée smiled and took the phone as instructed. He looked down at his own device as it rang. "Same number, I see," he noted.

"You still have my number after all of this time?" you asked in mild shock, head tipped quizzically to the side as he handed back your phone. You felt heat rush to your cheeks again as his hand grazed yours.

Timothée nodded. "I'll message you later. Hope you have a good day at work!"

"You, too." Arms flailed awkwardly as you both decided on whether to give the other a full hug, side hug, or just a light squeeze on the arm. He seemed to do the same. You both landed on a full hug but had to switch the tilt of your heads to keep from bumping into each other. You huffed a laugh and pulled away after a brief moment. "Bye, Timothée."

You walked out of the shop, bewildered by the unexpected exchange. You looked through the window again as Timothée walked back to his table. He made eye contact with you and waved slightly. You returned the wave and half-smiled before setting your sights back to the path in front of you.

Wow. That was not on my bingo card for the day, you thought to yourself. Reminiscent feelings of both young love and intense heartache washed over you. The last time you laid eyes on your high school sweetheart was from the backseat of your parents' car as they drove you and your belongings states away for college. You called and wrote each other, but Timothée ultimately broke up with you by phone right before winter break. He thought you two should both be free to explore other options to be sure you know what you want. Looking back, he was right. You were both too young to be so serious.

Your winter holiday was spent with your parents, sulking in your childhood room when they weren't forcing you to socialize with family. It gave you time to grieve, to be angry. Enough time to say goodbye to the past. You returned to campus a new person, hell bent on exploring your own options and putting Timothée behind you.

You rebounded hard, hit the books just as hard, and finished your bachelors and master's degrees in nursing with a 4.0 GPA and a serious boyfriend, who proposed shortly after graduation. After years of marriage, he, too, decided to explore other younger "options." Newly divorced and a bit jaded, you moved across the country for a job opportunity and a fresh start. It was time to choose yourself instead of waiting for others to do so.

Despite your relunctance to reconnect with your past, you set up dinner plans with Timothée for the following evening. You were wary of spending time with someone with known history of breaking your heart, but you reminded yourself to cut 18-year-old Timothée some slack. You both likely did a lot of growing up since you last hung out. You were now mature enough to set boundaries for your own peace of mind. Besides, you hadn't really made any new friends yet outside of work, so it would be nice to have at least one person to hang out with occasionally.

***

You spotted Timothée looking around nervously in front of the restaurant as your rideshare pulled up, fidgeting with a ring on his hand. His right hand, you noted. Relief washed over his face, and his shoulders relaxed when he caught sight of you in the back seat. He flashed that big boyish grin that you love. Loved, you reminded yourself. Past tense. He hurried over to open the door and extended a hand to help you up from the car.

"Hi," he said, supporting your weight as you stood.

You thanked the driver as Timothée shut the door and then turned back to him and smiled. "Hello."

He seemed stunned, just staring at you briefly until he cleared his throat. "Um, hungry?" he asked, gesturing his hand toward the front door of the restaurant.

"Famished. All I had time to eat today was a bag of chips. And not all in one sitting." You walked alongside him until he hurried past to open the door for you again. After checking in, the host led the two of you to the rooftop patio. The light breeze and twinkling lights hung from the trees would normally make for a lovely evening, but it made you panic slightly. Maybe this was too close to a date-like ambiance for just catching up with an old...friend. But it was one of your favorite places to eat, and he was too new in the area to have formed such opinions.

"So just chips, huh?" Timothée asked as he pulled out a chair for you. His breath tickled your bare shoulder, sending shivers down your spine, despite the warm air on the patio. Your eyes followed him as he walked to his seat. Aside from a few nuanced signs of aging, he still looked exactly the same.

"It was a chaotic day at work. One of the other nurses called out sick, so I was covering more patients than normal until his backup came. A couple of patients coded, but luckily, not at the same time. And we were able to get them back." You nodded in gratitude at the server who had filled your water glasses and brought a basket of bread, which you promptly dove into.

"That's right, you were wearing scrubs at the coffee shop. So you work at the hospital?"

"Mmhmm. I needed a fresh start, so I closed my eyes, picked a spot on the map, and started applying to the nearest hospitals. I moved out here about five months ago. Which is why I was surprised to see you. I haven't run into anyone I know except for coworkers. And maybe the occasional patient. This isn't exactly a hoppin' place," you joked. "What brought you here?"

"I, uh, needed a change of scenery, too. New York was a bit too cutthroat for my taste, and nothing was tying me down there, so I started applying to associate positions at law firms across the country and landed here."

"An attorney? Wow, that...that's awesome. I bet your mother is proud. If I remember correctly, she wasn't too fond of your choice of liberal arts degree."

Timothée chuckled. He fidgeted with his glass, tilting it around slightly. He opened his mouth a couple of times, as if he wanted to speak but talked himself out of it. You pretended not to notice as you perused the menu, despite already knowing your selection. Finally, he gathered the courage to ask, "So, uh, if it's not too bold to ask, why did you need a fresh start?"

You paused mid-sip from your water glass and slowly brought it back down. You cleared your throat and dabbed your mouth with the napkin. Right as you started to respond, the server came by to take your order. Once she left, you tentatively resumed.

"My husband...my EX-husband cheated on me. I got the house in the divorce, but it just didn't feel the same since I caught him and that woman...girl, really, a girl 13 years younger than me, in our bed. So I sold everything to start over here."

"I- I'm so sorry. You didn't deserve that."

"No, I didn't. But honestly...how would you know? We've lived almost another lifetime since we last spoke. You once left me to explore other options, too," you bit back with measured vehemence. You didn't intend to go there so early in the conversation, but emotion overruled.

"I know," Timothée responded quietly. "That's how I know it's his loss." He cast his eyes down to the plate in front of him as the server set down your meals.

The two of you ate silently for a few minutes before you gathered the courage to ask, "Why didn't you call me if you had my number this whole time?"

"I didn't think you would want to hear from me," he practically whispered. He looked up and caught your eye. "And then I heard through some of our classmates that you got married."

"I would have picked up the phone for a friend. And for all of his faults, my ex was not the jealous type." Your eyebrows knitted together in confusion as you tried to understand.

"I...didn't want to be just friends."

"Oh," you whispered. "Oh!" you said again at a markedly higher pitch once realization set in. "B-but you said..."

"I was young and scared that I was missing out on whatever else was out there. But nobody else ever measured up to what I had with you."

You gawked as you gathered your thoughts. "Timothée, WE were young - we were 18! As much as it hurt, you were right. We had no business making a commitment to each other when we didn't even know ourselves yet."

"I know now." He boldly laid his hand on yours as both of you ignored your food.

You pulled your hand back. "But you don't know me. Just an idea you have of me from when I was a teenager. I'm not the same person anymore."

"That's okay. I'll just get to know you again," Timothée stated matter-of-factly.

"I...," you interrupted yourself with a laugh and shook your head. "I told myself I wouldn't fall for you again tonight."

"But?"

"I...I'm not saying no...just, whoa. I need time to process this. I- I still need time to get to know myself again."

Timothée smiled. "I can wait. But I can't deny the serendipity of it all. I came out here to the middle of nowhere and ended up finding the one person I have wanted to see for years."

You blushed, timidly placing your hand back on his. Before you could speak, your server came by to ask about dessert. Timothée looked at you with that silly grin again.

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"Do you still love cheesecake, or has that changed, too?"

Masterlist

Edited 6/21 to include tag list again! It had been so long since I posted that I forgot!