[ WP ] The reason she never called you back was because she was abducted by an alien civilization . She adapted , grew , and lead a rebellion to overthrow the tyrant that ruled there . Today she just texted that she wants to go out again .

It was her. I didn ’ t need to see her face to know. She wore her hair short, now, but it was still light enough to call white. And if I had needed anything else, the peacoat and scarf would have been dead giveaways. She had always had a sense of style, but nobody wore something that warm in the middle of summer. It was weird enough to fit with the circumstances. 
 
 “ Hello? ” I said, inching towards the table. She snapped her head up and met me with a giddy smile. She looked…different, more mature. But it had been two years. 
 
 “ You ’ re what got me through it. ” 
 
 “ Huh? ” I stopped with my hand of the back of the chair across from her. “ What was that? ” 
 
 “ Oh, ” she said, almost to herself. “ I forgot about small-talk. They didn ’ t do that, did they? ” 
 
 “ They? ” 
 
 “ I… ” She trailed off, the corner of her mouth twitching. “ I ’ ll explain that later. It ’ s good to finally see you again. ” 
 
 “ You know, ” I said, scratching the back of my head as I sat across from her. “ I imagine I would have said something similar about two years ago. When you said you ’ d call, I was so…just…I don ’ t know. I think ecstatic comes the closest. It felt like everything was falling into place. It wasn ’ t my first time, but it just felt so right. And what you said afterwards, while we were laying in bed… ” 
 
 “ I know, ” she said, that cutesy little smile of hers flashing out. A year ago it would have been enough to wipe the smudges from my memory, but the stain had long since settled. 
 
 “ Then why didn ’ t you call? ” I could n't keep the bitter edge from my voice. 
 
 “ I couldn ’ t, ” she said, and for some reason I couldn ’ t help but believe her. It could have been the tension in her voice, or the pain in the way she said it, or even the glimmer of knowing in her eyes, but whatever it was, it had me convinced. I almost conceded right there, but I couldn ’ t let her off that easy, not after two years. 
 
 I feigned a laugh. “ Of course not. You know, for a while I actually had myself convinced you ’ d been kidnapped, or murdered, or something of that nature. That ’ s the only way you ’ d leave me, right? ” 
 
 “ I don ’ t expect you to believe me. ” 
 
 “ Then why say it? ” 
 
 “ Because I hoped you would. ” 
 
 I wanted to say something but couldn ’ t find the words. After a silent moment, she let out a long breath and stared down into her lap. She looked weathered, tempered, as if far more than two years had passed for her. In fact, once that smile fell away, she looked closer to thirty than twenty. 
 
 “ How old did you say you were? ” 
 
 “ I was twenty-two when they…when I left. But now I…I don ’ t know. ” 
 
 “ What do you mean you do n't know? It ’ s been two— ” 
 
 “ I don ’ t know, ” she snapped, nearly spitting venom. 
 
 “ Okay, okay, ” I said, holding my hands up between us. “ Sorry I asked. ” 
 
 “ No, ” she said, dropping her head into her hands, her silky white hair bouncing at her shoulders. “ You had every right to. ” 
 
 A part of me wanted to slide my chair around and hold her until she smiled again, but I just sat there staring, dumbstruck. I had only come because I wanted to tell her off, to get my justice, but now that I was here I couldn ’ t help but remember why it hurt so much to lose her, even two years later. 
 
 I shrugged my shoulders. “ I don ’ t know what to say. I mean, if you want to tell me what happened— ” 
 
 “ You wouldn ’ t believe me, ” she said, looking back up to me. Her scarf had pulled away from her neck to show a swollen red line running part of the way up her neck. 
 
 “ What ’ s that? ” 
 
 “ Nothing, ” she said, glancing left and right as she hurriedly pulled her scarf back up. 
 
 “ Look, ” I said, trying to make my voice as soft as possible. “ If you don ’ t want to tell me what ’ s going on, that ’ s fine, but I don ’ t know why else you would ask me to meet you here. ” 
 
 “ You ’ re right, ” she said. “ I guess this is the best way. ” She unwrapped her scarf from around her neck and pulled down her peacoat, baring a red scar that ran down as far as I felt comfortable looking. 
 
 “ What is it? ” 
 
 “ It ’ s from the autopsy. ” 
 
 “ The what? ” 
 
 “ They thought I was dead. ” I sat there with my mouth open watching her try to hold back tears. “ I still don ’ t know what happened. One moment I ’ m walking home from your house, the next I ’ m this searing hot darkness that lasted for years, but then all of a sudden I ’ m laying on a table with the brightest light I ’ ve ever seen shining down on me. The…I ’ ve always just called him the doctor in my head. I don ’ t even know if that ’ s accurate, but once he found out I was alive he took me straight to the public. 
 
 I don ’ t know why they were outraged, but they put me on a pedestal for the world to see. Within a few days, I had helped lead a coup, as far as I could tell. They celebrated, at the very least. And then I asked to go home, and suddenly I was back. Apparently they could hear me all along. ” 
 
 “ Where? ” I asked dumbly. “ Why didn ’ t I hear about this? I mean, I ’ m not trying to say… ” 
 
 “ That ’ s why you won ’ t believe me. ” 
 
 “ I think I will, ” I said, surprised to hear those words coming out of my mouth even though I couldn ’ t argue with them. 
 
 “ That ’ s because word hasn ’ t reached yet. All I know is that they ’ re further away than the nearest star, and they don ’ t want to give the wrong impression by making first contact in person or through me. ” 
 
 “ Are you saying what I think you ’ re saying? ” 
 
 “ Yeah… ” 
 
 I stood, but she grabbed me by the wrist. “ Please don ’ t go, ” she said, as if she would die if I left. “ You ’ re the only thing that got me through it. ” 
 
 “ I can ’ t— ” 
 
 “ When I was in that darkness, this overwhelming pain coursing through my body any time I even thought about stopping whatever it was I was doing, you ’ re what go me through. I don ’ t know how many times I replayed that night in my head, how many different ways I imagined it going when I called you. I just kept telling myself you ’ d be here when I got back, that I ’ d be able to see your face and kiss you again and feel everything we felt that night. And I don ’ t know what I expected, I just knew I had to try. I don ’ t know if I believe in destiny, but I know I ’ m exactly where I ’ m supposed to be. ” 
 
 I stood there for a long moment, my head spinning. The part of my brain I trusted was telling me to leave then and there, but another part I hadn ’ t heard from in a long time was telling me to stay. 
 
 “ Hand me your phone, ” I said. 
 
 She gave me a quizzical look as she dug through her pockets, but then she held out her old silver phone to me. I flipped it open, found my name in it, and handed it back. 
 
 “ What are you doing? ” she asked, the hint of a smile playing over her lips. 
 
 “ I ’ ve been waiting a long time for this call, ” I said, unable to hold back a smile. “ And it seems you have too. I figure we might as well give it a chance. ”
