Hi author disclaimer here that Haley is a trans woman, the only changes that causes make the story hotter in my opinion so I hope you enjoy too <3
Butterflies fluttered in Haley's stomach and nerves caught in her throat when her car dipped low into a pothole while driving along the motorway, her gut fell with it right into a deep puddle threatening to flood the road if it grew any further. Apparently it wasn't enough that she had to deal with the stress of getting together with Theo for the first time in years, she also had to drive two hours in the rain to do so. It had been over a year since she'd made the drive into the city but so far the roads were telling Haley that it definitely wasn't worth it. As if to emphasize the point, a truck soared past her low-riding Saturn and sent a wave of water washing over her windshield forcing the wipers into overdrive to deal with the sudden deluge. In the watery aftermath came an SUV careening up the road far quicker than it had any right to be and forcing Haley to swerve to avoid it.
They all slowed down soon enough as they approached a red light. Her phone chimed with new directions so Haley put on her turn signal and switched lanes, this intersection was one of the most popular in the city and was busy at all times time besides the dead of night, she nestled into the right turn-lane and fell into the start-and-stop traffic that defines city driving, a pattern that continued across town. Haley had forgotten how much she loathed city traffic.
The last leg of the trip was similarly waterlogged but thankfully free from any near death experiences and soon enough, Haley was there. Theo's apartment was in an old building that must've been built close to when the city first urbanized, it was dirt cheap and Haley wasn't even sure if the place had been built at a time when electricity was an architectural concept. Suffice it to say, the building was old. Still, it had some old-school charm to it, the brickwork in the walls had a rugged elegance and the doors were made from real oak, the apartment had a sort of endurance that newer things weren't built with.
Haley was lucky enough to find a parking spot right out front so the door was only a short distance from her car. Even then she was soaked by the time reached the entryway. She rang the buzzer for apartment 509 and a short while later, the door's electric lock clicked open. Haley entered a shabby but not unclean foyer complete with a generic looking coffee machine and mini fridge. There was a single elevator but Haley didn't trust the claustrophobic death trap so she took the stairs instead, it helped clear her mind before she saw Theo.
It'd been three years since college by now. Haley hadn't finished, she hadn't kept up with her old friends either; mostly she had just dropped out and skipped town a month later when her lease was up. Her family hadn't been great and her boyfriend at the time had been worse, Haley's roommates had been distant people but among their shared friend group was Theo, she had been a flicker of light in a world of darkness at the time, not close enough to be a friend but not just a passing face either. Throughout countless drug-addled nights and parties of faceless others, Theo had remained a welcome sight that always drew Haley back to earth, but they had never truly gotten close. There would be that rare spark but Haley's ex would inevitably drag her away or Theo would get pulled off by their mutual friends.
But now, three years later, there was time. From the top of the stairs, Haley took two right turns circling the building and stopped at the apartment door. She checked Theo's letter again, prolonging the moment, next to the signature at the bottom was scrawled directions to apartment 509, written beside Theo's phone number and a cute little heart that she had drawn. Theo had wanted to be an artist back then, she owned a tattoo parlor now; that had been what she told Haley on the phone the night that Haley received the letter. It was embarrassing but Haley had called her within the minute and they had talked long into the night afterwards. Theo's voice had been just like Haley remembered.
Haley licked her lips and raised her hand to knock but the door swung wide before her knuckles met wood. Smiling just inside the doorway was Theo. She wore a winter blue dress that complimented the deep brown of her eyes and when she smiled, Haley could've sworn she was looking at an angel. Theo's hair was longer than how she had worn it in college and fell in black curls past her shoulders, her face was set with a confidence that she hadn't had back then, but there was also a vulnerability born not from youth but from the aftermath of youth, from the acquired assuredness of self and fear of losing what she had in the high stakes of her new world.
Haley felt a little out of place in her loose fitting concert T-shirt compared to Theo's well adjusted beauty, it didn't help that her T-shirt had been soaked through to the point that it clung to her hips and chest in an embarrassingly close way.
"Theo," Haley breathed, her hand still held up to knock.
"Haley," Theo replied, "please, come in."
Theo's voice sounded like honey and felt like a whisper, it was just as Haley remembered and she found herself holding her breath at the sound of it, eventually she pulled her eyes from Theo's lips to meet her friend's gaze but said nothing, afraid to shatter the moment. Impatiently helpful, Theo took Haley's hand in her own and helped her across the threshold, an unnecessary gesture between two young and fit adults but one that felt intimately potent in the moment. Theo's hand was soft in Haley's grip, her fingers long and delicate, well practiced in their art and craft.
Inside was a cozy living room that combined with a kitchen dining area set across from the front door. A large bay window let in natural lighting through closed blinds that reflected off of the hardwood floor in slitted rows, at least where the hardwood was visible in the dining area, most of the floor had been hidden by a variety of rugs that Theo had thrifted over the years. Haley could still remember when the collection was only a burgeoning bedroom of rugs, not an entire apartment.
Theo had not released Haley's hand now that she had led her friend to the couch where they sat together. Haley sat poised near the edge like a trespasser ready to flee but Theo fit into the couch in the exact way Haley could envision she had many times in the past. Her eyes flickered over Theo's long toned legs before darting back up again.
"How was the drive?" Theo asked, her eyes were just as intensely beautiful as Haley remembered.
"It was the usual," Haley lied, not wanting to focus on her nervousness, "a little bit of rain."
"The reservations are in an hour, I've already figured everything out."
"For dinner?"
"Yeah."
Haley let herself fall back into the couch finally, Theo's hand still clasped tightly with her own, all she could think of was the other girl's warmth, her closeness, "I appreciate you," she murmured.
Theo met her gaze, "it's no issue, really."
"Even then, I appreciate you," Haley didn't let Theo's eyes sneak away and for a moment time froze around them.
Haley drank in Theo's gaze, her beautiful eyes, her gorgeous lips, her high cheekbones, and felt herself lean forward without thinking. She tried to keep her breathing shallow but her heart pounded in her chest, Theo smelled ever so faintly of strawberries. Theo's grip tightened on Haley's hand and she pulled the two of them together, their shared warmth combining into an intoxicating heat and their arms falling around each other. They held each other like that for what felt like an eternity, Theo frozen in anticipation, Haley in indecision, then finally Haley leaned back, her breath caught in her throat.
"We should get going if we want to make it on time, you said the restaurant was across town, right?"
