InsaneJournal

Old Friends; Different Universes
Who: Amber and Caitlyn (featuring Penny)
Where: Amber and Penny's Apartment
When: After their conversation here
What: Reconnecting, in a way
Rating: Low - some language at the start
Status: Closed; Completed


Well then! This had certainly been a weird day... Amber wasn't sure what made less sense: Caitlyn showing up easily a good 20-25 years older than she knew her, or the fact that the girl had seemed so doubtful as to whether or not Amber would want to hang out. It made her wonder if maybe, in the future, she had become some kind of jerk or something!

After texting her Penny's address, Amber happily pranced to her bedroom to get changed. Best friend, yes... but Caitlyn had also always been Amber's biggest crush. So excuse the hell outta her for wanting to look nice! She put on her favorite jeans, a t-shirt, and the leather jacket she'd picked up a few weeks ago. She looked... VERY unlike the shy, quiet little thing she actually was.

Waiting for her friend to arrive, she curled up on the living room couch, texting with Penny.
"My best friend from home showed up. WAY older. I invited her over to hang out."

'If you're gonna fuck her please don't do it on the couch', Penny had the class to text in reply.

Meanwhile, Caitlyn was trying not to freak out. Amber had been her closest friend (probably the closest friend that she'd had in her entire life, come to think of it), but back home... she'd died. Twenty years ago. She was trying to keep her composure, but she knew in her heart that she'd have a breakdown as soon as she left Amber's company.

She ended up picking a pale purple form-fitting dress to wear which went down to about her knees, as well as heels (which did wonders for her calves) and a brown leather jacket. It was a little less drab than she usually wore, but she wanted to look nice too. Once at Amber's apartment building, she buzzed at the door to be let up.

"Wanted to for years, sadly that ship has sailed, sunk, and been covered by moss." Amber replied, giggling as she typed. She let a happy squeal out as she heard the doorbell rang. Pressing the button to allow her up, the tiny brunette hopped up and down happily, SO excited to be seeing one of her favorite people again.

Caitlyn took a few minutes to breathe in her journey from the elevator up to the apartment. She had a lot of conflicting emotions and thoughts and decided to try to set them aside, to be present in the moment. Once at the correct apartment door, she raised a fist and lightly rapped on the wood. This wasn't the same Amber. She was trying to be rational, logical; all of it. But her heart. Her heart felt like it was breaking.

Amber opened the door, that adorable, infectious grin plastered on her face. Letting out a loud, happy squeak, she practically glomped onto Caitlyn, hugging her affectionately. "OMG I've missed you so baaaaaaad!"

Caitlyn's eyes widened at Amber's sudden appearance and then the glomping! She let out a surprised squeak but was quick to hug Amber back. She felt strong. That was the complete opposite of how she remembered her in her final days. "I guarantee I've missed you more," she replied with a warm smile.

Finally letting go, Amber took the redhead by the hand and led her in, bringing her over to the sofa, where she plopped her little ass right down, fidgeting happily.

"Ok, that's like... the 3rd or 4th time you've said things that make it sound like we aren't friends anymore in the future. Tell me what the crap is going on? Please?"

Caitlyn took off her coat and draped it over the arm of the sofa before sitting down beside Amber. She gazed at her for a long time. "You look... almost the same as I remember you." She frowned. "Almost." She reached for Amber's hand again, confirming something. She was cold to the touch. Pale. "You were sick too, weren't you?"

".....yeah. You don't remember? I had AIDS." Even now, she found herself whispering the name of the disease. The whole thing was such a horrid, depressing time in her life... "Until Lena saved me."

There was an imperceptible twitch in the corner of Caitlyn's eye. She was piecing it together much quicker now. Of course this wasn't her Amber. Of course. Those tears were threatening to come. "I never met a Lena where I come from." She brushed a hand over Amber's hair, hoping to convey her meaning without being cruel. "You didn't either."

"......oh." She said, eyes widening as she took in Caitlyn's meaning. Well, might as well try to lighten the mood. "So, any chance this version of you is single?"

Caitlyn's face lit up into a brilliant surprised smile. She tended to be a deep thinker, so smiles like that could be rare. "This version is still very married," she said, sounding apologetic. "My girls are here with me." She'd be an utter wreck without Jodi and Dany, let's be honest. "I find it hard to believe that you're single, though. You're still very beautiful."

"I had someone... at home. After I was turned. She was so beautiful...." Amber said with a wistful sigh. "But she hasn't been brought here. So now I'm alone again." She smiled, trying not to pout. "I have a holycrapsexy roomie, but I don't think she sees me that way."

Caitlyn had to stop herself from reaching to touch Amber, as if to assure herself that she was real and sitting right in front of her. She smiled at Amber's turns of phrase. It turns out she was adorable no matter what universe she came from. "What makes you say that?" She asked softly.

"If you'd seen her with her lover back home... yeah. I can't picture her every looking at THIS" she said, motioning to herself, "with the desire and devotion she looked at her with."

She looked at her friend again: somehow, she'd gotten even more beautiful with age.

"Wow. Not gonna lie... those crushy feelings? Totally bubbling up again."

Caitlyn gave Amber a bittersweet smile. It felt like she was a teenager again. This was the person that she'd missed. They were so similar once. Age and experience had wearied Caitlyn, although there were still laugh lines around her eyes that indicated that she'd had a happy life, at least. "Well, I'll take that as a compliment for being much older than you now." She paused briefly. "You know you're not alone now, right? Your partner might not be here, but I'm your friend and you'll always have me."

"I wasn't sure if you'd still WANNA hang out." Amber admitted, giving a nervous grin. "I didn't know if it would feel weird, with how many years it's been for you. But thank you. Because until either my Charlotte turns up here, or Penny starts to see me how I'd like... I'm probably gonna be very clingy."

"Clingy I can handle," Caitlyn replied with a reassuring smile. While she was much more mature than she used to be there were some aspects of Caitlyn that would never change. "Oh, that girl has to be blind. She's seen you in this outfit, right?"

"I think she has..." Amber said, nibbling her lip. "Penny is wonderful though... she's the only person other than you and Charlotte that I've ever really... you know... had the hots for." She grabbed her communicator, tapping something and bringing up a picture of Penny. "I wish I could show you Charlotte... But I don't even have a photo of her." She said with a sad sigh, before handing the phone to her. "And this is Penny."

'Had the hots for' was a sweet way to put it. Caitlyn might have teased her for the phrasing but didn't think that they knew each other well enough to do that just yet. She gingerly took the phone to take a look at the photo. "Well you certainly have good taste. She has a lovely smile." She handed the phone back. "Is she a vampire too?"

"She is. And SUCH a sweet person, you don't even know." She felt a twinge of envy then, that Caitlyn still had Jodi, even here, while she was alone. It made her think back to when she'd half-jokingly told Charlotte she'd almost asked Caitlyn about joining Caiti and Jodi sometime. The memory brought a little smile to her, even as she fought to hold back a few wistful tears. "So... where you're from...." She began, trying to get the thoughts out of her mind, "I'm gonna guess... the disease completely destroyed me."

Caitlyn nodded. "We were together on the roof watching the fireworks." She was blinking back tears herself. "It was New Year's Day. You said that you were happy to be surrounded by so much beauty. And that the fireworks were nice too." She snorted.

"Hee." Amber bit her bottom lip, and it was apparent that if she could, she'd be blushing. "Good to know that I even went out telling you how hot you are. If we're being honest, I think part of me fell in love with you the day we met. You were so... pure and beautiful, like a quiet winter's day. For obvious reasons, I knew you'd never be mine... but just being friends with you felt like such an honor."

Don't cry. Caitlyn reached for Amber's hand and gave it a squeeze. "You know the honor was always mine. You taught me about grace. About accepting who and what I am even in light of what it took to become that person. There wasn't a day that went by that I didn't think of you."

"Promise me we'll spend lots of time together here?" Amber said with a sweetly childlike tone. "I'll try not to be too clingy... I know obviously you have Jodi here and all..."

"I promise," Caitlyn replied softly. This was a second chance that she'd never thought she'd get. Like she'd let Amber out of her sight now. "I'm always just a phonecall away, should you need me."