decade old tensions

thought dead, the lover standing across from her was one bailey sanchez thought she'd never see, not until her last day fell upon herself and she succumbed to the wasteland called earth; she thought wrong, apparent by taylor michelle standing in front of her, a decade older than how bailey last saw her. whether or not this was a good thing, bailey couldn't decide upon. 

michelle looked different -- age took a toll on her, apparently. she must have been in her early thirties when they'd last spoke, a fight that'd broken out when bailey had one too many drinks and michelle offhandedly mentioned her ex. cross words stung like knife cuts and before either of them had stopped to think, bailey had been out the door despite the hailing of rain outside. michelle had shouted after her, and yet bailey did not reply, even as the weather drug her clothes down and soaked her. 

her hair had always been up, bailey remembered that -- she never took it down, often wearing it in high ponytails or tight buns. a note was that she never wore it loose, never with her ex around, never with derek around -- loose, long, hadn't been properly cut in years, bailey always wondered how she even managed that much hair. michelle always smiled at her before changing the subject. 

hair was touchy, she'd learned quickly. especially michelle's hair. 

don't mention michelle's hair. 

her hair was down now, though not entirely -- it was in a loose ponytail that fell over her shoulder. it even looked like inches had been taken off. no more glasses resting upon her nose, no dark lipgloss, no blush scattering her fair skin -- freckles were long worn out from the sun that never decided to show itself, and bailey almost cursed herself for remembering the scattering of freckles that used to lay upon her skin, fragile and soft as michelle herself was the last time they had seen each other. 

noah breaks the silence. "mom, don't you have anything to say?" 

bailey's eyes widened, years worth of thoughts racing through her head at the same time -- is derek still alive? how are you doing? did you miss me? did you think i was dead? 

she settles for, "hi." 

michelle smiles, steps forward, and sets a hand on bailey's shoulder, "hey." 

bailey swallows, hard, and feels like a teenager again. worried looks thrown to each other from across a classroom. derek cornering her at lunch. going away for college, meeting back up, drinking together, drinking too much together, michelle, taylor, michelle, taylor, michelle taylor, taylor michelle, taylor michelle, taylor michelle... 

"bails?" bailey shakes her head, coming back into reality, and looks upon her past lover. 

she tries to erase the feeling of seeing a ghost, but it's almost impossible. "taylor..." 

"i know," michelle finally said, and reaches up to cup her face. "i know."

sometimes, that's enough. bailey pulls her close and doesn't cry when their lips meet.