That Blue Gibson

CH 34

"Hey," he said quietly, watching her face change from confusion to poorly veiled surprise.

"Hi..." she replied, her voice almost a whisper.

They stared at each other for awhile, neither of them knowing what to say when Dave's eyes drifted to the desk and darted back to hers. He bolted forward into the tiny room and snatched the pregnancy test up, feeling his heart stop when he saw the two pink lines, "What the fuck, Liz!" he looked down at her with wide eyes.

Liz was momentarily stunned then jumped from her chair with a gasp, "Oh! No, that's not...," she giggled a little at the ridiculousness of the situation, "that's not mine. Or yours, for that matter... I hope." She quickly checked to make sure the kitchen was still empty before closing the office door.

"Jesus fucking christ," Dave sighed and tossed the stick back onto the desk before sitting in Liz's chair, pressing his hand to his chest as if that would keep his looming heart attack at bay.

"Sorry," Liz couldn't stop herself from laughing. "That... wow, that was bad timing." She picked the test up, noticed the second bright pink line and laughed even harder.

"If you're looking to kill me, that would have been a good way to go about it," Dave watched her and couldn't help laughing a little himself.

She set the stick on the top of a tall filing cabinet in the corner of the room and cleared her throat, trying to stop herself from laughing. "Okay," she giggled and slid the beer Krist had brought her towards him, "What are you doing in the great white north?" She stood just inches from his knees and set her hands on her hips.

"I didn't like the way we left things and..." Dave trailed off as the smile disappeared from his face.

"And...?" Liz questioned. "How did you know I was here and not in Washington?"

"I might have received a note from an old friend," he shrugged.

Liz nodded and told herself to quit making Krist's favorite beer, "It's only been two days," she reminded him.

"Yeah, well..." Dave thought about the last two days he spent alone in his bed, only emerging from his room when Taylor brought him food and a plane ticket to Portland. He had several text drafts saved in his phone of all the things he wanted to say to her, all of the excuses and reasons to see her, but the one text from Krist with an attached picture of Liz sitting in the sun on the patio of her bar was the one that convinced him to find her. "I just don't think this is over," he muttered, "For me, anyway."

Liz stared at him, not sure what to say.

"Do you want me to leave?" he asked quietly, not sure how to read her reaction.

Liz shook her head before she even realized what she was doing. No, she didn't him to leave, but she also knew that they were only prolonging the inevitable, "Come watch the band for a bit."

Dave slowly stood up as Liz watched him carefully, "We're not okay, but I wish we were," his voice was barely a whisper.

"Yeah, me too," Liz sighed and reached for his hand.

*

"A waitress, Liz? Really?" Dave teased her as she set a beer on the table in front of him.

Liz laughed, "I'm a struggling actress, Dave," she shot back, then looked over at Krist and grabbed his empty glass off the table, "One more, Slenderman?"

He nodded through a bite of his burger and Liz turned back towards the bar. Dave watched her walk away, trying to remember if she had worn those particular jeans in LA. He took a drink of his beer and thought he definitely would have remembered her looking that good if she had. Krist nudged him as Liz disappeared into the kitchen.