Come Home

Patrick Kane sat in first class on a plane to East Hampton, New York. Sipping some exceptional quality scotch. Patrick slipped out of his suit jacket letting it get wrinkled between his back and the seat. It was a clear, sunny Thursday morning when he had taken off from Chicago. Taking a peek out of his window, it still was as they were only minutes from their arrival. One of his close family friends was getting married that weekend. He was apart of the bridal party, participating as a groomsman. Nobody had confirmed but, he had a gut feeling Tiera would be there. The two had grown up with the same friends. It was almost certain Patrick would be spending his weekend with her. Patrick was excited but then again he felt ashamed to be in her space. It had been months since they went separate ways but he missed her presence everyday. It felt unnatural because they had always been attached by the hip since young kids. Still coming home to an empty, silent, apartment made his stomach drop to the floor. Before falling asleep at night he dreamed and wished that one of those days he would show up and Tiera would be there. Waiting for him to come home just as he waited for her to come home. Come home to him. For one of the few times in his life, Pat didn't get what he wanted. In the back of mind he knew, the moment he layed eyes on her, Patrick would be the one crawling back.

...♆...

It had been a long two days of driving. Tuesday afternoon she left her dumpy apartment in Chicago and drove to Buffalo. Spending the night at her parents house, barely getting no sleep. Tiera worried that she might see Patrick in town for the twenty-four hours she stayed. Although she did run into the oldest of the Kane sisters, Erica. Tiera kept it to brief small talk before practically sprinting up the porch steps to her childhood home. She did everything to avoid the subject of Patrick Kane. Now sitting in the passenger seat of her cousins' big, black SUV it dawned upon Tiera that Patrick would most likely be at this wedding too. Herself and cousin, Florence were apart of the bridal party. Bridezilla thought that it would be great bonding time if the bridal party hung for a few days before Saturday. Which was the wedding day. Sitting upright in her seat, Tiera's heart jumped. The tingling of anxiety started to build up in her tummy. "Did you forget something?" Florence asked her.

Shaking her head Tiera replied, "Is Pat going to be there?" Tiera's red headed cousin sighed, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel. Everyone else in the bridal party agreed for both Pat and Tiera to find out by themselves. Anger bubbled up in Tiera's veins. Her face slowly went red. No way was she ready to see him again. She had just begun to gather herself again, get back to normal. "He's going to be there for the whole weekend isn't he." It was more of a statement than a question. Tiera glared over at Florence. Her cousin kept her eyes on the road. With a swift nod of her head, Florence hoped to end the conversation. "What? Nobody had the balls to tell me?" Tiera exploded. "Turn this car around Flo. No way am I spending my weekend with Pat. Or any of the bridal party. I will just drive myself back up for Saturday." Just after saying this, the SUV roared past a sign that read: Welcome to The Hamptons. Enjoy your stay!

"I'm not turning the car around for you! Just 'cause you can't grow a pair yourself and face Patrick. After what he did to you Tiera, if I was you, I wouldn't even spend anytime thinking about him. You're letting him win when he doesn't deserve it!" Slamming her hand down on the steering wheel for extra punctuation. Florence was sick of Tiera moping around. Taming the long red locks that framed her face, Florence took a deep breath. "You're just going to feed his ego this weekend if you act like this. All distant and shit. There's a bright side to this, you know." Sending her cousin a bright smile, Tiera rolled her eyes in the passenger seat.

"Oh really. What's that?" Staring out her window Tiera slumped in her seat.

"You get to see some of your friends from high school. You haven't seen most of them since taking off to Chicago!" Florence was smiling still. It was easy for her to be excited. She always hung out with old friends, stayed in touch. Tiera ran off with Pat, who hardly talked to these people either, and never looked back. She went to university then started teaching at Loyola.
In the Greek Mythology classes she taught, half of the people were only a few years younger. She became a kid teaching kids. Tiera had an alter agenda that revolved around work and Patrick. In those years she lost touch with family, friends and herself. "This is just going to be an awkward reunion."

Florence gave up and focused on driving again. After a while they were pulling up to The Maidstone. It was a cute hotel, but pricey. But the bride and groom were putting an extra few thousand dollars on this weekend. Both of their families were loaded. Tiera's bank account would be in the negative numbers if she were to pay for a short vacation like this. A few cars were already parking on the lot. Buffalo license plates on most. Pulling on her faux leather backpack and tugging her hat farther over her eyes, Tiera unloaded her heavy 1980's bag. All of her nicest clothes were probably wrinkled inside by now.

While helping Florence pull all of her own suitcases out of the back of her SUV, a car pulled in behind them. Florence turned to see who it was. She started waving and motioned them closer to her car. Tiera didn't turn around but she asked, "Who is it?"

"Toby!" Tiera groaned remembering the drunken encounters they used to have. Pushing away many memories she rifled through Florence's suitcase. Picking out a pair of heels, she planned on borrowing them for just the weekend. Her cousin could find out later. "And somebody is in the passenger seat, but I can't make them out." Florence ignored Tiera's noises of detest and continued waving. As they approached she hoped Tiera wouldn't turn around because Patrick Kane sat in that passenger seat. The rumble of an engine cut off. Toby had parked his truck right beside the black SUV. While the boys hopped out of the truck and got their own bags Florence took the chance to tell Tiera. "Patrick is only a few feet away." She whisper/yelled, trying to look busy with her own bags. "What do you mean?"

"I mean he is with Toby just about to come around that corner. Be cool. Don't freak out okay?" Tiera was spazzing though. Her eyes were about to bulge out of her sockets. Her body was frozen in place, like deer in headlights. She couldn't tell if her heart had stopped for a moment or sped up on the spot. Maybe both. It felt like every crevice in her body had became moist with a cold sweat. Before Tiera could have her 5 second freak out, both men came around the corner. Florence took charge and hugged both of them. As she went to wrap her arms around Patrick's neck, he stared right at Tiera. His gaze made her knee's want to give out. It was so intense all she could do was stand there like silly putty and stare back at him. Even when Toby approached her for a hug Patrick didn't tear his eyes away from her. "It's been so long!" Toby said as he squeezed her tight into his chest. His booming voice pulled her away from Patrick's longing gaze.

Toby's hands were a little too low on her backside for Tiera's liking but she didn't say anything. She just hugged him back, hands intertwined behind his neck. Patrick couldn't say anything. Tiera wasn't his girl anymore. He just closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. Pat refused to watch the girl he loved get a little cozy with on of his good friends. "Too long." Tiera said smoothly, still in Toby's huge arms. Toby was a tall, burly guy with light brown hair and big brown eyes. They had a thing in high school but it didn't last long. Patrick broke that up. Toby placed a soft, secret kiss on her neck before pulling away. She shivered before gathering her bag.

Florence waited to see if there would be anything exchanged between Pat and Tiera. Patrick went for it. He walked up to the girl who left him and gave her a hug. It was short and awkward but it came as a shock to Tiera. But she automatically dropped her bag and wrapped her arms around his waist. The feeling of his warm, hard chest made her feel at home. He was wearing the cologne she loved. She knew it was a brief hug, but it felt like an eternity being close to him again. "How are you?" Patrick asked with a small smile.

"I'm fine." Tiera lied, forcing a smile. He nodded and picked up her bag for her. The four walked into the lobby of The Maidstone and checked in. Before Patrick could talk to Tiera again, she was already being dragged away by all the bridesmaids.