Fact: Crushes Were Stupid.

fact: crushes were stupid.

also a fact: darcy'd had one, once. it was long ago, with multiple degrees secured between when it had ended and the present. it was over, a finite end.

except... she hadn't actually been in a room with scott bishop since she'd graduated from coolsville high at sixteen years old. and even just standing there, vaguely in his presence, there were certain indicators that she wasn't as immune to romantic feelings as she'd believed.

how did that work? barely knowing someone and yet feeling drawn to them anyway? once upon a time, darcy'd developed feelings because he'd been nice to her at a time when others were very much not, a small act of kindness meaning so much that it broke through her defenses. did she know anything about him other than what was reported in the school paper? no! and yet, the feeling of butterflies in her stomach continued during the handful of times they spoke.

but why? and why were the butterflies beginning to flutter their wings yet again (eight years later), when there was zero grounds for the action? it made no sense! darcy was a woman of science, but not of neuroscience or psychology. love (or even just like) was a mystery to her.

which was why seemed so uncertain when, at his clap, she moved to sit in a chair near him. she was at the community center with one goal in mind - finding out what happened to charlotte blackwood - and she would not be derailed from her mission. but deep down, she was fighting to speak up, having traveled back in time to her senior year of high school.

"yes, let's," she started carefully, not bothering to take a moment to say hello first. why was scott there? why did he care? it was time for the q&a portion of the morning. "how do you know charlotte?" present tense. she could be optimistic!

where: the coolsville community center who: scott bishop and open

Scott had woken up that morning for the first time in a while with a sense of invigoration. For the first time in a couple of weeks (hell, a couple of years), he felt good about the day. It offered something that wasn't the same monotonous thing. As he made his breakfast, dished up a plate for his younger brother (who knew fourteen year old boys could eat so much), he was buzzing. It would be too much to say he was excited, especially in the climate of the last two weeks with Charlotte missing but Scott couldn't help it. He'd even brought snacks.

Those same snacks were laid out in the middle of a lone table in the community centre, only touched by him. Wasn't hard to do when there was hardly anyone in the room. He had been the second person to arrive, glad to know he'd gotten the right place at least. A few other people had trickled in since but the group seemed to be milling about in silence. The awkwardness just wasn't something Scott could deal with.

Giving a loud clap to get everyone's attention, he leaned back in his chair. "Should we get this show on the road?" he asked before really noticing how many empty chairs there were. Maybe not.