Lunch

[centerishome]

Clarke would have put the odds of ever seeing Sam again right up there with winning Star Search or becoming a Perry Ellis model. She was in Washington all along, just like he was. She was probably in the hospital somewhere when he was having surgery. It was surreal to imagine. His excitement to see her was pure after the past week it felt good. Of

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[know_how_u_feel]

Waiting on street level, Sam was freezing her ass off as she watched the escalator waiting for any sight of Clarke. Several times in the ten minutes she waited, Samantha considered leaving. Not because she didn't want to see him but because of how much she did.

This was such a bad idea. Her roommate, Nikko, tried to talk her out of it but Sam couldn't get over how sad he sounded online. What a hard time he was having. Plus, she felt guilty that she could get any kind of enjoyment out of his current situation. It was such a bitchy and spiteful reaction but as soon as she read some of what was going on with his girlfriend/boss, the 18 year old inside her laughed. Karma baby. He broke her heart so he should have his heart broken. It was mean and made her feel like a terrible person so there was no way she could just blow off his invitation to lunch.

For a second, she wondered if they would even recognize each other. It had been 7 years. Then she saw him. His hair was shorter but it was him. She'd know that face and perfect posture anywhere. Dammit. With a sigh and a half forced smile, Sam gave him a wave.

[centerishome]

He ascended the steps connecting the underground metro station and the street above. He faced the sprawling structure that held Georgetown hospital. The building was so typical of D.C.'s tendency for wide buildings but it was impressive nonetheless, especially thinking about the physicians who were trained in it's walls.

He saw Sam easily, before she saw him. Then again, a white guy in a suit doesn't stand out in Georgetown. He crossed the street, returning her wave. He doesn't feel much apprehension and why should he? Things ended between them the way those kinds of relationships inevitably do. It's a gift to be a able to take a shot at friendship after all these years.

She looks great. She looks like she always did, with a friendly smile and luxurious brown hair. It's cold and part of him just wants to direct them to a place to eat and save talking until them but he won't.

"You look amazing, Sam! You really do."

He hugged her enthusiastically.

"God, look at you. I'm so proud of you."

[know_how_u_feel]

It was cold and he was warm but she resisted hugging him any longer than was expected. Obviously, he had no reservations about how things ended between them. She shouldn't have been surprised considering how fast he moved to the next girl but it still stung a little. However, she hid it well. She smiled at his praise and motioned with her head that they should start walking.

"Thanks! You look good too. Sounds like you're doing pretty well for yourself, Mr. Big Shot with his minions and all."

[centerishome]

He genuinely did not have reservations. He remembered it being sad but them both knowing it was what had to happen. They were going to different states for college. They didn't even live that close to begin with. At the time he had considered going after her but he didn't want to sway her from doing what was best. She didn't fight for him either as far as he knew. It seemed like a normal progression of life. The woman she saw him with his roommate's sister. Nothing romantic ever happened between them, let alone at that point. He was just the new college freshman, trying to make friends and trying to get over what he left behind.

So, no, he didn't have regrets about that. They both moved on to the next stage of their lives and it seemed right. And now she was in medical school and he was happy for her.

"You'd be so much less impressed if you actually met him. I'm also technically someone's minion if we're going there." He laughed and started towards the restaurants. "Do you know Alero's?"

[know_how_u_feel]

No, he didn't know that she fought for them and as far as she was concerned he never would. It was embarrassing enough that she flew halfway across the country for a boy that didn't feel the same way without adding to that humiliation by telling him. She didn't even tell her parents. She just did her best to forget him and she'd done a pretty good job of it until now. It wasn't like her life stopped with Clarke Owen Banks.

"Yeah, well, I'm an intern so I'm a lot of people's minion. Interns are like the hospital butt boys." She laughed back, burrowing a little deeper into her coat.

"I've heard of Alero's but I've never been there. It's right around the corner, right?"

[centerishome]

If she had actually told him at the time there's no guarantee they'd be in a significantly different place than they are now, only that they would have had a few more nights of good sex and a few more memories. Clarke would have wanted her to stay but he would have told her to go and see the world and grasp the future because he couldn't live with himself if she ignored her potential just to hold on to the remnants of a teenage summer romance.

At present, she certainly deserved more than a man so in love with someone else.

"Yeah. Just two blocks down. I could live off their salsa."

[know_how_u_feel]

"That wouldn't be a very healthy diet." She chastised. It was funny coming from her considering she lived out of vending machines. Life in the hospital didn't afford much time to eat so going out, especially to a sit down place, was a rare luxury.

Samantha glanced at him. "You look pale. Were you always so pale? Don't they ever let you outside in that place where you work?"

[centerishome]

"You mean a steady diet of chips and salsa alternating with frozen yogurt isn't going to bring me to a ripe old age? I'm shocked." He grinned, ribbing her back.

He rolled up his sleeve and looked at his arm. "I think I was always this pale."

[know_how_u_feel]

"Now nobody said anything about frozen yogurt. You can live to 100 on that stuff. My secret is honey buns. I must eat like 4 a day. It's going to keep me young forever thanks to all the preservatives." She shot back happily.

The sight of equally white arm made her laugh a little. "We should have been counselors at a normal camp. It would have at least got you outside more. I would pay money to see you on a horse." Just the thought made her laugh.

[centerishome]

"Mmm, deep fried sugar mixed with stuff that's not technically edible. Yummy!" He directed her across the street. They were falling back into this rhythm of jokes so easily.

He thought about how he was tempted to go see Liz and her horses. It really was a ridiculous thought. "Animals like me. I could totally ride a horse."

[know_how_u_feel]

"Hey, don't knock it. That's my shit now." Dodging cars, she hurried across the street then waited for him to catch up.

"You really think you could do it? Just like that? Just hop on and ride off like a real cowboy? See, 'cause I've ridden a horse before and its not like a bike. Horses can tell when you're nervous and it can make them act like they've lost their damn mind." Obviously, she wasn't much of a fan. Too big. Too unpredictable. Too smelly. She'd stick to cars.

[centerishome]

"You're a doctor now, if you say its your shit it must be good for you." He followed after her.

"I didn't say I could be Zorro!" He's almost laughing now. "I just said I could ride a horse. Someone would have to teach me but I could totally do it." He was being cocky in an obviously silly way.

[know_how_u_feel]

"Almost a doctor. Two more years. All I've got right now is a degree not a license. Still I'm right. I'm always right." And that was that.

She started to laugh. "You couldn't be Zorro anyway. He's like Mexican or something and you're too damn pale."

[centerishome]

"You used to like that I was pale," He pointed to the little Mexican restaurant when they approached it. "I'll just have to settle for Mexican food and leave being Zorro.. to uh, Zorro."

[know_how_u_feel]

"What makes you think I still don't?" She smiled teasingly as she entered the restaurant.

The place smelled incredible but at first glance it didn't look like there was going to be an open table. Thankfully, she missed one near the back and the host was quick to lead them to it. "Think it's too early for a margarita? Mexican restaurants always make me want one even though I almost never finish them."

[centerishome]

"Fair enough." That was his entire retort.

Restaurants that reside in an area as thick with businesses as Georgetown are always busy at lunchtime. Clarke wasn't surprised at the crowd. At their table he shrugged off his suit jacket and hangs it on the back of his chair.

"Probably not but aren't you on duty or whatever? These days I've become something of bourbon drinker oddly enough. "