To Return to Fandom or Not?
It was almost a year and a half before she found the note Sam Winchester had left for her. The one saying the people back in Fandom had found a way to get them back to the right time and leaving her a note telling her where to go in London.
That first month or so there, Sam had stopped by pretty regularly to check in and then he'd just... stopped. She'd figured he was out on some sort of hunt with his father and had always thought that some time he'd show up again. Then she'd wondered if something had happened to him. After all, almost a year and a half with no word didn't bode well.
She' actually hadn't seen him the last time he'd stopped at the diner. She'd run down to the local drugstore on her break and by the time she'd returned he'd come and gone. Betty'd said he'd left her a note, but it must have blown away or gotten thrown out accidentally. It certainly wasn't anywhere they'd looked for it.
And then, almost a year and a half later, she'd found it. He must have tucked it into the book she'd been reading, thinking she'd be sure to see it and it wasn't till she'd pulled the book out to re-read that it had fallen out.
If she'd gotten his note the day he'd left it, she'd have been on the first boat to England, no matter what she had to do for the money. But the day she'd found it...
She'd long since given up any hope of getting back and had focused her energy on making a life for herself there in New York. She'd started dating a wonderful man, worked her way up to head waitress on her shift, and had finally managed to give herself permission to be happy here. In fact, less than two weeks previously, she had accepted Joe's proposal and had never been happier in her life.
The note got read and re-read. It was her chance to get back the life she'd left behind, her chance to go home and live the life she'd planned out for herself.
Except just now... she wasn't sure that she wanted to give up everything she had here. How could she leave Joe?
Eventually, the note got tucked back into the book and the book went back up on the shelf where she glanced at it and brushed her hand against the binding from time to time. Fandom was the past. New York City and Joe were her present and her future.
And then came the big blow-up just after Christmas, right at the end of 1931. Joe had been looking through her small collection of books and had come across the note from Sam urging her to come to London as soon as possible so they could go home. He hadn't understood, of course, and before she knew it the whole crazy story about Fandom and the angels and being lost in time had come out. He'd thought she was nuts, or worse, that she was trying to cover something up - probably a relationship with 'that Sam guy'. It was an ugly scene and ended with Lana in tears and Joe breaking off the enagagement.
The next month or so was terrible as she tried to find a way to fix her relationship while all the time that note sat on her kitchen table staring at her.
She found herself thinking about what Dorothy Parker had told her that first day - that no guy was worth that sort trouble and that she should just say to hell with it and find something better. Maybe she didn't have much waiting for her back in Fandom, but at least she had a full ride to the college of her choice and the potential of a real full life back in the time where she belonged.
So, she took the money she'd saved for her wedding dress and bought a ticket for a ship to London leaving in two days. She gave away her few belongings to her friends at the diner, had one last painful talk with Joe, and boarded the ship. She spent most of the journey standing out by the railing staring at the ocean and playing with the engagement ring that Joe had refused to take back.
Once there, all she had to do was make her way to the correct address. And go home.
That first month or so there, Sam had stopped by pretty regularly to check in and then he'd just... stopped. She'd figured he was out on some sort of hunt with his father and had always thought that some time he'd show up again. Then she'd wondered if something had happened to him. After all, almost a year and a half with no word didn't bode well.
She' actually hadn't seen him the last time he'd stopped at the diner. She'd run down to the local drugstore on her break and by the time she'd returned he'd come and gone. Betty'd said he'd left her a note, but it must have blown away or gotten thrown out accidentally. It certainly wasn't anywhere they'd looked for it.
And then, almost a year and a half later, she'd found it. He must have tucked it into the book she'd been reading, thinking she'd be sure to see it and it wasn't till she'd pulled the book out to re-read that it had fallen out.
If she'd gotten his note the day he'd left it, she'd have been on the first boat to England, no matter what she had to do for the money. But the day she'd found it...
She'd long since given up any hope of getting back and had focused her energy on making a life for herself there in New York. She'd started dating a wonderful man, worked her way up to head waitress on her shift, and had finally managed to give herself permission to be happy here. In fact, less than two weeks previously, she had accepted Joe's proposal and had never been happier in her life.
The note got read and re-read. It was her chance to get back the life she'd left behind, her chance to go home and live the life she'd planned out for herself.
Except just now... she wasn't sure that she wanted to give up everything she had here. How could she leave Joe?
Eventually, the note got tucked back into the book and the book went back up on the shelf where she glanced at it and brushed her hand against the binding from time to time. Fandom was the past. New York City and Joe were her present and her future.
And then came the big blow-up just after Christmas, right at the end of 1931. Joe had been looking through her small collection of books and had come across the note from Sam urging her to come to London as soon as possible so they could go home. He hadn't understood, of course, and before she knew it the whole crazy story about Fandom and the angels and being lost in time had come out. He'd thought she was nuts, or worse, that she was trying to cover something up - probably a relationship with 'that Sam guy'. It was an ugly scene and ended with Lana in tears and Joe breaking off the enagagement.
The next month or so was terrible as she tried to find a way to fix her relationship while all the time that note sat on her kitchen table staring at her.
She found herself thinking about what Dorothy Parker had told her that first day - that no guy was worth that sort trouble and that she should just say to hell with it and find something better. Maybe she didn't have much waiting for her back in Fandom, but at least she had a full ride to the college of her choice and the potential of a real full life back in the time where she belonged.
So, she took the money she'd saved for her wedding dress and bought a ticket for a ship to London leaving in two days. She gave away her few belongings to her friends at the diner, had one last painful talk with Joe, and boarded the ship. She spent most of the journey standing out by the railing staring at the ocean and playing with the engagement ring that Joe had refused to take back.
Once there, all she had to do was make her way to the correct address. And go home.