Chapter 2

The viewing is one which Elena has seen before. Only once, two days ago, but it is unique in several respects. It is the first vision in which she's actually seen herself. The hair, the face, the pink bathing suit she's wearing, everything the same as today. This alone would have ordinarily been enough to rivet her attention--like having a twin sister, albeit one who's forever out of reach--but Gavin is there as well. A thrill runs through her as she watches. She's seen him countless times over the past several months, but never here. Never until two days ago as part of her own life.

They are standing next to the open window of her upstairs bedroom, looking down into the back yard. His expression is ... What? Excited, worried? Turning, he takes her face in his hands. Amazing, what has she done which makes him look at her like that? He leans forward, his hands caressing down her neck and back until she's being held in his arms, and they kiss.

Elena shudders, both exhilarated and agonized. She's taking a terrible risk. What if, despite what her senses tell her, the events she's watching don't happen today? It's taken months of viewings just to meet him. Can they truly have come so far in such a short time?

There's a thump from downstairs, and then two small voices in unison, "Elena?"

Gavin pulls back, and her doppelganger giggles. "It's okay," she says, smiling at him, and then turning to look directly at Elena. "Everything will be fine."

"Welcome back," Gavin says, smiling up at her. "You went away there for a minute." He's sitting down and leaning against one of the trees in her front yard, still looking a bit dazed. "I'm the one who should have a concussion, not you."

"Oh, sorry," she apologizes, "just wondering whether we should go inside and get you cleaned up, or start looking for your dog. I don't think Mr. Perez will like it if his cat gets eaten." She bends down and begins surveying his various scrapes and bruises.

"Dog?" he gives her a deadpan look. "I don't have a dog. Did you see me with a dog? No, I'm just a really bad bike rider. I vote for going inside."

"Now, that I believe," she murmurs, touching the bandage above his eye. "Are you always this accident-prone?"

He shrugs, "Not always. Hey, this Mr. Perez, he wouldn't happen to have gray hair and be, h'm, about five ten, would he?"

She straightens, turns, and sees Ramon Perez walking across the street, trailed by Gavin's German shepherd. "Hello, Elena. Is this your friend's dog?"

Gavin stands, and steps out from behind her. "Yes sir, that's Mac. Is your cat all right?"

Ramon examines Gavin for a moment, glances at Elena, and then hands him the leash. "Barnabus is fine," he says. "Our back gate must've been open. Your dog chased him inside, and Barnabus decided to jump on top of the grill to get away from him. I had just turned on the gas and fired it up, so the lid probably wasn't that hot yet." His eyes crinkle at the sides. "Serves him right, I expect he was teasing your dog. But yeah, he's okay. Doesn't look like the same can be said for you though." He nods at Gavin's bike, still lying in the middle of the street. "He pull you off when he saw Barnabus?"

"Just about," Gavin answers. "I'm sorry, I didn't even see your cat until Mac had gotten loose."

"No," Ramon glances at Elena again, "I expect you were looking somewhere else."

Gavin grins, tries to hide it when he sees she's looking, and then winks at her instead. "Well, thank you for bringing him back."

"No problem," Ramon answers, "maybe it'll teach that lard bucket cat some humility." He turns, and begins crossing the street. "Tell your Dad not to be such a stranger, Elena. I haven't seen him for a couple of weeks."

"Well, okay Mr. P, but he's kinda been grounded," Elena says.

"Grounded?" Ramon swivels at the far curb to face her, both eyebrows raised.

"Yeah."

"He not make it home in time for curfew last time, or what?"

"Oh, no sir, he made it home all right."

"Well, what then?"

She lowers her voice conspiratorially. "In my parent's bedroom, you know how the doors to the bathroom and closet are right next to each other?"

"I'll take your word for it," he answers, looking uncomfortable.

"He, um, confused one for the other," she tells him.

His response is immediate. "Poor Bastard." His eyes jerk up to meet hers and see she's smiling. "Sorry."

She waves away the apology. "Nah, you're right. He's been in the doghouse ever since. Today, the appeasement strategy is a Disney movie."

"Okay," he again turns towards his house. "Too bad, he's good company."

"Hey, Mom can't stay mad at him forever, right?"

Ramon chuckles and glances back over his shoulder. "No, but if she's anything like my wife, he'll never be allowed to forget it." The idea seems to please him for some reason, and disappearing around the corner of his house, he laughs again.

Switching Mac's leash to his left hand, Gavin offers her his right. "Pleased to meet you, Elena. My name's Gavin."

She takes the offered hand, shakes it, and resists the urge to pull him against her. The vision of a few moments before has left her emotions in turmoil, and the encounter with Mr. Perez only frustrates her further. She desperately wants to springboard passed this introductory phase. She needs no introduction--the past few months have been nothing but prelude--but, of course, that's not possible.

"Yeah, I guess we sorta skipped that part. Nice to meet you." His brown eyes meet her blue ones, and they both stand still for a moment, holding hands.

Gavin's eyes are the first to break contact, sliding down to the front of her bathing suit, and then twitching guiltily away.

Good.

"You want to come inside and clean up a little bit? I can see if I have a band-aid that matches the one on your head."

His eyes come back from where they've been hiding, and she can tell he's nervous. "I, uh, don't want to get you in trouble with your parents. Mac already tried to grill your neighbor's cat."

"Nothing to worry about," she says, bending to scratch Mac behind the ears, "my parents aren't home." Mac's gaze is almost as appreciative as Gavin's, and his tail begins to slowly wag. "Mac can't come inside, but I'll get him some water, and he can hang out in the back yard."

She looks up at Gavin through the hair which has fallen around her face. Searching out his eyes, she offers him a soft smile. "Deal?"

Gavin discovers his outside assessment had been right, Elena's house is much larger than the one his father has purchased. The front hallway has arched openings leading to rooms on either side, what looks like a home office or study behind a pair of French doors, an art nook with a three-tiered painting that catches his interest for a moment, finally ending in a living room which has a wall of ceiling high windows overlooking the back yard. He is surprised that, while the furniture he sees is certainly expensive and also arranged tastefully, the room has a lived in look, saving it from resembling a hotel lobby.