AN: Hey so it's been a while and I'm sorry about that. I've been a little busy as of late, but I just want to put this up before Halloween. I'll try to put up another chapter soon. Thank you to anyone still following this story.
Chapter Twelve: The One that Could Have Been Part II
Ray's POV
I went to bed thinking about that day. June 5, 1977 had been my shot, the day to finally tell Anna how I had felt and I said nothing, I did nothing. For seven years, I've regretted that day. I'd do anything if I could change it. At least this would give me a way to see what would have happened.
After I changed, I picked up the vial of smelling salts that I had left on the nightstand next to my bed and opened the lid.
Dream
-1977-
"So how's it going with the boring British guy?" I heard Peter ask Anna as I walked over to the couch we were occupying at the café. I rolled my eyes as I sat next to Anna, I'd rather listen to anything other than her talking about him.
"It's not." She replied plainly, "I broke up with him, got tired of him standing me up all of the time. I may not want to be a guy's only priority, but I don't want to be his last. I think I could do better than that."
"You found out he was dating another girl?" Peter guessed.
"Three." Anna retorted pointedly, slinking into the couch.
"Wow, boring British guy wasn't so boring after all." Peter commented. I glared at him as I snaked my arms around Anna's shoulder's pulling her closer to me, trying to comfort her.
"The guy was a jerk." I told Anna, "And, apparently, Pete's not much better. Why don't we do something? We can hang out, see a movie, go to a museum, whatever you want to do."
Anna looked up at me, "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I don't have any classes today." I responded.
"I'd like that." She agreed and then stood, "I'm just gonna get more tea and we can go now, if you want."
"Yeah." I responded readily, Anna got up and walked over to the counter.
"What are you doing, Ray?" Peter asked as soon as Anna was out of earshot.
"I'm doing something you should have offered to do." I answered, "I'm trying to make her feel better."
"She's fine." Peter scoffed, "She'll find a new guy and forget about this one."
"Forget about what?" Anna asked as she came back over with a to-go cup in her hands.
"Pete offered to pay for our drinks." I lied. Before Peter could speak up, I continued, "You ready to go?"
"Yeah." She smiled. I downed my coffee and then stood.
"Thanks for picking up the check, Pete." I took Anna's hand and we headed out the door.
"So what'd Pete really say?" Anna asked as we headed down the street, "Oh c'mon, I know he didn't offer to pick up our tab. So, he must have said something that annoyed you enough to leave him with the check."
"It's not important." I replied, "So what do you what to do first?"
"I get to decide?"
I nodded, "We'll go anywhere you want."
Egon's POV
After an hour of trying to dissect some of the contents of the vial, I concluded that they were no more than bath salts that smelled like peppermint, sage, and lemon. How bath salts were supposed to- That's ridiculous. I put the salts back into the vial and then set the vial on the counter. It was too late to go back to my apartment, so I went up to the sleeping quarters here and went to bed.
Dream
-1977-
"What do you think I should do?" Sarah asked me confused.
Sarah was absolutely lost on what she wanted to do. She had gotten a job offer with Scotland Yard, which had been somewhere she had wanted to work for years. She wasn't as excited to take the job anymore. She was conflicted on whether she should stay or not. I couldn't tell her not to go, no matter how much I wanted her to stay, but I also didn't feel right telling her go, even though I know this would be her dream job. Would I be enough for her to give up this job? Would it be fair for me to even ask her? Would it be right not to give her the option? She asked for my opinion, I should tell her how I feel. How can I tell her, if I'm conflicted myself?
"I can't tell you to stay." I told her, "But I don't want you to leave. I can't quit my job, so I can't go with you. It has to be your decision whether you take the job or not. I'll support you either way."
"You don't want me to go?"
"That is the last thing I want." I responded, "I don't want you not to take this job because of me though."
Sara sighed, "I'd love this job, but this is not how I wanted things to go with us, long distance relationships hardly ever work out." She took my hands in hers, "I love you. You mean more to me than this job. If I have to give you up for this job, then it's not worth it. I can find a job with the NYPD and be just as happy."
I stood and took my hands gently from hers, "There's been something I've been meaning to ask you and I was planning to do it later, but now seems like a good time." I pulled out the ring I had been carrying for weeks, and then got down on one knee, "Sarah Rose Venkman, I know things haven't always been perfect with us, but I have to tell you from the moment-"
"Yes."
"Yes?" I smiled.
"Yes, I will marry you." She said as I slipped the ring onto her finger.
Ray's POV
"Today has been amazing, Ray." Anna said as stared up at the stars in the planetarium, which we had to ourselves.
We had been all over the city doing all of the touristy things that she hadn't seen yet. We were having dinner in the university's planetarium, we picked up Thai food and were having a picnic. Peter brought dates here all of the time, not that Anna was my date. She's not my date, this isn't a date. She's a friend, my best friend's sister, and she just got out of a relationship. It wasn't… I can't be on a date with her. Not that I wouldn't like to.
Anna looked over at me, "Thank you, really, I haven't had this much fun in a long time." She looked back up at the stars, "Am I the problem?"
"What?" I asked confused, "What do you mean?"
"All of my relationships fail." She responded, turning back to me, "Am I the reason why? Is there something about me turns off all of these guys? Am I that hard to get along with? Is that why I can't keep a boyfriend?"
"No, you don't have a boyfriend because-" I started, but I couldn't think of an actual reason, "I don't know why you don't have a boyfriend. You should have a boyfriend."
"I think so." She agreed.
I pulled her close to me, "Listen, you are one of my favorite people and the most beautiful woman I've ever known. If those guys can't see that, that's their problem, not yours."
"You mean that?"
I looked at her flabbergasted, "Of course I do." I shifted my body, so that I could fully face her, and took her hands in mine, "Anna, if I could describe the perfect woman, she wouldn't even come close to you."
"You're so sweet." Anna replied, pulling her hands from mine and hugging me, "You always know what to say."
Okay, that's not quite where I was going with that. How else was I supposed to tell her? Or do I just leave it be? If I left it the way it is, sure, I'd still be in love with her. I don't even know if I'm actually in love with her. I know I have feelings for her, but I don't know if it's that serious. It feels that way, but how does anyone know for sure? Either way, if I didn't tell her, I'd still have her as a friend. If I tell her now, it could make things awkward between us. I couldn't tell her. Or maybe, I could. It's not necessarily guaranteed that telling her would go poorly. It could go really well. She could feel the same way. It's a possibility, a slim one, but still it's a possibility.
If I didn't tell her, I would still have her as a friend and she'll go back to London and I'll see and talk to her when I can. She spends the summers here and I can use my winter and spring vacations to see her. If I tell her and she doesn't feel the same, it will be awkward. There's no way of avoiding that, but we could eventually get past that and be friends again. If I tell her and she does feel the same… I have to tell her.
"Anna, I-"
Not even in a dream can I catch a break. I looked around to see who or what woke me, but I was on my own. The others were passed out in their own respective beds. It wasn't until I looked up that I saw a floating mist above me.
Anna's POV
"What do you call a female ghost that sleeps with men while their sleeping or half asleep?" Alexandra asked as I was making my morning tea.
"Depends, did you?" I asked her, not quite understanding the point of why she'd be asking me something like that.
"No." She responded disgusted.
"Then I would guess it was a succubus; they're demons, but have a similar premise." I told her, "Why?"
"Seems I'm not the only spirit here anymore."
I shrugged, before taking out the tea bag, "One of them might have an attachment, who knows."
"You don't care?"
I shook my head, "Nope."
"Not even if it were Ray?"
I thought for a moment and then answered, "No, not really."
"Not really what?" Ray asked as he came into the kitchen.
"Nothing, just talking to Alexandra." I answered, "How was your night?"
"Interesting." He responded vaguely.
"I hear you had a visitor." I commented. Alexandra looked at me shocked, and we both watched Ray flush before guilt started to wash over his face.
"Nothing happened, I-"
"It's okay." I stopped him, "You don't owe me an explanation; something probably got attached to you. You might want to look up how to get rid of a succubus attachment, I think that-" I paused when I noticed him taking out a pack of gum out of his pocket, "Since when do you eat gum? You hate gum."
"Since I found your inhaler in my jacket pocket." Ray replied, "Thought it was better that I cut back, eventually quit."
"Good for you."
"So that's all you're going to talk about the ghost that sleep with him?" Alexandra commented, "What about the kiss last night? You two finally did something and you're just going to ignore it?"
I looked at her slightly peeved, "Not the time, Alexandra."
"What's she saying?" Ray asked amused.
"She just has a little too much interest in our relationship with one another." I responded, before turning my attention back to Alexandra, "Why don't you go visit Janine, Alexandra? She has enough files for you to do so now."
Within an instant, she was gone.
"We need those files." Ray reminded me.
"All she'll do is reorganize them, maybe hide one or two you've already finished." I told him, "She did make a point about one thing though, we might want to talk about last night."
Before Ray could respond, however, the alarm went off.
"We'll talk when I get back." Ray promised, before rushing out to get ready to leave.
There never seemed to be a good moment, did there? This time it'd be different, hopefully. Most likely not, but there was always the chance. It just depended on when he came back and if anything came up when he did.