AllFreeNovel
Share Us
While my hands are absentmindedly drawing circles on her back, I can’t stop thinking about the life we lost. It wasn’t just me and Cia—it was all of us. We would have all been parents, we would all have had a kid.
I gently nudge her as a thought hits me out of nowhere. “Cia.” She hums lazily in response. I clear my throat and explain my thoughts. “It wasn’t just us that lost out. Liam and Kai did as well. I don’t fucking care whose DNA that kid would have carried, none of us do. We would have all raised it as our own, because it would be ours.”
Cia sniffs and turns her head away from me, discreetly wiping her eyes with her hand. “Why are you bringing that up now?” There’s so much emotion in her voice.
“Because…” I pause, licking my lips as I try to get my thoughts under control. “Because we should say goodbye. Together.”
Pushing off of me, she sits up so she can look at my face.
“O-okay.” I can hear the hesitancy in her voice, but I don’t let her verbalize it.
An idea is quickly forming in my head, one I think will help all of us. “Go get cleaned up, beautiful. I’ll go find Liam and Kai.”
Of course, she tries to get more from me, but I stubbornly mime locking my lips and throwing away the keys. It’s not that it needs to be a secret, but this is something that’s better shown than told.
We all file into one of Kai’s cars and drive to the ocean. Despite the guard cars trailing behind us, it feels like we’re alone, which is just what we need. When I explained my idea to the other two, they were quickly onboard. Kai worked his magic and pulled some strings, making sure we had exactly what we needed within only a few hours.
“And you still won’t tell me what we’re doing?” Cia asks as she pulls her shrug cardigan tighter around her.
“It’s not that we won’t tell you, ágapi. Just trust we think you should experience it rather than hear about it.”
I chuckle under my breath at her mumbled curses aimed at Liam.
“If you really want to know, we’ll tell you,” I reiterate. It’s far from the first time either of us says this, and every time so far, she’s decided she doesn’t want to know.
We’re all quiet while she chews on her bottom lip with a thoughtful expression donning her beautiful face. “I’ll play nice,” she says, sounding like she’s the one doing us a favor.
As soon as we reach the ocean, I take Cia’s hand and drag her towards her beloved rocks. I deliberately don’t look back since I don’t want her to see what Kai and Liam pull from the trunk of the car.
“It’s nice here today,” she says, beaming while she tilts her head upwards.
Her loose hair is being tossed by the wind, making it look like she’s a sorceress brewing up an incantation. The clouds part, making it possible for the moon to bathe the beach in its cold rays.
“Yeah,” I agree as I tear my gaze from her. “Now, come on.”
Before we reach the rocks, I take her hand and begin to run, ignoring her laughing plea for me to slow down. I don’t stop until we reach the restaurant where we had lunch after seeing Kai for the first time—or rather, my first time seeing him. Back then I didn’t know he was the one Cia snuck out to see.
In hindsight, it’s laughable how angry I got at her for forgetting our movie night almost two years ago. So much has happened since then, and a lot of it is my own fucking fault.
“What are we doing here?” Curiosity coats her words.
I spin around and grip her waist. Then I press her up against the restaurant’s glass. “This was the beginning of the end,” I murmur, nipping at her lip. “The place where I chose wrong.”
Cia winds her arms around me and pulls me closer. “At least you’ve since come to your senses,” she says teasingly.
I growl. “Guess that means you’re stuck with me.”
Her answering laugh causes my lips to twitch.
“Is that why you made us come out here? To take a walk down memory lane?”
I shake my head. “No, Cia. Because while this place holds some bad memories, it has so many good ones. For you, for Liam, for Kai, and for me. This should be our place of new beginnings. The place where we let go.”
“I like that,” she whispers.
“Hey!” Liam shouts. “We’re ready.”
Cia sags against me as I wrap my arm around her shoulders, and we walk closer to the water where Kai and Liam are waiting with the Chinese lanterns.
