Dear Austin ~Cashby~

Prologue

Dear Austin,

They say one summer can change everything. In those few short weeks, spent down by the sea, running in the sand, outside enjoying the sun with those you cared about, eating food from the Barbeque, just one thing could happen that would change your life forever.

I'd never really believed that though, the summer's where always uneventful for me. They where mostly spent with my best friend Aaron, getting into as much trouble as we could, just the typical teenage things, nothing big. You know like, smoking your first joint, or drinking your first beer and getting trashed on it because you're a teenage light weight. Climbing tree's, buildings, anything we could find. Skateboarding down the near by skatepark, thinking we where big and clever and usually ending up with a limb in a cast, or concussion. But nothing life changing ever happened.

For me, the one time my life did change, was in the middle of winter when I was eight. We'd visited family over in Alaska, something we'd done every two years for Christmas since I was born. It was the day after boxing day and we where due to go home the next day, so we where back in time to spend New Years with our friends and family at home in Florida. My mom and older brother had gone out to the store to get a few little things to bring back, little souvenir's for our friends and to put on our little display at home. But...they never came back. My mom and brother where hit by a car who'd lost control on some black ice. My mom, survived thankfully, but my brother's injuries where too sever and he lost his life in the hospital that night. I'll never forget that night, it still haunts me now when Christmas time rolls around.

But, after that, I learned to live, I learned to survive, as hard as it was and my life from then was uneventful. Thought to me that wasn't a bad thing, after suffering that, I was pretty thankful for the uneventful times of my life. No mess, no drama, no tears, no worries, just...living easy, not having a care in the world. Sure my life hadn't be completely drama free, I'd gone through the typical life drama, but nothing big or that I couldn't handle.

But then came the summer of 2000, I was just twenty two and I met you.