(18+) These Three Words | A DeVanté Swing Fanfiction

Chapter 39: Serial Killer Vibes

Please excuse ANY errors.

December 31, 1998

~Tia's P.O.V~

Donald has us both in the sky in a hot air balloon. He's freezing, but I'm fine because for some reason I just feel the heat from the fire that is keeping this hot air balloon from plummeting. At first, I was very nauseous being this high up in the air because of my fear of heights. Somehow Donald was able to calm me down and now we're even standing, looking over the view of the beautiful city. Jax and Creed are on here as well. People tend to underestimate how large the baskets of hot balloons are, they're actually extremely large. We're eating a late lunch and the food is delightful.

"Babe, do you ever think about the future?" I asked him after our conversation on another topic died down.

"Yes, often actually. The future has been heavily on my mind as of late," he smiled taking a drink.

"I don't mean the near future, but when we're old and gray or near death," I told him.

"When death comes knockin', I WILL be old and gray," Donald chuckled.

"Sorry to put it so simply. I know you think about the future, but the way you think and my wording isn't how I meant it."

"Women are confusing," he said laughing. "Elaborate for me."

"What I mean is when you leave this world, what is it that you want to accomplish? We both know what it is we want as far as career goals, but I mean outside of that? Something of substance, meaning, and having found your purpose," I listed.

He folded his hands together, "I do, but not as often or in-depth as I feel you're about to say. You go first."

"We've both gone through and put ourselves through some harsh situations. Correct?"

"Indeed, we have," he nodded looking at me intently.

"When it comes to myself," I placed my hand on my chest, "I don't want to have any regrets and that means things that I should or shouldn't have done or felt. For example, for the greater portion of my life, I didn't want to be on this earth and when I got out of that phase, I was cautious- too cautious. Cautious to the point where I was scared to leave the house, especially alone to avoid anything happening to me, but had to because I had to make money. Then the family thing, Yasir, my mother, and Daryl..."

Donald nodded as I continued to speak. "With that being said, when I did begin to live my life, I started to regret having let life pass me by. Why didn't I do these things sooner? Anywho, most times people only think about getting right with others before death, but they never take the time to get right with themselves. Why do you think that is?"

Donald exhaled, thinking hard. "I guess we were just talking about, legacy. People don't want others to think of them as the person they aren't or the person that they used to be."

"While that's important, many people don't make it right with themselves until it's too late. It's better to start while you're young so you won't have to work on it as hard when you're dying. Instead, people are more career focused, or as I've said before, they're focused on making it right with others who've probably moved on with their lives."