He'd gone beyond his player ways for her.
She'd grown beyond her traumatic past for him.
Together, their love was beyond.
Until one fatal accident.
__________
When she loses the love of her life in a car crash, Althea has nothing left in California...
'All I know is this could either break my heart or bring it back to life
Got a feelin' your electric touch could fill this ghost town up with life.'
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*ALTHEA'S POV*
October 12, 2023.
74 missed calls, 318 unread texts, and I didn't even dare to check my voicemail as I opened the SMS.
Well, about 300 of them were from Asher last night, with lots of all caps, exclamation marks, 'let me explain', and 'please, tell me where you are' variations. But there were also new texts from Kylie and Paxton asking how I was doing and if I needed cookies, Linda telling me to enjoy some well-deserved rest, and nearly ten messages from Jordon.
This meant it was serious, and I called him as soon as I reached my hotel room.
"Babe, I was starting to get worried." His voice met me on the third ring with a breathy chuckle, so smooth that I could have almost believed he was in the next room—Almost. "Is everything okay?"
"Yes, yes, I'm sorry. My phone was on silent mode, and it's just... Something happened." I sighed, stepping over the open suitcase I'd left there in the blur this morning and trying to avoid the many crumpled tissues all over the floor, so I could reach the bed before my legs could give out.
Should I even have told him? A rational voice in me told me not to, but it sounded too much like Asher's tablet. I couldn't perpetuate his lies, even less with Jordon.
"Something good, don't worry. It's just—are you seated?" I plopped down on the soft mattress, trying to prepare myself too.
"Yes, I'm lying on the bed."
"What? Oh right, it's really late for you. I'm sorry. Did I wake you up? You must be tired. I can call you tomorrow, or today in a few hours for—"
"Althea," he called, his calm tone contrasting with the breathlessness of mine. "I just closed my laptop five minutes ago. I'm fully awake, and I know we'll both struggle to fall asleep, and we'll be more tired if you don't tell me what's making you so nervous."
Well, the lack of sleep was one of the reasons why I was so nervous, and the tiredness was weighing on each of my thoughts as they twisted to find a way to announce this smoothly.
"Asher is alive."
Nothing with Asher could ever be smooth, and the skip of my heart was still as abrupt, as I was still processing these words, everything stopping to restart faster with this new reality. A lot like the shuffling I caught from the other side of the line.
"Asher? As in Asher, your..."
"My late boyfriend, yes. I know it might sound crazy, but he's never died."
