My Autumn with April

Two

~April~

"Well, I mean, he seems great." I shrugged at Maya as we finally left the B&B and started heading down the drive. I'd spent the entire day 'working' in the garden with Maya and Autumn. By which I mean that was the guise she gave anyone who asked where we were going. Truth was, it was just the 3 of us sat in a hidden corner of the property catching up properly. 

Even though I had Summer and Winter back in South Haven, nothing quite compared to the friendship I had with these 2. If Summer and Winter were my best friends, these 2 were my sisters. 

I'd had the pleasure of meeting Autumn's new boyfriend in question tonight and I honestly don't think I've ever seen Autumn as happy as she appears to be around him. The fact he's been able to crack her open in ways me and Maya never could is amazing. I just hope he's not flaky and is going to abandon her like everyone else has. She deserves to be loved for who she is. She's utterly phenomenal. 

"Yeah. He is. I think he might actually stick around. He really seems to like her." Maya smiled softly. "So, wanna talk about Max?" 

"There's nothing to-" 

"Nothing to talk about. Yeah, you've said. But I'm not buying it." Maya pushed her arm through mine and pulled herself closer to me. "What happened?" 

"I just-" 

"Try again." 

"May-" 

"I know something happened April. Whatever it was that brought you back here, I'm glad, don't get me wrong. I'm so damn happy you're back here and that you're staying. But, I'm also concerned that you just uprooted your entire life since you left here and moved back like the world is all sunshine and rainbows. Are your parents okay?" 

"Yeah- they- they're fine." We reached the end of the drive, hitting the cross roads where I needed to carry on and Maya needed to head left. "Look, Maya. Me and Max broke up. It's literally no big deal. It was a long time coming. Me and him were never gonna work long term. We wanted completely different things. It was just a little fun. Nothing more. It was a mutual break, no one got hurt. But because I was living with him, it was a little awkward. The bakery was closing for a refit so I was essentially out of a job for a few months and I just thought it had to be a sign to take the leap. The plan always was for me to come back and I have enough saved up for a deposit on the bakery, and everything I need to make it work for the first month or 2. I promise, there's nothing weird going on that made me come back so abruptly. It's just how it panned out. I made the decision at like 10pm on Saturday night, packed everything up and drove down, just managed to catch dinner with the girls before jumping on the boat. By the time I got here it was late and I'd been up for almost 48 hours so I just wanted to crash."  

"Promise?" 

"I swear." Maya nods and pulled me in for another suffocating hug. 

"Okay. I'm gonna go home because I swear that was rain I felt." We both looked up to the sky as a few more droplets fell from the sky and onto our faces. "Yeah. I love you but not enough to get soaked. Text the group when you're home." 

"You too." Maya turned and started running back towards her place a few minutes away and I did the same, taking my time to walk in the rain. I don't know why I love rain and storms as much as I do. It just makes me feel all tingly. I find myself sitting on doorsteps when there's a thunderstorm. cradling a cup of hot chocolate under a blanket as I watch the sky illuminate in bright flashes. The smell is indescribable too. Earthy and deep and it's warm. So this rain shower wasn't exactly something I'd wish away. It wasn't heavy. The drops weren't piercing my skin as they collided with me. It was softer. Like each droplet had a tiny parachute to soften the blow.