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...
Warning: talk about suicide in this chapter. It's the part where they find themselves alone Asher and Althea, for the people who are sensitive about this subject and want to skip it.
And I'm always there if you need to talk. 💕
'And if you feel you're sinking, I will jump right over
Into cold, cold water for you
And although time may take us into different places
I will still be patient with you
And I hope you know.'
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*ALTHEA'S POV*
October 30, 2023.
"Who said tis' the only surprise?"
I should have known with Asher, it was always more and a four-hour trip to what seemed to be the most colorful Fall festival I'd ever seen wasn't enough. However, following his nod behind me, I would have never imagined that beyond the rows of pumpkins in every shade from shamrock to tangerine, the bouquets of flowers arranged like bursts of golden, the banners, and all the dazzling dots of fiery colors, I would find a pair of two pale blue eyes I hadn't seen in... How many years?
I didn't even dare count as I took in how many inches higher they stood from what I'd remembered, and it wasn't the only difference.
The little girl in pink with long blond curls from my memories was now a young teen with still the same doll-like features, but the only hint of pink she was wearing was at the end of her bob cut.
"Charlotte?" I croaked, the name being the only thing that slipped through the lump of thumping emotions in my throat. Though I doubted I would have had any other word ready anyway.
What to even say after all this time?
"Thea!"
It turned out there didn't need anything more than the sound of my nickname through her bright smile as she rushed to me, and a familiar embrace of vanilla engulfed me.
"I can't believe you're here!"
I couldn't believe it either. Everything in the fact that Asher had taken me here to see my foster sister was surreal, and maybe the most incredible was how natural it all felt.
The conversation was smooth as she showed us around town, and we wandered through colorful stands and random talks. As if no time had passed.
Yet it had, and it was evident in the smallest details, like the cinnamon latte she sipped casually—with no hint of the disgusted grimace she'd used to give me at the sole mention of the drink—when after a few hours, we stopped at a coffee shop, or her blush as she asked me advices on what to wear at a certain Benjamin's birthday.
