Never Expected (a Chandler Riggs/Grayson Riggs fanfic)

A Tough Choice (Part 3)

The next morning...
When Grayson and I woke up he was in an awkward position. His arm was on my chest, on my right breast to be exact. As soon as Grayson noticed he backed away.
"Whoa! Sorry 'bout that."
"It's fine. It happens. It happened to me that one time, remember?"
"Yeah. You literally made yourself fall of the bed and you were all like "oh my god. Grayson, I am so sorry."
"Haha! That was one shocking day, no doubt. And probably the best...after what happened of course."
"Yeah, it was."
"Come on Gray, let's head downstairs, I'll tell you guys my decision later in the day."
"Do you know what you're going to choose?"
"I do."
"Cool."
Once Grayson and I were downstairs everyone else were just sitting in the living room, awaiting to hear my answer, but I didn't tell them instead I told them that I would announce it later.
Everyone seemed to be cool with it and we got a jump on our day. Mrs. Riggs started making breakfast and I decided to help her out. It would be much quicker with two heads than with one.
As we were making breakfast she started talking to me.
"So Daniel, I got a call from your publisher and he told me that your book will be on selves, in stores within two days time. I just want to say congratulations. I'm sure your story will be a hit."
"Thank you, that's very kind of you to say."
"Are you all right Daniel? You seem to be a little doleful."
"I'm just thinking about the choice I made. I know I picked the right one but, I'm just thinking of the consequences that may apply to it."
"You wanna talk about it?"
"No. I'd be giving you the answer."
Mrs. Riggs got a chuckle out of that.
"Please, you can't fool me. I knew what you were trying to pull."
"It was worth a shot."

6 minutes later...
Breakfast was finally ready to eat. For breakfast we were having bacon strips and a cheese omelette with some sausages on the side, along with toast, butter/margarine, and some strawberry jam.

-sometime later-
Once we had finished breakfast and the dishes were washed, dried and put away we decided to head to the beach. If today was going to be my last day here, it might as well be spent well.
Once everyone had their swimsuits and a towel we headed out.
"So Daniel, I just want to say that it was an honor to have you stay with us and that you're welcome back anytime." Mrs. Riggs stated.
"We're sure going to miss you. You sure knew how to lighten the mood." Mr. Riggs said.
"Nah, it wasn't just me, these three helped out." I replied.
"These three? Are you for real?" Hana questioned.
"Oh, sorry. Would you prefer something else? Ugh. Women. They just can't make life easier." I joked.
Everyone just shared a good laugh.
"I guess God just made us this way. Who even said we were supposed to make life easier?"
"Us men." Mr. Riggs announced.
"William!" Mrs. Riggs yelled.
As soon as I heard the song "Broken Vow" come on I asked if Mrs. Riggs could turn it up. She did and everyone just went silent. To me it was no surprise that they were playing the one by Josh Groban.
As soon as Josh started singing, so did I.
"Tell me his name I want to know The way he looks And where you go. I need to see his face, I need to understand. Why you and I came to an end. Tell me again I want to hear, Who broke my faith in all these years? Who lays with you at night, While I'm here all alone
Remembering when I was your own. I let you go, I let you fly.
Why do I keep on asking why?
I let you go, Now that I found, A way to keep somehow, More than a broken vow. Tell me the words I never said. Show me the tears you never shed, Give me the touch That one you promised to be mine, Or has it vanished for all time? I close my eyes, And dream of you and I. And then I realize
There's more to love than only bitterness and lies. I close my eyes. I'd give away my soul
To hold you once again
And never let this promise end.
I let you go, I let you fly.
Now that I know I'm asking why.
I let you go. Now that I found
A way to keep somehow. More than a broken vow."
"Man, I just love that song. Even when I hear it I think of Hazel. I really would give away my soul to hold her once again and never let that promise end."
"But if you gave your soul away, you wouldn't be able to watch your kids grow up and you wouldn't get to meet your grandchildren."
"I know. I'm just saying Hana, ok?"
"Ok."
"He really cared about her, didn't he? It's like not a day goes by that he's not thinking about her. They must've had a lot of songs they used to listen to and that had to be one of them. She must've really inspired him and vise versa." Hana thought to herself.
Once we got to the beach we got set up and then the four of us ran into the lake. Mr. and Mrs. Riggs decided to stay back and work on their tan.
"Anyone up for a breath holding challenge? We can have a competition between the four of us."
"Yeah, I'm game." Chandler announced.
"Same." Grayson exclaimed.
"Same." Hana responded.
"So, who's up first?" I queried.
"Why not you? You suggested it, so it's only fair that you go first." Chandler stated.
"Ok, good luck beating my time." I said.
"How long do you think you can go for?" Grayson asked.
"Six minutes." I answered.
"Well, we wish you the best of luck." Hana spoke.
Before going under I did some lung packing for a few minutes and then I went under.
"There he goes. So, how long do you guys think he'll last?" Chandler questioned.
"Three minutes." Hana implied.
"Two and a half minutes." Grayson responded.
"Wow. Both of you don't think he can pull it off? I do. I'd say he makes it to seven minutes before he comes up for air." Chandler announced.

Exactly 7 minutes later...
I couldn't hold my breath anymore and so I had to surface. I was kind of gasping for air but not in that sort of way. Once I caught my breath I turned to the others and said, "Let's see you three beat that!"
"It'll be a piece of cake." Grayson implied.
"It's a walk in the park." Hana voiced.
"Too easy." Chandler exclaimed.
About twenty minutes later Grayson, Hana, and Chandler were finally done with their end of the challenge. The times they got were: Hana 5 minutes fifty-five seconds. Grayson 6 minutes twenty-five seconds, and Chandler with 6 minutes and 57 seconds.
"Not to shabby guys, you all did a great job. Next time try doing some more lung packing like I did. And if you want to practice just hold your breath for a minute but then exhale for two minutes. Do that everyday and you may even beat the record of twenty-two minutes."

Later that day...
It had been over an hour since we had left the beach and we were still on the road on our way to grab some lunch when I passed out for some odd reason.

Chandler's POV
I looked over toward Daniel and noticed that he wasn't moving. I wasn't sure what had happened but I decided to warn my parents about it.
"Hey dad, could you pull over please? I think Daniel blacked out. He's not moving."
I noticed that Hana had just finished checking Daniel's pulse and she told us that she couldn't find a pulse.
William then pulled over, turned the car off, got out, opened up the back seat door, and unbuckled my seatbelt. He then checked my pulse just to be sure, but for some reason he couldn't find one either. He checked for a pulse on my neck and then for one on my wrist, but there was still nothing.
Since William was trained to do CPR he took me out of the car and started giving me chest compressions.

Daniel's POV
There I was standing in front of a huge gold gate, approximately five seconds later the gate began to open and I started to slowly walk forward. As I stepped in heaven I was in awe at what I was seeing. Soon enough I was confronted by Jesus himself.
"Welcome my child. I know you weren't expecting this, but there's something I have to show you. Even if you do make the right decision, you need to see this."
"All right. Hey Jesus?"
"Yes, my son?"
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry you had to die for our sins."
"I know. I heard you pray to me during those weeks you wrote your book. Thanks you for your praise."
"You're welcome. Before we go, can I tell you something that you may not know Jesus?"
"Anything my child."
"That spear you were struck with was a piece of Eden. I researched that for three maybe four years, I just wanted to be sure. I'm sorry."
"It's all right my child, now it's time to show you what will happen even if you make the right decision."

30 minutes later...
After seeing what Jesus had to show me, he looked at me and said, "it's time for you to go my son. It's not your time."
"Thank you Jesus. I'll be sure to pray to you."
"I look forward to listening to them. Goodbye for now my son."
After that I had been returned to my body and I immediately opened my eyes. I noticed that William was peering down on me, he helped me up and then I got back in the SUV. I didn't look at anyone.

On the road...
I was still looking out the window, I had practically blocked out any and all sounds around me, that is until someone had shook me back into reality.
"Hey Daniel, are you all right?" Hana asked.
I didn't respond, instead I had a few tears drop from my eyes. I wiped them away and continued to look out the window.
"Daniel! Come on, tell us, what's wrong? We're here for you, you know that right?"
Once again I didn't respond, but I did send Chandler a text: you three don't want to hear this.
A few seconds later I got a reply.
Why?
I sent another response: You can't stop it from happening, no matter what.
Chandler instantly messaged me back.
What can't we prevent?
I replied. The death of a loved one.