Let Me Love You | Toni Kroos

Chapter 30 - Forget Me Not

Toni's POV

Gabi was almost prancing around in excitement as we landed in Santorini. If I hadn't been holding on to her arm, she would've wandered off on her own. It reminded me of the last time we were here. Except this time, we were only friends.

It was strange, because it was winter, and the weather was much colder than it was the last time we'd been there. She dumped her things on the floor of the room – which had twin beds, of course – and immediately dragged me out the door. "Come on," she whined. "Move faster!"

"Will you tell me?" I asked. "If you remember anything?"

"Everything," she promised. "Whatever I remember, I'll tell you."

She seemed to know the way to the beach, so I let her lead me. She ran down the beach to the water until it reached her knees, and then she stood there, her hair flowing with the wind, and stared out at the horizon. I walked down slowly and stood next to her, my hands in my pockets.

"It's beautiful," she whispered.

"Yeah, it is," I said. It was beautiful. It was beautiful for an entirely different reason from the one in her mind. It was beautiful because it was where we had our first holiday together. Our first sunrise, literally and figuratively. The best night of our lives. The night Gabi became mine.

She sat down in the water in a daze, not saying a word, so I sat down next to her and splashed water on her gently. "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just...thinking."

"We played for a while here," I tried helping her along. "You, me, Felix and Amelie."

"Felix kept beating me," she mumbled.

"And you beat me."

"I did?" she looked at me, confused. "I did..."

I sighed. "It's okay."

"I'm sorry, Toni."

"It's okay," I smiled. "Just enjoy yourself here, okay? I just want you to enjoy yourself. Nothing else matters."

We sat there quietly, the waves lapping gently against us, lost in our thoughts. Except that I knew exactly what I was thinking about, and Gabi didn't.

Gabi's POV

I didn't know what I was supposed to remember. I know it hurt Toni, but I didn't know why. I didn't understand. I sat there, the sound of the waves just confusing me even more instead of calming me.

"This place means a lot to you, doesn't it?" I asked without looking up.

"Yeah," Toni replied softly, and I expected him to explain more, but he didn't.

"What happened here?" I tried to keep my voice from trembling.

He turned and looked at me, starting to say something, but then he hesitated. "Why are you crying?" he said instead, reaching over and pulling me closer to him. "Gabi, don't cry."

"I'm crying?"

He laughed softly. "Yeah, you're crying," he found a dry spot on his t-shirt and used it to wipe my face.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered.

"Don't be sorry," he smiled. "Please don't be sorry."

"Why are you always smiling?" I shook my head. "You're always smiling.

"I...I don't want to make you upset."

"One day I'll beat you at this whole being smooth thing."