𝓦𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓜𝓻𝓼. 𝓘𝓷𝓯𝓪𝓶𝓸𝓾𝓼 𝓜𝓮𝓽 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓜𝓪𝓼𝓸𝓬𝓱𝓲𝓼𝓽...

Chapter 62

My beautiful ma chérie was feeling lonely on this lovely holiday which she should never have to feel anymore. How could I have been so selfish to leave her alone for some long? No wonder she was so upset, her own parents won't visit her on Christmas. I would be feeling shitty as all Hell, too. She can't be alone now, she needs us. She needs me, or actually, I need her. I should have never left her alone that night when she needed some company. God, I hate myself sometimes. Its no wonder no girl ever wanted to date me. My thoughts were interrupted when someone snapped in my ear, and I broke out of my spell to see it was Nina who snapped. "Remington, please don't blame yourself", she said with a sad tone in her voice, "Whatever happened between you two the last time you saw her, I'm sure it was a misunderstanding. I believe she knows deep in her heart that you love her more than life itself, and she just needs reminding of that with our help." I took a deep breath and laid a hand on her shoulder and told her, "Thank you, Nina. That really helps." She smiled and nodded in response.

We asked the woman in the lobby of Carina's apartment building if they've seen her exit and if she might have told her where she went. "I'm so sorry", she responded, "I really haven't seen anyone all day because I was planning a party in the employees' department." I sighed in disappointment and then Seb told her before we left, "Okay. Thanks, anyway." Then we went to the store where she worked and asked the employees if they've seen her around. One of them said she came to buy a lot of Dr. Pepper sodas, which I remembered is her favorite drink, and that she didn't really say anything when she did. They also mentioned she brought her dog with her, and we were surprised. Del thanked them for the information and they wished us good luck in finding her.

Next we went to the diner, where I hoped to God the diner owner wouldn't recognize me after me and Carina broke in that one night and almost got caught. When Nina asked if he had seen her, he apologized and said he hadn't. I sat in one of the booths in despair as I got more worried if she was okay or not. Seb sat next to me and put his arm around me w before telling me, "Remember, don't worry. We're going to find her. I'm sure she's somewhere she's been to before and we'll find her in no time." I nodded once but didn't look at him or change my expression. I heard a guy walk in a sit in the booth behind us and then a girl's voice sitting in that same booth asked him, "Hey, babe. What took you so long?" "Oh, not much. Its just that I saw a red-haired girl in the park sitting on a bench with her dog and she looked cold so I offered her my scarf and she took it and smiled at me but didn't say anything or look at me. So I just left her there hoping someone would come get her."

I looked up with expectancy at my friends and my brothers as we all heard what that guy said, and then I got up and stood in front of the guy who looked at me confused. I leaned closer and asked him, "Was this girl wearing a red leather jacket?" He raised his brows in shock and nodded, "Yeah, it said something in the back like 'Teenage Heart Queen' or something like that." I couldn't breathe then, and then Del grabbed me and said to the guy before dragging me out of the diner, "Thank you so much, you don't realize what you've done for us." I started running toward the park and the others tried to catch up, "REMINGTON, SLOW THE FUCK DOWN!!!", I heard Sebastian scream from behind me. I had no fucking intention of slowing down now. Now that I was able to find my sweet, little angel and remind her of how loved she is. When I got there, I looked around to find her but she was almost nowhere to be found. I started losing hope again and I never wanted death more if she was nowhere to be found. I bought both knees to the ground and wanted to scream at the world.

Then, I heard a bark. I turned to see the most adorable and beautiful dog in the world. "Fern", I said as she ran around me playfully. "Fern, where's Carina?", I asked her. She grabbed my sleeve with her teeth and pulled at it, causing me to stand back up, and then she started running toward the other direction. "Hey, where are you going?", I yelled out as I followed the little scamp who was still pretty fast for a small dog. I almost lost my breath when I saw where she was running to and my heart stopped and my body froze as I saw the dog return to her owner who was sitting alone on a solitary bench in the middle of the park, wearing a gorgeous red leather jacket that read on the back,"Teenage Heartbreak Queen". When Fern got back up on the bench, she looked at me and started barking in my direction, causing her owner to turn around and stare at me with a tear-stained face and longing, guilty eyes.

I walked slowly toward her and when I got close enough to her, I kneeled down to her level as she started crying quietly. I held out my hands for her to take, and then she placed her cold ones in mine. I just looked at her and basked in her beauty and aura, and she managed to speak through her tears, "I'm sorry, Remington, I-" I cut her off by bringing my lips to hers, and she froze for a second before kissing back softly. I held her close to me, and she tugged my hair lightly. When I pulled away, I wiped her tears and said while resting my forehead on hers, "No, ma chérie, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for leaving you alone for so long and not fighting to giving you the company you needed so much. I promise I'll never leave you feeling lonely again." Our friends then joined us and she smiled when she saw them and looked at me again before pulling me into a tight embrace.

"I love you, Remington", she said softly into my ear while holding me close to her. I grinned as I responded back, "I love you, too, Carina." I then stood back up, and helped her up. I looked under the bench to find a handful of empty Dr. Pepper bottles, and she looked embarrassed as her face turned red and she exclaimed, "Don't judge me. Its my comfort drink." I chuckled and kissed her cheek which made her smile, and then our friends walked over and all gave her hugs and kisses. "We love you so much, Carina", Nina stated, "I hope you know that." She looked at me as replied, "I do now. You guys are my actual family, and I love you all so much, too." We all cheered and then Emerson cried out, "Alright then, let's go have a party!" We laughed at his enthusiasm, and I held Carina's hand as well walked back to my home, her head resting on my shoulder as I kissed it and never wanted anything more for Christmas.

HOORAY!!! Our happy couple is reunited and Carina realizes who real family is and how loved she really is. I'm so happy to finally bring this part of the story to life. But... there's still much more to this event as Carina spends Christmas with her friends and Palaye Royale. (Also, I know the song in the box isn't from the 1960s, but it perfectly describes the plot in this chapter). I hope you are all enjoying it so far! I love you all so much!!! 😘😘😘