Truth Or Dare

thirty one

Minute sounds of waves splashing against the tiny beach sent contentment through my pulse. The sky was glowing with stars of all shapes and sizes peering down at me. Cold winter air brushed against my send sending large goosebumps to trickle against the exposed places on my skin. Everything in this moment was silent yet the silence sounded louder than ever before.

As my toes curled in the sand, my phone buzzed right next to me. Brightly lit words stood out and sent my heart rate to pulse faster than ever before.

I'm here. Give me a minute, love. -Aspen

Just as my eyes scanned over the text the sounds of soft rustling of the sand behind me interrupted the silence of the night.

The feeling of his presence behind me was overwhelming. It's almost as if the love I'd grown for him had never faded.

My fingers clenched around my hand as I fumbled around nervously.

Silence around us was interrupted by the sound of Aspen sitting next to me with a cautious smile.

"Do you remember this place?" I bit my lip as my eyes grazed over the shore of the small lake we once went to before. As I looked, I could almost see my young self kissing Aspen in the water as I was falling for the boy. Life was so much easier back then.

"How could I forget?" He looked up as the smile on his face began looking almost bittersweet.

"We used to be so happy." I muttered to myself.

"We still would be." His voice turned cold as his eyes finally met mine with the intense look of grief spotted all over his expression.

"I'm sorry."

A tense silence filled the air between us. I could almost hear my own heart beating out of my chest as anxiety rushed through me.

Once I'd picked up that he wasn't going to respond, I continued.

"It doesn't matter. The damage has been done. I may be accepting you in my life again but that doesn't mean I forgive you, Delilah." A sudden harshness filled his tone of voice that I'd never heard from him before.

Even though I had hardly noticed before, Aspen changed. Unlike his positive change physically, his mental change was much worst.

The words he said filled a poison in my veins. Did he not understand how much I'd gone through in the time he was gone?

"Of course. But I want you to know that I didn't intend on hurting you, Aspen. I never wanted to hurt you." I spoke quietly as my fingers brushed through the sand below us.

"You still did it. Do you know the shit I went through after you left me, Delilah?"

My silence remained as guilt lingered inside of me.

"After you left, I spend months thinking something was wrong with me. I grew this toxic mindset that if the girl that I love couldn't accept me then nobody could. I've felt alone for years." A deep sigh resonated from inside him.

Without thinking, my shaking hand moves to grab his own. Shivers rushed through my body at the tiniest amount of touch from this boy.

The more I'd thought about it, the more I'd realized the reason we had ended had a lot to do with miscommunication. He didn't know Rena went into a coma, he didn't know my problems. This boy that I had hopelessly fallen in love with knew nothing about me.

"There was never a moment where I didn't accept you. And there never will be a moment like that. But we just didn't talk about the things going on enough." I spoke my thoughts as my thumb rubbed circles in the skin of his palm.

"What do you mean? I told you everything."

"That doesn't mean I told you everything." My words seemed to process in his mind as his expression moved to guilt.

"God, I never thought of that." He stressed as his hand moved over his face. "This is my fault. If I just paid attention to how you-"

"No. That's not realistic. There were things going on in my life. I was- I am a stranger to you." After speaking, I looked back out to the water and could feel the bittersweet euphoria returning from the time we were together here under the moonlight.

"No. No you aren't, Delilah."

"What have I done for the past three years? What is my favorite hobby? Or do you only know what I like to do with you? What are my dreams? My childhood? When we separated, I was dealing with Rena going into a coma. It was too much for me to handle. You don't know me, Aspen." I spoke stressing each word with passion. All the thoughts that have ran through my brain for years slowly pushed themselves out in the open.

Aspen seemed to be brought to silence by my words when his mouth dropped open in surprise.

The silence between us remained for minutes as my hand never stopped stroking his.

Frogs ribbiting filled my ears when Aspen finally let out a resigned sigh.

"You've worked at Seven, inc. since you turned 19. You've been close to your boss and I assume you've dated him. When nobody is around, you draw and mumble to yourself. I don't know your dreams, but I desperately want to see you fill them. The knowledge that I have on you doesn't define how I feel about you. I love you. I love everything about you."

A groan left my lips from the complicated thoughts running through my head. How could we fix a relationship that was hardly made in the first place? I knew I loved him. So much. But I didn't know what to do with those feelings. I'd never felt so scared with emotions before and it had me doing stupid things that made no sense.

I wanted to be happy, and I felt that I'd owed Aspen some happiness too after everything.

"How did you-"

"Private investigator. I needed to know you were safe." He whispered the last part.

The silence continuously engulfed us as my mind swirled with questions.

"Did he treat you well?" Aspen asked sadly.

I was baffled by the conflicted tone in his voice. He seemed to be careful with his words but broken as he said them.

"I haven't been with anyone else." Our palms slowly intertwined as if he was trying to hold me as close and subtly as possible.

"Have you been with anyone?" I questioned once the curiousity got the best of me. After all the news articles and interviews I'd watched, it seemed that he stayed single. But what was on the screen was never always true.

"Nobody. It never felt right." He whispered.

His words calmed me. I didn't want to imagine him with other women while I was gone. It hurt to think about.

"Where did you go?"

The moonlight reflected through the glass like portion of Aspen's eyes. It was beautiful seeing the little strands of brown be emphasized in the night. He still stood out for his beauty.

"I hopped around big cities making art and finishing school online. Eventually my name became more known and I now have a manager and whole team backing me up." A wide grin spread on his face.

"Where do you live now?" I asked, longing to find out everything I could about the years I'd missed out on.

"Beverly Hills, I could take you there if you want?"

"Take me there, Aspen."

A/N

I'm sorry for taking so long to update. I've gotten past the writers block enough to write this chapter.

Thank you all so much for the support you've given on this book! It's amazing!

How would you guys feel if I were to move this book to another platform that pays it's writers?

As always, have a great day/night you cute bitches:)