By Chance | Complete |

Chapter Forty Six

River

"I'm gonna go inside. I'm kind of cold." Lyra told me after we moved to a bit of a bigger hill.

It was three in the afternoon and the time had gone by quite fast.

I hated to admit it, but I was having fun with Lyra.

"I'll go with you. We can get hot chocolate."

On the main floor there was a hot chocolate bar that I thought Lyra may like.

She took her helmet off and her long hair spilled over her black jacket. "Okay."

We changed and we went the hot chocolate bar. It was a part of a coffee shop they had in the resort, but there was a hot chocolate bar section.

She wrapped her hands around the navy cup in her hand as she sipped her salted caramel hot chocolate.

"Do you like it?"

She smiled softly. "It's good. How's yours?"

"Good."

She took another sip before setting it down on the table, her small pale hands still wrapped around it as she glanced around.

Her dark hair fell over her shoulder. Her cheeks were rosy from spending time out in the cold.

"You're coming to dinner tonight? Game night?" I asked.

More to make sure she wasn't hanging out with that prick.

"Of course." She turned back to look at me.

"Are the girls going to join us?"

"Having their own movie night." Both Teddy and Sasha's sisters got along instantly and are friends even outside of family vacations and dinners.

She brought her cup up to her lips, taking another sip before leaning back in her chair. The lighting glimmered over her face, her chocolate eyes catching it.

My eyes dipped to her bracelet that jingled as her arm moved. I had seen it many times but decided to not ask about it. It was a charm bracelet, she had either bought it herself or someone special gave it to her.

"Was it a gift?"

She glanced at her bracelet. "A gift from my uncle for my fifteenth birthday." She twisted around her wrist, her index finger tracing one of the charms.

My mind flashes back to what her brother-in-law had said weeks ago. She was close to her uncle and her aunt. And her aunt died after her fifteenth birthday. The dots weren't hard to connect. Especially since I knew nothing else about her family.

I nodded, deciding not to dig for more.

By the time Sasha and Teddy joined us, we were both finished with our hot chocolates, talking about school, the upcoming basketball season, and resort. The conversation seemed natural, neither for us tempted down the insult road and I swore I made her smile just before our friends got there.

Lyra decided to go back with Sasha since Sasha wanted to stop at a store on the way back.

"How long do you think they'll gonna be?" Teddy smiled, "we could go for a round."

"Please. Our moms would kill us if we were late."

"They're gonna be late."

"But our moms are nicer to them."

Teddy nodded in agreement before sighing. "Bunch of bullshit."

I chuckled, getting into the passenger seat and quickly checking my phone.

"How was hanging out with Lyra?"

I switched my phone off, glancing out the window. "It was fine."

"Come on, you looked like you had fun. I won't tell Sash you admitted you had fun."

I closed my eyes, sighing. "I did have fun."

His lips curled up into a grin. "Knew it."

"Yeah, yeah. She's fun sometimes."

"You really needed a vacation. Or did you get laid? Alana?"

"Vacation."

"You two haven't hooked up? I'm surprised."

I shook my head, "I'm just enjoying this. Being away from home has been nice."

"How's Emily?"

Teddy knew me the absolute best. And he knew she was the only person I would be checking my phone for.

"We haven't spoken since before we left."

"Really?" He asked almost un disbelief.

"Yes, her messages are muted actually."

"Someone's letting lose for the first time in his life." He teased, pulling onto the road and turning right.

"You act like I never have fun."

"No, you just worry too much. It's nice to see you not stressed out as much. You're doing really well with this vacation."

Something about that opened my own eyes. Perhaps I was. Had I not been doing that well that it took someone else to just tell me I was doing good to realise it?

Because the next feeling was always grief and guilt over the way you've acted over the past however long. You start to realise maybe the things you felt, or even said aren't true anymore. But at the moment, that's all I believed. That's what I felt for whatever reason.

Sometimes we forget all the facts when we are blinded by pain. Once the cloud clears, we remember. We understand.

And now the apology tour has to fucking start once again. Once a-fucking-gain.

No one but myself was to blame. No one is when you're struggling. You must deal with everything afterwards.

"Teddy..." I began, swallowing the hard lump in my throat.

"I know." Teddy stopped me. "Don't, okay? In the nicest way, I know."

I stared back at him and I just nodded, my throat tightening. I needed to say it. And I would.

But one sorry never felt enough.

It's safe to say, game night almost ended the rest of game nights.

Sasha and Teddy got so competitive, they're monopoly game lasted almost four hours and the board game needed up on the floor when Mel had enough.

Houses, and cards scattered across the floor as a colour storm fell to the ground, covering everything.

She went over to the table and pulled off the game. By then we had moved on to other games, only hearing them. By the time she was ready for bed, she ended their game.

"Real rude, Mom!" Teddy muttered up the stairs. "I was this close to winning."

"You were not." Sasha shot back, skipping two stairs at a time to catch up to Teddy. "You're upset cause you were about to lose and you know it."

"I wasn't about to lose, Sash. You were."

"As fucking if."

"Are they always this competitive?" Lyra asked as we followed behind them.

"Remember when I told you monopoly only comes out when it's with their families? This is why."

"I'd hate to see how much longer their game would last."

Trust me, she didn't.

Eight fucking hours one day.