BackWash (Editing & Completed)

Chapter 27: The BackWash

Chapter 27: The BackWash

The plane begins to empty out as we land in Boston. I sit back in my seat and wait patiently as I watch the chaos unfold. People push past each other rudely, all of them in a rush to get to their own destinations on time. 

As for me, I'm no longer in any kind of rush. 

There comes a time in life when you not only learn to take the fall but you learn to stand up again. The world isn't going to stop spinning and wait for you. Everyone's got their own problems, so as much as you'd sometimes wish for the universe to just take a breather and stop entirely, it doesn't. In modern society today, people only have one agenda: themselves. They're not all going to invest time in helping you muddle on through life. It's up to the individual to take action and create their own dream story and to be the stars of that said dream. When it comes down to it, life must go on. If it didn't, we'd all be in an endless standstill.

It took me time to get where I am but I'm here now, and I'm only looking forward. What lies behind me, stays behind me.

I eventually make my way to the exit of the plane where there are stairs leading off. I take my first step but stop short when I see what's ahead of me. I place a hand over my mouth in unbelief as my eyes glisten over with tears. "What are you doing here?" I manage to muffle out, still in shock.

"The real question is why you took so long," he answers before getting down on one knee and holding out a familiar velvet box to me. Upon seeing me astounded, he chuckles in amusement and opens up the box, revealing a ring inside. "Would you hurry up?" He asks me jokingly when I refuse to move, frozen in place. "I'm starting to look like an idiot here," he motions to his kneeled position at the bottom of the stairs in front of the hoards of people. 

Bypassers laugh mockingly at him upon seeing him barefoot and in nothing but his wetsuit, yet still admiring him for having the courage to propose in front of them.

"You're bold," I laugh at him as I sprint down the rest of the stairs to get to him. Not only did he take an earlier flight to get to Boston before me, but even left his surfing competition to get here as soon as possible. It's commitment, something I've been waiting to receive from him for years.

I glance down at him and open my mouth to say something, but he places his hand up as if to shush me. I comply for the meantime, willing to hear him out. "I always talk myself out of doing this but it never seems to work out. This time, I went with my gut," he gestures to his wetsuit, indicating that he'd been in a rush to get to Boston before me. "I've made so many mistakes and I've let you down so many times but I've realized that although there may be plenty fish in the sea, there's only one mermaid, and that's you."

I roll my eyes and smile in adoration. "Very cheesy, Chase."

He winks up at me, "But seriously, there's only one you. There's only one Gabriela Hill out there and I want to be so much more to that absolute whackjob than just some faded memory of some dumbass guy that she used to know...that you used to know," he reveals to me, earnest in what he's saying. His words move me because I can tell just how much he means them.

The Chase I knew back in school, is finally back. He's resurfaced from the deep blue and is now making a comeback of his own.

"Look Gabby," he stares up at me with the very same look he had in his eyes on the night he tried to say it to me just before Matt drowned, unintentionally transporting me back in time to that moment as he keeps me in suspense for a second or two longer, "I love you, you know that."

I merely nod, his grin widening at my unfazed reaction. I've always known, I just wanted more than that. I wanted him to be sure and commit first, he finally has.

He holds out the ring to me. "You're my life, always have been, so don't expect me to take 'no' for an answer."

That forceful, counter-directional surge of whitewater that runs up the beach before turning and flowing back down the beach into the surf zone, otherwise known as the backwash, happens to be a surfer's biggest nuisance. It's a short-lived, deconstructive wave that ruffles across incoming waves, disrupting anyone's surf and causing many blind-side wipeouts. 

Chase, himself, has been the sole cause of many of my imminent wipeouts. It's because he snuck up on me and caught me blindsided. He's the backwash to my swash. He's the broken, deconstructive wave (the backwash in itself) always pulling me back out to sea and steering me in the opposite direction of where I want to go. He may be a nuisance at times, but it's short-lived, because in the end, I really don't mind the backwash all that much. If anything, I'm grateful to always be guided back to the water, back to the heart of where it all began.

I take the ring from the box and place it on my finger before getting down on my haunches to softly press my lips against his. "I won't."

*~~**~~*

Hey guys :)

Thanks for sticking with me this far! I appreciate it so much, especially now toward the end where things might have felt rushed. I promised I would finish this story and now I'm finally doing it, so thanks for the endless patience and what not ;) You guys are all an encouragement! :D

Just an epilogue left :)

Have a fantastic weekend! :))))))

~CJ