Save Me (DTRTI Sequel)

Chapter One

Have you ever heard of the butterfly effect?

It's a theory...it states that if a butterfly flaps its wings at exactly the right moment...somewhere else in the world, it causes a hurricane.

We last left off on the hurricane...the grand finale...the explosion ignited by a small spark.

How did it get there though, you ask?

What drove me to slit my wrists and willingly bleed out on the carpet of my bedroom floor?

Well...I'll tell you.

But the story starts four years earlier...the day I opened that door.

I shouldn't have done it.

I shouldn't have listened to what she had to say to me.

And I shouldn't have taken the time to think about it.

I should've slammed the door...hard...unforgivingly.

But...I didn't.

And that was mistake #1.

*4 Years Previous*

Once I shut the door, I turned and followed Ava up the stairs. I had lost the desire to be intimate.

When I entered the room, she was waiting for me...dressed in nothing but her bra and panties.

I gave her a soft smile.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Ava asked me.

I nodded, making my way to the bed as I shut the door behind me. "Yeah...I'm fine babe."

She stared at me silently for a moment. "It's just...I'm worried." She told me.

I sent her a smile. "Don't be." I told her. "I'm fine. Everything is fine."

And that was lie #1.

Because I should've told her. I should've told her everything.

After all...she was my Liliana...and I was Chandler.

She loved me. She could've helped me. She could've...she could've...

Enough of that. That's all over. Back to the story...make sure you keep track. Because there are exactly seven. Seven mistakes...seven lies...seven.

Ironic how my favorite number is how I perished. Almost so ironic I could laugh.

But I won't. I'm not sure I even remember how anyway.

That night...we made love. But it was different. I was different. And I didn't know why.

All I knew...was that he was back.

All I knew was that I was slipping away yet again.

All I knew was that I wanted Ava to save me.

To hold me...tell me that it would all be okay...that we could get through this...together

But how could she? How could she help me when I had never told her what was wrong?

Perhaps it was because I didn't want to lose her. Because I didn't want her to hate me because I still had love for Tasha.

Granted, it wasn't enough to make me take her back. It was barely enough for me to keep the door open that night.

But I wish it had been less. I wish it had been none.

Because if it had, I'd still have Ava. I'd still have my family.

The next morning, I rolled over to find the bed empty.

I could hear the shower water and realization hit that Ava must be in the shower.

Before I could fully register my surroundings, a small voice filled my ears as Liliana jumped onto the bed and then jumped on me. "Dada!" She screamed, wrapping her little arms around me to give me a hug.

I smiled. "Hey princess. You hungry?"

She nodded.

"Okay you have to get up so dada can put a shirt on." I told her.

She slid off of me and onto the comforter. " Otay Dada."

I smiled and reached for a shirt, pulling the comforter off of me and standing. I stretched and yawned once I was on my feet, reaching out to help Liliana down from the bed.

"Panny takes?" She asked, looking up at me.

I chuckled a little. "Yeah. Pancakes."

She cheered and ran as fast as her little feet would take her to the kitchen.

Memories of my little princess always make me smile.

She's just the happiest...most beautiful little girl in the world.

And I'm blessed to have her and her mother....well, was blessed anyway.

Before this whole thing, the house was so full of joy, love....peace.

But Tasha is great at ruining things...she's great at ruining people.

And I was dumb...no, I didn't have an affair.

Ava and I are still married...she's just gone.

She couldn't take the lies...the mistakes...the fact that I wouldn't let her in.

Maybe if I had...if I had just told the truth...if I had admitted that I needed her help, and that I needed her. Then maybe she'd be here to help me.

Maybe she could save me.

It's too late now.

I can't be saved.

Not even by my Liliana.

—-
A few things to know...

The italics are typically going to be flashbacks into events and things that happened.

The regular font is Chres...he's the narrator of the story.

So every chapter is his thoughts and his perspective of the past and then the present.

What do you think happened between him and Ava?

Where is she and his children? How many kids are there if "children" is used?