Chapter 174 The Way Back to You

Chapter 174 The Way Back to You

Aveline's POV

The arms around me were familiar before I even heard his voice. Kieran. I froze.

For months, I had imagined what it would feel like to see him again. imagined his anger, questions, maybe even relief. I never imagined him coming to Milford.

I slowly pulled away and looked up at him. His hair was messy from the wind, and the anger in his expression was impossible to miss.

"What are you doing here, Kieran?"

He stared at me for a moment. "What am I doing here?" he repeated, closing in. "You disappeared for months, Aveline. You didn't pick up a single call. You didn't reply to any of my messages. I drove out to your house three times, and your mother kept lying straight to my face. And then I woke up to a one-word notification. What the hell were you thinking when you dropped your location?"

I looked down "I didn't think you would actually drive four hours down the coast, Kieran. I know your final exams are starting any time soon."

"Then why send it?" he demanded, his voice rough. "Why send the word if you didn't want me to come?"

"Because I knew you won't stop calling," I said, looking up to face him. "I saw the calls and the messages. Every time the screen lit up with your name, I knew you were trying to fix a problem that was already over.

I wanted you to feel at ease, Kieran. I wanted you to live your life and chase your dreams without worrying about not protecting me enough. I wanted you to know I was okay so you could finally stop looking."

"It was my decision to make, Aveline," he said, taking a breath. "You don't get to just choose when to delete yourself from my life. Why did you leave town? Why did you run all the way down here without saying a single word to me?"

"Because staying near Crestwood was becoming disturbing," I said, turning my head toward the treeline. "I couldn't think straight anymore. Every time I walked into our house, all I could see was the scoreboard glitching. I spent weeks sitting in my room asking myself why Theo exposed me. I kept playing that moment over and over in my head."

I took a breath, stepping closer to him "Everyone around me was being watched, Kieran. The athletic board was auditing the files, and the legal teams were everywhere. your name was tied to mine the second you decided to protect my secret. I couldn't risk it anymore; your future mattered to me more than you think"

Kieran let out a short, bitter laugh, shaking his head. "My future? I spent months believing something terrible had happened to you, Aveline. Every time a car pulled into my driveway or my phone buzzed, I thought it was the police telling me they found your body somewhere. I didn't care about my career just needed to know you were safe."

Watching him, I realized how much my disappearance had affected him. I had spent the spring assuming that once the initial shock of the scandal died down, the team would rally back and Kieran would find a way to navigate the line without any distraction. I thought the distance would make it easier for him to move on.

"I thought you would eventually move on," I whispered. "If I stayed away long enough, you'd focus on Michigan and forget about this relationship. "

Kieran stepped right into my space. "You really thought I would?"

I couldn't answer him. But I realized that no matter how many miles of coastal highway I put between myself and Crestwood, I hadn't actually escaped anything. He was still angry, the months of silence standing between us, but he took a slow breath

"What have you even been doing here, Aveline? What is this place?"

"Milford," I said, a small smile finally touching my lips. "Living with my grandparents gave me a sense of hope that I can actually live for me. I get to work a regular job here, and I play hockey as well. The local manager let me join the open-division practices for fun after hours. It's a win-win."

Kieran watched me, his eyes tracking me

"With the way you are talking..." he said, his brow furrowing. "Are you planning on restarting your senior year here? In Milford?"

"I don't know, Kieran," I said, looking back toward the dunes. "You should leave. You shouldn't be out on this road past midnight. Don't tell me you came all the way here without a car."

"I parked my truck by the harbor lot," he said, a faint trace of his old cockiness finally returning to his voice. "I walked the lane because some local kid told me my girl lived up this way."

"Then you have a long walk back," I teased, stepping back out of his reach.

Kieran looked at me, then the heavy mood that had followed us from Crestwood seemed to lift slightly, replaced by the quiet familiarity of how we used to be when everything was good. He reached out and grabbed the edge of my sleeve, tugging it gently.

"It's Friday night," he said, his voice steady. "We have all of Saturday before I have to head back on Sunday. No talk about Crestwood. We spend one day doing the goofiest tourist things in this town, and then we figure out the rest."

I looked at his face, seeing the stubborn line of his jaw. I knew he wasn't going to get back until I agreed. "A pact?"

"A pact," he nodded. "Ten o'clock tomorrow morning at the harbor shop."

The morning sun was bright against the water when I walked down to the harbor shop the next day. Kieran was already there, leaning against a railing near the rental docks. He was wearing a plain grey hoodie and sunglasses, but he still looked completely out of place among the fishermen.

"You're late, Carter," he said as I walked up the boardwalk steps.

"I had to help my grandmother," I said, pointing toward the front of the rental shop. "What is that?"

Sitting on the gravel next to the door was a massive, bright yellow tandem bicycle with a rusty chain and a plastic basket shaped like a shark on the front handlebars.

"Our ride for the day," Kieran grinned, moving toward the seat. "I'm steering."

"No way," I laughed, pushing his shoulder. "You drive like a maniac on the ice, Kieran. I am not letting you control a two-person bicycle on an open boardwalk."

"Too bad," he said, hopping onto the front seat and gripping the handles. "Get on the back, Carter. Trust your captain."

The next hour was total chaos. We argued over who was steering within the first fifty yards, our coordination completely off as the bicycle wobbled near the edge of the wood. Kieran deliberately pedaled too fast every time we hit a downward slope, his laughter loud over the sound of the ocean waves as I screamed and threatened to abandon him at the next corner.

We nearly crashed into a row of trash bins, both of us dragging our sneakers against the dirt to stop the frame from tipping over. It was the first time we had laughed genuinely in months.

We ditched the tandem bike near the center of the boardwalk and walked out onto the sunny planks, eating saltwater taffy.

"Try the blue one," Kieran said, tossing a piece of candy toward my hands. "The guy behind the counter said it tastes like local sea salt, but I think it's just pure sugar."

"It's peppermint," I said, unwrapping the wax paper and popping the candy into my mouth. Within seconds, the sticky sugar got stuck to my back teeth, making it completely impossible to close my jaw properly.

Kieran stopped walking, watching me struggle to speak as my lips twisted sideways. He burst out laughing, completely unbothered by the families passing us on the walk. "What was that, Carter? I can't hear the first line from over here."

"Shut up," I mumbled, trying to dislodge the candy with my tongue. I lunged forward, trying to grab the paper bag from his hand, but he lifted it high above his head, using his height advantage to keep it out of my reach. We scrambled across the planks, dodging a family with a stroller.

By late afternoon, the sun began to drop, turning the water a deep blue. We left the crowded boardwalk behind, walking past the public beach until the sand turned into a rough trail cutting through the high weeds and coastal rocks.

"Where are we going?" Kieran asked.

"A secluded cove," I said, guiding him down a narrow ridge where the rocks formed a natural wall against the main bay. "My grandfather told me about this spot. Some of the kids from the community rink come down here to fish, but it's usually empty around this time."

We scrambled down the final slope, stepping onto a small patch of smooth stones. The cove was empty, surrounded by low, dark cliffs that blocked out the wind. The water inside the pool was clear and calm, reflecting the light of the sunset.

Kieran looked at the water. "It looks freezing."

"What happened to the captain who jumped into the lake fully clothed?" I challenged, kicking off my sneakers and dropping my coat onto the stones. "Are you getting soft after a few months?"

"Never," he said, pulling his hoodie over his head. We ran against the cold stones and jumped off the low rocks directly into the water. The cold hit my chest like a shock, making me gasp as I surfaced, but the playfulness took over immediately. Kieran caught up to me in three strokes, splashing water directly into my face before I could clear my eyes.

"That's a penaltyyyyyyy, Hampton!" I yelled, diving under the surface and grabbing his ankle, pulling him down into the water until we both crashed into the shallow pool.

We wrestled in the calm water, splashing, dunking each other, and racing toward the far side of the cliff wall. I managed to shove his head under the surface once, but he rose up instantly, lifting me completely off my feet by my waist and dropping me back into a splash.

When we finally surfaced near the rocks, both of us slowed down, our breathing loud. The joking stopped, and the distance of the last few months seemed to return between us. Kieran didn't move away. His hands stayed locked around my waist under the water, drawing me closer until my chest was pressed against his.

"I didn't think I'd find you," he said quietly, looking down at me. "When I saw that message, I thought you were just telling me to stay away for good."

"I was scared, Kieran," I whispered, my hands resting against his shoulders. "I was afraid that if I stayed, I'd bring the whole mess down on your head. I didn't think you'd still want to look for me after everything came out."

"I told you," he murmured, his face moving closer to mine. "I don't care about the rest of it."

He leaned down slowly, and we kissed.

The kiss was intense, a heavy release of all the months we had spent apart. I locked my arms around his neck, pulling him closer as the water swirled around our legs. His lips were warm against mine, and I closed my eyes, completely consumed by the heat of his mouth, letting the coldness of the bay completely vanish.

But the moment didn't last a familiar voice made my entire body go rigid.

"Aveline?"

We separated instantly, my hands dropping from Kieran's neck as my head snapped toward the far side of the cove.