Chapter 58: Coming Back to You

Aveline’s pov

After hearing what Chelsea said, I felt so bad for blaming Kieran. I walked down the path toward the beach.

Landon was sitting on a cooler near the shoreline, drying his hair with a towel. I forced myself to take a deep breath, trying to calm the racing beat of my heart as I walked toward him.

“Hey, Landon,” I called out, my voice a little tight. “Where’s Kieran? Have you seen him?”

Landon stopped rubbing his hair and frowned, looking up at me.

“Kieran wasn’t jetskiing with us, Asher,” he said. “He didn’t even come down to the docks. He just said he was going back to his room. Is he okay? He seemed off today.”

I already knew why Kieran was acting like that. Landon didn’t know anything about what was going on between us. To him and Milo, everything looked like a perfect summer trip. He had no idea about the guilt crushing me from the inside.

“He’s… yeah, he’s just resting, I guess,” I said tightly. “I’ll go check on him.”

I knew exactly why Kieran was hiding in his room. I had made his life miserable for two weeks, all because of my own fear and insecurity, and now the weight of it was crushing me.

When I pushed open the bedroom door, Kieran was standing by the window with his back to me, aggressively packing a duffel bag on the mattress. His jaw was clenched, and anger filled the room around him.

“Kieran, please, can we talk?” I whispered. “Look at me.”

He froze, but he didn’t turn immediately.

“Why are you even in here, Aveline?” he said sharply.

“I was wrong,” I said, stepping forward quickly, my hands shaking. “I know the truth now, Kieran. Nothing happened. I’m so sorry.”

“Oh, so now you know?” he snapped, suddenly slamming his hand on the bag. “Now it’s convenient for you? For weeks, if I didn’t come here with Chelsea, you wouldn’t have cared. You chose to believe random messages over me. You threw everything away because you decided I was a liar.”

“I was scared!” I shouted back, tears finally breaking free. “I saw her name on your phone and I panicked, Kieran! I thought I was losing you! I thought someone like you would never stay with someone like me!”

“So you destroyed us first?” He stepped closer, his voice rising. “Trust isn’t something you switch on when it’s easy, Aveline. You shut me out. You froze me out. I lost that game because of you. I thought we could talk after, but you didn’t come. You treated me like I meant nothing.”

“I know!” I cried, rushing forward and grabbing his shirt. “I know I ruined it! I know I didn’t trust you, and it’s my biggest mistake. I feel sick every day. Please, Kieran… don’t look at me like you hate me.”

He looked down at my hands on his chest. His breathing was uneven, his body shaking with anger. He wanted to stay mad. He wanted to hold it in.

But then he looked at my face.

And something in him broke.

“Do you really think I could look at someone else?” his voice cracked. “Aveline, it kills me that you think I’d hurt you like that. I’m out of my mind about you. I’ve only ever wanted you. And you wouldn’t even look at me.”

That broke me completely.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry, Kieran… I love you.”

He closed the space between us and pulled me into his arms tightly. We stood there in the middle of the room, holding each other as we both cried.

“Don’t do that to me again,” he whispered into my hair. “Please, Aveline… don’t ever do this again.”

“Never,” I sobbed. “I promise. Never again. No more walls.”

We stayed like that for a long time, just holding each other until our breathing slowed. Then Kieran pulled me down onto the bed, keeping me close. My head rested on his chest as I listened to his heartbeat.

After a while, he gently wiped my tears and kissed me softly.

“Come on,” he murmured, taking my hand. “Let’s go outside before Landon starts suspecting something.”

Down at the beach, the summer holiday felt alive again.

“Landon, I swear, if you throw another unchopped log, you’re not going to get a fire!” Milo shouted. “Do you want a bonfire or smoke everywhere?”

Landon just laughed. “Relax, Milo. It’s summer. Leave it like that.”

Chelsea sat on a blanket nearby, holding a drink. “Look who finally joined civilisation,” Milo called out. “Asher, tell Landon he is not a caveman.”

“He’s a caveman, Milo,” I said back.

“Alright,” Milo continued. “We need a plan for tomorrow. We only have three days left before we go back to reality.”

“I vote we do nothing,” Landon said, lying back in the sand. “We’ve been doing too much already.”

“We can’t do anything,” Chelsea said. “Milo promised the boat trip to the cliffs. I’m not leaving without jumping off that ledge.”

“I’m with Chelsea,” Kieran said. “The cliffs are the best part. What about you, Asher? You jumping or not?”

I turned slightly. “Only if the scared cat pays for not jumping.”

“Deal,” he whispered.

“Ugh, interesting,” Landon groaned.

“Focus,” Milo said. “Who brought the graham crackers?”

“I left them in the kitchen,” Chelsea said. “Asher, did you see them?”

“Yeah, they’re by the sink,” I replied.

Landon opened the chips with his teeth and passed them around. “Alright, plan decided. We sleep, we boat, Chelsea drags us to our deaths.”

“It’s a good plan,” Kieran said.

And for the first time, the summer felt real again. The mistakes were behind us, and the truth was finally out.