Gale exhales slowly to calm his roaring feelings and then begins to tell the rest of the story. He told everyone about his first year of recovery and how Meryl had helped him a great deal. He then told them what he thought when he decided that he wanted something more than friendship with Meryl, which was very uncomfortable as he realized he never thought he was in love with her. Gale only thought about the advantages of dating Meryl, how kind, beautiful, smart, and patient she was. How she made him feel secure and safe. And then he admitted he was scared of losing the one person that shows him endless support, and he thought that if he didn't have any ties with her, she would leave him. Then he finally comes to the reason for the downfall of his relationship with Meryl.
"At first, everything was fine, happy and well... steady. I love feeling secure. But there was something I didn't tell Meryl." Gale glances at Ben and Molly on the opposite side of the room, and both of them
She woke up with a start and mumbling curses under her breath at the sound of her sister's voice, shouting her name."Ave! Wake up!!!"Avelyn slowly sat on her bed as she rubbed her sleepy eyes and yawned at the same time.Right, it's Saturday."I'm up! Stop yelling!" Avelyn said as she kept hearing her sister yelling around the house.At the age of twenty-two years old, having a job as a middle school teacher, Avelyn still lives with her parents. What's the point of renting a flat when she could give the money to her parents? Besides, the school where she works was close to her parents' house. And as for her parents, they were more than happy that she decided to stay with them. After Denise married five years ago and moved out to the house a couple of blocks from her parent's house, their parents have been feeling lonely, and Avelyn went to college in Vancouver, they got more lonely. So by the time Avelyn finished college and got a
It's almost a week since Avelyn met Gabe, and she hasn't been able to stop thinking about him. And she was grumpy. She didn't even get proper sleep because of it. Avelyn decided to bring lunch for Denise at her studio. They were eating when suddenly Denise asked. "This man that Alex didn't stop talking about for two days straight. What's he like?" "Tall," Avelyn answered nonchalantly despite the thumping of her heart at remembering Gabe. "That's it?" "What else do you want me to say?" "I don't know... Did he offend you or something? That's why you prefer not to talk about him and Alex blabbering about this guy," "No, it's just... He mostly talked with your son, so there's really nothing for me to say about him. Alex already said it all." That wasn't a lie. Gabe was indeed talking mostly with Alex. But Avelyn doesn't need to tell Denise of how Gabe's gaze was mostly pointed at her even though he was talking to Alex.
"You are going back to Toronto tomorrow?" Avelyn said to her phone screen.After the hike to the Wapta Falls, Avelyn has been constantly in contact with Gabe. They also met a couple of times in town, just walking and talking."Yeah, I was hoping to see you tomorrow, but then I got a call from my friend informing me about my professor's schedule change. I was supposed to go back next weekend, but that blasted professor is always changing her schedule unexpectedly." He sighed. "I guess I just have to be content on seeing your face through my phone screen,"Avelyn laughs heartily. "What time is your flight? Is your family going back tomorrow too?""Eight am. My class starts at three pm. No, they're staying for another week. I envy them,""Can you go out tonight?" Avelyn asked, then she bites her lower lip nervously."Avelyn... I was about to ask the same question." Gabe replied softly."Let's meet outside,""Yeah? Where?"
It has been more than two weeks since Avelyn kissed him on the bridge and officially became Gabriel Blackwell’s girlfriend. She was in utter happiness.Despite the distance that separates them, Avelyn was still happy to wake up to his sweet messages or voicemails.That night when he asked her to be his girlfriend, they talked about a lot of things. They shared everything about themselves, and unsurprisingly they have a lot of things in common.Avelyn confessed to him that she thinks Gale sounds more fitting for him instead of Gabe. After he heard her say that, he made her promise to always call him Gale. He also gave her a nickname; Ava. She likes it better than Ave. Just like that, they have their nicknames for each other.He was worried that she might change her mind and leave him, she assured him that it won't happen. Not unless he does something she deems unforgivable.She was worried that he would forget about
Three hours later, Avelyn dismissed her last class and quickly gathered all of her stuff before strode fast towards where she left her boyfriend.When she got there, the lobby was packed with students. The girls, especially the upperclassmen, were unsubtly staring and trying to catch Gale's attention, but as he promised, Gale was too focused on studying with his earphones on. He didn't even notice when Avelyn got into the side of the table he was sitting at.She touched his shoulder softly. She was very aware of the surprised looks from her students. It seems that seeing a teacher with their partner was not something so common, especially if the partner was as handsome as Gale.Gale looked up and immediately beamed at the sight of her. "You're done?""Mm-hmm, it's been three hours since I left you, dummy."Gale's eyes widened. "I didn't realize!""Of course you didn't," Avelyn smiled understandingly at Gale. "Enough with studying, and let's
The door opened harshly. There he was standing, mouth agape, dark circles under his eyes that were full of mirth, hair wild, shirt askew. But he was just as handsome as he always was."Hi!" Ava greets cheerfully.Gale blinked a few times, even rubbed his eyes as if he couldn't believe she was really there."Am I dreaming?" He said quietly.Ava throws her head back and laughs out loud. Before she could compose herself, Gale was already pulling her in for a tight hug. She was still chuckling as she rubbed his back up and down. She felt as he breathed her in, nuzzled his face to the crux of her neck. The empty hallway became the witness of their reunion. Gale slowly took a step backwards towards his apartment, and Ava was following him willingly. When they were inside, Ava closed the door softly."Hey, baby." She said while threading her fingers through his hair and gave him a slow massage to his scalp.Gale didn't answer with words because his
"You're coming to Golden for Christmas? Really?" Ava asked."Yes, I always spend Christmas in Golden with the rest of my family.""I can't wait to see you!" Gale didn't respond and his face seemed like contemplating something. "Gale?""Do you want to meet my family?" He asked carefully.Ava was taken aback. She stayed silent as she stared dumbly at his face on her phone screen."I–""If it feels too much, you don't have to. I'm not forcing you to do anything you don't like." He said while grimacing.Ava licked her lips. Her mouth suddenly felt dry. "I want to, but...""You're not ready," Gale finished the sentence for her.Ava nodded nervously. "I don't want to rush anything. And we have a lot of time. I want to know you better before I meet the rest of your family. I want to impress them and to achieve that, I need more time to prepare. I hope you understand."The disappointment was evident on his face but
Gale was late.He was never late before.Ava keeps looking at her watch while standing on the edge of the bridge. It's been almost half an hour since their agreed time meeting, but Gale hasn't come – he doesn't even text or call her that he will be late.She was about to call his number when suddenly she saw him running towards her. He stopped in front of her, panting, sweating, but still looked so goddamn good-looking."You're late," Ava pointed out."Yes," he gasped."May I ask why?" She asked in genuine concern. She was not mad at him for being late. She was more concerned about what was making him late."Dad," Gale paused and breathed some more before continuing speaking. "He wants to come with me."Ava's face fell."Hey," Gale touches her cheek. "It's okay.""I'm sorry that you had to lie to him because of me. I'm a coward.""You're not a coward. You're just not ready yet, and I'll wait. Do you h