Falling Fast and Breathing Hard

The rest of the week went fast, but I certainly enjoyed it. At the moment, we're on our way to the airport early in the morning. The trip would be a bit longer than the one from Pittsburgh to Quebec, but I was perfectly fine with it.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Exhausted, but overly excited. It'll be nice knowing Ronnie won't be there."

He smiled and kissed my cheek as I drove to the airport. After arriving, it didn't take long to drive to my childhood home.

"Ready?" I asked.

"Yep." he said before kissing me.

Only a few seconds after knocking on the door, my mom came to the door and hugged me.

"Hi honey! I missed you!" she exclaimed.

"I missed you too." I said with tears threatening to fall.

"How've you been?"

"Greater than I ever have been."

"That's fantastic." she said pulling apart.

I smiled.

"Kris, it's great to see you! How've you been?" she asked, turning to hug Kris.

"Wonderful." he said with that smile that I love.

She smiled.

"Let's go inside." she said.

Walking into my house, I felt so at ease and happy for the first time in several years.

"Mom?"

"Yeah Athena?"

"Mind if we put our belongings away?"

"Of course not."

"Come on." I said, pulling Kris with me.

My room was quite spacious and I loved it. It was perfect for Rhonda and I whenever we would hang out or have a sleepover, which was quite often.

"Like my room?" I said, spinning around like a weirdo.

"Yes. It's big. This must've been really nice growing up." he said, laughing.

"It was one of the few things that have kept me happy since Rhonda died and my mom married Ronnie." I said, lying down on my huge bed.

He jumped on the bed and lied there with me. For some reason, tears came to my eyes and they wouldn't stop running.

"Why are you crying?" he asked concerned.

I shook my head before he wrapped his arms around me; I cried into his shoulder as he rubbed my back.

"Is everything okay?" my mom called.

"Yeah. We'll be out in a second. I just want to freshen up."

"Alright."

"Look at me." Kris asked as we sat up.

I looked at him with bloodshot eyes.

"I know you know something's up. What is it?"

"Being here has brought back so memories. I miss Rhonda so fucking much."

Tears continued to run. Kris wiped them away.

"I should get my shit together shouldn't I?" I laughed.

"Whenever you're ready. I know it's hard being back, but things are so much better now."

"Yeah, but the bad memories are still there. It sucks."

"Try and push them into the back of your mind."

"Ok. Thanks."

"Don't mention it. I love you."

"I love you, too."

I kissed and hugged him.

"I'm ready to go."

"Good."

I fixed my make-up quickly and took a deep breath before leaving my room. My mom was in the kitchen cooking something.

"What are you cooking, Mom?"

"Something for later." she said with a smirk.

"Oh, come on! Please tell me."

"Nope. Well, I'll be done with this in fifteen minutes. Why don't you two get comfortable?"

We sat down on the couch and turned on the tv, just watching whatever was on. I rested my head on Kris' shoulder and tried not to fall asleep as my eyes began to droop.

"Sleepy?" he said with a laugh.

I nodded.

"I'll wake you up when your mom's done. 'K?"

"K."

I slept for a total of fifteen minutes when I felt Kris waking me up.

"Your mom's done, Athena." he said, kissing my cheek.

"I'm waking up." I said, yawning and sitting up.

"Hey, Mom." I greeted as she walked into the living room.

"Hey, honey. Are you and Kris up for going out for breakfast?"

I looked at him and he nodded.

"Absolutely. Where are we going?"

"Wherever you want to go."

"Ooh!! Can we go to my favorite diner?!" I said ecstatically.

"Of course." she said, laughing.

That's when I ran up and hugged her.

"I love you."

"I love you, too, sweetie."

I took Kris' hand, grabbed my purse and we made our way out the door and into my mom's car.

"So, how did last week go?" my mom asked once we ordered our food at the diner.

"Amazingly. It couldn't have gone better."

"Athena got a tour of Montreal, courtesy of me."

"How fun was that?" my mom asked happily.

"It was one of the funnest things I've ever done."

"Can I say something?"

"Of course."

"Thanks for making her happy again, Kris. After all she's gone through, she's genuinely happy."

I blushed as tears came to my eyes. and he blushed as well.

"I don't know what to say... I guess I can say you're welcome. I love her so much."

I just buried my head into his neck. I didn't know what to say, so it was interesting trying figuring out what to say next.

"Wow Mom. I wasn't expecting you to say that. That was out of nowhere."

"I needed to say it. I thought you two would enjoying hearing it."

"We did. Thanks Mom."

"Don't mention it."

Let's just say that the rest of breakfast went very well. We ended up eating lunch about four hours later at the same area where Rhonda and I hung out in that dream I had. It brought back several memories. Kris and I sat on the very same deck and enjoyed each other's company. My mom wasn't here with us because she realized that I wanted to be alone with him. She understood automatically and I gave her my thanks while trying not to cry.

"This is wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. I never thought I'd be back here again. It feels so amazing." I said, looking into the sky.

"I can see why you came here so often when you were growing up."

I smiled.

"Wanna go for a swim?" I asked taking off my shirt and shorts.

"Oh yeah."

I immediately jumped into the water, not waiting for Kris. The feeling was so euphoric; I was home, at my favorite lake and with my boyfriend. I heard him jumping and I happily screamed as he swam toward me.

"Feeling good?" I asked as he wrapped his arms around me.

"Really good. This feels so nice."

I proceeded to kiss him hard and he continued the kissing in the same manner. After a minute, we pulled apart and I splashed him before swimming away. We goofed and fooled around for a couple hours before heading back to the house. When it came to dinner, Kris and I were waiting in the dining room. My mom wouldn't let me do anything. I know I'm visiting... but I grew up here. Whatever.

"You are awesome." I simply stated as my mom sat my favorite dinner in the middle of the table.

My mom laughed.

"I figured you'd enjoyed this. God knows how long it's been since you've had this."

She made shrimp scampi. I had it so often growing up and never got sick of it.

"Mmm...this is heaven." I said with my eyes closed.

"Just wait till you see what's for dessert."

"What did you make?!"

"Not gonna tell you. You'll see in a few."

I groaned. Kris laughed and wiped his mouth before kissing my cheek.

"I can't even imagine what it is. I mean dinner was amazing enough. What could possibly be even better?!" I said as my mom was getting dessert.

My mouth dropped when I saw what it was. Deep. Dark. Chocolate. Cheesecake.

"You really took the time to make this?"

"Of course I did. It's your favorite."

"Oh...so that's what you were making earlier."

Once I saw Kris take a bite, I laughed. It was the face I made when I was eating dinner.

"Is it good, Kris?" I asked.

"Absolutely delicious. I've never had this before. Thank you."

"My pleasure."

"You have to make this for me, Athena. You really do."

"I will. Mom, can I have the recipe?"

"Of course. I was planning on giving you this before you left but never got the chance."

She took the recipe out of her pocket and handed it to me.

"Thank you, Mom."

"You're welcome."

A few hours later, I was in my room with Kris lying on my bed. We were exhausted and I was thinking about going to bed early.

"Today was such a perfect day. I couldn't have asked for more." I said, laying my head on his bare chest.

"I agree. It was fantastic."

"You wanna go to sleep early?"

"Yeah, I do. Today was such a long day."

After saying goodnight, I fell asleep within mere seconds. I was looking so forward to what tomorrow had to bring.

Notes

Chapter title courtesy of Fearless by Taylor Swift.

I also thought some of you might want to try the cheesecake. It sounds really delicious.

Deep Dark Chocolate Cheesecake