The sweet breeze from the sea crashing with the waves wafted through the atmosphere of the beach I had been reluctant to visit until today. Even so, it was because I wanted nothing to do with the building I live in.

Now I have gotten to know this is the best place to breathe. The wind was fresh and steady, and the setting sun was kind and gracefully pouring over everyone underneath it.

From the balcony and windows of Brayden's apartment, I've always wondered how it never gets quiet out here until dark. Even then, there had to be someone or two, devouring nature on their own in the quiet. It didn't occur to me how beneficial the water and sand could be until now that I can see everyone around me looking happy and free.

"Cali?" He called in his golden voice that reached my bones and veins.

No need to look behind, I can recognize his voice even in my sleep. There is so much of him that I have grown into myself since before this summer when we met.
Right now, I don't think it's wise to wake those memories up.

Didn't he say he was meeting Nelson? Even more, doesn't he have a fiance in his condo? Why is he following me the moment I get to be free and away from all the disarray?

I didn't wait for him, as he sounded a little bit from the distance. Instead, I hastily pulled out of my clothes, kicked off my shoes, and dropped my phone into one pair before accelerating toward the ocean.

He called after me but the point was to be away from him and the lies he had been sowing.

I don't have clothes in my wardrobe, he said. Blah blah, He said.
The asshole lied to me. He was aware of his lover taking care of his wardrobe and he lied to me. He knew how much I hated her, yet he was getting too intimate while doing so with me.

Though, I can be called a fool. I mean, I am also aware of the fact that Autumn and Myles are endgames. They love each other, and she's up to his standard and expectations of the world for him. That's why he gave her a ring. I am just someone who's desperate to give him excitement to pass time with. That's why I will always be his secret.

Scoffing, I spun on my barefoot, facing him and embracing the wind with open arms.
"How did you propose to her? Did you bend on one knee before her? Or does she prefer you standing? Nah, I think she will prefer you kneel before her."

"Cali..." He woefully called. He looked dejected, but it was not like it was the first time I'd seen that side of him.

He enjoyed messing with my head because he knows I am always there. I will always come back.

"Did you do it after she woke up on your bed in your shirt? Or under the stars, right here, on the beach where I am standing? No, she will probably want it in a fancy restaurant at dinner, I am certain of that." I sarcastically laughed and turned back towards the waves when his expression remained the same.

He can stay there and feign sorrow. I know now there is no room for me in his heart.

My feet felt the comfort of the sea beneath them at first. And the moment the water reached my stomach, I became greedy, I felt the urge to absorb the whole solace it was surprisingly providing, so I ducked underwater, and it muffled the noise above me and the awful poignance I felt. Suddenly, I am enveloped in contentment, as pleasure extends over me like shelter, only there was no air to breathe and I didn't even care at the moment.

Hands came around my midsection, spinning me in the water's buoyancy. For the first time, I forced my eyes to open despite the irritation.
Myles. I was face-to-face with him underwater.

His eyebrows were hardened severely, like those emerald eyes that are fully open, observing me with keenness and longing. I wonder if he feels the stinging behind his eyes as I could feel in mine. It didn't matter though, he blended our lips, stopping time and the world above and around us.

It's so confusing, how he could trap me with a kiss and gradually immobilize my limps from stopping him. I was sinking, I was suffocating, I was burning, but they all felt like heaven in his presence.

Suddenly, our heads were above water. I was able to blink and gasp as I respired again.

My hands were on his shoulders for support. Still, I didn't know how I wasn't drowning, for my legs weren't moving.

"What are you doing here?" I croaked, blinking rapidly as the water from my hair was tumbling down my face. It was then I realized Myles was shirtless and I was barely dressed either.

"I will end the engagement. I will tell her it is over." He rushed as my hormones were ignited.

No. I must be dreaming of all of this. The shock was an understatement. It ceases every other function in my system. I had to be in a trance where I was convinced life was good.

"Had I drowned?" I was looking around our surroundings as I muttered the question when it dawned on me that I might be dead. That might adequately explain why I was able to float but also complicated how I was panting really hard and fast. 

Myles shook his head, a tender smile playing on his sugar-sweet lips. He loops his arms around my small back, pulling me skin-to-skin with him.

"We got engaged when I had no choice of my own. If I had known you before then, things would've been different. My days wouldn't have been dismal and dispiriting and my head wouldn't have hurt at all." 

"Your head hurts?"

"It doesn't when I am with you. But it does a lot around her." He assured me quietly and bonded our foreheads gently.

I don't understand his sudden change of mind. How is he suggesting that?

He gulped and I choked with too many emotions.

"Cali, you shouldn't have to be hurt because of me. I don't like how it feels to watch you worry about me with someone else."

Pulling back, my eyes open before he does.
"It's selfish, I know." My voice whispered out, sounding hoarse and shaky. "I want you to myself, I am sorry."

He smiled and brushed the tips of our noses while he responded, "Don't be, because ironically, I prefer being wanted by you. It's a first for me to be nervous and strong and happy around someone. And you're the one. Only you."

He still hasn't answered my question about whether I had drowned. Am I dead? There's no way this is...

"Cali, I-I love you too." He let out, interrupting my thoughts. "I've loved you for a while now."

Everything next passed in a blur. I willed myself to wake up, pinched my skin even, but so far I remain in the same dream.

"Let me show you something." I heard Myles say, and he pulled me down, where it was safe and quiet but we had to hold our breath. I think we were diving, for I waited to reach my remains the whole time he held my hand and stayed with me in the benign scenery.

~

"You are back." Brayden instantly jolted up to his feet as I closed the door after me.

Looking over at the wall clock and to the dining area, I found out I had successfully passed over time and that ridiculous dinner Brayden had proposed earlier. 

Heading for my room, I mocked, "I see Natalie has left. I hope you had a good evening."

"Cali, I saved you dinner. We need to talk." He sounded stern when he mandated the last part. Convincing himself, I would simply oblige and take a seat to listen to his hasty romance.

What is wrong with athletes here? Falling in love in a sliver of moments and buying engagement rings just like that.

He only has one opportunity to help me, but he rather watches Hayes blow up in my face because of a stranger he meets in some bar.

Great. I do not have anything else to discuss with him.

"No, we don't. I am going to bed. Good night."

"It's just ten." He confusingly announced a little bit louder, but it didn't faze me.
What he doesn't know is that between a couple of hours that had passed, I heard and experienced unbelievable things greater than the little loud voice he could provide.

"People sleep at this time. Normal people, in fact. Good night brother." I brazenly responded and slammed my door the moment I was inside my room.

The room was dim until I turned on the wall sconces and recessed lights from the ceiling. The bed is made perfectly, and my things were flawlessly organized. I would ask Brayden if I wasn't mad at him. But I am not in the terms of consideration for conversing with him.

Right now, a bath is what I need, but I do not have the patience to prepare, so I changed into my pajamas, grabbed the diary from the nightstand, and got into bed with it.