Ariana's POV
"Stop laughing, dog!" Slapping Max's arm, I glare at him.
"Have you seen yourself?" He laughs while ruffling my hair, "You look like a child playing dress-up."
Since this idiot has thrown me in water and ruined my clothes, I have to change into his spare gym clothes, which he had in his car. His clothes are almost drowning me, and I look ridiculous.
"All your fault." I cry while looking at my clothes.
"Hey, you might feel annoyed at this time, but when you recall this in the future, this will be one of our best memories." He smiles and nudges my shoulder with his elbow.
I can't help but crack a smile because it is true; such stupid things become reasons to laugh when they become memo
Samuel's POV A part of me is glad that Ariana has finally moved on, but a part of me is worried about her. I don't want her to get hurt. I have already become a reason for her pain, so I don't want her to go through any more hurt. Even though Max seems like a sensible guy but what if he is playing with her feelings? What if his intentions are not good? These questions are continuously making me restless. My phone rings, snapping me out of my thoughts. Squinting my eyes a little, I try to read the name on the screen. "Why is she calling me at this time?" I mumble in confusion to myself while picking up the phone to answer. Laura has gone to her doctor's appointment, and from what she has told me,
Ariana's POV There are some days when you feel restless for no apparent reason. It is just an unsettling feeling lingering inside your heart, and you feel like your chest is burdened with an invisible weight. Letting out a small sigh, I look outside the window while resting my chin on my palm. Silently, I lift up the cup and take a small sip of coffee while I continue to gaze outside. Justin is at school, while I have decided to stay at home because I was not feeling well. I don't know what's wrong with me, but emotionally I have been feeling quite low. I don't know why but something doesn't feel right. I called Max to talk to him because I needed to divert my mind. He promised me that he would stop by at my place before going home as he probably sensed that I might need him to be with me
Samuel's POV Pinching the bridge of my nose, I exhale a deep breath while leaning against the couch. A lot has happened today, there is a lot to take in, but the most difficult thing is to find a path again and move on. When I felt someone taking the space beside me, I sit straight and find Laura sitting next to me. Laura keeps her eyes fixed on her clasped hands while her teeth pierce her lower lip as she tries to keep her composure. "Thank you for standing up for me today." She whispers, "No one has ever supported me the way you have done, even now when I don't deserve any of your kindness." "I am aware that this is not the first time something like this has happened because your so-called brother is nothing but a piece of sh
Ariana's POV Nearly one month has passed since that day when I saw Samuel. If I say I haven't thought about him every day, then I would be wrong. Even though I was worried about him, I deliberately kept my distance because I didn't want to complicate things for me even more than they already were. Max has really helped me deal with my emotions, making me realize that I should never prioritize anyone over myself. It's okay to feel hurt, but that hurt should not dictate my life. Sharing my feelings with Max has been a liberating experience. For the first time, other than to Samuel, I have openly admitted my feelings and the pain I felt. Strangely, he was really understanding and didn't judge me. In fact, he didn't even judge Samuel for his decision which was relieving because even though I
Ariana's POV The corners of my lips turn downward when I step into the elevator, realizing; I will be alone at home because Justin is having a sleepover at his friend's place. It is a shame that my little brother has a better social life than me. Almost every week, he has some plans with his friends. Whereas I hardly interact with anyone outside work. Maybe I should start going out more and make plans of my own when Justin is at his friend's place or something. Even though I am thinking about all this stuff, a part of my mind is stuck in my conversation with Laura. I feel bad for her because growing up with an ignorant parent can be really painful. Thankfully, I had my dad, who had immensely love
Ariana's POV Carrying two bowls of ice cream, I walk towards Max, who is busy scrolling through his phone. A dent formed between his brows as he narrowed his eyes at the screen. After dinner, he went and got ice cream for us even though I said it was unnecessary. But he said our sleepover will be incomplete without eating ice cream, as it is something which always used to do, and we shouldn't break this tradition. It astonishes me how he remembers all things we used to do, even if they were the smallest ones. Honestly, I never took him for a guy who would remember all these things. Whenever he reminds me of something which is related to how my life used to be, it seems like he is talking about something from my past. Somewhere it is true beca
Ariana's POV "Did I ever tell you why I have to move away from here?" Max's hand finds mine as he plays with my fingers. A faint smile forms on my lips because he always used to play with my fingers when we used to talk or discuss any project. He always gets fidgety when he wants to share any secret. It always annoyed me just like it is annoying me now, and I have this strong urge to pull my hand back. However, the innocent but somewhat distant look on his face makes me stop. "My parents, they got divorced." He continues without even waiting for my response. I am shocked to hear this, but I don't let this come to my face because this is not the time to demand to know why he didn't tell me. He needs me to listen to him, just like he listens to
Ariana's POV Giving Max the privacy which he needs to gain hold of his emotions, I walk into the kitchen. Whenever I don't know how to comfort anyone, I mostly try to give them anything to eat or drink. I am not sure if it works or not, but whenever I feel emotional, I mostly find comfort in food, so maybe that's why I do this. Taking out two mugs from the top shelf, I turn on the coffee machine. Tapping my fingers, I wait for the water to boil. My mind is numb because there is a lot to take in. I feel like a terrible friend because I never knew anything about what was happening in Max's life. If you ask me, earlier we were not as close friends as we have become now. I think after we have reconnected, our friendship has not only strengthened, but we both understand each other on a differe
Samuel's POV Ten years later. That moment is still fresh in my mind when Ariana left me. How can you forget the moment when your everything was walking away from you? I wanted to beg her not to leave me and just give me one more chance, but something refrained me from doing so. This was the punishment which she had chosen for me. Therefore, even if it was killing me, I decided to accept my punishment. There's a hope in this punishment that when it ends, I will find my eternal happiness. Only I don't know when or if this punishment will ever come to an end. Numerous times, I broke down because the pain of bei
Ariana’s POV “Everyone is not lucky to get a second chance at love in their life, but I am one of those few people lucky people who found true love after losing their trust in love.” Samuel smiles softly, but the sadness in his eyes reveals his true feelings, “I fell in love for the first time it was with a wrong person, but when I found the right person, I was not able to cherish her the way I should have.” “I want to blame the circumstances. I want to blame the world for whatever wrong has happened in my life. But the truth is the only person to blame is me.” He clenches his jaws while he stares at the table, “Only if I had the courage to tell you everything from the beginning, then I would not have made you feel betrayed and hurt. Maybe we would still have been friends. But I was a coward, and now I am paying the price of my mistake.”
Ariana's POV Until now, I never realized how good it feels to take charge of your life. You feel so powerful. Whenever anything went wrong in my life that turned my life upside down, I always tried to put together my life again. Even now, I am doing the same. The only difference is that all the other times, I didn't want to, but I had to. But now, I want to get hold of my life and put together the pieces of my life for myself. I want to be in charge of my own happiness and destiny. I want to do this for myself and Justin. He deserves a sister who is stable in her life, not someone who is an emotional mess. I don't want the impact of my poor choices to reflect on him. So even though I have said many times, I will say it again; I will make ever
Ariana's POV Gathering snacks in my arms, I walk into the living with a wide grin on my face. Justin turns to me, adorning a similar grin, and rushes to help me carry the snacks. "Be careful." Turning around, Justin glances at me then he crawls inside our blanket fort. Rolling my eyes, I smile as I carefully enter Justin's fort. "Next time, we will make an even bigger fort," Justin exclaims and opens the packet of chips. "Which movie shall we watch?" I ask while turning on my laptop and connecting it with the Bluetooth speakers because my laptop speakers volume is not very loud. "The Karate Kid," After thinking for a moment, he replies.
Ariana's POV Max's fingers draw lazy patterns on my arm while keeping his arm wrapped around me. My head is resting on his chest, finding comfort in his strong heartbeat. He is alive, and he will be okay. We both lie in each other arms in silence. However, there is no awkwardness between us, just meaningful silence. Somewhere we both are at a loss for words. Maybe we do not know how to voice these newfound feelings. I feel him pressing a small kiss on the top of my head, which causes me to raise my head from his chest to glance at his face. His throat works as he swallows while blankly staring ahead. A moment later, his gaze flickers to me, and I watch a myriad of emotions passing through his face.
Ariana's POV There are rare moments in my life when I truly feel helpless, where the feeling of being useless dominates all my other emotions. This is one of those rare moments as I sit across Max with a stoic expression, probably because I feel too numb to react. The silence around us is heavy. I can clearly hear the ticking of the clock on the wall behind me. Its ticking reminds me of the ticking of a time bomb, and somewhere it is not far from the truth. Time. Is. Ticking. With each moment passing, I feel my chest constricting. All these feelings were too familiar, the vice-like grip clutching my chest, making each intake of breath difficult than the previous one.
Max's POV Uncertainty is a part of our life since the beginning. Never in our life can we be sure what will happen next or what will be the outcome of our decision. I can't change some things in my life because those things are not in our hands. However, this doesn't mean I will submit myself to my fate. My life may be full of uncertainty, but this will not stop me from living my life the way I want. When I beat cancer a few years ago, I promised myself that I would not waste my second chance at life and live my life in the best way I could. I want to live my life free of any burden and totally focus on my happiness. I have seen people living the last days of their life with unfulfilled wishes. And I choose not to be one of those people.
Samuel's POV Ariana has left to drop off the children. Justin has also gone with Ariana. Even I was about to leave, but when I watched Max limping towards the bench, I changed my mind because he was in real pain, and he may need someone to be with him. I can clearly see Max is trying to downplay his pain, and the reason behind this pretense is Ariana. He is definitely hiding something from everyone, especially her. I recall the look on his face when I saw him at the hospital; he was shocked. Probably because of the thought of Ariana finding something he doesn't want to share. However, it would not have been possible because firstly, we are not in contact, and secondly, even if we were, it's not my truth to tell. So I would have never told Ariana anything if he didn't want to share it with
Ariana's POV "It has been so long since we all did something together as a family, other than hiking. Please do arrange such classes in the future as well; my family and I had a great time." Mrs. Brooke smiles, handing me the canvases which her kids were holding. A smile forms on my face when I notice both of her children have attempted to draw a landscape. And honestly, for someone who has painted for the first time, it is excellent. "Sure, I will try to arrange such painting sessions whenever it is possible." I keep the canvases on the table where other canvases are also placed, "I have your contact details, I will inform you where these paintings have been donated. So if you want, you can go and check them." Following dad's footsteps, I will donate these paintings to hospitals, retirem