Chapter 1 One

Chapter one

Astra's POV

The rain had a way of comforting me. No it was not the bright hug of the rainbow after the rain stopped neither was it the playful kiss of the water as it cascaded down my umbrella.

No.

It was the gentle pitter patter of the rain on your window sill like a lover begging to come in. It was the smell of the grass after the rainfall.

And today was one of those days when the rain never failed to comfort me.

Again, the scene of yesterday flashed in my eyes, the conversations replaying themselves over and over in my head like a broken recorder.

" This was a one time thing I swear to you. You know how Camille is! She has been seducing me ever since we started dating!" Louis had claimed.

His shirt was roughly buttoned up and his pants zipper undone as we stood on the busy streets of New York.

" Two years Louis....I gave you two fucking years of my life! You said we were going to get married! And yet you..." I paused.

The words choked me before they left my mouth. I could not admit it out loud. This bastard had cheated on me with the girl he claimed he was only friends with.

" I hate when you talk like this. I already told you it was a mistake. Look, I will tell Camille off and we can go to long John's for breakfast okay?" He asked, no shred of remorse in his eyes.

The last time this happened, I nodded. I had waited for him to go into his room and grab a better shirt and we had gone to long John's breakfast spot and I had gotten him breakfast.

But today was not the last time.

I shook my head slowly, his eyes turning inquisitive.

" I am breaking up with you Louis. I can't do this anymore." I said, voice soft, as though I prayed the words had not left my mouth. Maybe if I had said it softly he would not hear.

But he did.

No words first. Just his lips slightly ajar.

" You don't mean that. I know you love me."

Cocky.

I took off the promise ring he had given me for my birthday last year, thrusting it into his hands and watching him scramble to hold onto it. I was bolder now, what I needed to do clearer.

" I am breaking up with you Louis and this should be the last time I see you or I swear to the heavens I will punch your stupid cheeks so far back you will need surgery to realign it with your jaw" I stated again.

He did not say anything again. Maybe he was still in that state of shock, maybe he did not want to hold on anyways. But he watched me walk away.

That was yesterday.

Today, the rain has started and I did not feel like breathing.

My room was a tirade of clothes and messes that I could not clean up and from the rubble of this mess, I heard my phone ring.

I felt like I was sprawled on the bed. It was nowhere close.

I sighed, closing my eyes to go back to sleep for the fifth time today. Whoever it was would have to wait till I had the strength to get up.

But the phone call didn't stop. It rang over and over until the sound was stuck in my brain like an ear bug.

And finally, I shuffled to my feet to find it amongst the clothes and shoes.

It was my brother. For a minute, my heart sank. We were not the perfect siblings, he would never call if something was not terribly wrong.

" Did something happen?" I asked him, wondering if I was ready for what his answer might be.

I wasn't.

The phone dropped to the ground, the tears I thought Louis had drained from my eyes yesterday suddenly springing back up.

No, it couldn't be.

~~

" Miss!" The voice yelled jolting me out of my reverie.

The concerned face of the air hostess stared at me, along with a dozen other pair of eyes and I suddenly felt self conscious, my cheeks heating up.

" Did you need something?" I asked.

Her eyes scanned me again.

" Are you okay miss? I have been calling out to you for the past two minutes..."

I sighed. I wasn't okay.

I did not have it on my bucket list to find out about the death of my father a day after my boyfriend cheated on me.

" Yes I am. Im sorry, I must have zoned out for a minute "

" Oh okay...I was asking if you would prefer beef or chicken?"

I shrugged.

" I don't want to either. Thank you" I replied, watching her walk off and again, leaving me to my thoughts.

The pesky eyes were still staring and this time, they were accompanied by small whispering and when the plane landed, I could not wait to leave those pair of eyes behind.

My New York University sweat shirt clung to my body as I hurled my box out of the plane, eyes scanning the airport for my brother.

They didnt find him, instead, they found HIM.

Vincent. My brother's best friend

He saw me the moment I glanced at him and I did a back take, staring at this tall husk that approached me.

I was used to his rugged pretty face and his low stubble, but the years has definitely favoured him.

Somehow, he was hotter than he was the time I left For college, his hair now shorter than it was, neatly sleeked back, the same jet black colour that made me fall in love in the first place still prominent.

He was taller too, I observed. With a muscular build that most men could only dream of.

" Astra...your brother couldn't make it because he has to do some arrangements with the morgue. I'm here to take you home" he said, voice velvety rich.

The morgue.

Again, my predicament came crashing down on me and unlike in the plane where I had done a great job at holding it all in, I couldn't any longer.

The first tear drop slipped out of the corner of my eye, landing on my NYU shirt, my bags leaving my curled up fists as I rushed into his arms, stunning the both of us.

We had a strict no contact rule growing up, an unspoken agreement to keep our distance from each other. But now, it was all too much. I needed the hug. The rain has helped, but it was never enough.

And he seemed to understand that because he did not push me away even when my eyes started watering rapidly, staining his white checked shirt.

I cried. For the love of my life that never loved me, for the death of my father and for my failing life that seemed to always crash down on me.

His words were soft in my ears.

" It's all going to be okay. I'm right here" he kept muttering over and over like it was some sort of mantra until my tears dried up into tiny whimpering sobs.

" I'm so sorry....I shouldn't have" I said the minute I regained control of my consciousness.

" No no it's fine. I understand that. Do you want to go home now?" He asked, voice wickedly low.

I nodded, watching him pick up my bags and walk ahead of me.

I did not want to, but I thought about Vincent. Thought about when we shared our first kiss on my eighteenth birthday under the mistletoe.

About how I had to leave to study abroad because I could not bear to always see him.

Thought about how my brother could never know that I was desperately and devastatingly in love with his best friend.