Goodbye

"The sun is almost up," he pointed out. "We should get back and get a nice spot to view it come up." She nodded and they walked out of the water, both feeling confident in each other's company. They dressed up and he helped her wring water from her hair, as he did this, she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She gasped after seeing the dozen missed calls from her sister and best friend.

"Everything okay?" He asked, full of concern.

"My sister," she whispered as she pressed the phone against her ear. 

"Celia where the hell are you?" Amelia's voice came from the other side. Celia wasn't sure if she traced worry or anger in her sister's voice. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"Amelia I'm okay, I'm at the beach." She responded.

"What do you mean the beach? What are you doing there? "

"I'm with Achilles," she said and turned to him with a wry smile. "We came-"

"Who the hell is Achilles Celia?"  Amelia interrupted.

"We met at the concert. I'm okay Amelia." She repeated.

"You're at the beach with some random stranger you met at the concert? What the hell is wrong with you? I swear to God if you don't get your ass back here in five minutes you're gonna regret it!" And she hang up.

"We have to go back Achilles." She told him softly, a trace of regret in her voice. Regret that their brilliant night was brought to a sudden halt. "My sister-" he didn't let her finish. 

"Yeah sure," he said as he bent to pick their shoes. 

They walked to the car and he backed up, turning back how they had come. "I'm really sorry about this Achilles." She whispered.

"Hey," he drawled as he reached for her hand and squeezed it gently. "You have nothing to be sorry for. If anything, I should be the one to apologize. I shouldn't have taken you away-" She cut in.

"No Achilles, that is probably the best thing that has happened to me in forever. I've had the best night of my life and I have you to thank for, I would do it over and over again without any hesitation."

He smiled, stealing a glance. "I'm glad you feel that way. I guess what I should be really saying is thank you for agreeing to do this. It's not every day that you trust a random stranger and agree to wander off into the night with him." He paused as he took a turn. "And for what it's worth, this was the best night of my life too. I'll forever remember it."

They sat in silence for the rest of the drive, holding hands. She felt horrible that this was goodbye, she hated that he was going away. Yes, he had said he would come back once in a while, but who knew when that would be? Her eyes felt heavy, but she managed to fight back tears. 

At the horizon, they saw the faint orange rays of the morning sun. She smiled, imagining how beautiful they would have been if they had watched the sun rise at the beach. 

The entrance to the concert grounds was busy, with people walking out after a night well spent. Achilles managed to maneuver his way in as Celia's eyes scanned the area, darting all over until she saw her sister and best friend at some distance from them. She pointed them out and Achilles drove towards them.

They both alighted and he walked over to her side as Amelia walked towards them in quick, long strides, with venom filled eyes.

"You are in so much trouble young lady!" She barked at her, her eyes shifting from Celia to poor Achilles.

Amelia took her sister's hand and yanked her away from Achilles' side. "And you, what the hell do you think you're doing running off with my sister? She is seventeen for crying out loud. I shoul-" Celia jumped in.

"Amelia you don't understand."

"You don't get to say a word!" She warned before turning back to Achilles.

"What if something happened to her? Huh? God knows you could be some weird psychopath who-" Celia cut in again, this time with a firmer voice.

"That's enough!" She then walked and stood between him and her sister. "You don't know what you're talking about. This is as much my fault as it is his, okay? He didn't force me to do anything, I chose to do this, so give him a break." 

Achilles was stunned. From all the conversations they had during the night, he never imagined Celia to stand up to her sister like that. 

"I'm okay Amelia, nothing happened, okay? So please, back off." She pleaded in a calmer voice.

Amelia sighed, "I never wanna see you with him, again. Come on, we're going home."

"At least let me say goodbye," she requested looking into her sisters eyes.

Amelia was about to protest but there was something inside Celia's eyes that made her hold back. She couldn't quite place her finger on it but she stood down. "You have ten seconds." She informed her before walking away with Laurel.

"I'm really sorry about all that." Celia turned to Achilles with wet eyes.

"I probably deserved it," he conceded. "And I would go through it a million times over if it meant I get to experience the night we had again."

She was flushed, moved by that. "This really sucks!" She cried biting her lip. "I wish you didn't have to go."

"Me too, believe me. If there was anything I could do about it, I would." He took her arms and pulled her in for an embrace.

"I'm really gonna miss you Achilles." She whispered into his ears.

He didn't respond, he didn't need to, he felt the exact same way, and she knew it.

"Goodbye Celia." He spoke softly, slowly letting go.

"Goodbye Achilles," she replied wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand.

"I have something for you." He said and walked to the back door of his car. He came back with a brown envelope which he handed to her.

"What's this?" She asked looking at him.

He didn't answer, just smiled and took a step closer and gave her a warm kiss on her forehead. "Goodbye Celia." He finished.

She silently watched as he got into his car and drove off just with the sun fully risen. She wiped her eyes again and walked to where Amelia and Laurel stood. They got into a cab, with Celia siting next to her best friend.

"Was it worth it?" Laurel asked in a whisper as Amelia walked around the car.

"A thousand percent." Celia replied with a smile.

As the cab drove out of the concert grounds, Celia looked inside the envelope to find all the polaroid photos they had taken throughout the night and his tiny mp3 player. She smiled and pulled out a photo. It was a photo of the at the go-kart track, with his hands in her hair. She flipped the photo and read what was written at the back with his voice in her head.

'We met, and we talked, and it was epic. But then the sun came up, and reality set in.'

And it was true.

She looked out the cab window and smiled to herself. How accurate that statement was.

 (END)