The Upside of Falling Back To You

chapter thirty two | not soulmates afterall?

THE NEXT MORNING - or, well, more like the afternoon, I can't stop myself from checking my social media. It's an awful addiction, stuck with me since ninth grade when I first got my phone and made my accounts. When I open up Instagram, the first post is the same as the one from when I shut my phone down when I went to bed.

It was from Ronan's account. The first picture was a shitty picture of the sun coming up over the lake. The caption read:

had coffee at 3am and stayed up to watch the sunrise!! don't wake us up until 4pm, thanks - xx aster

The clock in the corner of the screen reads 3:58PM. Good to know that people took my message to heart.

It takes me a minute to get a sense of where I am. That should have been my first thoughts, but it wasn't. Thankfully, I'm not in some sketchy motel, but between the covers of my own bed. Stars line the ceiling above me.

There's a knock on the door, and whoever was on the other side didn't bother to wait for a response. The door swings open, and in comes Cas. He's still in his school clothes, bag hanging over his shoulder. "Wake up, asshole." I push off of the bed and sit up, rubbing my eyes. "Can't believe you made a celebrity sleep on your floor."

I'm staring at my brother - or well, staring into space in his direction, trying to process what he said. My brain was still foggy, and it takes a minute to...

It was like a jolt of energy rushing through me that wakes me up, and I look over the side of my bed. Just like Cas said, Ronan had his face buried into his pillow. He stirs awake, and I could see his eyes open. "Hey Cas, how was your day?"

"It was great, thanks for asking." Cas looks to me as if expected me to ask. I rolled my eyes. "Anyways, Mom wants you to get up and finally eat something - both of you."

Cas leaves, leaving the door ajar. I let out a huge yawn before sitting up, legs hanging just over where Ronan was lying. He sat up too and leaned against the night stand.

"Cas is right, I should've let you sleep in Griff's room. At least there's a mattress in there."

"No, it's fine." He began rolling up my sleeping bag and handed me back the pillow. "I was so tired to the point where I could've collapse on the driveway and had a good night's sleep."

"So, you're feeling better?" I asked him, remembering the earlier conversation.

He doesn't respond right away, his eyes staring into the distance. Ronan bites his lip. "A little bit, I guess. I should probably, you know, head over there right now to make sure if Vi and Mom are okay."

"Do you need me to come?"

Ronan was quick to shake his head. "I'll be fine." He could read the concern on my face, I could tell. "Really, Aster. I'll call you if anything is wrong."

He pulls himself off the ground, and I watch as he takes a look around. I know he wants to say something, I know he probably wants to talk about how my room looks almost exactly like it did seven years ago, except for-

"ASTERIA! RONAN!" It's Cas, calling from downstairs. "If you don't come downstairs in the next five minutes I'm going to tell the paparazzi that-"

Those were enough words to get us moving.

☙

NOW THAT THE weather was finally warming up, me and the girls decided to meet up for a patio lunch at our favourite restaurant. It's been a while since we managed to all hang out, with everyone busy with school, work, weddings and children. But somehow, magically, we got our day off.