The Upside of Falling Back To You

bonus | second chances [5k + one year anniversary]

hi everyone!

thank you for 5k reads on this book, even before the one year anniversary of the book (published dec 29, 2020, first chapter was out on new years!) <3 i'm so glad that so many of you decided to check this out and it really means a lot.

i really missed writing about asteria and ronan so i figured that this was a great excuse to write a bonus chapter :)

(i'm also super burned out from school + uni apps + physics class mostly, so i need a way to calm myself down lol)

so, i welcome you what would've been the last chapter/epilogue of this story. this takes place in another timeline where asteria and ronan don't get back together at the end of the book, which i mentioned was another possible ending of the story. 

hope you enjoy <3

☙

november 2030; los angeles, california

EVERY NOW AND THEN, I think about how I left him in the airport.

I can't leave us like this. I have to- I want stay friends, Ronan.

So that's what we did. We hugged it out and stayed friends -- or as close as friends as we could manage. We both didn't want to leave everything a bigger mess than what it started off as nearly a year ago, but we couldn't go back to what we were before that fight in his kitchen. We couldn't go back to what we established. It just got... too weird.

I didn't tell him that I had a ticket to Los Angeles. I just wished him a good flight. I told him to come back for Christmas. I told him that I'd have homemade hot chocolate waiting for him when he came back.

He told me to go visit him instead. He said to come visit sometimes, that whenever I found myself in LA, I shouldn't be afraid to drop by. He gave me his address. And then he turned around with his luggage in tow and left me in Berkeley again as he went back to living his dream life. Without me.

Well.

I stand in front of Ronan's Los Angeles home, probably in too thick of a sweater than I would've liked. Still, I'm shivering. Nerves run down my spine as I contemplate whether I should be here or not. I went through all those security guards to be here, might as well finish my journey.

His mansion was right by the ocean. It looked like it had one of the best views. The stone path led me to his front door, hockey sticks perching on the doorframe. Just like his place in Berkeley. 

My hand runs down the strap of my side bag as my hands shake. I was here, there was no point in turning back. I was delaying this trip for a week now, I have to do this eventually, right? Could I just stay in the city for a month and avoid him at all costs?

Parv would murder me.

I press the doorbell, the sound ringing throughout the house. He's probably still asleep, maybe I should turn back. There was no point in ruining his-

The door opens. On the other side stands a woman my age -- caramel skin, big brown eyes, brown hair with gold streaks. She was wearing an old t-shirt and shorts. She looked too pretty to be someone working here. "Hi, can I help you?"

"Oh-" I gulped. "Sorry, I think I might have the wrong house." I begin to step backwards. "I'll just go-"

But there's a look of curiosity in her eyes as she looks at me, like I'm a familiar face who's name was just on the tip of her tongue.