Soul Harbour

0.60|when walking away|

She needed them and, her head was still wrapping around the idea that they needed her. How could she have even thought of leaving? Carlotta, sweet, beautiful, loving, funny Carlotta had just begun to skip in between her walks. She needed Auburn as much as Auburn needed her. If Carlotta had given Auburn a hint of what it would have been to have the affections of a mother, Auburn had given her an opportunity to feel what it would have been to have a daughter. She couldn't leave Carlotta without helping her look for her daughter. It was worth the effort. Staying was worth it.

And shy, humble, nervous, beautiful Anthony didn't even know half of how amazing he was. He lived under the shadow of his elder brother, he didn't even complain, he just believed he wasn't good enough when he was so good. He needed to be told that when he played on the field, he was his best person, he was strength, confidence, wind itself, that when he smiled the whole world seemed much better, that he was like a small shard of sunlight that warmed the whole room, everyone huddled around him, that she craved his touch, his lips, his words, that one day when he would reach for his hair and look away nervously, she'd kiss him right there and mess up his hair herself. Oh God, it must have taken him so much courage to tell her about his feelings especially when she was always aloof, when in reality she was just scared of getting too close only to lose him. If she needed him in her life, he needed her too. So what if he didn't have family over for his important games, she was there and so was Carlotta.

Family wasn't always blood, sometimes family was a middle-aged crazy woman who threw eggs at little children and a young man who strolled art museums with you and ordered the weirdest-sounding food on the menu. And home, home wasn't necessarily a house with a picket white fence but maybe, just maybe, if you were at the right time, at the right place, it was a dingy little, side-street coffee shop in Madrid.

You could be anyone, the type who want to wander but never do, the type who wander, sometimes lost, the type who want to stay, the type who have nowhere to stay, you will find your own coffee shop. It could be a bench in the park, your bed, the dining room where you squabble over the food, the odd board game you once played with cousins; any place that makes you feel whole no matter how irreparably broken you otherwise thought yourself to be.

Auburn Ivy, walked back for the first time in her life. She didn't know whether it was going to turn out all fine in the end, she didn't know if courage would fail her at the next step, she didn't know anything except the fact that she had been her happiest here and with them.

As the door swung open, the wind-chimes tinkling faintly, the draught of warm air meeting her skin, the sound of chairs being expectantly drawn back, falling on the floor, the happy tears and smiles in their eyes were worth it all.

***

Thank you for being patient with this story. It is your patience which results in this story having hardly any plotholes and typos.

Aubony is progressing along nicely, ya? Upcoming chapters will now focus more on Anthony's life and backstory so stay tuned.

Also, A HUGE THANKS FOR THESE LOVELY GRAPHICS

by the _Lost-Cause_

by the_teenybopper_20

I love them so much, you two. You're both amazing. Ily 💜

And that's it for now, folks. Don't forget to vote and comment at your fav parts x