Page 100 of Almost

He blinks in surprise. “Lia, first of all, it’s October. The water is going to be so cold we won’t be able to get in. Secondly, neither of us have swimsuits. Why do you want to go to the beach?”

“Because Mimi wouldn’t want us to spend today being sad. I know from personal experience the beach isn’t a place you can be sad. We don’t have to get in either,” I say, hoping he’ll say yes. “If you don’t want to go, then we don’t have to. I know today is hard, but I think it might make it a little bit easier.”

He pulls out of the cemetery without another word spoken, and I sit back in the seat understanding it’s better to let him be in his thoughts today.

He misses the exit for Charlotte, continuing to head east toward the beach, and I turn to look out the window, hiding my smile.

“Bash?”

Sebastian hums an acknowledgment that he heard me, not taking his eyes off the road.

“Je t’aime.”

The corners of his mouth tilt upward, and he reaches over to take my hand in his. “Je t’aime aussi.”

Another hour passes by before we’re pulling up to the parking lot of the beach we frequented as teenagers. We’re halfway to the shoreline when I grin at Sebastian, kicking my shoes off. I wiggle my toes in the cold sand, as he raises his eyebrows at me.

“Lia, you don’t have a swimsuit on,” he reminds me, and I back away from him, moving closer to the ocean calling to me like a siren.

“You know you want to get in. Come on, Bash. This is what living is all about!”

I run quickly into the waves, shrieking as the cold water hits my skin. He was definitely right. It’s far too cold to be in the water, but I don’t even care.

“Fuck, it’s freezing!” Bash swears right behind me, but when I look over my shoulder, he’s smiling. “This is ridiculous.”

“It’s only ridiculous if you let it feel ridiculous,” I reply, wading farther into the cold water, my wet dress getting weighed down.

“Lia, I think you’re crazy.”

Laughter bubbles out of me as the waves crash against my waist. It’s an accurate way to describe me. I don’t know a sane person who would get into the ocean without a changeof clothes in October, but I’m okay with being crazy. “Yeah, probably, but I’m also crazy about you. Mimi was right.” The last sentence is more for myself, but I’ve piqued his interest.

“What do you meanMimi was right?”

A gust of wind sends my hair flying into my face. “I mean that the last time I saw Mimi before she died, she gave me some good advice,” I admit, shivering slightly from the chill in the water.

“What did she say?” he asks curiously, and I hope to god this makes him feel better about how things have turned out.

“She told me to tell you I was still in love with you. Trust me, I tried denying it. I didn’t want to still have feelings with you. It had been so long since we were together, but even when I hated you, I loved you,” I admit, and he watches me intently, giving me his full attention. “Mimi told me I should tell you because you still loved me, but I didn’t believe her. I insisted you were happy with Kiera, and she was adamant you weren’t.”

“Thalia—”

A wave pushes me forward, and his hands fall to my hips to steady me. I laugh breathlessly, feeling at peace because I fulfilled Mimi’s last request of me. It might have been on a different timeline than she wanted, but everything worked out in the end. “The last thing Mimi asked of me was to tell you how I felt…to see if we could try again.”

I can practically see the gears spinning in his head as he connects the dots. “Were you?” he asks, and I don’t know what to tell him, but he sees it on my face regardless. “Fuck, you were,” Sebastian swears under his breath.

I slide my hands up the back of his sweater, warming my fingers on his heated skin. “Hey, it’s fine. We ended up together anyway. I-I was going to tell you at the funeral, butI didn’t know that you and Kiera were engaged until I saw the ring.”

“And then I said…” He falters, clearing his throat.

“As far as I’m concerned, that conversation never happened, okay? There’s no reason to dwell on the past.”

“I’m sorry,” Sebastian says, anguish bleeding into his voice. I shouldn’t have said anything. Today was not the day to have this conversation.

“It’s okay. It was an awful day, but what matters is, despite everything that could have gone wrong for us, we’re still us. What matters is Mimi was right, and I’m glad she was.” His eyes search mine, his shoulders finally relaxing as he believes me.

“We’re still us,” he agrees, and I slip away, ignoring how my body protests the lack of warmth. I sink my hands into the water, splashing him playfully.

“We’re still us, but no more heavy feelings today, okay? If we’re going to reminisce on the past, we can talk about how you almost burned down your grandparents’ house by trying to make a baked potato in the microwave after wrapping it in tinfoil.”

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