A North Carolina Autumn - Chapter 18: Chapter 18

"Good morning, love." At the sound of Rylie's voice, my eyelids flutter open, and I smile sleepily at her.
"Hi," I reply, my smile growing when she kisses me.
"It's your birthday." She says, and I groan.
"I'm so old!"
"Gee, thanks." Rylie laughs. "I must be ancient since I'm nearly two months older than you."
"My fiancé is basically a grandmother." I tease before kissing her. A month had passed since I'd proposed, but I was still trying to get used to the fact that Rylie was my fiancé.
"What do you say we go to breakfast this morning? Then I have plans for later on." Rylie grins.
"I'm down, but what are the other plans?"
"It's a surprise!"
I scoot closer to Rylie, stopping just shy of her lips. "You sure you don't want to tell me?"
I watch as she swallows. "Pretty sure..."
I gently brush my nose against hers before pressing the ghost of a kiss to the edge of her mouth. "Nothing will change your mind?"
"No... nothing." She replies, but her voice quivers.
"Mhm. I see." I slide a hand along her thigh and under the hem of her oversized t-shirt. "That's too bad." I whisper, using my other hand to brush my thumb against her bottom lip.
"What did you have in mind?" She whispers, not taking her eyes from mine.
"Depends on what you're willing to tell me." I reply, slipping both of my hands beneath her shirt and onto her waist, pulling her body against mine. She shivers as my slightly cold fingers travel over her bare skin
"I was sworn to secrecy..." She breathes as her eyes flick down to my lips.
"Oh, so there are other people involved?" I say with a raised eyebrow.
"Shit." Rylie grumbles. "I guess I walked right into that one." She says with a small laugh.
"That's a good bit of information." I say before slipping my hand beneath her panties. Rylie cries out, half in surprise, half in pleasure as I instantly begin moving my fingers quickly. I kiss her neck and she moans into my hair, clutching my back as I bring her closer to the edge.
When she finishes, I kiss her slowly, enjoying the feel of her lips on mine. "We'd better go get ready so we don't delay these plans of yours." I tease.
"But what about..."
"Come shower with me." I grin, and she happily follows me.
Planning a wedding was more stressful than I'd anticipated. Thankfully, our mothers were more than happy to help wherever we needed. Deciding between a spring and fall wedding had been the hardest part so far. Rylie and I both wanted fall, but that left only about three months to plan. Spring would have given us more time, but it turns out, without mothers helping, time wasn't an issue. So a November wedding was decided.
I was still working my normal schedule, and taking a few photography classes every other day. It would be nice to have a day for... whatever Rylie planned.
After our shower, we dress quickly before heading over to our favorite brunch restaurant for French toast. I get mine with strawberry jam, fresh strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and whipped cream. The middle is filled with custard.
Rylie, for some unknown reason, chooses plain syrup for hers. "Do you hate life or something?" I ask as she takes her first bite.
"No, why?" She laughs.
"Plain, Rylie. Why would you choose plain when they have so many options!"
"I like my syrup." She replies nonchalantly. "You forget my mom grew up in Vermont."
"Right. They do like their syrup over there." I laugh. "Want to try mine?"
"Yes, please." She grins. "Damn, maybe I should've gone with a custard filled one."
"I told you." I laugh, shaking my head.
When we finish our food, Rylie and I make the quick walk back to the apartment, and she seems to get chattier the closer we get. "Are you okay?" I ask with a laugh as I lace my fingers between hers.
"I'm fine! Just excited for your birthday present."
"Oh? What is it?" I grin.
"Can't tell you! You just have to wait and see! And no," She smiles, pressing a finger against my lips. "You can't get this one out of me. Although, I think you'll enjoy at least one of the presents later tonight." She smirks, and I raise my eyebrows.
"I like the sound of that." I reply.
"I'm gonna like the sounds it brings from you." Rylie mumbles under her breath, but I catch every word.
"I- you what?"
"Nothing!" She chirps before running down the hallway to our apartment and through the door without me.
"Rylie!" I yell, hurrying after her. She doesn't even shut the door, and Harvey comes moseying out the door at the sound of my voice. "Mommy is being naughty." I tell him as I scoop him into my arms. He looks up at me with his tongue hanging from his mouth, and I laugh.
"That's what you're gonna want to call me after tonight!" Rylie pokes her head out the door before disappearing again.
"Oh my God." I giggle before passing through the doorway.
"Surprise!" Several voices sound at once and I jump, nearly dropping Harvey. The kitchen is decorated with colorful streamers and filled with balloons. I mean filled.
As I walk farther into the room and somehow shut the door with only a few balloons slipping out, the rest of the balloons reach up to my knees. I consider setting Harvey down, but know he'd completely disappear beneath the balloons.
"What on earth-" I stop as I study the faces of each person standing behind the counter. Most of my cousins are there, including Sawyer, Jensen and Olivia. Sam, Jeremy and Austin stand next to them, each with matching grins. Rylie stands next to the fridge, leaning against it with a smug look on her face.
You did this for me? I want to say, but words won't come. She seems to understand anyway, and mouths an 'I love you'.
I hurry over to my cousins and friends, hugging them each tightly. "How did you all manage to be here?" I ask happily.
"Rylie has had this planned basically since she woke up from the coma." Sawyer explains, and Rylie shrugs, confirming his words. "We all had plenty of time to make sure we could make it."
"I really appreciate this, guys. Thank you." I turn to Rylie and kiss her quickly. "I love you." I whisper into her hair.
"I love you. Ready for phase two?" She asks the group, and they nod.
Phase two, huh?
"Can I have Harvey? I know you planned on dropping him off at the vet, but he would have so much fun with us and I'll keep an eye on him the whole time!" Olivia rambles, and Rylie laughs before grabbing the leash from a hook on the wall.
"Sure, he's all yours. Just don't let him escape." She winks
Even if Harvey got off the leash, he rarely ran more than a few feet ahead before hurrying back to us, so I knew Rylie wasn't worried.
"We're ready when you are!" Jensen grins. Rylie grabs a duffle bag from on top of a stool before leading the way down to the cars.
Sam, Jeremy and Austin ride with Rylie and I, while everyone else piles into the cars they drove here in. "Where are we going?" I ask Rylie as I slip my hand into hers.
"You'll see." She grins.
"Should've expected that answer." I laugh.
"Hey Aspen," Jeremy says from the back. "Have you heard anything about Gabe?"
Oh. Ohhh. I'm suddenly hit with the realization that none of them know what happened. I never even told Rylie.
"He..." I clear my throat, and feel Rylie's hand tighten around mine. "I thought I told y'all, but I guess I spaced with everything that was happening when I found out."
"Found out what?" Rylie asks, and I hear fear in her voice. No doubt she was thinking he was out of jail, not that he was dead.
"Gabe was killed several weeks ago. I found out while you were in the coma, Ry."
"Shit." I hear Sam say from the back seat.
"Are you serious?" Rylie says in a tight voice.
"I'm really sorry, I meant to tell you sooner. It's just with everything..."
"Aspen, I'm not mad. I just... wow." She blows out a breath. "He's really gone?"
"Yeah." I answer quietly.
"It's about damn time. I was about ready to murder him myself." Jeremy says and a laugh bursts from my mouth.
"I almost did kill him." Rylie says softly. "The night he found Aspen."
"Shit, Ry. I knew you had a scary side but I didn't know you were capable of murder." Sam jokes.
"Yeah well, Gabe was the one exception." Rylie laughs. Then, she turns to me for a moment before focusing back on the road. "How did he die?"
"Apparently a gang cough wind of what he'd done, and they got him alone outside during free time one day. Hadley didn't give me many details, so I had to pry the information from Sawyer. Long story short, he was beaten to death."
"Long story long?" Austin asks.
"Torture. When the prison guards finally got to him, fingernails were missing, a potato peeler was by his side, seeming to be the culprit of the wounds on his arms and legs, and his face was nearly unrecognizable, thanks to a broom handle and the gang members' fists."
"Oh my God. A potato peeler?" Sam sounds slightly disgusted, and a quick glance at his face confirms it.
"Yeah. Sawyer said that wasn't all, but he didn't want to pass on everything else. It was enough to make several prison guards vomit."
"Sounds like he almost got what he deserved." Jeremy comments.
"Yeah. I agree with a small laugh.
After about two hours, Rylie stops at a gas station, and the guys hurry out of the car to use the restroom. Her hand lands on my arm before I can open the door.
"Aspen, wait. I'm so sorry about you having to deal with the news of Gabe on your own. I know that despite what he did to you, a part of you still cared about him, because that's just who you are. So I can't imagine how hard it must've been when you found out. I wish I could've been there for you."
She gets it. I shouldn't be surprised. She gets me.
"You were in a coma, Ry. It wasn't your fault." I respond softly.
"I know. But I didn't even think to ask how you were doing with all of that. I should've asked."
"Rylie, look at me." I take her chin and gently lift until she meets my eyes. "You've done nothing wrong. The trial was months ago, the attack too. We both thought we could finally move on from it all. From Gabe. But now, we really can."
"Why are you so good to me?" Rylie whispers.
"Because you deserve it. You've given me so much, it's the least I can do to repay you."
"I love you so much. You know that, right?" Rylie responds, toying with the ring on my finger.
"I do." I reply before kissing her softly. "I love you."