The Coast Between Us Novels & Stories

Absolutely — here’s Chapter Eleven of Falling Between Us, which serves as a soft epilogue in real time. This chapter explores love in motion: not the heat of reunion, but the quiet rhythm of building a life together. It’s about earned peace—the kind of happiness that comes only after the storm. ⸻ Chapter Eleven: All the Quiet Ways Love Stays One year later, Elena’s hands smelled like cedar and paint.

I said and a fair skinned girl with her black colored hair tied backwards in a single ponytail style, raised up her hand. “Alright, go on!” I permitted her. “Sir, is it true that the Corporations' is seeking to buy Beowing’s Airline? And secondly, what has the cooperation done about the homes affected by its oil pipeline East Bay coast spillage?” She said, and I smiled at her. Actually, I have been expecting this second question already.

You in? I knew what the answer should be. I also knew I wouldn’t give it. I typed back without rereading it. ME: Yeah. I’m in. Distance hadn’t made me safer. It had just made me reckless enough to stop pretending I was.

Chapter One — The Girl Who Burned Bridges The city never slept, not even when the moon was high and full, casting silvery light over the glittering glass towers of Crescent City. Neon signs buzzed. Taxi horns echoed. Humans hurried down sidewalks with coffee in one hand and stress in the other. Somewhere, music thumped from a club basement. And inside a tiny, too-warm coffee shop tucked between a bookstore and a vape lounge, Riley Hart was pretending not to exist.

Atlantic High. A school for dickheads and whores. Only a few of those rich kids didn't have a screw or two loose from their heads. The rest were full of themselves and knowing that I was in a country like Nigeria, where they could even burn off a gay person, I had kept my secret from everyone.

The fact that my stomach is not twisting and turning, even though I’ve been abhorring all forms of physical contact, is proof of it. “Where are we?” I ask, sliding out of the car. A few hundred feet from us, past the evergreen shrubbery peppering the shoreline and a sandy beach that looks untouched by man, there’s a lake. Or . . . I inhale once, deeply. Again. Salt. Sea. “Is that a river? The coast?” “An estuary. If you follow the shore all the way north to the end of the inlet, that’s where the ocean starts. Follow me.”

“Two cones, please. Celebration special.” The cashier blinked. “Celebration special?” He leaned an elbow against the counter, lowering his voice like it was a secret. “She passed midterms. I survived midterms. That’s historic. You should probably put our faces on the wall.” The cashier laughed nervously, but started scooping anyway. I stood there, unsure what to do, my fingers twisting together. The memory of Damian pressed at me like a bruise, but then Taylor turned, holding out a cone with two generous scoops balanced precariously on top.

I see sunlight slipping through cream curtains, the faint sound of waves crashing outside, and Luca’s steady breathing beside me. We found a small coastal town far south, hidden between cliffs and sea. It’s quiet here—untouched by the chaos of Manila, by the name De Silva. The locals don’t ask questions. They think we’re just another couple trying to start over. And in a way, they’re right.

He said, "No matter when it happened, It happened and I will take care of Us baby. You, Me, and our unborn baby. I am ready to take on whatever life throws Us, my love." He kissed me and I smiled and said It's Us against the world, my love. Book 2 is Titled Forever Us

I rest my pen back on the table and lean back on my chair waiting for him to tell me the good news. "So what is it?" I asked "You remember the project I was telling you about right" he asks "Yes and what about it" I ask "Well they just gave us the contract with our own terms and conditions. Grayson we are going international"he yells excitedly "And what is the country again?" I asked " Don't get mad. The U.S.A" he smirks and I was on my feet immediately. "What!!"I yell and he sighs "No!no,no, we are not signing anything"I shake my head.