Chapter 13 - "Today, we're rewriting history."

After finishing breakfast, Luka and I bid our goodbyes to Maria with promises to be back in a week. We were full to the brim with a little less money in our possession. Once again, Maria refused to let us pay, so Luka slipped the money in her tip jar, making sure to add a little extra.

For the next stop, I was blindfolded. There was a weird stirring in my chest, being in a moving car and not able to see, but I trusted Luka with my life. He'd never do anything to put me in harm's way.

Not like my ex.

I felt the car lurch to a stop and looked around as if my vision would suddenly come back to me. I itched to remove the blindfold but I'd promised, and I tried not to break my promises. Besides, I'd find out soon.

Luka lifted me out of the truck, keeping his hand on the small of my back while we walked. When we came to a stop, he ripped it off fast, and I had to blink rapidly to rid the blackness from my eyes. When I did, I nearly gasped.

We were at the park we'd continually gone to as kids. Memories flashed through my eyes like movie scenes of all the times the six of us would run here to escape anything bothering us. So many times our parents had come, yelling and practically barring teeth because we hadn't come when the street lights came on. Often Luka's mom carried a flip flop or a wooden spoon and whoever was the last out would get a swat to the behind.

It was always Luka, though. I was the fattest kid of all six of us and running was never my forte. Still, Luka lived by the notion never leave a man - or woman - behind, before he was ever in the army. He'd push me forward with him, then just as we got the entrance of the park, he'd propel me forward so he received the blow.

It wasn't meant to be hard, but Mrs. Sanchez didn't know her own strength. I knew it hurt every time, but still Luka would always stay behind to take it for me. Then we'd repeat the same day, laughing away our cares while we played on the teeter totter and spun around on the merry-go-round.

We'd take turns on the rickety swing sets in the park, taking them two at a time while two people pushed and two played chicken. We'd race on the slides, often adding water in the summer and putting a Slip 'N Slide at the bottom to extend our range. The momentum would build so fast we'd often go straight into the lake, and laugh until the sun set.

Many sand castles were built here in our youth. While just small children we'd come here building sand castles, proclaiming they would one day be our houses. Luka would build one and tell me where I'd live in his house. I'd build mine and explain it was for Owen and I, just for Luka to run over it with his Tonka truck.

Life was so simple then. And yet, sometimes it still was. But sometimes it very sadly wasn't.

"You okay, Cheese Puff?"

I nodded, remembering I hadn't said anything and smiled. "The park. Why here?"

"You always said your favorite thing to do as a kid was swinging. You said it made you feel free, weightless and for that short moment on the swings you didn't feel like Chubby Chloe, or the fat kid, you just felt like Chloe. You said you were flying."

"You remember that?"

He looked into my eyes and I got lost in a sea of green. "I remember everything about you."

I paused, enjoying the silence before he continued. "You loved the slide, because the rush went to your head and the wind whipped your hair. You liked the teeter totter because at the top you were taller than me and Owen and your brother. You liked the sand, because you got to build your dream house for free, even if it was just made of sand."

I smiled at all the memories, nodding my head to his words. "So, Cheese Puff, this part of the date is all about childhood. This is a chance for me to redo the awful memories from the park that plague the good ones. Today, you're going to build a sand castle in that sand pit, imagine whomever you want in it, and I won't knock it down."

I grinned, allowing him to continue. "Today, you're going to stand at the top of the slide and go down without fear of falling. Without me being anywhere close to pushing you off."

"Today, you're going to get on the teeter totter, and I'm going to weigh the other side down with those boulders. Then I'm going to walk up to you, and I'm going to hug you, and for once you'll be taller than me when we hug."

"Today, you're going to swing on those swings and fly your pretty little heart out, because no matter how much you weighed then or how much you weigh now, to me you've always just been Chloe. You've always just been Cheese Puff."

"Today, we're rewriting history."

I felt tears in my eyes at his words. He wanted to right his wrongs from childhood. I'd already told him I forgave him for everything, that we could start anew and it would be okay. But no matter if I'd forgiven him or not, he wanted to remake history and make it better. And that warmed my heart.

And we did just what he said.

We spent hours at the park, rewriting our history. Though nothing could erase the way we treated each other, the events of today would cover over them, sort of like taping over a tape already on the VCR. We couldn't get rid of the memory, but we could make memories over top of that memory.

Luka brought me to the teeter totter first. It was weird wrapping my arms around him from above him and him resting his head on my stomach, but it almost made our hug more intimate. Like being taller than him was something good and something freeing.

When he lifted me from that, we made our way to the slide. True to his word, Luka not only didn't push me but stayed a few places in front of the slide to watch. I did it a few times, my smile not faltering under his watchful gaze. When my thighs felt raw from rubbing against the hot plastic of the slide, we went on to our next destination.

We sat in the sand pit, like two children, and built our dream homes. Like when we were children, Luka told me everyone's place in his house including my own. In this variation, though, him and I shared a room and I blushed fervently at the insinuation.

Also different to our childhood, my dream home had changed. I no longer shared a room with Owen with Giana and Zoey next door and Chris and Luka in the back she'd of the sand house. Now, we were all participants in the house and I had my own room.

But Luka had a conjoined one to mine. I didn't voice that, though.

We spent the most time on the swings. We swung for hours, flailing our legs with no one to push us. We talked about everything and nothing all at once. Luka discussed the army, how it made him feel, his plans for retirement in the future. I mentioned my teaching job, how exciting I was to help shape the future generation. We talked about his family and mine, we talked about Zoey and Giana and Owen.

Before we finally touched on the topics I'd been waiting for.

I watched with patient eyes as Luka jumped off the swing he'd preoccupied. I jumped too, expecting to land painfully on my ankle but instead landed straight into the arms of Luka.

"I'll always catch you when you fall," Luka murmured, setting me down gently on the mulch.

His words held memory in my mind, reminding them of when he'd recently said them and I smiled.

We made our way silently to the old rusted metal bench that faced the park. Luka sat first and I sat next to him, accidentally brushing our legs against one another's.

Or maybe on purpose.

He sighed sadly, throwing his head skyward before he shook his head. "Would you believe me if I said I never wanted you to find out?"

I shrugged. "Depends what you never wanted me to find out."

"A lot of things," Luka told me, honesty dripping from his every word. "The first day I met Chris, I saw you first."

I faltered at that, a confused expression taking over. And I was a little more than confused. "That can't be true. We were babies, you don't remember that."

"You're right, I don't. I have my Mamá to tell me. She placed me down in front of you guys for our first play date, and I wobbled straight over to you. There's a video, she's never showed me it. She said she would when the time was right. Mamá claims I tottered right over to you and handed you my sippy cup full of juice."

I giggled at that, allowing him to continue. "The first memory I have is of you. We were four, and I remember vividly everything about that day. It was bright and sunny out, and we were in this park. You'd just fallen off the swing set and hurt your knee. I remember taking a band-aid out of Mamás purse and sloppily putting it over your scrape. You were in a black sundress, with bright red ribbons in your hair to match your sandals."

"I can't believe you remember something like that."

He nodded, a small longing smile on his face. His green eyes held fondness as he remembered and I studied his sharp jaw as I waited for him to go on. "You couldn't stop crying. I asked what I could do to get you to stop crying. Chris had long forgotten about us, off playing on the slide but I stayed there until you told me what would make you feel better. I offered a lollipop I hadn't eaten, but you refused. You asked for Cheese Puffs."

My eyes widened. So that's where the nickname came from. "I didn't have any, and I sure as hell didn't have any money, so I lied to my Mamá for the first time ever and told her I needed a dollar because I'd dropped my lollipop and I was hungry. She gave it to me, and I ran right over to that vending machine, got the last bag, and brought it over to you. You were ecstatic and I asked myself if you were ever really sad, but I didn't get to ask because you wrapped me in a hug and kissed my cheek. Called me your hero."

I smiled at that. I didn't remember it, but I had no doubt he was telling the truth. "From that moment on, every time I see Cheese Puffs I thought about you. It was hard not to since we were always together anyway. Of course I was Chris's best friend, and please forgive me, but I always sought you out in the crowd first."

My smile fell as I thought about how he'd treated me. "Then why did you treat me so bad?"

Luka ran his fingers down my cheek softly, a sad look in his eyes as he tucked a piece of hair away. "We've got two more places to go, and a couple more memories to reminisce about first. Then you'll find out."

So I allowed him to pull me up, noting the way the sun descended in the sky. We weren't done yet, but the warm feeling in my stomach said I was in for something great the rest of the day.

A/N: Two chapters just like that, boom. Let's go for three? No promises, but I'll do my best ;)