CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT !

[ social media, real life ]

— ❝ IT'S ALL GOING TO BE OKAY ❞ 💌

ʳᵉᵃˡ ˡⁱᶠᵉ !

it is now the next thursday, the anniversary of astoria's father's passing. the beach has unveiled itself in a cloak of warmth that's unusual this time of year. the sand is warm beneath her feet, and the sky above paints a canvas of indigo. it's speckled with a myriad of stars twinkling like scattered diamonds, while the waning crescent moon casts a soft, ethereal glow upon her. astoria smiles at the rhythmic lull of the waves, mesmerizing her as a means of distraction from what day it is.

she didn't expect today to come so soon. she can't believe it's been a whole year since that dreaded day — the day that everything went quiet.

her breathing quickens at the memory of that dark, glum hospital room. astoria had always hated the screeching beeping of the machinery in the room, but nothing compared to the silence that followed once the universe gave up on her father and let him rest.

she remembers the moment clearly, too clearly. it keeps her awake at night. for a year, astoria has been unable to sleep without some sort of noise echoing around her, whether it's someone else's breathing or music or whatever else. as long as she's not laying in bed in complete silence, she'll be okay.

she used to like the quiet, it brought her peace. but now it just invokes memories of the day her life fell apart.

her breathing is uncontrollably fast now, the silence drowning her mind even though there's sound to be heard all around her. her mind can't focus on it though, the silence closing in around her.

rory!

the voice is muffled, but astoria still hears the dragged out syllables of her beloved nickname. they're so quiet, like she's underwater, but she recognizes them all the same.

"hey, hey, hey," chris blurts quickly, throwing an arm around her shoulder and pulling her into him for a short hug. when he sees the sadness lingering in her eyes, he frowns. "what's the matter?"

"nothing," she quips, blinking and snapping out of her trance. chris furrows his eyebrows, his expression turning into a mix of confusion and concern.

"i thought we were done hiding our feelings and shit," he jokes, taking her hand. he then sits down cross-legged on the sand, pulling her down with him. astoria sighs, gazing out to the ocean behind them.

"it's just weird," she says, shoulders drooping as she analyzes the rhythm of the waves. "i can't believe it's been a year."

"me too," chris replies, following her line of sight and looking out to the ocean. "i know it's not the same, but i really miss him too. we all do."

when she doesn't answer, chris begins to awkwardly fidget in his spot in the sand. "sorry, i shouldn't have compared it to you. it's not the same at all," he rambles, nervousness to be heard in his voice.

astoria chuckles, shaking her head and turning to look at him. "don't be sorry, bozo," she tells him. "he loved you."

"i know," chris says then, a grin forming on his lips.

"you're so smug, i hate you," astoria rolls her eyes, standing up. chris' jaw drops in mock offense.

"you wound me, astoria," he says sarcastically.

"you'll survive, christopher," she shrugs, taking his hand and pulling him up off of the sand. she pulls a little too forcefully though, since chris gets up but also falls onto her, smothering her in a hug.

he wraps his arms tightly around her, and astoria has never felt quite so safe in her entire life. his scent warms her and she never wants to leave the comfort of his embrace.

she looks up at him, finding chris already looking down at her and smiling. he then presses a soft kiss to her forehead, whispering a short "i love you" onto the warmth of her skin before pulling away.

"ria! are you ready?" they both hear mason call out. "we're getting started!"

astoria pulls away from chris' hug and smooths out her shirt. her boyfriend's blue eyes meet her brown ones and he smiles at her.

"you ready?" he asks.

"of course," she answers, honestly sounding more confident than she feels. astoria takes chris' hand in her own and leads him back to the group, where everyone has now arrived.

kali is here with her parents and siblings, as are skye and luna. luna has even gone to the lengths of bringing her cat to the beach for the celebration, who doesn't look happy about getting sand on his paws. nick and matt are here too, marylou and jimmy conversing with astorias mom whilst the triplets talk to mason and help him with the lanterns.

"this is so beautiful, rory," kali says, rushing up to the girl and hugging her tightly. astoria smiles, a laugh escaping her lips.

"thanks, kals," she answers.

the chatter between everyone quietens down a second later, and astoria and masons mom begins handing out a blank lanterns to everyone. on the floor by mason's feet is a large bucket of markers.

"thank you all for coming," astoria says, giving her mother a warm smile as she hands her a lantern. "mason and i brought some markers, so you can write a message — or whatever you'd like — on it before you send it off."

everyone smiles, reaching for the box and picking out different colored markers. some choose to sit on the sand, whilst some just write on the lantern standing up. astoria decides to take a few steps away, sitting down on a more secluded part of the beach to have some privacy.

she has no clue what to write.

the sinking feeling in her stomach from earlier has returned, and suddenly nothing is fine anymore. she thought she could do this, thought she could handle everything and put on a brave face.

she hears footsteps behind her, and before she can register it, chris has sat down next to her. he has a lantern and an orange marker in his right hand, and rests his left one on astoria's thigh. she smiles at him sadly, not sure what to say. originally, she wanted to be alone, but his presence has actually brought her some comfort.

she's too busy looking at chris to realize that skye and nick have joined too, sitting down opposite her. kali and luna join too, sitting together to astoria's left. matt joins a moment later, handing astoria a packet of twizzlers before sitting down opposite her.

astoria looks up at all of her friends, feeling tears prick her eyes as they all sit there silently. they're writing on their lanterns peacefully in their own worlds. she could cry at how well they know her, knowing she would appreciate them being there but not speaking to give her peace.

the triplets and kali, for example, knew astoria's dad from a very young age. they grew up with him, spending weekends in the santos' backyard playing in the treehouse he built for all of them. they have a lot to say about him.

but then there's also people like luna, who only joined their friend group after her father passed away. it had been a difficult time for astoria, and she still regrets how distant she had been towards the girl in the first few months of knowing her. she's just lucky that luna is the most understanding girl in the world, because she knew astoria was hurting and gave her time to heal before they became closer.

despite being a newer friend, luna has still managed to write a surprising amount on her lantern. from the corner of her eye, astoria can just about make out what luna has written.

i wish i could've met you just to tell you how amazing rory is. i'm so grateful to have her in my life.

right now is the closest astoria has come to crying all day. she may have lost her favorite person, but in turn her life has been kind to her. she has the most loving family, friends, and now also boyfriend that anyone could ask for. and even though he's not around anymore, she was lucky to have the most wonderful father too.

she glances over to chris' lantern, spotting what he's written in his messy handwriting. it's something she would've probably made fun of a few months ago but now she finds it endearing. the sprawled orange letters are part of him, so she immediately finds herself loving them.

i took care of her.

astorias breath hitches, catching chris' attention. his gaze drifts to her before following her line of sight down to his lantern. he smiles, holding it up to her proudly.

"sick, right?" he asks, and astoria can't help but burst out laughing at his strange choice of words.

"yeah," she agrees. "sick."

chris chuckles too, before shifting his gaze to look at her lantern, which is still blank. astoria feels embarrassed. how has everyone been able to find something to write to her dad except her?

"i hate this," she whispers so that only chris can hear. his expression softens, and he gently squeezes her thigh. it's comforting, and she revels in the touch.

"it's all going to be okay," he whispers back. astoria freezes, repeating the words over and over again in her head.

it's all going to be okay.
it's all going to be okay.
it's all going to be okay.

she nods, finally taking off the cap of her dark blue marker.

tudo vai ficar bem.

it's all going to be okay.

eu te amo.

i love you.

chris looks down at what she's written, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion because he obviously can't understand the words.

"is everyone done?" mason asks, walking over to the group. nick gasps, scrambling to write down his last sentence before mason snatches the purple marker from his hands.

"times up, nicolas," he says jokingly, and nick just rolls his eyes. "my mom wants us to set them off at sunset."

they walk back to the group, where jimmy and kali's dad hold matches to light everyone's lanterns. astoria walks over to jimmy, who gives her a large smile as he lights her lantern.

"he would love this, rory," jimmy says quietly. "he's so proud."

"that means a lot, thank you," she replies. she hates how lame it sounds but she really doesn't know how else to respond other than with gratitude.

the sun has begun to set, casting an orange glow across the beach. it's surprisingly warm for a spring night, and astoria can't help but think of how perfect this night is. of course it is though — everything about her dad always was.

astoria looks to her mom and brother, who are both staring back at her. there's tears in her moms eyes, but she puts on a smile as her lantern, which is completely full of pink writing and hearts and other intricate designs, drifts off into the air. mason's follows, then astoria's, and then everybody else's.

as soon as astoria's hands are free, she rushes over to her mom and hugs her tightly. mason joins in too, squeezing himself between the two of them and reminding them all that he is, after all, the baby of the family.

they stay like that for a moment, and astoria can feel mason's tears dripping onto her shirt. she doesn't care though, doesn't care about anything other than feeling their embrace.

astorias mom pulls away though, wiping her eyes and pointing up to the sky. it's littered with their lanterns, all floating gracefully through the sky and travelling away into the horizon. they look like prettier stars, twinkling and burning as they illuminate the ever darkening sky.

for the first time in a year, astoria finally feels entirely okay.

ⁱⁿˢᵗᵃᵍʳᵃᵐ !

rorysant

christophersturniolo

liked by masonsant, dante.nevarro, nicolassturniolo and 304,285 others

rorysant it's all going to be okay 🫶🏻

tagged ; christophersturniolo

(pinned) masonsant i love you ria ❤️

user this is so wholesome ☹️☹️

user christoria forever

nicolassturniolo my girl
↳ rorysant 😘😘😘

user she seems so happy lately <3

kaliaaortizz i love you and i'm so so so proud of you rory
↳ rorysant kali :'''''') i adore you

matthew.sturniolo this was stupendous sendoff i must say
↳ rorysant you're so unserious matt ily

user the lanterns are so tangled oh em gee

lunaaarison hearts for you and only you
↳ rorysant 🤍🤍🤍

sky3.od1n that's my girl 😝😝
↳ user @christophersturniolo watch out buddy

user chris getting his own photo in one of rory's posts we've come so far
↳ user christoria nation is forever winning

christophersturniolo i love you
↳ rorysant to the moon and saturn

view all comments.

christophersturniolo has posted to their story!

♫ . . . bound 2, kanye west
❛ close your eyes and let the word paint a thousand pictures
one good girl (alright) is worth a thousand bitches
bound (bound) to fall in love
bound (bound) to fall in love (uh-huh, honey) ❜

epilogue coming soon <3

i love each and every one of you, thank you for reading!

also pls excuse the portuguese translation i used google translate so if it's wrong pls lmk and i'll change it LOL

━ ava ᥫ᭡