Beach Vows

“Ready to renew our vows from the sky?” Mack asks his wife Ava, while she stands in a flowing white dress.

“Will be perfect,” she smiles as they both are strapped in ready to float.

“What’s great about this view we are taking is that you will be able to see that beautiful house that was from Hannah Montana from here,” one of the crew guides informs them.

“That’s interesting,” Ava, who had only watched a few episodes of the show, shrugged while she misses her partner's face turning a bit sour.

The guide felt awkward and responded, “There are other pretty houses out there too.” He used that as a save since most people liked to get excited about seeing the television show beach house.

“Glad for the wonderful views we will see,” Mack smiled while the crew guide turned to start the boat up and they flew upward attached to the parachute. The wind whipped in their hair as the couple gazed over the landscape and turned to one another lovingly.

“I will always remember to be kind and gentle. I will love every part of you that isn’t perfect and will stay through it all. I will help you in the bad times when your CPTSD starts acting up and be patient in hearing you out,” Mackie spoke into Ava’s ear.

“I will always support you in what you do and be sure to give you the love you deserve. I will care for you and make sure your emotions are understood and heard,” Ava spoke to his ear. They both kissed and enjoyed the strapped closeness of the ride. They flew over all of the beautiful homes and then landed.

“Thank you for taking us out there,” Ava thanked the crew guide.

“You're welcome, anything for the happy couple,” he nodded as they went back to their hotel room to talk about the ride.

“That Hannah Montana house really was beautiful,” Ava mentioned.

“That white kind of blends in with the sand though don’t you think, seems like it needs some color,” he scoffed at it.

“Sand isn’t white, Mack,” Ava replied.

“Whatever, the other houses were better,” he tried to shut down the conversation and handed her the bushwhacker from the room service.

“Did you hate that show or something? It was kind of tacky.”

“It did well for its time,” was all he had to add while he sipped on his drink, “I’m taking a nap.”

“Alright, I’ll just chill here then,” Ava bid him a good rest while she started looking up everything she could about Hannah Montana. She had a strange feeling in her gut that something was up with it, but she could just be overreacting. She started after a while telling herself she was probably just letting her CPTSD act up when she came across an article with her husband’s picture from when he was 14. He was being taken away by security. The article was called Fan Turned Crazed Stalker. She opened the article and read about how her husband had followed the star around everywhere she went and tried everything he could to get her attention. Getting VIP tickets, giving her gifts, and going to her home. Ava was devastated and found this to be a betrayal. After all she had admitted to her husband about how she had been stalked and what a horrible experience it was. How she constantly checks outside the windows because she felt like someone could still be there sometimes.

He was one of them!

“Mack!” Ava screams at him as he is startled awake.

“Woah what?” he sits up straight and she hands him the article.

“Oh great, you found the stupid shit I did when I was a tween,” he laughs it off like it’s silly.

“This isn’t funny Mack, you were a stalker!” Ava shakes in anger.

“I mean yes I admit…” he starts.

“Did you ever stalk me?” she interrupts.

“No, that was just a dumb obsession,” he holds his hands up in defense.

“You know how much this type of behavior bothers me,” she huffs.

“I haven’t done that in forever and we are both thirty now, there is no reason to keep hanging that over me,” he shakes his head.

"Why didn't you tell me within the entirety of our relationship?" she wondered.

"It just felt ridiculous and embarrassing to me. Like something that some kid me did."

“I need to go think about if I am okay with that,” Ava takes her bag and walks out of the room. Mack quickly gets up to put on clothes and runs to go after her at first and then stops to think, Wait, that would be stalking if I go after her when she said she wanted to be alone, right? He then stops and walks up to the counter.

“Where is the nearest coffee shop?” he asks.

“There is one close called Le café de la plague,” the desk worker informs him and he walks to the shop to grab a cup and wait. He then went to walk along the beach to wait some more. Then when she still wasn’t back after that, he read a book on the beach for a bit. He then headed back up to the hotel room and Ava was back.

“Get your thinking in? Mack asked.

“Thank you for not following me. I guess you aren’t a stalker after all,” she smiled at him.

“Yep got some coffee, took a walk, and read some,” he calmly responded.

“I got some coffee too at Itala Magdalena,” she smiled.

“So you went a bit away,” he responded.

“I took an uber to a place a bit off to see if you would follow me there.”

“Right, remember what we said about how it is not healthy for you to test people.”

Ava slumped, “Right, sorry. I did that again, didn't I? I was doing so well too.”

“We will just call this upsetting information a lapse caused by me then,” he held his hand out to squeeze Ava’s to comfort her.

“Let’s go to the coffee shop you went to and talk about it,” Ava suggested. "I will hear you out and try to understand why you didn't feel it necessary to tell me. Plus why you like her so much like that."

“Yeah of course. I am sure me dogging on the house didn't help. More coffee it is! They have macrons there too,” Mack smiled at his partner.

“Thanks for being so kind to me,” Ava hugged Mack tightly while they walked hand in hand to Le café de la plague.