There was something unique about the air in florida, as pervaded with airplane exhaustion as it was. Alexander couldn’t tell you what it was, but it felt like home. A nostalgic aura might be the most accurate description he could give you. But he couldn’t tell you how something that felt so homely, so integral to your very existence, still felt to foreign. When was the last time he had been here? His wedding. The last time he had been in Florida, she had still been alive. It had been Everly’s hand in his at that time instead of Rosie’s. The two of them trotted along at a merry pace, the speed of which very much gave away his little girl’s excitement about exploring a new place.

His daughter happily consumed the ice cream he had bought her, a welcome treat against the imposing sun of the early summer. She was so incredibly excited for him to fulfil everything he had promised her. They would visit the beaches, seaworld and even a few days to Walt Disney world. Of course, he’d also take her on a trip to the Kennedy space center. He wasn’t going to let an opportunity go to waste where he could show of his and her late mother’s greatest passion. Not to mention, it was the place where they had first met…

For a short while his mind trailed off. For a few seconds he felt the bliss of early teen love once again. Then he could feel himself being plummeted into the dark depths of loss. The bitter feeling of inevitability that he had felt when… No, not here. He had to pull himself together. Rosie couldn’t see her father’s despair. She was too young for the hard reality of this world. The girl somewhat understood the concept of death, in minor detail. But she had no idea of the immense pain it brought. How could she? And Alex was not about to pull her out of the bliss wonderland that one called ignorant childhood. The wonderland in which santa claus and the easter bunny existed as well. So he had to be strong. Everly counted on him to give their daughter the life she deserved, after all.

If only she could see how well she was growing up.

Yes, he had all sorts of trips planned with his daughter while they were in Florida. Two weeks of workless joy. But the first three days of that she would get to spend with her grandparents. Alex’s parents hadn’t seen the girl in well over a year now, and the same was true for Everly’s. He was lucky that they were able to come to D.C. the last few years. His busy work schedule hadn’t allowed much space (ha, astrology pun) to venture out. But he very much needed a way to blow off the work stress. The time had finally come.

His parental home was only one hour drive away from the airport. ”Hi, grandma” He told his mother as the door flung open. He looked at her appreciatively. It was strange how much more she had started to look like a granny after Rosie was born. As if the birth of grandchildren drained the age from grandparents’ bodies. But at the same time, Lydia Shields was still his lovely mother. A person he had grown to respect far more over the years, now that the hardships of parenthood were so much clearer to him. With a small pat on the back, Rosie was encouraged to give grannie Lydia a big hug, and they were invited in.

A very similar ritual repeated with grandpa, who was inside on his chair watching the baseball game. It was as if he hadn’t moved in the five years since Alex had last left him there (of course, he had visited, so this was obviously not true). A big hug for grandpa as well, and then they settled down for a nice cup of tea. Except for Rosie; she preferred the sweet taste of lemonade to the bitter tea. Roughly one hour later, he gave his princess a big hug of his own. The child nodded sweetly to his instructions: Be a good girl, be nice to your grandparents, eat your vegetables, brush your teeth and say hi to grandpa Joseph and grandma Miranda. Every instruction was met with a slightly more sarcastic yes. Ah, she was just like her mother.

She was going to be hell as a teenager, Alex already knew it. He pressed one more kiss against her forehead and left his daughter for a cosy three days with the grans.

The one hour drive towards Florida keys felt much more relaxed afterwards. He loved his daughter to death, but he could not deny the sweet relief that came with being able to have some time to himself for a bit. Between work and parenthood, that only amounted to maybe one hour every day on any normal day. It was so extremely draining that he couldn’t even start to explain it to others. And he didn’t want to explain it. What if they thought of him as a bad parent afterwards? He truly loved his daughter. But some days of rest were exactly what he needed. Even if he was still somewhat sceptical of the company he would find himself in over the next days. Still, a luxury resort was a luxury resort.

That was the main reason why he was going to this reunion, really. Alex couldn’t give too much of a damn about the reunion itself. He needed rest. He needed a distraction from his life, the grind he was in daily. Of course, there were people he did want to see again. He hadn’t seen most of his high school friends in some time. He still had contacts with a number of the dudes, and he still gamed with Grace on occasion. However, Alex didn’t have much of an attachment to the days. The most important person of those days was gone, after all. But still, it couldn’t hurt to reconnect. He didn’t have a clean break with everyone in high school. Willow came to mind especially. Maybe they could talk it out? He regretted how their friendship had gone to waste.

Florida keys was a place of beauty. He never really liked Amanda, but he could appreciate her choice of décor. The resort she picked matched exactly what he had pictured in his mind. It was strange, now that the moment was finally there, he was feeling strangely nostalgic to see those people again. It was like his “not giving a damn” switch got turned to “cautious curiosity”. He had to be wary to not grow excited. Surely setting his expectations too high would only lead to pathetic disappointment. He towed his luggage into the lobby.

The neat interior of the lobby sharply contrasted that of his home, which was cleaned far too infrequently. He forcefully prevented himself from making a mental note of all the stuff he still had to do at home. Relaxation was the name of the game for the next two weeks. He increased his pace to the reception. Alexander presented his most polite smile as he was confronted by the receptionist’s own. ”I’m checking in for the King’s academy reunion. The name is Shields.” And that was that. He forced himself to resign to three days of distraction. Three days of peace, should his former classmates allow him. He thanked the receptionist as he was told his room number and was handed the keys. Surely he could sneak in a short, well-deserved nap before he had to prepare himself.

He always got a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach whenever he touched down in the Sunshine State, much like the one he got over thirteen years ago when he was doing so for the very first time. Andre had made many wonderful memories during his time in Florida; It was there that he'd found love, made lifelong friends, earned his degree, and even started his basketball career. But there was just something about disembarking the plane and walking through the Palm Beach International Airport that always reminded him of when he was that scared thirteen year old boy who'd just lost his parents. It reminded him that aside from his sister, the only living family member he had was a man that he hardly knew... a man who'd only taken him in because he felt indebted to his older brother. Maybe that was why he was so excited about attending the reunion; Andre was ready to see his high school family once more because, at one point, it felt as though they were the only family he had.

After taking a Lyft to his former home and transferring his things to one of his cars, Andre began the three hour long journey to Key West. He'd arrived in just enough time to spot a few familiar faces, though he decided against trying to approach anyone just yet. He figured that, much like himself, everyone would be too tired to socialize. As Andre strolled towards the front desk, luggage in tow, all he could think about was taking a long, scorching hot shower and a much needed nap before the evening festivities. "Checking in. I'm here for the King's Academy reunion," he said, flashing his usual charming grin at the young woman that stood behind the counter. "The room should be under-"

"Andre Martin!" The young woman blurted before he could finish. Her face turned bright red afterwards, however, as she continued on to press a few buttons on her computer. "Sorry... my uh, dad is really into the whole basketball thing. I watch it with him sometimes when he's hogging the living room TV. I never really understand much but I guess I picked up on a few things."

After exchanging a few more words with the desk clerk, Andre was given the key to room 106 and pointed in the right direction. And as soon as the door closed behind him, he began to strip. He took a ten minute shower, the water slowly warming his body and soothing the ache that clawed at his limbs from hours of workouts and practice. The steam from the scorching hot water was thick and clouded the bathroom as Dre scrubbed, slowly starting to come back to life. It wasn't until after he'd lotioned up and thrown on a pair of shorts that he shot a few quick texts to Brent and Alex, letting them know that he'd arrived. He fell asleep before he could read his friends' responses.