Chapter Text
(TW: Minor Character death)
Colin sighed as he laid back in his sunchair, enjoying the hot sun and slight breeze of an afternoon in Cyprus. He loves everything Greece has to offer so far; from the delicious food, to the kind people, to the stunning views. He was currently enjoying the view of the bright blue waves crashing into the beach shore as he wrote down all he’s been up to so far in his favorite travel journal. Colin received this journal from his mother Violet on his 24th birthday when he got the job offer to be a travel blogger for a well-known traveling agency.
The job couldn’t have come at a better time, as he had just gone through a yearlong divorce with his now ex-wife Marina. Colin and Marina were high school sweethearts and married fresh out of grad school. His whole family tried telling him to think everything through before rushing into things too quickly but at the time Colin believed himself to be in love. While things clearly didn’t work out in the long run, Colin couldn’t bring himself to regret it because a few years after the wedding Marina gave birth to their beautiful baby boy Mason.
Mason was Colin’s pride and joy. From the moment he was born, Colin knew he’d lay down his life for him. He was so excited to be a dad and have a family he always dreamed of growing up. Everything seemed to be going well for a while but as the days grew on, Colin noticed Marina becoming more and more distant. He thought nothing of it at first but then she was staying late, claiming to be caught up at work (she was a preschool teacher), and would come home wearing a bigger smile that Colin hadn’t seen her wear around him in a long time.
It all came to a head on a night Colin was supposed to be spending at his family’s home for game night. Everyone ended up leaving early due to his mother falling ill. When he got back to his place, he was grabbing Mason out of his car seat when he noticed another vehicle that wasn’t Marina’s in the driveway. Colin instantly had a weird feeling in his stomach and hurried up the walkway and into the house. Once inside, all the terrible thoughts he’d been having about Marina’s changed behavior were proven true. There his wife was, shirtless and in the lap of some blonde-haired guy he didn’t recognize. Things were obviously never the same after that and Colin found himself becoming a 24-year-old single dad, co-parenting his son with an ex-wife that cheated on him.
It all looked bleak for Colin for a while until around a year or so later, he got the job of his dreams and had been trotting around the globe off and on (to spend time with Mason every other week) posting about all the amazing places he had the privilege to see.
Flash forward four years later and now Colin’s in Cyprus, living the life of his dreams. He was loving every minute he spent here, and it was becoming one of his favorite places yet. Though he was enjoying his time, his son was always on the back of his mind and he couldn’t wait until Sunday arrived so he could fly back to London to see him. Colin was smiling to himself thinking about a time when Mason will one day be old enough to join him on some of his adventures. There was so much Colin wanted and would show him. After a few minutes of writing, Colin closed his journal and relaxed into his seat, quickly nodding off.
A few minutes later he was awoken to his phone ringer going off. When he picked up his phone he saw that it was his mother calling. Colin hadn’t spoken to his mother Violet since he left for Greece, so he answered quickly, excited to speak to her.
“Hey mama, I’m glad you’ve called. I’ve been missing you,” he said cheerfully with a smile on his face. His smile then dropped because as soon as she replied Colin could tell something was wrong.
“Oh Colin my sweet boy, I’ve missed you too. However, I wish I was calling under better circumstances,” she replied, sounding like she was holding back tears.
Colin immediately sat up in his chair, stomach in knots.
“What do you mean mama? Is everything okay? Has something happened?”
He heard Violet let out a shaky breath before she answered, now full-on crying.
“Sweetheart…it’s Marina. She was on her way over to mine to pick Mason up and- and,” Violet had to stop to take a deep breath before delivering the news that shot Colin’s heart into the pit of his stomach.
“She was in an accident, Colin…she-she didn’t make it, I’m so sorry.”