Once Upon A Forever

By A.V. Scott

Four years ago, Cooper was dating the hottest and most desired girl in Ash Falls and on his way to take over his father’s hotel empire. The thing was, it wasn’t the life he wanted. The only way he could escape the life his parents had planned for him, was to give up the money and power that came with being a Chamberlin. And, that’s exactly what he planned to do. At the end of the summer, he was going to leave it all behind, start a new life, on his own terms and without his parents' influence. 

That was before he met Emma. 

Following her parents’ divorce, Emma Thompson is the rock for her alcoholic mother and her younger sister. She appears resilient, and tenacious, but inside she’s falling apart. She's seen what love could do to someone's hopes and dreams. Love was venomous. And, she didn't want to be its victim. 

Until she meets Cooper. 

They both had dreams of their own. Dreams that didn’t include falling in love. No one even knew they were friends. Yet, for one Summer, Emma became Cooper’s entire world. And he, a reminder that love doesn’t have to come with warning signs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: A.V. Scott
• Release date: Oct 22, 2015
• ISBN: 9781524261894

Book preview

Thank you for downloading the ebook.

Sign up for the A.V. Scott newsletter and receive special offers, access to bonus content, and info on new releases and contests.

To hear about new books first, sign up to my

>>> New Release Mailing List<<<

To my readers.

Copyright © 2015 by A.V. SCOTT

All rights reserved.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in

any printed or electronic form.

Smashwords Edition: 2015

Authors Note

I’ve always believed in the power of love. When thinking of sharing with you, the reader, what I was feeling, in my heart and soul during the writing of this book, only one thing came to mind:

1 Corinthians 13:4-7New International Version (NIV)

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Playlist

A list of songs to set the tone for Once Upon A Forever. Enjoy.

Cool For The Summer - Demi Lovato

Summertime sadness - Lana Del Rey

Love me like you do - Ellie Goulding

The heart wants what it wants - Selena Gomez

Love me harder-Ariana Grande & The Weekend

Should’ve been Us - Tori Kelly

I really like You - Carly Rae Jepsen

It was Always You - Maroon 5

Me and My Broken Heart - Rixton

Let Her Go - Passenger

Unconditionally- Katy Perry

Listen Via Spotify

Prologue

Emma

Four Years Ago

A car pulled up to the parking lot of his apartment, startling me. My heart thumped loudly in my ears. I told him I’d be at work until midnight, which would have given me enough time to do what I had planned. I looked down at the watch on my wrist. If it’s him, he’s forty-five minutes early.

Shit.

There was no time to think. I had to move fast. I was shaking and overwhelmed with fear of being caught. I ran to his bedroom and turned off the light before dashing back to the window in the living room. Peeking out from behind the curtain, I recognized his car immediately. He cut the headlights and opened the car door. His silhouette, bathed in the glow of the streetlight. When he glanced up at the window, I thrust myself firmly against the wall, chest rising, heart pounding. I tried to catch my breath.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

I looked around the apartment, grabbed my satchel and searched for a hiding spot. I’m desperate. I ran back to his bedroom and scanned the room. There wasn’t enough space for me under the bed. I moaned in frustration.

The front door to the apartment squeaked open. I had no other option but to make a dash for the closet. I closed the folding accordion door and crawled as far back as the small space would allow. My heart felt like it was going to pop out of my chest. I had to focus to steady my breathing.

I wasn’t even going to come here, but he’d left me no choice. He had withdrawn from me, from us. We used to be able to tell each other everything. We were inseparable. I didn’t know what happened between us to make him change. It was so sudden. He’d slowly cut back on our time together. Rarely taking my calls. I barely saw or spoke to him anymore.

My first conclusion, he was cheating on me.

And, I could have just came out and asked him, but I didn’t trust him anymore to believe anything he had to say. I came here tonight in search of clues, a sign that my imagination wasn’t getting the better of me. Now, I was hiding in his closet, afraid of confronting him head on. But I was afraid to confront him about my suspicions, and fears. I didn’t want to come off as pushy or needy.

Now, here I was, hiding in my boyfriends’ closet, running through all the reasons I had for being here, and the excuses I would give him if he found me. I pulled my knees up to my chest and closed my eyes in an attempt to focus my eyesight in the darkness.

The front door slammed shut. Footsteps shuffled around the apartment. A man’s muffled voice echoed as he spoke. I assumed it was Cooper. Who was he talking to?

Suddenly, my cell rang from inside of my purse. Fuck! Frantically, I searched for it and set it to silent. I looked at the caller ID. It was him.

Then, the bedroom door swung open The doorknob made a loud thump sound as it made contact with the wall. I placed my hand over my mouth and tried to breathe out of my nose.

I can’t believe we’re finally alone, a female said in a honeyed voice.

I shook my head in disbelief, not just because he’d brought a girl to his apartment, to his bedroom, but because I recognized the voice.

It was Elizabeth.

My sister.

Anger rushed through me. I didn’t even know they were friends. Shit, I didn’t even know they knew each other. I thought Cooper had been my sole secret.

I peeked through the slits of the door. They had decided to keep the lights off making it difficult to see anything except for their silhouettes.

Elizabeth walked over to the bed. When Cooper made his way over to her, my heartstrings broke one by one. He wrapped her up in his arms. There was a long kiss before they both undressed.

I’m frozen, dizzy, and nauseous. This isn’t happening. This can’t be happening. I have two hands over my mouth now. My eyes and cheeks are drenched in tears. A tornado of fury tears me apart from the inside out.

The man who once promised to love me forever, not only lied, but shattered every ounce of love I held for him. Everything about us, everything that had been us, was a lie. A complete waste of time. How could he do this to me? To us?

I love you, Elizabeth moaned, and then she dropped a bombshell, I’m pregnant.

I gasped. The next few minutes go by like a dream, a mirage. With slow movements, I slid out of the closet and crawled to the side table. I opened the drawer and reached inside. My hand gripped cold hard metal. I’m stealth standing a few feet away from their naked bodies.

All I could think about, at that precise moment, is what Cooper and I have shared. Our love. Our trust. He’d chosen to destroy it. Destroy me. Tears spilled out of my eyes.

My heart was beating like a freight train. I closed my eyes as my finger curled around the trigger.

Chapter One

Follow me into my dreams

there you will discover all of me

Emma

Present Day

I’ve always loved him. I didn’t know that then. To be honest, I wasn’t at all too sure. Back then, I was young and full of silly dreams. I never knew how strong the power of true love could be. Not really. And, I’d never expected to fall in love, especially with him.

But, I suppose that’s how true love is.

Unexpected.

And, forever.

Those moments, with him, are the ones that haunt me. And yet, they are the very moments in my life that have brought me the greatest joy.

I can only tell you what I remember. Most memories have faded, and the ones that continue to linger in my head torment me. Still, there are a few that are good. Those I keep well hidden for the fear that they too will escape me.

And, no matter how hard I try to erase the past, for the sake of my future, it’s not possible. The past can’t be changed.

All I ever wanted was to be left alone, with my thoughts and my dreams. I knew falling for him would be my demise. That’s why I tried to keep my distance. But the universe never gives you what you want. It gives you want you need. And, I’ve never needed anything more than to forget. Forget him. And, forget how much I loved him. The not forgetting has been harder than the actual memory itself. Knowing him, his touch, had created a yearning so deep, it cut deep into my soul, caching inside of me forever.

It all seemed like a bad dream. Something I couldn’t escape no matter how hard I’ve tried. And somehow, what we had, reminds me of what my parents once had:

A love unbound by time.

I’d never understood how my mother could love my father so deeply, unconditionally, even during his darkest moments. My parents had loved each other to a point of obsession and hurt each other with the same amount of impetuous passion. Somehow, through it all, my mother held on to her love for my father. Even when he left us. Her love for him remained. Every day for the last four years, she hoped on his return, expected it. Lived for it.

But it never came.

Even now, while I stare at my mother, dressed in her favorite red dress, and completely, irrevocably dead, I can’t help but wonder if love had finally killed her. I lean over, expecting her to open her eyes and ask me to help her sit up. But, she doesn’t.

I’m supposed to say goodbye to her, but I’d already said my goodbyes; long before she died. I go through the motions anyway; kneel down at her casket, say a prayer, and then, I rise and make my way outside of the funeral home.

The stares of the mourners are unnerving; people who are more surprised than I am of my return to Ash Falls. I know what they’re thinking. Why aren’t I crying? But, even I can’t truly answer that. My heart has been numb for so long, that any answer I’d give would be biased.

I try not to make eye contact with my sister who is red in the face, eyes puffed, and blowing her nose. It’s the first time I’ve seen her since I left four years ago. She looked exactly like I remember, but older. I would never have believed it if I hadn’t seen it for myself, but there she was, flesh and blood. I know I should be feeling something. But, the truth is, I didn’t know how to feel anymore. I had been angry for so long that I was numb. I hadn’t felt anything in a long time.

I had added Elizabeth to the long list of people I no longer wanted to talk to or think about. She’d hurt me in ways I never thought a sister would, or could. We were supposed to have an unbreakable bond. But, that had never happened. For as long as I could remember, Elizabeth had been my rival. Never truly being in my corner, and always afraid to stand by my side. She eviscerated me long before I cut her out of my life. Our only connection in life had been our blood.

Until we fell in love with the same guy.

I’d never truly forgiven Elizabeth. After all, I’d loved him first. But, the circumstances had been difficult on its own without the added pressure of us being sisters. And, I was so tired of fighting and hurting. There was only one thing I could do. I had to leave Ash Falls.

And then, I see Cooper Chamberlin, and my heart stops beating. I’ve loved him for as long as I could remember. I’m instantly thrown back to a time when he was my world. A time when I believed love would save me. But I was wrong. Love was venomous; an emotion I now kept at a distance.

He’d destroyed me. Shattered every ounce of faith I had, and left me with an inescapable pain. Back then, I was young, and naive, a nobody, and he was the epitome of the type of boys I was told to stay away from. He had been every teen girls dream, including mine. For a long time, he was all I wanted, all I desired.

Now, I couldn’t stand to look at him. My heart ached with the memory of him, us. Everything I ever wanted was wrapped up in a man I could no longer have.

I couldn’t forget what he had done to me and how deep he damaged me.

Cooper

Present Day

Everyone has that defining moment in their life. The one that changes everything. The life I had, before I met her, was the life I thought I always wanted. The life I'd planned for. But, I was young and so fucking scared. Scared of my parents. Scared of what my friends would say. Scared of me, and how I felt every time I was around her. She brought out something in me. Something I never knew was there. Something I didn’t know I wanted and needed in my life. And I will always love her for that. For being real. But mostly, for loving me.

If I could go back in time, I would. Even if it meant I’d also lose all of the good times. She deserved better. She always had.

I never truly deserved her, and deep down, I always knew it. But, what’s done is done. I can’t go back and change it. I can’t make her love me again, the way she used to.

All I can do is hope and wait. Wait for my girl to come back to me, to love me again.

Hurting her has been my one regret. She was my heart, my only reason to breathe. The