“Hey, Dad?” My son Koa came walking into the living room and I paused the movie I was watching before turning my head to look at him.

“Yeah?”

“Can I ask you a question?” he flopped down next to me, tilting his head to look at the ceiling and I sighed softly, adjusting my glasses.

“Always.”

“You’re from America right?”

“You’re well aware of this, Koa Orion Bennett. We go to Montana every year to see my side of the family.”

“I know, I know. But what I don’t know or understand is how you met Matua.”

“Oh god. That was over 30 years ago! Do you really think I can remember?”

“I’d hope so,” he laughed softly, his hazel eyes filled with curiosity, “I mean I’m only 27 so I’d think you’d remember meeting him. Come on, I'm getting married tomorrow! This is important to me.”

“It’s uh…. Alright. He’s not here anyway. Let’s see…”

-31 Years Earlier-

“Why did I agree to this?” I whined at my best friend Delaney as she looked around the bar she had dragged me to, her deep brown eyes filled with excitement.

“Because you love me and this girl won’t go out with me again without someone for her friend! Come on, Caelan. It’ll be fun.”

“Yeah, fun for you! I don’t have time to date, Laney. I have so much work to get done!”

“You’re 26. A physical therapist with your own house, car, cat, and money to spare. Anyone would be thrilled to be with you. If you weren't so damn serious all the time, you'd probably be in a relationship by now.”

“I'm single by choice,” I flicked her forehead and she scowled for a second, “you're lucky I didn't go for your hair. I was tempted. But I know it takes time to fix it.”

“Dude I just got it done. Do you know how long it takes to make a wig look realistic? Hours. So if you fuck with it, I might stab you.”

“Then who would you drag to bars?”

“I'd fly to Montana and get your brother.”

“Which one?” I laughed, finally finding an empty table and sitting down, “I have three, and two of them have kids. One is married, one is getting married, and the other sticks his… oh God you meant Cyrus.”

“Yep. Oh, if I only I liked men,” Delaney let out a dreamy sigh before resting her chin in her hand.

“Gross. That's my little brother, don't talk about him that way! You could do better anyway.”

“Whatever,” Delaney laughed, pulling her phone from her pocket and giggling, “they’re almost here. Serena wants a vodka cran and her friend wants the same. Can you go order?”

“Are you still refusing to tell me his name?”

“Duh. He's hot as hell though, don't worry.”

“Everything you do worries me.”

Grumbling, I walked over to the bar and ordered the four drinks. Delaney always asked for a daiquiri and due to her dragging me to bars on a weekly basis I had a fondness for them as well. I had never been one for drinking and focused entirely on school and collegiate basketball for the majority of my late teens and early twenties. Until I met Delaney. She was a coworker of mine at the physical therapist's office I had been working at for two years now. I was a licensed physical therapist myself and Delaney was a nurse that worked under me. This never came in the way of our friendship however as she balanced me entirely. I was known to seem rude to outsiders and she could smooth this over, explaining it openly. I lacked social skills as I had spent most of my life staying away from people. All of my interactions had been through and during basketball. Other than that, I had no real connections to anyone outside of my family. Being the second of six children, I never felt I got enough attention. I didn't hold this against my parents either, I knew that they had done their best to manage our massive household, but there never seemed to be a true place for me or my younger brother Cyrus. Cassian was the oldest, followed by me, twin sisters Cadence and Calliope, Cyrus, and finally Cruz who was the baby of the family. Cassian overshadowed me, becoming a dentist and marrying the daughter of a family friend my father Teodoro missed desperately after he passed. My sister Calliope was now an actress, Cadence was a teacher, Cyrus ran a landscaping business and Cruz was a dance instructor. It felt as though my parents were never excited for me to the same level as my siblings and while I never held resentment about it, I had decided to distance myself, never moving back to Montana after graduation. Instead, I created a life for myself in South Bend, Indiana near my former university, Notre Dame.

“Here,” I set Delaney's drink down in front of her and she nodded happily, “I'm mad at you.”

“For?” She laughed, taking a sip.

“Being able to wear purple. I can't. It's my favorite color and it looks horrible on me.”

“Because you have the longest, most beautiful fiery red hair. I just happen to have sun-kissed skin and hail from a land down under.”

“Oh my God don't use being Australian to justify your tan, Laney,” scoffing, I pulled my hair over my shoulder, smiling as it still reached my ribs, “I have no plans to get rid of my hair. It's the only part of me different from my siblings and parents.”

“Not true. Teddy is pretty tan so I don't fully get how you weren't. I mean you are now since you spent all your life in the forest hiking but still.”

“No idea,” I laughed softly, “Remington just has stronger genes. Wish I had gotten his height though. Would kill to be 6 foot 2, not 5 foot 8 but it is what it is. At least I'm strong.”

“Rock climbing nerd. I swear you're an adrenaline junky.”

“Little bit. I had to find something new to do once basketball ended for me. Rock climbing was the next best thing. Plus, I know plenty of wonderful physical therapists who will help me if I break my legs or something.”

“You'll be the death of me,” Delaney rolled her eyes before looking at her phone, her attention snapping to the door of the bar, “Oh, I see them!” She waved her hand and I shook my head, feeling embarrassed.

“Laney!” a voice that was gentle and melodic called to her. I looked over and immediately understood why Delaney would be attracted to her. Serena had long black hair done in braids, and her eyes were a golden honey color, fitting against the sepia tone of her skin, “I'm so sorry if we're late. Parking was a nightmare!”

“It's fine your drinks haven't had time to get warm,” Delaney pulled the seat out next to her and Serena happily slid into it, the front of her shirt low cut and leaving very little to anyone's imagination as she leaned across the table to grab her drink, “Philip! You're being so weird. Sit down.”

I had failed to notice the man standing near Serena when they walked in and I blinked a few times, trying to understand if the man in front of me was real. Philip was taller than me, somewhere between 6 foot 1 and 6 foot 3 but rail thin, the only muscles visible were in his arms. His light brown eyes matched the curls of his hair and came to a stop at the nape of his neck, some of it spilling across his forehead and around his ears. He fidgeted nervously with a small silver necklace he was wearing before sitting next to me and fixing his light orange sweater.

“Philip, this is my friend Caelan Hope. Cae, this is my other friend Philip Bennett.”

“Oh, I swear to God woman,” Philip started and I stared at him surprised as I tried to place his accent, assuming him to be Australian like Delaney, “my name isn't fuckin’ Philip. I've told you this and you don't believe me. It's Alexander. Alexander Thierry Bennett. Do you want to see my license for the hundredth time? Stop trying to rename me.”

“Why is he grumpy today?” Delaney loudly whispered to Serena.

“Because… oh I have no idea,” Serena shrugged, “let's leave them and go to the bar. Have a bit more of an… intimate conversation.”

Delaney giggled and led Serena to the bar as I followed them with my eyes. Alexander cleared his throat and I smiled when we made eye contact.

“I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so rude,” he sighed softly, taking a sip of his drink, “Laney and I have been friends since college. She drives me insane.”

“I work with her five days a week and she drags me to bars all the time. I respect the annoyance to be fair,” I laughed softly, pushing my hair away from my face, “I'm Caelan Hope. You can call me Cae. Laney did a sort of shit introduction.”

“Alexander Bennett. Most people call me Alexi though. It's nice to meet you,” he held his hand out and I quickly shook it, “your hands are so rough and strong!”

“Oh I'm a physical therapist with a hobby of rock climbing,” I laughed softly and Alexander lit up.

“Rock climbing?”

“Every Saturday morning that I have free time, I head out to one of the various state parks around us or even go to Michigan if I have a few days to spare and hike, rock climb, and camp. I'm not big on being around people so going out like that is my version of fun. I gave Laney the other half of my rescue GPS. I've only used it once and that was due to a sudden snowstorm. Trapped me for a while until search and rescue got me out. It was a blast. Um,” I dipped my head, suddenly embarrassed, “sorry. There's few things in life that excite me so I couldn't stop myself when you asked.”

Alexander suddenly placed his hand under my chin and made me tilt my head up, my eyes wide, “you're shy. You don't need to hide from me when I understand exactly what you mean. I'm from a place called Taupaki,” he traced my jawline gently with his thumb and I continued to stare into his eyes, “it's in New Zealand. I'd go fishing, camping, hiking, and rock climbing no different than you back home. So your idea of fun is the same as mine. Don't be that nervous about sharing things. We uh…” he dropped his hand and started to rub the nape of his neck, “sorry. I get the impression you were forced into being here. I wasn't. I wanted to meet someone and Delaney mentioned that she had a friend who was into what I was.”

“Is this her attempt at setting me up on a blind date?”

“Yes,” he laughed softly, chewing his lip, “I-I'm sorry. It's been a long time since I've put myself out there. I'm a bit rusty at it.”

“To be fair, I have nothing to base it off of. I'm not exactly the most fun to talk to and I've never dated.”

“I disagree that you're not fun. I find you plenty interesting already,” he laid his arm on the back of my chair and slowly raised his glass, “to first dates that may go well or terribly wrong.”

“Is this your way of asking me on a date, Alexi?” I teased, knocking my glass against this gently.

“Oh I think we’re already on one,” he winked, taking another sip of his drink, “tell me things. You're rather interesting, Caelan Hope.”