Title: At The Beginning

Artist: Donna Lewis and Richard Marx

You sit on the sand wearing your favorite two-piece swimsuit that you bought in New York and take in all the sun you could muster as you watch the beauty around you. There's really something about Seattle beach that you dearly missed.

Maybe it's the way men scoop their women off their feet to dip themselves in the water. It could be the children making sand castles and running around with their playmates. You don't exactly know what but everything you see calms you and puts an honest smile on your face.

Like that little girl playing ball all by herself. She's having a grand time tossing it up in the air and catching it again. She's laughing and the sound makes you wanna laugh with her. You think it's adorable.

"Stephanie! Come here for a second, sweetie."

Her mom, probably, calls her and she quickly runs to the lady, abandoning the ball as it lands on the sand, bounces a few times and then rolls over. Your eyes follow the object until it stops near a man's foot. He bends down to pick it up and suddenly, your heartbeat isn't that normal anymore.

It can't be.

Your mouth falls open as you watch him return the ball to the little girl and ruffle her curly blonde hair before she throws her little arms around him.

Without knowing you're doing it, you stand up and walk slowly towards them. You want a better view of this man you used to know very well. Luck's on your side because when he lets his eyes wander around, he suddenly catches yours and now, it's no surprise that both of you have the same expression upon your face.

Except he recovers quickly and gives you a heart-warming smile before he starts walking to meet you halfway. That smile makes you realize that you can't take it anymore so you start to run (while screaming "Ahhhhhh!" at the top of your lungs), waiting anxiously for the moment you could throw your arms around him and the same time, circle his own around you.

"Woah!" he chuckles because you've almost thrown him off-balance. "God! I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too! Like crazy! It's been years! I can't believe that… Oh my God! I missed you!"

You close your eyes as you feel him rubbing your bare back slowly. You don't want to let go because it feels so good to be crushed by him, to feel his body pressed against yours after being apart for so long.

The two of you walk side by side on the shoreline after he asks permission from the little girl's mom. You aren't sure if she is but it's the safest thing to assume even though it makes you tad uneasy because you've been gone for years and you just don't know if there's something he's not telling you that you should know.

You want to ask if he's married and if Stephanie is his daughter but you're too afraid to know the answer. You know it'd hurt if he answers yes because he never told you about it and because… just because.

"Why didn't you call to let us know that you're back?" he asks and even though he's smiling, she detects sadness in his voice like he's sad about it.

You giggle and he stops walking to look at you. "Freddie, I've just been here for three hours. After I fixed my things in my room while Spencer was sleeping, I sneaked out and headed to the beach."

"You could have called. I would have been the one to pick you up at the airport." He teases and your heart jumps.

"Spencer wouldn't like that." You answer playfully. "I think he missed me a lot. Besides, I wanted to surprise you and Sam."

"Well, he's not the only one who missed you, you know."

It jumps again and you swear he's going to be the death of you. If that happens, then you must know now because even though you still haven't admitted it to yourself, he's the main reason why you're back to Seattle, why you can't sleep at night, and why you never dated seriously after moving away.

You stop walking and he looks at you worriedly. You meet his lovely eyes and your heart's palpitating inside your chest so before you actually suffer from heart attack, you take a deep breath and decide to get this over with.

"Freddie." And another deep breath. "Are you… uhm… you know… Is Stephanie… uhm…"

He's waiting for you to finish what you want to say but it seems like you can't anymore so you look away and bite your lower lip, slightly embarrassed. You wish he understands everything you said or blabbed so you won't have to continue all those unfinished questions.

"Carly?" he calls out your name for the first time in years and there goes your heart again. "Are you trying to ask me if I'm married?"

"No!" You answer abruptly and it shocks you both.

"Oh. No?"

"Yes."

"Yes, no? Or no, yes?"

Your brows furrow in frown. "I'm confused."

He giggles and you don't know what's so funny but it's cute so you just let him. When he calms down, he raises his left hand, his palm facing him and it takes you too long to realize what he's trying to imply.

"Oh." It was the only thing that comes out from you as you toyed with the water bottle you have no idea you are holding.

"Yup. I can't believe you don't remember Stephanie! She was my baby cousin who hated me and wouldn't laugh whenever she sees me. You don't remember the pies?" he chuckles. "And for me to be her father, I must have had her during eleventh grade which would be so weird because I was madly in love with you then and you were the only girl for me."

"Oh."

The past tense is too much for you to bear but still...

That is embarrassing.

"Say something?" he pleads, smiling at you. "I'm not married, Carls. Honest!"

You roll your eyes and smile back. "Oh I know that, Freddie!"

"And how, may I ask, did you happen to know that I'm not married yet? Well, before I showed you that I'm ringless, of course." he gives you his sexy smirk that you've always adored.

You take a step closer until he swallows hard because your face is approximately an inch away from his. You don't know where the sudden confidence came from. All you know is that you're too happy at the moment because you and Freddie's time has finally come and nothing can stop you now.

"Because I'm not yet married too. And that just means one thing."

He shakes his head and smiles and you're so lucky because you never see him show his dimples like that except when he's with you. It makes you feel so special but then you realize that it's Freddie and to him, you've always beem more than that.

And you have no idea he's about to show you how much he cares now.

He becomes serious all of a sudden as he looks at you, as if he's trying to tell you something through his eyes but you're too lost in them to figure it out.

"I'm still in love with you, Carly"

You're still in love with him too. Yes, still. Again, you don't know where that came from or when and how you realized it. But you're so sure because your palms are sweating, everything suddenly disappears and it's only him you can see. Nothing really matters now. Even the water bottle you just dropped (which you don't notice again because you're too in love to care about falling plastics).

"I love you too…" you mutter under your breath.

And you want to smack him because you kind of expect him to lean forward and kiss you senseless. But he doesn't and with a smile on his face, he bends down to pick up the bottle. He looks at it for a while before extending his arm to give it back to you.

And you remember it. He did that once, back when you were still taller than him and he was (still is, by the way) so crazy in love with you that you used to think it's creepy.

Some things never really change.

In the end I wanna be standing at the beginning with you…

Author's Note:

I can't help it! Writing gives me the break I badly need. lol Reviews are much appreciated. Thank you! 3