Authors Note: So this is just a little one shot that was inspired partly by two things. Number one was a story I read about Derek and Chloe as kids and the number two is the song 'Bucket' by Carly Rae Jepsen. Neither of which I own… I also do not own Darkest Powers… but you already knew that didn't you?

PS: This is un-edited… sorry about any errors.

~*~

The sand beneath my feet was too warm. It hurt to stand in one spot for too long and the wind, although not strong, was throwing prickly pieces of sand against my legs.

I may not know much about the outside world, but I know that I do not like the beach!

Living in the institute for most of my life meant that I'd never seen sand outside of boxes or water that seemed to go on forever. I couldn't swim, didn't know how to eat a sandwich without the sand part, and I wasn't about to learn now.

It had only been two weeks since Kit had come and taken me from that place and I still had nightmares about it. The other kids were so mean and I had no friends there. But now, now I had Simon. Well not now. Now Simon was off playing with a group of boys around our age. I could have joined them, but they all reminded me of the boys in the institute.

Kit waved at me from a blanket laid out in the sand. Glad for a chance to cool my feet I walked over and plunked down.

Two umbrellas over a little blonde girl in a purple swimsuit with bright green floaties was playing with a bucket and shovel. Not quite sure what she was doing I watched amused as she filled the bucket with sand and turned it up side down.

She was making a sandcastle! I remembered the other boys doing that at the institute; I was never allowed to join. Not that I would have wanted to, all they did was break everything the others were making.

Kit offered me a sandwich that was still in it's plastic wrapping. No sand! When I looked back at the girl I was surprised to see her smiling back at me. Embarrassed I turned back to my sandwich.

"Well hello there, what's your name?" I heard kit ask.

"My names Chloe," the girl replied, "I was wondering if your son wanted to come play with me. I could use a king for my castle."

"That sounds like a great idea! Chloe, this is Derek. He's a little shy and doesn't talk much but I'm sure he'd be happy to be your king."

Shocked I finally looked up and saw Chloe beaming down at me. "That's okay… I talk enough for the both of us! Come on Derek!" She reached down and grabbed my hand.

As she pulled me across the sand she was talking a mile a minute, she certainly wasn't kidding about talking a lot.

She flopped down on her knees in the sand around her castle and waited for me to do the same. "Ummm, Chloe?"

"Yes Derek?"

"I've never done," I gestured around, "this before."

Her eyes got wide. "You've never built a sandcastle before?"

"I've never even been to the beach before."

"What? Well what were you waiting for silly? Don't you know the beach is the best? How old are you?"

"I'm Seven."

"Wow. Seven whole years without the beach. Well I guess I'll have to be your guide!"

And so she tried to teach me how to build a sandcastle, which was probably just as hard as building an actual castle! No matter how many times I tried all I got when I turned my bucket back over was a huge pile of sand. Frustrated I threw my shovel and sulked as Chloe built yet another perfect castle.

"Come on Derek. Don't give up just yet! All it takes is a little practice." Chloe slid over closer to me and handed me my discarded shovel. "Now, fill the bucket with damp sand and pat it down nice and hard." She watched as I followed her instructions. "Good now flip it over quick and pat the top." I did as I was told then slowly pulled the bucket up.

And there stood a castle! It wasn't as straight as Chloe's and it had a few cracks, but it was a castle! "I did it!" I smiled up at Chloe and was pushed backwards slightly as she threw her arms around me.

"I knew you could do it!" She beamed.

The rest of the day past in a blur. Our castle grew and grew until we were so close to the water that the waves were splashing against the walls and washing them away slowly.

The sun was going down as we sat by our castle talking about royalty and castles with Dragons and ghosts.

"Chloe! Say good-bye to your friend… It's time to go!" We both turned and saw her parents waving at her; all their things were packed up in an old red wagon.

"Bye Bye Derek! It was nice to meet you!" Chloe said as she stood and dusted the sand from her legs. I watched her walk back to her family and then turned to look out over the water.

"Derek!" I turned and saw Chloe rushing back through the sand with a bucket and shovel in her hand. The sand was making it difficult for her to run and in the end she half-fell half-threw herself in my lap. "Mom and Dad said that you could have one of my buckets, for practice." She smiled up at me, her blue eyes twinkling, and kissed me on the cheek, "You're a pretty lousy castle builder but you were a fun playmate, and a great king."

~*~

All the toys and food was packed into the back of kits car and Simon was back at my side. "So Derek, what did you think of the beach?" he asked me.

I looked down at the little red bucket and shovel and smiled, "I loved it!"

~*~

So I hoped you liked it! I tried my hand at Derek's point of view and have decided that I'm going to stick to Chloe's… Reviews would be great… also if you haven't read my other Darkest Powers fanfiction I encourage you to do so and give me some feedback.