Waves Off The Shore

by Cerulean Leader

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Disclaimer: I do not own Stoked. :)

"Hey, Reef!" Fin called as she ran down to the beach, holding her surf board. It had been a year since the Groms had first gone to Sunset Beach to work at the local hotel, Surfers Paradise. Currently, it was the summer after, and all the Groms from the previous year, plus a few newbies, had decided to come back while school was on break once again.

Reef, whose hair had grown back to its former glory, looked up to see his girlfriend, and his green eyes widened at the sight of the blonde girl from Halifax, Nova Scotia. The teenager, instead of wearing her normal attire of her yellow rash top and purple bikini, she was wearing a red bikini with black and white striped board shorts, holding her purple surf board. "F-Fin!"

She laughed at his reaction. He had waxed his red surf board, and had dropped the jar of wax. "Babe, if you're done staring at me, wanna go for a surf?" Fin asked, gesturing towards the roaring waves behind her. The waves were curling in a rippling formation, practically calling out to the couple to ride the waves.

"Hell yes, and I'll kick your giant butt in the process!" he said, kissing her on the cheek as he ran past her, surf board under his arm as he dived into the ocean with Fin following right behind him, the blue-eyed girl glaring at his figure.

"You wish, you kook!" Fin yelled back at her boyfriend as the two paddled towards a wave that was about to collide with the surface of the water. The two then stood up, and began using their lower bodies to control their boards so that they switched places continuously in a snake formation, as Fin prepared herself to do her infamous trick which she made up herself, the La Freak. She placed her feet firmly at the tip of the board with her arms outstretched, smiling as the wind brushed past her fast, then leaned back to do a backwards walkover into a straight handstand, before standing back up to the back of the board. It had been a while since she had performed it, because of Reef stealing her move when he dressed up as a girl to try to beat her for the Battle of the Betties the previous summer.

The smooth and ten-foot wave finally slowed down as it got closer to shore, and Fin dived off her board before paddling towards the beach. The Office hadn't changed much since the previous holiday, and that was something that all the Groms appreciated. When her feet finally touched the sand, she turned and then put her hand above her eyes to shield them from the sun's blinding gaze while she scanned the sea-line for Reef. He was surfing the same wave as her, so where was now?

"Fin!"

She turned around when she heard her name being called and grinned when she spotted her fellow Groms running down to the beach, Lo and Emma in the lead as they tackled her in a big hug. She had only gotten there that day after all, but she had headed straight to the beach to find Reef after putting away all her stuff at the Staff House. He knew she was coming; she had called him the night before, and they both agreed to meet at The Office. He must have told the others that the blonde champion was arriving that day.

She laughed as her back made contact with the hot grains of sand, and hugged back Emma and Lo with a squeal. "Guys, it's great to see you!"

"It's been so boring without you guys here, that I even tried to convince Daddy to try to get you guys to move here for the school year, but he wouldn't have it." Lo complained, pushing her now shoulder-length hair behind her ear. Fin hadn't even noticed the haircut, but complimented her when she finally did see it.

"You look amazing as well, Alberta." Fin giggled. Emma grinned back, and stood up, holding out a hand to her friends.

"Thanks, so do you!"

Fin then in turn hugged Johnny and Broseph respectively. "It's great to see you, Fin!" Johnny said, ruffling her hair. He was like her brother; they had a really close platonic relationship, and the two had kept in contact via e-mailing once a week over the school year so they would keep in contact. He was the one who Fin would talk too if she had any problems, because he was the one that seemed to understand her the most. Sure, she would talk to Emma and Lo, or her friends back at home as well, but they weren't the best listeners in the world.

"Hey, girl, ya forgettin' someone?" Broseph asked, stabbing his surf board into the sand. He had his ever-goofy smile plastered on his face while he let out a carefree laugh. He hadn't changed one bit; his blonde, wild, tangled mane they called an afro was still as big as ever, and he still pretty much looked exactly the same as the previous summer, apart from the small goatee he had decided to let grow on his chin. Fin raised an eyebrow and poked his chin.

"So is this the infamous Neil I've heard so much about?"

"He won't stop stroking it, but it's the funniest thing to watch. We started work last week, and you should hear Bummer yelling at him to stop and get on with his job, but Broseph just shakes it off." Emma piped up, explaining Broseph's newest obsession. She then began to look around. "Where's Reef?"

"We just had a quick surfing session, but Reef isn't back yet. I'm beginning to get worried- I mean..." Fin said, turning around and ignoring her friends as they began to double over in laughter at her confession. Even now that Fin was going out with Reef, she wouldn't admit to worrying over him.

"Maybe he went for another round?" Johnny suggested. Everyone looked out towards the waves and strained their hearing to hear Reef's loud, annoying voice that they would usually hear hollering when he was trying to provoke Fin. But it was quiet, and the only noise was from the tides coming in.

"You would be able to hear his annoying voice from a mile away," Lo scoffed, still a little annoyed at what happened at the Grom Festival last year. "Besides, he probably is on the other side of the beach, so let's go. He'll meet us at the hotel later."

Fin was hesitant to leave but the brunette had grabbed her hand as the others followed along behind them. Fin turned her head to the ocean, hoping to catch a glimpse of Reef's hair, a flash of red from his surf board, or at least a sound of his annoyed yell when he found out the others were walking off without him, but nothing came.

"Is the kook back yet?" Fin asked as she opened the wooden door to sit on the couch on the porch with everyone else, dropping on a seat in between Broseph and Emma.

"No, not yet." Emma sighed. "What if something happened to him?"

"The bro will be fine," Broseph said, waving an arm, his laid-back attitude not being affected by Reef's strange absence at all. "Don' worry about him, he'll be back soon."

Fin sighed before standing up. "I'm going to go look for him. Anyone else want to come? Knowing him, he's probably lost down on the other side of the beach and thinks he's on a completely different island. He has no survival skills, you know that?" she laughed, beginning to walk away from the Staff House and towards the beach before anyone else could catch up with her.

When the blonde surfer stepped towards the ocean, she looked out towards the horizon to admire the view, before turning around and walking along the shore. She cupped her hands around her mouth and called out really loudly, "Reef!"

She continued to search for about an hour, calling his name as loud as she could each time, in hopes of finding her boyfriend who had just disappeared. How could he just disappear like that? Did he get stuck in a current after he wiped out and then drifted over to MaReefLand?

"Reef, where are you?!" she screamed, crouching down and pressing her palms to her face, sobbing in distress. She heaved a breath, and pushed her hair out of sight with her hand. Standing up, she stared straight into the horizon before looking around once more. Seeing a glimpse of red, she saw Reef's surf board just lying on the shore. He wouldn't have just left it there.

She ran over towards and lifted up, tucking it under one arm while she continued to call his name, heading towards the Kahuna's shack near the town. Maybe he would know?

"Kahuna!" she called out, running towards the little wooden house, waving an arm. He popped his head out as soon as he heard the familiar voice, and walked outside.

"If it isn't the Battle-axe from Halifax!" he joked, offering her a hi-five. "What's up?" He awkwardly lowered his hand when she didn't clap her palm against his own. She was looking down at her feet, and he immediately knew something was wrong.

"Fin?" he asked uncharacteristically gently. "What's wrong?"

"I can't find Reef anywhere! We went for a surf earlier, but he never came back to shore." she answered, pressing her hand to her closed eyes to wipe away the tears that were forming. "What if something bad has happened to him?"

"C'mon, Fin, the dude is fine. He's sitting in my hut with new fish, Fluffy the second, now." The Kahuna said proudly, placing his hands on his hips as he stood tall. The blonde girl's mouth fell open in shock, her hand dropping to its side as well as her face hardened into a glare.

"Why didn't you tell me that before?" she yelled, pushing past him and sprinting to his wooden shack, yelling her boyfriend's name. When she got to the door, she saw him sitting on the newly installed hammock, drinking a soda. When he saw her, he immediately perked up, standing and hugging her quickly.

She laughed into his shoulder, punching him in the arm. He winced at the action, but just held on. "Reef, you kook!" she said, pulling his head down to kiss her. The auburn-haired teenager was unsurprised at her action, knowing she would have been really worried about him, even she would deny it fervently. "You idiot!"

He just laughed good-naturedly. "Glad you to know you love me, you big-butted-Betty!"

She couldn't help but widen her blue eyes. When had she told him that? Sure, she did, but they had never said it to each other out loud. Their arms were still wrapped around each other, albeit looser than they were earlier because of the shock. Reef's eyes had widened when his words had sunk, and was inwardly whacking himself in the head because of his slip-up. She might not have been ready to say it, or even worse, she hadn't fallen for him like had her yet. Maybe she just liked him at the moment.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean too-"

"I do." she whispered, her head down to hide her blush. She laced her fingers together that were still at the back of his neck, pulling him closer to her. "I was scared to say it because we're still so young, but..."

"You love me?" he squeaked, his eyes still wide in shock. She nodded against him. "Say it, Fin."

She finally looked up at him, her blue eyes nervous. "I love you." A large grin made its way onto her boyfriend's face.

"I see you found the idiot." Lo said, scoffing while she folded her arms. She was still annoyed at Reef at what had happened the previous summer when they had dated, but the two still remained good friends otherwise. Broseph stood beside her with an arm around her shoulder. She raised an eyebrow at their interlocked hands and loving gaze. "And it looks like something else happened out there while you two were gone. You guys are already together so..."

Reef just grinned, running up the staircase of the Staff House while Fin stayed on the porch with Broseph and Lo. "Dude, what are you doin'?" Broseph called.

"Fin McCloud is in love with me!" he screamed proudly to the heavens at the top of his lungs, causing the nearby birds to fly away at the noise. Fin looked like she was about to burst into flames because of how red her face was.

"Reef, I'm going to kill you! First you make me worried sick, and now you embarrass me?!" she shrieked, chasing after him while he ran inside the door. "Don't you go hiding from me, you idiot!"

"I wonder if Fin's brothers know about them." Broseph said thoughtfully.

A/N: Well, I hope you liked it. My first Stoked fic! Whoo! I've been having this obsession with the show lately. I actually started this a while back and have gradually worked on it, so now it's finished. This is why I like writing one-shots better - no pressure! Anyway, I wasn't going to end it like that, or make it... cheesy, but I liked it. :D

Word Count: 2,182

Please leave a review!

~CL