A/N: I know this update is long, but I'm REALLY excited about it! I'm tapping into my inner Mariska and her love of the water in this chapter. As always, read, review, and enjoy! Remember: Follow me Hesitant_Writer on Twitter!

Brian's alarm clock began to blare at 6:00AM on July 2nd. He reached out in front of him and shut it off. He closed his eyes for a second; he could tell Olivia was still asleep by her deep breathing. After a few minutes, he opened his eyes again, this time a little more awake. He decided he would shower first so Olivia could have a little more time to sleep. He tried to get up from the bed but felt her iron grip around his waist. He smiled to himself, he'd never tell anyone, but he secretly kind of liked being the little spoon every now and again.

He tried to unwrap himself from her again, but was met with her protest. "No, Baby. Five more minutes?" she asked sleepily holding onto him tighter.

He chuckled and turned to face her. "I'm gonna go shower. I'll wake you up when I get out so you can get ready. I'll make us breakfast while you're showering," he said running his fingers through her hair.

She buried her face in his chest and groaned, she was never really much of a morning person. "Okay," she mumbled.

He kissed the side of her head, got up, and walked into the bathroom. She looked at the clock, it read 6:15AM. "He wanted to be on the road by 7," she thought. She closed her eyes for another minute and then got up and walked over to her dresser. She laid out her attire for the day, then grabbed their suitcases and placed them by the front door. She walked into the kitchen and started the coffee.

By the time the coffee was ready, Brian was out of the shower. Wearing just a bathrobe, he walked out into the kitchen to find her pouring him a cup. "Thanks Babe," he said taking a sip. He placed his mug on the counter and pulled her to him. "You excited for our trip?" he asked.

"Um," she said, "I mean, I am. But I still don't know where we're going."

He smiled. "You'll find out soon enough. You'll like it, don't worry."

"Well, I'm assuming it's somewhere on the water because you made me pack my bathing suit," she said arching her eyebrows a little.

"Maybe I just wanna see you in a bathing suit," he winked at her.

Her face fell. She wasn't quite sure she was ready for him to see her in a bathing suit. She still had yet to change in front of him. The scars from her cigarette burns had almost faded but she still couldn't help but notice them every time she looked in the mirror before showering. She really didn't want Brian to see her skin, she was afraid he wouldn't want her anymore.

"Enjoy the coffee," she said, "I'm going to go shower." She half smiled at him and walked away.

She walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. She began to take off her pajamas, taking note of how her scars were doing. She looked at herself in the mirror and began to cry. "I can't do this," she thought, "Why did I agree to a vacation? God, can't I just cuddle in bed forever instead?" She looked at herself again and counted.

Twenty on her chest, abdomen, and shoulders.

Ten on each of her legs.

And five in and on her privates.

She was a mess, and didn't she know it. "Now everyone will know," she cried.

Brian pulled into the driveway of a cute little beach house in Ocean City, New Jersey. The drive had been slightly over three hours. Brian wanted to make a pit stop to grab some groceries for the four days they were planning on staying there. Olivia was confused as to why he wanted to stop until now. She looked at the house and smiled. "Bri," she said, "where are we?"

"My family owns this beach house. Mom and I usually come up here for the Fourth of July, but this year she had different plans and I didn't want to break tradition," he smiled at her.

"It's so cute!" she cooed as she climbed out of the car. She grabbed the groceries out of the backseat while Brian grabbed their suitcases. Once he got the door open, Olivia took off like a rocket exploring the house. She took note of each room, favoring the sunroom. It was a good-sized space built off of the living room. She slid the glass door open and took the small step down onto the beautiful wood flooring that was also present throughout the rest of the house. It barely had any walls; it was mostly windows so as to not obstruct the perfect view of the ocean.

Brian was in the kitchen putting away the groceries. He could see Olivia walking out into the sunroom. The house had a nice open floor plan. The living room spilled out into the kitchen. Brian's mom always loved having all the windows open; the breeze through the house was refreshing.

He smiled as he watched her. He didn't say anything. He didn't want to disturb her. It was the first time in over a month that Olivia looked truly relaxed, which was exactly what he wanted. After watching her for sometime, he made his way over to the sunroom. He made his steps heavy so she would know he was coming. She turned around beaming at him. "It's so beautiful here," she said.

"I'm glad you like it," he said pulling her into a hug, "I was hoping you would. I've got plans to bring you here again in the future." He kissed the top of her head and she rested against his chest, ear over his heart listening to it beat. He held her a little tighter, after having not been able to touch her for over a month, he couldn't get enough of her. He whispered in her ear, "Let's go for an ocean swim, huh?"

She froze. "No," she thought, "Not now. We just got here. I figured I had at least a couple more hours before this happened." She lifted her head to look at him. Carefully, she chose her next words. "Why don't we finish unpacking first?" she asked hoping he'd bite.

"Unpack what? The groceries are put away and the suitcases are the bedroom. You can't live out of a bag for a few days, princess?" he sassed at her.

"I mean, you have dressers. Why don't we use them?" she tried.

"We can unpack after, let's just cool off in the water. C'mon Liv, come out and play," he said teasingly.

She used her last resort. "I kind of wanted to see around town," she said a little disappointedly.

He looked at her, really looked at her, and then he saw it. Fear. He caressed her arms softly. "What are you afraid of, Baby?"

She looked down in hopes of hiding the tears forming in her eyes, but Brian still saw them. He pulled her close to him again and rocked her gently. He ran his fingers through her hair and whispered, "Tell me what's wrong. What's hurting you?"

She looked up at him with tears running down her face. "45," she said softly.

He looked at her confused, "45 what?"

Her lips quivered but she kept it together. "There are 45 scars on my body. All of which caused by cigarette burns," she strained to whisper; more tears fell down her face.

He brushed her tears away. "So what?" he said, "I don't care have if you have five, 45, or a 145. You are beautiful. You'll always be beautiful, especially to me."

Her eyes watered again and she smiled at him. "Thank you, Brian. That means so much to me, it really does. This may seem selfish, but I just don't think I'm ready for you to see me yet. You might not care but," she started to cry again, "I do."

He pulled her into him again, "Shh, Baby," he said rubbing circles in her back, "It's okay." After a brief minute, she started to settle down and looked up at him. He leaned forward and lightly kissed her. "C'mon," he said taking her hand, "we need a little fresh air."

He led her out of the sunroom and onto the adjoining deck. The sun felt good on Olivia's skin and the breeze helped soothe her. Brian led her off of the deck and towards the ocean. He stopped them at about ten feet away from the water. He wrapped his right arm around her and pulled her to him using his left hand to caress her arm.

"I wanna tell you something," he whispered to her.

She looked up at him, "Tell me what?"

He took a deep breath. "There's a reason I brought you here," he started slowly, she nodded at him, encouraging him to continue, "When I was growing up, my Dad and I used to always come down here. At least one weekend a month in the summer, we'd leave Mom at home and have a 'guys weekend' here at the house."

"That must have been fun for you," she smiled.

He smiled back, "It was," he paused, "until I was 16."

She frowned at him a little. "What do you mean?"

He took another deep breath. "I had just gotten my license. I had my shit-box car all packed and ready to go. It was the last day of sophomore year. Dad and I planned on coming up here for the first weekend of summer. We decided to meet here. I left straight from school and he left straight from work." He leaned his forehead against hers. It was like he was trying to pull some strength from her to help him finish his story.

She rubbed her hands up and down his arms. "It's okay," she said, "You can tell me."

He smiled slightly at her. "He said he wouldn't be here until about seven or eight o'clock at night. Since I was leaving from school, I got here around five. I made dinner for us. When seven o'clock rolled around, he wasn't here. I figured traffic was heavy. When eight o'clock came and he still wasn't here, I began to worry. At 8:34PM on June 23, 1980, my Mom called and told me he had gotten into a car accident on the way here. He was killed instantly."

Olivia looked at him shocked. "Brian, I'm so sorry."

"The first thing I did was head home," he said, "I met my Mom at the door and we were both still in shock. I think I was throughout the whole week of services."

"That's normal," she said, "Baby, don't blame yourself."

Brian felt bad he was purposely ignoring her comments, but he needed her to hear what he was trying to say. She needed to understand. "I realized I had left most of my stuff here. After the funeral I came down to grab it. I walked into the house and I swore I could feel my Dad's presence. I walked down to the water and put my feet in. It was weird, I felt closer to my Dad in that moment than I had in the entire week of celebrating his life. It was like he was waiting for me to come back, like he would never miss one of our weekends together no matter where he was." Tears stung his eyes. He looked at her and saw her tears, too.

"Brian, I'm sorry," she said.

"It wasn't your fault. None of this was your fault."

She looked at him confused. "Now you've lost me," she said.

"A tragic thing happened to me, it wasn't anyone's fault. There was nothing I could have done to change it. A tragic thing happened to you, it wasn't your fault. The person who was at fault is dead now, as he rightfully should be. But there was nothing you could have done differently." She looked at him intently; he could tell she was still lost.

He continued, "But sometimes accepting it wasn't your fault isn't enough. I came here that night and realized water heals. There's just something about it. It washes your wounds and takes away your problems with the tide. I was devastated when I lost my Dad, but I put my feet in the water and I knew I was going to be okay. A horrible thing happened to you, but I swear, if you put your feet in that water," he said pointing to the sea, "you'll be okay."

She looked at him with tears in her eyes. He took a step away from her still holding her hands. He brought them up to his lips and kissed them. "You can do it," he said, "No bathing suit required."

She took a second to look at the water. She took a deep breath and let go of his hands. She began the short walk to the sea. She reached the edge and closed her eyes for a second wanting to feel the sun on her face. She opened her eyes again and stepped forward. The cool water felt so good on her hot feet. She continued walking until the water reached half way up her calves. She put her arms straight out on either side of her and took in the breeze.

Brian watched her in awe. He gave her time to take in the sun, sand, and water. He could tell she felt better already. She turned around and faced him. He walked towards her noticing her smile as he did. When he reached her, she held his face in both her hands and kissed him passionately. He wrapped his arms around her waist and ran his tongue along her lips asking for entrance to her mouth. For the first time in over a month, she accepted. She wrapped her arms around his neck never wanting the kiss to end. She had missed him so much. She had forgotten how much she liked kissing him. She could honestly kiss Brian for hours.

Eventually the two needed to come up for air. They broke apart and rested their foreheads together, smiling at each other. Olivia felt renewed; Brian was still in a happy shock from the kiss she'd just given him. She rested her forehead in the crook of his neck and breathed him in. She felt so relaxed, for a while she was convinced she'd never feel this happy again.

She picked her head up and looked at him. She smiled and said, "I think I'm gonna go put my bathing suit on now."

So I know I didn't mention Brian's potential PTSD in this chapter, but it's coming up. Promise! I hope you still enjoyed this update regardless! Please review! You guys are the best. If you have any comments or questions, you can also contact me Hesitant_Writer on Twitter!