(A/N: Alright Part one of Chapter Four! Yay! There is fluff in this chapter, to make up for the lack of said fluff from chapter three.)

Disclaimer: Class of the titans belongs to its legal owners.

Chapter Four: Summer Vacation Part 2: Incidents at the Beach Part 1

Lena was looking around her room, triple checking if she missed anything. She had gotten up early to make sure she hadn't. "First aid kit? Check." Her hands moved to the list she made, and clutched onto the paper as she pulled it in front of her face. "Snacks? Check. Camera? Check. MP3? Where is it?" Her eyes moved to her laptop, and there it was charging. "Check. Sketch book and pencils? Check….Why does it feel like I am missing something?" Her computer beeped telling her she had a call, probably from Annette. She went to the computer and answered.

Annette's voice came out through her earphones, "What are you still doing in your Pyjama's?" If her tank top and panties could really be called that, "Aren't you going to the beach today?"

Lena's fist smacked against her open palm, "That's what I'm missing. I'm going to put you on speaker while I change." Lena stood a book on her laptop covering the webcam, and began changing into the bathing suit she chose from her closet the previous night.

"Alright. So you're excited then?" Annette's voice held some laughter.

Lena answered while putting her bottoms on, "Of course I am. I haven't been to the beach since…" She paused, in both movement and speech, "father and Karen were alive." Her movements continued.

"Crap, right. Sorry, I didn't mean to." Annette's voice was filled with temporary regret.

"Its fine," Lena removed the book to show her black bikini, with a flame insignia on the right breast. "How do I look?"

Annette let out a low whistle, in appreciation, and Lena felt blush color her cheeks passionately. "I predict that Herry will turn a gaze your way today."

Lena felt her blush intensify as she found her pair of jean short-shorts and put them on. "He already has someone he likes! And I keep telling you that it's not like that."

"Isn't it?"

"Why are you online anyways? Go to bed already!" Lena was getting more and more flustered by the minute.

"That's actually why I called, I wanted to say have fun, and that I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Oh…um well then," She said while peaking out of one eye. "Ni-ni?"

"Ni-ni." Annette blew her a kiss and cut the call.

Lena let out a sigh, sometimes lying to Annette was harder then lying to herself. She let out a hissed breath and squished her feelings down, until she only felt the coldness that had become her essence these past couple of months. She unplugged her MP3 and turned it on, trying to remember the excited feeling from before. It didn't take long before she was dancing, excited once again. It wasn't until doing a turn did she realize that she was being watched. Blush covered her face completely, grateful that she had put on her tank top.

Herry was leaning on her doorway with fist in front of his mouth, a clear sign that he was trying not to laugh. "Excited, are we?"

Lena looked at him, glaring. "Haven't I told you guys to knock before coming in?"

"I did knock, you just didn't hear it." He held up his hands in defense.

Lena turned her head away from him, "What would you have done if I was changing?"

'Disgraced myself as a man, and then get my ass kicked by Theresa and Atlanta afterwards.' He smiled, "But you weren't, let's not think about what could have happened when it didn't. Anyways, I just came to tell you that we're just waiting for you and Neil, and from the looks of it, he's winning."

"Well if he catches his reflection in the mirror I won't have anything to worry about." She smiled, as she went to her bag making sure, for the fifth time that she had everything. But it still felt like she was missing something.

"Lena," She looked at him, "Catch." He threw a bundle at her, and she caught it.

"Ah, my towel. That's what was missing. Thanks." 'First it's your bathing suit, then it's your towel. Good job, Lena.' She mentally scolded herself, while throwing the towel in the bag.

"Got a spare set of clothes?" Theresa asked, now beside Herry.

Lena checked her bag, and there they were. "Check."

"You're good then?" Theresa asked.

Lena nodded, and headed towards them, but paused when she felt the strings on her neck loosening. She waved Theresa over, and whispered, "The strings on my neck are loosening. Do you think you could?"

Theresa moved Lena's hair out of the way, and tied the strings in a way so that they wouldn't loosen. "Better?"

"Much, thank you!" Lena hugged her, this surprised Theresa. "Opps, sorry." She quickly let go.

"It's alright, it just surprised me, you never show emotion." Theresa placed a hand on her back, leading her to the door.

Lena let herself be led, thinking about what Theresa said. She hadn't bothered to notice when they had gotten into Herry's truck, she hadn't bothered to pay attention to the outside world when they drove, she also hadn't bothered to notice when someone called her name.

It wasn't until a pair of fingers snapped in front of her unseeing eyes, did she snap out of her daze. "And she's back folks!" Atlanta's voice brought her attention to the car door.

"Sorry, what?" Lena blinked trying to remember what had happened outside of her own mind.

"Welcome back. We were starting to get worried." Jay's voice was calm, but she could hear a very slight amount of relief.

"Sorry, I was lost in thought." Lena looked at her surroundings. They were already at the beach. "Crap, sorry I shouldn't have spaced out like that." She got out of the truck and grabbed her bag from the back.

Jay spoke to her, while they were walking to the sand. "You've been spacing out a lot, you sure you're alright?"

"You worry too much, Jay." She told him. "I'd prefer that you'd worry about winning our bet rather than worrying about me. I've always been fine and will always be fine."

"If you say so. Guy's let's stop here."

Lena looked around, "Not many people here today, even though it's summer vacation."

"It is Tuesday." Odie told her. "Most people are at work."

"I suppose that's true." She stretched up towards the sun, letting the summer heat warm her to the core, her good mood returning.

They set up the blankets, and the beach umbrella, brought by Neil. They had only been in the sun for fifteen minutes, when Atlanta noticed that Lena was already beginning to burn. "Lena, are you alright? You seem to be burning."

"Well my skin is freakishly pale, so it burns really easily." Neil tossed her the sunscreen he was using. "Thanks." She began applying it.

Jay looked at the sun with a small frown on his face. "Make sure to drink plenty of water. All of you."

Archie tossed him a water bottle, "Practice what you preach, Jay."

The boys went off to change shortly after setting up. While the girls striped out their tank tops and shorts. That was when Theresa noticed Lena's stares, "What?" She asked self-consciously.

"Theresa…" Lena's voice held a tad bit of jealousy, "your boobs…have gotten bigger haven't they?"

Theresa blushed harshly, thankful that the guys weren't here, "They haven't, have they?" Lena's hands cupped her own chest, with a look of disappointment. Theresa noticed that Atlanta did the same. "Come on guys, we're still growing. There's no need to be depressed."

The frown on Lena's face increased; until she felt cold hands touch her back. "EEK!" She let out a surprised yelp, and flailed her hands helplessly.

"Quit moving," Atlanta scolded, "your back will burn if I don't put it on."

"But my back is really sensitive." She let out another yelp. Theresa held out her hands and Lena grabbed them, tightly, trying not to move.

Atlanta slapped her back, not hard enough to hurt, but enough to leave a red hand print on her skin. "There that wasn't so bad." Lena's knee's buckled when Atlanta's hand met her back, and she met the sand with a very red face. Atlanta knelt down to look at her, "You enjoyed that far too much, you know."

"I told you that my back was sensitive!" The red on her face didn't fade at all.

"Oooh?" Atlanta looked at Theresa and they both smirked, smirks that Lena instantly did not like. Atlanta ran her finger tips lightly across Lena's back.

"Atlanta," Lena's voice was breathy, as she shuddered "please stop teasing me!"

"But you make it sound like you don't want me to." Atlanta smiled.

"Did we come back at the wrong time?" Jay's face was slightly red from hearing Lena's pleading.

Atlanta stood up with speed and precision, covering the red faced Lena enough to keep the guys from seeing her like that, "It's fine, I was just putting sun screen on Lena's back."

Lena composed herself quickly, and she stood while placing a hand on Atlanta's shoulder. "And I thank her for that, and of course I should return the favor fully." Her lips held a smile, but her voice was nothing pleasant.

Atlanta turned her head, and pulled away quickly. Choosing to hide behind Archie, "I'm sorry!" She cried.

Theresa petted Lena's head, "Alright calm down, she was just having a bit of fun."

"Fine, fine. I'll drop it. For now I think I'll go take some pictures." Lena smiled; she grabbed her camera and headed out towards the bluff.

Theresa knew that Lena hadn't entirely forgiven Atlanta, her eyes made it very clear; she could still see the anger in them at least.

Lena had been taking pictures of the bluff for less than five minutes when she felt an overly familiar energy behind her, an energy that she had imprinted into her memory all those months ago, when she realized her feelings for him. "What is it, Herry?"

"I hope you know that that is really creepy." Herry stood on one of the rocks, watching her take pictures.

Lena turned slightly, not really looking at him, but also not fully ignoring him. "You didn't answer my question."

Herry looked away, mostly to hide the blush that appeared on his face. "I was just wondering if you were alright, you looked pretty angry back there."

"Don't worry I'm not mad at Atlanta in the least." She took another picture.

"Then why are you so angry?" He hopped down from the rock he was standing on and walked over to her.

"What makes you think that I'm angry?" Her posture stiffened, he had found her out!

"The tension in shoulders, the way you won't fully look at me, and you just stiffened up proving that I'm right." He knew all of her tells, and that scared her.

Lena turned to look at him, and he stopped in his approach, she was just an arm's length away now. "Fine, fine. I am angry, but not at Atlanta, I'm angry at myself. Happy now?" She turned to take another picture.

"I really wish you would stop turning away from me while we're trying to talk." His hand touched her shoulder, surprised at how soft her skin was. "It's just us, no one else. You can talk to me, you know that right?"

She turned to him, frowning. "I know. It's just that…I'm angry at myself because of simply letting it happen. The fact that I enjoyed it doesn't help any either. Atlanta is one of my best friends, and I let myself get turned on by her touch!" She let out a frustrated sigh, then muttered, "Stupid teenage hormones."

Herry blushed at her choice of words, he cursed just how blunt she was. He looked at the frustrated, and embarrassed look on her face, it made him laugh.

She looked up at him with shock apparent on her face, "What's so funny?"

"Sorry, you just-" Before he finished his sentence he remembered how she reacted to him calling her cute the last time. "Never mind. Don't worry, you're frustrations are safe with me."

She looked down, suddenly more interested in her flip-flops than in his face. "Thank you." She could feel the blood rush to her face.

His hand ruffled her hair, "You're welcome." He took the time to recollect his thoughts, and look around. "Wow, this place is pretty empty."

"That's why I chose it. I could be alone with my thoughts that way." She took this opportunity to turn around and started walking further into bluff.

"What were you going to do if some guy walked up and attacked you? We probably wouldn't be able to hear your cries from here." He asked, as he followed her further into the bluff, suddenly glad he had chosen to go after her.

Lena frowned, she hadn't even thought about it. "Probably the same thing I always do whenever some strange guy comes within a five meter radius of me."

"Break down and cry?" His voice held enough skepticism so that she didn't have to look back and see it on his face.

Lena's eyes narrowed, she didn't like where this conversation was going, so she shrugged it off. "Well if my bawling doesn't put a guy off, third degree burns probably would."

The rocks became slippery enough to throw off Lena's balance and had her tumbling backwards. Herry's arms were out the moment he saw her slip, and she was in his arms in less than three seconds. He held her princess style, which put the two of them close enough that their breath intermingled.

He looked down, and was about to ask her if she was alright but he then realized that this single movement put their lips millimeters apart from the each others. He froze unsure of what to do, his instinct told him to close the distance, however he instantly squashed that idea but it left him there frozen.

She was waiting for him to decide what to do, but he was clearly frozen. She snapped her fingers in front of his face, and he blinked and looked her in the eyes, turning his head so that their lips were no longer in danger of touching. "Herry," Her breath tickled his ear, "Either hurry up and kiss me, or put me down."

Her choice of words left him blinking, and he put her down. "Sorry. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Are you?" She looked at him; his dazed expression had her kind of worried.

He shook his head, trying to clear it while also trying to remember how speak. "I'm fine." Her words repeated in his head, 'Either hurry up and kiss me, or put me down.' He watched as she began to walk back towards the beach, "Lena!"

She turned on her heel, "What is it? We should get back to the others before Jay sends out a search party."

Herry's body had moved on its own, and when he realized what he was doing he had her pinned against a rock, his arms on either side of her. "Did you mean what you said?"

"We've spoken a lot in the past half hour; you're going to need to be more specific."

"When you said 'Either hurry up and kiss me, or put me down.' did you mean it?"

'Don't let him notice! Don't let him notice you meant every word of it!' Her mind screamed at her. She heard herself laugh and it sounded harsh, and cold even in her own ears. "I needed to say something to get you to put me down."

He was looking at her, "You didn't answer my question."

She didn't like the look in his eyes. It was a combination between seriousness and hunger, with an undertone of something that she didn't recognize. "And if I did?" Those four words set ablaze in his eyes that began to seriously worry her.

His hand lifted her chin up, causing her to look at him fully. "I'd have to do what you asked, of course." The words were innocent enough, but the way he said it sent shivers up her spine.

"This is going too far, Herry." She slapped his hand away, "You shouldn't joke about such things when you already have someone you like." The look in her eyes was cold, and harsh.

He pulled away; she had never looked at him with those eyes. She took the opportunity to head back towards the beach. He followed her in a shocked daze, completely unsure of how to respond.

Jay waved them over; they had apparently started making lunch. "What took you guys so long? We almost started eating without you."

Lena frowned, "You shouldn't eat before going into the water. It's not healthy." She sat down on her towel, and began flipping through the pictures she had taken on her camera.

Neil spotted Lena's camera in a matter of seconds, he smiled and posed.

Lena noticed Neil's movement and she took a picture of him instantly. "Hew hew, this is a keeper I think I'll post it on my wall."

"Lena you shouldn't encourage his behavior." Odie scolded her. "His head will get swollen."

"Even more than it already is? I don't think that's possible Odie." Theresa spoke.

"Hey! My head is perfectly shaped!" Neil complained.

Lena continued to take pictures of her dorm mates while Jay and Theresa served food, it kept her mind off of what had happened with Herry. Theresa and Atlanta sat down on either side of her.

"Lena, can I ask you a question?" Theresa started in a low voice, quiet enough so that the guys couldn't hear them.

"If it's about what happened before, don't worry about it I'm not mad at Atlanta, I never really was." Lena said as she took a bite of her food.

"As much as a relief that is, my question is completely different." Theresa continued as Lena took a drink of her water. "Do you like Herry?"

Lena choked, and began coughing. The guys looked up from their conversation. "You alright?" Jay asked.

"I'm fine." Lena responded through haggard breath. Her eyes met Theresa's with a glare. "What kind of question was that?" She whispered.

The other two girls sat in front of her, so that they blocked the guy's vision of her response. "You didn't answer the question." Atlanta told her.

Lena didn't look at them as her face became covered in blush, again. "Fine, I like him."

"Like, like?" Theresa's eyes widened as Lena nodded. "Why haven't you told him?"

Lena looked at the two, pain was apparent in her eyes. "Because he deserves so much better than someone like me." She closed her eyes and took a breath, then opened her them and smiled. "There's no point in dwelling on something that'll never happen, so let's just drop it."

"Alright," Theresa frowned, and looked at Atlanta with a worried look.

The rest of the meal was eaten in silence, and they were beginning to relax when they heard two women gossiping.

"That's totally her." One exclaimed.

"No way! She's been missing for a year and a half there's no way she could be here." The other said.

"You should go ask!" The first told her.

"I have no interest in meeting her, you go." The second pushed the first forward in encouraging way.

"Um…" The first woman shifted, "Are you possibly, um, Lena Rose?"

Lena pulled down her sunglasses, and looked at the blushing woman in front of her. She stood dusting herself off. "I am, and you are?"

"Um, I'm Lillian Dusk." That name was familiar to Lena, but she had no idea how she knew it.

She could hear the guys from where they sat behind her.

"Who's that?" Jay asked.

"Shall we place bets? Ten dollars per bet." Archie started, "A former lover."

"An old friend." Herry said.

"An old rival." Neil shrugged.

Odie smiled, he already knew the answer, "A fan."

"You guys are terrible." Jay stated, "By the way she can probably hear you."

Lillian's voice brought Lena's attention back to the woman standing in front of her. "You probably don't remember it's been almost five years since then. You and I used to compete in music competitions together, we both used to play piano. I'm a huge fan of yours!"

Lena blushed, slightly embarrassed about having a fan. "Oh! I just remembered, you'd always come in second. You're extremely talented."

Lillian's blush increased, "What about you? You were only six when you won your first competition. You were half the age of almost everyone else there. Do you still play? After that incident-"

"I'm sorry but could you please not bring that up." Lena said with a sad smile.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" Lillian apologized. "Of course you wouldn't want to hear about that."

"It's alright, but to answer your question. I no longer play."

"That's a shame, but can I ask some advice then?"

"Of course."

"My playing has gotten worse no matter how much I practice."

"Let me see your hands." Lillian held out her hands, and Lena examined them. "You're over practicing; when your fingers are over worked it makes your playing sloppy." She slowly ran her fingers over Lillian's channeling a healing energy into them. "When I still played, I'd practice for two hours a day, no more no less. But you should start out with an hour, try that for a couple of weeks then increase your practice time by fifteen minutes, and then repeat the process." Lena gave her hands back.

"Alright, I'll try that. Thank you!" Lillian went back to her friend, and waved.

Lena waved back and waited for her turn and walk away. Her attention immediately went to the guys. She saw Odie putting money away in his wallet, and then she turned her attention to Archie. "Former lover? What part of me looks gay?"

"It was a joke! Gods calm down! Spaz!" Archie retorted.

"A joke that you lost money for." Odie smiled.

Lena sat down suddenly tired. "That was unexpected."

"I didn't know you play piano." Theresa said.

"I don't." Lena sighed.

"You used to, and apparently you were good at it." Atlanta said, "Why'd you quit?"

Lena's eyes narrowed behind her sunglasses, "Personal reasons. Anyways it's all in the past, there's no point in talking about it."

"That's no fun." Atlanta frowned.

Lena opened the book she had brought with her. It was a clear sign that she wasn't going to answer any more questions.

"Can I ask one more question?" Atlanta asked.

"I may possibly answer." Lena looked at Atlanta over her book.

Atlanta looked at Lena curiously, "How many competitions did you win?"

Lena sighed, "Well I started playing for contests when I was six, and I quit after the national competition when I was twelve. Provincially, I won twelve. There were two every year. Nationally, I won six. So in total I won eighteen." She shrugged it off.

They all blinked at her, stunned into silence. She admitted she had never lost a competition so bluntly! Theresa was the first one to regain her composure, "So we came here to play, so let's play."

Lena watched as they all got up except Archie, who was afraid of water. "Aren't you going with them?" Archie asked.

"When I feel like it. For now I think I will read." Lena said with a smile, she laid back down using her bag as a pillow while she read.

Lena couldn't pull her eyes away from her book; it was just starting to get good. She didn't notice when Atlanta came and took Archie away. She also didn't notice when a person came up to her, until their shadow covered her book.

"Hey babe, you here alone?" The voice was masculine.

"Do I look like I'm alone?" She looked around, noticing that Archie was nowhere to be found. "Apparently I do. Crap." She looked up at the towering figure and flinched back as she saw his eyes. They were filled with a hunger, and lust. The latter scared her terribly, she had only had seen that look once, and it was starting to bring up terrible memories.

Herry had been keeping an eye on Lena since Atlanta and Archie went off somewhere. His attention had been on ball that was being tossed around until he turned slightly, only to see a man talking to her, and to see her shrink away from him. "Crap!" He started to head towards the beach.

The man reached out for Lena, as he spoke, "Don't worry, I'll take good care of you."

Those words made Lena's tears come out in sobs and she tried to pull away but he grabbed her arm. "Don't! Let go!"

A hand shot out and grabbed the man's arm. "For shame! Making an innocent girl cry." The man looked at the stranger who had intervened. "If you want something from my girlfriend, you might want to go through me first." His hand gripped the man's arm harder, forcing him to let go of Lena.

"Woah, dude chill. I didn't know she was taken." The man took his arm back and left.

"Lena?" Her savior knelt down in front of her. She could make out the black hair and ice blue eyes through her tears. His voice sent chills up and down her spine, it was a voice that she knew, and had missed in her year and a half away from home.

"It can't be. It's not possible you shouldn't be here."

His hand wiped away her tears, "I'm right here. Saving your sorry ass again." He opened his arms to her.

"Lance!" She leapt into his arms, and he held her while she cried.