Rikki's Pov

It was windy outside, the sun slightly setting below the ocean and the beach. The sky was now turning an orange, pink color, everyone leaving the beach to go home. I was now all on my own. My loose shirt was sifting with the wind, my medium size belly, now slightly showing. The girls have already gone back to their collage, including their boyfriends. It was up to me to figure this out... to figure out what to do with my future.

A saw a bunch of teenage kids with surf boards, running up the beach, laughing. They were enjoying their last few weeks of summer before entering back into school. I looked back down at my belly, some how wishing it would go flat again. I didn't look pregnant nor skinny, i felt fat. One of the worst feeling anyone could feel about themselves.

It only felt like yesterday that we all graduated from high school. Now its all ending and everyone is going back to their busy normal lives. All except for me. Its only been two days since the girls have gone back to collage, but for me, it felt like two years. I was determined to find a job, something that would help pay everything off, but the odds of that happening seemed low.

I softly kicked the sand with my feet. I felt it go in between my toes, the ground being slightly warm. My thoughts were going off in every direction, the same way they did every time i went swimming. How much I wish I could dive into the ocean and feel the salty water go directly on my face. The feeling of pride and joy, like you owned the world. The feeling of doing whatever you want, with out anyone watching you. Only this time, i would be asking for trouble if I dove into the water, and I was already in enough trouble.

The beach was clearing up and there were very few people. Instead of the noise of laughing kids, all i could hear was the waves tumbling onto the beach. I looked up, seeing the man who was in the same position as me, sitting up on the wooden rails.

He, also staring at the beach, was in deep thoughts. He had both of his shoes in one hand, watching the sun, going slowly below the depth of the oceans. He was wearing long skinny black pants and had a grey t-shirt on. I took a deep breathe, walking towards him.

He was so concentrated at looking at the ocean, that he didn't even notice I was walking towards him. I could clearly see the bruises on his face, his fists also looking a bit swallon.

"It's nice, isn't it?" I softly asked, Zane immediately looking over at me. It didn't take long for him to stare back at the beach, his attitude telling me he was upset.

"I don't know why but the beach, just seems like the perfect place to let out all your thoughts. Well, that's once everyone's gone. Its like the sun puts you in a trance or something." I slightly teased but he didn't smile. He continued looking at the ocean.

I walked up to him, putting my hand on the wooden rail. The current of the wind blew a little harder, making my hair fly in all directions, but it settled down after a few seconds.

"You have every reason to be mad." I started off, sitting down next to Zane. It was silent for a few seconds, not knowing if he was going to respond. I opened my mouth to say something but he beat me to it before I had a chance of saying anything.

"I'm not mad. Just... confused. That's all." He responded, his face expression not changing, the same feeling of confusion going through me as well.

"I... I really thought we had a chance to start all over again. After all that's happened this summer, I thought maybe we could actually work things out but... it seems like were going through the same circles again. Same routines. Whatever I do, I just end up making it worse." He turned around to look at me. All i could look at was his swallon bruised up eye. Even though I hate to admit it, I felt some sort of pity for him.

"I'm... I'm just tired of playing these games. I just wish all of this would go back to normal." I softly mumbled to myself, the words drifting to the wind and into Zane's ears. He shock his head, the same way he does when he's frustrated.

"And what is normal for us Rikki? When... has any of this been normal? Were both trying to avoid each other from different problems that it just ends up making things worse." He spoke out, turning his head to look back at the ocean. "I miss you Rikki... And as much as it hurts, I know doing this, won't solve anything..." He continued.

He had a point. None of this was working. Now with the girls gone, it felt like all my problems were crashing on top of me, including Zane. I took a deep breathe, trying to break the awkward uncomfortable silence in between us.

"Be honest Zane... But, do you really wanna go though with this? Do you really wanna be a parent?" I asked, looking at him, waiting for an answer. He looked away for a few seconds, getting his thoughts together but quickly looked back at me with those sad eyes.

"I feel like I need to. But, i don't want to do it on my own. I wanna be here for you but every time I try, I feel like your pushing me away." He responded, the sky now turning a purplish pink color. You could see a quarter of the sun and the ocean was sparkling off of it.

"Zane, its not that I wanna push you away... it's just I feel that your here for a different reason as to why I'm here. We both want different things, and to that conclusion, its just mixing things up. Were just going to end up hurting each other in the long run." I explained, Zane looking down, breaking the eye contact with me.

"I don't want a relationship right now. I'm just not ready for one yet. Not after everything we've been through." I added, the disappointment, showing on Zane's face.

"So there's never going to be an "us" again? That's just it? All I am to you is the parent of this baby?" He asked, sadness crepping into his voice. It was silent, not knowing what to reply. Deep down inside me, I still cared for Zane. I still missed him and I didn't want this to end. I didn't want this to be over. But at the same time, I feel like ill be digging myself into a deeper hole if I did get back together with him.

"I'm not saying there's never going to be an "us" again but... i feel like we need to concentrate on other things before we concentrate on ourselves. As much as I wanna trust you again, I just cant convince myself to do so. I need time. I need space. Maybe another reason why I'm pushing you away. I'm not ready for any of this. I feel all of this is being dumped onto me." I explained, feeling the sand, in between my toes.

"And if I gave you space, would you ever let me back into your life again?" He asked, having some sort of hopeful look in his eyes. I sighed, the question he just asked, wishing would be something I knew the answer to.

"We need to take things slow. If we ever want this to ever work out, we need to first figure out what were going to do with this kid before we decide what we want for ourselves." I responded. He nodded in understanding, the sound of silence going in between us again.

"And you... Are you ready to be a mother?" He softly asked, thinking deeply about what he asked.

"I... I don't know. I barley know how to take care of myself, let alone another person. All the responsibility that comes with being a parent seems... over whelming." I honestly responded. He nodded again, knowing exactly what I meant.

"Instead of making all of this so complicated, why can't we just settle on a plan? I'll give you more space and we can both decide what we want for the baby. I can show you that you can trust me and we can go on from there." He started explaining.

"But there's so much more to it than that." I cut in.

"So why don't we just start as friends and go from there. It won't hurt trying." He suggested.

"But we've already tried so many times before that. Every time we do, it keeps crashing in on us. We need to know that this will work out." My voice raising a bit higher in frustration.

"I think we just need to communicate more. We don't even tell each other whats bothering us, which just leads us to more fights. If we want to do whats best for the baby, then that's what we need to do from now on. I don't want the baby feeling the same way I did growing up, abounded because one of my parents couldn't stand living with the other. I don't want it living with out a mother or father because I know how that feels, and it feels horrible." He added on.

"I wanna know that it'll feel loved and accepted because I never once felt like that growing up. And even if we both don't work out at the end, we know we tried and gave all our effort to work this out. I just don't want you giving up on me quite yet." He finished, giving me those sad eyes that he did so well.

And always, he had a point.

"But promise me one thing." I finally said, before we both came into an agreement.

"And whats that?" He asked with curiosity.

"To just treat me like a parent, like some other friend and to not continue trying to get us back together. Not until I think were ready." I explained, knowing exactly what I meant from that. He sighed, knowing he didn't like the idea but he knoded his head.

"Ok. Just as a friend?" He asked.

"Just as a friend." I clearly stated, the sun almost below the ocean. You could now clearly see the moon above us and darkness started taking over the sky. For now, I just hoped it worked out. That maybe there was still a chance for this to end up well. For the baby's sake. That's all the mattered anyways.

A/N: I really hoped you guys liked that chapter! I know there are a lot of Zikki lovers reading my story so the good news is that, from now on, the story is MAINLY going to be Zikki! (Finally!) Haha, well, what do you think? Reviews? They are greatly appreciated ;)