Salt coated my lips, a faulty side effect of the ocean breeze that cooled my hot cheeks. I closed my eyes to the dull lullaby that the waves created as they crashed into a rocky shore. Haven was ugly that way, there wasn't soft white sand or clear water- there was only muddy rifts and black sand that was really crushed up gravel.

I licked them, my lips, trying to make sure that they weren't as dry and cracked as they felt. They were my throat tightening from the thick edge. It created a brine, one that made my fingers feel numb and chest ache. My palms pressing heavily against the railing of the Poseidon- eyes trained on a never-ending horizon.

My arms were shaking. I wasn't sure if it was the rage, or fear, or both. Maybe it was both, but I couldn't catch up to my thoughts, a train that had picked up speed as coals were added to the raging flames. I should be happy. Shouldn't I? Addison talked. She spoke actual syllables and here I was sulking on a boat that was just as broken as I am.

"Are you alright?" a voice struggled to pull me from my locked gaze. It was soft and caring, leaking with concern as my stomach churned and hissed. I didn't answer. Didn't acknowledge the little grunts Chloe made as she struggles onto the bow of the boat. Her footfalls were loud and clunky against the wood.

"What kind of a bullshit question is that?" I finally spoke as she leaned against the rails herself, staring out at the pulling tide as her elbows balanced on the railing, hands nearly meeting. My voice was edged. "Am I alright?"

Chloe swallowed dejectedly, not saying a word as the soft sounds of the sea pressed against our ears. The older girl could practically feel the rage leaking off of me. I was revving myself up, struggling to find my composure before I spoke.

"Addison Mitchell is fucking mute." I finally condemned "She hasn't spoken a word in two years to me. Two years and you flash those blue doe eyes and suddenly she opens up to you like… like it's nothing?"

"Beca, that is not my fault." Chloe immediately went on the defensive, standing up straight as she dropped her hands to her sides. "She looked like… She looked like a normal six-year-old. Of course, I was going to make conversation with her. I didn't know she was your sister."

"I didn't need to tell you that." I sputtered, turning to face her as I raised my voice. "You're Chloe, okay? You're Aubrey Posen's best friend. You don't know me."

My chest was heaving with anger, She was close, her scent caught in my throat as I kept a hardened stare. "You don't know me. And… and don't' you have some stupid real estate meeting to get to, huh?"

I pressed my fingers to my hairline whipping away from her as a gloss coated those stormy eyes. Those eyes that got to me since day one. I didn't understand it. I didn't understand any of this. Why was Chloe suddenly showing compassion through that heart of ice? It might have been the fire or the way I softened around my own little sister that changed her snotty attitude- but I still didn't quite get it.

"Not when you're upset like this." She finally mumbled to me. "I canceled."

"Why?" I rumbled, turning around to face her once more, stepping about a foot closer until I was in her face again. I knew it wasn't fair, she was just trying to help. Chloe was close to towering over me, adjusting her jaw in a taut way that displayed her pure anger and discontent. "Why would you cancel a meeting to check on me when you can't stand being in the same room with me for more than three minutes?"

"Beca," She reasoned with a small chuckle, one that raised my tensions even more. She found this comical. "I'm not some evil woman, okay? This isn't about me. This isn't about us. This is about Addison. You're upset, and it's breaking you."

"It's not breaking me," I struggled through my words, voice low "I broke when that fire ripped through my childhood home. She broke, and there-"My stomach churned as my voice got caught in my throat and tore at my vocal cords, tears pressing against my cheeks. "There is no way that I can put her back together without missing a few pieces."

The pain tore through my whole entire body, my legs struggling to support the fear and emotion that ripped through me. Chloe's hands were quick to find a way under my elbows, holding me up as her fingers dug into my arms. She hesitated as I felt my knees hit the edge of the boat, a sob moving through my throat.

I was shocked, shaking at the cold that pressed flush against every inch of my body. Even more shocked at how quick Chloe was to pull me into her embrace, her scent enveloping me. I cried into her chest, clenching onto the fabric of her shirt as I struggled to catch my breath. Struggled to catch my senses.

"Shh," Chloe whispered, hugging me close as she traced small patterns on my back, "Bec's I need you to calm down… I don't know how to help someone who is hyperventilating, so please don't hyperventilate."

I laughed slightly at her antics, sniffing as I edged my breath, my fingers cold and shaking from the ocean air. From the pain that I had yet to come to terms with. From the sister who wouldn't speak a word to me. "I- I shouldn't be mad. Not at you."

"You shouldn't be mad at you either," Chloe whispered, not making a move to pull away anything soon. "Beca you… you've done everything you can, and she will talk when she is ready."

I swallowed rather roughly, the action tearing at my throat. The ocean air was so dry and desolate compared to the rest of Haven. I knew that Chloe was right… something else that pained me to admit. The Redhead may be more complex than I had originally thought. Not as vein and dense. In fact, she was soft, soft as she cradled me in her tender grasp. Her scent was thick with ginger and maybe even a little bit of mint- but it was a good contrast to the salted breeze.

Addison would talk when she found it fit. My whole body ached at the thought of a near stranger getting a taste of her voice. I missed the melodic sound so much to the point of an actual physical need to hear it ripped through me on occasion. My little sister would smile and laugh, but I knew deep down that the fire had taken something away from her- something that I needed to give her. Something that I couldn't figure out yet.

"Chloe?" I whispered, not used to the strangled tone.

"Yeah, Beca?" She spoke into my hair, her words muffled as she traced little circles on the top of my arm. They were foreign patterns that weren't cohesive, but soothing nonetheless.

"Sorry I hit you in the face with that frisbee."