Sorry for the delay. I've had the worst writers block. Also I got engaged when I was in Europe so I've been busy with engagement stuff haha. I was meant to post last week, but I kept reading over it, super unhappy and felt like I was half assing the chapter. I swear swear swear we are so close to seeing a Max and Chloe reunion. I know I keep saying that, but I'm going to buckle down and make it happen. Even if the next chapter is double the length to make it happen.

Please leave a review telling me if you like or hate it, thoughts, etc. Hopefully my writing streak continues and I can post sooner.

Thanks!

Kate sat on the shower floor with her arms wrapped around herself. The water was scalding when she had first entered, her skin registering the pain yet somehow it didn't bother her. No, it wasn't the burning sensation that covered her body at first, nor was it the now freezing water thundering down on her. It wasn't even the pounding headache that woke her up.

No.

Her faith in God was beginning to waver and if she could just begin to remember how her night went then maybe she wouldn't be as perturbed by the sudden dark thoughts that God had left her when she lost her way.

The texts and missed calls from her parents she had woken up to on her phone were more than disturbing and if it weren't for her name in the messages, she would have thought she had someone else's phone.

Then the video. How humiliating.

The link was sent to her from various numbers. She only had to watch once, but despite recognizing her own face, she couldn't help but deny that was her. It couldn't be her. She would never do that.

How could this have happened?

It had to be a dream. It just had to. A nightmare of sorts.

But as she was about to leave her room, she could hear the voices outside her door, mocking her behaviour loudly for the whole dorm to hear. When the voices had finally faded, she peaked her head out only to notice that the whiteboard outside her door had been wiped and replaced with crude innuendos of her religious nature.

She quickly made her way into the shower, barely acknowledging Max. She didn't want to see if Max was laughing at her too. And now, here she sat, hidden away from the judging eyes of her peers.

If God was watching, perhaps he was laughing at her too.

A choked sob erupted from deep within her chest and she quickly moved her hands over her mouth to stifle the sound.

The door hit the bell, signifying their entrance to the staff, Nathan immediately stalking towards the back corner of the diner. The blue haired girl exited the washrooms and took a seat on one of the stools at the counter. Alice would have waved, but the girl had not noticed her. She followed Nathan, quickly flashing a smile at the waitress behind the counter.

Nathan slid into a booth and Alice hesitated for a moment, wondering if she was supposed to sit next to him. She opted for the opposite seat.

"Soooooo. . . What's good here?" Alice said as she looked over the menu. The silence was making her feel awkward.

"You can't go wrong with the eggs and bacon, I guess." Nathan said suddenly blushing. "Though I've never actually had anything else here to be honest."

Alice laughed, making Nathan relax a little.

"If you like, I'll order the waffles and you can try some."

He nodded and closed his menu to lean back. He drummed his fingers nervously against the table, thankful when the waitress came by to take their order.

"Have you lived here your whole life?"

"Pretty much." He shrugged. "My sister left though. Some peace corps thing or whatevathefuck."

He wanted so bad to be mad at Kristine for leaving him, but couldn't bring himself to actually talk to her about it. She had her chance to escape and took it. Could he blame her? She braved the world and stepped out from under their father's shadow. Unfortunately that meant that the focus was now on Nathan.

"I've met your dad, but what about your mum? What does she do?"

If the mention of his dad bothered Nathan, it didn't show. The same look of indifference held for his mother as well.

"She's basically a trophy wife. She's there to stand beside my dad to make him look good, but she's not what I would call a 'mother'. Kristine was closer to a mother than that woman will ever be."

"I'm sorry. That must have been rough for you."

He shrugged. He gave up on having any kind of relationship with his mother.

He remembered when she had talked about her parents, suddenly feeling like a jerk for acting the way he did when she told him. How was it that she agreed to a date? He had treated her like everyone else around him. Even he didn't want to be around himself.

They were overtaken by silence and Alice took to staring out the window at the scenery. Arcadia Bay was such a nice little town. She could see herself settling down in a place like this. Close to the water, but plenty of wooded areas. The air just felt much more cleaner than the atmosphere of cities.

Nathan began to get jittery and his leg began to bounce. He cursed himself as he felt a buzz in his pocket and took out his phone to see a text from Victoria reminding him to take his meds. He fought the urge to send back a scathing retort. He wasn't a child. He knew to take the fucking pills. Victoria meant well, but of all people she should know how much it hurt to be told what to do.

His eyes shot back to Alice who had a neutral look on her face as she gazed out the window. She was really pretty. Her silver hair was bright with the morning sun beaming down. He bet she would look just as pretty with her natural hair colour as well, which was showing a little bit at her roots.

He was tempted to ask what her heritage was, but that would be stupid and rude all things considering.

Mr. Jefferson's angry disappointed face flashed through his mind. Nathan's leg began to bounce once more and he clenched his fists.

Fuck.

He was definitely going to hear from this when they got back. He was genuinely surprised he hadn't gotten a message already.

"You alright?"

Her voice brought him back to the present. He grunted back as an answer. His eyes darted back over to her for a moment and he could tell she was frowning.

"Wanna talk about it?"

Silence.

"Come on."

What was he supposed to say?

"I don't bite."

He stayed silent.

Alice balled up the paper from her straw and flicked it at him. It hit right underneath his eye and they both jumped in surprise.

"What the fuck?"

Alice laughed and held up her hands in surrender.

"Sorry, sorry. My aim sucks."

Nathan found himself forgetting about what awaited him at school in lieu of her presence.

"Oh hey, you can smile." Alice jabbed lightly. He found himself fighting his own face muscles, suddenly embarrassed of his own smile. It felt weird. Was he even allowed to feel like this? He was sure his father would smack the smile right off his face if given the chance. In fact, he was certain that that was the case during one of his lectures.

"I'm not good with uh. relationship shit."

Alice smirked. "Well no wonder your only friend is Victoria."

He bristled at her comment.

"Victoria - " He started.

"Is great. I'm just kidding. She's rough around the edges, but I get it." Alice finished. "I like hanging out with her. She can be rude and uptight sometimes, but I like that she's not afraid to speak her mind."

His mouth shut and he nodded in agreement.

"Vic's my best friend."

"Yes well, you're both bitchy so it's a perfect match."

He opened his mouth to retort, but realised from the look on her face that she was joking. Somewhat anyways. He couldn't deny Victoria being bitchy.

Their food arrived just as their stomachs began to complain. Nathan more so as he was still in the midst of a hangover and greasy bacon and eggs was just what he needed.

Alice wiped at the corner of her mouth as a small drop of drool escaped. She pulled her plate closer to her almost greedily and took a deep breath. Nathan was already digging into his food eagerly.

"Ohmmmm. . . This is so good." Alice sighed happily before cutting a slice and offering him a piece. She held her fork up as it dripped with syrup, nudging it closer with a grin until he leaned forward hesitantly and took the bite.

He nodded his head as he chewed. Really good. Not something he would order for himself, but definitely could see himself sharing a bite or two should he take her here again. That is if she agreed to another date.

"You're kidding me! I can't believe it was you! What on earth were you thinking?" Alice laughed, reaching for a napkin to wipe the water that escaped from her mouth when she did.

"Fuck if I know." Nathan's face was flush with embarrassment, but he couldn't help the smile that mimicked hers.

"You'd need heavy machinery to take the tobanga."

"That uh, didn't cross my mind at the time." He scratched the back of his head. "Give me a break. You must have done some stupid shit too."

"Well nothing that can beat that, for sure." Alice smirked. Nathan scowled, but the smile overtook it.

She briefly hoped that she hadn't continuously embarrassed him by feeding him her food, but her heart warmed as soon as he stopped chewing and looked up at her with a small smile.

They chatted for the next hour about anything they could think of. School, their mutual friendship with Victoria, thoughts on photography. Their conversation was only interrupted as the diner began to fill up with the lunch crowd. Nathan found himself bummed out that their date was getting cut short. He was actually enjoying himself without worrying about what anyone else was thinking.

Maybe that was dangerous territory, but he didn't want to go back.

"Want the last bite of my waffles?" She held up the piece connected to a slice of strawberry. He gratefully took the offering, leaning forward once more, but catching himself as he eyed a couple of stares from his peripherals.

He reached up grabbed the fork instead from her hand, avoiding her stare.

"Thanks." He muttered embarrassed. He enjoyed whenever she shared, but only now did he realise how childish it was that she was feeding him directly. Alice had traced back his line of vision to the onlookers, slowly understanding his change in demeanor, and smiled.

"Should we go?" Alice asked. "We should probably let someone else have the table."

Nathan nodded reluctantly and reached for his wallet. He pushed Alice's bag back into her lap as she took it out to grab money.

"I got it. Date. Remember?"

"Er. Right." Alice said embarrassed. He placed the money on the table, then took one last sip of his coffee as Alice got out of the booth.

They got to the truck and Nathan had the good sense this time to open the door for Alice. She had reached for the door handle at the same time and they touched hands. Electricity shot up her spine at the point where his fingers touched and she became only half aware that he was holding the door ajar for her.

She quickly hopped in, discreetly rubbing at the unfamiliar sensation for it to leave her skin.

Nathan entered the truck a few seconds later and paused with his hands on the steering wheel. He didn't want the date to end and hoped she felt the same. He still needed to prove to her that he wasn't such an asshole everyone made him out to be. Maybe prove to himself even.

"So what else is interesting here?" Alice asked. His heart skipped and for a second he thought he might have a heart attack. She wanted to continue.

"I uh. . ."

"Unless you want to go back?"

"No! Uh, we could go to the beach?" He answered lamely.

"I don't think either of us are dressed for the beach though."

"Right."

They sat in silence once more before Nathan sat up straight and jammed his key into the ignition.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

Nathan felt light and free for once. No pressure to be someone around her. Just himself. Forget everyone who used him for his money. Everyone who looked down on him for who he was.

Watching her run up the last bit of the trail to see the view was enough to make up his mind.

Maybe he could never forgive himself for his past actions. Maybe he could never face his mistakes. But the excited smile on her face as she gestured for him to hurry was enough. He didn't deserve anything good coming to him, but could he possibly deserve her?

"Wow this is kinda cool." Alice breathed as the wind whipped her hair around her face. "Really fantastic."

Nathan shrugged and Alice balked at his aloofness. "It's alright. Beats everything else in this hodunk excuse of a town."

Her fingers drummed against the back of the bench as she looked up at the intimidating lighthouse. A picture flashed through her head of a boat flying through the air. She closed her eyes for a moment and slightly shook her head as if to shake the image out of her head. Weird. She hadn't had a random vision since. . .

"You don't mind do you?" Nathan slipped his camera out of his bag, eyeing her nervously.

She made a face. "I guess. Victoria always-" She paused, debating if Nathan was someone Victoria would tell about their photo shoots.

"Yeah. . . Actually" Nathan scratched the back of his head. "She kinda showed me. Sorry." To be fair, they were lighting up in her room and she had them displayed on her monitor. Being nosy, he had taken the opportunity to look while Victoria took her turn for a hit.

Alice's face heated up. Cosplaying in front of Victoria was one thing, but some of those were embarrassingly. . . revealing.

"Oh god." Alice hid her face and laughed. "Well please don't expect me to dress up for you too."

Nathan shook his head vehemently. She continued to laugh nervously and he took the opportunity to take a photo. He looked down at the camera. The light was very good to her, he decided.

Always take the shot. His voice rang through his head. The blank look of Kate's face stared up at him and he swallowed, trying to keep the bile that threatened to shove its way up his throat.

He froze as she came up beside him to peer over his shoulder.

"Let's see, let's see." She said lightly. They were shoulder to shoulder now and she had her head almost pressed against his. Their skin never touched, but he could practically feel her on him. He breathed in unconsciously. She smelled good. The smell of oil pastels invaded his nose once again. Vanilla and was that. . .coconut again? He wondered what shampoo she was using.

His breath hitched as he realised he was smelling her hair like a creep.

"Wow this is fantastic. I look so. . ." Alice trailed off.

"beautiful." Nathan finished out softly with an air of admiration. Alice's heart skipped. How long had it been since someone had called her beautiful? Dad had said it once when she dressed as a grecian goddess for halloween, but that's what fathers did. Today she realised, horrified, she wasn't even dressed up or had any makeup on her face.

"It's very different from your usual style, isn't it?" Alice smiled. "Don't you usually shoot in black and white?"

He nodded, a slight furrow in his brow. "I guess I didn't want to take away from you. You look better in colour." It was true. When he had first taken a photo of her as she was drawing, he had shot in monochrome, but it didn't feel right. He took another in full colour and was surprised. He still had both shots on his computer, not able to delete either of her.

She really was pretty, Nathan realized as he observed the photo. Her features even and soft, speckled with freckles spanning across her cheeks and nose.

"You're pretty versatile, hey?" She turned to look at him. They stared into each other's eyes for a few seconds.

Mr. Jefferson's angry face flashed before her eyes and she jolted back in surprise, suddenly feeling that she was doing something wrong by being this close to Nathan.

She faked a nervous cough and looked back out towards the water.

"I quite like it here." Alice said brightly. She stepped towards the edge and peered over. The sea water below crashed against the rocks. She imagined the water hitting her face. She was almost tempted to jump, but it probably wasn't a safe area for diving. Still, the air had a nice crisp fresh sea scent and it was relaxing.

Nathan scoffed. "You wouldn't be saying that if you actually lived here your whole life. Fuckin blows."

"Look on the bright side! I got to meet a lot of interesting people here." She turned back to him and leaned against the back of the bench.

"There's no one interesting here." Nathan rolled his eyes. No one worth noting either. N one worth staying for. That is unless.. He looked at her through his peripherals.

"Of course there is! You can't say Victoria is boring."

He shrugged.

Alice huffed and crossed her arms haughtily. "Well you can be negative, but I'm glad I came here." She lowered her voice. "I'm just glad I finally have people I can call friends."

"Yeah. Like who? Luke Parker?" He barked out a laugh.

"Oh please. You don't even know him." It was her turn to roll her eyes. "At least he's not afraid to be who he is."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He bristled and Alice held back a laugh at picturing him as an angry little puppy.

"Relax. That's not a jab at you. I'm talking about in general." She smiled, then hopped over the bench and patted the spot next to her. He grumpily followed her lead and sat down with a plop. "Take Victoria for example. She puts up this facade that she's this prissy stuck up bitch when deep deep deep deeeeep down inside there's a little nerd in her. I wish she would just be cool about it. It's not embarrassing. Well unless you count being forced to wear the clothing and pose."

"That's Vic for ya." Nathan leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, slighting bouncing his legs restlessly.

Alice looked down at his legs and wondered if that was a trait of his or if it was a side effect of medicine. Not that she was assuming anything. He just seemed to be too jittery at times.

"For what it's worth," Nathan swallowed the rock that seemed to be stuck in his throat. "I think you look really cool. In the photos, I mean."

"Aww." Alice nudged him with her elbow. "Are you secretly a geek too?" She smirked.

"Pfft. As if."

They both turned into grins.

"I like this side of you Nathan," Alice said softly. "You're fun to be with when you're not being mean."

"The fuck?" He said. "It's not like I'm doing it on purpose. Everyone is just so fucking fake." And he meant it. He didn't know who he could trust at all. Even Vic was unreliable at times and it scared him.

Alice pondered his words for a moment.

"I think you're overthinking things." When he looked at her incredulously, she continued. "I can't speak for the adults around, but we're all just teenagers. Everyone is easily manipulated by social standards and the media. Everyone wants to fit in so they try to be like others."

He sneered. "I guess." His face softened. "Yeah."

"You know, I don't even think the adults have it down pat either. My brother is married with a kid on the way and sometimes he freaks out about who he's supposed to be. And he's a cop. So you'd think he'd know who he is by now."

Nathan leaned back into the bench and met her eyes. She smiled reassuringly.

"I guess so." He sniffed. "People still suck though."

Alice leaned back and nodded. She reached into her bag and pulled out a sucker, quickly unwrapping it. She stuffed the wrapper into her pocket. As she was about to indulge, a hand floated in front of her face, palm up.

Her eyes narrowed in on the boy next to her who sat patiently waiting as he started out into the ocean, a hint of a smile on his lips. She placed the candy in his hand and reached in her bag once more for herself.

Nathan made a face as he rolled the candy around his mouth.

"Blue is still better."

That earned him a smack to which he laughed genuinely for the first time in a while.

"I bet even Mr. Jefferson has like a different side to him that no one knows about." Alice said after a stretch of silence.

She had no idea, Nathan thought to himself.

"Another of his groupies, then?" Nathan said sarcastically. Alice shrugged and laughed.

"Not as much as Victoria, that's for sure."

Alice couldn't help the goofy grin on her face as they talked on the way back to the dorms. When they got back to school, she was tempted to try holding hands with him, but her heart was beating so wildly, she wasn't sure she could stop herself from having any visions.

So they walked back to the dorms in close comfort.

She wondered if this meant they were going out. No of course not. Not after just one make out session and one date.

Was she being foolish? Her heart was always a forgiving one, but maybe she was being naive to think that a boy with problems like Nathan could be good for her in any way.

Even then, Alice found herself wanting to spend more time with him anyways.

As they reached the entrance to the girls dorm, Alice turned to Nathan.

There was an excruciating moment of silence between them. Nathan took a step towards her and her heart fluttered. He raised a hand towards her face.

The door burst open and out came Juliet and and Dana, giggling with their arms linked.

"Oh, excuse us." Juliet quipped with a smile.

"Hi Alice." Dana said. Alice shyly waved back.

They walked between the two with a knowing smirk before walking off. With one last glance back, they lowered their voices as they walked away. It was clear what the subject was.

"Uh. ." Nathan began.

"I had a good time today, Nathan." Alice said. "You're really fun to hang out with."

She smiled and turned towards the steps when he didn't say anything.

"Wait, I uh. . Can I. ." Nathan started. Alice turned back, one foot on the steps. Nerves took over and he shoved his hands in his jacket pockets. "Fuck. Nothing never mind." He said forcefully and turned to walk away. Alice stopped him as she moved.

She squeezed his arm lightly before leaning in quickly to place her lips on his. He froze, eyes widened and face burning. She pulled away with a smile before jumping up the steps.

"Bye! I'll talk to you later!" She waved one last time as the door closed. He was still frozen in the spot. If Alice wasn't so nervous she would have laughed, but she settled for the door closing so she could place her hands on her chest to calm herself.

She walked down the hall with her hands on her cheeks, willing them to cool down under her finger tips. She was so lost in her thoughts she hadn't noticed Victoria coming out from the bathroom.

"Where did you go last night, Alice?" Victoria asked, her voice laced with the usual irk aimed at Alice when she disapproved. Alice spun around.

"Oh hey Victoria." Alice smiled.

"You look happy." Victoria said suspiciously. "So, where did you go? I was going to catch cab back, but ended up splitting with that stupid jock, Logan. Fucking prick was so drunk, he tried to feel me up on the ride back. As if."

"Ah," Alice blushed, "Nathan kicked me out."

"What?!" She yelled, "Are you freaking kidding me? After I- Ugh." She stomped towards her room.

"No, no! It's okay!" Alice followed after her. "It's fine actually!"

"The hell it is." Victoria reached her room and swung the door open, not bothering to close it so Alice could enter. "I'm going to give that boy a piece of my mind."

"Victoria." Alice said.

"No! He may think he can do whatever the fuck he wants, but he's not the only one in charge here." Victoria picked up her cellphone and began typing furiously on it.

"Victoria!"

"He's being such an ass-"

"We went on a date this morning." Alice said, flinching slightly when Victoria's apoplectic eyes shot towards her. She laughed nervously.

"Wait, what?" Victoria said for a moment, her hands slightly dropping, the angry text forgotten. She smirked. "Really?"

"Yeah," Alice nodded, "Well see cause he came over last night after-"

"YOU SLEPT TOGETHER?" Victoria screeched. Alice's eyes widened as she shook her head and she looked back at the door to make sure it was closed. Not that it would help. The dorm walls were paper thin.

"No!" She waved her hands comically to accentuate her point. She thought for a moment, remembering his arm around her waist as they lay in bed. "No! Well, I mean technically- but no! He just took over my bed and I-" Victoria's grin grew. "I mean, he- stop looking at me like that."

Victoria fell back onto her bed with a happy sigh. Alice pouted and grabbed a pillow to lean against the headboard.

"You're not even listening to me." Alice pouted.

"Little Alice is all grown up!" Victoria teased. Alice slammed the pillow down on her face. "Ah fuck, you crazy bitch!" She cackled. Alice snatched the pillow back and held it to her chest as she waited for Victoria to stop laughing. "Okay okay. I'm joking."

She rolled over to face her, one arm propping her head up. "So? You had a sleepover and then what?"

"Well he came over and his fists were all bloody so I fixed him up." Alice said. Victoria's gaze hardened. Alice continued, answering Victoria's questioning eyes. "I don't know. He wouldn't tell me. Anyways, he fell asleep and I didn't want to kick him out so he stayed. . . I slept on the couch, but apparently I slept walked back into my bed." Alice buried her face into the pillow.

Victoria smiled softly, then crawled up to sit beside Alice. Alice explained their first kiss to which Victoria admitted to knowing about, much to Alice's chagrin, and their morning date at the diner.

"Well that explains him ignoring my messages this morning." Victoria rolled her eyes. "Well I'm glad he was with you then and not sulking in his room."

She nudged Alice slightly with a small smile tugging at her lips. "So are you guys going out now?"

"I. . I don't know. I did something that I'm not entirely sure he liked." Alice said, bravely describing their interaction outside the dorm.

To her relief, Victoria laughed and explained that he was just caught off guard.

"I mean, he was probably expecting to kiss you first again, but chickened out. What a wimp. Oh, I would give anything to see the look on his face when you did it instead."

Alice smiled as she listened to Victoria talk about Nathan and what kind of guy he was. It was nice to hear instead of all the rumours of what others thought of him. Alice slightly wished she had asked him to come back in to hang out so they could spend more time together.

"So," Victoria said after a while with a soft smile on her face. "are you gonna go out with him again?"

"I think so." Was Alice's reply.

"Do you like him?" Victoria's voice was confusingly tiny.

"Yeah. I think I do." Alice nodded. Victoria nodded then turned her head away. Alice frowned. "It's not awkward, is it?"

"No! No. . ." Victoria said turning back with a smile. She sighed softly and got off the bed to flick on the radio. "I mean I'm technically that one who set you two up. So you should be thanking me." She said haughtily with a smirk.

"Oh thank you, oh great Victoria." Alice said robotically. "Oh what shall I ever do to repay you?"

"Well." Victoria turned towards her closet and began rummaging. Oh no. Alice was going to regret this. "How about another photoshoot?"

"Ahhh, I take it back! I take it back!" Alice screamed. She threw the pillow down and jumped off the bed, aiming for the door. She got no further than the door before Victoria yanked her back in to accept her fate.