After lunch, the two teenagers went for a walk on the board walk. They continued to talk and get to know each other. Bradin smiled whenever he saw Kaitlin smile. They always got into whatever it was that they talked about. There was never a dull moment of the day.

"Westerly!" a male voice yelled.

Bradin stopped walking and turned around to find his enemy, Tanner, walking up to him and Kaitlin.

"What's going on, man?" Tanner asked as he studied Kaitlin.

"Tanner," Kaitlin said.

"Hey, baby," he said, "Long time no see."

"Fuck you," she said.

Bradin looked at the two strangely. "You two know each other?" he asked.

"Unfortunately," Kaitlin said not taking her eyes off of Tanner who was moving closer to her.

Bradin noticed that Kaitlin was getting uncomfortable and wanted to push Tanner back away from her. He did the pleasure and pushed him away from her.

"What do you think you're doing?" Tanner yelled pushing Bradin.

"Helping a friend," he said.

"Well, you can help your friend by moving back to Kansas with your parents!" Tanner yelled. Kaitlin looked at Bradin who looked like he was about to break into tears. "Oh wait," Tanner said, "You can't. Your parents are dead!"

Kaitlin saw Bradin begin to cry and run off. She turned to Tanner and screamed, "You bitch!" She ran after Bradin.

"Bradin!" she yelled as she ran after him. He continued to sprint away from her. She wasn't going to give up on him. She knew that he needed someone at that point. And, she wasn't going to leave him. "Bradin!" she continued to yell. She saw him fall in the sand. She ran up to him and knelt down next to him.

"Bradin," she said trying to make him hear her through his tears, "Bradin." she placed her hand on his back and tried to move his head so she could look at his face. "Bradin," she said softly.

He looked up at her with tears down his face. He moved so that he was sitting in the sand next to her. She rubbed his back not knowing what else to do.

"Can I talk to you about something?" he asked looking at her, "And, will you listen to me?"

"Yeah," she said.

He took a deep breath and turned away from her.

"In June, I lived in Kansas. One night near my younger sister's birthday, my parents were called to save the lives of people that were stuck in a flood. They told me to stay home and watch my siblings. A few hours later, the police came up to my house and told us that the river broke through and killed my parents. That's why I live here in Playa Linda. Every day, I wonder if staying home was the best. I blame myself for not going with them."

Tears began to form in Kaitlin's eyes as she heard what happened to his parents. She didn't want him to see that she felt sorry for him through tears. More tears began to run down his face. She placed her arms around him. He broke down completely into her shoulder.

"It's okay," she said softly, "It was a good thing that you stayed home."

He pulled away from her and asked, "How do you know?" while wiping his eyes.

"Your siblings need you," she said, "to protect them from getting hurt and being there for them when they do get hurt. They need someone like you in their lives."

"Someone like me?" he asked, "What is so special about me?"

"You care about people," she said, "When you were talking about them earlier, it sounded like you care about the people in your life. You're a nice guy."

"Everyone says that about me," he said staring out at the water.

"You asked me to hang out with you because you saw something 'special' in me," she told him, "No one, and I mean no one, has ever done that for me. They all look at me, see something they hate, and ignore me for who knows how long, mostly forever."

"Why would people ignore you?" he asked. "You're an amazing person. You seem happy with your life and the way it's going. Yes, you have some things that you want changed, but everyone does. You're nice, kind, caring, and not to mention pretty."

Bradin saw her begin to turn red. He smiled and looked out at the water.

"Thank you," he said. She looked at him with confusion. "Thank you for listening to me and following me," he said, "I don't think any other girl or person would run after me like you did."

"You needed someone. Plus, I absolutely hate Tanner with a passion."

He smiled. "What do you want to do now?" he asked.

Kaitlin looked down at her watch and saw that it was almost two thirty. Ethan and her mother would be gone for a few more hours. She bit her bottom lip as she thought.

"To tell you the truth, I can sit here and talk if that's an option in your head," he told her knowing that she didn't know what to do. "Actually," he said getting up. He held out his hands to help her up. She took them and stood up next to him. "Come on," he said, "Follow me. There's something that I want to show you."

Kaitlin followed Bradin wanting to know where he was leading her. She loved surprises though. They walked down the beach until they came to some rocks.

"This place is called-"

"Spanish Cove," she said, "I know."

"So, you do get out?" he asked.

"Not like I did when I was young. This place changed my life. Something happened here and made me the person I am today," she told him.

"It made you the sweetest girl in the world?" he asked.

"Funny," she said.

"I mean it. You're a sweet girl."

"I'm not going to argue. But, no. It didn't make me that today. Supposedly, I've been like this for as long as I can remember."

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked looking at her.

"I um, got raped."

A/N: thanks to the people who have been reviewing this story as well as WHAT DID SHE DO TO DESERVE THIS? i really feel loved and happy. it makes my day to find out that you took time to read the chapter i put up. hope u enjoy the next few chapters!