A/N just a little bit of fluff, with some deep moments involved. Enjoy.

He was laughing, he felt himself riding high, the water barely lapping against his ankles as he rocked back and forth with the motion of the waves. The waves that were getting larger slowly as the tide took its time rolling in, and he laughed as he glided over each one with ease.

He saw the wave approaching, far bigger than the other ones. But he thought it would break long before it reached them, so many of the giant waves broke before he had a chance to dive over them. He never expected it to break as it bore down on him, he never expected to feel the sudden rush of water drag him down.

He felt the strong hands torn from his ankles, his strong perch out from underneath him, and he plunged into the cold water. He opened his eyes and felt the sting of the saltwater and promptly closed them, and he kicked for what he thought was the surface.

He tried to gasp for breath but found only water as he swam upwards, further and further but the surface was nowhere to be found. He kept crashing into the waves, the undertow pulling him down, away from the precious air as he kept trying to breathe but found only saltwater.

He opened his eyes again to the sting and swam for the surface, the light that was growing brighter and brighter, kept trying to make it, and never quite getting there, as his vision slowly turned to red and then suddenly black and he relaxed in the water, giving in to it, he heard someone calling his name in the distance but he gave up fighting, he didn't have it left in him.

He awoke with a cold sweat with a warm hand on his forehead. "Garret?" She asked as she gently held on to him. He shook the dream out of his head. "You alright?" She asked him, and he nodded.

"I'm fine, just a nightmare." He told her, and she nodded.

"you sure?" she asked with a concerned glare. He smiled at her.

"Perfectly OK." he replied, and rolled over. "Just go back to sleep." She smiled at him, and crossed back to the bed, leaving him alone on the cot.

He waited until he heard the sounds of soft snoring echoed through the room before he gingerly padded outside, not wanting to disturb her, and walked down the sand until he hit a hill a little ways down the beach.

He sat down, staring off into space, staring out over the ocean. He saw the first pink rays of the sunrise streaming over the ocean, making their slow progress towards him. He sensed her before he saw her, he felt her presence before she sat down next to him, almost on top of him.

He was far too aware of her presence, but he acted as if it didn't matter how close she was to him."I didn't scare you that badly out there, did I?" She asked, truly sorry. He shook his head.

"No, it wasn't you." He told her.

"Then what was it-I saw you swimming, it's not like you can't." He shook his head again.

"I was a lifeguard in high school, I should hope I can swim." He said smiling slightly.

"Then what's wrong?" She asked, leaning her head against his shoulder. "You haven't gone back to sleep, have you?"

"No." He admitted guiltily. "But it's nothing."She took her head off of his shoulder to glare at him. He missed the feeling of it there.

"You and I both know that's not true." She pointed out to him, and she was right. But that didn't mean he was going to give in and tell her what was wrong. "Garret, you're turning into me." She said exasperated. "You should spend less time around me. Nightmares, no sleep, and avoiding talking about your problems." He grinned sheepishly. Spending less time around her was something he wanted to avoid.

He felt her laugh silently against him as she returned her head to his shoulder. "It's nothing." He repeated, staring off at the encroaching dawn.

"That's what I said too." She told him, and he leaned his head on top of hers.

"So now you're going to psycho analyze me?" He teased.

"Well, I'm sure Dr. Styles would love a nice little working vacation." He chuckled and gave her a playful smack.

"Fine, but you go first. Why are you really here?" He asked her and she shrugged, almost elbowing him in the jaw.

"I needed to get away." She said after a long pause of staring out into the ocean.

"From what?"

"From Slokum, from Woody, from everything." Her voice was soft, almost sad. "I needed to think, to figure out where I am, what it is I want, what it is I'm going through. Now what about you? What's with the panic attack and the nightmare?"

He shrugged. "I haven't been to the beach in ages." He said simply. "Nevermind the ocean."

"So what does that have to do with anything?" She asked him gently.

"I was little, six or seven, we had gone to the beach as a family, before my dad left, and i was in the ocean with him, I was sitting on his shoulders and we were jumping the waves. The tide was rolling in, and this huge wave came out of nowhere, it dragged me underwater, and the last thing I remember was just the awful taste of seawater and the world going black. Next thing I knew I was waking up on the beach." He felt her arm wrap around him, comforting him.

"So that's why you don't swim in the ocean?" She asked, and he nodded.

"Yeah. So what's going on with you and Woody? He questioned, eager to get the topic off of himself.

"I don't know, and that's the problem." The sun had risen now, baking them with it's soft glow. "I don't know if I meant what I said, I thought I did, but the more I think about it, the more I wonder if it's true." He smiled, but he didn't know if it was from the sheer thought that maybe she wasn't as involved with Woody as he thought, or if it was from his own reminisce about love.

"That's the crazy thing about love." He told her. "It defies all logical thought." He felt her smile as they sat there, watching the waves roll in.