Bradin ran along the beach up to Mel's house. He prayed that she was there. God please let her be here he thought. He walked into her room and noticed the light was off. He looked around and noticed the light was on in her bathroom. He also noticed that the door was locked from the inside what was she doing? He thought as he walked to the bathroom. He knocked, but no sound came. He slowly pushed the door open, and what he saw horrified him. That explains the locked door he thought as he looked at the razors sitting on the sink and the bloody cloth next to them. Damn, I have to find her. I have to stop her before she does something stupid, or worse he thought as he ran out of the room. He scanned the beach for her, but she was nowhere to be found. He sighed and looked straight ahead. Luckily he saw someone on a surfboard emerging from the water. "Mel" he called, hoping it was her
She turned and saw a hazy figure walking toward her. Shit, he's coming from my house, I know it she thought this is going to be hard one to explain She dropped her board in the sand and pulled off her wetsuit as he came near her "Hi Brae" she said, pulling on a pair of sweatpants.
He looked at her through the moon's reflection "I don't even know where to begin with you" he said "You slept with the one person in Playa Linda I truly hate, you promised me you wouldn't cut yourself again and you did, you've been ignoring me for days. Which of these problems should we address first? I'll let you pick"
"Why does it matter to you? It's my life that's fucked up, not yours." She said, sitting on the sand facing the ocean
He sighed and sat down next to her "It does matter to me. You matter to me Mel. God, I thought you knew that! If your life is messed up, so is mine because you're my life. I know this probably means nothing, but when I saw…what I saw in your bathroom I almost burst into tears. Not because you broke a promise to me, but because you hurt yourself and I was a reason for it"
"You weren't the reason I did it Bradin" she said, looking at her left arm "I did it because…" she trailed off
"Because why Angel" he said, looking at her
"I don't know why, I just did it. And it felt good for all of 2 seconds, then I realized what I did and it made me sick. Damn, why can't life just be easy for once! Why can't I just catch a break once and a while! No, my life has to totally suck all the time, if I'm not getting beat up by my fricken boyfriend, I'm being blackmailed into sleeping with his best friend, or I'm pushing away the only person in this God damn town I actually care about! Shit, I'm better off dead"
"NO!" Bradin yelled "Don't you ever say that ever again!" he said angrily "You helped me live Mel. My life would be a mess without you. I love you! Don't ever say your life's not worth living! Trust me, it is"
"You would have survived without me Brae. Anyone could have taken my place, Erika, Jay, Lucas, Allie, anyone. I was just the person you came to. Seriously, I don't even know what I feel anymore. My life is so messed up, I just want to start all over."
"Then let's do it" he said, looking at her "Let's start all over"
"How can we do that. What, reintroduce ourselves? That's just a game people play to trick themselves away from their problems. It doesn't solve anything. I can't start over. I'll still be his girlfriend, Tanner's playmate and your unfaithful lover. Its not fair to any of you"
Bradin laughed "I didn't mean something cheesy like that Mel. I meant we can start over, together… do you understand what I'm saying?"
"I understand, but how will that help me? Chances are it'll make things worse"
"Seriously, how will it make things worse, cause honey, look at yourself, can things get much worse for you?"
Melani looked deep into his eyes "are you serious. I'm not one to make decisions like this with intent of breaking if off. Once we do this, it's 'till death do us part' Bradin"
He studied her face and noticed this wasn't her heart talking, it was her emotions. He could tell she was scared of this "I know it is. I want to spend my life with you and only you." He shifted so he was on one knee "I've been saving this since we talked about an emergency wedding" He pulled out a small pink velvet box and opened it. Inside was the prettiest pink diamond surrounded by sapphires
"Bradin, where did you get the money for this? It must have cost you your life savings!" she said, gasping at the ring in the box
"I was in a couple competitions over the past few days. I made some extra money, to say the least. And I made it special just for you, so don't you dare go off on a, 'I cant except this' rant. I can't exchange or return it, so just enjoy it"
A single tear slid down her cheek "Bradin, I wouldn't dream of it" she said, smiling
"So I have to ask you, because if I don't, it's just totally informal. Melani Lawrence, will you make me the happiest person from here to Hogarth County and say you'll be my wife?"
Her smile widened "I would be honored to." He slid the ring on her finger and pulled her into a hug "I love you more than you'll ever know Bradin, more than you'll ever know"
"I think I can guess, because if it's at all what I feel for you, no one can pull us apart" He pulled her in and passionately kissed her.
She smiled, ending the kiss. She pulled away and looked at his eyes "You should have put emeralds on the ring, that way they'd remind me of your eyes"
"I put sapphires because they reminded me of your eyes, and a pink diamond because I know pink is your favorite color" He said, looking into her eyes
"So, when are we going to do this, because I can't walk around Playa Linda with this hardware on my hand and expect people not to notice" she said, smiling
"Tomorrow then, tomorrow afternoon. We can have the ceremony on the cliff overlooking the ocean" he said
"How are we going to convince my parents and your aunt? We're kids, they're not going to let us" she said looking at him
"We'll make them. Come on" He grabbed the hand that hand the ring on it and ran up to his house, towing Mel behind him "Aunt Ava, can Mel and her parents come over for breakfast tomorrow, to get into the holiday spirit?"
Nikki ran in from upstairs "Please aunt Ava!" she pleaded. She looked at Bradin, apparently the only one in the room noticing them holding hands
"Sure Bradin, we love company. How about like 9:30, is that ok?" Ava replied. "It's late, are you sure your parent aren't worried about you, it's nearly 11:30 honey"
"No, they're at a party, they won't be home until like 1" Mel replied, smiling. She noticed Nikki staring at their hands. She quickly broke away, but not fast enough for Nikki not to see the ring on her hand
"Mel, can I talk to you for a second?" she said, smiling
"Sure Nik. Thanks so much Ava, we'll be looking forward to breakfast" Ava nodded as Nikki dragged Mel upstairs. "My God, what is the red alert Nikki?"
"What is that?" she said, pointing at Mel's hand "Tell me it's what I think it is!"
"Can you keep a secret?" Nikki nodded "Bradin and I want to get married tomorrow afternoon, that's why we're having everyone together for breakfast. If they won't let us, we're going to drive to Vegas and get it done. It's my engagement ring, he made it for me"
Nikki beamed "So you're going to be my sister-in-law?" She asked happily
"If all goes well, but remember, not a word. Bradin and I have to do this our way. Honestly, I'm not sure what our way will be, but it'll be interesting. So, shhh, deal?"
"Deal" Nikki said. The two walked down the stairs "Aunt Ava, do you know tomorrow's Christmas Eve, magical things happen Christmas Eve mom used to say"
"I don't doubt it" Ava said smiling. Little did she know, things were going to happen. Big things.
A/N: Hey guys, i only have the last chapter left to write, so i have to ask you. There are 32 chapters in the story, thats 4 left. Do you want me to put them all up together, or space them out, and if so how. If you have any preferences, post them in your reviews! I hope you like it, things are going to get interesting... to say the least