Disclaimer: See Prologue.
Chapter 17: Castles in the Sand
After finishing lunch, Brandon had offered to take Hannah to the beach. Andrea had begun to make more excuses to leave them alone, but Brandon pulled her aside.
"I want you to come too," he told her.
"It's important you spend time alone with her though," Andrea began, but Brandon stopped her.
"It's important she spends time with both of us. Besides, I feel like we haven't really talked, apart from that talk," Brandon said, gesturing at Hannah.
Andrea nodded her head, giving her consent. Brandon smiled at her and then went to pay the bill.
That smile! Every single time he smiled at her like that she felt like she was going to melt into a puddle of goo.
"Pull yourself together Andrea! You don't want to go down that road again," she told herself sternly.
When they got to the beach Brandon bought Hannah a bucket and spade and she settled herself down happily on the sand and began to build sandcastles.
Brandon had found a blanket in the trunk of his mom's car so he brought that with him and spread it out on the sand next to Hannah. He and Andrea sat down. They watched their daughter playing for a while in silence, each thinking their own thoughts. Brandon broke the silence first.
"I'm glad you came," he said.
"Me too," she replied, smiling at him.
He loved that smile. She looked genuinely happy, like she hadn't a care in the world. It suited her, he thought to himself.
He studied her face as she cast her gaze back to Hannah. She looked pretty much the same as she did in high school, but more somehow. Something about the way she carried herself. Brandon tried to work it out, but he couldn't pinpoint what it was exactly.
She still had the same eyes, the same nose, the same face. Her hair was longer now, although slightly darker. The perm was gone but her hair had a natural wave anyway. Hannah's hair was similar, although a shade lighter.
At the moment Andrea had her hair piled up on her head in a messy bun, a stray strand or two blowing in the wind. It made her look younger he thought.
He had always thought she was pretty. Throughout his on and off crush on her during high school, that had been consistent. He'd always felt an attraction to her.
So what had stopped him going for it back then?
He probably should have asked her out when he first got to Beverly Hills and began working at the Blaze with her. He'd certainly thought about it a few times.
He laughed to himself when he remembered their conversation on the carousel just before he and his family had been due to move back to Minnesota. He had been shocked when she'd offered to sleep with him. Shocked but not unhappy about it, he thought laughing to himself again.
Andrea noticed him smiling to himself.
"What are you thinking about?" she asked, curious.
He looked at her for a moment, debating whether to tell her. He supposed it couldn't hurt.
"Do you remember the time my family were gonna move back to Minnesota?" he asked her.
She nodded, and blushed as a particular memory came to mind. Brandon noticed this and laughed out loud. She guessed he was laughing at her, and swatted him playfully.
"Can we just pretend that never happened?" she said, lowering her voice. Brandon saw the twinkle in her eye though. She wasn't being serious.
"Are you kidding me?" Brandon said, playing along and moving in closer. "Do you know how many fantasies I got out of that?" he whispered to her, a mischievous grin on his face.
She gave an indignant cry and pushed him. He pushed her lightly back and before they knew it they were having a mini-brawl on the blanket.
Hannah heard the squeals and laughter and looked over at them. When she saw her parents rolling around, she grinned.
Brandon had Andrea pinned on her back. She wasn't complaining about having him lying on top of her though. The last time he'd done that was when they…
It seemed to occur to them both at the same time. Brandon got up hastily and brushed himself down. Andrea sat up. They both felt awkward. Where on earth had that come from?
"I think I'll go and buy us some drinks," said Brandon. Andrea nodded and he got up and walked off in the direction of a kiosk.
Left alone, Andrea mused over the last five minutes. It had felt like old times with Brandon and their flirty banter. They'd never been quite that flirty though, had they? Well, apart from the Prom of course.
She glanced over at Hannah, who had resumed her castle building. Sometimes it was hard to believe Hannah had come from that night, although it was a good night she thought to herself, smiling.
She'd forgotten that in her anger at Brandon. The morning-after was definitely something she could have lived without, but the night itself was magical, something she could definitely repeat.
"But you won't," she told herself. Besides, just because she was swooning at the sight of Brandon didn't mean he was feeling the same way about her. In fact, this was fairly normal for them. She was always the one who had been hopelessly in-love with him, not vice versa.
"Of course, he did sleep with you," a voice in her head whispered.
She shook her head, trying to dismiss this thought. She'd thrown herself at him. Of course he'd slept with her. He was an 18 year old guy. Steve would probably have slept with her in the same situation.
Her last thought made her laugh. It made her feel a lot better, and snapped her out of the pensive mood she'd been in. She was here with her daughter and her daughter was happy. That was all that mattered.
Brandon returned with some drinks. Andrea seemed to be relaxed. She had that carefree smile on her face again. He was glad.
He had been worried that maybe he was pushing it a bit with that last comment he'd made to her, although it was actually true he thought to himself, chuckling. Still, she didn't need to know that!
He wasn't sure what it was, but he really enjoyed being around Andrea again. It wasn't just Hannah. When he saw her for the first time at the reunion she'd taken his breath away. He thought about her all night. She was someone who he'd thought about with fondness and regret for ten years, and suddenly she was right there in front of him.
He'd been in several relationships – some pretty serious. He'd almost married Kelly Taylor. They all lacked something though. They either were great companions but the relationship lacked passion, or there was passion but they lacked any common ground. With Andrea though, they had both.
Common ground was easy. She was his best friend, or at least had been. He could always talk to her about anything. She was his constant, his touchstone, his go-to person. And as for passion? They certainly had that. They had butted heads constantly, and enjoyed doing so in the process. They'd spurred each other on at the Blaze, each making the other a better writer. Their physical attraction had been a constant between them. The tension was always there, rearing its head every so often.
The one thing that had really stopped them becoming more than friends, Brandon thought to himself, was the sheer fear of losing the strong friendship that they'd built up. Of course it hadn't worked out that way. They'd still lost the friendship.
What if they had gotten together after that night? Would it have lasted? The frustrating thing was Brandon just didn't know. He cared so much for Andrea though, and he knew she cared for him, so they would've at least had a good foundation to build upon.
Would the baby have driven them apart, or would it have pulled them even closer together? Would they still be together right now, possibly married and with more children? Would they be happy?
"Brandon, would you help me?"
Hannah's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
He happily agreed and began to follow Hannah's directions. She wanted to build a moat around her castle, and Brandon's job involved scraping sand away from the area surrounding the castle.
Andrea called Hannah over a few minutes later, and took a bottle of sunscreen out of her purse. She'd made Hannah put some on when they were in the car on their way over, and now she wanted Hannah to reapply some.
It was a fairly normal scene, a mother putting sunscreen on her child while said child fussed, but it had an enormous effect on Brandon. Looking at them, it just hit him.
He wanted them to be a family. He couldn't bear the thought of Andrea and Hannah walking out of his life just as easily as they'd walked into it.
But he was supposed to be going back to D.C. tomorrow, and pretty soon Andrea and Hannah would be returning to New York anyway. He barely had any time left with them, he realised.
He needed to spend some time alone with Andrea, to talk to her and see how things were between them. Was there a possibility that he and Andrea could be more than friends? He needed to know before he said good-bye to them tomorrow.
A couple of hours later Andrea reluctantly decided it was time to go. Hannah was enjoying herself, but she wanted to take her to see Grandma Rose before it got too late. They packed up and headed back to the cars.
Hannah was climbing into Andrea's car when Brandon took Andrea aside.
"Could I see you later?" he asked her.
She gave him a questioning look.
"I'd like to talk," he told her.
She was surprised, but she agreed.
"Where?" she asked.
Brandon looked around.
"How about here, say 8 o'clock?"
"Okay," she answered.
They said goodbye, and Andrea got into her car. Brandon waited for her to leave and then got into his car and drove home.
He decided he'd have to tell his parents about Hannah before he left to meet Andrea that evening. When he got to the house he sat in the parked car thinking about what to say.
After a while he realised he should probably go in.
"Well, here goes nothing," he thought, and left the car and began walking up the driveway.
