Frankie andhis family left after a half an hour talk with Katie. She turned towards Bradin.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"For what?" he asked. ""If it's about what just happened, don't worry about it. I found it...may sound funny, I found it adorable. I have seen that kid around and he never smiled until now. You must have a way to make people smile."

She shrugged. "I never thought so."

"You must make people happy," he said.

"I thought I did," she said looking away from him.

At that moment, Bradin knew she was thinking of Tanner and what they went through together before she left. "Come on," he said moving to get up, "Let's get your mind off of him."

"How do you know who I'm thinking about?" she asked.

"Because of how you responded to what I said and I was told what happened between you and him," he told her, "Really though. If he did that, he shouldn't be worth your time. Let's go hang out today."

He held his hand out offering to help her up. She took his hand, after debating in her head, and he helped her up trying to to put pain in her leg. Once she was up, he continued holding her hand as he reached for her crutches. He brought them up and placed them in front of her to balance herself on.

"Thanks," she said.

"You're welcome," he said as they began walking.

They sat in a restaurant that over looked the ocean. As they sat there talking about nearly everything, Katie looked away and saw someone she didn't want to see. She turned away quickly, closed her eyes, and breathed.

"Are you okay?" Bradin asked.

"Yeah. Someone just walked in that I don't really want to see or talk to."

"Katie!" a female voice yelled.

Bradin saw Katie close her eyes. A blonde came running up to Katie and hugged her.

"I didn't think the rumor was true!" she yelled, "How are you doing?"

"I was fine until you showed up, Sarah," she told the blonde.

"Why are you hating me?" Sarah asked, "What have I done to you?"

"You know exactly what you did!" Katie yelled.

"If it's about last year, I'm sorry."

"Bullshit!" Katie yelled pounding the table and standing up, "You wouldn't have gone and done what you did! You were suppose to be my best friend! You knew how I felt about him!"

At that moment, everyone was looking at and listening to the two girls argue. Bradin watched as a waitress ran to get the manager.

"Katie, let's just go," he said.

Katie looked at him and back at Sarah. "Never talk to me, look at me, or come near me again." She looked at Bradin. "I'm sorry." She threw some money on the table, grabbed her crutches and walked out of the restaurant just as the manager walked up tothe table.

Katie sat on a bench across the street from the restaurant covering her face. She pulled her hands away and folded them in front of her mouth and closed her eyes.

"Katie," she heard. She opened her eyes and saw Bradin. "Are you okay?" he asked sitting next to her. She shook her head, ran her fingers through her hair, and rested he hands on the back of her neck.

"I'm sorry, Bradin, for what happened in there. I didn't-"

"Don't worry about it," he said, "Oh, you left something in there." She looked at him and saw him holding her money for her half of the food.

"Bradin," she said, "Why?"

"You haven't had the best days back so far, as I saw. I wanted to make it better," he told her.

"You don't even know me."

"Does it matter?" he asked.

She sighed not knowing what to tell him. "Keep my money for my food."

"Katie Katie Katie," he said, "It was no big deal. Since it bugs you so much that I paid for the food, you can make it up to me."

She looked at him.

"No. We don't have to go out on a date. I don't go with that stuff anymore. And...you're not up for it. You're still getting use to your home and trying to forget memories. What you can do is think of me as a friend. If you ever need to talk, I'll be there for you. If you call and I don't answer, I might be surfing or working, that's mostly it. I will return your call no matter what. I am not one of those people who ignores those who need someone to talk to."

"That's all?" she asked.

"Yes. That's all you have to do."

"There must be something else," she said.

"No. Well, just be the girl that you are when you're around me. Before the incident in there, you seemed like an amazing girl. Don't ever change for any reason.