Later that day, Katie called Bradin and left him a message saying that she could hang out that night if he was still up to it. He called her back and she could tell that she made his day. The made plans to meet up on the beach and walk into town to find something to do. She headed to the beach that night to the spot where they would meet and saw him there. As she walked towards him, a body stood in front of her. She looked up. Tanner.
"Please talk to me," he told her.
"I said everything to you that I needed to say," she said.
"Katie! I love you!" he shouted.
"No you don't!" she shouted back, "If you loved me, you wouldn't have fucked Sarah and possibly every girl in town after I left! You would have held me that day I left!"
"How can you say that after all we've been through?" he asked tears forming in his eyes.
"How could you cheat on me and then forget I even existed until I returned!" she yelled.
"Baby, please," he begged grabbing her by the arms in his tightest grip.
"Tanner, let go!" she yelled trying to push him off. As she struggled, he let her go causing her to fall onto her leg. "Ah!" she yelled. She watched as Tanner walked away and Bradin run up to her.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
She nodded and wiped her eyes.
"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner," he told her, "If I knew he would do this to you, I would have tried to help you out."
"Don't worry about it," she said softly, "If you help me up, you're forgiven."
He smiled, placed his arms around her, picked her up and stood her up. "Is your leg okay?" he asked.
"Yeah. It just hurts."
"If you need help walking, let me know. I'll be glad to help." He studied how she was looking and noticed she was bothered. He placed his hand on her cheek and made her look at him. "Talk to me," he said moving her hair behind her ear.
"I just want to get my mind off of everything for one night."
"Let's begin then," he said, "I was thinking of maybe having dinner and talking, if you didn't already eat that is."
"As long as we split the bill," she told him.
"Why don't girls let guys pay for anything?" he asked.
"We let guys pay for SOME things, not everything," she told him, "Like engagement rings or birthday gifts for us females or gas money."
He laughed at her knowing that she was joking around with him but meant part of it. They began walking towards the restaurant they were at before when Sarah ruined the day. They didn't eat or anything there so they were going to try it again. They walked in, were seated, ordered their food and drinks, and began talking.
"Katie!" someone yelled.
Both Bradin and Katie looked to see Frankie and his family sitting a few tables away. She smiled and waved at the little boy who was waving at them. Katie turned towards Bradin and saw him smiling at her.
"What?" she asked.
He shook his head. Music began playing as their drinks arrived. "Do you feel like dancing?" he asked. "We can just sway and you can use me as support or sit down if your leg starts hurting."
"Why would you want to dance with me?" she asked.
He shruged. "Hasn't it been a while since you danced to a slow song?" he asked making her nod. "Then, lets try it." He stood up and walked over to her taking her hand. She stood up and followed him slowly tothe dance floor where not many people were dancing. They stopped and he turned towards her. He spun her around once and placed one hand upon her waist as the other held her hand. They smiled as each other as they swayed slowly back and forth to the beat of the song.
After the song, their food arrived and they sat down to eat. While they ate, they talked some more and got to know each other more. They split the bill this time and left. They went to get some ice cream and then walked along the beach as they continued to talk. Bradin was falling for her more and more each time he saw her and heard her voice. He didn't want to take the risk of losing what they have if he told her his true feelings for her. They came to a stop to sit down due to Katie's leg. He helped her sit down and then sat beside her.
"Do you think you'll ever find another guy?" he asked her.
"I don't know. No guy wants a girl who is part of the army. They would want to see the girl everyday until death and all that jazz. If I have to go back, I'll lose the guy."
"Hey," he said as he saw a tear run down her face.
"I just don't get why he did that," she said.
"He's a jerk, Katie," Bradin told her wiping her tear away. He held her close as she became more upset. "Don't let what happened between you two get to you. You deserve so much better than him. You're beautiful, Katie. Tanner doesn't deserve you after what he's done."
She pulled away and looked at him. He wiped her eyes using his thumbs and smiled making her smile. "There we go," he said, "I feel as if I've known you forever."
"Weird, isn't it?" she asked, "I feel the same way."
He nodded. He helped her up and began to walk towards her house. They walked in silence. When they arrived at her house, they turned towards each other and hugged.
"Thank you," she wispered.
He pulled away, kissed her cheek, and smiled.
