In the darkness, Tommy's cuddles felt warm and cozy to Kimberly. Rolling over, he spooned her up in his arms. His chest was warm, smooth, and soft. She carefully laid her head on his shoulder and smiled, wishing she could stay close to him longer, feeling safe in his embrace. His arms were wrapped right around her bring her a peace she had never known before, calming all the fears and worries in her heart. The thought of getting to stay in Angel Grove with him gave her hope such as having a place to call home, not having to come home to surprises that her mother had been hiding from her, and not having to hear her mother and step father ignore her for Amelia. In his embrace she felt safe from nightmares and them being found by the wrong people. Her eyes slowly closed as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Hours later, Tommy woke up as he started to shiver. The sleeping bag was destroyed and full of holes. Even the pajamas that were on their bodies were ragged looking. Was all this a mirage or real? He didn't know. But, if it was, the warm clothes and warm sleeping bag was nice while it lasted even if it was all in his head. "Tommy," Kimberly whispered as she shivered in his arms. At least he still had her, which was his life line and his security blanket now. Feeling her shiver, he gathered her in his arms and took a seat in the hot spring, only to find it was an illusion too. He reached out to get some berries from the fruit bushes, but they were only an illusion too. "Why is it so cold?"

"I'm afraid all of this turned out to be an illusion," he whispered back throwing the first aid bag over his shoulder. Tommy stood up and walked through the cave at the end there was a light up ahead. Stepping out, he saw they were in a dark forest. No one could find them there and they could at least spend the night there. He opened the first aid bag and got out an emergency blanket and wrapped it around them both. "This is the best I can do."

"Don't worry about it," she yawned as her head landed on his shoulder.

Tommy let out a yawn as he woke up the following morning. He watched the bright yellow raise up from the ground. The sun filled the beautiful blue sky with endless pink rays. "Hey, Beautiful," Tommy whispered as he gave Kimberly a kiss. "Time to wake up."

Her eyes slowly opened as her first view of the day was her prince charming. "Morning, Tommy," she yawned stretching her arms in the air. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah, I did," he answered as he started to fold us the emergency blanket and put it back in the first aid bag. Tommy walked over to a banana tree and got four bananas. "What about you?"

"I did," Kimberly answered as she peeled her banana. "Where do you think we're at now?"

"I have no idea," he admitted taking a bite out of his banana. "I'm hoping today that we can find out where we are."

"Tommy, I'm afraid we'll have to find out where we are on our own," she reminded him looking down at her bare skin as she began to blush. "This is our second day of being on our own. And I'm getting frustrated about having to remain in my birthday suit all the time. I don't have a prefect body. I'm short, my shoulders are skinny, I don't have the right figure and my-"

"-Beautiful, there's nothing wrong with you," he interrupted as he started on his second banana. " In my eyes you're still the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. And seeing you like this only adds to your beauty-"

"-Tommy, I just don't feel comfortable with the way my body looks. The little imperfections bother me, especially when I can't hide them behind-"

"-Kim, I don't see anything imperfect about your body," he assured her as they locked hands. Tommy threw the first aid bag over his shoulder, leaving their banana pills at the side of a tree. They walked until they came to a beach. It looked deserted and no one had been there for ages. "Why don't we go have some fun on the beach?"

"Tommy, I don't think it's such idea," Kimberly warned as she looked for a bush to hide behind. "Someone could see us."

Tommy grabbed her hand and led her out on the beach. He was right no one was there. "Why don't we go for a swim," he suggested laying the first aid bag on the ground. "When I was in 3rd grade we went on a camping trip. I saw a lake close to the camp site and I had always wanted to go skinny dipping. So that night I went skinny dipping in the lake. I loved it and I wanted to do it again, but, I decided the second time I was going to do it with a really close friend."

"Did you ever go?"

"No, I never had a close friend growing since my family moved around a lot," Tommy admitted as his heart started to race. He gazed into Kimberly's eyes as he took hold of her hand. She had been his best friend since he moved to Angel Grove. If someone told him years ago, that his best friend would be a girl he would have laughed. At that age he thought girls were unpleasant and it wasn't cool to be best friends with a girl. "And I wanted to share this experience-"

"With me?" Kimberly guessed as she watched Tommy blush when she finished his sentence. "Tommy, I've always dreamed of us on a romantic getaway. But, I never wanted anything like this to happen to us. But, I wouldn't mind going for a swim."

They walked over to the boat dock and ran to the end of it and dived into the water. After a moment, Tommy began to feel free as he was hitting the warm like bath water and stretching out his legs. He swam to the surface. As he surfaced, Kimberly was swimming towards him. "Kim, what did you think?" he questioned gathering her in his arms. "All I could think about was how good it felt to have water flowing around my body without a swimsuit in the way. And having a good time with you, of course."

"I loved this. For once I wasn't thinking about what parts of me were jiggling as I was running towards water," she admitted putting her arms around his neck. "Every summer, I always get nervous about buying a swimsuit. Tommy, I always thought I had to have the prefect "bikini body", having the right skin tone, looking thin like the other girls, and not having any fat on my body. I wasn't even thinking about the time when I lost my... never mind it isn't important."

"Kim, yes it," Tommy corrected her when she rested her head on his chest. "You're going to be married to me soon and you don't need to be afraid to talk to me. I want us to be able to explore each other's fears and work to overcome them together."

"In Junior High, we had to do went to a beach for a field trip. A boy untied my top and everyone in the room was laughing and staring, while I was trying to put it back on," she sniffed feeling Tommy stroke her hair. "My top had those pads inserted in them and I had to wiggle them back in place. When we were leaving every changing room was full, so I went into a changing tent and someone pulled the tent down. I quickly wrapped a towel around myself and a boy said no one would want a girl who wore a small bra size."

"I'm sorry that happened to you," Tommy whispered stroking her hair. "I don't care what size bra you wear or if you don't have the prefect bikini body. All I care about is having a girl who is going to love me and be faithful to me. All I see is the beautiful girl I've been in love with since I first laid eyes on you. I know there are probably boys who are more handsome looking-"

"-Tommy, I think you a prefect," Kimberly assured him. "You're wonderful, sweet, kind, caring, and have a huge heart. There isn't anyone else that could ever compete with you."

"Thanks, Beautiful," he purred resting his head on hers. While he held her, he couldn't help but think about how in less than two years him and his friends would be graduating. After graduation, they'd all be going to different colleges or straight into the workforce. He'd be starting all over again, but he'd be married to Kimberly by then. She'd be going with him where ever he went, and he'd never have to say good bye to her.

With Tommy by her side, Kimberly began to realize that maybe she still had strength and courage somewhere inside her. This whole time, he had stayed with her and made sure she was safe. They had been through nothing but hell, until they came to the beach. Then it was like they were finally given time relax. She loved walking down the beach's shore line holds his hand and diving into the warm crystal blue water as she experienced skinny dipping with him. The water seemed to be more slippery and her body offered no resistance and she happily glide through the large body of water.

They swam a few laps up and down the shore line before they stretched out and laid back letting their limbs do the thinking for them. "The water is so refreshing," Kimberly purred reaching over and taking Tommy's hand in hers, when she heard someone yelling. "What was that?"

Tommy didn't answer. All he did was quickly look around for a place to hide. Once his eyes landed on large rock, they swam to it. "You said the tracking device would help us track them!" shouted Ms. Kirk. "You said so when you hide it in the first aid bag-"

"-that's because I intended for them to take the bag. I knew they'd escape and I didn't want them to get away!" yelled Ken. "The tracking device has stopped moving."

"There is nothing wrong with the device you idiots!" Ms. Peterson hollered. "The tracing device is still in the side pocket! They must have figured out that we were tracking them and left the first aid bag here."

"I didn't know there was tracking device!" Kimberly gasped in quiet voice. "Did you?"

Tommy's heart began to pound as he held Kimberly tightly against his chest. "No, I didn't?" he whispered looking around the rock. Ms. Kirk, Ms. Peterson, and Ken were all standing on the shore line with binoculars. "Kim, we can't go back to the beach-"

"-we can't stay behind this rock either," she whispered wrapping her arms around his waist. "Tommy, I'm afraid they will find us shortly."

He looked around and spotted a small speck almost one hundred feet away from him. "We can go there," he said pointing to the small speck of land. "We'll have to dive under the water to avoid being seen-"

"-just in one breath? Tommy, you don't know what could be on the speck on land-"

"Kim, what other choice do we have?" he asked taking hold off her hand. "It's either that or being caught. We have to try."

They held their breaths and dived underneath the water and started to swim to the island.

Tommy woke up after lying face down in the hot sand. He looked over and saw Kimberly laying a few feet away from him. "Kim, are you okay?" he prayed as he slowly began to shake her. "Please wake up!"

Her eyes slowly opened, and she gazed into Tommy's eyes. "Where are we?" she asked as Tommy pulled her into a tight embrace. She looked around and saw sharks were swimming all around the island. "Tommy, I'm afraid we're going to be stuck here for a while."

Tommy looked up and saw a sign that said, "Beware of sharks." His heart sank as he held her in his arms. They were lucky that they made it there in one piece. But, how did the sharks get there suddenly? Where they being lead into a trap or was it just breeding season? He hoped it was just breeding season. "Beautiful, I'm afraid we're going to be stuck here for who knows how long," he sighed lifting Kimberly into his arms. He didn't want to stay on the shore line with the sharks swimming so close. Looking around he spotted a spring nearby. His throat was so dry, and he was thirsty. Kimberly was panting and looked like she was also needing water. Tommy carried her over to the spring and they both started to drink from it for a long time. After they started drinking, Tommy noticed Kimberly was staring at her reflection in the spring. "Kim, are you okay?"

"Tommy, what are we going to do now?" she cried as she tried to fight back dream of walking down the aisle to Tommy in a beautiful wedding gown would never happen. They'd never get to go to college and room together, buy a house of their own, have successful careers, celebrate anniversaries and holidays, travel together, attend their junior and senior prom together, or sit side by side at graduation. "Everything that we've looked forward to doing will never happen."

Meanwhile, Ms. Kirk, Ms. Peterson, and Ken all got in a submarine and started to search the area. "They couldn't have gotten far!" Ken hissed as the submarine began to go underwater. "As soon as we find them, the Hooker's Lip's will show Kimberly what would have really happened if she went to the Pan Global Games."

"I can't wait!" smirked Ms. Kirk as she stared at the Hooker's Lips as it appeared in the submarine.