Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except the drama and tension I'm going to cause. Enjoy.

Chapter Fifteen

"Beautiful night, does it ever cool off?"
"No, this time of year its hotter than the hinges of hell, we got stars though…"

-

Their voices mingled and mixed into one another, as my eyelids drooped, and I became dangerously close to falling into a deep, heat driven sleep. It had been three days now. Three days of heat, three days of lazing around because there was nothing to do. Two days since Sara has stormed out of Luke's life, screaming at Mattie for things neither of us could even begin to comprehend. Two days of awkward interaction, of fast talking Gilmore Girls, of surfing and sunbaking, and attempts to make it feel as it once did.

Two days of failed attempts.

Until we came to be here, lying on Mattie and Luke's couches at nine at night, lost in our own worlds, where heat melded with memories of once forgotten good times, and I couldn't help but know something needed to be done. Because whatever had happened in the past, we couldn't move on unless they spoke to one another… really spoke to one another.

And then, from next to me, Mattie finally made a sound.

"I'm bored." She whined.

Groans escaped Luke and Rics mouths before they could stop themselves.

"Don't mock." She replied, pouting at them. "This is serious. I feel so bloated, I feel so lazy, I haven't done anything except sit on this couch, lay on the beach, or sleep, in three whole days."

"Neither have I." I threw in, hoping to aid her cause. I was bored to. Really bored. And while I never thought that could happen while we had any Gilmore Girls around, the day had actually come.

"Well, if you two would actually learn to surf…" Ric began, grinning at Luke as Mattie and I groaned in unison.

"Will they never learn?" I asked Mattie, who shook her head solemnly.

"Apparently not." She replied, her eyes closing, a small, sly smile forming on her face.

"What are you thinking?" I asked her, knowing that smile couldn't possibly mean anything good for us.

"Just about how nice the water may actually be tonight." She said vaguely. "How nice a swim might be, to cool off, before this southerly arrives… if it ever does." She said, grumbling a little.

"But it's nine at night." Luke said, stating the obvious.

"Yeah, but it's still like, thirty degrees." Mattie retorted, crossing her arms over her chest. "Well, I'm going swimming." She said defiantly, "I don't care if I have to go alone. I'm hot and I'm bored and I just want to do something that doesn't make me feel so fat."

"Amen sister." I said, standing up and high-fiving her. "Are you with us?" I asked, as Ric and Luke shared a look with one another.

"Do we have a choice?" Ric replied finally, standing up and walking over to me.

"Not so much." I replied finally, giggling as he kissed me gently.

"I guess we're with you then." He said, sighing, as if it were a huge chore to be around us.

"I knew you'd see it our way." Mattie smiled at them, as she bounced towards her room excitedly.

Her absence meant that Ric and I were alone with Luke, and, despite my gut telling me not to meddle, I just had to ask him.

"Any changes?"

"No, it's still ing hot." He replied, smirking at me.

"He thinks he's so clever." I said, rolling my eyes as Ric laughed shortly behind me.

"Oh you meant Mattie?" Luke continued, feigning innocence. "No, she still walks around as if nothing has happened. As if Sara is still here. As if the day in the bathroom never happened, and Sara never screamed at her like she was the wicked witch of the west. And oh yeah, she still refuses to acknowledge that anything actually happened between us."

"Oh Luke." I began, just as Mattie reappeared.

"Right, shall we get this show on the road?" She asked, as she walked towards the door. "Or shall we stand around mulling over the events from the last couple of days for a little while longer?"

"Fun night, yeah?" Ric asked, as Luke groaned and began to follow us out of the house.

"Fun all around." I replied, as he took my hand in his.

-

"Mattie." I screamed out, as I saw her lone figure stripping of all excess clothing on the beach. She turned momentarily to look in our general direction, but as soon as we began to approach her, she ran towards the beach, throwing herself into the cool water that was lapping gently against the shore.

As we reached her pile of strewn clothing, I shook my head, wondering what was really behind her almost self-destructive behaviour tonight. Sitting myself down, I felt two bodies move next to me, and I looked to see Ric and Luke sitting either side of me, staring.

"What?" I asked, looking between them.

"Well, aren't you going to follow her?" Luke asked, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Why me?" I asked, as he shrugged his head.

"Because." Ric said, "You two have been doing that best friend thing all summer. Following one another when the other storms off, having secret looks that clearly mean something, but never letting us in." He said nonchalantly. "So it just figures that you'd go after her, have one of your bonding moments and you'd both come back all sunshine and smiles."

"Huh." I said, as they smiled at one another. "Have we really been like that all summer?" I asked, a little confused that they'd actually paid enough attention to see in our friendship something that significant, something that important.

"Well, yeah." Luke said. "But you've always been kind of like that. It's just a little intensified this year."

"You know what I think?" I said, turning to look at them, as they nodded. "I think Mattie and I have never given either of you enough credit."

"Is that a compliment?" Ric asked, as I stood up and took off my shirt, throwing it at him, before shimming out of my skirt. "Yeah," I said, as I walked down towards the surf. "As close as you'll ever get." I finished, yelling over my shoulder.

"Mattie." I yelled, as I reached the waters edge. I could see her standing out in waist deep water, looking up at the starry sky, and when she didn't respond, I knew that if I was ever going to get her attention, I was going to have to go out there. Not that it worried me as such, because as soon as I stepped into the warm water, it began to cool my over heated body, and I knew that Mattie was the clever one, preferring to be out there instead of on land.

"Mattie." I said, as I came to stand by her side. But she, she remained unmoved. "Mat…"

"It's pretty unbelievable." She whispered.

"Yeah, it's pretty beautiful too." I said, looking up instead of at her, knowing deep down that she'd open up in her own time.

"No. This summer. That's what's unbelievable."

"Why?" I enquired, not really understanding exactly what she'd meant.

"Who'd have ever thought you and Ric would end up back together?" She said, almost deflecting the question.

"Well, you never know what the heart truly feels until faced with its one desire." I said, and she nodded distractedly.

"And Parker attempting to be nice. And us working? And me actually missing University and Sydney?"

"And Sara and Luke?"

Sighing, she looked down towards the water that lapped around out waists.

"I thought, coming back here, Luke and I would be able to create a friendship that would last a lifetime." She said finally, her voice faltering a little. "I thought, we could get past the messes of the last summers, we could get past everything that happened last year, and we could just, re-bond."

"But you still can, we've still got a couple of free days before we go back."

"No." She said sternly, turning to look at me. "Don't you see? If anything, this summer has taught me that Luke and I, we're headed in different directions, we're on different paths. And we can't try and salvage something that's become too distorted, and so hard. We just, can't." She finished sadly, turning to walk away.

"Mattie," I cried after her. "What are you so scared of?"

"I'm not scared," She began, but I didn't give her a chance to finish.

"Yes, you are." I said, moving towards her. "You've been running away all summer. Are you scared of letting him in again? Letting yourself feel again? Leaving yourself open again? Letting yourself get hurt again?"

"Maybe I'm scared of being trapped in something I never really felt." She said, her eyes glistening with tears as she turned to look at me. "Maybe I just want to be able to live my life without wondering if this really is the right thing. Maybe, I don't want to go back." She whispered, turning to run back to the house, past Luke and Ric, who were standing on the shore.

"So," Ric said, as I walked slowly to them. "That must've gone well."

Throwing him a look, I continued to walk towards my towel.

"What?" He yelled after me. "Wait, what happened?"

"You don't want to know." I yelled back to them. "You really, don't want to know."

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AN: Here's the next one. Fast updating right? lol : ) Hope you enjoyed it. Jade xox