A/N: Short... and it took me forever... but I hadn't updated in so long I had to get something up. I'm trying not to make this late-updating thing into a habit. I don't know, I'm getting over Jesse McCartney, and the show's over now, so I guess I don't have much spirit in writing this anymore. But since I do have the plot planned out, it would be a shame not to use it... though the pace may be a bit fast from now on. As always, thanks for the reviews.

What actually took place was a full blown screaming match between Jessica, her parents, and a few tentative comments from Ava. Everyone's nerves were high and even Ava was losing her cool. The whole being rational and reasoning things out plan was not working. In the slightest.

"You don't trust me. Well maybe I don't care what you think anymore." Jessica shrieked as her parents started listing off their reasons once again. "It doesn't matter that I get good grades and am a part of every do-gooder volunteer work that the damn town offers, it doesn't matter that YOU dragged ME over to a foreign place in my FRESHMAN year and now that I've finally started a relationship I care about, you're still going to try and ruin my life further. I'm staying at Bradin's tonight. If that's okay with you?" She turned to Ava with a questioning look.

"You're welcome any time." The woman managed a smile, though she seriously did not like the glares coming her way.

"You're not going anywhere!" they bellowed.

"Watch me." And with that, Ava and Jessica walked out.

"I'm so sorry about them." Jessica apologized as she sat in Ava's car as they drove back home.

"Things will work out." She tried to be comforting.

"It's funny. This shouldn't be a big deal, me not going to this thing with him. After all, I don't have anything to do with it. But he's so adamant about getting me to be with him I just don't want to tell him that." She muttered, staring into her lap.

"Sweetie, do you want to go?" Ava asked.

"For Bradin's sake." She shrugged.

"But do you personally want to go?"

"Bradin wants me to, and I'm sure it'll be great." Jessica answered. "Thanks for letting me crash here tonight."

"It's probably better than leaving you in that tense house." Ava smiled thinly. "Come on, now, let's go say hi to Bradin."

Jessica quickly strode up the familiar steps and opened the door to the house. Bradin, who was lying lazily on the living room couch, looked surprised to see her.

"Hey," he greeted.

"They are officially pissed at me. I'm crashing here tonight." She said dully. Bradin's face softened and he opened his arms and let her meld into him.

"We'll figure this thing out." He promised as he kissed her forehead.

And somehow, they did. Whatever it was that Bradin said to her parents, it worked. Only one more unscheduled issue stood in their way…

"What did you just say?" Bradin exclaimed to a downcast Jay three days before they were to board their plane.

"I'm sorry, Bradin. Something huge came up and I just can't afford to leave Playa Linda for three weeks. I can't be with you, mate." He sighed. "You're just going to have to take Erika."

And though Jessica smiled and said it was absolutely no problem, she was nervous inside. Nothing would happen… Except Bradin had been attracted to her since day one…

Florida Days...

Checked into the hotel, registered at the surf competition, rounded off a few interviews, and worked off the jetlag, Bradin was ready to do some sight seeing.

The first week in Florida was amazing, he surfed for a few hours a day, met a lot of cool people, and got to hang out constantly with his two favourite girls. The hotel they stayed in gave them a nice suite, three individual adjoined bedrooms, they had to share a washroom but each had their own TV set. The result of this was that Bradin often got to see both Jessica and Erika in their pyjamas at night and in the morning. Life was sweet.

Jessica and Bradin had spent so much time together even before the two had left for Florida and somehow found themselves closer than they thought they could be.

Except Jessica's all encompassing insecurities came into play at the start of the second week, when she saw a scantily clad Erika getting wet with Bradin in the hotel pool. And then in the suite's Jacuzzi. They were good friends but she couldn't help but wonder if they could be more. Especially when another hotel guest made mention of the two of them, and was surprised to find out that Erika and Bradin were not in fact a couple.

"This is fun, right?" Bradin smiled into Jessica's hair as the two lay comfortably sprawled on Bradin's bed one night as they watched a movie.

"Yeah. You did really well in the competition this morning." She praised.

"I still think the whole cheerleading uniform would inspire me to do better." He joked, kissing her nose. He had his arms wrapped tightly around her and the movie was nearly over.

"If I do that for you, what do I get?" she smirked. Bradin's eyes lighted up.

"Do you have to ask?" he breathed, kissing her neck. Suddenly the playful mood in the room had changed completely. Bradin shifted so that he was leaning over her and kissed her softly on the lips. At least that was how it started.

"I love your eyes," the girl stated randomly.

"And I love the way you love my eyes." He grinned. "I love the way you listen to my words and really hear them. The way your eyes light up when I come into the room. The way you make me feel as if I'm the best person in the world." He punctuated each sentence with a sweet kiss, stroking her cheek softly.

"Maybe that's because I think you are the best person in the world." She whispered, brushing the bangs out of his eyes.

And then his mouth claimed hers and the gentleness gave way to steadily harder kisses, his hand entwined with one of hers as he propped himself up on one elbow so that he was over her. He heard her give a low sigh and shifted his lips to her jaw and neck, and then lower to her collar bone. Her hand released his and moved to tangle in his hair. They were moving quickly towards a direction neither of them had planned and Bradin's fingers grazed the skin under her shirt, slowly moving upwards on her back until he was fingering her bra. Without a thought, Bradin had removed her shirt and his hands on her sides made her shiver. As they progressed, Jessica suddenly pushed back.

She put her hands up on the blonde's chest and said quietly, "I can't do this." She couldn't meet him in the eyes as Bradin reluctantly but hastily moved away from her.

"I'm sorry- I didn't mean to-" he tried to apologize.

"No, I was there too." She said, wry smile quirking on her lips for an instant. It quickly turned downwards into a regretful frown as she muttered, "I'm sorry, Bradin."

"No, don't apologize, I understand. I didn't mean to push you into doing anything." He rubbed her arm but she recoiled.

"You didn't do anything wrong." She assured him as she all but ran out of his room.

Bradin leaned back into his pillow and sighed. Another cold shower for Westerly tonight.