Special treat, y'all! Two chapters at once!!

I DO NOT own Summerland. I DO own Teresa Coleman.

Chapter XII

That's Only Part of the Story

She must have convinced him because he nodded, then, turned his head away as he said, "Okay, I'll tell you what I meant by having gone through hell, but not here, please?"

"Okay, let's walk and maybe we'll find somewhere that catches our eyes... how about that, is that okay?" Teresa smiled as he looked at her.

"Okay," it was evident that he'd been crying, but she sensed he didn't care if she knew, "I'll go for that."

They got up and started walking down the beach, unbeknownst to them, Jay got up and followed.

"So," after a few minutes of walking in silence they reached Spanish Cove, "wanna talk here?" Teresa ventured.

"Sure," Bradin said emotionlessly, he really didn't care where they talked as long as it was private, "this is fine." What are you about to do, you idiot? Are you so stupid as to believe another person who says you can trust them? Huh? Are you? Bradin's mind said to him, he couldn't take it, "Shut up! Nikki's right, I'm gonna die if I let this eat me away anymore, so just SHUT THE HELL UP!!"

They sat down on the rocks side by side and Teresa prompted him by saying, "So what hell have you been through?"

"Do you really wanna know this, I mean, after you hear it you'll probably wish you hadn't."

"I wanna hear it," she tried to assure him but he seemed unconvinced.

"Whatever, it was your choice," he said staring intently at the ocean.

After about 5 minutes of silence, Teresa said, "So are you gonna tell me or do I have to guess?" she laughed.

"Teresa, this is definitely not a time to be funny," Bradin sounded hurt.

"I'm sorry," Teresa sobered instantly, "if it'll help... I'll tell you my life story first."

"It might," he replied, "but you don't have to," he added softly, having sensed pain in her voice when she offered to.

"No, I will, if it'll help... and besides, if we're gonna be friends you might as well know a little history of my life, don't ya think?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Okay, than," Teresa smiled. She told him as much as she could think of about herself all the way up to moving to Playa Linda and finishing with why they'd moved.

"I'm so sorry, I- I know exactly what you feel like... you know, um... losing your dad and little brother..."

"How would you know exactly how I feel? You have to have been through something like- Oh my God, you mean..."

"Yeah, we, Nikki, Derrick and I, live with our aunt because," he took a deep breath, "because our parents died... they drowned in a flood back at home..." Bradin looked at her then back away, she had been through a lot, he didn't think he should bring her down with his problems too but she insisted he tell her everything about him. So, with a sigh of sadness, he began, "We used to live in Kansas with our parents, everything was great, I loved life there... but one night, a bad storm came up, nothing unusual, we had a bad storm come through our town frequently, it happened all the time, it was normal. But that night my sense of normal changed, forever. My parents went to help dam the overflowing river, they left me to watch Nikki and Derrick and said they'd be back by morning..." Bradin struggled to speak recalling that night, but he held back his emotions and pressed on, "so they said they'd be back by morning, but they never came back." He paused to keep his emotions in check and before Teresa could speak, he started talking again.

"Then we came to live with my aunt Ava, but I miss them so bad..." He then told her everything that was in his notes to God about his dreams and nightmares of his parents.

"Oh... my... God... Bradin, I- I- I don't know what to say... I'm so sorry." Without thinking she threw her arms around him holding him in a understanding hug.

Bradin was startled but he kept himself from pulling away, instead he let himself fall into her comforting grasp, "I miss them so much and the dreams are like living that whole freaking thing over again... I can't take it... well I might could take that, but it's the other dreams that bother me and make me wish no one would touch me!"

He hadn't meant to but he'd made Teresa think he wanted her to let go of him, she moved away from him slightly muttering, "I'm sorry, just... instinct I guess. Anyway, what "other" dreams?" Teresa was puzzled as to why he had said the word other like it was deadly.

He sighed, "Guess I have to tell you that too, huh?" he almost smiled, but quickly looked hurt and scared.

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Anna Christie AKA SecondStarToTheRight15