We sat by the fire until it started to die out, not really sure of what to say to each other. There was something so beautiful about the silence around us. I could hear the wind whisper in the trees and the waves lap against the shore. It was one of my favorite kind of nights. I glanced down at my watch and see that more time has passed than I thought.

"Drew," I said my voice breaking slightly. "It's getting late."

He turned to me slowly and nods, keeping his silent composer. He put the fire out with ease and then reached down for my hand. He took it gently in his and lifts me to my feet.

"Lauren," He pauses. "Thank you again. I needed this."

I smile at him, not really sure what to say.

"Plus, it was nice to actually have a conversation with you." He quips.

"I thought you really liked my sarcasm?" I feign being hurt.

He rolls his eyes at me and walks ahead of me a bit. His pace is a lot faster than mine, and going downhill it is always hard to do on these dunes.

"Hey," I yell at him. "Wait up!"

He turns around and walks backwards waiting for me to catch up with him. I reach him a bit out of breath.

"It's not fair for you to do that ya know." I say. "Consider how much taller you are than me."

His lips turn down into a slight frown, "Well, I'm so sorry miss."

He stretches out his arm for me to grab on to. "I shall guide you."

I laugh at his ridiculous tone and take hold of him. We run down the rest of the dune together leaving a fury of upturned sand in our wake. Once we reach the bottom we are covered in sand from head to toe. I can feel the grains in my hair and under my nails. I tear off the jackets I'm wearing and give him a quick grin as I take off for the water.

"Are you crazy?" He yells at my back. "It's freezing out!"

I ignore him and continue toward the rolling waves. The water seems to be almost calling out to me as I dive beneath the black surface. I feel the chill as it hits my skin, but it's actually warmer than expected. I swim out to the sandbar and run my hands through my hair as I take another dip under. I feel like the water is bathing me clean of all that has happened today. The kiss that Drew gave me was so unexpected and I could still feel it burn hot on my cheek. I wished the cool water would dull it. I never thought that someone like him would even consider being with me, but here we were. I shook my head and let the water flow around me. No matter what happened, Ryan would always still be in the back of my mind. There was no way that I was going to be able to look at someone else that way. No when I wasn't over him. Let's face it, who knows if I'll ever be over him. A wave came by and scooped me up, bringing me out farther into the Great Lake. I still remember times when I was little when I would wish that I could be a mermaid in this lake. I would swim as far out as my arms and legs would take me and pray to the sea gods to take me up in them and become a beautiful creature. I wanted to be one of the waves that got to play with the shore and the people who came to swim in the vast blue. Of course, I knew that it was wishful thinking. Some girls want to be princesses; I wanted to be a mermaid.

I make my way back toward the shore, riding the waves on the way back. As soon as I hit the air I feel the chill and start wishing that I would have thought this out better. I see my coat lying on the sand, but don't see Drew. I look around trying to see if he is out in the water, but the moonlight doesn't give much light tonight. I call out for him and get no response. He doesn't seem to be anywhere on the beach.

"Must have gotten sick of waiting," I say to myself as I make my way toward the old wooden stairs.

I walk down the silent streets and hope that my mom isn't too worried about me. By now she will most likely be asleep. Still though, I know how she is. I see no lights on as I reach the back slider of my house and feel bad about not calling. Maybe I'll make her French toast in the morning and make it up to her.

I slide the door open and it groans slightly. I shut it as quietly as possible and flick the light on. I peel my jacket off and sling it over the nearest chair. I'm about to make my way to the shower when I hear the dog making a weird noise in my mom's room.

"Sasha," I say as I open the door. "Do you have to go potty?"

She is standing by the foot of the bed whimpering and trying to get up. I frown, not sure why my mom would have her on the floor. I beckon to her, but she does not come. She is frozen in place whining.

I sigh and walk over toward her, but she barks at me.

"It's me," I say. "Calm down."

She continues to bark and growl at me. Nothing seems to calm her down.

I turn on the light and hope that maybe that will help. I hope that it doesn't bother my mom, but she doesn't seem to be disturbed by it. I pick up Sasha and go to bring her to my mom. She is shaking and my petting seems to be doing nothing. I bring her toward my mom and as I go to set her down I notice that something isn't right.

"Mom?" I whisper.

She doesn't answer.

"Mom?" I say louder this time.

Still no response.

I lean down to shake her and she is ice cold. I grab hold of her and try not to let myself jump to conclusions. I try to feel for something, anything that will show me that she is ok. She just lies there motionless and I don't know what to do. I try to feel for a pulse, but there is nothing. She is just still. I stretch my arms out and try to wrap her up in me. Tears well in my eyes as I hold her close to me.

"Please wake up, please." I mutter trying not to lose it completely. "I need you mom, please." I put my head in my hands and the tears keep coming. I grab the phone from the nightstand and dial 911.

When the operator answers I am barely able to tell her what is wrong. I am crying so hard that my words don't seem to be forming any sentences. She tells me that she will send somebody to the scene right away and I hang up still lost. I look back at my mother's body lying on her bed and she looks so peaceful. It's hard to believe that something is wrong. I grab the dog and leave the room. The sight of her there will be imprinted in my memory forever; there is no need to have it burn for longer.

The cops are there in less than five minutes and I lead them into the room where she is. Soon, my house is crawling will coroners and detectives. It feels like I'm in a dream when they ask me if she had any health problems or had been feeling down recently.

"I don't know what you want me to say," I am exhausted with these questions. "She was happy, and no she wasn't sick. And no matter how many times you ask me it's not going to change."

"We understand you are upset miss," The lead detective says.

"Of course I'm upset!" I shout. "I just found my mother dead!"

"We just have a few more questions to ask you if that's alright," He takes out a note pad and a pen.

I sigh, realizing they are just going to keep asking me the same things until they get some kind of answer that makes sense. I'm still not sure how to answer though, because none of this even makes sense to me.

The road curved around the dunes that led to the lake and I saw the town of Beech Wood for the first time. It was a small, sleepy looking town, but that might have something to do with the hour. As soon as I got off the phone with Delko, I got on a plane that brought me as close to here as I could get. I drove into the night and with the help of a much needed map, I made it here pretty quickly. I passed the high dunes and made my way down what I was assuming was the main road, which of course was Beech Creek. I saw Jan's shop and kept driving past it until I found a phone booth. I stopped by the side of the road and scanned the phone book until I found her address. My heart was beating wildly in my chest when I saw her name neatly printed on the thin paper. I wrote the address down on my hand quickly and began to navigate through the streets.

Most of the roads were pretty easy to understand, but take one wrong turn and you would end up right back at the town center. I wondered if anyone even found it useful to own a car in this town. I finally found her street and made my way slowly down it, keeping my eyes peeled for the address. At the end of the block, I could see that there were the tell-tale signs of cop cars.

"I guess even small towns have crime," I mused out loud.

The numbers were getting smaller and I knew I was getting closer. I stopped at the end of the street near the cop cars and coroners van. Getting out of the car, I searched the nearby houses and found that the house I was looking for was the very house that all the cars were at now. Without even thinking I rushed up the front stairs toward the open door. My mind was racing and the only thing I could think of was Lauren. She was in this house and I wouldn't lose her now.

Not now.

When I reached the top step an officer tried to stop me, but I fought him still trying to make my way inside.

"Sir, sir," He was pushing me back. "You can't go in there. This is a crime scene."

"I don't care if this is a god damn crime scene," I yelled in his face. "You have to let me in there."

"We're going to need some security," He said into his walkie talkie.

I shoved my way past him and got into the living room. My eyes were frantically searching for her face. I just needed to see her. She had to be here.

And there she was, sitting on the couch wrapped in a blanket, hair soaking wet, eyes red and puffy. She still looked beautiful in spite of it all. I took her in for a minute before she noticed that someone was watching her. Her brown eyes met mine and were as wide as saucers. Her mouth fell open and the man questioning her turned around to see that I was standing there.

"Who is this man?" He gestured toward me. "Get him out of here."

None of that mattered to either of us; we were glued to each other. She was staring at me with a sort of unbelief. I locked my eyes on her and felt my heart leap into my chest as she stood up and walked toward me.

"Ryan?" Her voice was wistful and quiet, almost like she had barely spoken.

I took a step closer to her and she didn't move. I smiled at her and brought my hand to her cheek to stroke it gently.

"Lauren." I whispered back.

And with that, just like her first day in the crime lab, she fainted into my arms.