~~~Andy's POV~~~

We messed around in the water for hours on end. Sam finally convinced me that it was time to go back to the public beach and meet up with the guys for lunch.

"Is it just me or are you slow today?" he asked.

"Sand isn't exactly ideal terrain to be running on," I said sharply. He laughed and waited for me to catch up a bit before grabbing my hand in his and trekking onward towards the car. The sun was brilliantly gleaming down on the red car and reflecting into my eyes making it difficult to see.

"This has honestly been one of the best days of my life," he said pulling me close to him as he leaned in to kiss me. The electricity was exploding between us as we kissed. It was the kind of energy that makes you shiver with pure enjoyment. He pulled away and kissed me on the forehead before opening his car door and starting it.

"What are we going to tell the guys?" I said abruptly. Realization hits me like a basketball to the head sometimes.

"The truth," he said, "they won't care."

"What about JC?" I asked.

"Doesn't he think you're annoying?" he said.

"It doesn't change the fact that he still cares about me. Besides I go back home at the end of the summer, what's going to happen then?" I said indifferently. Sadness washed over his face for a minute and then he spoke.

"Until then just live in the moment and not in the future," he said.

"Think of a wonderful thought, any merry little thought," I sang, waiting for him to catch on.

"Think of Christmas, think of snow, think of sleigh bells, off you go!" he sang before bursting into a fit of laughter. Peter Pan had been my role model for some time now. In fact ever since I can remember I have always had a little voice in the back of my head that asked me what would Peter do?

Pulling out of the parking spot, he looked back to make sure that no one was coming, then proceeded to steer the car down the sandy gravel road. I examined the scenery outside of the car as I hadn't paid much attention to the scenery before. It was beautiful to say the least. The sunlight was reflecting off of the Pacific, the vast expanses of sand stretched on for what seemed like forever and the sky was a blank pale blue with no clouds in sight.

I turned my attention back to the road. We were back on asphalt again and I could see the highway from here so I knew we weren't far from the public beach that we were at before. In that moment I wondered if there was a road that didn't connect to any other road, gravel or otherwise. Just that one stretch of pavement surrounded by grass. Maybe houses right on it where you would have to park your car along side the two lanes, an end that culdesacked and acted as a parking lot for a supermarket. The other end would have a bank and a post office and maybe even a department store.

My attention jolted back to the road when a big silver Ford began to speed toward us.

Flashback:

"Mom watch out!," I shouted. She swerved just a bit too far. Rolling into the ditch I heard her voice.

"I love you Andy, be strong," she told me.

"Mom!" I yelled. The car stopped on its left side. I was suspended above the dead body of my mother by the seat belt that saved my life, the blood gushing from her wounds, tears rolling down my cheeks. I wiped the tears from under my eyes and studied the reddish tint in the liquid. Blood, I had decided. I looked over at my arm which had several long gashes, and my face in the mirror which showed that I had a small cut under my eye.

End Flashback

"Sam, watch out!" I said to him. It was too late though. He unbuckled his seatbelt and quickly pulled himself over to the passenger's seat with me. He held onto me and the bar above the window, as the Ford obliterated the driver's side of the car. The metal crunched as the shattered glass erupted toward us, leaving us with a few cuts. I could feel Sam's hot breath on the crook of my neck. It was comforting to know that he was still breathing.

Even then I could feel the shivers run down my spine, and to think that I could love someone so much at a moment like this and still feel the panic at the same time and realize that the windshield had broken and more shards of glass were raining down on us. We were hugging each other now, holding on for dear life. Finally coming to a halt, the car started to tilt, but then finally rocked back and forth settling right side up.

~~~Sam's POV~~~

Only three words were swirling in my mind right now. Near. Death. Experience.

"Are you okay, Andy?" I asked. I frantically waited for a response as she moved a bit under me, probably checking for injuries.

"I think so," she finally replied, her breathing unsteady.

"Good." I pulled out my phone checking for damage. The screen was cracked, but it was still functional. "I'm going to call the guys, okay? Do you think you can stand up?" I asked.

"I don't know," she said still breathing a bit hard. I opened the door and stepped out onto the hot, black pavement and stuck out my hand for Andy to grab onto. She squeezed it as she stood up shakily.

"You can come lean on me if you feel like you need to," I told her. She nodded and leaned against me as I dialed Connor's number. I put an arm around her waist as I waited for him to pick up.

"Having fun?" Connor asked.

"The van got hit by a truck. We were in it when it happened we aren't really hurt but we need you guys to get a ride over and pick us up," I said.

"Oh my God! That's terrible! Where are you?" he asked frantically.

"We're a few hundred yards from the highway on the paved part of the road," I said calmly.

"Okay, we'll be there as soon as we can. Just stay where you are," he said before he hung up.

I turned to hug her but she met my lips with a kiss first. Our tongues danced together for the first time blanketing us in velvety bliss. We broke apart and I pulled her into a hug.

"I don't know what I would do if you would've gotten hurt worse than you did. Let's look at those cuts now, okay?" I whispered in her ear as I pushed her away from me a bit.

"Okay," she mumbled.

I commenced to inspecting her wounds. She was still in her bikini so I could see them pretty well. There was a small cut between her shoulderblades that didn't look too bad but there was one on her shin that looked to be bleeding a lot. I climbed into the car again and grabbed her backpack. I fished for the mini first aid kit that she had told me she brought along. Opening it, I found a mini bottle of peroxide that I dabbed on after wiping the blood with a shirt that I had discarded into the back seat long ago.

She winced a bit at the sting of the disinfectant but she just took the pain because she knew that it would go away in a minute. Tearing a piece of my shirt off, I then wrapped it around her leg.

"You're bleeding too," she said. I looked down and found that I had a pretty bad gash below my ribcage under my arm.

"It's okay. I can hardly feel it," I told her. She looked at me worriedly as she wiped the blood away and began applying the peroxide. I cringed at the deep throbbing pain as she pressed on it. She took notice of this immediately.

"Are you sure you can't feel it?" she asked.

"Adrenaline wore off. I can definitely feel it now," I explained. Just then an SUV pulled up. Ricky and Connor hopped out and ran toward us.

"Sorry, we kind of walked in on you guys's bizarre medical care session, but we need to get you two to the emergency room and call the insurance company. Where's the truck that hit you?" Ricky said.

"Gone, I guess," I said.

"Come on hop in guys," Connor said.

Andy finished tying my shirt strip around my chest and we got in the car and went to the ER. The doctors released us with nothing more than a few bandages, stitches and a few 'you're very lucky' 's.

We slept so good together that night in our room knowing that we both survived and were next to each other.