A/N: Thanks to all those we followed my story! Even if it was only short. This chapter is much longer, so enjoy, read and leave a review, it would mean alot to me.

'That Summertime Sadness'

1 month before the Apocalypse.

The fallen leaves crunched underneath her boots as she travelled through the forest. Her glasses began to fog up; it was surprisingly cold for the middle of the June, so she wrapped her arms closer to her torso. Today was moving day and she dreaded it.

Her brother, Alan, had enlisted in the American Army, feeling that he could do more in the world rather than be a football coach at her High School. He was shipping her off to live with her sister, Scarlett for her senior year. The only problem with that Scarlett's husband was a complete asshole and a bit of a perv, so she'd do her best to avoid him. She was very proud of her brother, she really was but she was afraid of what she would leave behind here in Stone Mountain.

She'd leave behind all the good friendships she had with everyone behind, especially the one with him. The first time met him, several kids being nasty to him in the middle of the park a few weeks after she moved her.

Innocently, she skipped ahead of her brother, not a single care in the world. Behind her, Alan had a soft close lipped smile. He wished things had been like this back in New York but his mother clearly had other ideas.

They were on their way to the park. Jaiden had been begging him for weeks to go to the park but they had simply never had the time. Unpacking had gotten in the way as had his new job and Scarlett was staying in New York for a bit longer but today was his day off, so finally he complied. The look on her face was priceless when he said they were going to the park, it was as if Christmas had come early.

"Ally?" Jaiden had since stopped in her tracks to face him.

"Yeah, Jay?" He bent down to her level as she had crane her small neck up to see him properly. Shyly, she glanced at the park before looking back at him.

"Can you push me on the swing please?" A small, hopeful smile appeared on her lips. "Of course I can sweet pea." Her smile grew into a full blown toothy grin.

Eagerly, Jaiden clasped her tiny hand into his giant one and dragged him over the swing. Alan grabbed her waist to place her into the safety swing. "Ally, why do I have to be in the baby one?" She wondered grumpily.

"Because you're baby, Jay."

Jaiden let out a frustrated huff, "No I am not! I'm gonna be six next week!" Alan rolled his eyes, typical toddler.

"Do you want me to swing you or not?" He placed his hands on the back of the swing seat, "Sorry." This time, it was Alan who let out a sigh. He brought her back before releasing her with a push. Jaiden squealed in delight, which made Alan grin again.

While Alan pushed her, Jaiden observed the park, which was fairly busy; there were many parents with their children. The sight of them made Jaiden feel miserable. She didn't know what happened to her parents. Alan and Scarlett said that Mommy had been a naughty girl and Daddy had to go away for a little while, but she had no idea what that meant.

Nonetheless, Jaiden shook the thoughts of her parents away and gazed around the park some more. One scene in particular caught her attention. Four older boys had gathered around another boy, much younger than them. The boy surrounded by the others seemed fearful; a few tears fell from his eyes. No one appeared to notice what was going on. Jaiden narrowed her eyes at the bigger boys and became enraged. That's not very nice.

"Ally, stop the swing please."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Please, Ally?" She looked back at him to see his confused face though when he saw her annoyed one, he complied. First, he halted the swing before hooking his hands under her armpits to lift her out. As soon as her feet made contact with the ground, she raced over to the boys despite her brother's protests.

"Hey." They didn't hear her and continued taunting the other boy.

"Hey!" She cried. On closer inspection, she realised that the four of them were towered over her much like Alan did. Inside, she felt dread but on the outside she was fuming. "What?" One of them sneered. Jaiden crossed her arms over her chest, all the while scowling at the boys.

"Leave him alone." She demanded. To her surprise, they started to snigger. What are they laughing about? Jaiden thought, I'm much scarier than them! "Aw, look. Little princess tryin' be big and tough." One of them mock pouted, clearly making fun of her. "Be quiet or I'll tell on you," This caused them all to chuckle louder. "D'you hear that guys. She'll tell on us." The bigger and more stupid one of them pointed at her with a chubby finger. Maybe this was a bad idea, what's Ally going to say? When she peered back at the boy and saw his hopeless, wretched expression; she didn't back down.

"Shut up!" She all but screeched, causing a few heads to turn. The larger one smirked, "Oh yeah? Make me." She uncrossed her arms, bringing them to her side, her fists curling into balls. Before her Daddy went away, he told her that when you get mad, take it out on the source of your anger. The big boy had no idea what was coming. In a blink of an eye Jaiden brought her fist back and full on whacked him in the stomach. It seemed to have an effect as he doubled over.

"Get her!" The pained boy ordered. Immediately, the remaining three pounced on her, their fists flying in all direction. Jaiden felt a nasty blow to the eye and she started to cry. Then someone pulled all the boys off of her, "What the hell do you think you're going?" Alan asked furiously. When four boys saw the giant of a man, they scattered. "Hey!" He called but they were too fast. Seeing them disappear into the trees, Jaiden walked over to the victim. "Are you okay?" He wondered an apologetic look on his face, tear tracks stained on her cheeks but they no longer fell from her eyes.

"What about you?" The boy appeared to be surprised.

"I'm fine. T-thank you…" He trailed off sheepishly, a rosy tint covering his cheeks.

"I'm Jay. Jay Matthews." She took a step closer to him.

"I'm B-Ben. Ben Paul."

"Hello, Ben. Do you wanna play on the seesaw with me?" Her lips curled into her impish beam again. Ben nodded eagerly, his own lips forming into a cute smile. Jaiden grabbed his hand and tugged him away.

Jaiden smiled at the memory, it was so long since then. Back when everything was innocent and pure. As she moved closer into the forest, she came into a small clearing. A few rays of early sunshine peeked through the trees. It illuminated most the flowers in the meadow, most of sunshine pierced through the water a few feet away from her. There was hardly any life, only the birds singing their morning melody. Though the only one unmistakable form; Ben. He rested on the shore of the lake; the back of his tall frame faced her.

She smirked.

Adjusting her glasses, she tiptoed over to him. Jaiden held her breath, it was so quiet he could hear anything; he had the hearing of a bat. In her head, she could just imagine his reaction as clear as day. The thought caused her to bite her lower lip to contain her from laughing. When she was closer to him, she shrieked. Ben flew up from his sitting position; his arms and legs went in all different directions and he screamed too. The look on his face was priceless. Then, Jaiden doubled over in a fit of giggles, her body landing on the ground. Her glasses slipped off her nose, resting beside her giggling form.

"Jaiden! What the Hell! Why?" He asked, a little out of breath. A few stray tears leaked from her eyes, which she quickly wiped away. Her vision was still blurry as she wasn't wearing her glassed. Squinting, she searched for her spectacles, patting her hand on the ground to help. Finding nothing, she gazed up at the hazy form of her best friend.

"Benny?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you got my glasses?" For one second there was no sound. "Um… n-no." If it was one thing that Ben was terrible at, it was lying, well to her anyway. He always stuttered or sounded uncertain or his voice cracked. She rolled her eyes but grinned nonetheless.

"You're the worst liar in the world." She teased, grabbing Ben's arm to heft herself up. Patiently, she held her hand out. Ben grabbed her left shoulder, clearly meaning that she was facing the wrong direction, again. Jaiden cleared her throat, eyebrows raised expectantly. With a huff, Ben positioned her glasses back onto her face. As her vision cleared, she was met with Ben's flushed face.

"Are you gonna blush every time we touch?" Her question caused him to blush a little more. He gazed down at his feet, pouting.

"Aw, Benny ain't you a little cutie." Ben gave her playful shove, to which they both laughed.

"You're horrible, you know that right?" She smiled a toothy grin, looking at him innocently. "You love me really." Ben rolled his eyes, the faint tint of blush still stained on his cheeks. "What you gonna do when you get a girlfriend? I heard Jenny's interested in you." She waggled her eyebrows suggestively; all the guys had an eye on Jenny Pitcher but when she had eye on one guy in particular, they were lucky bastards.

She was flawless. Everything about her was perfect; she was the typical girl next door. Beautiful long locks, twinkling green eyes, thin as a stick and the kindest person in the world. Jaiden was the exact opposite; she was imperfection, that's what she thought. Her piggy ears, her split ended hair, too pale, she was pretty much blind without her glasses, and she wasn't exactly slim. How would Be- any guy want to be with her? The list could go on and on.

"Will you give me a break for once? Besides, Jenny's alright." She shook her head, washing away her self-pitying thoughts.

"She's only alright? Fuck Ben. The girl you're gonna fall in love with will be have to be Scarlett Johansson or Jessica Alba beautiful." She explained.

"Do we have to talk about girls? Can we just enjoy stuff?" Ben pleaded, tired of this. Jaiden held her hands in a surrender position, "I'm just trying to keep my mind off moving," The once gleeful moment turned into one of glumness.

"I know. Do you really have to go?" Ben gave her his usual pouting face but it was mixed with sorrow.

All the memories of what they had been through in the past twelve years, flashed through her mind. Even though most of the memories seemed pointless to other, every moment with Ben was important. She'd go through Hell and back for him, she'd do anything for him. She didn't care what others said or did to her, as long as she had him, everything would be okay. It may have just been moving to a place not that long away, things wouldn't be the same. There would be no going around to each other's houses every day, no more babysitting Ben's younger sister, Amy. No more BBQ's in summer. No more everything. It's the small details in life that make the massive effect.

"Yeah Ben, I do." She gulped, trying to settle down her teenage hormones.

"Let's not get all sappy now; we can do that when I leave. Besides, let's go walk around, doing what we do." Ben nodded; with all the tenderness in world, he slipped his hand into hers before leading her away from the clearing and into the beautiful wilderness of Stone Mountain.

"Hey! You didn't blush this time!"

"Shut up, Jay!"

A little while later, the duo made their way back home. Alan texted her saying, Get your ass back home or I'll come find you. She had rolled her eyes at that. Every time, she left the house to socialisation, her brother didn't realise that she had a social life at all. Even though she told him where she was heading, he was too busy sitting on his ass, watching football. Honestly, she didn't even know how Alan decided to join the Army because he was tired just moving into the kitchen.

"What are you thinking about?" Ben wondered.

The two now strolled down a street, a few blocks away from their houses. "Alan and how he can be a lazy son of bitch, nothing new." Her lips twitched upwards, turning into a playful smile, which made Ben smile too.

"What about you?" She quickly glanced at him sidelong. "Nothing big, y'know guy thoughts," Jaiden rolled her eyes.

"One of these days, your eyes are gonna get stuck," he informed her, sounding all too serious. "Aw, Benny looking out for me?" She queried in a mock-cute voice.

"Hey, I'm your best friend; it's my job to look out for you." Jaiden twisted her head to gaze up at him; a soft smile graced her lips. Her eyes glittered in admiration as she soaked in what he said. There was no other boy like Ben, all the others were either bastards or just didn't notice her. She would defiantly miss this.

She draped her arms across his middle, squeezing him into a side hug. Ben reacted by stopping them in their path in order to wrap his arms around her shoulders, bending down to do so. Jaiden rested her head on his chest and briefly shut her eyes. Ben's hugs were the best hugs. Always warm, always full of love, even if it sounded sappy, it was true. It was obvious that Ben would be blushing now but she didn't want to ruin by teasing him.

"Hey, Matthews!" A shrill voice rang out.

Freaked out, the duo sprang away from the hug. Jaiden searched for the source of the voice. When she found it, she wasn't happy. Opposite them were five people Jaiden hoped not to see at all, today, Felicity Green, Chris Fletcher, Kyle Foster, Faye Richards and Lucy Baker. Or more known as 'The Popular Kids' and they did whatever they could to make her life a misery. She never understood why she was the source of their amusement but she never did anything about it. At the start of it all, she was headstrong and didn't take shit from them. As it became worse, her confidence shattered. What was the point of ending it if all they were going to do was start it all over again?

"Heard you were movin' today." Kyle smirked.

"Yeah, so what if I am?" She didn't have time for their shit today. "Jay…" Though, Ben trailed off when he saw her expression; it was pissed. So, he kept silent.

"Well, y'know, it's a good thing cause no one wants you here anyways," Lucy started, a dirty smirk across her lips. The other two bitches eyed Ben up and down, a disgusting glint in their eyes. Jaiden stepped in front of him, clearly not liking their stares.

"Just like you're momma didn't want you." Jaiden felt her jaw clench, her hands curled into fists, tears pricking in her eyes, glasses fogging up, "What the fuck do you think you're saying bitch?"

All five of them giggled, "You're mommy didn't even think about you before she killed your daddy. I heard you were there when it happened. Did she make you watch her do it? Did you watch as your Daddy was stabbed all over? It's a shame the police got there when they did, you could've been next! It was would have saved everyone a lot of time if you were dead. Everyone could've been a lot happier without you. Your brother and sister wouldn't have to deal with a whiny, stupid kid. Benny-boy here could've had more decent friends, maybe even a girlfriend." Lucy stood there, satisfied as Jaiden begin to cry silently. The others laughed. "Fuck you Lucy!" Ben hollered.

Everyone started at Ben questionably, the majority in surprise, others in confusion. "Ben just leave it please," Jaiden sniffled. He glanced down at her. A number of emotions were written on her features; sorrow, defeat, humiliation and fatigue.

Sighing, Ben grabbed her hand, "Let's go." Jaiden followed numbly, allowing Ben take her away from them. As they trekked further down the street, the laughs started to fade away. Instead of watching were they were going, she studied him, adjusting her glasses too.

His shoulders were more hunched than they usually were, his eyebrows were furrowed, his lips thinned, the grip he had on her hand was slightly tight. It was clear that he was pissed. Ben rarely ever got pissed, though when he did; it was for a good reason.

"Don't be angry, Benny." She spoke softly, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze as well as wiping away the stray salty tears on her face.

Jaiden was only small when her mother murdered her father; Ivy, (her mom) had come home one day, in a very bad mood. Alan and Scarlett were still in school. She recalled her mother dragging her to the basement, her fingers knotted into Jaiden's locks, she had screamed at the top of her lungs for someone to help her. No one did. She had been thrown into the darkness, imprisoned and alone. She was afraid of the monsters that lay in the shadows; there was no knight in shining armour. As she had screamed for help, Ivy stabbed her father to death. The police rescued her though, which she was forever grateful at the time. She still had no idea why Ivy slaughtered her father. Any loving thoughts of her mother she had washed away, turning into ones full of hate. Jaiden didn't dare go near her mother's prison for she was too mortified. To this day, Jaiden had fears of being alone and the dark. As long as she had someone to protect her from the demons and guide her into the light, everything would be fine.

Ben removed his grasp on her hand, stuffing them in his pocket. Inside, Jaiden immediately missed the feel of his hand in hers. "I'm not angry," Ben stated his eyes downcast, she suppressed the urge to roll her eyes.

"It's just that, I-I don't get why you let them do that to you. The things they say are terrible, Jay. What they said about you dying? Tha-that's so fucking horrible." His gazed at her again, his expression void of anger, instead it was full of sympathy and sorrow. Jaiden shrugged, as if it were no big deal.

"You get used it, besides it just matter anymore. I'm leaving and I won't have to ever see them again." Ben sighed, knowing that was true.

"Thanks Ben."

"For what?" He frowned.

"For being my guy," She mock punched him on the arm. A rose tint appeared on his cheek, but he grinned boyishly.

"That's what I'm here for."

So that was the introduction of my OC; Jaiden Matthews and her life. Don't worry the Apocalypse will start shortly.