Corey tried to talk her into therapy, the best he could get out of her was a compromise, that she would stay with him for the entirety of the summer, in hopes that within the weeks they had he could somehow open her eyes to the world and save her from herself. Laney already knew that he could tell that this was a life or death situation, not his life but hers, she couldn't go on another year, not with her mind speaking against her, the one person who should always be on her side, giving her the worst advice of all. So she pulled her shorts up her ever thinning legs, tucking in the oversized shirt, and pushing her arms through the sleeves of her jacket, making sure to keep her scarred skin out of sight, nobody could see the beauty in it that she did, the story they told, so she kept them to herself.

She walked out of Corey's room, her bare feet skipping down the steps quickly, before bursting through the garage door to meet the rest of the band mates. They held practice almost everyday, but today it wasn't going to be just a meeting, they had their first summer gig, the water resort just outside of Peaceville wanted them to hold a performance there, and in doing so, they received free admission to the park for the day. With her bag slung over her shoulder she handed sunscreen to the boys and slipped on her sunglasses.

"Ready?" She asked, eager to finish the day as soon as possible. After a few comments from the band she stepped into the drivers side, and sped down the road.

.oO0Oo.

Their performance was easy and painless, the crowd cheered and Corey thanked them. Before she could do anything she was following the boys around the park, discussing what would be done first. In all her honesty she couldn't care less, the sooner they were done the better, nothing sounded appealing to her, but she had agreed to go with Corey, despite having the opportunity to bale out. Taking the sunglasses out from her bag she covered her eyes, pulling down on the large hat that shaded her from the sun.

"Laney you look hot..." Hearing her name snapped her out of her daze, bringing herself back to reality.

"Excuse me?"`

"Your jacket... You're going to be dehydrated soon, go change into your bathing suit, everyone else is." Kin spoke directly to her before pointing to the changing stalls to their right. Corey eyed her, gauging her reaction.

She stood motionless for a second, before speaking softly, "okay." She turned towards the stalls, pushing her fading red hair from her face and letting it hit the middle of her back as she closed the stall door behind her and pulled out the clothes. Taking a deep breath she slipped out of her shorts, took off her jacket and removed the oversized shirt, lastly taking off her underwear and stepping into the bottoms of her bathing suit and strapping on the top before glancing into the mirror.

The bottom was high waisted, covering most of her flat stomach in a light aztec print, only leaving the skin over her ribs exposed before the black top covered her breasts, her arms were left unarmored, her scars varying in colors, from a light pink to a dark purple contrasting with her pale skin. Her legs were harder to hide, the scars were jagged, deeper, and less obvious, covering her inner thighs and scattering into the front in a few places, most of them rough and dark.

Laney put her hat back onto her head, her glasses back on to cover her face and tucked her clothes away, hiding them in the bottom of her bag as her nerves ate out her stomach. Pushing her hair over her shoulders the light orange and dark reds covered some of her. Taking a breath she unlocked the door, slinging her bag over her arm and walking towards the rest of her band, who were still arguing over where to go first, silently she returned, hoping that they wouldn't notice her, that she had somehow become invisible.

"Don't you feel better now Lanes..." Kin's voice trailed off as he looked over her, his voice slowing. "Lanes... Are you-"

"So what are we going to do first?" She interrupted him, a smile glued to her face. Her glasses covering the eyes that betrayed her.

"We're going to split up, those two are running off to go on a few slides, I thought you and I could go swim. Sounds good?" Corey answered, looking straight into her eyes, knowing what was behind the glasses, she nodded as he took her hand, waving goodbye to the other members of the band and leading her through the park, his hand grasping hers tightly.

.oO0Oo.

"Core, where are we going?" She asked, watching as the crowds thinned, moving in the opposite direction as them. She tried not to notice the eyes that were plastered to her.

"There's this spot, I used to hide in when I was a kid, my parents wouldn't be able to find me, I would just sit alone and relax. I thought we would go there." He didn't look at her, instead walking faster, holding aside the broken fence so she could sneak through in front of him.

In a matter of minutes they arrived at a small sandy beach, he led her to the middle of it, lying down a blanket and gesturing for her to sit. Reaching into his bag he pulled out a bottle and handed it to her before taking one out for himself, followed by sandwiches, chips, fruit, and sweets.

"You planned this." She said after a moment, putting the bottle up to her mouth and taking a long drink, before glancing at him, only to have her eyes captured by his.

Corey shrugged, "I had a feeling something like this would happen, thought you might want to be alone." He looked back towards the water, leaning back on his forearms and taking a bite of an apple. "It was a good excuse to spend some time with you as well, have some fun without the twins, not that they aren't fun but, it's nice to just spend time with you."

Laney rolled her eyes, "I'm staying with you all summer, we get plenty of alone time Core, what's this really about?"

Sighing he put down his food and stood up, brushing off his trunks and turning to Laney, before she could ask he had her in his arms and was walking towards the water. "Hey! Core, put me down!" He only chuckled and held onto her tighter before diving into the cool water still holding onto her.