When Ashley woke up the next morning she felt incredibly stiff. She rolled over and looked at her alarm clock. It read 12:23 PM. She had slept through the entire morning. She remembered her plans with Seth and sat up quickly. She started running her hands all around her bed, searching for her phone.

When she found it under her pillow she quickly texted Seth apologizing for waking up so late.

Don't worry about it ash, I just woke up too

That made Ashley feel a little bit better.

What time do you want to hang out today? Seth texted her

I don't know, how about 1:30? I still have to shower and get ready.

And that's going to take you an hour?

That's if I rush, we girls take pride in our appearance and that means taking the time to do it

But youre just as beautiful in sweats without makeup as you are all done up

Ashley blushed and smiled and her phone. She got butterflies in her stomach.

Yeah right

She sent another text.

I'm still getting ready. Come over around 1:30?

Ok ash, whatever you say. I will see you later :)

Ashley's stomach growled so she walked downstairs to get some food. When she walked into the kitchen, she noticed a piece of paper on the fridge. She walked closer to examine it. It read:

Ashley,

Went to Sue's for the morning. I was going to invite you to come but you were fast asleep. Sue said you can come over if you want when you wake up. Call me if you need me.

Love, Mom

P.S. I am working this afternoon. 12:00-7:00.

Ashley put the note down on the counter and took a plate out of the cupboard. She put some bread in the toaster and ran upstairs to pick out some clothes while her bread was toasting.

She decided on yoga pants, a tank top, and a sweater. Nothing special, but still nice enough. Ashley put the clothes on the bathroom counter and ran back downstairs to get her toast.

After she ate, showered, and dressed, Ashley did her hair and makeup. She just blow-dried it straight and put on her usual make up. When she was satisfied with the way she looked she took out her phone to check the time. It was only 1:15.

Ashley remembered something she used to love doing when she was home alone. She grabbed her earphones and plugged them into her phone. She turned the volume up and danced around the house.

While listening to Skyscraper by Demi Lovato, Ashley was spinning around in a circle, her socks helping her spin on the hardwood floors. When she tried stopping the spin, her sock slipped on the floor and she stumbled. Two arms caught her before she hit the floor.

Ashley started freaking out. She ripped the earphones out of her ears and turned around quickly to see who the intruder was. Standing in front of her was Seth, a huge grin on his face.

"Oh my God, what are you doing?" Ashley gasped and held her chest. "More importantly, how did you get in? And how long have you been standing there?"

"Your mom was at my house, she gave me the spare key and told me to get you out of the house. I tried ringing the doorbell but you didn't answer, so I let myself in. Didn't you hear it? Or Rosie barking?"

"No, I guess not. My music was too loud. Sorry about that. I totally lost track of time." Ashley looked down and blushed, thinking about how stupid she must have looked. "You still didn't answer my question, how long were you standing there?"

"Don't worry, not long. Just long enough to walk through the door and see you spinning and falling."

Ashley blushed again.

"Well, thank you. Hold on a sec, I just have to grab my sweater from my room."

Ashley ran upstairs, pulling the earphones out of her phone in the process. She shoved the phone into her pants pocket and threw the earphones on the bed. She grabbed her sweater from beside the discarded earphones, and dashed to the bathroom, closing her bedroom door behind her. She checked her hair in the mirror and shut off all the lights.

When Ashley got down the stairs, she found Seth crouched down, petting Rosie. Rosie's tail was wagging like crazy, a sign that she liked him.

"I see you have made a new friend."

"Yeah, I have always wanted a dog, but for some reason my dad would never let me get one. I tried so hard to convince him to change his mind, but every time I did he would say something like 'You will understand when you are older.' I still don't understand what the big deal over owning a dog is. One like Rosie is perfect for me. Affectionate, loyal, protective, tame, and sporty."

"Sounds like you," Ashley teased him, but it was kind of true.

"Woof." Seth smiled and stood up.

"Come on lets go, we can take Rosie for a walk later. Right now I want to go to the beach before it starts raining."

Ashley and Seth slipped on their shoes, and coats. Seth handed Ashley the spare key and she hung it up on the key ring before taking her own key and locking the door behind them.

Seth seemed to be bouncing with excitement, more than usual.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" he asked.

"I don't know, you just seem," Ashley paused, looking for the right word, "different today."

"I think your imagining things." Seth smiled down at her.

They walked a few feet in silence before Seth began talking again.

"So are you going to tell me the story?"

"What story?"

"The one of how you and Elliot met. You promised you would tell me. Remember?" Seth raised an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah, okay. I don't see why you want to hear it so badly, it's not very exciting, but I will tell you anyways.

"Elliot and I met on the first day of kindergarten. I remember my dad was dropping me off and I didn't want him to go. I put up quite the fuss. In the end, he had to peel me off of his leg, which I tried holding on to. He picked me up, kissed my forehead and told me he would be back to pick me up later.

"I remember crying to when he left. I hated being left alone, I still do. I would much rather sit with someone and do two totally unrelated things, not talking to each other, than do something by myself.

"But anyways, when he finally left, I was upset and crying and this little boy came up and hugged me and said 'Don't worry, I cried when my mommy left too, but it's fun here. Come on.'

"After that we were inseparable. We always sat together, got ready together, walked together, and ate lunch together. He was my best friend, and things stayed pretty much the same until eighth grade."

Ashley looked up at Seth. He looked very absorbed in something and was looking down at her.

"Well?" he urged.

"Well what?"

"What happened in eighth grade?"

"I don't believe that was part of the original deal." She smiled. They were at the beach at this point. Ashley sat down on a branch that was sticking out of a tree. Seth sat down beside her.

"Well I still want to know! You can't end a story like that!"

Ashley laughed at how interested he was.

"Fine. Around eighth grade, people started picking on me for spending all my time with Elliot. He was my only friend, and people were teasing me about liking him. No matter how many times I told people he was like a brother to me, the other kids wouldn't drop it. But, things were worse for Elliot.

"People started realizing he was different from the other boys. When they would play sports, he would stay by the sideline, watching them. When they talked about girls, he talked with the girls. Eventually people started spreading rumors that he was gay. Things got bad for both of us.

"He tried to prove himself to both the boys at school, and his dad. His dad was the type to want a son to toss the ball around with, and Elliot wasn't that type. He tried to be to impress his dad, but it made him depressed. He also tried to prove himself to the boys at school by being rude to me, and making fun of the girls.

"He became the worst bully I have yet to seen, and I was his favourite target. If I passed him and his 'friends' in the hall he would shove me into the wall, or knock my books out of my hands. He called my names and would start rumors about me. His group would also convince everyone else to team up with them in the mission to make my life a living Hell.

"Since most of my peers were now bullying me as well, I had no one to help me. Daphne tried the best she could, but she was in high school by then and could only really help from home. Besides, she was never one to talk about feelings or problems, and I didn't want to get my mom involved because I knew there wasn't much she could do. My father also passed away that year, and she was a mess because of it. She could hardly handle her own problems, never mind mine.

"I spent a lot of that year alone, and I am not proud of it, but I considered suicide and self-mutilation multiple times during that year." Ashley felt Seth's arms around her in a moment. He turned took her chin and forced her to look at him. She looked up with tears in her eyes and saw staring down at her hard with a mixture of hurt and anger.

"I could never bring myself to do it, though obviously, considering I'm still here. I just suffered through it, hoping that life would get better."

She couldn't stand to look him in the eyes any longer, his look was too emotional. He was sad, hurt, relieved, angry , and a few more emotions Ashley couldn't pick out. She looked back down at her lap and leaned into him. Seth moved closer to her, tightened his arms around her and buried his face in her hair. Ashley took a deep breath and swallowed down tears, gaining control over her emotions. When she was in control of herself, she continued the story.

"The summer between grade eight and nine finally came and I was glad to get out of there. Although it wasn't the last I saw of those kids.

"Elliot came to my house one day and apologized. He admitted to me that he was in fact gay and was just scared of the other kids. I promised to keep his secret and help him through it, if he promised to never do anything like that to me again. Eventually, through having me as a confident and having him as the only person I talked to, we because friends again."

Ashley paused for a second when she felt the weight removed from her head.

"Why though?" Seth lifted his head and asked, confused.

"Why what? Why would I forgive him?"

"Yeah, I mean, I am all for forgiveness and second chances, but he was horrible to you. Why did you feel the need to be the one he could confide in? Why not make him find someone else? Why trust him again so easily?"

Ashley sighed. "I don't know. I never really thought about it, it just seemed like the right thing to do. He was on my porch, begging for forgiveness, and breaking down in front of me. I couldn't turn him away.

"I guess the main reason I did it was because I knew what it was like to be alone, to have no one to turn to, and I couldn't, or wouldn't, let any feel that way, no matter who they were. Nobody deserves that feeling and I was, and still am, willing to do anything in my power to prevent someone from ever feeling that way.

"After that, both of us learned to just ignore anyone who tried to come between us, and we learned to get back that friendship we had. I don't think it was ever the same. We were no longer bound by innocence, and childhood, but more a need for each other. I needed a friend and he needed someone he could trust, someone he knew wouldn't judge him ever.

"Things have not been perfect since then though. About six months after he came out to me, Elliot finally gained the courage to come out to his family, and when he did, his father didn't except him at all.

"His father kicked him out, so he came to live with me and my mom for a while. He only moved back in with his mother, Anne, two months before I moved here. Anne had left Elliot's father, unhappy with the way he treated her son, and took Elliot back in.

"Anne was always somewhat of a submissive wife. Before that, she had never stood up to her husband. I guess him kicking Elliot out was the last straw and she finally left him.

"That was when the plans to move were put into place. Elliot had since then met another boy named Spencer. Spencer was like a mentor to Elliot and the two of them ended up dating. If it wasn't for Spencer, I don't know what Elliot would have done when I left. He had never had anyone else. I hated leaving for that reason."

Neither of them spoke for a second, they just sat there, absorbing the renewed information. The only sounds were their breathing and the waves. After a little while, Seth pulled Ashley closer to him and broke the silence.

"You are amazing." Seth said.

Ashley rolled her eyes at him. "I'm really not that amazing though. I have way more bad qualities."

"You are though. You're strong, and forgiving, and caring. You don't see yourself the way I do. I thank God that you are still here and you're here with me because I promise you I will never hurt you the way he did. You are amazing, and you make me want to be a better person."

Ashley smiled and shook her head. "You already are."

Ashley looked up into Seth's eyes. It felt like something in the world shifted, like she never wanted this moment to end. She didn't care that it might mess up their friendship, she didn't care what anyone thought, all she wanted in that moment was to kiss him, and have him hold her and never let go. She leaned up, and Seth brought his face down towards her. Just as their lips were about to touch, it started pouring.

Ashley squealed and the two of them jumped apart. The rain shocked her out of whatever trance she was in. Ashley started laughing and jumped down from the tree branch, running for cover from downpour. Seth jumped down as well and followed quickly behind her. When he caught up to her he wrapped his hand around her wrist, stopping her.

She turned around and he was right in front of her. They took each other's hands and held them at their sides so their bodies were pressed up against each other. They looked into each other's eyes for a minute before Ashley went up on her toes at the same time Seth leaned down. Their lips touched, cautious at first, but then they both made up their minds.

Their kiss became deeper and more passionate. Ashley wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer, and he did the same to her waist. They fit perfectly together and that moment was pure bliss. All she could smell was him, all she could feel was him, all she could taste was him, all she could hear was the rain around them. It was a perfect first kiss.

When they pulled away, breathless, Seth leaned his forehead down to touch her's, looking into her eyes.

"I have wanted to do that since the moment we bumped into each other on your first day."

Ashley was thinking the exact same thing and smiled. "Me too."

The couple walked back to her house, holding hands, both overwhelmed with happiness. The rained had finally stopped but the roads were sleek, Ashley was worried about slipping, but Seth assured her that he would catch her if something like that happened.

When they got to her porch, Ashley was hesitant to let go. She hugged Seth tightly around the waist, trying to pull herself as close to him as she could. She breathed in his scent which calmed her, something she never noticed before.

"Do you really have to go?"

He leaned down and kissed her wet hair.

"Yes, I'm sorry. I really don't want to, but my mom was very strict about being home by five. She wouldn't tell me why though."

"Oh, ok." Ashley sighed.

"How about we do something later tonight? Say, 7:00-ish? I will call you, I promise."

"Ok, I will see you later." Ashley kissed him quickly before going into her house. She knew if she hesitated, she would never leave. She watched Seth walk down the street.

Ashley sighed and kicked off her soaking shoes, wondering if this day could get any better. She peeled off her sweater and brought it down to the laundry room. She changed out of her wet clothes, into some fresh clothes from the dryer. She threw her wet clothes into the washing machine and went back upstairs.

Ashley got into her living room, and screamed.

A/N: Thank you all for reading and I hope you are liking it. Thank you especially to kstarorange, Jule, and iluvpyros for reviewing. As for the rest of you, who I know are reading this, please review. They help inspire me. Even if it is just constructive criticism or a few words, they still mean the world to me so please review. :)