The three Gilbert siblings sat on the couch in the living room, Elena on one end, Jeremy in the middle, and Aubrey on Jeremy's other side.

Bree was nervous because this usually only happened when she was about to get in trouble over something that Elena lied to their parents about. But she didn't let it show, she stayed blank-faced eyes trained on Grayson.

"Mom, Dad, what is going on?" Came the whiny voice of 14-year-old Elena Gilbert.

The two smiled warmly at the eldest of the three, "Well Elena sweetheart, your mother and I wanted to tell you kids that we are going on vacation for summer break, we are going to the outer banks."

Elena and Jeremy cheered, they rarely went far for summer break, so this was exciting for them, Bree was also excited but didn't let it show for fear of punishment.

Which has happened before.

After that, they were told to go and pack because they would be leaving two days later. All three siblings made their way upstairs, and only when Bree was in the privacy of her small room did she let her blank mask fall, and she quietly cheered about being included in the family vacation for once.

On most family trips Bree was left out and made to stay with either her Aunt Jenna or Uncle John, they both must have been busy for Grayson and Miranda to include her in the trip since they didn't have anyone else to drop her on for the duration of the trip.

But unlike her siblings, Bree is actually close with their uncle John. There were times that the youngest Gilbert brother questioned if he made the right choice leaving Bree with his brother seeing as she was so much like him, the family outcast, but then it was like he would forget all about until the next time she was dropped off with him, and it would occur to him again only to forget all about it again shortly after that.

Bree began packing for the trip, she didn't know what to expect, but she had a good feeling about this vacation.

。*。 。 。*。 。

The two days passed rather quickly.

And the family of five was on their way to the Outer Banks, Aubrey slept most of the trip not wanting to deal with her annoying twin knowing that if she even so much as rolled her eyes at Elena that the brunette would snitch to their parents and Aubrey would get in trouble, so her solution was sleeping the majority of the trip.

She couldn't get in trouble if she was asleep and her parents could see that she was sleeping.

Bree was woken up when Jeremy nudged her as they passed the Welcome to The Outer Banks sign, the black-haired girl's eyes lit up as she stared out the window, watching the scenery pass by on the way to their rental house for the next two months. However, she didn't let her parents see the excitement in her eyes, which was why she kept them glued to the scenery out the window.

So the car came to a stop outside a fairly decent-sized house, it wasn't a mansion, but it wasn't small either, it was smack in the middle of the two sections of the Outer Banks on one side was the rich neighborhoods and things and then on the other was the poorer side, or I should say the working class. Soon they were all in the house and Jeremy and Elena ran up the stairs to claim the room they were going to sleep in while Bree walked, not wanting to draw attention from her so-called parents, which meant that she was last up there and waited to see which room her siblings had chosen before picking the room that had an adjoining bathroom with Jeremy's room which was just like back at home while Elena had her own bathroom, also just like at home. Leaving the master bedroom for the Gilbert parents.

Aubrey closed the door and unpacked the little belongings that she had brought with her and rolled her eyes, as she let out a quiet sigh. She dropped on the bed and stared up at the ceiling for a little while, she ended up taking a small 45-minute nap and then she woke up and wandered out of her room and around the house a little, that was when she noticed how quiet it was, she looked out the window and noticed the car was gone meaning that she had been left at the house alone.

Bree scoffed, at that though she was used to things like that happening, Jeremy had always questioned why Aubrey was never included in things like that, but his questions were always brushed off and ignored which made him frown, and then he always brought something back for Bree which was something she always appreciated.

She grabbed one of the keys off the counter and ran upstairs and changed clothes and stuck the key into the pocket of her backpack. She made sure everything was locked up, then slung her backpack up on her back, and wandered down the beach.

She ended up in a secluded spot that didn't have many people around and pulled a towel out of her backpack and laid it on the sand sitting down and pulling her knees up to her chest. Staring out at the ocean as thoughts swirled through her head and she tried her best not to let it bother her because she was so used to this but still it hurt that the two people who are supposed to love her more than anything are the ones that treat her the worst.

Bree was unaware of the tears falling down her face. Until she was broken out of her thoughts by the voice of a boy, "are you okay?"

The black-haired girl looked at him and noticed that he looked about the same age as she was but what she noticed more was how he was sporting a busted lip and the makings of a black eye. "Maybe I should be asking you that question?"

"Well, you were the one crying." At that Bree wiped her tears with the back of her hand and chuckled.

"Would you look at that… didn't realize that I was crying… You're the one that looks like someone beat the crap out of you."

He gave her a boyish grin, knowing that they would get along very well. "I'm JJ."

Aubrey smiled back at him, "Aubrey, but you can call me Bree if you want." The blonde boy dropped down to sit beside the girl.

"Can I call you Rey?"

"Sure no one has ever called me that before."

He winked at her, "I figured which is why I asked if I could call you that."

Aubrey laughed, and she may or may not have blushed the slightest bit at him winking at her. "What happened to your face? If you don't mind me asking if you don't want to talk about it you don't have to answer that I was just curious is all."

JJ sighed, looking straight ahead for a moment thinking about what happened before he stormed out of his house… he had gotten into a fight with his dad and didn't want to burden his friends at the moment or let them see just how bad it was. This is why he had set out running up the beach; this was usually his spot where he came to think or just get away and be alone.

He turned back to Rey, "Tell you what… tell me why you were crying out here on the beach when it's supposed to be a happy place, and I'll tell you what happened."

Aubrey thought about it and decided that it was only fair since she was asking a boy she had just met such a personal question. And he didn't look like the type that would go blabbing about whatever she told him. "Okay… deal."

The dark-haired teenager sighed looking out at the ocean again as she started to talk, "Well honestly didn't even realize I was crying you know, but I was just lost in my thoughts, my family is here on vacation, we got to our rental house and I decided to take just a small little nap, I like naps sue me, and when I got up I went downstairs, and it was very quiet practically too quiet you know? So I looked out the window and the car was gone, meaning that my parents took my siblings somewhere to explore and left me alone in the house… I decided to explore on my own, which is how I ended up here, It really shouldn't bother me as much as it did, I mean I'm used to that they rarely take me anywhere with them when they do stuff with my siblings…" Aubrey rolled her eyes, "my sister when we were younger lied to them and told them that I would hurt her when we were alone, and then she would somehow end up with bruises as her 'proof' ever since then I get treated like crap by almost everyone, except for three people, my little brother, my aunt Jenna and my uncle John. It just sucks, you know? Like the two people who are supposed to love me the most are my parents, and they treat me the worst. And my sister will take any chance she can to get me in trouble, even if she has to lie about something to them, and it's not fair… but yeah that is what I was thinking about and subconsciously started crying."

The blonde teenage boy looked at her, a little surprised, not expecting that to be what she said, "Wow…" that was when he realized that she was a lot like him. "Well, a deal is a deal you told me so here goes… I got into a fight with my dad, it's a normal occurrence, he takes his anger out on me, but normally it's not to the face, so people don't ask questions, but apparently, this time whatever he was upset about pissed him off a little too much because this was the result. He's always looked at me with this look that says he knows something that I don't and then usually it's followed by him getting pissed off and me taking the brunt of his anger. And my friends well they know that it's not the best situation but like I don't want to burden them, so I always downplay things, so they don't know how bad it can get."

After he had finished talking, Aubrey sighed looking at the boy, "Well it looks like we're not so different then…" so the two sat there on the beach for hours just talking and learning more about the other, and they hit it off rather quickly.

It was nearing dark when Aubrey finally made it back to their rental house and just her luck her parents and siblings weren't back yet, she unlocked the back door and made her way up to her room, but she couldn't wipe the smile from her face. She took a shower and put her pajamas on and went down to the kitchen, knowing that her parents would have had it stocked before their arrival, and looked through the cabinets for something to eat.

She had just finished cleaning up after her little meal when she heard the car pull into the driveway and Aubrey headed back upstairs before they made it into the house, and closed her bedroom door, she was sitting on the bed and thought back to what had happened earlier, and a smile made its way back onto her face, her and JJ and made plans to meet up at the same spot on the beach the next day, and he was going to introduce her to his best friends.

***
All right here is chapter one I am so excited about this book XD Anyway hope you guys enjoy the chapter and chapter two will also be a flashback chapter to Aubrey meeting the rest of the Pogues.