I write best at night. Did you know that?

I've been writing too much slash lately…here'sa het for you. (:

My little brother: -peers over at computer screen-

Me: It's not slash this time

My little brother: Why, is it het?

Me: Yeah.

My little brother: Ewwww.

And that's why I love him. :D

I like leaving things unrevised, so if someone wants to plagiarize it, they get the crappy copy. :3

Kristen and Oliver: both the same characters from my Stepfriends, if you've read that. But it's okay if you haven't. They were only side characters in that…they make their starring role in this :D

This wasn't written from personal experience, by the way. It was something I pulled out of my ass. Which, speaking of…

--

"Spike it over, Caitlin!" called my friend Hazel. "Spike it over!"

Laughing, I hit my palm on the volleyball, sending it flying over the net and beyond her reach.

She groaned. "Now I can't get it!"

"That's what you get for telling me to spike it over!" I said, doing a little happy dance and sticking my tongue out at her. "You know you're not good at volleyball, anyways."

"Hey!" she said, seeming slightly offended but in a teasing standoffish way. I grinned and shrugged.

"Well you know it's true," I pointed out, crossing over to her side under the net and helping her get the ball. The sand was warm beneath my toes; it always felt good to be on a California beach in the hot summer. Volleyball, swimming, the ocean…it was all so fun, felt like I didn't have a care in the world. All the best times were during the summer. All the other seasons were like, ugh. Gross.

"Well yeah, but you could have at least went easy on me and, well, you know, spiked it over a little bit gentler?" she asked, looking at me with puppy dog eyes. I rolled my own as I bent down to pick up the ball.

"And who was the one who asked me not to easy on her, to play against her as hard as I could, and asked me to spike the ball over the net?" I pointed out. "It's not called 'spiking' for nothing, you know."

"Yeah, but…" Hazel didn't seem to have a comeback to this. I smirked.

"See? So do you want me to go easy on you or not?" I asked, handing the ball to her for her to serve. She thought for a moment, before reluctantly responding,

"Easy."

We played volleyball for a while longer, hitting the ball back and forth, before Hazel decided that she was hungry about a half an hour later. After I set the ball over to her side, she carelessly said, without even glancing at the ball that had bounced to her side, "I'm gonna go get something to eat," and stalked away across the sandy beach.

"But we didn't finish our game of volleyball!" I protested, running over to the other side of the net again and getting the ball after she had so keenly abandoned it. Hazel rolled her eyes, turning to face me, a good distance away.

"So? I'm hungry," she stated, heading towards the boardwalk.

"You're just jealous that I'm better at volleyball than you," I said, catching up and following her.

"You wish," she replied.

"Well, aren't I?" I said, raising my eyebrows at her. "You know I'm better at volleyball than you."

"Yeah, but that's because you're on the volleyball team," she said. "And I am not jealous of you. You're just better than me at it, and now I'm gonna go get something to eat, unless you really want to make me starve to death."

"What are best friends for?" I said, cocking my head to the side and smiling at her, which caused her to roll her eyes again.

"Okay, stay here. I'll be back; gonna go get a sub," she said, before running up the boardwalk to the Snack & Shack.

I sighed and walked back over towards ocean, bouncing the ball between my knees. There was nothing better than playing on the beach on a nice, ninety-degree summer day. I made my way over back to where Hazel and I had been staying, and put my ball on my pink and white striped towel, before running into the ocean to feel the waters against my feet. I stood there for a brief second , feeling myself sink into the wet sand, before cruising my way farther into the waters. Kids and adults alike were running around me, with their friends, teasing and playing with each other.

It was nice just to get away from my already hectic life in Texas, up here in the west where the sun shined more during the day (considering it was like, what, two hours later?). Back home, I had to deal with ex-boyfriends, family matters like my parents divorcing, my older brother straying away, and all of the stupid friend drama that most, maybe even all teenagers had to go through. With my best friend Hazel, and I, at her beach house in California, getting away from my life. Besides, who knew what could happen at a whole different setting?

I sat down in the shallow water, and ran my hand along the wet sand, allowing the ocean water to flow between my fingertips. As I waited for Hazel to get her food, I sat there, observing the stretch of the ocean, and the happiness that I was surrounded by with everyone else on the beach, enjoying the last few weeks of summer. It was good to finally appreciate life, instead of questioning why my life was so…well, hard, really. Summer wasn't just a break from school, it was a break from stress, a break from the rest of the year. For me, I didn't want really anything from the summer. All I wanted was happiness, relief, freedom, all the stuff I couldn't feel during the ten months where I felt like my life was falling apart. And I really shouldn't be thinking about this, because then it's going to get me depressed again. I shook the thought out of my mind, wrapping my legs around my arms and sighing, looking towards the lone sun shimmering above me in the sky.

All of a sudden, the presence of a male suddenly snapped me out of my thoughts. I didn't have the chance to think because all I heard was:

"Hey there, baby."

And then I felt a pair of lips capturing my own, sweet and hard. I was stunned, not quite sure why a complete stranger was kissing me, making me think—

WAIT. WHAT THE HELL. WHAT IS GOING ON.

WHAT.

THE.

HELL.

However, the kiss only lasted for a few brief seconds, as well as my confusion, before this mystery male person broke the kiss. He looked at my face after kissing me, and the expression of happiness that was formed on his own was then twisted into one of shock and horror.

"OH SHIT."

"Uh…yeah…" I shifted my foot against the sand. It was hard for me to get the thoughts of how he was a good kisser out of my head, because number one, this complete stranger was the one who kissed me, and two, the look on his face made me think that he just saw a monster. If that monster wasn't me.

"Oh my God. I'm so sorry," he said, putting his hands out in defense and looking around. "Oh my god. I thought you were my girlfriend. I'm so sorry! If your boyfriend, you know, were to pop out of nowhere and beat me up, do you think you could explain the story to him? Oh my God, I'm so sorry!"

"No, no, no, it's okay," I said quickly, blushing a bit. "And you don't have to worry, I don't have a boyfriend."

"Oh. Well, you seem like you would," he said, tilting his head to the side (and I wasn't sure to take this as a compliment or an insult, so I just gave him a small smile and nodded a bit). "But anyways. I'm so sorry! You look exactly like my girlfriend from behind. I mean, I didn't realize that you—"

"Weren't? It's all right," I said, still smiling. "It's good that your girlfriend has such a sweet, apologetic and cute boyfriend. Is that her over there?" I pointed a little ways along down the beach, where a girl with the same shade of chestnut brown, wavy-styled and only slightly past-the-shoulders hair that was just like mine, was standing.

"Oh yeah. That's Kristen," he said, looking back and spotting her as well. Then he turned to look at me again. "Like I said, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to kiss you."

"Oh. Well…" I said, a bit offended at the comment. He made it sound like he wouldn't want to kiss me.

As if he were reading my mind, he quickly covered it up, saying, "Not like I wouldn't want to kiss you. I mean, you are really…I dunno…gorge—uh, pretty. It's a surprise you don't have a boyfriend. And again, I'm really sorry for kissing you…that was a big mistake, wasn't it?" He gave me a sheepish grin.

"No, it's okay," I said, pulling a smile back onto my face. "I mean, it's perfectly understandable…your girlfriend, Kristen and I have the same hairstyle…"

"Oh. Well still," he said, mirroring my smile. "You're as pretty as she is, too, if that makes you feel any better. I just couldn't tell that you weren't her from the back…"

"I know, I know," I said, with a little laugh, slightly surprised at this boy's insistence to apologize to me so much. "Hey, you should go on to her. And kiss her. I'm sure she appreciates having a boyfriend who can kiss so well."

"Ha…well, thanks," said the boy, and I could see a little bit of pink tinge in his cheeks.

"Well, I know from experience," I said, the grin still on my face. While acting like that was usually completely out of character from me, there was something about this kid that made me want to smile. Whether it was his bashfulness, his shyness, his mysteriousness or his good-kissing-ness, he happened to make me spontaneously happy.

"That, you do," he said, rolling his eyes but a playful sparkle in his eye. "But, before I go, can I catch your name?"

"Caitlin," I replied. I realized, from the corner of my eye, that the "Kristen" girl was now looking towards us, seemingly confused and curious. I shouldn't keep this guy waiting for too long. She seemed pretty impatient.

"Caitlin…that's a nice name," he said with a smile. "I'm Oliver."

"Nice to meet you." I stuck out my hand. He shook it, seemingly impressed that I would act this way with him. He also seemed slightly surprirsed, that I was being perfectly civil after he accidentally kissed me. Hey. It wasn't so bad. At least it wasn't my first kiss.

"Well, maybe I'll see you around?" he asked. "I don't really live around here, I'm on the other side at the east coast, but I'm staying for about a week or two."

"Hey! So am I," I grinned. "Well, actually, I'm down south. But I'm gonna be here for about a week too."

"Great! Where are you staying?" he asked, still keeping the conversation between us going. Kristen seemed to look restless, aggravated that Oliver wasn't going over to her. Still, I didn't know how to say this to him lightly, so I answered his question.

"My friend's beach house." I pointed up the boardwalk a few buildings back. "It's near the Holiday Inn."

"Oh! That's where I'm staying too!" he said happily. "Well maybe we will see each other later."

"Cool." I gave him a smile, so he knew that my words weren't as half-hearted as they sounded. Then, wanting to end our chat on Kristen's behalf, I said, "It was nice meeting you."

"You too," he said. He waved, heading towards his girlfriend now. "See you around!"

"Yeah." I waved good-bye to him, and turned around to face the ocean once more, only to see Hazel looking at me, her eyebrows raised.

"How long have you been standing there?" I asked her, wondering where she had come from, since Oliver hadn't pointed her out to me while we were talking. She gave me a mischievous look.

"Long enough. Who was that?" she asked. I giggled.

"Apparently not long enough," I pointed out. "That was Oliver."

"No, I mean who is he. To you," she added. "I saw you guys making out from the boardwalk. I didn't think it was you at first."

"Hey! We were not making out!" I said defensively, feeling a red blush appear on my face. She smirked.

"Yeah? Well you seemed pretty into that kiss," she said. "And he's cute. Who is he?"

"He has a girlfriend, Hazel," I said, rolling my eyes and looking off back into the ocean. "He just mistook me for his girlfriend, so that's why he kissed me. It's all cleared up."

"Oh really?" she said, still with a knowing smirk. "From what I could tell, you seemed pretty into him. And he seemed pretty into you, too."

"He has a girlfriend!" I insisted, the blush on my cheeks going away. "Just because we accidentally kissed doesn't mean anything!"

"Or it could mean everything," she pointed out. I whacked her on the arm to get her to stop talking.

"Shut up and eat your sandwich," I said, pointing to the food in her hands. She sighed, annoyed at my stubbornness, but proceeded to eat her food and didn't bother me about Oliver any more.

After she was done eating her sandwich, I realized it was just about lunch time and that I was hungry too. My mind went off Oliver, and I went to the Snack & Shack as well, getting a sandwich for myself. We ate, and then played more volleyball, before finally getting tired and decided to work on our tans. We laid in the sun for a bit, and then played in the ocean, splashing each other, and looking for seashells.

The day went by quickly, and the sun overhead us went from clear in the middle of the sky, to reflecting a golden glow along the beach as it started to sink into the ocean. Dinnertime soon rolled around, and Hazel and I went back up the boardwalk to her beach house and into the kitchen, where we saw her mother cooking us barbecued chicken out back.

"Hi girls," she said to us, glancing before returning to flip the chicken on the grill.

"Hey Mom," said Hazel while I said, "Hi Mrs. Dius."

"Mm, the food smells good," Hazel said, leaning over the grill to smell the chicken. Mrs. Dius whacked her on the head.

"No eating until all of it's done, and we're all at the table, okay Haze?" she said. Hazel rolled her eyes.

"Yes, mother."

"So anyways," said Hazel, turning to me with that mischievous smirk again. I rolled my own eyes.

"Oh no, you're not going to talk about Oliver again, are you?" I asked, sighing and sitting down on the picnic table in the backyard. Hazel smirked again, sitting down with me.

"Well, actually now that you mention him…" she said. "So, where's he staying?"

"The Holiday Inn, supposedly," I replied, putting my head in my arms and resting on the wooden table.

"The Holiday Inn? But isn't that right next door?" said Hazel's mom, looking over to our left behind some trees. Hazel squealed.

"Wow! That's so close!" she said, getting up from the bench. "We should go pay a visit some time!"

"No, we should not," I said, pulling her back down. "I barely know him, talked to him for only, about like what, ten minutes? And besides, it'd be totally awkward and embarrassing."

"No it wouldn't," grinned Hazel. "Not with me around."

"That's for sure," I mumbled into my arms.

Mrs. Dius was done with the chicken soon enough, and she set up dinner for us. We all hungrily dug into our dinner, and I think I might have eaten it a little too quickly. Within about five minutes of eating, I had probably finished about seven pieces of chicken which I had wolfed down, and felt a little bit sick. Here, I should probably mention that I don't exactly have the strongest stomach.

"Caitlin honey? Are you okay?" asked Mrs. Dius, starting on her third piece of chicken. I nodded, pressing my fingers to my lips a little bit, feeling like I might throw up.

"Yeah…yeah, I'm fine," I said hesitantly, sensing my stomach flipping and tumbling inside my body. "I think I might just wanna…go near the ocean for some fresh air."

"But we're outside. That doesn't make any sense," said Hazel, herself starting on her ninth piece of chicken. Unlike me, she doesn't have a weak stomach. I gave her a look.

"Yeah, but I like being closer to the ocean," I said. "It clears up my head, and, well, apparently my stomach too. I might make a stop to the bathroom as well," I added to Mrs. Dius, who seemed a bit worried.

"Are you sure about that, Caitlin?" she said. "Want me to come with you?"

"Nah, it's all right," I said, giving her a thankful smile.

I walked back into the house through the screen door, and stopped by the bathroom on my way out, debating whether or not I should use it. I decided against it, and then went outside to the boardwalk, attempting to relieve myself of the pain I had in my stomach. Serves me right. That's the last time I'm ever eating as fast as Caitlin again. I'm never entering a food eating contest, that's for sure…

To my surprise, I didn't seem to be the only one outside on the boardwalk. There, leaning against the railing, seemed like the profile of someone who looked strikingly familiar.

"Oliver?" I said, surprised I'd find him out here. He turned around, this time noticeably with a shirt (and if I didn't mention it before, he was pretty toned…even when he did have a shirt on), and I saw his eyes were red. However, at the sight of me, he seemed to smile.

"Oh, hey Caitlin," he said, brushing away the fact that he looked like he had just been crying. "What brings you out here."

"Weak stomach, but that's not the issue," I said worriedly, noticing the tear stains still on his cheeks. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"What? Oh, this." He quickly wiped some of the wetness on his face, and managed another smile as he faced me. "It's nothing."

"Don't lie to me, it certainly seems like nothing," I said, observing his face and wiping a spot that he had noticeably missed. "Why were you crying?"

"I'm not really crying, it's just…" Oliver sighed, then looked back out into the ocean wistfully. "Kristen broke up with me."

"What?!" I cried. "It's my fault, isn't it? Because you kissed me—"

"No." Oliver looked at me sharply, then back out into the ocean. "Well, yes, but it's not your fault. It's my fault for kissing you in the first place. But it's not just that. It's more like…our relationship has gone down the drain lately. We've been fighting, having arguments over the smallest things, disagreeing about things that should really matter, not seeing each other lately…this trip was supposed to make our relationship better, and instead it's been only making it worse. But…but when I kissed you, it kind of gave us both a sense of reality, and how we can't pretend that our relationship is already gone. There's no spark…there's just nothing in it now."

I didn't know what to say as I leaned my arms on the railing beside him. We were silent like that for a while, before I turned to him.

"You know, not all relationships are as perfect as you think," I said. "No matter how good you two seemed. And you two did seem like a great couple. How long have you been dating?"

"Since the ninth grade," he replied.

"And now…?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrow. He sighed.

"I'm a senior now," he said. Wow, only one year ahead of me. I didn't let my surprise show, as I replied,

"Well, see? You guys have been going out for the majority of high school…but nothing lasts. You can't be too upset about it."

"I'm not really that upset," he said, wiping invisible tears from his face with his arm, before looking back out into the ocean. "I dunno. She also seemed jealous that I was kissing you. I mean, she was the one who broke up with me…but I feel like I was the one who broke up with her. I don't really feel that sad about it."

"Is that a good sign or a bad sign?" I questioned.

"Both, I guess," he responded. "I feel sorry for our broken relationship…but I don't feel sorry for kissing you."

This surprised me. "You aren't? Is that just because it ended things between you two?"

"Well…that," said Oliver, blushing slightly. "But it also made me feel…different. In a good way. Like…I dunno. Like there was a little fire inside of me. It felt completely different than what I felt with Kristen."

"What did you feel with her?" I asked, not mentioning the fact that I happened to feel the same exact thing. He shrugged.

"I dunno. Nothing, I guess," he replied. "We had a lot of the same hobbies, same interests, same…well a lot of stuff. But I never felt that spark, you know? Or those fireworks that everyone talks about. We were always called a cute couple from the way we looked, from the way we agreed on a lot of things…but we didn't really feel like a couple. Just two…really good friends, aside from the kissing."

"Oh." I took my gaze off of him, and cast my eyes back to the ocean. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I felt that little 'fire', if that's what you called it, too."

"When we kissed?" asked Oliver, glancing at me.

"Well, not just when we kissed," I said. "Like…now."

He turned to look at me full in the face, and I turned to look at him back. There was like a little line of electricity between us, pulling us together, and before I knew it, my lips were on his again. This time, however, instead of that short, brief, meaningless kiss he had accidentally given me earlier, this one was sweet, slow and romantic. His lips moved along mine, in rhythm, making the little ember in my heart grow the longer we kissed. My hands remained on the wooden boardwalk railing, as did his, but our lips kept us connected. He tasted like cherry vanilla, warm against my face, putting his tongue in all the right places. This was nothing like anybody had ever kissed me before…but then again, this was nothing like I had ever felt before.

All of a sudden, I heard a voice say,

"Caitlin, are you—oh."

I turned around, to see Hazel standing there, grinning at me, and looking more mischievous than ever.

A blush formed up my cheeks, as she looked between the two of us inquisitively. Then she turned to Oliver and stuck out her hand, saying,

"So, you must be the famous Oliver."

"Uh, yeah," said Oliver hesitantly, taking her hand and seeming to not know how to react to this. Hazel's grin only grew wider, if possible.

"I'm Hazel, Caitlin's best friend," she introduced herself, which made me roll my eyes.

"Ha-zel…" I said in a warning voice. She laughed, looking at me.

"Okay, okay, fine, I'll leave you two alone," she said with a wink. "I'll just tell my mom that you're a little…busy."

"Shut up!" I said, the blush on my face increasing. She just smirked and went back inside her house, and when she had left, Oliver said with a grin,

"She doesn't hold anything back, does she?"

"Oh, you'll be surprised," I muttered to myself. "But anyways…that was pretty…"

"Intense?" Oliver suggested, and I laughed.

"Yes, intense. Very intense," I agreed. "You don't really kiss on the first dates, do you?"

"I'm more of a, 'kiss-before-identifying-who-the-girl-is-when-accidentally-taking-her-for-my-ex-girlfriend'," he replied, grinning. I rolled my own eyes but grinned as well.

"Well that's even better," I said. "So how about a first date?"

"How about we cut to the chase and get to the part where I ask you to be my girlfriend?" he smirked.

"But I barely know you!" I pointed out. "We only met today…and I live in Texas, and you live…where?"

"North Carolina, but that's not important," he said, shrugging. "Have you ever heard of a long-distance relationship last?"

"Of course not," I said hastily.

"Then let's break that tradition," he said, smiling. "With you…and I know how cheesy this will sound…but it's definitely different. It's more than just the butterflies and the fireworks and all that. It's just…different. Like, in a way where I know this will work, no matter how far we are. Or what other people say."

"It sounds like you just took the lines out of a bad romance novel," I said, rolling my eyes. "Besides, when the summer's over, what are we gonna do? Video chat, instant message, call, write letters—we'll never be able to actually see each other until we're in college. And even then—who knows?"

"Exactly. That's the point," said Oliver. "Who knows? Who knows, we might see each other on another vacation? We might run into each other somewhere else, someplace else—heck, we might even end up going to the same college. It's not really anything else that matters, Caitlin. It's us."

Yes. What he said was like in one of those unrealistic romance novels. And the fact that I wanted to just melt when he said that is even worse, it's even more like those unrealistic romance novels. But then I realized how true it was, and it was the inexplicable thing. How sometimes, the world is just how it is. And maybe it wasn't an accident when we ran into each other. And it wasn't an accident that he kissed me, sending the sparks that were just waiting to, well, you know, light the fireworks. And he was right. This was different. It was stronger than anything I had ever felt.

"So," I said, "even though you barely know me, are a complete grade above me, live nowhere near me, and just met me today while in the process kissing me and breaking up with your ex-girlfriend, you want to be in a relationship with me?"

"Exactly," he said with a smile that stretched for miles.

"Well fine," I said, inching closer to him and pecking him lightly on the lips. "As long as you don't mistake any other girl for me, and kiss her too."

"I can't make any promises," said Oliver, raising an eyebrow and smiling even wider, "but I doubt that's going to happen."

He took my hand from the boardwalk railing, and curled his fingers onto it, and I felt like that not just for a moment, but for the rest of eternity, he was never going to let go.

--

HITSUZEN!!

My brother also likes making orgasmic noises. O.o