We stood there for a moment, neither of us daring to move; both savoring the feeling of being so completely engrossed in another person. I felt her hands tighten around mine and she pulled me closer to her, sliding her arms around my back and burying her face into my shoulder. I wrapped my arms around her in the same fashion, and rested my chin on the top of her head. I could feel her sobbing into my chest, and I moved a hand up and placed it on the back of her head.

“Ash, baby. It’s okay. I’m not going anywhere. We’re going to figure this out, I promise. I promise.”

She looked up at me, and I was surprised by what I saw. I didn’t see sadness and I didn’t see pain. Through her falling tears, she had a smile on her face, and I looked so deep into her beautiful brown eyes.

“I know, Spence. I’m just so grateful for that. I don’t know what this is about,” she laughed at herself and pointed to the wet streaks running down her face. I couldn’t help but laugh a little too, and we turned to continue walking in our original direction.

Without realizing it, we had held onto each others hand, and slowly, I felt Ashley running her thumb along the lines of my hand as we strolled. We weren’t talking—we didn’t need to. After a while we came to a rocky part of the beach, and there were several really large rocks just on the edge of where the water reached to. We found two of the larger ones, and the came together almost like a chair, with a back. We sat down and collapsed into it, letting the water brush over our toes as it crashed into the rocks below.

After a while, I began laughing to myself. Ashley turned her head and looked at me, very confused.

“What’s so funny, crazy?”

“I just realized that I’m going to be SO BUSTED if I get caught skipping school with you.”

“And that’s funny?”

“Well… not exactly. But what’s funny is picturing the look on my mom’s face when I tell her I don’t care if I’m grounded; this is totally worth it.”