He was talking with his friends outside the beach house when some movement out on the beach caught his eye. Tearing his attention away from his friends, he looked out across the darkness but didn't see anything. Just as he was about to look away, though, he saw a figure down by the water, pacing back and forth. The person looked up and met his stare, stopping in their movements when they saw that he was looking, too. For a moment he wondered who it could be, but then a fleeting thought passed through his head and he glanced at his watch. It was still fairly early compared to the other nights, but there was no doubting in his mind that it was her out there on the beach. Thoughts of concern passed through his head, and he wondered if something was wrong. He wasn't sure why else she would come over to try to find him instead of waiting for him like she had the other night, but he didn't take the time to ask himself any more questions. He excused himself from his friends, who were as usual too pre-occupied to notice his absence anyway, and then started across the sand, heading towards the water where he saw her still standing, waiting for him. He watched her nearly the entire way, hoping to be able to read something from her actions, but was unable to. Her head was lowered and her arms were crossed over her chest as she kicked at the sand, waiting for him. Finally he arrived, stopping front of her with a pleasant smile on his face, hoping that his worried thoughts weren't about to be proven. "Hey," he said when he realized that she wouldn't speak first. "What're you doing out so early?" She finally lifted her head, an apologetic look on her face. "I wasn't sure if you'd come out tonight, so I thought I'd walk closer to your place and see if I could get your attention." He smiled, touched that she wanted to see him again, but also surprised that she would think he wouldn't want to see her. "Of course I'd come out," he replied. "I wouldn't have been able to stay away." A slightly embarrassed smile crossed her face, but he noticed that her smile wasn't genuine, and was even more convinced that something was bothering her. He felt strange, not knowing what to do. He'd only met her two days ago, so he didn't feel right asking what was wrong, but at the same time the connection they'd formed was strong, he could sense that much, and he knew that he'd regret not asking. “You’re here with friends?” she asked, looking at the group behind him. He nodded, glancing backwards at everyone talking and having a grand time together, then turned back to her and motioned for them to walk down the beach. They began walking in silence, both of them heading towards their original spot in a type of unspoken agreement. Once they arrived, they both took their spots in the sand, and finally he looked over at her with concern. "Are you okay?" he asked. She didn't respond to his question at all, simply keeping her eyes locked to the moon over the ocean. He sat where he was, not sure what to do, until she finally, slowly, looked over at him. "I don't want to leave," she admitted, her voice soft and shaky. He frowned, a feeling of sadness sweeping over him. He understood why she didn't want to leave, but didn't know how to communicate that to her. "Everything's going to go back," she told him. "The doctors and the treatments and listening to my mom cry herself to sleep every night. It's all going to start up again and I don't think I can handle it." "I'm sorry." He realized how stupid it sounded, but he honestly didn't know what else to say. She just nodded in reply, and they were both silent for a moment. The sound of the waves crashing against the beach, which was louder tonight than previously, kept it from being too uncomfortable. Suddenly he heard a sound, and when he looked over he saw her face contorted as tears ran down her face. She must have sensed that he looked over at her, because she lowered her face into her hands and began to sob. His arm was instantly around her back, and he slid himself closer, wanting to comfort her. "This is all so unfair," she sobbed, wiping at her eyes. "I don't know why my family's had to go through so much pain. We're good people, we don't deserve it." He just listened, consoling her the best he could with his actions since he was unable to come up with words that he felt adequately fit the situation. He realized, however, that she most likely just wanted someone to cry to; someone who wasn't linked to her family and who wouldn't have any guilt hanging over when she was done. He was glad that he'd been able to provide something to her, if only that. Everyone needed an outlet of some sort, so that they wouldn't have to keep all of their emotions locked inside. He'd done that on many occasions, keeping everything to himself, and he'd also learned first hand that it was an incredibly unhealthy way to deal with things. He just hoped that she would be all right, wanting desperately to be able to take all of her pain away but knowing full well that he couldn't. Finally her crying slowed, and he waited a moment for her to collect herself before he allowed himself to express his thoughts. "You seem like you've lost hope." She wiped her eyes with her fingertips. "Maybe I have." "Why?" he asked. She looked over at him. "Why wouldn't I have?" she asked. "It wouldn't do any good to hold onto something that wasn't even there." "There's always hope," he countered. She didn't say anything in reply, but the roll of her eyes told him that she didn't believe him. "Hey," he said softly, catching her attention. "You want to know a trick?" His question sounded so ridiculous that she couldn't help but lift her eyes and look at him, which made a small smile spread across his face, recreating that small feeling of hope she always got in the pit of her stomach when he smiled at her. "What's the trick," she finally asked, feeling stupid but unable to allow herself not to. He hesitated a moment before finally answering. "Every time you smile, it brings your hope back, little by little," he told her. "That's why I know you haven't lost hope, because you're still smiling." Without meaning to, she laughed at his answer, and a more sincere smile spread across his face as he watched her, amused. "What, you're laughing at me?" he asked. She looked up at him and managed to stop, their eyes locking at they both smiled at each other. "Are you happy with the way things are?" he asked, wanting to be serious again but allowing the friendly smile to remain on his face. "No," she answered, laughing a little at the absurdity of the question. "Then it seems like hope could do you a lot of good." She looked over at him, but he couldn't read the blank look on her face. "It's true, you know." She shook her head and looked down at the sand. "It'd be all for nothing," she told him. "No it wouldn't." She glanced up at him out of the corner of her eye, and the look she sent him told him that she obviously felt otherwise. He frowned. "Wouldn't you feel a lot better if your family was secure in knowing that you had come to terms with yourself and the situation you're in?" he asked. She looked at him for a moment, and he almost sensed anger in her eyes before she looked away. "You don't know what you're talking about," she told him. "You've never been in my situation before, so please, don't start lecturing me." "How do you know?" he challenged. "How do I know?" He nodded. "How do you know that I've never been in your situation?" She looked at him curiously now, searching his face to see if he was lying. Not a word was exchanged, and he finally decided enough time had passed. "I have a heart defect," he told her, softly. "I almost died when I was five years old, and just a few years ago I had to have open heart surgery or it could have killed me again." She still didn't say anything, but he let out the breath he'd been holding. It had been nearly five years since his surgery, but he still hadn't talked very freely about it, and finally realized how good it felt to get some of his buried feelings off of his chest. "I know it's not exactly what you're going through," he admitted. "It was still hard, though, knowing that something inside your body was causing so much trouble and that you have no control. And to see the pain that my family was in, especially when I was in the hospital getting ready to go into surgery..." He paused for a moment as he recalled the memories. "My family had a really hard time coming to terms with the fact that I could die, especially my mom," he told her. "She was torturing herself until she finally realized that once she accepted the fact that whatever God had planned for me was what was meant to be. Then she regained hope and it wasn't nearly as hard on her." He glanced over at her to see that she was listening intently, then took a deep breath and shook his head back and forth, staring down at the sand. It was still hard for him to talk about, but it was easier, for some reason, sharing it with her. Maybe because she was a stranger, or because he had a feeling that she really needed to know, or maybe it was because he knew that she understood. "I think that's the worst part," he continued, letting out a soft sigh. "Knowing that because of you, your family is hurting and your friends are hurting, and all of it makes the pain you're feeling yourself look so...trivial." "But it's not," she suddenly jumped in, taking him by surprise. He looked up and saw tears spilling down her face. There was a desperate look in her eyes, like she wanted so badly for someone to understand what was going on inside of her. Right now she wasn't the strong-willed person he'd met on the beach a few nights ago; inside she was hurting just like he'd been hurting when he'd gone through his surgery, and he suddenly wanted nothing more than to take her into his arms and hold her, keep her safe. "Seeing your family, what you’re putting them through…it hurts so bad it feels like it's killing you more than the disease is," she continued, trying to form her words between the sobs that continued to escape her lips. He stared at her for a moment, their eyes locked with a bond that neither of them expected to form with each other, until he finally relaxed and held his arms out to her. Without hesitating she collapsed into them, wrapping her arms around him just as he did the same around her, and buried her face into his chest as she let sob after sob rack her body. All he wanted to do was hold her forever; to take all of the pain she was feeling away. He'd learned long ago not to question why things happened to certain people, but it took all of his strength not to look up at the heavens right then and ask that very question. When she finally did pull away, she wiped at her eyes with an embarrassed smile on her face. "I'm sorry," she apologized, laughing a little with embarrassment. "I can't believe I broke down like that." He just smiled, wanting her to understand that it was okay. "It's all right," he assured her. "I understand what it's like to hold everything in." She nodded, and he felt happiness flood his veins as she finally acknowledged that she wasn't the only one to ever feel this type of pain. As much as they had touched each other, though, he saw a frown appear back on her face as she dropped her arms back to her side and look out at the stars again. He watched her for a moment, like he had done previously, until he couldn't take it anymore. "You know, you shouldn't frown," he told her. She rolled her eyes, then lowered her head quickly, unable to hide her embarrassment. "Really," he insisted, reaching out and lifting her chin with his hand. She allowed him to, meeting his eyes immediately and searching them. The look in his eyes seemed like he wanted to say something, but he hesitated, opening his mouth a few times without any words coming out. Finally he took a deep breath and closed his eyes momentarily before opening them again and looking even deeper into her own than she thought possible. It felt like he was looking straight through to her heart as his mouth opened once more. "You never know who's falling in love with your smile."