[COMPLETE]
When Hanna Haddad embarks on what's supposed to be another uneventful summer as a lifeguard on Cape Cod, a trip to the past comes as an unnerving surprise. The discovery of her estranged mother's journal opens up the world of tragedy and...
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"Hey, I wanted to talk to you."
The low vibrations of a voice too familiar met my ears as I walked down the parking lot to my car on my last day of work. Trailing upwards, I found a special guest napping in Jesse's arms. I stopped in my tracks, giving Bella a small smile and wave when she opened her eyes. She collapsed again into her brother's shoulder, fast asleep from the kind of exhaustion that only a long day in the sun could bring.
He kissed the top of her head, making her smile in her sleep. "Figured you'd still be mad, so I wanted to give you some space at work today."
"I'm still mad," I concurred, making his blue eyes widen, but I continued with, "just not at you. Someone more deserving."
"Here, I'll take her home." Alex appeared behind Jesse's shoulder and held out his bulky arms. Bella gladly accepted a new person to cling to, using the whole "I'm cute and tiny" excuse to her advantage. Too bad that didn't work well at twenty. "She okay?"
"Yeah, just worn-out from today," Jesse said, patting him on the back. "Thanks, man."
"No problem," he muttered, hauling his sister towards his overheating Porsche. "See you around, Hanna."
I waved goodbye to Alex and turned back to his stepbrother, waiting for what he had to say. "Should I be worried?"
He shook his head. "Hanna, look... There were a lot of things I didn't know either. You weren't the only one swimming in secrets all these years." He reached his hand out gingerly, unsure whether to touch me. I wanted to tell him I wasn't glass, but even if I was, it only grew stronger in the heat. "I knew my father loved your mother, but I had no idea he'd once wanted to propose to her. But I can't say I don't get why." He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, his fingers lingering on my cheek. "She looks just like you. And I fell in love with you, too, Hanna."
"J-Jesse, I don't know what to say." I closed my eyes, letting the only things in my world be that sentence and the fingers on my cheek. I couldn't open them, not because there could be onlookers around us, but because I was afraid to say it back, to cement feelings between us when I still didn't know what to feel.
"You know what to say," he said, dropping his hand. "You were the first to say it, after all."
"I fell in love with you, too," I said softly, resorting to past tense, "but I still hate that word."
He smirked. "It is kind of stupid, isn't it?"
"Yes. It very much is." His smile was just as broad as mine as he held out his arms for me, not caring that we were still in a parking lot, but I wasn't sure how much I cared, either.
"Come here, baby."
I melted into his arms as I stared at my blurry reflection in his car door, only wondering why my smile had faded away.
