Well, it's been a while! I'm so sorry for how long it's been. Studying a masters and working full time has been intense. So this is the beginning of what I'm planning for this story long term, I hope you like it!

I stood in front of the mirror in the tiny bathroom and pulled the brush through my wet hair. After realising it was a lost cause, Clay had directed me to the bathroom and gone back to bed to wait for me to be finished so he could jump in. I grabbed a smaller towel from the side as I wandered back to the bedroom and started to towel dry my hair.

"You going to stay there all night?" I asked as I sat on the edge of the bed, causing him to look up from his phone.

"If you were going to stay, then yeah, I definitely would be," he responded with a smile as he put his phone down next to him. He leant over the side of the bed and picked his boxers up to pull them on.

"As much as I would love to you know I can't, besides, it's not like you won't be sleeping with me in the same bed tonight," I grinned as he stood over me to place a kiss on my forehead.

"Not the same though, I'm going to jump in the shower," he commented and turned to make his way to the door, before stopping dead in his tracks. I was extremely confused until he turned and charged back towards me, to pull me up into an earth-shattering kiss. we were both panting when we pulled away from each other. "You don't realise how much I love you."

"Funny you should say that because I don't think you realise how much I love you," I responded as I placed my head on his shoulder. Clay pulled away slightly to place his index finger under my chin and pulled my face to his to place a single tender kiss on my lips. I smiled as I pulled away and placed my hands on his stomach to give him a gentle push. "Go on, you need to shower and get me home, my dad will be thinking you've taken advantage of his innocent daughter."

"You are far from innocent," Clay chuckled as he walked out of the room.

I finished off drying my hair the best I could, before looking around the room for my underwear. Blush coloured my cheeks as I spotted my bra hanging off the door of the wardrobe and my panties on the floor in front of the bed. I picked them up and pulled them on, doing the same with my dress that was pooled on the floor. Remembering my shoes were outside, I made my way back through the living area to get back on the deck. The temperature had dropped significantly whilst we had been inside. Seeing my little purse sat on the bench that ran its way around the desk, I picked it up to pull my phone out. Checking the time, I was surprised to see not only how late it was, but the lack of concerned texts or numerous calls from my parents. It seemed they trusted Clay more than they liked to let on. A breeze picked up causing a shiver to run through me, causing me to pull the blanket around me that Clay had wrapped around me earlier.

It was so peaceful on the water, the only sound being the water lapping against the boat. It had been so long since I had been out on the waterfront. I tended to avoid it, it brought back so many bad memories, but now I was able to associate being there with the amazing evening that Clay had organised.

A strangled sob interrupted the quiet and caught my attention. I looked around to find the source of the sound. Noticing someone sat on the edge of the pier, I realised that the person sat there was Jess. I was torn over what to do. Jess had made her feelings towards me perfectly clear and I really didn't feel like being slapped in the face again. On the other hand, that was a long time ago, she was obviously upset and I couldn't leave her alone like that. Swallowing my pride, I climbed over the edge of the boat and slowly made my way to her.

"Jess," I said when I was close enough for her to hear me. She looked up at me, tears streaked down her face.

"Oh, hey Hannah," Jess replied, she bowed her head and brought her hand to her face, evidently trying to wipe away the tears she had been crying. I hesitated, unsure of what to do. It had been a long time since she had spoken to me without disdain in her voice. Deciding that I seemed to be on relatively safe grounds, I sat down next to her with my legs dangling over the edge.

"Everything okay?" I asked, unsure how to proceed. She looked up at me, uncertainty evident in her eyes.

"Erm, how do you define okay?" She replied. "My boyfriend lied to me and all these memories are coming back and…"

Jess faded away more and more as she spoke until she came to a stop. She was clearly distressed as the tears poured out of her, evidently unable to stop them.

"Memories about what Jess?" I asked carefully. It was obvious she was in a fragile state and I wasn't sure how to handle her when she was like this.

"My party, I, something happened. I wasn't sure if it did, but Justin's told me, I can't stop them. All these memories, horrible memories, they won't stop," she turned and looked me straight in the eye. "Hannah, I don't know what to do."

It was like something broke inside her as the tears racked through her body and her head dropped into her hands. I went to put a hand on her shoulder but hesitated slightly, still unsure how to react. Realising that it couldn't make it worse, I put an arm around her shoulders. Almost out of instinct, Jess turned towards me and buried her face in the crook of my neck. I held her as she cried her heart out, body racking sobs that didn't seem to be stopping. I stayed quiet, instead opting to run a hand up and down her back to try to calm her.

A hand on my shoulder caught my attention and I turned slightly to see Clay crouching next to us.

"Hannah, what's going on?" Clay asked. Catching Jess' attention, she glanced up to see it was Clay who had spoken before turning her face back into me, deciding that she wasn't concerned about Clay seeing her like this.

"I don't know," I murmured to Clay before turning my attention back to Jess to try to pacify her. "It's alright Jess, everything is going to be alright."