"I know him. He's pissed. He has every right to be." Spencer stated, still locked in on the ocean as he spoke. It seemed easier to rip open the bandage and rub salt in the wound while he was feeling numb. Spencer tried to focus on Leighton as she spoke but found himself to obsessed with watching and listening to the waves to fully catch it all. That last comment caught his attention however. "Hurt me?" he asked as she finally turned to look at her. "I'm not afraid of you hurting me. I'm afraid of hurting you. I... I'm so... I'm so bad at this. I'm a disaster. I shouldn't be with anyone."

Spencer hated it when his friends forced him to face the reality of his life. He was well aware that most of his problems were caused by self-sabotage, but he just couldn't seem to bring himself to stop. He didn't understand how his parents could simply go on with their lives and act as if it was all normal, when their divorce had completely turned his world upside down. His parents definitely had their issues before they got divorced but he'd always just thought they would work it out. So, when they couldn't, it shattered his illusions of true love.

Turning away from her, he peered down into his empty cup. As much as he wanted to leave and fill it back up, he knew he couldn't leave her here. They weren't done even if he wanted to be and he definitely wouldn't leave her alone on the beach at night. "You said we wanted different things, we shouldn't be together. Just friends. Now you're mad at me because I agreed with you? I'm fucking lost. What do you want from me?"

Jess dramatically groaned as Sam hopped onto his back. He tucked his hands underneath her thighs, supporting her weight before he started to walk again. He chuckled a few times listening as Sam rambled and squeezed her thighs whenever he felt the need to reassure her without words. She knew better, and Sam even said it herself. “You’re my girl, and it's not a bad thing that you get jealous. I honestly think I might get my feelings hurt if you didn't get jealous sometimes,” he admitted. “C’mon, I know you loved it when I stepped between you and that stupid dipshit, Carson. I still can't believe you thought going to homecoming with him was a good idea,” he scoffed, rolling his eyes.

He put Sam back down in the sand when she asked. Jess was looking at her with his hands on his hips, trying to catch his breath. “I think I need to cut back on the cigarettes,” he muttered. “And maybe going running,” Jess added, finishing his thought. He tilted his head, a bit confused, looking at Sam. “A sandcastle?” Jess dropped his head, slightly disappointed. “Honestly, no.” He held his hands out, “At least not right now,” he added. “I'm thirsty and out of shape,” still slightly hung up on being winded. “I have cotton mouth and want a beer,” he whined. After pouting to get his way, the two returned to the bonfire.

As they approached the crowd, Jess took one of Sam’s hands before getting in front and guiding her. As they walked through, Jess was looking for Leighton or Spencer but noticed Hailie mixed in with the crowd instead, and the lightbulb quickly went off in his head. “Don’t hate me,” he warned before letting go of her hand and climbing on the back of the pickup truck that held the beer kegs. Jess didn't care if everyone heard. He just wanted to ensure he was loud enough for Hailie to hear.

“Everyone shut the fuck up!” Jess screamed as loud as he could. It didn't get quiet, but it was calm enough for Jess’ satisfaction. “I have something to ask Sam.” Jess smiled, looking down at her. “Will you be my girlfriend... officially and exclusively?”

“But it doesn't have to be that way! You make everything so much harder than it has to be, Spencer.” Leighton wasn't around for the divorce, but according to Sam, it wrecked Spencer’s world. She didn't question it. The emotional damage was evident. Leighton pulled her cardigan tighter around her. It was chillier than she had anticipated. “You’re not a disaster, Spence. You're just hurting and won’t let anyone help you.”

Without saying anything, Leighton handed her beer over to Spencer when she saw him looking down at his empty cup. She shouldn't have, but it was that, or he’d leave her to get another one, and Leighton didn't want that.

When he started to talk about them again, Leighton began to get emotional, “Because that's not what I want, damn it!” Leighton told him honestly. “As stupid as it sounds, I wanted you to fight for me. I wanted you to say that there is no one else that you could ever be with, and you'd rather be alone than without me!” Leighton kept letting herself get her hopes up and wishing that today would be the day Spencer Walker proclaimed his feelings to her. Instead, it was just a big emotional mess.

Before Spencer could respond, Leighton let her feelings and impulses get the best of her. She swiftly closed the gap between them and did something she’d been waiting for him to do. Leighton kissed him. Not just a lame stupid peck. It was the kind that Leighton wanted him to remember. It was everything she had imagined. She just hoped he enjoyed it too. For a moment, everything seemed to make sense.

"Yeah, that was kinda hot." she chuckled. The only reason she'd even considered it was because she wanted to actually try having a date to a dance and no one else had really been asking her. Sam was pretty sure that most of the guys found her to be just a little too much to deal with sometimes. Sam groaned a little when he said no but after forcing him to carry her, she figured the least she could do was let him have his way and followed him back to the bonfire. Plus, once he mentioned needing a drink, she realized that actually sounded quite good.

Sam found herself smiling like an idiot when Jess grabbed her hand once they reached all their classmates. As much as she wanted to play it cool, she couldn't help herself. "Wha... what?" she asked confused as she watched him climb up on the truck bed, her smile finally fading. "What are you doing?" Sam had no idea what he was about to do but she could feel the anxiety building up as she tried not to notice all the faces staring in their direction now. Sam's eyes widened and she gave him a 'don't-you-dare' kind of stare as he said he had something to ask her.

As mad as she wanted to be because of how embarrassed she felt right now, she couldn't help but find it incredibly sweet at the same time. "Yes. Of course, I will. Now will you get down from there?" she begged, hoping for that to be enough to satisfy the crowd but they still had a bit of audience even after he'd jumped down. 'Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!' a couple of them even started chanting. Rolling her eyes at them, Sam got on her tip toes and pulled him in by his shirt for a kiss. "Y'all happy now? Go back to your business now. Leave us alone, you creeps."

Sam made sure to make eye contact with Hailie before turning back to Jess. "I'm going to need you to never do that to me again. It was sweet and all but like oh my god, so many eyes staring. Are they still staring? Kinda feels like they're still staring. I definitely need a drink now."

Jess knew how much Sam would hate all o the attention, but he chose to do it anyway because every girl deserved some outrageous gesture like that once in their life, even if it was spontaneous. Once everything was said and done, Sam started to let him hear it. “Babe, it's no big deal. Half of these people are fucking wasted anyway,” he pointed out, still laughing. He started to fill a cup with beer before handing it over to Sam. “No one’s staring. Sit up here and chill,” he said before lifting her up effortlessly by the waist and sitting Sam on the truck’s open tailgate. “Drink.” He didn't realize the attention may cause Sam to panic. Once he filled a cup for himself, he immediately drank half. He pushed between Sam’s legs and nuzzled his face into the curve of her neck. After a moment, he pulled back and pressed a soft kiss on her cheek. “Feeling better?”

The sudden wetness currently seeping through his white t-shirt caught Jess off guard. However, the look on Sam’s face was all he needed to know who the culprit was. “Fuck,” he muttered, lowering his head. Jess hadn't thought about the consequences of his public declaration of love. Jess turned around, staying close to Sam in case he had to grab her. “Now, what was that for, Hailes?” His voice was oozing sarcasm. Jess knew he shouldn't have been antagonizing, but he would've done this sooner if he had known how Hailie treated Sam when he wasn't around.

As she spewed her hate towards Sam and himself, he could hear his girlfriend getting restless behind him as the words continued to come from Hailie’s mouth. He held his arms out, trying to block her from getting down, but unfortunately, Sam got passed him. Just as Sam was about to lunge for the over-tanned, bleach blonde, Jess grabbed her and pulled her back. “Knock it the fuck off, Hailie.” Jess protectively placed one of his arms in front of Sam and moved in front of her. “We barely dated. We didn't even fucking kiss,” he aggressively admitted.

Spencer dropped her solo cup down into his empty one before taking a drink. "Thanks." he mumbled. He knew that she probably didn't want to, but he needed it and she seemed to not really be all that interested in it anyway. Spencer stared blankly at her as she told him how he'd fucked up again. It could be the weed or the self-pitying, but he couldn't figure out how she even liked him still at this point. It seemed like all he did anymore was fuck things up and he couldn't seem to stop it.

Next thing he knew Leighton had pulled him in for a kiss which honestly confused him even more, but he wasn't really complaining. This was far better than continuing to hear about all his failures. Dropping the beer that she had just given him; Spencer pushed her hair out of the way with one hand and his other hand rested on her hip as he began kissing her back. Spencer deepened it with his tongue before finally pulling back and staring down at her through squinty eyes. "Wow." He muttered, not even meaning to say it aloud.

Before he had a chance to kiss her again, a familiar although faint voice could be heard shouting something in the distance. He looked over toward the bonfire and everything still looked fine from where they stood so he turned back to Leighton. "I'm confused." He admitted. He was definitely far to blazed too grasp what was happening here right now. "And I dropped my cup."

The chaos in the distance once again caught his attention, only this time when he looked, he could tell something waa brewing. High or not, he'd been around enough fights to know when that vibe was happening at one. "Shit. Sorry. I mean, that was amazing but I kinda thought you were mad at me."

Sam looked around and watched as everyone pretty went back to what they were doing, pouting in protest when he told her to chill and placed her up on the truck. "Fine." she stated before working on her drink while he poured his own. Setting her drink down next to her in order to wrap her arms around him while he tried to cheer her up. It was working. Sam had all but forgotten about all the people around them as she focused on Jess. "Much better." she smiled up at him but the smile faded the moment she noticed someone pouring a drink on her boyfriend.

Glaring angrily and impatiently at Hailie from behind Jess, she planned on letting him handle it. At least until she'd finally had enough. Sam didn't care what Hailie had to say about her but once she started lying about Jess, implying that he stalked her and was obsessed with her, Sam was done. "That's fucking it!" Pushing Jess' arm up so that she could duck under it and get past him. "Come here you fake ass bitch!" Before she could even get far though, Sam felt arms around her waist pulling her back and soon Jess was between her and Hailie again. He was her protective golden retriever boyfriend, but she was a feisty chihuahua; she was tired of barking, she wanted to bite the bitch already.

Grabbing her drink and stashing it behind her back, she used Jess being turned away and distracted to her advantage as she scooted to the side, out of arms reach of her boyfriend. With a mischievous grin, she stared at Hailie as she revealed the cup then as quickly as she could, Sam threw the drink (cup and all) right at Hailie. "Time's up." Sam glanced over at Jess to watch as he realized she was no longer behind him. Not wanting to give him the chance to stop her, she lunged at the blonde again. Sam's mother remarrying gave her a sister, but her dad had married someone with sons and those sons taught their stepsister how to defend herself in case she ever needed it.

Sam didn't even need a full-blown fight, but she wouldn't be satisfied unless she got at least one good punch in. Dropping down forward slightly as she ran, she threw her arms out and tackled the girl to the ground. Hailie was all bark, no bite and that gave Sam quite an advantage on the girl. Once they hit the ground, Sam who had already landed on top of Hailie, she positioned herself into a sitting position and threw her punch. Hailie was a much smaller target than she was used to aiming at, but Sam still managed to make contact with the girl's face.

Leighton was satisfied with their first kiss and Spencer's reaction. She couldn't stop smiling and almost felt the need to pinch herself because it had to be a dream.

“I know. I'm confused too because this wasn't how tonight was supposed to go,” Leighton admitted. She had planned on putting her foot down, but her feelings got in the way, and she ended up kissing him instead. “I think we should be just friends, but that's not what I want. That's just what I think would be best,” Leighton explained, still wrapped up in his arms, and it was better than Leighton had imagined. “But I know you don't want what I want, and that’s where everything gets so messy,” she frowned, slightly distracted by the sudden commotion coming from the direction of the bonfire.

“Yes, I get mad at you, but being mad doesn't change my feelings for you,” she told him. “That’s not how that works...” Leighton’s sentence trailed off as she listened to what was happening in the distance. It sounded like a fight, and the thought of Sam quickly popped into her head. Leighton abruptly pulled away. “We gotta go,” she informed him before running off toward the bonfire. Leighton knew this could be her overreacting, but the gut feeling in her stomach said otherwise.

By the time they reached the bonfire, a crowd had already formed around the fight, and if her ears were hearing everything correctly, the group was chanting what sounded like Sam. “Fuck my fucking life,” she muttered and groaned, starting to push through the crowd. When she finally made it, she saw Sam had Hailie pinned underneath, whaling on the poor girl while Jess stood by and watched helplessly. “Sam!” Leighton screamed, and without hesitation, she jumped in. After almost getting hit with an elbow a few times, Leighton managed to hook her arms underneath Sam’s and pull her off as she screamed and kicked like a toddler having a tantrum. “Stop it! Fucking stop! The fight is fucking over!” Leighton shouted.

“I stalked you?” He scoffed, rolling his eyes. “You’re the one who blew up my fucking phone whenever I didn’t answer immediately,” he shot back. The more things that came out of Hailie’s mouth, the faster Jess got upset. “All lies. All fucking lies. You stupid-“ Jess cut himself off. Despite everything, Jess wouldn’t stoop that low and call her names.

Jess had been too busy arguing with Hailie that he hadn’t even noticed Sam slip by him, and when he did, it was too late. “Jesus Christ! What the fuck, Sam?!” He stood by and watched, unsure of what to do while everyone chanted and cheered on his girlfriend. He felt relief wash over him when he saw Leighton and Spencer break through the crowd. It didn’t take long for Leighton to take charge. “I don’t know what happened! She got away from me!” Jess tried to explain as Leighton brought Sam over to him.

While the crowd scattered, Jess was still shocked at how quickly everything conspired. “What the fuck is wrong with you? That didn’t have to fucking happen!” Jess was pissed, but if he had anyone to blame, it was himself. He was worried Hailie would do something spiteful, like, call the police to press charges against Sam. “We gotta get the fuck out of here,” he said as he started to feel his pockets to make sure he had everything frantically. “Y’all coming?” He asked, looking back at Leighton and Spencer.

Spencer licked his lips and smiled back at her. Something about seeing her happy triggered all sorts of emotions he wasn't used to. He was starting to think he might understand what Jess was talking about when he got all soft and mushy about Sam. Maybe Leighton was the only girl he needed to be satisfied. Maybe they could work out and even if they didn't, maybe they could find a way to still be friends after. He was the one who had to work on his shit in order for any of that to be possible.

Watching her lips as she rambled on, Spencer found himself struggling to comprehend everything she was saying again. Most of it seemed like things he already knew but all he could really think about was kissing her again. Shaking his head and blinking when she said they had to go then ran off, he stalled for a moment before finally chasing after, only catching up once they reached the bonfire crowd. "What the fuck?" he muttered as he watched helplessly while Leighton pulled Sam off of Hailie.

"I'm entirely too gone for this." he told himself before finally joining his friends. He watched as Hailie's friends helped her up and ushered her away before Sam had a chance for round two and Spencer couldn't help but laugh a little. Turning to face Leighton, he shrugged his shoulders before holding his hand out to her. "We probably should." Locking hands with her they ran after their friends and sped off.