Bella and Isla hadn't let me sulk for long, after I told them about what happened in English. Instead of dropping them off, they came to my house and they insisted on doing the last two steps of our three step "How To Get Over Heart Break" plan. The first step was alcohol, which we couldn't participate in because I had to drive tonight. The second was ice cream, which came in the form of Brownie Batter. The third was a makeover, which Bella was stoked about because I allowed her to do my makeup again. This time going for a natural, sun kissed look.

Chase had left the outfit choices up to me, so after some nitpicking from Bella, Isla pulled out a gorgeous red sundress that my mom had brought me home from Spain last year.

I was driving to Chase's house now, feeling a little bit better. I knew I'd have to eventually confront the feelings that I was pushing down, but I knew I didn't have time for a meltdown right now. I texted Chase when I arrived at his house, but a few minutes had gone by, and he didn't come out. I jumped out of my car and made my way to the door, gently knocking.

A middle aged woman answered the door, she was beautiful with the same dark, wavy hair that Chase had. She smiled when she saw me.

"You must be Indie, come on in dear. I'm Julie. It is so nice to finally meet you." She told me as she opened the door. I smiled and stepped inside, noticing that most of his family was lounging in the living room.

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Sutton. I'm just here to pick up Chase." I said, giving a quick wave to the rest of his family, who's eyes were all on me now.

"Kenny, go get your brother." She instructed her son, who winked at me before running up the stairs. "You look beautiful dear, are you and Chase going on a date?" She asked me, her eyes darting down to my dress and wedge heels. I probably did look like I was dressed up for a date, with a full face of makeup to boot.

"It's not a date mom, we're working on our photography project." Chase muttered quickly as he descended down the stairs carrying his large camera, Kenny close behind him.

"Oh, Indie just looks so beautiful I only figured..." she trailed off as she gave me a sweet smile, "Anyways, it sure is nice to put a face to name I've heard so much about. Chase has been talking about you for ages."

Chase was standing beside us now, looking mortified as he brought his hand up to rest on his forehead.

"Yeah, he is really into photography." It made me feel nice that he thought it was important enough to tell his parents about, it wasn't something I would ever bring up to my own.

"Yeah, yeah, we're leaving. Bye." Chase muttered before gesturing to the door.

"It was really nice to see you all again." I said as I walked out the door. Chase followed and we both climbed into my car.

"Your mom is really nice." I told him as I fastened my seatbelt.

"That she is." He agreed quietly. I pulled my phone out and turned the Bluetooth on, putting on one of my playlists and turning up the volume.

"No top 40's today?" Chase asked from beside me as You Suck At Love blasted through my speakers.

"It is not a top 40's kind of day, my friend."

The ride to the beach was filled with silence that was probably my fault, as I had cranked the volume up so loudly that I probably wouldn't have heard anything Chase said anyways. We arrived at the beach at 6:35, and the sky was already starting to turn orange.

Once we got on the beach, I quickly took my shoes off so I wouldn't trip in the sand. The beach was fairly empty tonight, there was a few couples scattered who were not doubt waiting for the sunset as we were. Chase walked in one direction, seemingly knowing where he was going, so I followed him. We walked for a couple minutes before coming to a ridge of rocks. He started climbing them, carefully as he turned around and held a hand out for me. I placed my hand in his, as he gently pulled and guided me up the rocks.

Once we reached the top, he jumped down. I noted that it was only a four foot drop, but I still hesitated. Thankfully, Chase turned towards me and slung the camera over his shoulder by the strap before reaching up towards me with both hands. Once I grabbed them, I leaped off, stumbling into him when my feet hit the ground.

"Oops. Sorry." I muttered as my face hit his chest. He gently grabbed my waist, steadying me and placing me upright.

"You good?" He asked me softly. I nodded and looked around, taking in my surroundings.

It was a small cove, completely deserted of people. There was a small patch of sand, surrounded by jagged rocks. "Wow, it's beautiful here." I breathed, in awe of the place. It felt like a secret beach.

"It is. I found it last year, one of my favourite places to shoot." Chase agreed.

"So, what's the plan?" I looked up at him, he seemed to be observing the sky, glancing up at it from different angles. He grabbed my hand and pulled me close to the water, before leaving me and walking a few feet back. He looked at me briefly before walking back and placing me a few steps to the left. He did that a couple more times until he seemed to finally be satisfied with my position.

"Okay, this looks good." He said finally, nodding at me. I started to feel anxious now, I had never modelled like this before. What if I sucked at it?

"What should I do?" I asked him blankly, feeling incredibly awkward.

"Can you sit on your knees?" Chase directed, and I did what he said, sitting on them so my legs were placed together. "Great, now can you put some distance between your legs and sit back so you're on your butt?" I did as he said, glancing up to him for his approval. He hesitated for a moment before placing his camera on the ground and crouching down in-front of me.

"Do you mind?" He asked as his hands darted towards my dress, I simply nodded, noticing this was the most confident I had ever seen Chase. He rearranged the skirt of my dress so that it flowed perfectly over my legs, cascading over them so it was resting on the sand. He smiled at me before returning back to his camera. He laid down on his stomach, looking through the lens and adjusting the settings as he went.

"You ready?" He asked, once he finished.

"I think so. What should I do?" I felt like a fish out of water. He looked up from his camera and stared at me for a moment.

"You trust me?" He asked, to which I tentatively nodded. "I want you to tell me about what happened today."

I let out a deep sigh before shutting my eyes for a second. "Why?"

"The pictures we need to ace this project are going to need to be more candid rather than posed pictures, and since they're all about emotion, and you're not an actress, we're going to have to work off something real. Just talk, tell me what happened and don't pay attention to the camera." Chase's words were gentle. "Take your time."

"Evan came to apologize, not that it would matter." I started after taking a few minutes to find my words. "You know, the typical 'it didn't mean anything, it was a mistake,' blah blah blah." I had my attention focused on sailboat that was gently gliding down the shoreline to my right. "Then Brock basically let it slip, well no, he intentionally told me that Evan has been sleeping with Chelsea for the last couple months." I felt tears starting to swarm in my eyes. "Evan confirmed it. Telling me that he was thinking of me the whole time. What a load of bullshit." The tears spilled over, silently rolling down my cheeks. I didn't move to wipe them as my hands were covered in wet sand.

I took a long pause before continuing. "I don't even know what the worst part is. The fact that he was sleeping with someone else, or the fact that he was trying to get back together while clearly never intending to tell me. I mean, how could you do that to someone? How could the guilt not eat you alive? How could you lie to someone like that everyday?" I felt my lips turn down at the sides, and I was trying to control myself so I didn't let out a sob.

"Is there something wrong with me? Why wasn't I enough for him? I keep going through the last few months in my mind, trying to find a reason why I wasn't good enough for him to be faithful to me. Was I a bad girlfriend? Is it because I wouldn't put out for him? I don't know. It just sucks." I noticed the sky was getting darker, and I didn't realize how long I'd be rambling on. I finally snapped my head back towards Chase, who had his camera laid on the beach again. He was watching me so intently, I could have blushed if I wasn't so emotional.

"Did you get the pictures?" I asked him, giving him a small smile.

"Oh, uh- yeah. I took a lot. I think we're done for tonight." He said as he pulled himself so he was sitting upright. I nodded and got to my feet, walking over and sitting beside him. I wiped my hands on my dress, before wiping my face. I noticed black smudges on my face as I looked at my hands.

"Shit, you should have told me my makeup was running, Chase." I mumbled, trying to wipe my face the best I could. I probably looked like a raccoon.

"Sorry, but it added to the pictures. I think they're going to come out perfect." Chase said, turning towards me and bringing his thumbs up to wipe under my eyes. I was stunned at the sudden contact, freezing. "There, it's gone now." He said finally, bringing his hands down to wipe on his pants.

I nodded and brought my legs up with my chest, wrapping my arms around them. I watched as the sun lived it's final moments in the sky for today, as it was beginning to disappear below the horizon. "How'd you know something happened?" I asked him after a few minutes of silence.

"I uh, didn't want to leave you with him, so I waited outside the door. You seemed to be in a rush when you left and didn't notice me standing there." He said awkwardly, scratching behind his ear. I should have felt embarrassed that he heard it all, but I mostly just found it sweet.

"It's nothing you did, by the way, Indie. Evan is just an idiot. I don't know how he could ever have had the chance to be with you and throw it all away." Chase said lowly, and I turned to look at him. He was watching the sun as I had been. I leaned my head on his shoulder, thankful for his words.

"I mean it, Indie. Any guy who even looks at another girl while they're with you is moron." Chase continued, bowing his head to look at the ground. I froze for a minute, remembering what I saw in a English class before Evan approached me. I quickly snapped my head off Chase's shoulder and he looked up at me, noticing the sudden movement.

"So, that blonde girl from class that sits beside Asher..." I started, not sure how to phrase it. Chase just cocked his head at me, his brows furrowed, not understanding. "What's her name, again?"

"Lauren?"

"Yeah, Lauren. Is she like..." I trialed off awkwardly.

"Is she like, what?" He asked, still clueless.

"Are you guys like, a thing or what? I haven't heard you talk about her." I don't know why I was making this a bigger deal than it should be.

"A thing?" Chase asked, god he was slow tonight. I just nodded, hoping he would catch my drift.

It took a minute before his face finally lit up in understanding. "No, we're not anything. Lauren is just one of the girls in our friend group." His face bunched up in confusion again, "why?"

"Oh, no reason." I said quickly before looking back towards the water. "I just realized I don't know much about you, but you know all my problems." I looked back to him and smiled before a chill shook through my body.

"Oh, shit, Indie. You're cold. Do you want to go?" Chase said as he placed a hand on my bare arm, rubbing it up and down.

"Do you mind if we stay for a little bit?" I asked, not wanting to leave yet. The last thing I wanted to do was go back to my empty house, just to be all alone. Chase gave me a genuine smile before bringing one hand up to the back of his neck and pulling his hoodie off.

"Here." He said as he handed it to me.

"Oh, no, you'll be cold then." I tried to push his hand back towards him.

"I'll be fine, Indie, I still have sleeves, you don't. Put it on, or we're leaving." Chase insisted. I gave in and took the hoodie from him and putting it on. It was huge on me, covering my entire dress. It smelled like a mix of cologne and cigarette smoke.

"I didn't know you smoked." I said, trying to remember if I ever saw him with a cigarette.

"I- uh, yeah. I try not to smoke around you." He muttered, looking embarrassed.

"Why?" I asked, genuinely surprised. A lot of the guys I hung out with had smoked before.

"Honestly, I figured you wouldn't like it. I thought it might give you a headache or something." He said after a minute.

I didn't answer right away as I let my mind take in his words. "You're sweet, Chase."