A WAVE OF JOY WASHED OVER DAWN WHEN "CHOIR" PRACTICE SUBSIDED WITH MS. NELL AT COAL CREEK BAPTIST CHURCH. Dawn had to gather a few things before she met Arvin, who was on his way. He hadn't honked his horn yet, but Dawn knew he couldn't have been far. The pair were inseparable and made her grandmother worry beyond her years about what the girl was doing with the boy known for his temper. She heard the church's back door open, and she turned around to come face to face with the young preacher that the clergy welcomed to the church only a few days ago. He had a sly smile on his face looking over at the girl.

"May I say, the Lord has given you a gift, my dear child." His voice made her uneasy, and she knew there was something about him. Especially after the stunt, he pulled with Emma after she slaved away, making the chicken livers that were the best thing Dawn had, surprisingly, ever had.

She pressed her lips together as she continued gathering her things, this time facing him. "Thank you, sir."

He starts walking closer to her. Dawn began to gather her things a little faster. "Do you have to be anywhere anytime soon? Perhaps we could go on a ride?"

"I-"

He cut her off, "Or we can stay here. It seems as though another storm might be blowing in, and I wouldn't want for you to have to walk in the rain." He was now awfully close to her. He put his hand on her lower back, making her tense up, "I don't think the lord would want something so angelic to be put in harm's way, right?"

Dawn was terrified. She had no idea why but the pit of her stomach dropped so fast it reminded her of a roller coaster ride but one that didn't have an end. She didn't know why but she felt helpless. Was that the word? "No, sir."

You may be wondering what happened to the headstrong girl that has a fiery attitude within her. Right now, she was gone. Too many memories of moments like these from her childhood flooded her mind and made her lip quiver at just the thought, from her grade school principal to her old church's preacher. These things seem to follow dawn like a snake with its prey. Ready to pounce at any moment to have her suffer once again. It was like God wanted her to live through the pain of wondering if she could trust any man in this world.

He made her turn towards him, "Do you have anything you need to confess? Any worry's that have been laying hard on your heart?"

"I do not, Preacher." She had a small amount of courage through her as she stepped back from him. She was gripping the handle of her guitar case tighter.

"Are you sure? Everyone has something heavy they need to confess. Sin is what makes us human. But you can't create these delusions that you have done nothing wrong."

"I said I don't," Dawn managed to say weakly, still filling the hand on her back as she turned. The proximity of the two made her feel uneasy.

He lifted his hand, brushing some strands of hair that framed her face behind her ear. She shivered at the action causing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand up. He looked down at her with an unreadable gleam in his eyes. "Have you ever shown your true self to the lord?" Dawn stood frozen at the preacher's actions. Placing his hand onto her cheek, he sent pins and needles thought ought her body going into a cold sweat. "The Lord has so much more in store for you than some boy who will never truly show you what giving yourself to God."

The mention of Arvin snapped her out of the temporary paralysis the preacher brought upon her. She yanked his hand off of her cheek, but he caught it before she could fight back with the sound of her guitar case hit the floor. Her eyes became daggers to his gaze, "You don't know what you're talking about."

He pushed her to the wall pressing his body as hot tears built up in her eyes as she struggled against his grip. He started kissing the sides of her cheek and down her neck, "You don't think i know what you are up to, girl."

He pushed her arm further into the wall resulting in a yelp leaving her lips. She shoved him off of her, forcefully slapping him before rushing to grab her case heading to the door, "I'm sorry, sir, but I have to go."

He grabbed her free hand's wrist a second time, gripping harder than before, "I've seen you hangin' 'round that Russell boy, and I know what you two are up to."

"And what would that be, preacher?" The words were venom that left her tongue.

He gave a sinister smirk, "From what I've heard from the clergy, you two's been engagin' in sinful acts. Something so sweet and innocent shouldn't know. Let me relieve you of those burdens."

She raises her eyebrows. "I'm sorry, but you're mistaken."

"Think twice about what the lord would think. He can see through closed doors. I Wouldn't want a pretty-faced doll-like yourself to gain a bad reputation."

A car horn honks from outside, and Dawn ripped her arm away from his grip. Moving away from the distracted man, she felt her breathing become uneven as she heard closer to the double doors at the front of the church. She was met with heat from the sun along with the smell of rain inching closer to the small West Virginia town.

"He's trouble, you hear, if he's anything like his daddy from what I heard," the preacher yelled from behind her while she walked farther away from him, not bothering to look back at him.

Gripping her arm, moving her sleeve down on her long-sleeved linen dress, hiding the read marks that started to form on her wrist. She knew Arvin would take notice of her demeanor changing. Dawn tried her best to hide her face from the boy as she stepped into the car. She felt the tears start to fall from her eyes as she masked her voice from the shakiness that followed her words, "Drive, please."

The boy looked over at the girl who was face was out of eyesight. Her hand rested on the car door. "Why what happened in their dawn? Are you okay," he asked, trying to grab her hand; she moved it away when their fingers brushed against each other.

"Can we just go to the pond please," she said softly after barely being able to muster up a reply. Her face still faces the glass window knowing one glance at Arvin would cause her to spiral into sounding insane from what she would tell him. Why would he believe her?

"What Dawn, I'm not going until you tell me." Arvin leaned closer to her trying to catch a glimpse of her reflection.

She didn't say anything hoping her silence was enough for him to stop nagging at her to explain what happened to her. Arvin started the motor glancing at Dawn last time before heading to where the two of them went when they wanted to enjoy each other's company without the nagging of their grandmothers.

The pair had made the outing part of their daily routines during the summertime. They worked during the day, Arvin at the mine down just five miles outside of Coal Creek, and Dawn at the only dinner in town. Today they had to move their plans later due to Dawn's newfound extracurricular activity at the church, which he knew she would love.

Her actions left him confused because he expected her to be talking his ear off about her love for music. Yet, here she was quieter than a mouse hiding from a feral tomcat in a barn.

As they approached closer to the pond, Dawn turned her head in the direction of the water. Arvin cursed her bangs for blocking him from her expression again. The dirt flew behind them, and a single tear fell her cheek rolling onto her neck. She didn't even bother to whip the drop away because she knew her eyes would turn into a waterfall in the next few moments.

As soon as Arvin placed the car shift in park, the girl sprang out of the car, making the door fly open. She stumbled out but quickly gained her footing on the soft grass before kicking off her Sunday shoes. Next slipped her feet out of her socks, not wanting to feel the comfort feeling of the wet cotton touching her feet.

While inching closer to the water, her vision became blurry, and the view of the shimmering liquid before her began to dissipate into a bright blur of nothingness. The coolness of the water felt refreshing against her hot skin, letting the feeling of the dastardly touch relieve itself from her body.

Arvin saw her sprint towards the water, and she quickly turned off the ignition leaving the keys to hang from the dash and opened the door a fraction of a second slower than the girl. He threw his hat into the driver seat of his vehicle along with his infamous distressed denim jacket before running after he calling her name repeatedly. At the same time, she blatantly ignored his cries of concern.

She reached a good ten yards from the shallow shore and dunked herself into the cool water. The liquid felt like a blanket of bliss eas thrown over her as she sank more, letting the feeling engulf her before coming back up to the surface. The fabric of her dress weighed her down, and she disregarded the clothing leaving her in her slip covering her undergarment. She started scrubbing her skin and hair from any existence, for the preacher's touch was still burning a hole into her senses, still feeling his harsh touch. Her eyes brimmed with tears as she watched her light olive skin turn red from her hands, repeatedly wiping away the unpleasant feeling.

"Hey, hey hey," Arvin managed to catch up to her in his now weighted jeans from the water that reached his waist. He bent down and embraced the girl as she leaned against him, crying hysterically against his chest, pressing herself closer as he wrapped his arms tighter around her petite figure. He used his hand up to soothe her hair, kissing her crown as she pressed against his chest as she is melting into his touch.

She grew weak, and her legs started to shake before eventually gave out, tumbling into the boy's arms. He lifted her bridal style while managing to grab her stray clothing that floated in the waters near them. She wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning her head onto his chest as he carried her weak body to the shore without saying a word.

He placed her delicately onto the soft grass as she kept her eyes upon the glittering waters. She stared at the water with a flat expression reading her that remained puffy from the now dry trails of teardrops tattooed on her flush cheeks. She was paying no mind to the boy who was now opening his trunk, grabbing a blanket and an old flannel, confidently the one from Thanksgiving, while she sat and pondered the events that followed before she walked out of the church doors.

Dawn was so far into her dazed state she didn't notice the flannel that Arvin placed upon her shoulders. He didn't know what to do and just let her bask in whatever emotions and thoughts were running through her extraordinary mind.

There was a humming in the girl's ear, knowing the sound was the boy next to her trying to grab her attention and transport her out of her zombified state. The girl closed her eyes and began to imagine a beach with water that reflected the painted sunset sky. A salty scent filled the air, along with freshly fallen rain and the saltgrass that littered the dunes. She wished she could feel the warm sand pressed to her and the warm breeze forming goosebumps on her skin as it blew through her hair.

The girl wished most to see her mother's blue eyes crinkling back at her while laughing at the childish expression Dawn made with the seashell against her lips. It was music to heal a broken soul and uplift the most stone-cold beings. That day was everything to her. It was the only actual vacation they had that wasn't within a two hundred-mile radius.

Now she was here shivering and miserable on a colder than average March day, but instead of being alone, she was with a boy that so desperately wanted to help her. His voice was a beacon to follow in her dark and depressive episode.

The girl finally sighed next to him and wrapped the flannel closer to her body, letting a tear slid down her face, "I wish I were at the beach."

He tilted his head at her words, still shaky from the crying. The boy didn't say a word; instead, he let her continue.

"I wish my Mom was with me and could take me into her arms without question. Instead, she would tell me a story about someone or something to help me know what I'm feeling is valid to my worth. When she spoke, it was like a sheet that just got done drying in the sun." The girl paused as her lip trembled at the thought, "I miss her so much, Arvin, and I can't do anything about it."

She fell into his grasp, crying more, and he wrapped his arms around her while placing one hand on her hair, soothing the damp waves before kissing her hairline. "You ain't got nothing to worry 'bout. I gotchu."

"Don't ever leave me AR," her voice, barely a whisper, but the boy heard the soft spoken words clearly.

"I won't"

a/n: I keeping it short and sweet for you. also um wow this book has been receiving a lot of attention and I just want to thank you all for that.

i also LOVE to hear from you guys because it just is so interesting to hear your thoughts on my story, so don't be afraid to comment. i hope you all know you are amazing and stay tuned for what's to come.

*queues ticking nose from movie*