Your POV

My eyes avert to the shore line when I see a figure tracing along it. Sitting up with curiosity, I watch the man as he sits down, his front facing the crashing waves of the sea.

The now orange sky causes him to be only a dark outline. The wind scatters pieces of his hair around. He pulls his knees to his chest, the muscles in his arms tensing, and just stares ahead of him. I observe as his shoulders move up and down in quick, jerking movements.

He is crying.

Over the waves and wind, I hear him. It is a low, quick sob.

I know what it's like to cry like that, trying to keep yourself quiet so no one confronts you.

Knots in my stomach harshly steal me from my dreams. As my eyes open, the bright sun threatens me with its light. With a grunt, I squint, trying to refamiliarize myself with my surroundings.

Ash from last night's fire dusts the sleeves of my sweater, as well as a few other stains that perfume me in a wicked combination of burnt wood and whisky. Right now, I'd make a pretty sick candle.

"Did it work?" I flinch at the sudden recognition of Tara's existence next to me. She leans her head onto her hand with the goofiest smile.

"What time is it?" I dodge the question while unraveling myself from this scratchy sleeping bag, searching for my phone.

"You got somewhere to be all of a sudden?" She sits up with me, her hair a tangled mess. I already know I'm in no better shape than she.

Just as I find my phone hidden under a crushed Doritos bag, she jerks my shoulder, "Y/N! Did it work?" She urges with way too much energy for just waking up.

I lightly slap her hand away, both of us unable to contain our giggles, "He was just an outline this time." I share.

She shimmies a small victory dance, "That's progress! Maybe tonight you won't even dream about him at all!"

I met Tara at one of Sam and Colby's parties back when I first started dating Colby. At first she'd always show up alone, not needing anyone else to have a good time with. She'd make the good times all on her own. I caught a few moments of her rejecting guys left and right from time to time. For being so short, it was really hard to miss her antics. Reaching out to her when Colby and I broke up only felt right. These past three months, she's been helping me move on, and she took me under her wing. This camping trip was her idea of course.

The whole point of the trip was to get me out of LA, hoping a change of environment and a lot of fucking alcohol would tackle my reoccurring dreams of Colby that have been relentlessly haunting me.

"Maybe." I sigh, trying not to hope for the best.

A hazy beam of sunlight casts down on the tent. It must be early yet.

"Wanna get hangover breakfast?" Tara suggests, stretching her arms above her head with a groan.

"That sounds magical." I smirk in anticipation.

I grab my phone to try and check the time again, but I'm immediately drawn to a notification from an unknown number.

7:26am
Y/N, it's Kat. I know we haven't talked in forever and I still don't know why, but I really need you right now. Please call me.