When Katherine was ten, she found her solace at the beach. Ten year old issues were closer to who did and did not sit with her at the lunch table, but regardless, the beach was her safe place.

Even with the impending storm, she still felt an overwhelming calmness, as she sat cross legged a few feet from where the tide rolled in. Many feelings were burning her soul mere moments before, but while she sat there, they were nothing more than dull murmurs in the back of her mind.

The weather was taking a turn for the worse, so she thought she was crazy when she heard footsteps walking towards her. Out of the corner of her eye, a figure sat next to her. Katherine only turned her head when a familiar head of blonde hair took over her peripheral vision on her left side. "You shouldn't be out here," Katherine hummed, looking back to the water that was now threatening to lap at her feet. "Weathers kind of shitty."

"I could say the same for you," the blonde scoffed. Leave it to Sarah Cameron's to always come to the rescue. "I was headed home of Topper's. How was your night with Todd?" Her best friend wriggled her eyebrows suggestively, but the question sent Katherine's mind whirring again. A deep crease between her eyebrows formed, as her frown deepened.

"Todd broke up with me," she sighed heavily, before looking Sarah directly in her eyes. "Then I slept with Rafe." The monotony in her tone was almost as terrifying as the calm in the eye of a hurricane. She looked back out into the water, clenching her jaw. Movement amongst the waves to her right caught her vision. Her eyes narrowed when she saw a blonde and a brunette's head sitting atop what Katherine assumed to be a surfboard. Those aren't surfable waves. She thought to herself. She found herself unable to peel her eyes away.

Her mind was dragged back to Sarah, when she nudged her lightly. "Are you even hearing me, right now?" She hadn't, of course. She'd only heard the muffled sound of her voice underlying the waves roughly slapping the shore.

Katherine inhaled a sharp breath and fluttered her eyes closed. Her moment of peace was wilting away. "I seriously don't want to talk about this right now," she snapped harshly, gripping the sleeves of the hoodie she snagged off of Rafe's floor. She immediately regretting the edge to her tone, without even needing to see Sarah's hurt expression. "I'm sorry," she said softly. "I just—I need to be alone right now. I promise, I'll leave before it gets too worse." She finally looked at Sarah, the raw emotion shining through her tear filled eyes.

Sarah nodded, understanding the need for space. "I'll come over as soon as the storm passes, okay?" Katherine nodded at her words, wiping away a stray tear with the sleeve of the hoodie, as Sarah stood to walk away.

Immediately, her eyes were drawn back to the mystery surfers, who had made their way out farther. After hearing Sarah's car whirl away, Katherine rose to her feet, and found herself walking further down the beach. Whoever these two were, were absolute idiots. Granted, they could probably say the same about her.

The faster the tide pulled, the more violent the waves got. Katherine chewed on the inside of her cheek, fully prepared to witness an idiotic death. Her eyes narrowed at them, frowning at the huge wave headed towards them. "Fuck," she huffed. She knew they realized it too late, paddling pointlessly away and still trying to ride it. The blonde managed a little longer, but the brunette was swiftly dragged into the tidal waves, the blonde shortly thereafter. Katherine ran an anxious hand through her hair, scanning the water for any signs of life.

A breath she had no idea she'd been holding released at the sight of their head bobbing just off the bank. They waded back onto shore, collapsing onto the bank, still unaware that they weren't alone, until Katherine spoke. "Are you insane or just fucking idiots," she seethed. Their heads immediately whipped around to find the source and both wore equally confused expressions. She folded her arms over her chest, waiting pointedly for a response.

The blonde scrambled to his feet first and Katherine immediately recognized him to be the island playboy, JJ Maybank. She supposed she could see the appeal, if she squinted hard enough...it just so happened she had been. The brunette that Katherine knew to be John B—mostly because the entire island knew about Big John's disappearance—quickly followed in suit.

JJ turned to look back at the water, gripping his sopping wet hair with a frown. "Shit, man, my board," he huffed.

"Your board?" Katherine laughed humorlessly, not paying attention to the way the rain was starting to pour around them. "You two could've died out there."

The blonde stifled an eye roll as he took a couple of paces closer. "Kat, right?" He tilted his head to the side, curiosity pricking at his brain, wondering why the Kook girl was at the beach in the middle of a hurricane. He knew who she was, of course, everybody—Kooks and Pogues alike—knew who Katherine Scott was.

"Idiot, right?" She bit back with slitted eyes.

JJ scoffed, starting to brush past her. However, it seemed like as soon as his arm met hers, lightning struck a transformer only feet away from them. Katherine squealed, reflexively jumping towards JJ, who readily steadied her. His eyebrows knitted, as his bright blue eyes scanned hers, stirring something inside of her that it shouldn't have. She gently shoved his arms off of her with a huff. "Get off of me, Pogue." The word slipped off of her tongue like turpentine, almost catching her by surprise.

JJ scoffed, putting his hands up in defense, backing away a few paces. John B walked after him, gripping him by his shoulder. "Let's get out of here," he muttered, glancing between the pair, just as unsure about what had happened there, as they were.

Katherine stomped off in the opposite direction, stealing one more glance over her shoulder at the pair of idiots, before keeping her focus on her car.

John B was reenacting the scene of the wave taking them out, but JJ couldn't help but look over his shoulder at the blonde haired fiery girl that he quite literally felt a spark with when he touched her. He quickly shook his head, knowing that there was no way in hell he was going down that road. Not with the Kook Queen, after all.

When Katherine climbed out of her car back at her home on Figure Eight, she could hear the whirring of generators coming from all around. Figure Eight would never go without power, it was a given. Meanwhile, the cut would long have to suffer the aftermath of the storm.

Before she could even get fully into her driveway, she could see a figure making its way toward her, past the rain pouring down the her car windows. She released a heavy huff, not ready for whatever lecture she was bound to get.

However, when the car door swung open, she was met by the concerned eyes of Todd. Her jaw slacked, before she wired it shut. "Where the hell have you been?" He chastised, his voice lightly traced with concern. "I was scared to death! I-I tried calling and texting and..." he trailed off, squeezing his eyes shut. Todd never wanted Katherine to see him appear weak. Instead, he unfastened her seatbelt and pulled her flush against his chest in a tight squeeze, both ignoring the rain falling around them, despite Katherine looking like a drowned rat.

Katherine winced at the contact—not because of how hard his fingers were digging into her side, but because her brain wouldn't stop screaming at her about last night. "I hate when we fight. I just—I've been so patient with you," his voice came out a whisper, as his fingers dug so hard into her skin that she was sure there would be bruises in his wake. "Am I just not enough for you, anymore?"

Her eyes widened up at him, not realizing how she'd made him feel. "I'm sorry," she choked out. "I'll be better." She repeated the words that's she'd sent in her multitude of texts to him. So many thoughts jumbled through her head, all chorusing how unworthy she was to have him.

He nodded his head knowingly and tucked a hair behind her ear that was plastered against her cheek. She nearly winced, remembering Rafe's hand trailing the same place. "Let's get you inside," he murmured. "It's about to get a lot worse." He looked around at the impending weather, frowning at the distant strike of lightning that lit up the sky.

Todd turned to walk away, intertwining their fingers as he led her into the house. She kept her eyes planted on her feet as they passed through the front door. "Look who I found," he called out with a chuckle.

A frantic Genevieve poked her head around the corner, wide eyed, before filling walking in. Relief flooded her immediately, as she took her daughter into her arms. "Good Lord, Katherine," she breathed, squeezing her tightly. She pulled away, scanning her daughter's face rapidly, searching for any sign of injuries. "Where the hell have you been?"

Katherine swallowed thickly, avoiding eye contact with Todd, who immediately noticed. "I-I told you, I was staying with Sarah." Her shoulders shrugged. Her throat ran dry, as she felt her boyfriends gaze burning into the side of her head. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you."

Genevieve's frown slowly melted away, as she cupped her daughter's face in her hands. "I'm just glad you're okay," she murmured, giving her one final squeeze. "Why don't you go change into some dry clothes," she hummed, ushering her off. Without another word, she disappeared back into the kitchen.

Todd's eyes remained narrowed at his girlfriend, as they walked up the stairs. "So where'd you go last night," he said lowly. "Y'know, since you weren't at my place."

"I stayed at Sarah's," Katherine said with nonchalance, doing her best to mask the way her throat was tightening.

She reached for the doorknob to her room, but before she could open it, Todd spun her around to face him and backed her into the door. "By yourself? Sarah was at Topper's."

Katherine's jaw clenched in frustration. "And where the hell where you," she scoffed. "And don't give me that bullshit about being with Rafe."

Her newfound attitude caught him off guard. "I-w-what are you talking about," he stammered, realization hammering him in the face. "I-I was with Kelce. Text him yourself and ask him."

Katherine rolled her eyes and opened the door to her bedroom. "Yeah, why don't I do that," she scoffed, sarcasm dripping like venom off of the tip of her tongue. She went to close the door in his face, but he stopped it with his foot. "Why did you tell me you were with Rafe?"

"Why are you so worried about me being with Rafe?!" He was doing his best to keep his voice low, but he was struggling.

"I'm not worried about Rafe, I'm worried about you lying to me!"

Todd's fists clenched at his side and his jaw twitched, as he took a menacing step toward her, glowering down at her. He brought one of his hands up to grip her chin tightly and tilt her head up with force. "Don't fucking call me a liar," he muttered, digging into his pocket—the action catching Katherine's eye. "I do everything for you. Put up with your crazy bullshit mood swings and I'm still here." He dropped her face as he pulled his hand out of his pocket, revealing a long velvet box.

Katherine's jaw clenched, immediately feeling guilty for lashing out. How could she possibly be angry? She cheated on him last night...kind of, at least.

Hesitantly, Katherine's dainty fingers gripped the box from him and flipped it open. Laying perfectly poised was a diamond studded bracelet that read Katherine across it. It was stunning.

A shaky sigh fell from her lips. She looked up at him and gave him a small smile. This was love. No matter how much they fought and said things they didn't mean, Todd was always quick on the apology jewelry—at least, that's what Katherine liked to perceive it as.

"It's beautiful," she murmured, holding out her wrist for him to put it on. "I'm sorry. I was being a brat and last night I just got in my head after everything that happened with my parents last year—."

He latched the bracelet, before bringing his hands to her cheek. "We're not your parents," he murmured, stroking her cheeks at the same points he'd only just gripped with anger. "I love you. It's me and you, forever. Okay?"

Tears pricked at Katherine's eyes, as she nodded her head. Her heart wrenched in her chest at his words, as he pulled her into his chest. They weren't her parents. With the given circumstances, that should be a relief, but for all of her life she believed that her parents love was what hung the moon and all of the stars.

They weren't her parents, but just like her father, there he stood with fancy diamonds to say he was sorry. And just like her mother, she plastered a smile on her face and tucked away the voice inside her head that told her he wasn't sorry. That she would be stuck in this vicious cycle for the rest of her life, clawing away from the darkness. She deserved it, after all, especially after sleeping with Rafe.

Authors Note.
I hate Todd so much lol, that's it, that's the post