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River sighs as she walks away from her family. They had been partying all day and while she could admit she was having a good time, she needed a breather. Most of these people, she hadn't seen all year and had no desire to be around, but she wouldn't start anything with her parents.

As she walks closer towards the water, she can see someone heading towards her. They stumbled a little as they plopped down in the sand by the water.

It was only a few seconds before she recognized who it was, "Dakota?" The blonde looks up as River continues towards him, "What the hell are you doing out here? Where's Liz?"

"I don't know. Back at the house." He slurs as he takes another sip of his drink. River's brows furrow as he set it back down. She takes in his disheveled hair and red cheeks.

"You look terrible." She chuckles

"Thanks because that's exactly what I needed." He says sarcastically. River sighs as she sits by him.

"What's up?"

He shrugs, "Nothing."

"It's something because you usually have a better comeback than that."

"Don't you hate me? Since when did you start caring?"

"Okay, asshole." River says, "I'm asking because you look like you could kill yourself, but excuse me for actually being nice to you for once."

It's silent for a little while before Dakota sighs, "My mom showed up. With my dad." He finishes as he takes a sip of his drink.

"Oh." River mutters. She knew the animosity between the twins and their dad because of Liz crying to her about it a couple of summers ago. She also knew that there was a greater issue with Dakota and his dad.

"I mean. He just shows up and expects everything to be okay." He scoffs, "Like he just thinks he can come in and out whenever it's convenient for him."

River stays quiet as he continues, "He's been gone for years. Barely texts or calls. Doesn't even send a birthday card sometimes, but he shows up here and just expects us to be happy about it." He shakes his head as he looks down at the sand.

"Maybe your mom thought that you guys could talk. Work through it." River tries. Dakota chuckles as he looks back up.

"My sister cried in my arms for hours.." He pauses, "because of him. She waited for hours for him to come pick us up. She was talking about it for a week before and she woke up early as hell just to wait for him."

River watched as he took another sip of his drinking downing the rest, "And he never showed up. Didn't even give a reason why, just said he'd make it up to us. And it wasn't the first time, but something that day was different. I knew from that day on, I'd never forgive him. For anything." He shakes his head as he looks at River who already has her eyes on him, "Not to mention all the shit he's said to me, but none of that even matters."

He sniffles as he looks back out to the water. River watches with sad eyes, "I mean he can't just-" He says as the tears start to fall, "walk back in whenever. I'm not gonna let him hurt us again."

River pulls him in by his shoulder. He lets her as he lays his head in the crook of her neck. He cries harder as she wraps her arms around him.

"I'm not gonna let him hurt her again." He cries

"Shh, it's okay." She whispers as his shoulders shake when he cries harder. River never thought she'd ever comfort Dakota, but seeing him finally express himself in a way that didn't come across as cocky or arrogant was refreshing to her. She also knew that despite what he might say, he needed comfort.

"Not trying to make this all about me, but I know how you feel." She mutters. She takes his silence as a sign to continue, "My parents spend a lot of time away from home and most of the time, I feel like it's on purpose."

Dakota sits up from River's shoulder. His brows drawn inward as he looks at her, "Liz said your parents work a lot."

"They do, but I know they don't work that much." She says, "It used to bother me, but not anymore."

"Why?"

"Because it's only because they want me to be like these prissy pink debutantes that I'm not and I'm never gonna be." She shrugs, "And they only had one shot, so that really pissed them off."

Dakota chuckles as he shakes his head bringing a smile to River's face, "That's exactly what I thought you were like, too. A prissy pink debutante."

"Well, that's unfortunate because I'm not." She says as she stands up, "You probably would've known that if you hadn't ruined my shirt."

Dakota smiles as she holds her hand out to him. He takes it before she pulls up him, "It was an accident."

"Doesn't matter. It was an expensive shirt." She shrugs

Dakota looks down at her as she tucks hair behind her ear. It was then that River realized how close they were. It seemed Dakota noticed too, but hadn't made the effort to move.

River clears her throat as she steps away from him, "Come on before your sister starts freaking out."

Dakota wastes no time in following behind her.

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To say that River was struggling would be an understatement. It seemed like all the alcohol Dakota had consumed finally caught up to him. She didn't know how many times she had to stop him from running out to the ocean or just simply falling out on the sand, but she knew she had never been happier to see the beach house.

"Dakota, it's like 20 more feet and you can fall out on the dock for all I care." She groans

"I'm tired."

"I get that, but I can't carry you. So, you have to walk."

Dakota whined as she yanked at his arm to pull him to the house. They finally made it by the pool before Dakota stopped again.

"Dakota-"

"Yo, Liz!" Dakota shouts. The girl jumped from her place on the dock with Conrad. River tried holding him by his arm to keep him still, but she was struggling.

"Dakota, what the hell are you doing?" Liz shouts

"I'm-" He pauses and looks to the pool, "I'm gonna jump in the pool."

River's eyes widen. He was just tired 30 seconds ago. She barely had time to react before he started taking his shirt off, "Dakota. No!"

Conrad chuckles as Liz sighs deeply, "God damn it, Dakota." She mutters as she makes her way down the dock. Conrad not too far behind her.

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