"Come on Marsha," Billie begged as we laid in our bed in our basically empty room, it was some stupid time at night. And Billie and I couldn't sleep, and he was begging for us to go to the beach.

"Billie what if we wake up Tre and mike?"

"We won't we won't!"

"Billie it's stupid o'clock at night and-"

"-please." I saw his puppy eyes lit dimly from the lamplight he had turned on beside our bed.

"Come on don't do that." I laughed, as he carried on. I tried looking away a bit. But his big green orbs boring into mine, I couldn't help it and he knew I couldn't and that's why he did it. "Fine fine!"

"I knew you'd give in," he smirked as he gently kissed my cheek and got out of bed. He threw on a shirt and changed into his jeans as I looked down at what I had on. Joggers and a shirt. I'll just throw a hoodie on and call it an outfit, not like anyone will see me. "Aren't you getting changed?" Billie asked me as he buttoned up his jeans.

"Nah," I shook my head. "I'll just put on a hoodie and go in these."

"Mkay," he shrugged as he grabbed a hoodie from his draws and put it in.

"Can I-"

"-you want one of mine?"

"Yes."

"Here." He laughed as he chucked me over one of his black hoodies as I smiled innocently before putting it on.

We crept silently across the landing, and down the stairs.

"Have you got the keys?" I whispered to him.

"Fuck."

"What?"

"They're in the kitchen."

"Go get them then."

He rolled his eyes before turning to the door that leads to the living room which was next to the kitchen. He opened it slowly trying not to make a noise.

"Shit."

"What?"

"Mike and Tre." He opened the door fully to see mike and Tre were sat on the sofa, watching TV. Well, they were... now they had their heads turned to us.

"What the fuck are you two still doing up?" Mike asked us.

"Well... actually we were just heading out," Billie said awkwardly as he walked through the living room and disappeared into the kitchen.

"Ooh, where you heading?" Tre asked me.

"We were gonna go to the beach."

"The beach? Marsha, you are aware it's one in the morning." Mike said.

"Yeah."

"Which means it'll be dark," Tre added.

"Yeah..."

"And cold?"

"Alright got them," Billie said as he held the keys in his hand coming back into the living room.

"What do you're just gonna leave us?" Mike said getting up off the sofa.

"Yeah, what about us?"

"What you guys wanna come?" I asked.

"Marsha no! I-" Billie was cut off quick my Mike and Tre cheering. They headed out the house before me and Billie did as we all climbed into his car and we began to drive to the beach.

"What do you guys do this often?" Mike asked from the back seat. I went to answer mike but Billie got there before me.

"Yeah. Normally just the two of us."

"What you guys skinny dip!" Tre shouted.

"No! Tre, we don't Skinny dip!" I laughed.

"Then why do you go to the beach?"

"Just to talk."

"That's all? You don't even go in the water?"

"Well," Billie said, I looked over at him to see the smirk creeping upon his face. "Sometimes." I felt myself blush a little. His eyes were still on the road. I looked in front, the road was dark and mostly empty. The only thing lighting up the way were the headlights on billies car. It came across as creepy sometimes, but other times I found it quite cool. But right now I was getting a bad vibe, a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. The car was silent, no one was talking anymore. Which sort of made me feel worse.

We drove for a while before suddenly Billie stopped the car almost immediately causing everyone to bang their head on the car.

"Ah fuck!" I shouted holding my head.

"What the fuck bill?" Mike said getting out his seat and leaning forward.

"Yeah! I just hurt my head."

"It's not my fault!" Billie shouted. Everyone suddenly went silent which confused me, no one was whining anymore about banging their head anymore.

After I let go of my head and looked up I realised there was a deer in the road. Looking straight at us.

"What do we do?" Tre whispered.

"Why are you whispering it can't hear or understand you?" I asked.

"How long is it gonna take for it to move?"

"I don't know mike!" Billie said stressing out.

"It's clearly caught in the headlights," I said. They all looked at me confused.

"What?"

"You've never heard that saying? Caught like a dear in the headlights?" I asked they shook their head still confused as I rolled my eyes. "You idiots."

"So what is it doing? Is it going to attack?" Mike asked worriedly.

"It's not gonna charge at my car it is? If it damages my car I'll drive over it."

"No Billie it won't attack your car."

"Why is it just standing there?" Tre whispered again.

I sighed realising I was gonna have to sit and explain to them. "When a headlight beam strikes deer's eyes that are fully dilated to capture as much light as possible. Deer can't see at all. So right now that deer-" I said pointing to the deer still in the road. "-Can't see a single thing. It's frozen until its eyes can adjust. It doesn't know what to do, so it does nothing."

"So it can't see?" Billie asked me. I nodded.

"So what do we do,"

"Turn the headlights off Bill," Mike said.

"No! We'll be left in the dark."

"Mike's right just turn off the headlights." I agreed.

"Do it Beej!" Tre joined in.

"Do it! Do it! Do it!" We chanted to him.

"Fine!" He shouted annoyed as he turned them off. We sat in his car for a moment in complete dark and silence.

"How long should we leave them off for?" Tre whispered.

"Stop whispering Tre we don't need to!"

"Well sorry, mike but it just seemed more appropriate!"

"Just another second," I said. We sat in the dark in more silence for at least ten more seconds.

"Can I turn them back on now?"

"Yeah, we should be okay."

He turned them on, to see the deer was still there. It quickly looked up at the lights as it was caught in them again.

"Fuck sake move!!" Billie shouted beeping the horn. The deer didn't move which made Billie more annoyed as he carried on honking it.

"Billie stop!" I shouted with my hands over my ears. "Just turn off the headlights again!"

This time he didn't argue, he just turned them off as we sat in silence and dark, again. And once he turned them back on. Thank the lord the deer had gone as Billie began to start the car again. Pissed off.

Me, mike and Tre laughed about it on the way to the beach as Billie just sat in the driver's seat driving silent and pissed off.

Once we finally reached the beach. Mike and Tre ran out and down to the peer as I got out with Billie.

"You okay?" I asked him smiling as I inter winded my fingers with his.

"Yeah, I guess."

"You sure? I thought you wanted to come to the beach?"

"I did," he said. "But not with these idiots." He laughed pointing at mike and Tre. Who Were now at the peer as we were still walking down.

"Aww, they ain't doing anything wrong Beej. They're just having fun."

We reached the peer and all four of us sat at the end of it. I sat between mike And Billie as Tre was on the other side of Billie as we all just talked.

"You remember when we came here as teenagers Billie?" Mike said as he leaned back and talked to Billie across me.

"Which time?" Billie laughed.

"Remember the time where we jumped in at night and you nearly drowned?" Mike laughed.

"You nearly drowned?" I asked him. He looked sort of uncomfortable at the memory being brought up and being spoken about.

"Yeah. But that was ages ago."

"You never told me that!" Tre laughed elbowing Billie.

"Yeah, actually it was supposed to stay between me and mike," Billie said annoyed looking over at mike, who simply just laughed it off.

"What did you do?" I asked mike, who was being more talkative then Billie right now.

"I had to give him CPR."

"So you technically kissed him!" Tre snorted. But mike found it funny too, so did I. But obviously, Billie did not find it very humorous.

"But I thought you could swim?" I asked him. "When was that?"

"Years ago." He replies looking at the sea.

"Did you not know how to swim?"

"No, I did. I just- it doesn't matter."

"Oh... okay." I looked away from him.

"You guys wanna jump in?" Tre asked? Mike shook his head fast and so did I. "What about you Billie?" Tre asked Billie. Who had zoned out. He always seemed to be in his little own state of mind, he was never really in reality. He zoned out a whole lot. Especially when he was uncomfortable.

"What?"

"You coming in?"

"Why not." He shrugged as he stood up.

"Be careful Billie," Mike said to him, but he ignored them as Billie and Tre both moved further down the peer as they took off their shirts and pulled their jeans off. They both stood at the end of the peer laughing like children ready to jump in.

"How come you're not going in?" I asked mike. Who was also looking over at Billie And Tre.

He shrugged looking over at me. "I don't know, I just... I don't know."

"Can you swim?"

"Oh yeah, I can swim, I just... I don't like getting into the sea at night."

"How come? I thought you use to do it with Billie?"

"Yeah," he said looking away from me and to the sea, focusing on it. "I just get scared now." He shrugged. "Ever since Billie nearly drowned its sort of scared me."

"What exactly happened?" I asked mike. I wasn't scared to ask mike, cause I knew he trusted me and I trusted him. And fuck, I knew that Billie sure as hell wasn't gonna tell me.

We heard to splashes as we looked over to see Billie and Tre swimming in the sea laughing.

"It's fucking freezing!" Billie shouted.

"You're telling me!" Tre shouted back chuckling. I looked back over at mike.

"I don't know why it happened," Mike said softly, his tone wasn't the volume it normally was. It was just above a whisper. "Because billies been able to swim since I've known him. And we had swum here before, he had no problem. But I think it was... I think it was a sudden panic attack or something as he jumped in. And he was just frozen and he wasn't swimming and I was talking to him. He wasn't answering me and I realised after a moment that he was struggling. So I pulled him back on to the peer, and I obviously gave him CPR. But it was just us there so I called emergency services and... well they came and got us. And said it was a close call."

"So he nearly died?"

He nodded. "Yeah. If I realised it was a panic attack any later... he would probably be dead."

I didn't know what to say. I suddenly felt pity for Billie. But I knew he hated pity. He had told me when we first met he never wanted a pity party. Not from anyone. But I couldn't help but feel bad.

"But he's okay now," Mike spoke, in a happier tone.

We looked over at him, as he was play fighting with Tre both trying to dunk each other under the water.

"At least you saved him," I said. "That's pretty amazing mike. I mean... you saved a life. Not a lot of people can say they've done that."

"Yeah, I guess." He shrugged. We carried on watching the two of them in the water splash at each other and laughing.

I shook my head and laughed. "He's an idiot."

"But god what would you do without him?" Mike teased nudging me. I laughed pushing him back but realised he was right.

What would I do if mike didn't save Billie in time?

Where would I be? I'd be alone still probably, still living a Normal. Average. Boring life.

And I guess that just made me realise, no matter how much I didn't think I need him. Or in fact anyone... he suddenly just came into my life. But he made it so much better. He came in, and then it was all about him.

Tre and Billie swam over to us. "Come on get in," Billie said holding the peer as he was in the water looking up at me.

"No way, it's cold."

"It's okay once you're in." Tre shrugged.

"I'm good."

After a while. Billie and Tre got out and got dried and got changed again. And we all headed back home, thankfully avoiding any deer.

Once we got in, me and Billie headed into our room. As we got back into bed, it was so unbelievably late. But none of us seemed tired.

"Hey Billie,"

"Yeah?" He said looking away from his phone screen and at me.

"I was- I was talking to mike while you and Tre were in the water. And he told me about the time you nearly... well nearly drowned." I said.

"Yeah?"

"He said you had a panic attack... can I know why?"

He sighed and turned his phone off as he nudged closer to me. "I don't know. I jumped in, and maybe it was the coldness that shocked me a little. And I just sort of froze up, and my mind was thinking back to things. I don't even know what happened but all of a sudden I was with these people who had all this equipment and mike was beside me looking scared."

"Oh, I'm sorry for bringing that up. thank you for telling me."

"That's okay, I'll tell you anything if you asked me." He said putting his head on my shoulder.

I couldn't put into words the way he made me feel. But it was a feeling of ease. A feeling I feel like I've been searching for my whole entire life... and being in his presence made me feel like I had found what I've been looking for. Made me feel like every single time in my life I've been hurt or made a mistake was worth it. And in his company, I forgot about every problem in the entire world. I forgot about the way I use to feel when he wasn't here, or the way my mind use to eat away at me in the silence of the night, the way I felt I would never find the one, the way how my world felt like it was burning down in front of me. But I had forgotten what pain felt like when he was here.