Jo wakes up happy the next morning. She feels well-rested and like she belongs. She quickly gets ready before walking downstairs to look for Jake. 

She finds him sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee and a newspaper. He looks up at her with sleepy eyes and his hair all messy. She can't help but giggle at seeing him like that. The man that seems in control at all times, turns out to be a simple mortal like everybody else.

"Are you laughing at me, missy?", he asks as he raises an eyebrow.

 She pretends to look shocked. "Me? I wouldn't dare." 

She winks at him and walks away giggling to get herself a coffee. As she walks back in and sits down at the table, he folds the newspaper up and puts it away. He looks at her, while deep in thought and she doesn't dare to speak. It feels like it's better to wait till he is ready to start the conversation.

He starts to talk after a few moments of silence. "Um... I think I need to tell you something about myself. But I am not really sure how to start. And I haven't talked about it much..." 

He runs his fingers through his hair, suddenly looking very insecure. She is not sure what to say or do, or if she wants to hear what he is about to tell her. The pain behind his eyes is evident, so it has to be something bad. 

He takes a deep breath and starts talking while avoiding eye contact. 

"I think you noticed yesterday... I was a little emotional when you told me about your day and how you felt like you were meant to end up here... I was. Emotional I mean. There was such a big change in you, compared to when you stumbled in here for the first time. I was so scared for you when I saw you that day. And I thought I recognized something. Which made me even more worried..."

He takes a sip from his coffee and carefully looks up at her to see how she is handling his story so far. She looks at him with soft eyes and nods at him, trying to get him to tell her more about himself. He starts talking again, making sure he doesn't stop, because she needs to hear this. And he sure as hell needs to talk to someone about it. 

"I had a sister, Jenny. She was seventeen when she died." 

He hears Jo hold her breath and his gaze drops to the table, afraid of breaking if he looks into her eyes.

"She ran away from home when she was sixteen. Well...she ran to a guy when she was sixteen. I had a really bad feeling about this guy. But I was already working and living on my own at the time. And our mother.. well simply put, they weren't getting along. To be honest I wasn't the best brother I could have been around that time in my life either. Very busy doing my own thing. Not realizing what was happening until it was too late." 

He takes a sip of his coffee and Jo can see a lot of emotion in his eyes. She would love to hug him but is afraid it will stop him from talking. And he really looks like he needs to talk about this.

His voice cracks as he continues his story. "My mother called me a few times. Telling me she was worried about Jenny. But I wasn't really listening to her. Then one night when I was about to leave the house to go out for drinks with my friends, my phone rang. It was Jenny. She whispered an address and told me to hurry. My heart froze, I just knew she was in serious trouble. I raced over there and when I arrived...." 

A tear slowly slides down his cheek, "I found her laying on the floor of her apartment. She was gone. My little sister was gone. I was too late." 

His shoulders start shaking as he covers his face with his hands. 

Jo gets up quickly and wraps her arms around him, planting a kiss on his hair. This big, strong man looks so lost, that all she can think of is hold him tight. She rubs his back as he cries for a long time before finally taking a jagged breath. 

He tries to say something but fails. 

Jo lets go of him, grabs a glass, and fills it with water, handing it to him while looking him over. She sits down next to him and places her hand on his. 

He looks at her with his eyes still full of tears and takes a few sips of the water. He whispers. "Thank you. But there's more..." 

"I think I know. It was the guy she ran to, right? He wasn't good to her..." 

Her own eyes start to fill up with tears as well and her throat closes from all the emotions rushing through her. 

Jake pulls her onto his lap and holds her tight, both crying silently, comforted by each other's presence. 

They both calm down slowly and become aware of the position they are sitting in. Jake clears his throat and Jo gets up quickly with an embarrassed smile. To find something to do, she grabs both coffee mugs to refill them. 

Jake thanks her with a soft smile as she hands him his mug. They drink coffee in silence, both lost in their own thoughts.

"I am sorry. I had no idea how much this was still tormenting me. I didn't mean to make you feel bad. You don't deserve this", he says softly. He looks at Jo with a worried look on his face. 

She stares back at him with a fire in her eyes, "Shut up Jake! You made me feel a lot of things! But don't you dare feel sorry about opening up to me! It was... it was... I feel most of all honored that you trust me enough to tell me. And I understand why you helped me so much better. If anything, I should be the one apologizing for bringing my life story to your doorstep and making you relive your own haunted memories."

Jake drinks his coffee with a wrinkle between his eyebrows. "We should stop saying sorry for something life did to us. Maybe we were supposed to meet. It seems like we could help each other heal in a way. And I hope you can tell me more about you and what you went through with your ex someday. I never got to hear my sister's story that led to her death."

He pushes his chair back and gets up, "I'm off to get showered and dressed. Get ready, because we're going outside for a bit. I think some fresh air will do us both good." 

*****

Jake comes down the stairs, all washed and dressed and Jo runs upstairs to put her boots on. When she comes down again, she finds Jake is putting some things from the fridge in a picnic basket before walking towards the door. She follows him outside, a feeling of excitement coming over her.

Jake locks the door behind them and holds out his hand to her. She puts her hand in his and follows him with a smile. 

They continue their walk in silence until they reach the beach. Jake pulls a plaid from the basket and spreads it out on the sand, inviting her to sit down on it. He pulls some containers filled with fruit and a bottle of orange juice from the basket. He sits down next to her, opens the bottle, and takes a sip, before handing it to her. 

She takes a sip of the juice and hands it back to him in silence.

There's something wonderful about this silence. Sitting next to each other, looking at the ocean, eating some fruit, and no need to speak at all. She feels completely relaxed and strangely protected by the man next to her. She takes the time to investigate her feelings for him and eventually comes to the conclusion that she has never felt like this before. 

She is not in love with him, she doesn't feel like kissing him, but she does feel something. Love? But a special kind. It confuses her and she lets out a sigh without realizing it. 

Jake looks at her, seeing the different emotions move over her face. Did he scare her away? Did he go too far? He just met this girl and doesn't even know her full story yet. 

He should have kept his mouth shut... But that became possible. The way he feels about her... Like he has to protect her, keep her safe. Like his sister sent her or something. He shakes his head, looks at Jo again, and hears her sigh. She feels miles away from him, yet sitting so close. 

He tries to find the words to say to her and eventually speaks. "You will always be safe around me. And I'm not trying to make you my girlfriend, don't worry. I could never... I mean, you feel like a sister to me." 

He mumbles a few more words while he stares at Jo, a smile slowly forming on her lips.

"I was just wondering how I felt about you, to be honest. And I never had a big brother, but I would love to have one like you, to keep me safe." A tear rolls down her cheek as she looks at him with so much love in her eyes, that a warm feeling spreads through his body. 

He wipes her tear away with his thumb and smiles back at her. "You've got it! You have a big brother from now on! "

Jo turns her head towards the ocean and sees a familiar surfer walk up to them in the distance. He is without his surfboard this time, wearing a white T-shirt that shows off his muscles nicely and a pair of ripped jeans. He is holding his shoes in one hand, the other casually in his pocket. 

Jake immediately notices a change in Jo and looks at her with curiosity. Ah, could Dart have been the surfer she was talking about yesterday? Jake waves at him to grab his attention but Jo doesn't seem to notice, she keeps staring at the blonde guy. Jake smirks when he hears her hold her breath as Dart sits down in front of them with a crooked smile on his face. 

He speaks with a slight accent that Jo can't place, "Hey Jake! Finally taking some time away from the bar to see the ocean?" 

"Hey, Dart! Yeah, needed some fresh air and so did she." He nods at Jo. 

Dart's green eyes move to Jo and she immediately blushes. He holds his hand out to her and introduces himself. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude. I'm Dart! I live on the beach when I am not working." 

Jo places her hand in his big one, blushing even more as she stutters. "I'm J-Jo." Her brain refuses to work and she can't seem to come up with more to say. 

Dart stares at her for a little too long. "And how do you two know each other?" He looks at Jake and the food on the plaid, lifting an eyebrow as he can't figure out what is going on exactly. 

Jake thinks for a second. "In short, she stumbled into my cafe not too long ago. I gave her a warm bed to sleep in and have been using her various skills to my advantage ever since." 

Dart looks at him with his mouth slightly open, more confused than he already was a minute ago. Jo tries to stop herself from laughing when she sees Dart's face and realizes Jake is doing exactly what a big brother would do. She can't keep her laughter down anymore and falls against Jake laughing, as Jake pulls her close, laughing even louder.

Dart looks at them, still a bit confused, rubbing his neck and smiling sheepishly. They seem really comfortable around each other, like a brother and sister. He looks at Jo, trying to figure out more about her, as his eyes land on her scar. He frowns a bit when he realizes it's a recent one. 

He looks back into her eyes and she looks back at him. He stares into her blue eyes for a while and reads a lot of sorrow in them, even though she is still laughing with Jake. He better tread carefully with this girl, especially if Jake cares about her as much as he seems to. 

She really intrigues him though but since he never had a girl that truly loved him back, he tells his heart to calm down. It's been broken so many times, that it will probably never heal completely. And giving it to a girl like her is a stupid thing to do. The same goes for playing with her feelings for that matter. But Jake gets up before he has time to come up with an excuse to leave them.

"Dart, do you mind staying with Jo for a bit? I need to run some errands and I don't want to bore Jo. I won't be long I promise." 

He walks off before Dart has time to answer him. Jake smiles to himself, knowing Dart well enough to know that he will stay with Jo. Even though he saw on Dart's face that he was about to run away. He whistles as he walks towards the shops.

Jo freezes a bit as Jake walks off, leaving her with this handsome guy, who seems just as uncomfortable as she is. She takes a strawberry from the container next to her and puts it in her mouth to try and compose herself but feels his gaze on her lips. 

Her nerves make it hard to chew and swallow the fruit and she closes her eyes for a second. She licks her lips automatically and opens her eyes, only to catch him still staring at her lips. He doesn't seem to be able to do anything else, so she decides to try and speak. "Dart, is that short for anything? I mean it's a bit of an odd name, isn't it?" 

He breaks his gaze from her lips, looks into her eyes, and replies with a hoarse voice. "Um, yeah. It's short for D'Artagnan. But over here Dart is easier." 

He says his full name in perfect French and Jo realizes he is not from here either. 

"What about your name? Is Jo short for anything?" 

"It's short for Johanna. But no one ever uses my full name. I am more comfortable with Jo, it's nice and short, easy in all languages." 

He smiles at her while looking her over from head to toe. She is definitely interesting, he would love to learn more about her, but he should talk to Jake first. She sure stirs him somehow and he just has to know, "What is Jake to you? I mean..." 

He regrets asking the question, it's none of his business. But Jo answers all the same. 

"Jake is like a big brother to me."

In the distance he sees Jake walking back towards them with a woman by his side. It looks like Maria from where he is sitting, the woman that owns the local clothing store. As they come closer he hears Jake speak. "She is over there with Dart. I really appreciate your help, Maria." 

Maria smiles and stops near Jo, looking down at her before holding out her hand. "Get up girl and let me see you." 

Jo gets up a little insecure and Maria tells her to spin around. "Hmm, you are a lot prettier than you think. And those clothes don't do your figure any favors. Come with me!" She grabs Jo by the hand and pulls her along. 

Jo looks back at Jake with a confused smile.

Jake smiles back and shouts after them. "Just go with it. She is a sweetheart, I swear. And either way, you will have some new clothes by the end of it." 

He chuckles as he watches Jo being pulled towards the store by Maria. 

He turns his head to Dart, who looks totally confused again. Jake slaps him on the shoulder and invites him over to the cafe for a coffee, talking a bit about Jo on the way over. He's making sure he doesn't share too much because the last thing he wants to do is betray her trust. But he wants to make Dart understand that he can't mess with her. He will kick his ass if he does.

Jo gets pulled into a really cute boutique, packed with clothes in all styles and colors. Maria talks a mile a minute as she pulls clothes from the racks and shelves, and places them in a dressing room in the corner. 

"Jake told me how much you needed some new clothes and frankly, I need someone to wear them. So I asked him to take me to you. Why don't you try the first items on while I go grab my camera." 

Did she just say camera? But Maria is gone already. 

Once inside the dressing room, Jo decides to just go with it. She looks at the clothes and decides to try a little black skater dress on first. The top is made of lace and shows part of her red bra through it. She looks at herself in the mirror and can't believe her own eyes; she looks good in this dress. And that's a thought she never had about herself.

She hears Maria come back into the store. "Are you wearing something yet?" 

Jo gets out of the dressing room, insecurity showing all over her face.

Maria looks her over and thinks for a second. "We should put your hair up and you should lose the bra. It's better to not wear one with this dress. And those boots? I actually like them under it, it gives you an edge. What do you think about it yourself?"

Jo stares at the woman in shock, not sure what to say. 

Maria notices her nervousness and decides to take control of it all. She pulls up a chair and tells Jo to sit down. Before she knows it, Maria has undone her braid and pinned all her hair on her head with a lot of bobby pins and pulled a few curls lose, to frame Jo's face. 

Maria hands her a jewelry box and tells her to pick out some jewelry she likes as she runs off again. Jo stares down at the box and sees a pair of beautiful Scorpio earrings and a long necklace with a hammer pendant on it. 

She strokes the necklace absentmindedly, but Maria notices it immediately and grabs it from the box to hang it around her neck. She also hands her the Scorpio earrings, so Jo can put them into her ears.

Maria stands in front of Jo looking at her and takes her glasses off, before putting some red lipstick on Jo's lips, and creating a dark grey line around her eyes, finishing it off with some mascara. Maria hands Jo her glasses back and seems really pleased with herself. 

She grabs her camera and takes a picture of Jo.

"W-what are you doing?" 

Maria smiles and replies: "You look so pretty that I had to take a picture. You make that dress look good. Would you mind being my model for the new collection?" 

"Me, a model? Do you normally wear glasses too?", Jo asks amused and shocked at the same time. There's no way she's pretty enough to model.

Maria stares at her, not sure what to think. She turns the camera to show Jo the picture she just took. "Look at it closely, sweetie. Look at it like it's someone else if you have to, and tell me what you see. Because I see a gorgeous woman and I'd be honored if she would wear my clothes." 

Jo blinks, blushing deeply as she looks at the picture. She must admit that if it was a girl she didn't know, she would think she looked pretty. And would probably wish she could look like that. 

And that's when something clicks, a smile breaks through on her face that makes her eyes sparkle. 

"Yeah, sweetie. I am not blind. I am right! Now come on, take off that bra and pose for me!" 

It's all smiles and fun for the next hour or so, Jo trying on a ton of outfits and Maria taking even more pictures. The last outfit Jo tries on is super skinny black jeans with a short, sleeveless dark grey top on them, her army boots, and the jewelry she picked to make it complete. 

Jo looks at herself in the mirror, twisting and turning as she smiles at her own reflection. Her butt looks amazing in these jeans, especially with the short top not covering it. A tiny piece of red lace shows as she looks down at her cleavage but it doesn't bother her at all. 

She smiles back at herself with newfound confidence. 

Maria walks over to her with a dark-red, silk scarf and laces it through the belt loops of her jeans, tying it to the side with a bow. "Perfection!" 

Maria claps her hands and takes a few more pictures. 

Jo stares at herself in the mirror again and starts to believe what Maria sees. She dances in front of the mirror, swaying her hips, feeling a bit sexy even. 

Maria fills a bag with some of the clothes Jo tried on with a soft smile on her lips. She knows she helped the girl in more ways than one and that makes her feel good about herself. Jake knows more about women than she gave the man credit for. 

Jo walks over to Maria at the counter with a bit more confidence in her step.

"So, do you regret coming here, sweetie?" 

Jo shakes her head. "Not at all! I am sorry if I was difficult at first, I just... didn't see what you were seeing. I am still not sure I fully do. But I'm getting there." 

She walks around the counter and hugs Maria lovingly. "Thank you so much!" 

Maria blinks, a bit taken aback by the spontaneous hug. She quickly composes herself and hands Jo the bag of clothes she filled. "Take this as a gift from me, wear them often, and tell everyone where you got them!" 

She winks at Jo, pushing her towards the door. "Now go find Jake and give everyone in that cafe a heart attack!" 

Maria giggles as she watches Jo walk away, heads turning left and right around her.

Jo feels like a new person as she hurries over to the cafe. She can't wait to show Jake her new look and she really needs to sit down and have a drink. Being a model is hard! She chuckles and sees the cafe in the distance. 

The minute she opens the door and walks in, the entire cafe goes silent. 

A bit unsure of what is going on, she lingers on the threshold, searching for Jake with her eyes. She finds him staring at her from behind the bar with his mouth ajar. At the bar, sitting on a stool is Dart, looking even more shocked than Jake does. 

She slowly walks towards them and Jake is the first to snap out of it, placing a hand on his chest, like he's been shot. "Damn girl. You look beautiful! I better keep you behind this bar from now on!" 

He laughs at his own joke and notices Dart's still frozen in time. He slaps him on the shoulder. "What do you think Dart?" 

Dart rubs his face trying to break the spell she put him under. "Yeah. Gorgeous!" 

Jo smiles slightly, assured Maria was right. She does look great! 

She sits down on the stool next to Dart and winks at him. Is that a slight blush she sees? He smiles back at her with his crooked smile, still not able to speak. "Can I get something cold to drink Jake? I am really thirsty from all the modeling." 

Both guys look at her with a raised eyebrow, but she decides to keep the details to herself. Maria told her she might use some of the pictures online and in a local magazine. She also promised to show them Jo first and it would be fun to see the men shocked again. 

Jake places a glass in front of her and she takes a sip from it happily, letting out a soft sigh.

Jake looks her over and a feeling of pride takes over. She took some big steps with Maria. He should thank Maria properly for her help. Jo looks nothing like the broken girl who walked into his bar just a few days ago. 

He turns his gaze to Dart and sees he's completely under her spell, something he doesn't seem to want. They talked for a while when Jo was with Maria but Jake didn't get to the bottom of Dart's story. That guy has his own issues, but he might be just what Jo needs and the other way around. 

He better let them figure it out on their own though. They're probably both not ready for it yet. As he finishes his thought, Dart gets up and mumbles, "I have to go. I'll be back some time." He leaves a few bills on the bar and basically runs out. 

Jo turns around to watch him leave, with a sad look in her eyes. She turns back to Jake and looks into his eyes. "Why did he leave so fast?" 

Jake smiles at her softly. "Probably because you look so gorgeous, just as he was trying to keep his distance from you."

Jo frowns and asks: "Distance? From me? Why?" 

Jake rubs his chin thinking about what to say to her. "Um, I don't want to spill something he told me in confidence. But believe me, when I say, it is not because he doesn't like you. He is very interested. But he has his own demons to deal with." 

Jake sure hopes she leaves it at that, afraid he might have said too much already. 

Jo's eyebrows pull up as she thinks about Jake's words. "Hmm, okay. I won't ask for more details. I guess I will have to find out more myself."

Jake leans back, relieved she doesn't press him for more information about Dart. 

He watches the last guests leave and decides to close up early today. Everyone needs a night to themselves sometimes. And tonight he hopes to talk to Jo about her ex. He is both curious and afraid to find out more. But he needs more details in case it comes back to haunt her somehow. 

He grabs his phone and orders a pizza. He takes two beers from the fridge and hands one to Jo, raising his in a toast. "Cheers to the gorgeous woman sitting across from me. You even look a bit better behind those eyes." 

Jo is surprised for a second and then smiles back at him. She is starting to get used to his perceptiveness. She drinks her beer, a bit lost in thought. Thinking about her parents, Mark, Tony, and how she ended up here.

"I was going to offer a penny for your thoughts, but it looks like they would cost a lot more. Even so, I would like to know more about you. Whatever you feel like sharing." 

Jake looks at her with so much love, that she starts telling him about losing her dad and what he meant to her. How she lost herself and how she and her mother drifted apart. She also tells him about moving into a tiny apartment and working at the restaurant without anything of a social life besides that. 

She finishes her beer and speaks in a broken voice. "If you get me another one, I'll tell you about Mark, the guy I ran from." 

Jake gets another beer and takes a big swig from his, trying to prepare his nerves. 

She takes a few sips, before talking in a monotone voice, "He was a regular at the restaurant. All the girls were into him. But he kept asking me out and I kept turning him down. I was still so lost and sad, there was no room in my heart for anyone. 

Anyway, one night my boss convinced me to go out with him. So I did. It was the most amazing date I have ever been on. He was so kind, romantic, considerate, and very handsome. Anything a girl could wish for. I fell for him hard and fast, holding on to his love like it could save my life. 

He bought me a ginger cat, who I named Tony..."

Jake watches her face light up at the memory of the cat. 

"I loved that cat so much and much to Mark's annoyance, the cat worshiped me. Always laying on top of me and growling at Mark. Tony was a lot smarter than I was, I should have trusted his instincts." 

She takes a deep breath and when he sees her face turning pale, Jake's heart drops. He can tell her bad memories are threatening to drown her and he puts his hand on hers in an attempt to encourage her to go on. 

In a soft voice, she rapidly talks about the bad things that happened. 

How it all started by yelling at her if she did something wrong. By calling her fat and making her so miserable that she stopped eating altogether. 

"It got worse as time went on, he grabbed me by my hair, regularly beat me and forced himself on me whenever he felt like it."

With barely a voice left she tells him about the night Tony died, the night she ran out of the apartment and ended up flying to LA.

She rests her arms on the bar, drops her head on top of them, and closes her eyes, exhausted from reliving the memories and the pain she still feels deep inside. 

She doesn't notice Jake walking out of the door to meet the pizza delivery guy. 

He places the pizza on a table outside and punches the wall. He has to calm down somehow before going back in. The last thing he wants to do is to scare Jo. But dear God he feels like killing that Mark guy. How can a man break a girl like that? 

She might never recover from what he did to her and the scar will be there forever to remind her. She thought that guy loved her.... 

He lets out a long line of swearwords, takes a deep breath, and grabs the pizza to go back in. 

He finds Jo sitting on the floor, hugging her knees and her cheeks wet from all of the pain spilling out in the form of tears. Seeing her like that breaks his heart.

He walks into the kitchen to find the plaid they took to the beach and spreads it out on the floor next to her. He places the pizza on it and sits down behind her, gently pulling her back against his chest. 

He softly whispers to her. "You should try to eat something." 

Jo lifts her head in surprise, she was so lost in the pain of her memories that she has no clue how the pizza got here or how she ended up against Jake's chest. She leans back against him and tries to get her breathing under control. 

Jake grabs a slice of pizza and holds it out to her. She takes a bite and can't help but let out a soft moan and taking the slice from him, moving to the side to give him room to grab a slice for himself. 

They eat in silence but Jake keeps checking to see if Jo's not breaking down again. She seems to relax more by the minute and eventually smiles at him a bit.

There are two slices of pizza left but Jo slides the box towards Jake. "I am stuffed. I won't be able to get up for at least an hour." 

She pats her stomach and giggles at the sight of Jake devouring the last two pieces in a few bites. 

He looks up at her, wondering if he heard that right. She seems a lot lighter but he's afraid to say something, worried she might slip back into her painful memories. 

She stares out of the window and starts singing softly: "I want to love, I want to live, I don't know much about it, I never did... I leave the light on..." 

Jake gets up to get two more beers and sits back down close to her, handing her one of them. 

She looks up at him, stares into his eyes, trying to thank him with her mind. 

He nods and sips his beer, keeping a close eye on her. She's clearly getting sleepy and tries to fight it. Telling him about it all must have drained her energy.

She falls asleep against his shoulder and he sits there looking at her for a while before eventually carrying her upstairs and tucking her into her bed. He brushes the hair from her face and whispers. "I will keep you safe for as long as I live. I promise."

He runs down the stairs, grabs his keys, and locks the door behind him, running to the gym around the corner. In desperate need to let off some steam. He tried to stay as calm as possible for her but it was damn hard and trying to keep it all down made him even angrier.

He rushes into the gym, grabs some boxing gloves, and starts punching the boxing bag like he's trying to kill it. 

Dart sits on a bench on the other side of the gym, relaxing after his workout. He watches Jake with his mouth open because he's never seen Jake like this. The guy is always calm and collected.

What made him so angry? He's not sure he wants to find out and keeps his distance. Dart grabs his water bottle and drinks from it, still looking at Jake, who seems to have calmed down a bit. 

He saunters over to Jake and offers him his water. Jake takes it and drinks until the bottle's empty. He mumbles a thank you and sits down on a bench behind him. 

Dart sits down next to him, unsure what to say or do. Jake looks like he could use a friend though. And the guy has always been kind to him, the least he can do is return the favor. 

He asks carefully: "What has gotten you so worked up?" 

Jake looks up at him and Dart jumps back a bit when their eyes meet. Jake's pupils are still full of rage and pain. 

Jake speaks with a broken voice, breathing heavily, "The scar on Jo's cheek? Her ex did that to her. And a lot worse. I can't tell you about it without breaking her trust but I truly felt like killing him after she told me about it. She ran from The Netherlands one night and ended up in my cafe, broken and lost." 

He stops talking and takes a deep breath. "I said too much. I just learned about this all myself, I can't betray her by telling you." 

He looks Dart in the eyes and sees a reflection of his own anger in there. He's surprised and pleased at the same time, Dart clearly cares more about Jo than he wants people to know.

Dart gets up and slaps Jake on the shoulder. "Come on old man! Let's go for a run!" 

Jake follows him outside towards the beach and both of them start running as fast as they can, side by side without saying a word, just clearing their minds and exhausting their bodies. 

Eventually, they both collapse onto the sand, breathing heavily and staring at the ocean. 

Dart is the first to break the silence. "I am not right for her man, with my past and hers... I could never do right by her. It's not a good idea. But I sure am glad she has you." 

He sighs and stares at the ocean again. 

Jake looks at the man next to him, suddenly thinking he looks like a boy at this moment. "How can you be so sure? Your past has made you who you are right now but it shouldn't hold you back. The same goes for her. But the first man she loves after this should be the right one. She can't handle another bastard who breaks her heart." 

He looks at Dart as he asks: "Are you one?" 

Dart's eyes connect with his as he mumbles, "Probably." 

Dart stays silent for a while and then continues, "I have a past that is out there forever. I'm not saying I regret it... But it will always be something people judge me for. And girls either want to have sex with me because of it or are disgusted by it. It never ends well, they all end up leaving me. Love is never part of the deal, no matter how hard I try." 

Dart surprises himself by talking about it with Jake. He never talks about this kind of stuff. And he doesn't want to go into too much detail, because if Jake doesn't know about his past, he wants to keep it that way. He likes the guy.

"You think I don't know about it, Dart?" 

"You do?" 

Jake nods and looks at the ocean. 

"Everybody knew, the second you moved here. All the women in town were talking about it and all the guys were annoyed by it. But gossip like that doesn't last. You are not your job. You prove the kind of man you are every day. By feeding the homeless, helping at the shelter, adopting a bunch of cats nobody wanted. Man, there's nothing wrong with you. You are a kind guy, attentive to everyone in need. Not a mean bone in your body, I'm sure." 

Dart clears his throat and gets up, not sure what to think of Jake right now. His very close friends and family are the only ones who see the real guy inside. And he was certain not a single person out here saw it. 

He starts running the other way, to deal with his emotions. 

Jake watches him run off and slowly gets up to walk back home.

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