Anastasia took a few deep breaths once she sat down on the bench at the court and took a sip of her water. "You are good".

A giggle escaped Sarah's lips:"Topper trained me pretty well I guess".
Anastasia's eyes studied Sarah for a good second. There was a frown on her friends face, she was bothered, clearly annoyed by him. But at the same time Sarah still cared about Topper.

"I'll tell you one thing, Sarah", Anastasia spoke up with a reassuring smile,"You'll never get over your first love. But life will show you when you need to level up, every time".

"Hm", Sarah hummed and sat down next to Anastasia,"I don't think Topper is my first love. I don't even know if it is love - was? Whatever".

A few minutes passed. Anastasia knew exactly what love meant. He showed her. And a part of her still longed for him. But she promised that it was over.

"Who was your first love?", Sarah asked. She knew that it was a very personal question, but considering Anastasia was from California her first love would be a stranger to her. "How do you know if it's love?".

Sarah's voice was awkwardly very shaky. She was nervous, Anastasia could tell. Or maybe Sarah was scared of love.

"He was -", Anastasia paused,"Great. God, he was everything I ever wanted at that time in my life. Reckless, a little dangerous but most importantly utterly beautiful. Most handsome man I've ever seen".

"I'd love to see him", Sarah chuckled and Anastasia couldn't help but grin. If she'd only know.

"He made me feel better. A safe place I could run to and hide away. I guess that's what love is: safety, peace". Anastasia sighed. "It didn't last that long - the peace".

"Why?". Sarah was smiling and Anastasia actually felt helpful. Like she'd been helping Sarah just by talking about him.

"I guess 15 was an inconvenient time to be in love". Anastasia's voice was bittersweet. She missed the time when she first met him, when everything felt great. Until everything fell apart.

"I don't think Topper actually loves me, neither do I love him", Sarah answered,"It's all just so black and white".

Anastasia smiled softly and got up:"Love is golden. You'll feel it".

Talking with Sarah felt easy. There was nothing they couldn't talk about. Once the two finished playing, they decided to grab something to eat in the Country Club and take a walk at the beach before heading home.

"Did you hear that?", Anastasia asked Sarah after she could swear she heard someone scream. Once Sarah agreed, Anastasia found herself running into the direction of the sounds.

What she saw was something Anastasia never would've imagined.
Rafe Cameron was beating up Pope with his golf stick. Her friend was laying on the sand, curled up like a ball, screaming in pain.
Anastasia swallowed hard and walked towards Rafe.

Her hazel eyes looked Rafe dead in the eye once she spoke up:"If you won't stop right now, Rafael Jackson Cameron, I will destroy you".

His golf stick dropped the moment Anastasia's voice echoed in his ears; she was cold like ice. Her voice pinched Rafe everywhere and he felt a sharp pain go right through his chest. She shouldn't have seen him like that.

Rafe gazed over to Topper, who was still standing next to him, he had been watching this entire scene. Suddenly the Cameron boy felt fragile. Like he'd break any minute and the only solution was to stand and be strong. He couldn't fall apart in front of his friend or his sister. Not here.

"Oh really?", he scoffed,"What are you going to do, Anastasia Blair Hill?".

Anastasia knew what he was doing; pretending to be strong, prove a point. But she knew how to play this game too.
"Pics or it didn't happen - right?".

A soft chuckle fell of her lips once she raised her hand, showing Rafe her IPhone. "Guess who took some pics?".

"You didn't!", Rafe yelled and he balled his fists. But Anastasia just continued to smile.

"Come on, Topper", Rafe spat towards his friend,"We're leaving".

"Gald you took the hint", Anastasia winked at Rafe and he turned around to leave. He always knew Anastasia was chaos, but never in his entire life was he the one being hit by her force. He used to be on her side.

"How are you feeling?". Anastasia's knees met the sand once she bucked down to Pope, who was still on the ground curled up like a ball. She ran a finger along his forehead to assess the damage. "You have a cut on you forehead".

"I'm already feeling better since you kicked his butt", Pope laughed but immediately regretted laughing once he felt the pain in his stomach.

"Any time", Anastasia chuckled and helped Pope back on his feet. Once he was leaning against her, her hazel eyes met Sarah once again. The blonde was terrified.

"Are you okay? Can you get home safe? I have to take care of Pope", Anastasia asked pretty quickly.

Sarah eyed her friend and the beat up pogue in front of her. What did she just witness? Her brother beat up Pope and Topper just watched? What happened to the guy, who was her boyfriend?
Her head was filled with questions Sarah needed to process. So she just nodded and waved Anastasia goodbye.

"Fuck", Pope groaned when they made their way towards the boat,"They beat me up because of some beer. Dad is going to be so pissed because I couldn't deliver it".

"Pope?", Anastasia's voice was soft and calming,"I'll take care of everything, deliver that beer. Whatever you need, okay?".

Pope eyed Anastasia next to him. She had her arms around his body, keeping him on his feet. And somehow Pope was sure that she even would've carried him back if he wouldn't have been able to walk.

"Thank you, Ana", he spoke up weakly,"I have no idea what I would've done without you".

"Like I said: any time", Anastasia smiled, but it quickly dropped once she saw the boat and JJ on it. Once he saw her and Pope arriving, JJ ran towards his friends.

But Anastasia couldn't help but think about that she left without saying a word to JJ. She disappeared even though he is one of her best friends.
When JJ arrived and helped to get Pope on the boat; when Pope told him the entire story of how he got beat up and in the time he recovered - Anastasia avoided JJs eyes.

Not because she regretted last night - no. She was scared of what JJ would think; what he wanted. Anastasia avoided him in order to avoid talking about their relationship.

But she couldn't avoid him anymore once JJ stood in front of her. Her hazel eyes were glued to Popes body, how's anger had grown and he was now on his way to sink Toppers boat.

"Thank you for helping Pope". His voice gave Anastasia goosebumps remembering last night and how good he felt on top of her.

"He's my friend", Anastasia nodded to herself,"That's what I do for friends".

"Yeah".
JJ took a deep breath. He didn't know what to say. Should he just ask? He wanted to know what last night meant to Anastasia just as much as he wanted to avoid this conversation.

"Did someone already tell you that there's no gold on the wreck?".

"What?!". Her hazel eyes met his watercolor eyes. JJ couldn't help but gaze to her lips once her head whipped around.

"Yeah we stole this like underwater camera this morning and there was nothing on the wreck", JJ explained once he forced himself to turn away and continue to watch Pope,"John B is pretty crushed. Kie is kinda pissed that you stood us up for Sarah. Pope and I had to deliver the groceries. I guess that's why no one has called you yet".

"Oh".

Once Pope came back on the boat - after he sank Toppers which was worth 25000 dollars - Anastasia excused herself and told the boys she'd go to the Chateau later. She had to leave, get back to her car and drive.

On her way she dropped some beer off at the house Pope couldn't go to because of Rafe.
John B was sad because the gold is already gone.
Kiara is mad at her because she did . something with Sarah.
Anastasia needed to process this and figure out a way to fix this.

-

Eventually Anastasia drove down to the Cut and looked for John B, but he was nowhere in the Chateau. She found him sitting on the jetty. His feet were dangling down over the water.

"JJ told me what happened. I'm so sorry", Anastasia spoke up once she sat down next to John B,"Sorry I wasn't there for you".

"It's okay, Ana", John B whispered back,"You're here now".
Anastasia swallowed hardly and rested her head on John Bs shoulder. After some time of comfortable silence, he eventually rested his head on hers.

"I'm pretty sure I messed everything up with Kie". Anastasia's voice was soft and steady, but John B could tell she was pretty exhausted.

"Because you did something with Sarah?", John B asked. He was calm too. Something Anastasia didn't expect after loosing the gold, but was certainly grateful for.

Anastasia nodded and a chuckled fell of John Bs lips.
"Kie loves you, Ana. She's just scared you'll get hurt by Sarah just like she hurt Kiara a year ago. Or that you'll drop Kiara for Sarah just like Sarah let Kiara down".

"And after Pope explained everything about how he got beat up and how you saved his ass, Kiara is gonna understand that you're nothing like Sarah", John B continued,"Just trust me".

"Alright".

Silence surrounded them for some time. Anastasia felt grateful for her friends. She felt at peace with herself whenever she was at the Chateau.

"Did you actually take a picture?", John B laughed,"Because that is like so smart".

"I did", Anastasia giggled,"You should've seen their faces. Topper was just frozen. He didn't do shit".

"And yes I did some research", Anastasia read John Bs mind,"It's currently very complicated, but Topper and Sarah won't last any longer".

"So should I shoot my shot?".

Her green eyes met his hazel brownish ones. She grinned:"Definitely".

"Where are you? John B? Ana?", Kiara's voice was heard from far away.

But before Anastasia or John B yelled back, Anastasia whispered one last thing:"I believe the gold is still here, somewhere. We can find it, John B".

"We will". John B smiled genuinely before shouting back to Kiara, Pope and JJ.