I groan and sit up, reaching clumsily into my pockets and pulling my ringing phone out. I press the 'accept call' button and bring the phone up to my ear. "Linc! Where are you? Are you okay?" Payton yells through the phone. I move my phone back slightly, not wanting to become deaf from all these people screaming at me constantly. 

"I'm fine, what's up?" I ask groggily, rubbing the sleep from my eyes with my free hand. I hear her sigh from the other end of the phone. "Linc, it's three in the morning." She states bluntly. I sit up straighter and check the time on my phone and surely enough, it's three thirteen in the morning.

I groan and shake my head, knowing that I need to stop falling asleep when I come here or I'm going to keep Payton awake until three in the morning every night and that wouldn't be a good thing. "Can you pick me up at the boardwalk?" I ask her softly.

I hear shuffling on the other end of the phone and then a few grumbles from Payton about not being able to find her shoes before she replies. "I'll be there in half an hour," she tells me before hanging up. I stand up and put my phone in my pocket before walking out of the cave.

I stand outside for a minute and watch as a few dolphins jump out of the water, the moonlight reflecting against their backs as they gracefully leap out of the ocean. After a bit I leave, knowing that I still have to go to the lockers and grab my stuff before Payton gets here.

I climb back up over the rocks, taking longer than usual because I just woke up and I really don't fancy slipping down the rocks and knocking myself out tonight. I jump down on the other side and walk down the deserted beach.

The seasonal umbrellas that some places have for rent are firmly planted in the ground across the beach, most of them closed up for the night by the shop owners. Some are still left open and if I wasn't in a hurry to get to the lockers so I could meet Payton on time, I would have stopped to close them.

I see the light of the locker place in the distance and I start off into a sprint, enjoying the feeling of the cool breeze on my face. I stop in front of the place and open the doors, walking in and up to the front desk. "A little late to be on the beach isn't it?" The lady at the front desk says as she turns around to get my key.

"I fell asleep," I tell her sheepishly. She smiles at me and hands me the key to my locker. "It's okay, I'm just teasing you. Everyone falls asleep on a beach at some point," she says to me. I nod and walk past her and into the locker room.

I slide the key into the lock and open the locker, quickly taking out my shoes and my wallet. I put my wallet into one of my pockets and walk out, leaving the key on the desk and thanking the lady sitting there. She waves as I walk out and I wave back before walking up the stairs to the boardwalk.

The boardwalk isn't nearly as hot as it is when the sun is out so I opt to just carry my shoes to the car with me, not really seeing any point in putting them on. I look into the shop windows as I pass by, noting how different the whole place looks in the middle of the night compared to how busy and bright it is during the day.

I subconsciously walk a bit faster as I walk by my father's shop, not wanting to be anywhere near it unless I have to be. The parking lot is only a two minute walk from where my father's shop is and I make it there in no time.

I look around the practically empty parking lot, not seeing Payton's car anywhere. I sit down on the curb and set my shoes down next to me before pulling my phone out of my pocket, seeing that Payton said three minutes ago that she should be here in five minutes.

I shut my phone off and look around the eerie parking lot, leaning against the light post behind me as I wait for Payton to pick me up. There's only three cars in the lot, as there's only a couple places that are open overnight on the beach and there's another parking lot near the hotel.

I check my phone again and see that four minutes have passed by, but there's still no sign of Payton. I sigh softly and look around again, wondering if she got caught in traffic. "There's no traffic this late at night," I mumble to myself as I grab my shoes and stand up.

The light post behind me starts flickering and I groan, realizing how this situation is probably in some horror movie. I tap my foot against the pavement, willing Payton to drive faster and get here before I absolutely freak out.

Tires squeal as they round the corner and Payton pulls up in her car. She stops in front of me and rolls down her window, leaning out and looking at me. "If you were in a horror movie, you'd be dead right now," she points out, gesturing up at the flickering lamp post I'm standing under.

I chuckle and walk to the other side of the car, waiting with my hand on the handle of the door for Payton to unlock it. She does so and I open the door and quickly get in, setting my shoes on the floor in front of me. I buckle my seatbelt and Payton pulls out of the parking lot, driving less recklessly than she did when she got here.

"I'm sorry for keeping you up so late Pay," I tell her as she pulls onto the main street from the parking lot. She looks over at me and shakes her head, smiling as she turns back to face the road. "Linc, you know that no matter what I would always be there if you needed me, and that means worrying about you when you fall asleep in that cave again," she responds.

Besides me and Max, Payton is the only other person that knows about my spot. I waited almost two years of us being friends before I showed her the spot, not wanting us to fall out and have her tell everyone about it. But, true to her word, she has never told a single living soul about my spot.

She stops at a red light and takes a sip of her caramel latte. I grimace slightly, knowing that the coffee is being used to keep her up later. She seems to notice my distress and she sighs as the light turns green and she drives off. "Linc, if you look guilty one more time, I am going to dump my coffee on you."

I snort and turn away from her, resting my head on the window as the scenery flies by outside. Payton turns up the volume on the radio and some pop song starts playing softly, filling the car with music. I almost groan at the cheesy song playing on the radio but decide better of it, not wanting to complain about a song after I'd been keeping Payton up for hours worrying about me.

I tap my fingers against my knee as I watch the cars fly by on the opposite side of the road, occasionally having to look away as I'm blinded by someone who has their high beams on, the light leaving spots in my vision.

Every once in a while there's a honk of a horn and I jolt up in my seat and look around, only to be reassured by Payton patting my hand. I yawn slightly as I look outside the window, seeing all the shops outside that are closed, looking somewhat eerie in the night time when no one is around.

I feel my eyes close and I struggle to keep them open as the soft pop song playing lulls me to sleep. I stop trying to fight it and just lean against the window, my eyes only half open as I stare out the window.

"Linc, we're here," Payton says, shaking my shoulder slightly. I look around and realize that we're at her house already. I sigh and unbuckle my seat belt, opening the door of the car and clumsily stumbling out. I reach in and grab my shoes from off the ground, closing the door afterwards.

I follow Payton inside her house, careful not to make too much noise so her parents don't wake up. A light flickers on in the living room as we walk by and me and Payton both stop in our tracks. "He fell asleep again?" Her mom asks us, a small book in her hands. I nod sheepishly and her mom smiles at me, getting up from her spot and walking over to us.

"Goodnight you two. I'm making waffles in the morning," she says, kissing me on top of the head before going over and doing the same to Payton. "Thank you Stella." Her mom looks over at me and smiles softly, nodding at me. "Now go get some sleep, " she says, pointing up the stairs.

I nod before me and Payton walk up the stairs, leaving her mom to read in the living room. I walk up to Payton's bedroom and open the door, walking inside and over to the dresser that sits idly in the corner of the room.

It's covered in tons and tons of random stickers that I've collected over the years and wanted to put on it. Her dresser sits in her walk in closet, her parents had taken this one from her cousin, who was giving it away, when they learned about me and my father's crumbling relationship.

I shake my head and open a few of the drawers, picking out some clothes that I want to wear to bed. "I'm going to go take a shower," I call to Payton, who is currently getting dressed in her closet. I hear her mumble a reply as I walk out of the room and shut the door behind me.

I walk into the hallway bathroom and set my clothes down on the counter before grabbing a towel out of one of the cupboards. I set the towel down beside my clothes and turn on the shower, stripping of my dirty clothes and putting them into the laundry bag that's hanging on the door.

I step into the shower and lean back against the warm spray of water, feeling refreshed as the salt of the ocean washes off of me. I grab my shampoo and run it through my hair, remembering that I need to tell Payton's parents that I'm almost out of body wash.

I live here more than I do at the house where my father lives, only going over there once or twice a week, usually sneaking out in the middle of the night when he locks me in my room to make me stay at the house. But by the morning he forgets everything that happened the night before and just thinks that I left the house early.

I get out of the shower and grab the towel off the counter, quickly drying my sandy blond hair out. I wrap the towel around my torso and dry off quickly, wanting to get dressed and fall asleep already. I hang the towel up on the rack and make a mental note to put it in the laundry bag in the morning when it's dry.

I put my tee shirt and boxers on before walking out of the bathroom and back to Payton's room. I walk past her mom on the way to her room and I wave, quietly saying goodnight to her. She smiles back at me and walks into her bedroom, closing the door behind her.

I walk back into Payton's room and see that she's already sprawled out across her bed, snoring softly. I chuckle softly and walk over to the table beside her bed, grabbing the remote and turning her fairy lights on. I turn off the other lights and let the room be engulfed in the soft glow of the tiny lights strung around the room.

I take her coffee off the beside table too and put it in a small mini fridge that her parents bought her for her birthday last year. I plug my phone into the charger that I leave over at her house, quickly checking my messages and seeing that nobody has texted me, but I do find a few missed calls from earlier when Payton was trying to wake me up.

It took her five calls before I woke up and picked up the phone. That's probably why she sounded so worried when I finally did pick up the phone. I shake my head and smile fondly at the sleeping figure of my best friend. I set my phone down on the table beside Payton's and turn it off, quickly plugging in Payton's phone too.

I walk over to the bunk beds and climb up the ladder to the top bunk. We both decided when we were about ten that I would always get the top bunk and she would get the bottom, and for some reason it always stuck with us.

I climb up the ladder and lay down on the top bunk, pulling the incredibly soft blankets over me. I put my arm underneath my pillow and relax, listening to the sounds of the wind outside as I fall asleep.

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A.N./ I hope you are enjoying reading this story as much as I am writing it! As always, feedback is very much appreciated! I hope you all are having an absolutely spectacular day!