The next few days passed smoothly, and when Kate worked with Sam at Greenfields she asked what exactly they'd be doing on their day trip to the coast.

"The plan is that there is no plan. We're just going to go and see where the wind takes us! I've only been there once before, but it's a really quaint town. Lots of little side streets with independent shops, plenty of places to get food, all that kind of thing."

Sam's excitement about the trip was contagious, and by the time Friday morning arrived Kate was filled with a bubbling, anticipatory energy. She checked the weather forecast and was delighted to see a perfect, sunny day ahead. A few minutes before 9 she stood outside the flat, craning her neck to try and spot Sam's car. She double checked her bag to pass the time, making sure everything was still in place from when she'd packed it the night before, and smoothed her hands over her clothes. Eve had teased Kate when she'd spotted her trying on outfits the night before, pointing out that this was just how she'd acted on her first day volunteering with Sam.

"Are you sure you don't have feelings for him?" Eve had asked, "I mean, look at all this!"

"This," Kate said, gesturing to the pile of discarded clothes on her bed that Eve was staring at, "has nothing to do with Sam. He didn't say what we were all going to be doing tomorrow, so I'm trying to find something that's the perfect combo of comfortable, flattering, and weather appropriate. That's all."

"Sure, sure," Eve replied, unconvincingly. Tilting her head to the side and looking Kate up and down, she asked, "What's the verdict on this one?"

Kate looked over her outfit in the mirror. She wore a dark red, knee length linen jumpsuit with wide, flowing legs. She remembered spotting it on sale the year before, one of the legs sticking out from between countless other clothes, and immediately falling in love with the colour and the white detailing on the hems and neckline.

"I like it. I think it ticks all the right boxes."

"Good, I agree." Eve suddenly lit up and dashed into her room, returning a moment later with a wide brimmed woven hat. Standing behind Kate, Eve held the hat in her teeth as she gently let Kate's hair down from it's bun and fluffed it out on either side of her face. She then set the hat on Kate's head, completing the perfect summer look. They both smiled. She looked pretty good.

The next morning Kate put on her outfit exactly as Eve had styled it the night before, and earned herself an appreciative "ooh la la!" when Eve came to say goodbye and saw her put on matching lipstick as a final touch. Standing outside the flat now, Kate was just wondering if the lipstick was a little much when she spotted Sam's car approaching. She waved as he began to pull up to the curb.

"Hi Kate! Um..." Through his open car window, Sam gave her a somewhat dazed smile as he struggled to finish his sentence, "Hi." He weakly finished.

"If you're done making eyes at her, can we go already?" A voice from inside the car cheekily suggested.

Sam shot a look at his passenger before turning back to Kate, "This joker's taken the front seat, so you'll have to sit in the back I'm afraid."

"That's not a problem!" She replied, climbing in. Sam introduced her to Will, who she remembered from Max's party, and his girlfriend Charlie as they began to drive away.

"I love your lipstick!" Charlie said, smiling at her before glancing up at the rearview mirror and barking, "Eyes on the road!"

Kate looked up to see Sam quickly turning his gaze to the road ahead. Butterflies stirred inside her, and she struggled to keep the grin off her face.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

They arrived at the coast just after 10, the sharp smell of saltwater filling their nostrils as soon as they stepped out of the car. Through the squawks of seagulls, they heard a greeting called: it was the other half of their group that had travelled down in a separate car. Introductions were made to Kate between hugs and friendly arm-slaps, and once the parking was paid for they all set off towards the town.

Sam had been right about the town; 'quaint' really was the perfect word for it. Kate looked eagerly around her as the group meandered down the street, drinking in every detail. From the style of the buildings she could see this was an old town. Low doorways and ceilings were the norm and thick beams crossed the fronts, clearly for support rather than decoration. The cobblestones beneath her feet were charmingly uneven despite being worn down from decades of people traffic, and the road was narrow enough that you could tell it had been built without cars in mind. Every so often Kate spied an alleyway shooting off in another direction, so narrow that the hanging signs from shops on opposite sides were almost touching. In sharp contrast to the aged features, modern details seemed to stand out even more than they normally would. Dark metal lamp posts rose proudly above her head and had been decorated with colourful baskets of summer flowers, and signposts indicated popular places of interest within walking distance. And in the background, unseen, was the knowledge that she was near the sea, which made everything just a little more exciting.

Already the group had begun to fragment, separated by the many pulls of curious shops. Before they could get too far, Will called everyone together and suggested a plan of action. They quickly agreed to meet at a particular café for lunch in a few hours' time, and then make further plans after that. As the group really began to split off, Will stated that he and Charlie were going to a music shop as he wanted to buy a new guitar.

"You should come along! He's ever such a good player." Charlie enthusiastically suggested.

Sam nodded in agreement and stepped forward to head into the shop with them, and Kate followed suit. She soon found that Charlie wasn't exaggerating. Will tried several guitars, gently taking them one by one off the dark paneled walls and perching on a stool to play a piece. Kate had noticed earlier when he'd gestured at something that his fingers were heavily calloused, and now she saw why. Fingerpicking was clearly his speciality and it was obvious he'd been playing for years, which Charlie confirmed when she asked her later. Will was torn between two guitars and went back to them, playing longer pieces while Sam and Kate wandered through the shop looking at CD's and talking about their music tastes. After a while Will and Charlie found them and announced that Will had finally settled on a guitar, and that the shop owner had been kind enough to let them collect it later so that they didn't have to carry it around with them all day.

The group finally left the shop, squinting as the sun blinded them after so long inside. Charlie suggested a local art gallery as their next destination, which Kate politely declined.

"I think I just want to wander around for a bit. I'll see you guys at lunch later." She smiled at the others and turned to leave.

"You know what," Sam said, springing into place beside her, "I think I'll join you. Art isn't really my thing."

Neither Sam nor Kate saw the knowing look Charlie and Will gave each other as they walked away; they were already making conversation. They passed a lazy half hour wandering down the street, taking diversions down interesting looking alleys and talking about all manner of things. At one point they passed a bakery and were forced to stop and admire the artfully decorated goodies on display, inhaling deeply as the smell of fresh pastry wafted out of the door ajar next to them. Seeing Kate's longing look, Sam insisted on buying the two of them something and before she could stop him he'd disappeared inside. Kate followed him in, only just managing to stop him from buying two giant cream horns, and convinced him to opt for the much more manageable chocolate eclairs instead.

They ate their eclairs as they continued through the town, and by the time they were finished eating they had begun to leave the shops behind. The chatter of dozens of voices faded until the soundtrack of their walk consisted only of birdsong and the rushing of waves somewhere beyond the houses. Sam looked over at Kate to reply to a question she asked, but stopped mid-sentence as his gaze was drawn to something behind her. Turning, she understood why he'd stopped so abruptly. Between two houses a tiny alleyway, barely wide enough for two people, tracked a course between rows of trees. A few metres down, the cobblestones that led off the street petered out, covered by fallen leaves and dirt, and the path turned to the right so that the exit was hidden.

"Shall we?" Sam's question was less of an inquiry than it was an announcement of intent and he walked backwards into the shade of the path, head cocked to one side as he waited for Kate to follow. When she inevitably did he smiled, his bright, grey eyes crinkling at the corners as she smiled back. Kate looked up at Sam as she took her hat off and noticed that where the patches of sunlight touched his hair, the colour changed from it's usual warm brown to gold.

As they walked beneath the trees, a strange sense of déjà vu began to grow within Kate's mind. It was just starting to bother her, a frown beginning to form on her face, when they reached the end of the path and she realised the source of the mysterious familiarity. That path was just like the one she'd found ever so long ago that led to St. Mary's church. And, just like that path, this one also had a churchyard at it's end. This little church was far humbler than St. Mary's though: a small, rectangular building with a modest spire that was still shorter than the ancient trees that flanked it.

"Shall we go in?" Kate asked, almost whispering, "I mean, only if you want to. We don't have to."

"Yeah, lets take a look." Sam replied, without any hesitation.

The walk from the end of the path to the church's open door was a short one, and soon they were inside. Like the buildings in town Kate could tell this church was old, and had likely seen many generations of farmers and fishermen fill it's pews. There was room for a few dozen people to sit, although at that moment she and Sam were the only people there, and the stone walls were devoid of any decoration. Instead, a single ornate stained glass window took up most of the back wall, looking down over those who came to worship. Sam took a seat in a pew about halfway down, and Kate joined him. She had just taken a breath to explain why she'd wanted to look inside the church when Sam started to speak.

"I really like old churches like this," he said, his eyes fixed on the stained glass that rose before them, "I think it's because the church in my village at home is kind of like this too. My primary school was Catholic, so we'd all have to go to a service on the big religious holidays. Anyway, I think what I like about buildings like this is the history. You can really see the work that people hundreds of years ago put into building this place, brick by brick."

Kate nodded, pleasantly surprised when Sam continued, "My favourite part is the stained glass though. I remember one year at school my mum came along as a parent chaperone to one of the holiday services and she was telling me how stained glass is made, and then she said something I'll never forget: "stained glass isn't just about painting a whole piece of glass and being done with it. You've got to work on each individual piece until it's perfect and then put them all together. People are like that too. Remember that, Sam. Always try and make each part of you the best it can be, so that as a person you can be as beautiful as this stained glass"."

Sam smiled to himself at the memory, before looking over at Kate and asking, "Did any of that make sense?"

"Yeah," she softly replied, "It did."