Kyla just smiled and waved them off feeling that things might be heading in the right direction with them for once.

They drove in silence that was only broken by Ashley digging into Spencer’s cd collection. After a few minutes Blondie blared rather loudly from her car speakers. Spencer was almost as surprised as Ashley when she pulled up at the beach. It was the same beach that she once confessed to Ashley that she liked girls. Once again they kept the silence until they were seated on the pleasantly warm sand. It was Ashley that broke the silence again. She was the one that wanted to make things right after all, she guessed it was only fair she started the conversation. That and she did not want to give Spencer the chance to reject her before she properly apologized to her.

“I have a lot of things to say sorry about, Spence, we both know that. I want to start with the Clay thing, I know I said sorry back then, but I need you to hear it again. You were there for me when my dad died, even when I did everything I could to piss you off and push you away. You deserved better than me running away and leaving you to handle all that alone. Of all the things I did, I regret that the most, it was a selfish thing to do. I understand now why you were so angry with me, I abandoned you, I disappointed you, I didn’t listen to you when you needed someone to listen. It was a shitty thing to do. I was just so scared, you know, scared of how much you needed me, of how much I needed you. That’s why I skipped out on you, why I skipped out on myself.”

Spencer sat watching the ocean. She heard real regret in Ashley’s voice and it tugged not so gently on her heart. She could feel the pain in those honest words and without even consciously thinking about it , she reached out and took Ashley’s hand in hers.

“It hurt when you left after Clay. A lot, but I guess I can understand it, it reminded you of your dad, didn’t it?”