-----------***-----------

Ashlynn

A dog bark breaks the silence of our walk, "God, why don't people put freaking muzzles on their mutes."

I punch Chris in the arm, "Don't talk like that in front of Emma. He didn't mean it baby, you're momma's princess aren't ya?" I say while scratching her behind her ears.

She trots beside up and the runs a little ahead of us, chasing the water as it crashes up on the sand. I smile, watching her interact with the water when Olivia throws her arm around my shoulder, "Can I steal her for a second?"

"Oh you may." Chris says.

Chris drops back with Braxton as Olivia and I continue to walk ahead, "So, what do you think about Braxton?"

"He's pretty nice, I'm impressed. He's a step up from your boss."

She groans when I bring up the subject, "Please don't mention his name. I've been back in the office for freaking ever and he just won't leave me alone. I swear, he send me text messages like one hundred times I day, I'm not even kidding. Braxton even went up there and told him to leave me alone, but did that stop him? No."

I laugh at her, "That's what you get for fucking around with your boss. I mean, damn."

She let's a laugh fall from her lips and hugs me a little from the side, "Why are we friends?"

"I honestly have no idea, but you keep coming around."

"I keep coming around? Oh please."

We talk about nothing for a few minutes more when the bark from earlier starts to get louder and louder. And then, out of no where, this other dog comes after Emma, barking and biting at her tail. I scream a little as the two dogs growl, bark, bite and scratch each other. Braxton and Chris try their best to keep the two apart but to no avail. The golden retriever continues to attack Emma for a few minutes more but suddenly stops and runs over to me. He jumps up on my thighs and I stare down into those big chocolate eyes.

"Marty?"

-----------***-----------

Justin

"Marty! Where in the hell did he go?" I ask.

"I don't know, I didn't even notice that he had run off." Kim says.

I hear Trace's drunken giggle behind me but look around to spot my dog. All of a sudden, deep growls and barking fill the air and I see a spot of gold just up ahead. A woman's scream is faintly heard and I curse loudly, "Shit, I think he's fighting with that other dog."

I break off into a run, Kim behind me so we can reach Marty before he does any damage. As I get closer to the scene, I see Marty just stop messing with the other dog and run over to the woman standing a little further away. He jumps up onto her thighs and her hand instinctively goes to bridge of his nose, his favorite place to be pet. I whistle loudly, catching his attention and causing the party of four to notice us. Marty runs back over to me and I scratch his ears as I turn my attention back to the foursome.

"Hey, I'm sorry about him, I don't know what got into-"

My breathe literally catches in my throat when my eyes meet hers in what seems to be a century. Am I awake right now? No wait, am I dead because I'm not believing my lying eyes. She stares back at me with the same kind of look, and I take a step back.

"Ashlynn?"

-----------***-----------

Ashlynn

Olivia gasps when she see's him standing there with some blond woman behind him. I can't even move, I must be... dreaming or something. This can NOT be happening right now. Chris looks over at me like, 'who the fuck is that' and then turns back to him and the mystery woman. His hand tightens its grip on mine when he realizes the white guy from my photo album.

"Justin." I muster.

Our gaze doesn't break until Trace's ass decides to join the party. Elisha is too occupied with trying to keep his ass from falling but when she does decide to look up, she gasps just as loud as Olivia did. And we stand there for what seems like an eternity, just staring at each other in disbelief.

"I... wow." I say, scratching me forehead and looking to the ground.

"Umm..." Olivia starts off but then she shuts her mouth and looks back over at me.

"What is going on?" Braxton asks, totally clueless.

Olivia shushes him quickly, mumbling a 'I'll tell you later' and then the silence returns. I break my gaze from Justin's to look at the little blond girl standing next to him. I catch her looking my up and down like she knows me and then when she meets my gaze, she gives me a dirty look like I just killed her momma or something. I stare her back down and then jump a little when Justin's voice sounds.

"Umm, what are you doing here?" He asks nervously.

"I live here." I blurt.

His eyes dart from side to side as he process my answer, "Here? You live here, here?"

"Well not here, but like, thirty minutes up the road. We're gonna be here for the next two weeks. What are you doing here?"

"Uh," he says, shifting his weight from his left let to his right, "We're on vacation... for the next two weeks."

My heart drops, "Here? Like, here, here?"

He nods his head and then looks back out onto the ocean. Just fucking GREAT, of course we had to pick the same fucking two weeks to go on vacation as Justin and Trace. What have I done? Nothing, I've done nothing but be a good human being. I've even started going back to church and this is how I get rewarded? Just fucking great.

The blond bitch standing at Justin's side whispers something in his ear and then he stands up straight, "Uh, Ashlynn this is um, Kim. Kim, Ashlynn."

"Hi." I say harshly.

She gives me a fake smile and then nudges him, "Oh uh, my girlfriend Kim."

Girlfriend? Are you shitting me? He went from me to her skinny, no chest having, flat ass? No fucking way. Two can play that game, "Justin, this is my boyfriend Chris. Chris, this is my ex Justin, the one I was telling you about."

Chris raises his head a little, acknowledging Justin but not really wanting to. Justin does the same, looking him over once or twice, sizing him up. I look back at Elisha, who looks like she's going to throw up and Trace, who has no idea what's going on. The silence is deafening because nobody knows what to say. No one wants to move, breathe or even blink as our two lives collide again. Even Olivia has absolutely nothing to say. I run my fingers through my hair, contemplating just jumping into the ocean and drowning myself when the little bitch decides to speak up.

"So this is the cunt that almost got you killed."

My mouth drops to my feet as I stare at her in disbelief. Elisha lets out an 'oh my god', Olivia says 'oh shit', Trace giggles, Braxton stares at me, Chris scoffs and Justin, looks at her like an embarrassed parent, "What did you just say to me?" I say, feeling my blood boil.

"I said, so this is the cunt that almost got my man killed."

I laugh sarcastically, "Oh, you think you're funny don't you? Let me tell you something flat ass, you don't know shit about me-"

"Oh I know enough bitch. Justin's told me all about you."

"Oh he did, did he? Well, did you tell you that I can beat the fucking shit outta your pasty ass?"

"Oh, I'd just like to see you try whore."

"Whore?! Who are you calling a whore, you fucking slut!"

She lunges at me but Chris catches her off at the pass and pushes her back into Justin's grasp. I go after her, but Chris holds me back as nasty words spew from my fiery lips.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, Kim, shut up!" Justin says, holding her back with one arm.

"No, let her bitch ass go Justin. Let her go!" I scream.

"Don't talk about her like that!" He yells back at me.

"Fuck you! She's the one that started this shit, talking to me like she's fucking crazy. The fucking whore."

"Ah, fuck you Ashlynn." Justin says.

"Fuck me? Fuck you asshole!"

"That's enough." Chris says harshly, keeping his eyes on Justin, "Come on Ash, let's go baby." He wraps his arm around my waist and I look over my shoulder back at the little whore who keeps yelling shit at me.

A few times, I started back down on her ass but Chris kept his tight grip on my waist and walks me back to our villa. Once inside, I let out a scream so loud, it should have woken Abraham Lincoln himself, "I cannot believe the nerve of the little fucking bitch. Who does she think she's fuckin' with? And him, can you believe him? That little prick bastard, I can't believe his fucking bullshit-"

"Shh, it's over now." He whispers, hugging me from behind and kissing my neck, "It's over now."

"Girlfriend, I can't believe that he calls her his girlfriend."

"Ash, please. I know your mind is probably racing but let's not think about it, okay? Let's just try and enjoy our two weeks."

"How can I enjoy my two weeks with him here? With my luck, we'll probably run into them everywhere we go."

He's silent for a minute or two, "Then I guess we're just going to have to stay in then, huh?"

My emotions subside and a smile spreads across my face. The thought of sex totally wipes away whatever the fuck I was thinking about before, "Are you being naughty?" I ask.

"If that'll take your mind off of the asshole and his little slut, then yes. I don't want them to ruin this for us."

I sigh, "You're right. You're right, I can't let them ruin our vacation, we've spent entirely too much money to have them fuck it up."

"Exactly, now come on, let's get in bed and watch a movie, huh?"

"Okay."

I stare out of the window and grimace once more before turning and walking into the bedroom, slamming the door behind me.

-----------***-----------

Justin

I slam the door harshly behind me and stalk into the bedroom. I rip my shirt off harshly and throw it to the floor. Kim walks in behind me and puts her arms around my waist.

"Are you okay?" She asks softly.

"Do I look okay? Why couldn't you have kept your mouth shut?" I say, moving myself from her grip.

She scoffs behind me and I turn just in time to see her with her hands on her hips, "You're mad at me?"

I throw my hands up in the air, "Yes! I mean, fuck, I told that shit in confidentiality, not so you could throw back up in her face. I mean, Jesus, she could have taken your ass out if she wanted to. The fucking bastard she calls a boyfriend couldn't have stopped her if she was really trying to get to your ass."

"Why are you saying all of this? I'm your girlfriend, remember? I'm the one you should be defending right now, not her!" She screams.

"You started it! If you had just kept your trap shut, I could have handled it. Now, we're going to spend the next two fucking weeks in hell because we are going to have to spend all of our time avoiding them and wondering if we're going to see them."

It grows silent between us; Kim keeps her eyes narrowed at me, her hands still on her hips. I look back at her and cross my arms over my chest, "You know what?" she says, "I don't want you in this room tonight."

I scoff, "Has it occurred to you that maybe I don't want to be in this room tonight?" I grab my shirt off of the floor and replace it on my torso.

I grab my keys and wallet and walk swiftly past her. I dodge Elisha as she walks into the common room but she doesn't say anything, she just watches me. I stop and turn back to turn to check on my drunk friend, "Is he okay?" I say.

She shakes her head, "He's sleeping. Where are you going?"

"I don't know, just out. I can't be around her right now." Elisha shakes her head again and looks out the windows onto the water, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay," She says, "I think we all were shocked to see them. Ashlynn probably feels the same way you do."

I shake my head and then look at the front door, "I'll be back tomorrow morning, okay?"

With that, I open the door and hear Kim call my name. I shut the door before she can make it out into the common room and start making my way to god knows where. I don't know where in the fuck I'm gonna go but I can't think about this shit all night long. Fuck, out of all of the places in the world to go, Ashlynn and I end up coming to the same vacation spot. And it's only going to get worse, I know it. I just fucking know it. This is the tip of the ice burg and we are going down like the Titanic.