~Chapter 5~

The Moon has now made its appearance on their side of the Earth and the couple wake up in each other's arms laying in the sand. The tide has risen moderately and the sound of the waves rushing up onto the rocks and falling back into the rest of the water reminisces a utopia Katherine has thought about constantly through her life. Katherine's hand moves from Colton's chest to the sand to help her sit up. She takes a second to enjoy the slight breeze and the crescent moon before she nudged Colton to wake him up. His eyes opened and when he saw Katherine sitting up, he lifted his arm to Katherine's back and rubbed it. A short time later, he himself sat up. Katherine reached for her phone near her sandals and checked the time, only to see that it was just past ten o'clock.

"Crap! Colton, we gotta get going! You told Skylar that you'd have me back an hour ago! She's probably freaking out!"

"Okay, let's go! I've got your shoes, start walking out to the tiles." When Colton reached the tiles himself, he dropped her sandals and his vans to slip on as they quickly made their way back to the apartment. They were getting close to the first shop in town when a woman their age stopped them.

"Hang on a second, I know you two." Colton and Katherine looked perplexed at each other and then back to the woman standing in front of them. "Hang on a second, are you Colton and are you Jessica?"

"I'm Colton, this is Katherine." Colton was still bewildered on how she knew at least one of their names. "And who might you be?"

"Well if this doesn't throw me back to years ago, I don't know what will. My name is Georgia Johnson. I was part of the friend group that we made back when we were kids." When neither of them showed a sign of remembrance, she continued, "The Fantastic Five". Just then, their faces changed from perplexed to thrilled.

"Oh yeah! I remember you!" Colton took a few steps and gave Georgia a hug.

"Yeah, I remember you." It was at that moment that Katherine not only remembered her face being a constant reminder that not everyone is as nice as they seem, but it was also was Georgia who made Katherine develop trust issues. She remembered when she first met Georgia when she was new to the town and didn't have any friends and she added her to the Fantastic Four group to make it Fantastic Five. Little did Katherine know, Georgia soon took advantage of the friend group and tried to remove Katherine because she thought she was the one who knew them the best. She remembered another time when Georgia caught feelings for Colton after she knew that Katherine had feelings for him first, and she kissed Colton despite any of it. She remembered everything that Georgia did to hurt Katherine's humanity at such a young age. Katherine wanted nothing to do with Georgia being back, not even giving her a hug similar to what Colton did. "I'm gonna head home. Thank you for tonight Colton, I had fun," and Katherine quickly made her way around the corner and down the alley.

"Katherine! Wait up!" Katherine heard Colton's voice say from behind.

"Catch up!" Within seconds, Colton was able to get close and stop Katherine before she ran up the apartment stairs. He grabbed her hand to keep her in front of him.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Katherine was still trying to catch her breath.

"Well, I don't know, but you didn't even give Georgia a 'hi, it's nice to see you again after all these years', let alone a 'hi',"

"You and I both know why I can't do that."

"No, I don't recall. Refresh my memory."

"Not tonight Colton, I need to get upstairs before Skylar gets even more anxious to come and find me." Katherine was growing anxiously to get inside. Colton surrendered talking about it further because he wanted to end the night on a good note.

"Okay, maybe another time." Colton pulled Katherine in close for an even more meaningful hug than he gave Georgia, Katherine noticed that. "Sweet dreams. I'll see you tomorrow." He pulled the hug apart to kiss her one last time tonight.

When they separated, Katherine looked fairly less eager to go upstairs. "Goodnight. Thank you again for tonight. It was wonderful.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it as much as I did." He let go of Katherine's hands as he led her in the direction of the first step. Before she opened the door, they shared a quick smile.

Inside the apartment, Skylar was in the bathroom combing her wet hair as she gave Katherine an abrupt glance.

"Well?! How did it go?!"

"You're not mad that I'm back more than an hour later than I should be?" Katherine was once again hit with a wave of confusion.

"Not at all, I saw you two laying out there on the sand as Liam and I walked passed the beach. Allowing your curfew to be extended after a night like that is the least I could do. Now, spill!" The two of them shared the details about their nights, but at the end of Katherine's description, she had to ask Skylar what she thought about Georgia being back.

"Do you think that the world is trying to tell me that I need to give up with this relationship thing with Colton because Georgia is always going to be the better person?"

"Katherine, I truly believe that you and Colton are meant to be. Did you see the smile you put on his face? It was like he was under a spell!"

"That won't last for long now that Miss Taker is back." Katherine rolled her eyes.

"I wasn't finished. I also think you're overthinking this whole thing. You need to fight for this man to be in your life, not just give up and throw in the towel to Georgia. This is your guys' time to shine, don't let that opportunity go to waste." After a moment of thinking and comprehending the mindset Skylar had, Katherine knew she was right.

"Yeah, okay, I see where you're at. This is my man. And after seven years of not seeing him, this is my chance to make things right. I can't let Georgia get away with thinking she has him once again."

"Exactly, atta girl!" Suddenly, Katherine looked like she had come to another apprehension.

"Hang on a second, who did you say you went out on a date with tonight?"

"Liam."

"Liam Patterson? A black-haired, tall, skinny guy?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well then the world is definitely trying to send us a message." Katherine gave Skylar a face that showed a great amount of seriousness, but Skylar couldn't quite understand.

"Katherine, what!"

"Liam was also part of the Fantastic Five." Instantly, Skylar and Katherine shared a shocking gaze.

"Okay so then who's the last person?"

"Jacob Davis. He was the first person I met that was my age who actually spoke English and protected me from a rabid dog. From then on, he and I did everything together years before the others made their appearances in our lives."

"Well, I will be keeping my eyes peeled for this Jacob Davis."

Katherine woke up the next morning to an incoming call from Francy. It was now Sunday and Francy was summoning Katherine's help with work around her house including cleaning, laundry, dusting and a few more things listed that Francy wanted to get done today.

As Katherine ended the call, she stood up and went for the closet. She couldn't help but recall the amazing night she had with Colton the night before. If it wasn't for Georgia showing up, it would've ended much nicer, but she was ecstatic for the night she was gifted. Katherine was determined to not let Georgia get in the way of her second chance at happiness. When she finished getting ready, she tapped Skylar on the shoulder as she slept and told her that she was going over to Francy's house if she needed anything. After that, Katherine slipped her flip flops on and made her way over to help out.

When she reached the front door that was wide open, which she assumed was Francy's intention to air the house out--as Katherine commemorated from back when she was younger. Francy greeted her from the kitchen and started instructing what she needed Katherine to do.

"And before you bring the wet clothes upstairs to hang on the clothesline, do you mind moving the clothes from this pile into the washer?"

"Yeah, absolutely!"

"Okay, great. And then as you do that, I will be going everywhere to clean the bathroom and then dust around the second level and then I'll be up to help you hang the second load."

"Sounds like a plan!" Katherine assured her. They each got right to work without wasting another minute. Katherine placed the clothes that had just finished in the washer into the white hamper and moved the pile of red, pink and purple clothes into the washer and started it before she went up the two flights upstairs.

As she started clipping the clothes to the clothesline wires, Katherine flashed back to the last time she was in Parga. She had brought the pool raft inside the house and placed it at the doorway facing outside and fell asleep to the peaceful sounds of the water and the breeze. At the time, her younger self soaked up everything she could while she was there, but she never would have thought it would be another seven years before she would be able to replicate that. That time had felt like an eternity, which was considered way too long for her to be away from her favorite place in the world.

Once she finished hanging up the last white shirt, she turned around and saw the loft above her head. The loft also included some memories from when she was a kid. Katherine decided to climb the wooden ladder and go through the cabinets that were once filled with Barbie dolls and Barbie accessories.

A little while later, the second load of laundry finished washing and Katherine went down to the washroom to gather it. Directly after she collected the load, Francy grabbed the hamper and asked Katherine to bring the iron that was on the kitchen table.

Just as Francy picked up the shirt on the top of the pile and brought it out the door, she heard mumbling down below and searched for the source. When she realized that it was Colton talking to some blonde girl near the white concrete steps, she turned to face Katherine who had just reached the top stair with the iron in her hand. Her face gave off a worried look that didn't settle well with Katherine.

"What happened? Is everything okay?" Katherine asked curiously. Francy didn't want Katherine to find out that he was talking to another girl, so she awkwardly moved Katherine to the iron board and gave her the dry shirt in her hand.

"Yes, everything is perfectly fine, I would just like you t-to start ironing this s-shirt please." She didn't know she was stuttering. Katherine started to hear voices conversing outside, one of the voices sounding quite familiar.

"Francy, who is that?"

"That's just the Beckett parents fighting again. It's their third time this week."

"Well that's funny because I thought Colton told me they were in Rhode Island."

"Colton might have failed to mention that they flew in last week before he got here." Francy was holding Katherine back from going towards the door.

"I think we both know that Colton's parents aren't here, otherwise, I would've seen them and said hi already." Katherine was able to make her way around Francy only to see the two people she did not want to see talking. Colton was sitting on the stair with Georgia right beside him, closer than she should have been because she saw Colton and Katherine last night returning from wherever they had ventured.

As she watched them talk for minutes upon minutes, she noticed Georgia looking up at her every now and then. Something was going on, Georgia wanted her to be looking. What for? Francy was watching the two speak as she placed a glass of water in front of Katherine before she too sat down. In the next moments that passed, Katherine had found the answer to her question. All of a sudden, Georgia placed her hand on Colton's neck and leaned in to plant her lips on his. She was kissing her Colton right in front of her eyes, with the intentions of Katherine observing from a distance. Francy looked from Georgia back to Katherine to note any kind of reaction. Then, she got up and went to the front door to close it. Katherine could not remove her focus from the two sharing a moment that she should have seen coming. When Francy reached the door, she made sure she slammed it to draw his attention and hopefully stop him from hurting Katherine any longer. When Katherine heard the door slam, she blinked and filled her eyes with heartbreaking tears. She couldn't take watching to them anymore, so she slammed the door upstairs and then shoved a pillow over her head to block out any sound of their existence.

Colton broke away from the kiss and looked at the blue door that had once been wide open that was now closed. When he heard Francy say Katherine's name, he turned his body to see Georgia smirking at the balcony.

"What was that for?" He exclaimed.

"She thought she was being sneaky watching us, so I thought I'd give her something to look at."

"That was totally uncalled for Georgia and you know it. What did she ever do to hurt you?"

"She has always been the one that everyone liked and the one everyone would do anything for. Except she wasn't willing to let me be more than friends with you since we were little! I had to do something to get you to come my way!"

"No, that's where you are wrong! Leave her out of this! Who would want to be with you? You always put yourself on a throne of your own that you don't even deserve. Katherine and I have always been closer friends than you and I ever were because you had such a big ego. Now get out of my face, I don't want to ever see you again!"

"You have always chosen her side! How come you never give me a chance?"

"Because you only want me for a trophy. And yes, I always will choose her! She means so much more to me than you ever will! For the last time, go away!"

"Fine! But don't come to my door when you two don't end up having your little happily ever after!"

"It's a good thing we won't have to worry about that." Just then, Georgia walked away towards the town.

He knew that if he knocked on Francy's door and talked to Katherine, she would never forgive him that quickly after the incident, but he had to be sure.

Francy answered the door. "Colton, you shouldn't be here."

"I know, but it wasn't what she thinks she saw!" Francy stopped him. "Please. I just need to tell her what really happened."

"Colton, don't waste your breath. I heard what all went down and what you said to Georgia before she left. I'll try to talk to her, but for now why don't you go home next door until she gathers her thoughts."

"Yes ma'am." Colton stepped backwards away from the door and walked over to his front steps. He sat there for a good long time thinking about how he could fix what he did and what he would say. In the corner of his eye, he caught the sight of a shorter blonde girl and waited until he knew if it was either Georgia, Skylar, or a greek lady. When he recognized Skylar's face, he ran over to her and asked her if she had heard anything from Katherine.

"You screwed up big time Colton."

"I know I did. But you have to know that I had nothing to do with it. Georgia wanted Katherine to see us and get in her face.." Skylar interrupted Colton and stopped walking for a moment.

"She did what?!"

"Yeah! She did it all on purpose. She set me up! I threatened Georgia to get out of my face along with some other things. Please tell Katherine, she's never going to allow me to explain anything to her." Colton persuaded. Skylar looked from the tiles in the ground to Colton.

"You know, ever since Katherine first saw you pass the bistro only to find out that you were her best friend, I haven't seen her happier in so long. And every time she came home from spending time with you, I saw that glisten in her eye that made me certain that you were the one for her. You can best believe that I'll try my best to help you two get back together, you have my word."

"Thank you Skylar, that means so much more to me than you can imagine."

"Anytime." Skylar booked it to Francy's front door and up the two flights of stairs to find Francy holding Katherine in her arms as they both were sitting up in the bed. Katherine's mascara smeared near her eyes. "My goodness Katherine, you look horrible!"

"Oh shut it, I'm not in the mood." Katherine mumbled from under the blanket she was now hiding her face under.

"Hey, I need to talk to you. Let me see your pretty face." When Katherine's head rose above the blankets, Skylar started. "Listen, I know you're in some pain right now, but let me see if this helps. Ahem! What you saw was communicated incorrectly."

"Oh yeah? What part of it was incorrect? The part where Georgia came out of nowhere and started kissing my boyfriend like she did when we were kids or the part where he didn't call her out on it?" She was now crying Niagra Falls out of her eyes again.

"You didn't hear what he said to Georgia, did you?" Francy impeded.

"Hear what? That he's moved on with Georgia just like he did way back when?"

"No. Georgia asked him why he always picked you over him and he told her it was because she just wants him for a trophy on her shelf, but you, he said that you mean more to him than she ever will." Katherine wiped her free-reining tears away with her hands.

"Did he say anything else?" She asked.

"Well, Georgia mentioned something like 'don't come crying to me if it doesn't end the way you two want it to.." and he told her 'it's a good thing we don't have to worry about that any time soon." Katherine looked like she was collecting her thoughts.

"You do know what he meant when he said that though, right?" Skylar eased.

"Ummm?" Katherine and Francy said simultaneously.

"He fancies a future with you in it!" Katherine's face showed an expression of surprise. She began to move the blankets off of her so that she could stand up. She was walking over to the staircase. "Woah, woah, woah, where do you think you're going?"

"Next door!" Katherine exclaimed in no hurry to find her shoes before she left out the front door.