Undertow - 27.

*When It Rains: Paramore*

Sunday - 8:38 a.m. - November 26th.

I've never been the biggest fan of dreaming, having spent most of my life haunted by my sister's death and the guilt I savored from it. My nights were usually filled with endless nightmares but last night was different. I dreamt of walking my daughter down the isle and becoming a grandfather. I lived to be old and happy. With each passing year Sam was by my side, just the two of us. So when I felt a tickling on my nose and awoke to her smiling face, I felt truly happy. A perfect moment.

"Morning," she whispered above me.

"Morning." I stared up at her in awe. Her soft blonde hair slid along her bare shoulders and teased my chest. Waking up in her bed after our amazing reunion felt right. I never wanted to leave. I had been very confused with my emotions lately but the simple truth was that I loved Sam. Deep down though, I still worried that it may not be enough. I wouldn't let myself entertain that thought right now though.

"I want to take you to the beach today," she whispered and cozied up to me tighter. Lying naked with Sam made me powerless to her.

"I want to stay right hereawith you."

"Me too."

"It's a date then," I said before kissing her slowly. We stayed like that for the rest of the morning enjoying each other's outlines. Finally I dragged my weary body out of bed and stretched for the ceiling.

"Where are you going?" she asked softly.

"I need to clean up and get ready for the beach. You promised," I smiled. She crawled from the sheets with one of them loosely tucked under her arms and ran her hand through her hair. I watched from the corner of my eye as the sun washed itself over her petite body.

"Save some hot water for me. I'll be in after I call and check on Madi." Her nose scrunched playfully as she noticed I was paying close attention to her curves rather than her words.

"Hot water is not gonna be a problem," I bragged with a flex of my arms. My shoulders steamed over and she rolled her eyes. She kissed me once more and shoved me toward the bathroom.

"Tell Madi I said hello." I let my hand heat up as it slid down the front of her stomach. It filled with goose bumps.

As I washed up I could hear music start playing through Sam's apartment. Her sweet voice was in the background, talking to our daughter. I couldn't hear what was being said but she sounded happy. Things were falling into place but something felt off. I wasn't sure what, but the feeling was there.

"Madi said hi," Sam said climbing into the shower with me. I was singing along with the song on the radio and lost in thought when she did.

"She did?" I laughed.

"Actually she saida*oooowweeee'abut I speak baby," her silly impersonation made me fall even harder for her. I slid next to her and began washing her back. She turned around and joined me. The shower lasted longer than planned.

10:22 a.m.

The drive to the beach passed quickly. The smell of the surf slid inside the open windows of the car just before the ocean was visible. I still found the weather on this paradise mind-boggling. It was a few days away from winter and it was beautiful out. As I sucked in a long breath, Sam loosely tied her hair into braids that fell gently over the freckles on her shoulders. While I watched her careful hands she blushed.

"Will you go home with me?" I asked out of the blue. The car came to a stop at the edge of the parking lot.

"After the beach? Sure," she smiled not fully understanding my question.

"No, no, noaI mean, will you come home with me to San Diego?" I let a nervous breath out. Her eyes locked onto me and she sat completely still.

"Madison too of course. I'd like both of you to meet Mia," I whispered. I could see the daisies I had left for her, rustling in the soft breeze with the sun setting. Sharing my little sisters final resting place with Sam would be the most open I had ever been with anyone. It scared me to my very core. She slowly slid up to me and brushed my bangs behind my ears with a warm smile. A welcomed calmness slowed my racing fears.

"Max, I would love to."

"Okay," I sighed, relieved. Her eyes held back tears. We kissed before jumping out of the car and walked hand and hand to the sand.

Sam spent most of our morning snapping pictures of all things Hawaiian. Beaches, sand, shells, and palm trees. She captured some of our intimate moments and even posed for me as I took over the camera, but I could sense something stirring inside of me. Something that riled up my insecurities. The rolling ocean seemed to mirror those budding fears.

As much fun as I had been having with Sam I was still feeling guilty for leaving her so many months ago. She had forgiven me but for some reason I couldn't shake the feeling. She could tell that I had some things on my mind. To her I was an open book and easy to read.

"Is everything all right?"

"Yeah." I couldn't have sounded more unconvincing. "Why?"

"Don't lie to me ValentineaI know you better than that." Her hand gently grabbed my arm. She was breaking out my last name. That meant she wasn't going to let this go.

"I'm not sure."

"You don't have to hide from me. Let me in." I barely heard her over the rushing waves in the background. The ocean seemed to be upset or at least on the way to it. I ignored the foreboding water and let her in, all the way in.

"Why do you love me?" I shrunk.

"What?"

"After all the pain I've put you throughaI meanaI've made your life nothing but troublea" I was feeling overheated.

"After everything we've been through Max, you're going to sit there and doubt my feelings for you?" She stiffened and found my sulking face. Her hair scattered around her face as her braids loosened in the wind.

"Where's that stubborn confidence I have to wrestle out of you?" she laughed and twisted her finger in my falling bangs.

"Why me?" I said seriously. Her eyes filled with the determination I had grown to love and she placed her hands on the back of my neck.

"Your smile."

"My smile?" I gasped with a laugh. "That's all you got?"

"Your smile and every little thing you hide behind it."

"Oh," I stood, stunned.

"You and your gifts make you so special to the world but if you were to have those taken away, I would still love the man that you are. The man you strive to be," she kissed me, bringing my smile back.

"And now with our daughter, the man you have become."

"Wow, deep!" I joked, and she shoved me playfully. The wind grew stronger sending a chill from the water to our bodies.

"I'm also a sucker for those eyes," she added, and I blushed even though I enjoyed her compliment. Her faint freckles along her cheeks disappeared behind her flushed skin as she blushed along with me. It was a perfect moment and I wished I could have stayed there forever. After a few sweet minutes of enjoying each other's presence she nudged me softly.

"All right, my turn. Why me?"

"Not yet Sam." I was teasing her but I sounded awfully serious. She pushed herself into me with a wicked smile and the sound of the crashing waves disappeared. There we stayed until the sun began to settle along the stormy horizon. Those clouds made me nervous but I tried my best to not let her see that. We gathered our things and ourselves before calling it a day. I walked next to her with a permanent smile.

"You sure do know how to push my buttons," she said, as we strolled back to the parking lot. It had been a perfect day and a perfect date. I was lost in her. I think I was ready to give her everything.

"You're like a song," I said holding her hand tighter.

"What?" She wore her confusion beautifully.

"A song is instant gratification. Instantly knowing how it makes you feelahow it moves you." I shuffled my feet. She stopped walking and looked up at me intensely.

"A song speaks to your soul, whether good or bad. I have spent most of my life trying to make sense of my abilities. Running from my fears, my emotions, but with you and that amazing, steady confidence. When the world falls apart I know it'll all be okay."

"Max?"

"You speak to me. You are the steady beat that centers me. You are my lyrics Sam, you are my song," I finished, and held my breath. She started to cry as she looked through me. Her chest filled with a shutter as she tried to take in my last words.

"So, it is not a matter of why I love youaI just do." My hand wiped her fresh tears away as new ones took their place. She said nothing, only looking at me forever. Normally I would run and hide from that silence after opening up like I had, but not this time. This time I felt safe. I felt happy.

We walked to the car slowly, not saying anything to one another. Not out of awkwardness but out of the sheer fact that it had finally happened. We had fallen in love with each other. No more hiding. No more running. Just Sam and I.

But would that be enough.

8:22 p.m.

"Try again," I encouraged Sam as she hung up her cell phone. She had already tried her mother's home phone and cell with no answer. Her face filled with worry as she dialed again. The line kept ringing as we pulled into the driveway of her parent's house.

"Something's wrong Max," she warned. I let her fear wash past me. She was over reacting. The lights were on inside and I could see something moving behind the curtains.

"Everything's fine," I smiled and took her nervous hand in mine as I turned the car off. The vehicle filled with an awkward silence. Sam inhaled a quick breath and turned to me upset.

"Do you smell smoke?" she asked wide eyed. I held my tongue, shocked. She jumped from the vehicle.

"Sam wait!" I called out. At the same moment, my eyes focused on the familiar flicker of flames that had just begun to peek from the edges of the window. That was the movement I had seen from behind the curtains. My heart dropped as I ran for Sam and her front door. I couldn't get there fast enough; as it felt like I was running through quicksand. She flailed about in a new panic as I approached. She reached out for the door handle and screamed from a new burn inside of her palm. I pushed past her and slammed my already burning hands into the wood and pulled the door from its hinges. The heat pushed against my eyes with a violent flash. Sam covered her mouth to stop her screaming. It only took a spiraling second for my world to stop.

"Not again," I gasped.

Innocent - 28.

*Innocent: Fuel*

The fire crawled everywhere. Up the walls, along the furniture, and across the ceiling. Sam stumbled past me and into the black smoke.

"Mom!" she screamed. I walked slowly into the burning living room thinking of only one thing.

"Madisona"

"Mom!" Sam called louder. I was frozen now. Standing just inside her doorway with my hands ablaze. I could smell the kerosene everywhere, making me want to gag. This was no accident. My past had caught up with me again.

"Max! Help me! Max! Where's Madi?" Sam cried. That was enough to snap me from my silent prison. I whipped around, looking back and forth. It was no use though. The fire was now out of control and soon so would I. The black smoke grew thicker with each second.

"Max!" Sam called again as she found her mother Rebecca, lying on the floor of the kitchen. I had brought this upon her and her daughter. She would surely never forgive me now. I was bad for her daughter. I was even worse for her granddaughter. I began to shake uncontrollably when my eyes caught the flames around my fists that were reaching for the fire all around us. The orange flames along the table next to me stretched themselves for my unnatural white flame. The two flames tickled one another with a pop and a twist. It gave me an idea that I acted on without even thinking.

"Sam! Cover your mom!" I screamed, as I brought my fists to my chest. I was always able to push my powers, push my body to let those fires escape, but I never tried to pull them back. So that's what I did. I pulled with every bit of strength I had. Within seconds the flames jumped from the unburned kerosene along the walls and finally from the ceiling. All of it slammed into me with a smoky swirl.

"Max!" Sam called out in a panic. Her eyes watched as I closed my arms around my body and hugged my torso. The orange and white flames swirled together into a bright yellow hue. It sizzled all over me in circles before turning white again. When they changed color I could feel I was in control again.

"It worked!" I gasped and began coughing in a fit. The flames flickered out as my coughing grew overwhelming until finally I was completely out and steaming a thousand ribbons of smoke from my entire body. My mouth filled with the taste of black and smoke. It took everything I had not to throw up that taste.

"Sam?" I reached out. She waved for me and began checking her mother. She was moving slightly and coughing too. Sam wiped her moms face and checked her for burns.

"Samantha?" her mom coughed. She was still dazed.

"Mom where's Madison?" Sam lost her cool. Her mom coughed harder and let out a long wail.

"Mom? Please!" She held her tighter. I could only watch in terror as her mother's words cut me in half.

"She's gonea" she coughed again. My legs felt like jelly.

"They took her!" she gave up. Sam cried out loud clutching her now, hysterical mother. As they rocked each other back and forth on the kitchen floor, flashes of light from the approaching fire truck danced along my pale face. I could not hear any sirens, only the dull hum of shock that was ringing everywhere throughout my body. I watched in a daze as Sam looked up at me and screamed.

"Madison's gone! Max! Madi's gone!"

Sam's mother was lifted into the back of the ambulance with care as I watched the dark skies fill with grey clouds. Standing outside I watched as the world fell numb. I was having a hard time breathing as my hope collapsed. Sam's tears would not stop and it broke my heart. This was my fault. They came for me and took my daughter. My guilt felt like it was killing me when the night sky fell even darker. My cell phone rang from the inside of Sam's car. I recognized the ringtone instantlyait was Frank.

"Hello!" I answered, scared. "Uncle there's been a terriblea" I started to yell when a dark and unfamiliar voice cut me off.

"Your daughter is alive," the voice whispered. I focused every fiber of strength I had on the man's voice.

"That's more than I can say for your uncle." Click. The line went dead. Sam ran up to me as the phone fell away from my hand and into the dirt. I could actually taste my heart breaking in my chest.

"Max? What's wrong? Who was that?" her voice cracked. She grabbed me around the collar. Her fingers tightened like locks.

"Max!" she screamed, as I could no longer hold back my tears.

"FrankaI need to get to my unclea" my voice faded. Sam wiped both of our eyes and pushed me into the car.

It only took a few minutes to drive to my house but it felt like an eternity. As the tires slid to a halt in my driveway I wasn't ready for the sight before me.

"Kai?" Sam called out. She jumped from the car before it had stopped and ran for his car. It was smashed into the nearby trees. I could still smell the fumes from the engine as it winded itself down. He must have just gotten here. My eyes followed the lines of three deep tire treads in the dirt. It was obvious now that Kai had arrived just as they were leaving and they rammed him into the tree. The black paint marks from one of their vehicles clung freshly to the side of his car door.