When (he)arts Prevail

10

Saturday morning, Kaylee headed down to the beach for a surf session. It had been a while since she surfed and she missed it. She knew Alyssa would be there, as she had texted her the night before challenging Kaylee to join her.

The sun was already well up by the time Kaylee arrived and its warmth fell good on her skin. She quickly changed to her suit, grabbed her board and made her way to the shore.

As she stretched and warmed-up for a little while, Kaylee watched the surfers already in the water catching the waves. When she finally felt ready, she went in.

She didn't see Alyssa right away, until her unmistakable, bright green suit came into view. Kaylee paddled over toward her, stopping next to Alyssa at the lineup.

"Hey, stranger."

Alyssa turned her head at Kaylee, seeming pleasantly surprised to see her there. "I didn't think you'd make it!"

"It was tough getting up from bed, but I'm here at last."

"We should have lunch after! I feel like it's been ages since we hung out."

Kaylee considered Alyssa's proposal for a moment. Things never got quite the same after everything that went down with Nate and then Brian, but they kept trying to work on it.

"Sure," Kaylee replied with a smile.

Alyssa's own lips curved up in a radiant grin. "Awesome!" She wiggled her legs so her surf board turned around in the beach's direction as a set began to form. "I'm gonna try to catch this one!" She yelled, starting to paddle furiously away from Kaylee when the first wave approached.

At the end of the session, Kaylee and Alyssa met up at the shore, both tired but satisfied.

"You were killing it today," Kaylee stated, struggling to strip out of her wet suit.

"You think?"

"Hell yeah."

Kaylee finally managed to get both arms out, while Alyssa still fought with her first arm. Kaylee helped her out, pulling on one end of the suit so her friend could free her arm. They both almost fell back at the release, laughing, but were able to maintain their balance.

Alyssa let out a grunt when all of her suit came out. "Hardest part of the entire session."Kaylee chuckled an agreement.

"I was thinking we could go to that Mexican place we used to go. It's not far from here," Alyssa suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Kaylee held onto her belly with both hands. "I'm starving!"

After changing to normal clothes and loading their cars with their equipment, leaving the surf boards inside Kaylee's truck to avoid anyone stealing them, they started toward the restaurant which was a five minute walk from there.

They walked in silence for a moment, until Kaylee decided to break it. "How's the store going?"

Alyssa's hard work had finally been acknowledged in the surf shop she worked for years now and they promoted her to shop manager there. It meant more stability and more money, and allowed Alyssa to ditch the other jobs she had. Despite their fight, Kaylee was happy for her friend. Alyssa had finally moved out of her parents' house and was able to pay for a car. Kaylee knew that was huge for her.

"Oh, it's been good. I'm doing what I love. It's my baby, you know." Kaylee didn't need to look at Alyssa to know she was proud. The enthusiasm in her voice said it all.

Kaylee bumped her shoulder with Alyssa playfully, although it didn't come out as natural as it once did. "I'll need to take a look," she said, her lips quirking up in a small smile.

"We can go there after lunch."

"I need to go to my parents' today."

Hope vanished from Alyssa's eyes at that. "Oh."

Kaylee hated it. "Maybe another day?" She offered, and Alyssa smiled, although sadly.

"Definitely."

The Mexican restaurant was already brimming with people by the time they got there, but luckily the waiter found them a table on a corner and they immediately ordered their favorites to share among them, as they always did.

It was said food brought people together, and Kaylee strongly believed in that. As their food arrived with their special Margaritas, conversation flowed much easier.

Alyssa told Kaylee all about her new boyfriend, who Kaylee hadn't met yet but would soon according to her friend, and Kaylee told her about the failure with Sebastian in return.

"I can't say I'm surprised," Alyssa snorted. "Was he even good in bed?"

Kaylee brought her hand to her face, laughing quietly. "Not really."

"Then, good riddance."

"I'll drink to that."

They clicked their Margarita cups and took a sip at the drinks, chuckling afterwards.

There was a brief moment of silence and Kaylee noticed that Alyssa had something to say but didn't know how. But before she could tell her to just spill out, Alyssa asked, "So how are things with Brian?"

The awkwardness made sense to Kaylee now.

"Are you asking me that because I broke up with Sebastian?"

Alyssa hid her grin behind a taco. "Maybe?"

One of the rules Kaylee had imposed on Alyssa after making things right with her was that they had to be comfortable talking about Brian. She didn't want him to be a taboo, because he was still part of their lives and avoiding the subject wasn't going to do any good.

However, Kaylee didn't expect her friend to be so open about it and so keen on pushing her towards him. Whenever Kaylee ended a relationship, Alyssa asked this same question.

"You're impossible," was Kaylee's only answer. "Sometimes I wonder if you know something that I don't."

Alyssa just shook her head with a smile. "I just don't get you two."

Kaylee wasn't sure what she meant by that, but as usual she was not going to delve into it. Brian was still something Kaylee hadn't figured out, even after all these years.

To change the subject to more safe topics, Kaylee queried, "Are you going to Mike and Johanna's gathering next week?"

"I think so," Alyssa replied with a hint of curiosity at the question.

"It'll be nice to have everyone together again, I guess. It's been a while."

Alyssa nodded. "I'm wondering if they have any news."

Kaylee's eyes opened wide. "Oh, my god, I hadn't thought about it."

Alyssa's eyebrows wiggled teasingly.