1. Chapter 1 (1/2)

disclaimer: i do not own the characters in this story, they're ally's.

two strangers and sandbox

it's undeniable how

illiant you arein an unreliable world you shine like a starit's unforgettable now that we've come this farit's unmistakable that you're undeniable

- matt kearney

(undeniable)

i

the first time they met neither of them remembered. it was a warm day in the spring of 1999. she was four; he was five. the young girl had been playing innocently by herself in the sandbox when he'd come and purposely stepped on her sand castle, laughing as he destroyed it. he had walked over because he'd seen the girl's long golden hair and had been intrigued by it. all of the girls in his classes were weird and gross. but the girl with the blue eyes and pretty hair was sitting quietly in the sandbox. she wasn't picking her nose or scratching her butt, she was simply playing, building up a sand castle with a spade and bucket. he was only five years old, but he liked her, he wanted to speak to her, know her. but obviously, she wasn't going to come over and play with him, so he would have to get her attention.

by stomping all over the sandcastle she'd worked so hard to build. he had thought it was a good idea at the time. boys will be boys after all.

"hey!" she snapped, looking at him with blue eyes that were much too fierce for such a young girl. "you can't do that!"

he'd made a face and continued to jump around on the sand. "it's just sand," he replied. "sand is boring."

she glared at him. "i like sand," she said stubbornly.

"you're a baby."

"i am not!"

"you're not?" he asked. "you look like a baby."

"go away," she snapped at him. "i don't like you."

he'd thought she was kidding; surely you couldn't dislike someone you'd just met.

"why don't you come play with me?" he asked.

she shook her head. "no."

"why not?" he asked. "then you won't be a baby."

"i am not a baby!" she said, standing up. "i am four years old!" she said, holding up four fingers for him to see. he laughed at her.

"which makes you a baby. i'm five," he said proudly, pointing a thumb at his chest.

"i don't care," she said. "go away, i don't want to play with you. you're a meanie."

he made a face, beginning to realize that maybe he'd made a mistake.

"i'm not a meanie," he replied.

"i just want to play in the sand," she said, sitting back down in her spot. she turned her attention away from him, and began to rebuild her sand castle.

"okay," he said, feeling a bit confused. he wasn't use to being ignored or overlooked. adults always told him how handsome he was, children his age were always jealous of his many talents. he had always felt like he was constantly being attended to. but clearly, the girl wanted nothing to do with him. "sorry," he mumbled the apology so low she probably didn't even hear.

when it was clear she wouldn't respond, he took a step away from her and out of the sandbox, staring at her with a perplexed expression.

he was unsure what to think of the girl now, but he had a feeling he liked her even more than he had when he'd seen her for the first time. she was different, even at a young age. he knew better than to push it. he would go home and have dinner and forget all about the girl in the sandbox, never once wondering her name.

and likewise, she would return to her own home without so much as a thought to the mischievous boy who had ruined her sandcastle.

but even though he wouldn't remember that afternoon or the girl, his subconscious would rememberthe strange, wondeful feel she gave him. he would remember that this girl, though he didn't know it, was entirely unique and special— a rose between thorns.

and maybe that was why he would feel a strange sense of nostalgia when he met her again, many years later.

ii

her first concrete memory of him was not a good one. he had

oken into her house with mischievous eyes and a grin the size of texas. he hadn't been there to steal anything valuable or worry anyone. he'd been there to cause trouble, because that was his kind of thing. remeber the sandbox?

not soon after the incident at the playground had his parents packed their bags and moved away because of his father's new job. that was why he had never run into her again, because there simply hadn't been an opportunity to do so.

so how had they come to meet again years later in her own home?

the answer was simple, he was back in town to visit family friends.

that family happened to be the newmans, who lived down the street from her. grant newman wasn't known for his intelligence or for his ability to catch on. even at the ripe old age of twelve, he was known for his devastatingly good looks and charming smile. she would be lying if she said she hadn't had a crush on him since the second grade. but that, of course, was before she met his friend.

she'd been home alone when the boy had chosen to enter her house uninvited and unannounced. she didn't stay home alone often, but her parents had decided that eleven was a reasonable age to stop paying for a babysitter. she'd been sitting in the den watching a movie in the dark. he'd assumed no one was home.he didn't randomly

eak into people's houses— he wasn't a criminal after all. but grant had been egging him on to steal a cheap souvenir from a neighbor's house. and being the daredevil, live-in-the-moment sort of boy he was, he had accepted the challenge without a second thought.

and unlike his friend, he wasn't dumb. he wasn't going to

eak into a house when the lights were on and a family was sitting at the dinner table.

no, he chose the house with the lights out and the girl sitting in the den with the curtains drawn.

she heard the creaking of floorboards and scuffling of shoes against the hardwoods her mother paid boat loads to keep spotless.

she turned off the tv and crept around her own house, hoping to see him before he saw her. she'd never been the kind of child that was afraid of the dark, so it didn't really bother her. she didn't scare easily, and while she knew that it may be a thief or murder she wasn't about to let them steal her mother's jewelry. the karate classes she had taken would hopefully come in handy.

but when she saw the figure creeping back down the stairs she realized he couldn't have been any older than herself. he was thin but tall for a twelve year-old. she was annoyed now, grant and his friends were always doing stupid things like this.

with an annoyed look on her face she flicked on her light and stared blankly at the boy caught red handed on the staircase. he looked petrified, but only for a split second, until his eyes landed on the girl by the light switch. then his mouth curved into a smile that he knew made all the girls go goo-goo. but when he smiled she only narrowed her eyes.

"can i help you?" she asked, the sarcasm in her eleven year-old voice strangely mature.

she didn't recognize him. she knew all of grant's friends but she'd never seen this boy before. well, she didn't remember seeing him, but no one would blame her for not recognizing someone she'd met once when she was five.

he was cute, very cute. but the fact that he was

eaking into her house somehow made him less attractive.

"no," he replied, a bit confused at the way this girl was acting. as he'd thought when he was younger, she was different from any other girl he'd encountered. "i was just leaving."

he didn't know if he was trying to be funny but he knew that he did want to make her smile. but the words had the opposite effect as she scowled at him.

"why are you here?" she snapped. "what do you want?"

"i didn't think anyone was home."

"so you thought you'd just

eak into someone's house?"

"i didn't take anything," he responded.

she rolled her eyes and took a few steps closer to the staircase.

"really?" she asked. "then why is my mother's underwear stuffed in your back pocket?"

for maybe the first time in his life, he blushed, his hand automatically reaching into his back pocket.

he recovered quickly "well, how did those get there?" he asked pulling them out and looking at them.

she didn't look amused.

"well are you going to leave?" she asked, pointing to the door.

"can i keep these?" he asked.

"no!"

"just thought i'd ask," he said, sending her another smile.

"just go," she said and moved to the door opening it up and motioning for him to walk out. as he came down the stairs he kept his mischievous grin that mocked her. she reminded him of some of the flowers in his mother's garden, the ones that were beautfiul to look at but pirckly to touch.

"you're cute," he said to her when he was only a few feet away. she didn't let it show, but she was extremely flattered. none of the boys at her school had enough confidence to call another girl cute unless they knew they thought he was cute. maybe he did know she thought he was cute. because he was really cute.

"wonderful," she snapped back. "you can go now."

she hadn't even blinked, who was this girl? he didn't know, but he sure as hell wanted to find out. he'd have to ask grant when he got back.

he shrugged and passed through the entrance. when he got down the front steps she cleared her throat unnecessarily loud.

he turned back to look at her. "what now?" he asked.

she cocked her head and gave him an expectant look. she held out her hand.

he sighed and pulled out the underwear he had smuggled back into his pocket. this girl was too smart for her own good. he'd never met a girl so calculating and intelligent. it was refreshing from the annoying girls he went to school with.

he handed her back her mother's underwear and she smiled as thought she'd won some sort of battle. and he felt like he had lost. which was not a feeling he was familiar with.

"thank you," she said, and took a step back.

despite their strange encounter he still wanted to know her name. despite the look of loathing on her face he wanted to see her again. she had interested him like no one ever had before.

"hey what's your—?"

but before he could finish he was talking to the wooden face of her front door. he sighed and let his shoulders slump.

he should have seen that one coming.

iii

as it turns out, he never found out her name. he wanted to keep their encounter all to himself, and it was likely he'd never see her again. but he'd never forget her stormy blue eyes that were so wise for an eleven year-old. even when they passed by her house in the car and he subtly asked who lived in the house grant said he didn't know. he just said "some chick". but that was grant, as dumb and unreliable as ever.

he didn't know it then, but he would see the girl again. when he came to visit again, at the beach, and then when he eventually moved back.

when he turned fifteen his parents decided they wanted a second honeymoon. so they dumped his ass back at their good old friends the newmans. when they were driving back from the airport and he passed by the house it

ought a small smile to his face, because he did remember this time, and he absently-minded wondered if he'd meet her again. he wanted to meet her again.

the third time they met was in a coffee shop in town. he'd been admiring the girl with golden hair down to her waist and who had long tan legs. at fourteen she'd already grown into her body nicely and had obviously attracted the attention of many teenage boys in the café. him included. it didn't take him long to recognize her, he felt that same pull, the one he'd felt the two times before.

"do you know who that is?" he asked grant, making sure to keep his voice low.

grant leaned sideways so he could get a better look at the girl he was talking about. he squinted at her, as though he couldn't place her, and then his lips bent into a quirky smile.

"way too good for you," grant replied with a dumb smile on his face.

"i'm serious," he said, rolling his eyes.

grant shrugged. "so am i."

he elbowed grant in the gut.

"i don't know her," grant replied, giving his friend a dirty look. "she lives on my street but she goes to private school and doesn't hang out with my kind of crowd."

"and you can't be bothered to figure out her name?"

grant shrugged. "there are other flowers in the garden, if know what i mean." zach didn't care about the other flowers, he wanted to know about her.

he rolled his eyes at grant's dumb remarks. obviously grant didn't realize how special this girl was, how smart she was, or how attracted to her he was.

"whatever," he said, still staring at the girl. "i'm going to go and talk to her."

grant shrugged. "have fun. bet you strike out."

he glared at his friend. "just get yourself a damn coffee," he said.

he waited until the girl sat down to approach her. she was just pulling out a book when he came and stood over her table.

"hey," he said to her.

she glanced up, her blue eyes curious. "hi," she said. "do i know you?"

"i'm not sure if you remember," he said. "but i

oke into your house three years ago."

her eyes immediately narrowed with the memory. "how lovely of you to remind me," her voice was dry and sarcastic.

"i just feel like we got off on the wrong foot."

she raised an eye

ow, waiting for him to continue, "and?"

"i think we should start over."

"i don't even know who you are," she said. "besides the fact that you

oke into my house and tried to steal my mother's underwear, forgive me if i don't really want to talk to you."

"but i think you do want to talk to me," he said, being the cocky teenage boy he was. "don't you?"

she glanced around. "no," she answered honestly. "not really."

"come on," he said. "i'm just trying to be friendly."

"well i'm not really looking for any friends at the moment," she replied, "so maybe you should go be friendly to someone else."

"and who could i be friendly to?" he asked.

she shrugged and tucked her book away in her bag, grabbing her coffee. she pointed behind him. "what about her?"

he glanced behind her, searching for whatever girl she was talking about.

"i don't see—" when he turned around she had already gotten up and left, he only saw the swish of her golden hair as she exited the café. he stopped mid-sentence and grimaced, wondering what it was about this girl that disliked him so much. he wanted to win her over, but clearly, that wasn't going to happen.

he sighed and sat back into his seat just as grant walked over.

"wow," he said. "you really blew that didn't you?"

he glared at grant. "like you could have done better."

"see," grant said. "i'm smart enough not to try. girls like that never want anything to do with guys like us."