Don't Lose Hope Of Me Out There

Stella looked up and she stared at the guy's eyes and he did the same for minutes they just stood there, staring at each other Stella had a feeling that she knew him but didn't at the same time. The guy opened his mouth to speak like he was about to say something until Pat interrupted them

"Stella! Stella!" Pat screamed like a child with a high pitched voice across the boardwalk

"Uh, wait a sec Pat!" Stella screamed back while Pat ran back towards her "I'm really really sorry." She said as she gave the guy tissues and walked away with Pat hot on her heels

"Who was that?" Pat asked as while wiggling his eyebrows and nudging her side "And where's your snow cone? I got my snacks" He said while holding up a plastic full of chips and cans of sodas

"Uh, I dunno who that was but I dropped my snow cone on him by accident." Stella replied while pushing Pat playfully

"Ohh, really?" Pat asked with sarcasm

"Shut up!" Stella said and began tickling Pat

"Hey! Stop that!" Pat said while laughing "I'm super ticklish!!" Then sprinted towards the beach where the rest of The Maine was Stella right behind him, as they reached the others Pat hid behind John's back as if John was his knight in shining armor

"Whoa, hey, what's going on here?" John asked with curious eyes towards Stella

"Nothing!" She immediately replied and stood up straight, glaring at Pat.

"Noo! Stella was talking to some boy!" Pat said with a childish voice behind John while pointing and glaring back at Stella

"Oh really now?" John asked with an eye brow raised

"No, Pat here is just playing with y'all," Stella said as she reached and grabbed Pat from behind John and held his arm next to her squeezing it "Aren't cha Pat?" then Pat nodded silently by her side

"Okay, no, something's up with you two" Garrett said while grabbing the plastic bag of snacks from Pat and pulled out a Mountain Dew

"Definitely" Kennedy said while nodding a few times

"I wonder" John said while looking back and forth between Stella and Pat

"We told you it was nothing, Pat's just being a 5-year-old" Stella said in a calm voice

"Okay fine, nothings up." Kennedy and Garrett said in unison giving up. Then John, Kennedy and Garrett went to walk towards the water

"Hey hold up!" Jared said while standing up and ran to join them

"What was that for?!" Pat asked Stella while pulling his arm out of her grasp

"Nothing, you know how much of an 'over-protective' brother Garrett can be. If he found out I was as much as looking at a guy he would lock me up in the bus forever."

"Okay fine, but that hurt!" Pat said pouting

"Aww, I'm sorry Pattikins! Let Stella-wella give you a hug!" Stella replied then gave Pat a nice big bear hug "Wanna go swim?" She asked when she pulled away and Pat nodded his head vigorously

"Okay, wait a minute" Stella said as she walked up to her towel and bag and took off her shorts and tank top then ran back to Pat "Race ya!" She said

"Okay! One!"

"Two!"

"Three!" Pat shrieked as he bolted forward towards the water with Stella following behind him

"Yeshhh! I win!" Pat said victoriously while continuing to waist deep waters "Stella, since I win you have to jump on John's back and wrestle him in the water!"

"Awww man!" Stella said next to Pat while looking at John and Garrett body surfing "No fair Pat!"

"Why? Ya scurred he'll beat cho bootay?" Pat tried and talk gangster

"Psh! No! I'll do it.. Quit trying to be gangster, it aint workin' bro." Stella said as she swam towards John

"Hey Stella" John said while flipping his hair

"Hey John, you don't mind if I jump your back and wrestle you here in the water right?" Stella asked while floating cause she couldn't reach the sea floor, after all John was a foot taller than her.

"Uhh, huh?" John said with a confused look on his face

"Yeah, didn't think so!" Stella said then quickly swam behind John and wrapped her arms around his neck and wrapped her legs around his waist, John then quickly processed what was happening he then went to a shallower part up to about his mid-chest then pried Stella off his back and then carried her bridal style in the water and threw her towards the area where he was earlier Stella then resurfaced coughing

"Damn it John! Are you trying to kill me!?" She said while John was just laughing, her hand then brushed up against her neck and she noticed her necklace that Paul gave her wasn't there she then started to search under the water frantically just when she least expected it she got a leg cramp, John noticed that she hasn't resurfaced from dunking under the water so he quickly swam up to her grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the water

John carried her out of the water and laid her on her towel while the guys formed a circle around her

"Dude, what happened?" Jared asked while looking at Stella

"I don't know, I think she was looking for something under the water then she didn't come up so I brought her back out..." John replied

"I think someone needs to do mouth to mouth resuscitation." Garrett said blankly

"Isn't CPR?" Pat attempted to correct

"Well whatever it's called someone needs to pump air to her lungs," Kennedy butted in "Can I do it?" He said with a smile

"No you cannot!" Garrett quickly replied and hit the back of his head

"Hey guys! Whats u--- Who's that?" A voice said from behind John

"Oh hey man!," Jared replied "this is our friend Stella but as you can see she's a little unconscious." Just as Jared finished his sentence Stella started coughing and sat up

"What happen-" She didn't finish her sentence since she saw a pair of familiar feet directly across from hers she then slowly raise her head and once she saw the face of the owner's feet both of their eyes widened

"Uhm, Stella can I talk to you?" Paul asked "In private." He added

"Uhh, yeah sure, c'mon" She said standing up and walked away from the guys she caught a glimpse of their faces all of it confused. Once she decided her and Paul were far enough from them she spoke up

"Yes? Do I know you?" Stella asked, the simple question hurt Paul. He didn't know what to say instead he brought up his hands to his face and rubbed his face, Stella quickly saw the ring on his right right finger

"Where'd you get that?" She asked him still looking at his ring

"Uhm, this girl that means a lot to me gave it to me as a gift..." He said a little color appearing in his cheeks

"P-P-Paul?" Stella stuttered looking at him in disbelief "Omygod, I can't believe it's you!" She exclaimed then hugged him

"Yeah, me neither.." He replied in a whisper while hugging her back, Stella then pulled away looking into his eyes

"I guess I should say I'm sorry." Stella said

"Yeah, me too. You kinda left me in the dark you left me without even saying a simple good-bye." Paul said and with a hurt look in his eyes

"Well, I did that because I didn't want to hurt you..." Stella replied in a small voice her hands fidgeting with a piece of her hair that was still dripping

"It still hurt me, it would've hurt less if you said good-bye" Paul replied

"I know, I know.. I'm sorry Paul. I know what I did was wrong, but I just couldn't bring myself to tell you." Stella said as tears ran down her face

"Shh, shh," Paul cooed as he pulled Stella against him hugging her "It's alright, I forgive you.." He said as he kissed the top of her head and rubbed her back as she continued to cry in his shoulder. They stood like that for a while until Pat came up to them and tapped Stella's shoulder

"Stella-wella, we have to go back to the buses now." Pat said then Stella turned to face him, she wiped her eyes and said

"I'll be right there Pat" Pat then simply nodded his head and went back to the guys

"So, I have to go. I'll see ya around? Here gimme your phone." Stella said then Paul handed her his phone then she punched in her number then handed it back to him

"Okay, I'll call you later," Paul then gave her one last hug "I missed you Stella." he said as he pulled out of the hug

"Missed you too Poolie." She said then gave him a quick kiss on the lips smiled then walked back to The Maine

"Hey St-" Garrett got cut off by John

"What happened, why were you crying?" He asked as she got dried and put her clothes back on and packed everything she owned back up

"It's nothing, Paul's an old friend. We were just talking.." She replied as she walked back towards Warped Tour with the guys following behind her.