The next day, after breakfast, Kevin invited everyone to his house to visit with Beth. He wanted to do something to cheer her up. Even though, his true feelings for her were the ones he expressed in the car, he knew he had to downplay. He had decided that he needed to make the kiss seem like it was all a mistake and he had mixed up his emotions. He had to do this until he could at least understand himself, let alone describe what was going on to Beth. He had known her all his life, and had never felt this way before. He couldn't figure what sparked this sudden need and desire for her to be more than his friend. He didn't want to approach Beth about the incident until he made some sense of the whole situation.

Around noon, everyone showed up. Beth was excited, and she greeted everyone enthusiastically, taking special care to congratulate Brian and Julianne on their engagement. A.J., Nick, and Howie were all set on driving to the ocean. Kevin and Julianne both thought that it was too long of a drive to take this late in the day, but the three men wouldn't change their mind. Brian said he would go along with just about anything they wanted to do. Beth thought that it would be fun to go because she had not been since she was a toddler, but she was ready to do anything. She could barely remember that trip, and she did not mind what they did as long as she got to catch with everything that had been going on when she was gone. She just wanted to spend some good quality time with the best friends she had.

By one o' clock, they were all in their cars driving to the beach, even though Kevin and Julianne still thought that it was a dumb idea to go for such a long drive and short stay. Beth was excited. She was riding with Kevin again, but A.J. and his girlfriend Emily were riding with them, too. Nick and Jess hitched a ride with Brian and Julianne, and Howie was driving himself and Lindsay in his car.

A couple hours later, the ten of them found themselves stretching their legs, and finally at the ocean. They abandoned their cars and watched as they saw the waves crashing on the sand. They walked towards the boardwalk.

"This seems identical to the place in South Carolina where my parents took me," Beth said softly.

"This is somewhere that would probably be a lot of fun for a little kid," Brian answered thoughtfully.

"Yeah, it is," Beth replied.

A small boy ran past them frantically. He looked around fearfully and then returned in the same direction he came from.

"Fun for everyone, except him!" A.J. said and everyone laughed.

The boy ran past them again, but this time with tears streaming down his face.

"Excuse me," Beth said politely as she took off after the child.

They watched as she caught up with him. She grabbed his arm and knelt beside him. She was talking softly and gently to him.

"Hey, buddy. My name is Beth. What's your name?" Beth asked quietly.

"Benny," the small boy answered shyly.

"What's wrong, Benny?"

"I can't find them."

"Find who?"

"My mommy and daddy!"

"What do they look like and when did you see them last?"

"My mommy has dark brown hair, and so does my daddy. They were over by the bench. Now they're gone!"

"Come on. Let's go look for them."

"Okay."

They started walking. As they walked farther down the boardwalk, they passed a man selling ice cream.

"Hey, Benny! Do you want some ice cream?"

"Yeah!" he exclaimed. Then he smiled, revealing the absence of his two front teeth.

He got his ice cream cone after Beth payed, and he ate it sloppily. The two walked a little farther.

"That's them!" Benny cried joyfully as a bench came into view.

Beth and Benny tried to make their way through the crowd over to the tall man and woman. Benny was so excited and happy.