August was away. Well actually he was at his parents enjoying some family time. He was going to be there for a few days.

And his family was very grateful.

They all caught up and then his mom signed something that August hadn't gave much thought to.

"Any girls in your life?" she asks. August sighs and freezes right before he started to shake his head. His mom couldn't help but enjoy the hesitation.

"There is a girl I like," he starts off slowly thinking about a certain redhead who was at home reading.

The six words he had signed set his family off with a fire of questions coming from everyone.

August tells them to calm down and then talks about Beth. The story ended with, "I don't think she likes me back."

August heard his mom snort and watches as she rolls her eyes. His dad only laughed. His brother and now fiance only had smirks on their faces, and the twins were giggling.

"You are hard not to like," Reese signs to her brother. He couldn't help but smile at her.

He never was going to go that long without seeing his family again. August wraps his arm around his little sisters shoulder and kisses her cheek making her squirm and sign an over dramatic "EW!"

He laughs and watches very amused.

Over a hundred miles away was Beth was reading a book that she has read too many times. The current copy she had in her hands was falling apart. There were pages falling out and some were so worn that it was just splitting apart.

Her hair was annoying and she was at a boring part of the book. So then she decided she was going to take the tiring job of straightening her hair. A few hours later she was done and her arms hurt.

-The next day--

Beth had to look nice today. Today she was opening the coffee shop in her book store. She had on a nice pink dress and a black cardigan. She was strolling around in some black flats instead of her usual converse or black boots. She was nervous. Mr. Santorini was supposed to be here by now and he wasn't. He was supposed to come translate a little. He didn't know a lot of ASL, but the little that he knew helped a lot. And he was pretty good at finger spelling.

She started to pace and then saw the guy from the newspaper come in. One of her workers look over at her and Beth couldn't help but frantically shake her head. Beth then rushes to one of the corners of the store too nervous about what's going on. Where was he??? She feels a tap on her shoulder and she is relieved.

Mr. Santorini.

She smiles and hugs him.

"Sorry, I was yelling at August for being in the office," Mr. Santorini quickly signs. She nods her head and then leads him over to where she needed to be. There was a small group of people. Most where staff, a few friends, and Mr. Santorini. Mr. Santorini walks over to the newspaper reporter and talks to him. The guy nods in understanding and it made Beth feel a little uncomfortable.

Her being deaf made her feel uncomfortable.

Mr. Santorini signed a few things to her, "Stand in front of the coffee shop and smile."

She does what she's told and then she looks over just in time to see August join the crowd. He smiles at her making both of their hearts beat a lot faster than they were. The flash goes off and she walks over to the reporter.

"How long have you had the coffee shop?" the reporter asks. Mr. Santorini was trying to translate as best as he cold, but he was struggling. August saw that he was and walked over.

"Here let me," August says. August quickly helps Mr. Santorini sign the questions. Beth only felt relieved.

The reporter finishes and leaves the shop. August turns to Beth and realizes that her hair was straight.

"Your hair," August signs surprised. Beth couldn't help but blush. She hated when people pointed it out.

"Not so crazy curly today," she replies. He nods his head.

"I prefer the crazy curls," he admits. Beth blushes again and August was loving it. Mr. Santorini who was watching from afar was enjoying the show as well.

August loved her dress. He couldn't help but really like Beth. He barely knew her, but he liked her.

Spur of the moment August asks her out for lunch. Beth probably too eagerly says yes. Mr. Santorini laughs at the two's awkwardness. Beth kept blushing like a tomato. Beth pulls on another coat and follows August out of the book store. Everyone in the bookstore was fussing on how cute they were after they left. Mr. Santorini saw how they already started to balance each other out. August who was too tall for his own good standing at six foot seven stood as a giant compared to Beth who was five foot five which was considered an average height for women. Everyone went to the window and saw the couple cross the street squealing what they had saw.

Mr. Santorini chuckles to himself. He better start losing weight to fit back into his tux.

They go to cross the street and Beth, who was terrified, grabs August's hand. She didn't really notice that she had, she was just too scared. August however did notice and was buzzing. He couldn't help but smile. He had a pretty girl holding his hand.

They get into the restaurant and August asks if he needs to help her order. She shakes her head and laughs.

"No, a lot of the waiter staff here is learning sign language. Their boss is making them that way more deaf or heard of hearing people come. I personally think its brilliant. It will make a pretty big impact," she says.

She asks questions about his family knowing that he went and visited them yesterday. He goes on and on about how excited his family is about the wedding. And how his sisters kept making fun of him.

"What about your family?" he asks. Beth tenses up and shakes her head.

"They shun me," Beth simply says not really explaining anything.

"What?" August signs feeling confused.

"They believe in Eugenics, and the irony is they are both hearing," Beth starts explaining. "I wasn't born deaf. Both of my ear drums burst when I was fifteen. They burst because of a police siren because my parents were protesting at a hospital."

August's heart sunk at how hearing was something that was ripped away from her. It broke his heart to hear that.

"They left me right there in front of the hospital. I was there lying on the ground with bleeding ears. That was ten years ago," she signs not really sad. She wasn't sad.

Was she supposed to be sad? Would her life had been this good if she wasn't ditched? She never really thought about it before...

"Well, what happened after that?" August asks slowly. Scared that she'd get mad or just run off.

"One of the cops picked me up and took me into the hospital. Then after that him and his wife came to see me. They took me in and raised me as foster parents. They couldn't make it here today because my foster dad is retiring. They are setting up a party for him," she says talking lovingly about her parents. She loved them so much. She couldn't wait for the party tonight to give her foster dad his present that she got him. She got him a few books, one was a comical, "How to be a Police Officer for Dummies", others were what to do during retirement, and another filled with cool things to try during free time.

The main gift she was really excited for him to get was two plane tickets. She and her two older foster siblings had got her parents a two-week vacation in Finland. Her foster dad always had wanted to go there. He just wanted to know why it was in the top of the charts for schooling and other things.

She had talked to her mom about it and her mom had loved the idea. The bookshops surprising success let Beth start secretly put money into her parents retirement funds. Her mom wasn't ready to retire yet. She loved her job teaching too much.

Neither of them knew about why their retirement funds money and why there all the sudden was ten dollars put in at the end of every week for twelve months. And why it's been happening like that for two years now.

Beth loves her parents because they gave her a life again. They showed her what truly love was when she had a totally wrong perception about it.