John B was okay.

He had sustained a concussion and a broken wrist, sure, and had been taken to hospital, but he was okay. And word on the street was, Ward Cameron was taking him in.

Which meant he and Sarah would probably get up to a lot more than just macking now.

But she tried to ignore that.

Others, however, did not.

"I'm sorry, you're staying where?" Kiara demanded at thier meeting at The Wreck, which was empty, that afternoon. John B had brought the plat map that Sarah had given him, and thankfully, not his new girlfriend.

John B shrugged. "Tannyhill."

"So you're living with Sarah Cameron," the brunette deduced.

John B pressed his fingers to his temples. "Okay, look, the only reason why I'm living there is because her dad bailed me out, right? And it's way better than foster care, which by the way is where I was about to go if Ward didn't-"

"Hey, so like, do you have membership to the clubs now?" Pope asked.

"I don't know, Pope."

"What about those little golf carts they drive around? You get one of them?" JJ raised his eyebrows.

"Does it come with a sweater-vest or do you have to buy your own-?"

"Cut the shit, you two," Elora snapped, looking to John B. "You promised nothing was going on."

"Elora, nothing is-"

"Bro, just own it. She got you," JJ advised.

Elora shrugged. "I'm gonna put this nice and simple, because these Kooks are getting on my nerves. So this is the deal. If Tyler and Sarah are in, then I'm out."

"Do you guys see them here?" John B demanded. "No. So a little focus would be fantastic. We've got the map, right?"

JJ nodded. "But it's all outta whack cause the guy was ganja when he drew it."

Kie shook her head. "It's cause the coast's changed."

"So we just have to look for landmarks that haven't changed," shrugged Pope.

John B's eyes widened. "What about the old forts?"

"Battery Jasper," Elora said, pointing to the place on the map.

John B nodded. "So let's go there."

Battery Jasper was an old ruin, but as the five of them stood there with the map, it was as though it was worth a lot. Which it probably was.

"So we're in Battery," Pope, who was studying the map, spoke slowly. "So if this is parcel nine, then it's somewhere northeast of here."

"Somewhere over there," Kie pointed.

"Over there?" JJ frowned. "Guys, that's not Tannyhill, that's a subdivision."

"Tannyhill Plantation used to be the entire island," sighed John B. "Got sold into smaller pieces over time."

Pope looked back down at the map. "So we're just looking for an old stone wall."

Back to the Twinkie they went.

"That looks like a stone wall to me," Pope eventually said as they came to a stop by one. However, it was the wall by an old house, a very familiar old house.

"It's the fucking Crain house," Elora groaned.

"Are you kidding me?" Kie asked as they all got out.

"Worst case scenario," agreed JJ.

"Why'd it have to be here...?" Pope sighed.

"I heard that Mrs Crain buried her husband's head on property," JJ said, grinning. "So, how we gonna get in?"

They got in soon enough, walking through the overgrown garden, talking disjointedly.

"Look, you guys know whose house this is, right?" Kie checked.

"Oh yeah," nodded Elora. "We all do."

"Honestly," Pope shrugged. "I don't really believe the stories about this place."

"What?" Kie smirked. "The one where she killed her husband with an axe, and that she's been holed up ever since? On certain nights, when the moon is full... you can see her in the window!" She made a boo gesture, laughing to herself.

"No, Kie, it's not funny, cause it's all true!" JJ hissed. "I swear to god, guys, this is all real! I knew Hollis."

Pope frowned, stopping them all walking. "You knew Hollis Crain?"

"Yeah, dude," shrugged JJ. "She was my babysitter, she told me all about it. Told me the truth, about her mother, and what happened to her in this house."

He looked up at the ominous house with the others, then continued. "So as a kid, she heard all the stories that her mother killed her father, and... she was a murderer and all. Hollis didn't believe it. Until that night."

"What night?" Elora rolled her eyes.

JJ looked at her. "It all came back to her," he turned to the house. "When Hollis was six years old, she heard her parents arguing downstairs. So she goes downstairs to see her mum washing her hands in a sink... full of blood. Her mother just says that she cut her finger. The next morning, she says her father and her split up. But then, Hollis noticed something. Her mother going into the parlor constantly, in and out and in and out with plastic bags. Weeks pass, and Hollis decides to use the outhouse. And as she's using it, she looks down, and there, in the outhouse, is her father's head, looking straight back at her!"

"God, you are so full of shit," John B rolled his eyes.

"Dude, I swear to God, man!"

"Did she call the police?"

"She didn't have time," JJ sighed. "But I'm serious, she's an axe murderer, guys! You got a cast on," he told John B.

"I don't give a shit if she's an axe murderer, okay?" JB snapped back. "I got nothing to lose."

And neither did any of the others.

𔓘𔓘𔓘

It wasn't easy.

They were searching for the 'wheat' and the 'water', like Denmark told them to, but there was literally nothing.

And after searching all around the house, they headed into the basement, which they would gain access to from outside.

It was a very cluttered place. There were cans of oil and tins of paint everywhere, and bits of old furniture and other broken things. Oh, and it was ridden with mosquitoes.

"Do you see any water?" Kie murmured, as they began to search around.

There was nothing there. I mean sure, there was stuff, but no wheat, no water, and nothing that could satisfy them. And it made Elora angry.

"Another dead end?" Kiara sighed.

"There's not even water on the pipes," sighed JJ.

"There's no water in here," Pope shook his head.

"Not at dropamino," JJ agreed.

But Elora wasn't hopeless like the rest of them, she was just annoyed.

"You know why we didn't find it?" She announced to the group, her tone laced with malice and sarcasm. "Bad karma."

"Oh god, here we go," John B rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath.

"Here we go?" Elora repeated. "John B, we were fucking fine. And then you roped in that bitch and now the trail's gone dry! Coincidence? Probably not."

"This is exactly why I didn't wanna tell you two about Sarah," John B looked from her to Kie.

"Yeah?" The brunette argued, standing next to Elora.

"Yeah," nodded John B. "What the hell's the deal with you two?"

"She made fun of me for years!" Elora yelled. "She made fun of my hair, my voice, she spilled all my secrets- hell, told me to fucking starve myself!"

"Well she's changed, Elora," John B retorted.

"Really?" Elora crossed her arms. "Still seems like same old, same old for m-"

"You can't say anything! Look at Tyler Thornton," John B snapped, smirking at her.  "Looks like I'm not the only one roping in Kooks, hu-"

Slap!

Before he could respond, Elora slapped him across the face. Not as hard as she could, but hard enough that his face jerked to the side.

"Oh!"

"Oh shit!"

At Pope and JJ laughed, she just clenched her fists. "Sorry honey, there was a skeeter on you"

She held up her hand to prove it, even though slapping John B had not really been about that skeeter.

"Oh, really?" John B snapped, before slapping her. Her cheek stung as he did, and anger burst within her, but as he held his hand up with the skeeter on it, she couldn't argue.

"Keep your fucking mouth shut about Tyler Thornton," she snapped, turning her back on him as she slapped another skeeter.

"There's so many mosquitoes here!" JJ complained.

"Yeah..." Pope nodded, sounding kinda distracted.

"Oh my gosh, can we leave? I'm already itching to leave-"

"Pope? Hey, Pope!" Elora interrupted him.

Because just across from them, Pope was banging on some of the wooden planks, trying to remove them.

"Come here, help me move these!" He called them, and they all ran over, moving random bits of wood and stuff as they began to take the planks off.

And- holy shit-

They were revealing a well.

Elora looked down into it, absolutely flabbergasted. It went down further than she could see but there was definitely water at the bottom of it.

"Well, well, well, that was a good dad joke," John B murmured, as they all leaned down to stare into it.

"They built this part of the house right over it," Kie said.

JJ nodded. "This is where she hides the bodies-"

"Oh, dude, come on!" Pope nudged him.

"Stop it, she probably doesn't even know it's here," sighed Kie.

"Well, we found the water," Elora smirked.

John B nodded. "We're gonna need a really big rope."

𔓘𔓘𔓘

So that was that.

And Elora presumed that because it was like that, it would just be the five of them.

So imagine her surprise when she got the Chateau that afternoon with Kie and both Sarah Cameron and Tyler Thornton were there.

"Are you guys fucking with us right now?" Elora snapped, walking into the situation. "You brought both of them here?"

"Yeah, no effing way am I doing this if she's in on it!" Kiara yelled.

John B, JJ and Pope all sighed, having known this would happen.

"Look, I..." Pope started. "I can't vouch for Sarah, but Tyler's actually been a decent human being the past few days, so..."

"What, and that cancels out the dick he's been his whole life?!" Elora yelled.

"Look, all I care about is he said he didn't want any gold, and that her cut come out of your share," JJ gestured to Tyler, Sarah and then John B.

"You know, I don't remember taking a vote!" Kiara snapped. "This is our thing, a Pogue thing!"

"Okay, I gotta say, I am a tad uncomfortable with this," Pope voiced.

"Thank you-!"

"When are you not uncomfortable, Pope?" John B spoke for the first time, sighing.

"Well, I don't know, I rode here on the back of JJ's bike pretty comfortably!"

"It's true," JJ nodded. "Most relaxed I've ever seen him."

"Yeah, so why the fuck are you adding new people to the group? All three of you!" Elora yelled, pointing at each of the boys.

"Yeah," nodded Kie. "We are all extremely comfortable until you brought her-"

"Stop talking about me like I'm not here!" Sarah snapped back.

"Then leave, and don't fucking come back!" Elora yelled.

Sarah scoffed, looking at John B. "I told you."

"Told him what, exactly?" Elora snapped, taking a step forward. "That you're a fucking lying-"

"No, that you're a shit talking bitch!"

"A bitch? That's the best you can do, what about the comments about my body, or my hair-"

As JJ and Pope laughed, Elora and Kiara yelled at Sarah, John B hopelessly looking on.

"Everybody SHUT UP!" He yelled eventually, causing everyone to silence.

"Kie, Elle, you are my best friends, alright?" John B implored, looking at both of them, before turning to the blonde. "And Sarah, you're my..."

Sarah smiled at him. "Say it."

John B nodded. "My girlfriend."

Elora scoffed. "Get me a bucket-"

"Shut up," John B snapped.

"So she's your girlfriend now?" Kiara demanded. "What was all that talk about using her for information? Get a map, cut her loose?"

Sarah looked at John B. "You said that?"

He looked down. "No."

"Stop fucking lying!" Elora snapped.

"Look, love just walked in, okay?" John B yelled. "I didn't expect it, it just kinda happened-"

"I swear to fucking god-"

"Look, cut the bullshit, John B," Kiara rolled her eyes. "It's like I said before. If she's in, I'm out."

"Kie, I'm not doing th-"

"You are gonna decide!" Kiara yelled.

"I- I can't-"

"Hmmm, let's see," Elora said sarcastically. "The girl that told me to starve myself and dropped Kie without a second thought, or the two girls that have been by your side since day one! Very hard decision."

The silence hung between them.

"So come on," Kiara finally said. "Us or her?"

"Both," John B answered.

JJ let out a low whistle. "Went for the Hail Mary."

But Kie wasn't having it, storming away, out the Chateau and off to god knows where. Elora, however, was not done.

"And you," she snapped in the direction of Tyler. "Don't even get me started on you-"

"You know Elora, I don't really care about all that, in face it makes me quite sick," JJ gestured to Sarah and John B. "But Tyler, he's actually proved himself. And I think you need to give him a chance."

Tyler, who was still yet to say a word, his eyes on the ground, nodded slightly.

"Right well, between lover boy and you guys, this is just the best day ever," Elora rolled her eyes, standing back. "You guys know what he did to me, right?"

"Yeah, in seventh grade," Pope nodded. "But unlike Sarah, he's apologised."

"Can you not use me as the bad example?" Sarah mumbled.

"Honey, I've slapped both of your two faces and I won't hesitate to do it again," Elora shot at her, silencing her before turning back to Tyler. "It's the same story. He gets in, and I go out."

And with that she left them, going down to stew in peace and leaving them to make their own decisions.

But not before she heard JJ tell John B. "I'd just like to say, you handled that beautifully."

𔓘𔓘𔓘

Elora hadn't spoken to the Pogues at all since yesterday, when the huge blow about Sarah and Tyler had happened. She'd spent her time at home, trying to figure out what was going to happen.

That was when Kie knocked on her door, yelling about a code red, where John B and JJ had conked out in the marsh. Pope was waiting for them at the dock.

So the two girls rushed out there and climbed aboard the HMS Pogue, presuming JJ and John B were using one of Ward's boats.

"So what does this have to do with us?" Elora asked sourly, not very happy at all.

Pope shrugged. "We need you two for mechanical."

Something about this seemed sketchy, but Elora chose to ignore it and instead just went along, shouldering her backpack.

They reached John B and JJ soon enough. They were, in fact, out on a fancy boat, and their engine was completely out.

"Can't you guys do anything without us?" Kie frowned as they reached them, both girls stepping off the Pogue and onto the other boat.

They found JJ and John B tinkering with the engine, both dressed in trunks.

"What happened?" Kie frowned.

"Uh, the alternators, they're not, uh, alternating anymore," sighed JJ.

"And it's not charged," shrugged John B.

"Did you check the plugs?" Elora asked.

"No, no. You two should check them."

But as Elora and Kiara kneeled down, they soon came to find out that absolutely nothing was wrong with the plugs because-

"Uh, is this a joke?" Elora yelled. "There are absolutely no plugs here, like-"

"BYEEEEEE!"

"Shit, shit, shit-!"

Because JJ and John B had just launched themselves into the Pogue, Pope driving it far enough away from the boat that swimming was impossible, due to the amount of jellyfish in the water.

And with no plugs, Elora and Kie were stranded.

But that wasn't the worst part.

"John B! John B-"

"JJ? Pope? Where are you guys?!"

That was unmistakably Sarah Cameron and Tyler Thornton, trapped inside the boat.

Elora sighed, knowing she was going to regret it but doing it anyway as she knelt down and unlocked it, letting them out.

As soon as Sarah and Tyler saw them, the former yelled. "What?!"

"What the hell?" Elora asked, as both Tyler and Sarah chambered out, all four of them running towards the edge of the boat to see a grinning Pope, JJ and John B aboard the Pogue.

"Are you serious?!" Sarah shouted.

"Are you joking?!" Kie joined in. "Get your asses back here!"

"We can't, not until you four figures your shit out!" John B shouted back.

"I'm seriously going to kill you!" Elora screamed.

"Y-you can't just leave!" Sarah called desperately.

"There's food in the cabin, and JJ rolled a blunt!" Pope told them.

"Fuck you guys!" Elora screamed, middle finger going up as the Pogue sped away.

She shrugged, looking round at all of them before beginning to undress to her bikini underneath. "Well, I'd rather drown than stay here with you guys, so-"

"That's fine, maybe you'll finally shut the hell up," Sarah shrugged, also stripping down.

"This isn't a good idea, Elora," Tyler told the girl.

"You know, I've slapped both of you before, but I'm dangerously close to having a full blown fight with each of you right now," Elora snapped at the both of them.

"Well, you won't have a chance to," Sarah said, climbing over the boat's edge.

"Good luck with the oyster beds," shrugged Kie, as she jumped in.

She made it about five metres before she screamed, contorting about.

"What?" Elora asked boredly.

"Urgh!" Sarah grunted. "I got stung by a jellyfish! Shit!"

Elora rolled her eyes at how much of a diva she was being, seeing the red mark on the side of Sarah's body as she swam back and climbed into the boat, sobbing. "Shit..."

"Well, you swam right into a man o' war, I don't know what you thought was gonna happen," Kie shrugged.

"Thanks for your help," Sarah said as she climbed back on, sitting down at the edge of the boat. "Shit. Ow!"

"Oh, it doesn't hurt, does it?" Elora asked sarcastically.

"Shut up," Sarah grunted.

"Happily," Elora shot back. "If you guys need me, I'll be smoking that blunt and trying to forget who I'm on this boat with."

𔓘𔓘𔓘

It didn't end up like that, though.

Tyler left the girls alone, opting to sit at the front of the boat, but as night fell, Kie, Elora and Sarah all sat out front, all sharing the blunt JJ had left.

Kie and Elora were sat back, but Sarah, who was quite high, was giggling.

"Hey, hey, hey, guess what? I'm just imagining..." she slurred. "Would you rather have- would you rather have nipples for eyes or eyes for nipples? Imagine you get really old, and just, your boobs get saggy, and just, your nipples-"

"Have you never smoked before?" Elora demanded.

Sarah shook her head. "No."

Both Elora and Kie rolled their eyes.

There was silence for about a second before she started again.

"Hey Kie, hey Elle..."

"Oh, my god," Kiara snapped. "Enough with this 'hey Kiara, hey Elle' bullshit. Why'd you do it?"

"Why did I do what?" Sarah looked at her.

Kie scoffed. "We were best friends. We stole beer from your dad's fridge, did our stupid homework together, cried about boys. And then, next thing I know, I'm watching your birthday party from instagram."

Sarah sighed. "That was one party, and someone called the cops on it anyway! Honestly, I was convince it was you, but-"

"You invited everyone except me," Kie rolled her eyes. "You were my best friend and then you ghosted me and I don't even know why! I mean, really, what did I do?"

Sarah shook her head. "You liked me."

"What?"

Sarah swallowed a lump in her throat, looking down. "When... when people get... close to me... I feel trapped. And... I bail. And then I blame them for it."

Kiara and Sarah were both teary now, and Elora was just waiting solemnly.

"I'm really sorry," Sarah told Kie. "And I miss you."

Kie looked at her with a smile.

"Do you think that there's a chance we could be okay again?"

"Honestly..." Kie bit her lip. "I don't know."

Sarah nodded, biting her lip and looking down.

"Just... promise me that you won't bail on John B," Kiara told her. "He's not just... some other guy. And he really, really likes you."

Sarah nodded. "I won't."

"Promise me," Kie said.

"I promise."

"Also, I'm sorry I called the cops."

That got all three of them laughing, even Elora.

"I knew it!" Sarah giggled. "I knew it, you bitch!"

As they laughed, it was like they were all friends, and as much as Elora hated to admit it, it felt... nice. She had all but forgotten that she still had massive beef with two of the four people on this boat.

Once the laughter died down, however, Kie said. "Listen, I... I'm gonna leave you two alone. You need to talk about this, and honestly, I don't wanna be here for it."

Elora cursed her and thanked her silently as she left, trying not to think about the storm about to be unleashed.

Once she was sure Kie was gone, she took a deep breath and began talking.

"So, I'm... I'm quite interested in your story actually," she said, looking at the blonde girl.

"My story?" Sarah giggled slightly. "Buckle up, cause-"

"Sarah, you decided you hated me from the moment I walked into that kindergarten classroom," Elora snapped, her voice getting harder to shut the other girl up. "And as we got older, things got even worse. You bullied me, you made me believe I was a terrible person,  you prompted me to starve myself because you made so many comments about my looks, and you got all the Kooks to bully me when you heard about what happened with the other asshole on this boat."

Sarah looked at her sadly, biting her lip, her eyes not quite meeting the redhead's.

"Elora-"

"No, I want to know," Elora told her firmly. "It'll help me decide whether I think you're worth forgiving."

Sarah looked away from her, across the dark water that the moonlight made sparkle, her expression becoming vacant.

"I was jealous of you," she finally admitted, plain and simple.

Elora sat still, absolutely bewildered. She was too shocked to be angry, or even sarcastic, so she just asked softly. "Wh... what?"

"I was jealous of you," Sarah repeated. "I... I know it's not an excuse, but... from my point of view, from the minute you walked into that Kindergarten classroom, you were it. All the boys looked at you, all the girls wanted to be friends with you, and you... you were a Pogue. It wasn't right."

Her eyes became teary, and she started to cry. "And I'm sorry," she turned back to Elora, eyes sparkling in the moonlight. "I'm sorry because I- I know I was nean to you, and I deserved it when you slapped me, and I was a horrible, horrible person, but... it's the way I've been brought up."

Her chest was heaving and her voice high as she said. "And I just think that with John B, and with you guys..." she smiled slightly. "I can learn to be good. I... I never meant to make you feel so bad about yourself, Elle, just-just please believe m-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Elora had swept her up in a hug. She didn't know why, because she hated Sarah Cameron, but it was just the way she was looking at her, the way she looked as though she was regretting her whole life, that softened her.

Once Sarah had calmed down, she released her, and they sat in silence for a second, Sarah's sniffles the only thing filling it.

"You don't even understand how horrible you made me feel," Elora said eventually, her eyes filling with tears. "And... I just felt like I wasn't good enough, and that no one would ever want me..."

Hot tears were streaming down her face, but she continued looking at Sarah, who was equally as torn up.

"I never meant to do that," she finally said. "I-I... I feel horrible every single day, because I know I did that to you, but please, let me prove myself to you. Let me show you I'm b-better now."

Elora looked at her, wiping her tears as she looked at Sarah.

"If I forgive you, and you fuck it up, just know I'm never going back," she told the girl firmly.

Sarah nodded. "I know."

"And you're lucky you're even getting a second chance right now."

"I know."

They sat in silence for another second, looking at each other.

"Okay," Elora said, looking at Sarah. "Okay, we can be cool."

"Cool?" The blonde raised her eyebrows, half joking.

"Yeah, cool," nodded Elora, also picking up on the joking tone. "We're not friends yet, Sarah Cameron. Don't push your luck."

However, as she got up and left Sarah alone to go find Kie, she couldn't help but feel lighter. More happy.

Clearly, it wasn't only Sarah who'd been holding onto things that hurt her.

𔓘𔓘𔓘

It was early, very early when Elora woke up.

She had been sleeping in the small cabin with Kie and Sarah next to her. Tyler was still sitting out front when they went to bed.

However, as Elora awoke and got up, seeing the sun had just barely began rising, she realised that the boys weren't coming back to save them for at least another few hours.

So she stood up, stretched, and headed outside to see what there was to do. She needed to do something productive, and she couldn't stop thinking about-

She stopped in her tracks as she saw Tyler, sat at the very front of the boat, legs dangling off the edge as he looked out upon the almost dark water.

The redhead took a deep breath.

It wasn't like she hadn't know it was coming. If she and Tyler got back on the Pogue this morning without being at least civil with each other, the boys would just pull another stunt like this and force them to make up with each other.

They needed to talk. And it needed to happen now.

"Well," Elora bit her lip, turning Tyler's head as she let out her breath and sat down next to him. "It isn't like this wasn't going to happen at one point."

"Yeah," Tyler nodded, sighing too as they both looked out at the water.

"Listen, I just wanna reiterate what I said before," Elora said boredly. "Being a Pogue is not a holiday camp, or a phase, or whatever else you're trying to make it. P4L, that's our saying. Pogue for life."

"Elora..." Tyler turned to her, piercing her with those blue eyes. "When are you going to understand that I know all that, and I'm still choosing you guys."

Elora looked at him, frozen.

"I want to be a Pogue, Elora," Tyler told her, taking advantage of her silence. "I want to be in on this mission with you guys, and I want to learn your handshake, and I want to smoke weed and skip class and-"

"-and swear off your family forever?" Elora demanded, rendering the boy silent. "Listen, Tyler, I don't know what you think this is, but I know one thing. Being a Pogue will ruin your life-"

"Elora, my life's already ruined!" Tyler protested. "Look at my mother, my brother! Becoming a Pogue wouldn't ruin anything, it would just make it better. I don't wanna be some Kook asshole all my life."

"Okay, so then tell me why you were fine with being a Kook asshole in seventh grade!"

It had slipped out without her thinking, and as soon as Elora said it, she wished she could take it back. Neither of them had spoken a word about their kiss since the whole thing blew over years ago. That was clearly finished.

Tyler looked straight at her, his voice firm. "I'm sorry."

"Doesn't really help anything, does it?" Elora snapped. "You fucking followed me round for six months and when we finally kissed, you went back to your friends and told them you had finally got what you wanted, then left me in the dust-"

"Elora, I'm-"

"Tyler, my dad had just fucking died!"

There were tears in her eyes again, but she squeezed them shut to stop them from falling.

"Sorry, I..." she muttered, before she looked at him again. "It's just- I mean, first I thought you were just taking the piss, but... I actually did feel something for you. And that betrayal hurt."

"Elora, I'm sorry," Tyler said, and his voice was soft and soothing. "I- I've got no excuse. I was young, and a complete idiot. And my brother and all my friends were egging me on to follow you about and get you interested, then kiss you and leave you and... I'm sorry."

But Elora was still crying, tears running down her face, sobs wracking her body.

"Elora..." Tyler said softly. "Elora-"

And before she could complain, she was in his arms. They were strong, and tight, and they brought her more comfort than she would ever admit. She cried into his shoulder, all the feelings from that time coming back.

Losing her dad, being chased about, giving Tyler a chance, kissing him... it was all playing on her mind.

"I-I'm sorry..." she said into his shoulder. "I just- it's making it all come back-"

"Shhhh, it's okay, it's okay," murmured Tyler. "I'm here."

And for some reason, that actually helped. The heaving in her chest started to stop, and her tears started to flow slower.

Whilst she was in his arms, Tyler took the chance to tell her. "I'm so sorry, Elle. If I could do it again, I'd change everything."

She pulled back slightly, meeting his eyes.

"I still think you're making a mistake," she told him. "And your mum's gonna freak when she finds out," she gave him a wet chuckle, and Tyler returned it. "But... if you want in, you've got it."

The smile that broke out on Tyler's face was one of the brightest she'd ever seen, and for some reason, everything felt lighter when he smiled.

(She wanted to see it more often).

"Thank you so much, Elle," he told her. "You won't regret it."

Elora smiled. "I hope I don't."

I hope you don't, either.