Their happiness disappeared pretty damn quickly when they realised the gold wasn't on the boat.

They circled it, went all around it, went in and out every crevice, and it wasn't there.

Finally, John B sighed. "It's not there. Look, just- just pull the drone up, okay?"

The thunder rumbled above them as he scuffed his shoes along the boat floor, sighing as he turned away from them.

"Look, we can do another pass? We can go back down," Pope said.

"Guys, we've done it three times, there's nothing there!" JJ called.

"Shut up!" Kie snapped.

"What? It's true!"

"JJ-"

"Stop arguing!" Elora yelled. "Guys, it's not there and there's nothing we can do about it."

"The gold could be buried, we don't know!" Kie fought back.

"Listen," Tyler, who had been observing their fight, finally spoke. "I'm not an expert on this, but I do know that those drones have metal detectors on them. If the gold was there, it would've been found by them."

They digested this, taking it in, taking their defeat in, before Elora snapped. "Fuck you, Tyler."

Tyler didn't reply, just taking it. John B nodded along with him, though, saying. "He's right. Somebody beat us to it."

"Or it was never there," JJ shrugged, revving the engine before driving them away.

𔓘𔓘𔓘

Nobody spoke much on the drive back, none of them feeling particularly inspired.

But as Elora tredged back to her house with her backpack slung across her shoulder, she didn't know how to feel.

Today was the anniversary of her dad's death. She was going to go back to her house, get her flowers and go and spend some time with him by his grave. She needed to, it would clear her head a bit.

Because A, they'd let Tyler in on their secret, and then ended up not even needing to, because they hadn't found anything with the drone. B, they now had no new leads for where that four hundred million in gold was, if it had been taken by someone else, and C- ohhhhh... shit.

"Hey, buddy."

Her third thought vanished from her mind as she entered her house and was met with the sight of Cheryl, her social worker, sitting on her couch.

She stopped in her tracks, rolling her eyes and telling her. "Look, Cheryl, excuse my language but your timing's fucking awful."

"This isn't a check in, Elora, we're here to take you," Cheryl told her.

Elora sat down, too deflated to even care. "Today? Really?"

She nodded. "It's just for a few weeks, until your hearing. The police haven't been able to track your mum."

"Oh my- look, Cheryl, I'm not going into foster care, okay?" Elora snapped. "I'm not gonna go be a part of your little kissass system-"

She cut off at the sight of a burly, big police officer coming through the door.

"Elora, this is Deputy Thomas," Cheryl explained. "He works with juveniles from the sheriff's department."

Elora stood up as he came over, not wanting to feel even more inferior.

"Look, I don't know where your mum is," Cheryl said gently. "But I know that the chances of her coming back are slim."

"What?" Elora asked, turning and attempting to run, but her path quickly being blocked by Deputy Thomas. She turned back to Cheryl. "Nope, see, I can't do that- look, I- I want emancipation, asylum, anything!"

She tried to run again, but again the police officer blocked her path. She stuck her middle finger up at him, and tried again. This time, he caught her, holding her as she struggled.

"Come here, you little-"

"Get the fuck off me-"

"That's enough!" Cheryl shouted.

"Okay, okay, okay!" Elora wrestled herself from the deputy's grip. "I give up."

Packing a bag wasn't nice. Neither was looking around her house. But she also knew that this wasn't over yet. She was going to get away somehow.

Cheryl breathed down her back as she darted around her room, packing various things in her backpack.

However, she stopped dead in her tracks when she came across a photo, covered in dust, at the bottom of her wardrobe. Her heart beat faster at the sight of it, and even though she knew what it was, she couldn't help but crouch down to pick it up.

It was a picture of her family. Her family before it was destroyed. She was in the middle, only around eight years old, her mother and father on either side of her, practically beaming.

Tears sprang to her eyes at the sight of it, because that happy family no longer existed. Her mother had killed her father off years ago, and had then decided to leave too in the past few days.

But seeing it also made her angry.

"You see what this is, Cheryl?" She demanded, getting up and shoving the picture in her face. "This is my family. Or it was my family. And even though my dad's d- not here anymore, and my mother's off doing fuck all in god knows where, I know that these three people would want me to stay in this home that you're trying to take away from me!"

Another tear slipped down her cheek, but Cheryl only looked on.

"It's the law, Elora."

The redhead turned, wiping her tears as she scoffed before picking up her backpack and marching out.

Clearly, the dreams of a happy family existing under that roof once more were longsince given up on.

𔓘𔓘𔓘

She looked at the picture again once in the back of the car, Cheryl and Deputy Thomas in the front.

As much as she hated to admit it, she missed her mother. Not even as a carer, because Elora had done most of the caring since her dad had passed, but just as company. Sure, the Pogues were amazing, but sometimes just having someone around the house meant a lot to her.

And of course, she still had the naive thought sometimes that somewhere, underneath all her sleeping around and being a bitch and cheating on her husband multiple times, the mother she had known growing up was still there. She knew it was stupid, but she did think it sometimes. She couldn't help it.

So it was in that moment that she decided. She wasn't going to give up on her friends, or her family. And that meant the Pogues, as well. Not just her mum that she still foolishly believed in.

So she just accidentally let go of the picture and watched it fly out the open window.

"No! No, no!" She shouted, putting on her best desperate expression. "My picture! That's the last picture of my family! Can I please go and get it?"

"Not gonna happen, kid," Deputy Thomas said flatly.

Cheryl sighed. "Tom-"

"Cheryl, please!" Elora begged. "That's all I've got left, stop the car!"

Cheryl looked at Thomas. "Pull over."

"You want me to-?"

"Just pull over."

"Thank you," Elora said, watching as the car rolled to a stop and Thomas got out, heading back to the point where the photo had been dropped.

"Cheryl, can I help him look? Please?" Elora asked.

"He's got it," was the lifeless reply.

He didn't have it. He was wandering around aimlessly behind the car, which he kept glancing back to.

"It's gonna get trashed, Cheryl, please!" Elora looked to the woman, eyes pleading.

Cheryl shook her head. "Make it quick."

When she opened the door, Elora's pulse quickened, but she didn't let herself feel it as she grabbed her bag, wrenching the door open and shouting. "Later, Thomas! Do me a favour and try not to be so much of a dick!"

And with a gleeful whoop, she was running, ignoring the car horns and screeching brakes as she vaulted the black fence in front of her, making a break for it round near Figure Eight.

She needed to get back to the Pogues and hide out whilst they figured out what to do, because she had no hope at this point of Cheryl leaving her alone.

She was sprinting so hard, her head so full, that she didn't notice the chain in between two wooden posts in her way.

"Argh!"

The yell that tore from her throat as she tripped over the chain and went flying headfirst to the ground was loud, but the pain she felt a second after made her heart beat in her ears, barely even hearing it.

Light flashed above her as she groaned, rolling over onto her back as she became dimly aware of where the pain was coming from; her forehead. In fact, when she lifted a hand up there, she felt a sticky liquid on her fingers - blood.

Shit.

"Elora?"

Someone was saying her name, but her vision was blurry and she couldn't figure out who.

"Elora, are you okay?"

I must be hallucinating, Elora decided, because there was no way Tyler Thornton was standing above her, eyebrows creased in confusion.

"T... Tyler?" Elora frowned, looking at him.

"Yeah, it's me," Tyler sighed. "Don't say anything for once, would you?"

Elora didn't answer, too out of it due to her hit to the head. Tyler asked again. "Are you okay?"

"M... m'fine..." the redhead murmured, trying to sit up as her vision went in and out of focus.

"No, don't sit up," Tyler kneeled down next to her, gently pushing her back down. "Your head's bleeding, Elora, you're not fine."

"I... I am," Elora told him, vision coming back into focus as she said that, her ringing ears clearing as well. She was more aware of her bloody head now, which was stinging slightly, but apart from that she was fine.

"Do you need me to take you to the hospital?" Tyler asked.

"N-no, I'm fine..." Elora sighed, remembering her original plans for the day. To take the flowers she'd bought and go spend some time with her dad. "Just... just g-"

She stopped in her tracks as she spotted the cop car, driving at the top of the street.

"Shit," she cursed with gritted teeth, turning back to Tyler. "Let's go."

Next thing she knew, he was helping her up and then she was in the passenger seat of Tyler's Jeep, lying almost horizontal as he started the car.

"Hey, uh- is there a car outside? Like a- like a cop SUV?" She asked, very distracted, as her lifelong enemy started the car. "Blue and white, maybe?"

"Yes, Elora Easton, there is indeed a blue and white cop SUV outside," Tyler chuckled.

Oh, right. Now he knew she was gonna be fine, he was back to being a douche.

"Fuck," Elora cursed. "Is there a guy with no neck?"

"There is a guy," shrugged Tyler. "And no, I do not see his neck. There's also a woman with him."

"What are they doing?" Elora asked.

"They're, uh..." Tyler sighed as he backed out his parking space. "Just talking. Asking people-"

"Can you just go, please?" Elora snapped.

Tyler sighed, beginning to drive along the road. "Well, at least you're still being a bitch."

"What, and that's worse than you being a dick?" Elora replied, but there was no bite in it, her head was too sore for that.

Things were silent in the car for a second before Tyler said. "So... care to tell me why the cops are after you, Easton?"

"Going with the last name now, are we? Was 'Elle' not original enough?" Elora sighed, closing her eyes as she lifted a hand up to her head again. "And it's not important."

"Really?" Tyler cocked a brow. "I just thought you were going on a stealing spree now, considering you took the drone."

Elora didn't reply to this, sitting her seat up higher to see that they were on the same road that she had dropped the picture on earlier.

"Hey, can you stop here?" She asked Tyler, not in the mood to be pissed at him.

"Why?" Tyler frowned.

"You don't have to take me to the hospital, just stop, please," Elora said, trying not to beg.

"Okay," Tyler looked sideways at her, but stopped promptly, allowing Elora to unbuckle her seat and get out.

She found the picture quite easily, walking back to the car triumphantly and jumping onto her seat, fastening her belt. "Come on, Thornton, let's go!"

Tyler chuckled as they left, glancing at her. "So now you're calling me by my last name."

Elora didn't answer, and he spoke again. "Listen, I understand you don't want to go to the hospital, but I'm still gonna have to clean your head up."

"Why?" Elora raised her eyebrows. "It's not like you care a shit tonne about my wellbeing."

"Well what can I say, Kooks have better painkillers than Pogues," Tyler smiled. "I'll take you back home. Topper's out today and my mum's off with her bitch friends, it'll be fine."

"What about your dad?" Elora couldn't help but ask. "Where's he?"

Tyler bit his lip, looking down.

"He's actually on the mainland, living his crappy live with his affair partner and his two kids," he explained.

Elora froze. "What?" She asked, her voice frail.

"I don't wanna talk about it," Tyler sighed, looking over at her as they crossed into Figure Eight. "Come on, Easton. Let's go clean you up."

Elora turned to him as he kept his eyes on the road. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

Tyler shrugged, chuckling slightly before giving her his answer. "Maybe I've realised I don't wanna be a dick anymore."

𔓘𔓘𔓘

"Tyler!"

Elora hadn't expected to hear the name of the boy driving her getting yelling in the window as they drove through Figure Eight, but what she was more focused on was the fact that someone was calling Tyler, and she coudl not be discovered.

"Tyler Thornton, come here right now!"

"Shit," Tyler cursed under his breath as he stopped the car.

"What? Who is it?" Elora asked.

"It's my mother," Tyler didn't look at her, instead pretending to get things organised. "And my brother. This is gonna be great..."

"Where are they? What's happening?"

"They're on the jetty, listen to me, I know you hate that, but you have to, just stay here," Tyler told her, making direct eye contact with her for a second before getting out the car, and heading over.

But Elora wasn't going to listen to him. Not only because it was fun to piss off Tyler Thornton, but because she was genuinely interested in what was happening.

So she unbuckled her seatbelt and got out the car, sneaking round the edge of it to get a good look at what was going on on the jetty.

Topper and Cynthia Thornton were standing, arms crossed as Tyler joined them, all three facing one of the coastguards.

But it was what was past them that Elora was focused on. It was the Thornton's boat, a very expensive looking thing, but it wasn't just there. It was being raised out the water, the same thing being drained from it right now, having clearly sank recently.

As Elora snuck closer, opting to hide behind a tarpaulin covered boat so she could hear what was being said.

"What's going on?" Tyler was asking as he approached them.

"Tyler, finally," his mother snapped. "If you hadn't already worked it out, our boat sank last night."

"Boats like these don't just sink, Mrs Thornton," the coastguard informed her.

"How much is this gonna cost me?" Cynthia replied snappily.

"Ah, submerged twenty four hours, you're looking at twenty five, thirty K," he shrugged. Topper shook his head angrily.

"And insurance won't cover it?" Cynthia demanded.

"No," chuckled the coastguard. "Not for operator error. Plug wasn't in there."

Cynthia turned to her two sons, looking absolutely livid.

"Well, why are you- why are you looking at me?" Topper demanded.

"Why do you think?" His mum retorted.

"That boat's been sitting in the water for a week, mum, it wasn't me," said Tyler.

"Wasn't me either!" Topper shouted.

"I thought that when you two turned sixteen, you'd take a little bit more responsibility for your actions," Cynthia said, voice snippy.

"Mum, I don't know about Tyler, but I didn't do this!" Topper begged.

"Are you kidding me, bro? I didn't do anything either!" Tyler objected before demanding. "Why is this our fault?"

His mother sounded cruel when she spoke. "Because it usually is."

In that moment, Elora had never related more to Tyler Thornton. He had a father he didn't see anymore, and a mother with whom his relationship was complex. Elora'a family was so different yet so the same.

As Cynthia walked away, Tyler and Topper faced each other.

"Well, it wasn't me," Topper shrugged. "Looks like you've got some explaining to do."

"Wasn't me either, idiot," snapped Tyler.

"Well, it must've been one of us, otherw-" Topper went silent, eyes going wide. "Oh..." he muttered. "Oh my g-"

"Shut up, what the hell are you talking about?" Tyler asked.

"Rafe jumped one of those little Pogues the other day. Pope, I think his name is," Topper said.

Elora froze. Rafe jumped Pope? When? Where? Who knew about this? Why didn't he tell-?

"Oh my g- this is him. He took the plug out-" Topper was continuing-

"Shut up, do you seriously think a Pogue would be able to do that?" Tyler said, but the way he said 'Pogue' made Elora frown. He almost seemed like he was faking his disgust. Then his words from the car floated back to her.

"Maybe I've realised I don't wanna be a dick anymore."

Maybe this was his redemption. But she wasn't going to focus on that right now.

"Yes, I do!" Topper fought back. "Mark my words, Tyler, they did this, those filthy Pogues!"

And maybe Elora was just imagining seeing Tyler's fists clench up.

But as he stormed away, he seemed angry.

And she wasn't imagining that.

𔓘𔓘𔓘

She didn't get back to the car before Tyler.

And when she got in, he was just looking at her.

"So I'm guessing you heard every single word of that, then?"

There was no point in lying. "Yes."

"Tell me honestly," Tyler looked at her. "Did Pope-?"

"I never even heard that Rafe jumped him, and no, Pope wouldn't do this," Elora snapped, now completely back to life. "If anything, JJ would be the one to do something like that, and he has nothing to do with this either."

"Okay, okay," Tyler put his hands up. "But just so you know, Topper's definitely going to try and push this off on you guys."

"Let him fucking try," Elora rolled her eyes.

"Right, come on," said Tyler, facing the wheel again. "Let's get that head cleaned up."

But that would be very hard to do internally.

Because what if it had been them?

𔓘𔓘𔓘

The alcohol wipes still stung on Elora's head five minutes after they'd been applied, as she left the Thorntons' fancy-ass house.

"Wait, you're just gonna leave?" Tyler called from the door as she walked away.

"Yep," Elora turned back. "You've driven me around half the day, patched up my head and not asked any questions. You haven't been a terrible person today so I'm just gonna leave before it goes back to that and go and spend some time with my dad."

She probably shouldn't have said that, because she knew he would question it, and sure enough, he did.

"What? Your dad?" Tyler frowned. "I mean, I'm sorry, but, I thought he was-"

"Dead? Yep," Elora nodded, pursing her lips. "Died six years ago today, actually."

Tyler's face fell, and then before she knew it, he was running to catch up with her.

"You're not going there alone," he said as she turned to face him. "Let me come with you."

"No, you asshole, just go back to kissing your mum's ass and forget about us," Elora advised him.

"I'm coming with you, Easton," Tyler said with a smirk. "Let's face it; we didn't find the gold, and your friends haven't messed with our boat. So let me do this one thing with you, and then I'll leave you alone."

Elora sighed.

Damn him.

𔓘𔓘𔓘

She hated to admit it, but Tyler was right. She was glad to have someone with her as she entered the cemetery.

Her chest tightened as she walked to her father's grave, somewhere she hadn't visited since the funeral. Her mother had never cared for visiting it, although Elora had wanted to.

But now, as she stared at the words engraved upon it, she didn't know how she felt anymore.

in loving memory of

DAVID EASTON
1974-2020

much loved husband, father and friend

He wasn't a much loved husband, was Elora's first thought. My mum resented him, and cheated on him, and he still loved her.

"You alright?" Tyler asked behind her.

She took a shaky breath, eyes welling up with tears as she looked round at him.

"Yeah, I'm... I'm fine," she said.

She hadn't thought through bringing him here. She was going to break down and he was going to watch it, and shit-

"Sorry," she said, wiping her tears. "I just- I haven't actually seen the grave since- y'know, the funeral, cause my mum didn't let me, and it's just-"

"It's okay," Tyler nodded along. "I understand."

They were silent for another long moment, Elora observing the gravestone some more before finally speaking.

"I feel like I talk so much about how my mum's a bitch, but..." she trailed off, biting her lip as more tears fell. "I never talk about my dad, because- because it just hurts so m-"

Before she could finish, Tyler Thornton was hugging her.

Tyler Thornton, the boy who'd led her on. Tyler Thornton, her first kiss. Tyler Thornton, the boy who'd teased her, who'd made fun of her.

He was now hugging her. And she was clinging to him, sobbing as she recounted every single memory with her father inside her head.

Tyler didn't say anything, he just held her as she cried. He knew she was just overcome with grief from losing her dad so young, but he also wanted to show her he wasn't the shitty boy that abandoned her anymore.

When Elora calmed down, Tyler moved back, not making eye contact. He waited a few more seconds before saying. "Tell me about him."

Elora looked up at him with the most vulnerable expression he'd ever seen from her. "What?"

"Your dad," Tyler said. "Tell me about him. I understand why you never spoke about him in seventh grade, when... y'know, I was being a dick, but... I'd like to hear about him right now, if you wanna tell me."

"Oh," Elora said, voice shaking slightly.

She wasn't sure if she wanted to. Her dad was a piece of her that she carried around in her heart, scared to show people in case it broke.

It had taken a year for her to properly open up to the Pogues about him, and she trusted them with her life. Tyler had broken her trust when he led her on, and had never fixed it.

But this would be good for her. She knew it. And Tyler had helped her today, so maybe she didn't need to hide this piece away from him.

"Well, he was a complete diva," fell out her mouth, a slight chuckle along with it. "Always over the the top about everything, always wanting to make everyone around him laugh."

Tyler smiled slightly, glad she was opening up.

"He sang to every radio tune, even though he was tone deaf and we told him so," she giggled slightly, looking down. "And he was the life and soul of every party."

She looked at her father's grave, seeing the 'much loved husband' part and bristling in anger.

"He loved my mum," she murmured. "Like, so much. He was the most loyal, kind person I ever knew, and he still inspires me today."

"Wish I had a parent like that," Tyler muttered.

Elora turned to him, observing him for a second before taking a seat on the grass in front of her father's grave. Tyler followed her, sitting next to her, both of them with their knees pulled up to their chest.

Elora didn't know why, but she was sort of feeling... good. Like, sharing stuff with Tyler was making her feel lighter. He was still a dick, but... he'd really helped her today. So it was only right that she help him.

"Do you wanna talk about... him?" She asked gently. "I know you said you didn't want to, but... I'm not gonna judge you, I promise."

Tyler sighed. "There's not much to say, to be honest. He walked out when Topper was twelve, and I was almost thirteen. We found out later that he'd been cheating on my mum for years, and had a whole other family out on the mainland."

He didn't look at her when he said this, and Elora didn't blame him.

"Course, mum wasn't happy about it, and for the past four years she's taken it out on us," sighed Tyler. "Can't blame her, I mean, she was torn apart by it, but it's made her resent us because we're both half of him."

Elora looked at him, at the anger in his face, and whispered. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Tyler shook his head, clenching and unclenching his fists. "You have your own problems to worry about. Anyway, we're here to talk about your dad today, not mine."

They fell into a comfortable silence then, Tyler thinking about Elora, and Elora thinking about her dad. In that moment, his phrase came back to her.

"You're an angel, Ellie, and don't let anybody tell you otherwise."

And even if she didn't feel like an angel in that moment, she liked to believe she was.

She was for him.