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𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍

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It was Greg who greeted the group as they made their way onto Logan's incredibly conspicuous yacht.

Cora's eyes were obscured by a pair of sunglasses, her hair pulled into a tight ponytail, the end of which brushed against the tops of her shoulders. She wore the same clothes as she had in Turkey, her long sleeve blouse crinkled from the trip, a small blotchy stain on her collar from one of many coffees she'd chugged. Gingerly she wheeled her suitcase up the gangway, movements sluggish with fatigue. Despite the haziness she felt in her brain, she was acutely aware of the fact Roman was shadowing her movements.

There hadn't been much time to change, let alone unpack the events that had unfolded while they were in Turkey. Roman had arrived to let her know that the plane was ready to take them to the Mediterranean, where the rest of the family awaited them. A car waited outside the hotel to whisk them off to the airstrip, and they'd found Eduard leaning against the hood to see them off and apologise for the day's theatrics. He and Roman had briefly exchanged some words on the deal that had finally been struck, and Cora had permitted a warm, if not brief, hug before they had piled into the back of the car.

She'd spent the six hours on the plane attempting to catch up on missed sleep and failing miserably. Somewhere above Serbia she'd dared to make her way into the main body of the plane to see if she couldn't try to hustle a sleeping pill out of Karl or Laird, but instead found Roman alone. From the look on his face, she'd taken the hint that now was not the time to press him on either the logistics of their shared confession nor the emotional fallout of whatever had happened to him after they'd been separated. She'd seated herself across from him, their eyes meeting, a tight smile shared. Concern had compelled her to brush her hand against his knee, lightly holding him for a moment before retracting back into her seat.

"Hey gang!" Greg chirped, his attention fixed on Cora. With a sharp pang of adrenaline, she realised she'd neglected to reply to him the entire trip. She wondered if she could argue that Turkish reception had been poor as an excuse, though the darker thought of whether it even mattered flitted through her mind.

"Hey." Cora croaked in response, coughing to clear her throat. "How'd the senate stuff go?"

Roman came to a stop beside her, his side brushing hers as he made way for Karl and Laird to move past them. As Karl passed by, Roman gave him a rather pointed look, his eyebrows rising in warning. Karl muttered something under his breath about going to find Logan and hurried off after Laird.

"Oh ... I mean, yeah I think it could've gone maybe better? Probably better. I think everyone's a bit upset with Tom."

"Uh huh, seems about right." Roman replied, sounding a little bored as he turned to Cora. "I think we can just leave these to the side and one of the staff will wheel them off."

"I mean, actually I can do it if you'd like. I was having a look around the ship earlier, just because I'd never been on a yacht before and I've always been fascinated by nautical life." Greg grinned, nodding towards Cora's suitcase. "I can show you where your room is if you want?"

"No offence but the last thing I want right now is to roleplay Below Deck with my cousin."

"Oh, ah," Greg stuttered, "I wasn't talking to you."

He turned to face her then, an eager look plastered on his boyish features. Greg's hand reached for the handle of Cora's suitcase, their hands brushing for a brief moment. From the corner of her eye, she saw Roman's head snap to the point of contact. She attempted to keep her voice even as she responded.

"I'm a little exhausted for a walk right now, rain check?"

"Oh yeah, totally understandable. You were on a plane after all, and I always get exhausted after a long flight. Was it a long flight? I don't really know much about flight times around Europe. Or America even. I basically just know California to New York. Anyway, I'll drop this off for you though." He paused, suddenly realising that Roman was still there. "Both of them. That is, if you want me to?"

"Knock yourself out." Roman drawled, though Cora detected a tightness in his tone.

He gave Greg a quick once over, pushing his suitcase towards the man before starting towards the stairs to the upper deck. Cora flashed Greg a political smile, following after Roman. At the top of the stairs, he paused, wordlessly casting a look over his shoulder. She could see the cogs turning in his mind. Pursing her lips, she hoped that she had misread something in his expression.

They found Kendall, Shiv, and Tom gathered beside the slim pool in the centre of the front of the yacht, reclined in the sunshine. Shiv lifted the brim of her large coral coloured hat, clearing her vision as she eyed the pair.

"Dare we ask how it went?"

It seemed news of what had happened in Turkey had preceded them. Cora collapsed down in the free seat beside Shiv and across from Kendall. Roman perched at the end of his older brother's chair. Briefly Cora let her eyes meet Kendall's. To her surprise, he didn't appear nearly as morose as usual, but the tightness of his jaw and the wringing of his hands made it obvious that he was no less stressed. He bumped his ankle against Roman's back in greeting, giving Cora a quick nod.

"Well, I think in terms of being held hostage, we had it pretty good. No one tried to waterboard me and I didn't have to use Karl's maidenhood as a bargaining chip." Roman replied. "Laird thinks we got something out of it, but ... "

"But you're not confident in it." Kendall finished for him.

"I wouldn't drag the trip too quickly, I mean you got Eduard's number didn't you Rome?" Cora muttered, easing herself against the chair.

"Har har. You're so funny Cordelia. Speaking of numbers, how long have you been fucking Greg?" Roman said, cocking an eyebrow.

"Greg? What? No." She muttered as she turned a violent shade of red. Tom let out a very loud gasp, sitting up in his chair. An aggrieved expression momentarily twisted his features.

"Greg? Really? Greg?"

Roman leaned forward, his eyes locked with hers as he jabbed a finger towards her. "Don't you fucking lie to me, it's so obvious. I knew he was acting weird at Argestes. It's actually disgusting how stupid you think I am that you don't think I can see how you've definitely fucked him. He practically humped your leg down there."

There was something about the look in Roman's eyes that told her he wasn't going to let this go. Cora threw up her hands, sighing huffily. With her motion of defeat, Roman thrust his fist into the air, before turning to Shiv. As she realised that he was staring, she pulled confused expression.

"What?"

"Well? Are you going to sentence her to death?"

Shiv frowned, her blue eyes moving to meet Cora's. After a brief moment she sighed, shrugging her shoulders. Kendall muttered something under his breath.

"What?" Shiv repeated. "Sorry I'm not trying to throw her overboard? What do you want?"

"Well, Siobhan, in the past you've made a very big deal out of how people are meant to interact with Cora." Kendall replied in a surprisingly measured tone. Briefly he glanced in Cora's direction and she felt a strange tug in her chest from the graveness of his expression. "It might feel a bit hypocritical now that you don't seem to care about the fact Greg and Cora are fornicating."

"Uh, ok? One, I'm not her keeper. Two, I think it's pretty reasonable to not want your best friend and your brother off cavorting with one another and three, I had one close female friend growing up. It's not a crime to not want said female friend to double as a sister-in-law." She paused, scrunching her nose up. "Cousin-in-law is ... better."

"Right, still not seeing how it's hypocritical." Kendall rebutted.

Shiv rolled her eyes. "You were married, jackass. And apparently nothing even happened, right?"

"Right." Kendall replied quickly.

"Uh huh, so why the stick in your ass?"

"Jackie Daniels!" Connor exclaimed, appearing from the nearby stairs. He quickly behind Cora's chair to grip her shoulders and shake her with surprising force. For a brief and terrifying moment, she wondered if the force would make her throw up.

"You know what you will be pleased to hear, Connor, is that while Cora hasn't had relations with Kendall, she has had them with Cousin Greg." Roman informed Connor as his brother seated himself.

Connor frowned, raising a finger to his lips, as though he had forgotten who Greg was exactly. Then, after a beat, he spoke. "Ah, Greg. Yes. Well, best of luck to the happy couple."

"Not a couple.It was just a fling anyway. And it's over now. Or it will be. He's not really my type." Cora muttered. Tom cocked his head to the side, raising an eyebrow.

"Why does no one else think this is a bit fucked? I mean let's be real for a second, we've known Cora longer than we've known Greg. She's more family than he is. It's basically incest. Greg's gunning for a role on Game of Thrones. I bet he has a lock of her hair that he carries around and sniffs if he feels like her memory is fading from him."

"Greg of Thrones." Tom said. No one laughed.

"Well, Roman, it's only natural in such a contained environment that we as humans search for companionship with the familiar. When your only other options are Shiv and Gerri, what else are you going to do?" Connor said, gesturing softly as he spoke.

"Sitting right here." Shiv muttered tightly.

"That's why I thank my lucky stars that I had the good fortune to carve my own path. Without having done so, I would have never met my Willa."

"Nothing is stopping Greg from getting on Backpages." Roman replied.

Connor ignored him. "Love of my life, that woman. A talent. An auteur!"

"How are the reviews? Of her play." Cora asked quickly, wanting to shift the conversation topic. Connor shook his head, lowering his voice several octaves.

"I'd prefer it if no one asked."

From the body of the ship, Karl called out Roman's name. Roman rose from his seat, stretching his arms as he yawned loudly. "Duty calls. I guess Dad wants a third opinion."

"Do you need me to come?" Cora asked. A meeting with Logan and the others felt like a more comfortable conversation than whatever would conspire the moment Roman left. As cordial as things had gone, she didn't want to sit around waiting for the winds to change. Roman paused, before shaking his head.

"I'll spare you. If he needs you, I'll give a shout."

Cora nodded, watching him depart. Before anyone could speak, she excused herself to go find the bathroom in the hopes to at least compose herself. Already she was trying to construct a script for what seemed to be an inevitable conversation with Greg. She'd known deep down that she couldn't keep things up, but she'd hoped to go for a fizzle rather than a bang. Confrontation had never been her strong suit, that much was evident, least of all with calling off flings.

"Ouch!"

She stumbled backwards, having collided into someone, her mind lost in her thoughts. Cora steadied herself on the nearby railing, straightening upwards as she felt an apology on her tongue. Naomi Pierce cleared her throat, gripping the railing as she composed herself. Cora paused as she caught the other woman's eye. In the sea of her irises, Naomi's pupils were large and opaque. Conspicuously the blonde sniffed, wiping the back of her hand below her nose.

The image of Kendall standing in front of her apartment appeared in Cora's mind, a perpetual ghost since she had seen his text message. She reached forward and caught Naomi's wrist between her fingers.

"You need to stop feeding him drugs." She said tightly, shocked at the threat in her own voice. "He doesn't need any help fucking things up for himself. At least give him a chance."

"Fuck off." Naomi hissed, tugging her hand away but Cora held on.

"No. Do you think I couldn't make things difficult if I tried? You're the woman he's fucking. I'm the woman his father respects. That's not even getting into the way Nan Pierce spoke to me last." Cora said through clenched teeth. "No more fucking coke."

"Jesus! Why do you even give a shit?"

Cora clenched her jaw, falling silent. Finally Naomi wrenched herself from Cora's grasp, staggering backwards with the effort. She clutched her arm to her chest, her other hand protectively clutching where Cora had held her. She took a loud and shaky breath inwards, and Cora felt a sudden wave of fear that the other woman would begin to cry, but instead she pushed wordlessly past Cora, her shoulder colliding with her side.

________

"This is nice, isn't it?" Shiv said, raising her eyebrows expectantly towards Cora.

Cora didn't quite yet have an answer for that. The sun had begun to sink in the sky, signalling late afternoon. After picking at lunch, naturally her next step had been to hide out in the hot tub at the back of the yacht. She'd found Shiv alone there, obscured partially by the flurry of the jets. Unable to come up with a reason to excuse herself, Cora had sunk awkwardly into the hot tub, submerging herself in the stilted air between the two.

"Yeah, it is. Nice to get out of the city." Cora replied.

"Your hair looks good. You should wear it like that more often." Shiv commented. Cora tried to detect whether the compliment was passive aggressive or not, but the lack of tension in Shiv's expression told her that she was probably being genuine.

"I was actually thinking of cutting it to be more like yours." Cora admitted.

"Is that a jab?"

"No." What it had been was a comment to test the waters. Shiv was quick on the trigger, jumpy or at least wired. "I like your hair. It suits you."

"Yeah, thanks." She'd pulled a face now, the tightness of pleasantry somewhat faded. Cora felt a wave of relief roll through her as she took in her old friend. For once it wasn't Cora on the back foot. Unfortunately, she spoke too soon.

"Do you remember when I ran for student council?" Shiv said suddenly.

"Roughly." She felt her skin prickle, made aware only then of how hot the water around them was. She glanced down at the distorted view of her legs as she lightly swung them beneath the surface.

"That was when our first fight happened. Like the first proper fight." Shiv inhaled sharp and light at the memory. "Because you had started blowing me off to hang out with Arthur."

"Not one of my finest hours, yeah." It had been bad. Shiv had brought her characteristic passive aggression, Cora had gone full defensive mode and they'd both been sent to detention for starting a screaming match in the library. It had been when Mr McNeeley had stepped out of the room momentarily that Shiv suddenly confessed the idea for her campaign.

"Well, the whole reason I even put my hand up for that was because I wanted a project for the both of us to work on."

"Yeah, I'm only just realising how transparent you were about that." Cora muttered under her breath. Shiv's lips quirked into a smile.

"We were always good when we were working towards the same goal. That's what made our friendship the way it was. Because we were never competing for the same thing." Cora watched her carefully, unable to stop herself from slipping back into the past as Shiv continued. "And you were a fucking powerhouse when you wanted to be. You did the campaign posters, harassed all of the staff at the cafeteria to wear 'Vote Shiv' badges. I remember you stayed up so late before the debate helping me drill down all of my points. That's not even mentioning what you did with Gillian. Ruthless."

She bit on her bottom lip unconsciously. It was hard not to find fielding old memories painful. Shiv was right. During high school it was like she'd been a different person, with Shiv by her side she'd always felt like nothing was unconquerable and she had been constantly hungry. There was something more than youth that had burned in her, it had been purpose too.

The years after her mother's death had left her unmoored, but sometimes she wondered if grief had simply accelerated the inevitable. Yes, she'd gotten into Yale but the moment she'd received her acceptance letter, she'd been filled with overwhelming dread. What was she meant to do with her life? She couldn't keep following Shiv around; she had no interest in politics and being someone's perpetual sidekick certainly didn't have the connotation that it did when they'd both been younger.

And besides, what did she have an interest in? She'd always been purposefully vague whenever she was quizzed about what she wanted to do with her life, she'd try on finance or fashion or law on for size and find each ill-fitting even as she spoke the words. Eventually it became obvious to her that none of her answers really mattered when she started saying different prospects to the same people, and she sobered to the realisation that everyone expected her to live off of the hefty inheritance left by her father. The truth was that no one really thought highly of her, in fact maybe the only person who had ever done so had been Shiv. It was not surprising that the deeper she'd fallen into her addiction, the more she had pushed her best friend away, lest she disappoint the only person who had ever believed she could do anything better with her existence.

" ... are you alright?"

Cora blinked rapidly as Shiv's waving hand summoned her from her thoughts. She straightened up hurriedly. To her horror, she realised that her eyes had begun to water.

"Yeah sorry, I was just remembering something." Cora wiped her cheek, her finger grazing the bottom of her eye. "Yeah. Yeah, I remember. It was ... I enjoyed it, I can't lie. I really did."

Pleased, a smile spread across Shiv's lips, dimples pressing into the flesh of her cheeks. "Yeah, I enjoyed it too."

Silence settled between them as they both regarded one another. Cora felt a shiver run down her spine as their eyes met, aware of a tight feeling that had begun to spread in her chest. The memory of purpose was bittersweet, but so was the loss of their friendship. It had taken her off guard to consider a memory of Shiv in isolation, away from the turmoil she had felt whenever she'd been around Roman. As she looked at Shiv, it felt as though the ghosts of their former selves were watching somewhere out of sight, the weight of their judgement for who she had become heavy as lead.

The guilt hit her square in the chest, and she felt gripped with a need to vocalise herself. She missed Shiv, she missed being friends with her, she missed having someone on her team. Most of all, she wondered if she had catastrophised the level of threat Shiv posed to her if she were to confess the truth about Roman, about Kendall. She had seemed to not care about Greg after all, and it had all been so long ago. Maybe she could be forgiven, maybe all could be forgiven. Maybe things could go back to how they used to be.

"There's something I want to tell you." Cora paused before she continued, feeling a tightness in her chest. Shiv looked at her expectantly, her bright eyes gleaming with curiosity. The words stuck in her throat as she tried to compose herself. Slowly, she opened her mouth.

The sound of a commotion from behind them stopped her before she could speak.

"Looks like trouble in paradise." Shiv muttered as Cora whipped her head around to spot the source of the noise.

In the distance, Naomi and Kendall were approaching the boats by the side of the yacht. It was obvious from the rigidity of Kendall's posture and the frantic motions of Naomi's hands that they were fighting. The breeze didn't manage to capture their conversation, their words swallowed by the ocean around them, but it was the kind of argument that did not need words to be understood.

Sensing they were being watched, Naomi suddenly wheeled around. Cora felt her stomach drop, clenching her fist below the surface of the water. The blonde started toward them before Kendall caught her by the shoulder, turning her back towards him.

"I think he's getting rid of her." Shiv said from behind her. Cora frowned in confusion.

"Why?"

"Beats me, I don't even know why he's kept her around. Good riddance I guess." Shiv muttered. "What were you going to say?"

Cora's eyes were still locked on Kendall and Naomi. The blonde was repeatedly jabbing her finger towards Cora, flailing her arms around in exasperation as Kendall patiently waited for her to finish. For a split second, his eyes flickered over her shoulder, meeting Cora's and she felt her blood run cold. Inhaling sharply, she turned away from the scene, clenching her jaw.

"I lost my train of thought, sorry." She said stiffly. Shiv's scepticism was obvious but before she could speak any further, Cora rose from the hot tub, the material of her swimsuit dripping with water. "This was nice, by the way. I just think I need to ... Just need somewhere to think. Sorry."

"Oh, ok. Yeah ... Sure."

With that, she stepped out of the hot tub and folded a towel around herself. The sun had disappeared behind a cloud and the air had taken on a chill. Cora shivered, keeping her head down as she began to approach the couple. She felt as though she were on autopilot as her wet footsteps squeaked against the surface of the yacht, compelled by something she couldn't name. A sense of guilt? A feeling of protectiveness? An urge to finish what she had started? She knitted her lips together, unsure of whether she would even allow herself to speak.

Naomi now had made her way onto one of the small speed boats that was docked by the side of the yacht. Cora kept her head down as she moved past Kendall, barely acknowledging him with a subtle glance to the side. For a brief second, she wondered if she was going to pass them without incident.

"Hey!" Naomi barked, stopping her in her tracks. Cora turned slowly on her heel, cocking an eyebrow at the blonde. Naomi's arms were folded across her chest, challenge swimming in her gaze. "You can settle something for us."

"I'm not sure if I particularly want to." Cora responded, but all the same she swivelled her body. She was curious as to what Naomi had been saying about her to Kendall.

"Tell him that you grabbed me. Tell him what you said to me." Naomi said thinly, jabbing a finger at her. Cora felt Kendall's eyes falling onto her as she processed the other woman's words. So she had told him what had happened, but ... he hadn't believed her?

As if to confirm this thought, Kendall sighed heavily and shook his head. "This isn't even about Cora, Naomi, you're leaving because ... Dad just thinks it'd be best if you did."

"Well he didn't feel that way until I came and told you what happened. Until he overheard it." Naomi rebutted. "You don't think it's a little weird that as soon as I said something bad about her that suddenly he has a problem with me?"

"Nao-"

"No. Just shut up." Naomi said, cutting him off before turning back to Cora. "Be honest. Tell him that you told me to knock it off with the drugs. Or are you scared it'll make your hateboner for Kendall look all for show? You know I used to think all the stuff they printed about you was a lie, because I knew what that was like, to be plastered on every tabloid in New York. But I'm starting to think you deserved it. I'm starting to think crazy, cokehead Cora wasn't so fictitious after all."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Cora replied sharply. She found herself disturbed by the conviction in her own voice. She sounded strong, assured. Contrasted against the quiver in Naomi's words, she came across as persuasive. "But if you need to trash me to save face, by all means, knock yourself out. We both know only one of us is still an addict though."

Before Naomi could respond, Cora turned her back and began to walk away. It wasn't until she'd made it to the stairs that led upwards that she heard the sound of her own name being called out to her.

It was Roman's voice, calling out from the upper landing. Briefly she considered ducking out of view, but the distant sound of Naomi's voice pushed her to continue. Cora hugged the material of her towel close to her chest and emerged from the stairs, coming face to face with Roman.

"Yes?"

"My dad. He wants to see you. As soon as you can."