"So this is what we're doing, huh?" JJ demanded of Sarah. "We're just sailing out? We're just gonna forget about John B?"

They hadn't really moved much. The marina was just round the corner. But Singh's men were no doubt still guarding it, preventing their return.

"We should never have left him!" JJ announced. "We're turning back!"

"No! We're all gonna get caught! What kind of plan is that?" Cleo yelled harshly.

"It's a plan to stick together, Cleo!" JJ was angry, and he was showing it.

"Then we're all dead together!" Cleo fought back.

"She's right," nodded Kie. "We had to leave, otherwise we'd all be zip tied in the back of a pickup."

"Yeah, and believe me, Singh wouldn't be going so easy this time, we'd be held at gunpoint," Elora seethed.

Kie nodded. "We did the right thing.'

That was what they were trying to convince themselves, of course. However, the phone ringing did something something ease their nerves.

It was still on Kie, and confusion crossed her face when she looked at it.

"Who's that?" JJ asked.

"It's Portis," she answered.

"Portis? That's John B, that's definitely John B! Hold on," JJ said hurriedly, running to Kie and picking up the call, saying into it. "Yo, dude, is that you?"

When they couldn't hear JB's reply, Kie murmured. "Speaker."

JJ nodded, clicking the small button and continuing to talk. "What- do you need us to turn around?"

"Do- wo- ab-t," came through.

"Yo, say that again, say that again!" JJ shouted.

"I said don't worry about me, okay?" It came clearer this time. "Loo- wa- hot her- bac- t-"

"We do not copy, I repeat, we do not-"

"Okay, let me talk to him!" Sarah commanded, grabbing the phone off JJ. "John B?"

"Sa-rah-"

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, no, I'm fine! Everything's good! Listen-"

"He's fine, thank god," Sarah sighed, speaking into the phone again. "What happened?!"

"I- fou- m-ad."

"Wait, what did you just say? John B?"

"Sarah? Sarah?"

"I-I can't hear you!" Sarah said desperately. "John B?"

"I- Elora- her- m-"

"Me?" Elora asked, very confused now as she stood up and joined Sarah by the phone. "John B?"

"Elle!" His voice came through clearer. "Li-isten- I- f-fo- yo-m-"

"What the hell?" Elora asked, unable to decipher what her best friend was saying.

"J-Just ge- out of th- meet you on Kildare- oka-?"

"Kildare- when?" Sarah demanded.

"Hello-?"

The phone beeped as the line cut off.

"John B! No, no, no! John B!" Sarah shouted at her phone.

"Kildare, what the hell?" Elora demanded. "And why did he want to speak to me?"

"You guys think he found his father?" Cleo asked.

"He's been missing for almost a year," Pope spoke up.

Kie looked at the blonde girl, who was freaking out. "Sarah, what do you think? Should we go back?"

"Sarah, we're sitting ducks!" JJ yelled.

"We need to make a decision, now," Tyler agreed. "Are we turning back or are we keeping on going?"

Sarah was stood, frozen, her teary eyes shut tight.

"Sarah, come on!" JJ begged. "Sarah, we need to make a decisio-"

"He said go."

Everyone looked at the blonde girl, thinking she would've made the opposite choice.

"Hold on, listen-" JJ started.

"Go," Sarah said, turning round.

"Sarah-" Tyler tried.

"Go!"

She marched away, and JJ took her word and listened.

This is it, Elora thought, looking out at the setting sun and shaking her head.

We're officially heading back to OBX.

𔓘𔓘𔓘

"Hope they heard that."

John B was still in a state of shock, looking between the two adults next to him.

One was father, the man who'd brought him up, the man who loved him like no other could, the man who he'd just reunited with.

The other was Elizabeth Easton.

He'd not known what to think when he'd first seen her, standing in the doorway of the church, watch his reunion with a small smile on her face. She'd been missing for two months now, and in his experience Elora had never been happier.

He'd tried to warn her, on the phone, but he knew it hadn't gotten through. He was sort of glad, though.

"Me too," his father told him, as he shoved the phone in his pocket.

"Come on," Elizabeth said wisely, eyeing the guards on the other side of the dock. "We better go."

𔓘𔓘𔓘

Elora sat on the front of the boat, looking off into the distance. She could vaguely hear JJ and Kie talking behind her, past the controls, but not really, and as far as she knew the others were inside.

She was so stuck in her own head. She had no idea why John B wanted to speak to her earlier on the phone, but that wasn't what was needling her the most. That was the fact that they were returning.

There was nothing back for her in Kildare. Absolutely jackshit. And while she would rather be there than locked up with Singh, a part of her couldn't help but wish that they were sailing out somewhere else right now.

"Hey," came his voice. She couldn't help the small smile on her face as Tyler sat down next to her, looking sideways at her as the boat continued slowly moving through the water.

"Hey," Elora said with a sigh.

"You okay?" Tyler asked, raising his eyebrows.

Loaded question.

Physically? Yeah. Mentally? No. She was absolutely terrified, and she couldn't help it one bit.

"I'm alright," Elora nodded, because right now wasn't the time for the dam to break. "It's just that... when we get back there, I... I'm not really sure what I'll do."

Tyler nodded, smiling wryly at her. "Join the club."

Elle frowned. "Won't you go home?" She asked him, genuinely curious. "I mean, I know your mom's a bitch and Topper's a jerk but... they'll probably've been worried about you."

"Nah," Tyler dismissed. "I'm not going to speak with her, I'm gonna avoid it for as long as possible."

Elora didn't reply, eyes caught on his as he spoke, unable to look away.

"I'm not leaving you, Elle," he promised her. "Not now, not ever, you understand?"

Elora nodded, trying to convey how grateful she was for him in her expression, in her eyes, because words had never really been her strong suit.

"Shit's gonna suck for ages, man," she groaned, running a hand through her hair as she looked down at the water. "I mean, we'll have all been recorded as missing, and now we're rocking up being like 'hey, so we're actually alive'."

She finished with a chuckle, and Tyler grinned too, grabbing her hand and squeezing it.

"Just know that whatever happens, Elora, I'm right here with you," he said, looking down at her.

She didn't want to tell him what she was really afraid of. That she and Tyler had established their relationship in the simplicities of a desert island, surrounded by nobody but friends. It had never been tested truly before, against the push and pull of normal society. The Kooks and the Pogues. What if it wasn't strong enough to withhold that?

So she just smiled back at him, and nodded. "Thank you."

𔓘𔓘𔓘

"What's up with you?"

They were at a pitstop in a random little town, Pope and Cleo disembarked and gping to get (steal) various bits of food and drink, when Elora found JJ sitting out the back of the boat looking onto the water with a sad look on his face.

However, he quickly sorted that out when she drew attention to it, muttering. "Nothing."

Elora scoffed slightly, sitting down. "You may be the best bullshitter I've ever met, Jayj, but you can't bullshit a bullshitter."

JJ sighed, glancing at her and rolling his eyes. "You don't wanna know, Elle."

"Maybe I do," Elora said, casting her gaze behind her to where Tyler, Sarah and Kiara were sat at the back. The two blondes were laughing and joking and jumping about, but the brunette was sitting off to the side, looking away from the chaos with not so much a hint of a smile on her face.

Ah, she thought, gaze flicking back to JJ, who had the very same look on his face. I see what's happening now.

"Okay, I know you're the last person I'll ever get to talk about feelings," she said, nudging JJ. "So I'm gonna just say something, okay. Something happened earlier. Between you and Kie."

JJ looked up at her, his blue eyes filled with sadness and hope and anger and disappointment all at once. Then, he shook his head.

Elora frowned. "But-"

"Nothing actually happened," JJ spoke up, not making eye contact with her. "Because... Pope came up the stairs and saw us."

Oh.

Now she could see what had happened very clearly.

She had forgotten all about Pope and Kie's thing, which had lasted all of a night or two. Truth be told, she didn't think the two fit together at all, and that was why she had blocked it from her mind.

But Pope clearly hadn't. And the last thing the Pogues needed was for two of them to be fighting over a girl.

"Well, I'm gonna say this purely based on opinion, but you and Kie fit together," Elora told him. "I'm not invalidating Pope's feelings, cause he has every right to be upset, but he shouldn't force you guys apart."

"He isn't, though," JJ mumbled, looking down. "He said he wasn't going to stand in the way, just that he wasn't happy about it."

Elora sighed, looking at the blonde boy. She knew it was hard for him, growing up in the environment he did, to talk about feelings. She didn't blame him one bit for that.

"Well," she shrugged slightly. "I'd say take a chance on it."

JJ looked at her, raising his eyebrows, and she elaborated. "I'm not saying jump into anything fast, just let Kie know that you're here and... see where it goes."

When the blonde boy sighed, still not looking happy, she asked. "What? What's wrong?"

JJ clenched his fists, sighing. "It's just- she's gonna be going home to her house in Figure Eight with two parents that'll be mad, sure, but'll also hug her and tell her they missed her. What have I got?"

Elora looked at the boy, shaking her head.

This was an internal battle she knew very, very well. The exact same internal battle she went through a month ago, when Tyler told her he loved her and she just told him point blank it wouldn't work, that he was ruining his lift by pursuing her.

"Kie's not stupid," she decided to say, because this is what she wished somebody would've said to her. "She knows what she deserves. And if she decides she deserves you then you just have to assume you're worthy of her."

"Well, that's the thing," JJ gritted out. "I'm not."

Elora shook her head. "Just look at all you went through to get her back. Look at how you protected her from that snake on Poguelandia. Look at how you took a fucking machete for her!"

"Okay, okay," JJ said, smile beginning to bloom on his face. "I'm not that amazing, Elle."

"Oh no, I definitely do not think that," Elora joked right back. "But listen to me, I know what it feels like to not feel worthy, and I know it takes a while to get over that. Just know I'm here, Jayj, whenever you need me."

She knew it wouldn't fix things immediately, and she also knew that he'd have to work through this alone. But she could offer her help, which she wouldn't hesitate to.

And JJ seemed to appreciate it, as a more happy look spread over his face, and he smiled round at her.

"Thanks, Elle."

𔓘𔓘𔓘

She could feel the dam breaking, as she looked in the mirror in the small boat bathroom. She could feel her body shaking. She could feel the tears coming.

She was gripping the sink below as hard as she possibly could, so hard her knuckles turned white.

But she wasn't paying attention to that.

Because she barely recognised the girl she saw before her.

She'd deliberately avoided the mirrors at Singh's place, because she hadn't wanted to look at herself. Combining that with the fact that she'd been stuck on an island for a month and the fact that she was unrecognisable was almost understandable.

She recognised the long, slightly frizzy red hair, of course. And the blue eyes that she still thought looked dull. But there were dark circles under her eyes now, and freckles littering her face. She was more tanned than she'd ever been, and her cheeks more rosy.

The bruises Rafe had left on her skin from their fight for the cross had completely vanished, though that was expected given how much time had passed. Her lips were red and chapped, and looking at them she wondered how Tyler had put up with kissing her.

And he hated it. She fucking hated it so much. She'd grown up in that month, more than she'd grown up in the past two years. And she felt like she'd missed too much.

"Hey, Elle? You okay in there?"

Shit!

Elora jumped as she heard Tyler's voice on the other side of the door, turning round to the it to call back.

"Y-yeah," she said wiping the tears that came and turning round. "I'm just coming."

She looked back into the mirror, trying not to look so much at herself but more just give herself a check. One she was sure she was alright, she opened the door.

"Sorry about that," she muttered, ducking her head low and skirting past Tyler. If she could just get away before he noticed, then-

"Elle."

Shit.

She turned slowly to face him, cramped in the little boat corridor, looking up at him unsurely.

"What?" She asked, her body and her voice shaking.

"Elora, I... you don't need to pretend," the words tumbled out of him, but he didn't regret them. "I mean- what I'm trying to say is that I know you're not okay. But if you don't want to tell me, then-"

"I'm fine," Elora snapped back, anger starting to overtake the fear in her tone. "I mean, I only got kidnapped, right? And forced to witness a murder, and trapped in a room with a psychopath, but... I'm fine."

Don'tbreakdon'tbreakdon'tbreak-

"Elle-"

"I'm okay, Tyler!" She raised her voice.

Don'tbreakdon'tbreak-

"I can see for myself that you're not, Elle, and-!"

Don'tbreak-

"SHUT UP!"

As soon as she screamed it, she knew she was done.

She stared at him, panting, her eyes filled with grief and fear and concern, her whole entity threatening to collapse.

Then the trears came.

She didn't know how she got herself into Tyler's arms, but she knew that once they wrapped around her, she was sobbing hard, clawing at his back as she sobbed out the same words, again and again.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."

And Tyler held her, a small piece of him breaking as he held her, his fingers in her hair and his lips pressed against the crown of her head.

"Don't be sorry," he murmured. "You have nothing to apologise for."

Elora knew she was spiralling as she began to hyperventilate, her chest heaving at an alarming rate.

"It's just-" she stammered, pulling back from him. "I can still feel their hands on me, like everywhere- and they held me so tight they left bruises- and when I saw Rafe I thought he was gonna-"

"Shhh, it's okay," Tyler pulled her back into him and ran his hands up and down her arms.

"You can't just say that!" Elora yelled, shoving herself out her arms as she looked up at him, her eyes blurred over with tears. "You- you have no idea what it was like- he murdered Jimmy Portis right in front of me!"

Tyler looked at the girl in shock, but not in anger. He understood why she was lashing out, sure, but he also wanted to assure her that she was safe now and that he wasn't going anywhere.

"It's just-" Elora seemed to come to her senses, her voice lowering considerably as she glanced up at Tyler and back down at the ground. "I just thought that if I was gonna die there... I was gonna die alone. And it just reminded me of my dad-" a sob overtook her as she choked the word out, not looking at him. "And I don't ever want that to happen to me, ever."

Tyler looked at her, love and sadness and concern and confusion flitting across his face before he settled, and spoke softly.

"Elle, that's not going to happen to you," he assured her. "You're never alone. I'll always be with you, no matter where I am. I promise."

And it was corny as fuck, but jesus it helped.

"Thank you," she said, looking up at him. Because she wasn't alright, and it was going to take a while for her to get there, but just by talking to him, she felt a whole lot better than she had before.

"There's another thing," she added, suddenly remembering. "You know how, I, uh... left you guys? How I was late back to the boat?"

"Yeah," Tyler nodded, looking down.

"Well..." Elora bit her lip, unsure of how she was going to deliver this. "Warning, this is gonna sound like I am insane, but... the reason I left was because I... I thought I saw my mom."

Tyler was rendered speechless for a second, just staring at her. She felt like she needed to keep talking to fill the void of silence between them.

"It's just, I- I know that she's missing, and that she's probably not coming back, but- but I swear I saw her hair twice, and I don't know, I just... I had to check."

She looked up at Tyler unsurely, but he just said. "What would you do... if she came back?"

Elora shrugged, shaking her head. "Lose my shit," she replied with a touch of humour, except it wasn't humorous because her wet eyes proved it. "I don't want to see her, if that's what you mean, but... I was kinda curious."

Tyler nodded. "I understand why you did what you did, Elle. Take it from me. I'm not going to see my dear mother when we get back, but there's a part of me that's telling me to."

Elora frowned at him. She still thought he should at least go and tell his mom they were back, because who else was going to? And oh how she wanted to pull the at-least-you-have-a-parent-who's-worried-for-you card, but she knew she couldn't. His mom was terrible, and no matter how terrible her's was, she had no right to say anything.

So she just nodded and looked up at him, murmuring. "I love you."

Tyler hoped he would never get used to the feeling of her saying those three words. He felt like he was flying, his stomach fluttering, his heart beating fast, his whole world spinning faster and faster. He'd never understand why she'd picked him out of all the men in the world, but he was so, so thankful for it.

"I love you too," he said, his voice low.

And as they leaned in and their lips met for the first time since the island, all bad thoughts vanished from her mind.

She had plenty of regrets in the world.

But with Tyler, she didn't regret a thing.