Tyler knew something was wrong as soon as he entered the house, very very glad that Topper was not present.

However it wasn't until the officers finally fucking left that the storm was unleashed.

"How dare you sneak into this very house and steal those keys!" His mother screamed at him. "And then you go off with Elora Easton and all those other Pogues and fucking crash it, not to mention the cost of all those damages!"

"It wasn't Elora's fault," Tyler muttered.

Cynthia let out a scream of laughter. "All this and you're still protecting her?"

"Of course I am!" Tyler shouted back. "It was my decision to take the truck, she had nothing to do with it!"

"That truck has not been used in years, you had no right to take it!"

"Oh my god-"

"No!" Cynthia screamed. "No, you will not disrespect me like this ever again, and I'm making sure of it!"

Tyler let out a small chuckle. "Yeah, too right. Cause when I turn eighteen I'm out of here, and I'm never coming ba-"

He cut himself off as a leaflet was slid across the counter to him, landing right in front of him.

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A gasp escaped Tyler's lips as he skimmed the page, all the air being knocked out his chest.

"What the...?" He breathed, eyes wide.

"That's your future," his mother told him. "If you don't turn your shit around."

"What the fuck?" Tyler demanded.

"No," Cynthia pointed her finger in his face. "No, don't you fucking do that! You have no idea how much damage you have caused since you became a Pogue! You-"

"Oh yeah, like you care about that!" Tyler shouted back. "All you want to do is ship me away so the neighbours stop talking-"

"You have no idea how much I worry about you!" Cynthia shouted. "Because you may be a little piece of shit, Tyler, but you are still my son and I still care about you!"

Tyler shook his head, disbelieving. "No, you don't. Because if you did, you wouldn't send me to a fucking house with randos for a year-"

"Can't you see that I don't have a choice?!" Cynthia shrieked.

"Yes you do!" Tyler yelled. "You could actually let me hang out with the Pogues! You could stop worrying so much about what the stupid Island Club saddos are going to say, and just let me do what I want!"

"What you want?" Cynthia chuckled. "Tell me, Tyler, what is it you think you want, hmm? Elora Easton? Because let me tell you, when she starts sleeping around in a few years and acting just like her mother you'll regret ever wanting to be with h-"

"Shut the hell up!" Tyler yelled. "And keep Elle's name out your fucking mouth!"

Cynthia shook her head, chuckling as she picked up the leaflet and shoved it straight into Tyler's chest.

"It's your choice, Tyler," she informed him. "Either you toe the line, come back home, go back to the aademy and stop hanging around with Pogues, or I call one of these families and get them to pick you up and take you to their house on the mainland for a year."

Tyler stared at her in absolute fucking disbelief.

"No," he murmured. "No, you can't..."

"I can," Cynthia snapped. "Just watch me."

As she walked away, he felt the tears coming.

Because no matter what he did, he couldn't win.

And he and Elle would never get to be together.

And it was that that broke him more than anything. Because he loved her.

And she'd never even said it back.

𔓘𔓘𔓘

Elora was about to have a fit as they pulled up to Tannyhill in the Twinkie, all jumping out.

Tyler wasn't here.

And if she'd just fucking told him she loved him, she wouldn't be so annoyed right now. And she knew that she wasn't going to see him for a long time, too, if his mother had any say in the matter, which just made things a hundred times worse.

"He's got the truck!" JJ's voice pulled her out her head as they sneaked along the wall she and Kie had once grafittied.

"Stay low, stay low," JB warned as they watched Rafe drive the truck round the front of the huge ass house. The truck Renfield had been driving not moments ago.

They watched as he got out and slammed the door shut, and Pope snarled. "What do you wanna bet that Rafe has the cross inside that truck right now?"

As her brother went inside, Sarah shrugged. "There's only one way to find out."

She made to walk round and inside, but only made it a few metres before John B ran after her.

"Oh here we go, the great reunion," Elora sighed, looking at Kie, who smirked.

"Well, speaking of," she murmured, nudging her slightly. "Have you and Tyler had your 'great renunion' yet?"

"Shut up," Elora nudged her back, cheeks flushing. "And maybe is your answer. He's still waiting even though I can't even fathom how to say I love him."

Kie let out a little squeal of laughter as they both looked over at John B and Sarah, who were kissing, bodies pressed close to each others'.

They exchanged a few more words before JB walked back to them with a shit eating grin on his face and Sarah ran off on her mission to find out if Rafe had the cross.

"Do you want me to perform your vows whilst we're at it?" Pope hissed.

"Christ, could you take any longer?" Kie chimed in.

"What's she doing?" JJ posed, as they all turned their view to Sarah, who was looking in the front of the truck.

Upon finding nothing, she turned to them, shrugging and mouthing something they couldn't quite see. Then, with little hesitation, she ran up the steps and inside the house.

"No! No, don't go inside!" Pope shook his head vigorously.

"I'm going over," John B announced. "Go-"

But before they could do anything, however, a car horn sounded and bright headlights blinded them.

"Uh, excuse me? Can I help ya?" An old man got out, shining a torch upon the five of them as he cocked a gun. "I got double-aught bucks in this thing, so, uh, I can't miss. Alright there, buddy, off the wall."

Elora sighed as all of them jumped down off the wall, holding their hands up to avoid being shot.

"Sir, it's not what it seems," JJ started, and Elora was glad because he was the best bullshitter in the group.

The man in front of them took one look and assessed. "You lot are on the wrong side of the island."

"I know what it looks like, but-"

"I think I'm gonna call the police."

"You don't have to do that, sir," JJ led them, getting down on his knees and prompting the rest of them to do so, too.

"I'll decide for myself what I need to do," was the cutting reply they got back.

"Sir, can I just talk to you for a minute?" JJ asked, and Elle didn't know what he had planned but she hoped to hell it was something good. "Just to explain."

He stood up and moved closer, but the others stayed on their knees.

"Sir, I know you think we're just derelicts from the Cut, but we weren't that to Mr Cameron," he began. "We were his yard workers, sir. We were just waiting for our yard associate, Ja-"

"-Tom-"

"-Tommy to get back from planting a row of flowers for Mr Cameron's memorial," JJ finished.

"Keep talking," the man said, and Elle prayed that they were convincing him.

JJ launched into this whole spiel about what flowers they planted and what they all meant. Elora was tempted to laugh because, at a cursory glance, they were convincing him.

"...the Knight of the Rhodedenron lives on... in here," he said eventually, tapping the man's heart. "That's why we planted those flowers."

"Sure, yes," JB added.

"Yeah," Elora nodded.

"You smell that, right?" JJ asked.

"What is that, night-blooming jasmine?"

"No, that's more like, um... uh..." JJ fumbled. "Sir, that's some, uh... natural viagra."

Ew.

"Really?"

"Yeah, just one sniff and bam! It's hammer time!"

"Yeah, and our associate Tommy should be here any minute!" Pope added as the rest of them stood up. "We'll be quiet, alright?"

"See that you are," the man nodded, hopping back into his car and muttering to himself as he drove off. "I gotta get myself some of those flowers..."

Elora rolled her eyes as he drove away, and as soon as he was gone they all ran back to the wall, jumping straight over it.

"Let's go!"

Kie and Elora were both chuckling slightly as they made their way over the wall and into the hedges surrounding it.

"Shit, that's Rafe!" Elora hissed with wide eyes as soon as she got in, seeing the boy walk urgently out the house and into the truck.

"Wh-what do we do? What's the plan?" Kie stammered.

"Well, he might have the gun, so what's in our favour?" JJ shrugged.

"He's got the fucking cross, I really don't give a shit right now," Elora growled, looking sideways at Pope, who looked pissed yet defeated.

But they weren't defeated yet.

And Elora was going to make sure of it.

She wasn't sure what made her do it. Maybe it was because she was fucking fed up of being beaten by Kooks, or maybe it was because she wanted to avenge Pope.

Or maybe it was something even shallower, and she just wanted to one-up her mom, who had gone missing and presumably died searching for treasures such as this one.

It didn't really matter. All she knew was that next second, as Rafe started the truck and turned it round, driving it out of Tannyhill, she was running after it.

"Elle!"

"Elle- Elora, wait!"

"Elora!"

Elle was grunting and panting as she tried to catch up with the truck, seeing a viable handle and small platform on the back she could hang onto.

In the last second before Rafe drove out of Tannyhill, she managed to jump on, her hair flying in her face and her whole body aching with the strain of holding herself there. But this was for the cross. She couldn't afford to give up now.

She knew she hadn't thought this through, or even thought about what she was going to do once Rafe got to wherever he was going, but she was making progress.

It was something.

𔓘𔓘𔓘

They were going across to Goat Island.

She didn't know why, or what on earth Rafe was planning, but she knew that when he stopped the truck, they were on a small area of land with water on either side.

However, with a flash of memory she remembered something else about this place.

This was where John B had been beat up by Deputy Thomas, and arrested.

Slam!

However, she didn't have another chance to think about it because next second Rafe was jumping out the truck and shutting his door hard. Elora jumped off the back of it, running out the way and behind a nearby tree to watch what he was about to do.

She watched in shock, her body taut as the boy walked round to the back of the truck with an indifferent look on his face. Then, he opened it up, and got inside, grunting as he shoved a... a body out of the back.

Elora wanted to scream. Yes, it was wrapped up in a dark blue bag and yes, it was unclear on what it was, but... it was a body. There was absolutely no doubt about it.

And she didn't know whether Rafe had actually killed this person but she did know that, as the boy got out the truck and dragged the body towards the water, he was getting rid of it.

She watched as he shoved the bag out into the water and looked at it as it sunk, a gator swimming up to it.

And it was in that moment, that moment precisely, as the gator snapped its jaw shut right over the body, that Elora snapped.

Because the Pogues wanted the cross, but they would never ever kill someone to get it.

So as the gator chomped up the body Rafe had sent it, she went for it. She charged straight at Rafe, yelling and grunting, and used all her strength to shove him to the ground. She actually managed it as well, and seeing Rafe with mud splatters all down his shirt was just about worth the beating she was about to get.

Because she hadn't thought this through. Rafe was bigger than her and stronger than her, and that was shown by the way he got up instantly, despite the mud.

"What do you think you're playing at, Elora?" He spat at her.

"Keeping an eye on you," Elora snapped back. "Killed someone else, have you?"

"Elora, listen-"

"You know, you don't have daddy to cover it up this time," Elora swallowed. "Sooner or later somebody's gonna find out what you are, Rafe-"

"Shut up! Shut the hell up!" Rafe roared.

"What, you gonna kill me?" Elora screamed. "Kill me like you killed that guy in the water? Kill me like you killed Peterk-?"

THUMP.

She cried out as she fell, the punch to the jaw sending her head spinning.

Rafe didn't stop there. He ran at her, jumping on top of her and punching her again, and again. In the face, in the stomach, in the eye-

"Fuck- you!" Elora screamed, pushing her knee upwards with all her strength and getting him in the balls.

He groaned, flying off her and falling back into the mud. Elora tried to scramble up but Rafe was already back, holding her shoulder tightly and sending another punch flying straight at her mouth.

"Get the fuck off!" She screamed, spitting blood right in his face and blinding him for a second before using this to her advantage, running towards the truck.

Rafe caught her again, though, sending her flying to the ground. He got her around the neck and she gasped, fighting with all her might to break free. She got Rafe with her shoulder, but she was weakening, losing all her strength-

And then he was getting off her, standing up and walking straight towards the truck, leaving her on the ground, hurt and bloody.

Shit. She- she needed to get out of here. She needed to hide, to leave-

She rolled over, her whole body screaming at her to stop, before furiously scrambling behind a tree, sitting with her back against it, swallowing blood.

She was hidden. But Rafe wasn't leaving.

She knew that by the cocking of the gun she heard a second later.

The gun Rafe had in his hand.

He looked around for a second before roaring. "It's me or the gators!"

Yeah, and I pick the gators.

"Good luck!"

She turned her head, watching as he slammed the doors of the truck shut and got in, driving it away.

Elora was stuck.

She had no idea what to do. She couldn't walk back from here, and at the moment she couldn't even move. Rafe had beat her so hard she could already feel the bruises forming.

She went through the options in her head.

The boys and Kie were probably helping Sarah right now, who had obviously not been successful in stopping Rafe.

She had no adults to help her, no mum or dad, no guardian she could call.

That only left one option.

Tyler Thornton.

And she knew it was a long shot, because he was probably on lockdown right now, but she couldn't help but feel like he was the only person she could count on right now, and that against all odds, he would come.

So with many grunts and groans, she pulled her phone out her pocket, and opened it, clicking on the phone button and then on the latest number she'd tried.

He picked up on the second ring.

"Elle?"

"Tyler!" Elora gasped out in pain. "I-I'm in trouble, Ty, I... I need you to come and get me."

"Elle, what happened?" A rush ran through her at how concerned she sounded.

"Rafe fucking happened," Elora groaned. "He- he has the cross, and- and Ty, I need you to come and get me."

The line was silent for around five seconds. Elora didn't know what was going on, but she did know that he was hesitating, and that that wasn't good.

"This isn't good timing," he said honestly after a minute.

"Please, Tyler- I- I really need you right now," she sounded so vulnerable. She didn't know whether that was good or bad.

"I'll always come when you need me, Elle," Tyler replied honestly. "Where are you?"

"I'm at the swamp past Angel Oak, hurry please," Elora said, shifting slightly as she swallowed another mouthful of blood.

Tyler had only one reply.

"I'm coming, Elle, I promise."

𔓘𔓘𔓘

She used all her strength to get up and get to where she knew the gun was.

Because she remembered John B making JJ drop it and the blonde boy covering it in the seconds before he was arrested.

And like a fucking miracle, it was there, buried underneath some foliage and dirt.

She dove for it, picking it up just as the sound of a car arriving filled her ears.

"Elle!"

As soon as Tyler saw the sight of his girl, covered in blood and bruises and limping slightly with the gun in her hand he jumped out the car and ran at her.

"Elora, what-?" He began, his hands gently cupping her bashed up face.

"Rafe, he- he gave as good as he got," she said with only a small amount of sarcasm.

Tyler didn't laugh, but his lips twitched. "You got him as well, then?"

"Not as bad as this," Elora grunted.

"Right, come on," Tyler said, putting an arm around Elora's shoulders. "Let's get back to the Pogues before my lovely mother finds out I'm gone and sends an army after m-"

"No, Tyler, listen," Elora said. "I need to tell you something, a-and I didn't get a chance to tell you before and I was kicking myself for it-"

"Elora we need to go-"

"No, Tyler you have to listen to me-"

"Elle, he could still be here watching u-"

"I love you!"

She'd been waiting for at least a week.

And she just couldn't wait any longer.

And Tyler's face transformed as she said it. Something she hadn't even noticed before had relaxed. He looked at her as though she hung the stars in the sky, even though she definitely did not, and he moved closer to her.

"A-and I know this is terrible timing," she began to ramble. "B-but you've said you loved me like a million times in the past month and I've been trying to tell you for a few days at least and I just need you to know that I really really love you, Tyler. Like, so much that it really fucking scares me, so much that I wasn't able to even think about it, so much that I'm standing in front of you right now and you're not saying anything but I'm still telling you I love you because it's really fucking true, I-"

When he kissed her, she melted, and she stopped trying to speak. She kissed back hard despite every muscle in her body resisting, her split lip making it taste of blood. She didn't care, though, and he paid no mind either.

When they pulled apart he smiled at her, and he looked so handsome she thought she might faint.

"I love you too," he whispered, pressing their foreheads together. "Let's get outta here, okay?"

Elora nodded, tears flooding to her eyes as she thought about how far she'd come since Tyler had first told her he loved her, on the grass between the marsh and the Chateau, and she'd yelled at him. It had barely been two weeks, and everything had changed between them.

She'd never been more glad for it.