it didn't take long for the tropical storm danielle to finally slam against the outer banks, the opening to the tent the four teens were sitting in whipping back and forth against the wind and rain.
and even though they had only been there for an hour, it felt like 5 to them all. ivy still sat in the chair, her head resting on jj's shoulder as he held her hands tightly in his.
ivy stared straight ahead at the tent, imagining in her mind how it would be in a few months when the 5 of them were together again, hoping sarah was with them as well, all of them sitting around a bonfire, beers in their hands, smiles on their faces, together again.
she barely blinked, trying to keep the picture of her brother hugging her in her mind, the next image was them all surfing the giant waves once john b came back home.
ivy's dream was cut short when eyes were then faced with three officers walking into the tent. she immediately stood up, running over towards them. jj, kie, and pope following closely behind her.
'what happened?' ivy asked.
'did you find them?' pope asked.
'no.' shoupe looked away from pope.
'so they got away.' ivy smiled.
shoupe went quiet for a few moments, then finally looked at ivy. 'we uh, we lost them.' he spoke. 'i'm sorry.'
ivy's entire body started to go numb at the words that left shoupes mouth. 'w- what?'
'you lost them? what do you mean you lost them? like they're gone? what are you talking about?' pope asked.
'they took an open boat into a tropical depression pope.' shoupe said.
'so they're dead?' kie asked.
'we don't know.' shoupe trailed off.
ivy's heart then dropped.
'you drove them straight through the storm man! are you kidding me? come here! i'm gonna kill you!' jj screamed, grabbing shoupe by the collar.
'jj stop!' kie yelled.
'he didn't kill anyone, and you know it!' pope yelled.
'we're still looking for him, alright?' shoupe tried to calm down pope, but there was no point in trying.
an officer pulled jj off of shoupe and pushed him towards ivy. jj looked at her, then pulled her into a hug. 'i'm so sorry.' he whispered.
'he's gone.' she yelled. 'he's fucking gone.'
the female officer behind shoupe stopped just a few feet from ivy and jj, 'ivy routledge, you need to come with-'
'no, you're not fucking touching her, let alone taking her anywhere. you've done enough.' jj growled. the woman soon stepped back, giving jj a dirty look.
jj kept a tight grip on ivy, scared that if he wouldn't hold her tight enough, she would fall to the ground.
ivy cried even harder when she heard jj start to cry. she had just lost her brother and best friend. and jj had just lost one of the people who made a difference in his life for the better.
ivy took her head out of where it was buried in jj's chest when she felt a hand on her shoulder. she looked up to see heyward with a hand each on her and jj. he looked at both of the crying teens with sympathy, something that rarely ever came out, something ivy hadn't seen since her dad went missing.
heyward then went over and hugged his son, who continued to apologize for all the things he had done in the last few days.
jj rested his chin back on ivy's head, but he slightly pulled away from her when heyward motioned for them to come closer to him and mrs heyward.
heyward wrapped an arm around jj, and kept another on pope, while mrs heyward kept an arm wrapped around ivy, and her other around pope.
ivy, jj, and pope pulled each other into a hug, continuing to cry louder and louder.
mr and mrs heyward left go of the three teens, allowing kiara to wrap her arms around ivy and pope.
they all stood there, their arms wrapped around one another, ivy resting her head on jj's arm until she could partially calm herself down.
after a few minutes, shoupe and the other officers left, leaving the four kids along with pope and kiara's parents in the tent.
not long after, kiaras parents looked at their daughter, still holding onto her friends. they then decided it would be best to let her stay with her friends. kiaras parents turned around and walked to their car, looking at kiara one last time before driving off.
mr and mrs heyward gave pope one last hug. heyward looked at jj, leaning close to him, 'i would get her out of here before shoupe comes back.' he whispered, referring to ivy. jj just nodded in reply.
jj then picked ivy up, holding her like she was a piece of glass, fragile and able to break with one wrong step.
ivy, jj, pope, and kie climbed into the back of heywards truck, huddling together as they shivered against the storm.
heywards started up the truck, driving away from the crowded area of police, and towards the chateau.
heyward then dropped the four off at the chateau, pope waving his parents goodbye and following everyone else into the chateau.
ivy ignored everyone, kicking her shoes off, leaving them in the middle of the hallway, and throwing herself onto john b's bed, hugging his pillow as she began crying again.
pope and kiara then laid down on the pullout couch, hugging each other as they fell asleep.
jj soon made his way back through the hallway, following the sound of muffled sobs into john b's room.
jj laid down on the bed next to ivy, wrapping his arms around her, keeping himself awake until she had finally fallen asleep, dozing off not long after.
