❝Oh, Oakley. . . What have you done?❞
Well, they say it's best to start at the beginning, but when the story gets so twisted and out of hand, who really knows where the beginning starts?
The Outer Banks is not the paradise Earth talks about. It's n...
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— ⚓︎ ⚓︎ ⚓︎ — tw: let the gif speak. . .
THE FIRST ONE TO WAKE UP is Pope. The boy feels his eyes pry open when the familiar warmth of the Kiladare sun meets his face and causes his senses to snap back to life. Pushing himself up onto his forearms, he watches as his stirring manages to wake Kie and eventually Sarah. The dark-skinned boy and the brunette girl meet eyes and share a sheepish smile that Sarah notices and keeps to herself. Behind her, John B jumps awake with an accidental hand gesture that slaps JJ awake with a shriek. They all laugh, watching JJ place a hand against his eye and shove a mocking John B with the other.
When the laughter gently ceases, they look around, noticing they're already in the marsh. They all slowly regain their energy when the familiarity of home fills their chests, making smiles come to their faces as they fully process that they're all together again and that it hadn't all been an evil dream. However, their eyebrows furrow when they notice they're sailing sideways, heading towards the green wetland in an oddly slow manner that gives them time to question why they're moving so sluggishly.
Looking between each other, they share a confused look as John B stands and looks over at the driver's seat. Taking the the word 'driver' out of the 'seat', he notices Oakley completely asleep, head fallen forward and body slumped sideways against the armrest. With an arm dangling and hovering over Bali's head, the girl's slow breaths enter and exit her body soothingly, merging with the bubbling of the water under the boat. Her legs are resting on the console next to the wheel, her other hand draped on her knees, probably having fallen from holding the wheel.
"Our captain is knocked out," he informs, making everyone chuckle tenderly as they begin to stand from their places.
John B takes the wheel and turns it so that they're stable again and heading smoothly through the pathway of the marsh. He looks around with squinted eyes and eventually spots a dock, taking a deep breath and driving straight towards it.
"Anybody else starving? We need to grab some sort of breakfast," JJ speaks, walking over to the bow of the boat and looking around.
John B nods, "There's a dock at one o'clock," he points and JJ nods, "We'll dock up and chill for a bit,"
JJ looks down from him to the sleeping girl on the driver's seat, bringing a tender smirk to his lips and urging his legs forward as he walks to stand beside her. He leans down and grabs her chin, tilting her head up and stroking her blonde locks away from her face. He places a soft kiss on her lips and another on her cheek, causing the girl to stir before slumping on the seat again with a small breath. JJ chuckles and slides his hand away from under her chin, making it fall against her chest as she succumbs back to her dreamless slumber.
John B decreases the speed of the boat as they pull up on the dock and Pope jumps down to moor it. He wraps the rope around the hook and proceeds to help the girls get out of the boat. Starting by Kie, holding her hand and helping her down even though his hands sweat and his heart flips in joy whenever her touch grazes him.
