Waves

Free Bird

Harli jerks awake in the bed of the beach home, frightened and not knowing where she is. She glances around to see Sarah laying next to her, Sarah waking up when she feels Harli rising up frantically.

"Hey, you okay?" The blonde asks her friend.

"Where are we?" Harli questions the girl as she looks around.

"Topper's beach house." Sarah answers. "How are you feeling this morning?"

"My head hurts like hell. How did we get here?"

"Topper brought us. Do you remember what happened last night?"

"I remember arguing with Rafe, and I think he pushed me. After that, nothing."

"You hit the dock pretty hard. It knocked you out. Afterwards, he came after me and tried to drown me. Luckily Topper was there and stopped him. He saved us." The creak of the stairs catches the girls attention as they turn to see Topper emerging from them.

"Hey, you girls are up." Topper rounds the rail, a tray of breakfast in his hands.

"Thank you, Topper." Harli's voice full of gratefulness as he sets the breakfast down on the bed in front of the two girls.

"No problem." Topper replies with a smile. "Look, y'all need to get up. Sarah, I got you a phone so I can keep in touch with you, and you can with me. That way I know you're safe."

"Thank you." Sarah is in disbelief at his generosity, feeling guilty for all that had happened between them at the beginning of the summer. "I haven't had a phone since the storm."

"Sarah, I thought you..." Topper tries to say, but gets choked up. "I thought I was never going to see you again. I'm just so glad you're alive."

Harli watches the situation unfold with sympathy. Never would she have thought that she would be grateful or feeling sympathetic towards the boy that tried to drown her brother, but she knew that the love Topper had for Sarah was real. Even if he did have a shitty way of showing it in the beginning. Even though John B is her brother and Harli knows how much he loves Sarah and Sarah loves him, she feels bad for Topper. The pain of losing someone you care about is still real, and she understands the grief he felt when he thought Sarah was dead.

"I'll get the boat ready and we can leave after you two eat. I'm sure your friends are worried about you two." Topper stands to leave, walking out to get the boat ready for them.

"Sarah, are you okay?" Harli question the girl beside her.

"Yeah." Tears fill Sarah's eyes, still upset about last night and, yet, so grateful for how Topper is treating her. Harli wraps her arms around the girl in a tight hug.

*****

John B paces the dock as his three friends sit in silence and watch. His worry and concern for the two most important people in his life is growing by the minute and he can't sit still. His mind racking with ideas of where they might be and how he needs to find them as soon as possible.

"So, Sarah just dipped?" The brunette asks the group, trying to understand what had happened.

"Yeah, left her bag and everything." Pope answers.

"Well, then Harli has to be with her. Sarah wouldn't just dip without a plan of return and not take her stuff. We need to find them! I don't trust Ward. The dude tried to have me killed in jail. He had someone come in and try to choke me out. What if he's gotten to the girls?"

"It's okay."

"No, Kie! It's not okay!"

"No, seriously. It's okay cause there's Sarah now." Kie points to the blonde riding up on Topper's boat.