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Caroline had lost all track of time.
For what felt like an eternity, she and Tyler stood in the deep end of the pool, staring up at the black sky and all that had been destroyed in its anger. The mother behind them whispered promises to her son—that they were okay, that everything was fine. Caroline wished bitterly she could hear those words from her mama.
Tyler's hand was on the back of her head, her face buried in his chest in a way that felt all too familiar and comfortable. He rested his chin on the top of her head as though it belonged there.
After God knew how long, emergency responders from the next few towns over began to roll in, though their sirens weren't much help at all to alerting the citizens of Old Stillwater to their presence—there weren't any citizens left to hear them. None that Caroline could see, anyway. She hoped they were all just down in their storm cellars.
Some firemen came over and helped the four of them out of the pool, since the metal ladder had been ripped off in the wind and deposited somewhere else. There was a lot of grunting and uncomfortable tugs on Caroline's injured arm, but she spilled out of the drained pool and into real life.
It was worse than she'd thought. Whatever had come through, whatever twister had ripped its way down Main Street, it hadn't been a usual old EF-1. It wasn't one the town was prepared for. As far as the eye could see, not a single building was left standing. Some were flipped on their heads, some were ripped clean in half. Some were just support beams and nothing else.
Caroline bit her lip, then put her hand over her mouth to hide it. But she couldn't hide the tears pooling in her eyes.
Tyler's crew found them not long later. They poured out of their old trailer and greeted Tyler with expressions of the greatest relief and the most necessary of embraces. Caroline crossed her arms, then let out a little gasp as the girl who manned the drone threw herself out in a hug.
"You guys gave us a real good scare," the girl said—Lily, she was called. She pulled away from the hug and gave Tyler a worried sort of look. "We didn't even know where you went."
"We just came out here for a rodeo," Caroline said quietly, pinching the bridge of her nose and shutting her eyes. She couldn't shake the feeling that she was on the verge of tears, even if the storm was long gone.
"We're alright, though," Tyler said; and the tone he used made Caroline feel like he was reminding her of the fact. He reached out and folded her into a hug.
She accepted. She didn't even think about how much physical contact she had had with her ex in just two hours.
Someone called her name from across the street, and she turned out of Tyler's arms to see Javi rushing over towards them. She offered Tyler and his crew a nod of acknowledgment, then met Javi in the middle, only barely taking notice of his Storm Par crew advancing on the ruins of the town. He gave her a hug, which shocked her only a little bit at first.
