[18 Months Earlier]
"I SAID it. I said it again and again." Pope said as he paced up and down the yard, "I said don't touch the last of our nugget. That was it! That was the last of our savings."
"Can someone explain how the fuck we lost all of our money so quickly?" Rory questioned in confusion, "We had, like, millions of dollars!"
John B explained, "JJ's restitution being payed off, rehab, our house that JJ betted 700 thousand dollars for, the store checks, bills. And now JJ's betted on himself to win a race, which he lost."
"So, this is my fault?" JJ shot back defensively.
Rory tried to tune out the arguing, though it was hard when they were stood right in front of her. She intervened, "Guys, shut up—"
"Yes!" Pope snapped, ignoring the girl, "Do you not care?"
"Pope, you saw what happened, man!" JJ shouted, "He stole it, okay? He cheated and he stole it. That's not my fault, Pope!"
Pope argued, "Do you know how selfish you sound?"
"I sound selfish?" JJ yelled, "I was trying to help us!"
Sarah held Rory's hand tighter as they sat next to each other on the front porch; she knew that Rory hated arguing and fights, though somehow Rory was always involved in one. She felt like everywhere that she went, Rory could never escape the horrors that Luke caused her.
Sarah glanced at Rory, before looking at Pope and JJ, "Guys, can you—"
Kie interrupted, "Why are you making it sound like you had nothing to do with it, JJ?"
"Okay, Kie. Kie," JJ spoke gently, despite his frustration, "You know me. Okay? I was gonna bet it all. That's who I am."
"You should've talked to us first." Kiara explained, "It was too risky this time. I mean, Rory didn't know you had the money and you let her race."
JJ reasoned, "She were supposed to cover—"
"I did cover." Rory shot back, "I thought you wanted to spend time with me at this race. You know, since I've been gone for months."
"Rory," JJ replied calmly, with a sigh, "It wasn't like... I didn't mean to—"
JJ realised that Rory had changed; she was clean and therefore her real self. She was no longer buzzed by the high of drugs, meaning her mind was in control again. JJ expected her to go along with his plan and agree with him because it with ruthless, but Rory didn't agree with that anymore. It was for the best if she left her old self behind; the person she used to be.
"Hey. Enough!" Cleo shouted over the arguing, "How bad is it, Pope?"
"How bad is it? We have a $13,000 property tax payment due in seven days. And we have zero working capital." Pope exclaimed in frustration, as he looked at JJ, "There is nothing. And you took the last of our savings! So thank you."
Sarah squeezed Rory's hand twice, before standing up and walking away. Sarah rolled her eyes, "Seriously? Rory just got back." She muttered, "That's real nice." Sarah pulled Rory along gently, "Come on, let's go."
Sarah opened the front door into the Maybank house, which had been decorated nicely and actually cleaned. Rory sat down at the kitchen table, watching as Sarah searched around the kitchen for food. She knew what Sarah was doing, and didn't blame her; Rory hadn't spoken about her addiction or how hard rehab was. So, Sarah didn't know how fragile Rory was; she was scared that one argument would send Rory back to Barry's house.
Sarah questioned curiously, "Do you want anything to eat?"
"I'll have that sandwich," Rory gestured to the plate on the counter which contained a half eaten cheese sandwich; her guess was that it was left by John B. Rory watched Sarah place the plate down in front of her, before sitting next to her at the table. She smiled, "Thank you."
"It's okay," Sarah nodded, though her expression was filled with worry and doubt. She attempted to hide her feelings with a smile; Rory could see right through her.
"Sarah, hey." Rory finished chewing on the bite of her sandwich, gently tapping her foot under the table to meet her hazel eyes. Rory reassured, "You don't have to worry. I'm okay."
"I know, it's just..." Sarah stressed, "I was reading about... it a lot when you were gone. I wanted to help when you got back. I just don't wanna say the wrong things or accidentally trigger you, or something. And—"
"Hey," Rory placed her sandwich on her plate and reached out to hold Sarah's hands. She added, "It's okay, Sarah. You're doing the right things, I promise. And I know I haven't told you much about rehab, which is my fault, because you're my girlfriend. You should know. I just... I'm still getting used to letting people in."
"I don't want you to feel like you have to tell me about it. But, I want to know about it so I can help you." Sarah replied, "Just, promise me, you'll tell me if things get bad."
"Promise." Rory smiled, before leaning towards her and kissing her on the lips. The kiss lasted longer this time, as Rory cherished this feeling that she missed. She stood up from the kitchen table, taking Sarah's hands, and guided her towards her bedroom.
Sarah mused, "What about your sandwich?"
"We're finally alone," Rory smirked, closing the door behind her, "The sandwich can wait for us."
***
"Are you guys decent?" Kiara's voice asked from the other side of the door, "I have something to show you."
Rory rested on her back beside Sarah, the bed sheets covering them as they stared up at the ceiling. Sarah cleared her throat, "Yeah, we'll be out in a second."
Aurora and Sarah both got changed into their clothes, which had been scattered across the floor in piles, before unlocking the door and walking out to the kitchen. Rory met eyes with JJ, John B, Kie, Pope, and Cleo, before giving them an awkward smile; she wondered when their arguing had stopped and when they had all decided to come back into the house.
Sarah broke the silence, "What?"
Kiara looked down at her laptop screen, amazed, "They wrote about us. The Outer Banks Sentinel wrote about us!" She read it aloud, "The extraordinary discovery made by the young adventurers has validated the existence of the City Of Gold."
a/n:
sorry this chapter is quite boring!! i hope you're all enjoying it so far<3
