BOOK 1 [with seasons 1 & 2]
Aurora "Rory" Routledge is not just your average Outer Banks teen-she's John B's twin sister and the perfect partner-in-crime for summer adventures. Alongside their tight-knit group of best friends-JJ, Pope, and Kie-the R...
Can I go where you go? Can we always be this close forever and ever? And ah, take me out, and take me home You're my, my, my, my Lover
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⋘POGUELANDIA⋙
here we come.
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Rory~
THE lifeboat swayed gently beneath us, the motion both calming and unsettling at the same time. I didn't know how long we'd been adrift, the adrenaline of our escape now morphing into a restless fatigue that hung heavy over all of us.
John B remained at the helm, steering the lifeboat further away from that godforsaken ship.
The harsh glare of the afternoon sun had softened, transforming into a wash of orange and pink hues that painted the horizon. It was almost beautiful—if the weight of everything we'd just endured wasn't pressing down so hard on our shoulders.
Nobody spoke much. There wasn't much left to say. Each of us sat with our own thoughts, tangled in the wreckage of what had just happened.
Kie sat closest to the edge, her arms wrapped around her knees as if shielding herself from more betrayal. Her expression was guarded, her pain written in the downward turn of her lips and the way her gaze avoided everyone else's. Carter had broken her trust—shattered it, really. She had opened her heart to him, let him in, and in the end, he'd walked away. The weight of it was unbearable, even for me to watch.
John B, my brother, bore his own share of that betrayal. He was steering us toward safety, but the tension in his shoulders was impossible to miss. We had treated Carter like family, brought him into our world, and he had chosen Rafe. I could see John B struggling to let go of the anger that burned beneath the surface, simmering like embers that refused to extinguish.
I could feel it too—our bond meant I could always feel his emotions as if they were my own. While I shoved my feelings into a locked box deep inside my heart and kept it there frozen, I knew John B was grappling with his head-on.
Sarah sat slumped back, her head resting on Cleo's shoulder, her eyes closed but far from at peace. She looked exhausted, drained not just physically but emotionally. She'd jumped ship for John B—for us.
She had walked away from her family once again, and though she had chosen us, I could see the conflict eating away at her. The guilt lingered in her eyes, guilt she didn't deserve to carry. You don't choose your family, but you can choose the people you call family.
Sarah had made her choice, and it was us—the Pogues.
Pope, usually the calm and level-headed one, sat grim and silent, his face shadowed by a storm of emotions. The cross—his ancestor's gold cross—had been taken. Again. This time, Rafe had succeeded in snatching away not just a relic but a part of Pope's legacy. I wanted to reach out, to reassure him that we'd figure it out, but I held back. Empty promises wouldn't help him now.
