riptide- outer banks

sixty-two | let it happen

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Kori sat with Sarah as Logan talked to Cleo and Kie, night already having fallen. The sky was dark, lit up by thousands of stars as they neared St. Kitts. They were going to be stopping soon, hopefully to get food or at least water. They'd left John B behind hours ago, so they needed supplies. Desperately.

"He's gotta be okay, right?" Sarah asked, turning to Kori.

Her green eyes didn't move from the stern when she spoke, words coming out more disinterested than she'd intended. "Yeah. It's JB."

Sarah's brow knit together as she followed her line of sight up to Pope and JJ.

"He said to go back. We have to...trust that."

"What do you think they're talking about?" Sarah questioned.

That caught the blonde's attention, causing her gaze to shift to her. "I don't know. But Pope looks mad."

"Yeah and JJ looks desperate to fix that." Sarah pointed out as the older Maybank sibling shook his head and started back down the stairs towards them.

Kori let out a sigh, her own head shaking as she stood. "I'll be right back."

"Yeah. Okay." Sarah remarked, watching as she made her way to her brother.

As Kori reached him, her shoulders rose. "What the hell, J? What'd you do?"

"Nothing. It's nothing." He murmured, brushing past her as he made his way to the girls and Logan.

Her face contorted at the response she'd gotten, leaving her more confused than she had been before she'd stopped him. Irritation subsequently washed over her as her gaze lifted to the stern— to Pope. Whatever he'd done to him, she was gonna figure it out.

Kori took the stairs, hesitating as she reached the top. Pope was staring out at the inky water, a numb look attached to his face. As if he'd just lost something.

Or someone.

"So you gonna stand there all night or come over here?" Pope asked, finally meeting her impetuous gaze.

Kori's head tilted, grin slipping onto her face as she took the remaining steps to him. "So what'd JJ do? Kill your cat?"

Pope's jaw locked.

All the humor in her eyes was quickly replaced by genuine concern. "Pope, for real. What happened?"

The brunette kept his focus on the water, head slightly shaking. "When I came up here earlier, I, um," His head fully tilted as his eyes narrowed. "I kind of saw him and Kie. Together."

Kori's eyes went wide, lips parting.

"They weren't doing anything, but if I hadn't come up..." He trailed off, gaze shifting to the ground as his head continued to shake.

"Pope," She paused, a line appearing between her brows. "I'm so sorry. JJ's a dick. A major, dumbass dick. He should've talked to you."

In all honesty, she'd forgotten about Kie and Pope. It felt like a lifetime ago he'd been in love with her and Kie had just been trying to figure out her own feelings. It'd really only been a little over a month though. That made things seem more real.

"It's fine. I just—" He let out a breath. "I wasn't expecting it. That's all."

Kori nodded her head, shoulders nonchalantly shrugging. "Well, I'm down to makeout if you wanna make her jealous. Plus, it'd totally piss off JJ."

Pope froze, wholly unable to do anything else as his face contorted. He turned to the blonde, finger raised in the air as he tried to gather his thoughts. "Um, as much as I appreciate the offer, Kor, I want to actually make it back to Kildare. Not die." Another sigh spilled from his mouth as he shook his head. "And I don't wanna make Kiara jealous. I'm over it, but that doesn't mean it just goes away."