riptide- outer banks

ninety-six | i promise

〰⋅〰⋅〰

No one was back yet. It was weird, considering that they did most everything together. An empty Poguelandia was just not something Kori wanted to get used to. It made sense, though, why no one was there. JJ and Kiara still had another hour or two in the hyperbaric chamber and who knew where everyone else was. John B, Sarah, Pope, and Cleo could've been anywhere. She doubted they were still on Goat Island, but they weren't there.

Kori glanced over at Logan, watching as the brunette lightly pulled at the bracelet Wheezie had made for him. Out and back in, out and back in. He just kept stretching it while his gaze remained disinterested. It was far off as if he were staring at some invisible cloud above him on the couch. Or like he was deep in thought, mind plagued with millions of things he had no control over.

"Can I ask you something?" She finally said, breaking the silence.

Logan's eyes shifted to hers as he came to a sitting position. "Yeah."

Kori hesitated, unsure of how to word it. Then she was speaking, slowly. "Do you want to forgive Rafe?" She paused, beginning to sputter as Logan dropped his gaze. "I mean, it's just...something you said– it has me thinking. You said that if Sarah still had a problem with Rafe, you would, too." She bit the inside of her cheek. "If that were to change, would your mind also change?"

He didn't say anything momentarily, simply gathering his thoughts. It was difficult, considering the anarchic state of his mind. But he did it. Kind of. "I don't know. That's the worst part. I'm just so sick of the war and the fighting. I just–" He exhaled. "I don't know."

She just listened, head ever so slightly nodding as he spoke. Her voice came out soft when she finally found the words. "Well, I wouldn't judge you if you did."

Logan potently locked onto her gaze, relief seeming to penetrate his demeanor.

"Rafe did awful things to you. To Sarah." Kori paused, head nodding at him. "But at the end of the day, he's still your brother. In the same screwed up way that Luke is my dad, Rafe is your brother. That won't change. It hasn't for me. And I know it doesn't make sense, but–"

As she sighed, Logan's brow knit together.

"Look, I did something." She inhaled, head continuing to nod as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Remember when we had our fight last year?"

Logan's gaze immediately softened. "Kor–"

"No, I'm not bringing it up to make you feel bad." She clarified. "I love you. That's never gonna change." She paused as another sigh spilled out of her mouth. "Well, before we made up, I kind of went off the deep end. I was spiraling and I..." Her head began to shake, only making him that much more curious as to what she was about to say. "I found my mom."

Logan's lips parted at the revelation. "Kori..."

"I found out she's in federal prison in Mt. Pleasant– a fifteen minute drive from Charleston."

"Does JJ know?"

"No. Why tell him something that would only hurt him? He doesn't deserve the pain that comes with knowing that."

"I'm so sorry." Logan murmured, unable to say anything else.

"Don't be. It was her choice to stay away." Kori pointed out, eyes finding their way back to his dark gaze. "Look, the reason I'm even telling you this is because I don't forgive my mom. I can't." She paused momentarily. "And you can't forgive Ward for what he did to you, but for some reason, I keep forgiving my dad. He's a terrible person and I say that I hate him, but I don't. I hate what he did, but not him. I can't because he's my dad. And I just know, in the back of mind, I'm going to keep forgiving him."