riptide- outer banks

124 | run for the hills

〰⋅〰⋅〰

Kori's hand slammed into the rim of the doorway hard, barely enough to keep her upright. A breath slipped out of her mouth as she attempted to stay on her feet, the boat rocking violently beneath her feet. Thunder echoed through the air, lightning flashing across the sky as rain continued to fall heavier and heavier by the minute. She staggered into the room, eyes flicking around it. It'd have to do. Her back slammed into the wall as she hit it hard, falling to the ground next to Kiara.

"Hurry!" The brunette shouted.

"This storm is crazy, man." Cleo announced, appearing in the doorway.

Pope was next, followed by Sarah. "Did you see the size of those swells?" He implored.

Quickly closing the door, Sarah let out a breath of relief at the sight of her brother. He was near the counter, gripping the edge of it to remain standing. "You good, Loge?" She asked, meeting his gaze.

"Yeah! All good!" He responded before dropping to the ground next to her.

Kie turned to Kori, brow furrowing together. "Where's JJ?"

The blonde shook her head, voice raising to be heard over the sound of the storm. "He wouldn't come! He's down in the galley!"

It wasn't ideal, but he would be safe. As long as he held onto something, he couldn't get hurt where he'd chosen to stay. She would've gone down to him, but Kiara had grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the room they were in before she could object. The storm was too dangerous to be out in. Too dangerous to not stick together.

JJ choosing to isolate himself said a lot about how he felt with the whole P4L thing.

Kiara didn't respond to her explanation, raising her hand to hold onto the shelf above her. And Kori didn't say anything else either. She just pressed her back into the wall, hoping that they would live long enough to get through this. Maybe then, her friends would realize how frayed things truly were.

Logan's gaze shifted to her, but her eyes were tightly closed. Guilt was gnawing at him from what he'd said earlier. From the hurtful accusation he'd so carelessly thrown out. He'd sat with JJ for a few hours afterward and he hadn't seen Kori since their argument. All he wanted was to apologize. To make sure she was okay. He knew they weren't, but that didn't mean that he just stopped caring about if she was.

His shoulder roughly jammed into the shelf above him as the boat lurched to the side. He grimaced, keeping one hand on Sarah's forearm and his other gripped on the ledge he'd just hit into. She let out a shaky breath at the sound of thunder rolling in again. It hit their eardrums at the same time someone else's voice cut through the chaos.

"Hey!"

It was Rafe.

"Hey! Get me out of here!"

Logan's gaze snapped to Sarah. He'd completely forgotten about the fact that their older brother was tied up somewhere beneath them, completely exposed and in a very unsafe place. "Sare?"

"No! No!" Cleo piped up, head shaking.

Pope was half of a breath behind her. "Do not let him out!"

Kiara's brow furrowed together, focus shifting from the pair to Sarah and Logan. Their expressions were conflicted, but her mind was already made up. "He's gonna drown!" She pointed out before pushing off of her feet and stumbling over to the drawers to find a knife.

Then she slipped out of the room.

Logan hesitated only a second longer before pressing off of the wall. But he didn't make it very far. Just as he had leaned forward, a hand was pressing his chest back. His eyes narrowed as he turned to his sister. "You can't! It's not safe!" She exclaimed, head shaking at him.