𝗣𝗢𝗟𝗔𝗥𝗢𝗜𝗗
"promise youll never leave me"
"only if you promise to never hurt me"
𝗜𝗡 𝗪𝗛𝗜𝗖𝗛, a pair of kook twins join the pogues on a treasure hunt while uncovering the truth that been hidden and discovering that heartbreak was more comm...
—— 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 FORTY-ONE :GHOST'S DON'T STAY GONE 𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗦𝗢𝗗𝗘 𝗙𝗢𝗨𝗥 OF SEASON TWO ——
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——
THE MORNING should have felt gentle.
Light spilled slowly across the water, soft and pale, catching on the surface in fractured pieces that shimmered and disappeared just as quickly. The air carried a quiet chill, brushing against Layla's skin, slipping beneath the thin fabric of her hoodie but she barely noticed it.
Everything inside her was louder.
She stood at the edge of the dock, her fingers curled into the sleeves of her hoodie, twisting the fabric between them without realising. The world in front of her stretched wide and open, endless in a way that should have been comforting. It used to be.
Now it just made her feel small.
Aven was alive.
The thought still didn't land properly, like her mind refused to let it settle. It replayed instead over and over, sharp and disjointed. Aven standing there. Breathing. Looking at her like no time had passed, like nothing had broken in between.
And then everything else followed.
Her parents.
The divorce.
The quiet, devastating truth that they had planned to split them up like it was nothing, like she and Aven weren't two halves of the same person. Like they could just be separated and still exist the same way.
Her chest tightened.
She didn't know what was real anymore. Not the past. Not the memories. Not even the people she had trusted her whole life. The only thing she knew for certain was that everything felt wrong.
The dock creaked softly behind her. She stilled for half a second, her breath catching, before she forced herself to exhale.
She didn't turn around because she didn't need to.
JJ's presence had always been something she could feel before she saw him. It settled into the space beside her now, familiar in a way that made her chest ache unexpectedly. He didn't speak straight away. Just stepped up next to her, close enough that she could feel the warmth of him, even in the cold.
Close enough that it felt intentional.
But not so close that it crossed a line.
He rested his arms against the railing, shoulders slightly hunched, like he hadn't fully decided if he was staying or not. For once, he didn't fill the silence. Didn't joke. Didn't deflect.
