Hope (Enoch O'Connor x Reader)

Chapter 51: A little bit of hope

Enoch and Emma run straight towards me, simultaneously wrapping their arms around me. 

"I can't believe you're alive!" Emma exclaims.

"Seeing is believing, Emma. You saw what I did." I reply, tears of relief streaming down my face.

"That's the other thing. I can't believe you can see either!" She laughs hysterically. Enoch just embraces me, unable to speak.

"Y/N!" A voice behind us exclaims.

I break away from Emma and Enoch and turn around. Bronwyn stands in the doorway, laughing.

"You're alive!"

She runs towards me, arms outstretched. She hugs me, crushing my bones to smithereens as numerous footsteps sound from the hallway. All the children appear in the doorway, shocked expressions written all over their faces.

Hugs ensue. Questions are asked. Tears are shed. Laughter is shared.

We are a family. We are re-united.

And we will never be separated ever again.

+ + +

I soon come to the realization that we are on our boat. The big ship that Emma raised from the ocean floor.

I walk out of the room I healed myself in, following the other children out onto the boat deck where Miss Peregrine watches over the ocean. She turns around and embraces me passionately.

"I knew you would come back to us." She whispers in my ear. "Somehow, I just knew. Because you're a fighter." She breaks away from me and goes back to watching the waves tumble into the ocean repeatedly.

"Where are we going?" I ask Miss Peregrine, leaning against the railing of the boat, the salty sea breeze whipping at her hair. She stares out the endless blue waves surrounding us, as if she can decipher one from the other.

"There are very few things that I can't explain nor do I know, Y/N. This is one of those things." She says, very matter-of-factly.

"So you don't know?" I clarify.

"No. But there is nothing wrong with a little adventure, is there?" She smiles at me, then resumes looking out over the waves of the ocean.

I feel a tap at my shoulder and turn around to reveal Olive standing awkwardly behind me.

"Y/N, I... um... just wanted to say that I'm sorry." She stares at her shoes. "Sorry for everything I did and I hope you can forgive me?" She gives me a timid, apologetic smile. It is a very nice gesture on her part for all the things she did to hurt me. But my answer is simple.

"No." I tell her.

"What?" Her smile drops and she actually looks sad that I have rejected her apology. It definitely was a sincere apology then. But since when did 'I'm sorry' ever fix anything?

"I said no. No, I do not accept your apology. I don't want it. I don't want you to tell me a five letter word. You could have said any old five letter word to me for all I care. Sorry doesn't mean anything to me. If you're sorry, you will show me, not tell me."

"What is that supposed to mean? Do you want me to be your personal slave to prove that I actually want to make up for what I've done? To embarrass me in front of everyone else?"

"No, Olive. I want you to be nice to me. I want you to be nice to the other kids. We are all a family. And if you burn one of us, the rest of us burn too."