𝐍𝐎 𝐁𝐎𝐃𝐘, 𝐍𝐎 𝐂𝐑𝐈𝐌𝐄 - kiara carrera²

𝒙𝒊𝒊. 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒐𝒏

DURING THE LONG RIDE HOME, everyone had a chance to fill each other in on the gaps of their missing weeks. Tatum's kidnapping, Sarah and John B's Bahama's adventure, JJ being fired, Kiara's parent problems, and at last, Pope's story of the crazy C.Limbrey. If Tatum had more than one working brain cell, she would've easily connected the dots. Unfortunately, however, Tate was never known for her brains, and that would lead to her into trusting all the wrong people in the nearby future.

So, while the others discussed important stuff, such as people who wanted to kill, kidnap and take things from them, Tatum laid back on Kiara's legs, wondering about Cleo. Where was she now? Did the police catch her? Tatum really hoped not; that girl was way too good for prison.

The tension between JJ and Pope only gotten worse as the boat ride went on longer. Every few moments, the blonde would glare at the boy for no apparent reason. Tatum had never seen JJ like this before. Usually, he was the relaxed, always happy, friend. He never argued with anyone (other than kooks, of course, who he occasionally beat the shit out of). But as Tatum looked further into it, it seemed like he was also angry with Kiara.

For hours, the pouges, finally together again, shared beers, stories and an extreme amount of weed. Though she was dancing along and screaming TS lyrics with JJ, Tatum still felt the light presence of her exhaustion, weighing her down even more, little by little.

TJ got to know every single one of his sister's friends, his big brothers and sisters, loving each and every one of them. JJ and John B were constantly arguing over who was the infant's favourite, while Sarah sat back with a smirk, knowing that it was neither of them - it was her. As expected, Pope was already planning out the kid's whole future, swallowing down his sickening guilt over and over again when he thought about the Quinns becoming an official part of his family. He didn't mind it, of course, Tatum had always been his sister one way or another, but he didn't know how long he would last until he bursted with self-hatred. How was Kie so okay? What was she thinking as she laid beside her girlfriend, watching the stars and gushing over her? Did she even care? Pope hated himself for what he did, and Kiara was acting like nothing ever happened. Maybe she was right to. If Tatum found it, it was game over. He honestly didn't think the girl would come back from that kind of breakdown.

By morning, they were restless and back in the dirty quarry they knew too well. Tatum stood up by the end of the boat and stared up at the town of OBX. Something happened. Her stomach. It turned to gel. A horrible gel. It hurt. It twisted. She felt horribly sick.

Screaming.

Blood.

Bruises.

Wrists.

Chains.

Suffocation.

Tightening.

Him.

Noticing her girlfriend's bad reaction, Kiara placed a warm, comforting hand over Tatum's, telling her a thousand things. It would be okay, nobody was going to take her again. The others downplayed her kidnapping because she acted like it didn't affect her, like it was nothing compared to the other things her dad had put her through, but Kiara could see it all in her eyes - the truth. Whatever happened those weeks in that bunker changed the Quinn girl completely. She had fear. True fear - a feeling Tatum had never felt before. She was never scared of anything until now. She thought that because of her traumatic upbringing, nothing could harm her anymore, but she was wrong. She would never forget those nights in the bunker. The darkness, the loneliness, the sickening abuse.

"Anyone else starving?" asked JJ, his chest naked with a sleeping baby clung to it and a joint in his mouth. "We need to grab some sort of breakfast."