RIVER | JJ MAYBANK

EIGHTY SEVEN

MALIBU

Topper had called River from Sarah's phone and told the girl to come to his house. He explained everything that happened last night with Rafe. So now, River was sat on the end of the bed that Sarah slept in whilst Topper went to get Sarah some breakfast.

"Hey, how you feeling?" Topper questioned as he walked into the bedroom, making Sarah stir awake and sit up.

River sympathetically smiled towards Sarah and shuffled closer to the girl. She placed her hand on Sarah's knee and offered her a reassuring smile that she was safe.

"What time is is?" Sarah questioned as she looked outside, probably realising that she slept most of the day.

"I don't know, why?" Topper questioned curiously.

"No i need to go." Sarah insisted but River pushed her back down.

"Sarah, you need to rest." River understood that Sarah was probably worried about everything that just happened, but her body needed the time to rest.

"You're not going out there where your brother almost killed you, okay?" Topper shook his head. "You're safe here. Have a little food."

River smiled towards Topper, thankful that he actually got in touch with her about Sarah. She assumed that Silas hadn't told him about their falling out.

"Oh, here's a phone so you can get a hold of me and I can get a hold of you." Topper hand Sarah a phone. He had explained to River that he had a spare to give her, since he was sure she hadn't had one since she went missing. "I just wanna make sure you're safe."

Sarah rested her head on River's shoulder. She felt weak. She couldn't believe that her own brother tried to kill her.

"Thank you." Sarah's voice cracked as she spoke. "I haven't had a phone since the storm."

River thought back to that night. It broke her. But also completely shaped her a a person and showed her who really cared about her. Once JJ left Reggie's house the day after, they stopped speaking. The only person that kept in touch with her was Pope.

"Sarah I thought that you were-" Topper's eyes filled with unshed tears. "I thought i'd never see you again. It's so good to see you."

Sarah turned to face River, she couldn't imagine what she put everyone through. She reached forward and placed her hand over Topper's whilst wrapping her arm around River's shoulders and pulling the girl as close as possible.

"We're just glad that you're okay." River whispered softly.

"We'll eat up. I'm gonna get the malibu ready. Just let me know if you need anything, okay?" Topper questioned as he excused himself to walk away from the two girls.

"He missed you." River chuckled as she sat up, watching as Sarah picked at the fruit on the plate. "The amount of times that he spoke about you whilst i was with him and Si-"

"You spent time with Topper?" Sarah smiled, she couldn't picture it.

River let go of a small chuckle. That's when she remembered that Sarah didn't exactly know everything that went on whilst she was away. She was still clueless.

"Yeah." The blonde paused. "He's one of Silas' best friends. When you guys went missing, JJ and Kie stopped speaking to me, they ignored my calls and my texts. Pope stayed in touch, tried helping me to find my dad."

The girl was grateful for Pope. Out of everyone, he was the last person she expected to stay. She was more than thankful that he did though.

"The only reason I got back in touch with JJ and Kie was because of the photo that you and John B sent us." She ran her tongue over her bottom lip before continuing. "Kie told JJ I would be better off without him and he listened."

Sarah listened in shock, she couldn't imagine it. She couldn't imagine JJ and River not being involved in one another lives.

"I found out yesterday that Silas didn't actually befriend me because i was his new neighbour, but because JJ and him made a deal. JJ caught Silas pick pocketing and for JJ not to snitch, he wanted Silas to be my friend and look after me, report back how I was doing."

River laughed at how stupid it sounded. She ran her hand over her face and shook her head in disbelief. She looked back up to Sarah, who's mouth fell agape.

"JJ doesn't know that I know."

"Well fuck." Sarah didn't know what to say or how to comfort the girl. "I'm so sorry, Ve."

The blonde just shrugged. There wasn't anything she could do about it now.

"Just wish I knew before I fucked JJ or told him I loved him."