Exhale, Outer Banks [ 1 ]

034. FREE MAN

When Cordelia had woken up later that day, she found herself next to Sarah in the Thornton family's boathouse. Her and Sarah were in a semi small bed and she remembers her practically begging Sarah to not leave her alone. She wanted to be with somebody she trusted and she was too scared to be alone after the encounter with Rafe.

So Sarah stayed with her, squeezing on the small bed with the younger girl, both quickly falling asleep after Topper had left them.

Hours later, Topper had returned with food. He mostly got food for Sarah, but he remembered to get a small plate for Cordelia since he figured Sarah would want the pogue to also have some food.

He woke Sarah up when he walked in and took the cover off of the plate and shared a short conversation with Sarah while Cordelia slept peacefully next to the girl. Topper gave Sarah a phone and when she asked about Fletcher, Topper told her his brother was on the mainland with their mom -- against his will, really.

Now, Cordelia is sitting on Topper's boat as he drives them to the chateau and Sarah is sitting next to her, the ex couple making conversation while the younger one stays silent.

She knows JJ is going to have a field day when he sees her on Topper's boat so she has to mentally prepare herself for his attitude. Though she hopes that when they explain what happened he won't be annoying about her being around Topper.

When they approach the chateau, Cordelia is able to make four figures sitting on the HMS that's still tied to the dock.

"Wait, is that... JB?" Cordelia asks.

"John B?" Sarah asks. "John B!" She grins.

"What the hell are they doing with Topper?" Kie asks the three guys.

"Maybe Delia's making her way through the family." JJ says.

"Shut up, JJ." Pope hits his friend's foot.

"Okay, that was one was purely a joke with no malice." JJ says.

"Still shut up." Pope says.

"Oh, my God, he's out."  Sarah whispers in relief, rushing to the front of the boat, already prepared to tie it off.

"Dude, you're out!" Cordelia grins. Her exclaim earns a nod and smile from John B and the girl lets out a small excited yell.

"There he is." Topper mutters. As he pulls up next to the HMS, Pope takes the rope from Sarah and ties the boat up.

"Hi." John B quietly greets Sarah.

"Hey!" She excitedly greets, immediately hugging him and he hugs her back.

"Oh, my God. I'm so glad you're okay. Hi." John B tightly hugs her.

"I didn't know if I'd see you again." Sarah says. "What happened?" She says, pulling away so she can look at him.

"Uh, they dropped the charges." John B informs.

"They dropped all the charges?" Cordelia asks.

"Yeah." John B nods. Cordelia lets out a small shriek and tightly hugs him.

"Oh, my God. I missed you so much." Cordelia mutters into his shoulder.

"I missed you too, baby pogue." John B ruffles her hair. When they pull away he notices the Band-Aid on the corner of her forehead. "What happened to there?"

"Oh, uh," Cordelia awkwardly chuckles. "Tell you later."

"They really dropped all the charges?" Sarah asks.

"Yeah, no, yeah, I'm a free man. Yeah." John B confirms.

"That's amazing." Sarah laughs in relief as she hugs John B again.