𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐁𝐈𝐃𝐃𝐄𝐍 ᯓ outer banks

chapter eighty-nine

warning ⚠️ light mature content

WHEN BROOKLYN ARRIVES home, she and Sarah find John B fast asleep on the sofa. Sarah and Brooklyn sit down next to him and just as they do, John B gasps and awakens from his sleep. He must've had a nightmare.

Sarah reaches out and touches his cheek, watching as he flinches. "Hey. Hi."

"Sarah?" He looks as if he's seen a ghost. "It's you. You're here."

"Yeah," she nods her head and looks back at Brooklyn who awkwardly sits behind the couple.

"Oh my God. Oh my God," John B mumbles, leaning forward to wrap his arms around his girlfriend, smiling at his sister who just sits, playing with her thumbs. "Hi, Bee."

"Hey, brother, you look like you've seen better days," she laughs, reaching a hand up to ruffle his hair. "You okay?"

"I missed you both," he says, reaching one of his hands out to take Brooklyn's as he continues to hug Sarah.

"I'm so sorry we left," Sarah says, pulling back from him. "I am so sorry. They just dropped us off. We didn't even know if you'd be here. We literally couldn't hear anything on the phone."

"What? You couldn't hear anything?" he asks, voice groggy from just waking up.

"No, just that we should come back to OBX, but that's it," Brooklyn replies.

John B looks over at his sister and smiles, a wide smile that she hasn't seen him make in a while. "You don't know, Bee?" She shakes her head, more confused and unsure if her brother is having some sort of delusion. "Brooklyn, he's alive. Our dad's alive. And... and he's here right now. Look."

They all look back at the porch and see there is no one there. Was he lying to her? Had he imagined it? "Guys, I swear to God, he was right there. He was here."

He calls for their dad. Brooklyn gulps, afraid that this was all too good to be true. "John B..."

"No, no, Brooke. Look, I... I promise he's here. I wouldn't lie to you about this," he says, snatching his sister's hand as he rises from his seat. "Brooke, he's here, I swear to God."

Brooklyn looks away from her brother as he calls for their father and looks around the Chateau in the hopes of finding him. "Brooklyn, he was sleeping inside right there," he points back to the Chateau. You have to believe me."

She just nods, "Yeah, I just—"

"Hell, I wouldn't believe him either."

Brooklyn turns and that's when her entire body freezes. There, in the flesh, stood her father, the man she hadn't seen in a year, the man who everyone told her was dead, the man who broke in heart and fixed her in more ways than one.

Seconds have passed, her brain was still taking him in, struggling to comprehend that he isn't one of the pictures she keeps besides her bed, that he is real. Brooklyn's brain couldn't formulate a thought, not one of language anyway, and if she didn't run to her father now, she'd tear herself apart. She doesn't even remember the next few seconds as the ground between her and her father disappears and she is finally in her father's arms after all this time. She feels as if they've morphed into a single being as she holds onto him so tightly, afraid that if she lets go he'll disappear.

One hand comes to stroke her hair, something that he would always do to get her to sleep as a kid, the other hand is around her body, holding her close. This feeling brings tears to her eyes, the warmth makes her sob and when she pulls away she cries harder because he's here, he's real and he's holding her.