CASTAWAY ⚓ R.C, J.M

T W E N T Y T H R E E

The sun had dwindled to a glow of light at the horizon. The air had even grown a slight chill and still JJ hadn't turned up. Harley was worried now and she couldn't hide it from the group.

Once JJ had left, Harley went back to the Pogues and they had opted for a group meeting, minus one, at the Wreck. The drive there had felt awkward because JJ wasn't with them. Then sitting around a table in the quiet restaurant had been stifling because there was another elephant in the room. A cocaine filled elephant. Unspoken questions were shown in the fleeting glances directed Harley's way. 

Oddly enough, she had wished Rafe was by her side. Not for comfort, but to take all of the heat for why she had ended up in situations that resulted in her taking drugs. Sure she was diffusing responsibility onto Rafe and Barry, but they had forced and coerced her into those behaviours. It had taken some time before Harley decided to bite the bullet and spark the discussion to get it over with.

John B had been most disappointed that Harley hadn't told him about it last year. Pope was most concerned about the actual consumption of drugs and how that may have affected her epilepsy at the time. Kiara was most angered by the manipulation and pressuring from the older. The general consensus had been that they weren't disappointed in her and hated the Kooks even more than they did, if that was remotely possible. 

Talking things through, surprisingly made Harley feel better. It was a weight off her shoulders and meant there was nothing else she was keeping from the Pogues. 

With the air cleared for Harley, it left everyone to worry about JJ and his whereabouts, how to deal with the gold, and Harley trying not to gag every time John interacted with Sarah. 

Pope promised to construct a plan to get all of the gold up from the well and to stash it somewhere safe until they could find someone legit to sell the gold to. Because John B promised to go fishing with Ward the following morning, it was agreed they would shift the gold at night. Harley wasn't bothered about taking the gold at night, she was more skeptical about John B being alone with Ward out in open waters. She still thought he was sketchy and she didn't trust anyone on a boat that wasn't a Pogue. Call it unresolved trauma. 

Harley understood that Ward had saved her and John B from foster care, but she didn't think John B had to prove how grateful he was by going fishing with the man. The Cameron's had generators and a huge kitchen, John B could have baked a cookie or cakes, hell she would have helped to the best of her ability. 

At some point, the group separated. John B and Sarah went off to do something, Harley stopped listening to the conversation by then. Her, Pope and Kiara were going to use Pope's dad's truck and get the equipment they needed for whatever plan Pope, the mastermind, cooked up. 

Harley and Kiara had a rope long enough to trail the length of the Outerbanks and a large tin can between them to take back to the blue pickup truck. They almost had everything on Pope's list now, he had a couple things to go over but he had it all figured out now. The two girls took their time walking back to Pope, enjoying the dying glows of sunlight. 

"Hey, Harls. I know I've said this before, but you know you can talk to me about anything."

"I know." And she did. Harley had gone to Kie about most things over the year, even if it was just to rant about how annoying John B was as her older brother. She had even gone to Kiara about boys, well a boy. She had spoken about JJ a few times, although she had used a fake name and said it was a Touron. Harley could see how her not going to Kiara about the drugs, Barry and Rafe may indicate otherwise. "I got scared about how you all would react, but I should have known you guys wouldn't have been mean about it."

Kiara sucked in air between her teeth and gave Harley an apologetic smile. "To be fair, after the way we all reacted when you started dating Rafe, it makes sense you would have thought that."