smoke signals

The world began to crumble. Shards of hopes and dreams crumbled slowly to the ground. And she stood watching it all. Frozen in place as time stood still. The clock was coming to its last tick and she didn't know what to do about that.

Nova looked at the bright, cloudless sky with disdain in her eyes. It taunted her. The warmth of the sun that reflected off the glass doors did nothing for the cold, melancholy grey that folded over her like a wave. She was lost. Pulled to the center of the sea by a riptide — she was alone. Left to fight the storm all on her own.

She breathed in. Nova hadn't realized but she'd been holding her breath for some time now. Her ribs would still ache when she'd breathe.

The marks on her skin, though not as bad as she thought they'd be, still appeared fresh on her clean face. Only mediocrely covered by her poor makeup skills. Even from the distorted reflection of the patio doors, Nova could see the spots on her face. Bruises had started to form around the bumps, cuts, and scrapes. At the far right of her forehead, just at her hairline a knot had finally gone down but her skin was now discolored ─ dark purple and blue. The corner of her lips was still a little swollen but the once open and bleeding cut had scabbed over during the night. Another bruise and long scratch lay across her cheekbone where Rafe had taken his hand across her, and his class ring caught on her skin.

It all still hurt. No matter how many painkillers she washed down with mouth fulls of apple juice. Her ribs ached and it felt like her brain was going to explode against her skull. The little cuts and splinters still stung like tiny bee stings.

Nova hated it ─ she hated that there were small remnants of Rafe Cameron left behind on her face. She hated it and she hated him.

A sharp and sudden pain shot through her hand. Wincing, Nova looked down to see her fist clutching her car keys. And appearing right before her eyes was a welt, the imprint left by her key, running along her ring finger. Slowly, she released her hold and allowed the keys to drop, now dangling safely from her finger.

Nova sighed. Her ribs ached. Finally, she walked through the glass doors.

The heat engulfed her instantly. Her skin sizzled beneath the radiation cast down by the burning sun. Though Nova didn't take notice of the feeling she once indulged in. She was still cold ─ cold from the inside out. She didn't stop the relish the warm summer day or allowing the seaside breeze to blow through her hair. Instead, she slide inside her car and drove away from the empty home.

She knew that Nolan was going to be pissed. She'd promised him that she'd be at the house when he returned from wherever he was taking Sarah this morning. He didn't even want to leave her then, but Nova had fought with him until he relented.

Nolan was going to be livid. He'd made her promise to stay put until he returned from taking Sarah wherever it was she needed to go. Nova hadn't really been listening but she'd made Nolan go with her best friend. She wouldn't send her out on her own. It was a fight to get him to agree, but he did, eventually, when she promised she wasn't going to leave the house before he returned.

She lied, obviously.

Nova knew he was worried for all of the right reasons. After what happened last night it was a miracle she managed to get away without any broken bones or long-lasting injuries, other than the obvious trauma this was going to cause.

He'd remembered the blood coating her face. Pouring from her nose, lip, and the place on her forehead. It looked like so much. The way she'd wince in the dimmest of lights and cry when she'd have to let out a breath because of her aching ribcage. He had to keep her awake despite Nova being unable to hold her own head up.

Because she refused to go to the hospital, Nolan called Gemma to check on her. They made their father's girlfriend swear not to mention a word of this to him ─ or anyone else for that matter. And she swore though neither of them was really sure if she'd keep her word or not.

Gemma was sure that Nova didn't have a concussion, but if so, definitely just a minor one. Though, it was sure that Nova's ribs were bruised. That's why breathing felt so difficult at first. Gemma cleaned Nova's cuts and bandaged her properly. When she left she offered them both soft, but fearful looks.

Despite not being concussed, Nova felt as if her skull was slowly splitting in half. And the pain from that still made her a little dizzy.

And the bright, ticking lights along the road with the roaring of car engines speeding alongside her, made the crack in Nova's skull just a little bit bigger with every passing second.

Her denim shorts had ridden up her thighs and she yanked at them as her car door slammed closed behind her. The sun shined brightly onto her and she squinted beneath it, looking up at the house that sat before her.

Nova sighed, suddenly nervous. She wiped the sweat off her hands and onto the sides of her shorts. Her heart hammered inside her chest and her throat went dry. She acted as if this was the first time she'd ever stood in this spot. But she'd been here plenty before. Nova couldn't explain her sudden nervousness.

She knew being here was the right thing. But for an hour she'd sat looking at Kiara's text message: He's here. John B's home!

And she sat, phone in her shaking hand, reading that text over a million times. Nova couldn't bring herself to type out a reply longer than one word. She'd delete it and try again, only to delete that one too. Over an hour passed before she finally placed her phone face down on the dresser and began pacing the cold floors of her bedroom.

She missed him. And she wanted to see him, more than anything, she wanted to see him. Every part of her ached from missing him. But what would she say?

They hadn't left things on the best of terms. Seeing John B. in chains and behind iron-welded cages hurt a part of Nova she didn't know existed. And then they'd come up with that plan. He'd go on the run, again, it became too much for her to carry. And though it might've been selfish, she couldn't help but think, what about me? Because she couldn't do it again. She couldn't watch John B. shred every part of the identity that shaped him. The very him that she'd fallen so hopelessly in love with.

A part of her hated him for wanting to do it. Hated him for running. And for leaving her in the process. Though selfish, it was true. So, Nova left him that day. Left him with words that stung her tongue to say. She'd hoped in leaving that way, it might make it hurt a little less when that string continued to sever.

But it hadn't. She hurt all the same.

And she knew it hurt him too.

Things were changing and it was her fault. All of it. The mistakes she's made had begun to seem irreparable.

The riptide was pulling her away from him and no matter how hard she fought against it, Nova continued to drown.

She closed her eyes tight, "Don't cry..." Nova whispered, willing the tears not to spill over onto her cheeks. "Don't cry... don't cry... don't cry."

Nova sighed, running her hands along her tired face and then through her wind-touselled hair. She'd have to face him sooner or later. And so, she willed her feet to move and they began carrying her through the backyard, until stopping just at the front of the dock.

The smell of salt was strong. Water sloshed back and forth beneath the pier as the winds blew over it. Nova's gaze lifted from the ground. Again she swallowed, letting out a breath, refraining from a wince as her ribs ached.

Then the world finally went quiet.

He was there.

Suddenly the world made a little more sense. She smiled softly at him, tears burning her eyes. The smallest of cries escaped from her trembling lips as she walked for him, needing to touch him.

Nova met John B. halfway before she slung herself into his arms, not even caring about the pain that had shot through her ribcages when she did.

If there was one thing that was certain, it was that she loved him. No how tightly the string between them pulled or how far the riptide pulled her under. Nova loved him. And right now, that was enough.

"Oh my God," John B. was shaking, his voice barely a whisper as he clung to her. "I'm so glad that you're okay!"

Nova couldn't imagine how she looked to him right now.

"Me?" she nearly laughed, a grip so tight on the back of his shirt that her knuckles turned white. "How are you? I didn't think ─ I thought you'd go through with the plan..."

He didn't tell her that he'd tried. That when he tried he failed. John B. had seen the way she looked back at that prison, and he wouldn't shatter her like that again. He couldn't.

So, he shook his head, "I'm not leaving you."

Nova pulled back from him, though her grip moved, holding his shoulders, still not ready to let him go.

"What happened?" she asked him, searching his eyes for some kind of answer.

Both his hands held either side of her face. His forehead lowered to meet hers and John B. smiled, the best he could. He caressed her smooth cheeks with his calloused thumbs, careful to not run them over the cuts on her face.

Suddenly he sighed, eyebrows furrowing. He straightened again, eyes moving over her face, taking in each and never new marking, courtesy of Rafe Cameron. And with a tensed jaw he took a step back, shaking hands falling to his side.

"John B..." said Nova quietly just as he took a long, shaky breath. "John B. don't do this to yourself, okay?" she pleaded with him, taking a step toward him, closing the distance he'd put between them. "This wasn't you're fault."

She grabbed his hands in hers, bringing them up to her mouth, and kissing them before, cupping the sides of his face. Nova brought his face back down to meet hers, and she smiled, relishing the feeling of having him close.

"Please tell me you don't have to run anymore," she whispered, eyes closing. "I can't lose this with you."

"I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

She tilted her head up, to see him, to finally see him. Her breath caught in her throat. But it was okay because he'd pulled her into them, closing the small space between their lips.

Nova kissed him. And within that kiss was everything. All the sad and happy that lingered between them. Tears fell from her cheeks and onto their lips, Nova laughed, making John B. smile against her.

He pulled back, eyes wide, and nodded, "They're going after Rafe."

Nova nodded.

"Good," she said. "He's dangerous..." Nova ran a hand through her hair as she took a step back. "And completely deranged."

John B. took one of her hands, he didn't say anything, but at least he was there to hold her.

Nova looked up at him, "He was going to drown Sarah last night."

His eyebrows furrowed. The others must not have told him about that.

"After Rafe beat..." Nova coughed, looking down at the wooden planks below her. "After Rafe left me, he tried to drown Sarah."

Nova couldn't even bring herself to imagine a scenario when Nolan wasn't on her side. Because he always was. Even when he knew that she was in the wrong. He'd still choose her against anyone else. Because that's just what they do. They protect each other.

There was never anything so bad that Nova could imagine herself doing that would make Nolan attempt something the way Rafe had the other night.

"Going after Rafe is a great idea."

Nolan Scott cut into their conversation. John B. turned, Nova following him further down the pier to meet the boat that her brother and Sarah were now stepping off of. Nova hadn't even heard them get here.

All while Nolan greeted John B, congratulating him on his status as a free man, he glowered at his lying little sister.

"Had Kelce not been there, I might've finished him off myself," said Nolan, stopping to stand between John B. and Nova.

His hands placed firmly on his hips.

Nova gulped.

Her eyes moved to John B, waiting for a reaction. She hadn't planned on mentioning anything about Kelce being there last night. He was already blaming himself for not being there for her. To tell him that it was Kelce who'd been the one to show up for her... it would only make things worse.

"How lucky."

John B's face was completely void of a reaction.

"Yeah, right place, right time, man," Nolan sighed, clapping John B. on the shoulder.

Nolan had no idea what this meant. He turned, completely unphased to the others, greeting them as well. Nova assumed she should do the same. But she couldn't.

Her gaze was stuck on John B, hoping he'd say something. Anything would be better than this. The blank stare in his eyes.

Sarah took Nova's hand, squeezing. Her head jerked upright, and she smiled.

"You alright?" asked Sarah, concerned.

Just then Nova realized she hadn't been standing there with John B. at all. It'd been just her. Left alone.

"Yeah," Nova nodded quickly, knowing she sounded anything but convincing. "Yeah, I'm fine."

And Sarah let her leave it at that.

Letting Nova be just fine.

There wasn't a whole lot going on. Things had finally gone quiet. The winds rustled through the leaves that had started falling off the trees. The ocean swayed back and forth sending the salt into the misty air.

She listened to the thumping heart beneath her ear. It drummed quickly. Her fingers traced mindless circles into the arms that wrapped around her. Chills ran along her spine fingers traced along it lightly beneath her shirt. He hummed lowly in her ear and her eyes closed beneath the shaded trees that they swayed beneath. His touch. The feel of his skin on hers. The beat of his thumping heart. It made all the noise quiet.

Nova turned to face him. Wide eyes staring up at his face. His eyes were closed and his breathing soft, though his jaw tensed beneath the finger she'd traced it with.

Her eyebrows furrowed, and she pulled herself closer to him, breathing him in.

"What is it?" she asked.

"What's what?" he didn't open his eyes.

She sighed, "What's bothering you?"

Nova was still tracing his clenched jaw with her finger. Smooth over the stubble growing in.

"Nothing is bothering me, Nova," John B. said, sighing.

He was a terrible liar.

Nova sat up. Untangling herself from the arms he had wrapped her up in. She stared down at him, and as if he could sense her, he opened his eyes. Their gazes met.

"I didn't know he was going to be there last night," she told him.

John b. nodded, he knew that. But he couldn't help the angry jealousy that filled him when he thought about Kelce even being near Nova.

He closed his eyes again. If anything to hide his omission of guilt from Nova. Because it was selfish. She'd gone through hell, and here he was, angry that it'd been someone else helping her. Guilt soared through his body, threatening to erupt like a volcano. And he didn't want to take it on her.

So, he closed his eyes.

But Nova wasn't finished.

"He helped me off the boat, that's it," John B. winced because she shouldn't have to ─ shouldn't be explaining herself to him. She survived. She's healthy. There was no explanation needed. "And if he hadn't found... Nolan was going kill Rafe if Kelce didn't stop him."

He couldn't listen anymore, "Okay, Nova!" John B. snapped, the guilt and jealousy getting the best of him. "Look I'm ─ I'm sorry that I wasn't there."

Nova shook her head, eyebrows furrowing.

"Rafe was completely unhinged last night John B," she told him, her eyebrows still furrowed, and she spoke slowly, hoping her words broke through to him. "The last place I would have wanted you was on that boat with me."

Nova took his sunkissed hands and held them in her lap. Had he been there, Rafe very well might have just gone ahead and killed him.

"Kelce being there was no more than dumb luck."

John B. knew that Nova was right, and yet, it changed nothing of how he felt.

"It should have been me."

His teeth were clenched and Nova could barely understand him, but he spoke, "It should've been me who was there that night," John B. told her. "It should've been me who took Rafe's beating, and..." He stopped, looking away from Nova, his jaw clenched tight. "It isn't fair."

"What?" she asked him. "What isn't fair, John B?"

He shook his head, "I should've been there with you. Not Kelce."

"Why does it matter so much that he was there?"

Nova was exhausted from this conversation. She threw her head back, groaning. She didn't know what else she could say to him to make him believe that Kelce being that had meant nothing to her.

"It just does, Nova!"

Not an answer.

"But why!?"

"Dammit, because how many more times is it going to take someone else being there to pick you back up before you aren't looking for me, anymore?" His words stung her, he could see it in the way she blinked fifty times in that silent minute between them.

Selfish. He knew it was so, so selfish. And unfair.

"What are you trying to say?" Nova's voice broke.

He couldn't. He couldn't speak or he'd break. He felt it rising in his chest. The heat and the hurt of it all overwhelmed him. He couldn't even look at her.

Instead, he turned away. His eyes landed elsewhere. And Nova wouldn't follow it. Knowing where ─ who, he was looking at.

Suddenly that knawing of guilt reappeared deep inside her.

"Nothing," he said too quickly for Nova to believe. She watched as he threw his legs over the side of the hammock, standing, leaving her, sitting, and swinging back and forth. "It's nothing. Not important."

Feeling angry and guilty, Nova stood, following after him, "I mean it has to be important!" she stopped, throwing her hands in the air. "If it has you this worked up."

Not turning to face her, John B. shook his head, "I'm not worked up, Nova."

Nova shook her head. He was a terrible liar.

John B. continued walking away from her. Ignoring her calls for him as he ran up the steps to his porch, where JJ sat beside a cooler of cheap beers.

"Hey, John B!" sang JJ, standing to meet his best friend. "You wanna shotgun one in the name of freedom?"

He held a can out for John B. to take, and Nova watched, wondering if he would, but he just strode right past, stomping onto his back deck, and into his house, slamming the storm door behind him.

Nova's jaw tightened, and she rolled her eyes.

JJ shrugged John B's odd behavior off quickly when he caught up to Nova, who'd turned stomping in the opposite direction of the house.

"Hey, Nova! What about you?" asked, slowing to a walk when he was standing beside her. "You want to ─"

"Obviously not, JJ!"

She shot him down before he could ask. Nova was in no mood to drink, so JJ would have to do it alone, and she knew he would.

The water was cool against her burning skin when she sat at the end of the pier, feet dangling off the edge and into the cool, blue water.

It wasn't Kelce. None of this had anything to do with Kelce. Nova was an idiot to think it ever did. It was her. All of it.

She groaned, falling back until she was lying down, looking at the cloudy, blue sky.

They'd become such a mess.

But there was one thing that'd remain true. Nova would always look for John B.

It'd been Kiara who found her down by the docks. Rushed and out of breath she motioned for her to follow. She hadn't been given enough time to ask what happened or where they were going. But by the tone of her voice, Nova knew it wasn't anything good.

They'd made it into town in a record time. Thanks to John B's experience in reckless driving. They didn't talk much the way there. Granted, no one tucked away in the overcrowded van said much, only encouraging words to Pope, as they promised him that his dad was going to be fine.

Nova didn't make any promises. Because she didn't know.

Turns out he was going to be fine.

When they found him he was angrier than anything else. A little beat up too, but that's to be expected when you've been jumped. Nova would know. Just looking in the mirror now reminded her of that.

He had a few scratches on his face and one gash that was a little worse than the other marks. There'd likely be bruising those wouldn't show for another day or so.

Sarah had gone off the find a first-aid kit. And being the group's nurse, Nova had taken the lead on making sure the small cuts on Mr. Heyward were cleaned and bandaged. Though she'd only ever done this once before. And her patient hadn't really been cooperative.

"Just, uhm, let me know if I hurt you, okay?" she said softly, as she used a cotton swab to apply an antibiotic cream to the cut on his forehead.

"Oh, you're doing just fine, honey," Mr. Heyward encouraged her, only wincing slightly as she pressed the bandage over his cut. "It seems like you've had some experience in this."

"Nova smiled, "Just one other time," she told him, her mind going back to the day in the Camerons' library when she had to bandage John B. back to health. "And my patient was nowhere near as cooperative as you."

As she tore the bandaid out of its paper wrapper she looked over at John B, only to find his eyes already on her. A whisper of a smile rest upon his lips as he wore a faraway look in his eyes. As if he too had gone back in time to relive that memory of the two together.

To Nova, it seemed like so long ago. It was like they were completely different people now. The girl that Nova had been that day seemed like a distant memory of a girl long lost.

Mr. Heyward's chuckle brought Nova out of her thoughts and she continued bandaging his forehead, "Also looks like we have a few matching battle scars."

He pointed to the place in the corner of her hairline. Nearly in the same spot as his own.

She nodded, "I think we're done here," Nova sighed, dusting her hands as she put everything she'd used back onto the plastic first-aid kit.

Mr. Heyward didn't seem to notice that she'd ignored the statement of their matching scars as he patted her arm, thanking her for her help.

Nova assured him that she needed no thanks but he insisted and thanked her again. She did accept as she moved past him, finding a seat beside Kiara on a wooden bench, allowing Pope the space he needed to talk to his dad.

"Pop, what happened?" asked Pope, standing up.

He'd only sat long enough for Nova to make sure the cuts on his dad's face were dressed and bandaged. That's all the time he said he'd give them.

Mr. Heyward shook his head, "Oh, I should've known better," he told them. "He came in just as I was about to lock up. Caught me by surprise..." They all listened, though every once in a while Nova would catch John B's focus on her instead of listening to Mr. Heyward. "Once he had me down, he put his knee on my chest, and he asked me about that... that... that key from that... that drawing you showed me."

They all shared glances that Mr. Heyward noticed.

"And in case any ya'll are wondering, I ain't tell him nothing," it was his turn to look over all of them, scoldingly before turning back to Pope. "Now, did you track it down?"

Pope stood. He looked at everyone but no one said a word. Hesitantly he reached for his back pocket and pulled out, tied on a red, silk string, an old, rusted skeleton key, and held it out for his dad to take.

"I found it. In Mee-Maw's old apartment above the pharmacy just like you said," Pope told him.

Mr. Heyward's eyes widened as he turned the key over in his hands, "Shit, boy, you should've gave this to me," he said to Pope. "I wouldn't have had to take a beating," though by the tone in his voice, it was clear he was joking, kind of. "What's the big deal about this anyway? It ain't worth anything. Why they wantin' it so bad?"

"I don't know," Pope told him. "First, I get this letter telling me that I need to go to Charleston. And then I meet this rich lady who wants me to give her a key that I didn't even know was in my family."

Kiara, sitting beside Nova, shook her head, "None of it makes any sense."

Nova nodded, agreeing.

"Well, don't ya'll just sit here whining about it..." he said looking back at all of them again. "Figure it out!" it sounded more like an order than encouragement.

"No!" said Pope quickly. "I'm just going to give the key to the lady. It's not worth ─"

"No, no, no" Mr. Heyward waved a dismissive hand at his son to get him to shut up. "Did I raise you to back down from a fight, boy?"

Pope waited a moment then finally shook his head.

"No, sir," he said.

With raised eyebrows, Mr. Heyward nodded, "Well, all right," he said calmly. "Now I... I didn't think about it before. I admit that. But now..." he pointed to the newly bandaged cut on his head. "Now?"

"You're interested?" Nova quirked an eyebrow, amused.

Mr. Heyward looked back at her and winked.

Nova knew exactly how he felt. Mr. Heyward needed to know now. Or at least, he felt like he needed to know. He was involved now. And that's how Nova had felt. When she found John B. laying bloody and nearly unconscious in the street and helped him run from the police... she felt like she needed to know what she was getting herself into by helping him. And now, here she was.

So far into this, there was no longer a way out.

"Look, did they say why they wanted it?" Mr. Heyward asked.

Pope shrugged, "Something about an old cross. I think it might be some kind of lost treasure."

As if a light had suddenly turned on over his head, Mr. Heyward leaned toward his son, "You know who you should talk to?" he asked. "You're great-grandmother, Mee-Maw."

Pope looked up at his dad and then at all his friends. Everyone nodded. Everyone agreed. Whatever might give them an answer.

And they all hoped Mee-Maw would have a story to tell.

The sun shined the next morning. Even as early as she had to wake the sky was shining a brilliant blue. A few white, cotton candy clouds floated peacefully past her balcony doors. A cascade of colors danced across her wooden floors as the rays of the sun reflect off the glass windows where the curtains had not been drawn. And beside her head, a puddle of dry drool coated her satin pillowcase.

Nova groaned loudly, the blasting of the alarm set on her phone forcing her from her slumber. The morning had come too soon.

Sometimes at night, Nova would lie wishing that the sun would never meet the sky again.

She'd meet everyone at John B's house. That's what everyone had agreed to yesterday before they parted ways for the night.

Nolan wouldn't be joining them today. He had band practice. And no matter how out of sorts his life had become, he'd kept that as his anchor to normality. Nova envied his ability to do that. To find something to keep him in-tact with reality. She wished she could be like that too. Then maybe she wouldn't be as messed up as she always felt.

The others were already there waiting when Nova pulled up to John B's deteriorating home. They watched as she stepped out of her car and into the dying grass.

JJ's eyes followed as she neared him, "Hey, Nova," he called, his tone careful as he stood among his friends. Nova turned, her eyebrows raised, daring him to say something stupid, he smirked, "Did you happen to buy your outfit from Baby Gap?"

"You're an idiot, JJ," Nove scoffed, rolling her eyes as she moved past him, not even bothering to stop to entertain his little jokes today.

But he was right.

She'd hoped no one would notice. Hoped that maybe they'd just think it was supposed to look the way it did. But she'd been caught. Her outfit that she'd chosen blindly out of her closet was a bit too small. And not in the way that made her seem cheap, no she'd actually prefer that. But, it looked as if she'd gotten the clothes directly from the children's section at a store.

The cream-colored shirt that Nova wore was easily two sizes too small. It was cropped but incredibly tight around her chest. The arms of the long sleeves felt as if they were cutting off her blood flow, and the long sleeves stopped a little over three inches above her wrist. Noticeably too short.

Nova hoped no one would comment on her outfit. And they probably wouldn't have. Had JJ just kept his thoughts... and eyes to himself.

And though JJ didn't say anything else as she stomped past him, she could hear him snickering from his place beside Pope, who only urged his friend to stop talking.

Pope could feel it. The tense air fell over them. And he was able to guess that whatever was bothering Nova was likely the same thing bothering John B, who watched her walk past him with longing. puppy-dog-like eyes, and yet, he said nothing to her. Neither of them said a word to the other.

The air was thick around them. Not even a knife would pierce through it. They were suffocating.

And even more so since they'd all have to pile into the same vehicle.

Nova didn't rush to take the front seat. Instead, she let JJ call it and slid into the back with the others without a word. Though, from where she sat, she could look up to the front and see John B's face through his rearview mirror. And every time she did turn her head to look, she always found him staring back at her.

They were always looking for one another.

"Guys, the thing that Limbrey said, I don't think she meant to let it slip," said Pope, breaking through the air-tight silence that had fallen over them. "She said the key leads to the Cross of Santo Domingo."

Looking back over his seat, JJ reached for the key that Pope had been twisting between his fingers, "Hey, can I see that?"

Though hesitant to do so, Pope handed the key to him.

Sarah sighed, "Are we supposed to know what the Cross of Santo Domingo is?"

"I'm guessing it's some sort of historical artifact of great importance..." nodded Pope, speaking with such surety in his tone that made Nova laugh.

"It was a gift," said Nova suddenly. "From New Spain to the Spanish king."

Everyone looked at her.

"How do you know that?" Pope asked, nearly in shock.

Nova shrugged, "I googled it."

She showed him her phone screen.

Pope took the phone out of Nova's hand and began looking at the article she'd pulled up. He began to mumble to himself as he read the small words on the screen.

"What's New Spain?" JJ asked cluelessly, his eyebrows pulling together, confused. "Does that mean there's an Old Spain somewhere?"

No one went out of their way to answer his question.

Nova rolled her eyes, feeling slightly bad for John B. having to sit up front with JJ, as all of his batshit crazy questions would be directed to him.

"Shit..."

Kiara typed on her phone, shaking her head with a look of disbelief written across her face, "Talk about over-gifting..." she told them, turning her phone around for everyone else to see. "That's the size of the cross compared to a man..."

And sure enough, the cross stood a lot taller.

"So what? It was a giant-ass cross," JJ asked, unimpressed.

"It was widely considered at the time to be the most extravagant tribute ever from the provinces... " they all listened as Kiara read from the Wikipedia article she'd pulled up. "It was lost off the coast of Bermuda in 1829..."

JJ turned to John B, gasping as his eyes opened wide, "Did they just say Bermuda?"

John B. shook his head, "No," he said quickly, his tone sounding defeated. "They don't mean the Bermuda Triangle."

"It always leads back to the triangle, bro," JJ punched John B's arm excitedly. "Every single time something is weird, it's Bermuda..."

JJ was starting to sound like one of those tinfoil hat-wearing conspiracy theorists.

John B. did not entertain JJ's obsession with the Bermuda Triangle as he shook his head, easily debunking every Bermuda conspiracy that JJ threw his way.

Meanwhile, in the back of the van, they continued a much more logical discussion on the cross, wondering what it even symbolized, or meant, for that matter.

Kiara sighed, "What does a key found above your Mee-Maw's pharmacy have to do with any of this?"

"The key he found leads to the Cross of Santo Domingo, which is what the Limbreys want," she told Kiara. "That, at least, has been established."

They've figured out very little, but at least they managed to connect the dots in that small area.

"I'm just wondering, why do the Limbreys want the cross so bad..." said Nova.

Kiara nodded, agreeing.

"And where do we come into all of this?"

Nova didn't have an answer. None of them did. So, they looked at Pope.

"I don't know," he admitted. "But those are both good questions."

And they'd get the answers. Eventually. They'd have to.

They didn't follow Pope inside.

They all had wanted to. Moving out of the parked van to walk beside him. Until he stopped, turning suddenly to face everyone. His face had been stoic, hands shoved deep into his pockets. Pope shrugged, telling them all this has to be something he does on his own. And they knew he was right. But they all watched him, not taking their eyes off his back as he crossed the old, pothole-filled street and disappeared behind the nursing home's white door.

Nova sighed when Pope was gone. She didn't like him going alone. She remembered what happened with the Limbreys. They thought he'd be fine, and then, suddenly they're trying to kidnap him. And she hadn't liked that he'd gone alone then, either.

This time was different, she supposed. This was his Mee-Maw he was going to see. She doubted that Pope was in any danger in a nursing home. And besides, Nova knew the old woman likely wouldn't be able to answer the millions of questions being shouted at her by a group of unruly teenagers.

So, instead of sulking, or worrying herself sick, Nova busied herself on the sides of the street where vendors had set up small, pop-up shops.

After sitting, bored, on the other side of the street, waiting for Pope, John B. started the van without warning and drove, just a few minutes down the street, and into town. No one protested, having already been bored to tears almost.

There were men yelling as Nova passed, holding out fake, designer handbags, hoping she'd take their bait. None of them knew that the real versions of their knock-offs were sitting, untouched on her closet floor.

Bright, and sweet-smelling fruits were stacked high on the wobbly wooden tables. Freshly picked vegetables and flowers lit up the old, streets. Vendors selling homemade clothes and jewelry offered discounts to passing pedestrians, hoping to make enough money to cover the costs it'd taken to make everything.

But Nova only planned to look as she passed the many tables lining the streets. Knowing she didn't any other trinket or clothing item to take home with her. Until, something on the far end of the sidewalk caught her eye, and she found herself approaching the stand.

A girl, who couldn't be any older than ten, stood close to her mother's side as she beckoned Nova over shyly. Her small, round cheeks burned a bright shade of red. The hazel eyes caught Nova and she listened to the beckoning girl.

From what she could hear when she stood beside the table, covered with a lace tabletop cover, they were having little luck in selling what sat upon the white lace-covered table. Gold and silver jewelry sparkled under the bright, burning sun. The mom of the girl hadn't even noticed Nova as she pleaded with customers passing her by, down-selling her items in hopes to make back just enough to cover what was spent in making all of this jewelry.

The girl looked at Nova, saying nothing, though her eyes pleaded with her to pick something on the table ─ anything if it meant that her mother would sell something.

Looking down at her own hands, Nova could see why she'd been beckoned over, gold rings stacked atop her slip, tanned fingers. The girl must have seen this, as well as the thin chain that hung loosely around her neck, and thought she'd be the most interested in buying jewelry since she was wearing it.

And so, she did. Not being able to disappoint the small girl hiding behind her mom's leg. Nova picked up a ring. A thin golden band, though not real gold, Nova didn't care. And tucked safely into the center, something iridescent shimmered in the daylight. An opal.

The sixty dollars that Nova handed over was a gross overpayment, but she refused any change as she waved to the two behind the desk littered with homemade jewelry. Quickly, before she could be suckered in by another sad, cute face, into buying anything else, Nova found Sarah and Kiara again, walking into a small, sketchy convenience store.

They walked through the small, narrow aisles. Mostly browsing, though stopping by the coolers to grab a drink. Nova relished in the cold from the cooler as she opened the door and reached for a bottle of water.

"So..." Sarah started hesitantly, as the three girls made their way up to the front counter to pay for their cold drinks. "Nova, what's going on with you and John B?"

After shoving her change into her pocket, Nova turned, watching as Sarah did the same as she paid for her cold, slushie, and she shrugged.

"I don't know," and she wasn't even trying to play stupid, Nova had been asking herself that same question for days now.

"Did you guys have an argument or something?" Kiara asked, following them outside of the small store.

Or something... Nova thought.

"Not really," she told Kiara. Nova didn't consider their small squabble in his backyard an argument, because he hadn't stuck around long enough for them to get to that. Instead, he'd walked away. "I mean, he didn't like that Kelce had been there that night on the boat. When Rafe..."

Nova looked at Sarah, she saw her head drop, and she quickly stopped talking.

"It wasn't an argument."

She wished that John B. and her had fought ─ argued. At least then it'd make sense, the not talking, or barely being able to be around one another.

She wanted to talk to him, but she didn't know what to say anymore.

"And what about Nolan?" Nova asked, and Sarah looked at her with wide, surprised eyes, as if Nova hadn't been able to notice.

"What about him?" asked Sarah, blinking.

She'd decided to play dumb.

"He isn't here," Nova pointed out. She knew he claimed to have band practice, but he could have easily gotten out of that, he would have easily gotten out of it... unless something else was keeping him away. "Which is weird."

"Very. Considering, he hasn't left your side in days," Kiara raised her eyebrows, siding with Nova.

They both looked at Sarah, who they know was cracking under the pressure.

"Look, nothing's going on," she blurted, probably not meaning to sound as disappointed as she did. "How can it when he won't even look at me anymore?"

"He's not talking to you?" Nova asked.

The last she'd seen them everything seemed great. They wouldn't leave each other's side. What happened?

"He isn't talking to me, looking at me, answering my texts..." Sarah rolled her eyes. "Since yesterday, it's been radio silence from him. And I don't even know what I did wrong."

Kiara and Nova rolled their eyes, relating. Boys are stupid.

"Tell me about it," Kiara scoffed, as they made their way down the busy sidewalk, avoiding other pedestrians moving past them. "All of this crazy shit is going on, and yet, Pope is giving me the silent treatment because I don't know if I'm in love with him."

"Pope too?" Sarah asked.

Kiara nodded, taking a bite out of her shaved ice. Her lips already turning blue from the syrup.

"Yeah, well," Nova sighed, knowing all too well. "You can't help who you fall in love with..." her gaze shifted from the sidewalk and across the street, landing on the passenger side window of the familiar, orange van.

"Yeah, I just wish Pope could see it that way," said Kiara.

Sarah sighed, as they moved to cross the street, "And we're supposed to be the dramatic ones?"

Kiara and Nova laughed as they climbed inside the warm van, only one vent working to blow cool air throughout it.

When Pope's text came through they'd only been about five minutes out from where they'd dropped him off. And by the time they'd pulled up to meet him, he was already making his way across the street, rushing away from the old nursing home.

His expression was unreadable as he sat down across from Nova. Silent. He just stared.

Nova and Sarah shared looks of confusion and concern, as did the others, as they watched him, waiting for him to say something ─ anything, that might give them a shred of understanding of what the hell was going on. But he said nothing, looking to be in a state of shock.

Nova began to grow worried. She turned, looking at John B. her eyebrows furrowed, as she silently plead with him to do something. What to do, she didn't know.

It was John B. who spoke first, turning around in his seat, eyebrows raised curiously, "So..." he said, prompting Pope to say something ─ anything. "How'd it go in there?"

So, he did something, "How'd it go in there?"

John B. was the first of them to say anything. He looked at Nova quickly, before tearing away his gaze away back to Pope.

Some of them seemed concerned. Others confused. But all of them, a little bit impatient.

Finally, Pope released a long and unsteady breath, he shook his head, "Shit just got way more personal."

Everyone looked at one another, confused, and Pope stayed still.

No one really knew what that was supposed to mean. They all stayed where they sat, watching him, waiting for more of an explanation.

"Gee, Pope," said Nova, rolling her eyes as she fell tiredly into her seat. "Thanks for all of that riveting information."

The roof above them, shielding them from the droplets of water falling from the sky, was beginning to rot. The wood was stained and cracked from years of weathering. The salt air wind ripped it apart slowly. But no one seemed to notice except Nova, who ignored the jumping, drinking, and laughing, and instead looked up, counting the cracks in the foundation of the wooded, plank roof.

"I still can't believe that you're related to Denmark Tanny!"

Denmark Tanny. The man behind it all. The entire reason any of this was happening.

Pope had finally come clean. Apparently, his mee-maw had given him a rundown of his family tree, and along one of those branches, was Denmark Tanny, making Pope, one of his few living relatives. Which made him right when he said all of this had gotten a lot more personal. He just meant for himself.

"So what, are we in the presence of royalty now?" asked Sarah.

She laughed, holding a beer can she hadn't opened.

JJ agreed, skipping toward Pope, "A king?" he asked his friend, who tried shoving JJ off as he pretended to place a crown upon his head, butchering an attempt at a posh British accent, as he did, "We shall crown him! All hail the Lord of Tannyhill!"

Everybody began to follow JJ's lead, pretending to bow to Pope as they laughed, trying to not spill their beer, except Nova, who still held her, now warm, bottle of water.

"Okay.. okay," said Pope, rolling his eyes, pretending as if he wasn't enjoying all of this. "Everybody relax," he told them. "Can we relax, please?"

But no one was listening. All of them rode the high of Pope's announcement.

"Relocate the Cat's Ass, question mark...?" asked Sarah

"Oh! I'm with that!" JJ pointed, excitedly agreeing with Sarah.

"How soon can we move in?"

"Yeah, because I don't have a place to stay."

"Me either. Bunk beds?"

"Bunk beds. Cheers to that!"

Everyone just kept going. Everyone but Pope. Nova watched with careful eyes. He watched his friends, laughing and joking before him. He was trying to be happy with them, to smile and joke, but he couldn't. It was as if there was something that had to be done.

A lot of some things, actually.

Nervously, Pope scratched the back of his neck, "I just keep thinking about the letter," he interrupted them, quieting the celebration. "The one that Limbrey sent..." his eyes scanned over them, making sure they were hearing him.

"What about it?" asked Nova.

"It had a wheat symbol on it," he said. "That probably means it has something to do with the Royal Merchant."

Everyone was quiet. This was more serious than any of them imagined. There was no more celebrating, or joking because this shit was real life. And now, it was a part of Pope's life.

"Yeah, something seems fishy," nodded JJ.

And though he sounded serious, and there was no indication on his face of it being a joke, Nova couldn't help but wonder if the pun had been intended.

"But if we find the cross, we can split it," Pope told them, nodding as if this had been something he'd been thinking about. "Just like we'd planned to do with the gold."

JJ grinned, "I can get down with that."

The others laughed as he wiggled his body, imitating a dance.

"And live happily ever after?"

It was a taunt.

They were silent.

She spoke as if tired. Her voice quivered just as her arms did as they held her weight on the crutches she used to walk. Nova had never seen her before, but she knew her. Because she knew the man who followed close at her side, holding an umbrella over her. The same man who'd chased them down the roads of Charleston with a gun. The man who'd answered the door at the Limbrey's estate.

Nova's face was stone. She jumped off the wooden beam she used as a seat and stood, her arms crossed over her chest.

"What're you doing here?" asked Nova, stepping forward to meet them, unafraid.

Her eyebrows raised, challenging the woman ━ Mrs. Limbrey, she assumed.

"I'm here to join in on all the fun," she feigned enthusiasm, still taunting them.

Nova moved to step forward, to further challenge the older woman, but Pope beat her to it, cutting her off, now standing in front of her.

"You assaulted my father," Pope accused her.

He was angry. The kind of angry Nova had never seen on Pope before.

Warning him to step back, the man who followed close alongside Mrs. Limbrey pushed against Pope's chest, shoving him. Pope stepped back, stumbling slightly and bumping into Nova.

"Oh, I didn't assault anybody," Mrs. Limbrey stated with a laugh.

Because technically she hadn't. Though, Nova was sure she knew who she'd sent to do her dirty work.

"His dad would be able to identify the psycho from a mile away," Kiara told her, eyes going toward the man who'd just shoved Pope into Nova.

"Why would my employee a ─ a ─ assault your father?" Mrs. Limbrey asked, her tone innocent. "That's absurd."

"How about I show you absurd and kick those crutches right out from underneath you, lady," Nova glared at the older woman.

The man, or better yet, Mrs. Limbrey's attack dog stepped toward her. It was a threat ─ a warning to keep away from his boss.

Before Nova had the chance to challenge him any further, a hand closed tight around her forearm and yanked. Her back hit the wooden rails behind her and she winced. She looked over, it'd been JJ who pulled her away, and he was glaring at her, hissing curse words about how stupid she was to step up to this guy.

Mrs. Limbrey though seemed completely unphased by Nova's comment ─ threat. She'd barely offered her a second glance.

Did she even know who Nova was?

No.

She was just a sick woman, dying right before their eyes. Anyone who wasn't them would buy it. And they wouldn't be believed by whoever they tried to tell on her to.

The woman was smart, Nova would give her that.

Mrs. Limbrey looked at Pope, "Listen," she said carefully. "We can keep on negotiating but the fact is that I want the key... and I won't stop until I have it," Nova's eyes widened as the woman's facade slowly began to slip. "I don't have a choice... which means, neither do you."

Something in Pope snapped, and he lunged, only to be caught by the man standing her guard. She didn't flinch, only raised her voice so that he could hear past the ruckus that had been caused.

Pope lunged. It was so sudden he'd barely been caught by the dog, always guarding the old woman. He took Pope by the collar of his shirt and slammed him so hard into the wooden post behind him, it shook the entire pier.

Nova moved, wanting to help him, but JJ wouldn't let her pass by him. She rolled her eyes, swatting his outreached arm away from her. Eventually, he moved it, when she calmed down enough. Her arms crossed over her chest, nearly pouting.

"It's Limbrey, right?"

John B's voice drew Nova's attention away. She looked at him. He was looking, not at Mrs. Limbrey but down, at his fingers. The very fingers that held the key between them, twisting it around, over and over to taunt them.

A gasp sounded when Mrs. Limbrey's gaze met John B, and she stepped for him, reaching as if it'd be him who finally let her have the key.

"Yes, it is," the old woman gulped.

He finally looked up at her, his eyebrows raising as he moved the key so that now it was in her direct line of sight, "Is this what you're looking for?"

John B. looked at her, finally, "And this is what you're looking for?"

He held the key up so she could see it. An old, rusted skeleton key.

But something was missing.

"Yes, it is," Mrs. Limbrey said again.

Nova watched with furrowed eyebrows. She didn't know what John B. was doing, or what his plan here was. He knew the Limbrey's wanted that key. And here he stood, toying with it as if he didn't give a damn.

John B. moved, looking out at the splashing waters behind him, suddenly his eyes lit up, "I'm looking, and right now, it looks like the tide is about twenty feet deep out there," he nodded toward the waters. "So... if I just toss the key into the channel...?"

"The probability of ever finding it again would be slim to none," Nova stared hard at John B, warning him.

John B. looked at Nova. His expression remained the same. But he told her all she needed to know still. Daring a glance at Pope and then back to her, he let Nova in on the plan. And carefully, she nodded.

There was no way John B. would risk losing that key.

It was a fake.

The key he was holding was a fake.

Nova breathed in a sharp breath.

"So, if that's a risk you guys are willing to take..." John B. shrugged, turning his arm raising and rearing back as he was just about to...

"No!"

John B. stopped, his arm lowering and he turned around, the key still in in hand.

Mrs. Limbrey breathed out a breath, "Please," she pleaded with John B, "Don't ─ don't do that."

"Get him to back the hell up," said John B.

He nodded to where her little lap dog still had Pope pressed against the wooden post, arm on his chest to keep him in place.

Pope hadn't even attempted to break loose.

"Of course," Mrs. Limbrey agreed, cooperating. She smiled at her personal bodyguard and nodded. "Back up."

And like a good little boy, he listened, returning to her side.

Mrs. Limbrey hadn't bothered to turn back pleading with John B, no, she knew who now held the decision. She stepped once again toward Pope, sizing up in front of him, the best she could.

"As I have told you from the beginning, I am willing to be reasonable," she told him, her voice shaky and weak.

Nova shook her head, not believing a word that came through the woman's mouth.

But Pope's eyes slid over to John B, who offered only a quiet, discreet nod.

But Pope nodded, his eyes on John B, "Okay..."

"Okay?" Mrs. Limbrey seemed surprised.

"I'll give you the key, but I want the tape," said Pope.

"Of course."

Without hesitation, Mrs. Limbrey agreed. It seemed this had gone easier than she'd anticipated. She'd expected more of a fight from the teenagers.

Though, little did she know what these teenagers had done.

Nova looked away. She had to. Or she risked giving everything away by the look on her face.

"Hey, hey, Pope..." John B. pushed past Limbrey and her dog, shaking his head. "You don't have to do this, okay?"

Pope sighed, "John B, it's okay..."

"No, dude, this is your family!"

"Hey!" Pope said, hand firmly placed on John B's shoulder. He looked at him. "It's fine. It's about your dad. That's more important."

John B. nodded and slowly, making a show of it, hesitantly placed the key he held into Pope's open hand. He glanced over his shoulder, a worried expression painted upon his face as he locked eyes with Mrs. Limbrey, who nodded, urging him to give Pope the key.

"Oh," Mrs. Limbrey said happily to John B, once Pope had it in his hand. "You're a good friend."

John B. ignored her.

Pope didn't change his face, "The tape?"

Mrs. Limbrey turned back, looking over her shoulder, nodding to her little errand boy, "Go on, give the boy the tape."

The man didn't look very happy to have to hand over the tape.

He scowled, pulling it from the leather pocket of his jacket. Pushing through everyone, he held it out to only Pope, though his hold still remained tight.

But, just as Pope's hand let go of the key, the guy in front of Pope, let go of the tape. Pope quickly handed it back to JJ before anyone had the chance to change their minds.

Nova looked at the tape in JJ's hands and a wave of relief crashed over her.

Mrs. Limbrey sounded just like Nova felt, "You know, I wish that you'd come to this decision earlier," she laughed lightly. "We could have avoided all this unpleasantness."

Nova scoffed.

"You tried kidnapping him," she reminded the old woman, who barely turned to look at her. "And then you sent your rabid dog after us with a gun..." Nova looked at the man who stood behind Mrs. Limbrey, glowering at him. "Excuse us for being a little wary."

Mrs. Limbrey offered her cool, collected smile, "Yes, well," she said, waving a dismissive hand. "All water under the bridge now, Miss Scott..."

So, Mrs. Limbrey did know who she was. And the way she'd said her name... Nova shuddered.

Finally, the woman and her lapdog turned. Without another word, she hobbled down the old deck.

Nova really was going to kick those crutches out from underneath her.

John B. waved, though they weren't looking anymore, and yelled after them "Nice to meet you."

The black and white umbrella opened wide. And the man turned, an amused glimmer in his eyes, "See you around, Pope."

Not a threat. A promise.

Pope said nothing. Just watched them go. All the way down the pier as the rain pitter-pattered against the umbrella.

All of them watched, waiting for them to be far enough away until they could say it.

Nova closed her eyes, "Holy shit..."

she breathed deeply.

JJ turned to look at John B. who leaned against the railing beside him, "How long do you think we got until she realizes she has your father's old key?"

"Like, ten minutes..." nodded John B.

Nova wasn't really a fan of that short window of time.

Pope released a long breath, finally turning around to face everyone, he smiled, finally, hands on top of his head.

"Whose idea was this?" he asked, laughing.

"I'd also like to know..." Nova agreed.

John B. looked around the deck cluelessly, and he shrugged, "Hmm... I don't know..."

"Hmm..." John B. hummed suspiciously, looking around the deck as he slung an arm over JJ's shoulders, pulling him close to his side. "I don't know..." he said as JJ matched John B's wild grin. "Should we tell them?"

Nova's eyes widened, she was shocked.

"You're kidding?" Kiara didn't believe it.

"Yeah, I'm impressed," said Sarah, shrugging. "Maybe you are good for something."

It was a joke, but it was known, JJ's plans were usually something he saw in a movie, or made up in one of his many, many dreams.

JJ shrugged, "I mean, even a blind pig can find an acorn at times!"

"Okay, come on," JJ laughed, rolling his eyes. "Even a blink pig can find an acorn at times."

Everyone looked at him, confused.

"What?" Nova asked.

She'd never heard that expression in her life.

JJ shrugged, trying to avoid looking at Nova, "I don't even know what it means," he said. "I saw it on Reddit."

Everyone nodded. No one was surprised that'd been his answer.

John B. stood suddenly, taking the tape from Pope, and holding it up, flashing it, as if it was some kind of trophy he'd just won.

"We have to get this tape to Shoupe," he told them.

They already didn't have a lot of time. John B. was right, the Limbreys would find out they'd lied to them. And they weren't going to be happy. If they had any plans to use this tape, it had to be now.

"Let's take down Ward Cameron, baby!"

The words JJ yelled felt unreal.

And though she was happy and even relieved, Nova lingered as the others ran ahead, racing and cheering for the downfall of Ward Cameron all the way to the van.

She would wait for Sarah to catch the breath that realization had just now smacked out of her. And when she was ready, they'd go. Together.

"It isn't the same thing, Nova," Sarah said, shaking her head.

She didn't have to ask what Sarah had meant. Nova knew.

"You're still grieving him."

The wind was harsh. As if a storm was brewing. The air was salty and cool. The breeze tickled exposed skin and pushed water into waves. Far off somewhere, a storm was brewing.

The chlorine-filled air enveloped her. She sank comfortably in the white cushions that cover the chaise lounge chairs sitting decoratively around the blue water pool. Buried beneath a knitted blanket, she could feel sleep hovering over her.

And then a glare burned her barely opened eyes. Something shining beneath the sun that the clouds threatened to cover.

Nova sat up. Her eyes moved along the patio and pool and past the high-built privacy fence around her. Eyes straining to see past it, to catch a glimpse of something past the sun in her face.

Then there was something. A gleam of light and reflection just behind the fence.

Nova's eyebrows furrowed. It couldn't have been her car since she'd parked on the other side of the house. Seeing no need to park so far in the back. And Nolan wouldn't dare move his jeep back here. Not when he complained so much about the pollen-polluted air coating his car every morning.

So, she stood up off her comfortable lounge chair. The blanket fell off her legs, exposing her to the chilly winds. She remained where she was, looking, on her tip-toes, but she still couldn't see over the tall fence.

The concrete patio was smooth against her feet as she padded across it. She stepped in puddles of chloring water that splashed out from her pool as the winds became rougher. When she reached her fence door, Nova reached out, undoing the latch and pushing the wooden-beam door open.

A light gasp escaped from her closed mouth. She crossed her arms as she took in the sight of the silver Mercedes that sat just behind the pool fence.

The car belonged to her dad.

This car was supposed to be parked in the airport's privacy lot. The last she'd seen of it her father was taking it there, to catch a plane back to another one of his many offices. He wasn't set to return for days. And there'd been no word of him returning early. No sign of him being in the house this morning.

Yet, here his car sat.

Nova wouldn't let herself worry. She stopped her brain from assuming the worst case scenerios. Though something still twisted tight in her stomach. Something inside Nova knew this wasn't right.

Where was her dad?

She hurried back inside. Shutting the sliding doors behind her. The cold air from the vents greeted her unkindly and she shivered as gosbumps arose on her skin. Though she ignored all of this and went for her phone that had plugged in, charging, on the kitchen counter.

No texts. No calls. No sign of her dad.

He could just not be talking to her. She hadn't exactly been the nicest to him before he left them last. But that wasn't him. He didn't ignore his kids.

Though they hadn't left things on the best of terms he'd called her that same night he left, and Nova had tearfully apologized.

Nova called her dad. With the phone pressed to ear she listened to his voicemail. It hadn't even rang once. Sighing, she tried again. And again, the same thing. Her dad's voicemail.

She began chewing on the inside of her lip as she leaned against the counter. She didn't know what to do. When should she start worrying. Her gaze scanned over her house, looking for any sign of her dad having been home. But still, nothing. Her gaze stopped at the stairs sitting in the far back of the room.

Nolan.

His room was a mess. Clothes and shoes littered the floor, as well as old guitar picks and broken strings. Empty gaterode bottles covered the surface of every desk or dresser. Paper, crumpled and tossed, lay around the the small trashcan in the corner of the room.

He was in there. Nova could see through the door that'd been left ajar. He was laying in his unmade bed, flat on his back with his arms stretched above him as he scrolled and scrolled through his phone.

She cleared her throat, not bothering to knock as she pushed the rest of the door open.

Nolan's gaze turned away from his phone and toward the door. He waited.

"Is dad home today?" she asked.

With a yawn, Nolan shook his head, "Not until Monday."

Nova nodded, "That's what I thought," she said, having already known her dad was expected home Monday afternoon. "Except, his car is parked outside, behind the pool fence."

Nolan looked at her, confused. The dark circles under his eyes growing. Like her, he hadn't been sleeping either.

"Why would dad park at the back of the house?" he asked, as if Nova hadn't been asking the very same question.

Nova shrugged.

With a sigh, Nolan got up. He looked below him, searching the many piles of clothes, sniffing shirts as he picked them up, only to wince and toss them into another pile. Nova watched, her nose scrunched in disgust as he gave up on a shirt and only decided to pull a flannel that'd been laying, wrinkled at the bottom of his bed to shield his chest from the cool winds.

Nova followed her brother through the house. She told him how she'd come to find her dad's car sitting suspiciously behind their fence. He seemed to be listening, though said nothing. His phone was to his ear, likely calling his dad, just as Nova had thought to do moments before. And as he groaned in annoyance, shoving his phone back into the pockets of his sweat pants, she assumed that, like her, he was sent to voicemail.

Finally, they stopped. Standing right at the fence door that Nova hadn't closed.

The car was still there.

And there was no denying it belonged to their father. Since the picture of her and Nolan, young and in matching Christmas pajamas, still dangled from the rear-view mirror.

"I don't get it," Nolan shook his head with his hands on his hips. "Why would dad park here?"

"Why wouldn't dad tell us he was coming home early?" asked Nova.

Nolan chewed on his lip. Thinking.

Nova shrugged, "Unless we weren't supposed to know."

"What?" her brother faced her.

"Maybe dad didn't want us knowing he was home, for some weird reason."

She could be wrong. She was probably wrong. But it was either Nova think that her dad just hadn't told them about coming home, or she assume the worst.

Nolan took Nova by the wrist, "We're leaving," he told her. "Now."

Nova tried tugging out of his grasp, tried digging her feet into the smooth concrete, she yelled at her brother to let go of her.

"Nolan! I'm not even dressed!" she exclaimed.

Nova looked down at herself. Still in the clothes she'd worn to bed last night.

"And I don't even have shoes on."

Nolan ignored his sister's whiny protests and drug her through their house and into the garage where he kept his own vehicle parked, safe from the pollen and weathering outside. He opened the passenger side door, basically tossing her into the seat.

He looked at her, "You'll be fine."

And then he slammed the door in her face, only to slide in next to her, starting up the loud engine.

Nova had now started to worry. Her paranoia and anxiety bubbling inside her like a potion in a witches pot. She chewed the inside of her lip until the familar taste of iron filled her dry mouth. It felt like her heart was going to pump right out of her chest.

What did Nolan know? Why had they left in such a hurry? And where was her dad?

The noise inside her head was loud again.

"Nolan, where are we going?" Nova asked.

Her brother didn't answer. Didn't look at her. He just drove. Faster and faster. Twenty miles over the speed limit. They were going to be pulled over if he didn't slow down.

"What's going on, Nolan!" she said, voice louder this time.

Nolan just shook his head.

"I don't know," he admitted. "But I have an idea."

Five minutes passed. They'd finally stopped.

The houses and treesed passed them by in a blur. Nova tried to watch, tried to see where it was they were going, but her head, it screamed and her eyes wouldn't focus. Her lips had been chewed raw at this point.

Suddenly, slamming on his breaks, they stopped. Nolan had thrown out his arm in front of Nova, stopping her from being thrown forward, trapping her back against her seat. She looked at her brother like he was crazy.

And then she'd seen where he stopped. Better than anyone, she knew where he'd taken them.

Police cars surrounded the house. Men and women in uniform ran around the large home. Their hands never leaving their belt. Never leaving the side their guns had been holstered on. Blockades were everywhere.

No one was getting onto that property.

Siren blazed. Red lights flashed. Nova blinked. Her ears rang. It drowned out the noises in her head.

But she was confused.

Why had Nolan brought her here? Why had Nolan brought Nova to Ward Cameron's house?

"Nolan, what ━"

He was already out of the car. The door slammed hard behind him. Nova jumped. And with shaking hands she turned to undo her seatbelt.

It clicked. And her door opened, Nolan was there, waiting for her. But she didn't move for a second. She just looked, past her brother, and to the house and the scene behind him.

Was this the brewing storm?

"Nova..." her brother's voice pulled her from her thoughts.

She looked at him again and let him help her out of the jeep.

Nova winced. The rocks on the road stabbed into her bare feet. She'd already forgotten about not wearing any shoes.

"What do you know, Nolan?" she asked, confused as she followed him down the pebble-filled street.

She looked around her. The place so familar. Yet unknown. It felt like it'd been years since she was here last. Nova couldn't even remember when the last time she was inside the house was. It used to be so often. Every weekend almost. She'd be here. Cooped up in Sarah's room. Eating the snacks that Ward Cameron had bought them.

Sisters. He'd call them sisters. And he'd tell Nova she was his family. She'd always have a place. An uncle, or a bonus dad, that's what she'd seen him as.

Now, when she thought of Ward Cameron her blood ran cold. And she only remembered a monster looking back at her.

"I don't know anything," said Nolan as he cut through the front yard, passing by the house. Nolan could hear them now. The yelling and persuing. "It was just an idea."

"And what was the idea?" Nova yelled after him.

Nolan stopped, her turned and took two steps toward her, and he sighed.

"I think that I seen something that I was't supposed to," he said.

"Seen what?"

"The day that dad left back to work I went into his office. I wasn't looking for anything, I'd just needed a stapler. But there was a folder on his desk. It was just sitting there, right out in the open, Nova. So, I opened it..." he stopped, looking around them, making sure that no one was paying attention. "It was a copy of dad's correspondence with the Feds, Nova! The fucking FBI!"

He ran a hand over his face and through his hair, "It was coded. And alot of the conversation had already been blocked out. But I could make out enough. I at least recognized this address. And today's date on the copy."

"I don't know what's going on. But I knew it'd happen here. Whatever it was."

Nova shook her head, she couldn't wrap her head around all of this. What was Nolan trying to say? Her dad had orchestrated all of this?

"Dad was working with the FBI?" she asked.

Nolan nodded, "Yeah, and I think that's why he couldn't tell us anything," he told Nova. "Why he had to pretend there wasn't anything more he could do to help John B. after his court hearing."

She took a shaky breath. Nova had been so unkind to her dad that day. She'd said so many awful things to him. Blamed him, even. A burning sensation of guilt erupted inside her as her vision blurred.

"Holy shit,"

Nolan was looknig behind Nova. And she hadn't even had enough time to turn around before the sound of car doors slammed closed behind her.

"What the hell are you guys doing here?" asked Nolan, eyebrows furrowed.

JJ scoffed, being the first outside of the van, "You don't know?" he asked, looking between the siblings, Nova shook her head. "Ward Cameron is getting got."

So this was it, then?

"Holy shit, Nova, is that your dad?" Pope pointed, moving to stand behind JJ.

Nova followed the direction in which he pointed. And sure enough there he was. Lincoln Scott. A pair of nice slacks and white-button down shirt. A large, heavy black vest was covering his chest. To protect him, should someone start shooting, whether it be Ward or an officer. He didn't look like himself. A hardened businessman. Instead he seemed... sad.

Standing at the end of the pier she could see him yelling up at the yacht. The very one Ward had let her sleep in when all the air-conditioning on the island had gone out. Lincoln Scott was sad. That man, the one with a desperate look in his eyes had been his friend. He'd trusted him. Worked with him. They'd gone on vacations together. This was the man who took Nova and Nolan across the state after their mom died. And today, he was aiding in the same man's downfall.

Her dad was pleaing with Ward. He wasn't planning to give them an easy arrest. Ward Cameron never planned to see the inside of a jail cell.

Nova's mouth opened, but a voice that was't her own, sounded.

"Dad!" It was Sarah, she pushed past them all, running along the wooden pier to were Lincoln Scott stood. "Dad!"

They ran after her. Though not to stop her. But just to be there. Some just to witness the arrest. And others, like Nova, to make sure her friend was going to be able to get through this.

A hoard of police officers dressed in their same ugly, brown uniforms appeared before them. All of them with their hands out, stopping them, but no one was stopping. No one was going to be stopped from getting to that yacht.

"Come on, you have to let us through!" Nolan yelled at them, shoving them back when they placed their hands on his chest. "My dad is right there, are you kidding me? Dad!"

Lincoln Scott turned his head. His eyes were sunken and dark. She seen him sigh. This hadn't been part of his plan. They weren't supposed to have known he was here.

"That's Sarah Cameron! You let them through!" Shoupe called, standing just behind Lincoln Scott, beside an agent who bore the slick black coat with bold, white lettering, reading FBI.

Nova was right behind Sarah. And everyone else was behind her.

"What are you doing here, Sarah?" Ward yelled when he finally seen his daughter stop before him on the docks far below him. His eyes were red and now panicked, and even more desperate than before. It'd become clear to Nova, Ward hadn't wanted his daughter here.

Just like Lincoln hadn't wanted Nova or Nolan here.

They had to walk with their hands up as they passed by the officers who still threatened to stop them.

"Dad!" Sarah called again, tears already staining her cheeks. "What are you doing, dad?"

"Vic!" Ward shouted, loud enough to echo over the suddenly still waters. "You gotta get her out of here! She can't be here right now!"

Nova knew why the police had allowed her through. Sarah was going to be a piece in there chess game. They were going to try and use her to lure her dad down to them. Nova could see it and so could Ward. And he didn't want this.

He was dressed nice. All white. Like he would on luau night at the country club. His shoes made of fine Italian leather. He looked handsome. He looked rich.

Nova furrowed her eyebrows. She didn't know what to think of this.

"Just come on in, Ward, and you..." he looked at Sarah, Shoupe did, sighing, shaking his head. "And you can talk to her!"

It was a desperate plea. They'd been at this longer than Nova had thought. How long had it been Lincoln trying to lure him down from the yacht before they arrived?

"Sarah! I'm so sorry, baby! I can't!" Ward cried, disappearing into the Captain's pit of the yacht, just as the anchor weighting him down began to lift.

"What are you doing?" Sarah called up to him, her tone becoming a little more panicked as she watched the anchor inch duther and further out of the water. "Dad, no! No, no, don't!"

Sirens. So many sirens. Lights flashed and the loud blaring grew close. They were on the water. Boats. He was surrounded. There was no way out for him. He wasn't sailing away. And he'd realized that as Shoupe once again began yelling up to him.

"Ward, this ain't gonna end the way you want it to!" He yelled so loud his voice began to crack, but he had to be heard over the wailing sirens. "You don't need her seeing this!"

Nova looked around. There was nowhere else for him to go. She grabbed Sarah's trembling hand into her own, squeezing, letting her know she was there.

This very well might end the way Ward wants it to.

Ward reappeared on the boat. He was climbig down a ladder onto the main deck, Sarah stepped forward, pulling Nova along with her as she clutched so tight onto her hand.

"Dad, don't leave! You can't!" she called after him, begging, pleading, and crying. Her hear breaking. "Where are you going?"

He didn't turn. Didn't offer an answer. His back turned to them as he ran inside of the boat. Sarah's panicked pleas and cries ringing through Nova's ears as Shoupe yelled just as loud behind them. Sirens still blared, their red lights filling the sky and blue waters. Voices on megaphones warned him to surrender.

Nova's head was spinning. It was too much. All of it, just too much. She never wanted this. She never wanted this to happen.

There was a sudden stillness.

And then red covered the sky and sea.

And then the boom.

The shook beneath their feet.

Nova stopped breathing. Her aching hand fell limp at her side. Eyes wide and burning. Tears spilling over her cheeks.

The heat burned her cheeks. She blinked.

And when Nova's eyes opened it again, it was gone. All of it. Every bit of it. The yacht lay in discarded pieces, floating around them. Only black smoke filled the air. Everything was silent again.

The smoke just rose. Higher and higher. In large puffy clouds. And Nova watched. Not able to move. Not able to think. Just watching. Thinking, finally, as the world around her had finally silenced.

She felt two arms wrap around her. They were dragging her away. And she was letting then. The world moving in slow motion. Nova looked. Sarah was on the ground. Nolan at her side as she tried to find the ability to breath again. A hand reached out toward the water as she screaming, bellowing for her dad, but Nova couldn't hear it. She could hear nothing.

Lincoln had put her in the back of a police car. She could still see everything. Nova watched from the window. Her hot forhead pressed against the cool, glass window.

And then it hit her.

Nova gasped, a hand on her chest. And she cried.

Ward Cameron was dead. And she was no relieved. She was sad. Sad for her past. Sad for her best friend. A friend who now would know what it was like to lose a parent. To lose them to themselves.

Sarah had said it wasn't the same.

But wasn't it?

Everything was different now. It was still the same ━ but different, somehow.

Nova sat at the end of a wooden pier the next morning. Her legs pulled up to her chest, her chin resting on her knees, and she just stared. She stared out at the neverending waters. Counting the waves as they crashed down. She waited. She waited for something to change. For the world to again shift on its axis, knocking her off her feet.

It'd been too normal. Everything had changed but the world still went on as if nothing had happened. It still spun as it should. Night still fell, morning soon taking its place. Another sleepless night for Nova.

"Have you talked to her?"

John B. was sitting beside her. She didn't know what it was that brought her so early in the morning, but she couldn't stay in bed any longer, and somehow she'd ended up here, sitting at the end of a dock, in silence, with him.

Nova looked at him, her eyes were swollen red, "Have you?"

She'd seen the way he stood there. Just watching as the world before her burned. Watching and watching, and waiting. While Ward Cameron died, right before their eyes. She wasn't sure if he'd even noticed Sarah, he was so frozen, stoic, and fulfilled.

Nova couldn't say she was any better. She hadn't been the one who fell to the ground with her best friend. As she gasped for a breath, as she begged and pleaded for her dad to come back to her. It hadn't been her.

"I don't have anything to say that she'd want to hear," John B. told her.

"And I do?"

"You're her best friend."

That's what everyone kept saying. And yet, it made no difference.

"I'm relieved that he's dead," the words felt like ice coming out of her mouth, but they were true. "I'm relieved that Ward Cameron is dead, and I'm sad for the same reason."

She looked at John B, "And I feel so guilty for both."

He didn't say anything. Just nodded. She knew he wasn't agreeing. He didn't feel sad. Why would he? That'd been the man who murdered his own dad. Who was trying to frame him for a murder he didn't commit. Trued to get him killed in jail. He wasn't sad. He was fulfilled.

Nova was sad. She was sad for her friend. For the family who lost a parent and husband. She was sad for the future they'd all imagined that had been shattered. Nova was even sad for herself. Because she'd lost a past. Memories that she'd had where she was happy in the presence of Ward Cameron were now tainted. She couldn't look back on them fondly without the guilt reminding her what she was cherishing.

And she was relieved. Relieved that he was gone. That she didn't have to worry anymore about his schemes and lies. There was a part of her too that was glad Ward Cameron was dead. There was another part of her that mourned him.

But she was drowning in her own guilt. It seemed as though that was the only thing she could feel any more ━ guilt. And she didn't want to. The burden was becoming too heavy to carry. She was drowning in it. And all Nova wanted so desperately to do was to breathe again. To take a breath without that crushing, agonizing weight.

Which she had started to think might have been what brought her here this morning.

Again, she looked at John B, and something inside of her was already breaking, "I have feelings for JJ."

Her voice had barely been a whisper, but he'd heard her, and he looked.

For a moment they just sat there in silence.

"I know."

John B. didn't look at her. He couldn't. Not without breaking down completely. And as she continued, she was glad that he didn't.

"And I hate that I'm hurting you," said Nova, feeling this crushing feeling inside herself. "But it isn't fair to either of us to keep going like this."

She blinked. Blinked a million times to keep the tears back. She wouldn't cry.

He nodded, "I know."

"I love you."

Nova needed to say. She needed him to hear it. To know it. It hadn't gone away. It hadn't faltered or changed. Her love for him remains and will always.

"I love you, too," John B. looked at her, a half smile on his face.

His hand reached up and cupped the side of his cheek. Nova leaned into it. Relishing the feel of him. Her reminder.

"I need to thank you," she said.

John B. furrowed his eyebrows, "For what?"

"For reminding me that I am capable," Nova told him as sobs clawed at her throat, trying to tear their way out. "You reminded me that I am capable of loving and being loved. And that I deserve good love."

He loved her as no one had ever loved her before. And she'd hold that for the rest of her life.

Nova cried. She tried not to but the hurt was too strong. She could feel her heart-shattering. Every shard of it.

God, she loved him. It was so easy to love him.

Nova leaned forward. She closed the space between them, crashing her tear-stained lips into his. John B. didn't hesitate or pull away. He kissed her. Their tears fell together now as it began finally dawned that this was it. It was ending.

But she was mending. Nothing hurt when he kissed her. All was quiet. A sense of calmness fell over them.

This was not their goodbye.

This was just them. It was them being completely in love.

Nova didn't want the kiss to end. She wanted to spend hours with her lips pressed to his. This calmness that he was able to give her was like no one else. She found her breath when she was with him.

Her home. Her safety net.

Her John B.

But she couldn't have them both. And Nova owed it to herself to figure out whatever these feelings she had for JJ meant. She couldn't do that and still be with him. It'd kill John B, and herself. They'd end up resenting one another. She'd seen that in the past couple of days. And she didn't want to hate him.

He was her calm in the storm. And she wanted to always remember their love that way.

She pulled back first, having to fight for that willpower.

For a moment they just say there. Cherishing this moment. Enjoying the still, quiet. Her hands still lay upon his neck, caressing it with a light stroke of her thumb.

Nova looked at her wrist. Still tied there was John B's tattered, ripped, and weathered bandana. A promise he'd made. To find his way back to her. And he did. John B. had stayed true to his promise. It was she who had not.

Every piece of her ached as she reached for it. She tugged at the knot she'd tied. But a hand fell from her cheek and landed on her hand, moving it away from her wrist.

Nova looked up at John B, her lips trembling.

"It's yours, Nova," he intertwined their fingers.

"I love you, so much."

She kissed him again. Nothing could have held her back from kissing him again.

It's yours. Nova had known what that meant. What he meant. She'd heard him say it before.

You have me. You have all of me. I am yours to keep, Nova Scott. It felt like a lifetime ago.

Sobbing, she let her forehead fall to his.

"A part of me will always belong to you."

And it was true.

·☼·

( 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮'𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀 & 𝗼𝗽𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 )

·☼·

𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓'𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆://

After weeks and weeks of promising this update, it's finally here! I really am sorry it took me so long. I think I rewrote that last scene about a million times. And I still kinda hate it. But I did cry. And how about that healthy breakup? Love.

Nova's feeling it, guys. She's going through it. Rolling with the punches... literally.

As always... please leave your thoughts on this chapter. Tell me all your theories and opinions. What do you guys think of the direction the story is going in so far? How are things going to change now since the story's believed main couple has split? Comment, comment, comment. Let me hear it all.

𝐱𝐨𝐱𝐨