(chapter thirty five)

Richard held onto his daughter's hand as they unpacked on the new house. Clara didn't understand why they left New York, why she would never go back to her room again.

She felt sick on the car ride, as she tried to tune our the arguing of her parents on the front seat, while she listened to one of her father's favorite songs playing on the radio, with Captain Hopps being held tight on her arms.

When they arrived, Susan was the first to leave the car as her voice called out for the men who were carrying the boxes from the truck to inside the house. The woman looked at her daughter and she only said to go with Clara to find something to eat.

But before they could start walking to the busy street, Richard heard someone calling out his name.

"Richard?" It took a while for the older Campbell to recognize who it was, and he smiled when he did. "Long time no see, old friend."

"Ward Cameron," Richard let go of Clara's hand to shake the other man's and the two shared a brief hug, as the girl's big brown eyes filled with curiosity stared at then. "Look at that beard."

Ward touched the beard of his face with a chuckle as he nodded.

"Could never match yours," the two laughed, like time had not passed. "What brought you back?"

"Susan and I decided that life in the city wasn't for us." He decieved the truth, then pointed at his daughter. "And I also wanted Clara to have what we had when we were kids, and to be closer to my mom."

Ward nodded, looking down at the shy girl who was still holding her bunny plushie. "Well, hello, Clara. Nice to finally meet you."

He held his fist up and she looked at her father — who only nodded, encouraging her — so she repeated his actions, fist bumping the older man's. And she smiled, looking a little more excited at her father one more time.

"And where's Susan?" The Cameron man asked, and Richard only pointed back to the way where they came from.

"She's at the house. She's the one who knows where everything go, and we'll be damned if we get in the way," he commented, his tone slightly joking, to hide how serious he actually was. "We were going to find a place to eat."

"We can go to my house to have lunch," Ward suggested, and Richard shook his head.

"Don't want to intrude-"

"Nonsense, Rick. I insist," Ward cut him off, as the older Campbell man started to ponder. "We can catch up, and I can introduce Clara to my kids, too."

Richard pursed his lips. Clara was not really the one who was easy to have friends with. She was a loner, the other kids would always exclude her, or leave her behind, but that would be a great oportunity for her.

Because that's what they wanted. For Clara to have a new life. A new beginning.

"If you're sure," Richard nodded, and Ward smiled even more, patting his friend on the shoulder.

Clara's grip around the plushie tightened and she send her father a scared look. The man could only give her a reassuring smile as he plopped his hand on the top of her head, guiding her to where Ward was leading them.

In his mind, Richard took note of how close their houses would be. He wasn't surprised Ward was able to climb up in his life, and leaving the Cut behind. He did work really hard for it, but he was surprise to the man guide them back to Tannyhill estate.

How much Richard had visited the mansion with his mother, Alice, when they called her to do research on the property. The old owners hired Ward to take care of their boats.

And as they got even closer to the house, Ward laid his hand on Richard's shoulder, stopping them as he pointed at the small boy kicking the ball around the backyard.

"That's my son, Rafe." He explained, then let out a loud whistle, that caught the dirty blonde haired boy's attention.

The moment Rafe turned, his eyes didn't meet his father's nor the unknown man standing beside him, but with the girl who was trying to hide herself behind a small blue bear — or was it a bunny? He couldn't really tell, but it didn't matter anyway.

His father called him to get closer, and he did, his football in hands and curious eyes about who were these people, and why the girl seemed to furrow her eyebrows when he approached.

"Rafe, that's my friend Richard and that's Clara," Ward started, and Rafe's blue eyes focused on him. "Richard and I are friends since we were teens, and they just moved back here, we're gonna have lunch together."

Rafe only nodded, pressing his lips into a lazy smile to the man, then at the girl. "Hey."

"Hi," she answered back, voice sounding a little nervous.

"Do you play?" He nodded down at the ball and she hesitated before nodding.

"Anita, Where's Sarah?" Ward asked to the maid who had just put down on the outside table a glass of water for the young boy.

"She was by the pool, sir."

"C'mon, Rafe. You two can play more later," Ward grabbed the boy by his shoulders, and it was not like he could say anything against it.

Clara was still holding the stuffed animal against her chest, and she moved almost besides him, but still a little steps behind.

And while Ward introduced Richard to Rose, who was holding a four year old Wheezie, a just turned six years old Sarah ran in, using only a swimsuit and two big duck floaties on her arms, her hair wet and all over the place, as her steps were leaving behind a trail of water.

Her brown eyes widened and a big smile appeared on her face when she saw the brown haired girl.

"Oh my God, I love your bunny!" She said it loudly, getting even closer to the two as Clara almost took a ste back to avoid water splashing onto her.

Rafe could only ask himself how in the world his sister recognized the stuffed animal on the Clara's arms just by looking at it.

++++

"Clara?" Sarah asked the sleeping girl, the morning after the events that lead them to be stranded in the island.

The older girl between all of them was pale, a lot more than anyone would like it, and now as Sarah touched her, Clara's body was burning, her whole body covered in sweat.

Sarah pushed her hair back, stress filling her veins once again. They all crashed not too long after the Campbell girl, and now the dirty blonde was cursing herself from agreeing in letting her sleep.

Her brown eyes opened, but Clara wasn't quite sure what was happening or who was sitting by her. Her mind was fuzzy and she just wanted to sleep a bit more.

"I brought more water," JJ said, a just opened coconut on his hand, but he only grew more worried when he saw Sarah cupping Clara's cheeks with her hands. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"She's burning up," Sarah managed to spill it out, still focusing on the heartbeats. They were slower, a lot slower than they should be.

JJ moved to inside the boat to check on the girl himself. His hands went to support her head, fingers pressing on the vein of her neck, clenching his jaw at how hot at touch she was.

"C'mon, Clara, don't do this again," he mutter, more to himself than to her, as he pealed the gauze from the wound, cursing when he saw how red and swollen it still looked, so he just moved behind her, helping Clara sit up with her face pressing against his chest.

He grabbed the coconut, placing it on the girl's lips. "C'mon, you need to hydrate, princess."

It's not like she could agree or not, and he carefully laid her head back as the liquid entered her mouth.

Her hand moved in heavy movements to push it away. "I don't want to."

Even with how slurred her voice was, JJ only shook his head. "You lost too much blood, I don't care, you need to."

And Clara didn't put too much of a fight either once he managed to make her drink.

"See, good girl." He did a small praise, tossing the coconut onto the sand, his hand moving to cup her face with a smile. "What do you think about some food?"

Clara tried to move her body, tried to pay more attention to what he was saying, but she cursed loudly when the bullet wound stinged, making a flow of pain course through her body.

Her eyes filled with tears as a cry left her lips, and JJ could only wrap his arms tighter around her body to try to comfort her.

"It's okay, you're okay," he whispered on her ear as she let out another painful sob.

Oh, how much JJ wanted to take away her pain just for a second. Clara didn't seem to be able to catch a break.

++++

He leaned over the glass table, the last bit of the while powder he had in front of him in one line. The dollar bill rolled up in between his fingers as he stared at it. God, what was he doing?

Rafe was so, so tired. The everyday nurses walking in and out of his new house, the voice of his step mother he learnt to hate by the second.

How the walls from his room looked way too bright, the new covers weren't comfortable enough, his pillow didn't seem to be as soft. He hated the sand his feet touched, and the warmer water of the sea, and the way the sun didn't hit his bed in the morning.

It was almost like older Cameron sibling was trying to find anything at fault.

Because he didn't feel right to be living like that when his father was in a coma and he didn't know when he would wake up. Not when the first and the only person he had truly loved died because of him.

Rafe could find himself staring at the messy pictures Clara would take of them, the small moment in the beach at night, where you could barely see the two on the picture under the moonlight, but they knew, and that was enough.

The chaotic picture Wheezie took of them on the pool a day before midsummers. Before the gnarly bruises on her face and the panic she felt. The frozen time when they were okay, when everything was okay.

He felt the small weight of the dollar bill, and Rafe almost slapped the phone on the table, and he leaned foward bringing the roll to his nose and sniffing the line.

The last line, because he needed.

He needed a distraction, he wanted to feel something apart from anger. From sadness.

His hair fell on his eyes and he pushed it back, anger growing stronger as he could only think the reason why he stopped gelling it back. Clara had asked him too.

His fingers where now pulling his scalp, as his breathing became even more heavy, he couldn't anymore.

++++

Topper felt even more anxious for the fact that there were police cars all around the island. Everywhere he looked was a police car.

It had been a day since Shoupe appeared and asked for why he thought Clara was missing. Richard holding into the girl's plushie as the sheriff pinched the bridge of his nose.

The two adult were stressed, of course they were.

And after the news that John B's twinkie was parked somewhere on the junkyeard, and both Anna and Mike Carrera, along with Mr Heyward had reported their kids missing.

Topper just couldn't bring himself to go back home.

He was with Richard on Clara's house, seeing the police taking her phone and her diaries back to the cars, as if they would be any indication of what happened.

And in the middle of all the conversation from outside, a loud car door closing was heard, and then two woman's voices overlayed the chatter.

"Susan, you're not allowed in-"

"Shut up, Plumb!" And the answer made Topper put his head in his hands at the sound of the so familiar voice.

Susan Huhhes pushed through the deputy, walking as she had every right to be there. And the Thornton boy could only see Richard looking up from the stuffed bunny, annoyance and anger in his expression.

"Leave, Susan." That was the only thing he said, and the woman let out a sarcastic laugh.

"As if I'm going to leave, my daughter's missing!"

"Now you care?!" Richard got up, leaving Captain Hopps behind as the man felt his blood boiling.

"Of course I care! I always cared!" She answered back, pointing at herself with a even more disgusted look as she stared at her ex husband.

"So when did you when you beated her up and left her bleeding? When you abused her day after day inside of your own house, threatening her to do it even worse if she told anyone?!"

"You don't get to say how I choose to treat and teach my daughter when you where the one who left her with me so you can have your own pitch perfect family!"

And Topper could only close his eyes, taking a deep breath as he tried to ignore the spat between the two.

Clara had never really told him the extents of what had happened between mother and daughter, why she left and started living alone on her grandmother's house, but now he understood.

The shouting between the two adult got louder as the deputies tried to keep them apart, but Topper only stared at the stuffed animal.

He just hoped they would find them — Clara and Sarah, fuck, even the pogues — and then all of it would be over.

Topper wanted his best friend back, and wanted her to be okay. However, his gut feeling could tell him that she was way far from it, and that was plaguing his mind.

Writing without a single part of Clara's POV is kind of annoying, but I need to.

So yeah, that's what's happening. What do you guys think?

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