LXVI.   brother take my hand

Soon, Dylan and Pope returned to the boat hand in-hand, her heart full as well as her stomach. She felt happy despite everything that just happened a few hours ago. She saw Kiara sitting by herself in lonesomeness. Dylan let go of Pope's hand and walked over to her. "Hey, KiKi." She sat next to her and pulled her legs to her chest. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," she answered somberly.

Dylan gave her a look. Kiara sighed. "You were right." She mumbled incoherently because it was the first time she was admitting it to herself.

She formed a frown. "Yeah?" Kiara nodded shortly. "Why do you sound so disappointed?"

"Because I don't think he feels the same way," she matched her whisper tone, her dark eyes full of sadness.

Dylan's frown deepened. "Kie, that's not true—"

"I don't want to talk about it." Kiara dismissed and looked away from her

A sigh passed her lips. Hearing footrests, Dylan turned her head and saw Pope coming down the ladder. She stood up and walked over to him. "Is he up there?" She asked, referring to JJ. Pope nodded a little. "Is he okay?"

"No, he's not." He answered while shaking his head. He motioned his head towards Kiara. "Is she?"

Dylan glanced over her shoulder and frowned. "No, she's not. I'm so ready to be back home."

Pope grinned and wrapped his arms around her. He rested his chin on top of her head. "We'll be back soon, D. Don't worry."

She smiled. Dylan turned her head and saw Cleo sitting by herself on the other end of the boat, twirling her knife around, and she started thinking. She was going home to her family. Pope was going back to his family. Cleo had nobody. She'd never been to Kildare before. When they returned to Kildare, she'd been all alone, and Dylan didn't want that. "Hey, I'm gonna go talk to Cleo." She said and lifted her head to look at him.

Pope nodded. "Okay."

She smiled and kissed his jaw. Dylan unraveled herself from and walked away to go to Cleo

Cleo saw her from the corner of her eye. "Hey there, Princess Dylan," she greeted casually and continued twirling her knife.

She chuckled. "Hey. You doing okay?"

"Me? Ah yeah. I'm good." She answered and gave her a thumbs up.

Dylan grinned. "I was thinking about something," she mentioned.

Cleo hummed. "What's that now?"

"When we get back to Kildare and most of us go back to be with our families, I want you to come stay with me." She watched Cleo quickly look at her again and she stopped spinning the knife. Dylan smiled. "I've got plenty of guest rooms. My family would gladly accept you."

There was a moment of silence. Cleo's eyes looked her up and down. "Why would you want that?" She questioned.

"Well, John B, Sarah, and JJ are kind of on their own, Kiara's parents are up here ass 24/7 so you'd be unlucky in that department, and even I have a curfew Pope's house from both of our parents so I know damn well Heyward wouldn't allow you to stay there permanently," Dylan explained with a small giggle. "So that just leaves me."

Cleo shook her head, the wind blowing through her wild curls. "I wouldn't want to be a burden,"

"Oh please, JJ and John B have been slummin' it with me for years. My folks are used to it." She told her with another smile.

"You sure about this?"

Dylan nodded with a delightful hum.

Cleo pursed her lips, obviously trying to hide a smile. "Alright. Whatever you say, Princess."

There was another excited giggle.

When Dylan woke up, she thought she was in a dream. She stepped off the boat and saw the familiar, brilliant surroundings of Kildare, her home. She breathed in the scent, felt the air stick to her skin, and she closed her eyes for a brief second to take it all in. "We're home." She uttered.

She felt two hands rest on her shoulders. "We're home, baby." It was Pope.

She reopened her eyes and turned around, smiling with her teeth.

"Welcome to the Outer Banks, Cleo," he announced.

Cleo stepped off the boat and landed on her feet. "You're crazy, DJ. Your parents are not going to appreciate me shaking up."

"Come on, I already explained this to you. Of course you can stay with me." Dylan told her.

"Yeah, and I'm sure my dad'll put you to work," Pope said and put his arm around her shoulder. "We could always use the help."

"Yeah, see?" The girlfriend agreed and patted his chest. She looked at Cleo again and grinned. "Besides, I'm kind of, like, the biggest daddies girl so they can't say no to me."

Pope hummed. "She's not wrong."

"Yeah, I got no doubt about that." Cleo said sarcastically, making Dylan smile even bigger.

Sarah had taken off to go find John B. They took Kiara home first, something that worried them all considering how things ended between her and her parents the last time. Before they departed from JJ, Dylan took him by the arm and pulled him close so that only the two of them could hear each other ("if anything happens, anything at all, come to my house. You can stay with me.") JJ grinned but it was clearly fake. ("don't worry about me, DJ. I can handle anything.") It was no secret that JJ didn't like to rely on anybody for help. He thought it made him weak or vulnerable and that's not how JJ wanted to be perceived. But Dylan knew him. He always had a place with her and her family. They all did.

Dylan held her breath the entire way to the marina. Her hand was clutched tightly in Pope's, his hand going numb but he didn't dare pull away. Her heart beat increased painfully. Her throat was tight and raw. She was scared. Scared of what people would say when they saw that she was back and what her family would say first. Her nerves rattled her bones. But then Dylan saw her father standing with Heyward and Andrea at the shop, his hands on his hips like always, looking the same as he did when she left. She slowly let go of Pope's hand. "Daddy?" She said to herself at first, not believing he was there for a moment. She got closer, her foot steps quickening up, and a shaky breath passed her lips. "Daddy!"

Logan Jennings looked up, his eyes squinted from the right light but his face softened. He saw his daughter running towards him. "Dylan," he spoke her name shakily. "Sweetheart."

Dylan cried and when she reached him, she jumped into his arms and they held each other. "I'm so sorry," she immediately sputtered into his neck, tears streaming down her face. "I'm so sorry, daddy."

"Oh, my girl," Logan whimpered and squeezed her again. "I never gave up. I never gave up, sweetheart."

Pope hugged his crying mother. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He sobbed.

"You apologize tomorrow," Andrea whimpered while rubbing his back.

Logan put her down on the ground and held her face in his hands. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"No, daddy. I'm okay. I promise." She held his wrists and gulped from the heavy cries that were still coming. "I've missed you so much."

He kissed her forehead over and over again.

When Pope and his dad broke apart, Heyward turned to Dylan. "Oh, sweetheart," he whimpered again and she left her dad's side to hug him. "I've been so worried about you."

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to disappear like that." She cried quietly with her eyes screwed shut. Opening them again, she met Andrea's eyes. "Mrs. Heyward. . ."

"My girl," the woman cried again. She opened her arms and Dylan quickly fell into them.

That's when Logan saw Cleo standing there with her arms by her side. "Who's this?" He thought out loud.

She pulled away from Andrea and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Dad, this is Cleo." She introduced and smiled at her.

"She got stranded with us." Pope followed up, looking between the adults.

"She saved our lives. . .and I want her to come and stay with us," she told her father and looked up at him.

Logan pinched his brows together. "What?"

Dylan went and stood beside Cleo. "Dad, she doesn't have anybody here. Without her, we couldn't have gone very far," she explained and smiled at her briefly. She gave her dad a pleading look. "I owe a lot to her, daddy."

Logan was still very confused. He looked between the two crying teenagers and the teenage girl standing there awkwardly. "I, uh, have a lot of questions," he stated, making them all laugh. He looked at Cleo again. "But. . .if my kids say that you saved their lives then, by all means I say."

Dylan smiled widely and she grabbed Cleo's arm, bouncing on her toes with excitement. "I told you."

Cleo rolled her eyes but she smiled anyway. "Yeah, you did, daddy's girl."

She hugged her father again, feeling more tears in her eyes because she missed his touch so badly. "I'm so sorry I did this to you." She whispered shakily. She quickly pulled away. "Mom and Braxton. How are they? Are they okay?"

At her questions, Logan swiftly took his phone out from his pocket. "Oh my gosh, your mother," he realized and flimsily started dialing his wife's number. He held the device to his ear. After a minute, he heard her voice, and he smiled. "Ainsley, sweetheart, there's somebody that wants to talk to you."

He handed the phone to his daughter and Dylan grabbed it with her shaking hands. "Mom?" She spoke hesitantly.

"Dylan, is that you?"

She started to cry again. "Mom, it's me. I'm okay."

She heard her mom burst into a fit of sobs. "Oh my gosh, you're okay! Braxton, it's Dylan. She's safe!"

Soon, Dylan heard her brother's voice. "DJ, is that you?" His voice was getting deeper.

It made her sobs increase. "It's me buddy. I've missed you so much." She wrapped her free arm around her father's torso and pressed herself against him, keeping the phone close to her ear and she cried along with her family.

Logan sniffled and took the phone from her. "Ains, darling, come to Heyward's. We're all here. Okay, I love you." He hung up the phone and sighed deeply. "Alright, you kids got some explaining to do."

Dylan never felt more grateful for Heyward's cooking in her life. She sat there listening to Pope explain what happened to them while stuffing a plate full of chicken into her mouth. "So there I was at the top of this crane on a huge container ship in the middle of the ocean."

"No way," Braxton expressed with a giddy smile. He was getting taller as well as his voice deepening. Dylan felt like crying just looking at him. He was only twelve, almost thirteen, and she didn't ever want to miss another moment of seeing him grow up.

"What do I hear from down below but—" Pope imitated a gun going off which made all of them gasp. "—gunshots shooting right back up at me!"

"True story," said Cleo.

"I can confirm." Dylan said with a mouthful of chicken.

"Mom, gunshots."

"Did you get hurt?" Ainsley asked the boy with a worried look on her face.

"No, no, I didn't get hurt, but that's when I knew there was no way we were getting the cross off that boat."

"So, what did you do?" Logan asked, intrigued by the situation.

Pope and Dylan looked at each other. "Well. . ." She trailed.

"Dropped it in the ocean."

"You did what?" Heyward said loudly.

"You let it go?" Braxton exclaimed with wide eyes.

"We didn't have a choice at that moment!" The sister matched his tone.

"It was the best thing I could do," Pope said and he started pacing dramatically. "And get this, as soon as I'm jumping off the ship, we're swimming away, I look back, they're pulling it back up."

"Who?"

"Rafe."

Ainsley jerked her head back. "Rafe?"

Dylan nodded. "Rafe."

Pope sat back down and took one of the chicken from his girlfriend's plate. "Honestly, I'm kinda glad he got it."

They all looked at him like he was crazy. "You on air?" Cleo inquired.

Braxton pointed at her. "Yeah, what she said."

"I'm just saying, at least it's not at the bottom of the ocean," Pope defended himself. He caught the look Dylan was giving him. "Don't look at me like that, D. There's still a chance. Some hope that maybe we can get it back from them."

"Oh yeah, get it back from the people that tried to kill us," she said sarcastically.

"What?" Logan said abruptly while Ainsley gasped.

That's when she remembered she had yet to tell them what happened to her before they were all on the boat. "Oh," she mumbled.

The sun was setting by the time Dylan and her family arrived home. "I'm going to kill those sons of bitches," her father had declared after her lengthy story of being drugged and kidnapped by Rose and Rafe.

"Daddy, you're a lawyer, you can't say that." She warned him.

"I don't care. Throw me in jail. I'll be doing this while island a favor," he expressed angrily.

"Okay honey, don't have a fit in front of our new guest," Ainsley said calmly and she smiled at Cleo, who was staring at their house like it was UFO.

"This is where you live?"

"It's more homely inside, don't worry," Dylan said with a giggle and looped her arm through hers. "I'm so excited for you to say with us. I get so tired of only have Braxton to talk to at night."

Her brother laughed sarcastically. "Likewise."

Cleo cracked a smile.

Logan unlocked the front door and Dylan quickly rushed inside. "Oh my gosh, I'm home!" She expressed and sighed. "It's so good to be home."

"We've been waiting for this day," her mother said and kissed the side of her head when she walked by.

Cleo stepped into the house and went back to gawking. "Cheese on bread. . ."

"Welcome to our humble abode, Cleo," Logan announced.

"Thanks, I guess," she said back while still looking around the very big living room.

Dylan grinned. "Come on, mom and I'll show you to your room." She offered and gently grabbed her arm.

They lead her up the staircase. Cleo stared at the multiple framed photos hanging from the wall, most of them family photos and others of Dylan and her brother. Her mother guided her down the long hallway. "How many rooms this place got?" She said in slight shock.

"Enough for practically all my friends to move in if they have to," Dylan answered.

"Which happens sometimes," said Ainsley and she smiled. She opened the door to one of the guest rooms. "Alright, Miss Cleo, here's your room."

Cleo's eyebrows shot up. "Wow," she said as she observed the very clean room. A large bed with white and blue bedding, a blue surfboard in the corner of the room, white walls and white shutters on the window that overlooked Figure Eight.

Dylan smiled at her reaction. "There's plenty of bathrooms but you can always use mine if you need to. It's in my room. It's nice having your own when you have a brother."

"Wait till you get a husband. It's not any better," Ainsley joked. She put her hand on Cleo's shoulder. "Take your time, honey."

"Thanks mom," said Dylan and the woman left the room. She smiled at Cleo again. "What do you think?"

The girl was at a loss for words. "I, uh," she took small steps toward the bed. "I don't really know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything right now. Just take it all in." She smiled again. "My room is just up the hallway to the left. You won't miss it. My door has my name on it. Come get me if you need anything." Dylan started to back out of the room, the smile still on her face. "Welcome home, Cleo."

Cleo watched her leave. After a second, she looked around the room again and covered her mouth when she felt herself start to smile.

Dylan entered her own bedroom. It was exactly the way she left it, clean but her desk messy with jewelry and makeup. She smiled and sat on her bed, feeling the sheets and she inhaled a deep breath, missing the smell.

Her phone vibrated in her back pocket. Dylan leaned over and took out her phone, seeing that it was a text from an unknown number.

*** - ***-****
DJ, it's Sarah
Rafe's back on the island and
I overheard him say the
cross is coming to Wilmington
tonight

She read it over and over and inhaled another sharp breath. "What the fuck?"

"DJ?" Dylan flinched and looked up to see Braxton standing in her doorway.

"Jesus, Brax. You scared me."

"Sorry," he said and sheepishly put his hands in the front pocket of his hoodie.

She shook her head. "It's okay," she said and smiled, trying to hide the panic she was now feeling from the text. Dylan watched his eyes flicker to her floor. "Did you want to talk?"

Braxton lifted his eyes. "Well, uh. . .yeah, I did." He answered almost shyly.

Dylan titled her head, her eyes going soft. "Okay." She scooted back on her bed and patted the spot in front of her. "Come sit down."

The twice year old took his hands out of the hoodie pocket and walked over. He sat in front of her, keeping his shoes off the bed. They sat there for a minute in silence, Dylan observing his hesitant body language. "I missed you out there," she talked first.

Braxton met her eyes, his appearing sad. "You lied."

She furrowed her brows. "What?"

"You said you were gonna come back, that you would tell me everything you've been up to. You never came back."

Dylan formed a deep frown. "Brax, I'm so sorry."

"Why didn't you come back?" He asked her and his voice cracked, which made her eyes fill with tears.

"Things got complicated, Brax. I didn't have time to go back and get you but I promise that I wanted to. I'm so sorry." She reached up and wiped the tears from her eyes. "I never meant to hurt you, mom, or dad."

The young boy looked down at her bed cover. He started messing with his fingers. "So. . .Rafe hurt you?" He asked, thinking back to what she told them on the way home.

He was too young to think about this kind of stuff, she thought. Dylan didn't want him involved and she said that, but she didn't know how much longer she could hide things from him. She disappeared for a month. He deserved to know what happened to her. "Yeah, he did. But I'm okay. I'm tough, you know that," she said and smiled to make him feel better.

"Was Wheezie involved?" He asked again and his sadness increased.

Dylan quickly shook her head. "No, no, Wheezie had nothing to do with it. She's innocent in all of this." She grabbed one of his hands. "I promise to tell you everything that's been going on. No more secrets, okay?"

Braxton blinked a couple times. "You promise?"

"I promise, buddy. No more secrets."

nobody talk to me I'm still in shambles after finishing season 4. . .