June used her towel to dry her hair, the girl feeling the most clean she had felt in months after the deliciously long shower she had taken. Her footsteps padded down the hallway and she stopped at the guest bedroom door, knocking slightly before opening the door. Tyler was dressing on the other side, pulling a collared shirt on as his head turned to the door. His eyes snaked over her body where she was wrapped in a towel and then his cheeks burned an embarrassing red, the boy not meaning to make it so obvious.

"How was that shower?" June asked, her hand on the door knob as she waited for his answer.

"The best thing I've ever had. Now just get some food in me and this'll be the best day ever." She laughed at his words, giving him a nod and then closing the door. She walked towards her room, and for a moment the course of action was so familiar that she had forgotten everything that had happened. She was a kid again, going back to her bedroom. Not whatever this shell of June March was currently.

June opened the door, her eyes on her feet as she entered the room, the girl noticing how strange it was that she still had nail polish on her toes from before she had started hanging out with the Pogues. It out into perspective how fast everything had happened. She closed the door behind her, her head looking up as she saw a pair of shoes on the floor...someone was sitting on her bed.

"Hey." The voice belonged to Zach Roberts, the boy seeing her for what felt like the first time ever. She was beautiful, and he could tell she was changed, but for a moment she was his June, and he let himself feel it openly. Her mouth dropped open and she looked him over, the cast his leg was in, how he didn't look nearly as battered and bruised as he had the last time she had seen him. The cut above his eyebrow was just a faded scar now, and he looked at her like she was the most important thing in the world. God, she really had missed him.

June started forwards, hugging Zach so hard that they fell back on the bed. He squeezed her as tight as he could, his face in her neck as tears swelled in his eyes. There had been a point in the past few weeks where he had imagined that he would never see her again. And while a part of him was telling him that after what she had done to him, that was okay...the majority had told him that he couldn't live in a world where he didn't get to see her again. Beyond his love for her romantically was his love for her in general, before they had been a couple they had been friends for 10 years. His life without June March was not his life, because for as long as he could remember she was in it...one way or the other.

"Oh my god. I cant believe you're here." She whispered into his shoulder, her own tears filling her eyes. She loved her family, she loved her parents and Adam, but seeing Zach again was something completely different. Something entirely new. It felt new.

"Adam texted me and told me. I had to come see it for myself." June pulled back and grabbed him by the face, looking at him like he was the best thing she had ever seen. Her thumb ran over his cheek where he had started to grow some kind of facial hair and she giggled at that, her lips pouting for a moment as she tried not to cry. Zachs smile made her heart burn with happiness and she went in for a second hug, the boy slightly laughing as he wrapped his arms around her.

When she finally pulled back she stood up, remembering she was in a towel. A blush crept onto her cheeks and she shook her head, her lips tightening into a straight line as she walked past him.

"Don't look. Just talk." She said, opening her dresser drawer and grabbing some underwear before starting over to her closet. Zach laughed a little bit, nodding his head and then speaking.

"I woke up this morning and cancelled my physical therapy appointment to come see you. I just cant believe-" He started to turn his head but she stopped him, laughingly reminding him not to look. "Sorry. I just...I had to see it for myself. Where have you—where did you go? Where have you been?"

"Would it surprise you if I told you that Rafe kidnapped me?" The words fell out of her mouth before she remembered who she was talking to, someone who had gotten the brunt of Rafes wrath just like she had. Another fact that had slipped her mind...Zach knew what she had done with Rafe. He sighed, shaking his head and then speaking.

"No. That would not surprise me at all. Actually that's what me and Adam were betting on the entire time. You know he...he hired a private investigator—well we hired one— to find where Rafe took you. The guy tracked Rafe to Guadeloupe, but could only see that you were on the ship they took.  And I—hi..." He lost his train of thought when she came around to the front of him, her listening face on. She was dressed in a t-shirt and a pair of jeans, and there she was again—his June.

"It was some big thing, Pope found some stuff out about his family and we found something worth a lot of money. But Rafe wanted it. So I stayed behind to watch it but he found me and he took the thing and me and drugged me and put me on that boat. If it wasn't for Tyler then I'd would've been dead about five times over now. We jumped off in the middle of the ocean and found a deserted island. Lives there for a month. I cant believe I made it back. I don't ever want to leave again at this point." She looked and talked the same and it was like it was really her, but something was off, he knew it was different, and that she was not the same and wouldn't be. He looked up at her and she could see it in his eyes, he was thinking about what she had done, she could see the hurt.

"June I—" She grabbed his hand, holding it in both of hers and pulling them to her chest. She had dreamt of this opportunity, of the chance to apologize and explain herself and really just tell him everything he wanted to know. He deserved that at least.

"Zach I know we have to talk about it. And if we're gonna do it I want to do it now. Ask me anything and I'll tell you whatever you want to know." His gaze fostered and he gave her a reluctant nod, the girl taking a seat beside him. She was leaned forwards, his hand still enclosed in hers as she waited for him to speak. She was more ready than she ever thought she would be.

"How long did it go on? I know it was happening while we were together but we were together for two years. How long?" Ahe sucked in a breath at the question, knowing that nothing she had to say would make her out to be the good guy. She knew she was the bad guy, she was one half of a whole evil pair except she was in a relationship, which made her the worst.

"A year." Zach felt like someone had shot him through the chest, the boy not wanting her to hold his hand anymore all while literally craving her touch. He looked down at the floor, managing to break the eye contact because of how devastating the news was. "We got into a fight and I went drinking with Katie on the beach and then I texted him. And it just never stopped. At least not for a whole year."

"Wow. Okay...that's a—that's a lot to take in. I just—"

"Listen Zach, I had a lot of time to reflect, a lot of time to really think about it. I don't ever expect you to forgive me, and I know I can never make it up to you. I lied and I cheated and I was terrible to you and I was mean to you and I ridiculed you for things that I had no right to be angry about. And on top of all of that I left you...I left you in the dust and I didn't even think about it. But I need you to hear me when I say—" She sucked in a shaky breath, kneeling in front of him and letting her heart guide the words she said. "—I have never been more sorry for something before in my life. And I will spend the rest of forever trying to make it up to you because you have done nothing but be good to me. You've been my best friend since we were kids and I thought I was okay with losing that but the universe showed me that I was in no way prepared."

Zach had tears in his eyes as he looked down at her, June returning the same look. The pain and hurt was unable to be hidden anymore, and he felt like someone had reached into his chest and gripped both of his lungs, constricting the air and making it hard to breathe. He had waited for this moment, he had dreamt of it too and he looked far down deep into himself to see if he could actually forgive her. Because at the end of the day she had needed up being the bad guy, not him. And she was actually taking accountability for it.

"I will never be able to make up for what I put you through, but I can do better. I swear to god I can do better Zach. I swear okay? Please just give me a chance. Just one more chance." He was unable to hold back any longer, pulling the girl up by her hand and into his arms. She cried onto his shoulder and he buried his face deep into her hair, letting the familiarity of it soothe him. He loved her so much, how could he find it in him to forgive her like this. How could he? He was in awe of her, in awe of how she could bring such depth into his heart and how she could somehow shovel herself out of the trench she had dug for herself. He was amazed by how hard this choice was because he knew that a year ago he would have never been able to even consider forgiving her. She had made him suffer, she had left him in the dust and pushed him into one of the worst period of his life and he was okay. They were okay. A nagging thought caught at him and he knew before he could decide he had to ask her, he had to know.

"One more question. One more okay?" She felt dread sink into her heart and she nodded into his shoulder, her eyes squeezing shut as she waited for it. "Did you ever actually love me?"

The words sent strains of sorrow through her veins and into her blood , and she felt heavy at the thought of it. She knew the answer of course, the girl pulling back and looking at him with more emotion than she had during their entire relationship.

"At one point I could see my entire life with you. I loved you. Yes, I did. And I still do. I told you that. I will always love you. It was real. Even if it didn't seem like it...it was real."

A breath of relief flew from his lips and he shook his head, looking down at the front of her t-shirt. He looked so conflicted, almost sick from it, and June was almost shaking in anticipation, knowing that whatever he said next would determine her future. His lips trembled and he looked back up at her, that look on her face once again reminding him that she was June...but she was no longer his.  And he was almost sure she never would be. This was closure.

"Alright. I'll forgive you." She closed her eyes, feeling the largest weight come off of her shoulders. It was like she could really fully breathe again, the guilt and the pain and the deceit finally being put to rest. She had bared her heart and soul, she had come clean, she felt liberated and free now that he had offered her his forgiveness. "But you better not run off again. At least not without calling."

"I won't. I won't." She laughed out through tears of relief, Zach sharing the laugh and feeling so much pain and hatred and frustration leave him. It felt good. Being in her presence felt fine for the first time in awhile, and he really appreciated it.

"Now sit down and tell me what the hell happened while you were gone. Actually,  start form the beginning...from the storm."