"How did you find me?" Ava spat.

The day had just barely begun but the Bayside hurricane had no intention of waiting. Lightning crackled throughout the darkest regions of clouds and even within the enclosed space inside the thick metal doors of Richie's jeep, the thunder was deafening. Somewhere, close to Bayside, the hurricane must have already been well underway. It was only a matter of time before the destruction arrived here.

Ava tried not to jump at the thunder's suddenness. She was sure she looked weak enough as is. Her hands were still shaking from the moment they left Marley alone in the sand and every time Richie glanced at her in the backseat through the rear view mirror, her eyes would instinctively flick away. It felt too strange to be looking at him, here, again.

She knew eventually he would come back and she'd have to face the music but in the past few weeks she had also grown accustomed to existing outside of him. She could put her phone on do not disturb, enter Jah-Jah's Jamaican Jerk Foods and suddenly Richie would disappear. For select moments of her day, the boy didn't exist. Now, dodging Richard O'Riley's gaze inside the Jeep his parents got him when he was sixteen, she realised how stupid all that was. She could run if she wanted but no matter how far she got Richard O'Riley would catch up to her again.

"How did you find me?" she repeated when no one answered her.

"Why did you sleep with him?" Richie fired back. His eyes found Ava in the rear view mirror and she looked away again. She felt Jeremy tense up beside her and looked out the window. "Guess neither of us are getting or answers then."

She was okay with that. It would be wrong of her to relive those moments with Marley and it would be wrong of her to express those moments to Richie. Either way, she was betraying a boy. But Ava DeLoughery could not sit there quietly either. When they got to Duncan's house and the jeep stopped she used the split moment of silence and awareness to say, "We shouldn't have left him there. He's alone and hurt."

"He'll survive," Duncan said, stepping out.

"It was still wrong."

Richie and Duncan exchanged goodbyes and as they waited for Duncan's figure to enter his house Richie said under his breath. "We're all dealing with the consequences of our actions right now. He'll get over it too."

Ava doubted that but she didn't try to correct him. She knew Marley a lot better than she should have and a part of her twisted when she considered the chances of him ever 'getting over it'. Marley Mason wasn't like them. He wasn't a result of his experiences, he was despite them.

She thought about Richie's words nonetheless. "Does that mean you'll get over it- what I did?"

"Eventually," he answered.

"And do you think I can forgive you? For coming here, hurting Marley and whisking me away like that. Like I'm your property."

"You're not my property," he said to her, angling his head around slightly, "but you do own many things that belong to me. So, I'll hurt anyone and I'll take you from anything that I think will destroy that. Do you understand me?"

Too well, she did. Ava DeLoughery sunk in the backseat and allowed his words to dry and harden on their own. She knew if she pried while wet, she'd get stuck and after enough time had passed they'd dry and lock her in forever. Like a fly caught in a cement web.

Eventually Richie drove off and they dropped Jeremy home next, the boy leaned over and promised her she'd be okay before telling Richie something low under his breath. When Jeremy made it inside, and it was just only Richie and Ava the thunder rolled.

The boy turned his torso around to face her. Nudging with his head he said, "Come, sit next to me."

"No."

"Ava."

"I'm not moving."

He sighed and shut off the jeep. In seconds his door was open and he came around to the backseat. He slid in next to her and shut the door. Ava DeLoughery was shaking her head.

"I should have brought you to Deja Blue, Ava. I missed you. I wasn't having any fun without you, really. I felt...off."

She turned to him finally. "That name is so corny. Your parents should really change it."

He smiled at her because he knew she would say that and she smiled back because she couldn't help it. She rolled her eyes. "You're stupid." The two of them shared something invisible to the naked eye. It was silent yet strong and it was the reason they seemed to keep snapping back into place after being removed from each other for too long. But it wasn't so perfect that Ava couldn't frown at him too.

Richard O'Riley saw it and attempted to stop her. "I made a mistake. I shouldn't have left you here. We tried having fun but nothing stuck. That's why I decided to come back early. I couldn't stay away from you any longer."

"Why'd you break up with me in the first place?"

"I don't know."

"You didn't have to fight him."

"He started it."

She blinked at him, wordlessly.

"Okay, I'm sorry. I got mad," he cupped her face with his palm, "But can you blame me? I was losing my mind over you and came back searching for you only to hear you were on the beach. With him. It didn't seem fair."

Ava let her eyes fall. "It didn't seem fair that you left me here alone," she answered.

"I know. From now on, let's try to be fair to each other." Richard O'Riley gently lifted her head so their eyes would meet. They honed in on each other for a few stretched thin moments and just like that, everything fell back into place.

She hated to think it but, whoever said distance makes the heart grow fonder, was right.

*

Whoever said distance makes the heart grow fonder was right.

Because while Marley Mason was staring up at the dark sky with bruises scattered up and around his body he felt Ava Marley's retreat tugging harder on his heart the further she went away from him. The new boy lied there long enough until he could feel the wet sand turn quick and attempt to completely pull him under.

He waited for whatever rope she had bounded him and her with to snap, but it never did. The drizzle halted and began again twice before he finally decided to cut the thing himself and stand up. Marley Mason changed into his clothes from last night, ignoring the irony of his appearance and packed everything else up in his bag. Then, he went home, alone.

Bayside's hurricane slowly crept behind him.

When he entered his house, Tafari Marley was there. The man called out to his son and Marley paused. Marley turned just enough to the right to hide the dried blood.

"You're back late," Tafari commented. When Tafari noticed Marley's expression didn't change, he tried again. "Did you have fun?"

Marley nodded. "Yeah," he lied.

Tafari made a sound as he watched Marley leave his field of vision. "We might have to board up," he called out, "The hurricane's almost here and we don't want to lose anything."

Marley grimaced. Too late.

Another week, another chapter!

This week's chapters is dedicated to because in the last poem he left a comment that made my day fr. It was such a blessing to read. Thank you! Remember, readers, if you and , the next dedication could be you!

Okay, I'm currently out but talk to me in the comments! What do you think about this week's chapter? Also if you're not subscribed to my blog yet you should definitely consider it because over there we're talking about the creative process of Reflecting, Refocusing and Rebuilding AND we get into Rupi Kaur being titled the Writer Of The Decade! Link is in my bio!