THE boat ride back to the OBX was a high like no other.

Leaning against the edge of the boat, wind whipping her hair about freely as the sun soaked into her skin, Eden listened and commented as Sarah and John B. retold what happened in Nassau, smiling and frowning at every detail. She was curious on what her two friends had been doing. 

The boat did indeed capsize at sea with the tropical storm, but John B. and Sarah managed to survive the wild waters—bracelets and all—and were saved by a cargo ship which happened to be near. On board were Nassau locals Terrance, Cleo and Stubbs, who offered to get them to the main land and help only to back stab them and inform the police about the two's fugitive status.

The two teens ran and ended up finding refuge in a luxury hotel roof, which Sarah managed to sneak them into. There John B. stole a cleaners phone and texted the Pogues that they were alive and in Nassau. They laid low on the roof until John B., low and behold, ran off in the night to find the gold in the Cameron's holiday house despite Sarah's clear words to not go—Eden isn't surprised. When did John B. ever listen? 

When John B. returned to the hotel, he was met by Cleo, who kidnapped Sarah along with Terrance and Stubbs. They threatened to turn the fugitive teens in, but the couple revealed the single gold bar they'd hung on to since finding it at Crain's house, to which a deal was made.  If Cleo and her comrades helped, they got a share of the gold in the Cameron's possession. 

They planned another heist to get the gold and appeared at the Cameron holiday house late at night to steal it from the safe it was hidden in. However, the Bahamian cops showed up after seeing suspicious activity from the security cameras, and after a close-call, John B. and Sarah are sent running again

With help from Wheezie Cameron, who was overjoyed and willing to do anything to get her older sister home, the group found out when Ward and Rafe would be coming to Nassau to move the gold. They set up another scheme, and when the two Cameron men showed up to re-locate the stolen treasure, the group was on the ready for a fight.

The criminals made up a story that there'd been a massive sinkhole, causing the road to be closed. Ward had tried to argue, but that only resulted with Terrance and Cleo pulling them from their truck and forcing them on their knees, holding them at gunpoint while Sarah and John B. came out to try and steal the gold from the back of the vehicle.

Ward caught the girl in the corner of his eye and tried to come close, to which John B. raised a gun. Terrance and Cleo tried to keep Ward away from his daughter, leaving Rafe unsupervised. Seeing the gun in John B.'s hand, he pulled out his firearm and fired.

He hit Sarah.

John B. and Sarah raced into Ward's truck and drove away, where Sarah realized the bullet in her abdomen. They called Terrance and he recommended a doctor, to which the couple drove to as quickly as possible, Sarah's state growing worse.

That's where John B. got quieter, claimed everything was more fuzzy, not really wanting to talk about what he thought were Sarah's last breaths, her last moments. He truly didn't feel like reliving the pain.

 Eden couldn't blame him for it, and made sure to tell him it was okay if he didn't want to get into detail—she's sure everyone understood got what happened next based off of the way the Routledge fell quiet. Sarah had died for a moment, but in that moment, it could have been forever....especially to John B. 

Sarah then took over most of the story telling, explaining that when she woke back up, she forced herself out of the doctor's house and demanded they go to where they agreed to meet the others. However, when they got there, the couple learned that the gold had been seized by the police. The police told the couple there'd been a shoot out, but soon recognized the two, thus a car chase with the cops broke out—Pogue style.

During said chase, John B. hit Cleo with their car and she joined them for the remainder of their time in Nassau, having bailed on Terrance and Stubbs after hearing gunfire. With her help, the couple laid low until night fall and escaped on the My Druthers Too—the current boat they were on. 

They'd ended up in Charleston to refuel, pissed off a couple of Kooks, and then ran into the Pogues while trying to out-run the angry people.

After Sarah and John B. finished their story, leaving JJ, Kie, Pope and Eden to summarize the goose-chase of a week they'd endured trying to clear his name and to find Peterkin's murder weapon.

Starting with how Pope suggested a little 'espionage', the group takes turns spilling each event as it went; The Bexley perks getting them information on Gavin, Pope wire-tapping the pilot—to which John B. applauded—Kiara threatening Gavin, the group finding out they were meeting at a construction site, watching a murder in the pouring rain, Pope's telephoto breaking—which ensured another argument before the four teens about who's fault it really was; Eden's team Kiara—Eden and Kie almost drowning to get the murder weapon back, Eden humbling Shoupe, Pope's weird wheat letter, traveling to Charleston in Heyward's truck, Pope's crazy driving skills, meeting Carla Limbrey and finally escaping her mansion so a car chase could ensure between them and her lackey, the car breaking down which led them running down said alley right into John B. and Sarah's bike. 

"Oh, and my mother has been working with Ward this entire time. Turns out, she knew the truth about your dad and about Peterkin but kept it a secret because Ward means more to her than me or my dad, clearly." Eden adds, once the retelling of the major story was finished, slightly frowning. It still hurt her to know her mother had back-stabbed her. 

John B's lips fall into a thin line, and Sarah's eyes narrow. "Of course." 

Kiara looks over at Pope, "Do you think Heyward would adopt us all? He's literally the only good parent between the six of us."

"Maybe if you found yourself helping around the shop more often." Pope lightly comments, shaking his head.

From where he was sitting, JJ spoke up groggily, "Anybody else starving? We need to grab some sort of breakfast."

"I would fucking kill for a Coconut Red Bull right now." Eden nods in agreement. She hadn't had much to eat within the past day, let alone the past week, if she's honest—between late nights spent convincing Shoupe or grabbing information and afternoons spent planning and driving, the Bexley hadn't had much time to stop for a snack or a meal. So, now that it was mentioned, Eden was pretty hungry.

"Well, I doubt we're gonna find your Red Bulls out in the open like this." John B. states as he slows the boat in front of a small dock. JJ began to tie the bowline as everyone else started to hop off the boat, motivated by hunger. Pope is off first and helps Kie, Sarah, and Eden with a hand.

"We're gonna find some food." Kiara states as she's helped off the boat. She nods towards Eden and Sarah, who follow after her. "You two down?"

Eden nods and waves towards the boys, who are left with the boat, "It's girl time. See you in a few minutes."

JJ looks at John B., "Girl time?" 

Eden slightly laughed as she jogged down the dock, catching up with Sarah and Kiara. The three girls scored the land nearby, searching for something edible. After about ten minutes, they managed to find themselves in a garden or some worn down clearing—she apologizes if it's someone's garden—scanning for food.

Sarah is putting a stalk of grass in her mouth, and Eden is looking at a wild flower when Kiara suddenly exclaims, "Jackpot!"

The two Kooks look back to see the Carrera girl holding a watermelon up above her head with a triumphant smile.

Eden smiles at the sight of the giant fruit and is quick to head towards where Kiara is, plucking out her own watermelon. The three girls then traveled towards some trees, smashing the fruits against the bark until they both broke in half, resulting in four pieces. Sarah and Kie split one while Eden had half of the other—she was going to bring the other half back to the boat.

Once broken, the girls found a shady area and sat down in the grass. Within seconds, they started digging into the sweet flesh of the fruit, fingers and arms growing sticky as the juice ran down their arms.

"Mmm." Sarah was clearly pleased with the meal they'd found. "Holy shit." 

Eden wiped her mouth of juice with the back of her palm, turning to look at the Cameron girl, "So...you really died in Nassau?"

Sarah nodded. "Yeah...twenty-four hours ago I was dead inside of a sketchy doctor's house. Crazy, right? But I'm trying not to really think about it. The fact that John B. and I got married helped me get my mind off of it, but—"

Eden practically spit out her watermelon.

"What?" the Bexley guffaws. Out of everything she expected to hear from Sarah Cameron, that certainly hadn't been on her list. 

Kiara shares a similar reaction and turns to the Cameron with furrowed brows, "Married?"

"I mean, it wasn't legal or anything.....we did it on the boat before getting to Charleston, but..." The blonde girl trails off, looking down at her watermelon. A meek smile appears on her face as she reminisces the night before. She tucks a piece of hair behind her ear and affirms, "Yeah."

Eden slowly nods, taking in the fact that her best friend was technically married.  She was shocked, not only because of how unexpected the reveal was, but because he was married to Sarah Cameron. If you told Eden back in early August that John B. married the Kook princess, she would have asked what drugs you were on and if she could have a hit. 

But, now? She could see it happening. Despite the short amount of time the two had known one another, John B. did love Sarah—more than she'd seen him love any other girlfriend or anyone, for that matter. His eyes lit up when she walked in, he always smiled when he brought her up.....it was clear as day. Love had walked in on John B., (as he liked to claim).

Besides, what else is better to do as wanted fugitives? Might as well get married while you still can.

Kiara too loses her surprised expression and instead begins to peer into how it went down. "How did John B. ask? Did he just get down on one knee like tradition or was he John B. about it?"

"I was actually the one who officially stated it. He'd mentioned it when we were on the cargo ship originally, but I had brushed him off." Sarah states, thinking back to how everything happened. "But then when we were heading back to Charleston, I just decided fuck it? Let's get married. I brought it up again and we got married on that boat with just the two of us."

Eden nodded; it sounded sweet and clearly, Sarah was pleased. Taking another piece of watermelon from the rind, the girl asks. "Did he give you a promise or, I guess, a wedding item of any kind? I taught his ass how to make paper rings when we were, like, thirteen." 

The Cameron brings her fingers to her neck, and Eden looks to see her fiddling with a strand of John B.'s bandanna. "He gave me a piece of his dad's bandanna."

"I guess he followed tradition." Eden shrugged. "It's not new per-say, but it's old, borrowed, and blue all in one." She sends the Cameron girl a genuine smile, "I'm happy for you guys."

"Thanks, Eden." Sarah appreciates her words before making eye contact with Kiara, a sly smirk playing across her lips. "Okay, enough about my love life, what about you, Kie? Am I crazy, or is there definitely something going on between you and Pope?"

Kiara talks through a bite of watermelon, sheepishly admitting, "Maybe."

Eden adds, "When we were searching the sewers for the gun, Pope brought trash bags because he knew she'd complain. Quite the romantic we have." 

Sarah knowingly looks at the Carrera, "So, it's not a no?"

"It's not a no." Kiara shrugs, clearly not pondering upon the subject any longer.

"Girl."

The three break into a small giggle before returning. Eden looked between the two girls—they hadn't been a trio for long, but she had missed getting to have true girl conversations. Sarah was easy to get along with, and she blended well with both the Carrera and Bexley. 

"JJ's probably complaining about how we're taking forever. That kid has no patience." the Bexley sighs, standing up from her spot in the grass. She picks up the other watermelon half in which she was going to bring back for herself and the others. "Get three more watermelons for them so they don't complain."

Kiara does as instructed, helping Sarah grab a watermelon before handing another one to Eden. The three girls walk back to the dock to see Pope, John B., and JJ where they left them, the three boys chatting away.

Though, they quickly fell silent when the girls approached.

Eden raises a brow, and Kie and Sarah also seem to share suspicion over the sudden silence—they were talking about something the girls, one or all, wouldn't like. 

"Hi." Sarah broke the small silence, looking at the boys—more specifically John B. "What ya'll talking about?"

John B. pauses, "Uh.....fishing."

"Dropping lures." JJ continues, throwing his head back to look at the girls while he played into what his friend had said, "That's that, you know?" 

Sarah pursed her lips, "Okay."

John B. looks back at Eden, "Hey, Eden, is that my shirt?"

"Nice way to divert the attention, buddy." Eden rolls her eyes before handing her watermelon towards the blonde boy. When she thought John B. had died, she had gone through his clothes and taken some. "But yeah, maybe it is. Don't expect it back."

"That's what I get for dying."

JJ looks towards the Bexley and asks, "Need help?"

"Well, I'm handing the watermelon directly to you, so maybe." the Bexley retorts, earning the middle fingers from JJ before the boy did as she requested and took the watermelon from her grasp. 

JJ holds the fruit, "Goodness gracious."

Pope looks at the three girls and their fruit, "What's that, now?"

"We got breakfast." Kie smiled, holding her melon up.

"Mother Eden returns, feeding her family." Eden dryly comments, handing the watermelon half she still had in her grasp over to John B.

Once situated with their meal of watermelon, the group were off yet again, continuing to steer through the marsh. The boat was once more filled with laughter and stories and just conversation—it felt nice to say anything with John B. and Sarah—as they shared the three and a half melons.

Slowly, the Chateau came into view of the Pogues. It was eroded from the storm that Sarah and John B. 'died' in,  and had been untouched since Kie, JJ, Pope, and Eden made the headstone for the Routledge, sitting quietly within the marsh waiting for it's inhabitants to return. Waiting to become a home rather than a house again.

A fond smile appeared on John B.'s lips at the sight of his place, "There she is."

"Bet it's good to see her old bones, right?" JJ comments. He moves forward to pat his best friend on the back with a smirk, "Welcome home, guys."

Eden smiles at the old house. It was more of a home than her place had ever been—it was somewhere full of memory, laughter, smiles, family—and having to give that all up after John B. and Sarah had been rather hard for Eden. Instead of waking up on the Chateau couch to JJ's soft snores, she was waking up to her mother drawing her curtains telling her to do something productive. Instead of going to the Chateau after a hard day to loosen and relax with her friends, she had to return to her house to listen to her mother tell her to get over whatever had happened and try to look happier.

So, she couldn't help but smile at the run-down house. Her home was back.

John B. round the dock in front of the Chateau and JJ tied off the boat, the others grabbing their bags and items from the back. The six teens walked off the My Druthers Too, looking at the house with content expressions. 

"You know, I gotta be honest, not exactly looking forward to a check-in at home." Kiara's lips form a tight line, knowing now that she was back home, a return to the Carrera house was necessary. Now that they were back in the OBX, the high had ended, and reality started to seep back into every teen. "My parents probably already arranged my funeral."

Eden frowns. She too would have to go back home, not only to make it known that she wasn't dead, but to ultimately confront her mother that she knew everything. "I'm not really looking forward to returning to my house either. I stole my dad's wallet  and cards and I really don't feel like talking to Isla after finding out she knew everything so...."

"I also predict unpleasantries at the Heyward household after I left the truck in Charleston." Pope dryly comments, frowning at the thought of reporting home to hear his father's scolding.

John B. gives a small hum at the different situations of his friends.

"No one knows we're here, right?" JJ looked between his friends, eyes narrowing. Eden could see an idea playing around in his mind based on his expression, a sprinkle of mischievous behind his blue eyes.  "And you three aren't gonna get in any more trouble for showing up twelve hours later. Am I right, or am I right?"

Pope can sense an idea coming from his friend and reluctantly states, "Well, you're not wrong."

"So, that means we have twelve hours to do whatever we want." JJ smiles brightly, looking at all of his friends enthusiastically. "Huh? A little Pogue fellowship. How does that sound?"

Sarah is quick to shake her head but John B. chimes in with a smile, "Let the shit hit the fan tomorrow. Come on." 

"Yeah!" 

 "The cops could be looking for us. It could be really stupid." Sarah states from where she leaned against the wooden railing, an expression of unsure etched on her features.

"Sarah Cameron." the Maybank smirks, approaching the Kook. "You've heard of my philosophy, right?"

Amused, Sarah shakes her head. "No."

Eden rolled her eyes and began to mouth the familiar phrase—Pope, John B. and Kie mimicking as well—as JJ repeated it to Sarah, "Stupid things have good outcomes all the time." 

Sarah smiled and that was enough approval for JJ to smile again. He then turned around to Eden, working his way back into the old habit of getting her approval for group decisions—when Eden said yes, it was yes. When she said no, it was no. "Eden? Would her majesty like to give the final statement?"

Was throwing a party rather stupid of them to be doing now? Yes. Eden knew it was risky to be chilling around the Chateau, let alone partying freely. Cops could be parked nearby, someone could spot John B. and Sarah......but, the Bexley didn't want to go home. She didn't want to face her home problems, or come back to the reality that John B. was still a wanted murderer who if seen would get in trouble. 

She wanted to have one night with her friends. One night where they forgot about their problems, forgot about their situation and were just teenagers. Eden Bexley wanted a single night to soak in the fact that her family was back.

So, Eden smiled and looked back at the blonde boy. "Let's fucking party."

"Well, you heard Eden! Let's go get some beer!"

mara's misc!

and that's the final chapter from me of 2023!! we started the year with ss and we're ending it with ss too....

bc im a sap im gonna give a little new years spiel for this fic! i just want to thank everyone who's viewed, commented, or merely seen this fic! summertime sadness has been a big part of my year and i really love writing for eden—she's overturned my st fic as my main motivation point—so i'm so glad to see that others also enjoy her.  

i managed to get through the entirety of s1 and halfway through s2 in a year, which is pretty darn great. 

because i'm in the mindset of thanks, i think a big big big thanks is due to my favorite person mvybanksss!! (the girl you're probably sick of seeing being tagged below or in the comments). 

kensie is honestly the summertime sadness saving grace (or maybe it's midsummers. guess we'll never know). starting around chapter 10-ish, i hit a real motivation low for this series and was going months letting this book collect dust. but then the lovely kensie appeared and asked me to update (we'd never spoken, other than the comments she'd left on ss).

and so a revolution began.

throughout the year, kensie has been someone who i can rant to about obx, my life, ss, send random tiktoks too and literally talk to about anything that comes into mind. she's been there to ask for updates to keep me on a schedule, (in return for an update from her own books, which i definitely recommend!!), and to just laugh with. if i'm honest, she's one of my closest friends, even tho we talk through a computer screen.

she's gotten eden through the year, and deserves all the thank yous

so ty kensie for sticking with my random ass for this year and becoming one, if not my favorite person on here. ilysm and am excited to see the chaos, chateau roasts, john b appreciation posts, cannon comments and random tiktoks 2024 brings for us

we're a dynamic duo tbh. we cannot be stopped.

id also like to thank GhostWriterGirl-1, who while not having watched obx decided to read this fic! she is #1 eden defender as well as my #1 fan (go check out her stories, i 100% recommend them <33). i met her through her commenting spree on my stranger things fanfics and now she's one of my mutuals and biggest supporters. 

so, tysm ghost for reading this story despite being unaware of the plot as well as for all your genuine comments <3 excited to see what 2024 brings for us and our stories!!

okay enough sap. this chapter was fun to write.

happy new year bitches. see ya'll in 2024 with chapter 39 <3