you're on your own, kid... obx

051. homeless orphans

"Welcome to the Outer Banks, Cleo." Pope says as the group walk along the dock. They dropped Sarah off at the chateau.

"You're crazy, Pope." Cleo tells him. "Your parents are not going to appreciate me shacking up."

"Of course they will. Are you kidding? Heyward might put you to work, but we could always use the help." Pope says.

"I don't know, man. You sure?" Cleo asks.

"Yeah, look, he might squawk a little  bit, but let me talk to him. We'll figure it out." Pope promises.

~ ~ ~

"This is me." Kie says as they walk up to her house. "Home sweet home." She opens the gate, all of them following her inside.

"Damn, Kiara. You live here?" Cleo asks. "This is like the White House, man."

"How bad do you think it's gonna be?" Pope asks as they stand at the bottom of the stairs.

"Scale of one to ten? Twenty." Kie says.

"Do you want us to hold up here?" Cleo asks.

"No. I... I gotta take this. Thanks for walking me." Kie says, going up to her porch while the others leave.

"You want us to walk you home?" Zack asks Brooklyn.

"Hmm? Oh, no, I-I'm good. Short-ish trip, you guys should all... go home. I'll be fine." Brooklyn says.

Erin gives the blonde girl a quick hug before leaving.

+++

Erin takes a deep breath as she walks up to her house. She opens the door and goes inside, walking around until she finds her brother sitting at the counter and eating pizza rolls.

Jack's eyes widen when he sees his sister.

"Hey, Jacky." Erin softly smiles.

"Holy, crap. Mom!" Jack yells while running to Erin and crashing into her with a hug. Erin tightly hugs him back.

"I missed you so much." Erin mutters.

"I missed you, too. I'll never admit that again, though." Jack says making Erin laugh. "Mom!"

"What? What? Stop screaming, Ja--" Lillian freezes at the sight of her daughter in the house. "Erin?"

"Hi, mom." Erin's voice is soft as she smiles at her mom.

"Oh, my God." Lillian whispers, rushing over to her. She cups her daughter's face, glancing over her appearance. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I'm okay. I'm okay." Erin assures. "I'm so sorry, mommy. I'm sorry." She sniffles as Lillian pulls her into a hug. Erin tightly hugs her mom back, not even caring that the hug is making it hard to breathe.

+++

JJ and Zack trudge to their house, slowing down when they see the eviction notice on the front door and all the yellow tape.

"Shit." Zack whispers, the two going up to the house.

JJ attempts to open the door, but it doesn't budge.

After finding a window in the kitchen to open, the two brothers climb through and get inside.

JJ picks up a beer can, shaking it, but chucks it when he finds it empty.

Walking around, JJ finds an unopened beer can on a table. Sitting on the couch, he pops it open. He picks up a bottle of pills off the coffee table. He throws it across the room, sitting back on the couch and putting his feet up on table.