𝐍𝐎 𝐁𝐎𝐃𝐘, 𝐍𝐎 𝐂𝐑𝐈𝐌𝐄 - kiara carrera²

𝒙𝒊𝒊. 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒐𝒏

"I'm stuffed," said Tatum with a yawn, feeling the emptiness stirr in her stomach, but scared of what would happen if she ate anything. She'd only throw it all back up.

"Tate, you didn't even eat you hotdog," John B stated, his arms crossed with a challenging, raised eyebrow.

She rolled her eyes stubbornly and sat down, resting her back on the boat's metal walls, feeling the same morning exhaustion as she did the day before. Everyone was confused by her sudden change in behaviour, far too used to her extreme morning energy she somehow managed to have every single day.

Once they hit deck and the realness of it all started setting in, the group of teenagers began to climb out of their boat, each of them feeling victorious. They did it. They really fucking did it. All they had to do now was clear John B's name. That couldn't be too hard, right? Tatum, though - nobody knew how that was going to work out, and it terrified her friends to think of all the logical outcomes, each of them ending with her living behind some sort of cage for the rest of her life.

"We're gonna find some food," said Sarah confidently, a spring in her step as she jumped out of the boat with the help of Pope.

Before she and Barbie left, Kiara turned around to her girlfriend, holding out her hand. "You coming with?"

Tatum shook her head, taking her baby brother away from JJ's golden chest. "We're going to see Thomas," she informed the rest of the group with a small, sad smile. She and Pope met eyes for a moment, but he looked away instantly, only feeling worse about everything when he thought of the dead pouge he somehow fell in love with. If Thomas was still here, would he have still done what he did? Thomas probably would've killed him for doing it, hurting Tatum. Yet, the girl was clueless.

JJ shot him another glare, silently warning Pope that if he didn't tell her, he would. Tatum deserved to know the truth, they owed her that amount of respect, whether it hurt her or not.

"His ashes are -"

"I'm not going to see his ashes," she said before Pope could reveal the location. She shook her head with a short laugh. "He'd think that shit's gay as fuck."

Pope chuckled awkwardly and nodded, not sure where exactly she was going to go, but too frightened of the answer to question it. "All right, just don't let anyone see you."

She nodded enthusiastically and stepped out of the boat with a grin, holding her baby brother close to her chest.

"See you in a bit; I love you," said Kiara, pulling her close and sweetly kissing her on the lips.

"I love you, too."

As Tatum skipped away, JJ and John B choroused out simultaneous 'love you's and Sarah sung a kind 'goodbye'.

𑁍𑁍𑁍

"IT'S COLD IN HERE, ISN'T IT, T?"

Tatum shivered and held her brother closer as she stepped into the large, empty, seemingly abandoned warehouse. Images spun through her mind, fast, until they slowly transformed into videos.

She was standing right over it. The exact place where Thomas dropped for the very last time, his body outlined with dried-up, brown blood nobody had bothered to clean.

"Meet Tommy Too-Little, TJ," she said sweetly, rocking the baby in her arms, begging for her tears to crawl back behind her eyes. "He would've loved you, but he would've never admitted it - not until the very last moment, at least."