The 6th Cameron (An Outer Banks Fanfic)

2x7 'The Bonfire'

After Ward's death, everything changed. The people around me changed, the atmosphere changed. Hell, even the whole of Kildare changed. Me however, I stayed the same. Relatively. Once the police confirmed Ward's death devastation hit my family. My mom was in bits, Wheezie was devastated and even Sarah was heartbroken. I wasn't any of those things. I was neutral. I didn't cry, but I didn't laugh either. If I ever shed a tear it wouldn't be for him, it would be for my family. Later on, after the explosion, the cops dragged the waters of Outer Banks to see if Ward's body was anywhere to be found. As expected, they found nothing. He had been blown to bits in the explosion after all. Why he'd done it, the police didn't know. Maybe he'd had a plan and it had gone wrong. Maybe he'd wanted to jump off the boat but didn't get off I'm time. Or maybe, like I thought, he'd took the cowards way out. He'd had enough of everything and everyone and decided to end it, there and then. Leaving his family to pick up the pieces in consuming grief. The night of the explosion, after spending time with my family, the first place I felt myself going to was Topper's. I needed to see him, and get a few things out "Come in" Topper called as I knocked on the door of his boat. I stepped inside and a surprised look appeared on his face when he saw me "Holly, hey, I thought you'd be at home with your mom?" I shut the boat door, the breeze flowing out "I was but I just needed to get away" Topper smiled at me, warmly "Of course, I get it, you know I'm always here for you" I sat down on the couch, next to him. I caught a flash of my reflection in the TV, my hair was sticking up and my face was as white as a ghost. I looked away quickly "How's your mom?" Topper asked. I shrugged "Devastated, it's like she doesn't even believe it happened like we're stuck in some nightmare" I turned to Topper "I think she's finally cracked, Top, I don't think she's not okay anymore" He stroked my hair as I poured out "And Wheezie, I mean losing her dad at such a young age? Its just horrific" Topper nodded "I know" I dug my fingernails deep into my palms as a tear streamed down my cheek. Unexpectedly, I burst out crying "I knew about it Top, everything" He sat up, a soft expression on his face, his arm around my back "I knew that Rafe killed Peterkin and I knew about Big John and Ward and I didn't say anything, I just kept it in the whole time and it was eating away at me!" I feel into Topper's hug and his wrapped his arms around me "I could've said something but I wanted to protect my family, but maybe if I had Ward wouldn't be dead and none of this would've happened!" I continued sobbing on his shoulder. Topper pulled me off his shoulder and held the sides of my face, looking into my eyes "Hey you can't think like that, okay? This is Ward and Rafe's fault, nobody else's!" I stared back at him, still crying "I just don't know anymore Top everything's just SO SHITTY!" I fell back on the couch and Topper wrapped his arms around my again "Shh, it's okay" He said, kissing my forehead repetitively "It's okay" He soothed. After a few minutes, the tears stopped, but Topper still continued stroking my hair and whispering calming thoughts into my ear. He was the only person in the entire world that actually got me. I moved my hands up to my face, pulling a strand of my hair behind my ears. As I did so, Topper took hold of my hand, studying it. His eyes grew wide as he noticed the bloody crescent moons carved onto my palm. Fuck, he wasn't supposed to see them. He stared at me, the calm expression still on his face "Did you do this?" He quizzed, his voice quiet and understanding. I nodded straight away, unable to fathom the words to say anything. He didn't respond either, but reached out and took both of my hands. He lifted them up and planted a kiss on the middle of my knuckles. He'd seen my scars, and he'd warmed to them. He wasn't mad at me. He moved back on the couch and we lay down, me on his arm. He slipped his hand into mine "You can stay here for tonight or for as long as you like, if you want?" I stopped gazing at the ceiling and looked up at my boyfriend "Thanks but my mom needs me, I'm gonna head home" He smiled "Okay, but could you stay here for just a moment longer? It feels nice" I snuggled into him more "It does"

Days passed and suddenly, the whole town seemed to have forgotten about Ward's death. Everyone used to worship Ward Cameron, but now everytime someone mentioned him they spat on his name. It wasn't just him they did it too either, it was my whole family. Ward had been all of the news recently, causing a pariah in Kildare. Honestly, that wasn't even the worst thing. Ward had definitely planned to kill himself because moments before he'd boarded The Druthers, he'd recorded and left a video for the police. My mom had found it in his office, the day after his death. She'd been too upset to watch it, so she simply handed it into the police. I still didn't know what the video had contained days later but Ward must've said something that let Rafe off the hook. He'd been realised. My mom and I were shook when he'd returned home, sweating and full of anger. Just when we'd thought we were rid of him, he goes and gets realised. He was back home for good now, and to make matters worse he was now the man of the house. Fucking great, right? Ward's funeral was only a small ceremony, consisting of only the five of us. My mom wanted it to be kept private and enclosed. After all it wasn't much of a funeral, there was no body to bury. When we got home, my mom said it was time we watched the video the police had given us back. She said she couldn't bare to watch it alone, so we all sat down to watch it, even Wheezie. My mom held her hand shakily over the keypad. I think she was too scared to press it. I put my hand on her shoulder "Mom?" she inhaled and pressed the video so it began playing. The video showed Ward, sat there in his office chair, probably sometime when I was in my room, right before I'd called Topper. He looked upset and drained. I shivered at the thought of seeing my dead step father again. Ward took a deep breath, and started "A great man once that if you're born poor, that's not your fault, but if you die poor, well that's on you" "I think, in the end, it was my fear of going back, of losing everything I have, that made me lose sight of everything I am....everything I wanted to be" I shifted in my seat as Ward stared into my soul, his eyes wife and sad "I killed Big John Routledge" A truth, one that we already knew "I murdered Sheriff Peterkin" A lie. So that's how Rafe had gotten out. Ward had falsely confessed to Peterkin's murder, letting him off the hook. The cops must've now thought that Rafe's fingerprints were on the gun because he'd handled it after his father had shot it, when really Rafe's fingerprints were on it because he was a cold blooded murderer. Now he was out in the world, a wild bear realised from its cage "I shot Gavin Barnstead" A truth, I presumed unless Rafe had committed a second murder. This, we hadn't known about, unless my mom did. If she had I certainly wasn't going to pester her about it now "I know there's nothing I can do to ease the pain I've caused" He was right there, he'd killed my family with pain "Many will say I took the easy way out, but I leave this world with the terrible pain of knowing that I leave the pain of my family, shattered by grief, broken by my sins" I looked around the table, Sarah, Rafe, Wheezie. My mom. They were all broken. Devastated. Traumatised. All Ward's fault. So no you pathetic son of a bitch. I will not forgive you. Never, "I just pray that you understand that-" He paused for a second, trying not to cry "I can't go on ruining your lives anymore, this had to end" "To all of you I leave my estate, to divided equally, and I leave a love deeper than I could ever express" He closed his eyes "Take care of each other" Suddenly the video came to a pause, Ward's face still frozen on the screen. Nobody talked. Just silence. I looked around at my family, my step sisters, my step brother, my mom. They were all crying in some way. Me however, I wasn't. I just stared into space, deeply upset about what Ward had inflicted, but not about his death. I hadn't cried a tear for him and I didn't think I ever would. Rafe sipped his glass of bourbon and walked off into the back yard. Then, Wheezie sat up from next to me, my arm still placed on her and got up, running off. Sarah and my mom stayed put. Sarah sniffed and closed the screen of the laptop shut, aggressively. She was sick of seeing Ward's face, just like me. Much to our luck, we would never have to see it again.