CHAPTER SIXTEEN
SAFE
There was a helicopter waiting for the group, one that must've been called for them by whomever Clair had been talking to on the phone previously in the night, and it took them back to main land, which was then that Loren was able to finally breath in a breath of fresh air. The group were placed in a waiting bay to be ticked off the registry and checked on their vitals.
There, Loren was checked in with a medic to get her hand properly cleaned up and bandaged, he medic telling her that whomever cleaned her hand previously did a horrible job as there was glass still left inside. She only nodded and smiled to Owen who watched from afar before she was free to go and helped her find her way back to her family.
Gray had laid with his head on Clair's lap whom sat on the ground while Loren moved towards Zach whom had his head in his hands. As he noticed Loren's presence infront of him, he looked up and she could see the tears that wheeled in his eyes, this caused her too to break down and start to cry.
Loren had only seen Zach cry on a few occasions, it wasn't normal for him to do so, which is what made this moment all the more serial as they realised that they had survived an attack where few didn't survive and yet they were closer to the action then most visitors. Loren fell in front of the boy and knelt down and she wrapped her arms tightly around his shoulders, him doing the same back as they cried together, both refusing to let go.
It took them a good hour till they got to the point where no one felt like crying, everyone sitting in an eerie silence while they waited for their parents. Loren sat in Zach's lap, the boys arms wrapped tighter around her while she cradled her stinging hand to her chest.
"So what now?" She asked in barely a whisper, voice croaky from all the crying.
"What do you mean?" he asked resting his forehead on top of her head, his arms wrapping around her own tighter in a comforting way.
"You know what I mean, what about us?" She elaborated more in-depth.
"Well, I guess us is no longer just friends, is it?" It came across as a joke but she could hear the hopeful tone mixed within the words. It was strange that it took almost being eaten for her to get the courage to kiss him and for Zach to realise that he liked his bestfriend as more then just a friend. "What about girlfriend." He smiled softly at the girl, the word itself making him feel happy, the happiest he's been all day.
"Zoran forever!" Gray groggily whispered excitedly causing both Zach and Loren to cringe at the boys childish behaviour. Clair let out a hearty laugh, sort of understanding what the boy meant, seeing it as a younger generational thing.
"Oh, god no! Is that really our names put together?" She asked, having actually never done so before. The only thing she had ever thought of was making her last name Mitchell. Some heart stricken teenager she was.
"I think it's quite fitting," Clair smiled encouragingly at the young boy. Loren and Zach shared a confused look, not understanding how it could be fitting but they made a mental note to look up the name later to see what it meant. A gasp coming from Clair tore the two elder teens away from each other as they looked towards the woman. "Get up, it's your parents. Oh, God, it's your parents."
Across the ways, Loren caught sight of Mr and Mrs Mitchell along with her father and a young teen boy about her and Zach's age frantically looking around the crowds of people for their own family.
"Dad!" Loren yelled out at the man before her. He didn't even say anything to her, all he could do was embrace his daughter in the biggest, softest bear hug he could muster, he didn't know what he'd do if he lost his daughter as well. It's only been a day but boy did she miss her father! "Dad I love you so, so much. Don't ever let me leave again!"
"I will never let you leave again, ever." He promised, letting out a chuckle before pulling away and whipping a few stray tears off her checks causing her to laugh and lean into her fathers comforting touch, "I love you, sweetheart." He whispered out, happy to see her alive. "Are you okay?" She nodded, only to be pulled away from her father and into another hug, though this hug was less comforting and more annoyingly sloppy, but she enjoyed it never the less.
"I swear to go if you ever leave me again, I'm going to sue your asses for neglect!" Cried Marcus as he pulled away from the girl with a frantic yet relived look in his eyes. "When you originally didn't message me back I thought you were just ignoring me or had bad reception, then I saw the news."
"The news?" She asked, confused.
"Yeah, I looked up Jurassic World and the first thing that popped up we're a bunch of news articles about dinosaurs running wild. I thought you died!"
"Hey, I'm okay. See!" She smiled, raising her arms and twirling around.
"Your hand says otherwise. He smiled looking down at the bloody bandage. "Did a dinosaur do that? Have you got a cool story to tell? Where's Zach? Is he okay." Loren only giggled at her friend as he continued asking multiple questions. As he rambled, her mind focused on Zach as he spoke to his parents, though his eyes met her own and he sent a small amused smile her way.
Loren also saw her father move off towards Clair and held her hand indearingly, thanking her for looking after his daughter and for getting Loren back home in one piece. After, the adults begun talking while Clair went off on her own, Zach came over and took Marcus' attention away from Loren and towards himself.
"Hey buddy!" Marcus laughed, giving Zach a big hug. Though Loren quickly broke the two friends apart as she hit Zach's shoulder with her good hand and pointed towards Clair whom was speaking to Owen.
"Look!" She pointed towards them. "We might get the kiss at the end of the story after all." Marcus turned towards the woman with a slight frown of confusion, they expected the two to kiss but as they watched in anticipation, it never happened.
"I guess there just wasn't meant to be a kiss at the end." Zach sighed, a little happy he didn't have to watch another awkward exchange between his Aunty and Owen. She looked down, a little disappointed her story didn't come true, however there was still one chance for that ending kiss, so she looked up to Zach with a twinkle in her eye.
"Says who?" Loren grabbed onto Zach's top with bother her hands, not bothering with the pain in one as she pulled his face down to meet her lips. The boy was taken back but he quickly melted into his second kiss of the night (morning?) before wrapping his arms around one of his bestfriends whom he realised he loved with all his heart.
Marcus let out a large gasp as everyone around them stared at the likely couple whom everyone had been making bets on for the passed five years. "Omg, I won. I won!" Marcus cried in victory as he turned towards Loren's father whom faked cried.
"I think Zach is the first guy she's ever kissed." He said joyfully causing Loren to pull away from Zach feeling embarrassed.
"DAD!" She cried, then turned towards Marcus, "You won what?"
"I bet an extra twenty that you guys were gonna confess on this trip. So hand over the cash." He smiled, turning towards the other adults who huffed and handed the teenager his winnings.
"Wait, I thought you liked Loren?" Zach questioned with confusion in his voice, having expected Marcus to be furious after their kiss.
"I did, but got over it pretty quickly after I noticed you both dancing around each other. God, it took so long." He sighed, patting his best friends shoulder before Zach took him into a hug.
"You're teaching a teen that it's okay to bet?" Loren asked her father as he handed the kid and fifty, then Gray added a fiver into the mix, "What the hell!"
"Also, you owe me that chocolate bar." Marcus smiled towards the two teens who's mouths opened wide as they turned to each other wondering what to say. A bashfully smile filled their faces as Zach rubbed his neck looking anywhere but his friend.
"The dinosaur ate it?" Zach tried, only for Marcus to huff upsettingly. Knowing that they had never bought it in the first place.