Hi! Can't believe I'm saying this but... This is the final chapter guys. The last one! Woah... can't believe we got there so fast! But then I did manage to keep to my updating schedule perfectly! Two updates on the dot every Wednesday and Friday! So happy about that! ^.^

Hope you enjoy this final bit!

Much love,

Robin

*

The Last Meeting

After a big breakfast and a health checkup courtesy of Matt's mom, we dispersed to our various homes for a change of clothes and a nap. After that, we all reconvened to the Stonefish. Matt had spent some time discussing what had happened with his father, older brother, Noah, and his two navy buddies. That is after he'd gotten over his consternation at finding out that Fletcher was a supernatural creature just like him and a dragon to boot.

Honestly, at this point I was hardly surprised myself, it seemed like these days I was finding a supe under every rock and stone. Sure, a dragon was a bit much, I mean? How did that work? A dragon had so much more mass! Where did it all go when he became human? I'd asked Fletcher and he'd laughed, flexed his massive bicep, and declared, "Right here sweetheart." So, that line of questioning was clearly a bust, Fletcher probably didn't know himself.

I felt bad for Noah, who had to be helped by Thorne into the bar, awkwardly hopping on one leg. He didn't seem to like drawing attention to his injury and got flustered every time someone tried to help him. But he easily took the lead once we'd all settled into the bar, piled into the various booths. Even George was there but he'd tried to take the spot furthest away from everyone, a barstool all by itself, and then was clearly annoyed when Mitch and Dev dragged their own seats over to flank him.

"Okay, here's the deal, we had a party on the island and we haven't seen or heard hide nor hair of the Corenths. Right?" Noah demanded, eyeing the McLaren patriarch once when he realized he might have usurped a position of authority he shouldn't have. Thomas however gave the guy a nod and then settled in next to his wife and curled his arm around her shoulders.

"What about our injuries? How do we explain those?" Orly asked, "Not to mention your busted truck?" But Noah had an answer ready, "We crashed, that's what happened, we stick as close to the truth as we can. We got it towed remember? Mariana and Clara took care of that." The women nodded, "The tow company won't ask questions. I know them." Clara declared this with a confident look.

"That's settled then, isn't it? There's nothing else to say. It's not very likely they'll come round to ask us questions regardless. Their ship is drifting off the coast, empty. The older Corenths are locked up, but I doubt they'll say a single thing." Noah gave a decisive nod at his final words, moved as if he wanted to get up, and then with a defeated sigh sank back down.

"What about Matt and Thorne defusing the bomb?" I asked, I had no idea if they'd been seen or talked to by the coastguard. Thorne made an expansive gesture, "They talked to me, but they never saw Matt." After which Matt leaned into me and loudly whispered, "What he means to say is, he talked to the press and is now a minor celebrity."

That broke some of the serious tension in the room and after some chuckles, people scattered to get a drink and unwind. As it was a Monday evening, the bar was closed so we had the place to ourselves.

I got up and stretched before suggesting to Matt we take a walk along the beach, I wasn't sure I was fit for company yet. I was still struggling to come to terms with what had happened and was considering asking Matt for that number of the therapist he liked after all. Maybe it would be smart to process some of this with the help of a professional.

We had just headed outside, hand-in-hand, when I spotted Jamie getting out of a car in the parking lot. She was with some guy I had never seen before, though he was dressed to the nines, including a glittering and rather ostentatious gold watch on his tanned wrist. They matched so I hoped that meant she was seeing him and done bothering me.

That hope was quickly squashed when she saw Matt and me, she said something to the guy with her and then strutted our way in her short black dress. Only now did I notice that she was with a group of people, some of them her friends from school and some clearly their dates. They'd gotten out of various cars and like a cliché, just lined up behind her and faced off towards me.

Though I felt the tension go up in Matt's posture at my side, he stopped walking and stayed at my side when I stopped and simply looked at the approaching supposed Miss Popular. Fine, let's face her one final time. If she couldn't let things go then I wasn't about to deny her a final confrontation. I wasn't scared of a pathetic scrawny chick who thought she was better than everyone else.

"Dani, you bitch," Jamie started in with the moment she got near enough. "You have caused so much trouble for me! How hard is it for you to understand that this is my town and you don't get to interfere!" My eyebrows shot up, "Your town? Last I checked it wasn't mayor Jamie now was it?" This girl was absurd, why was she so hung up on a rivalry when I had never started it in the first place? I'd only fought back every time she tried something, I hadn't rolled over for her as she wanted me to, that didn't mean I was going out of my way to mess things up for her, she did that all on her own.

Jamie flicked her long blonde hair over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes at me. "You know what I mean, don't be obtuse. That means dense in case you didn't know." The guy she was with had stepped up at her side and slung his arm around her shoulders, sending me an angry glare as if I'd done something to piss him off too.

"I know what obtuse means Jamie," I said, forcing myself to sound calm and patient when at this point I was getting really fed up with this stupid feud of hers. "I think it applies more to you than me though, how hard is it to understand I want nothing of what you have? That you can have your spot in the limelight and your town. I'm happy with what I got, why can't you be?"

Matt mirrored the other guy's posture, slinging his tattooed arm around my own shoulders. Honestly, when comparing the two, I could see why Jamie was jealous. Matt was a total bad boy, with his sleeveless shirt snug enough to show off his muscular build and tattoos. While Jamies guy was in a neat pale blue polo and beige shorts and expensive leather loafers. He had that polished gym look but it just didn't measure up in raw sex appeal or danger vibes.

"Happy with what I've got? You mean my ruined reputation after that nasty prank of yours? Or the strain you caused between my parents and me with your tattling and manipulation?" Jamie demanded and she dared to stick out a finger and poke it at my chest, a sharp green nail tipping it that caught me right in the sternum. It actually hurt a little but it was a pretty pathetic attempt at intimidation, mostly because her litany of complaints was so stupid, she'd caused all those things herself.

I laughed, threw my head back, and just laughed. "Are you hearing yourself? How did I start this when you fucking stranded me on Sharkfell Island while pretending to be my friend? All I did was fight back and if you can't stand the consequences, that's your own damn problem. Not mine. Now leave me the hell alone, I'm done dealing with your shit and just as soon prefer never to see you again. I'm sure we can agree that sentiment is mutual?"

She made an angry hissing noise like a cat but then tipped up her chin and gave me a cool haughty look. "I can agree to that if you leave my town." As if she had any right to the place, no was I letting her run me out. She didn't have the power to scare me that way.

"I'm not leaving my home Jamie, not for anyone. Besides, aren't we all heading out to uni in the coming months? We never have to run into each other again. Seriously, you're the only one worked up about this. How hard is it to understand that I don't care about you!"

Now Matt made a snorting sound, "That's exactly the problem here I'd say. She doesn't like that she couldn't make you care and couldn't make you small." He sounded positively proud as he said that and when Jamie made a weird sound in the back of her throat he turned her way and coolly said, "Maybe you should see a therapist about that. It's not a healthy obsession. Come on Dani darling, let's go."

And under the stunned silence of Jamie and the sort of confused and angry chattering of her pose, we turned to continue our walk. Only to pause in surprise when we discovered that Fletcher, Noah, and Thorne had lined up behind us. Thorne was explaining to the others in low tones what had happened and that was causing Fletcher to laugh uproariously.

"Let's sit out on the terrace with everyone," I suggested, "Make it clear she's not making me leave." And Noah really needed to stay off his leg. He was standing tall, making it look like he was fine, you couldn't tell his leg was splinted and bandaged underneath the baggy jeans he wore. I'd seen his hesitation inside though.

When we gathered around a table and sat, Jamie and her group of friends stood and talked angrily among themselves for a while. With Jamie gesturing our way, though it looked like her boyfriend, or whatever he was, was trying to talk some sense into her.

"Did you seriously blow up an ink bomb in her face?" Fletch asked, leaning over the table my way with a sparkle in his dark eyes. When I eyed Noah, the police officer smirked and raised his hands, "Hey, after last night, I'm not tattling on you, honey. Ever."

With a laugh I nodded, "Yeah, and then I got stuck in the Moonfell and the rest is history." I raised my head to look at Matt and we shared a soft smile. "You!" I said with a grin and he responded, "Yes me darling, want to go home and get out of those clothes?" he waggled his brows. Reminding me of our first interaction like that, where he'd 'dried' my clothing on his supposedly warm boat engine and 'didn't' sneak a peek.

Under the chorus of our laughter and the catcalls from the guys, Matt and I hurried into the Stonefish and upstairs to his apartment. With a last look over my shoulder I saw Jamie give up at long last and with a defeated look get back into a car with her date. I felt light and happy at that moment and when Matt took me in his arms, I knew that together we could handle whatever got thrown at us, and we'd always come out stronger.

The end.

*

So did you guys like it? Don't worry! I'm still going to write and post an epilogue for next week, give you guys a look into the future and so you can see how Matt and Dani are doing. ^.^

Have a great weekend!

Much love,

Robin