Train ticket.

Suicide.

That's how Ivory died. The cops found a suicidal note in one of her suitcases that she hasn't yet unpacked. Apparently she was really really unhappy which neither Daphne or Sydney believed but then the cops searched Silverbrook which is a cliff in Faircoast and that's where they found Ivory's purse, they reckon that's where she jumped off. And that explains how she washed up on the beach. The girls and Xavier got their drug results back and they had found drugs in their system. They think someone had accidentally spiked the punch at the bonfire which wouldn't be the first according to Xavier or they all willingly took the drugs in their attempt to rebel for the summer. 

Ivory didn't have any of it in her blood though. 

Everyone seems to be very glad that the cops found the letter before they cut Ivory's body open to find her cause of death and the girls were in utter denial for the first few days but seemed to have accepted it at Ivory's funeral days later. It wasn't a big one but that didn't stop the paparazzi from trying to sneak in -seriously, does that people not have any shame?- Sydney cried freely at the funeral but Daphne was stone faced, only for her to break down later when the people in town paid a tribute to Ivory by sending out her surfboard into the ocean.

Free now.

*

The days that passed were spent with Daphne either drinking in the sun or breaking down whenever she saw something that reminded her of Ivory and Sydney was either sunbathing while reading or crying herself to sleep. 

Daphne was just falling asleep when the door to her room opened and she raised her head to see a tiny blond standing in her doorway and for a millisecond she let herself believe that it's her best friend. But it's not.

"Liliana. Is everything okay?"

"I couldn't sleep," she admits softly.

Daphne pulls the covers back and smiles to herself when Liliana pretends to roll her eyes but she can see the relief as she climbs under the covers. There's a huge distance between them as they lay next to each other, just watching the other to see who's going to speak first.

It's Liliana "I miss her." 

"So do I"

Ivory's little sister relaxes into the mattress as she lets her guard down "At the most random times too. I was singing Exile today and got reminded that I'll never hear her sing Bon Iver's verse again."

"Yeah" A soft smile makes its way to Daphne's face "Syd and I realized that she'll no longer steal us of your mother's truffles"

She lets out a laugh that surprises herself but it slowly dies down "I can't believe that she was so unhappy, she was always a ray of sunshine"

"Sometimes people tend to hide behind a persona so that people don't actually see what they are feeling." Daph says gently. 

Liliana is quiet for a moment before asking "Did you read her letter?"

Her nose crinkles "No. Your mom thinks it's best if we don't read it, she said she hardly held herself together and your father broke down too."

"Yeah it is hard seeing the strongest man you know crumble like his whole world fell apart." Probably because it did. She lets out a small sigh "Mom and dad wants to head back home."

Daph blinks in surprise "Why?"

"They said being here without Ivory is weird."

And also the fact that their daughter died here in Faircoast must be extra hard.

"I don't want to leave though," Liliana adds.

"So stay" Daphne says without hesitation "You can stay here with me and my parents. The Kane's are going to be here as well."

She stares at her with a sad look "They all plan to leave, Daph. I heard them talking earlier"

What the hell?

"Oh." she mutters more to herself than to Lili, her parents didn't mention anything to her about leaving Faircoast. They probably knew that she wouldn't want to leave but if everyone else is going to leave then what would she do here? All alone. It would feel unusual but it would feel even more unusual going back home when summer is not over.

She's broken out of her thoughts when Liliana asks "Can I have a hug?"

"Of course, Lili"

She pulls her in for a hug and they stay like that until Liliana eventually falls asleep and Daphne stares up at the ceiling in the dark. She finds it ironic that it took Ivory being dead for Liliana to finally hug her. 

*

"I can't believe that fool actually came all the way to Faircoast." Sydney says over the music as she stares at Roman at the other side of the beach as he winks at her. God, he's so infuriating she thought to herself. 

"Oh please, you know you wanted him here. That's why you called him" Ivory wiggles her eyebrows.

She scoffs "You were the one who got his number for me, I had to put it to good use"

Ivory throws her head back as she laughs "Yeah, let's blame it on me."

Sydney jolts awake and sits upright, breathing heavily as she rubs a hand down her face. She can still hear the sound of Ivory's laugh echoing in her ears and it feels like the most real thing in the world. Her memories from that night are still a bit of a blur but sometimes it's as clear as the dream she just had, she throws the covers off her body and stands up before heading to the kitchen.

She hasn't spoken much to Roman but she knows he's still in Faircoast because she saw him at the diner yesterday, she assumes he's still staying at the hotel. Sydney doesn't want to get too cocky and think that he's still here because of her when she has actually been avoiding him like a plague. Which is a stark difference to Daphne and Xavier who pretends literally nothing happened between them. She's still trying to come to terms with everything that's happened, she'll face him when she's ready.

"She's not gonna want to leave."

Sydney stops short at the sound of her father's voice coming from the kitchen and her mother replies "She doesn't have much of a choice, if everyone leaves then so will she. Jillian and Garriet just has to convince Daphne and we'll convince Sydney"

Leave? Everyone plans to leave Faircoast?

She's about to make her presence known but freezes when her father says "It's much safer back home anyways, they won't be able to get us easily there."

"It doesn't matter where we are, Ben, it doesn't change the fact that they are looking for their money."

"Money that I don't have." he snaps which makes Sydney tenses, her father is by far the best man she knows and she has never heard him speak to her mother in that tone before.

Brianna lets out a small sigh "I'm sure if you explained to Garriet and Corbin then they'll help you out"

"I would rather shit in my hands and clap than ask my best friends to lend me money, Bria."

Sydney's head spins as she tries to make sense of it all and she tiptoes back upstairs to her room then grabbing her new phone -because unfortunately they never found their old ones- and immediately calling Daphne. She doesn't give a shit that it's late and knowing her best friend she probably wouldn't be sleeping. Daphne picks up after the second ring.

"Hello?"

"Did you know everyone plans to leave Faircoast?" She cuts to the chase.

A long pause and she hears shuffling on the other side like Daphne moved around "Yeah, Lili told me she overheard them talking earlier."

"And you didn't tell me?"

"I figured you were sleeping so I would've told you in the morning"

She rubs her eyes "Right, of course. So we're really just going to go back home?"

"I really don't want to be in an empty house the entire summer, Syd. It's already been depressing enough."

She couldn't agree more.

She swallows before asking "Do you want to go to Swanton together before we leave?"

Neither of them had been there since Ivory died but if they were leaving then Sydney would want to check out her room one last time but she doesn't want to go there without Daphne. "Yeah, we should." 

*

The next day Daphne paces in front of Swanton but pauses when the front door opens and she smiles when she sees Xavier but it slowly fades when she sees who's with him.

"Thea. Hi."

Xavier's ex-girlfriend smiles with a small wave "Hello, Daphne." Daphne's eyes dart to Xavier who's looking anywhere but at her, she doesn't understand why he's acting like he did anything wrong. They agreed that that night was a drunken mistake, she almost laughed at the thought that it took him sleeping with her to get back together with Thea. She suddenly gets hit with a question…were they ever really broken up? What if that's just what he told Ivory, she feels sick at the thought that he might have cheated on his girlfriend with her.

Thea continues speaking, completely unaware of her inner turmoil "I'm so sorry about Ivory, she was the sweetest girl."

"She was." Daphne agrees and forces herself to smile and not cringe that she has to refer to Ivory in past tense now.

Xavier roughly clears his throat "What are you doing out here? Lili is in town with the twins but my mom is here."

She nods "I know, I'm just waiting on Syd. She'll be here soon." Xavier stares at her with a questioning look and she adds "We finally decided to step foot in Iv's room. Figured we might as well do it together before we leave."

Xavier's eyes soften and he takes a step forward like he's going to hug her but stops himself at the last minute as his eyes dart to Thea who is watching him and he coughs awkwardly before saying "Well you have fun with that."

He immediately grimaces at his own words and Daphne bites the inside of her cheek to stop herself from laughing at the way he's squirming. "Right."

They bid their goodbyes and she hates herself for wondering if they are going on a date. Thea is dressed in a gorgeous brown dress that showcases her curves and the matching lipstick makes her look stunning. Daphne is pretty confident in herself but even she can't help but compare herself to Thea. She's older, more mature and actually a kind person. A while after they're gone, Sydney comes a little out of breath. "Sorry I'm late, my mom just found my contraceptive pills and we had a long talk."

"Oh wow. And how did that go?"

"Surprisingly well" she shrugs her shoulders before asking "Are you ready to do this?"

No.

"Yeah." 

They walk into Swanton and find Nesta drinking a cup of lemon tea in the kitchen and she gives them the go ahead to head up. Their fingers were intertwined when they finally stepped into Ivory's room. Daphne is surprised by how normal everything looks, not like she was expecting a dead body laying there or anything. They take a seat on her bed, side by side and Daphne smiles when she sees the poppy flowers she got Ivory sitting on the bedside table. Sydney's eyes land on the book she stuffed in Ivory's luggage on the windowsill and she notices the bookmark is on a few pages in and she smiles when she realizes Ivory at least started it. But then her smile fades when she realises she won't be able to hear Ivory's thoughts on it at the end of the summer like they had planned. Daphne sighs softly before dropping her head on Sydney's lap and Syd gently rubs her head, their attention turns to the door when it opens to reveal Nesta with a small smile "Girls."

"Hey" They say at the same time and Daphne sits up again.

Nesta glances around the room and the weight on her shoulders seem slightly lessened. "I realized I was a little selfish to you girls."

They share a look and Daphne asks "What are you talking about"

"This" she raises a paper "I wanted to hold onto every bit of Ivory as I can that I feared if I shared this with you then she'll fade away which was wrong. You guys need as much clarity as I did."

She holds the paper out to them and Daphne's heart is in her throat as Sydney takes the letter with a shaky hand. "I'll give you some privacy"

Nesta closes the door again and they sit in silence before Daphne says "Rock, papper, scissors?"

After three rounds, Daphne loses so she takes the paper and starts reading it aloud as Sydney stares at the wall while biting the inside of her cheek. Daphne reads the words in a monotone voice but something catches Sydney's attention and she cuts her off "Can you repeat that?"

Daphne back tracks "I'll forever wish it didn't have to come to-"

"The sentence after that, Daph."

"In the end no one will remember how you lived, just how you died."

Sydney frowns "That quote sound familiar to you?"

"Mr Kroft" Daphne pauses "Ivory fucking hated that qoute." 

And did. Every time their history teacher, Mr Kroft said that she would debate with him that people would always remember you for how you lived, even if it's just a single person. 

"Why the hell is she quoting Mr Kroft?" Daphne asks and passes the note to Sydney who rereads everything.

"This whole letter sounds so unlike Ivory."

"So cold and unfeeling," Daphne agrees.

Sydney lets out a long sigh and rakes a hand through her hair "We're just thinking too much into it, Daph. She wasn't happy and this is proof of that"

Daphne still has difficulty coming to terms that one of her best friends practically hated herself and she was such a selfish bitch to not even notice but instead of facing it, she shoves the thought aside like she's been doing every single day since. She stands up and grabs the book Ivory was currently reading from the windowsill "Do you want me to finish this so we can discuss it?"

Sydney's brown eyes soften "You don't have"

"I don't mind, it doesn't seem like she has gotten far." She opens the book and the bookmark falls out but she catches it before it can drop to the ground, she does a double take when she sees what it actually is.

"What's that?"

"A train ticket." Her eyes roam over the details "From London to Scotland" Daphne's eyes catch Sydney's "The twentieth."

The day before they got to Faircoast. The day before she died.

Sydney steps up to Daphne and takes the ticket from her "I didn't know she went to Scotland."

"Neither did I. Why was she even in West England if we all went home the week before?"

Sydney's staring intently at the train ticket like it may answer their questions before turning to Daphne "Maybe she had errands to run before summer." Daphne is not believing that, because Ivory was never one for last minute doings. She takes her new phone out and dials a number "Who are you calling?" Sydney asks suspiciously

"Xavier."

She despises herself for disturbing him if he is actually on a date with Thea but she doesn't want to question Corbin or Nesta about it, just in case they didn't know. Not that they could ground Ivory if they found out. 

He picks up after the fourth ring and she puts the phone on speaker "Daphne, what's up?"

"Hey, Xav. Sydney and I were just reminiscing and, random question, do you perhaps know if Ivory was in England the day before you all came down to Faircoast?"

A slight pause before he says "Yeah. My dad dropped her off at Bluedale, she said she forgot to clean out her locker and that the coach would have her ass." he chuckles and a warm feeling settles in her stomach at the sound "I told her coach Myers can't do anything because she'll be in college in the fall."

Ivory was on the track team so that would explain having to clean out her locker. 

"Oh, okay that makes sense. Thank you"

"Is everything okay?" he asks quietly

"Yeah" she rushes to say while pushing Sydney away who's smirking at her "Like I said, we were just reminiscing and wondered if she went to Bluedale." 

"Ah, I see" he pauses before adding "You know it's completely okay to not think about Ivory for a second, right? Her memory won't vanish from your brain if you think of anything other than her"

Sydney walks to the window to give them some sort of privacy and Daphne puts the loud speaker off and pressing the phone to her ear before saying softly "I know"

He hesitates for a moment before saying "I'm always here if you need me, Daph."

She smiles to herself even though he can't see it "And I'm here for you too"

They say goodbye and Sydney immediately says "You're different."

Daphne's brows furrowed in confusion "Pardon?"

"You're different with him. Calmer." she shrugs as she continues "You guys may think you're pretending nothing happened that night but it's pretty obvious that something changed between the two of you"

Well he actually has a girlfriend now so there's that.

Her eyes narrow "There's nothing going on between him and I so I have no clue what you're going on about."

"The secret smiles. Stolen glances. Lingering touches."

Daphne can't help but get defensive and says "What about you and Roman? That night clearly changed something between you and him as well but you're so afraid to admit it that you're avoiding him like your life depends on it."

She glares at her before letting out a scoff, trying to get back to the topic at hand. And not admit just how right Daphne is. "Back to what we were busy with. We know Iv was at Bluedale so it's all good"

Daphne shakes her head "It still doesn't explain the ticket to Scotland."

Sydney rubs a hand down her face "Look, Daph, it's time you and I accept the fact that we didn't know Ivory as well as we think we did. She probably visited some folks on the track team in Scotland before they parted ways."

That makes sense.

Daphne always envied how close Ivory was with the people on the track team, they weren't just on the same team but they were actually friends who hung out from time to time. She didn't have that with the swimming team and even though she was the team captain, everyone called her a stuck up cunt.

She thinks it's an exaggeration but then again, she's not a ray of sunshine.