Thora lay back in the inflatable doughnut, looking up at the sky, her bottle in hand dangling aimlessly in the water, and she gently bobbed around the centre of the pool.
When any confusing racing thoughts entered her head, she focused back into the sky or the AC/DC album playing loudly at the poolside, trying to bury it way down.
She wasn't sure what she was trying to unpack in her mind. She wished Thorin was still around to talk to. Even though his advice usually ended up with "Fuck 'em all, Ra! Just be yourself and let the world come to you."
How could she even be herself if she didn't know who that was? Thora takes another swig from the bottle and lazily lies back, hoping the answers will magically come to her.
She knew the repercussions were imminent. She'd just left them there. They'd probably be worried, angry even, and although that wasn't her intention, it felt like a suitable price to pay for the hour of brain peace she had floating around into the never.
There are many things Thora wished she could turn back time to change, but this was in the top 3. The reaction she had, was not the one she'd planned. She thought she'd feel overjoyed, but something churned in her stomach. Something she wasn't understanding.
Thora doesn't hear it, but a cab pulls up outside the house. Eddie and Robin step out of it.
"Are you sure you've got this?" Robin says seriously to Eddie.
"Look, if you wanna speak to her about it, go for it. I'm not stopping you." Eddie holds his hands at his waist slightly, "Just know, she wasn't trying to sabotage you, ok? She's just confused. I know you know that deep down, right, Buckley?"
Robin frowns a little, "I guess." Eddie nods reassuringly.
"And, my god Buckley, straight for the owner's niece, huh? Fuck, not even I'm that bold!" He nudges Robin playfully.
Robin smiles and laughs a little, "Well, I didn't think about that at the time, you know..." She shrugs.
They get to the front door, and Robin opens it.
She sighs, "Are you definitely sure about this, Eddie? I feel like it should be me. I'm her best friend."
Eddie puts his hands on Robin's shoulders, "I have got this, Buckley, alright?" He says, readjusting his battle vest.
Robin twists her fingers awkwardly, then looks up at Eddie, giving him a light thump on the arm. "She'll be in the pool floating around to AC/DC. It's her thinking spot."
"Got it", Eddie smiles, making his way outside.
Thora hears a splash and snaps her head around in alarm, searching the water for the intruder. But unfortunately, the small army of inflatables was obstructing her view. She holds the glass bottle tight in her hands.
Eddie breaks the surface and nearly gets clobbered with the bottle, "Jesus Christ, Eddie!" Thora exclaims, falling back into the doughnut, clutching her chest and pulling the bottle back just in time, "Fuck, I could have glassed you".
Eddie can't help a smile at a successful jump scare, "Yeah, but you didn't", he says, climbing aboard a nearby inflatable armchair.
Thora and Eddie exchange a severe glance for a few seconds, and Thora casts her eyes down to the water.
"I'm sorry." She says sadly, twirling the bottle in the water.
"Ok, a couple of things with that. One, drinking is not the answer to things like this. Two, we are not gonna just plaster over this with a weak 'I'm Sorry,' and lastly, do you even know what you are apologising for?" Eddie says with his arms folded, but he speaks gently, scanning Thora's face for any apparent indicators.
"Well, at least one of those things I can get some points for", she picks her bottle out of the water again, "It's just a coke."
Eddie continues to look at her, his arms still folded. She knew this meant her little jokes would not help this time.
Thora's face turns to frustration, "I know an 'I'm Sorry' can't make up for everything. I just wanted to let you know I regret what I did. I know walking out like that was wrong, but I didn't know what else to do. I just wanted to get out of there and not have to explain myself because I didn't have an explanation."
"Well, you are fucking right about that. Do you even know how dangerous that was, Thora? You don't know that area, or you know what, it doesn't even have to be an area like that for something bad to happen to someone walking alone." Eddie tries to stay calm, but he is furious she would put herself in jeopardy like that.
"Yeah, well, I'm sorry, alright!" She raises her voice a little, "I wasn't thinking, or I was overthinking. I don't fucking know" she puts her head in her hands.
Eddie offers her little in the way of sympathy on this point, "Well, don't do something that dumb again, alright? You should have at least called a cab, Thora. Come on. This town is so fucked up...Seriously...people straight up disappear."
"I don't know you all that well, Thora, but generally speaking. It's almost like you didn't care if something bad happened to you. You can't be careless like that. What about your family and the other people that care about you?" He says, raising his voice.
Thora looks up at the angry expression on Eddie's face and immediately shies away from it.
"You thought that would hurt less." His words were much softer this time, "I...er...well, let's just say I understand, ok?"
"But! That does not excuse your behaviour, ok? I'm a dumbass, and you aren't, alright?' he laughs, looking over at Thora, her head still hung down, looking into the water.
"Ok, now I've told you off, can I come over there and talk properly?" Eddie asks kindly.
"You still wanna..." Thora raises her head and utters in a melancholy confusion.
"Shut up!" Eddie interrupts with a yell and paddles his inflatable over to hers. He grabs onto the handholds of the doughnut so that they can sit apart, side by side, but still see one another's faces, low lit by the pool lights.
Eddie's yell reminds Thora of the cafeteria and makes the corner of her mouth curl up in a fleeting smile under her wet hair.
"So. I think it's important we talk about what happened, and figure out something at least, so you can stop acting like a total butthead, alright?" He leans over and lifts her chin to look at him, "Alright?" He repeats.
Thora manages a nod. Guilt and worry are eating away at her insides.
"Ok, good. Now I'm gonna be super annoying for a while, mind-blowing, I know, but I promise it's a means to an end" he smiles at her and leans back in his armchair. Thora copies him but doesn't say anything.
"So, when you went in there, despite me telling you not to, I might add, how did you feel?" He asks.
"I was worried. I wanted to find Robin, make sure she was ok," Thora says clearly. She'd been rehearsing this line in her head.
"Ok, good. Why did you think she wasn't ok?" Eddie asks.
"Well, you said she looked weirded out," Thora says. This was half the truth.
"Yes, but Buckley always looks weirded out at me", Eddie adds with a laugh, "Sorry, what I mean is, what did you think that expression meant?"
"I thought...I thought we'd... I'd upset her because of what we were doing," Thora stumbles through the admission.