CHAPTER NINETEEN

SAFE WITH ME — GRYFFIN & AUDREY MIKA
Maybe I been goin' too hard, doin' too much
Tryna drown out my senses
I don't know what I've been tryin' to prove

STELLA FELT LIKE she was on cloud nine.

She had woken up in JJ's arms more times than she could count, but today felt different. The sun seemed brighter. Not in an annoying way, but in a way that casted a warm glow, illuminating the dust particles that floated through the air of the small bedroom.

Today, the buzzing spark in her chest felt like it was amplified by a thousand percent. Things were looking up for the group and she knew her happy mood was most definitely a result of them finding the gold.

Outside of the small bedroom, Stella could hear footsteps travelling down the hall. John B and Sarah's voices danced through the air despite their attempts to keep quiet, and Stella wondered if she should take that as a cue to get up.

Rolling over in the bed, she came face to face with JJ's sleeping figure. JJ had always been good looking, but when he was asleep, he looked ethereal. The line that usually valleyed between his brows softened and his lips were turned upward in a slight smile. He looked at peace, which was a rare occurrence considering the hardships of his life.

When he was awake, he was a bouncing ball of energy that needed to move or else he would combust. Though full of energy, he was also was on edge all the time and the word 'peace' was just a fantasy to him. Stella knew these small moments of bliss didn't happen often and decided that she didn't want to wake him up just yet.

With a soft smile, she tucked herself back into JJ's side and wrapped an arm around his waist. The arm that was already under her curled around her shoulders and JJ let out a small sigh of content as he tightened his grip around her. Her head rested on his chest, and she fell back asleep, lulled into her dreamland by the soundtrack of her boyfriend's beating heart.

The next time she woke up was two hours later.

Startled out of her slumber by a pillow harshly hitting her face, she opened an eye to find JJ leaning over her from the side of the bed with a wide grin. Groaning, Stella grabbed the pillow and covered her face with it.

JJ tried to pull it away, but Stella held on tighter and used one hand to swat his away. "No," she moaned, turning away from him. "Go away, I'm tired."

Shaking his head, JJ leaned on the bed, placing a knee between her legs, and pushed himself forward so that he was hovering over her. "C'mon, Stella-Anne."

"Get off me," she ordered, her words muffled, "you're heavy and you can't touch me. It hasn't been a week yet."

"Your little threat was cute, cupcake, but you didn't mean it." He smirked, thinking about the way his hands trailed down her body the night before. "Now, get up, the sun wants its baby back."

Stella sighed and removed the pillow from her face. She stared up at her boyfriend with a frown, her mind still fuzzy from being asleep for so long.

JJ's jaw dropped and his eyes widened. A dramatic gasp left his lips before he leaned down to kiss her. "There she is!" He smiled when he saw Stella trying to suppress a grin. "How're you doing, Stel?"

"I'd be doing a lot better if I was still asleep," Stella replied with a raised eyebrow. She was trying hard to be mad at him for waking her up, but she was failing miserably. To hide her growing smile, she pushed JJ off of her and sat up.

"Hey, if it were up to me, we'd still be sleeping, but everyone's outside and Mama Kie said to come get you before you're late for your shift at the hospital." JJ rolled off of the bed and walked over to the side of the room where his backpack laid on the floor.

"How're you?" Stella asked in a groggy tone. "You sleep well?"

JJ nodded and let out a hum.

Stella rubbed her eyes and let her hands drop to her lap. She let out a yawn while turning to JJ and was about to ask if he had a shirt she could borrow when a piece of fabric hit her face.

JJ snickered as she pulled it away from her head and glared at him. He just shrugged at her, knowing that she was going to ask him for a shirt anyways. They were best friends long before they started dating and JJ knew her like the back of his hand.

Stella got up from the bed, grumbling as she went. She pulled her shirt off and replaced it with JJ's before walking out the door to get ready in the bathroom.

When she emerged ready for today, she saw that JJ was waiting for her by the door. He led her around to the side of the house where the rest of the crew was and they gave her a quick explanation of their plan for the day before she had to leave for her shift.

The hours between the start of her shift and the end of it flew by in a blur.

After JJ dropped her off, she was given a long list of tasks to fulfil by her supervisor. The hospital was busy today and staff had been running around nonstop, so any extra work got handed down to the volunteers.

Despite the fast paced environment she found herself in, Stella's mood hardly faltered. Her father was nowhere to be seen, she and her friends were on the precipice of becoming multimillionaires, and she had completed the majority of the things asked of her. Today had been a good day.

Ten minutes before the end of her shift, Stella found herself walking into the emergency room with a collection of binders under her arm. All she had to do was drop them off at the front desk and she was free to leave. She was excited to say the least. She knew her friends were already waiting for her outside so they could go pawn off the gold.

Miss Amy, one of the nurses she had befriended over the years, rushed up to the desk and gave Stella a smile. "Hey, Stel," she greeted, waiting for the young girl to put away the charts. She was slightly out of breath by how busy the room was. "You're first aid certified, right?"

"Mhm," Stella nodded, turning to her, "why?"

"Bed five burnt his arm on a motorcycle engine," she explained promptly. "We're severely understaffed, so we could use all the help we could get. He's already been looked at, he just needs it bandaged and he's good to go. Can you do it?"

Stella smiled at the thought of getting some hands on experience. "Love to."

Amy nodded with a grateful expression before she was called to the opposite side of the room by another nurse, leaving Stella to walk to bed five alone.

The golden girl grabbed a pair of gloves from the box on the wall and with a friendly smile, she pulled back the curtain. "Hi, I'm— Oh." Her smile dropped at the person sitting in front of her. "It's you."

Rafe looked up and watched as Stella came into the makeshift room. "Hey, Star," he greeted, a smug undertone threading to expose itself. "How are you?"

She rolled her eyes as she got supplies out of the cart in the corner of the room and pulled on her gloves. "I thought I told you to stop calling me that."

"And I thought I told you I'd stop once you go out with me."

She walked over to the bed he was sitting on and raised his arm so it was level with her. "I have a boyfriend and even if I didn't, the answer would still be no."

"Don't tell me you're actually dating Maybank. After that train wreck at Midsummers—Ow! Careful!" He exclaimed after she poured a cleaning solution on his injured arm without warning. "What, they don't have any real doctors around here?"

"We're short staffed, but if you want, you're welcome to wait for one."

"Well, how long will that take?"

Stella shrugged. "The rest of your day, your highness."

The Kook pursed his lips. The only reason he even came to the hospital was because Wheezie wasn't around to help him and there was no way he was going to help himself. Also, there was the small chance that he could get his hands on prescription drugs. "I think I'm good."

Stella said nothing as she focused on wrapping his arm. Her good mood had long since deteriorated and she wanted to get this over with as soon as she could.

She could feel his stare on her, burning the side of her face, and after a few seconds of awkward silence, she spoke up. "So who did this?"

"Why do you think someone did this to me?" Rafe questioned, his pride slightly wounded.

Stella raised a brow, eyes still trained on the bandage in her hand. "Do you honestly expect me to believe that you were careless enough to burn yourself on your bike?"

His defences came up and his eyes narrowed. "Why do you care?"

"I don't," Stella replied honestly. The boy in front of her had caused far too many problems for her to care about the trouble he got himself into. She was asking for herself—she was nosy, not concerned. "It just doesn't make any sense when two summers ago you spent all your time drooling over bike magazines. I thought you'd know better."

"My arm slipped."

She nodded, clearly unconvinced. "Sure it did."

Silence washed over them once again and Rafe studied her with an attentive eye.

Stella Marx had never been more than an idea to him, barely a person and more of a trophy. Princess to the Pogues, but Figure Eight's golden girl. She was a complex concept that intrigued everyone including him.

The day Sarah befriended her and brought her home, Rafe knew that she was the prize that would lead to a congratulatory handshake from his father. With her next to him, he'd finally win the game that no one else was playing.

She had never been anything more than that.

Until now.

Because despite her claim of not caring at all, she cared enough to pay attention and she cared enough to ask. And that was more than what anyone else in his life had ever done.

"I was late on a payment," Rafe revealed with an air of false carelessness. "This was my supplier's way of reminding me."

"A business deal gone south," Stella mused, causing the older boy to roll his eyes.

"Don't give me shit, alright. It's not like you're the little miss perfect you pretend to be."

"You're right, I'm not," she replied, giving him a pointed look. "But I try, and that's all you can really do, isn't it? Try to be better?"

Rafe turned away at her righteous tone and when he looked back at her, he saw annoyance written all over her face. "You know, we used to be friends before you ran back to the Pogues."

She nearly laughed. "We were never friends, Cameron." The only time he spoke to her was when he wanted to gain his father's approval and the handful of civil conversations they did have were always ruined by him flirting with her.

"We could be."

"You were just trying to hit on me five minutes ago and now you want to be friends?"

"Why is that so hard to believe?"

"Oh, I don't know," Stella drawled sarcastically, "maybe because you've harassed and assaulted my friends and I on numerous occasions? Jumped my friend with a golf club? Punched me in the face? I could go on. Besides, why would you want to be friends with someone who held a gun to your head?"

He shrugged. "It turned me on."

"You're a pig."

"Fine, then. Peace on the island."

"I didn't know you were such an activist."

"I'm a pretty proactive guy."

Stella rolled her eyes and pushed Rafe's freshly wrapped wrist away from her. "You're free to go," she said, pulling the curtain back and leaving the enclosed space.

Rafe followed her out of the emergency room. "That's it? I don't get any painkillers or something?"

"There's Advil in the pharmacy," she said, turning the corner at the end of the hall.

"I was thinking something stronger—"

Stella's eyes widened when she saw who was standing at the nurse's station and instantly stopped walking. "Shit."

In a rush, she spun around and hid behind the corner she had just passed. Peaking her head around it, she watched as her father engaged in a heated discussion with Miss Amy. "Does a restraining order mean nothing nowadays?" She muttered to herself. "Why can't he just leave me alone?"

"Who?" Rafe, who Stella forgot was still there, looked around to find who she was talking about. "Gabe?"

She turned to him with a confused expression. "You know him?"

"Yeah, he works for my dad."

Of course he does, Stella thought to herself. From her father's appearance at Midsummers to taking in John B, Ward Cameron was quickly becoming a suspicious character in her eyes.

"Doing what?"

Rafe merely shrugged.

"That's helpful," Stella huffed, turning back to watch the older man again. She really needed to leave, but he was blocking the exit at the end of the hall.

"How do you know him?" Rafe asked, not caring for the volume of his voice or the way he was still standing in the older man's field of view. "And why are you hiding?"

"I'm hiding because I don't want him to see me, genius," she hissed, yanking the Kook's arm so he was hidden as well. "And if you're going to keep bothering me, the least you can do is lower your fucking voice."

Rafe rolled his eyes at her attitude and peered around the corner again. "I can distract him for you," he offered. "So you can make it to the elevator."

Stella narrowed her eyes at him. "What's the catch?"

"There's no catch."

"There's always a catch."

"It's just a favour for a friend."

"A favour would mean I'd have to return it and we aren't friends."

"Say we are and I'll help." He shrugged before looking at her father again. "Better decide quick because he's walking this way."

Stella cursed under her breath and looked around the corner for the final time. "Shit—Fine!" She begrudgingly stated, the word feeling odd on her tongue. Befriending two Camerons in two days, granted she didn't even like Rafe and was only agreeing because it was between that or facing her father. "I'll be your stupid friend. But I'm not doing you any favours so you can forget about that. Now go distract him."

She pushed him away before he could say anything else (though he did slap her hand, reminding her of the party she kicked him out of) and watched as he walked up to her father with a smile.

When Rafe positioned himself so the older man's back was facing her, Stella ducked her head and quickly walked by them. 

As the doors to the elevators closed, their eyes met.

There were plenty of reasons why Rafe was so adamant about being her friend. He could have been doing it in hopes that their friendship would turn into something more or it could have been a part of the grand scheme of gaining his father's approval. But after everything that had happened between them—the bitter words and the punches thrown—she found it hard to believe his intentions were altruistic.

Whatever his reasons were, Stella didn't trust him one bit, but she did feel a small sliver of hope come alive inside of her because if she and Rafe Cameron of all people could work together, then maybe the war between the Pogues and the Kooks wasn't far from ending.

"HELL OF A job melting it down, Dr. Frankenstein," JJ commented as the group hopped out of the Twinkie.

After picking up Stella, the group headed to a local pawn shop in hopes that their plan of becoming rich would actually work.

Pope spent the entire car ride educating JJ about the properties of gold while JJ spent the car ride complaining about having to pawn it off. If it were under any other circumstance, he would've been happy to do it. He loved negotiating and he knew he was good at it, but with Kie's horrible smelting job, he also knew it would be a challenge.

Kie scoffed at his words. "Like you could've done better."

"I could have," JJ bit back. "I took a welding class."

Stella, who was standing between them, sighed. "I don't know why we melted three of them together," she admitted. "Three smaller nuggets is better than one big one. It looks suspicious."

JJ pointed at her and nodded with approval. "See?"

Before JJ and Kie could bicker even more, John B walked around the side of the van and told them to quiet down.

"Easy for you to say," JJ huffed. "You're not the one that has to pawn this piece of shit off. How did I get this job anyway?"

The groups started walking towards the shop's door. "'Cause you're the best liar," Pope answered.

JJ grumbled about Stella being a better liar than him, clearly bitter about the whole exchange, and pushed the door open. He went straight to the counter while the group shuffled in behind him and spread out around the store trying to look inconspicuous.

"Afternoon, ma'am," JJ said to the older woman behind the counter. He pointed to the sign on the wall when she gave him an expectant look. "I see you buy gold."

The pawnbroker raised an eyebrow. "That's what the sign say, don't it?"

JJ ignored her sassy remark and carried on. "Well, I sure hope you buy a lot of it because I'm about to blow your mind." He reached into his backpack and pulled out the gold nugget, placing it on the counter. "How about them gold apples?"

While JJ and the woman went back and forth, putting the gold through various tests to ensure its authenticity, Stella wandered around the small shop until she came across a small display case full of watches. Some were shiny and new while others were dull and worn. She was about to move on to the jewelry case beside it, but stopped when something caught her eye.

A shiny silver watch was perched on a stand in the corner of the box. It had a blue face and twelve Roman numerals that circled it. There was a scratch on the inside of it, but you wouldn't be able to see it unless you were holding it. The only reason Stella knew it was there was because she was the one who scratched it.

It was her dad's watch.

Perhaps he pawned it off because was in desperate need of money. Maybe he knew that Stella and her mom would never give him a dime and that working for someone was a better way to make a living—but it still didn't answer why. Why did he need the money and what work did he do for Ward Cameron?

The thought of her father brought a bitter taste to her mouth and she shook her head at the memory of him standing in the hospital looking for her that morning.

"Stel, you okay?"

She looked up to find Pope standing next to her wearing a concerned expression. The pawnbroker had disappeared into the back room and she saw that the others were staring at her as well.

"I'm fine," she said, turning away from the display case full of watches. She didn't care about the watch or the person who used to wear it, not anymore at least. Not since she was ten. And she was sure that Ward simply had him performing odd jobs around Tannyhill.

The pawnbroker returned and gave JJ her offer. After more deliberation, they finally settled on a deal of seventy thousand dollars.

"I'm gonna need that in large denominations, please," JJ requested.

The pawnbroker gave JJ a look of false apology. "Well, here's the snag," she drawled, "I don't have that much denomination, not here anyway. I can write you a cashier's check."

"Cash..." JJ shook his head with a scoff. "No, ma'am. I want the cold hard. That's what that sign says. Cash for gold. And that's what I expect. I'm gonna get it in cold hard."

"Well, I have to send you to the warehouse. I have the money there. Is that all right?"

JJ turned his head and shared a look with each member of the group. After a moment, he turned back to the older woman. "Where's this warehouse?"

STELLA WATCHED AS deteriorated shacks and overgrown grass passed in a blur through the the window of the van. After leaving the pawn shop, the group followed the older woman's directions towards a place on Resurrection Drive. Though the further they drove through the South side, the more their confidence faltered.

"Resurrection Drive sounds sketchy as hell," Stella stated after taking a hit from JJ's vape. "Are you sure they keep money out here?"

JJ shrugged and took the small stick from her hands. "That's what she said." He paused before letting out a chuckle. "That's what she said."

"Stop," Pope deadpanned from his spot beside Kie.

Sarah, who was sitting in the passenger seat up front, turned around. "I've never even heard of Resurrection Drive."

JJ suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. His best friend may be dating her, but she was still a Kook. "'Cause you're rich."

Kie shot him a stern look before coming to Sarah's defence. "You've never heard of it either."

"Thank you." Sarah sent her a grateful nod.

Kie looked out the window with a skeptical expression on her face. "There's nothing but weeds back here."

Stella fiddled with the ring on her necklace and turned to look out the window again. It looked like they were driving through a post-apocalyptic wasteland. "I told you," she mused. "Sketchy as hell."

"Alright," JJ began, looking at the two girls, "just 'cause it's just weeds, doesn't mean it's, like—"

A loud siren cut through the air, cutting his defences short. Six pairs of eyes turned to see a blue Dodge Charger with flashing lights driving behind them.

"Cops? Out here?"

Stella groaned. She started the day in such a good mood, but between Rafe, her father at the hospital, and now this, she wished she just stayed in bed. "One day," she pleaded, turning her head to the sky. "Just one day without something going wrong."

The group started freaking out, all harbouring various emotions. JJ was mad, Stella was tired, Sarah was confused, and the rest were panicking. The three who were panicking instructed JJ to hide the gold he was holding and kept asking him questions back to back like rapid fire.

"I hate cops," Stella said as she turned her gaze away from the roof of the van to the flashing car behind them. Her brows furrowed and a sinking feeling started to plant itself in the pit of her stomach. Something was off. Kildare's police department didn't use Dodge Chargers and even if they did, it wouldn't be unmarked. "Hey, guys...? I don't think it's a cop."

Her friends ignored her as JJ shoved his backpack under his seat.

"Did you bring the gun?" Pope and Kie questioned in a rush.

"Guys—"

"No," JJ answered indignantly. "Okay? Everybody told me to leave it back at the place."

"Stella, where's JJ's vape?" Kie asked as she looked to the girl. Stella didn't respond as she stared at the window with furrowed brows. "Stella? Stella!"

Stella didn't turn back to them until she saw a man with a mask and a gun walking towards them. "John B, drive. Now."

Her friends looked at her like she was crazy. "Stella, we can't just go! It's a cop!"

"It's not a—"

She was cut off by the sound of a cocking gun.

"Why don't I go ahead and see them hands in the air?"

The four teens in the back of the Twinkie shared a look, their hearts dropping at the situation they found themselves in.

The man shoved his gun further into the van as John B raised his hands and looked into the back. "All y'all's hands up in the air now!"

John B got out of the car and opened the back of the van for them to get out.

"Out of the car! Let's go! Hurry!"

Pope and Kie got out first, both holding their hands in the air as they didn't want to escalate the situation further. While they were in control of their emotions, Stella was not. Anger filled her body as she climbed out after Kie.

"There you go, pretty girl," the man mused as she got out of the van, his gun following her as she moved. "Here we go! Get out the car, let's go! Hurry up!"

Stella didn't like being told what to do, which was partially why she wanted to be a doctor. She'd get to assess, plan, and execute that plan. She was in control. She didn't like being ordered around unless she was in bed and right now, she was on the side of the road on the outskirts of the island.

Something inside her clicked into place and her anger boiled over like an overflowing pot. "Get that fucking gun out of my face," she snapped, glaring at the man.

JJ looked up as he got out of the van and felt fear wash over him. The sight of Stella—the most important person in his life—being held at gun point made his blood run cold. He placed himself between his girlfriend at the gun being pointed at her in an attempt to provide protection. "We're broke—"

"Shut the hell up!"

"Alright!" JJ shouted. His hands still in the air, but he refused to back down as the man advanced towards him. "Just relax!"

"Shut the hell up! Shut up! I'll blow your damn head off!"

The group was ordered to lay in the ditch, on their hands and knees with their heads down. If they moved, they'd be shot. They followed this order, some more willingly than others, and got in a line while the man ransacked the van.

"That old bat shanked us." JJ punched the ground beside him in rage, causing dust to fly. "Fuck! Goddamn it!"

Beside him, Stella was trying to assess, plan, and execute. She needed to think quickly if they wanted to keep the gold. But despite needing to think quickly, she also needed to think thoroughly. She wasn't about to do something rash and risk the lives of her friends. Their lives were worth way more than gold.

"No, no, no, no, no," Sarah whimpered from down the line, catching the attention of the others.

Pope lifted his head up and turned to the side. "John B," he hissed. "Don't be a hero, man."

Stella looked up and saw John B creeping away from the group towards the man's car. She swore when she saw him get into the back seat, cursing him out in her head for being so reckless.

The man got out of the car, holding the nugget of gold in one hand and his gun in the other. "Alright, y'all stay like that." He kept his weapon pointed at them and backed away towards his car. "Unless you want your brains blown out all over this road, don't move your goddamn heads, okay?"

He got in the car, not noticing that there was one person missing from the line of people in the ditch. John B shot up in the back seat and wrestled the man for his gun. The others watched, praying that John B wouldn't get shot.

"Guys, I got the gun!"

Once the man was disarmed, the group ran over to him. JJ landed a punch across his face, but was met with one of equal force. Letting her emotions guide her actions, Stella rushed forward and hit him with a mean right hook paired with a quick jab to the stomach. The man grabbed her arm and shoved her to the ground, making her grunt in pain. Kie saw the entire exchange and went to punch him, but was pushed before she could cause too much damage.

The man went to shove Sarah as well, but John B came up behind him and slammed the gun into his back, causing him to fall. Sarah took this opportunity to hit him with the car door and kicked him while he was down.

"I got the gold!" Pope shouted from the other side of the car. He held the nugget up for them to see before rushing over and kicking the man so that he was leaning against the closed door.

"You son of a bitch!" Stella spat as she leaned down to pull the man's mask down.

"I know this piece of shit!" JJ shouted once he saw the man's exposed face. "He's a basehead!"

Sarah ran a hand through her hair in stress. "Probably knows my brother."

"He sells coke to my dad."

The man, who's name Stella later learned to be Barry, looked up at them. "Listen, I couldn't hurt any single one of y'all—"

"Shut the fuck up," Stella snapped. At the same time that JJ grabbed the gun from John B and slammed the butt of it against the man's face.

"JJ!" Kie shouted.

Pope shot an arm out to create some space between him and Barry. "Dude, chill, man."

JJ pushed him off and staggered forward. He bent down and pulled the man's wallet out of his pocket.

John B shook his head at him. "Come on, let's get outta here." When JJ ignored him, he turned to Stella with a pleading look.

Stella, who was still feeling waves of anger rippling off of her, shrugged. No matter how much her friends acted like it, she was JJ's girlfriend, not babysitter, and she certainly couldn't control his decisions.

JJ pulled out the man's ID. He looked down at it for a moment before tossing the empty wallet back at him. "We got one last stop." He pushed John B away and stormed passed Kie and Stella. "Let's go see where this son of a bitch lives."

"I'm gonna remember this shit!" Barry shouted as they retreated. "You can't hide from me! I know exactly who y'all are! You're gonna see me again!"

RAE SPEAKS !
the song could be about Stella from both jj and rafe's perspective if you think about it hard enough

me wondering how i'll sprinkle in some drama and confirm that stella's dad is working with ward:

her dad's showing some real fan behaviour 🥱