Even though it was dark outside, Maggie sat on the porch with the lights on. This bullet had to get out now. She'd taken a pincet and loosened the cloth around her arm.

            Even though the cloth had indeed slowed the bleeding down, it was still coloured a darker red. Maggie didn't even flinch when the pincet penetrated her wound. At the Academy she'd had worse wounds, which she all had to treat herself. The Pogues acted as if it was a death by a thousand cuts, but to Maggie it was nothing new.

            She took the bullet out effortlessly. Maggie saw JJ light up a cigarette and take a seat opposite of her. He stayed silent, for once in his life.

            "Thank you—" Maggie said as she dropped the bloody bullet on the ground. "For today. Protecting me."

            "Didn't do much, I guess." JJ answered, a battered tone in his voice.

            Maggie softened her eyes for him. "Don't blame yourself for that," She told him honestly. "As much as I appreciate you protecting me, I'm still able to protect myself, so if I get hurt, that's my own fault." She put down the pincet to start wrapping a bandage around her arm tightly.

            JJ changed seats next to Maggie on the porch. He leaned his back against the fence. "I just—" He choked on his words. "I never wanted you to get hurt, Mags."

            She shook her head. "It's fine, really." She finished her bandage and if you didn't know there was a wound under it, it looked like she wrapped her arm in a bandana.

            JJ followed her movements closely with his eyes. His ocean eyes were soft and shimmering in the dim lights of the porch. He shuffled a little closer, breathing in deeply. "Listen, the dare—"

            "Just forget about it," Maggie smiled. She shrugged. "It was a dare, right? No feelings attached."

            A sadness flushed over the blond's eyes. He nodded slowly. "Yeah, yeah, no feelings."

            JJ stared into the abyss, smoking his cigarette. There may not have been feelings attached to the kiss, but there were to her. And they were strong. "We should get some rest, don't you think?" JJ turned his head back at Maggie's question, her eyebrows raised.

            JJ stood up, holding out his hand for her to take. "Milady," He joked. She took his hand and stood up as well. The inches between them decreased. JJ's voice lowered. "Allow me to escort you to your chambers." He put on a terrible posh British accent.

            Maggie slapped the back of his head jokingly. "Idiot," She laughed. She walked inside, turning around before going through the door. Maggie suspected John B was already asleep, so she lowered her voice as she yelled. "And that's not how I sound!"

            Maggie and Kiara had informed Kiara's parents that they were going to spend the night at John B's house, so they wouldn't worry when they came home late from the gold hunt. They didn't know John B didn't live there himself currently. They didn't have to.

            The brunette fell down on the sofa, closing her eyes. When she closed her eyes, all she saw was the look JJ gave her when she told him to forget about the dare. But she was doing this for him. What JJ said about not wanting her to get hurt went the opposite way as well.

            Being friends with these amazing people was one thing, but starting an actual relationship with them would be dangerous. Daniel went far to get what he wanted. If he found Maggie was to date someone, he'd go as far as killing them. He hadn't any trouble killing his best friend either, so what was one teenager?

            Maggie wanted to spare JJ ( and any of the Pogues ) this. She had to go back sometime. The plan was to work temporarily to collect some money for supplies and go back to finish what she'd started. It's safe to say that didn't work out.

            But now she was sure. Maybe if she'd gone back to finish her shit at the Academy, she could come back. Maggie could live a happy life in the OBX with JJ on her arm and the Pogues by her side.

            That was the dream. And for now it was enough.

            The next morning Maggie woke up in the same position she fell asleep in, only someone had laid a thin blanket over her. She walked to the bathroom first, sitting down to pee and then washing her face with whichever skincare products Kie had left at John B's.

            After changing into fresh clothes, Maggie went outside to the rest, who seemed to have been up for a while. Pope and John B were doing something to the boat winch by the tree, while Sarah and Kie sat in the van, looking at a paper. JJ was not seen yet.

            Maggie went to the van, she leaned against the side. The paper Kie held was a drawing of the well. "Who's the artist?" She asked, a mocking laugh left her lips.

            "Who do you think?" Kie laughed. She looked at the two boys by the tree, her gaze holding Pope's a little too long to go unnoticed by Maggie and Sarah.

            "Still nothing from Adriana?" Maggie asked her, her face becoming more serious. It wasn't like her to be gone without warning for almost 24 hours.

            Kiara's expression saddened. She got her phone out. "She left me a weird voicemail when I was asleep. She didn't actually say anything, she was just breathing into the speaker," She explained as she played it for the two girls to hear. "I don't know, Maggie, I'm really worried about her."

              Maggie nodded at what she was saying. JJ came from behind, slithering his arm around Maggie's shoulders to surprise her. "Kie, this better work," He threw the gold on the floor, unaware of the kind of conversation the girls were having. "We can't pawn this if there's a giant wheat symbol on it."

            Kie grabbed the gas burner next to her. "It's gonna work." And so they put the three gold bars in a pan and started melting them. It went slow, but eventually they melted into liquid gold mix.

            "It worked, baby!" JJ fist bumped the air.

            The Pogues celebrated by cheering and hugging each other in happiness. That was until a fragile, but familiar voice came from beside them. "Kie—" It said.

            Kie turned around, and started running. Maggie hadn't yet seen what she was running towards. Kiara hugged the person, who almost fell down. Her knees gave up on her, Kiara was forced to put her arm over her shoulders and drag her to the little bench. She simply collapsed into to Kia's arms.

            Adriana was bruised left and right, dried up blood on her cheek and lip. She looked terrible. Her clothes were ripped up in multiple places, her shirt even so badly you could see a part of her stomach.

            Maggie ran towards where Kiara gently dropped her on the bench before crouching in front of her. "Are you okay? What happened?" She asked her.

            "I'm fantastic," Adriana gave her such a big smile Maggie knew it was sarcastic. "What about you? Your arm good?"

            Maggie knew that when Adriana was stressed or sad or feeling any other negativity, her accent became worse. Sometimes it got to the point where her English could be described as terrible. This was one of those times.

            Maggie's eyes softened. "This isn't about me."

            Kiara ran a hand over Adriana's cheek, her eyes on nothing else. "What happened, Ana? You were out the entire night."

            Adriana looked at her fidgeting hands, and for a minute Maggie believed she was tearing up. But when the brunette looked back up, the tears were gone as soon as they'd come. "I don't know, man, I just—" She rambled, her accent thicker than ever. "I fucked up, I guess."

            Maggie looked at the two girls, and then back at JJ. She was silently asking for help, but part of her knew that JJ wasn't the right person to ask for help in these situations. JJ was just standing there — nailed to the ground, with a hint of remembrance in his eyes. It was as if even without explanation he knew what had happened.

            Maggie stood up, walking up to JJ. Her back was now turned to the others, her face facing JJ. She reached for his arm. Maggie spoke lowly. "Maybe we should leave already. Let them figure it out alone."

            JJ didn't respond. He wasn't blinking, his eyes weren't transferring from the bruises on Adriana's face. Maggie saw something in his eyes she'd never seen before. Fear. She didn't know this JJ.

            "JJ?" She waved her hand in front of his face, making him lose his focus and turn his face towards Maggie. "Hey, you okay? Where'd you go?"

            JJ's eyes flashed with that same fear and pain once more before he turned to the rest of his friends. He shook his head a little, speaking to Pope. "Let's go. Adriana, stay here for now. Clean up. Kie will help you."

            "Yeah, uh— this seems like something between you two, so..." Sarah joined in, dragging John B with her to the van. "Call us if you need anything, please."

            Kiara glanced at Maggie, who crouched back down next to her. "You're gonna be okay," Maggie told her, putting a strand of curly hair back in place. "She needs you right now. And you need her."

            Kie nodded at last. Maggie rubbed her back comfortingly. She stood up, looking at Adriana. "Kia is going to stitch you up, you good with that?" Adriana only nodded, her eyes on nothing other than Kia.

            The Pogues reluctantly left to the Pawn Shop. Afterwards, Kiara and Adriana should've been glad they never went along, because this was going to become more than just earning some cash.

idk why i couldn't write this scene i really dont. i feel like it doesnt really capture what i wanted it to capture so in a rewriting in the future i probably will be changing it. again, maggie wont know what happens for a while. only in adriana's book will we know immediately what happens (makes sense doesnt it)