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𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝗳𝗶𝘃𝗲: 𝗴𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗶𝗻?

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Once the sun had set, that's when the party had started.

They had turned on the fairy lights around the Château and turned on the "Cat's Ass." It seemed like JJ's spending spree weeks ago was actually worth while.

Thankfully, when Cassie had borrowed Kiara's clothes, she had also borrowed a bathing suit as well. She had borrowed the light pink bikini that she wore the day the boys stranded her and the girls on the boat.

They had cracked open the beers they bought and lit some joints, going wild. They started shotgunning the beers, whooping wildly. They hadn't really had time to just be kids in weeks and now they had 12 hours to whatever the hell they wanted.

And they were sure as hell not going to take that for granted.

Cassie sat in the hot tub next to Sarah and Kiara, sharing a joint with the latter as she watched JJ put a pair of sunglasses on and walk goofily over to Pope. She laughed at them before she gave the joint back to Kiara, grabbing the beer next to her.

JJ picked up the beer box that had been emptied by them and got in the hot tub with everyone else. Cassie looked JJ up and down, checking out his abs that she hadn't seen in a short while. Jesus, how are they so perfect?

Once her eyes traveled back to his face, he had already been looking at her curiously before she looked away, taking the joint from Kiara's hands. "Hey!" The Carrera girl chastised.

"Whoops," Cassie acted innocent as she placed the joint between her lips, glancing back over at JJ.

The boy looked away from her and placed the beer box on his head, nodding up and down as Pope rapped, "I never made good grades in school / When I get out, I act like a fool / They say I come in the party / And cause a commotion / I'm smooth / Yeah, call me lotion." They all laughed with him and he soaked it up, grinning from ear to ear.

"Do it, Pope!" JJ exclaimed as he took the beer box off of his head, sinking further into the hot tub. "Just like the good Lord intended, guys."

"That was way too genuine!" Sarah called him out.

"Oh, come on!" JJ groaned. "Give me-give me that shit!" He shouted as they all laughed with him. "Give me it!"

"Ahhhh," Pope noisily droned as he made his way over to JJ, wrapping his arm around his shoulder and burying his face into the boy's neck that caused him to laugh.

A little while later, they all got out of the Cat's Ass and watched Pope and JJ play fight in the grass. Thankfully, JJ had put his shirt back on so Cassie could finally stop staring at his fit body.

JJ pushed Pope's arm back, but he was able to balance and push JJ's arm. "Get it, Pope!" Sarah shouted.

"Yeah, Pope!" Cassie cheered.

The Maybank boy glanced over at her before he shoved Pope again and he almost fell backwards, but he was able to balance himself. "Yes!" Pope groaned before the two began to wrestle.

"Ah! Good, good, good, good, good! Get on the leg! Oh!" JJ exclaimed as Pope kicked his leg, sending him down to the floor.

"Oh, with the single-leg sweep!" John B commentated.

"You've got a new technique now," JJ pointed out as Pope started to get up, celebrating his victory by lifting his fists in the air.

"Oh, no! No!" Sarah called out jokingly.

"When did you start wrestling?" John B inquired.

"I dunno," Pope said breathlessly as JJ started to stand up. "I'm done. I'm out of here," he breathed out as he started walking away with his arms raised.

"Did you have too many beers?" John B asked in a funny accent, making Cassie snort.

"You want a round two?" JJ queried Pope.

"Yeah, I think I'll take my losses," Pope called back.

Kiara wordlessly got up from her seat, slowly walking over to follow Pope. "Really?" Sarah questioned with wide eyes and a smile. Cassie started to laugh, knowing this was bound to happen sooner or later.

"Oh, yeah. Way to be discreet!" JJ yelled out to them as they continued to walk away.

"I leave, and this is what happens," John B sighed, shaking his head as he looked at JJ.

"Are you blaming me?" JJ questioned, pointing at himself.

"I'm blaming the both of you," John B corrected, pointing at Cassie and JJ with his two fingers. "The two of you couldn't stop arguing for one second to stop them from mackin' on each other?"

Cassie and JJ shared a glance. Perhaps they were too busy with something else other than arguing to stop Kiara and Pope. "Well, uh..." Cassie trailed off, not exactly knowing how to answer.

"See, can't even defend yourselves," John B tutted before he realized," Uh-oh. Your boy's out. Beer time." John B got up from his seat, going over to retrieve another can of beer.

"I can't believe you guys," Sarah shook her head at Cassie and JJ disappointedly.

"You guys are the ones that died, okay?" JJ pointed out as he ignored John B's comment. "Like, that was—"

"Literally one job, JJ," Sarah cut him off.

"Okay!" JJ laughed.

"No Pogue-on-Pogue macking," Sarah reminded him and Cassie shook her head with a smile, looking down.

"One job?"

"One job."

"Sarah, one job? Okay...Who got you the Phantom? Huh? You ever think about that? No, no, no—"

"It's literally—"

"You guys weren't there. I looked up and—"

"No. No excuses. You're a Pogue. You should know this," Sarah told him sternly as JJ peered over at John B.

"Wait. Yo, hold that thought." JJ got up and went over to John B, who seemed to have found the heart they had carved into the tree with his name burned into it.

Cassie looked over her shoulder at the boys with a warm smile before Sarah said slowly, "Hey, Cassie?"

Cassie turned back to the look at the girl. "Yes, Sarah?" She replied in the same tone.

"Since our parents might be, like, hooking up...does that make us sisters?" She questioned seriously and Cassie raised her eyebrows before the two bursted out laughing from the alcohol and weed in their systems. "Okay, but like-but like think about it!"

"No, I don't wanna think about it because that would mean I hooked up with my brother," Cassie pointed out, talking about Rafe. "Oh, my God, wait, ew! Ew! Why was your dad trying to set me up with Rafe if he was screwing my mom the whole time?!" She realized.

"Why does my dad do anything?" Sarah countered.

"That's so true," Cassie agreed breathlessly, the two suddenly growing solemn.

"I'm sorry you had to watch your mom do that, Cassie," Sarah voiced after a moment, seeing as though Cassie had told her and John B that her mother shot Gavin. "Seeing Rafe shoot Sheriff Peterkin...I still can't get the image out of my head."

"Yeah. I can't either," Cassie replied before the scene of Savannah shooting Gavin popped back up in her mind. "It's just...you would never think someone who you thought you could trust could do that. I don't want to accept it, but...I have to."

"Yeah. I get it. I didn't want to accept it either at first, but...my dad is crazy and Rafe is even crazier." Sarah then sucked in a breath. "Sometimes I wonder if it's also in my blood," she admitted.

Cassie met her eyes, relating to the girl the most that she had ever related to her in a long time. Apparently Cassie's blood had been tainted by the blood of both of her parents. Her father with his alcoholism and rage, and her mother with her ability to tell lies and her...capability to murder someone.

Was Cassie capable of murdering someone?

Cassie knew that when furious enough she could do some fucked up shit, but...murder? She didn't want to think about that.

"Me too," Cassie whispered and the two gave each other lopsided frowns. "I'm glad you're back, Sarah. We still have a lot of...bonding to do."

Sarah grinned at the girl. "Yeah. We do," she nodded, relieved that she had her friend back. They may not have been best friends, but they were friends. And that was progress.

JJ and John B came back over, seeing the state the girls were in. "Did we all just have heart-to-hearts right now?" JJ piped up, looking around at all of them as John B wiped at his eyes that were watering slightly.

"I think we did," Cassie let out a laugh with Sarah, meeting eyes with the Maybank boy.

"Guess we've gone soft," JJ observed and John B and Sarah let out chuckles as the two blondes maintained eye contact.

"Oh, look at that!" John B suddenly yelled as he pointed over to the water. The two blondes broke eye contact, seeing Pope and Kiara on the Pogue.

"Oh! All right!" JJ exclaimed.

"Have a good time!" Sarah called out teasingly.

"I knew they wanted to fuck that whole time on the back of Heyward's truck," Cassie grumbled and Sarah sent her a bewildered look. "Long story. Well, not really, but..."

"There he goes. He jacked your boat, dude," JJ told John B, nudging his arm.

"Pope's poking on the Pogue," John B commented as he watched them steer the boat away. Sarah howled after them and Cassie let out a snort. John B then turned toward his girlfriend. "Oh, hey, Sarah, there's actually, uh, more beer inside. Wanna help me get it?"

Sarah tilted her head at the boy and he winked at her, causing her to laugh knowingly at him. "Of course. I'd love to help," she replied as she stood up, walking over to him.

"Damn, you guys are so discreet, too. Wow, okay," Cassie voiced sarcastically, watching John B take Sarah's hand and guide her toward his house as she laughed giddily. Cassie playfully rolled her eyes at the two, but cut them some slack. They had been on the run for days now, so they deserved some fun, didn't they?

Cassie then realized that she was now left alone with JJ, who was rolling his eyes at them as well. She felt her stomach drop a little, not knowing what to do or say now that she had been alone with him.

They had both established that what happened the other night had meant nothing, but why had JJ been acting so weird about it? Why had he been so protective at Limbrey's? Why was it so...awkward?

Cassie watched as he turned toward her. "Just us now," he noted.

She swallowed hard. "Just us."

JJ hummed before he randomly decided to take his shirt back off, tossing it onto the chair below him. Cassie blinked at him, looking him up and down before he silently wandered back over to the hot tub, getting inside. He leaned his back against the side and lit himself a joint he found lying around on the edge of the tub.

Cassie just watched him.

"Are you gonna get in or are you just gonna keep staring?"

Cassie's heart dropped from getting caught, but she wasn't exactly being discreet either. The others' "discreetness" rubbed off on her apparently.

She quickly grabbed the beer next to her and drank the rest of it before getting up, making her way toward the hot tub. She didn't know why she was getting in with him. Perhaps it was the beer and weed clouding her mind. Or perhaps it was something more.

JJ gazed up at her. "Well?" He added, seeing as though she was just standing there.

Cassie sucked in a breath before she began to take her shirt and shorts off that she had put back on once she had gotten out of the hot tub before. JJ's jaw tightened once he saw her take her clothes off, revealing the light pink bikini she had on before. She refused to meet his eyes, but she could feel his stare burning into her skin.

He looked her up and down to take in her body, but met her eyes once she was finally done and facing him. "You know...that color reminds me of your Midsummers dress," he decided to say.

He remembered my Midsummers dress? She thought. She honestly had never made the connection before, but he was right. The colors were eerily similar and this wasn't even her bikini.

Cassie made her way into the tub, sinking into the water up to the middle of her torso. "My Midsummers dress? The one that I threw up in?" She pointed out, trying to deflect from whatever he was doing.

JJ shrugged. "That's not what I remember from that night."

"Okay, then the one you yelled at me in?" She guessed. He shook his head. "Then what?"

JJ stuck the joint in his mouth, taking a hit before he blew out the smoke. "I remember how good you looked."

Cassie felt her cheeks burn and her insides twist. What the hell is he doing? "JJ, you're drunk," she brushed it off. "And high."

"So?"

She swallowed hard before shaking her head. "What are you doing?"

"What am I doing? What are you doing?" He countered and she furrowed her brows at him. "I mean, you-you say that what happened the other night between us meant nothing but I just keep catching you stare at me every five seconds. Why is that?"

Cassie wanted to die right then and there. But at the same time, she noticed that JJ's tone seemed offended in a way. Not so much questioning. As if she had hurt his feelings for saying the other night meant nothing.

"Well, why-why were you acting the way you were at Limbrey's?" She shot back, not wanting to answer his question.

JJ recoiled his head a bit. "Why was I acting like that? Oh, I don't know, maybe because I didn't want you to get killed. You almost died once, so..."

Cassie pursed her lips. He had a fair point. But still, it was weird. Especially now after he was questioning what they were about to do a few nights ago.

"So, are you gonna answer my question now?"

Cassie cursed in her mind. She had no logical explanation like he had. "Well...I just thought it was weird how you acted when we established the other night meant nothing," she honestly admitted although that had just been one part of it.

She had also been staring at him because of how perfectly his body had been sculpted and the way the lights had reflected perfectly off his skin. But he didn't need to know that.

It was JJ's turn to swallow hard. "Well, because, uh...did it mean nothing?"

Cassie tensed up a bit. She wasn't sure if he was questioning her or himself since she already knew the answer.

Did she know the answer?

"I thought that's what we said."

"Yeah, we did say that. You're right, we said that," he pointed a finger at her and she furrowed her brows a bit. "But, like, don't you think it's weird how we-we get so close to each other and then something stops us?"

"Maybe that's because we're getting too caught up in the moment and the universe is reminding us it doesn't make sense," she replied, thinking of any possible explanation that didn't point to the one that she wanted to admit.

JJ nodded slowly, taking in her words. "But still...you don't think it's...weird?"

"Not when we don't like each other, no," she denied although it had been an outright lie. She wasn't sure if she hated him anymore. How could she after they've saved each other's lives multiple times now?

He hummed. "Don't like each other. Yeah. Forgot about that," he whispered and she tilted her head a bit at him. He then rubbed his nose, sniffling a bit. "Wanna play a game?" He changed the subject.

Cassie breathed out a quiet sigh of relief, not wanting to be on that topic anymore or else her heart would burst out of her chest at how rapid it had become. "Yeah, sure. What game?"

"Shotgun."

Cassie gulped.

"Shotgun?"

"Yeah. Got a joint ready right here." He twiddled it between his fingers. She blinked at it. "Don't tell me you don't know what shotgun is."

"I-I know what it is. I've just never played."

"I'll teach you."

Cassie gulped again.

"O-Okay, yeah. Sure. Let's play."

Why the fuck did I just agree to play this?

"Come here then."

Cassie slowly waded through the hot water toward the boy who had been eyeing her up. She ignored his stare or else she would have combusted on the spot. Once she made it to him, she looked down, not knowing where to sit. He seemed to notice her dilemma.

"Sit on my lap."

She snapped her gaze back to him, her eyes wide. That sobered her up real fast. "What?"

"It means nothing, right?"

He got her there.

She forced a grin. "Yeah. Nothing."

Cassie slowly placed her knees on either side of his torso to plant them on the seat he had been on, leaning herself onto his body so she could sit comfortably. She saw how JJ's Adam's apple bobbed up and down as she did so, but she tried to ignore it.

Once she was situated, she looked into his cerulean eyes that seemed to be hiding something mischievous underneath their exterior. She wasn't sure if she wanted to find out.

She did.

"Ready?" JJ asked quietly and she nodded. JJ placed the joint in between his lips, inhaling the smoke. Cassie tilted her head and he tilted his in the opposite direction. "Closer," he whispered without exhaling the smoke, keeping it in his lungs.

She felt his free hand trail its way up her back toward the back of her head, bringing her closer to his face. She had felt the way his rings smoothed their way over her body, the metallic to them contrasting to his body heat that had now been extra hot due to the hot tub.

Their mouths had now just been an inch apart. She tried not to tense up, but she wasn't sure she was doing a good job.

He then opened his mouth, releasing the smoke into her own. She sucked it in before she held her head back up, releasing the cloud of smoke into the air.

"Did that mean nothing?" He whispered once her face turned back to his.

Her stomach twisted at the question. "It meant nothing," she forced out.

Forced. Out.

Like she was trying to convince herself.

Because someone born a Pogue and someone born a Kook couldn't be together. Because two people that hated each other couldn't be together. Because Cassandra Blake and JJ Maybank couldn't be together.

So it had to mean nothing. Their lips never touched, not like in her dreams.

Because without ever touching his lips, how could she be guilty as sin?

JJ didn't seem to want to back down from what she said. "Okay. Your turn, princess."

Cassie's breath hitched at the nickname as she watched him hand her the joint and she took it from him, placing it in between her lips. JJ subconsciously licked his own lips when he watched her before she sucked in, inhaling the smoke.

She brought her face toward him again, this time scooting her hips closer to his. JJ couldn't stop himself from releasing a quiet, desperate sigh as she did so. She then turned her head, as did he, and she released the smoke into his mouth.

JJ inhaled her exhale and kept it inside for a few seconds before he tilted his head back and released the puff of smoke.

"Did that mean nothing?" He asked again once he faced her.

This time, she hesitated before answering. "...It meant nothing."

JJ's lip twitched. "My turn."

He took the joint from her hands, their fingers brushing. Although she was already so close to him, he brought his hand down around her waist and pulled her in closer to him. Her heart rate had picked up, her eyes dilating. She couldn't form any words to protest.

She wasn't sure she even wanted to protest.

JJ brought the joint to his lips and sucked in before he turned his head again. She followed the movement in the opposite direction yet again and he blew the smoke into her mouth. However, this time, she could feel the faint brush of his lips onto her's. Her heart rate picked up even more as she inhaled before tilting her head and releasing the smoke.

She turned her head back to him, their faces inches apart. "Did that...mean nothing?" He whispered, his eyes flicking down to her lips.

"It meant..." She breathed out, not being able to finish the sentence properly as she looked at his lips. "It meant..." She tried again breathlessly before the words seemed to roll off her tongue and onto his lips, not being able to resist.

JJ wasted no time by flicking the joint out of his hand and into the water so it would be put out before he crashed his lips against her's.

And this time it had been no dream. It was reality.

Cassie moved her lips with his as she brought her hands up to his face, deepening the kiss further. No thoughts raced through her mind. Nothing telling her that this was wrong. Nothing telling her that she shouldn't be doing this. Nothing telling her to stop.

Because she didn't want to stop.

She felt his hands around her waist, holding her firmly on his lap. His tongue grazed her bottom lip, as if asking for entry. She allowed it, feeling his tongue make its way into her mouth and colliding with her own.

She felt his hands begin to roam down to her ass before they traveled up to her back, above the knot to her bikini top. She needed to pull away for air before she could pass out from both the kiss and the rush of adrenaline she was feeling.

She pulled back only a bit and whispered, "JJ."

JJ immediately whined, "No." He pressed his lips against her's once more and pulled her closer to him by bucking his hips before he started to undo her bikini top. They seemed to forget that they were outside and any one of the Pogues could come back out any minute.

But it was because it just felt like the two of them at the center of the universe. Like the world had come crashing down and they were the only two people left on earth, free to be guilty of committing any sins that they wanted.

However, as soon as he got the tie to the bikini top undone, they heard the sound of the Château door open followed by a string of giggles. The two of them immediately broke apart, panting heavily as they looked over to see John B and Sarah walking out.

Thankfully, they had their eyes on each other and they had no idea what JJ and Cassie had just been doing since they had swiftly and discreetly retreated to opposite sides of the hot tub.

Cassie blinked as she held her bikini top her chest, realizing what JJ had did. This man...

"Sorry, guys. Couldn't find the beer," John B apologized goofily and Sarah rolled her eyes at him, smacking him lightly on the arm. He then noticed the two of them were in the hot tub. "You guys got back in?"

Cassie and JJ shared a glance. "We, uh, we got cold," Cassie lied and JJ nodded, not being able to speak at the moment from what had just occurred.

"Oh, okay," John B shrugged, seeming to believe it.

"Oh, wait, Cassie, your bikini's undone," Sarah noticed.

Cassie's eyes widened and she looked down at it. "Oh, my God, it is," she pretended to just realize, her mouth going wide. "Shit, was it like that the whole time?"

Sarah shook her head. "Don't think so. Let me just tie it for you." Cassie got out of the hot tub and turned around, letting Sarah tie her bikini back up. She made eye contact with JJ as she did so, who was trying to fight back a smirk. She sent him a warning glare and he ran a hand over his mouth nonchalantly, pushing the smirk away. "There you go."

"Thanks."

JJ then climbed out of the hot tub, making his way over to John B and placing his hands on the boy's shoulders. Those same hands that had just been holding her body. "So, JB, you couldn't find the b—"

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait," John B rapidly said, cutting JJ off.

"What?" JJ asked.

"What was that?" John B said.

"Your...chicken?" JJ answered like it was obvious.

"I heard a car door," John B told them, staring out into the distance. JJ started clucking like a chicken before John B pressed a hand over his mouth, shutting him up. "We have to hide."

"John B?" Sarah questioned in puzzlement.

"We can't risk it!" He hissed as he poured his beer on the fire, putting it out.

"Well, what should we do then?" Cassie asked.

John B frantically looked around before his eyes landed on the large tree that had the heart carved into it. "Let's climb."

"Oh, my God," Cassie breathed out in frustration but she followed the boy nonetheless. He was right. They couldn't risk it.

Cassie climbed up after JJ and he sat himself on the large branch, extending his hand out for her to take. She took it hesitantly and he pulled her up behind him, making her practically lean on top of him.

She didn't comment on it though. Not when it had brought her back to reality and made her realize what she had just done with the boy.

She had kissed JJ Maybank.

She.

Had.

Kissed.

JJ.

Maybank.

What the hell did I just do?

The four of them on the tree looked below them to see none other than Rafe Cameron by the fire John B had just put out. Cassie's breath hitched at the sight of him and she felt JJ's body tense next to her.

"Where the hell are you?" They heard him mutter.

John B looked over at Cassie and JJ with a fearful look before he looked at Sarah, whose lip had been curled anxiously as she looked down at her brother.

They suddenly heard the sound of glass breaking in John B's house and Rafe called out, "Yo! Anything?"

"No, ain't shit in there, bro," Barry told him as he walked over to the Cameron boy. You're kidding me.
Not Barry.

"No? Nothing?" Rafe questioned.

"No, nothing, Rafe," Barry confirmed.

"They were obviously just here based off the smoke, man!" Rafe pointed out, getting angry.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Great observation, Boy Scout," Barry replied sarcastically.

"I mean, they're not far, you know?" Rafe continued.

"Smokey the Bear. Look at you, bro!" Barry taunted.

"They gotta be around here somewhere," Rafe said, ignoring Barry.

Rafe then caught sight of the heart carved into the tree the four Pogues were hiding in, making Barry follow his gaze. "'P4L,'" Barry read aloud, making Rafe laugh.

Rafe pointed to it with a gun in his hand and said, "Well, shit." He continued to laugh at it as Cassie held a hand up to her mouth once she noticed the gun in Rafe's hand. If he saw them, they were utterly fucked.

The blonde then felt a hand on her thigh and she looked up to see JJ looking at her, giving her a comforting nod. A knot formed in her stomach as she nodded back at him before she looked back down at Rafe and Barry.

"So your sister's a Pogue for life, huh, Rafe? Hey, what about that blonde chick you keep talkin' about? Now who would've thought?" Barry teased.

Cassie blinked in surprise at that. Rafe keeps talking about me? She thought as she glanced at JJ, who looked like he wanted to take out his own gun and shoot at them by the livid look on his face.

Rafe seemed to take in Barry's words for a long moment before he suddenly screamed, "SHIT!"

"All right, chill," Barry quickly said before Rafe clicked his gun, turning the safety off and started shooting at the tree. "Hey! Whoa! Hey, chill, bro! Rafe!" Barry yelled as he tried to grab the gun out of Rafe's hand, making the bullets shoot up to where the Pogues were hiding.

A bullet had just pierced the branch right next to JJ's head and he flinched as Cassie gasped from underneath her hand. She looked over at JJ, making sure that he wasn't hurt, which he wasn't. That brought her some sense of relief at least.

"Chill your shit! Chill out! You're gonna get our asses busted, dawg! Let's bounce! Let's bounce! Let's go!" Barry shouted before the two of them ran away.

authors note!
just wanna say that the shotgun scene
is like 100% inspired by the scene in mirror
by @/fathersia. u should def check out their jj
series it's literally some of the best fics i have
ever read in my life, they helped me cope after
s4 LOL anyway yall they finally kissed heheee
i hope it wasn't cringe i suck at writing kiss
scenes so hopefully it was worth waiting
45 chapters LMAO also ngl writing the
shotgun scene made me wanna smoke
weed and ive never had the urge to do
so but like now i need a jj to do it with
LMFAOEOAWOS