lost at sea- act one

outer banks season one ; episode one (part one) 

"Johnny, be careful up there!" Julianna called out from the scaffolding butted up against the lower level of the abandoned beach house the pogues had taken claim on, "Jules, you need to stop worrying! I'll be fine." One thing about the Routledge twins is that while John B is reckless and could care less about his safety, Julianna hovers like a helicopter parent making sure everyone is protected.

She rolled her eyes as she nudged the blonde boy sitting next to her, "Could you pass me a beer?"

"Of course." JJ says with a small smile on his face, grabbing a beer from the small zip cooler next to him and passing it to the girl. "Thank you kind sir..." She says in a fake posh accent as she pulls the tab and breaks the metal seal. "You are so welcome m'lady."

Once the girl took a sip from the beer can she leaned forward with her arms on one of the metal bars so that she could see what was happening below. "Okay, Mr. Statistics, lay it on me, what are his chances if he falls?" she asked and Pope looked up at her then extended his gaze up to the top of the house,"that's what, a three-story fall to the deck? I give him about a one-in-three chance of survival."

The Routledge girl let a chuckle escape her lips as she leaned back into the blonde, "Great so he's gonna die..." his arm found its way around the girl's shoulder and it all felt like muscle memory for him. "Jay, my brother is an idiot..." she explains and the Maybank boy chuckles, "when isn't he an idiot, Julie?"

"Very true." she says with a chuckle lacing her voice as she takes another sip of her beer, settling into the hold of the blonde. The two have always been close, two peas in a pod that could never be separated. When Big John was still around he swore that the two would end up getting married in the future but now that he's gone and the group has the "no pogue on pogue macking" rule, that idea seems like fiction more than truth.

The girl watches the water in front of her as it rushes quickly into shore and then back out into the depths, thinking of how it might have felt for her father to get swept away with the current. It's been nine months since her father had gone missing, nine months since she heard her father tell her that he loved her, nine months since the argument between her father and brother that ruined the father-son dynamic as they knew it; nine months since the family Julianna knew was thrown to the wolves and torn to pieces.

"Earth to Julie..." JJ's voice pulled her from her deep train of thought and once she was back the world felt as if it were some sort of simulation. She readjusted the way she was sitting and took a deep breath, letting the bout of full body shivers run their course.

"You okay?" he asks and the brunette nodded, "yeah just got lost for a second."

He looked at her with a small empathetic smile, "Well, I'm glad you're back. You want to talk about it?"

Julianna shakes her head, "no i think i'm okay."

"You sure?" JJ asks and she just smiles back at him, "I am but thank you."

He gives her a nod and the two enjoy the sounds that surround them; the rushing of the water, the banter between Pope and John B, the seagulls flying overhead. It was beyond peaceful, Julianna loved it.

"They're gonna have Japanese toilets with towel warmers." Kiara's exacerbated voice calls out as she storms out of the beach house with such force. "Here she goes again." JJ says as he rolls his eyes and Julianna smacks his thigh, "stop right now!"

The girl then leans forward again resting her chin on top of her crossed arms that lay on the cool metal bar. "What's going on Kie?" She asks and Kiara turns her attention up to her, squinting because of the sun overcasting around the Routledge girl, "These Kooks are ruining nature for money!"

"You know, you're still technically a Kook, right?" JJ says nonchalantly and Kie rolled her eyes, "I would never destroy our earth for a profit! This used to be a turtle habitat, but who cares about the turtles, I guess?"

Julianna raised her hand up into the air, "I still care about the turtles, Kie."

"Thank you, Jules!" she says exaggeratedly and the brunette gives her a nod, "You're welcome!"

She watches as Kiara scans her surroundings. "Where's John B?" She asks and everyone's eyes make their way to the top of the house. She followed suit and found the group's fearless leader standing strong on the roof's peak sipping from a Pabst Blue Ribbon can, "What the h- can you please not kill youself?"

Julianna watched as her twin brother shrugged his shoulders at Kie's request like a defiant toddler who is sticking it to their parents. "You're a literal child." She explained as she locked eyes with her brother and John B just stuck his tongue out at her. "Case and point..." she says with a chuckle as she picked up her beer can that felt significantly lighter than the last time she drank out of it- probably because JJ had been skimming off of it- and took another sip.

JJ pulled the brunette back into his side as he craned his neck to look at John B, "I swear, don't spill that beer. I'm not giving you another one." He ordered and almost instantly the wind changed directions and blew John B off kilter just enough for him to have a knee jerk reaction leading him to drop his beer the three stories, the metal crushing into the deck surface causing beer to splatter all over the unfinished wood planks.

A groan erupted from the Routledge boy and all Julianna could do was bury her head into her hands and pray that he wasn't the next thing to fall from that roof. "He's going to give me a heart attack I swear..." she says in a whisper to herself as the rest of the group's reactions fill the air one after another.

"Of course you did. Right when I told you not to." JJ says before turning to look at the girl, "he's never going to learn is he?" Julianna shook her head, trying her best not to laugh about the near death experience her brother just had. "He in fact will never learn."

"Dumbass..." Kiara says, shaking her head in disbelief as Pope makes his way over to the side of the house where the last bit of deck wraps around because the sound of car doors shutting fills the air. When he reached the end of the wrap-around deck he wasn't just met with the railing that kept him from going further; he was also met with the sight of two ADP security guards making their way towards the house; the pogues had been caught.

"Hey you guys, uh... security's here!" Pope warned and Julianna looked down at the Heyward teen and noticed how his body language changed completely. She knew that if they were to get caught and the authorities called more than just a charge for trespassing would be given; he would be out of the running for the scholarship he had worked tirelessly for and she and john b would be put into DCS custody.

She finishes off her beer and crushes the can within her hand before turning to look at JJ with a delighted smile painted across her face. "You ready?" She asks and JJ nodded, "Always ready."

He takes her hand to help stabilize her as she stands up and watches carefully as she starts down the scaffolding saying a prayer that it doesn't collapse beneath her and cause her to fall to her demise. Once she reached the bottom she watched to make sure JJ made it down as safely as humanly possible, even though sometimes his strong resilience makes her question if the Maybank boy is human.

Once the blonde had both feet on the deck Julianna turned her attention to the roof where her brother was plotting the best way for his retreat back to the rest of the group. She placed two fingers between her lips and whistled to grab his attention, "Hey Humpty Dumpty, let's get this show on the road."

He nodded as he lowered himself to a seated position on the roof so that he could slide down the side to safety. His feet hit the deck heavily, shaking it ever so slightly causing the brunette to look at her brother with a furrowed brow, "Okay Buddy, we get it you're a daredevil."

All John B could do was chuckle under his breath as he starts off in a sprint with Kiara by his side to go and retrieve their getaway car. "Gary, is that you?" JJ asked as he made his way over to the railing of the deck on the side of the house, a boyish grin plastered across his face, "It's so good to see you dude! It's JJ!!" Even though Julianna loved seeing JJ filled with a sense of joy- no matter how weird it was- in this moment it needed to be cut short, she had her livelihood at stake.

"JJ get over here!" She fussed and Pope made his way over to the railing and pulled the boy away from it. "You have got to be kidding me!" Pope exaggerates, holding the Maybank boy's shoulders with both of his hands and JJ just looked at him with a furrowed brow, "What? I was just saying hi to Gary..." He sounded so innocent when he spoke, like a little boy who got caught for doing something he thought was right.

Julianna took a step towards the boys, coming into JJ's eye line, "I know you were but two out of the three of us have a shit ton to lose if we get caught by Gary and his buddy, so we need to get going." she urged and once JJ locked eyes with her he gave in, "Alright let's go then..."

Pope gives the two a nod and takes off the first chance he got. Leaving Julianna and JJ to hatch a plan that would be the most effective with the short window of opportunity that they were given with the dispersal of the rest of their friends. "What should we do?" She asks and JJ had a smirk slowly creep onto his face as she grabs her hand and interlocks his fingers with hers, "We run faster than we have ever ran before."

Like a bullet from a gun the two were off with such force and speed. Making their way through the empty house, dodging the suppliers left there by the remodeling team that has been working on this house for the last month. "JJ, I hear them coming!" She urged with an airy chuckle lacing into her words and JJ nodded, "That's the thrill of it Jules!"

Adrenaline was pumping through the Routledge girl's veins as she was being pulled along by JJ, her legs already beginning to burn. She hasn't had this much fun in what felt like a lifetime; it felt really good to feel this excited about life again. As they turned a corner they came face to face with Gary's partner who reached out to catch the two within his grasp. JJ sidestepped him and pulled the girl away from his so that he didn't lay a hand on her, "We aren't really huggers, bud."

Giggles erupted from Julianna as they made it into the next room; one step closer to the exit, one step closer to tasting freedom and being out of reach from the threat of foster care on the mainland. "You doing okay?" He asked and the girl nodded, "More than okay..."

"Good!" He said as they reached a side door that led them to a set of stairs that reach the yard below. The commotion of the group was overlapping as they closed the gap with one another, JJ and Julianna finally regrouping with Pope as they made their way to the stereotypical white picket fence that surrounded the yard. "We hop over this and we are out of the woods!" JJ urged as the three came to a stop in front of it, just looking at one another, waiting to see who would be the first one to take charge. "Well? Who's going first?" Julianna asked and both boys looked at her, "Oh come on you guys? Really?"

Pope nodded, "It's the most logical answer. Now come on, we can help you over..." He says in a rushed tone as he went down on one knee and placed his hands in a cradle position on top of his knee. JJ took a couple seconds to take in every piece of information he could to make sure that he put himself in the same position and within seconds the Routledge girl was climbing onto their knees and was hoisted over with ease. Once she was safely over the fence with her feet on the loose dirt on the other side she felt as if her chest was getting tighter, nerves infiltrating her mind, anxiety filling her soul; the boys needed to hurry.

"You guys are cutting it close!"

Moments later JJ's head pops up from the other side of the fence and the rest of his body follows, jumping over the wall with such ease. Pope came after but it wasn't as graceful- seeing that his lack of athletic ability really showed- he got over the fence fine but when he made contact with the ground it was not with his feet, it was with his upper body. Falling face first into the dirt with a groan, Pope struggled to get back onto his feet.

"Get up, Pope! Fatso's coming!!" JJ urged and the brunette left the Maybank boy's side to help him up and make sure he was okay. "You okay, Pope?" She asks as she observes his body for any superficial wounds as he brushes the dust off of himself and he nodded, "I'm good, I'm good."

She lets out a reassuring sigh but her moment of relief was cut short when Gary's voice echoed from the backyard, "Come here you little prick!"

The sound of a VW engine from the nineties accompanied by gravel crushing under four worn tires fills the area behind the trio. The three turned around to find the Routledge family heirloom- an old VW bus that Big John had gifted the twins to share once they turned sixteen and that they named the Twinkie- was idling behind them. John B honked the horn once with a smile on his face, "Come on kids, bus is leaving."

The side door slid open to reveal Kie sitting on the floor in the back with a smile on her face, "All aboard the magic school bus!" Julianna couldn't help but smile at the Carrera girl's reference to the cartoon that shaped most of their childhoods as Pope and JJ made sure she got in safely. Once she was in the boys jumped in one after another, not giving either of them time to get situated before the Routledge boy sped off- as fast as the rickety van could take them.

"Everyone okay?" Julianna asks, trying to catch her breath, and everyone nods. "We're good. Are you okay?" JJ asks and the Routledge girl nods, "I'm okay..."

The group shared some unexpected laughter as the adrenaline began to melt away; the result of how nervous they had been to almost be caught by the two security guards. Pope crawls over to the bench seat in the back of the van to look through the small rectangular window, "Look at Gary, gunning for a raise."

Julianna shook her head as she made her way to the bench seat to see what the Heyward boy meant and was met by the officer chasing- slowly but surely- after the Twinkie like his life depended on it. "Aw, guys I actually feel bad for him." Julianna juts her bottom lip out ever so slightly and JJ just chuckles, "Don't feel bad Julianna, this is what he gets for trying to catch us..." He grabs an empty beer can from the floor of the Twinkie and squeezed it slightly with his hand; his mind coming up with a plan to egg on the security guard even more.

"Hey, JB, could you slow down for a minute?" JJ asks and the brunette looked at the blonde as her brother obeyed the ask of his best friend, taking the Twinkie from forty to twenty. Once they were slowed down enough Julianna watched as JJ reached for the side doors handle. "Jay what are you doing?" She asks and the blonde just turned to her and placed his pointer finger against his lips, "Just sit back and watch."

He slid open the door as if it were nothing at all and shimmied the upper half of his body out so that he was hanging out of the van. "JJ I swear to God!" Julianna fussed but Pope placed a hand on her shoulder, "It's not worth it..." He says and she just rolled her eyes, knowing that the Heyward boy was right.

"Come on, Gary!" Now that the Twinkie was going at half the speed it was going originally Gary was able to make a sizeable dent in the distance between himself and the van, now only a few feet from the open door of the van where JJ was taunting him.

Kiara turned herself around in the passenger seat so that she could watch the interaction between the blonde and the heavy set security guard. "You're going to give him a heart attack!!" She urged, but her comment didn't matter to the Maybank boy.

"You're so close, Gary! Come on, you're so close!" He says dangling the empty can just far enough away that he couldn't grab it, like a mouse being tormented by a piece of cheese that is located on a mouse trap. Julianna let a sigh escape her lips which caught JJ's attention, causing him to quickly look back into the interior area of the van to find the brunette looking at him with an expression that said 'you're a child'.

He flashed his signature smirk at her before turning his attention back to the task at hand. He takes the beer can and tosses it at the man, who quickly dodges it, letting it rattle onto the gravel. "Aw, they don't pay you enough man..." He says shaking his head, finding such joy in what he had just done. His moment was interrupted when he felt someone trying to pull him back into the van, he gave into the grasp and was pulled back into the interior of the van coming face to face with Julianna who looked less than enthused by the entire situation.

"Stop, stop!" She says looking at him with a smile that was half cocked and filled with a small inkling of satisfaction and the blonde just shrugged, "What? Come on Jules, that sort of initiative is begging to be punished."

The girl rolls her eyes and takes the baseball cap off of his head before placing it on hers with a small smile on her face, "Oh really?"

She then slams the sliding side door closed and patted the driver's seat, "Take us on home, el capitan."

John B looked into the rearview mirror and gave his sister a nod, "Alright, Alright, Alright..."

As the van picked up speed, slowly but surely, both JJ and Julianna got situated on the floor of the van, the two of them sitting with their backs up against the side of the van and their legs extended out towards the side with the door that Julianna had just shut.

"Did you really take my hat to prove a point?"

The brunette couldn't help but smile as she laid her head- which is outfitted with the blonde's hat- on his shoulder, "Yep and I don't think I will ever be giving it back... It's mine now, sorry."

He couldn't help but chuckle at Julianna's statement, "Well played Routledge, well played."

𖤓𖤓𖤓

"John, Julianna, it has come to our attention that you two are unemancipated minors living on your own." Cheryl, the twins' social worker, says with a sigh as she opens the case file labled 'j&j routledge' that sat in front of her. The routledge girl readjusts the way that she was sitting in the chair next to her brother, her head pounding because of the hangover that she was sporting from the night before. "That is definitely false."

The woman leaned forward enough to place her elbows on the desk, "I need honesty to help you. You guys want me to help you guys, right?" she asks in a condescending tone and both Julianna and John B look at one another before returning their stare to Cheryl, nodding their heads, "Yeah. and we are being honest. It's completely false." the Routledge boy answered, seconding his twin sister's claim.

"Okay, then when is the last time either of you spoke to your uncle?" she asks and julianna looked at the clock hanging on the other side of the wall, "uh... thirty four minutes ago. he called me while i was clocking out at work." She had been waiting tables at the Wreck before this meeting, luckily Mike Carrera was more than accepting of the girl leaving early.

Cheryl jotted down the information that julianna had given her before looking back at the twins with a skeptic glance. "And when's the last time either of you saw him?" she asks in a weary tone and john b was quick to respond, "two hours and... forty three minutes ago?"

The brunette shoved her knee into her brother's underneath the table and the Routledge boy turned his head slightly to look at his sister with a furrowed brow, "What?" he mouths and Julianna just rolled her eyes. "Stop being so specific!" She mouths back while the woman's attention was still on their file.

Cheryl slowly closed the file in front of her and took off her glasses, pinching the bridge of her nose, "okay here's what we're gonna do... We are going to come out there tomorrow to talk to your uncle. If he's not there, we're gonna move forward with foster care. I want to assure you both, we're gonna find you a safe and loving home."

"Will you separate us?" Julianna asks in a nervous tone and Cheryl became uneasy, knowing that she couldn't give them a solid answer. "That is not our goal..." she said and julianna rolled her eyes before leaning forward, placing her elbows on her knees to stabilize herself, "Okay Cheryl, I get that, but that's not what I asked..."

John B noticed how tense his sister was becoming so he just placed a hand on her shoulder in a reassuring manner, "Hey, Jules, it's going to be okay... alright?"

It felt as if her hangover had disappeared and the feeling of disgust was replaced with the feeling of pure terror of the unknown. She locks eyes with her brother who gives her a reassuring nod and she lets a sigh escape her lips, not saying anything else before reverting back to her original seated position. She watches as her twin brother takes the lead with Cheryl. "We'll make sure that Uncle T is home tomorrow, then you guys can talk this all out with him." John B reassures and Cheryl nods, "Alright, then I guess you two are free to go. Sorry for taking up your afternoon."

Cheryl dismisses the siblings and in unison the two stood up, bidded the woman goodbye, and started towards the parking lot; holding all conversation until they exited the building. As their footsteps competed with the sound of crucnhing gravel, Julianna looked at her twin brother with a look of despair painting her face.

"How the hell are we going to make sure uncle t is home tomorrow, when neither of us have spoken to him in months?" Julianna asked as she walked backwards towards the Twinkie, facing John B and the boy shrugged, "I don't know! I panicked seeing you get all emotional about us getting seperated."

Julianna just shook her head, "Let's just hope this storm makes landfall tomorrow and saves our asses..."

"Yeah because if it doesn't we're screwed." He says and the brunette looked at him with a faux surprised look, "Really captain obvious? I didn't know."

John B flipped his sister the bird as they made it to their assigned doors; John B at the drivers side and Julianna at the passenger side, like it has always been. "Just get in the car, I have to go pick up my paycheck at the marina." He says as the two opened their doors and climbed into the car, "Sounds good to me. But I want to get home sooner rather than later, I have a date with some primo weed and the hammock tonight."

The turn over of the Twinkie's engine filled the air as the Routledge boy shook his head, "You sound like JJ."

"I bet that scares you, doesn't it?" She asks and John B nodded, "A little bit, yeah."

"Good..." She says as she brings her feet up onto the dashboard, crossing her ankles over each other, becoming relaxed in the seat as they drove. "I love keeping you on your toes."

John B let a chuckle escape his lips as he continued down the road, "Oh I know."

"We should have the group over for dinner tonight; I can make some fish tacos, we can hang out, listen to Marley, and chill around a fire." Julianna suggests and John B took his eyes off the road for a moment to look at the brunette, "What about your date with primo weed and the hammock?"

She chuckled, "Who said I couldn't do both?"

He shook his head as a smile filled his face, turning his attention back to the road, not saying anything else. The two kept up simple conversation as some sort of 90s country music flowed through the speakers of the Twinkie. "Remember when Dad use to blare this through the entire house when it was a swell day?" John B asked and Julianna nodded, "Yeah... It was always George Strait or Alan Jackson. He was obsessed with that kind of music."

It was weird for the twins to speak about their father in the past tense, which is why neither of them talk about their father with one another or anyone for that matter. They keep their memories held under the surface, in a place where Big John was still alive and where none of the events of the last nine months have happened. "Yeah, he was..."

The two fell back into a comfortable silence that they have often shared, one that has been present more recently. As the scenery changed and the Twinkie came to a halt Julianna knew they were in the in-between territory where both social classes collide. "Hey after you get your check can we go to Heyward's? I need stuff for dinner and it would be a good idea to stock up in case Aggie hits." She asks and John B nodded as he pulled the keys from the ignition, "Yeah, we can do that."

She smiled as she watched her brother make his way into the crowded marina, on the hunt for his manager who is rarely in his office on days like this one. The wind picked up outside of the Twinkie and the girl was at peace watching the world go on around her. Her phone began to ring from its spot in the center between the two seats and brought her back to reality, quickly grabbing it on the second ring and answering it soon after. "Hello?"

"Hey, how did it go with Cheryl?" JJ's voice came through the other end of the line and Julianna let out a sigh, "It went okay but there was a hiccup JB and I were not expecting."

Background noise filled JJ's end of the line which meant one thing; he was calling from his hiding spot in the kitchen at the country club on the Figure Eight. "Oh yeah, what happened?" He asked and Julianna chuckled off her nerves, "Cheryl wants to come by the house tomorrow and talk to our Uncle T..."

"That doesn't sound terrible." JJ suggests and Julianna chuckled, "Did you not hear me J?"

"Yeah, she wants to come talk to Uncle T- wait Uncle T is in Mississippi, how are you two supposed to get him here by tomorrow?" He asks and Julianna agreed, "I know... That's why we're hoping that Aggie makes landfall tonight so that they back out on the visit."

"Here's to hoping!" He says quickly as his name is called from the back. "Do you need to go?" Julianna asked as he fussed with one of his co-workers, "JJ?" She asks a little louder and JJ was brought back into the conversation. "What?" He asks and Julianna couldn't help but chuckle, "Do you need to go?"

"Yeah, Jorge caught me hiding in the walk-in and told me that my job is on the line if I don't get back out there." He says, laughter lacing his voice, and Julianna nodded. "Well we don't want you losing your job, so I will let you go..."

"You sure? I can stay on the phone a little longer." He says and the brunette detested, "No you need to get back to work, but before you go I wanted to let you know that JB and I are hosting dinner at the Chateau tonight. I'm making my famous fish tacos."

Julianna could sense a smile making its way across jj's face on the other end of the line as he takes a deep breath and begins to speak, "count me in..." he says and right as the brunette was going to respond a crack of thunder echoed all around her, making her jump slightly in her seat.

"Fuck!" she exclaims and her reaction causes laughter to explode from the other side of the line, "You okay?" He asks and the brunette chuckled nervously. "Yeah I'm good, just some thunder scaring the shit out of me."

He couldn't help but laugh at the girl as he continued to speak, "Okay. Well, Jorge is calling me again so I really have to head back, see you tonight?"

"See you tonight, oh and JJ..." She says and JJ was quick to respond, "Yeah?"

"Thank you for calling to check on me, it means a lot." she says sweetly and JJ lets out a small sigh, "No need to thank me, Jules. I have been worried about it all day." JJ explains which makes the Routledge girl's heart skip a beat, "Still, it means a lot."

"Well you're welcome." He says sweetly and after the two said their goodbyes and the phone call ended, leaving the Routledge girl alone with her thought; which are now mostly filled by a certain blonde boy. The butterflies within her stomach began to flutter, knowing that JJ had been worried about her all day made a smile fill her face.

She was quickly brought back to reality when the driver's side door opened and John B climbed back into the Twinkie. "So guess what I just did?" he asks and the girl just stared at him, "If you say spent your entire check on something stupid instead of the groceries we need, I may just have to smack you."

John B shook his head, a chuckle lacing his voice, "I would never, well at least not this time... Anyway back to what I was going to say, when I was getting my check they had the news on and it said that Hurricane Agatha is supposed to make landfall before day break tomorrow. So I decided to call DCS and told them we needed to reschedule."

The girl's face lit up, "Wait really?"

"Yeah and they agreed which I knew they were going to do, because I know for a fact they wouldn't even think of trying to make the journey on the ferry tomorrow." Joy began to bubble up within her as she stared at her brother, "Like for real?"

John B nodded with a smile on his face and Julianna couldn't help but throw her arms around her brother, "That is the best news ever! Thank you!!" She squealed and John B reciprocated the hug.

"Anything for you, Julie."

𖤓𖤓𖤓

The sound of Bob Marley and The Wailers filled the entire Chateau as the five friends sit on the living room floor circled around the old coffee table that the twins' mother picked out before she split thirteen years ago. "These are delicious, Julianna!" Pope said with his mouth full of taco which made everyone around the table chuckle, especially the Routledge girl, "Why thank you, Pope. That means a lot."

He nodded before picking up his taco yet again and takes another bite, "Like really good."

This night around the table was worth more than any party they could've been at or bonfire they could've hosted; if John B hadn't seen the news and hadn't called to reschedule the DCS visit, Julianna knew that this would've been the best way to spend their last night of freedom. "Pope's right, these are really good." Kiara says with a smile and Pope shook his head, "I didn't say really good, I said delicious."

"Right, well these are delicious." Kiara said, a chuckle lacing her voice.

Julianna leans into the blonde sitting next to her with a sigh as he wrapped his arm lazily around her shoulders. He took a puff off of the blunt he had been smoking and offered it to the girl, "You want some?" He asks with a small smile and the girl nodded excitedly taking it from him and putting it between her lips without saying a word.

As she inhaled the substance her body is instantly filled with a sense of calmness and relaxation; a smile filling her face as she blows a cloud of smoke into the air. She locked eyes with John B and took another puff of the blunt, "You see I told you I could do both!"

He chuckled, "Don't know if I should be proud or concerned."

The girl shrugged her shoulders as she passed the blunt back to the Maybank boy before snuggling in closer to him. "Thank you for that, kind sir." she says and JJ just nodded, "No worries m'lady, I like sharing." His tone was flirtatious, but that was normal for the banter between the two of them.

Julianna could feel two sets of eyes belonging to Pope and John B burning holes into her skin, but after the day she had she didn't care if they thought she was breaking some stupid rule they made when they were in middle school. "Can I take home some leftovers?" Kiara asked from the opposite side of the table with a smile on her face and the brunette nodded, "Of course you can."

Kiara did a small happy dance as she took another bite of the last bit of taco she had left on her plate. Julianna couldn't help but smile at everyone enjoying the food that she had made, "So everyone liked dinner?" She asked and there was an astounding stamp of approval from the group with grunts of enjoyment from full stomachs and heart.

"So who wants to help me clean up and do the dishes?" She asks before snatching the blunt from its spot between JJ's fingers and taking a puff off of it, the room falling silent with all eyes averting from Julianna's line of sight. "Okay so you guys want to eat the food but not clean it up?"

A wave of laughter filled the living room as she blew smoke into the air, passing the blunt back to the blonde before standing up from her spot from the couch. "Okay, suit yourselves. But hey, if no one volunteers to help no one gets leftovers." She says with a giggle lacing her voice as she grabbed her plate along with JJ's. Kie shot up from her spot at the mention of leftovers being on the line, "On second thought I would love to help you in the kitchen, Juju."

"That's what I thought..." She says sticking her tongue out at the Carrera girl as they both clear the table of all the plates. A chorus of thank yous echoed from the boys as the two walked into the kitchen chuckling with one another.

The kitchen still smelled delicious from when Julianna had cooked. "Dinner was so good tonight, JuJu." Kiara says as she places two of the five plates into the sink with the brunette following suit after with the other three, "Why thank you, I tried my best seeing that this was at risk of being our last dinner together before the wicked witch and her henchmen came to sweep me and Johnny up and take us to the mainland."

Kiara looked at the brunette with a furrowed brow as she turned the sink on letting the water run onto the plates, "What?" She asked and Julianna sighed as she grabbed a couple tupperware containers out from one of the lower cabinets in the kitchen; forgetting that only JJ knew about the meeting with Cheryl.

"Oh shit, I forgot to tell you!" She squealed, letting one of her hands shoot up to cover her mouth and Kiara nodded. "Yeah, you sure as hell forgot to tell me something. Is DCS taking your case?" She asked and Julianna slowly nodded, "Yeah we had a meeting with Cheryl this morning and i was sporting the worst hangover of my life... And then she dropped the bomb that she was going to be making a home visit to meet with Uncle T."

"Shit!" Kiara said a little louder than she probably should have reacted which sent Julianna into a fit of laughter as voices of concern from the living room filled the air asking if they were okay inside the kitchen. Both Kiara and Julianna were quick to answer that 'yes they were okay' and 'no nothing happened' before getting back to their conversation.

"So what are you guys going to do?" Kiara asked in a worried tone and the girl shrugged, "I don't know, but thank God we don't have to worry about it for right now."

Kiara still looked at the girl with furrowed brows, "Why not?"

"Oh, seeing that Agatha is supposed to hit tonight John B called the DCS office to reschedule the meeting and they were very supportive." She says with a smile as she placed the tupperware containers that were now filled with the leftovers on the counter top, signalling that they were up for grabs. Kiara smiled at the girl, relieved by the response, "Well you know that if anything were to happen and you needed a place to stay my parents would be more than welcoming."

Julianna nodded, "That means a lot, Kie... Thank you."

"Always, sisters forever..." Kiara says with a smile and the two girls encapsulate eachother in a hug, "Sisters forever..." Julianna says sweetly, squeezing the Carrera girl a little tighter.

Their moment was interrupted by the sound of Kiara's phone ringing. They pull away from one another and Julianna watched as Kie pulled her phone out of her pocket, "Shit it's my dad... What time is it?" She asks and Julianna looks at the analog clock on the oven to see that it read 11:00.

"It's eleven, you should probably answer that call." She suggests and Kie nods accepting the call and bringing the phone up to her ear, "Hey Dad... What's up."

Julianna watched as her best friend paced back and forth in the small kitchen talking to her father. "Yeah I know it's late but I am helping Julianna clean up the kitchen after she made dinner." She explains, nodding to whatever Mike was saying on the other line, "I know Dad..."

The phone call lasted for another minute and ended with Kiara saying the last word, "Alright love you."

She pulled the phone away from her ear and rolled her eyes as she shoved it into her back pocket. "They want me home before Aggie hit, they saw it plastered all over the news and don't want me driving in the rain." She says with a sigh and Julianna nodded, "I totally get that. Pick whatever container you want and I'll store the rest in the fridge for the boys when they get hungry."

"Okay, well I love you and I will see you tomorrow." Kiara says grabbing one of the containers and making her way out of the kitchen, "See you tomorrow, Kie Kie!" 

a note from the author <3

it's here you guys and i am OBSESSED!!

i hope you guys love them as much as I do !!