FIFTEEN PLEASE?

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"Dude, stop looking around for him, you're being obvious as hell," Tanya groaned at her blonde friend whose eyes were raking the area surrounding them looking for a certain blond-haired troublemaker of a boy. "You'll notice when he gets there because he and Kie will probably be fighting about something loudly while everyone is forced to eavesdrop just by the sheer volume of their conversation."

"Someone's in a mood," Evie mutters, nudging the other dark-skinned girl with a confused look, "I thought we were team JJ now."

"There are no teams," Maude interrupted, "We're team Whatever-Makes-Helena happy."

"I thought you just said there were no teams," added Haily with a confused expression.

"Guys!" Helena exclaimed, sounding exasperated, "Can we just chill? I'm already freaking at the idea of having to talk to him after our last conversation and as much as I love you guys, you're stressing me out. I've never had the L-word conversation with a guy before."

"Lesbian?" Maude snickered at her own joke, laughing more when she saw the pained looks of her friends, "Come on, it's a Scott Pilgrim reference! Sheesh, where's your white boy culture?"

Tanya just shook her head, "You're ridiculous. Helena, I'm gonna be real, you're freaking out over nothing. If you really love him, it should come easy the moment you see him. I know you're nervous that he won't feel the same way, but anyone with eyes can see that he does. It'll go super smooth, I promise you."

The blonde sighed, trying to relax in the lawn chair she was posted up in, "Thanks, T. I'm just nervous because this whole "communicating your feelings" thing is like super new for me."

"Aw, honey," Maude pouted, tugging on the blonde's arm affectionately, "We know. You barely even hug us and we've been friends for years. You're not exactly the epitome of emotionally available."

Hailey laughed outwardly at this, snorting while she was in the middle of taking a sip of water, "The only physical affection my sister knows is throwing a left hook. Remember when we almost fist fought because you said I had whore nails? Good times."

"I'm glad you look back on that fondly," Helena's voice dripped with sarcasm as she tried to force herself to not look around the green for JJ. "I sure don't, that was the night mom fucking dipped on us."

The older Vermont sister quieted at this, taking a deep breath, "Yeah, she's been doing that a lot lately, huh."

The solemn shift in the conversation was thankfully pulled away from their attention as they heard a familiar voice exclaiming, "I'm so glad they're still doing this. Keep calm, carry on. Back to the OBX life. You know? Aren't you glad I made you come?"

"My couch was pretty comfy, I'll be honest," Helena heard JJ's voice and she resisted the urge to whip around and look at him.

"Kie, Kie, come put your guys' stuff down next to us!" Maude exclaimed before Helena could stop her. It seemed the girl was fully aware of what she was doing because she turned around and shot a pointed look in the blonde's direction as the three Pogues settled down next to their group. John B was absent, but Helena didn't really pay that much attention to it.

"Hey!" Kie greeted Maude with a warm smile as they sat on a blanket together while Pope and JJ put their chairs down. Helena was instantly grateful she was sandwiched between Tanya and Hailey so she wouldn't be forced to sit next to JJ.

Once they were settled, Kie turned to them and asked, "I was gonna get a few sodas, anyone want any?"

"Can you grab me a Diet Pepsi, please? Maude, why don't you go with her to help her carry all the drinks back," Hailey responded, throwing a wink the brunette's way. Helena resisted the urge to let out a soft chuckle.

Her eyes darted to the side where JJ was discussing something with Pope and their eyes met for a brief moment. Judging by Kie and Pope's casual energy, she could only assume JJ hadn't told his friends about the breakup. If you could even call it that -- it wasn't like they were ever together. Right? Maude and Kie got up to get the drinks, leaving just the four girls and the two boys in stony, awkward silence.

Thankfully, Kie returned briefly with Maude by her side, both of them looking vaguely pissed off. Helena didn't have to wonder for long before Kie explained, "Just saw Rafe, and he said, and I quote, "Tell your boy we know what he did." What is that?"

Immediately, the two boys froze up and didn't have an answer for her. Helena raised an eyebrow, curious to see how this would play out. JJ didn't hesitate when he asked, "Where is he?"

"Right there," Kie nodded behind them and everyone turned subtlety to see Rafe, Topper, and Kelce all standing together.

Pope groaned, "Great, the whole death squad right there."

"Don't stare bro," JJ pulled the boy's head back in the direction of the screen.

"What trouble have you gotten yourselves into now?" Helena scoffed, doing her best to act casual as if her heart wasn't aching at the sight of JJ at the moment. Love was so much better when she hadn't been aware of it.

"Not important," the boy shook her off as he went into a conversation of hushed, tense whispers with Kie and Pope. God, of course, Rafe had to start something and now JJ was irritated and there was no way she was going to be able to get him alone.

The movie began to play and Helena knew her opportunity was lost. She threw her head back with a sigh as she got sympathetic looks from all of her friends. At least they realized she was in distress, she supposed. Maybe she would get an opportunity later, but she was really tired of being nervous about this and would much rather just get it over with. Of course, fate wasn't on her side the one time she actually wanted to do the right thing.

Night fell before she got her opportunity. She heard hushed whispers between Pope and JJ before both of them stood.

"Where are you doing?" Kie whispered.

JJ looked caught off guard by the question, "We gotta wring it out."

"What are you gonna hold it for each other?" the girl asked in disgust, causing Helena to stifle a giggle as she watched them walk away. After a moment passed, she stood as well, citing a bathroom break. She followed the boys behind the screen, pausing to make sure she wouldn't walk in on them mid-"wringing."

"JJ, we need to talk," she finally said, causing both boys to jump.

"Jesus, Helena, you cannot sneak up on a man peeing like that," Pope exclaimed, looking like he had just seen a ghost.

"Can this wait?" JJ asked, which surprised her, "Pope and I kinda have something to deal with right now."

Helena was never one to beg, it was below her, but she needed to talk about this before it ate her alive so she forced out a word she never thought she would have to say, "Please?"

The boy looked at her for a moment before sighing, "Fine, but Pope stays."

"Oh, God," the other boy muttered under his breath.

JJ looked at her expectantly, crossing his arms, "What's up? What do you have to say?"

She sighed, "I fucked up yesterday, like, big time. I didn't even realize it until it was too late and now I feel like an idiot. The reason I pushed you away was because there was something I didn't want to admit to myself, let alone tell you. What I wanna say is that I--"

"What's up, Pogues?" an arrogantly irritating voice interrupted her as Rafe walked up to the three of them, nodding to the girl, "Oh, hey, Helena."

"Fuck off, Rafe, not right now," she spat, "Kinda in the middle of a conversation."

"Sorry, Hels, I've got a prior meeting with these two," Rafe sounded angry as the two boys backed up as he advanced. JJ grabbed onto Helena and pushed her behind him. She remembered what Kie had asked them earlier.

"Isn't it past your bedtime?" JJ asked Rafe while he kept a tight grip on Helena, keeping her out of the way. Normally, she would be offended because she knew she could handle herself, but Rafe had always seemed just a tad unhinged and that was not something she wanted to mess with.

Rafe shook his head, offering a humorless chuckle, "I wanna talk."

Topper came up on the other side of them and Helena's heart was beating a mile a minute. What the Hell was this about?

"Helena, hey, we don't have to involve you in this, just walk away now and leave these dirty Pogues to us," Topper offered, holding out a hand. It was so beyond condescending in a way she seriously considered spitting on his palm.

"JJ's my boyfriend, I'm not going anywhere so you can shove that helping hand up your ass," she spat, not even sure where the words came from. She felt JJ's grip on her wrist tighten as she held onto his shoulder for security.

Topper just laughed, "You'll probably regret that, but you're not my problem right now. Pope, hey, that was some nice work you did on my boat."

"I don't know what you mean," Pope shook his head as the three of them backed closer to the screen.

"Not so burly without a gun, now, huh?" Rafe teased. JJ still had the gun?

"Take one more step and I'll rip that prepubescent face off," JJ called, his voice more threatening than she had ever heard before. It was kinda hot, but she would file that information away for later.

Beside them, Topper was still advancing on Pope, "Do you feel good? Stealing shit? Is your mom proud of you? Is your dad?"

Without any warning, Pope shot forward and headbutt Topper, causing JJ to exclaim, "Attaboy! Now with your fist like this--"

He went to punch Kelce, letting go of Helena for a moment as he got Kelce a couple times in the face. While she was paying attention to that, Rafe grabbed onto her and tried to yank her away from the boys.

"Come on, Helena, you can keep better company than this," Rafe chastised. The girl didn't hesitate to wrench her wrist out of his grip and land a punch to his nose. It probably hurt her more than it hurt him, but it sure as hell felt good. "God, you're a bitch."

"Let's go, let's go," Pope exclaimed, grabbing onto JJ who in turn pulled Helena out of Rafe's reach, wrapping his arm protectively around her shoulders as one hand cradled the back of her head. Strangely, she felt safe.

The moment was short-lived as JJ was ripped away from her and held back by Kelce as Rafe landed a punch to JJ's stomach. The boy gasped and Helena was fuming. While Pope was distracted by Topper, Helena grabbed Rafe by the nape of his neck, her fingers twisting in his slightly overgrown hair as she yanked back as hard as she could before landing a knee to his crotch. The boy toppled over but not before shoving her to the ground.

Rafe recovered before she did, landing a few punches to JJ's face. Despite being beaten, JJ taunted, "That all you got?"

"Let go of him, Topper, fascist asshole!" a new voice exclaimed as Kie ran up and began smacking Topper with her backpack. "Topper, stop!"

Rafe landed one more punch to JJ's face while he fell over with Kelce's grip still tight on him, Rafe moving to help Topper who was dealing with both Pope and Kie now. Now that Rafe was distracted, Helena stood and did her best to rip Kelce off of where he was trying to grab JJ in a chokehold. She dug her nails into his skin, pulling him back so she could punch him in the jaw.

"Nice one, Hels," JJ exclaimed, sounding winded. She reached out a hand and pulled him up as Kelce clutched his jaw. Once he was down, Helena landed a kick to his gut that would hopefully keep him down long enough for her and JJ to regain their energy. These guys could take her down if they were really trying and she was losing stamina by the minute.

"Just admit you did it!" Topper was shouting, his arm wrapped around Pope's throat. "Admit you did it, bitch! You don't mess with me, Pogue, you hear me? I'm gonna give you one chance. One chance, Pope! Got anything you wanna say, bro?"

Helena tried to help him, but JJ pulled her back, his breathing heavy as he nodded to where Kie was crawling across the ground with something shiny in her hand. A lighter, she realized.

"Finish him off, Top!" Rafe called with far too much glee in his voice. It made Helena sick.

A flame lit up the night as the screen playing the move caught fire. In the excitement, Topper let go of Pope and he fell to the ground heaving.

"Let's get outta here," Rafe instructed his friends as they regrouped and ran off. She watched as Kie picked Pope up off of the ground, making sure he was okay.

"Are you okay, JJ?" Helena asked, keeping her grip on the boy tight as she met his eyes in the darkness -- illuminated by a flame that was reflecting in his gaze. "What the fuck was that all about?"

The boy offered a half-hearted smile, his lip split and bleeding, "You called me your boyfriend."

"You're delusional, come on, let's find my friends and get the hell out of here," she exclaimed, pulling the boy into a hug, glad they were finally left alone.

"What were you gonna say earlier?" JJ asked and out of the corner of her eye, Helena saw her friends approaching.

"Hel? What's going on, what happened?" her sister's voice rang through the chaos.

She turned to JJ, offering a small chuckle as she ruffled his hair, "It's not important, we'll talk about it later."