While the rest of the pogues regrouped at The Wreck to go over their next course of action, Slater headed home. Almost getting shot by a crackhead with a sawed off shotgun, and witnessing JJ commit a felony in retaliation, was more than enough excitement for one day. The novelty of finding the gold had even almost worn off -- almost.

The feeling of finding four hundred million dollars worth of lost, historic gold didn't really wear off. Ever.

She briefly said hi to her parents, who, because it was Saturday, were home, before trudging upstairs to go shower. Maeve was sitting on Slater's bed by the time she was done.

"So you're friends with Sarah Cameron now?" Maeve asked as Slater walked into the room.

"I am," Slater replied, pulling her hair out of its towel. "She's dating John B."

"Aha," Maeve said, smirking. "I knew it. I knew you weren't all of a sudden magically friends with Sarah Cameron. Dad's happy as a clam, thinking his plan worked to get you guys to be friends."

"Dad had a plan to get me to be friends with Sarah?" Slater scoffed.

Maeve shrugged. "Not a plan exactly, but he seems to want all of us to be friends with the Camerons, so ..."

"I don't see what's so great about the Camerons," Slater said, flopping onto the bed next to her sister.

She was still on edge after the whole thing with Barry, and she wanted nothing more than to scream into her pillow until she went unconscious. Maeve, however, was chattering on and on about her latest surfing adventures.

"Maeve, I'm sorry, can you just ..." Slater trailed off and pointed towards the door.

Maeve frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to talk to my sister. You know, my supposed best friend? That I barely see anymore?"

Slater's heart sank, and she sighed. "I'm sorry, Maeve. I just need some time alone. It's been a long day, and I --"

"A long day?" Maeve repeated. "It's only two p.m. and you were just out hanging with those pogues. Don't you guys just sit around and smoke weed and stuff?"

"No, that's not what we do," Slater huffed into her pillow.

"Okay, so what do you do that is so much more fun and important than ever spending time with your little sister? I mean, you get me to cover for you so you can go hang with them, and what do I get in return? An absent sister who doesn't have any time for me?"

"Maeve, please," Slater sighed, sitting up as tears filled her eyes.

"I mean, I get it, Slater. I'm happy that you finally have friends. I just wish you would be honest with me and tell me what's going on. You're out all hours of the night, when Mom and Dad think you're asleep. JJ sneaks in your window. You say you're with Sarah Cameron and her kook friends, but I doubt you could even name one of them."

Slater's heart sank. "I'm just having fun, okay?" She wanted to tell Maeve the truth. She wanted to tell her about the Royal Merchant and the gold and Denmark Tanny. But she couldn't. Since joining the treasure hunt, Slater had already found herself in a bunch of dangerous situations. Hell, Big John might have gone missing because of it. She couldn't tell Maeve. She couldn't risk it. It was dangerous to anyone involved.

Maeve frowned and shook her head, then got up from the bed. "I feel like I don't even know you anymore," she said before leaving Slater's room, slamming the door behind her.

Tears streamed down Slater's face and she felt like shit. Everything was beginning to pile up -- the confrontation with Barry, the treasure hunt, her strained relationship with her parents, and now Maeve, her past with Rafe. It was the best summer of her life, and yet she'd never felt more overwhelmed.

On top of that, even with everything else, all she could think about was JJ.

"Don't slam the door!" Vic yelled from downstairs.

In response, Maeve slammed her own bedroom door.

Though all Slater wanted to do was shove her head under ten pillows and not resurface until the following morning, she tossed and turned in her bed, unable to fall asleep as her mind raced with the day's events.

She wondered what her father would think if he'd found out about what happened. Who would he be more angry at? Her or Barry?

She thought about the gold, and how the hell they were supposed to get rich off of it, when it was hidden away in Mrs. Crain's basement and attempting to sell just one bar of it had almost gotten all of them killed.

She could hear her parents downstairs, incoherently arguing about something. Was it about her? She wouldn't doubt it.

Her sister was blaring music in her room, loud enough that Slater could hear the songs word-for-word.

"Turn that down!" Leanore yelled from downstairs.

And JJ. Of course JJ. Always JJ. His smile, his laugh, his voice. His blue eyes, his golden hair, his toned body and tanned skin. His stupid hats and his stupid cut-off t-shirts and his stupid boots.

He made her feel in ways she'd never felt before. In good ways, in bad ways. And she'd fucked everything up.

Maeve's music switched to something loud and awful, sending waves of bass under Slater's door. Slater groaned loudly and jumped out of bed, pulled on a swimsuit, and marched downstairs, slamming her door behind her.

The ocean was the only thing that could ever clear her mind, and it was exactly where she needed to be.

Vic groaned from his spot on the recliner as she stomped down the stairs.

"Hey, come here for a second!" He called out.

Slater walked into the living room, her arms crossed over her chest. "I'm going out."

"What's up with your sister?" Vic asked, pointing towards the ceiling, where a 100 Gecs song was pounding through the drywall.

Slater shrugged. "You know ... girl stuff. She's fourteen."

Vic nodded as if that explained everything. "She's going to give the whole neighborhood hearing loss."

"Yeah, whatever," Slater said. "I'll be back later."

"Where are you going?" Vic asked.

"Left something at Sarah's," Slater lied. She wasn't sure why she felt the need to lie to her stepfather about going to the ocean -- it didn't involve the pogues at all. It was just becoming easier to lie than tell the truth.

"How are the Camerons?" Vic asked. "We haven't heard from them since that dinner."

Slater flushed. "Well, I think it was as awkward for them as it was for us."

"It's a shame, what's happened to Rafe," Vic said, shaking his head. "He's a good kid. He just needs some help."

Slater couldn't believe the words coming out of her father's mouth. "What?"

"He just needs some help," Vic repeated. "You know, time at a rehabilitation center or something."

"Rafe Cameron is not a good kid, Dad," Slater said, laughing in disbelief.

"Slater --"

"No," she cut him off. "Trust me on this one, Dad. If you trust my judgment on one thing," she paused and shook her head. "Let it be about Rafe Cameron."

Vic settled back into his recliner, his face contorted as he thought over what Slater said. He looked at her again, his eyes locking on the mysterious black and blue bruise on her cheekbone she had shown up with following her night out with Sarah. Slater had been tight-lipped about the bruise, making Vic assume it had come from one of her pogue friends. After what she'd just said, however, he was reconsidering that.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ author's note ✫・゜・。.

hey all! this was a short chapter and it had zero jj content, so i apologize, but they're FIGHTING, okay? and now slater and maeve are fighting. things are getting angsty.

i'm gonna use this as a bit of self promo, sorry not sorry. i don't have anything else to say, haha.

i've recently published TWO MORE obx fics and i would love for y'all to check them out! one is called TURNING VIOLET, and it has multiple love interests, and the newest one that i just published, yesterday, is called HOPELESSLY DEVOTED, and it's a jjxoc fic.

thank you so much for reading, and let me know what you thought of this chapter!

xx,

madi