CHAPTER TWO

HOME — ONE DIRECTION
When you're lost, I'll find a way, I'll be your light
You'll never feel like you're alone
I'll make this feel like home

"POPE, CAN YOU get this please?" Stella asked, holding out a bowl of lettuce.

After their quick getaway, the five teens picked up extra taco shells and headed to the Marx estate. When they entered the spotless kitchen, they quickly fell into the familiar meal prep routine that had been established since childhood. It wasn't usual for the group to spend evenings at Stella's house. Her mother invited them over for dinner all the time—so often that they each had their own unofficially assigned seat at the table.

The group was spread out around the room and one of Kie's playlist played on the bluetooth speaker that sat on the dining table. John B, Kie, and Pope were in charge chopping the vegetables while Stella was in charge of the stove. JJ was also assigned a task, but he had abandoned the cheese he was meant to be grating in favour of bothering Stella.

The other three watched from the dining table as JJ hoisted himself up onto the counter next to the stove and said something to make Stella laugh.

"Do you think they've told each other yet?" Pope questioned in a hushed tone as he placed the bowl Stella had handed him on the table.

"Nah," John B answered with the shake of his head, "we'd know if they did."

"I wish they would stop being so stubborn and see that they have feelings for each other," Pope complained, causing the others to nod in agreement. "They already act like they're dating. I mean, look at them."

The three looked into the kitchen just as JJ tucked a piece of Stella's hair behind her ear.

Kie observed her two friends and softly smiled.

They were good for each other, they always have been. They balanced each other out perfectly. Where JJ was reckless and impulsive, Stella was careful and cautious. When Stella lost in her head, drowning in doubts, JJ was there to pull her back and vice versa. They listened to one another and understood each other in a way that the others never could. They pushed each other to be the best version of themselves, and the way they cared for one another was so pure that it put any example of a healthy relationship to shame and the two teens weren't even dating yet.

"They'll be together by the end of the summer," Kie decided, turning her gaze to the tomatoes she was cutting.

John B and Pope shared a look and immediately began to place bets on when their oblivious friends would finally come to their senses.

Blissfully unaware of the conversation happening at the dining table, Stella pointed at a cabinet above JJ's head and asked if he could pass her a plate.

"Anything for you," JJ responded with a cheeky grin.

Stella playfully rolled her eyes and took the plate from his hands. Five minutes later, she walked out of the kitchen and placed the food on the table. "Voilà," she presented, a satisfied smile gracing her lips as JJ came up behind her and passed a plate to each of their friends.

Dinner was full of laughter and light conversation about their summer plans. When they were done, everyone except Stella cleaned up.

"Come on," Stella urged, reaching for a dirty dish. "Let me help."

JJ smacked her hand away and handed the dish to Kie. "The cook doesn't clean, remember?"

Stella rolled her eyes at the unspoken rule of her mother's kitchen. "That only applies to when my mom cooks."

JJ shook his head and pointed at her chair with a stern expression on his face. "Sit down."

When the kitchen was back in order, they headed to John B's house. The Chateau had been the designated hang out spot for as long as any of them could remember and it only made sense that it would be the venue for the kegger they were throwing.

When they got to the shack by the water, they quickly set up everything they needed. JJ and John B left to get a keg, Pope cleaned the house and locked away valuables, and Kie and Stella got the word out.

There were three types of people at a Kildare party and the girls had a grasp on all of them.

The first group of party goers were Pogues—kids from the Cut looking for a way to spend their night. It wasn't hard to get the word out to them.

The second group were the Kooks—snobby rich kids from their neighbourhood and sworn enemies to the Pogues. They were never invited to parties hosted by the group, but somehow they always managed to show up.

The final type of party goers were the Tourons. They were oblivious to everything going on around them and were only in town for a week before their family vacation ended, sending them back to the mainland. All the girls had to do to invite them was find a group of unsuspecting boys, bat their eyelashes, and tell them to get the message out.

By the time John B and JJ came back with the keg, the house was ready to go. They each poured a beer and waited for their guests to pour in.

"Do you think he's going to come?" Kie asked Stella as they sat around the fire pit.

When the two girls were inviting people over, one of the Tourons they spoke to shamelessly flirted with Stella with the promise of his attendance. Neither Kie nor Stella cared for him, but the former decided to stir up some drama between the latter and JJ in hopes of them confessing their feelings.

"Who?" JJ questioned with furrowed brows. His gaze flickered between the two girls.

Stella took a sip of her drink and shrugged. "Just this guy we met earlier. He was nice."

JJ nodded and leaned back into his seat, taking a drink to hide his scowl.

His poor reaction was obvious, causing Kie, Pope, and John B to share a look. Kie's attempt was good, but not good enough, and the three instantly knew that JJ and Stella were going to pursue their usual party routine of flirting with strangers to distract themselves from each other.

It wasn't long before John B's backyard was full of teenagers. There were people sitting by the fire with someone playing the guitar, drinking games being played on the patio, and a group of people dancing off to the side.

Stella was leaning against a tree, listening as the Touron rambled on about his position on his school's varsity football team. She was almost positive that he was lying in an attempt to impress her.

Her eyes fell to her cup and she nearly sighed in relief when she saw that it was empty. As politely as she could, she excused herself from the conversation and headed towards the keg.

Stella got there at the same time as Kie and the two shared a tired look.

"Let me guess," Stella started, filling Kie's cup for her, "they had no regard for the environment?"

"None at all," Kie confirmed, thinking about the conversation she just left. She took a large gulp of her beer and her gaze landed on the tourist Stella was previously speaking to. "Varsity jock?"

"So he says," Stella chuckled. She filled her cup and let her eyes wander about John B's backyard. She wished she didn't, because sitting in one of John B's many hammocks was JJ with his arm around a pretty girl.

"You've got to be kidding me," Kie groaned.

Stella raised her eyebrow and pursed her lips. "You're telling me," she muttered before taking a sip of her drink, eyes still locked on JJ. It took her a moment to realize that Kie couldn't possibly be talking about the same thing she was.

Turning around to follow Kie's line of sight, Stella's gaze fell on a very expensive looking boat pulling up to the dock outside John B's house. It was a group of Kooks, but not just any Kooks—Sarah Cameron, her brother, and her brother's group of friends.

Stella had a very strong opinion about Sarah Cameron, the main thing being that she was a conniving little liar whose favourite pastime was stabbing her friends in the back. And Stella would know because she was a victim.

Their friendship started out in the ninth grade. Stella had just moved to Figure Eight from the Cut and both she and Kie had started at Kildare Prep. For the first few weeks, they were social outcasts and the two girls were all each other had until Sarah invited them to save baby sea turtles. Though, their trio didn't last long because by the time Sarah's birthday came around, Stella and Kie found themselves completely ghosted, watching on instagram as Sarah had her birthday party without them.

She didn't like to think about the time that she, Kie, and Sarah were the best of friends, because no matter what happy memory she choose to reminisce about, it was always darkened by the same twisted ending.

Kie and Stella sighed as the group of Kooks parked their boat. Without a word, they put their hands out for a game of rock-paper-scissors to see which one of them would have the pleasure of kicking the group out.

Stella cursed under her breath as she lost. "Fine, I'll handle it," she stated with a groan, brushing past Kie.

JJ, who was discreetly searching the area for Stella, saw her walking towards the dock. From the way her body tensed, he could tell that she was anxious about something, he just didn't know what. He grew worried and looked around for Kie, knowing she would know what's going on. He didn't have to look for long, because before he knew it, she was already pulling him up from the hammock and dragging him over to where John B and Pope stood.

Stella met the Kooks in the middle of the long wooden dock and took a sip of her drink. She didn't speak until they stopped in front of her. "Boys," she greeted. Her eyes landed on the only girl among them. "Sarah. What can I do for you this fine summer evening?"

Rafe Cameron, possibly the biggest asshole on the island, stepped forward with a sly smirk. His eyes looked her up and down before he greeted her. "Hey, Star. You look good."

Stella narrowed her eyes at him. Since the day they met, she's had to put up with his incessant flirting. At first, she was flattered, not understanding his fascination with her, but then Sarah explained everything. Rafe thought that if he could date the perfect girl all parents believed her to be, then his dad would be proud of him for doing something right. Ever since then, she met his advances with no semblance of nicety.

"Better than you," Stella responded with a curt nod. "What are you doing here?"

Rafe tilted his head with a smirk. "Relax," he drawled. "Me and my friends just want to have a little fun."

"What," Stella scoffed, placing a hand on her hip, "no parties on your side of the island?"

"It's your side of the island too, you know."

"The only difference is that I'm not a Kook."

And it was true. Despite living on Figure Eight, going to Kildare Preparatory Academy, and having an Island Club membership, Stella wasn't considered a Kook—both by self-identification and by those around her. She came from the Cut and everyone knew it. She and her mother had to work for their money and from the passive aggressive comments and snide glances of the upper-class, she knew they would never fit in. She was a Pogue and she always would be.

Rafe took a step closer to her, his tongue poking at the inside of his cheek due to his annoyance caused by her resistance. "Look, we just want to slum it with you and the dirty Pogues for a few hours. Is that too much to ask?"

Stella knew that he was trying to intimidate her, but she stood her ground regardless. Matching his tactics, she stepped forward. "Funny how you're calling us dirty when you're the one who forgot to wipe their nose after doing a line." She took a sip from the cup she was holding then raised her brows, sending him a mocking smile. "Cocaine's not good for you, Rafe."

Rafe's eyes darkened at the mention of his unhealthy drug use and he turned his head to the side, swiping his nose with his thumb. With a narrowed gaze, he turned to Stella again and smacked her cup right out of her hand, causing the cheap beer to splash all over her front.

Stella's jaw clenched as she maintained eye contact. Her hand began to sting, but she refused to give him the satisfaction of a reaction.

Behind the nineteen year old boy, Topper Thornton, another Kook with a bad attitude, snickered. "Here comes the guard dog," he said, gaze locked on the group of Pogues approaching them.

Stella could hear movement behind her and a body joined her side. She didn't need to look to know that it was JJ. She knew him by presence alone.

"There a problem here?" JJ asked, backing her up with a hardened tone of voice.

"Just an empty cup," Stella responded, glancing at the red solo cup now floating in the water. Her eyes returned to Rafe. "That was a complete waste of alcohol and you ruined my shirt."

Rafe shrugged, a taunting grin threatening to make its way onto his face. "You'd look better without it anyway."

Stella's brows raised and she let out an amused laugh. There was no way that a comment like that was going to slide with JJ within hearing range. 

JJ took a step forward and put a finger against the older boy's chest, pushing him away from Stella. "Back up," he warned, ready to throw a punch if needed. He didn't tolerate any disrespect targeted at his friends, especially not at Stella.

Sarah shifted her gaze between the two boys. "Come on," she urged her brother, not wanting to witness a fight, "let's just go."

"No," Rafe stubbornly replied. "Why should we have to go?"

The stickiness of her shirt and the stinging in her hand made Stella more irritable by the second and all she wanted was for the Kooks to leave.

"Here's why, Rafe." Stella stepped closer to him so their chests were practically touching. She was significantly shorter, but her intimidating glare made it seem like they were at the same level. "You don't get to come onto the Cut and start acting like you own the place. You're in Pogue territory, so back the fuck out of my face."

Her finger pointed at his chest and he slapped it away. She ignored the stinging in her hand again as she pointed at him for the second time, pushing him back like JJ had done moments before. "And after you do that," she continued, "you and your little buddies can turn around and crawl back into whatever hole you came from."

"And why would we do that?" Rafe asked lowly.

Stella gave him a sickly sweet smile. "Because I'm asking nicely."

There was a tense silence between the two groups as Stella and Rafe stared each other down. The Kooks were waiting for Rafe's word to start a brawl, while the Pogues were getting ready to pull Stella out of harms way.

Seconds felt like hours, but eventually Rafe backed away. He motioned for his friends to follow him and minutes later, they were back on their boat, sailing away in the direction of Figure Eight.

Stella bent down and reached into the water to grab her empty cup, then turned to her friends with a victorious smile.

Proud grins we're plastered over their faces and they offered shouts of praise, recounting their favourite part of Stella's confrontation as they headed back to the party.

JJ and Stella fell behind the rest of the group and the blond put his arm around Stella's shoulders. "Come on, stargirl," he beamed. "Let's go get you another drink."

The night went on until the party died out and the five Pogues were the only ones left at the Chateau. After cleaning the backyard, they fell into drunken slumbers, the silence of the once lively house acting as a sweet lullaby.

Around four in the morning, Stella found herself struggling to find a comfortable position to lay in. Her hand hurt too much from where Rafe had hit her and the dull ache was making it hard for her to focus on falling asleep.

With a small sigh, she got up from the pull out couch she was sharing with Kie and quietly made her way to the bathroom. The medicine cabinet was bound to have ibuprofen to help with her problem.

She entered the tiny room at the end of the hall and rummaged through the cabinet. The flickering light above her head made the process of finding Advil harder than it needed to be and she was hoping that her failure to find it was a result of that and not because John B ran out of it.

When she finally found that small red bottle at the back of the top shelf, she took it in her hand and turned to leave.

Before Stella could reach for the handle, the door opened, revealing a shirtless JJ. Their eyes met and they paused in the doorframe, not expecting to see each other awake at this hour.

JJ was the first to break the silence between them, gently moving past her as he said, "I have to pee."

Stella said nothing and walked out the door towards the kitchen, leaving him to do his business in private.

After pouring herself a glass of water and taking her Advil, JJ walked into the kitchen and leaned against the table across from her.

"I didn't know you were still up," he said, loud enough for Stella to hear his concern, but quiet enough so his sleeping friends remained undisturbed.

"I can't sleep." She shrugged and placed her cup on the counter, subconsciously rubbing at her sore skin afterwards. "Why are you awake?"

"Same reason." JJ glanced at the bottle of Advil by the sink. "How's your hand?"

Stella's head tilted in confusion, wondering how he knew it was her hand that was bothering her.

He saw her reaction and stepped forward, lightly chuckling as he took her hand in his to inspect it. "You keep rubbing it and you're taking an Advil, Stel." 

"It's fine," she dismissed, knowing that Rafe's powerful strike did nothing more than leave behind bruised skin. "Nothing too serious."

JJ's lips pursed at her reply. "You should've gotten me or one of the guys to deal with Rafe," he chastised, not wanting to think about what the Kook could've done to her if his temper got the better of him.

Stella gave him a flat look. "I had it handled."

"I know," JJ nodded, the corners of his lips turning up at her adamant gaze. He knew that Stella was more than capable of defending herself despite never needing too when he was around, but just because she could, didn't mean that she had to. "I just... I don't want you to get hurt." 

As their eyes locked, Stella felt a tightening in her chest, and she swore that he could hear her heart pounding against her ribcage. She couldn't pinpoint the exact moment that she fell for JJ. It was kind of like standing in a thunderstorm. The rain came slowly at first. She didn't realize the little things adding up. Then suddenly, she was dancing in a torrential downpour with her heart ablaze, head over heels in love with her best friend.

Stella didn't trust her voice not to falter, so she squeezed his hand in response.

JJ's eyes twinkled with adoration and he placed a kiss on the back of her hand, mumbling something about 'kissing it better' before pulling her through the house.

The pair stopped in the living room, but after seeing that Kie had taken up Stella's side of the pull out, they turned and headed towards the Chateau's spare room.

JJ gently pulled Stella down to the bed so that she was laying beside him with her back against his chest. Her hair fanned out across their shared pillow and the scent of her shampoo filled his senses.

In the quiet of the early morning, his arms firmly wrapped around her and their hearts beating together, JJ felt the only peace he had ever known.

"Promise me you'll be more careful?" He requested, voice just above a whisper. The hand laying in front of her lifted and he stuck out a pinky.

Stella wrapped her own pinky around his and let out a content sigh. "Promise."

RAE SPEAKS !

the kooks pulling up to the chateau like: