"Can't sleep?"

Riley jumped at the sound of a voice behind her. It was well past midnight and she was sitting on the back porch, gazing out into the water, letting her thoughts wander. The high had faded a while ago and she had been left with the same stubborn thoughts as she'd been pressed with before.

Riley turned around as JJ shut the door behind him before inviting himself onto the couch she sat on. She stared at him with wide eyes, bringing a hand up to her heart as she felt it racing widely, startled by the sudden approach of another human.

"Sorry," JJ whispered. "Didn't mean to scare ya."

"What are you doing out here?" Riley asked, bewildered at his presence.

"Couldn't sleep," JJ said. "You know, it's weird sleeping in this giant house, on a giant bed, with the giant looming thought that the last time I slept here I-"

"Dude," Riley cut him off before he could finish his sentence. He let out a laugh at her reaction.

"All I'm saying is," he began, "I prefer John B's couch."

"JJ," she said. She gave him a pointed look as he relaxed back onto the couch. "Seriously, what are you doing?"

"Told you," he shrugged. "Couldn't sleep."

"No but why are you here talking to me," Riley said. "Didn't we agree just the other day that we were going to go back to ignoring each other?"

"Doesn't seem to be working out for us," JJ said.

She couldn't help but wonder how they had gone 3 months without talking to each other, without even as much as having one simple interaction. She seriously wondered how they had somehow kept their secret hidden from everyone and never had to think about it in the three months that had followed.

Here she was realizing that she had seen more of JJ in the past two weeks, spoken more words to JJ in the past two weeks, than she had in her entire life. She didn't understand what was different or why the universe was doing this to her. And she didn't know what to make of it either. As she stared at him across the couch she realized she didn't mind his presence all that much.

"You got any more of that weed?" JJ asked, trying to sound serious but he couldn't keep the small smile from creeping onto his lips.

"I told you," Riley said, rolling her eyes but with a smile nonetheless, "I'm not high."

"Well not anymore," he said.

"Give it a rest," she said. "Tell me why you're really out here."

He twisted his mouth into somewhat of a smirk, she could tell he was trying to hide as he bit on the inside of his cheek. He leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees and let his gaze fall to the ground. "Yeah, I don't know I'm..." he trailed off for a moment, "I'm intrigued."

"You're intrigued by me?" She laughed. "I'm honored." She said the last part jokingly but it made his head shoot up.

"Are you?" He teased.

The way he looked at her then quite literally made her stomach drop. She pressed her tongue into her cheek, trying to suppress her smile from growing, and she let her gaze fall to her lap. "Alright, you're intrigued because..."

"You've been acting different." He leaned back then, looking far more relaxed than her, arms wrapped around her knees so she was curled into a tight ball, and chewing on her lip. Riley couldn't help but suddenly feel nervous at the trajectory of this conversation.

"I've been acting the same as I always do," she said, attempting to sound nonchalant.

"You're not ignoring me anymore."

"You aren't ignoring me anymore," she retorted, letting a scoff escape from her lips.

With every passing second filled with silence she couldn't help but really consider his statement. It was like she had finally been slapped in the face by the universe and seen for the first time how stupid this whole rivalry between Pogues and Kooks was. She began to realize that her understanding of who were the good guys and who were the bad guys was beginning to blur.

JJ let out an awkward cough, bringing her out of her deep thought. "Kiara makes you out to be such a..."

He trailed off and Riley laughed. "Go on"

"Well..." he turned his gaze away from her, suddenly feeling awkward, "a bitch."

"Yeah," Riley laughed. "Well, I can be when I want to be."

"See," JJ paused for a moment, contemplating his next words, "I don't really think that's true."

"Okay," Riley scoffed, amused by his comment. "So, now you think you know me."

"No," JJ said. "Like I said, I'm just intrigued."

"Right," Riley said, unsure of how to respond. She began to feel uncomfortable then, thinking how nobody had ever told her they'd been intrigued by her. It wasn't like she didn't think she sparked people's interests, she just always felt like an object of interest rather than a person, a human that someone could actually wonder deeply about.

She was just a piece in everyone's life, she had always felt. Merely a trophy to her parents, something they could show off and brag about. A punching bag to her sister, something she could let her anger out on. A Kook to the Pogues, a representation of everything they loathed and made fun of. A body to any of the boys she had ever been with. A brain to her teachers and classmates. Sometimes she just felt like another voice to her friends.

Always a something, never a someone.

Suddenly Riley had this strange feeling, a curiosity that ached inside of her mind, desperately trying to crawl out of her lips. She gave in. "JJ, can I ask you a question?"

"That was a question." She could hear the smirk in his voice without even having to look. His head had now fallen onto the back of the couch and he stared up at the dark midnight sky.

"Shut up," she rolled her eyes even though she knew he couldn't see.

"Alright, shoot."

"Do you have a dream life?" Riley asked, a similar question to what she had asked Rafe just hours before. JJ didn't respond right away, a silence followed the question that only enabled her to continue to ramble. "Like... like if nothing mattered and you could do anything in the world," she paused, chewing at her lip and keeping her eyes trained on the boy still staring at the sky. "Or well... or even if things did matter, and it was real life. Like do you ever wonder what you're gonna do in-"

He let out a laugh and finally picked up his head to look at her, they locked eyes and she immediately shut up. "Now you're intrigued about me."

Riley scoffed. She knew she should have never asked the question. If she knew one thing about JJ it was that he never took anything seriously. "Fine, don't answer the qu-"

"I'd like to get out of this stupid town," he began, cutting her off. He let his head roll back again, returning his gaze to the stars. "Get out of this town and never look back. I'd go anywhere... everywhere. Travel the world, surf every coast I can..."

He trailed off, a laugh escaping his lips as if what he said had been some sort of joke. Riley didn't even realize the smile that had spread across her face as she listened to him speak. She was glad he wasn't looking at her as she put her forehead down to her knees that were still pressed against her chest.

"What's the dream for you princess?" he said suddenly, turning his head to look at her. "I'm sure you've got it all planned out."

"No," she breathed out, picking up her chin to rest on her knee. "I don't have a plan at all." She played with the rings on her fingers, feeling incredibly vulnerable as each word slipped out of her mouth. She couldn't suppress her smile any longer so she turned her head away from him, looking out to the water. "I think yours sounds pretty nice," she said, barely a whisper.

"Yeah?" He questioned. She could hear the smile in his voice.

Knowing that the same giddy smile on her lips would be mirrored on his, she turned back to look at him. She was right.

"Yeah."