FIFTY-ONE

❝ Coping Mechanisms ❞

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THE POGUES HAVE FALLEN APART.

Pope spends most of his time with his family, or doing various jobs around the island to pay for the fact that he fucked up his scholarship.

Kiara doesn't really do much. Her parents have her on a tight leash, and on the rare occasion when she is allowed to leave, she goes surfing alone.

Then there's JJ and Ava. They've managed to stick together, though not without a million arguments and hundreds of moments where one or the other has stormed out and not returned for days. The blonde boy managed to find himself a job at the Country Club, and Ava acquired a small job at the surfing shack down near the beach where she cleans boards.

Battling with the police hadn't been easy for her, and eventually she got told she couldn't stay in the Chateau by herself. The foster carer, Cheryl, had visited her several times. Sometimes JJ would join, wanting to see if he could do anything to prevent Ava being moved to the main land forever. Cheryl even had a small interview with a very drunk Luke Maybank just before he went into prison. Much to JJ's distaste, everyone agreed that Ava would be allowed to stay in the Maybank household for a few months until Cheryl found her a suitable family elsewhere. JJ had argued with his father for a while, warning him not to doing anything to Ava, or attempt to.

But, after only two weeks, Luke Maybank got taken to jail. Neither of the teenagers bothered to inform Cheryl, and agreed to let her find out on her own terms.

So, that left JJ and Ava alone in the house. The past few months consisted of several things; a shit ton of sex and drugs, and an awful lot of crying. Some tears were pleasureful, but the majority were sad and broken.

JJ has been looking after Ava the best he can. Comforting has never been his strong point, and he's incredibly lucky that she understands that and doesn't expect him to always be there for her. Just like she lost her twin brother, he lost his life long best friend. JJ Maybank has a habit of shutting people out and getting overly angry when he's having a bad day, and Ava is the only one who's able to calm him down because she knows he's not angry at her, but just at life in general.

The four Pogues had only seen each other a couple of times, and that was if one of them did something bad and the others had to help clean it up. The ones doing the bad things were usually JJ and Ava, who had spent time on their beach getting so stoned that they struggled to walk. Any who passed always knew who to call; Kiara and Pope.

Much to Ava's disgust, Rafe Cameron was still wondering the streets of Tanny Hill with a smirk playing on his lips. While at the surging shack, she'd seen him walking and laughing with Kelce. Their eyes would always meet, and she'd make sure to send him the most disgusted look ever and he usually returned it by sending her a small teasing wave.

To distract her from the Kook, when she arrived back at the house that day, JJ offered to give her a stick and poke somewhere on her body. He'd done it to himself moments before she entered, writing P4L on his ankle. Immediately, she accepted, allowing him to gently ink her wrist with the same three symbols. He apologised refusing when she hisses in pain, and she laughed at his worry.

Now, months after John B's and Sarah's accident, the four Pogues stand together in front of the tree in the back garden of the Chateau. Pope just broke away the hard bark with an axe, revealing the soft wood beneath and JJ now uses a boiling hot iron to press words into the tree.

2003 2020

John B Routledge

P4L

The blonde boy return to Ava's side, slipping his arm around her waist while raising his whiskey flask into the air, "To John B."

Kiara, who's been staring down at the box of memories in Ava's hand, raises her head saying, "And to Sarah."

Pope nods, lifting his can of beer before taking a large gulp. JJ passes his flask down to Ava and she uses her free arm to have two mouthfuls of the liquid while her other fingers tap anxiously against the memory box.

After giving JJ his drink back, Ava digs into the box, pulling out a bracelet that her and her twin made together when they were tiny. She shoves it onto her wrist before stepping forward and lowering the box down into the hole that Kiara had dug out. The two boys and Kie lowers themselves down beside her, helping to cover it up once more while Ava lets tears roll down her cheeks.

Later that night, JJ and Ava sit side by side on a low branch of the tree while Kiara and Pope share the hammock, staring into each others eyes with small smiles. JJ and Ava share a smile glance, fighting back their laughs. It's more than obvious that their two friends have feelings for each other.

"It's Peterkin's funeral tomorrow," Ava states with a cigarette between her lips, killing the silence, "Shoupe asked me if I wanted to attend. I said no."

Kiara turns to look at Ava over her shoulder, "You and Shoupe talk?"

Ava hums, "He has to do checks every two weeks. Make sure I haven't done anything, beat anyone up, or killed anyone."

Rolling his eyes, JJ mutters, "Motherfuckers down at that station thoroughly believe that being a criminal runs in the blood line."

Taking a deep breath, Ava rests her head on his shoulder, smiling up at him gently and his body vibrates as he chuckles slightly before continuing to sharpen his knife.

"I'm almost regretting ever condoning that," Pope mumbles quietly, pointing over at the two on the branch.

"Shut up," Kiara kicks him, hissing lowly, "They're both happy, therefore we should be too."

❦

At the Country Club the next day, JJ carries a jug of water around the groups of people seated at tables. He pinches his lips together in a line, words threatening to spill as he hears the sentences leaving others mouths.

"I heard he kidnapped her."

"Of course it was a Pogue. What did you expect?"

"He's a murderer."

"I'm glad his dead."

He slows his walk slightly, his eyes flicking over to a certain table where Kelce and Topper are seated with two other Kook girls.

"Didn't his twin sister beat Rafe up and threaten to shoot him?" A girl screws her face up in disgust, "She's just as psycho as her brother."

JJ's grip on the jug water tightens and he clenched his jaw harder, trying his hardest not to break while he begins to pour water into Topper's glass.

The other girl hums in agreement, "At least John B got what was coming for him, and it saved them the expense of a trail. I'm just saying John B's going to hell for what he did to Sheriff Peterkin."

Topper notices that it's JJ who's serving him and he swallows thickly, attempting not to pay attention to how white JJ's knuckles are, "Guys, they're still investigated," Topper says as JJ begins to walk away.

"Yeah, I don't know why," One girl scoffs, "It's obvious who did it."

"Yeah, exactly," Kelce nods, "And how the fuck isn't Ava in jail for what she did to Rafe? She's a danger to everyone, just like her brother was."

JJ comes to a stop, turning around on his heel to face the table, "Shut up!"

"Listen—" Topper tries.

JJ points a finger at him, "Shut up, Top!"

"JJ, just walk away. It's not the time," Topper rushes.

"I don't think we were talking to you, Pogue." Kelce snarls.

JJ places the chug of water down on the table before picking up a glass and a fork, he begins to knock the metal utensils against the cup, causing everyone to turn to him, "Can I have everybody's attention, please? I have a little announcement to make!" He shouts, "My best friend, John B, did not kill Sheriff Peterkin! Rafe Cameron killed and shot the sheriff in cold blood! And Ava Routledge isn't fucking crazy or dangerous for beating him up. You all knew her before, she's still the same person!"

"Wow," Kelce gasps.

JJ snaps his head down to him, "Is that so hard for you to believe, Kelce?"

The Kook boy raises up out of his seat, "It is actually hard for me to believe because it's always the— the Kook's fault. It's never the Pogue's fault."

JJ's nostrils flare with anger and he quickly grabs the water chug from the table, throwing the remaining liquids all over the Kook in front of him. Immediately, Kelce pounces and the two boys begin to push and shove each other, only stopping when Topper separates them both.

"JJ!"

JJ begins to undo his apron, "Yeah, Raz. I know," He shoves the fabric into his bosses chest, "I'm fired."

He shoves past the crowd, breathing heavily, and he presses a hand against his heart in an attempt to calm his anxiety while he cries gently. He finally reaches his dirt bike, swinging his leg over it before flicking off the Kooks up on the balcony. He revs the engine, driving straight through all the pretty flowers and plants before carrying on back home.

He shoves his way through the front door, rolling his jaw in annoyance and he rolls the heel of his palm on his chest. He marches into the living room, noticing Ava laid on the sofa with a her head shoved into a book.

He stares at her with furrowed brows, "Why are you home?"

Her head snaps to him in surprise and she swings her legs around the sofa, closing her book and placing it beside her while she watches him retrieve a beer from the fridge, "Why are you home? You're shift doesn't finish until later."

He looks at her, "I asked first."

She rolls her eyes, "Sally said I could have today off as seen as it's school tomorrow," She motions down to the book and he realises it's a textbook, "I cannot afford to fail another year."

He chuckles, taking a large swig of the beer before sighing. He makes his way over to her, placing himself down beside her. He places the beer down on the coffee table and then raises his hands up to run through his hair.

"JJ?" She tilts her head.

"I got fired," He mutters.

She sighs gently, shuffling closer to him and letting him rest his body against hers, "What happened?"

He closes his eyes, one of his hands falling down to her bare thigh, "Kelce, Topper and some Kook girls were pissing me off."

Ava hums in understanding. This wasn't the first time JJ had gotten angry at customers for speaking about his loved ones the wrong way. Today was his final straw. The Country Club had lots of money, but not enough to constantly excuse his actions.

Slowly he repositions himself so that his head is resting in her lap and he stares up at her in awe, his eyes tracing all the small details of her face and he raises a finger, brushing it against the small mole below her eye.

"Forget about them," She says, "We need to focus on school now."

He groans, blowing air into his cheeks in annoyance. School was never their strongest point. Both of them failed miserably last year, but the school couldn't afford keeping them back a year so they were forced to move up with everyone else. Recently, Kiara's started to rattle on about how the pair should spend less time having sex and should study instead, neither of them particularly enjoyed that idea.

"We could just skip," He smirks.

She glares down at him, "I would love to, but everyone in that school already thinks I'm crazy, even the teachers. I'd like to prove them wrong."

His smile widens and he lifts his head, pressing a kiss to her lips, "I like that idea a lot."

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WORD COUNT: 2078
not proof read