𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐎𝐍𝐄, 𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐃𝐄 𝐎𝐍𝐄
𝟑𝟒:𝟒𝟎 - 𝟒𝟏:𝟓𝟔
𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙜: 𝙛𝙡𝙪𝙧𝙤𝙚𝙨𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙙𝙤𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩 »𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙠𝙚𝙮𝙨

∞

After last nights events, the Pogues all went home, stressing about it profusely. JJ kindly helped me carry my knocked out brother to his bed, but after that he left without a word; leaving me stood in the hallway silently staring at the door in confusion.

The cockerel outside my window causes me to shoot awake, and I roll my eyes, sighing heavily before walk into the hall sluggishly, rubbing my eyes to remove the crust only to see Sheriff Peterkin, her hands rested on her hips.

"Oh, hey." I yawn, offering her a weak wave, stopping myself still.

"Where's John B?" She asks, tilting her head, "He around?"

I nod slowly, trudging over to his room and roughly shoving the door open with my shoulder. He lays in bed uncomfortably, covered in bruises; all Topper's doing, "JB, wake the fuck up." I shake him awake roughly, hissing at him, knowing the cop is waiting just outside the door.

"Mm?" He opens a single eye, peering up at me in confusion, eyebrows furrowed, "What?"

"Sheriffs here." I shrug lazily before walking back out to with him trailing slowly behind, running a tired hand through his messy hair before smiling over at the caring lady.

"Sorry to break in like this, but DCS called." She leans on some drawers, checking us up and down, "They wanted me to check on you both. See how you're doin'. So how are you, besides the-" Sherif motions around, supposedly talking about John B's back eye.

"Oh, no. We're great." He nods, pursing his lips before gazing at me, awaiting my answer.

"Yeah, fantastic." I smile warily at her while picking up a few beer bottles and cigarette packets, quickly throwing them away sneakily, "Uh, thanks for coming by."

"I'm so glad to hear you say that, Ava. But I heard a few things that worried me. Let me see if I can remember." She begins to look at the pictures on the walls, her finger tapping her chin in questioning, "Oh yeah, one of the things I heard that your Uncle Terry, your guardian, hasn't been in the states for three months." She gives us a stern look, eyebrow raised.

"No, thats not true." I shake my head sternly, resting my hands in my back pockets.

"Yeah. That's, uh, false." John B stands next to me.

"You don't have to say anything." She hushes us, "I know it's true. I called your school. John B, you used to be a good student and now you're failin' all your classes."

"No. No. I'm only failing one and it's history." He protests.

The Sheriff rolls her eyes, averting her gaze to me, "And, Ava. Your actually doing quite well in school besides math" She grumbles.

"It's hard." I mumble, "Like, who the fcuk thought it'd be a good idea to involve letters in maths?"

"I know, sweetie, I know." She soothes sympathetically, walking closer towards us, "But, I heard there was a fight on the beach yesterday and a gun was involved."

John and I look at each other quickly, pretending to be confused, our shoulders shrugging in unison.

"Gun? No." I furrow my eyebrows.

"Did we get in a dust up? Yes, but there was no gun." He scoffs, "No. No way. We don't do that stuff."

"That's okay. I know who it was. I'll get to him." She says, worry rippling through my body until she speaks again, "All I'm worried about right now is makin' sure you're both in a safe home."

"We sat in a safe home. A super safe home." I nod, knocking my knuckles against the wall beside me.

"Super sound, sturdy." He backs me up and taps the table below him to prove our point even further, "You know?"

"And Uncle T's coming back so," I say, running my fingers through my hair, rolling my shoulders back, "That's fun."

"That what he told you?" She places her hands on her hips, glaring at us again as if she's analysing us.

"Yeah," I reply sternly.

"If he is coming home, I think you should be allowed to stay," She speaks slowly, "But if I stick my neck out for you, you have to help me. Tit for tat."

I send her a thankful look, extremely grateful for having such an helpful Sheriff. Besides me, John B is scratching his head in confusion, causing my eyes to widen.

"What does that mean?" He mutters, shooting me a desperate look.

I laugh, smacking my hand over my mouth when she starts to near, her eyes rolling as she speaks, "Let me see, how can you help me? Oh, I know. So a body was found in the marsh yesterday. Were either of you in the marsh yesterday?"

"N-" I begin, my head half way through shaking, but a nudge causes me to snap my lips close.

"Yeah," John B glares down at me, "We were fishin' for some drum. You know?"

"You catch anything?" She inquires, head tilted.

"Nah, we were skunked." He pouts sadly, his shoulders hanging in defeat.

"Strange." She mumbles, "Fishing's usually good after a storm. All sorts of things get stirred up. You come across a wreck yesterday?"

There's silence for a few moments until I decide to break it, readjusting my stance onto the opposite leg, "No."

She sighs, "You skimmin', both of you, just above the surface." Sheriff holds her hand just under her chin, "Now, down here is foster care, juvie," She moves her hand below her knee, "That's a pretty big drop for smart kids like you."

"Smart kid — singular.." I correct, earning a harsh smack to the arm from my twin, causing me to laugh but Sheriff sends me a glare, silencing me.

"Right, up here is you and your little friends doing whatever you want," Her hand's now at her eyes, "Outer Banks of foster care on the mainland."

John B inhales and sits down but I stay stood, my eyes falling shut in annoyance.

"You're one inch above the surface. If I was either of you, I'd start flappin' my wings. Now, you sure you didn't come across a wreck yesterday?" She looks back and forth between us.

"Yeah, I'm sure." John B glances up at me, "Are you sure, Ava?"

"Yep. A hundred percent sure." I nod, my lips pursed.

"Its better if you didn't, you understand? I'm gonna look the other way, as long as you stay out of the marsh." She heads for the door but turns around at the last second, "I got dogs living better that this. You might wanna think about cleanin' up."

That's all she says before placing her cap back on her head and leaving. Immediately, I pull out a cigarette box from my short pockets, along with a lighter. I walk onto the porch while John B throws things around in anger, causing me to sigh heavily.

JJ arrives not soon after, questioning my brother on what just happened; getting the full story from John B before making his way over to me, leaning on the beam beside me, eyes are aching my face, "You good?" He asks.

"What do you think?" I scowl, my eyes trained on the horizon.

"Wow. So we're in that mood today. Okay, that's fine," He breathes, moving his gaze to the same place as mine, "What are you thinking about, A?"

"Why did he have to go missing?" I blurt out, taking a puff of my cigarette and slowly breathing it out, my jaw slightly clenched.

He shuffles closer, staring at me again, "It's life, I guess."

I glance at him, tears brimming in my eyes, "It's not a good one."

He tilts his head sadly before pulling me into a gently hug. I put my cig out against the weathered wood before wrapping my arms around his waist, "Thank you." I mumble into his chest.

"What for?"

"This." I tap my hand against his back and I can tell he's smiling from the way his breathing quickly changed. I pull away from the embrace, but keep my body close, "So, J, about our kiss—" I begin but he cuts me off by grabbing my face and pulling me into a kiss, smirking against my lips.

My eyes widen at the contact before I smile, gently pushing his chest back, "They might see, playboy."

"So?" His eyebrows cinch together.

I roll my eyes, groaning, "The rule."

He scoffs, "Fuck the rule, princess."

He grabs my waist, pulling me in again, one of his hands moving up to my cheek again and I cup the back of his neck gently as I relax into the kiss more.

"Does that answer your question?" He asks, breathing heavily while pulling away.

"What question?" I tilt my head, inspecting his blue eyes.

He moves away from me, smirking before going to walk into the living room and towards my brother, "From the other night, at the Kegger."

Do you like me? Holy shit. That dumb motherfucker taking the piss.

I follow him to the small hut near the Chateau. Kie's sat on the sofa playing the bongos quietly and Pope's staring at a book. JJ sits on a table a few feet away, with a sly smirk on his face while he watches me; the blush painted onto my cheeks. I jump next to Kiara and she sends me a smile, giggling at my face.

"Look, I'm callin' it off. Alright?" John B announces as he walks out with a bottle of beer, "Peterkin said, if we stay out of the marsh, she'll help me and Ava with the DCS."

"And you believed her?" JJ asks as he throws a stone towards a target nailed to a tree, "Unlike you."

"Yes, I believe her JJ. My brother replies sternly, glaring over at his best friend.

"An actual cop, John B." The blonde scoffs, "You believed a cop."

John looks at me for help, his eyes pleading for me to say something so that he wouldn't like the stupid one.

I sigh, straightening in the seat, "I believe her. Peterkin's nice and she genuinely cares. That's not very common for us."

JJ looks at me, his eyes slightly wide before turning away again, throwing another rock roughly towards the board.

"All we gotta do is stay out of the marsh for a couple days, and she'll help us out. It doesn't help that your ass was the one shooting a gun." John B's nostrils flare, his voice starting to raise.

"You know what I should have done? Just let Topper drown your ass." JJ retorts, this time stepping closer.

"Yeah, because Topper was totally gonna drown me." John rolls his eyes, laughing lowly.

"Sure looked like it." JJ points at his bruises, "Have you even looked in the fucking mirror?"

"That's really funny. Tell me some more." John B chuckles as JJ starts to get nearer, "Come on."

"They always win, don't they, man? Kooks versus Pogues. They always, always win! Goddamn!" He punches a buoy that was hanging from a beam before turning around, his back facing us.

"It's okay, JJ!" I attempt to keep him together slightly; failing miserably, "Just calm the fuck down."

"No, it's not okay, Ava!" He snaps, spinning around again, "It is not! They don't want us to go down into the marsh. That means there's something valuable down there, and you know it. I know you do, man." he points at John, "And I understand why you don't wanna go," He redirects his attention to Pope, " You're the golden boy. You got way to much to risk." He now turns to Kie, "And you— I mean, you're already rich as fuck anyway. Why would you bother?" He motions towards my brother and I and himself, "But you, me and Ava we got nothin' to lose! We really don't, alright?"

"JJ," I pinch the bridge of my nose, rolling my eyes.

"And I know it didn't use to be that way for you two." JJ mumbles, slightly quieter compared to his previous tone.

"I don't want to talk about this." John B walks past JJ, barging their shoulders together.

"I don't want to talk about it either." I follow my brother making sure to give JJ a firm glare.

John B stops moving but I continue pacing up and down in front of the big tree, staring down at my feet while blocking out the boys squabble.

JJ 's trying to convince John B to do something but I'm not completely listening. I'm still stressing about fucking foster care; the last thing we need is to be taken away from our family. I feel Kie pull me aside somewhere the boys can't see us, and her hands rest on my shoulders, "You okay?"

"Mhm. Just dandy," I say sarcastically.

"They've come up with a plan. John B is going to steal— sorry, borrow, Cameron's scuba gear and go look more at the wreckage once he's got it." She explains, sighing heavily.

"That's so dumb." I growl, my eyes rolling again.

"That's what I said but, what can we do?"She shrugs, "The boys only care about our opinions when they really need it."