𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐎𝐍𝐄, 𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐃𝐄 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄
𝟕:𝟎𝟎 - 𝟏𝟎:𝟑𝟑
𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘨: 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘴 » 𝘷𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘳

∞

The Booker-Routledge twins finally reach the outskirts of main town, their tired feet dragging underneath them sluggishly. The pistol still hangs in Ava's bloodied hand, her knuckles red and bruised from beating up the Cameron boy.

The outside of Heyward's is empty, as seen as the small shop shut two hours ago, so the blonde girl sees no reason to hide the weapon from sight — and, quiet frankly, she can't muster up enough momentum to do so.

Seeing Sheriff Peterkin's still, dying body sent her mind the wrong way. She couldn't shake the image of the blood trickling into the small cracks in the gravel, and the quiet gargles escaping the cop's lips while she begged for the siblings to escape. No matter how much Ava hated the justice system, the Sheriff always made it her top priority to care for the twins after their father's death, which is something that didn't go unnoticed by Ava and her brother.

The sharp scratches on Ava's legs and back sting more each step she takes, but her faces stays emotionless while tears fall silently down her pink cheeks. Beside her, John B's hands are coated with Peterkin's blood and he stares down at his palms while they walk.

"He's gonna blame us, you know?" Ava sniffs quietly, her free fingers tapping furiously on her leg, "Ward, I mean."

Her brother nods, biting his lip anxiously but remains silent, not being able to conjure enough words to comfort his sister on the situation. She was right.

They round the corner to the sheds, their eyes immediately landing on the bickering Pogues. Ava stops still in her spot, the hand holding the gun starting to shake more, causing the barrel to smack against her bare leg. John B continues forward, swallowing thickly as the rest of the group turn to face them.

JJ's eyes fly right to the sibling closest, noticing his blood stained hands and praying it doesn't belong to Ava. He notices the stunned girl a few feet behind, her hands trembling by her side and her emotionless eyes focussed on the floor. He rushes straight to her, pulling her into a hug immediately; burying his head into her hair and squeezing her gently.

"Thank fuck you're okay," He breaths, pulling away, noticing her emotionless face, causing his eyebrows to furrow, "Are you okay?" His eyes scan over her body, noticing the rough cuts and scrapes on her legs and he feels the ones on her back, making her wince slightly, "I'm so sorry, A. I should've stayed. Fuck," He mumbles to himself, "I should've stayed with you," He drags her close again, her cheek pressed comfortably against his chest so she can hear his heartbeat, calming her immediately.

She sobs quietly, her arms moving around his waist to hold on tightly. He feels the metal against his back causing him to straighten and bring her away from him again. She notices his concern, her eyes flicking down to the weapon in her hands.

He follows her gaze, noticing the gun and her bloodied knuckles, he quickly cradles them, brushing his fingers over the cuts, "Ava, what did you do?"

Before she even has chance to speak a single word, sirens fill their ears, causing the group of teenagers to dash behind planks of woods. JJ keep his eyes on Ava, holding her close to his chest while she tries her hardest to keep her sobs quiet. The cop cars round the corner and continue to drive into the distance, allowing the group to rise up again, turning slowly to the twins in astonishment.

"What the fuck happened?" Kie questions.

"Rafe shot Peterkin," John B spits, "She was arresting Ward and— and he just came out and shot her. When we left, she was bleeding out on the— the runway," He nods his head down to his bloody hands, informing them that it belonged to the Sheriff.

JJ's mouth stays wide open.

Pope stares at the siblings with wide eyes.

Kiara's lip quivers at the information, her gaze trialing down to the weapon in Ava's hand. She takes a step back, "A, why do you have a gun?"

The blonde girl swallows thickly, wiping away her tears with the back of her hands, "It— it's the one Rafe shot Peterkin with," She sniffs, "We got into a fight and— and I took it."

"Ava, that's got your fingerprints on it," Kie says, her hand running through her hair anxiously, "You just incriminated yourself! Why did you take it?"

JJ steps forward to intervene; not understanding why Kiara was being so harsh after realising what the twins had just experienced on the runway. She should at least cut them some slack. But, Ava shakes her head at him, moving closer to the other girl.

"I took it because he was gonna shoot me, okay?" She snarls, "And I don't give a fuck if it's incriminating myself. I— I just watched the only adult, who gave a shit about us, be shot to the brink of death! Alright, Kie? So, my head," She taps her temple, "Is struggling to process all this shit."

Kiara sighs, biting her lip in guilt, "I didn't mean it like that, Ava," She grabs the girl's shoulder, dragging her into a warm hug, "I'm sorry."

"Ava beat the shit outta Rafe," John B attempts to brighten the mood as the girls pull away from their hug, "It was golden."

The blonde boy smirks, his gaze turning to Ava, "You beat the shit outta the Rafe Cameron?"

She rolls her eyes, nodding slowly and holding up her hand, showing the red and swollen knuckles and immediately wincing at the action, dropping her wrist back to her side.

"Holy fuck!" JJ whistles, "Who knew you had it in you, huh?"

She glares at him, smacking his chest but her hands continues to shake, worrying the boy slightly. It all had really shaken her up.

Ava turns to her brother, "We should probably get outta here before the coppers come back."

He nods in agreement, tilting his head at Pope, "You got the car keys?"

"Yes, sir," Pope salutes, rummaging around in his shorts pockets from the rattling keys, handing them to the boy.

Ava's eyes widen when she notices a burning blunt hanging in Pope's other hand and she gasps, letting out a short laugh, causing the group to whirl around in confusion, "Pope?" She tries her hardest to muster up realistic chuckles.

He raises an eyebrow in worry, "Ava?"

"You're smoking," She smirks, pointing to the blunt.

"Uh," He glances down at it, reaching over and passing it to her quickly, "Ugh. No. No, I'm not."

She rolls her eyes, clearly knowing that he's lying before taking a drag from the blunt herself, throwing her head back before releasing the smoke into the air. JJ watches in awe while the others leave his side to enter the car. She lowers her head again, meeting his gaze, causing her eyebrows to furrow at his zoned out expression, "J?" She asks, nudging his arm with her elbow; both her hands now full with illegal products, "You okay, playboy?"

He shakes his head, breaking free from his trance before humming down at her, "Are you okay, princess?"

"Pft," She scoffs, staring to walk towards the car, noticing her friends patiently waiting with the doors open, "Fuck no," She answers, "But I don't think any of us are."

He sighs sadly, stopping her just before she has chance to step into the Twinkie, "This is so fucked up," He grumbles, car his hand out politely for her, "M'lady?"

She stares down at his hand for a moment, placing the cigarette between her lips before laying her palm in his and allowing him to guide her up into the back of the car. She nods curtly, "Thanks, sir."

"Anytime, ma'am." He returns the nod, smirking before slipping into the seat beside her.

Ava turns her head for her eyes to immediately meet by the stares of her best friends. She slowly removes the blunt from her lips, along with a cloud of smoke before shrugging, "What?"

"You two," Kiara hisses, noticing between the two blondes, "It's annoyingly cute."

The blonde shakes her head, edging closer to the window before leaning her temple against the cold glass, staring out into the darkness and watching the trees as they fly past. She doesn't even react when Pope gently takes the blunt from between her fingers, taking several drags from it himself.  Her whole body hurts but her face remains straight.

Ava's mind can't help but reply the runway events; the sick smirk on Rafe's face and how relieved he was about shooting the Sheriff, how Ward didn't care about the dying woman beside him and how she hold her abusive ex at gunpoint with the weapon she still has her fingers wrapped around.

A lone tear falls down her cheek and she's quick to swipe it away but it doesn't go unnoticed by the blonde sat at the front, swivelled round in the seat and watching as the girl zones out again; just like she did before the runway. He could tell that their situation was having the biggest impact on her.

Ever since she was little, the Routledge girl has struggled immensely to express her true emotions. She continually wore a facade to hide how horrible she was feeling inside. She very rarely opened up to anyone unless she truly trusted them. Hence why she had spilled her emotions out to JJ when they were just fourteen years old. He had noticed how quiet she had been, and questioned her on it; not expecting a solid answer due to the ones she usually gave. But, when she actually spoke about what she was feeling, JJ couldn't have been more happier. She trusted him — obviously not when it came to girls, but that wasn't important. As long as she could confide in someone, he was happy.

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just realised that the last few chapters have all been in third person p.o.v. — if you don't like it, please let me know and i'll resume to first person with Ava. personally, i think i right better in third, but it's up to what your guys' preferences are. :)

word count: 1745 (short ass chapter 💀)