𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐎𝐍𝐄, 𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐃𝐄 𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓
𝟎𝟎:𝟎𝟎 - 𝟐𝟐:𝟓𝟕
𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘨: 𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘴 » 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴

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AVA'S POV:

My eyes peel open as I feel JJ stand up, yawning and rolling his arms back in a stretch. I watch as he lazily throws on a white tank top that he'd previously left in my room, along with it he picks up his red hat, inspecting it before turning to face me again, eyebrows raised, "Can I have this back yet?"

I purse my lips and shuffle to the side of the bed, taking it from his grasp and gently placing it atop my shaking head, "No. I like it."

"Yeah, well, so do I." He rolls his eyes, ruffling his hair before stepping out of the room, letting another yawn escape his lips.

I follow after him, nodding in thanks as he passes me a cold beer from the fridge. I pause for a moment and my fingers wrap around his wrist, "You feeling better?"

"Yeah, mostly." He sighs, taking a swig of the alcohol, gently shaking my grip off of him before pushing through the back door onto the porch, politley holding it open for me, "Is that my shirt?" He smirks down at me, pointing at the fabric wrapped loosely around my body.

I bite my lip, remembering how last night I was freezing in bed and managed to lean over JJ and grab a random shirt off the mess covered floor, "Maybe." I roll my eyes, "I didn't take time to check the name tag before throwing it on."

"You look sexy in it," He chuckles, lazily wrapping his arms around my shoulders, pulling me tighter towards him while he snatches the hat off my head, replacing it with a soft kiss.

I glare up at him, watching as he places the red cap backwards on his head, small strands of his golden hair poking through the tiny hole and I laugh lightly as he smiles down at me.

"You two seem happier," Pope says as we approach them, their eyes lingering on our connected forms.

I nod happily, pushing away from the boy beside me before clambering into the hot tub, the still water surprisingly still slightly warm as I dunk my bare legs in, perching on the edge while taking lazy sips of the beer in my hand. JJ places himself beside me quietly, keeping his eyes on Pope and Kiara while they test out their new bucket winch for gold hunting purposes.

I run my fingers around the smooth rim of the bottle in my hand, my face falling slightly as I remember my brother. I have no clue of his whereabouts and the others last night had informed of his very early fishing trip with Ward, but I couldn't help feel worried, like something had happened to him. Knowing him, he's probably spoke too much and blabbed something Ward didn't want to hear, or he might actually be having a good time with the older man, but I highly doubt it; John B struggles to have a good time with anyone.

Almost as if he could read my mind, JJ starts to speak, "John B pulling a Houdini."

"Yeah, where is he?" Pope grumbles, slowly pulling Kiara down in the winch, "I got my scholarship interview tomorrow. We gotta get this done."

"Speak of the devil," I sit up straighter as my brother rounds the tree, his steps rough and his eyes trained on the floor.

"Dude, I set up the entire winch to get the gold and everything," JJ shouts, pointing his finger towards the hanging bucket.

Pope whirls round on his heel, glaring at the blonde, "No, he didn't. I did that. He was too busy sleeping, like usual."

I place my beer beside me, flipping my legs over the side of the hot tub before jumping down, rushing after my brother, my eyebrows furrowed, "Hey, John B. You okay?"

He completely ignores me as he rifles through cupboards angrily, clattering and throwing things all over the room. The other three stand beside me, watching in shock.

"You okay, JB?" I question again, leaning against the round table behind me, "What's, uh, what's up?"

"What are you looking for?" Kie snaps at the shuffling boy as he marches past us again, upturning the sofa pillows.

JJ shoots me a look before moving his gaze back to his best friend, "Uh, what's going on, man?"

My eyes widen as he pulls out the gun, his quick movements coming to a sudden stop and Kiara starts to rant more questions in worry while I walk over to my brother, gently turning him around, but before I even have chance to see his full face he's thrown me onyo the sofa bed.

"John B!" Kie gasps as he shoves Pope into the kitchen table, running out of the back door.

JJ holds his hand out to me, his eyebrows etched together as he pulls me up, "You okay?"

I nod firmly before sprinting after my brother, the rest of them following close behind. I yell his name over and over while jumping down the Chateau steps, trying to reach him as he hops onto JJ's motorbike, reviving the engine.

"JOHN!" I scream, "What the hell?"

"Ward knows about the gold." He roars, his head snaps to me, "Ava, he— he killed our dad."

I come to a sudden stop, my mouth following open as Kiara attempts to change after the speeding bike. My fingers start to frantically tap my thighs and my breathing starts to become more rapid, my heart nearly flying out of my beating chest. JJ quickly turns to me, noticing my stillness and he dashes in front of me, his hands gripping my biceps as he lowers his face slightly so we're parallel.

"Ava. Just breath slowly." He sighs as my eyes blend into the background behind his head, John B's words replaying.

He killed our dad. He killed our dad.

"A, look at me." JJ's soft hands move up to cup my face, and he shakes gently, my eyes floating back to meet his, "Ava, baby, it's okay. It's gonna be okay. Just calm down, alright?"

My eyes start to gloss over with tears, and he bites his lip anxiously, his hand going to the back of my head and pushing it gently into his chest as a warm hug, "Shh, you're gonna be okay." He repeats quietly, pressing a long kiss to the top of my head.

"It can't be true, right?" I mumble into his shirt, "I mean, how?"

He shakes his head, not giving me a verbal answer; knowing anything could be deemed wrong in this situation. So, he just silently holds me, every now and again whispering words into my ear, just like I did with him the previous night.

Suddenly, more arms wrap around me and I immediately recognise them to belong to Kiara and Pope, their warm embraces on top of JJ's immediately lifting my mood; knowing they're here with me.

❦

It took me an hour to convince the others to go searching for my brother without me. JJ was adamant on staying with me but eventually Pope dragged him into his truck, ignoring the blonde's protests. Kiara kindly gave me one last hug before getting a lift with the boys, all three of them waving sadly back at me as they left.

Now, I sitting on dad's bed silently staring down at the dark photo of him, tears dropping onto the paper, soaking through it as if it's a shitty tissue. Dad had never been there to wipe my tears or comfort me, and now a photo of him couldn't even do it.

"Ava? JJ? Pope? Kie?"

I don't bother to lift my head at his calls and instead just wait until he eventually enters, tears streaming down his cheeks when he places himself softly beside me. I lean into him, my head dropping to his shoulder and he wraps an arm around mine, sniffling sadly, his eyes trained on the photo in my hands.

"I really miss him," He sobs.

I nod, "You may not believe me, but I do too. He was a dick to me, but he was still my dad," I lazily lift my hand up to wipe my nose as I glance up at his saddened face, "You weren't lying, were you?"

He shakes his head, his voice breaking as he speaks, "No."

"Should we at least give him a— a funeral?" I suggest, standing up slowly, bringing the photo with me, motioning my head towards the door, "We still have that— that tiny boat you both made years ago."

He tries his best to smile back at me, but fails terribly and just silently follows me through the house as I grab the wooden boat and a lighter before trudging along the dark docks, crying quietly to myself. We reach the end and lower ourselves down with our legs crossed as I gently place the tiny project down on the waters surface in front of us, allowing John B to lay the photo atop of it. He pauses for a second while I light the wooden frame before we both press two fingers against the edge, pushing it away.

"You're a horrible brother, you know that, right?" I sniff.

He glances at me for a moment, "I'm sorry."

My lip quivers as I watch it float away and I feel my lips begging for a cigarette but I ignore the anxious urge and instead shuffle towards my crying brother, pulling him into my side while we both sob out hearts out on the decking off our family home.

We stay there for hours, just side by side, our tears soaking the other's shirt while the sky gets darker and darker, signalling for the bugs to attack our exposed flesh. But, neither of us care for it anymore, our limbs not moving one inch and not one word being said while my tired eyes are glued to the smooth ripples of the water in front of me.

Why the fuck is everything falling apart for us?

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we're getting to the interesting (and depressing) parts 😋