𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐎𝐍𝐄 , 𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐃𝐄 𝐒𝐈𝐗
𝟑𝟒:𝟑𝟎 - 𝟑𝟕:𝟓𝟗
𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘨: 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘢 » 𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘩

❦

AVA'S POV:

I'm shaken awake, my eyes snapping open at the rough moment to meet Kie's happy ones. I glance around for a moment, noticing that she has her clothes back on and we're still on the boat where the boys abandoned us, meaning Sarah is around somewhere.

Last night, I had overheard Sarah apologising to Kiara, and by the sounds of it they had mostly made up but the Kook has still not spoken a kind word to me, and I refuse to be the one to talk to her first; not when she's the one in the wrong.

"Wakey, wakey, sunshine," Kie laughs at my screwed up face while helping me up off the boat's rock hard floor. The only thing keeping me comfy last night was a random blanket, "Look on the bright side, I'm sure the boys are coming to get us."

"They better fucking be," I groan, rubbing my eyes before dragging my fingers through my knotty hair, my eyes floating around in search for the blunt box, "Where are the blunts?"

"It's 10 in the morning," Sarah states from behind me in her usual judging tone, causing me to whirl around on my heels, a slow shrug leaving my shoulders.

"So?" I purse my lips, "I need it to wake me up. You gotta problem, Cameron?" I question, taking a step closer after noticing the box in the room behind her, just beside the steering wheel, Kiara had obviously tried to hide it last night.

Sarah dashes out of my way and swiftly places herself beside Kiara, letting out a shaky breath as for a small moment she believed I was going to attack her. Kie struggles to hold back a laugh at the blonde's reaction, the noise coming out as a wheeze while I snatch the box of the counter, dropping JJ's lighter into my palm.

"There they are!" Sarah calls, pointing into the horizon at a small point, the silhouette's of three boys standing out as she rushes to the edge of the boat, sitting calmly on it and Kie joins her, waving her hand for me to sit beside her.

I shake my head at the offer, casually leaning on the door frame, letting out a long blow of smoke as the HMS Pogue nears, the smell of freedom becoming more and more distinct. My eyes stay on JJ's muscular form as soon as I can see their faces, my brows knitted together in anger at the audacity they had to isolate me here with Sarah, out of all people.

"Don't give them the satisfaction of thinking this works," Kiara mumbles, just loud enough for me to hear from a few feet behind.

"Never," I agree.

Sarah hums, "Absolutely not."

Finally, the boat stops beside us and I push away from the door, trudging over to beside Kie, turning my head for a second to blow out a puff of smoke before I focus back on the delighted boys, each of them smiling their faces off.

"John B?" Kie states moodily, "Mastermind, huh? Some patriarchal bullshit."

"You still love us though, right?" JJ questions, throwing Kiara the rope.

"It's not me you should be asking," She replies, nodding her head towards my bored figure as I look over at the horizon in awe at the beautiful sunrise. JJ purses his lips, staring me down as I refuse to meet his gaze.

"You still hate me?" John B asks the Kook, lowering his sunglasses down his nose to look up at her.

"A little," She folds her arms, "We're gonna get you back when you least expect it."

"Watch your fucking back, boys," I snarl.

Pope smiles, nodding, "Well, I, for one, welcome that challenge."

JJ raises his leg onto the back of John B's chair, lowering down slightly to place his elbow on top, "Me too."

"So, did you guys, you know. . ." Pope presses his hands together, insinuating that we were all best friends again.

"Reconcile our differences?" Kiara finished for him, her hands placed on her hips.

I shake my head, wafting away more smoke out of my face as Sarah grimaces, "Nope. Not even close. But we're. . . willing to work together."

I fight back the urge to let out a rude comment on the fact that I never agreed or even made up with the Kook, but it was best for me to stay quiet for now, until Sarah has the courage to speak to me.

"You know what?" John B chuckles, glancing up at JJ, "That's victory."

"Yep," The blonde agrees, placing his hand besides Pope's, "Woogity-woogity-woogity! Know why? Hydroponic."

"You guys ready to jack someone up?" My brother throws his arms up in the air, offering us onto the boat, Pope stepping back to give us space.

I throw my head back in triumph that I can finally exit the larger boat, hopping down on the smaller one I love and have adored for years. JJ holds his hand out to me to help, but I ignore him, instead lazily placing myself down beside Pope, the blunt still between my two fingers.

"Right, okay," JJ mumbles quietly under his breath, staring down at his feet over my harsh rejection.

I know I probably shouldn't blame him entirely for make me endure a whole night with Sarah Cameron, but he lured me there.

❦

The six of us head back to the Chateau to collect all the things we need in order to break into Miss Crain's house for a second time. The whole journey there I'm silent, and once we arrive I'm the first to make my way inside, falling back onto my soft bed that I'd only been away from for one night and I missed it so much.

A small knock sounds on my door, and if it wasn't so silent, I'd easily miss it. I squeeze my eyes shut, the quiet sound occurring again, "Come in."

The door opens. "Ava—"

"Just say what you wanna say and be quick," I sit up, glaring over at the Kook, who's awkwardly rocking back and forth on her heels, her eyes scanning my messy room and she tries her hardest to hide her disgust.

"I'm sorry."

"Bullshit." I sing, raising up from the bed and pushing past her into the hallway, she scurries after me as we past the boys and Kiara in the living room, "I know you, Sarah. So I know when you're lying."

She sighs, running a hand over her face in desperation, "You're right. I'm not sorry. In fact, I'm happy that I did what I did!"

My eyebrows furrow and keep my eyes on her, hearing a confused gasp leave Pope's mouth from the sofa, "What?"

"I wanted you and Rafe to break up."

I laugh, throwing my head back as my mind tried to work out what exactly she's saying and how it all fits together, "Why? He's your brother, it's not like you wanna date him."

"Ava, don't make me say it." She motions her head towards the four other Pogues, each of them listening intently, "Not in front of them."

"Anything you can say to me, you can say in
front of them." I reply, "But what could your excuse possibly be? How pathetic do—"

"Rafe was abusing you, Ava!" She bursts, throwing her arms up in anger as she cuts me off, her voice rises as she continues, "Every night after you both returned from a party, I noticed more and more new bruises on you. I didn't ask you about them because I knew you were sensitive when it came to Rafe. But quickly I added it all together; the constant screaming, crying and pointless arguments. He was abusing you. You were just too in love to see it."

My face drops and I blur out the concerned voices of my best friends while I stare at her in disbelief. Every little thing inside of me wants to deny the words that just left her lips, but my heart knows she's partly right. Rafe wasn't nice, he had his loving moments, but overall, I very rarely enjoyed my full time with him.

"Ava?" JJ places a hand on my shoulder, shaking me gently, worrying etched all over his face as my chest starts to go up and down quicker.

I stare up into his eyes, my finger tapping rapidly against my leg as he questions me, his words becoming merged together once again. I can't get the memories of Rafe and I out of my head, it was if everything was coming back at once, bombarding me with it all.

"Ava? Ava, look at me," His voice raises slightly in concern, causing all the voices in my head to stop and focus on his soft palm pressed again my cheek, "Fuck, A. What's going on?"

My eyes move past his head at the rest of them as I let out another shaky breath. JJ lets out a sad sigh, moving his hand up to the back of my head, burying it in my hair as he pulls me into a warm hug, his other palm wrapped around my waist, "You're okay. I've got you."

"We've gotta go now." My brother says, tapping the blonde's shoulder, "Otherwise we won't have another opportunity."

Rolling his jaw, JJ pulls away from me angrily, his hands leaving my body as he turns to his best friend, his jaw clenched, "Can't you fucking see that your sister isn't okay, bro? You don't even care about her! You don't give a shit about Ava because you are always thinking about the gold! Snap out of it for a second! She's your sister! What the fuck is wrong with you?" He shouts and shoves John B's shoulders back as Kiara moves around the arguing boys, bringing me into a side hug and placing a calming peck atop my head.

"STOP!" Sarah let's out a loud scream, the room falling into silence at her sudden outburst, "You're making it worst! Okay?"

"She's right," I whisper, clearing my throat as I pull away from Kie, sending her a thanking smile before turning to the two boys, "Let's just, uh, get this dumb ass thing over at Miss Crain's. Yeah?"

"Ava—" JJ steps towards me, his voice much quieter than before.

I shake my head, holding a hand up to him as I trudge past him and towards the door, "No, no. It's fine, J. You guys coming or not?"

❦

We all pile into the Twinkie silently, John B clearly his throat in attempt to spark a conversation, but everyone remains quiet while moving the equipment around so we can sit comfortably.

Finally, someone breaks the silence, but unfortunately, it's my brother, "Alright. You got rope?"

"Got it." Pope answers.

"Grappling hook?"

"We don't have a grappling hook." He shakes his head, "We're not batman."

The whole way there, he does a checklist, knowing damn well that he made everyone else get it all and don't help at all. After a few minute drive, we arrive at Miss Crain's and the Twinkie gets parked up in the same spot as last time, just beside the wall.

"Let's go get rich, guys." JJ laughs, swinging the door open in preparation and passing us each a flashlight.

"Hell, yeah." I smirk at him, smacking my palm against his in a low-five.

Kiara swings an arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer, "Let's do this, boys...." We say in unison, realisation quickly hitting us as Sarah comes into our view, "...and girls."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait." John B walks around so he's in the door, leaning on a few cushions as his eyes scan us, "I wanna say thank you, guys. Seriously. It means a lot to me that you're here tonight." His gaze lingers on me.

I roll my eyes, shaking my head, "Always, yeah? Even though you are a shitty brother, we're still the Pogues."

"Alright, we done with this circle jerk?" JJ questions, hauling the rope over his shoulder, "Can we go do this?"

"Let's get that wheat in the water." Pope chuckles as we all climb out of the van, one after the other and flick our torches on.

"Weed?" JJ's head snaps up, glancing between Pope and I.

I raise my hand, "I'm up for you."

"Of course it's you two who think of that." Pope rolls his eyes at us both, "I said wheat."

"Well, maybe you should speak more clearly next time." I shrug jokingly, standing behind Sarah and Kie as they climb over the wall, "Not my fault."

I follow quickly behind them, the boys on my tail like usual as we creep through her bushes, keeping our torches low. All of a sudden, an outside light flicks on, causing us each to scramble away, JJ's arm instinctively around my waist as we crouch behind a wall, our flashlights now completely off.

"Okay, so—" Pope pants, throwing his hood off and turning to us, "—she has motion sensor lights."

"We could, uh. . . move really slowly," JJ shrugs from beside him, his arm moving from my waist, "maybe?"

I turn my head to him slowly in astonishment, "What? J, that's not how it works." I let out a quiet laugh and he purses his lips.

"Oh, shit." John B clicks his fingers, a new idea coming to mind, "Let's throw a rock at it."

"That's a really good idea." Kiara replies sarcastically, her face screwed up, "Let the axe murderer know that we're here."

"Throw a rock at it?" Pope repeats in disbelief.

"You have a better idea?" John B snaps.

I nod, pursing my lips, "Literally anything but that."

Sarah speaks up, "What about the breaker? In the circuit box on the porch? We used to play hide and seek here as kids. And if we were brave enough, we'd go all the way up to the porch. I've seen it."

John B shakes his head, "No, no. You're not going in the house alone."

JJ nods in agreement with his best friend, "Crain chops people into pieces. Literally."

"If you believe that, but she's like. . . what, 85? She's probably barely still kicking." Sarah says.

"She's right. That motherfucker is probably deaf and blind. If she is an axe murderer, she sure as hell doesn't know what to kill." I whisper, causing JJ's head to snap to me.

He taps my temple, "I know what you're thinking. I can see those lil' cogs in your mind going 'round. And. . . no."

I completely blank him, turning to the two other girls, smirking mischievously, "We should go. It'll be better with the three of us."

Kiara nods, "That's a great idea. I'm coming."

"Okay." Pope purses his lips, "We'll wait for your signal."

The three of us raise up out of our sitting position, and out of the corner of my eye I watch as JJ runs an anxious hand through his hair, but fights the urge to say anything as we tip-toe away.

"Hey, be safe!" My brother says, more directly to his girlfriend rather than me, but at this point I'm not surprised nor do I care.

That dumbass is in love.

_______________________
𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢'𝐦 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞... 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲