FIFTEEN

❝ I want you to tell me why you're acting differently around me. ❞

*ೃ༄

     AVA IS SAT ON THE back row of the Twinkie with her knees up to her chest and a freshly lit cigarette between her lips while she studies the small delicate lines on the cast on her arm. JJ is perched on the small seat behind the passenger chair, his eyes boring into Ava, and Pope, who is beside the girl, doesn't fail to see the blonde's long anxious silence.

"I mean, it's obvious, right?" John B speaks up, breaking JJ's gaze away from the Routledge girl, "A family heirloom. What better place to hide a message? He had to know it was gonna get back to me, right?"

Ava exhales heavily, the annoyance of the topic of her father returning, while Pope wafts the smoke away from his face, causing her to mutter a small apology.

"Yeah, it's possible," Kiara nods in the passenger seat, while she tries her hardest to seem genuine, but Ava wasn't the only one who thought Big John was very much dead.

"It could also be possible that you're convoying wild theories to help, you know, deal with your dad feels," Pope shrugs quietly.

"Jesus, Pope," Ava snorts, shaking her head gently at his attempt to be kind whilst still staying a harsh point.

"Bro, you know how I process my dad feels," JJ speaks for the first time since Ava
returned to the group, "Dank jugs and the stickiest of ickies, that's how I do it," He mumbles, smiling at the thought.

"I'm not concocting, okay?" John B grumbles, sensing the true hidden meaning behind Pope's words, "My dad's trying to give me a message."

"If it helps you believe, John B," Kiara gently rubs his arm, pulling a small smile onto her lips, "If it helps you believe."

John B's jaw ticks and he pushes her off, "Look, I— I don't need a therapy session, okay? I'm not trippin' out."

"It's okay to trip, bro," JJ reassures, "But—"

"Look, my d-dad is missing, okay?" John B whips his head around to look at his friends before turning back to the road.

Ava drops her feet from her cushioned seat and onto the floor of the Twinkie while she exhales once more before sighing heavily at her brother's words, "John, he—"

"He is missing," John holds his hand up, silencing his twin sister quickly, "He is missing, Ava. You guys don't know what it's like to have the person closest to you vanish, and then have no idea what happened."

Scoffing, Ava snarls, "You're acting like he's not my dad too. Like I didn't have to grow up with that fucker as well."

Kiara peers over her shoulder, sending Ava a sympathetic look while John B just mutters incoherent words under his breath.

"It's been almost a year," Kie looks over at him, speaking softly, "Death is a possibility."

"Hey, he could have been kidnapped. That's definitely a possibility," JJ shrugs before staring at Pope with wide eyes for some help on the topic.

"Yeah," Pope slowly nods, "Could be in a Soviet sub getting interrogated by the KGB somewhere."

"Absolutely," JJ clicks his fingers, "Or, uh, Atlantis."

"Not helping," Ava coughs out, trying not to laugh at the weak attempts to soften the situation while the blonde slowly closes his lips in understanding.

"Look, what do you think the message is?" Kiara questions.

"Redfield," John B grumbles lowly.

"Redfield," JJ and Ava both instinctively mock his grouchy voice and they look over at each other with small mischievous smirks. They'd been making fun of John B together for a very long time.

"Will you two stop?" John snaps, swallowing thickly to calm himself down, "Redfield Lighthouse. That's my dad's favourite place."

Ava rolls her eyes, sitting back in her chair and folding her arms over her chest, "Our dad's favourite place," She corrects quietly.

*ೃ༄

    THE GROUP OF TEENS hop out of the Twinkie, one behind the other and Pope slides the door across. The five of them wander up to small white fence, looking up at the tall lighthouse in front of them. It hasn't changed at all from what Ava remembers it as being. Though, it has been many years since Big John had brought Ava on a trip out.

John B whirls around, pointing directly at JJ, "Right. You are gonna post up and look out for bogeys, okay?"

"Wait," JJ's brows furrow, as he prods his own chest in confusion, "Why me?"

"Because you aren't coming," Ava replies simply.

He turns to her, clearly offended that he had been the one to stay behind, "Why?"

"Look, JJ," Pope sighs, quickly grabbing the blonde's attention, "There are independent and dependent variables. You're independent. We don't know what you'll do."

"Shut up!" JJ snaps, his anger beginning to grow while he soon proves Pope's point, "Just shut up, Pope!"

"Just listen to me for a second!" John calls, shutting them both up before he moves his finger to point at his twin sister, "Ava, you're hurt so you're gonna stay here with JJ as well."

Ava's face pulls up into a grimace at the idea, she didn't particularly feel like being left alone with JJ after the awkwardness in the hospital, "My arm is broken. I can still walk up stairs. It's a lighthouse, for fucks sake, it's not gonna eat us up."

JJ gasps, motioning frantically towards the girl, "So she gets to argue and it's okay, because. . . what, she's a fucking dependent variable thing?"

After running his hand down his annoyed face, John B glares at the blonde boy, "You're both irritating and the littlest things set you both off. So, you're both staying, okay? Pope, you stand look out with them as well. Make sure they don't injure themselves further while we're gone."

"So three of us stay as look out while two go inside," Ava throws her arms into the air with a huff, "John, if you wanted to go in alone with Kiara, that's all you had to say."

Her brother's face drops further, and his jaw clenches when he realises that her words were actually true, "Oh my god, Ava. Just shut up! 'Cause that's what we're gonna do, okay? If we split up, we meet back at JJ's house."

"Great," Kiara nods, sending a harsh look over to Ava, causing the other girl to smirk in triumph as she watches the pair of them turn on their heels and wander through the gate and towards the lighthouse.

"I'm gonna work on my merit scholarship essay, and I'm trying to keep felonies to a minimum," Pope mutters, opening the Twinkie back up and sitting down on the floor.

"Just make sure you're essay is actually good, Pope," Ava says with a small smile, "Tell a few lies, 'cause you need to get in."

Happy about his friends enthusiasm towards his scholarship, he sends a smile of thanks before tucking his head down, "I plan on it."

Leaving him to it, Ava shuffles away from the Twinkie and her eyes land on the back of JJ, who's doing kickie-ups with stones. She bites her lip before rounding him and leaning back against the white fence in front of him, waiting for him to at least look at her.

"Are you okay, JJ?" She finally breaks the silence, bored of waiting for something he'll never do without encouragement.

He hums, still not lifting his eyes from the small stones, causing her to sigh.

"You gonna tell me why you punched my brother across the face? Or why you're basically airing me?" She tilts her head, trying to dip her eyes so she can see his face and watch as his expression changes.

He shrugs, eyes still trained on his foot, "I was angry. John B should've stopped you from leaving the office, or at least let me stop you."

"Why can't you look at me?" She speaks gently, and the soft tone in her voice encourages his head to finally raise so his eyes land on her pretty face, "What's changed between us?"

He takes a deep breath, letting the stones in his hand fall to the floor and he plants both feet flat on the gravel before his digs his fists into his shorts pockets, "I don't know."

"Liar," She smiles, and he pushes his tongue against the inside of his cheek to stop his own mouth from curving upwards, "JJ, come on."

"What do you want me to say, Ava?" He grinds out harshly.

"I want you to tell me why you're acting differently around me," She replies, not being at all bothered by his attempt to get her to back off, "I'd rather have you bugging me about us hooking up than you just being dry and me not knowing why. At least tell me why and maybe I'll understand."

He licks his dry lips, shrugging his shoulders, "I don't know." He was being honest. He didn't know why he was being so distant and strange with her. He didn't like how he was feeling about her, and how angry he had become at the Chateau. But he didn't know why he felt like that, which was scaring him as much as her.

"Okay," She nods slowly, tapping her fingers on her thigh anxiously, "Well, when you do know, please come and tell me," She pushes away from the fence and steps around him and back towards the Twinkie.

JJ curses quietly at himself, kicking the stones below him in anger. He lifts his hands from his pockets and rakes them through his messy blonde hair.

Ava steps into the Twinkie, being careful not to trod on any of Pope's papers that he as laid across the floor while he's sat in front of them, his back arched uncomfortably whilst he scribbles.

"That didn't go well, then," He says, lifting his head to look over at her while she returns to her place on the cushioned row.

She tilts her head, "What didn't?"

"That conversation," He nods his head outside to JJ, who's now wandering up and down the path a few metres from the van mumbling to himself.

"You little eavesdropper," She laughs, jerking her leg forward to poke gently at his side.

He smiles, before sighing as he drops his pen and straightens up to look at her properly, "Y'know, he isn't purposefully being annoying, right? He just struggles to—"

"Talk about his feelings," Ava finishes with an understanding nod, "I know."

Suddenly, a series of police sirens ring through the air from a distance and the two occupants of the Twinkie stare at each other with wide eyes for a moment before Ava stands and sticks her head out of them van.

"JJ!" She calls, and he whirls around on his heel immediately and she motions for him to come back to the Twinkie, "The cops are here!"

Her words cause him to break into a run from his place down the road and in a matter of moments he's jumping into the driver's seat and yelling at Pope to close the side door before eventually the van drives off away from the lighthouse.

"You seriously just abandoned the others," Ava says, sticking her head between the empty passenger seat and the driver's seat while she raises her brows at the blonde.

He waves her off carelessly, "They'll be fine. They can run pretty fast."

Raising her hands in a surrender, Ava falls back beside Pope on the floor of the Twinkie, "If they got caught, it's one hundred percent your fault," She tilts her head towards the boy next to her, "Do you agree, Pope?"

"Well, obviously he's gonna agree with you," JJ groans, glancing back at them through the rear view mirror, "Pope never agrees with me."

Pope's face pulls up into confusion at the accusation, "That's not true. . . mostly. But, yes, I agree with it being JJ's fault."

"Of course you do," JJ throws one of his arms into the air, shaking his head, "Of course you do."

*ೃ༄

       BACK AT JJ'S SHACK, the two boys are working together on a motor of a random boat, while Ava is inside snoring on the couch. While Pope turns his screwdriver, he raises his eyes to look at the blonde opposite him, who hasn't said a single word since they stepped out of the Twinkie.

"You're unusually quiet," Pope breaks the long silence, dropping his eyes back down to the motor in front of him.

JJ grunts, "Thought you would be enjoying it."

"It's because of her, isn't it?" Pope tilts his head, stopping his working to look directly at his friend with furrowed brows.

"No, Pope. It isn't. I'm fine." JJ grumbles out, ducking his head slightly to get a better look at the mechanism and also to hide his struggling expression.

Pope rolls his eyes, "And now you're bad at lying. Come on, JJ. Just tell her. It'll make you feel better."

JJ straightens up, slamming his spanner on top of the metal motor with a loud clang as he stares at the boy opposite him, "Tell her what, Pope? You know something I don't?"

Taking a deep breath, Pope simply says, "That you have feelings for her."

JJ tries to laugh, as if his words aren't true, but when he struggles to hide the truth, he runs his hands over his face with a groan, "I'm not telling her shit, Pope."

"Why?" Pope asks.

"Cause we just wouldn't fucking work. I'm her brother's best friend, and she's my best friend's twin sister," He shakes his head at the idea, while he talks a step away from the motor so he can begin to pace, "That shit is just destined to not work out, okay?"

"How do you know?" Pope argues, "You haven't even tried."

"John B would literally hate us both," JJ snips, "I'm not willing to lose my best friend anytime."

"But you're willing to lose Ava?" He raises his brows, "Cause you're going to if you don't just tell her how you feel. You're gonna drift apart."

"And what if she doesn't feel the same, Pope? Then what?" JJ's voice begins to raise the more anxious he becomes over the topic, "I will have just fucked up our friendship forever."

"How do you know she doesn't like you back? You need to tell her to find out, JJ!" Pope continues to push, his eyes following the blonde's frantic movements.

JJ's hands go to his hair, "Just shut up, Pope. Just stop, okay? I'm not gonna tell her shit and risk losing our friendship, got it? I can deal with us just being friends."

Pope sighs, "But right now, you aren't friends."

"I can fix right now! I can fix this thing between us without having to expose myself!" JJ's voice is on the brink of being a shout.

A set of running footsteps on gravel, cause the two arguing boys to look over towards the small road and watch as John B rushes down them, sweat soaking his t-shirt. He skids to a stop between his two friends, hands falling to his knees as he bends over to recollect his breath.

"Okay. Hey. Kiara and I got split up," He breaths, running his hands across his dirt covered face when he straightens up, "I did some shit at the Chateau, and now I have to do something. You got the keys for the Twinkie?"

JJ nods slowly, "What the hell happened, dude? You good?"

"I'm fine. I'm good," He confirms, "Where's my sister?"

JJ quietens at the mention of the other Routledge twin, and Pope steps closer to the pair, pointing inside the shack.

"She's inside, snoring her ass off on the sofa," He tells John B, "The keys are with her somewhere."

Quickly, John B jogs up the steps of JJ's house and rushes inside, straight towards the familiar living room where his twin sister is laid out with one of her legs dangling off the side of the couch. He picks up the closest empty beer can to him and throws it at her while he grabs the keys from the coffee table.

Ava groans, eyes still closed when she raises a hand to rub at the sore spot on her forehead from the can.

"Get up," John B speaks, nearly scaring the shit out of her as her eyes fly open and she stares at him in surprise, "Hurry up!"

"Okay. Fuck. Okay," Ava runs a hand through her hair as she steps over the mess of the living room and follows her brother back outside, where JJ and Pope are already settled in the Twinkie.

Ava jumps into the back next to Pope, while John B slides into the driver's seat beside JJ.

"What's this all about then?" Ava questions, rubbing at her eyes, "And where's Kiara?"

"She's back at the Wreck. We got split up a few hours ago," John explains as the Twinkie bumps down the gravel road, "And, Ava, I burnt all dad's shit."

She lets out a laugh of shock, and partly of joy, "Well, well. Have you come to your senses?"

"Mostly," He mutters.

She smirks, "Finally."

*ೃ༄
    
            POPE STRIDES OUT of the back door of the Wreck, shaking his head towards his friend's waiting in the van, "She says she's not coming!"

"Why not?" JJ asks.

Ava leans forward, peering around the seat at her brother with brows raised in questioning, "What the fuck did you do?"

He hits the steering in wheel with frustration, "Shit," He throws the door open, stepping out, "Hang on. I'll deal with it."

Rolling her eyes, Ava sits back, arms folded over her chest when her brother rushes up the stairs towards the restaurant, "They kissed."

JJ looks over his shoulder at her, "How'd you know?"

"It's obvious," She shrugs, eyes floating towards the red back door as it swings closed, "John has only ever kissed two females before now, and each time he had the same look on his face. His blush lasts for ages. And usually when he kisses a chick, they leave because of it."

JJ laughs, shaking his head as he turns around once more, trying to tame the wild smile on his cheeks. Pope jumps into the back, leaving the side door open as Kiara and John B rush back down the steps.

The other girl looks into the back at Ava, sending her the I'll tell you later look, before she motions for JJ to get out of the passenger seat.

"Adults go in the front, JJ," She pulls the door open for him, "Get out."

Huffing in annoyance, JJ slides out of the seat and hops into the back, dropping down between his two friends. Pope nudges him harshly with his foot, and uses his eyes to glare at the boy, trying to get him to speak to the girl on the other side of him, but JJ ignores him completely.

"Look, I— I know I was wrong about the lighthouse," John B begins, "And pretty much wrong about everything else going on."

"Wow," Ava gasps, hand covering her open mouth for a moment before she says, "You really have come to your senses."

"Took him long enough," JJ mumbles in agreement, and they share a sly smirk, causing JJ to shuffle slightly in his seat at the familiar interaction.

John B glares at his sister and best friend through the rear view in annoyance before continuing, "But, I was right about one thing, okay? My dad is trying to tell me something."

"Great," Ava groans, digging her hand into her back client to fish out her cigarettes, "Here we go again."

. . .

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