𝟎𝟎𝟎.             𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬, 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡

left hand free                 ────                   alt-j

☀︎ 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐥𝐲𝐧'𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐯

𝖨 𝖥𝖨𝖱𝖲𝖳 𝖥𝖤𝖫𝖫 𝖨𝖭 𝖫𝖮𝖵𝖤 𝖶𝖨𝖳𝖧 𝖩𝖩 𝖬𝖠𝖸𝖡𝖠𝖭𝖪 𝖶𝖧𝖤𝖭 𝖨 𝖶𝖠𝖲 𝖤𝖨𝖦𝖧𝖳 𝖸𝖤𝖠𝖱𝖲 𝖮𝖫𝖣．

I fell in love with him when he would tug on my pigtails in the playground. I've heard that boys tug on a girl's hair when they like them, and that fact always made me feel warm and needed inside. Does he like me? Does he love me in the same way that I love him?

I fell in love with him again when I was ten, and he gifted me the sun── not the real sun, but his gift still shone in a way that the sunshine did. What he gifted me was a shiny yellow bracelet with a sun charm dangling from it that I still have to this day, and I still have it tightened around my wrist, carrying it as a friendly reminder that I love my best friend. Two days after he gifted me that bracelet, I made him a blue friendship bracelet which he also still wears to this day.

I fell in love with him all over again when I was thirteen, and he kissed me in front of everyone to show that I, just like all the other girls our class, was pretty and deserving of a kiss too.

I fell in love with him once again when I was sixteen, and he sat alongside me, chucking M&Ms in the air, and catching them in his mouth.

It's safe to say that, after eight years of being friends, I still have the same love for JJ now that I had when I was a glasses-wearing, pigtail-pulling, dorky eight-year-old girl. I still gaze at him like he's the whole world, even when he does something ridiculous and stupid.

Hi, my name is Brooklyn Routledge, and I'm hopelessly, and ridiculously in love with my best friend of eight years.

I haven't told him. I don't know if I will tell him.

But let's move past that fact for now, and focus on something else. I'll let my brother do his monologue── the monologue you all know and love . . .

❝𝐖𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄𝐒
𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑 𝐈𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐀 𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄, 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄❞

𝖶𝖤 𝖠𝖫𝖫 𝖪𝖭𝖮𝖶 𝖳𝖧𝖠𝖳 𝖫𝖨𝖭𝖤， 𝖣𝖮𝖭'𝖳 𝖶𝖤？

Anyway, let's refocus back to me── the shining sun of the story.

I'm currently laid down, my legs hanging off the scaffolding. My friends and I have placed ourselves at a Kook holiday home that's currently under construction. The sun is shining, hitting my face, and warming the features on my face. A shimmer reflects from the ends of my eyelashes. The delicate sunshine brings out every rose-hue from the bricks, every green nature bestowed around us, every tone of water in the sea across from us, and every colour of the petals dotted around the home.

I love the sun. It makes me shine.

A voice chimes in my ears, pulling me away from my daydreams about the warming sunshine. "That's what, a three-story fall to the deck?" I peer down, seeing the voice came from Pope. He's looking up at one boy in particular─── my twin brother, the one who monologues this damn show. He has his foot dangling off the roof of the building above my head, his arms outstretched to balance properly. "I give you about a one-in-three chance of survival," Pope tells him.

"Hm," the boy hums, seeming to like those odds, and I roll my eyes. He can't seriously be considering it. He places one finger in his mouth and holds it up to feel the direction of the wind, definitely considering falling. "Should I do it?"

He won't jump. If he does, I don't really like the idea of sitting in a hospital waiting on him for hours, so he better not jump. Pope laughs. "Yeah, jump. I'll shoot you on the way down." I squint my eyes due to the bright sun, and I look from my brother to Pope. I notice that Pope is holding a drill up in the air, acting as a gun.

"You'll shoot me?" John B holds his fingers out to imitate a gun and takes a shot towards Pope before turning his fingers towards me. I reply by holding up my middle finger, earning an understandable eye roll from him.

"They're gonna have Japanese toilets with towel warmers." My eyes catch onto the girl exiting the building from down below, and a smile tugs on my lips. Kiara swings around the metal railing, looking out towards the ocean across from us. "This used to be a turtle habitat, but who cares about the turtles, I guess?" Her eyes move from the ocean to glance up at John B who is still dangling a foot off the roof, acting rather foolish. "Can you please not kill yourself?"

I look back up at my brother, not finding his idiocy amusing because he would be the type of guy to accidentally slip off the roof. I simply shrug my shoulders, realising I can't stop him regardless, and I look back to Kiara. "No, Kie. Let him," I say, smiling sarcastically.

Besides me, the blond boy── remember, the one I'm hopelessly and ridiculously in love with── who was throwing M&Ms in the air earlier, speaks up, "Don't spill that beer. I'm not giving you another one." On cue, the can slips out of John B's hand and we all watch as the can hits the decking, liquid pouring out. John B stumbles, I hold my breath anxiously, but thankfully, he catches his balance.

Sure, as his friend, his antics can be funny, but as his sister, I'm extremely worried one day he'll trip, fall and die.

Kiara mutters, "Of course you did," while JJ laughs next to me, his shoulder nudging mine, and that single display of friendly affection makes my insides curl, flutters of butterfly wings hitting the lining of my stomach. Damn him.

Pope taps his hand on the railing a couple times before he turns back to us. "Hey, uh, security's here. Let's wrap it up."

"Boys are early today." He looks over the horizon to see that two security men── two security men we are very familiar with── are getting out their car.

I lift myself up, pulling my feet out from underneath the railing, and I lean over to see someone we love to mess with. "Gary, is that you? Gary!" I wave, laughing hysterically just as a hand grabs my arm and yanks me backwards.

My brother begins to climb down the ladders with me in tow, and once I'm securely stood on the decking, I look over the railing to see the two men running up the steps to catch us── the kids they've been trying to catch for the past few weeks now. For weeks, the five of us have been coming to this same spot and every single night, these same two security men have tried to catch us, but have failed miserably. Maybe tonight they'll be able to keep up with us.

I highly doubt it though.

Each of us rush through the house with Kiara and John B up ahead. We race down the steps to the bottom floor where the two men have snuck inside, catching us off guard. It seems they've learned from the last fifteen times...

"Hey, stop!" Gary yells as he spots me and JJ attempting to run the same way Gary does. JJ grasps my arm tightly, pulling me to one side. We slide across the floor and scatter to get back to our group as Gary struggles to chase after us.

JJ runs to the other guard and humourlessly wraps his arms around him before quickly pulling back to avoid being caught. "Not much of a hugger!" the boy laughs, snatching my hand in his and tugging me along with him. I hold onto his hand tightly, squeezing back as he tugs me with him, helping me escape.

We slip outside past the pillars to where the others are running to the van. We spot Pope ahead of us, and when he jumps over the fence, he slips, his face meeting the grass. "Get up, Pope, fasto's coming!" JJ pats his shoulder before running to the van with me and Pope closely next to him.

Kiara slides open the door for us to jump in. She closes it once we're inside but JJ insists on being his usual, cocky self. He decides to torment Gary who is still attempting to run after us despite us being securely in the van. "Check out Gary, gunnin' for a raise." Pope laughs, looking out the back window.

"Come on, Gary!" JJ slides open the door and peers his head out to see Gary attempting to catch up. He really, really wants to get us this time

"You're gonna give him a heart attack." Despite feeling bad for the poor guard, I can't help but laugh as she I tug at JJ's t-shirt, trying to pull him back into the van.

JJ grabs a beer from behind me, holding it out the door for Gary to grab. Gary speeds up, but he still isn't close enough to catch any of us or the beer. "You're so close! You can do it." JJ laughs and I shake my head at his ridiculousness. JJ throws the beer to Gary, watching as it slips past his fingers and hits the ground. "They don't pay you enough, bro," he says before Kiara yanks him back into the van.

"JJ, stop. Stop," Kiara speaks, not amused by his behaviour.

"Oh, come on. That sort of initiative is just begging to be punished," JJ justifies, falling back into his seat and shutting the door.

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❝𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐊𝐒, 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐄 𝐎𝐍 𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐇❞

𝖨'𝖬 𝖲𝖴𝖱𝖤 𝖸𝖮𝖴 𝖢𝖠𝖭 𝖧𝖤𝖠𝖱 𝖬𝖸 𝖡𝖱𝖮𝖳𝖧𝖤𝖱 𝖲𝖠𝖸𝖨𝖭𝖦 𝖳𝖧𝖠𝖳 𝖤𝖷𝖠𝖢𝖳 𝖫𝖨𝖭𝖤 𝖨𝖭 𝖸𝖮𝖴𝖱 𝖧𝖤𝖠𝖣. Anyway, ignore his voice, and listen to me or──

Wait, sorry, John B has more to say. I will talk after you people reading stop hearing his damn voice in your head as you read along.

FROM THE TOP!

Outer Banks, paradise on earth.

It's the sort of place where you either have two jobs or two houses. Two tribes, one island. The island is split in two with one side being the rich side── commonly known as Figure Eight. Home of the Kooks.

That isn't where we live.

And then, there was the south side or The Cut. Home of the working class who make a living busing tables, washing yachts, running charters. The natural habitat of us... (drumroll, please)...the Pogues. Pogues, Pogies, the throwaway fish. Lowest number of the food chain.

The downside of Pogue life is that we're ignored and neglected, and the upside of Pogue life is that we're ignored and neglected which means we can do whatever we want, whenever we want.

Now, there's five of us in our little group.

Let's start with JJ. He's been mine and John B's best friend since the third grade. He's about as local as they come. Latest in a long line of fishing, drinking, smuggling, vendetta-holding salt-lifers who make their living off the water. Best surfer in the crew, but no one would ever tell him that. He's a mild kleptomaniac and a future tax cheat. But we love him, like everybody else reading does.

Then there's Kiara or Kie as everyone calls her. When she's not saving turtles or listening to Marley, or getting a dolphin tattoo, she hangs out with us. No one is really sure why, though. So, she's a rich kid, actually. Foot in both worlds. Her family owns The Wreck── this Outer Banks institution. Total cash cow with the tourists. Not really sure how her parents feel about her hanging around us, especially since everyone sort of has a thing for her── especially me, but we'll get onto that later down the line.

Next there's Pope. The brains of the operation... finalist for the Lucas T. Vanderhorst Merit Scholarship. And the smartest person ever. Little bit of a weirdo. His father's this legendary character, Heyward. Anything you wanted on this island, Heyward could get it for you. Now, I'm not sure Heyward knows what to make of his oddball son, but it doesn't matter. He's a Pogue, just like the rest of us, and we love him very much too.

Second to last, there's John Booker Routledge. Most would think that he is the leader of our crew, and maybe he is, but I'm not too sure. He's the optimistic and adventurous one of the group. He loves to fish, surf and cause trouble but when he's not doing all that, he's usually spending time at the Château trying to piece together how our father went missing suddenly.

Finally, there's me── Brooklyn Routledge or Brooke as they call me. I'd say I'm the smarter, better looking, and stronger-minded twin compared to John B, but I'd never tell him that. I'm always up for a challenge and when I'm not painting and drawing, I'm wreaking havoc with JJ── something John B hates. I'm the ball of joy in the crew, often regarded as the sunshine character, and there's only one boy who gets to call me "Sunshine", and that's the boy I'm in love with. 

John B and I live in an old fish shack on the marsh. The Château, as our Dad used to call it. Our dad disappeared at sea nine months ago, looking for a shipwreck. Who disappears at sea these days? We miss him a lot, and it sucks even more than we don't have answers.

And then there's our mom. She split when we were three. Last we heard, she was in Colorado, but we can't be sure. Since our dad vanished, Uncle T was supposedly our legal guardian, but... he's currently in Mississippi, building houses which means it's just the two of us right now, on our own, hangin' out with our friends and taking care of each other.

Three months after our dad went missing, he was officially presumed dead. We both refused to sign the papers.

Until we saw a body, we weren't giving up.

Now, all that was said by John B as you know, so let me talk.

Since the disappearance of my father, I haven't been doing to well. I've been trying to distract myself, but everyday, I think about him. I wonder where he is, what he's doing, and if he's safe. Often, when I think of him, I believe he's still alive, and he will return to us one day. I sleep with my door open, ready and willing to run out when he decides to stroll in, acting like he didn't disappear for nine months.

I can't remember what his voice sounds like. I haven't heard it in so long that his voice has just faded, and I miss it. I try to grasp at straws, wishing and praying that he's okay, and that he will make it back home, but I slowly start to lose hope everyday we don't find him.

I miss Dad, that much is obvious, and I do want to believe that he'll be okay.

He has to be okay. He has to come back home to this── to me and John B, to our Chateau, to our life back here in the Outer Banks. He should be here, sitting with us while we attempt to fish, laughing with us when we shove one another in the water, and talking with us when we need somebody. Dad should be here, but he's not, and I hate that I can't figure out where he went.

One day, I hold hope that he will return, but that thought is slowly being crushed as the days pass, blending into one long, never ending, painful day.

For now, while we wait and wait to find answers of our Dad, John B and I hang out with our friends, and have a good time. It's the summer, after all── fun is what we should be having as teenagers.

──────────────────────────

𝖳𝖧𝖤𝖱𝖤 𝖠𝖱𝖤 𝖠 𝖫𝖮𝖳 𝖮𝖥 𝖡𝖱𝖤𝖠𝖪𝖲 𝖨𝖭 𝖳𝖧𝖨𝖲 𝖢𝖧𝖠𝖯𝖳𝖤𝖱， 𝖨 𝖱𝖤𝖠𝖫𝖨𝖲𝖤 𝖳𝖧𝖠𝖳， 𝖡𝖴𝖳 𝖳𝖧𝖤 𝖣𝖠𝖸 𝖨𝖲 𝖲𝖯𝖫𝖨𝖳 𝖫𝖨𝖪𝖤 𝖳𝖧𝖨𝖲， 𝖲𝖮 𝖨 𝖣𝖮 𝖠𝖯𝖮𝖫𝖮𝖦𝖨𝖲𝖤．

Anyway, now I am sitting with my brother in one of the many DCS offices with Cheryl── our social worker who is trying to get the us into a foster home. That's right, a foster home where we'll probably be split up, beaten, and tossed to one side, or we'll be placed in a home that's too loving, and too damn welcoming.

Either way, I don't want to be in a foster home, but because we are minors living without a guardian, we're stuck here, talking with Cheryl.

Cheryl sits down at her desk across from us. "Brooklyn. John." I always hate how she addresses us, but we hum in acknowledgment. "It's come to our attention that you two are unemancipated minors living on your own."

I look over at my brother, shaking my head, deciding to go with JJ's sweet approach of denying everything. "No."

"I need honesty to help you." She clasps her hands together on the desk. "That's what we want, right?" We both nod, but realistically, we want nothing more than to be left alone. "Okay, when is the last time either of you spoke to your uncle?" Cheryl asks, looking from me to John B.

John B looks down at his wrist that doesn't have a watch, and a grin touches my face. "Uh... thirty-four minutes ago," he lies, and I nod so the lie sounds somewhat believable, but I can't help but find it all a bit... stupid.

Cheryl sighs loudly, and asks the next question, "When's the last time either of you saw him?"

John B looks back down at his imaginary watch and lies again. "Two hours and... forty-three minutes ago?"

"Brooklyn, John, we're gonna come out there tomorrow and talk to your uncle." Well, that'll be hard to do seeing as he's not there, but we can figure something out, I'm sure. "If he's not there, we're gonna move forward with foster care. I want to assure you both that we're gonna find you a safe and loving home," Cheryl reassures, smiling, and I look to John B, not feeling as enthusiastic as Cheryl feels about this.

I know that due to our age, neither of us would find a loving home. No one wanted two sixteen-year olds who are constantly getting in trouble. Also, we're likely not going to be placed in the same family even if we find a "loving" family. A lot of siblings get separated in foster care which is something I don't want, especially when my sibling is somebody I'd consider my best friend.

Okay, so that's where our story── the story of me and my friends── starts. My dad is missing, my uncle is MIA, and the Bride of Frankenstein is threatening foster care.

However, the world appears to be on our side this morning because shortly after meeting Cheryl, we catch a break.

Tomorrow, DCS is supposed to be visiting, but Hurricane Agatha is hitting tomorrow.

John B is already on the phone when we catch wind that a hurricane is coming, and I thank every God above for the change in weather. DCS answer the phone, and a smile touches John B's lips. "Yeah, uh... I think we're probably gonna have to reschedule," he says, smiling down at me.

We've caught a break.

You'll find that we aren't the luckiest people in the world, but today── finding out that a hurricane is coming── we're lucky.

Every time there's a hurricane here, I do this one thing, and nobody except one guy knows that I do this because he does it right alongside me.

Every hit of a hurricane, JJ and I sit on the large tree in front of the Chateau. It's difficult to climb, and we often slip on the bark as we attempt to climb up to the stronger branch that we can sit on, but we climb that tree every hurricane.

Tonight is no exception.

The hurricane is hitting. The wind is howling. The rain is running down our faces, wetting our clothes and hair. We slide and slip across the mud to reach our tree, but once we reach it, I'm quick to lift myself up onto the first branch, pulling myself up.

JJ holds his arms out behind me, ready for if I fall off this tree. It's sweet that he is there to catch me, but who will catch him?

I grab ahold of the next branch, and my foot slips. "Woah!" JJ's hand wraps around my ankle, and he pushes me up, keeping his hand on my leg until I can steady myself.

"No," I whine, peering down at him with a grin. "Let me fall so you, my knight in shining armour, can catch me."

"And if I miss you?"

"Well, I'll kick your ass." I kick my leg out, attempting to make a joke, but my body slips, but I keep my hand securely around a tree branch. JJ's hands reach out, grasping my hips.

"Yeah, sure you will, Sunshine."

Sunshine is the nickname only JJ uses on me. I don't even remember why he started calling me that, but I don't care. I love when he says it, and even though I pretend I hate it, it makes me feel warm and flustered.

I grab another branch, pulling myself up, and JJ continues to watch out for me as I move my leg up, planting my foot on a hole in the tree that I use to lift myself up. JJ begins to follow after me, pulling himself up the tree with a lot more ease than I do.

He's a show-off, that much I know.

It takes me a few more tries until I'm seated on the branch that we always sit on. It's the only branch on this tree that won't crush under our weight, and it's the only branch that's tucked away under the leaves, out of the thundering rain. JJ sits in front of me, flicking his lighter open and closing it quickly. I stare at him, leaning my head back to rest against the base of the tree.

I don't know why we choose to sit here whenever a hurricane strikes, but it's become a sweet, harmonious tradition of ours. Since the age of nine, I think, JJ and I have sat on this tree. This tree has seen many things── some things I'm not too proud of like smoking weed for the first time during a hurricane to calm my nerves. Whenever a hurricane hits our town, JJ and I seek shelter up in this tree, and it's peaceful despite the wind, the rain, and the thunder.

JJ pulls out a cigarette, and I watch as he begins to light it. He smokes a lot── more than a sixteen-year-old boy should, but I don't question him. I don't judge him, not when he has every right to do whatever he chooses. I have smoked a few cigarettes in my life, but I don't do it regularly── not regularly enough for anyone to care. I get why he smokes, but sometimes I think he just does it because he's bored.

Which I realise isn't a great thing seeing that he's up in this tree with me── the least boring person on the planet, thank you.

I kick my leg out to him, my shoe hitting his ankle. "You know, I think we should invest in a tree house."

Since I was a little girl, I have dreamed of having a tree house. I love the Chateau, don't get me wrong, but imagine having a home away from home that's still close to your home, but not too close, if that makes sense.

"I'll build you one," he replies, shrugging casually like him saying that single sentence doesn't mean the world to me. My dad never offered to build me one, John B never offered to build me one, but JJ── my best friend and the guy I'm in love with── has offered to build me something I have wanted since I was a little girl.

I smile widely, looking away from him. "Really?"

"Yeah." He scoffs, cigarette between his lips. "Shouldn't be too hard."

"I'd love to just live in a tree house, all on my own with my cat," I tell him, and a smile touches JJ's lips, his leg kicking up to rest on the branch we sit on.

"On your own?" He leans forward, hunched over, his eyes on me. "You aren't gonna be on your own, Brooklyn."

"Wouldn't be so bad."

"You won't be alone because you'll be stuck with..." He waggles his finger in front of me before pointing at himself. "...me."

I raise a brow. "Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah. I ain't going anywhere without you." He blows smoke away from my face which I appreciate. "You know, I probably wouldn't be alive right now if it wasn't for you." I scoff, my mouth opening to argue with him, but he speaks first, "Seriously, you keep me from doing stupid things. You keep me in line."

"JJ, you always do stupid things."

"Yes, but you're always there to prevent things from──"

"Progressing into criminal level?"

He clicks his fingers together, grinning over at me with the cigarette still hanging off his lips. "You're the one keeping me sane, Sunshine. You can't leave to live with a cat. I need you to keep me in check── keep me alive."

"Keep you alive?" He nods, taking another puff of the cigarette. "Fine." I roll my eyes. "We will live in a treehouse, away from everything, and we'll have a cat."

"Why a cat?"

"I want a ginger cat called Wotsit." JJ huffs out a laugh, amused by my future plans, and I smile.

"Well, I want a dog."

I nod slowly. "We can have a dog, but we need a friendly dog who likes cats."

"Shouldn't be too hard to find."

Thunder crashes loudly, and I flinch. Despite living here all my life, and seeing many storms over the years, it still frightens me whenever I hear the crash of thunder followed by the crack of lightening. JJ's hand brushes against mine quickly, bringing me back to reality, and I snap my head back to him, appreciating his presence.

He's always here whenever I need him. He's always watching over me, keeping his eyes focused on me. I'm not sure if he watches over me because I'm his best friend's little sister, but I'd like to think he watches over me because he wants to watch over me.

The touch of his hand leaves as quickly as I feel it, and part of me wants to reach out and grasp his hand, but I refrain from doing so. I lift my hands, tucking my wet hair behind my ears, knowing that it's going to be a bitch to brush these knots out of my hair later tonight.

"Here." He pushes his cigarette into my hands, and I take it from him. "It'll calm you down."

I exhale. "I am calm."

"Just take a hit, Brooke."

I do take a hit of the cigarette, and then I immediately hand it back to him. My head falls back against the tree trunk, and I close my eyes, listening to the sound of the rain as it comes down from the sky, hitting everything around us.

I open my eyes, and I find JJ is already sitting there, staring right back at me. "Will you really build me a treehouse?"

"I'll build you whatever you want, Sunshine."

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❀ soph speaks

hiiii,, this story was my first (and my worst) so i'm currently rewriting it, focusing a lot on jj and brooklyn . . . i want to write a sweeter love story than what they had, so a lot will be different, but major plot lines that you may remember from this story will still be kept in I PROMISE

thankyou for reading . . . and i hope you can enjoy this new and improved version with me :)