𝟎𝟏𝟔.                   𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 "𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬"

thinking bout you    ────     ariana grande

☀︎ 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐥𝐲𝐧'𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐯

𝖶𝖤 𝖦𝖠𝖳𝖧𝖤𝖱 𝖠𝖳 𝖱𝖨𝖷𝖮𝖭'𝖲 𝖢𝖮𝖵𝖤 𝖥𝖮𝖱 𝖳𝖧𝖤 𝖬𝖠𝖭𝖣𝖠𝖳𝖮𝖱𝖸 𝖬𝖤𝖤𝖳𝖨𝖭𝖦．JJ has changed, and passed off his waiter shirt for me to put on over my dress because it's freaking freezing out here. Also, this look isn't too bad. Thankfully, John B and JJ started a fire so I'm attempting to keep myself warm.

"So what's this mandatory meeting about?" Pope asks, speaking first out of all of us.

John B points towards JJ. "Might as well tell him, man, before we're gaffed."

"You ready for this?" We look to JJ, waiting in anticipation for this news.

"Yeah," we all say, quite impatient.

"So, the gold never went down with the Royal Merchant." Oh. Well, that makes sense why it wasn't there.

"Oh, my god. Here we go again with this."

"No. Alright, wait. Hear him out," JJ insists.

"It's been here the whole time," John B declares, looking between us. "It's on the island."

The island? It's been this close to us this entire time? "Are you serious?" If it's this close, we may actually be able to find it. "Oh, my God."

"I'd like to voice my skepticism." We snap our heads to Pope, knowing that he would be the one to be skeptical. I, on the other hand, am willing to excuse the potential consequences and find that freaking gold.

"I'm sure you would, Pope but can I please present you with my evidence, sir?" John B picks up his backpack, holding it towards Pope.

Pope nods. "Proceed."

"Alright. So, in my backpack, I have a letter from Denmark Tanny," he begins, and I already know who that is as Sarah explained it to me earlier. However, I do not say a damn thing.

"Who the hell's that?" Kiara asks.

"Denmark Tanny was a slave that survived the Royal Merchant wreck," John B explains, moving to show me the letter. "Check this out." My eyes skim through the letter before I pass it off to Pope who sits on one side of me.

"Okay, slaves weren't mentioned as crew members on the ship, but our dad, he found the complete manifest," John B rambles as Pope reads through the letter. "That was his big discovery. So Tanny used the gold from the Merchant to buy his freedom." Woah. "After that, he bought his farm..." He starts to hit his hands on his knees. "Drumroll, please..." We each hit our hands on our knees in anticipation. "and that farm is... Tannyhill Plantation."

"Tannyhill?"

"Yeah. So, after that, he used his money to free even more slaves, and then he sold a shit-ton of rice, which pisses off all the white planters, and then they decide to lynch him." We look at John B wide eyes. "So on the day they were coming to get him, he writes a letter to his son as a farewell, and in the last line of that letter, he leaves a coded message about where to find the gold."

"Where?" Kiara asks, voice low.

"Harvest the wheat in parcel nine, near the water. Except... there's no wheat." I stare at him, still a little dumbfounded. While I knew about Tannyhill, I have no idea what that coded message means. "Check this out." John B shows the wheat symbol scribbled in the corner of the letter. "The gold is in parcel nine, near the water," he repeats, and we smile. "All we need is an original survey map of the property, and we've found the gold."

"Okay, so this might have a small chance of being actually true." If Pope has hope, we can have hope.

JJ rises to his feet and wraps his arms around John B in a burst of excitement. "Hello! Fire!" John B yells, smacking his hand on JJ's back as they're awfully close to the fire. "You're near the fire. You're gonna burn."

JJ frees him, but keeps a hand on his face. "I'm so proud of you right now."

"Thank you." He smiles. "That's really sweet of you." John B pats JJ's cheek before turning to Pope who asks a very good question.

"So what's the plan?"

"Good question. Sarah Cameron's coming tonight. She'll bring an original survey map──"

"Hold on." Ah, shit. Did he really think he could gloss over the Sarah Cameron comment, and Kiara wouldn't react? He's delusional if he thought she'd let it slide. "Sarah? Wh──why Sarah?"

"This is gonna be good," JJ utters.

We each look to John B, waiting for that inevitable answer of "I'm with Sarah Cameron". I wonder how he's going to claw his way out of this one, especially when talking to Kiara about it whom he kissed just a few days ago. For all of you who wanted some entertainment, just picture my brother's face panicked and stuttered as he tries to talk with his old crush about his feelings for her ex-best friend. It doesn't sound real, does it?

"Sarah, um, she──she got me into the archives in Chapel Hill yesterday," he begins, only partly stuttering over his words. "and that's where I got the letter."

He peers at Kiara for a split second, and we each shift our gazes over to Kiara, awaiting her response. "You were in Chapel Hill with Sarah Cameron?" A can hear the slight edge in her voice── that edge of confusion, betrayal and annoyance.

If she lunges across the fire to attack him, who do I defend? My brother or my best friend who I kissed just last night. It's all very complicated, isn't it, and I'm only just realising that both me and my brother have kissed the same girl── oops. In my defence, Kiara kissed me first. She did not kiss John B first. Anyway... back to the fight── sorry, the talk.

John B rubs the back of his neck, unsure on how to move forward. "Yeah, um──"

"He was mackin' on her," JJ interrupts which, you know, doesn't help in any way but it does bring just a little more excitement to this dull conversation.

"I wasn't macking," he defends.

"You were totally macking Sarah Cameron."

"Well, I saw──" John B snaps his fingers at me, insisting I shut up which is probably for the best. However, my role as sister means stirring trouble, and what am I without trouble? But I keep my mouth shut despite the fact that I saw him and Sarah kissing.

"I wasn't macking on her, okay?" Okay, buddy. "I was using her for access." My mouth falls open, shocked beyond belief by that statement. Access? If a guy called me access, he wouldn't be able to stand on account of me kicking him in the balls a hundred times over.

"There was access, alright." I smack JJ's arm, disgusted.

"Access?" My voice raises, and John B's head snaps to me. I see him attempt to stammer out a response, but Kiara talks next, snatching his attention.

"Did you tell her about the treasure?"

"I was trying to get into the archives," he says, not really answering Kiara's answer, instead insisting that he was using her for access.

"Is that a yes?"

"I──" He sighs, arms falling at his sides. "I left out key details."

"Yo, what?" Kiara's head falls forward into her hands. She blows out an exaggerated breath, beyond pissed. I had expected this kind of reaction, but it's not that big of a deal that Sarah is involved, right? "You let a Kook in on our secret? What about Pogue Lyfe? What about the T-shirt company, bro?"

"I was just using her for information," John B says again, and he's made that point perfectly clear.

"Geez, dude. We get it," I snap, disappoint in his choice of words. I get that he doesn't want to upset Kiara more than she already is, he doesn't need to talk about Sarah like he doesn't like her when it's so obvious that he has feelings for her.

Kiara scoffs. "Why don't I believe you?"

"I'm trying to make us filthy rich here." I believe that, I do. What poor kid doesn't want to be filthy rich? "Okay, so that we can pay off a boat." He looks to JJ. "O-Or, uh... buy you all those paints you want." His eyes move to me, and the idea of buying all those paint and supplies that I dream of having is appealing. "Or, you know, send you to autopsy school to study dead bodies." His eyes shift to Pope who just looks at him strangely.

All those things sound great, especially the one where we pay off the boat that Pope wrecked. I'd love to buy the paints that I dream of owning, and buying all the supplies to create real, meaningful pieces of art. Even the idea of Pope going off to school── autopsy school or not── would be great. I appreciate that my brother wants to make us rich── that's all we've ever wanted, right?

"Look, you guys know me." I peer up at my brother, and he looks back at me because there's nobody who knows him better than I. "Do I look like the type of person to fall for Sarah Cameron?"

As somebody who knows him too damn well, I do believe that he is the type to fall for Sarah Cameron── a Kook. I don't say anything, I just leave my thoughts to myself, knowing I shouldn't say what I'm really thinking.

"Look, you don't know her yet," Kiara says. "I do! You can't trust her." I don't know the full extent of what happened between Kiara and Sarah, mainly because Kiara didn't want to talk about it. We── Kiara and I── became much closer as a result of her friendship breakup with Sarah so I never really asked any questions.

"Her brother did hit me in the back with a golf club," Pope says, and while that was horrible, that can't be used a reason to hate on Sarah.

"Rafe and Sarah are two different human beings." The words fly out of my mouth before I can snatch them back and swallow. My eyes clash with Kiara's for a split second, and before she can open her mouth and question me, JJ speaks.

"What did she do to you, exactly?" JJ asks Kiara, asking a question I've always wanted to know.

"She's like a── like a spotted cobra. First, she── she blinds you, and then──" We stare at her strangely, lost on the point she's trying to make.

"This is a bad analogy."

"Listen to me!" Kiara's voice raises an octave, stealing our attention. "Whatever we get, she's gonna try to take." There's a hint of warning and pleading in Kiara's voice.

I sigh, opening my mouth once again before I can steal the words back. "She isn't that bad, Kie."

From what I know, Sarah Cameron is nice. She isn't like all the Kooks at that Midsummers party, acting like they're all high and mighty when they absolutely aren't. I wouldn't go as far as saying I trust her, but she doesn't seem like the type of person that would backstab you. She seems kind, like I could see myself being friends with her if Kiara doesn't kill me right now.

"What?" I look at Kiara, and we stare at each other for the longest, quietest moment. The boys have fallen silent as they watch us stare at each other. I wait for it to click in Kiara's head that I like Sarah, and I don't think she's a bad person. She rears her head back, and I can practically hear the cogs clicking as it makes sense to her.

"You went to Midsummers with Sarah, didn't you?" Pope gazes at me, a little surprised. "That's the long story. You hung out with the enemy."

I shake my head. "The enemy? We're not at war, Kiara. Just because you and Sarah don't get along doesn't mean I can't be nice to her. Yes, I went to Midsummers with her. No, I didn't expect it, but I enjoyed myself. It was great, actually." Kiara seems completely baffled, as do the boys, but I don't care. I enjoyed hanging out with Sarah, she's a good person.

"She's got you blinded, Brooke. She isn't a good person. She──"

"I'm not going to argue with you, Kie." I stand up, needing to stretch my already exhausted legs. "Now can we go── wherever we gotta go?"

Kiara glares at me, standing up. "I can't believe you." She turns away, walking off.

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𝖳𝖧𝖤 𝖡𝖨𝖳𝖳𝖤𝖱 𝖳𝖤𝖭𝖲𝖨𝖮𝖭 𝖡𝖤𝖳𝖶𝖤𝖤𝖭 𝖪𝖨𝖠𝖱𝖠 𝖠𝖭𝖣 𝖨 𝖨𝖲 𝖯𝖠𝖨𝖭𝖥𝖴𝖫．We drove to Hawk's Nest in silence. Well, not in complete silence as JJ was flicking his lighter the entire journey. I sat up front, next to John B as he drove, refusing to peer behind me to look at Kiara. I know she's mad at me for speaking with Sarah and defending her, but I couldn't help it. I don't think she's a bad person.

Kiara and I have been best friends for years, so she should know that I always speak my mind── whatever that thought may be. Sure, she probably didn't expect me to be nice with Sarah Cameron, but I can't dislike her just because Kiara doesn't trust her. From what I've seen, Sarah Cameron isn't a bad person.

When John B parks at Hawks Nest, I don't make any attempt to get out of the Twinkie. Something tells me that John B doesn't want us to go with him. He wants to go to Sarah alone.

"Hit it, boys! We're goin'. Recon mission." Pope slides open the door, eager and willing to get out.

"Yo, uh... so, uh, I think I'm gonna do this one by myself... tonight." Told you. The boys look to John B, a little confused but they understand, Kiara scrunches her face up── not pleased, and I just sit still with my hands on my lap, really wishing I wasn't wearing this dress anymore. I don't feel... pretty anymore, I guess.

"Really?"

"I just don't want to spook Sarah with the peanut gallery." Ah, again, I knew it.

"I just don't understand why we're involving her at all."

"Kie, we're not involving her, okay?" Bullshit. "It's──it's just, uh, like a-a business meeting... thing." The way he describes it just shows that he has no idea how to express whatever is going on between him and Sarah. It's very obvious he likes her, he just won't admit it. JJ mocks him, mimicking the act of giving somebody a blow job in regard to "business meeting", and Pope laughs next to me. I just give JJ a subtle glare which earns me a wink. Bastard.

"Look, once we get what we need, we cut her loose." I swallow the frustration bubbling in my throat, not wanting to argue with my best friend and brother all in one night. I just don't like how he's talking about Sarah like he doesn't like her. "Plus, we need the map." That's right, we do need that map, but it also wouldn't be so bad to work with her.

"Promise me nothing's happening between you two," Kiara says, staring right at John B.

The only question I have is why does she care if something is happening between him and Sarah?

"Nothing is happening, Kie." Liar.

"I'm being serious."

"Okay!"

"This isn't about you, and this isn't about us," she says, looking away. "This is about her. She's gonna get inside your head. She's already got in Brooke's head."

I roll her eyes, biting my tongue.

"Just promise me nothing's happening between you guys," she repeats, insistent on the fact that she really, really doesn't want there to be something going on between them... but why does she care all that much?

He sighs just before he says, "I promise."

"That was really believable," JJ chuckles, shaking his head.

"A hundred percent believable."

John B glances at me, ignoring the boys. He nudges his knuckles against my knee, and I nod at him in response. "I'm gonna take care of business."

"You're gonna take care of it," JJ repeats, nodding along as John B gets out of the Twinkie.

"We'll just sit here... in the hot-ass car. While it's lightning." Thunder claps outside, indicating that a storm is brewing. Great. I'd much rather be sat in that tree outside the Chateau with JJ, ignoring everything and everyone, but we're stuck in this damn van. The door slams, John B begins to walk off, and the van descends back into silence.

All I hear now is the clapping of thunder, the strike of lightning, and the gentle patter of rain as it hits the windshield.

"I'm gonna get some air." I push open the door, climbing out of the van because I'm sweating in this tin can of a vehicle.

Nobody questions me, and I don't think anybody will chase after me as I take a few steps away, away from the van to press myself back against a nearby tree. If lightning hits me, well, that would be fun, wouldn't it? Sure would make this night interesting── more interesting than it already has been.

I feel out of place in this dress. I don't think it suits me anymore even though I loved wearing it tonight. It itches my skin, it doesn't fit in the right places anymore, and it's too Kooky for somebody like me. I don't look like me in this dress.

I reach my hand up, yanking the hairband from my tied up hair, letting it fall down my back. Pulling my hair free eases that tension in my head, and I swear I feel a thousand times lighter despite the annoying kink in my hair.

The wind picks up so I grasp the tree, keeping myself balanced because falling into the mud in these heels and this dress would be disastrous especially if I have to return this dress to Sarah.

"Hey, Sunshine."

A lone smile touches my lips at the familiar nickname and that voice. "Hey," I say softly, peering over my shoulder to see him walking to me, hands in pockets. He looks good── he always looks good. I hate how he can always look this beautiful, scars and all.

He moves to stand next to me, leaning against the tree with his arms crossed. I move, resting my hip on the tree as I look up at him. "You okay?"

I nod, suppressing a sigh. "Yep."

His head drops slightly, eyes staring into mine. "Hey." I swallow, catching his gaze. "Talk to me, Sunny. What's going on? Is it Kie?"

I shake my head. "I-I don't know. She seems upset with me but I think we'll be fine." Kiara and I will figure it out. We're best friends, and best friends fight, don't they? We'll be fine, we always are. I don't feel like talking about it tonight anymore anyway.

I don't know what I'm feeling right now.

I'm conflicted. My head is all over the place, scattered between two people who have a hold on me in different ways. Last night, Kiara and I shared a heart stopping kiss which would've led to more had Kiara's parents not knocked on the door. I like her, I do, but are we better off as friends? Does us being anything more actually make sense? I'm unsure.

Then there's this boy── a boy I've been head over heels for since I was a little girl. He's had a hold on my heart for eight years, and I don't want him to ever let go. I stare at him now, and my heart beats for him in a way that it doesn't for Kiara── I can't explain it, I wish I could. While I don't regret anything that happened between Kiara and me, I don't believe we should pursue anything, and I need to make that clear to her. In another world, I wouldn't be irrevocably in love with my best friend who probably doesn't feel anything towards me, and Kiara and I could make something work. Sadly, we're in this world.

"We kissed last night," I say before I can stop myself, and I don't dare look up at JJ, fearful that he'll react badly.

"Who? You and me?" I scoff, exhaling a laugh. "I think I'd remember that, Sunshine."

I gaze up at him, finding those eyes that I've grown to love over the eight years I've known him. "JJ..."

He nods, tongue pressing against his cheek. "You and Kiara, huh?" I nod, biting my bottom lip.

"It's just a kiss," I say, looking away. "I-I think we're better as friends."

"Right." JJ inhales sharply. "Why, uh── Why are you telling me?"

"I tell you everything."

"But not stuff like this," he replies quickly.

"Why can't I tell you about this?" I ask, genuinely confused on why I can't tell him of all people about my conflicted feelings towards Kiara.

"I-I just..." Our eyes meet once again, and his eyes flicker down to my lips for a quarter of a second. It happens so fast that I swear it doesn't even happen, but it did... I think. "I just don't want to hear about it, I guess."

"Well, I don't want to hear about all the girls you hook up with, but I still listen." What am I arguing for?

"What girls?"

"All those ones you hook up with," I argue, just repeating what I've already said. "The amount of times I've walked in on you with a girl is ridiculous, like, don't hookup in my house if you don't want me to see."

"I don't care if you see."

"Well, I don't care if you know about me and Kiara."

"Fine," he snaps, but he doesn't sound annoyed. No, he sounds partly amused by our bickering. We've spent years bickering, and this is no different except for the fact that it feels... tense between us, I don't know.

"Fine," I snap back, and he pushes a smile on his face as I look away, pressing my back against the tree once again.

After a beat of silence, JJ speaks, "I thought we nearly did." I turn my head, glancing up at him as his gaze flickers down to me for a short second.

"You thought we nearly..."

"Kissed," he finishes, and I swear all the air leaves my lungs. I never expected him to be so outright. I didn't even think he'd noticed anything between us last night before I made that impulsive decision to kiss Kiara. I thought he was oblivious, but here he is, confessing that he thought we were going to kiss last night.

I did too, but we didn't.

"W──" Words die on my tongue, and I clear my throat. I shift my body, pushing my hip back against the tree as I gaze up at him, not fearful. "You thought we nearly did?"

He moves, pressing his own hip against the tree as he looks down at me. Even in heels, I feel small and crowded. He's standing there, staring down at me with a glimmer of something in his eyes. It's downright terrifying, but I don't look away. I keep gazing at him, daring him to go on. "If Pope hadn't knocked on that door, you would've kissed me."

I scoff, my insides burning. "I would've? Oh, you──"

"And I wouldn't have stopped you."

Well, that oughta do it── steal my words and shock me. "W-What?"

"I wouldn't have stopped you," he repeats, moving an inch closer. I can feel the warmth of his body, warming me like a blanket, so I don't move a muscle. I just stand and stare, baffled. What is happening right now?

I swallow, feeling my heart hammer in my chest. "You wouldn't have stopped me?"

"No." His voice sounds deep, and it sends a literal shiver down my spine. "How could I stop you? Have you seen you?" I roll my eyes, but I'm quickly brought back to his gaze when a warm hand reaches out and presses against my cheek, turning my eyes back. "I wouldn't have stopped you," he repeats.

"Y-Yeah. You made that clear."

He's warm── warmer than I anticipated. Even in the eye of a storm with the rain pattering and the wind howling, he is warm and comforting. He's opening and welcoming, and I can't get enough. I want to feel his skin on other parts of me, not just my face that is turning red from the touch.

"Your face..." He glides his thumb across my cheekbone, his body shifting closer into my bubble── consequently popping it, but I don't mind. "is red. Again."

I shake my head, trying to wriggle my face free from his grip, but he keeps a hand pressed against the side of my face, holding me in his hands easily. "JJ. This can't happen."

"What is this?" he asks, and I find that I don't have a response to that.

"I-I──"

"Also, why can something happen with Kiara, but not with us?" Again, I haven't got a response to that.

"JJ, what──" I sigh. "What are you doing?"

"I'm just letting you know that I wouldn't have stopped you last night── not for a second." I'm unsure on what that means, but from the way my stomach flips, I sense what he's getting at.

"Good to know," I reply, trying to remain calm while my heart rapidly beats in my chest── threatening to jump out.

"Although, if I had kissed you, well..." A grin spreads across his already smug face. "I would've ruined you for everybody else. Especially Kiara."

I raise a brow. "Oh, yeah?"

He brings his bottom lip in between his teeth, still grinning like a damn fool. "Oh, yeah. I've got great reviews."

I shake my head, amused. "Yeah, from what I've heard, I know."

"So you've heard?"

"Your girls are loud," I bite out.

His hand slides from my cheek, moving down to hold the back of my neck. "They're satisfied."

"Oh, clearly."

"You know, I could make you that satisfied."

He squeeze the back of my neck, and I jerk forward, stumbling into him. I plant my hands on his chest, hands grasping his shirt to keep myself balanced. "Bastard," I utter, cheeks a blazing colour of red.

"Did you like kissing Kiara?" I bite my tongue and nod, afraid to speak now that we're closer. "Hmm. You haven't got anything to compare it to, have you?" Have I called him a bastard already? Hey, what's one more, right? He's a bastard.

"Actually, I do. Remember, you kissed me when we were, what, thirteen?"

"Yeah." He chuckles. "I've since improved my technique."

"Less slobber?" I quip, grinning.

He shrugs a shoulder. "Sure. Less slobber." His hand is no longer on the back of my neck, and is instead resting against my hip. God, he's all over me tonight── I hate that I want more. "You know, I could show you my improved technique."

"Wow. What a line. Does that really work?"

"I don't know. Does it?"

I would let him. I'd let him lean down, close the gap, press me against this tree and kiss me. I'd let him "ruin me" as he calls it. I'd let him do whatever the hell he wants, even with our friends not so far away── even with the girl I kissed last night just in the van.

Do it, I want to say, but my words don't leave my mouth as I hear Pope yell, "Guys!"

Pope, I love you with every bone in my body but damn you. He may be the biggest cockblocker I know.

We break apart, surprised. "What?"

I then hear the shrill cries of a girl── Sarah. "Please, somebody help!" My body goes into overdrive, and the panic flushes me as I charge away from JJ upon hearing that.

I rush past Kiara and Pope, the heels of my shoes digging into the mud. "Shit." I stop, bending down to pull off the stupid shoes, and then I break out into a run, ignoring my friends who call out for me.

The rain pours, the wind howls louder, and the thunder pounds in my ears. I run in the mud, moving across the stretch of land towards Hawks Nest where John B and Sarah were. She continues to cry and scream out for somebody to help, and I continue to follow that sound, panic coursing through my body at the thought of something horrible happening.

I come to a crashing stop when I find Sarah leaning over John B's body, hands on his face. "Oh, my God." I barrel forward, falling to my knees next to my brother. "What the hell happened, Sarah?"

Emotion swells in my throat as I stare at my brother, my fingers reaching out to touch the side of his neck. I feel the faint beat of his pulse. Oh, thank God. I cannot, and will not, lose my brother.

"Topper shoved him," Sarah says, voice broken.

I wish I had shot him.

"Where the hell is he?" JJ is standing behind me, looking around for Topper in the hopes of catching him, but if he catches him, I'm afraid I will murder him with my bare hands.

"Please get help!" I beg, looking at my friends behind me. I keep my fingers against John B's neck, afraid that it'll just stop beating.

"Go. Go!" Pope starts to rush off, listening to us. "Pope, hurry!"

I look to my brother, tears rolling down my cheeks. I feel a hand on my shoulder, and I know who it is before I even have to question it. I lean back, leaning into his touch as I cry softly, keeping my fingers pressed to his neck.

Keep beating. Don't stop. Please.

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❀ soph speaks

pope is a world famous cockblocker but we love him . . . right?

anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter!!

part two of obx4 comes out soon, yayayay

this story is going slow,, i apologise :/