𝟎𝟒𝟐.        𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬

birds of a feather ──── billie eilish

☀︎ 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐥𝐲𝐧'𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐯

𝖧𝖤'𝖲 𝖲𝖮 . . . 𝖲𝖮，𝖸𝖮𝖴 𝖪𝖭𝖮𝖶？I say that in a breathless, relaxed kind of way, emphasising that JJ is just so── sigh── so. He's sleeping beside me on his side, one arm tucked under my pillow while the other rests next to his head. I lay on my side, staring right at him, just admiring him.

Call me creepy── I know he will── but this is the only time I can look at him closely without him noticing. Every time he notices, my face turns an embarrassing shade of red and I hide away. Luckily for him, red is one of his three favourite colours as I learnt last night.

Talking to him last night was something I didn't realise I needed that bad. After bumping into Rafe, I was desperate to crawl into bed and cry, but when I saw him, lying there as perfect as ever, I just had to fall beside him. I couldn't cry, not in his presence. I'm so glad he talked back to me last night, especially after the Kiara debacle which I will be solving today.

I want to be with JJ, and after last night, I'm certain that he wants the same thing.

If we're together, I'll have more nights like last night and I'll have more mornings like this── him beside me, sleeping soundly. There's nothing I want more than that.

I reach my fingers out slowly, my nails dragging across his forehead, knuckles pushing the hair away. He sighs, his eyes still closed. I bring myself closer, fingertips now pressing against his eyebrow. My thumb moves across the hairs carefully, not wanting to wake him and crush this quiet moment of bliss.

If he'd let me, I'd draw him right now. I'd drag my pencil across the paper, sketching out the single movement of my thumb against his face, feeling the pricks of hair from his eyebrow at my fingertip. I'd be able to feel the drawing as I sketch it out because I've had the pleasure of having him beside me this early in the morning.

I haven't drawn in some time. I'm long overdue. JJ is all that occupies my mind at the moment, pushing all the lingering problems out of my mind for the time being. I don't wish to think about John B, or the interaction I had with Rafe, or the fact that I have a ten thousand dollar fine to pay. I just want to lay with JJ, stop the clocks and time, and stay in this exact moment forever.

If I could freeze any moment, it'd be this one.

"You're creepy." The gruffness in his voice surprises me, and my thumb stills against his forehead as one eye blinks open slowly to find me watching him.

I scrunch my face up, lips pursing. "Morning."

"Mornin', Sunshine."

Yeah, I could get used to this── to me being the first one he wakes up next to.

I pull my hand back, smiling awkwardly because now that he's awake, I do find that I'm being odd. "Sorry. I am creepy."

He presses his face further into the pillow, groaning quietly. I think he's still tired. Honestly, so am I. My bed is not the comfiest. I'm pretty sure this mattress is older than me by at least two decades. It's lumpy and no amount of blankets and pillows can rid the uncomfortableness.

"I'm gonna buy a mattress," I announce to JJ because, well, nobody else is in here, but I want to make a statement.

He clears his throat. "What?"

"When we get the gold, I'm going to invest in a mattress," I clarify, thinking he's too tired to pay any attention to what I'm saying.

"For what?"

I look at him strangely. "For sleeping."

"And?"

"I don't──" I shake my head. "More sleep?" I catch the grin tugging at his lips that he's trying so hard to hide into my pillow. "Oh." I smack my hand against his shoulder gently as he presses his head into my pillow, laughing. "I will not be using my new mattress for that."

JJ lifts his head, peering at me. "No?"

I look away, face warming because I can't deal with him looking at me in such a way so early in the morning. I'm a mess when he looks at me in any kind of way, but in the morning when we're entirely alone is a whole other mess. It's seven o'clock in the morning, and I feel tingly and warm and red for the boy laying beside me.

My hormones need to sleep in this morning.

JJ leans forward, lips catching onto my bare shoulder. "Sorry." He lifts his head, lips dragging over the skin of my shoulder as he moves to rest his chin upon my shoulder. Not only does my face feel warm, but my entire body feels like it's on fire. I don't even think water would put me out right now.

His hand reaches up to rest under my jaw, fingertips digging into my cheek and forcing me to turn my head. He lifts himself up, lips brushing under my ear. I find myself leaning into his touch, my hand reaching out for something to hold onto. My fingers press into his arm, my eyes come to a close, and I let myself pretend that this is what JJ and I could have every single morning for as long as we both shall live.

I wouldn't mind having this every single morning.

JJ's mouth hovers against my ear, his voice still gravely and rough as he speaks. "We can get you a new mattress, Sunny."

The corner of my mouth twitches. "We?"

His other hand lifts and pushes into my hair. "Yeah. We." I swallow thickly, trying so hard not to inadvertently moan from the feeling of his fingers pressing into the base of my skull. "You okay with that?"

I turn my head, eyes finally meeting his. I nod, unable to form a coherent sentence because what the hell does one say to that? His fingertips push into the back of my neck, forcing me that tiny bit closer.

Oh, yeah. I could absolutely get used to this.

JJ opens his mouth, about to speak when I pull my head back, a laugh pouring out of me that I quickly slap my palm over. He pulls back, fingers loosening on the back of my neck. "What?"

"Morning breath." I pull myself away, still laughing into my hand. I know that my breath probably isn't the sweetest thing in the world, but holy crap, I need to go and grab his toothbrush. "Oh, my God."

"Thanks." His body falls back as I lift myself up and off my bed.

I turn, my body facing him. "I didn't know morning breath could smell that bad." He looks over at me, eyes wide. "Wow. Do you want to shower too?"

"If it's with you, sure." I walked right into that one, I realise that, but because I'm only human, I can't stop the direction my mind takes. I begin wondering if I should surprise him by taking him up on that ridiculous offer to shower together. The two of us, under the hot── probably, lukewarm, maybe even cold── water, staring at each other while we press our hands and bodies together. My back against the tile. Him──

Okay, I've entered dangerous territory. I'm rearing back this instant, I apologise.

I clear my throat, head shaking. "At least brush your teeth."

JJ chuckles, finger pointing in my direction. "Oh, you were thinking about it, weren't you, Sunshine?"

I scoff. Bastard. "No."

Giant, giant liar.

"You know what? I will have a shower."

I cross my arms over my chest, watching as JJ begins to move from my bed. "We don't have any warm water."

He lifts himself up, standing before me with that stupid jumpsuit from last night hanging low on his hips. He shouldn't look this good in the morning, but he unfailingly does. How does he do that?

"It's okay. I'll have a cold one."

I so don't need to know why, but I can't stop my filthy, ungodly mind from exploring the possibility of what he could mean by that.

Hell, if there was warm water, I think my crazy mind would force me to join him despite having showered last night.

He moves towards me, bending down to press his mouth against my cheek. "Offer still stands, Sunshine."

I smile, feeling him pull away from me, and just when I think he's about to walk off, his head drops, eyes catching onto my wrists. Worried, I avert my gaze, eyes widening when I find that the bruises I could see forming last night have turned to shades of blue and purple, and it's pretty fucking obvious what these bruises show.

Hands wrapping around my wrists, squeezing tightly── that's exactly what these bruises show, and based on the way JJ lifts my arm carefully to examine the bruises, he knows what's left them.

"Who did this to you?" I pull my arm back, not wanting to discuss what happened with Rafe with him. I don't want to be reminded of our conversation or how he could've easily killed me and didn't... for some reason. I guess having another body on his hands would've been a hassle.

"Nobody," I lie, and because he knows me better than most, he knows I'm lying. It's hard to lie to somebody you've known for this long. It's even harder to lie to that somebody when you're hopelessly in love with them, and have been for nearly nine years.

"Brooke." His voice is stern, not a hint of amusement in his tone any longer. "Who did this?"

"Why do you assume that somebody did this? I-I just tripped." The tripping excuse is one that absolutely won't go over his head this time, or anybody's for that matter. I need to cover these things up. I just didn't suspect the marks to be this bad, I guess.

"I know what those are, Brooke." He looks back down at the marks of my wrists, something painful and resentful behind the look in his eyes. "Somebody grabbed you. Give me a name."

I scoff, finding him to be overreacting. "JJ──"

"A name, Brooklyn."

I snap my head back to him, head shaking. "No, because nobody did anything to me, okay? Now can you just..."

"Somebody hurt you, Brooke. I need to know who."

"You don't need to know."

"So somebody did hurt you?" I sigh loudly, pulling my eyes off him because I can't lie to his face. "Brooke, who did this?"

"Nobody," I argue. "Can we just leave this?"

"You are giving me a name, Brooklyn. I don't care when, but you will tell me who did this to you." I don't meet his gaze, afraid that I'll blurt out the name right there and then. Without another word, JJ steps past me, knowing full well that I won't tell him anything right now.

I can't tell him. I don't want to talk about it.

He steps past me, opens my bedroom door, and closes it behind him, leaving me to stand and stare at the ugliness on my wrists.

Thanks, Rafe Cameron.

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𝖶𝖤𝖫𝖫，𝖶𝖧𝖠𝖳𝖤𝖵𝖤𝖱 𝖲𝖯𝖠𝖱𝖪 𝖩𝖩 𝖠𝖭𝖣 𝖨 𝖧𝖠𝖣 𝖳𝖧𝖨𝖲 𝖬𝖮𝖱𝖭𝖨𝖭𝖦 𝖧𝖠𝖲 𝖲𝖨𝖭𝖢𝖤 𝖣𝖨𝖤𝖣．I'm wearing the only long sleeve I could find, covering the marks on my wrists because I really don't want to explain it to anybody else. I wouldn't have let JJ find out this morning, but I was a little distracted by his existence so he saw the marks.

Maybe I will tell him, but he has to promise me that he will not kill Rafe or tell my brother. I so don't need John B finding out about this. He's in prison, he's got enough problems on his plate at the moment.

Instead, I've separated myself from the boys, choosing to draw to occupy my busy mind. I'm sitting at the dock where all magic seems to occur, so I'm hoping my mind can spark something creative and imaginative.

I need to distract myself.

I've been drawing for the past hour, guiding my pencil across the page without paying much attention to what my mind is creating. My hand is being solely guided by my mind, and I'm just here for the ride, watching the imagine unfold onto sketch paper.

"Hey." I lift my head from my page, looking over my shoulder to see Kiara.

I smile warmly. "Hey, Kie."

She sits down beside me, legs hanging off the decking. Just two days ago, Kiara and I shared a kiss on this exact dock, and now I need to talk to her about that. I wonder if she knows what I want to say to her.

Basically, in short terms, I want to be with JJ and only with JJ.

I care about Kiara, I want to stress that, but we don't have a future, not in that department. We are better off as friends. She's my best friend, I don't want to ruin that. Although, I am a little afraid that I've potentially destroyed our friendship, but I hope there's no hard feelings.

I really need hope to be on my side right now.

I look back down at the page of my sketchbook, swallowing harshly. "Uh, Kie. I──"

"Can I talk first?" she interrupts, surprising me.

I stammer, head snapping back to look in her direction. "Uh, sure."

I hadn't expected her to want to speak first, but I'm guessing she knows which way I'm going to divert our conversation, so she's talking first. Honestly, that might be better as I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to say just yet.

"Okay." She inhales sharply, hands dragging over her shorts. "Look, Brooke, I like you, I do, but, I don't know, you and me..." Her finger points from me to her. "The kiss we had felt... different." She scrunches her face up at the wording, bringing a smile to my lips from how nervous she appears to be. "I don't know, it felt strange, I guess── different from the last time, that's what I'm trying to say."

I continue to nod, hearing her. "Okay."

"I think it felt different because this time, you know what you really want." She looks over at me, eyes softening. "And it's not me." She presses her lips together, forcing a smile that looks brings an ache to my chest. She looks disheartened, and it hurts me to see her like this, especially when I'm the one who's brought her this hurt.

"Kiara──"

She holds her hand up, head shaking. "It's okay," she assures, sighing softly. "It's really okay, Brooke. I mean, come on, JJ really likes you, everybody can see that, and you..." Her smile changes, appearing to be more sincere as she adds, "You love him."

I guess, to those who know me the best── except to John B, and of course, JJ── it's damn obvious that I'm in love with JJ. I don't really do much to hide that fact, but I do wish I didn't have to hurt Kiara to have the person I really want because, in another universe, I think Kiara and I would make it work because, let's be honest, we do have the fire.

Oh, and we're damn hot, thank you very much.

Yeah, in another universe, Kiara would be that person, I'm sure of it, but alas, we are in this universe and it's very clear what I want.

I smile, knowing I can be honest with Kiara about my feelings for JJ. "Yeah, I do."

"I want you to be happy." She seems genuine, she does, but I really hadn't expected this to be how our conversation would go, I won't lie. I guess I expected her to be more upset or more annoyed with me, but I think she's truly come to terms with it, I don't know. It's refreshing to see.

"I want you to be happy too, Kie. I'm so sorry."

She laughs softly, head shaking. "We're better as friends, Brooke. We always have been."

"Best friends," I correct.

She nods firmly. "Best friends."

I throw my arm over her shoulders, offering her a hug. She hugs me right back, arms wrapping around my back. It's comfortable and friendly and right.

I'm glad this is how our conversation went. I don't want to fight with her, not when we have such big problems going on at the moment. One of those problems being that John B is still very much in prison and we cannot get him out. Another one of those problems being the fact that I have to pay off a fine for ten thousand dollars.

All will work out, I'd like to think.

Kiara pulls back first, hands still on my arms when I ask. "Is Pope okay?"

She nods, but her face seems unsure. "I-I think he'll be okay. He's Pope, you know?"

"Yeah."

"He's not mad at you," Kiara assures, taking away that worry I had of Pope being furious with me for kissing the girl he loves. I still feel guilty because I always knew how Pope felt towards Kiara, but I hope he can see that Kiara and I are going to stay friends.

"I don't want him to be upset with me."

"He's not, Brooke. Nobody could ever be mad at you."

I roll my eyes. "You were," I bite back, amusement in my voice.

"Hey. You were mad at me too."

"Yeah, and look where that got us." I look back to her, a relaxed smile on my lips.

"We're okay, right?"

"Yes." I squeeze her arm, reassuring her. "We're absolutely okay, I promise. I'm just sorry we can't──"

"It's okay. It's really okay."

I open my mouth to respond, but my words are caught in my throat when I turn my head to find a familiar vehicle pulling up to the Chateau. Our mouth gapes as we stare at the vehicle we haven't seen since that dreadful day on the tarmac where Peterkin died. "Is that──"

"The Twinkie? I think so."

I'm standing up with Kiara beside me, ditching my sketchbook on the dock so I can rush towards the Twinkie. This vehicle would only be here for one reason, right? There's no way somebody else would be driving it other than...

I come to a crashing halt when my eyes catch onto a familiar face── a face that I've missed a ridiculous amount.

Am I dreaming?

Each of us have stopped, looking to the Twinkie as John B gets out, cheering loudly. "Guess who's out the clink, boy!" I run forward, wanting to be the first one to check that I'm absolutely not dreaming because if I am, my mind truly is some kind of sick joke.

I crash into him, arms wrapping around him in a bone-crushing, much needed hug. He stumbles back from the impact, his arm lifting to wrap around my back as I cling onto him like a child. Right now, I feel like a little kid.

This feeling I'm currently experiencing is unmatched. I've never felt like this── not this happy in some time. Everything has been so twisted and problematic, but now there's some light at the end of the tunnel in the form of my brother.

He's here. He's absolutely real. He's hugging me back. He's not in prison.

Don't let anybody else take him from me. Please.

I pull back, hands still gripping his arms. Tears glisten my eyes as I stare up at him with the widest smile on my face. "Oh, my God." I fall back into him, arms squeezing his body.

I feel three more pairs of arms wrap around us, suffocating us in their warmth. "My boy's out of jail!" We laugh, holding onto each other for another beat as we don't want to imagine ever being separated again. I refuse to ever be apart from my brother.

"We missed you," Kiara says, being the first one to pull back first.

"I missed you guys too." John B separates, but he keeps an arm around my shoulders as he looks at each of us, laughing and smiling like a damn fool because he's out of prison. He was told that he was going to receive the death penalty yesterday and now he's standing before us, laughing like nothing happened.

"How'd you do it? You bust out?" I highly doubt he busted out and stole back the Twinkie without being caught.

"They dropped the charges," John B tells us, hand squeezing my shoulder.

"They dropped the charges," Pope repeats, obviously in shock, as are the rest of us because that really is unbelievable. I mean, we for sure thought he was going to be killed for a crime he didn't commit.

"That's great!"

"So you're telling me that I did all that work for nothing?" He's referring to his glorious escape plan that obviously did not work.

"Oh, the most elaborate escape plan of all time?"

"Foolproof."

"Yeah, it was, actually."

I lean into John B, watching as Pope and JJ bicker with one another as we move away from the Chateau, choosing to sit on the HMS Pogue. "Hey." I look up at him, watching as he attempts to hide his smile. "Ten thousand dollar fine?"

"Uh, I broke Mr. Big Head's nose, thank you."

He huffs out a laugh. "Yeah. I am pretty proud of you for that one." His head shakes, a laugh bubbling out of him. I knew, deep down, he'd be proud of me for punching that guy and for breaking his nose. I mean, who knew I had it in me to break some dude's nose? I certainly didn't.

John B squeezes my shoulder. "I missed you," I say, lifting my arm to fall around his back.

"It's only been, like, a day." He peers down at me. "Yeah, I missed you too, B."

"I was afraid you'd become somebody's bitch in prison."

He scoffs. "What?" I shrug, choosing not to explain myself. John B definitely seems like the kind of person who would end up being somebody's bitch in prison, don't make me explain myself, alright.

We reach the boat when John B asks a question none of us have a clear answer to. "Where's Sarah?" Yep, that's the question none of us know the answer to. I expected to see her this morning, but she didn't come back from wherever she was, and now I'm a little concerned. John B looks at each of us, finding that we visibly haven't got a clue where she is. "Where's Sarah?"

"She went to go meet Wheezie last night," Kiara explains. "She didn't come back."

"So, Sarah just dips and doesn't call?" I don't think she called any of us. I left my dead phone at the Chateau while I was at the Boneyard so, in all honesty, I have no idea if she called. I just know she would've called somebody else if she couldn't get a hold of me.

"She just left her bag. Didn't call anybody."

"Okay, dude, I... I... I really think Ward got to her." Well, that seems a little extreme. We don't know that── "I mean, the dude tried to have me killed in jail." My mouth drops, jaw scarping the floor because I hadn't expected him to say that.

I attempt to wrap my head around that. "What?"

"Yeah. He sent somebody to the prison who yoked me up and almost killed me," John B explains, and the more he talks, the more I find myself hating Ward Cameron. Hasn't he done enough to harm my family?

I could've lost my brother last night.

"You serious?"

"Yes."

"Do you know who this dude was?"

"No, I have no idea," John B pushes his hair away from his face, frustrated. "Dude, I swear to God, one day I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch."

"I'm right there with you," I utter under my breath, meaning every word.

"It's okay," Kiara says, hoping to calm him down. He's just been let out of prison and he's finding himself to be already stressed, it's not fair.

"No, Kie, it's not okay. We gotta find Sarah."

"No, literally, it's okay. She's right there." We look in the direction Kiara looks in. We find Sarah on a boat, but not just any boat. No, we find her on Topper's boat. His boat is a newer version of the one that Pope sank a couple weeks ago.

Why the heck is she with him of all people?

"John B!" She sounds excited, that's good, but I can't grasp the fact that she's with Topper right now, and obviously has been since last night which doesn't exactly make me feel calm.

Topper pulls his boat up next to ours so Sarah can lift herself onto our boat and pull John B into a hug. We watch as they embrace, choosing to ignore Topper's presence for the time being because I'm just happy to see that Sarah is okay, and that she's come home to this── to John B out of prison.

"I didn't know if I'd see you again." Sarah pulls back, hands holding his shoulders. "What happened?"

"Uh, they dropped all the charges."

"What?"

"Yeah, no, yeah, I'm a free man. Yeah," He laughs like it's not that big of a deal but it absolutely is. I've never heard anything so great in all my life, and I've heard a lot of great things lately.

I'm just really relieved to have my brother home.

Sarah cups both his cheeks, laughing softly as she pulls him forward and into another hug. I smile, pleased to see that the married couple are reunited.

It feels weird to say that.

"That's amazing."

"I know. It's great, but..." John B pulls away, holding Sarah's arms. "But listen, Sarah, they're coming after Rafe," John B tells her.

"Good." For some reason, I hadn't expected that. "He's completely unhinged. He jumped me last night. That's why I didn't come back."

My mouth gapes as I try to fit the pieces into the puzzle in my mind. Was this before I saw him? Was this after? "He──"

"Rafe has lost his mind." There's an annoying ringing in my ears in the form of Topper Thornton, taking away my words before I can utter them. It's pretty hard to ignore this bastard. "Literally almost drowned his own sister."

My mouth clamps shut as I slot the pieces together, realising he tried to drown Sarah before he came to the Boneyard. The sleeves of his jacket were wet because he had tried to kill Sarah, and then he just happened to stumble upon me.

He could've easily killed me.

Why the hell didn't he?

I lift my head, turning away from Topper to find JJ staring right at me. Not only have I put the pieces together, but I believe JJ has too, and my face gives absolutely everything away.

He knows it was Rafe who left those bruises behind on my wrists.

I shake my head, looking back to Topper. "Thankfully, I got there... got there just in time."

He got there in time? How'd he even know she was in distress? Seems a little odd to me, that's all I'm saying. A little suspicious, anybody else thinking that?

"Yeah, he did." Sarah peers up at John B.

"Uh, well, I guess I owe you one, Topper, don't I?" He so doesn't want to owe him one, that much I can tell, but he also doesn't want to be... rude. I'd gladly be rude to Topper all day, all night, I don't care. I hate this guy.

He's always everywhere. It's annoying.

Topper scoffs, shoulders shrugging. "It's all good. I mean, somebody had to rescue your girlfriend, right?"

Ooo, snap.

"Uh, that's funny because she's not actually my girlfriend, right?" We each snap our heads over to John B who is staring down at Sarah, wanting her to clarify that they're not just boyfriend and girlfriend anymore even though, technically, they legally still are. Illegally, they're husband and wife.

"Uh..." Topper chuckles, eyes flicking from Sarah to John B. "Well, what is she then?"

John B smiles at his girlf── wife, sorry. I need to get used to saying that.

"Tell him."

Sarah looks from John B to Topper── her husband to her obsessive ex-boyfriend. She feels awkward, that much I can see. I don't blame her. John B has kind of pushed her into a tricky situation.

"I'm... I'm with him."

John B's face drops and each of us look away, feeling unbelievably awkward to be caught up in whatever this shit is.

Topper laughs, nodding along. "Gotcha. You're with him. Okay, yeah." We scrunch our faces up, wishing we could disappear from this tense conversation. "I just, like, needed a little clarity there. You guys clear on that?"

"I think it's clear you gotta go now," I snap, earning a glare from Mr. Frosted Tips himself.

Hey, I never said I'd be nice to him.

I don't trust him, not one bit. I don't like how he "conveniently" saved Sarah at the exact moment her brother began to drown her. Just seems a little stalker-ish to me even if I do appreciate that he was there.

I'm obviously very happy that she's alive.

"Think I'll head out. It's about that time."

"Topper. Thank you." Sarah steps away from John B, moving to wrap her arms around Topper who welcomes the hug because, of course, he just loves having all attention on him.

"Yeah, of course. I'm just glad you're okay." As Topper hugs Sarah tightly, he glares right at John B, and if he keeps on scowling, I might see if I can break his nose too. I would definitely like that.

Once Topper fucks off, I pull Sarah into a hug, beyond relieved that she's okay.

Rafe tried to kill her before we bumped into one another. Nobody knows that I saw him, but there is one that definitely has a suspicion, and that's the boy who hasn't stopped staring at me since discovering that Rafe tried to kill his own sister.

At least Rafe Cameron will be behind bars after all, right?

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❀ soph speaks

hope you all had a lovely christmas!!

the new year is very soon,, yay??

definitely want to do more chapters where i just focus on brooke and jj and give them some cutesy moments like last chapter

i can't have kie and brooke arguing either so i quickly resolved their issues . . .

hope you enjoyed!!!