𝟎𝟗𝟏.            𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐞

eurydice ─ dan's demo ────    bastille

☀︎ 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐥𝐲𝐧'𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐯

𝖤𝖷𝖯𝖫𝖠𝖨𝖭𝖨𝖭𝖦 𝖶𝖧𝖮 𝖬𝖠𝖳𝖨𝖫𝖣𝖠 𝖨𝖲 𝖨𝖲𝖭'𝖳 𝖤𝖠𝖲𝖸，𝖭𝖮𝖳 𝖶𝖧𝖤𝖭 𝖯𝖤𝖮𝖯𝖫𝖤 𝖢𝖠𝖭'𝖳 𝖲𝖤𝖤𝖬 𝖳𝖮 𝖴𝖭𝖣𝖤𝖱𝖲𝖳𝖠𝖭𝖣 𝖶𝖧𝖸 𝖨'𝖬 𝖥𝖱𝖨𝖤𝖭𝖣𝖲 𝖶𝖨𝖳𝖧 𝖠 𝖢𝖧𝖨𝖫𝖣．What can I say? I'm bored of my old friends. I'm kidding, obviously, but that's exactly what I decided to tell them when I walked into the house and introduced the ball of sunshine that is Matilda.

She shook hands with each of my friends, introducing herself with the sweetest smile. I don't think anyone expected a child to be inside our home, but I'm full of surprises, even those in the form of six-year-old girls.

I then brought her to the bathroom, letting her know that she can clean up and shower if she wants. She didn't pass up the opportunity, and she's now in the bathroom while I'm grouped with my friends.

"So, you guys just, what, acquired a child while you were gone?" John B asks, looking from me to JJ like he had any say in bringing Matilda here. He just listened to me as I insisted on bringing Matilda back to the house.

"She's my friend," I say, scoffing at how that's not a suitable reason to bring her over.

"Couldn't find any friends your age?"

"No, I'm sick of them," I bite back, a hint of amusement in my voice as I glare at my brother who needs to get on board because Matilda's cold I swear. "Look, it's no big deal. She's just gonna hang out here, alright? She doesn't have many people, if any, so just..."

"She's cute," Sarah interrupts, being the only one that's content with Matilda being here. She was surprised, yes, but the moment Matilda shook her hand and smiled, Sarah caved and looked just about ready to cry when introduced to her.

I nod firmly, agreeing with her. "Exactly."

"This is weird. There's a..." John B waves his hand, struggling to get his words out, and we all just stare at him blankly. "There's a child in our house, B."

"Oh, calm down, it's not like she's going to start calling you Uncle John B. Or would you prefer Uncle JB? Uncle John?"

JJ snorts out a laugh. "That'd be something. I might get her to do that."

"Absolutely not," John B snaps, looking downright terrified of ever being an uncle. He don't gotta worry, I ain't having no children anytime soon. Although, when I do, I'm totally going to have them freak him out.

"I don't think you can just get that child to do anything. She's freaky," Pope comments, still reeling from the conversation they had on the journey here. They talked about the history of the Caribbean because, naturally, all six-year-olds know about the Caribbean and its history. I think Pope likes her, it's hard to tell as he just called her a freak.

"She's not a freak."

"No, no, n-not a freak. She's just... I don't know, like, you know, she takes no shit from anyone, that's what it seems."

"So kinda like Brooke?" Kiara grins, head tilting in my direction."

"Hey," I fight. "I'm a great influence on people."

John B scoffs. "Yeah. Right."

"Whatever. Anyway, did you guys find out what the amulet said?" I ask, deciding to change the subject and not focus on the child that's in our bathroom right now, but on the task at hand.

From what Pope told us on the way home, John B and Sarah took the amulet to a Muslim who used to play pool with Dad. I never knew that, but Dad knew a lot of people, I guess. Anyway, this Muslim could supposedly read the Arabic message encrypted onto the amulet.

"Yeah." I lean against the desk, peering at my brother. "Where the living and dead collide, the gatekeeper will guide the way," he reads.

"Sounds like a Bible verse," Sarah comments.

"It's like some fable," Cleo speaks.

"To me, it sounds like directions," John B says, and I nod, finding that to be the most plausible meaning. Then again, none of this amulet crap makes any kind of sense to me.

"Yeah, but to what?"

"Well, Genrette was obsessed with Blackbeard, right, so maybe... its directions to his treasure?"

"And how much would that be in American?" JJ asks.

"Uh, in almost every major currency, I think it's considered priceless," John B answers, his words like music in our ears. "Unlimited US dollars."

Well, who doesn't like the sound of that?

"Can't we just, like, I don't know, ask him what it leads to?" I ask, leaning forward to pick up the amulet, wanting to get a closer look at it now that it's not covered in barnacles. John B and Sarah look at me, faces scrunched. "What?"

"You didn't tell them?" Sarah questions, looking to Pope and Cleo who look like they forgot to mention something important.

Pope rubs the back of his neck. "Uh, well..."

"Tell us what?"

"Genrette's dead," John B tells.

My mouth gapes, eyes widening because I hadn't expected that to be the news. "What? He's dead?" I look at the amulet in my hand, dragging my finger over it. "Shit. I guess the curse or whatever got to him, huh." That or the person killing his entire family finally snapped and killed him before he had a chance to get this amulet.

I'm telling you now, the curse has to be somebody, like it's not normally for people to just die. Yes, he was technically old, but for him to die just a day after discussing this amulet with us is weird, right? Maybe I'm reading too much into it, I don't know, but it's fucking weird.

It's kind of upsetting. Wes Genrette seemed like a nice enough guy. A little weird and lost, but he was nice. He was just a man grieving the loss of his daughter. He seemed like he was just trying to heal and find answers for his daughter which I can understand.

"Well, shit." JJ steps up beside me, looking to the amulet in my hands. "So what's this treasure?" Yeah, you can always count on JJ to switch the conversation when it gets a tad bit uncomfortable. "Gold again?"

"No, wait a minute." Something comes to Pope based off the look on his face. "I remember on the pier, the diver, he was talking to some lady about something. It wasn't gold. It was like a... like a... a crown. A blue crown," he recalls, clicking his fingers together.

"A blue crown?"

"Why blue?" I ask, lifting my shoulders in a shrug, looking at each of my friends who definitely don't need me offering my irrelevant opinion. "Why can't it be yellow or, I don't know, pink? Ooh, purple or green would be cool."

"I don't think the colour matters, Brooke."

"Well, it must do. Why is it blue?"

"I don't know. I'm just relaying information that I heard," Pope replies, holding his arms up defensively, like I'm seriously ticked off about the colour being blue. I don't know, it could mean something.

"What else did they say?" Kiara asks.

"I-I was literally hanging from the bottom of a pier," he responds bluntly. "I couldn't really hear."

"All you heard was 'blue crown'?"

"I heard blue crown, and it sounded important."

"What does that mean?"

"It could be code for something," JJ suggests. "Like a clue, maybe. It could lead us to something."

"Honestly, what even is a blue crown?"

"Apparently, it is the most sought out artefact in the ancient world," John B says, relaying said fact from a book he found on the bookshelf behind him.

We each look to him, confused. "What?"

He turns the book towards us, allowing us to read the title. "The Fabled Blue Crown". Well, if it says it in the title, then it must be true. "I don't believe I am capping on this one, Pope."

I scrunch my face up, his choice of wording cringe. "Okay."

"Look at this." John B sits back down, the book in the centre of the desk so we can stand around and get a better look. "Right here."

"Legends abound of the Crown's fabled origins," Pope reads from the extract John B points to at the beginning of the book. "So it's a real crown."

"Okay, page..." John B flips through. "...right here, look." An image of the blue crown is shown to us on that page.

"That's what Genrette wanted," JJ realises.

"That's a literal blue crown," Pope speaks. "It's a blue crown."

"Ugh," I groan, looking at the image of said crown. "How cool would it have been if it was multicoloured, you know, like, uh, the rainbow crown." I wave my hands, attempting to act mysterious and cool. Although, I just receive blank stares. "No?"

John B clears his throat, moving on and stopping me from further embarrassing myself. "Listen, the Blue Crown was created for Darius the Great of Persia over three thousand years ago."

"Looks more than fifty-K, I'll say that."

"It was said to possess the blessing of gods themselves, granting the wearer immense favor and rare invincibility," John B says, continuing to read from the book. "Holy shit. Look at this. It says Xerxes, the son of Darius the Great, he was a badass."

I laugh softly at his choice of wording. "They called people badasses three thousand years ago?"

"No," John B sighs, likely fed up with me. Knowing me and being related to me for nearly twenty years can't be too easy on him. "But look at this. He's wearing it." He points to Xerxes who wears the crown. "Alexander the Great beat the shit out of everybody. He's wearing it," he tells us, pointing to the image on the following page of Alexander wearing the crown. "Julias Caesar, also a badass. Murdered a bunch of people." Just like the previous individuals, Julias wears the crown in the photo.

"So, your dad told you all of this?" Pope asks, looking from me to John B, but I haven't got a clue where he got this information from. Dad talked about a lot, but I can't recall him talking about something like this.

"No, no. I don't remember any of this. I just know that it granted wishes."

I grin, finding that unbelievable. "Wishes?"

"What, like a genie?"

"How many wishes?" Kiara asks the realest question. I mean, if I had three wishes, I'd just wish for more wishes. Wouldn't you?

"Holy shit. Blue crown and a blue genie," I say, realising they're linked together by the same colour. "Right? Like, we've seen Aladdin. That genie was blue and the crown is blue."

Perhaps I truly have lost my mind.

"There's probably not a real genie, Brooke."

"Hold on," John B speaks, interrupting us before I get too deep into this genie talk. "It says right here that the crown was lost sometime in the seventeen hundreds, but it was rumoured to be hunted down by..." He falls silent, his eyes widening as he stares at the book.

"Who?" Kiara and Sarah ask.

"Who, John B?"

"It's so not cool to leave us in suspense. I'm dying here," I comment, trying to peek a look at who it was hunted down by.

"Blackbeard," John B answers.

My mouth gapes. "What?"

"Come again?"

"Look, look." Pope points to the page, letting us lean over to get a closer look. "It's right there. Hunted by Blackbeard," he reads.

"Guys, come on, like, we're doing this," JJ says, looking convinced that we're going to go on some crazed hunt for this exact crown. "I know we're doing it, alright?" The excitement on his face is hard to pass up, but I can't help but feel down about getting caught up in another adventure when we've been free from hunting for eighteen months.

Honestly, I'd be fine with trading this crown in for fifty thousand and leaving it at that.

"Yeah, what other choice do we have?"

We need to save this place, we do. We need the money as somebody── cough, cough, that dick from the auction── could snatch away all that we've worked for. Sarah and Cleo told us about that bastard who payed a visit, basically threatening that our property would be snatched from us. How would that be fair?

No, it ain't going to happen. We'll save it.

"Priceless or fifty-K?" JJ weighs out these options in his hands before announcing, "Priceless!"

Are we back in the G-game── the Crown game? Huh. I don't know. Whatever. We're back in some kind of game, it would seem.

I hope we don't regret it.

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𝖶𝖤'𝖱𝖤 𝖢𝖤𝖫𝖤𝖡𝖱𝖠𝖳𝖨𝖭𝖦 𝖳𝖧𝖤 𝖡𝖫𝖴𝖤 𝖢𝖱𝖮𝖶𝖭．

Well, my friends are. I am taking care of a six-year-old as she needs at least one responsible adult to watch over her. She's sitting beside me with the best meal of all time── a bowl of ramen noodles. She seems content, humming to herself as she eats and watches my friends be their ridiculous selves.

A bonfire is burning before us while my friends dance and jump around it like fucking fools. I laugh, watching JJ topple over, nearly falling into the fire. Sarah is on John B's back, laughing while he spins her around. Kiara is stood on a chair, cheering up into the sky. Pope and Cleo are dancing poorly but it looks like a lot of sun.

"To the Blue Crown!" JJ cheers, raising his beer and clinking it with Pope's can. He then leans over, falling to one knee as he holds his can towards Matilda. "Hey, Tills. Clink with me."

Her nose scrunches. "Huh."

"Lift your drink..." JJ tilts his can towards her glass of water. "...and hit it against mine."

She lifts her glass. "Why?"

"We're celebrating, kid. Celebrate with us."

She looks to me, and I offer her a nod. She then looks back to JJ, her eyes flitting from him to the can in his hand. She sighs, trying not to smile as JJ watches her raise her glass towards his, clinking them together.

JJ laughs, lifting his can to his lips and downing the remains of the beer. "Woo!"

I catch the smile on Matilda's lips as JJ lifts himself back up, scrunching his empty can in his hand. She takes a sip of her own drink, mimicking what JJ did, and I can't deny that it's sweet to see her copying him. She can't scrunch up her glass but she squeezes the glass nonetheless, a small laugh bubbling out of her.

"This is fun," she whispers, placing her glass back down and continuing to eat her noodles. "I can't believe this is your life. It's so cool."

"Oh, yeah. It's pretty great," I say, looking towards the boys who wrap their arms around each other, the biggest, most sincere smiles adorning their faces. I'm pretty lucky that my nights are like this── peaceful, familiar and wholesome. I love my life here. "You like it here?" I ask, already knowing the answer.

Matilda nods slowly. "Yeah."

Matilda settles back against the sofa, twirling the remaining noodles around on a fork. "You okay?" I ask, giving her a friendly nudge.

"Hm." The small sound she offers me doesn't sound so convincing, and I think she knows that I won't let that slide.

"Come on." I give her my flashiest, widest smile. "Talk to me, kid."

Holding her fork tightly, she speaks, "I miss my mom." Despite the low tone in her voice, I can still catch what she's says over the cheers and applauds of my friends. "She was like this, you know?"

I feel the swell in my heart at the mention of her mother── at the mention of the woman who raised this little girl sitting beside me. Who, without losing her mother, I wouldn't have met otherwise.

"She was loud," Matilda continues, staring forward at my friends, a hint of sadness behind those big, blue eyes of hers. I know she likes it here, but I know she still feels this loneliness deep within that can be hard to ignore. "She liked to dance and sing── badly, but she didn't care. She was really happy and big and..." Her shoulders lift in a shrug. "She let me try her beer once." My eyes widen, surprised by that comment. "It was gross."

I breathe out a laugh. "I agree," I say, knowing it's one of the only things I drink, but I won't deny how gross it is. "She sounds really great, by the way." Besides giving Matilda beer, she seems like she was larger than life. "It makes sense that you miss her, kid, but she's watching over you, right?"

Her head lifts, and she now looks to the sky. "The sun's gone away," she mutters. "She's sleeping."

"You'll see her in the morning though."

"Can I stay here tonight?" she asks, averting her gaze towards me rather than the darkening sky. Her eyes are full of so much hope when she looks at me, making it pretty impossible to decline. While I want to jump at the opportunity, she has a grandmother who could be waiting for her to return. She can't just stay here, can she?

I contemplate for a moment. "Uh..."

"Please, Brooke." Those big eyes and that pleading voice might be enough to knock me over and cave, I swear. "I'll leave in the morning, I promise, just don't make me leave right now."

"What's going on?" JJ asks, throwing himself down onto the sofa beside me, his arm immediately cuddling around my shoulders, his lips pecking my temple.

"Matilda wants to stay the night," I explain.

JJ shrugs, fingers squeezing the back of my neck. "Don't see why not. She can sleep in our bed," he says casually, acting like he wasn't afraid of this child mere hours ago. I gaze at him, a bulge in my eyes. "We'll sleep out here."

The smile on Matilda's face makes it all the more worth it. "Really?"

"Yeah." I can't believe JJ is just agreeing so easily. He was literally afraid of her, I swear. Perhaps the alcohol buzzing in his veins is giving him a bit more confidence towards the six-year-old girl. "Why not?"

She shoots off the sofa, laughing. "Thanks!"

"Wait, I'll throw in..." He digs his fingers into his pocket, coming back with two dollars. My eyes narrow, confused as to what he's doing. She wants to stay here, he doesn't have to pay her to do so. "...two dollars if you do something for me."

She tilts her head, looking like she's considering it. She places her hands on her hips. "Throw in another bowl of noodles and you've got a deal," she snipes, and I swear I feel a wave of pride wash over me.

JJ huffs out a laugh, surprised that she countered his offer, but I know he ain't about to turn her down. "Okay. Deal." They shake on said deal, smiling at one another in a way I didn't expect. I think, based off the way Matilda welcomes and talks to him, she likes JJ── perhaps more than me, and I didn't think that possible.

"What do I need to do?"

"Come here." Matilda moves towards him, and he leans forward to whisper in her ear. I don't hear it, I don't think I'm supposed to, but Matilda giggles loudly, giving me this idea that whatever these two have planned, it's funny and playful. JJ leans back, hand on her shoulder. "Think you can do that?"

She nods excitedly, looking determined. "Yeah!"

"Okay. I'll be waiting." JJ falls back against the sofa, arm laying across my lap as Matilda turns away from us, rushing off in the direction of John B and Sarah. I then, very quickly, realise what he's asked Matilda to do.

A laugh ripples out of me, my hand smacking his gently before I push my hand against his, intertwining our fingers. "You didn't."

JJ pulls his bottom lip between his teeth, grinning. "What?"

"You didn't ask──"

"Are you serious?" I hear John B's voice from across the fire, and when I look towards him, I find that he's staring right at us, a laughing Matilda standing beside him. "You put her up to this, didn't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

"You fucking──" He marches over to us, Matilda following with a skip in her step. I shake my head, feeling just about ready to laugh too. "I'm minding my own business and this child walks up to me and calls me fucking uncle, and you're saying that you didn't put her up to that?"

"Language!" Matilda chirps.

JJ bites back a laugh. "What?"

"Literally felt my heart drop." Okay, he's a little dramatic, don't you think? John B then peers at the little girl, arms crossed. "What's in it for you?"

"Two dollars and another bowl of noodles."

John B snaps his head over to us, eyes wide. "You're giving her the last pack of noodles?"

"Sorry, Uncle, she deserves it," JJ jokes, tormenting John B to the brink of insanity.

"I hope, for everyone's sake, you don't have kids." He turns away from me, head shaking. "I never wanna be called uncle again, joke or not." As dramatic as he is, he definitely finds what Matilda and JJ did funny.

Matilda strolls up to JJ, holding her hand up. JJ claps his hand over hers, both of them laughing like kids. Well, in Matilda's defence, she is a kid. "Good one, Tills." He pushes the two dollars into her hand. "I owe you noddles. Come on."

"J, you don't know how to make them," I say, grasping his thigh to stop him from standing up.

"It's not that hard. I'll figure it out."

"Last time you tried to do it, you actually set water on fire. I didn't know that was possible."

Matilda giggles, looking from me to JJ. "Idiot."

"You can't say that," JJ tells, jabbing a finger in her direction. "In fact, you shouldn't even know that word."

"Idiot," she repeats, skipping away.

"Fucking kids," JJ utters, lifting himself up off the sofa. His hand slides into mine, pulling me up too, and we follow after Matilda who is already barging into the house for her second bowl of noodles, laughing manically.

"You sounded like an old man when you said that," I say, nudging him lovingly with my hand tucked into his.

Hours later, Matilda is knocked out in our bed, sleeping soundly. Once we found her asleep after several glasses of water and that second bowl of ramen, JJ and I moved outside to be by the fire with a large blanket around our bodies. I'm now cuddled into his side, my head on his shoulder while his arm is tucked against my waist, his hand splayed across my stomach.

Across from us sits Sarah and John B. They're turned away from us, but I can see what they're doing. They're exchanging rings that they've made themselves, basically sealing their marriage right before my eyes. A faint smile touches my lips as I watch my brother and my sister-in-law, knowing that there's no two people better suited for each other than those two.

Well, second to JJ and I, thank you.

I peer down at my left hand, my mother's ring shining on my index finger rather than my ring finger as, when that time comes, I want that finger to be available. Perhaps that time is closer than I realise, I don't know. Maybe it's watching Sarah and John B, but I feel like that could be JJ and I.

I nuzzle my face further into JJ's shoulder, feeling unbelievably warm and fuzzy right now. I feel his lips kiss the top of my head as I breathe him in, perfectly content to stay here in this moment for the foreseeable future, perhaps forever.

"Hey, Sunshine."

It's always the same two words. They're so simple yet they make me feel a whirlwind of emotions. I never want him to ever stop calling me Sunshine, not in any lifetime. I will never grow tired of hearing him address me as such.

I sigh softly. "Hey, JJ."

His fingers pinch the bare skin between the waistband of my shorts and the hem of my top. "Wanna play truths?"

It's been some time since we've sat down and played our good old fashioned game, but there's no time like the present, I think. I nod, cheek digging into his shoulder. "Okay. You go first?"

"I don't, uh... wanna freak you out with this one, but..." I watch his fist clench and unclench against his leg, indicating to me that he has something... awkward to ask me.

I reach my hand out, sliding my fingers in between his. "What?"

"Do you, uh..." His breathing is shaky as he speaks, and I can't possibly think of what he's going to ask me. "Do you think about our future? Like, um, besides the travelling and stuff, do you think about anything else for our future?" He swallows, his awkwardness sweet.

I bite the smile my lips unintentionally form. He's so nervous, so paranoid about asking me such a simple question when he doesn't need to be fearful, not of something I've considered for a long time, perhaps even before we actually became a couple.

I feel my face heat, a knowing red creeping up my neck. "Yeah," I speak, voice hoarse. "Yeah, I do."

"Cool. Cool." He nods, looking forward, acting like he doesn't want to look down at me and embrace the fact that I'm just as awkward as him when it comes to discussing our next steps together. I mean, we're still so young, and besides wanting to travel, it's a big thing to discuss other particulars such as all that sappy, lovey-dovey crap that Sarah and my brother have.

"Where's this coming from?" I ask, peering up at him to see he's not just staring forward, he's staring forward at John B and Sarah who hold hands, gazing lovingly into one another's eyes. "Oh." I avert my gaze, knowing what inspired him to talk about his── our future.

"I-I just... I know we're back in the..."

"Crown game?" I offer, catching his lips upturn at the name I've given this game as opposed to the G-game.

"Yeah, I know we're back looking for treasure, but once that's over, like, really over..." To have all this treasure hunting business over would be a great relief, believe me. I can't wait. "...I want us to also move forward with, you know, not just travelling, but with, uh..."

"Sarah and John B-type stuff?" I question.

He peers down at me, our eyes meeting in the darkness of the night, the only light being that of the fire burning inches from us. "Have you thought about it?"

I hold his eyes as I wet my lips. "About what?"

"Marrying me."

I feel all the air quite literally leave me as I never thought, not before our twenties, we'd ever discuss this. Yes, being together always implied that we'd, one day, get married, but I never imagined us discussing it until much later in life when we were both prepared. Then again, are we not prepared now? I mean, look at my brother and Sarah── they're our age and they're happy, basically married to each other since they were sixteen.

For him to even have to ask is crazy to me because, let's face it, to say I've been in love with him since I was eight, I've absolutely thought about marrying him. In fact, it's almost unhealthy how much I've considered it.

I sit back, eyes still holding his. "Of course I have." I feel him release a breath, giving me the impression that he was also holding his breath in anticipation. "It's gonna be in summer whilst it's sunny, really sunny. Summer coloured wedding── yellow and blue."

His eyes widen slightly, like he's surprised to hear that I'm just as enamoured by him as he is with me. "Yeah?"

"Pope will be the officiant because he would just know what to say, I imagine," I continue, feeling my skin prick and heat the more I discuss the thought of marrying him── my best friend, my soulmate, my guy. "Kiara will be my maid of honour, Sarah beside her," I tell, already knowing the colours they'll wear. "John B will walk me down the aisle because... well, he just will."

Even when Dad was alive, I always pictured John B being the one to take that role. Now that he's gone, I know John B would walk me down the aisle in a heartbeat. To me, John B has always been a little more than just a brother, and he knows that, so I feel like he's earned the role of walking the bride down the aisle to him.

"He'll also be your best man, and I imagine Cleo will be by your side too." John B's his best friend── his brother, if you will── and he and Cleo have a pretty solid relationship, and I can absolutely picture her on his side.

He breathes out an airy laugh, his own skin appearing warm at the thought. "Where's Emory?" he asks.

"She's definitely going to be the one in the front who protests for fun," I joke, imagining her being an absolute menace just for the hell of it. "I'm kidding. I want her to be a bridesmaid, if she wants. Oh, and Matilda can be the flower girl." I'd like to think I'll still be friends with that little girl however many years from now. I don't ever want to forget about her, not when she's been a shining light since I met her.

"What flowers?" JJ asks, hands squeezing mine.

"Sunflowers," I reply, zero hesitation because, like I said, I've thought about it. "Kiara, Sarah and Emory will wear yellow. Like a soft kind of yellow, you know?"

"Like the colour you wore to Midsummers?"

My mouth gapes, shocked that he could remember something like that. "You remember what I wore to Midsummers?"

"I remember everything about you, Sunny."

My head drops, a laugh radiating from me as I feel his hands squeeze mine again. God, I am so unbelievably lucky, it's crazy. For him to remember a dress colour that I wore two years ago warms me in an unimaginable way, you have no idea. It may seem ridiculous, but come on, he remembered the colour of my dress.

I lift my head, eyes meeting his immediately. "I've thought about marrying you an unhealthy amount, JJ, okay? I've thought about an entire future with you, believe me. I-I can see it all happening, I can, and I want it to happen, I do, you have no idea how much."

His grin is wide, unfailingly beautiful. "Good," he breathes out, leaning forward. "I'm gonna marry the hell out of you, Sunny."

I think my heart skips a literal beat. "You really wanna marry me?"

He presses his mouth over mine, offering me a short and simple press of his lips that tells me all I need to know. He pulls back, forehead grazing mine. "Oh, yeah. I really wanna marry you."

"You seemed so nervous to ask if I saw more for our future. Why?"

"Is that your question?"

"One of many, yes," I reply, knowing he'll let me ask him as many questions as I want── he always has, reluctantly or not.

He leans back, hands still holding mine like he's afraid I'll change my mind if he lets go. "I-I just didn't want you to, I don't know, freak out because I've, uh, thought about it── all of it." He looks away, peering back at John B and Sarah who are in the midst of a conversation, their hands pressed together too. "I never thought I'd get the chance to think about it── about a future with you and everybody. I never imagined that this would be my life."

I know, for a long time, JJ was without hope, living each day with the weight of his father's abuse. He suffered a great amount, but he came to be this── the opposite of his father in every which way. To me, he's got so much more than his father will ever have, and he deserves it and so much more, so he should be allowed to think of a future. I want him to look forward to something.

An idea springs to mind, and I realise I can't pass it up, not now when it's literally the most perfect thing to do. "Hey," I breathe out, catching his attention.

He looks back to me. "What?"

"Let's write it down," I suggest, a hint of mischief hidden in my gaze.

His eyebrows furrow. "What?"

"Where we see ourselves in ten years," I explain, hoping this idea I have doesn't freak him out. "We write it down, we fold it up, and we don't read them to each other until we get married."

His lips part, an unreadable expression on his face as he considers it, likely thinking about whether or not this will be a good idea. "Until we get married?"

"On our wedding night, whenever that may be, we will read what the other thinks our future will look like," I say, smiling sweetly at the thought of him jotting down all the things he imagines for our future. "What do you think?"

"I hate writing," he answers.

"I know but it'll be fun," I laugh. "Come on."

He sighs, bringing my hand up to his mouth. "Okay." He seals that agreement with a kiss to my knuckles.

"It'll be my something blue," I tease, moving to get up and off the sofa.

"But it won't be blue."

"We'll write in blue ink," I offer. Despite the wedding colours being blue and yellow, I physically need something blue and that will be this letter I'm about to write.

I rush off, heading back into the house to retrieve paper and pens── blue-inked pens. I check on Matilda before I head out, seeing that she's curled into a ball in the middle of mine and JJ's bed, perfectly settled with the covers over her. I then walk back to him, finding him to be exactly where I left him. He remains on the sofa, blanket still around his shoulders, looking so unbelievably comfortable in the gentle light of the bonfire.

I settle on the other side of the sofa, deciding to sit away from him so we can write separately and without glancing at the other. I hand off the paper and pen to him before I get comfortable, pulling part of the blanket over my legs.

"So, how do we..." He hits the pen against the paper a few times. "How are we doing this?"

"Uh, we could write it as a letter," I suggest, finding that'll be the best way to make it easier to understand.

"A letter?"

I nod, scribbling in the corner of the page to check the pen is working. If it's not, I don't know if I can be bothered to walk back to the house. "Yeah." I release a breath when I see the pen is working. "Is that okay?"

"I'm not the best at writing, Sunny..." he tells, giving me a pre-warning, but I don't care, it just needs to be his words. Whatever he's thinking should be written down.

"I don't care, just write whatever you want── whatever you feel."

"Write what I see for us in ten years?"

I smile, placing my pen to paper. "Exactly. Where do you see us in ten years, JJ?"

"Where do you see us in ten years, Sunshine?"

Oh, I know where I imagine us.

I press my pen to the paper, exhaling a heavy breath as I let myself be prepared to write something that'll hopefully come true.

Dear, JJ...

──────────────────────────

❀ soph speaks

you'll get to read their letters one day, i promise

thankyou for reading,, i really enjoyed writing this chapter it's definitely a favourite

i just love matilda and how well she gets along with brooke & jj

hey, next chapter,,
emory is BACK (for good, i swear) and SOME of her backstory will be explained next chapter . . . just trying to figure out if i want to begin writing her pov into some chapters idk

some of you have had theories about emory,, and i promise all will be explained in due time

thankyou for reading!!