❪ 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗠𝗣𝗔𝗚𝗡𝗘 & 𝗦𝗨𝗡𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗘 ❫

𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝗌𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗇 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━
distance.  ╱  season one, episode two.
❛ 𝗂 𝗃𝗎𝗌𝗍 𝗐𝖺𝗇𝗍 𝗍𝗈 𝗄𝗇𝗈𝗐 𝗐𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗒𝗈𝗎'𝗋𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗄𝗂𝗇𝗀. 𝗂 𝗃𝗎𝗌𝗍
𝖼𝖺𝗇'𝗍 𝖾𝗑𝗉𝗅𝖺𝗂𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗐𝖺𝗒 𝗂𝗍 𝗁𝗎𝗋𝗍𝗌, 𝗇𝗈𝗐 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗐𝗁𝖺𝗍
𝗐𝖾 𝗁𝖺𝖽 𝗂𝗌 𝗀𝗈𝗇𝖾, ❜

KENNEDY THORNTON had found that the easiest things could send her into memories like it was nothing. The salty smell of Outer Banks air, the slam of a car door, anything could send her into a spiral that would make her remember the summer she could never forget. Kennedy could believe that she has attachment issues, from her friends to memories that give her ease, she never wanted to even imagine giving them up, she felt as if she would forget how to breathe if the things that she cared about most weren't in her life.

The warm summer air spread throughout her BMW, her hand drifted out the opened driver-side window, slightly swaying along with the wind that controlled her hand like a puppeteer. The radio was cranked with the idea that the sound of the thudding beats would push her constant worry to the back of her head. Kennedy blew a shallow breath past her lips, hoping the impending anxiety bubbling in her stomach would fade.

A familiar song flooded through the speakers, making the hairs on the back of Kennedy's neck stand up. A fond smile twitched on Kennedy's ruby red lips as her fingers bounced again the steering wheel with the beat. Suddenly the afternoon sky transformed into a starry night and the headlight shined vastly over the open road. She wasn't in her trusty black BMW anymore, Kennedy now sat in the driver's seat of her dad's convertible.

"Oh, I love this song," The familiar voice of JJ Maybank spoke through the song. Kennedy rolled her eyes at the familiar first verse of 'Everybody Talks' by the Neon Trees flowing through the speakers.

The chirpy blonde smiled at the words, watching with a content smile as the boy sang along with the song, quite loudly she might add. Kennedy bobbed her head along with the beat, not wanting to get too crazy as she was the driver and mainly she didn't want to fuck up her dad's convertible in any way. JJ's voice cracks at the chorus and a wince found its way to Kennedy's features.

"JJ, you're about to blow out my eardrums," Kennedy groaned, but her voice nonetheless filled with amusement. JJ paid no mind to her words and began singing louder, with a shit-eating smile, knowing he was annoying her. Kennedy slapped his chest quickly before returning the hand to the wheel, "Be quiet, your terrible singing is ruining the song,"

The blond snapped his head towards her, a faux look of offense spreading across his face, "How dare you, I am always told I have a great voice,"

"Well, they're lying," Kennedy teased, a small quirky smile lifted on her lips.

"I'd like to see you do better miss perfect," JJ clipped in amusement while crossing his arms over his chest in defense.

Kennedy's face fell slightly, the smile that once was glued to her face was now a small frown. Her heart sank at the name 'miss perfect'. She knew JJ didn't mean it in the way she took it, she's talked to him an umpteenth amount of time about how the word "perfect" affects her. Miss perfect always pulls her into a headspace of being a person that she didn't want to be. Kennedy always felt silly or stupid when she let words that were meant to be jokes affect her. But that word always brought her back to her mother drilling the meaning of it into her little head, and it made her sick to her stomach.

JJ instantly noticed the small frown forming on her subtle pink lips. Then his words dawned on him and he quickly grabbed Kennedy's hand from the wheel, attempting to get a soft grip on the soft skin. Kennedy sent him a weird look, "JJ what're you doing? I'm driving,"

"Kenn babe, I didn't mean it," JJ replied without hesitance, his thumb swiping gently over the knuckles on her hand. "I was joking, I wouldn't hurt your feelings on purpose,"

"I know," Kennedy sighed lightly, her eyes drifting quickly from the hand JJ was holding and back to the road. "I just feel kinda stupid that a little name like that can affect me, you know?"

"Sunshine, we all have different triggers, and sometimes it's just small things like words,"

The words made a comforting smile twitch onto Kennedy's lips, flipping her hand over so she could intertwine her fingers with JJ's, "When did you get smart?"

"Just because I'm impulsive and immature doesn't mean I don't know things, Sunshine," JJ teased, squeezing her hand lightly.

Kennedy's heart thudded in her chest, and she sent him a small smile, "Weirdly you're kind of like one of the smartest people I know,"

JJ laughed whole-heartedly, scoffing lightly at her words, "Sunshine, if that's true we're all doomed,"

Kennedy glanced at him with amusement swirling in her eyes, "I said 'one of', don't worry we still have hope, Riley's still smarter than you,"

JJ slapped his hand on his chest as a faux act of relief, "Thank god we have people like Riley,"

Kennedy let out a small giggle as she nodded along with his words, "Yeah thank the lord,"

The blonde blinked lightly, her blue eyes finally focusing on her surroundings. The summer sun blinded her subtly, shaking her memories away, she noticed a single tear drifted down her cheek. With no hesitation, she swiped it away, wanting to push away any emotions that trailed along with her memories. She hated how quickly she fell into a memory, how it felt like she was living it all over again. She hated how the memories always left a feeling of comfort behind because it always had to be taken away again.

A hopeless sigh slipped past her shaky lips, eyes falling forward towards the driveway that would lead to John B's chateau. Kennedy felt the dread wash over her skin, she gripped the steering wheel tightly, she didn't want to do this, but it was too late to turn back now. With a quick yet harsh swallow, she turned down the road, not knowing that this would be the beginning of an adventure that would change everything.

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THE FIRST THING the enigma of Outer Banks noticed was John B's van parked in the driveway. She dreaded the upcoming interactions, she wanted nothing more than to back out of the driveway and never look back. Kennedy looked at herself in the mirror checking to see if there were any blemishes in her makeup, but luckily there was nothing out of place. A huffed breath slipped past her lips, her mind filled with words of encouragement as she tried to sike herself up for the impending harsh glares from her least favorite pogues. The thick backwoods Outer Banks air hit Kennedy like a slap in the face as she stepped out of her cool car, the warm surroundings already made sweat prickle at her hairline.

Kennedy smoothed out her checkered skirt, hoping that she could do this swiftly and get out without too many harsh interactions. The blonde felt a weird wave of nervousness as she didn't hear or see any signs of the pogues as she stepped onto the rickety porch. The withering wood creaked with her weight, Kennedy winced hoping that none of the pogues heard the loud screech. Kennedy hesitantly moved into the house, eyes scanning for the neon blue sweatshirt that she was on the hunt for.

The sound of a rushing car speeding down the driveway made her jump, glancing out the window, her face fell. Fear ran through her viens as a large gasp escaped her lips seeing two large men with guns attached to their hands, pile out of the large truck as they slammed their doors harshly. Kennedy dropped down the floor out of instinct, her hands shaking with terror as to what they would do to her if they saw her.

The sound of a door creaking open a few feet away from her caught her attention, a look of relief spread across Kennedy's face seeing JJ Maybank sneaking out of the room. The boy's eyes instantly found hers, pure confusion fell across his face seeing the small blonde kneeling on the floor with fear swirling through her eyes.

"Kennedy?"

The name slipped past JJ's lips instantly, but before Kennedy could answer, the harsh stomps of the men caught their attention. Without any hesitation, JJ swiftly rushed to Kennedy, the girl had barely any time to react before the boy gripped her hand, pulling her towards the room he immerged from.

The rest of the pogues had looks of pure confusion on their features as they saw not only JJ, but a very frantic Kennedy stumble into the room as well. The girl looked shaken up as she stood awkwardly as the rest of the teens sent her glares mix with annoyance and bewilderment.

John B quickly rushed past Kennedy, completely ignoring her for now, and towards the boy who was behind her, "Where's the gun?"

JJ sent him a look of slight dismay, "They're on the front porch guys,"

"Kennedy, what the hell are you doing here?" The voice of John B hissed, the tone made Kennedy jump.

Kennedy felt her chest tightening, finally feeling the weight of this situation, the words that escaped her came out very shaky, "Riley made me come here to get his sweatshirt,"

"He didn't leave his sweatshirt here," John B grumbled, making Kennedy's eyes turn into slits.

"Wha-"

The sound of her phone chiming caught her attention, she dove down to look at the notification. A mix of frustration and fury bubbled in her stomach at the notification.

𝗥𝗬𝗘 𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗:
𝘏𝘦𝘺, 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘵 𝘭𝘮𝘢𝘰, 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘑𝘰𝘩𝘯 𝘉'𝘴. 𝘐 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘮'𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘺. 𝘚𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘦! 🤪✌️ 𝘏𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘑𝘑 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳!

Kennedy's eyes widened at the words on her screen, "Oh my god, I'm gonna die because of a sweatshirt that's not even lost,"

"You're not gonna die," JJ snapped, grabbing the phone from her hands and tucking it in his back pocket. She sent him a look of confusion and anger, but the boy sent her a knowing look, "And you're not gonna call the police,"

Kennedy groaned, hating that the boy read her like a book, "But-"

"Routledge! Where you at boy?"

Kennedy instantly forgot about the phone and tensed up at the yells outside of the door, she stepped back as all the guys surrounded the door. Kennedy looked behind her and met the fear-filled gaze of Kie.

"We gotta leave,"

Kennedy nodded along with her words, eyes frantically scanning around the room for a way out, her eyes widened when they fell upon the windows across from her, "Guys, window, window,"

JJ and Pope rushed past her, soon using all their strength to attempt to open the window. Concern flooded through Kennedy seeing that they couldn't open it, whatsoever.

Kie looked just as frantic and sent them a look of fear, "What's happening? Why is it taking so long?"

JJ snapped back to hiss at her, his words hushed, "It's painted shut, okay?"

Kennedy took in those words and her eyes glanced around the room. She dashed over to one of the desks and gripped a letter opener, "Kie, Kie, use this,"

The brunette turned to the short blonde, her eyes swirled with a slight relief as she grabbed the letter opener and moved towards the window, "Okay, guys, guys, here I got it,"

"Where the hell's that compass?!"

Compass?

Dread filled Kennedy's features, anxiously watching Kie pick at the bottom of the window. JJ and Pope were acting the same way as they pushed Kie to go faster. The girl reassured them that she was going as fast as she could. John B shushed them lightly, hearing the faint footsteps of someone coming toward the room. Kennedy gripped herself in nervousness, a few tears trailing down her cheeks as she felt her future dimming.

"You better not be in there!"

A rough kick shook the wooden door, making Pope and John B jump away from the entrance. Cracks of wood came flying from the door's hinges and Kennedy backed further and further towards the wall behind her. JJ and Kie kicked it in high gear and began picking at the window at a faster pace. Kennedy closed her eyes as she attempted to calm herself, finding that throwing up might not be the best thing to happen right now. A rush of relief washed over her body hearing a soft popping noise coming from the window, before she could react, a rough hand gripped onto her perfectly manicured one and dragged her towards the window. Kennedy glanced towards the familiar chaotic blond boy that was pulling towards the window.

Kie and Pope had already made their way out of the window, JJ flawlessly jumped out and hit the ground. Kennedy sent him a nervous glance, but JJ reached his hand up towards her and she reluctantly gripped his. Within a second, she jumped out the window and hit the green ground below her, her hand still in a tight grip with JJ's. John B was the last one out of the room, and he softly shut the window behind him to act as if they weren't even in there.

"Go to the chicken coop,"

They wasted no time dashing towards the chicken coop, Kennedy frantically glanced from the house and towards the boy in front of her, who was dragging her with a tight grip. The sound of a bullet ricocheting in the house behind her made Kennedy pick up speed. She could feel dirt sticking to her white sneakers, but she paid it no mind as she ran faster and faster toward the small building a few feet away.

Once they were all at the entrance of the building, Kennedy twisted her nose in disgust at the putrid smell of Chicken poop, but it bothered no one else as they began piling into the building through the small entrance. Just as Kie popped in, JJ pushed her in front of him, she stumbled and sent him a small glare when she caught herself. Begrudgingly she squeezed through the small hole, feeling the hay that blanketed the small building scratch her bare knees as she crawled towards a corner that was the farthest away from the entrance and the chickens that resided in the coop with them.

Kennedy tucked her knees into her chest, laying her forehead on top of them as a way to control her breathing. She could feel a panic attack coming on, and it began to get harder and harder to breathe. A silent whimper escaped her lips as more tears began slipping down her cheeks. She refused to look around at the people around her, worried that if they saw her they might think of her as weak. Someone tumbled next to her, but she paid them no mind as she continued to attempt to get herself together.

Her chest felt as if it was getting tighter, and the room around her began to close in. Sweat trickled down her neck as the temperature began to get hotter. Heavy breathing was passed around throughout the small hut, and everyone was trying to be quiet and hopefully wait out the two men.

While Kennedy was fading away by each second, it was barely noticed by the others around her. John B's eyes were glued on the outside as he was peaking out and watching for the men. The rooster and chickens were startled by the intruders that came into their home and they began rustling around and making more and more noise.

The sounds only made Kennedy's panic worse, the girl began thinking that the worst might happen. They'll get caught and those criminals will shoot them and leave them for dead. Kennedy started to think more and more about her life and how it didn't amount to anything, her breathing became labored as more and more scary and dark thoughts filled her head.

The person next to her finally noticed her state, and in one swift motion, her left hand was grabbed and gripped tightly. Kennedy froze at the action, but a calming swipe from the person's thumb made her immediately know who it was and her heart began to stop thudding so violently. The action from the boy felt so foreign yet so familiar all at once.

"Just breathe," The hushed calming words from JJ Maybank, ghosted over the shell of her ear. "You can do that right?"

His breath made a chill travel down her spine but she nodded nonetheless, as she attempted to control her breathing. Kennedy gripped his hand tightly as if she was afraid that he would disappear if she let go. While they weren't on the greatest of terms right now, she was grateful that the person she thought she hated so much was sympathetic and cared enough to try to calm her down.  At this moment Kennedy Thornton was grateful for JJ Maybank and even if she didn't enjoy that feeling, it was hard to ignore.

Time ticked on as they waited out the criminals who began dragging stuff out of John B's house. Kennedy had gotten her feelings under control enough so she could lift up her head. Kie was staring directly at her and JJ, but more specifically, their intertwined hands and JJ's thumb that swiped back and forth on Kennedy's knuckles. Kennedy immediately ripped her grip from JJ's and wrapped her arms around her knees, not wanting the action between the two to stick in Kie's head. No one needed to find out.

JJ sent her a confused look, but Kennedy refused to acknowledge it. The rooster began frantically clucking with more and more power and the five teens began to panic. JJ removed his attention from Kennedy and towards the high-pitched rooster that was near Pope, "Do something, Pope, shut him up,"

Pope sent the boy an exasperated glance, "What do you want me to do?"

Kie's eyes began to water as she sent frantic looks towards Pope, "Pet it or something, or talk to it, I don't know,"

The sound of the bed of the truck snapping closed made Kennedy tense, her heart pounded as she noticed John B jump back to hide away from the wired window. One of them was coming.

"You do something," Pope hissed, backing further and further into the wall he was near.

A small and silent whimper slipped past Kennedy's lips, she slapped a hand over her mouth, feeling a tear dribble down her cheek and onto her hand. She sent JJ a hopeless glance, hoping he would solve the problem. Like clockwork, once the boy saw her look, he grunted and jumped forward, grabbing the rooster in one motion. A gasp escaped Kennedy watching as the blond boy wrapped his hands around the chicken's neck and an intense snap echoed through the chicken coop and the rooster fell limp.

JJ paused looking down to the now-dead rooster in his grip, his face went white as he glanced at the people around him. The blonde kook remained frozen as she heard impending steps from one of the men as he slowly made his way towards the coop. Her hand gripped her knees tighter and tighter, just praying that the moment that the man would find them would never come. Her breath got caught in her throat, feeling his movements stop.

"Ratter! What the hell are you doin'? Let's go,"

A breath of relief escaped Kennedy's lips hearing the retreating footsteps of the man, she leaned her head back against the wooden wall behind her. Tears of joy seep from her eyes hearing the truck they came in start up and immediately pull out and down the dirt driveway. Anger practically dripped off of John B as he glared at the retreating truck, with each breath that escaped him, fury shook him.

Kennedy ignored it, trying to control the waves of relief that rushed through her veins, she was ready to make her escape, not caring about the shit-head pogues that caused all of this new-found trauma that this afternoon brought.

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RAGE RADIATED OFF of the short blonde kook as she stormed away from the pogues, she ignored their words, each of their pleading voices making her fingers curl into her hand out of anger. After slipping out of the dingy chicken coop, anger was all she felt. The relief completely faded once she realized the criminals weren't coming back, and then anger came in and was directed toward the lowlifes that caused this mess.

She was mad at not only them but also Riley. He unknowingly put her in a situation that almost killed her all because of a fucking sweatshirt, the situation finally set in and she was on a rampage. Kennedy expertly picked her phone out of JJ's pocket without him looking and she set off towards her car, on her way to report this to the police. A small part of her knew she shouldn't, knowing that the repercussions of her report would affect the pogues the most, but a bigger part, a crueler part, wanted them to get in trouble.

"Kennedy, wait," The hopeless tone of John B filled the air, and Kennedy just rolled her eyes in response. "Just please let us explain,"

The blonde scoffed loudly, not bothering to turn around, "Not interested John B, save it for the police,"

"No, please don't, come on just wait up for a second,"

"Just forget it John B, miss perfect would rather get the police involved than have to deal with it on her own," The spiteful voice of JJ chimed in. The name made her freeze, Kennedy ground her teeth in fury. The blonde snapped around in one fluid motion to glare at him with a look that could kill him.

"Oh, bite me Maybank," Kennedy seethed, her arms wrapping tighter and tighter around herself as she stormed towards the boy, "You know nothing as to why I'm reporting this to the police,"

"I know enough," JJ clipped, the words that were filled with an arrogance that made her boil over.

Kennedy's face turned red, and the people next to JJ were getting more and more worried as they could practically see the anger wafting off of the short blonde, "Oh, I'm sorry that I almost fucking died for some shit that you lowlives got yourselves into,"

"Lowlives? Seriously? Such a typical kook thing to say,"

Kennedy snapped her head towards Kie, and the girl looked like she was about to pounce on the brunette, "Oh, fuck you Kie,"

The two girls were slowly going towards each other, looking as if they were about to tear each other apart. John B anxiously looked between the two and slid between them to stop the soon-to-be fight.

"Look, just please don't go to the police,"

Kennedy crossed her arms as she looked up at the tall boy, her eyes swirling with a testing emotion, "Why should I not after what just happened?"

John B sighed, his eyes pleading, "Because if you do, CPS will be on my ass and I'll get put into foster care,"

Kennedy scoffed, "After what just happened, it might be a good idea,"

"Kennedy, you don't understand, I can't go into foster care,"

Kennedy shook her head, not bothering to listen anymore. She flipped around and began to make her way towards her car, "Good luck John B, foster care might do ya some good,"

"I still need to find out what happened to my dad," John B blurted loudly, "Wouldn't you want to do the same if it was your dad?"

"Not really, he's a douchebag," Kennedy remarked her tone full of seriousness, but her eyebrows raising at the words, she turned back towards the group, "But that's beside the point, you're sixteen, what the hell are you gonna do to find a missing person?"

John B stiffened and opened his mouth to respond but JJ interrupted him, "John B don't, just let her go, she clearly doesn't care,"

The words stuck with Kennedy, as she marched back to the four teens. A proving glare was sent to JJ as she flipped him off, "I wouldn't be asking if I didn't care asshole,"

"I have my dad's compass,"

Kennedy scrunched up her face at the words, a slightly humorous scoff slipped past her lips, "A compass, that's it?"

"A compass that was with him when he was missing,"

Kennedy's taunting smirk fell at the words, "How'd you get that?"

JJ stepped next to where John B was and sent her an arrogant smirk, "We scuba dived a shipwreck and found it,"

Pope coughed behind him, "Actually John B just did that,"

The information dawned on Kennedy, and her eyes widened, "You guys found Scooter's boat, didn't you?"

John B sent her a look of confusion, "How'd you know about that?"

Kennedy shrugged lightly, "Sarah told me he was missing, Ms. Lana asked her if she saw Scooter yesterday, cause he helped Sarah with the Druther's the night before the hurricane,"

"Did she see anything?"

"No," Kennedy replied, thinking about her conversation with Sarah, but another realization came at her full steam ahead, "Wait a second, those two guys were looking for the compass? Why?"

"Well-"

"You know what," Kennedy stopped him, the boy paused and sent her a look of confusion, "Good luck John B, I hope you find out where your dad is, but I do not plan on getting into this little mystery, so the less I know the better,"

"You won't tell-"

Kennedy sighed loudly, sending the boy a weary glance, "No I won't tell the police, just don't ever drag me into this type of shit again or the first place I'm going is to the police station, got it?"

John B instantly nodded, giving her a nervous smile, "Yep, yep, got it,"

Kennedy rolled her blue eyes in annoyance and trudged to her car, "Great,"

She was so ready to go scream at Riley for causing this mess. She was furious and he was gonna hear absolutely all of it.

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↝↝↝↝↝ 𝐓𝐀𝐘𝐋𝐎𝐑 𝐒𝐀𝐘𝐒... ↜↜↜↜↜

𝗕𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗥 𝗠𝗔𝗗𝗘 𝗕𝗬 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗟𝗬 silverfalcons 

HEY BABIES IM BACK!!!

This bitch is hella long but I'm vibing! I really love it!! I wanted to add Kennedy into the chicken coop scene and I thought this would be a cool way to do it!

Also I was very tempted to make kie and kenn get into a physical fight but I stopped myself cause I felt it wouldn't really fit with how their relationship is. It would honestly fit JJ and Kennedy more lmao

Also a sneaked a little memory in there cause I love giving you guys backstory on JJ and Kennedy!

Hope you enjoyed!

BUT IMPORTANT THING.

What did you all think?

I really would like your feedback on this, so please leave a comment.