𝟎𝟕𝟓.                 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬

i love you so               ────               the walters

☀︎ 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐥𝐲𝐧'𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐯

𝖨 𝖲𝖨𝖳 𝖡𝖤𝖲𝖨𝖣𝖤 𝖪𝖨𝖠𝖱𝖠 𝖠𝖲 𝖲𝖧𝖤 𝖬𝖮𝖵𝖤𝖲 𝖧𝖤𝖱 𝖥𝖨𝖭𝖦𝖤𝖱𝖲 𝖮𝖵𝖤𝖱 𝖳𝖧𝖤 𝖲𝖳𝖱𝖨𝖭𝖦𝖲 𝖮𝖥 𝖧𝖤𝖱 𝖴𝖪𝖴𝖫𝖤𝖫𝖤，𝖯𝖫𝖠𝖸𝖨𝖭𝖦 𝖳𝖧𝖨𝖲 𝖯𝖤𝖠𝖢𝖤𝖥𝖴𝖫 𝖳𝖴𝖭𝖤．I look ahead, watching as my guy stands in the kitchen with Pope and Cleo, likely catching up on all we've missed lately. Sarah and John B retreated to his bedroom to talk about all that's happened, leaving Kiara and I on the sofa to our own devices.

JJ's eyes flick towards me, a smile playing on his lips as he finds that I'm already staring at him.

I'm going to stare at him forever, you can trust me on that. If I didn't need sleep, I'd spend my twenty-four hours a day staring at him. I could never grow tired of looking at him, not when I'm completely entranced by him and his existence. He hypnotises me in the best possible way. He's hypnotising me now with those eyes I love so much.

I love him so much.

He thinks I didn't hear him earlier but I did. He might've whispered those three words but I heard him perfectly. I love you is what he whispered against my hair, and no three words have ever sounded so right in my life.

Do you know what I did though? I didn't say a fucking word.

There I was, sleeping on his chest when he uttered the three words I've been dying to hear for nine years, and I said nothing. Not a single word came out of my mouth in response to those words. Why? Well, I can't tell you because I have no fucking clue as to why.

I've loved him for nine years yet when he's the first to admit that he loves me, I can't say it back. How stupid am I? Very.

"You two are sick." I pry my eyes off JJ, looking over my shoulder at my best friend who seems to be a little dull which I don't appreciate.

"Yeah, really sick," I breathe out, looking back to JJ with my head leaning into my hand. Can I freeze time? Stay right here so I can stare at him?

"You've got a little bit of drool there, Brooke," Kiara comments, continuing to strum her ukulele and ignore my lovesick self.

I wet my lips, turning back to Kiara with the widest smile adorning my face, red likely coating my cheeks. "I'm very happy," I say, falling back against the sofa, my arm grazing hers. "I'm so, so happy, and I don't even care who knows about it."

"I can see that," she mumbles, not sparing me a glance as I look to her.

"He said he loved me," I whisper, a little afraid he'll be able to hear me even if he's in the kitchen standing away from me. "And I pretended that I didn't hear him, I don't know why because I do love him, you know? I was just so tired and desperate to sleep and..."

I sigh, knowing I'm making up excuses. I could've said the words in response, told him that I loved him too as I do, but I just didn't say a word. I fell asleep, acting like I didn't hear him say it.

"You should tell him," Kiara says, still staring at the strings of her ukulele.

"I want to." I nod along, moving my gaze back to JJ who continues to talk with Pope and Cleo, unaware that I'm ogling him from across the room. "I want to tell him," I say more to myself than to her. "I need to tell him."

"Well, you should."

I sigh, glancing at Kiara who remains fascinated by the movement of her fingers against her ukulele. Something's bothering her, that much I know, and I want to get to the bottom of it so I push my problems aside because, let's face it, a guy telling you they love you is not a big deal, not in the grand scheme of things.

I lift my arm, resting it over her shoulders. "What's up with you?"

She shrugs, head shaking. "Nothing."

"Kie..." I squeeze her arm, forcing her to finally look in my direction instead of ignoring me. "No bullshit."

She breathes out a laugh. "No bullshit? Really?"

"Yes, no bullshit, what's going on with you?"

"I can't believe you're no-bullshitting me."

Before we kissed── the first time── this no bullshit rule was always a thing we did to get answers out of the other. It's been a while, but I'm back to no-bullshitting her because something is very clearly bothering her.

She places her ukulele down, settling back against the sofa, forcing me to move my arm off her shoulders but I remain close to her, knowing she can talk with me. Nobody will overhear our conversation, not from over here. She's safe to confide in me.

"It's just everything at home," she admits, obeying the no-bullshit rule and talking to me. "My parents, they're just pissing me off, constantly talking about wanting to send me away to better my life, or whatever that's supposed to mean."

"Boarding school?" It was threatened a few times by Kiara's parents but it was never a for-sure thing. Now, more recently, it seems that they're adamant on sending their only child off to a freaking boarding school.

"Well, they've been looking into wilderness camps," she tells me, literally shivering at the idea.

I scoff, finding that notion more ridiculous than boarding school. "Wilderness camps for, like, troubled youths?"

"And I am super troubled according to them," she chuckles, but it's not a real laugh. "I don't want to be sent away. I can't be sent away."

"You won't be sent away," I insist.

"They just can't seem to understand that I── that we all went through something huge, you know?" I nod, hearing her loud and clear, understanding her frustration. "It's taking me a little while to adjust again, especially with..."

"Emory?" I fill in the gap, assuming she's talking about the girl that has swooped in and stolen most of her life.

"She's everywhere, Brooke. She's all over my house, all over my bedroom, all over my bathroom, all over the Wreck. She's involved in my life," she says, sounding more and more annoyed with every passing second. "I hate it."

"I'm sorry," I whisper, trying to sound sincere, but I can't even begin to understand what she's going through.

"I just feel like I'm so easily replaceable."

My mouth gapes, surprised to hear such words from her. The weight of those words hit me like a ton of a bricks, bringing me down, down, down. I have no idea how to respond, how to understand, how to help. I just place a hand upon her shoulder, wanting to offer her any amount of comfort that I can even if it's small. "Kie, that──"

"Hey!" We snap our heads over to JJ, finding him to be moving away from the window, frantic and panicked. "Fire!" My eyes widen, his words not registering in my ears for a good second. "There's a fire, guys."

"What? W──"

"There's a fire!" JJ shouts, directing the words towards Cleo and Pope who are in the adjoining room. "Come on!"

"There's a fire?" I lift myself off the sofa, feeling Kiara's hand wrap around my upper arm. "There's a..." I shake my head, still not understanding the pacing and quick movement of my friends. "What?"

JJ rushes to me, taking both my arms. "Tell John B and Sarah," he instructs Kiara, pulling me forward. Kiara rushes into John B's bedroom to grab my brother and Sarah and break the news that there's a fire.

There's a fire.

With JJ's hands on my arms, I cast a glance out the window JJ had moved away from. I find there to be an orange glow crackling and burning outside, lighting up the base of the Chateau. "No." I grip JJ's arms, the back of my eyes burning as I stare out the window, unable to look anywhere else but at the flames.

"Sunny." Loud, crackling, burning, orange fire is staring right at me, threatening to drag my entire house down. "Hey, Sunshine. Hey." JJ's hands snatch my face, forcing me to look anywhere but at the fire that's beginning to swallow my childhood home. "Baby, it's gonna be okay."

The blue in his eyes soothes me, brings me out of my head and into his sea of calm. "My house is on fire," I say, feeling bile climb up my throat as I admit that out loud. I never thought I'd have to say such words.

How is my house on fire?

"Come on!" I shake my head, JJ's hands slipping from my face to rest on my shoulders. I look to Cleo and Pope who rush past me, heading for the side door that opens onto the porch. We have several ways out of this house, and if we don't get out soon, we may die inside the freaking Chateau.

The Chateau is on fire. My home is on fire.

How has this happened? Why has this happened?

"It's gonna be okay," JJ says, slipping his arm around my back and pushing me towards the door where the others gather.

Sarah goes to open the side door, unable to as the flames have moved quickly, starting to consume the porch and the side portion our house. The handle is too hot, burning Sarah's hand as she tries to pull it open again.

We can't get out.

I feel hot, just about ready to collapse, I swear to God. This can't be happening, not to our home── not to our Chateau.

I stumble back, feeling JJ tug on me to bring me towards the front door as the flames are yet to cover the front portion of our beloved childhood home. The fire is eating the back end of our home, blocking the back exit and the side exit. Thankfully, we have another door that I find I'm being shoved towards.

I don't even know what's happening right now. I feel fuzzy, like I'm not even here. I'm just being pushed from one direction to the next, hearing each of my friends yell and scream and cry out. My body feels numb to the bone as I stumble forward, following after the string of people before me.

With a final shove, cold air hits me, telling me that I'm now outside, able to breathe in the cool air instead of the smoke. I don't feel hands on me anymore, I just find myself staring forward at each of my friends as they rush down the steps towards the grass so they can get away from our burning house that'll be dust very, very soon.

My home is on fire.

How did my home set on fire?

I blink, my vision no longer dotting. I can see ahead of me. I can see John B, Sarah, Kiara, Pope, Cleo, J── I blink harder, head shaking ever so slightly in case I'm in some kind of nightmare that I can't wake up from. I even pinch the skin on my arm, unsure if that'll wake me up.

I'm not waking up. I'm not in a nightmare. This is actually happening. My home is on fire.

What's worse is that I'm not seeing him.

"JJ." I look over my shoulder, feeling sick to my stomach when I don't find that he's right there behind me. Oh, my God. "JJ!"

I turn, not even considering an alternative option. I need to go back in there. My legs shake as I move to step back inside the house that is being consumed with every passing second with harsher fire igniting my beloved home.

I don't make another step as another pair of arms wrap around my middle, yanking me back and away from the door. "No!" I scream, knowing I'm fighting my brother, but he's crazy if he thinks I'm just going to stand here. "No! JJ, where──" A cry rips out of me, sounding completely foreign to me as I'm pulled towards the grass.

"Brooke, stop!"

I hear my friends yelling, calling out for JJ, but there's no sign of him. I don't know where he went. I wasn't paying attention. I was too caught up in my own head to notice that my boyfriend wasn't behind me any longer. Fuck.

"JJ!" I scream, finally freeing myself from my brother. My knees hit the grass, my body giving out on me. I feel John B try to grab me again but I force myself to stand so I can rush back towards the house, honestly not finding it in me to care that the heat of the fire is starting to nip at my skin.

I take a few steps forward, heading right back up the stairs that lead to the front door. I'm on a mission to get inside and pull my deranged boyfriend out from inside, but a spark stops me from making it to the door.

"Brooke!"

The spark bursts, igniting a larger flame that covers the only exit JJ can use to get out of the house. "No!" I cry again, screaming out his name as I fall back, feeling two pair of arms pull me back this time── Pope and John B.

"No!" I sob, no longer fighting against the restraints of my brother and Pope. I just let myself fall back, allowing them to wrap their arms around me. "No. No," I repeat, voice shaking as each word passes. "No."

"JJ!" Kiara, Sarah and Cleo call out for him, stepping away from me, John B and Pope to check if he's found another way to escape out the house. He has to find another way out of there.

I'm not losing him. I can't.

We took a vow. Neither of us can die. After the motorcycle crash, I thought I made myself perfectly clear that he was not to do stupid shit like that ever again.

JJ leans forward, holding his pinkie finger out to me. "I vow not to die."

I lean forward to wrap my own pinkie around his. We smile at one another, squeezing our fingers together. "I vow not to die," I chorus, pressing our thumbs together too.

A sob wrenches out of me as I think back on how he promised me. He swore to me that he'd not die, and he absolutely cannot die at the hands of this house fire that should have never happened in the first place.

Where the hell is he?

"Brooke!" I snap my head over to my left, finding him in the darkness like I always seem to do. I release myself from John B and Pope, checking to see if he's actually there or if I'm just imagining him. I can't just be imagining him. My head wouldn't be so cruel.

No, he's real, and he's walking towards us from around the back of the house. How did he get out? Where did he get out from? Whatever, who cares, he's here, walking towards us with something in his hands.

"JJ," I exhale, beginning to move in his direction.

I then start to run── that's all I can think to do.

With the little strength I have, I bolt towards him, suddenly not hating the idea of running at this given moment as I'm running towards something that is so unbelievably worth it── him.

"JJ." I reach him, immediately leaning up on my tiptoes to wrap my arms around his neck. Instantaneously, his arms fall around my middle, pulling me flush against him. He relaxes, breathing softly into my neck, and I find myself feeling a thousand times lighter.

The tears I now cry aren't ones of sadness or upset. No, the tears I now cry are full of relief and joy that the boy I love isn't dead from a fire that's destroying my home right next to us.

I pull back slightly, hands holding his face as letting go right now would be damn foolish. "Hi," I cry, leaning my forehead against his. "Oh, you're okay. You're..." My arms fall around him again, emotion consuming me. I need him to hold me again before I hit the floor with the state I'm in.

"Hey, Sunshine."

I could crumble at those two words that, for a minute, I didn't think I'd ever hear again.

"What the hell were you doing?" I ask, pulling myself back but keeping my hands on his face, finding that steady beat in his neck. He's alive. He's okay. He's here.

"I had to..." He swallows thickly, revealing his hand that holds something very valuable to me. My eyes flit from his, falling on something I thought I'd never see again as this fire is burning my entire home just inches from us.

I hadn't even thought to grab it but he did.

My mouth gapes. "You..."

"I had to get your sketchbook, Sunny."

I stare at the sketchbook in his hands, finding that he didn't just save mine. He saved my mother's too. I reach out, taking the book from his hands, tears continuing to fall because this is the greatest thing anybody has never done for me. He could've died. For me, he could've died.

He walked through fire to find one of the most valuable parts of my life just because he knows how much I treasure my art. Then again, I could've always replaced my art had I lost it.

But you know what I could never, not in any lifetime, replace?

Him. I could never replace him, not in the way that I could replace my art. He's irreplaceable── one of a kind, one of the only people that would literally walk through fire for me.

I meet his eyes again. "You're crazy."

"I love you."

A laugh bubbles out of me as this might be one of the worst times for a love declaration, but then again, it's also kind of perfect. Here we stand, a fire burning behind us, but we ignore that as we look at one another with so much admiration and love. I didn't mistake what I heard. He loves me. He's an idiot, completely crazy, if he thinks that I don't feel the same way.

I've loved him for nine years, and I'll love him for another ninety or so lifetimes, probably even more.

I love JJ Maybank.

Isn't that the whole point of the story?

One hand cups my face, thumb rubbing my cheekbone lovingly. "I love you," I say.

"Yeah, you better," he teases, head dipping down. "I just walked through fire for you."

I shake my head, eyes closing. "Shut up."

He kisses me.

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𝖬𝖸 𝖧𝖮𝖬𝖤 𝖧𝖠𝖲 𝖡𝖤𝖤𝖭 𝖱𝖤𝖣𝖴𝖢𝖤𝖣 𝖳𝖮 𝖠𝖲𝖧．

I took my first steps in this home. I said my first words in his home── No, if you were wondering. I drew my first major piece of art in this home. I drank my first beer in this home, underage but whatever. I celebrated each birthday in this home. I laughed, cried and smiled in this home.

I fell in love with this home.

My home no longer resides before me, instead reduced to ash. My beloved home── my beloved Chateau is nothing. It's the only home my brother and I have ever known our entire lives and now it's gone, and why?

Dad won't get to come home to anything once we get him back. We have nothing to come back to after we leave South America. Nothing will ever compare to the Chateau and the life I had inside this home. I loved every waking second of being in there even when we didn't have water or food or electricity. I was happy.

My home is gone.

Not only that, but each of my friends saw this place as a home in one way or another. It was always the place we gathered in, always the place we slept in, always the place we ate in. To each of us, this place was a home── an escape.

Here we sit, the seven of us lined up along the grass, staring at the mess that is now the Chateau. My head rests on JJ's shoulder, my arm wrapped around his securely. He leans into me, his hand on my knee.

"Verdict's in, bro," JJ speaks, glancing at my brother who sits on the other side of him. "Whoever's up there does not like you. Sorry."

"You're right about that," I whisper.

My sketchbook sits on my lap, untouched as my inspiration has burned alongside this house. I'm sure I'll find it again, especially once we get back from South America, but until then, I need to hide this thing somewhere it'll be safe until we return. I might leave it in JJ's house for now, move it when we return as it'll be up for bid.

We join together on the dock, needing to move away from the depression that encapsulates our childhood home. I can't stand to look at it any longer, not when I just spent the whole night watching it burn to the ground.

"Sarah, when did you say the pilot was getting in?" John B asks, allowing us to be distracted by the task that we have to complete. We still need to save Dad, and until we do, it's best he doesn't know about the lack of home we now have.

"Probably like an hour?" she replies, shrugging her shoulders. "I mean, once he's here, my dad says we can leave whenever we want."

"Okay, well, as much as I would love to ghost my parents again, I can't," Pope tells, beginning to move away from us so he can come clean to his parents. Good. He absolutely should tell his mother and father, it's only fair.

"Pope, we're talking El Dorado here. Can you just slip out the back maybe?"

"Great advice," Kiara comments.

"It always worked for me," he chuckles, coming to stand beside me. "How to avoid unpleasant circumstances one-o-one. If there's a problem, you don't wanna face it, turn that face and keister around and walk the other way."

"I'm not doing that, okay?" He continues to move back, leaving us. "I'll meet you at the airstrip in an hour."

"We'll see you there," John B speaks.

"One hour, Pope. Not a second later," JJ warns, pointing a finger in the direction Cleo and he stumble off in.

"Can we go back to yours?" I ask, speaking lowly. "I wanna leave my sketchbook somewhere safe."

His arm lifts, resting over my shoulders. "Course, Sunshine." He kisses my temple, turning to Kiara, John B and Sarah. "We're gonna take a stroll back to the shack."

Sarah pins us with a knowing look, my brother obvious, and Kiara too distracted to care by the looks of it. "One hour, guys," Sarah warns. "Not a second later."

I roll my eyes, feeling JJ pull me back. "Yes, Mom. We'll see you later."

"Not a second later!" she repeats, louder as we begin to walk off down the dock.

"You know, I always wanted to go to South America," JJ tells me as we're moving away from the lack of Chateau, heading off towards his home with my sketchbook tucked under my arm. "Great surf, cheap weed. You."

I smile, placing my arm around his back as we walk in sync with one another. "Hey, do you think we have to..."

He laughs, fingers squeezing the back of my neck. "Oh, yeah. We have plenty of time to go back to Paris, Sunshine."

I bite my bottom lip. "Okay."

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❀ soph speaks

honestly wasn't sure how this chapter was gonna go

we got a brooke/jj love confession ahhhhh

him running into the house fire was kind of a last minute decision when i was rereading the chapter

only five more chapters of act three left after this one!! can't wait to start writing act four,, i think you guys will enjoy it too

thankyou so much for reading :)