"HONEY, I'D WALK
THROUGH FIRE FOR YOU,
JUST LET ME ADORE YOU LIKE IT'S THE ONLY THING I'LL EVER DO."
- harry styles, adore you

Avery had waited until three and a half hours after JJ's arrest before she decided to go to his house. The Maybank had expressed how much he didn't want Avery to drive there for fear of his dad hearing her car and getting angrier than he would inevitably already be.

So, the Decker found herself hunched behind a bush outside of JJ's house, slowly slinking her way around to his bedroom window. Rock music was blaring at an almost unbearably loud volume as Avery felt the house she had moved to press herself up against the side of practically shaking with the height of the sound.

Despite the ridiculously loud volume of electric guitar and drum solos shaking the wall she was leaning against, Avery could still make out the shouts of Luke Maybank as he yelled at his son.

"How're you gonna get that money back, huh? From sittin' around doin' nothing? I'm gonna tell you right now, you are a worthless piece of shit! Your mama knew it too!"

Avery rounded the corner to JJ's bedroom window, the brunette watching as JJ punched the wall next to his door, angrily.

"Shut up!" The blonde screamed, Avery rapidly knocking on the glass to hopefully gain his attention, but JJ had already clamped his hands back over his ears as he paced the room in an attempt to block out everything happening outside.

The Decker grabbed the window, pushing it up and climbing through it, still going unnoticed by JJ whose eyes were trained on the now messy floor of his room. His breathing was heavy, and more of a groaning than anything as he paced back and forth across the messy floor. Avery slid through the window turning to plant her feet on the floor as she stood up, walking towards JJ and grabbing his shoulders firmly.

The Maybank boy flinched so harshly at the contact it was a miracle he didn't fall, his eyes snapping up and meeting Avery's wide in fear as he stared at the brunette.

"Hey, hey, it's okay." Avery murmured, but upon further consideration of her boyfriend's face, the busted lip and the assorted small gashes littering his skin, Avery knew that nothing about this was okay.

"Ave, you've gotta get out of here." JJ pleaded, removing his hands from his ears to grab her waist tightly. "Please, if he finds you here he's gonna lose his shit, you can't be here right now."

"I'm not leaving you." Avery told JJ firmly, moving her hands so her palms were the ones covering JJ's ears. The boy inhaled a shaky breath, slowly walking his way over to his bed, hands still firmly gripping Avery's waist as he pulled her along with him.

"Get your ass in here!" Luke screamed angrily from the living room, JJ tugging away from Avery to kick something across the room, only for the girl to immediately wrap her arms around his waist and rest the side of her face against his back. She could feel JJ's hands gently grab her wrists as his heavy, labored breathing turned into sobs, Avery's hold only tightening as she pulled JJ over to his bed to sit next to her.

"I'm sorry-" JJ choked out, turning towards Avery and burying his head in her neck, the Decker moving one hand up and down his back steadily. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be sorry." Avery whispered, the loud music in the other room mixed with Luke's still-angry shouts of how JJ was worthless not helping the boy's state at all as he trembled in her arms. "You have nothing to be sorry for."

JJ didn't say anything after that, just cried into Avery's neck, sobs raking his whole body as he did so, the Decker girl gently rubbing his back and whispering soft reassurances into his ear that wasn't buried against her shoulder in an attempt to provide him with any sort of comfort. Nothing about the situation was okay.

JJ just stayed with his face buried into Avery's shoulder, sobbing into her neck, even as the loud music stopped suddenly and his dad's angry shouts subsided. After what felt like hours, JJ slowly sat up and look at Avery with wide, red-rimmed eyes.

"You're okay." Avery whispered, kissing the top of the Maybank's head and gently cupping the sides of his face with her hands. "You're gonna be okay."

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." JJ breathed, Avery gently moving one of her hands to cover the boy's mouth.

"You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for." She murmured. "Nothing. This isn't your fault, JJ, you don't deserve this."

JJ slowly grabbed Avery's wrist, pulling it away from his mouth as he shook his head.

"It's thirty grand, Avery, my restitution is thirty-thousand-fucking-dollars." JJ enunciated as his voice shook slightly.

"Hey, hey, let's get you out of here and then we'll talk, okay? Tell me what you need, we'll pack you a bag and have you out of her in ten minutes." Avery mumbled. JJ slowly pulled away from her, shirt soaked through entirely with sweat as his hands shook slightly, the blonde looking around his room for anything he would need to take with him for the next couple of weeks while he stayed at the Decker's house.

"Just... grab a couple shirts and a few pairs of shorts, I have to go do something but I'll be right back." JJ breathed, standing up and walking towards the door. "Don't leave this room until I get back."

Avery bit her bottom lip, but nodded, already searching the floor for any semi-clean clothes the blonde may have scattered around his bedroom floor as JJ strolled out of his room, his backpack strap gripped tightly in his hand as he did so, leaving the door behind him open.

Avery reached for a pair of gray shorts, but paused when she heard the sound of JJ's gun cocking in the living room. Her head snapped up, the girl contemplating how bad of an idea this was before walking out the door to where JJ had disappeared. Dodging piles of trash and clothes, Avery made her way down the hallways towards the living room. She froze in her tracks when she saw just what she expected- Luke passed out on the couch while JJ stood over him with the gun pointed at his father's head, his entire body trembling as his breath shook with it.

Avery simply watched as the boy's hand shook heavily- she knew JJ didn't have the heart to pull the trigger, but if he did, she still wouldn't have stopped him. He gritted his teeth, seemingly trying to work up the strength to do what he so badly wanted to, but he couldn't bring himself to do it as he yanked his arm back and shoved the gun back into the backpack on the table. He looked up towards the hallway to see Avery leaned against the wall, eyes sympathetic as JJ grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back towards his room.

"I told you to stay here." JJ whispered, teeth still gritted. The boy grabbing clothes off the floor as Avery slowly shut the door behind them silently. JJ had apparently given up on quiet as he grunted angrily, shoving article of clothing after article of clothing into his bag with shaking hands.

"And you thought I'd stay here if I heard a gunshot?" Avery fired back softly, JJ continuing to jam random clothes into his backpack. Avery put a gentle hand onto his forearm, the boy turning to her with eyes that were bloodshot and glossy as they went wide at her touch. "You have other clothes at my house, and I'm gonna wash it all anyways. Let's just get out of here."

JJ nodded in agreement, the two teens climbing out of the still-open bedroom window that no one had closed after Avery had climbed through it. Avery wanted to stop and close it, but JJ grabbed her hand firmly and pulled her around the side of the house to where his dirt bike was parked.

"He won't hear?" Avery confirmed, taking the backpack from JJ and putting it over her shoulders before sliding onto the seat behind him, the blonde shaking his head as he started the ignition, Avery's arms wrapping around his torso as JJ threw the kickstand up and rounded the house, driving towards the tree line separating his house from the road to Avery's.

The ride was slower than Avery saw the boy drive as a standard, typically having gravel fly behind him as he drove at the highest speed his bike could manage. Then again, he had never driven with Avery before.

Soon enough, JJ stopped short on the gavel drive next to Avery's car, killing the ignition on the bike as he put the kickstand down once more, letting Avery climb off the bike first before he swung his leg over the bike and climbed off behind her. The two climbed up the back staircase once more, JJ immediately going to the kitchen and sitting on the countertop, as he knew what was coming next. The Decker went to the bathroom, grabbing the first aid kit from where JJ had stuffed it back under the sink after cleaning her face a day prior, walking back into the kitchen where JJ was staring at the floor while his fingers drummed on the counter.

"Head up." Avery mumbled, opening the white box and grabbing one of the few remaining alcohol wipes, knowing it wouldn't be long before she had to resort to using the bottle and cotton balls to clean the Maybank's assorted miscellaneous wounds.

"Should've let me take the blame." Avery told him gently.

"I couldn't let you do that." JJ mumbled as Avery gently wiped around a gash next to his eyebrow. "You've got a future, baby, I don't. I can get arrested."

"JJ, you have a thirty thousand dollar restitution dangling over your head now. Which one of us would be able to pay that?" Avery questioned, wiping around JJ's busted lip that had just started to heal over before his dad had gotten to him, the boy flinching slightly and gripping her hand out of instinct. "And my dad wouldn't care, I can probably get him to pay the restitution for you and just not tell him that's what it's for."

"No, no, don't do that." JJ said quickly, not even wanting to think of how quickly Lennon would pull Avery out of the Outer Banks as soon as his daughter asked for thirty thousand dollars, let alone without telling him why. And if he found out it was for her boyfriend's restitution, he definitely would send her back to Texas without a second thought.

"JJ, let me help you. You don't have to do everything yourself." Avery told him quietly, taking the hand that was still gripping hers and running the pad of her thumb over the boy's knuckles. JJ stayed silent, watching the manicured fingernail trace patterns across his skin as though he was trying to memorize the movement, as though if he could, the moment would never end.

"This is my problem now." JJ mumbled. "And you're not going back to Texas for this. You know Lennon would have you on the first flight home if you got arrested."

"Lennon is currently determined to piss off Talia to the fullest extent of the law, so Lennon would've let me stay here no matter what." Avery deadpanned, JJ glancing up at her before turning his gaze back to the thumb that was tracing circles on his palm, almost as though he was hoping the design would burn into his skin.

"You know how to do stick-and-pokes, don't you?" JJ asked suddenly, Avery furrowing her brows and nodding slowly.

"Do you want one?" She asked jokingly, but JJ nodded, nonetheless. He seemed to be dead serious, actually set on wanting Avery to give him a tattoo.

"Hell yeah, I do." JJ said bluntly.

"What're you thinking?" Avery asked, but drew a blank from the blonde.

"I didn't think that far ahead, I wanted to make sure you could do it before I thought too hard of what I wanted." JJ mumbled, Avery smiling gently at him.

"When you do decide, let me know. I might even get one with you." She added, JJ looking at her with wide, hopeful eyes.

"Really?" He breathed, Avery shrugging.

"Why not? My parents already think I'm a disappointment, might as well just add to the list of screw ups." The Decker replied, a fake smile plastered across her face as she pretended to act nonchalant about the fact that she knew both of her parents had probably stopped bringing her up to their friends, that she was a taboo at family dinners, that they had probably cleaned out her room and turned it into a space for guests now.

"You delinquent." JJ joked quietly, a small smile on his face as he did so, which Avery reciprocated.

"Are you okay?" She asked quietly, grabbing the boy's right hand with her left and squeezing it gently as she ran her thumb across his knuckles. JJ nodded, staring at the thumb dancing patterns across the back of his calloused hands, attempting to memorize the design once more.

"I'll be fine." He assured, giving the girl a faint smile. "We've gotta find John B, I haven't heard from him in days. Have you?"

"I haven't heard from him since before the movie." Avery told the blonde as he hopped down from the counter, motioning for Avery to follow him as he grabbed his backpack, unzipping it and pulling out the wrinkled wads of clothing inside and tossing them into a pile on the floor.

"Great housekeeping we've got here." Avery said sarcastically as JJ zipped his bag up again, smirking at her as he started towards the front door.

"I'll wash it later, baby." He assured, Avery rolling her eyes, knowing that by him washing it later, he meant she would be the one washing his clothes. That was how it typically went, and Avery didn't mind. JJ went though enough on his own, it would've been different if he was just being lazy all the time.

"We're gonna walk, exercise is good for you." JJ told Avery bluntly as the duo speed-walked down the stairs on the side of the house, the Maybank boy leading her around the front of the house to travel the opposite direction of where the Decker was used to walking, towards John B's house in stead of JJ's.

"You do need to exercise, especially after your fatass ate like five pints of ice cream last night." Avery deadpanned, hooking her thumbs through the belt loops of her shorts as the duo strolled down the slightly worn path that lead back through the trees to John B's house.

"Maybe the one who had five pints of ice cream to begin with should be grateful I ate them all." JJ retorted, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking over at the Decker with a smile, the two rounding a corner that took them around the back side of John B's house. What Avery didn't expect was for JJ to grab her wrist suddenly and pull her behind the surf shack, pushing her against the wall and clamping his hand over her mouth.

Almost immediately, Avery began to attempt to shove him off as the sudden action had caught her off guard, but JJ only held her more.

"Ave, Ave, Ave- Avery, stop it! Stop, stop, stop!" JJ whisper-shouted, Avery finally meeting his eyes in confusion. JJ nodded his head around the corner, slowly taking his hand off of Avery's mouth and letting the Decker look where he was nodding, the girl noticing a sleek, gray car parked next to the Chateau.

"Who is that?" She whispered, JJ shaking his head. "No idea. Where's John B?"

"I haven't heard from him anymore than you have." Avery snapped back, shoving JJ off her as the Decker took a deep breath, rubbing the bottom of her ribcage where JJ had shoved her into the side of the surf shack. "Next time just use your words."

"Sorry, sorry..." The Maybank trailed off, looking around the corner as none other than John B started across the lawn, this being the first time Avery had seen her friend in days. Apparently, Avery's words had gone in one ear and out the other, as he was, in fact, still not using his words. JJ did the same thing to John B that he had done to Avery, grabbing the boy from behind and clamping a hand over his mouth. Unlike Avery, the Routledge fought back, shoving his friend onto the ground.

"What happened to using your words?" Avery whisper-shouted at the blonde, who was currently being shoved into the ground repeatedly by John B.

"John B, stop, stop, it's me, it's JJ."

John B suddenly stopped shoving JJ into the ground, looking at his blonde friend, who breathed a 'Fuck...' before immediately resorting to anger and frustration once more- which Avery couldn't blame him for.

"What're you doing-" John B started, JJ clamping his hand firmly over his friend's mouth and shoving him against the side of the surf shack just like he had done with Avery before grabbing him by the front of the shirt and tugging him over to where a couple of canoes were laying upside down, pointing to the car over the top of them.

"He wants you to play charades with us, but your rite of passage is getting shoved into the wall." Avery explained quietly as John B noticed the brunette standing leaned against the wall across from him. However, he was barely given time to process his friends presence before JJ grabbed him by the front of the shirt and yanked his attention back to him, pointing at the black car once more.

"They're watching us." He whispered.

"Who?" John B replied anxiously.

"We have no idea." Avery whispered back, JJ immediately nodding for them to follow him.

"Come on, let's sneak around back to the dock." The Maybank whispered, grabbing Avery's hand and pulling her behind him with John B in tow behind the two. "Gotta go this way- watch your step."

He and Avery jumped slightly over where tree roots were sticking out of the ground. The worn through soles of the Decker's Converse high-tops providing the girl with little padding between the bottom of her foot and the gravel littering the path towards the marsh. JJ immediately slung his bag onto the top of his head, starting to wade into the water, pulling Avery in behind him.

"Ew, ew ew-" Avery breathed as her feet made contact with the slimy mud caked across the bottom of the marsh, weeds and assorted algae immediately snagging on her knees and giving her clothes a green tint as the murky water seeped into the fabric. "I'm actually gonna kill you, JJ, this is disgusting."

"Hey." JJ whispered suddenly as he turned to John B. "You got the keys to the Pogue?"

"You ask him after I've ruined my socks?" Avery whisper-shouted, JJ looking at her apologetically, but John B was nodding his head yes in response to his friend's question.

The two boys continued to tread the water with their backpacks perched on the tops of their heads while Avery opted to actually swim properly. As soon as she made it to the HMS Pogue, the girl peeled the yellow t-shirt of John B's off where it had stuck to her skin from being completely soaked through, revealing the black sports bra underneath as JJ and John B lobbed themselves into the boat.

"I actually hate you, JJ- you're never eating my Girl Scout cookies again- I hate you so much-" Avery mumbled as she tugged her shoes and socks off her feet, looking disgustedly at the once-white fabric of her Nike socks that was now stained brown.

JJ and John B got the boat untied after a minor struggle, John B throttling up the motor of the old boat and speeding away from his house, the wind from the pace at which they were traveling whipping Avery's hair into her face. They eventually stopped at a small, secluded area with some timber and a beach. Avery laid herself across the bow of the boat while she talked with John B and JJ about the events that had occurred while they were away from each other.

DCS had finally cracked down on John B and tried to pull him out of his house, but he jumped out of a squad car and ended up with Sarah Cameron. The girl had information on an ex-slave turned free man who owned the Tannyhill property where the Camerons lived, and she got John B into the archives at Chapel Hill where he found information on the location of the gold.

Meanwhile, JJ shared the tale of what had happened while he was at the police station, choosing to leave out the details of what had followed at his house with Avery. Basically, the two men who had chased them through the marsh had been caught in the nets of some fishermen- both dead and mauled by sharks. JJ also mentioned the part where the two men had been stabbed by a gaff hook prior to their deaths, as well as everything that had happened at the summer movie with Rafe and the Kooks, still not leaving out how he now owed a thirty-thousand dollar restitution for something he didn't do.

"First, I almost get strangled to death by Kooks, and now I'm on the hook for thirty grand. We should just dip." JJ spat bitterly.

"Okay, where do you wanna go?" John B fired back, opening his arms wide as though he was open to suggestions from his friend.

"Yucatán." JJ answered after a few moments.

"Yucatán." John B breathed in disbelief, almost as though he couldn't fathom how the hell JJ thought the three of them could get to Mexico and why he was trying to flee the country over something the Routledge viewed as insignificant- in his eyes, the busted lip and assorted gashes on JJ's face were just a result of the fight with the Kooks.

"No, I'm like, dead serious right now." JJ told his friend. "Surf all day, and then we can just live off lobsters we catch with our bare hands!"

"You just wanna leave because you got your ass beat?" John B asked, still with the same tone of disbelief.

"No, John B, he wants to leave because your gold hunt is going to get one of- if not all of us- killed." Avery deadpanned, finally sitting up and swinging her legs over the front of the boat to look at the brunette like he was nothing more than a roach she was about to spray with Raid in her kitchen.

"You didn't see the photos." JJ mumbled, avoiding eye contact with John B as he did.

"Look, guys, they're willing to kill for the gold- then it's got to be out there!" John B exclaimed, desperately wanting his friends to listen to him, but JJ wasn't having it.

"Oh my God- have you lost your mind?" The Maybank shouted. "One hundred years, man. One hundred years people have been trying to find this Royal Merchant, and none of them succeeded, and you think you are gonna be the one who actually finds it?"

John B gnawed his lip as JJ got progressively closer to him and the boy's voice raised in volume and aggression.

"When're you gonna get in your thick skull? If you keep going down this road, you're gonna end up just like your dad!" JJ finished, John B shoving his friend harshly.

"I can't give up, JJ!" John B screamed, his voice strained and dropping in volume as soon as he spoke again, inches away from his best friend's face. "Last time I saw that dude, we got into an argument. Then he took all our rent money and dipped for this Royal Merchant. And then I told him he was a shit for a father."

Avery and JJ were silent at this confession. It was one the Decker had heard before, but it still stung to hear how upset John B still was with himself almost a year later over the incident.

"Dude, that wasn't your fault." JJ mumbled, but John B turned back to him.

"It doesn't matter whose fault it is, JJ." The brunette breathed exasperatedly. "Do you not understand that? I can't give up on the hunt, man. I don't care who's out there, who's gonna try to kill us. Do you understand that?"

"Okay, John B, some of us do." Avery spoke up again, John B immediately pinching his brow with his thumb and index finger.

"You both know that." John B mumbled, continuing his previous statement as though the girl in the boat had never opened her mouth to begin with. "Now I've got a plan, are you guys coming or not?"

John B started towards the boat as he said this, but Avery immediately climbed out. John B watched as the Decker moved past him, stopping next to JJ and turning on her heel, crossing her arms over her chest.

"No." The Decker said firmly. "We're sick of your wild goose chase bullshit, John B, we're not doing this anymore."

"Four-hundred-million, JJ." John B spoke to the blonde, realizing he wasn't going to convince Avery until he convinced JJ. "How much do you owe in restitution?"

Avery looked over at her boyfriend, who slowly turned to her and shrugged.

"Better than your dad." He whispered, a fake smile on his face as Avery sighed heavily, trudging after him towards the HMS Pogue once more.

"I'll go with you to Mexico." The girl mumbled, looking up at JJ, her lips curling up in a small smile, JJ's becoming genuine as the words rolled off Avery's tongue.

"Good, because you're gonna have to pay to get us there." He retorted, the two of them laughing as they climbed back into the boat with John B.

kens speaks 🪐

omg hi guys i'm back??

it's been a hot minute (over a month) but i hope my updates go back to being more regular. i've had state testing lately so i've been super busy but im back!!

anywho since i left mara <33 and i exchanged numbers and have been talking every day and just being unhinged. she helped me name my cats kittens and now we're their parents (they're literally so adorable i love them so much). she also has screenshots of me sleeping

anywho midsummers is next chapter and im hella excited so ill hopefully update more regularly now that im back from my little break. see you in chapter twelve!!