Key to adventure

They say there are going to come out to check out my "living situation". They actually thought I was gonna be happy to hear that. And that's where this story starts. My dad missing, my uncle MIA, and the bride of Frankenstein threatening foster care. But then I caught a break.

John B was standing in the small building at the dock, looking at the weather broad cast on the news, Lorelai leaning against the counter by his side. "If hurricane Agatha continues its steady march towards Kildare Island on the Outerbanks of North Carolina.." The report said. John B looked up at the screen. "Hold shit." He muttered as he shared a glance with those around him. "That is going to be one hell of a storm, mate." She commented as she straightened up.

Hurricane Agatha, coming in the same day DCS was supposed to do my assessment.

John B walked out of the building, pulling out his phone as he dialed the number for DCS. "Yeah, uh...I think we're probably gonna have to reschedule." He told the woman on the phone as the hurricane sirens blared it's warning of the approaching storm. Lorelai giving a small whistle as the dark clouds started rolling in.

John B, Lorelai and Pope ran through the pouring rain, the rain so heavy it hung like a mist making everything have a almost dreamy haze to it. Lorelai kept having to wipe her eyes as the rain fell. "It's a double overhead out there, bro." John B yelled to be heard over the storm. "Double overhead?" Pope repeated as they got to the top of the sand dune, looking out at the raging wages past the beach closed sign. Lorelai held a board close to her side, she learned how to surf a week after being there so was this risky? Yes. Did she care? No.....just don't tell Kiara.

"Those aren't surfable waves, bro." Pope told John B after watching the water. John B just laughed before clapping his friend on the shoulder. "Says who?" He asked as he ran towards the water. Lorelai took a breath before running after him, Pope desperately trying to call at least Lorelai to come back and stay away from those waves.

John B surfing and whipping out on the waves. Once he got back on his board he looked out into the water, seeing a boat being tossed around by the waves. "What the hell.." He said in a stunned voice.

Lorelai didn't take notice of the boat as she washed out on the waves, the girl tumbling over herself, the board still attached to her ankle. Water rushed up her nose as she tried to figure out which way was up as she felt dazed and confused. Finally she made it up, coughing harshly as John B reached her, pulling her up into the board. "Let's get you back in!" He called over the sound of the waves and rain. Lorelai was breathing heavily as she gave him a thumbs up.

When they reached the shore there was Pope waiting for them with a anxious look on his face, the concern only increasing when he saw the state Lorelai was in as she coughed up water. "Geez are you okay?" He asked as he hurried up to her side. "I...I don't recommend going out there." She tried to smile up at him before she started into another coughing fit. The girl got to her feet, Pope holding onto her arm. "I think it's a good time to get home." Lorelai said as she looked towards him, she could tell he agreed with that.

With the storm raging on the island lost power, even the guiding light of the lighthouse now failed to shine through the darkness.

Lorelai and John B walked inside the house, John B going into his room to change and sleep. While Lorelai did go into her room to change into dry clothes she didn't stay in there to go to sleep as she walked back to where JJ slept on the couch, laying down beside him.

JJ's arm slung lazily across her stomach as he slept, pulling her closer to his side as she smiled, snuggling into his hold as she closed her eyes. Tonight was a adventure, one she would never forget no matter what happened in her life.

The storm was over, John B sleeping peacefully in his bed, the chicken clucking and crowing outside but that's not what woke him. A drip of water kept hitting his face steadily from a leak in the roof. He sighed softly as he sat up, unlocking his phone before letting out another sigh. "No service?" He stood up, walking towards the light switch, flickering it a few times but nothing happened. "No power. Great." He said with disapproval on his voice.

He walked into the living room, JJ and Lorelai still sleeping on the pull out couch, the two tangled up together as JJ's head rested against the girl's chest as they slept. As John B passed he hit JJ in the bottom of his foot. "Yo, JJ, you been outside?" He asked as the blonde barely lifted his head. "I have polio, bro. I can't walk." Was JJ's sleep filled response before he laid his head back down, his hold on Lorelai tightening.

John B kept walking, pushing the screen door open to see what damage was done on the place. The distant rumble of thunder still heard. John B yawned as he ran a hand through his hair. "Oh man.,that's no good." He said as he looked at the uprooted tree. Limbs covering the boat, hammock on the ground

The girl hummed tiredly as she stretched, feeling the weight of the boy on her. "J...wake up." She said with a yawn as she opened her eyes slowly, squinting against the sunlight. She ran a hand through his blonde hair, he tilted his head into her touch. "JJ wake up." She tried again as she shook his shoulder but the boy didn't budge. "Starfish?" She tried another nickname but to no avail.

A devious smirk fell across Lorelai's lips as she leaned closer to his ear. "Time to wake up babe." She whispered softly, her lips grazing his cheek and suddenly JJ found the ability to wake up.

"Babe?" He asked with a dopey, sleepy smile on his face. "What do you mean?" Lorelai faked confusion. JJ's blue eyes now opened fully. "You called me babe."
"No I didn't..did you dream I called you babe JJ?" She cooed as she placed her hands on his cheeks.

JJ leaned into her touch just like he did when he was asleep. "No, no this wasn't a dream and you know it." He was smiling at her. Lorelai moved off off the couch, JJ's hand trailing across her side.

"Who knew you wanted me so bad Maybank that you have gone delusional." Lorelai and JJ were close friends, they constantly teased each other but recently the two would make jabs a bit to close to the truth.

His blue eyes stayed on her as she walked into her room to change. "Everyone but you." He muttered as he sat up, stretching his arms above his head, waiting for Lorelai to come back out.

"It's about time." JJ looked up at the door when it opened as he drifted quiet. She wore her usual style of fitted black jeans despite the summer heat but ditched her thigh high boots and flowy shirt, instead she wore one of JJ's shirts, a black tang top, the bikini she wore underneath could be seen on her sides as the sleeves hung down on her.

"You should wear shorts Captain." JJ finally sat as he stood up, he slung his arm over her shoulder as he pulled her to his side. "You know that I don't have any shorts." She laughed. As they walked towards the door leading to the back yard.

"Agatha did some work, huh?" JJ asked as him and Lorelai  "Yeah, she did." John B replied to his friend. John B was working on cleaning off the boat as they walked over. "So whatcha thinking?" Lorelai asked, leaning her shoulder against the boat. John B had lifted himself up and was sitting on the side of the boat. "I'm thinking that storm surge pushed all the crabs out on the marsh maze. All those drum are gonna chase the crab."
"What about the DCS? Wasn't that today?" JJ asked, looking up at his friend, squinting against the sunlight. "Nah, they're not getting on a ferry. Come on, think about it. It's God telling us to fish."
"And who are we to stand in the way of divine intervention.' Lorelai laughed softly

John B, Lorelai and JJ were on the boad, moving slowly along as the checked out the damage of everything. Dolphins following behind them but neither boy noticed, but Lorelai definitely did, they were believed to be good luck and a sign of safety amongst sailors. "Uh..good morning!" They greeted others as they passed the boat. "Sure hope Guffy's boat didn't sink. He doesn't have insurance." JJ said. "Yeah." Was John B's response as he steered the boat. "Hey Miss Amy! You guys get through it?" John B called to as woman who was cleaning off on of the floating docks. She waved to the boys. "Still here."

"She totally looked at me." JJ said after they passed a bit. "I saw it." John B said amused at his friend. Lorelai laughed.  "Yeah she was definitely checking you out, should make a move their Jbug." She teased as she leaned back against the railing of the boat. JJ looked towards her and flashed her a cheeky smile. "Maybe I will." He joked.

"Dude look at this place." John B said as they got to a part of the deck that was more broken, Lorelai stood back up straight again as she looked at it, her eyes a bit wide. JJ let out a whistle. "Agatha what did you do?"
"She is a crazy lady." John B said as they looked at it. "Hard core dude. Hurricane surge. We'll be cleaning this all summer." JJ said with a shake of his head. "That is my nightmare." John B said as they got to the deck where Pope and his dad were cleaning. "Well, look who we have here." John B said in a ridiculous voice. Pope looking up at them. A sigh that read 'Bring it on Aggie you bitch' coming into view. "Love the art work Mr. Heyward!" Lorelai called over with a big smile on her face

John B put his hand on his shoulder, cupping it and acting like he was talking into a CB. "We have a safety meeting. Attendance is mandatory." He said, finishing it off with a mimicked static sound. "I can't my pops has me on lock down." Pope said as he looked at the two. "Come on man." JJ said before repeating the static sound, hand to his shoulder. "You're dad's a pussy. Over." Lorelai hit his shoulder. Mr. Heyward was walking over with a broom in hand. "Oh, I heard that, you little bastard."

John B looked over at the older man. "We need your son." He said. "Yeah, and island rules. Day after hurricanes a free day," JJ said, his hands spread to the side. "Who the hell made that up?" Heyward said as he looked at JJ. "Uh...Pentagon, I think." Lorelai said as she looked towards Heyward with a polite smile on her face. "We have security clearance. I have a card." JJ said as he reached into his pocket. Heyward was staring at them with disbelief on his face. "Do you think I'm stupid?"

"I'll do it tomorrow. I promise. Tomorrow." Pope said looking at his dad. "No, no. Hell no. You doing it right now." His dad said
"Get in the boat." John B whispered looking at him. "Make a run for it, bro. Make a run for it," JJ encouraged as Pope dropped the hose and ran for the boat. "Boy, if you get in that boat-" Heyward started but Pope had jumped in. Lorelai looked towards Pope with a smile on her face, glad that ultimately he decided to join them.

"How does that feel?" JJ said with a grin as Pope hit the metal of the window that was in front of the steering wheel. "Go, go, go." He said in a rushed whisper. "Bring your ass back up here." Pope turned around to look at his dad as John B waved. "I promise I'll do it tomorrow, dad."
"Whoo!" JJ whooped with triumph, swinging the rope for docking above his head like a lasso. "Sorry Mr. Heyward!" Lorelai called, blowing a kiss towards him. "When you get home you gonna clean shrimp, you gonna clean fish, you'll clean your dirty ass room!" Heyward yelled after his son. "We'll bring him back in one piece. I promise ." John B promised. "And I don't like your friends!" Heyward called.

Pope was sitting on the bow of the boat and JJ on the side as they got to the dock where Kie was. "Oh, top o' the morning to ya." JJ greeted in a terrible Irish accent. "Good morning boys, good morning Lorelai." Kie said with a smile as she got to the end of the dock. "Morning." John B greeted. Pope noticed the cooler she had. "Good morning Kie." Lorelai waved to her.

"Whatcha got? You got some juice boxes?" He asked her. "Oh you know, just some yogurts and carrot sticks." As they got to the dock JJ offered his hand to help her into the boat. "How about my kind of juice box?"
"Yeah." She said in a light voice as she climbed in. "Brace for impact." John B said in a deeper voice then natural. As she say down they opened up the cooler, passing out the bottles of beer. "Salud." Kie said as they clicked glasses. "Skoal." JJ said before they all took a sip of the beer, minus John B who was still steering the boat. "Thank you Kie." Lorelai smiled at her. Kiara sending her a smile as well.

Now Pope was behind the wheel. "Let me know you a little party trick." JJ said as he moved to the front of the boat, walking passed Kie. He looked back. "Hey, Pope. Can you got a little faster?" He asked the boy. John B started moving back towards the back of the boat. "Oh God here we go. I'm moving." Lorelai looked at John B. "What?" She asked curiously as her eyes trailed back to JJ.
"Doesn't work. We've tried this like 6,000 times." Pope said with a small shake of his head. "I got this. It's gonna work!" JJ reassured him as Pope pushed the lever up, the boat starting to move faster. JJ held up the bottle as he faced the wind, mouth open. Beer was going everywhere but his mouth it seemed. "You're getting beer in my hair!" Kie complained with a laugh. "Oh, my God. All right. All right!" He said also he raised his hand to block the beer from his face. "Hey fishbrains you are getting us soaked!" Lorelai protested as she raised her hand to shield herself from the beer.

It was even getting on John B who was sitting all the way in the back. "All right, you're done." John B said as he started to stand up. "All right, stop!"Pope sounded also little more annoyed then before. The motor rattled and also grinding sound was heard as the boat hit something, flinging all of the forward. JJ flipping off of the boat at the suddenness of the hit.

They all let out a scream at the jolt. Lorelai being flung forward, hitting her head against the side. "Jesus, Pope!"Kie said as she pushed her hair back and out of her face. The pirate girl quickly got to her feet. "Kie you okay?" She asked to which the girl nodded. Lorelai made her way to the front of the boat, her eyes searching the water. "JJ!" she called out into the waves. Pope and John B groaning. John B was on the floor of the boat now.

Lorelai felt a sense of relief as JJ finally came to the surface with a groan. "You okay, JJ?" John B asked him. "I think my heels touched the back of my head." His voice was raspy. "Kie, you okay?" John B asked, he has yet to move from the floor. "I'm all right." She told him, hair in her face. JJ was swimming back towards the boat. Lorelai's eyes staying on JJ as he swam. "Pope, what did you do?" He asked. "Sandbar. The channel changed." Pope explained. "No shit." Was JJ's simple response. "Ugh, this is probably gonna mess this whole place up." John B groaned. Kie stretching out any aches she still had. "Hey, I saved the beer, though." JJ told them, his voice now holding a slight laugh to it. Pope was climbing onto the front of the boat. "Congrats, JJ." John B said sarcastically.

"Guys....I think there's a boat down there."Pope said as he stared into the water. "Shut up. What?" John B said in a slightly dismissive manner, the tone you use when you're sure a friend is trying to trick you. Lorelai stood up straight to look into the water, her eyes squinting to see past the sunlight reflecting. "No way." Kie said. JJ was still in the water, looking up at them.

"No, no, guys. I'm serious. There's a boat down there. For real." He said now pointing. John B and Kie got up, moving to stand by Pope. "Guys...is this." John B started in disbelief as he looked down there. "It's a boat!" Pope's voice was a bit higher now, almost excited by the find. "Holy shit, he's right. Let's go." Kie said as she moved towards the middle of the boat, taking off her Jean shorts that covered her bikini bottoms. John B already starting to take off his shirt. Lorelai slipped off her shoes, shimming out of her jeans. "Told you to wear shorts." JJ said with a whistle towards her. Lorelai rolled her eyes with a faint smile, giving him the finger as she pulled off JJ's shirt.

"You think there's a dead body down there?" Pope asked as John B jumped into the water. JJ already swimming towards the wreck. "Whoo!" Kie yelled as she jumped into the water. Lorelai following after the girl. "Guys, wait up!" Pope called as he started to take off his shirt and hat. "Get your ass in here, Pope!" JJ called him. "Come on!" John B called as Pope jumped into the water. The group trying to swim down to take a look at the boat.

As they broke the surface they all gasped for air. "You guys saw that?" JJ asked as he shook the water from his face and hair. "Yeah." Pope said with a nod. All agreeing. The group letting out a small laugh. "That's a Grady-White. A new one of those is like 500 Gs, easy." JJ said as they swam back to their boat. "Okay!" Pope called as they all pulled themselves into the boat. "That's a primo rig." JJ said.

Lorelai crossed the distance between her and JJ, shoving him. That caught him off guard. JJ was about to say something when she wrapped her arms around his stomach, head resting against his chest. "You scared me you stupid fuck." She grumbled, JJ chuckling as he wrapped his arms around her, fingers brushing soft circles on her hips. "Well I didn't really plan to be thrown into the water."

"Yeah. That's the boat I saw when we surfed the surge. Maybe it hit the jetty or something." John B said, catching everyone's attention, JJ keeping his arm around Lorelai. Kie looked at him with disbelief on her face. "You surfed the surge?" She asked, hoping she heard him wrong. "Yeah." John B said with a nod as JJ let out as laugh. "That's my boy. Pogue style." He said as he high fived John B. That's when JJ paused. "Wait you said we, who else?"

John B gestured towards the girl that was tucked under his friends arm. "Captain?" JJ asked with a shocked laugh. "JB surfed I almost drowned." She said with a small laugh.

Pope stood up, moving towards the other two boys. "Wait, wait. Do we know whose boat that is?" He asked them. "No, but we're about to find out." John B said as he opened the hatch where the anchor was. JJ looking down into the water. "Dude, it's too deep." He said almost disappointedly. Kie looked over at Pope a look of disbelief and disappointment on her face, hoping that the boys wouldn't do this, that they wouldn't do something stupid. "Oh, for the weak and feeble, JJ." John B said with a slight groan as he lifted the anchor out of the holding area, letting it clatter onto the deck of the boat. "Well, I'm not resuscitating you. I'm just making that clear up front." JJ told him. "That's fine, Lore will keep me alive, ain't that right girlie?." John B said as he stood up, picking the anchor up with him. "Sure, sure. I'll make sure you don't die pretty boy." She said with a flash of a grin. "John B." Kie said in a soft voice making him look at her. "What?" He asked with a small chuckle. Pope looked at his friend. "Diver down, fool." He said. John B giving a small sigh. "Diver down." He repeated. "Yeah he is." JJ said as he pushed John B in to the water.

Lorelai was chewing on her nail, she had pulled on JJ's shirt again. "I can't believe you pushed him." Lorelai said as she cut her eyes towards him.  JJ shrugged slightly. "He'll be okay plus you said you would give him mouth to mouth...hmm maybe I should have gone into the water." He gave her a smirk, Lorelai laughing softly as she pushed him away from her. Kiara and Pope glanced towards the two before sharing a glance.

They looked back into the water, waiting to see him come back to the surface. "Should we go get him?" Pope asked, Kie looking over at him. Just then John B came to the surface, pushing his hair out of his eyes as he coughed. Lorelai was starting to get worried for him so she let out a breath when he came back. "Oh my God. That took forever!" Kei complained with worry in her voice. "Any dead bodies?" Pope asked him. "Looting potential?" JJ added. "No, no." John B answered to both questions.

He lifted his hand to show a key. "I found this motel key." He told them as JJ worked on pulling up the anchor. "Uh..a key?" Pope did his best to keep the disappointment from his voice. "Yes, a key, Pope."
"Great! We salvaged a motel key." JJ said sarcastically. John B pulling himself out of the water. "Guys, we should report the wreck to the coast guard. Maybe we'll get a finder's fee." Kie told them. "Yeah, and not work all summer. Thanks, Agatha, ya batch." JJ said as they started their way back to the shore.