(chapter two)

Jaycee woke up with the sun hitting her face. She forgot to close her window the day before, but how could she when the entire island was burning up? Looking up at the sky she could see the heavy clouds and the blond haired girl could almost hear the waves crashing aggressively all the way to her house.

Pulling her hair into a ponytail she opened the door to go to the bathroom after making her bed, but when she twisted the door knob the door didn't budge.

"Oh, c'mon!" She whined, slapping her hand on the wood surface and she could hear JJ snicker from inside.

"Too fucking slow, dumbass!" He said it back, and she could hear the shower turning on, making Jaycee rest her forehead on the door and groan.

The worst thing about having only one bathroom in the house was that she had to share it with both her father and her younger brother.

Scratching the top of her head, she walked away from the bathroom. Luke was still knocked out cold on the couch, but in a different position than before, and the sight of her house at that moment made her sigh.

Beer bottles were all around the place, along w the food containers, and whatever. Jaycee didn't know how in two days the two would let the house look like a total mess. The sink with the unwashed dishes.

Grabbing the trash bag, she started throwing everything in her sight inside of it, being extra careful, she crouched to pry the beer bottle from her father's hand, and she took out the trash from both her father and brother's bedroom.

Letting the trash bag in the middle of the small hallway, a basket now in hands to grab all the dirty laundry, and as she passed the bathroom once more she knocked twice.

"They take the bathroom trash and put the dirty clothes with the others on the washing machine!" She could hear him saying a small alright back.

Putting the basket on top of the machine, she took the cleaning supplies, starting with the kitchen.

It was almost like an everyday task. And she was used to it. Luke could not care less if the house was tidy and clean, he could be living in a pigsty and he wouldn't even notice the difference.

JJ, however, once he started seeing how much work it was for Jaycee to maintain the house he start to put on an effort too. But also because half of his clothes weren't in John B's house, he didn't have too much to clean up after.

After mopping the floor and washing the dishes, and when she finally was done making Luke's bed, JJ opened the bathroom door, steam following him as his half-wet hair let the droplets fall free, pushing the trash on the bag as he with a towel hanging from his waist. He then whistled to grab his sister's attention, pointing to the bathroom with his other hand with the dirty laundry.

Jaycee grabbed the towel from her room, letting the shower start. The water fell on her hair and back she could almost hear her shoulder popping with every move.

And JJ put on a tank top and shorts, opening the washing machine while he had the weed pen in between his lips, taking a slow drag as he put the clothes inside. Closing the lid he clicked to turn on the machine, furrowing his eyebrows when it didn't start, so he push it again.

He opened and closed the lid again, pressing now random buttons, and it didn't move, so he just slapped the top of it.

"Fucking stupid-" he slapped it once more, really expecting it to start working, but of course, it didn't. JJ then opened the machine once more, taking out all of the clothes and putting them in a backpack.

Dropping the bag on the table, he turned to open the fridge, not really knowing what he expected to find. He should've known by now that it would be empty, aside from three beer bottles. He took out two, putting them on the counter and popping one open.

He then glared at his sleeping father, and JJ really started to hope he could suddenly have Superman's powers. His attention shifted when Jaycee walked out of the bathroom, in a dark blue cropped shirt and white jean shorts, towel-drying her wavy hair.

JJ turned to grab the other bottle, opening it and offering it to the girl, who silently took it, a confused expression on her face to the bag on the table.

"The washing machine broke," JJ answered, and he saw her face fall. He hated it.

And Jaycee left the beer bottle on the table, went back to her room and she opened her wallet. One five-dollar bill sat there as she sighed. There it goes all of her money. She turned to JJ who had followed her to her room.

"You can drop me off at the laundry-"

JJ — who was shuffling with something in his pockets — held up a five-dollar bill, handing it over to his sister. "I agreed to help Mr Heyward today, hopefully he'll pay me."

"JJ you don't have to," she shook her head, going to return his money, but he crossed his arms.

"Jaycee, they are also my clothes." He shrugged, taking a sip of the beer. "C'mon, finish up the drink and I'll drop you off."

++++

Jaycee sat with her knees pressed against her chest while her eyes were focused on the turning clothes on the washing machine in front of her, trying to ignore the sounds of her stomach turning, begging for her to eat anything.

She didn't acknowledge the laundry shop doors opening and closing, just turned her head when someone stopped by her side.

The boy with his usual hair gelled back now free as he looked down at her, a smirk on the side of his face, as he sat down in front of her and stared at the clothes turning.

"Oh, yeah, that is for sure very entertaining," he commented, crossing his arms as he turned his head a little to the side. "For a cat."

Jaycee almost snorted, shaking her head with a small smile, bumping her shoulder with his.

"How did you find me here?" She asked, pointing around, chin resting on her knees as Rafe let his arm fall behind her on the back of the chair.

"Rose scheduled for me for them to take my measurements for the midsummer's suit," Rafe pointed out to the other side of the street, where the tailor shop stood.

"First-world problems," she teased, and Rafe's smirk grew.

"What're you doing after this?" Jaycee looked back at the blue eyes of the boy in front of her. They held back a storm of thoughts that she could never understand.

Why would the kook prince decide he wanted her to spend time with? She was on the lowest of the pogue rank, almost a sewer rat. The Maybanks held a reputation, but not a good one at that with Luke's anger and drug problems, along with the kleptomania of her younger brother.

But before she could answer, her stomach turned, making a loud noise and embarrassment grew on her cheeks and she closed her eyes, leaning her forehead on her knees. Rafe's eyebrows shot up and he gave her an amused expression.

And then he started laughing, making Jaycee start slapping his arm away.

"It's. Not. Funny!"

The machines beeped, announcing the clothes were all dried and ready, so she finally put her feet back on the ground.

Grabbing her backpack and taking out little by little the clothes from the machines, Rafe stood up with her.

"What about we go grab something to eat, then I don't know, crash at Barry's?" He suggested, and Jaycee looked up from the shirt she was folding.

"I'm good. Thank you, though," she moved to the next piece, and Rafe rolled his eyes.

"Not asking, though," he mocked the verbal tick and leaned his body on the table. "With your stomach growling like that you're not in a position to say no. C'mon."

"I'm sorry, but don't you have anyone else you would rather hang out with? I have to get this back home and-"

"Nah, I'm good. I like to see you get all worked up when I mention how Barry keeps checking you out every time you're not looking," Rafe teased, and Jaycee's movements stalled. Sending Rafe a look, she shook her head.

"All that dust is finally catching up to you," she commented and Rafe rolled his eyes, seeing her zip up the bag. His hand was faster, so he snatched the backpack, throwing it over his shoulder as he started walking to the doors. "Hey!"

"I'm thinking the Wreck, burgers sound nice, right?" He asks as he unlocks the truck and places the bag on the backseat. "Jaycee, c'mon. You're clearly hungry and I'm paying, I invited you."

And at that moment Jaycee's expression softened, the boy really was just trying to be nice like he always was, so she gave in, opening the passenger door and letting Rafe take her to the restaurant.

++++

At the Wreck, Jaycee felt the burning stare on the back of her neck while Rafe rested his hand on the high of her back, as he guided them to sit down on one of the tables. Jaycee also had to ignore the questioning look Kiara sent her way as she wrote down their order.

And she had to control herself when the waitress put down the burger in front of her, she also had to slow down her chewing so it didn't become too apparent how hungry she actually was. But Rafe knew.

It didn't take a genius to figure it out, after all. If his own costs were already too much, he couldn't imagine how it was to Jaycee to be the only income for her family but have to pay after her almost deadbeat father.

He wasn't even that hungry, it was only eleven am. But he was satisfied with the way her face lit up when the food arrived.

And after that, just like he had said earlier, the two made their way back to the Cut, more especially to Barry's house.

Like it was said before, it didn't take a genius to notice that Barry liked the girl sitting beside him in the car. The drug dealer may be too good at hiding, but Rafe was too good at reading people, too.

Gods forbid anyone actually saying this, but they were his friends, and he wanted Jaycee to have something to be happy about because he knew what was like to live with a father that didn't care enough.

And the Cameron boy found comfort in the drugs he used, and seeing how Luke Maybank was, he didn't want that the blond haired girl to fall into their same habits.

"Don't be so much excited to see Barry, jeez Jaycee," Rafe teased, seeing the girl too quiet as he pulled the car to stop in front of the house.

"How did you notice?" She faked the enthusiasm, and the boy rolled his eyes in a playful manner as he opened the car door, the girl not too far behind.

As they walked to the porch of the house, Rafe could see the familiar faces of the old pogues, far too high to actually know what was going on around them. Jaycee walked behind him, and he could almost be a shield in front of her of how small her frame was compared to him.

"Country Club!" The dragged voice of his friend was a little inside the house, as he made his way to the Cameron boy.

"Barry, what's up, man?" Rafe answered, clapping hands with the older boy, then patting his shoulder with the other.

"Came here to get another dose already?"

"No, actually, we came here..." Rafe got a little out of the way, and Barry's brown eyes fell onto the girl who stood behind Rafe. "To hang out a little, you know."

Jaycee smiled with her lips closed, and a small wave with her hand. Barry's gaze then shifted to the Cameron, who had a convinced smirk on the side of his face.

Okay, maybe he was doing it because Barry had told him when he was way too drunk that he wished that Jaycee could just hang out with them without Luke being involved.

Barry then clapped his hands, smirking as he looked back at the girl. "Well, sweet thing, you know your way in."

And Rafe wiggled his eyebrows at her when Barry turned around, and she gave him a look, not too long before following the older boy. Rafe stood there for a second with a knowing smile and then followed the two.

Barry opened his fridge, taking out two more beers as he opened them with his lighter, while Jaycee sat on the couch, Rafe on the armchair and Barry sat down beside her, handing the bottle to the two.

And there they stayed, listening to whatever Rosa Grubs was telling them. Jaycee wasn't entirely sure the continuations of the story were adding up, but she in the corner of her eye could see Barry bringing a blunt to his lips, inhaling the smoke while the flame lit it up.

Taking the blunt from his lips, he noticed the hidden stare, so he offered it to her. Jaycee thought for a moment about denying it, but she was too tired of the real life at that moment.

So she accepted, and when moving to grab it she felt how warm was Barry's fingers in comparison to her ones, sending a tingling over her hand and up her arm. It looked like it was in slow motion as she moved her hand away, bringing the blunt to her lips and taking a drag.

His brown eyes never left her, down to her mouth then up to the smoke that left her lips.

It was almost like they were there in their own world, and maybe they were.

Because the bubble only popped when someone slapped Barry's shoulder to greet him as they passed. The drug dealer smiling, talking to them back, and Jaycee finally noticed how much she was staring, passing the blunt back to Barry and looking down at her bottle, taking a sip so she could let her body temperature cool down.

But when her eyes fell back on the table she could only see Rafe with his card out separating the cocaine into lines. She swallowed hard the beer and looked away when the boy bent his head.

And Barry noticed that humming as he saw her beer ending, so he drank the rest of his bottle, moving to get up and gaining once again Jaycee's attention.

"Come grab some more beer, I ain't no maid," Barry spoke to her, pointing with his head to the kitchen for her to follow her. And Jaycee was quick to get up too, fastening her footsteps to match his.

She then stood with her back leaning against the sink as Barry took out another two bottles from the inside. Jaycee's blue eyes trailed on his hands as he opened it with the lighter, a crease in between her eyebrows as she accepted the drink.

"How do you do that?" She asked, seeing Barry grab the other bottle. The older boy looked down at the beer and back up at her. "The lighter thing. Never seen this before."

"How do you open your beers?" Barry asked, genuinely and the girl tilted her head to the side a little.

"If there's any tables or chairs I just put the side of the lid on and smack it, if not I do it with my teeth," she pointed to the table, then she looked back at Barry, who shook his head a little, almost as he was disappointed.

"That ain't good. That's how I broke my teeth, you see," he pointed at the golden teeth, and then he licked his lips, taking the full beer bottle from her then showed how he was holding the bottle, then giving it to her. "You take your left hand and you hold it right up at the top of the bottle."

She did as he had demonstrated, the sides of the lid touching her skin.

"Then you get the lighter right in there by your pointer finger," he also passed the lighter to her right hand. "Get the leverage just right, grip it really tight, and push the lighter the other way."

Jaycee nodded, putting the lighter on the side of the lid, her finger becoming almost like a barrier and then she pushed the lighter, the bottle opening very easily as the lid fell on the counter.

"There you go," Barry crossed his arms with a smirk, nodding his head with a proud expression. "Now you won't get the risk of breaking these white jewels there."

Barry rested his hand on the counter by her side, body leaning a little forward without either of them realizing.

"Oh, I don't know. I think I actually want to match with you in that," she commented, a smirk playing on her own lips. "It would fit me a lot more, don't you think?"

He raised his eyebrows, biting back a smile. "Have no doubt in that."

"Oh, fuck!"

The voice brusted again their bubble, as they looked in the direction of the annoyed voice. Where right now was almost everyone in the house around the television.

Barry clicked his tongue, leaning away from the girl as he start heading to everyone else, and Jaycee felt the lack of warmth by her side but was quick to regain her posture and walked up to the tv.

"Hurricane Agatha continues its steady march towards Kildare Island on the Outer Banks of North Carolina-" and as that was said, they all started hearing the emergency sirens all around.

Jaycee looked at Rafe, who looked like he had the same idea. The boy was opening and closing his palms as a way to calm himself or grasp into a glimpse of reality. But the worried look on Jaycee's face and even Barry's made him bite down the high wave.

He moved toward the girl, hand going to her shoulder. "We gotta go."

"Yeah..." she was pushed all around the bodies of the people who were also at the house at that moment, and she looked back at Barry. "Baz."

And he looked back at her, seeing her worried eyes.

"Be safe."

And he smiled, ignoring the way his heart started to beat faster at that. "Always am."

And then she let Rafe pull her by the arm. The two of them made their way to the boy's truck, which had only two things in his mind. Get her home, not giving a single fuck if anyone in the Cut would ask why Jaycee Maybank was leaving Rafe Cameron's car, and then go back to his house, lock himself in his room as he also hoped that the storm would fuck up his high mind even more.

++++

Rafe gave the girl a nod when he dropped her off, watching as she entered her house with the backpack in hands.

Luke was sitting on the couch, eyes locked on the television in front of him. A beer in hand and his eyes went to the girl, a sarcastic smile playing on his lips.

"Great, we're all grouping up for the hurricane," his rough voice spoke loudly. He was drunk. Of course he was. "Are we gonna sit together on the cube of a bathroom and tell love tales stories?"

Jaycee tried to ignore his comment, placing the backpack on the table as she opened the zipper, hands going to grab the small number of her father's clothes.

"Fucking hurricane to destroy this trash house a lot more than you two already do!" Luke threw the controller on the television, the glass shattering with the impact and Jaycee jumped.

JJ — who had just arrived and had chained down his bike — opened the front door in that exact instant, and regret grew on his mind at the same time his blood ran cold.

The older girl tried to contain the shake of her hands as she looked at her brother, a small no with her head to tell him not to react.

"What're you looking at, huh?" Luke got up from the couch, finger pointed at his son. "Taking a small glimpse of your future?!"

"Here's the clean clothes, dad." Jaycee stepped in the middle of his vision, trying to diverge the attention from JJ back to her. Sometimes changing the subject would work, but she looked like the luck from yesterday had grown thin.

His nose flared up in anger.

"Clean clothes, here's the clean clothes-" he mumbled more to himself as he walked forwards, slapping the pieces on her hand to the side as he tried to get to JJ. "Fuck you're looking at?!"

"Dad, dad!" Jaycee pushed him back so that he wouldn't walk closer to JJ anymore but with no vail. She, wanting or not, wasn't strong enough to detain the man, so he just grabbed roughly her forearms, pushing her down on the ground.

The man ignored how she cried out as his hands gripped JJ's tank top, slamming the boy against the door. JJ didn't know how to react as how everything just happened too fast.

But the two of them were able to hear her hissing, their attention quickly turned back to her and the blood dripping from her hands.

Luke had pushed her on the broken glass of the TV, which cut her palms. The man stared at his daughter for a second then he tsked, letting go of JJ, and with hard steps slammed the door from his room.

JJ was quick to run to her side, one of his father's shirts in hand as he tried to contain the blood.

And after he straightened his thoughts, he walked inside the bathroom, opening the first aid kit. With a tweezer, he started taking off the glass from her palms.

Jaycee but back any emotion. She was hurt but she wouldn't let JJ see her break from their father's actions. She needed to be strong. Even if she had to bite back the tears and the pain to be able to do that.

"That's gonna sting," he warned as he sprayed the antiseptic, which only make her breath get caught in her throat.

And JJ wrapped the gauze around her hands, helping her get up with care, then guiding the girl to her room.

He left her there sitting down on her bed as he went back to clean the mess left behind.

And when he disappeared on the corner, Jaycee brought her hands to her chest, breath shaky as she silently cried, leaning forward until her forehead rested on her knees.

Stop crying. Just. Stop. Crying.

But it hurts so much.

Taking one, two, three deep breaths, she cleaned her eyes as best as she could, looking outside the window. The wind was strong blowing away the tree's leaves, and she got up, slamming it shut.

She let her body sink onto her mattress, her bandaged hands close to her face as she kept staring at them.

Hearing steps getting closer to her bedroom, she could see in the dark as JJ closed and locked her door, his face pulled down on a frown, and she only opened her arms.

The teenage boy didn't waste a second on laying next to his sister, hands pulling her into a hug, his body shaking.

Her fingers went to his hair as she played the best she could, as she squeezed him with another arm. "I'm sorry."

"I'm okay," she assured, and JJ's body was still shaking, and so was his breathing. Jaycee licked her lips, staring at the dark of her room she whispered: "We could leave."

"Hm?"

"Leave the island. Leave this shit hole and everyone behind," she imagined. "Leave him behind."

JJ stayed silent for a few seconds, the wind whistling outside the house and the leaves moving with it.

"To never come back?"

"Only we can finally turn to him and say in his face that we won't ever need him again," she said with so much confidence that JJ almost believed her.

"Okay." He agreed, voice so soft she could barely hear it. "Together?"

"Together."

And it was a promise not to be broken.

AND HERE WE HAVE CHAPTER TWO!

A lot has happened, and oh my God. Luke Maybank hate club!

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