(chapter three)

It wasn't the first time that Jaycee woke up feeling like the air wasn't reaching her lungs. She quickly sat up on the bed, not remembering that JJ was sleeping beside her, only when he let out a small sigh and turned to the other side that she become aware of his presence.

She pushed her mess of hair back, resting her hands over her eyes for a second to try to regulate her breathing. The gauze against her skin made her very conscious of the events of the day before, and that was probably the reason for her frantic mind playing tricks on her.

Jaycee wasn't in danger, at least not yet.

As she walked around to evaluate the damage the hurricane did to the house, she couldn't find anything besides the ripped screens and broken branches outside. But what the also couldn't spot was Luke, who had left behind a trail of beer and the door opened with his bedroom just as messy as himself.

Going back to her room she tapped JJ's foot and the boy let out a groan. "C'mon, Jay, we got things to do."

"What things?" He asked, still with his eyes closed as he got even more comfortable on the bed.

That was a great question because they didn't exactly have anything to do, however, it was the day after a hurricane, and that would their best bet to actually help someone to sort out their problems and get paid for it.

"How about we go see John B?" She suggested, and almost instantly Jaycee could see his eyes opening and his arms flexing as he stretched. The older Maybank only rolled her eyes. "Of course, this is what works."

And in no time the two found themselves walking to John B's place. The chateau wasn't that far from their house, the walk would almost be the everyday exercise — only when they were not surfing, of course.

JJ had told her about CPS going after him, and that it had to be rescheduled because of the hurricane. The fact that the young boy would probably be taken away to the main island, jumping from foster home to foster home because of his age didn't sit right with her.

Jaycee could only curse Teddy and Camila Routledge for negligence — not that her own father was any better, but at least when their mother dipped he had stayed, and Jaycee would be forever grateful for it. If not, the two would've been separated, and the girl didn't think she could imagine her life without Jesse James.

John B was also like a younger brother to her. The two boys are inseparable and always willing to bring the older girl along. He couldn't just... leave.

The mess of branches and leaves all around the house as JJ opened the front door and the two make their way in. They could see John B talking a fallen branch from the HMS Pogue, as he mumbled something under his breath.

JJ looked at the beer bottle on the coffee table outside, grabbing it and taking a sniff when he noticed it was half full, then bringing it to his lips. Jaycee made a face, letting her body rest on the railing.

"Agatha did some work, huh?" JJ asked, and John B stared back at the two Maybanks, nodding back at Jaycee when she waved.

"Yeah, she did," the brown haired boy sighed, sitting up on the boat and staring down at the girl, who had left her place by the porch to get closer to the boy.

"I know that look, what's on your mind?" She asked, and the boy only shrugged.

"Thinkin' that the storm surge pushed all the crabs out in the marsh maze," John B knew what she was talking about, but he didn't want to talk about it. "All those drums are gonna chase the crab."

"Johnny-"

"What about the DCS? Wasn't that today?" JJ looked up at his friend as he stopped by the fallen tree by the boat. The boy knew exactly what was going through his sister's head and he knew how to read his best friend like no one else.

"Nah, they're not getting on that ferry," he shook his head, turning to the blondes. "Think about it. It's God telling us to fish."

Jaycee rolled her eyes. She had stopped believing in God when she was seven, right after her father hit her the first time, after doing a number on only a 4-year-old JJ. Right after her mother took her things and left them just like that, not giving a damn about what would happen to her kids.

"If you say so," JJ shrugged his shoulders, and the two of them looked back at Jaycee. The girl looked between them and shrugged too.

"Drop me off at the Heywards? Maybe they need an extra hand and if I'm lucky we'll get anything for dinner?" She asked, and John B threw the last twig on the ground, slapping the side of the boat.

Then the three of them pushed the boat back into the water. JJ had taken it upon himself to drive, and John B sat back down on the floor, in between Jaycee's legs as he used her as a pillow. If anyone else saw them would think they had something going on, but it was all purely platonic.

John B — like JJ — felt safe when Jaycee was around because she was their shield. She was always there whenever they needed her.

Jaycee wrapped her arms around John B's shoulders, his hand holding the one hanging on his chest while she rested her forehead on the back of his shoulder. His fingers brushed the gauze of her hands as he looked down at it, a small frown on the side of his mouth at the dried blood.

Her brain could only go back to the idea that they would take him away from them, and she couldn't imagine her life without the annoying boy, who over the years had become her second little brother.

It was almost like John B knew what was going through her head, and that was why even on how hot the sun was over them, he still let her cling to him like a koala.

JJ greeted the woman cleaning away the trash from her boat, and she smiled and gave him a wave back. "She totally looked at me."

"I saw it," John B nodded, while Jaycee rolled her eyes.

"Sure," she said at the same time, receiving a glare from the boy. The first time she looked up from John B's shoulder since the boat started, and she frowned. "Holy shit."

"Agatha, what did you do?" JJ sighed, turning the wheel so he could go along the coastline. "We gonna be cleaning this all summer."

"This is my nightmare," John B shook his head, as they approached the Heywards.

Pope was standing there, a hose in his hand as he cleaned the deck. Jaycee unwrapped her arms from around the younger boy, starting to get up, but still holding on to John B's hand, letting go rather reluctantly as she stepped out of the boat and winked at Pope.

"Got anything that I can do today?" She asked, and Pope nodded, pointing with his finger to behind him.

"Yeah, talk to my dad back inside and he'll put you up to something," Jaycee nodded, squeezing the boy's shoulder as a thank you, sending a wink to the two boys on the boat, and walking inside the fish shop.

++++

Jaycee had grimaced when Mr Heyward suggested her to help him gut the fishes he had caught, but — thankfully for the girl — Mrs Heyward came to her rescue. The woman decided to put Jaycee to help with inventory, helping put the food that was closer to their expired days on the front, that now, because of the hurricane, everything was more prone to expire on people's houses and on the shop.

She had smiled when Anna Carrera walked through the shop doors, a list in her hands of what was needed for their diner, The Wreck.

And her shift ended with Bobby Heyward pulling out a fifty-dollar bill from the register and handing it to the teenage girl, whose smile was so big he almost thought she would've jumped the counter to give him a thankful hug.

Both lights and the service of the island were still down, so when she was walking back home, she heard the familiar motor of the Twinkie, followed along by a whistle from her brother to catch her attention.

"You up to a kegger today?" Jaycee stopped walking when the Twinkie appeared on her side, JJ's head propped on his arm as he stared down at her.

Different from her father and brother, Jaycee used to drink casually. She never drank to get wasted, because she had seen how different both men in her life acted when they were drunk. They were reckless, angry even and Jaycee was so scared of losing her control like that.

But she smiled, nodding her head back at the boy who copied her smile, slapping his hand on the side of the van. "Scoot over."

"Nope, you're going on the back," JJ pointed with his thumb behind him and the girl shook her head.

"I'm older, I get shotgun," she reasoned, and the boy scoffed.

"I always get shotgun-"

"You know I get motion sickness on the back!" At that, JJ rolled his eyes in a dramatic way.

"The fuck you do! You absolutely don't have motion sickness-"

The pogues almost groaned in annoyance at the sibling's bickering. It was always like this whenever they disagreed on something, but John B was too tired of it, he just pulled JJ by the shirt to be closer to the middle seat and pointed for Jaycee to sit by the window.

She hopped on the passenger seat, sending JJ a winning look, and closed the van door, while the blonde boy sent daggers with his eyes back to his friend in the driver's seat.

Jaycee looked back at the two friends in the backseat, giving them a wink as Kiara held in a snort, slapping her hand on the side of the kegger.

The party at the boneyard was something that wasn't really a usual thing. Most of the time was after a successful end of a school year, the middle of summer, or — like that moment — after a hurricane.

A reunion of groups on the island. A mess of Pogues and Kooks mixed together with Taurons, as many hope to avoid any conflict between them, while others...

Jaycee was also not really a fan of crowds, but she swallowed down her discomfort with the beer in her hands, only to casually drink, but not get drunk.

And she grimaced when she saw a kook sniff out a line from a girl's thigh, while she laughed and leaned on his touch. With all the times she saw her father, and even her friends do it, you would've thought that Jaycee would be used to it. But she would never be used to that.

How voluntary someone would fall into the addiction that had destroyed both her and JJ's life.

Her blue eyes flickered from the group she was pretending to hear the conversation from, and they almost instantly locked on the mess of dark curls, as his hands played around with the free hair as he tried to pull it up on a bun.

His eyes met hers, and Jaycee could see the side of his lips lift up in a smirk, she almost let her mouth hang open at that, but covered it up by looking down at her cup, only to see that it was empty.

"Want me to refill that up to you?" A guy — someone that Jaycee had never seen before, maybe so a Tauron — sat beside her, looking down at the empty cup.

"Oh, no thank you, I don't want to have more than one cup today," she smiled, trying to be polite as the boy only nodded, looking down at his cup as he took a swing.

"Oh yes, me too. Family's on vacation here, don't want to come back drunk to the same hotel room I'm sharing with my parents and have to hear them talking my ear off," Jaycee snorted, shaking her head and agreeing.

"Yeah, I don't recommend that," she agreed, nodding her head.

"You live here?" He asked and the girl nodded her head once more. "Tell me, how good are the waves?"

"Oh, they are great!" She started, and with that, the two started off with a conversation about whatever. She had discovered the boy name's was Ethan, and he was actually in his third year of law school, and he pretty much liked boys.

College, there's something Jaycee never thought she would do. Her grades weren't enough for her to get a scholarship, because she never found time to stop and study, having to find jobs here and there to help out with her father and JJ. And even if she had the time, they wouldn't have the money to afford it.

Getting a degree was so far away from her reality that she would much rather not even think about it.

But what she couldn't tell was how a pair of brown eyes were staring with so much hatred at the boy beside her.

Barry hated how he wasn't the one who was there, making her laugh like that. There was no way a guy like that would be that funny. Of course not. Yet, there he was, slapping a package on a teenage boy's hands as his other grabbed the money and was quick to put it in his pocket.

He might have tried to push down whatever he felt towards her deep down, but he couldn't help the bubbling anger in his stomach.

One of her friends, Andrea, walked past her, touching the girl's shoulder as she gave the boy a small smile and crouched down beside her.

"That one dude right there's been glaring at your boy toy for almost ten minutes now. Think he's jealous," she whispered and Jaycee followed her, one to see Barry staring at them, but it was his time to look away.

And she looked down smiling a little bit, Andrea getting up and sending the girl a wink before walking away. Ethan was quick to notice, as he leaned forward.

"Is this about that guy who's been glaring at me the entire night?" He asked and Jaycee looked up at him, talking a second but slowly nodding.

"He's one of my friends, think he's been checking out on me to make sure you're not gonna spike my drink or something," Ethan laughed at her answer, shaking his head.

"Friend, right," he mocked, and before she could say anything else, the boy kicked her feet as a way to tell her to get up. "Go talk to him."

Jaycee gave the boy a small smile, getting up from her seat, but instead of walking towards Barry straight away, she passed over the kegger, which her brother and friends were no longer taking care of, and filled her own cup and then an extra one.

And she made her way between the sweaty bodies of teenagers and stopped right behind the man, waiting for him to notice her presence.

"Having fun?" She asked, going to stop by his side as she followed Barry's gaze in front of him, yet couldn't point out what was he looking at.

Barry had lost Jaycee from his sight, and he didn't know if he should feel alert, but seeing a mess of blonde hair in his peripherical vision made him turn to her. And there she was, a small smile on the side of her mouth, as she offered him a cup, and he took it without hesitation.

"As much fun as you think I could get in this type of social experience," he answered after taking a sip from the beverage. "You looked like you were having fun."

"Spying on me, now, are you?" She teased, looking him over the brim of her cup, taking a sip too. "But yeah, he was a lot of fun... even though I think that Rafe would probably be more his type."

And Barry snorted, nodding his head as he had a smile on his face.

"Should tell him that."

"Oh, I will. With that attitude he ain't fooling me, he might need a man to see if he settles," and Barry let out a laugh at her words.

But before he could say anything else, a large group of people started forming closer to the sea, as the voices turned into a chanted fight, fight, fight. They looked at each other and Barry shook his head.

"I can't be around here if there really is a fight," he said, picking up the backpack that was by his feet, at the same time Andrea appeared again, a worried look on her face.

"It's your brother and JB with some kook," she said, eyeing Barry as he pushed the strands of hair that were falling away from his face.

"You gotta be shitting me," Jaycee grumbled, while Barry bumped his shoulder into hers and started walking away, as the girl put the cup on the ground and walked with Andrea between the teens who seemed to be enjoying the fight.

What she didn't expect to see right when she finally passed through the crow was Topper holding John B under the water and JJ placing something against his head. As the moon reflected, so did the crowd's voices, they were all asking themselves the same thing.

Was that a gun?

And Jaycee heard the click of the safety lock disarming, and the sadistic smile on JJ's face as he whispered something to Topper, who had stilled his movements, then he let go of John B.

Topper moved away from the two, with JJ still pointing the gun at him, and the boy shot twice in the air, making everyone who was still there scream and run away from the boneyard.

"Get the hell out of our side of the island!" He yelled. Jaycee had flinched at the mechanic sound, but she stood there, her gaze not diverging from her brother as he stopped with a heavy breath, his arm dropping to his side.

And his eyes met hers, and the angry and disapproving gaze from her eyes made him deflect almost instantly. She was disappointed in him, and even more, she was scared.

Because for her, JJ looked exactly like Luke a few moments before when he was holding the gun against the boy's head. He was enjoying it.

And JJ knew that.

"Jaycee..." he started talking, walking closer to her, but the girl only tilted her head sharply and he understood that he needed to be quiet.

The other two pogues were helping John B out of the water, the boy had fainted from the lack of air and he was still trying to regain his consciousness.

"Where'd you get the gun?" Her words were low, cold even and JJ flinched. But he did not answer, which made Jaycee purse her lips in a scowl. "Keeping secrets from me now, are you?"

She gave him one last disapproving look, before starting to walk away, and JJ exhaled a the air he didn't know he was holding.

He had spent his entire life disappointing his father, so he did not care. But now Jaycee?

He put his hand over his chest as his heart rate became faster, and he propped his hand over his knee to try to regain the air back in his lungs.

Her cold demeanor hurt him way more than he had realized, and now he was trying to not let that trigger any panic attacks.

Oh my... did I finally update?

I'm sorry, I've been having a little of writers block, and everytime i wrote something it didn't feel right. But I'll try to keep a nice writing routine!

Tell me what did you think?

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