★☆⋆⁎⋆✶★☆⋆⁎⋆✶

𝖍𝖔𝖜 𝖙𝖔: 𝖑𝖔𝖘𝖊 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖌𝖎𝖗𝖑

(CHAPTER EIGHT)

𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤-𝐮𝐩

★☆⋆⁎⋆✶★☆⋆⁎⋆✶

When the plan was thrown out that Kiara and Ronni would distract the security guard at the salvage yard after leaving the Dunweather Disaster that was Ronni's life, she missed the connecting point where she and Kie would have to sit in a car together as they drove there. Now, she easily could have kept herself distracted by the conversation she'd just had with Rachel, but she'd rather talk about anything else in the world. Plus, with the way Kie had been staring at her since last night, she knew she'd slip up. So the moment they made the transfer from the van to Kie's SUV with her dad's boat and trailer on the back, Ronni pretended like she'd never seen the button to roll the window down before―but then Kie kept glancing over at her, and eventually she just kind of blurted it out.

"I kissed JJ."

She winced as Kie whirled her head around, almost slamming her foot on the brake.

"...twice."

Kie did slam on the brakes that time. Ronni thrust her hand out on the dashboard, thankful for the invention of seatbelts, turning to look at Kiara with wide eyes and her usual string of "fuck!" following in suit. Unsurprisingly, her best friend was mimicking the same facial experiences, her brown eyes twice their usual size as she gaped at Ronni like she'd just admitted to killing someone and hiding the dead body in her trunk.

"Okay, Kie, listen―"

"Oh my god," came rambling out of Kie's mouth all at once, and she whipped her head back around to continue driving, freaking out at the same time. "Oh my god, you two totally kissed before we came into the room. You...oh. Ronni... I swear to God, if you tell me you kissed JJ in that graveyard―"

"It wasn't intentional!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, your lips just fell on his?!"

"Kind of!"

"Gross, Ronni!"

"Don't 'gross' me! Being in a graveyard wasn't on the forefront of my mind! I had to come up with something! I didn't mean to!" Ronni exclaimed back defensively, waving her hand around. Then she paused, wincing again and bringing her hand up to her face when she felt the oncomings of a blush. "Well...I mean, the second time was definitely intentional."

There was a moment where Kie just stared blank and wide-mouthed at the road ahead of her, but then she exhaled heavily in relief. "Well finally. It only took the two of you a billion years to stop acting oblivious. I was getting tired of being JJ's pro-bono therapist."

Ronni blinked, her eyebrows shooting high in surprise. Sure, she hadn't necessarily been expecting as much surprise as the news of JB kissing Kie, but she definitely hadn't been expecting Kie to act like it was a dragged out thing either. If Ronni had ever thought about kissing JJ, it was in the comfort of her dreams and most-untouchable thoughts. Even speaking about it—even thinking about it—scared her. Because then it was real. So she didn't even acknowledge her feelings, because then she would feel them. Then she would want more of something she always thought she couldn't have. Kind of like she was wanting now.

"You aren't reacting how I expected you to."

"I've been expecting this for a year, Ronni."

"I was dating Tyler a year ago."

"And you still ended up in bed with JJ—not like...you know what I mean," Kie fixed up her sentence when the negative connotation was made, and then she glanced over at Ronni for second. "You and JJ have always been different...affectionate, I don't know. More than any of the rest of us, especially in the last few months...so that's why you were acting weird last night. Pope and I thought it was over the gun comment—"

"Oh, no. That still pissed me off," she corrected, and then she stared ahead, pursing her lips tightly when she saw the salvage yard. "But I've been near a high-eight panic attack since it happened. I literally cleaned my whole house last night because I couldn't sleep."

"Why are you freaking out?"

"Says you. You were literally flipping shit at work yesterday!"

"John B and I haven't been drowning in sexual tension for the last three years!"

"That's the point, Kie!" she quickly shot back, their bickering coming to a halt when Kie fell silent. "I've spent three years not even thinking this way because I was afraid of this—three years ignoring it, three years pretending like I wasn't...JJ's my best friend. He's like, the fucking sun to me, and I always fuck up every single relationship I've been in because I have
major trust issues, and if my own mother didn't love me enough to..."

Her words trailed off slowly, unwilling to come past her tongue, and she rubbed her lips raw as she tried to fight the urge to cry again. Rachel didn't deserve any more of those today. Kie didn't say anything as they pulled up to the salvage yard, parking the SUV a few feet away from the gate they needed to get open for the boys. Ronni rubbed her nose once more before turning to look at her best friend, mood diverted into a different problem they had to think about facing now.

"It's okay," Ronni assured her, giving her a weak smile. "I just need to talk to JJ."

Before she could open the car door, Kie grabbed her wrist to stop her. "You said it yourself back there. He's your best friend. He's not some touron you just met. You've known him for eight years. He'd never leave you like she did."

"I know that. But I'd never want him to feel stuck either," she explained quietly, shrugging. Then she noticed the guard at the shack, nodding her head and turning to her. "I just need to talk to him. We always talk through our shit...let's go."

Kiara nodded, giving her one last smile of encouragement, and then they were both jumping out of the SUV. The security guard hadn't seen them yet, but that might have been a good thing. Ronni stopped when she noticed the boys running across the gravel drive and ducking behind a stack of crates. She rolled her eyes when JJ's head shot up to grin at her, then she walked over to Kie's side of the car. They looked at each other up and down for a few seconds before wrinkling their noses, neither looking too impressive if their job was to be a distraction.

"Yeah, alright. I'll sacrifice my dignity," Ronni grumbled as she quickly pulled the t-shirt over her head, leaving her in her jean-shorts and bikini top. Kie tugged down her shirt slightly, and they moved to walk in the direction of the guard now that they looked more promising. "The purpose of breasts was to feed children, not for creepy ass pervs like Shoupe and this dude to look at without even trying to hide it. Those idiots better be glad we have boobs. What little I have of them."

"Eighty mil," she reminded her. "You're doing the talking, by the way. You're better at flirting—hello! Excuse me!"

Ronni sighed in acceptance and followed along with Kie's queue of waving her hands in the air to get the man's attention, hoping their display of desperation was enough. They watched as the security in the guard shack stumbled out of his chair, instantly shooting to his feet and moving as quickly as possible to get to where they were. Ronni and Kie both smiled gratefully, maybe a little bit too wide, when he came out on the other side of the fence.

"Can I help you?" he asked as he walked closer to them.

"We really hope you can," Ronni gushed immediately, stepping forward slightly to grab Kie's arm. "We were on our way to go out in the water and noticed that we had a flat tire. We're good at a lot of things, but that kind of stuff is not one of them. We thought maybe you could help us out with it."

The guy's eyes flickered lower and he cleared his throat before nodding. "Yeah."

"Yeah!" Kie replied back eagerly, grinning, as he backed away to run into his shack to grab his tools. They both turned around, their smiles falling as they met eyes, knowingly. "Too easy."

"I feel dirty."

"Says the one who made out in a graveyard."

On the opposite side of the gravel path, the three boys watched as Ronni opened her mouth to gasp at Kie, who threw her head back to laugh at whatever she had said. A smile was brought to all of their faces at the sight of the two girls smiling again, even if there was some distaste in JJ's mouth at seeing the security guard―Bobby―linger his eyes a little lower on Ronni's chest. Not that JJ was innocent of doing the same thing (he definitely loved looking at her boobs, sue him), but he knew Ronni's boundaries. Well, he thought he did, up until she kissed him twice. Now all boundaries were out the window between them.

To distract himself, he thought about the little conversation he'd had with a certain best friend of his, who also broke the golden rule. First, might JJ add. "How's it going with Kiara?"

"It's not, uh...awkward, weird, or anything," John B said too seriously to be believed.

"Honestly, I did not think that you were going to listen to me. I was one-hundred percent sure that she was into you―Pope would agree," to which he received a muffled 'Ehh..' from him. JJ paused for a moment, his eyes flickering back to Ronni and Kie to see them still waiting. "So, Kie, she, like...definitely gave you the Heisman?"

John B nodded instantly. "Oh. No question, yep."

"Gotcha," JJ nodded, smirking.

"Maybe she's just into somebody else," Pope threw out there, making both boys look his way immediately. He blinked at them, turning specifically to JJ. "What? Why do you care anyway? You literally have your eyes glued to Ronni at all points in the day."

JJ's shit-eating grin slipped off his face and he cleared his throat, turning back to look at the girls. "Yeah. We, uh―things are weird between us right now."

"You don't say?"

"She kissed me." Both John B and Pope nearly broke their necks whirling their heads to look at JJ, who was pressed his lips together tightly, trying his damn hardest not to spill everything. "Twice...stop looking at me like that. We gotta go. Gates open. Go! Go, go, go―"

As the boys raced to get through the gate just as it started to close behind Bobby, coming out to help the girls with an air compressor in hand, Ronni and Kie leant up against the side of the boat in an attempt to 'act casual' as it had already been proven that Kie sucked at that concept. He crouched down to inspect the back tire, muttering a sound to himself before he fiddled around with the air compressor. In the back of Ronni's mind, she could hear the echos of JJ and her dad moaning and groaning, especially having been the two who spent the most time teaching Ronni all she knew about cars and boats. She definitely could've put air in her own damn tire, but she supposed she'd let masculinity rule for the greater good.

"Probably just been sitting in the yard too long," the guard paused, his eyes stopping on her and staying a bit too long. Ronni's heart rate spiked, thinking for a moment that he'd thought they were being too suspicious, but instead he asked: "Hey, you're Dunweather's girl, aren't you? He comes around here sometimes to drop stuff off for us."

Her dad was going to murder her.

"Oh, yeah! That's me," she confirmed, smiling at him as she nodded. Ronni was going to end the conversation there, but she saw the boys start to dart toward the gate right as he turned around and she continued quickly. "I didn't know he came by here, but he's always doing stuff around the island. I'll tell him you said hello..."

He nodded at her. "Bobby."

"Right. Bobby. I know he'll be super grateful you helped me out today. He's been trying to teach me this stuff for years but I never got around to learning. Guess this'll be his 'I told you so' moment," Ronni laughed, meeting eyes with Kie to see her panicked grin, eyes flashing in relief when they all slipped through the gate in time. "Do you, uh, do you get a lot of stuff happening like this?"

He glanced up at them, his eyes catching for a moment on Ronni's exposed chest, then he noticed the way Kie's stare hardened at him. "Sometimes, not many are as pretty on the eyes, though."

Before Ronni could continue the conversation and distract him, the loud sound of a dog barking echoed faintly behind them in the air. Both girls did their best not to tense, but the way that Bobby reacted made that slightly difficult since his head shot up, alarmed. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Kie asked dumbfounded, furrowing her brows.

Ronni glanced behind her shoulder, squinting. "I actually think I heard a foghorn―"

"No, Tebow's got something," he said, standing back up to his full height.

Kie and her inched forward immediately. "It's probably just a raccoon, maybe. Nothin' to worry about."

"Right, yeah..."

Ronni kept her eyes on the gate anxiously, starting to bounce up and down on her knees. When she noticed that Bobby was checking the pressure of the tire again, meaning he was nearly done, she glanced over at Kie to see that she caught onto the same thing. Settling on the same wavelength, Kie slipped back behind her to go deflate another tire on the other side and Ronni took her spot against the side of the boat, smiling down at Bobby when he looked up momentarily. Now she had to distract him from the boys and Kie.

"So how long have you been working here?" she asked, feigning curiosity as she picked at her bracelets.

"About five years, give or take," he nodded, and then he stood up to his full height, which was level with Ronni. He glanced down the tire. "All done."

"Great! Thank you so much!"

Just as he went to turn around, she slid against the gravel so that she was in front of him, a nervous laugh escaping her chest. "Do you, uh, do you think you could check the others, you know, better safe than sorry like Dad always says―"

Bobby narrowed his eyes at her, noticing the strange behavior, and he glanced back toward the gate where his dog's barking was only getting louder and more aggressive. Then he looked over his shoulder and saw Kie come around the side, readjusting the pointed-clip in her hair. The dots must have been connected then because his eyes widened, and before Ronni or Kie could stop him, he darted past Ronni and went toward the open gate.

"Wait, wait!" Kie called out, jogging forward next to Ronni.

"Fuck, Kie, get in the car―" she pushed on her best friend's back, urging her toward the driver's side while she ran around to get in the passenger's. She had barely gotten in the seat when Kie slammed into reverse and got out of the salvage yard's entrance. Ronni braced herself on the roof of the car. "Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck―my dad is going to kill us. If they get caught―"

"There's Pope!" Kie exclaimed, her eyes widening when she saw one of their friends running along the side of the road. He noticed them, stopping when Kie pulled over to the side and slammed on her brakes, running up to the side of the open window. "Pope, what the hell?!"

Pope was out of breath, gasping. "Dog! Rabid dog! JJ didn't have the right numbers―"

"Pope, where are they?" Ronni interrupted impatiently, leaning over Kie to talk to him. "Where's JJ and JB?"

"John B ran away! JJ was getting chased by the dog―"

Ronni's eyes widened, panicked. "Wh―"

"Hey! Hey, I got it!"

All three of them whirled their heads to the side at the exclamation coming behind them to see that John B was running up the road, waving something in the air. An exhale of relief them, and he slowed down to stand next to Pope and thrust the drone in through the window so that Ronni was forced to take it. But she barely paid mind to it, still leant halfway over Kie, a spike of concern rising in her chest when she looked back again and there was no sign of JJ.

"JB, where's JJ?" Ronni insisted, ready to throw herself out of the car and go back for him. When John B and Pope both stilled and turned in the direction of the salvage yard, they realized they were one man short. "Guys. Guys, we gotta go back―"

Pope's eyes widened. "What? No! I can't risk my scholarship! Or my life!"

"It's JJ," Kie tried to reason, her hand falling on Ronni's arm to ease her concern. "He's fine, there's no way he'll get caught. I bet he's just going the long way around. He knows the place―"

Ronni's hand was on the door and she was halfway out of it when something slammed down hard against the open window frame, scaring the shit out of her when they yelled a loud "Boo!" and nearly sent the drone in her hands flying. Her free hand went to her chest, holding it for the heart attack she just received, glowering darkly when JJ let out a loud laugh and stuck his head through the window to kiss her cheek quickly and grin at her.

"Hey, baby."

"Fuck you," she scowled, shoving his forehead out of the car. "I thought you got caught."

"Oh, I did. Tebow almost got a T-bone," he confirmed, making all of his friends turn to look at him in surprise. "Put on the water works and used my old man as an excuse, though. Works every time...wait, we got it? Who got in?"

When JJ noticed the drone in Ronni's hand, he reached to grab it, inspecting the machinery with interest while John B stuck his head through the other side, the two boys talking in between Kiara and Ronni. "I did. Slammed into the lock with one of those old pipes laying around."

"My man! Piece of cake!"

Ronni and Kie shared a look with one another, knowing that it definitely was not a piece of cake. They had a feeling none of the whole 'treasure hunting' thing would be from there-on-out.

★☆⋆⁎⋆✶★☆⋆⁎⋆✶

Something was different in the air between the Pogues on the drive back to the Dunweather home, the drone stashed in Ronni's backpack and fulfilling every terrible nightmare her father had of what she did in her free time. The constant looks from herself to JJ between Pope and John B, who tried to be subtle about it but they definitely weren't, meant that he blew the fuse on their little secret just like she had to Kie. So everyone knew now. But no one was brave enough to acknowledge it, so they all sat awkwardly on the fact that four of their five members had broken the golden rule among their group―and two of them were thinking about doing it again.

Ronni hated the discomfort around JJ just as much as he did. The conversation with Rachel hummed like a broken record in the back of her mind, no matter how much she tried to erase it, and the only relief she normally found when they had arguments like that was JJ―either by talking with him over stupid shit, or smoking with him, or just being with him―but Ronni was scared of being around JJ. Because she didn't know what he was thinking, for the first time in their lives, and she had already overstepped and broken the boundaries of their friendship twice. She'd fucked things up, and she was really trying to figure out how to patch it back to how it was.

JJ wasn't doing much better, visibly twitching over not being in the vicinity of Ronni. He didn't realize how much he needed to be touching her until she was acting like he was a pit of fire waiting to burn her―and that was really fucking with JJ's head. Because every single one of this worst fears was turning into a reality the longer that he went without confronting her on why she kissed him again. Because if it was just out of pity since he said something nice she could've just given him a fucking hug. Because now JJ had to suffer with wanting to kiss her again and not being able to because he wasn't going to be the one to risk it all, even if she'd done so already.

"Should we tell Harvey?" John B asked suddenly, pausing before he pulled the van into the drive of the Dunweather home. He blinked uncertaintly over at Ronni, who opted on the passenger's seat rather than sitting with her two buffoons in the back, much to Kie's chagrin. "I mean, Dad mentioned him―"

Ronni stared at her small, white home. Smoke was building in the backyard, which meant that he was grilling out. "I don't want him involved in this, JB. Not with him being so close to Peterkins. He's finally getting to the point where he can move on, and I don't want him to have to hide a secret from her like that...he'll only worry about us, and I don't want this messing up with the DCS process."

"Okay. Your call. I'll do whatever you want," he gave her a small comforting smile. The first thing they noticed when he pulled up next to her jeep was that her dad had put back up the twinkle lightbulbs Ronni decorated their backyard with after Agatha ripped them off. The second thing, they were on.

"What the―"

"Is the power back on?" Pope asked, confused.

Kie frowned. "All the other houses were still―"

"Oh, you've got to be fucking kidding me," Ronni hissed out all of a sudden, interrupting Kie and making all of her friends look at her in concern. Before anyone could get an answer out of her, the van door was already slammed shut with her outside of it, and she was charging in the direction of the porch to walk inside where Harvey was.

John B paused, glancing back through the rearview mirror at JJ. "Should we―"

"Yep. Yep, yep, yep," JJ nodded, instantly pushing past Kie and Pope to get out of the van first, sliding open the door and hopping out.

"Wait, what the hell is going on?" Kie rushed, following blindly behind JJ and John B as they kicked their heels to the mud. "Why's the power on? Did Harvey buy a generator?"

"Rich-Bitch probably made another donation to the Dunweather foundation after what happened earlier," JJ explained, taking two steps at a time. "And V is going to―"

Before JJ could finish his sentence, the sound of a shout through the screen door of the Dunweather home stopped all four of them before they could enter. "Are you serious, Dad?! Why the fuck are you still letting her give us shit like we're the fucking Goodwill and she can just donate to make up for being a horrible human? We're not a charity case!"

"Ronni, she's trying―"

"Trying...you call this trying, Dad? Trying would have been picking me up after school when you were working late to feed me. Trying would have been offering to pay for some of the bills when our water went out for an entire week while she took bubble baths in her big ass mansion. Trying would have been her being here. Not throwing gifts in my face. This, right here, is just her handing out band-aids of superficial love because that's what works for Logan. We're better than this."

John B and JJ both hesitated. Rachel always thought the solution to her daughter's pain was to fill the void with gifts, but she'd only ever wanted an apology―or for her to just be there. JJ gripped on the handle of the door tightly and met eyes as they silently weighed the decisions on whether or not they should interrupt what was going on. They had been in the room more than enough times when conversations like that took place, but that didn't mean they were ready to hear it again. Kie and Pope slowly walked out to the backyard, muttering off to one another and taking seats in the lawn chair and hammock.

"You deserve better than this, Ronni," Harvey replied, and at the hesitation in his words, it was clear he gestured toward the inside of their home "And I can't give you what she does."

"No. You give me more."

John B nodded at JJ then, and the two of them paused before opening the door, JJ walking in first to see what they were about to intervene on. The lights were on in their living room, illuminating better than any candle around the place could. That only meant it was easier to see Ronni and Harvey, standing on either side of the kitchen island with an assortment of food in front of them, groceries that must have also been a contribution from the Rich-Bitch Foundation. Probably hand-delivered from their butler.

Ronni's arms were crossed tightly over her chest, her usual stance when she was angry, and Harvey's hands were laid flat against the counter as he kept his eyes on his daughter. Both of them turned in their direction when John B forgot that the Dunweather screen door was broken, and it slammed loudly behind him. He winced, JJ looking over his shoulder to glower at him, but the interruption broke the tense moment between the Dunweathers.

John B gave them a stretched, apologetic smile. "Sorry...forgot JJ broke that."

"You both broke that," Ronni corrected, her hands falling down at her sides as she looked at the two of them. Then she glanced over their shoulders, furrowing her brows. "Where's Kie and Pope?"

"Outside," JJ said, jerking a thumb back as he walked further into the home like it was his own place. He'd been there enough. Awkwardness out of the window at the moment, knowing Ronni needed support, he came over to stand next to her. His side brushed against hers as he glanced down at all the food. When he noticed one thing in particular, he gasped dramatically, meeting Harvey's eyes. "Crab legs? Damn, H, you beat me to it."

"Guess you don't need to rob a bank when the bank answers to Mommy," Ronni said spitefully, glaring down at the food before she turned around, heading in the direction of her room to change. "I'm going to go change. Tell Kie she can come in my room if she wants to come take a shower. I've got some spare clothes."

JJ had a cold water bottle dangled halfway to his mouth, but he couldn't help himself, even if things did happen to be odd between them. "Whaddaboutme?"

"Don't think you're my size."

Ronni disappeared around the corner, her door shutting and leaving the three boys in the open floor-plan between the kitchen and living room. JJ turned around to look at Harvey only to receive an affectionate whack upside the head with a dishtowel. He ducked his head, gaping at Harvey who pointed at the door where his daughter just disappeared in through.

"Get your ass in there," Harvey ordered, knowing that the only one who would be able to get through to Ronni about the situation with Rachel was him.

JJ tilted his head. "You know, I don't think I've ever heard a father tell me that before―"

"Get!"

"Alright, alright, I'm going."

"And you―"

JJ didn't get to hear whatever Harvey was going to say to John B, figuring it was something about DCS. He was too focused on the growing anxiety building in his chest on his way to Ronni's bedroom, which he'd easily been in over a thousand times, and yet for some reason, being inside of it after having kissed her twice and had some not-so-innocent thoughts about her after felt very wrong. Harvey would not have wanted him in Ronni's room if he knew that. But he swallowed those thoughts and the split in his brain screaming "FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!" in a constant mantra (not in that way) as he opened her bedroom door and slipped inside, cracking it behind him for the sake of his sanity.

His sanity didn't last long. To be fair, she had said that she was changing, and JJ's brain completely bypassed that fact up until he saw Ronni darting around her room in only a bralette and underwear. He'd seen her in less, literally, but something about it made his cheeks heat up in that moment and he felt like he was thirteen again and seeing her in a bikini for the first time―his reputation was slowly going down the drain. Fucking hell, he was whipped.

"Uh..." came out of his mouth, more to alert his presence than to begin any sentence.

Ronni didn't even flinch at his presence, grabbing a pair of black athletic shorts from her dresser to pull on. "I did tell you that you weren't my size, but you have clean clothes in the grey hamper if you wanna change..." she paused when she felt his eyes burning holes into her spine, goosebumps rising on her skin.

"V, are you okay?"

Not exactly where she thought that was going. JJ watched her shoulders fell heavier as she took on the weight of his question, and he was thankful when she finally turned around. Ronni noticed the concern creasing around the corners of his face, which was usually a role reversed for the two of them. His bright, blue eyes stayed on her as she walked over to the hangers near him, grabbing one of his thicker hoodies to slip over herself when she suddenly felt more exposed under his stare than she ever had before. His mouth twisted at the sight of her in his clothes, but he said nothing, leaving the thoughts in the back of his mind.

Ronni looked over at him again and realized how close they were now. Her eyes flickered lower to his lips for a second before she cleared her throat. "About what?"

"Rachel's charitable donation of working AC," he said, going in the opposite direction of what he wanted to be talking about. Her expression changed quickly at the mention of her mother, and he frowned. "You gotta give H some slack, V. He just wants what's best for you."

"I know he does. That's what pisses me off―him thinking that anything she can give me is what's best for me. I don't want any of her shit, and I know that it sounds fucking stupid because we need it, but I'm not something she can just buy over. It doesn't work like that, and I can't believe she thinks that it does."

Ronni sighed, bringing her hands to her face so that she could rub her eyes to get rid of her migraine. JJ frowned, his hand going to her shoulder and pulling her into him, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. They stood there for a few seconds, maybe minutes, just taking in the murmuring through the door of Harvey and John B, the laughter of their friends outside―and each other. Because Ronni just needed to talk to JJ about Rachel without the awkward tension wafting between them, and JJ just wanted to be around Ronni without her running in the other direction.

He pulled away to glance down at her with the small height difference, his lips pursing into a heavyset frown. Blue caught a cautious brown, and his hands slipped down from her shoulders to her hips, tugging on the pocket of his hoodie. The moment was different than the others, an understanding shared between the two of them―a different understanding.

"We need to talk about it, V."

"I know we do."

"For the record," he began, raising his eyebrows down at her. "Both times you were the instigator, and I was the willing participant so that means you get to talk first."

She gaped at him, shoving his chest gently. "How is that fair! You kissed back!"

"Yeah, but you started it!"

"What are you, five? You were the one who brought up wanting to talk!"

"Well one of us had to! We have to talk about it eventually!"

Ronni's face twisted, then she frowned up at him. "Fine. We can talk about it later, but now we gotta go sit through everyone staring at us all night because someone told JB and Pope―"

"I panicked! You can't say shit," he protested, his mouth wide down on her. "Kie knows too."

"I panicked! Normally I would've told you."

He grinned. "Go ahead. I'm listening."

"Fuck off. C'mon. I need to see how the DCS meeting went and if JB is officially my foster brother."

She had to slide out of JJ's grip to get to her bedroom door, but her attempt to do so went horrifically, seeing as JJ just tightened his hold on the pocket and tugged her back into his chest. Then JJ's lips were on hers for the second time that day, and she became the willing participant. Unlike when she initiated it, he took his time with her. Savored every moment like it was his last, making Ronni realize why he was so famous with the girls around the island. But what she didn't know was that JJ never felt this with anyone he'd ever kissed before.

Considering how they had now kissed three times, both Ronni and JJ expected to become used to the feeling, but they weren't. Neither of them ever felt like it was ever enough, his lips soft along hers as he paid attention to her bottom one, nipping it so that she would open her mouth. And again, JJ's fantasy of what she would taste like was met with reality. The remnant of the weed they'd both smoked earlier hung heavy on their tongues. They were only sucked back into the depths of the real reality at the shout from the other side of her bedroom door.

"Ronni! You better not have killed him!"

Harvey's words were muted by the heavy breathing between them when they pulled away, their foreheads touching as JJ's thumb raised to wipe her lip. Ronni would have kissed him again at the mere feeling of his ring brushing against her swollen mouth but both of them were in a dangerous position right then. His blue eyes were on hers, darker and blown out. A sight she craved even more now.

She bit her lip, smirking at him. "Who started it now, hm?"

"Fuck off," he muttered, his head dipping again to kiss her once more, swiftly and softly. She caught his shark-tooth necklace with her index finger, tugging it and him closer. He only reluctantly pulled away when she pressed against him. "Okay. Okay, we gotta―"

"Hm," she muttered, glancing down at the small space between their bodies, raising her brows before they came back up to look at him. He glowered pitifully at her rising grin. "Might want to go fix that."

"Not fucking funny, V."

"So fucking funny," she disagreed. "I'll go out first while you mind your problem."

On her way back out the door, she heard the grumbling of JJ. "You're my fucking problem."

Ronni grinned, walking back out into the kitchen with a slight flush to her cheek to see that she was by herself, which meant that everyone was out back. Grabbing some beers and washing her hands, she walked in on Harvey standing to the side of the grill with Pope and John B in front of it, both of them taking turns with the meat and sides that her dad was grilling. Kie was laughing off to the side, swinging in the baby blue hammock, and that was where Ronni made a B-line to. On her way, she walked by her dad and pressed a kiss to his stubbled cheek, giving him a side hug so he would know the events from earlier were forgotten.

Then she walked over to Kie, waiting for the girl to land a foot on the ground before she maneuvered in without flipping both of them over (they were experts by now). They laid on opposite sides, but that didn't deter Kie's narrowed eyes when she caught the redness on Ronni's tan skin and the slight swelling of her lips.

Her eyes widened in realization and she gasped. "You―"

"Shut up."

"Wait," Kie whispered, leaning up as best as she could, excitement littering her eyes. "Wait, wait, wait, wait, is this really happening? Like really really happening?"

Ronni hushed her, glancing over to see that the boys were distracted, her eyes catching on the door just as JJ walked out, his cheeks flushed to the same degree hers were. He'd changed into a different pair of shorts, and the moment they met eyes, his narrowed teasingly and he shook his head at what she'd left him with. He barely got to approach the others when Harvey lifted his head and raised his eyebrows at JJ, pointing back at the house.

"Go wash your hands," he instructed.

JJ groaned and turned back in the direction of the house, just for Ronni to smile and turn back to Kie, who was looking between the two of them knowingly. "I don't know. Whatever it is, we'll figure it out."

"Wow," Kie muttered slowly, surprise littering her face. "I mean, I never imagined JJ in a relationship, but I guess that's because I only ever saw him in one with you―"

Ronni kicked her foot out, nudging Kie's shoulder. "Kie!"

"I'm just saying!"

"Girls! C'mon, you get first pick!" Harvey called out to the two of them.

So with Ronni and Kie rolling out of the hammock, giggling and trying to knock the other one to the ground as they did so, JJ bound down the porch steps to see John B and Pope fighting over who got to hold the tongs. For a moment, all five Pogues could disregard the tumultuous waves ready to approach them. Because at the same time, two dead bodies were being found further out into the sea. More would come to follow.

Step eight: call for back-up by telling your friends you may or may not have kissed the love of your life (more than once). Lord knows JJ needed all the help he could get when it comes to Ronni Dunweather.

★☆⋆⁎⋆✶★☆⋆⁎⋆✶

Author's Note:

(this is not edited)

I am....CRYIN.

Let me know what you thought!!

Please leave feedback and comments, they keep me motivated to update this story and you guys have been SO responsive to Ronni's story. I love you all so much!