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𝖍𝖔𝖜 𝖙𝖔: 𝖑𝖔𝖘𝖊 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖌𝖎𝖗𝖑

(CHAPTER THREE)

𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐣𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐮𝐲𝐬

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Veronica Mayweather worried often. It was in her blood. Having a father who tended to do dangerous and idiotic things sometimes with his best friend Big John, and two even more idiotic best friends by the names of JJ and John B, lended a lot of grey hairs for Ronni to cover up before she was even fifteen. But there was always a reason behind it―because, over those years of worrying, the boys had come to find out that her worrying was never uncalled for. She worried about her father one night, only to find that his pick-up had broken down on the side of the road before a bad hurricane. She worried about JJ and John B only to find that John B's surfboard had broke surfing the swell, and he'd nearly drowned. Her intuition may be extra, but it was never wrong.

She didn't have that uneasy feeling until Scooter Grubbs' dead body washed up. For the first few minutes, she placed the blame on her anger at JJ for stealing the gun. Ever since he pulled it out, she'd refused to make eye contact with him, much less be around him and that was severely getting to him. Ronni and JJ rarely fought. It was always JJ and John B butting heads, never them, so everyone walked on eggshells as they adjusted to the uncomfortable dynamic presented for the first time.

But by the time they'd all started on their retreat back to the Chateau, the feeling only got worse. She stopped blaming it on the gun stashed in JJ's backpack (his attempt to hide it from Ronni) and instead found a new reason and it showed. So much that everyone―specifically John B and JJ―noticed. The two boys fell behind the others, letting Kie and Pope take the front of their group and mutter back and forth about the fact that Scooter had landed a Grady White overnight when he could barely land a steady ten bucks to his name.

"V," John B muttered, his hand reaching for her elbow to take her out of her daze. She lifted her head up quickly, glancing over at him. Instantly, he noticed the worry shining in her dark eyes. "What gives? You've been quiet the whole way back."

JJ turned around halfway so he was walking somewhat in front of her, facing her in hope she'd actually look at him that time. "If this is about the gun―"

"No," she dismissed, shaking her head. She gnawed on her lip, folding her arms across her chest. "Even though you're still a fucking idiot for taking the thing, and I'm still pissed at you...I just―I don't like that I haven't heard from Dad today. He didn't tell me he was going anywhere yesterday after the hurricane, and he didn't leave a note, and I'm just...I'm worried―"

JJ and John B met eyes at those words.

"I'm sure he's fine, Ronni," John B wrapped his arm around her shoulder so that he could bring her into his side. She frowned, curling into his side and bringing her arm around his waist. JJ's eyes flickered away momentarily, something unrested in his chest. "Harvey's always takes odd jobs around the island after stuff like this. He's probably over on Figure Eight. Towers are down, remember? He's fine."

"I guess. I just don't have a good feeling about it. Not after finding Scooter―" 

JJ sent her a look, skidding back on his boots. "Stop doin' that. You're manifesting shit again, V. Like John B said, H is probably just cleaning up some tree limbs and spitting in the rich bitches' tea out in Kook-land...he's okay."

Ronni caught JJ's eyes at his last two words when he emphasized them, knowing the way her brain worked and that she wouldn't let up from her concerns just because they told her to. She shrugged it off and nodded along with the boys, trying to ignore the growing gut feeling in her stomach by pretending it was from seeing Scooter Grubbs' dead body. The boys sent knowing glances at one another, but they never said anything around Ronni, just stayed silent until they all got back to the Chateau. Pope was not there, Kie muttering about how he went to go take a lap around the property to calm his growing panic about what was happening. No one said anything.

Ronni immediately moved to the couch next to Kie, surprising since her usual spot was on the fouton, and brought her legs up to her chest. Her friend shot her a concerned look before they scooted closer to one another, her arms wrapping around Ronni's legs while Ronni lent her head against Kie's shoulder. John B stood near the door with an newly-cracked beer, zoning out and trying to process everything. JJ, in the meantime, seemed at ease with the whole situation as he laid on the fouton on the porch, his jaw clenching every so often when he caught Ronni's eye and she looked away. He flicked his lighter cap open and closed, the sound eventually getting on Kie's nerves.

Then Pope returned, and the first thing out of his mouth was: "Okay. So, we didn't see anything. We don't know anything. We need to have complete and total amnesia."

"Pope―" Ronni protested.

"Actually, Pope's right for once," JJ interrupted to Ronni's frustration, making them turn to look at him. When he stood up and started to pace around the porch, he pointed his finger at Pope, shrugging like the answer was obvious. "Deny, deny, deny..."

"Guys," Kie called out next to Ronni's silent disagreement, shaking her head. "We can't keep that money."

"Not all of us can afford unlimited data plans, Kiara."

Ronni's head lifted to shoot JJ a heated glare. He frowned instantly when he noticed it, turning around and avoiding eye contact because he could practically read her mind. It wasn't pretty. They never tried to make Kie feel like anything less because she had more than them, but it was hard not to hold some envy and spite when some of them were struggling to make ends meet and she had never been in that position―but still. That was out of her control.

"We have to pass that off to Lana Grubbs, otherwise it's bad karma."

"Bad karma to be implicated in a felony, too," Pope added, shaking his head. "We've gotta go dark."

JJ shrugged. "If that means we get to keep the money, then I agree."

"I don't agree," John B said, finally speaking up. When JJ quickly interjected, asking why, John B whirled around to look at his best friend. "Just think about it. This is Scooter Grubbs we're talking about here―same dude that's buying individual cigarettes at the Porthole. Shit, one time I saw this dude begging for change in the Save-A-Lot parking lot because he needed gas. We're talking about a dirtbag marina rat who's never had more than forty bucks in his pocket, and all of a sudden he's got a Grady-White? Just sayin'."

Ronni frowned and lifted her head up from Kie's shoulder all of a sudden. She looked down at the porch of the Chateau, a thought starting to ring in her ears that was distracting her from the conversation. As JJ, Pope, and John B went back and forth for a few more minutes, Kie started to notice how Ronni was losing sight of reality. Then, in a flash, she shot up off the couch and disappeared out the screen door without another word to the other Pogues.

"I just don't think―" John B paused when he heard the door slam, him and JJ turning around to look in the direction they weren't facing. His brows furrowed. "What―" 

Kie darted her eyes quickly in the opposite direction. "JJ―"

"On it," the blonde boy muttered without another word, picking up his pace and going through the screen door next, letting it whack behind him as he ran after his best friend.

Ronni was already halfway down the gravel road when JJ caught up with her, his boots scuffing against the pavement as he ran. Even when he shouted her name, she barely paid attention to him, so his last resort was to grab a hold of her arm and catch her before she got away. When he'd stopped her, she turned around to face him and frowned, but her only response was to grab a hold of his hand and pull him along with her. He knew the route. She was going home, but that still didn't explain why. His concern only spiked for her, and he quickly took hold of her to stop her again.

"Fuck V, hang on a second. Why are we going back to your place?" he asked with a racing heartbeat, squeezing her arm. "Ronni. What's going on?"

"I need to check something."

He raised his eyebrows. "You couldn't have just told us that instead of running out like a serial killer was chasing your ass? You scared the shit outta me, V."

She didn't say anything more, just picked up her pace when they got to the gravel driveway of her home. JJ sighed and bounded after her, taking two steps at a time up her porch steps and following through the side-door like it was second nature. The Dunweather home was too perfect, thanks to Ronni always cleaning it like a neat freak and Harvey being scared to mess it up in fear of her wrath. Same goes for when the boys spent the night. Nothing was touched from that morning, which meant Harvey still hadn't returned home.

"You know I'm all for your sixth sense, but you're working yourself up over nothing―" his features twisted when he saw her grab her dad's phone off the counter, and he walked behind her shoulder, glancing at it. "Is that Harvey's?"

She hummed in answer, her fingers working to unlock the phone. JJ hid his shock when he realized the numbers she'd pressed―it had been her, JB, and JJ's dates of their birthday. 1 for John B, 4 for Ronni, and 12 for JJ. The information was news to him, but clearly Ronni didn't think twice about it. She just went to his phone call log and frowned, scrolling down.

"Talk to me," he urged, trying to figure out what she was doing. His hand fell on her hip unconsciously, trying to get her attention by tugging on the t-shirt of his she wore. "What're you lookin' for?"

"Dad's been on the phone a lot recently in the last few days. Talking to someone. He was having a conversation the other day, calling someone a shit-ton of names and saying he was basically licking someone's shoes clean just for some change. I didn't even think that it could've been Scooter Grubbs until JB said all that back there―"

JJ grabbed the phone from her, hovering over her shoulder and she leant back further into his chest to see the screen too. "What, you think all these calls to this number are Scooter? Your dad wasn't even friends with him. It doesn't even have his name."

"What if it is him?" she asked, craning her neck up to face him. JJ was close enough to see the way her eyes darkened, concern overtaking their bright color. "JJ, you don't think―"

"He wasn't on the boat, Ronni."

"How do you―"

"He wasn't."

The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds, all of her concerns reflecting in those dark eyes of hers. She'd gotten them from her mother. JJ always told her they looked nothing alike, even though everyone knew the obvious. His eyes flickered momentarily to her lips, centimeters away, before he turned his head. He pursed his lips and then pressed the number. Ronni's eyes widened slightly, the two of them waiting anxiously as he switched it to speaker phone so that both of them could hear the response. Instantly, with the cell towers being down, the phone went to voicemail. There was a brief moment as they exchanged silent, wide-eyed stares.

"Why in the hell is he calling Sheriff Peterkin?"

JJ's lips twitched, deciding between a rational answer or a smart-ass remark. "Maybe they're...hanging out."

She scowled at him, reaching to grab the phone out of his hand. "Shut up."

"At least you know it's not Scooter Grubbs. No need to worry," he reassured. "I'm telling you, your dad's just out in Figure Eight working to get some bank with all the hard labor he'll be pulling. Stop worrying. He'll be at the Chateau in the morning yelling at John B and I for something."

"You'd probably deserve it," she jutted back, but still continued to gnaw anxiously at her bottom lip. She didn't realize JJ was now intentionally staring at them, his cheeks flustering. His hand moved to rub up and down her arm, trying to silently comfort her. "Okay...okay. Alright. Let's just...let's go back to the Chateau. I need something to distract me from this before I keep thinking about it."

"Ah, distracting is what I am best at, baby."

She shot him a look. "I'm not dropping the gun topic. You're not off the hook."

"I figured."

He slung his arm around her shoulder and they walked out of the Dunweather house, trying to leave behind Ronni's worries about her father. When they arrived back at the Chateau ten minutes later, the others were bundled together in John B's room, throwing around one of the ratty tennis balls JJ stole a few years back. The second they heard the screen door shutter, all of them looked up to see Ronni walk into the room with JJ lingering behind her. Over her head, he shook his, letting the others know not to ask questions right now. So they didn't.

Instead, they carried on the conversation from earlier like nothing had happened. Everyone noticed the obvious dynamic change between the two, clearly having made some resolution. Ronni took a spot on the window sill with JJ seated below her, leaning back in between her open legs and using them as armrests. His fingers tapped gently against her kneecap, drumming a beat, calming her down silently while she ran her fingers through his messy hair. Ronni never told JJ, but the physical language spoken between them―without words―always meant just as much to her. The Pogues knew her well, but JJ could always sense the slightest tension in her shoulders. And he was always there to make it better.

"For the record, if that is a smuggling ship with illegal contraband on the inside of it, it probably belongs to someone else―"

"Minor details," Kie interrupted Pope, shrugging her shoulders and curling up her lip.

Ronni's brows furrowed. "Wait, what? What did we miss?"

"We think Scooter snagged that Grady-White straight up smuggling?" JJ asked excitedly, already well-ahead of Ronni and leaning forward slightly. "Oh, hell yeah, man. I bet there's loads of stuff in that thing―"

"JJ," she put her palm on his forehead, setting him back against her by pushing against it gently. He fell back without protest. "Stop thinking with your pockets."

He grinned up at her, tilting his head back. "Yeah? Want me to start thinking with something else in my pants?"

"―you're always thinking with your dick―"

"―it's an important piece that depends on me―"

"―right, just like your hand?" she patted his shoulders gently. "It's all right. We all know lil' JJ loves his right-hand man."

"Can the two of you talk about JJ's sexual tension later?" Pope interrupted, looking between them with narrowed eyes. His panic was still present, but his comment made JJ and Ronni's cheeks heat up. "What if whoever owns the illegal contraband comes looking for us? Taking it would be catastrophically stupid."

JJ raised his eyebrows and leaned forward out of Ronni's hold, grabbing the stack of money from Pope he stole from the motel. "Right. Well, stupid things have good outcomes all the time...all we need to do is figure out a way to get into the cargo-hold of that wreck. Until then, we just lay low. Act normal."

JJ leaned back again, resting comfortably against Ronni who frowned at the pile of money in his hands. The conversation with Pope and Kie from before playing in her mind, wondering what she would do if she ever got her hands on a stack of money like that. Would she put it into savings for her kids? To give them a better life? Probably. After she bought her dad a nice house and made sure he never had to work a day in his life again. She'd donate to charities. Do all of the things people said they would do if they ever got the money―the selfish part of her just wanted to go on a vacation for a year with her best friends. Get JJ out of his house. Fix up the Chateau.

Live a better life. Not a different one. Not like her mom.

"Right...and how exactly do we do that?"

There was a brief pause. Kie and Ronni shared a look with one another, knowing glances in their eyes before they faced the boys, one of them grinning while the other threw it out as an option.

"Kegger?"

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A kegger was not exactly what Ronni had in mind when she mentioned a distraction earlier, but she definitely wasn't complaining either. The Boneyard felt like a second home by now, especially after her sophomore year of high school when almost every single weekend was spent getting drunk there―blame JJ and John B for that one. They also took the blame for why Ronni could outdrink most of the people at the Boneyard, save for maybe JJ (who was a close second), and everyone―even her dad―knew it. She tried to manage her alcohol, pace herself and set apart her drinks, mainly because she never wanted to become a replica of what she remembered of her mom...drinking until she passed out on their front porch and he had to carry her back to their bedroom. Ronni was only five.

She drank to forget those problems for the time being. Just like she drank that night to forget about the worry nagging the back of her brain about her dad. If she had available cell service, she would've already left a hundred missed calls and half as many texts. Her dad was all she had. He was her mom, her dad, and her best friend all in one. Ronni downed another red-solo cup at the thought of him, deciding that this was as good a distraction as any.

"Hey there."

Or a different distraction worked. Ronni looked up from the keg in front of her, John B and JJ manning it next to her as she cut the line to get another fill-up. A tall boy with a Hawaiian, unbuttoned polo stood in front of her with his chest on display. He was sunburnt rather than tan, and there were clearly parts of his face that didn't receive as much sunscreen as the rest. Ronni knew instantly: touron. She turned fully around to face him intrigued, John B handing her the cup without looking as he mandated the rest of the crowd wanting beer.

"Hi," she greeted, grinning. "You here on vacation?"

He raised his eyebrows and then laughed, scratching the back of his short, brown hair somewhat awkwardly. Eh. Ronni liked longer hair. He also had hazel eyes, which were pretty, but not necessarily her type. But if he was nice, she supposed that didn't matter. She'd been with guys before that looked exactly like him. He was pretty enough to look at drunk, and she wasn't that shallow to only care about appearances.

"That obvious?" he asked, and when she only raised her eyebrows with a smile and took a sip of her beer, he sighed. "This isn't going to well for me, is it? Usually I would've already gotten your name."

She shrugged. "Not your fault. Maybe you'll get it by the end of the night. I'm a hard woman to please."

"Yeah? Maybe I could try."

A loud snort was heard from behind Ronni's shoulder, and she didn't even need to turn around to know that it was JJ snickering under his breath at the bad pick-up line the touron laid on her. Feeling him brush against her back, she leaned back slightly so that she bumped into him, subtly telling him to lay off. That only gave her blonde-haired best friend the invitation to join the conversation. He turned his body around, a red-solo cup in his hand that he so graciously offered up to the touron in front of her while he wrapped his arm around her with the other.

"Hey, buddy. On me," JJ said, nodding at him with a slick grin.

The touron stumbled at the sudden intrusion in their conversation, blinking at JJ, then the cup, and then the arm he had wrapped around Ronni. The awkwardness returned, and he cleared his throat, reaching to grab the cup. "My bad," he muttered, and before Ronni could say anything else to him, he was turning around, his sandaled feet boring holes in the sand as he rushed away. The brunette girl instantly sighed heavily, watching with a pout as the boy disappeared.

"You're ruining my fun."

He snorted, grabbing her cup and taking a drink of it. "I am the fun, and he's not your type...besides, you gonna let another guy take off my shirt? Playin' a little dirty there, V."

Ronni glanced down at the blue Kildare shirt of his she was still wearing and she raised her eyebrows over at him, pulling at the ends of the shirt. "You want it back?"

Now that she would do, especially if it was in spite of his last comment. There was still a bikini underneath, but that would surely attract more tourons her way than he wanted. Before she could even get it an inch above her upper thigh, JJ was grabbing her wrist and sending her a knowing look, his ring-clad fingers grazing along her thigh. She raised her eyebrows down at his hand, a smirk growing on one side of her mouth. She leaned in slightly, very aware of the proximity between them.

"Or do you want to take it off me instead?"

JJ's jaw clenched, the veins in his arm tensing as he squeezed her wrist slightly, tilting his chin in warning. He knew what she was doing. "Ronni."

She grabbed her cup from him like nothing happened. "Thought so. I'm gonna go save Pope. He's cockblocking himself again."

On that note, she walked over to Pope without looking back to see JJ's frustration. Her favorite mortuary expert was drooling his way through a conversation about dead bodies to a pretty blonde girl. Unsurprisingly. The girl looked anything but interested, but Pope was a pretty face and apparently she was able to refrain from paying attention to the talk about bodily fluids coming from a corpse. Ronni came to the rescue just after a line about bodies shitting escaped his mouth, wincing and wrapping her arms around his shoulders to shut him up before he said anything else in his failed attempt to flirt.

The blonde girl blinked out of her haze when Ronni appeared, frowning slightly when she noticed the display of affection. Before she could assume the worst, Ronni leaned up slightly and grinned at her. "Hey, nice to meet you. I'm Ronni. This is my best friend. He's super smart, isn't he? I always thought guys who were smart were super hot―"

"―oh, me too," she nodded in agreement. Then, her cheeks flustered and she looked at Pope, who had a gaping hole of a mouth that Ronni subtly instructed him to shut by pulling his earlobe hard. "Do you, maybe, wanna go and talk some more over there?"

"He'd love to!"

Before Pope could protest, she pulled away from him and gently pushed him up off the log he was on, thankfully in the direction of the blonde girl. He grabbed her hand and Ronni cringed, knowing his palms were absolutely sweaty. When the girl wasn't looking, Pope turned around to give her a panicked stare, his eyes wide with fear. She gave him a thumbs up in support. Feeling accomplished, she turned back around with a new pep in her step, making eye contact with JJ a few feet away. He raised his eyebrows at her, and she grinned, brushing off one of her shoulders like it was easy work. Her first mission of the summer: get Pope laid was off to a great start in her opinion.

The Pogues liked other people, especially when they had beer in their system, but they always seemed to gravitate back to one another eventually. Ronni looked up from the conversation with a girl from school to see Kie coming over, having just gotten out of a heated conversation about Zodiac signs. Ronni was a Sagittarius. Kie was a Cancer. JJ was Aries. Pope, Capricorn. John B was an Aries too. Fitting.

"He's doing it againnn."

Ronni said a quick goodbye to the girl then leaned up against one of the many grave-sites of trees alongside Kie. "JJ charging the Kooks for commission again?"

"That's nothing new. I meant, JJ's diverting all male attention from you."

"What about the females?"

"That's his wet dream."

"Probably," Ronni grinned before she sighed heavily, glancing down at the red-solo cup in her hand. She was on a break with drinking, only taking occasional sips now that she'd hit her fourth full cup. "He's just protective. You know I've had some shitty guys try and talk to me before."

Kie's nose wrinkled. "Yeah, okay. That's it. If you want to believe that..."

"I mean it. Besides, doesn't matter what he does. I plan on finding someone here in a second. Need something to take my mind off of everything that's going on. There was a cute guy earlier. You'd have hated him."

"He's going to love that."

"Looks like he's having a great time over there. I doubt he'll even notice."

Across the Boneyard was JJ flirting with a pretty blonde (again, with blondes) and only inches away from having his tongue down her throat. Both girls knew all of his tricks by now to get a touron―he didn't have to try hard, of course―and Ronni decided that she wasn't on a break with drinking anymore. In one fell swoop, she downed the rest of the cup, only slightly gagging at the foul taste of the stale beer. Unfortunately, the act was noticed by John B, who walked their way with a blonde at his side too―seriously, what was with the boys and blondes all of a sudden?

"What gives?" he asked her, furrowing his brows as he glanced at her concerned. Kie only nodded her head in the opposite direction, and he turned over his shoulder to see that JJ was now hands-on the girl. "Ah."

Ronni glowered as she watched. "Don't even."

"I wasn't going to say anything."

"You were."

He raised his eyebrows at her, leaning next to her with his back facing JJ. "You can read my mind now?"

"Now?" she asked, finally diverting her eyes from JJ to him with a snort. "I've always known what you're thinking."

"Scary, V."

"Yes. Your mind is a scary place."

"What the hell is she doing here?"

Both John B and Ronni stopped their banter instantly when they heard the disgust roll of Kiara's tongue with such anger that they froze. Ronni turned her body around in the direction of where she was looking, while John B moved his eyes away from his best friend and off ahead as well. They both knew instantly what the problem was...well, who the problem was. Sarah Cameron was a short distance away, climbing on top of a tipped-over lifeguard station while her anxiously-obsessed boyfriend, Topper Thorton, begged her to get down.

Then Ronni happened to look a little further away, and her mood was next to be ruined. "Oh, you've got to be fucking kidding me."

John B stood up to his full height when he noticed what Ronni had. Logan Porter was, quite literally, the bane of his and JJ's existence ever since they were children and the entire reason was the girl next to him. Logan was Ronni's step brother, a rich spoiled Kook that was raised by his wealthy father and Ronni's bitch-of-a mother. The relationship between him and Ronni was...complicated because of that certain phrase. His mom was dead, and her mom had left, taking her life and replacing it with the wealthier version of Harvey and Ronni.

Ronni always tried to be nice. The two of them didn't hate each other―at least, not when they were younger. Both had somehow worked out that they were just the middle pieces thrown in the center of everything, and it was all Rachel's fault, not Logan's. But whenever she introduced Logan to John B and JJ, he hadn't been too happy to see that she already had a family. Already had her best guy friends to surf with and love and be stupid with. She didn't need him. And then Logan grew up to be an asshole, picking a fight with JJ and John B every chance he got all because he was jealous of them.

"Want me to go talk to him?" John B asked instantly, turning to Ronni with a scowl.

She was frowning, barely noticing Kie roll her eyes and walk away with a groan. "Your version of talking involves a punch or two. It's fine. As long as he stays away from us, I don't care if he's here."

JJ cared. JJ cared a lot. Thankfully, Ronni had been only a few feet away from him when her best friend noticed Logan lingering near the shore as the sun began to set. She excused herself from the conversation she was having and rushed over quickly, running right in front of JJ and putting her hands on his chest to stop him. He kept going, his eyes set on her step-brother, hands going on her hips to move her out of the way.

"JJ―JJ, stop. Stop it. JJ, it's not a problem―"

"Ronni, move―"

She sent a heavier push to his chest, managing to halt him long enough to grab his neck with one hand and force his eyes down to her. His eyes were piercing with anger, but they softened on her and she put her other hand to his face, pulling his attention back to her when they moved over her head at Logan and the other Kooks. Of all the Pogues, JJ and John B definitely had the biggest aversion to them lingering in places they shouldn't. They also had the shortest tempers. Ronni did her job, just like she had since they were little, and managed their short fuses.

"Stop. This isn't laying low. Don't get in a fight. He's not doing anything."

JJ scowled at the crowd of them up ahead. "They weren't invited. That's doing something."

"Come on. Come with me. Let's go get a drink, okay?"

She moved to grab his hand, intertwining their fingers so he couldn't escape the grasp, tugging him gently in the opposite direction. He kept his eyes on them even as she pulled him away, and only when it was physically impossible to crane his neck any more did he stop. Ronni breathed out a sigh in relief, happy the crisis was averted, and met eyes with John B from where he was standing next to the keg. He looked about as ready for a fight as JJ, but only hummed lowly and handed both of them a cup before moving back to the thinning crowd.

"Hey, can you guys run by the Chateau and grab a couple more cups?" John B asked, then gestured toward the low supply behind him.

JJ was about to protest, but Ronni only tightened her hold on his hand. "Yep. On it. Play nice."

"I'm nice," he said, offended.

Ronni's features shot up high in protest before she started walking, all but dragging a reluctant JJ behind her. She did manage to get Kiara's attention on her way out, gesturing for her to watch John B so that he didn't start any shit while she was gone. JJ was quiet for the most part, still brooding over the missed fight and the fact that Logan had showed up, but he never let go of Ronni's hand or argued with her over it.

When they got to the Chateau after a few minutes, Ronni let go of his hand the moment they were inside and escape was unlikely. She went to the kitchen immediately and started rooting through the cabinets to find the stash of cups they'd kept. As she did so, she decided to make subtle conversation instead of letting JJ continue to grumble around the place.

"What happened to the blonde?" she asked casually, pursing her lips in disgust and flinging out an old bag of something that the boys left in there. "You two looked nice and friendly. I thought you were in a redhead phase right now?"

JJ leaned up against the door frame in between the kitchen and living room, crossing his arms over his chest. He watched Ronni go through the cabinets, rising on her tip-toes and his shirt going with her to expose more of her thigh. She wasn't short, only two or three inches below JJ, so the thing was already clinging to its last inch. Conversations like this were what led JJ in a different direction―one where the feelings didn't feel so unrequited. Because JJ knew what jealousy looked like on Ronni, and it wore a face and a sound like the one she had now. Sometimes it slipped through. Sometimes he noticed.

"You know I'm not picky," he said just as casually in return, his tone completely changed from its anger earlier as he continued to watch her. "She was clingy."

She paused in her hunt to turn to him in disbelief. "You like clingy―you love clingy."

"Wasn't feeling it tonight."

"Since when are you not feeling it―can you please come help me instead of just staring?"

He grinned but walked forward. "I like what I'm staring at."

JJ came up directly behind her, the heat from the sun he'd gotten today instantly felt on her back in the thin, cut tank top he was wearing and she would have frozen had she not been halfway up into the cabinets. He reached above her, his few inches coming to good use, and picked up the corner of the cup bag with his index and middle finger, tugging them down. They fell sadly onto the edge of the counter below, and Ronni came down flat on her feet, ending the space between her back and his front.

Both of them froze that time. They weren't sure why―or maybe they did know why. The alcohol in their systems, and the heat, and the frustration and everything―all of it felt different than earlier that morning when they were in the same position. Slowly and apprehensively, with a racing heartbeat and a new courage, he went to place one of his hands on her hips while the other went to pull all of her hair to one side of her neck.

Ronni leaned back into his touch, one hand going to rest on top of tanned arm on her waist. The air in the Chateau felt like it had been sucked out of the room because their chests were rising and falling heavier, new affection burning between them different than it ever had before. She felt JJ come closer on the exposed side of her neck, his lips pressing against the flushed skin for only a few seconds.

Then a clang of the red solo-cups falling off the edge and onto the floor broke them apart like lightning had struck between them. JJ ended up near the table in the middle of the room, Ronni jumping halfway onto the counter and holding a hand to her chest to stop the heart attack she'd nearly had.

"Jesus Christ," she choked out in alarm and scooped up the cups with one hand. Then, she braved a glance at JJ, whose pupils were blown and his fists tight against the edges of the table. "Ready? JB's gonna kill us if he don't get back―or make us sleep on the dock."

Then Ronni walked past him, patting his chest with the cups, and walked away like nothing happened. JJ watched her leave in disbelief, part of him so very pissed off at her and the other part at himself―but man was he pissed. And in no way was he drunk enough to deal with her acting like whatever happened didn't just happen. Because it did, and it was different, and JJ wasn't sure he'd be able to sleep without thinking about it all night.

He clenched his jaw tightly and slammed his hands against the table before following after her, shoving his hands into his pants to fix another problem he had, and grabbed his backpack in frustration. God help him. Stupid ass rule.

★☆⋆⁎⋆✶★☆⋆⁎⋆✶

"Courtesy of the Chateau."

Ronni handed the cups to John B when she saw him, the sun having fully disappeared and a bonfire now burning bright in the middle of the Boneyard. He was no longer manning the keg, which meant that they were too late and he'd already run out, but he didn't seem too upset as he took them and shrugged. Then, he noticed JJ falling back a little bit behind her, having swindled his way around getting two more full cups of something but acting unusually frustrated. More than normal. JB met eyes with Ronni to ask a silent question, and she shook her head.

JJ walked up to them, grinning and holding the second cup of beer out to his best friend. "John B! I got one for you! Here, you want it?"

"Yeah, I'll take a sip," John B shrugged, glancing down into the cup to make sure it wasn't contaminated, all while Ronni sent him a look.

She went to grab the two cups from them. "You two dumbasses don't even know what's in those."

"Hey, hey! Mine," JJ protested her grabby hands, looking at her with a frown, but a further emotion was charged in his eyes when they met. So she looked away, and his eyes caught something else. He grinned, turning ahead. "Hey, Sarah! Sarah!"

Ronni whipped her head around to look at him, tugging his elbow back when he called over Sarah Cameron. "JJ, what the hell―"

"Hey," he grinned at the blonde, holding out one of the cups. "Can I interest you in the taste of a wonky beverage?"

Sarah Cameron was pretty, and she looked kind enough, but there was enough history between her and people Ronni knew and loved―specifically Kie―that she had to immediately dislike her. She was all for female empowerment, but not when that particular female had wronged another, and that female was Kie. So her distaste for the girl and her boyfriend was instantly noticed, Ronni unable to hide her annoyance when she came over to talk to JJ.

"No...thanks," Sarah denied politely, glancing down at the cup, but even that couldn't hide the tone of voice carrying something a little bit too much for JJ.

He raised his eyebrows at her. "What, is it not fancy enough for you?"

She instantly went to protest, and Ronni stepped forward between John B and JJ, her hand still on his elbow to tug him back because she could clearly see where this was going. Sarah and her met eyes briefly just before Topper cut off the contact, stepping in front of her to reach for the drink instead with a cocky ass grin that screamed he was better than everyone else―and JJ hated that.

"You know what...you know what, I'll take it. Thank you man, I appreciate it," Topper went to reach for the cup but was quickly shut down by John B, whose arm went out to push up against his chest.

JJ stepped up further, pulled back by Ronni again, his tipsy state starting to rule the situation. "I appreciate that suggestion, Topper, but I didn't ask you. Now, maybe if you said 'pretty please,' now maybe―"

"JJ, stop, come on," Ronni interrupted, curling her arm around his entirely now so that she could pull him back.

Topper sneered, still inching forward. "Oh, pretty please? Pretty please?"

JJ could only eat up the conversation with a shit-eating grin, taunting him and nodding before he turned away from Topper completely, sticking the cup out again to Sarah. "C'mon, Sarah. I promise, you can have that―"

The cup being handed out was suddenly coming back when Topper hit the bottom back at JJ, sending the beer directly in his and Ronni's face. She barely had the chance to reach out for him, blinded by the sudden flush of liquid on her, before he went to grab a hold of Topper, pushing him forward with a hot flash of anger. John B was closest, separating the two and throwing JJ back in Ronni's direction so that she could stand in front of him like earlier. Pope was suddenly at her side, helping her keep JJ back from going after Topper again.

"JJ, JJ, calm down, it's fine―" she said, but when he looked down and noticed that she had also been splashed with the beer, his anger only resurfaced hotter. "Calm down. It's fi―"

"You dirty pogues!"

Ronni didn't have enough time to cross the distance to get to John B, too busy keeping JJ at bay, to stop him from shoving Topper hard for the remark made about them. But she had only just turned around, Pope now holding onto JJ and John B walking back to them, to see Topper come back from his ego hit to throw a punch directly at John B―and then maybe it was because Ronni was pissed off, or because she was raised by a single dad who taught her how to fight back, but she got in between Topper and his war-path on her best friend, pushing up against his chest while Sarah yanked his arm back.

Topper had the upper hand, though, and managed to push both Sarah and Ronni to the ground. The two girls fell instantly, and she barely heard the sound of JJ calling her name before she was on her feet again. Topper was still making his way over to John B, who had taken the hit hard and landed in the shorelining.

"Hey John B, don't make me drown you like your old man, alright?"

"Topper, stop!" she yelled out, but before she could intervene, arms were securing themselves around her body and chaining her down in their arms. She instantly recognized the watch on their wrist, struggling against them. "Logan, let me go!"

He only wrenched her further away from the water. "Stop, you're gonna get yourself hurt!"

"I don't care!"

John B managed to stumble to his feet, ramming right into the side of Topper and taking him down with him. Ronni wasn't even paying attention to the other side of the beach, Kiara and Pope both standing there watching helplessly as the two of them fought to get back on their feet, landing punches in the ribs until they finally made it back to the sand. When she saw JJ on the other side of her, cheering on John B, she felt her anger flaring up, continuing to struggle against Logan until she finally broke away, turning around to shove up against her step-brother's chest and get away from him.

But even though she was now free, there wasn't anything she could do. John B and Topper kept throwing punches, being egged on by the crowd that was desperate for a fight. She faintly remembered screaming John B's name, just like she heard Kie doing the same, and Sarah shouting out for Topper, but all of that fell apart in waves when Topper managed to get John B back out to the shore, flipping him so that he was face-down in the water. And then Topper was pushing John B's shoulders down, and Ronni's horror only burned heavier in her chest when she realized what he was doing.

Ronni got a head-start on Logan. She was in the water in seconds, her taller step-brother lunging for her the moment he realized what she was doing, and she pushed hard up against Topper's shoulders with all of the strength she had. He stumbled back into the water, and Ronni instantly fell to her knees in the water, pulling John B's head up and against her body as she helped him to breathe, her arm wrapping around the entirety of his back to his bruised ribs.

But Ronni was too focused on making sure her best friend was alive and breathing to notice that Topper had tried to come forward again and knock her out of the way to finish the job. Only when she heard the screams of a new name, a different name, did she look up from John B's choking form to see an even worse horror. JJ was standing over Topper, the gun from earlier now pointed directly at his head, the crowd from earlier dispersing as they realized he had a weapon.

"JJ!" she heard Sarah scream from behind her, but Ronni was now focused on JJ, whose face had turned a vicious degree of enjoyment as he looked down on Topper with the upper hand. "JJ, stop! Put the gun down!"

"Did you say something princess?" he hissed out, not even bothering to look up at her.

Ronni, still clinging onto John B, raised up slightly and slowly, a lump forming in her throat as tears sprung out. "JJ, drop the gun. JJ, please, it's not doing anything! Drop the gun!"

"We're good, we're good!" Topper exclaimed in a panic, his hands raised up high as he slowly stood to his feet. "Alright man?"

"JJ!"

JJ finally moved the gun away from Topper's head at Ronni's last pleading cry, his jaw clenching tightly as he slowly backed up from the Kook. He didn't even look her way to see the tears coming down hot, and Sarah's eyes darted quickly to Kie and Pope, just as helpless as the others. "Can you check your psycho friend please!"

"JB," Ronni muttered through her sobs, turning all of her attention onto her friend still laying limp against her. She fell back onto her knees at the weight, her hands going to reach for his face so she could see if his eyes were open. "JB, are you okay? Can you hear me? JB, come on..."

"Alright, everybody listen up! Get the hell off of our side of the island!"

Ronni jerked instantly when she heard the sound of a gun go off twice, half of her body going protectively around John B while the other half froze up in fear. When she blinked away the wet lashes against her cheeks, she realized that JJ had actually fired the gun and even more so, that it was fully loaded when he put it to Topper's head. Kiara and Pope were on him in an instant, Ronni glancing back to see that Logan was still lingering behind, having stepped back in horror when the gun went off.

"Logan," she called out thickly through her tears, gathering his attention. "I need help."

Thankfully, her step-brother listened, and while JJ screamed off to the side about how he'd saved John B's life, Ronni managed to get to her feet and wrap her arms around John B with Logan's help. He took on the brunt of it, and John B was unconscious by then, so it was all dead weight that they were carrying, and Ronni fell down into the sand when they'd finally reached shore, Logan carefully setting John B down against her lap, face to the side.

A bruise was already forming against his cheek, and Ronni's sobs were only getting heavier as she sat in the sand, completely soaked from being in the water, shivering from the cold and the shock. Her only concern was John B. So when she heard the sound of footsteps, and the distant echoing of her name from her friends, she barely acknowledged them―and when she finally looked up, eyes red and swollen with new tears burning hotly, she found JJ's blue eyes.

And he really thought she would never forgive him again.

Step three: get jealous over other guys―actually no. JJ wished that was the least of his problems. (REVISED) Step three: let your own anger become your worst enemy. And only notice just how horrifically it consumed you afterwards when the girl you loved looked at you in fear.

★☆⋆⁎⋆✶★☆⋆⁎⋆✶

Author's Note:

Another long one! I'm convinced these chapters will just all be long because it's impossible for me to get coherent scenes in place without awkwardly separating them. This chapter was FUN to write up until the very end. Then I broke my own heart. I hope you guys are enjoying this story so far and love Ronni's character as much as I do. She just loves her people so much, and I hope that's reflected.

We see Logan for the first time! He's a bigger part of this story (her whole family is) so I'm excited for the later chapters when he's more involved. Just like Harvey, who Ronni is worried about...what do you think's going on there? Anything to be concerned about?

Thank you so much! Please leave a comment and let me know what you thought about the new chapter! Comments help updates come faster, especially because they're so motivating. So help a girl out and let me know your feedback on this story (and this chapter). All my love!