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𝖍𝖔𝖜 𝖙𝖔: 𝖑𝖔𝖘𝖊 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖌𝖎𝖗𝖑

(CHAPTER TWO)

𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐚 𝐠𝐮𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐝𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐬

★☆⋆⁎⋆✶★☆⋆⁎⋆✶

"Wakey, wakey."

Ronni, with her eyes still peacefully shut against her pillow, reached to shove the face of the person who was close enough that she could feel his breath on her cheek. Just by pushing their face, she realized that it was JJ (if not for the obnoxious voice too early in the morning), and moved to elongate her body as much as possible and stretch her limbs. Then, when she felt enough bones crack, she opened her eyes to see that JJ was standing over her bed with his hands on his hips.

"Ma'am, that wasn't very nice. I just had a rough and kinky night with Agatha. I'm sensitive, baby."

That woke Ronni up right away. She sat up, pulling the sheets away from her sweaty body and darted toward the small window in her room. As she inspected what she could through the blinds, JJ tried his best to be a good boy and not inspect his best friend. It was hard. Real hard. Especially when she was wearing a small pair of shorts and a thin, thin, oh-so-very thin tank top. He cleared her throat, raising his eyes to the ceiling for a brief moment to curse the Heavens with an exasperated sigh, before bringing them back down on her.

"How bad is it out there?" she asked, turning around to face him.

He pressed his lips together tightly, trying to keep his eyes on her face. "We're picking you up before we go say hi to Aggie's leftovers. The Chateau's pretty roughed up. Couple of trees down here and there and everywhere. Get dressed. We're going fishing. John B's waiting on the dock."

"Dad home?" she asked, going to her dresser to grab a bathing suit and a t-shirt. She reached for the waistband of her shorts, but stopped when she saw him looking at her. With her index finger, she gestured for him to turn around.

JJ was used to the routine by now, turning around to look at the plethora of pictures she'd plastered on her baby blue wall all while trying not to imagine her naked. "No dice. Guess he got an earlier start than we did."

"No note?"

"Not even a piece of toast for me. Can you believe that?"

"How inconsiderate of him," she said, and when she'd finished changing into the white and yellow bathing suit, she threw the light blue t-shirt over it as a cover-up. "You're good. I stole your shirt, by the way. Sorry."

When JJ turned around, he was thankful that Ronni was too busy trying to put her hair into a ponytail to pay attention to the way his eyes snaked down her figure. Her tanned skin was a stark contrast to the light blue Kildare Island shirt, and with that being all that was on her, her legs were on full display. Fuck him―no, literally, fuck him. His life sucked. He clenched his jaw and felt his eye twitch, whether that be in regular frustration or sexual frustration, he wasn't sure, but seeing her in his t-shirt (which he should be used to seeing as it happened so often, but he wasn't...he really wasn't) made him eager to get back outside in the cool air.

But then there were the times when JJ stopped saying fuck him, and instead said fuck it. Dangerous game, but one he played nonetheless. He walked up to where she was standing in front of her mirror and wrapped his arms around her waist tightly, his chin going to rest on her shoulder comfortably as she finished up her hair, throwing one of Kie's thick blue headbands on afterwards. She stopped what she was doing and stared at him in the mirror, her hands going to rest on the tanned arms he was clutching her with.

Affection was not uncommon between any of the Pogues―more often than not, affection was one of their best ways of showing their love for another―but there was always a different level of intimacy between Ronni and JJ. She taught him that physical contact with another human did not have to be traumatic, but comforting. The small touches, the slight taps of finger tips, and even the forehead kisses always carried a conversation behind them. Words JJ was never quite able to say, and sentences Ronni always understood. But what was just mindless hugs and lingering cheek kisses to Ronni was a hell of a lot more to JJ. Sometimes, he dealt his own blows.

Neither would ever deny that they'd spent more than a few nights curled up together in the very bed to their right, but the others knew that. Long before JJ ever developed romantic feelings for Ronni, she was always his blanket of comfort, especially on the days when he would show up at their doorstep with a new bruise to add to the millions of internal ones. Abuse, however much he tried to convince himself that wasn't what it was, was something he always thought would break him. Make him hard.

"You okay?" she muttered tiredly, rubbing his arms. He hummed, closing his eyes momentarily to nudge his nose against her exposed neck. "Thought you were going to come over last night. Dad was getting worried about you and JB."

He shrugged one shoulder slightly. "John B didn't get in 'til late. I ended up crashing on the couch or else I would've come by."

"Have you heard from..." her words trailed off, making him open his eyes and look at her through the mirror. She could see the answer in his eyes, and she pursed her lips, squeezing his arms tighter. "C'mon. John B's gonna come busting in here in two seconds pissed as all hell that we're keeping him waiting."

"It's fine. He's used to third-wheeling."

"Him?" she said sarcastically. "We all know I'm the third wheel in the love affair between you two. Been that way since we were kids."

JJ smirked against her skin. "Well, fucking hell. I thought we were getting away with it."

"Mhm, sure, slick," she said, and then she patted his arms again, that time to get him to release her. Reluctantly, he did so, but not without raising his head first to press a lingering kiss to her cheek.  He ignored the burning feeling in his chest as he stepped away very quickly, going to run his fingers through his hair. She grabbed a few more things on her way out to throw into her backpack, throwing a handful of food inside since she knew the boys hadn't eaten breakfast, then slipped on her sandals. JJ waited at the door, gesturing with his arm like an usher to go first.

"How's he doin'?" she asked when they were outside and she caught sight of John B sitting in the driver's seat of the HMS Pogue. When she noticed how many trees were down in her small backyard, some of them landing dangerously close to her dad's boat and others near her car, she winced. "Shit."

"You guys didn't get hit as bad as the Chateau...DCS was supposed to come today, so he's pretty damn happy."

Ronni frowned at the mention of DCS, stepping over a fallen branch. "He didn't tell me they were coming. I didn't even know that they were doing a check-up. You guys told me she let up on him with summer starting and all.  I could've―"

"―yeah, that's why he didn't tell you, V," JJ finished for her, shoving his hands into his cargo pants. "He doesn't want to put that on your dad. You know how he is about that shit."

"But Dad would do it in a heartbeat. You know that. He'd do anything for you guys. He's had that pen ready to sign for nine months. The two of you are as much family to him as I am. We've already talked about it more than once. He should've told me."

"Just give him today before you lay on him about it."

"Fine. I'm still talking to Dad tonight," she relented, then she held something up she'd grabbed along the way. "Surprise."

JJ grabbed a hold of the blue bracelet, grinning. "Wondered why you were holding mine hostage for so long. Thought you didn't make me one, V. That really hurt."

"Not my fault blondie had you locked up all night."

"Yeah, she was a bitc―" Ronni scowled at him the moment the derogatory comment was about to come out of his mouth. He stopped, and winced. "Yeah, yeah. Sorry. Slip-up. Women support other women. She was a bit of a handful."

"Only slightly better."

When they got to the end of the dock, Ronni put two fingers in her mouth and let out a whistle when she saw her other best friend. John B grinned over at Ronni and walked over, his arms outstretched for her like she was a sack of potatoes he'd have to catch. She slid into them without hesitation, letting him grab her and help her on, then the two of them glanced back just in time to see JJ jump on the boat without care.

"One day you're gonna tip the damn thing," Ronni said with a scold, moving to the bow of the boat so that she could sit down while John B went back to steer the boat in the direction of the docks.

JJ grinned, throwing himself down across from her and stretching his legs out. "Hasn't happened yet."

"Better watch how you say yet. If we sink, remember who gets the door, Jack."

Ronni stretched out, still trying to get rid of the kinks in her body from last night's sleep, with a hand covering her eyes to block the sun as it started to come out. As they approached the Cut, she heard the bickering of John B and JJ, the two of them discussing the different degrees of destruction that had been done to the boats in the seaport. When she overheard them talking about a certain woman, Miss Amy, who Ronni frequently spoke with, she lifted her head up slightly to crane her body and see the woman.

"Hey, Miss Amy!" she called after JJ, waving her hand slightly to give the woman a grin. "You get slammed?"

The blonde woman smiled at her from the dock, picking up some debris. "We'll recover!"

"She can slam me. She totally looked at me," JJ muttered to the two of them as they drove away, standing directly above Ronni's lying figure and blocking all of her sun. "I'm telling you. She digs me."

"I saw it," John B confirmed, pumping his head up.

Ronni scoffed, opening her eyes to look up at JJ. "You're an idiot."

"No need to be jealous, baby," he taunted, grinning down at her. "You know I'm your idiot."

"I thought you were my idiot?" John B asked, looking between them, pitifully heartbroken. "That hurts. I really thought we had something special."

JJ whirled around to him, holding a finger to his lips. "Dude, shh! She's already onto us!"

"Both of you are idiots," she corrected.

"Your idiots, though. You claimed us. We're yours forever. Shackled on tight," John B sent her a wink as they messed around with one another, and then he lifted his head briefly to glance around at the damage everywhere at the port. "We're going to be cleaning this up all summer."

JJ could already feel the pain in his heart at the thought. "That is my nightmare."

"Well, look who we have here!"

Ronni pushed herself up when she heard John B, shading her eyes once again to see that they had arrived at Heyward's. A grin stretched along her face when she saw Pope at the edge of the dock, trying to spray off the remains of whatever had washed up on it from the night before. Next to him, she saw a piece of wood with 'BRING IT ON, AGGIE, YOU BITCH' in her Dad's handwriting and couldn't help but snort. So that's what he'd been doing when he was helping Heyward.

John B put his hand to his shoulder, mimicking a radio with static noise and all. "We have a safety meeting. Attendance mandatory."

Fucking idiot, Ronni thought, and watched as Pope took a few steps toward them, shaking his head. "I can't. My pop's got me on lockdown."

"Told ya so," Ronni hummed knowingly between the two boys.

"Oh, come on, man!" JJ interjected before following John B's actions, his hand going to his shoulder as a radio-call as well. "Your dad's a pussy. Over."

Ronni watched as Heyward came over just as the words left JJ's mouth, a smirk already sticking to her mouth when he scowled at the blonde boy. "Oh, I heard that, you little bastard―"

"We need your son!" John B called out to him.

"Day after the hurricane's a free day," JJ excused, raising his hands up in the air.

Hayward scowled at his bullshit excuse. "Who the hell made that up?"

"Uh...pentagon, I think. We have security clearance. I have a card―"

"Hey, Hey!" Ronni greeted the man with their longstanding joke of his nickname. She pushed herself up completely that time, resting her arms on her knees to distract the man since she was his favorite of the three anyway. "Is Dad here? I know he said something about coming to clean up last night."

"Haven't seen him since yesterday before the hurricane hit when we were laying the sandbags," the man said, shaking his head, and then he realized that his son was slowly inching toward the boat coming closer. "Oh, no you don't―"

"I'll do it tomorrow," Pope promised, slowly backing up. "Tomorrow. I promise."

Ronni raised her hand out and waved. "I'll come help, Hey!"

"You think―no, no―hell no, you're doin' it right now," Heyward interjected hastily, glaring at his son when he noticed the way Pope kept glancing back and forth between him and the boat. Weighing his options. "You're not gettin' your friends to clean up after your ass every time you―"

John B raised his eyebrows at his best friend, lowering his voice tauntingly. "Get in the boat."

"Make a run for it," JJ urged, his smug smile only growing at the bad influences him and John B were when they saw Pope drop the hose on the ground. Heyward saw it too, walking forward.

"Boy, if you get in that boat―" Pope jumped in the boat as he said that, instantly hitting the front so that John B would start moving before his Dad could murder him.  "Bring your ass back here!"

"I promise I'll do it tomorrow, Dad!" Pope said.

As they slowly steered off, Hayward continued his threats to his son until they were no longer heard. "When you get back, you gonna clean shrimp, clean fish, you'll clean your dirty ass room!"

"We'll bring him back in one piece, I promise!" John B promised as a parting gift.

"And I don't like your friends!"

"Just so we're clear, he means you two," Ronni pointed out, glancing between them as they drove away until Heyward's place was no longer in the vicinity. She received a middle finger up from John B, while JJ had long since accepted the love-hate (mostly hate) relationship between him and Pope's father. She turned to Pope, standing next to her sitting figure. "You finish that essay yet?"

He winced. "Finished the first paragraph."

"That's my boy," she raised a hand out to him so he would high-five her. "I can help you out with it whenever you bring it over to the Chateau again if you want me to. I've got some examples of scholarship essays from class last year in one of my notebooks, I think. Two heads work better than one."

JJ stuck his head in the direction, grinning. "Count me in. John B?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm great at words," the bandana-wearing boy reassured. "They'd be all up on me, wanting me to get that scholarship."

"The two of you share one collective brain cell on a good day," Pope said blandly.

Ronni laid back down on her back. "No, actually the three of you share it. Pope's usually the one holding onto it, though."

"All empty up in here," JJ confirmed, knocking on his head.

They continued down the marsh until they finally came up on the Wreck, and Ronni sighed thankfully when she noticed that her work was still intact from the storm, the work she and Kie had helped them with yesterday putting up a fighting chance. She loved her job and the Carrera's. The Wreck was Mike's entire life besides his family, and he'd always done a great job at keeping up with it. He'd been kind enough to give her a job when she turned sixteen, and she'd been working there with Kie ever since. Kiara walked down the ramp to the edge of the dock, smiling at her four best friends.

"Mornin' people," she greeted, carrying a cooler in her hand with her backpack hung up on her back.

John B grinned when he saw it. "Whatcha got? You got some juice boxes?"

"Oh, you know, just some yoghurt and carrot sticks."

When she got to the end of the dock, JJ held his hand out for her to use to hop into the boat. "What about my kind of juice boxes?"

"Yeah," she said, knowingly. She walked over to Ronni, grabbing her legs so that she could take a seat under them. When she was adjusted properly, she let her place them back on her lap. Ronni peeked open her eyes to look at Kie, who grinned at her best friend. "Hi, pretty girl."

Ronni nudged her with her foot slightly. "Talking about yourself?"

"Hey, no flirting, you two," JJ interjected as he reached into the cooler to grab a beer, handing one over to Kie and the other over to Ronni. He knew Pope wouldn't drink, and John B was driving under further notice.

Ronni leant up slightly so she wouldn't choke as she took a swig, her and Kie meeting amused eyes momentarily before she shrugged at JJ. "Rule states no macking. No one said anything about flirting."

JJ was definitely not the one to need the reminder about the rule.

"Exactly," Kie agreed, and the two girls clinked their bottles together. "Salud!"

Only thirty minutes later had the sun started sweltering down on them. Most of them had longsince stripped off their layers, Pope now manning the boat as John B joined the three of them in drinking. Even as they drove through the wreckage left from the hurricane, the water was still peaceful. Perhaps it was just the company. Ronni and Kie both had a nice buzz going on, giggling like idiots which lent to the two of them having a small dance competition for the better half. John B joined in at one point, fumbling his arms around like an idiot with JJ and Pope yelled out scores on his skills―he got a five for effort.

When JJ came around to where Ronni was standing on the edge of the boat, he wrapped his arms around her tan waist and grinned. "Hey, Rose. Paint me like one of your french girls."

"Real funny," she huffed. He let go off her with one arm, his other still securely attached around her waist while he took a long gulp of his beer, ushering Pope to speed up. When she realized what he was trying to do, she tried to pull herself away from him. "JJ, let me go. You're gonna get beer in my face. JJ, I swear to God―"

"Chilllll," he slurred, squeezing her hip. "I got this!"

John B scoffed from behind them, moving to get out of the line of fire. "You've tried this like six-thousand times! It doesn't work."

"I got this! It's gonna work," he assured, and then he grinned over at Ronni. "I've got my good luck charm, boys!"

Ronni shoved him, still trying to get out of his grip. "JJ, seriously. I'm going to fucking kill you if you don't let me go―"

Too late. He raised the beer up, hoping that the momentum from the boat would get the beer directly into mouth like it had never done before. All it ended up doing was catching in the air, the musty smell instantly hitting everyone that was around him rather than his target and starting the line of protests. Ronni's started her string of profanity when the beer got in her face, still trying to shove JJ off, while Kiara let out a sound of disgust when the beer flew in her hair.

"Alright, alright―" Pope called out, trying to get him to stop.

Then, with one fell swoop and a minor case of whiplash, the HMS Pogue went lurching forward. Ronni and JJ flew off the front of the boat instantly, the blonde boy losing his grip and flipping into the water while the former did her best not to land on her back or her face, compensating by doing a cannon ball. Inside the boat, Kiara went flying forward against the bow of the boat, wincing when her side hit hard against the side. John B wasn't so lucky, flying halfway forward, his head resting near Kiara's side. Pope, the reckless driver, was the only one to come away mostly unscathed.

"Jesus, Pope!" Kie yelled, holding onto her head with a wince.

At the same time, both JJ and Ronni surfaced from the marsh water sucking in air. JJ let out a groan and tried to clear his lungs of the water he'd inhaled when he went under. Ronni ended up a few feet away from him, wincing and rolling her neck from where she pulled it when she went flying forward. Pope glanced over at the two of them.

"You guys okay?"

"I think my heels touched the back of my head," JJ moaned out painfully, and then he opened his eyes to glance over at Ronni, checking for injuries. "V, you alright?"

"Just chillin'," she said sarcastically. Her and JJ met in the middle and treaded water in front of the boat, her shoving his shoulder as she heard John B check to make sure that Kie was alright. "I didn't think Pope's dumb ass would hit an actual fucking iceberg."

"You still not gonna save me a piece of the door?" he asked, gaining a splash of water in his face from Ronni as they grinned at one another. He called over to the side of the boat. "Pope, what did you do?"

Pope stood up, glancing at the marsh around him. "Sandbar. The channel changed."

"No shit."

"This is probably gonna mess this whole place up," John B muttered pitifully, leaning against the side.

JJ and Ronni stayed swimming in the marsh, the two of them not having necessarily expected to get in the water today, but since they were in it, the two took their opportunity. Besides, out of all their friends, if anyone was going to go flying into the water, it was best for it to be them. They were the best swimmers (and the best surfers, JJ would add to hype himself up). As they messed around, Pope leaned over the side of the boat with furrowed brows.

"Guys..." he called out to them, gaining their attention. They all looked his way to see him peering off the side. "I think there's a boat down there."

"Oh, shut up."

Kie twisted her body to pop her back, ignoring Pope's attempt at a joke. "No way."

"No, no, guys―I'm serious. There's a boat down there, for real," he said seriously, even pointing in the direction. Kie and John B looked over the side, and their eyes instinctively widened with they saw the shadow of the boat submerged, profanities slipping out. Ronni and JJ shared a glance and then started swimming in the direction of where Pope pointed. "It's a boat! You think there's a dead body down there?"

"Seriously, dude?" Ronni called just as Kie and JB dove into the water.

JJ glanced over at Pope, taking his sweet time. "Get your ass in here, Pope!"

When he finally joined them in the water, the five of them went under the surface and started in the direction of the boat. JJ and Ronni reached first, clinging onto one of the metal railings to keep themselves from floating back to the top as they inspected it. When they caught what was on the side of it, their eyes widened. The others were there in milliseconds, all of them trying to get a good look at it before they lost air. John B managed get the deepest inside the belly of the boat, glancing around.

Unfortunately, the close look only lasted a few seconds with the time it took them to get to it, and Ronni let out a few air bubbles from her mouth when she realized they needed to be heading back. Pushing up off the roof of the boat, the five of them swam to the surface. Like a bubble popping, their heads came up at the same time and excitement littered the air as they glanced around at one another, sharing equal grins.

"You guys saw that, right?" JJ asked in disbelief, laughing energetically.

"Yeah!"

"What the―"

"That's a Grady-White. A new one of the is live five-hundred G's, easy, " he explained as they all swam back to the boat, laughing as they all clambered back inside of it. He grinned over at John B, who shared in the ecstasy over the find the most. "That's a primo rig!"

"Yeah, yeah," his best friend agreed immediately. "That's the boat I saw when I surfed the surge. Maybe it hit the jetty or something―"

"Wait, what?" came out of Ronni's mouth the same time that Kie spluttered out a very similar protest, both of them interrupting John B's explanation. "You surfed the surge?"

The two girls looked at one another, their faces fallen of all humor while JJ grinned and went in to congratulate his best friend. "That's my boy! Pogue style."

"Wait, wait. Do we know whose boat that is?" Pope asked, watching as John B started moving to retrieve something out of one of the boat's compartments.

"No, but we're about to find out," and with that, JB pulled out an anchor.

JJ peered over the side again at the faint sight of the boat. "Dude, it's too deep."

"Oh, for the weak and feeble, JJ."

"Well, I'm not resuscitating you. I'm just making that clear up front."

John B turned around, now gripping the anchor tightly to his chest. "That's fine―"

"JB, are you an idiot?" Ronni asked as she stepped forward, her eyes wide on him like he'd suddenly gone crazy. "You can barely hold your breath for thirty seconds without struggling. You're not going to make that dive and look at anything for more than two seconds."

"Ouch," he said, frowning at her. "I'll be fine, Ronni."

Kie only stepped up beside her, taking her side. "John B―"

"Diver down, fool," Pope interjected before the girls could protest anymore, saluting his friend.

John B grinned, returning the salute. "Diver down."

"Yeah, he is!"

Before John B could jump off himself, JJ sent a hard shove to his best friend's chest and sent the boy overboard with the anchor gripped tightly in his arms. All three of them immediately moved to the side, hovering where he'd fallen with a growing tinge of concern leveling the air the longer that he spent underneath the water. Their view of him had completely disappeared, only seeing the ripples of the water now. When it definitely felt like longer that thirty seconds, Ronni met eyes with Kie and the two of them started to simmer in their worry.

After a few more seconds, Pope cleared his throat. "Should we go get him?"

Before anyone could reply, John B was resurfacing and choking in air as he did so. Instantly, Ronni leaned back, letting out the breath she'd been inadvertently holding in. "Jesus Christ, JB."

"That took forever!" Kie hissed at him, her heart racing.

Pope leaned further, only interested in one thing. "Any dead bodies?"

"Looting potential?" JJ added, hopefully.

"No, no―" JB dismissed, then he held up his hand to show them what he'd discovered. "I found this motel key."

Pope blinked. "A key."

"Yes, a key, Pope."

"Great," JJ said sarcastically, pulling the anchor in. "We salvaged a motel key."

Kiara and Ronni went to help pull John B back aboard. He smiled pitifully sweet at the two girls when he noticed the way they were both scolding him with their expressions, bringing both of them to give them a squeeze much to their chagrin. Then, he turned to look at Pope and JJ, holding up the motel key. Pope sighed and moved to start the boat, but before he could, John B quickly ushered him out of the way. He'd had enough driving the boat for the day.

"Guys, we should report the wreck to the Coast Guard," Kie suggested as they started moving again, and she glanced at the four of them, shrugging. "Maybe we'll get a finder's fee."

JJ's attitude piped up at the thought. "Yeah, and not work all summer. That's Agatha, ya batch!"

★☆⋆⁎⋆✶★☆⋆⁎⋆✶

Agatha was, in fact, a batch. The Coast Guard was a complete bust with everyone on the island chomping at the bit to get their problem to a level of importance higher than the person next to them. Deciding to take matters into their own hands, the Pogues found out the hotel where the hotel key belonged. Only when they started to pull up to it did they begin to question whether or not they should have involved themselves with the goose-chase in the first place, Ronni and JJ meeting eyes to share their thoughts.

"I thought the Chateau looked bad," JJ said, grabbing a hold of the rope at the front so he could post the boat up on land when they stopped.

John B hummed in agreement. "This place is a shit-show."

"Motel or meth lab?" Kie asked.

Pope shielded his eyes from the sun to get a better look. "You be the judge."

"Doesn't look like the type of place someone with a Grady-White would stay," John B said.

"No, it looks like the type of place someone with Grady-White would get killed."

"Oh, come on," Ronni tried to protest, glancing between her friends and then wincing slightly. "There was a hurricane. Maybe it just....yeah, no. I tried. Remember that one scary movie we watched a couple summers ago, guys? The Vacancy? This is what it reminds me of."

"Great, Ronni. Thanks for that input," John B said, and she gave him a thumbs-up.

When they were close enough, JJ jumped out of the boat and put the mooring into the ground to secure the boat. The decision must have been made in that moment on who would be going into the dingy-ass hotel, John B sighing. "Well. Here goes nothing."

"Hey," Pope called before he could jump off, making them turn. He pointed at JJ. "Don't let him do anything stupid."

Ronni snorted, meeting eyes with the blonde-boy to see the mischief growing on his face by the second. "Fat chance of that happening."

"I'm not making promises," John B dismissed, shaking his head.

"Yeah, I know," Pope said with a sigh.

"Hey, you two know how it works in the movies," Ronni said to the boys, leaning over the side slightly to grin at JJ when he raised his eyebrows in her direction. " Lock some lips to avoid detection if you've got to."

He looked at her suggestively. "Yeah, you wanna practice that, baby?"

"Mhm, c'mere."

JJ grinned but didn't bother leaning in, the two of them bickering with each other. They stopped when they heard Kie and John B behind them, her urging him to be careful with a look that everyone clearly caught. Even John B paused for a moment, blinking at Kiara before nodding in a slight daze, then turned around jumped out of the boat to walk toward the hotel with JJ. The other three stayed put, watching as they disappeared into the heart of the place, muttering with one another as they went on their way.

The moment that they were no longer within hearing distance, Ronni turned and looked at Kie with raised eyebrows. Her curly-haired best friend frowned, tilting her slightly like with a gesture of 'say something right now and you're dead' that Ronni read loud and clear. So the girls didn't talk about it, instead moving so that they could sit down and root through the cooler while they waited for the boys to return.

Meanwhile, as they walked to find the room that matched with the hotel key, JJ decided to interrogate his best friend on what just happened. "What the heck was that about?"

"I don't know! Maybe she wants us to be careful," John B said defensively, shrugging like it was no big deal.

"Since she heard you being threatened with exile, she's been like 'Oh, be so careful, John B...give me that John D already'..." JJ moaned out, rubbing at his shoulders while he messed around with him. He pointed in the direction of the boat. "Like, when are you gonna swoop on that?"

John B turned around to look at him with raised eyebrows. "We gonna go there? Really? You're going to tell me to take my shot when you've had a thing for Ronni for how long―"

"Hey, hey. Taboo topic, brother. Speaking it is a no-no."

"You need help. Not like a little bit of help, but a lot of help, because it's like every girl who has a heart beat, you just―" John B lunged forward, making the gesture of throwing himself at girls.

"What? What's wrong with that?" JJ challenged.

John B shot him a look. "You know what's wrong with that. You're feeding into some toxic bullshit, man. Just tell her how you feel and stop shitting on yourself by being with other girls right in front of her face just 'cause you think it'll help you forget about her."

"Taboo," JJ said coldly, shooting him a look. "Besides, the rule―"

"―was made when we were thirteen, and I thought V was hot as hell. I mean, she's still hot but just...no. I accepted my loss a long time ago. She's like my sister now, dude―"

"Here it is," JJ interrupted when they got to the door, relieved to end the conversation.

Back on the boat, Kie and Ronni started to swap JJ's JUUL back and forth every couple of minutes while Pope let out exaggerated sighs. They'd decided to start a back-and-forth game of questions they already knew about each other, but for the sake of passing time, they kept up with it. Ronni had a feeling that it was Pope's way of figuring out more about Kie, pitifully feeling sad for him because she knew how big of a crush he had on their friend.

"Biggest pet peeve?" he asked her while Ronni stayed quiet, taking another hit of the JUUL.

"Easy. Giving one percent to the environment."

"What's wrong with that?"

Ronni looked at him like he was dumb, Kie following in suit. "We only have one Earth, Pope. We should be giving it a hundred percent. Bare minimum."

"Nobody cares until it's a problem to their perfect lives, though," Ronni added, curling her arms around her legs as she and Kie met eyes. "If everyone just had a little bit more compassion...or, I don't know, just be fucking kind to one another, maybe then we'd stop destroying the world and each other...no one sees it until it's too late which is why sea turtle habitats are being turned into fancy ass homes with unnecessary features."

"And that, right there, is why it's my pet peeve. It's easy to care. People just don't."

"Right..." Pope said slowly, looking between the girls. "That's not fiscally sound."

"Neither is destroying the planet we have to live on." Then Kie turned to look at Ronni, who had yet to be asked a question. "Biggest fear?"

"Literal or metaphysical?" she asked, curiously. When Kie shrugged and said both, she sighed and leaned back. "Literal would be heights. JJ and JB always tried to get me to climb on the roof of the Chateau when we were kids and I almost shit myself every time because they kept pretending they were gonna throw me off. I was a mess. Metaphysically...probably becoming my mom."

Pope furrowed his brows, frowning. "What do you mean?"

Kie gave him a look like 'are you dumb' for even asking it, but Ronni just shrugged. "I never want money or any of that materialistic shit to change me like it did my mom. I'd rather be working two jobs trying to make a living and actually love my kid instead of throwing money at them and having the nannies wipe their ass like what happened with Logan. Money helps when it's put in the right place. Otherwise, it's waiting to ruin lives."

"Do you think it actually changes people? Or that it just brings out the worst?"

"I don't know..." she brought the JUUL to her lips, glancing at Kie who was looking down at her hands. Ronni stuck her foot out and nudged her friend's knee. "I've seen people who have it that didn't let it change them. I think it would be shitty to assume that every rich person out there was a bad person...but I think until you've got the opportunity in front of you and the money's staring you in the face, you don't really know which one you'll be. I'm just scared I'd be like my mom. "

"You aren―guys," Pope cut himself off, his eyes widening. "Hey, hey. Cops."

Both Kie and Ronni whipped their head around to see the police cruiser pulling up. "Shit."

"Call them―"

"We can't," Kie said, all of them hunkering down as they watched the officers get out of their car. "The towers are down."

Ronni and Kie covertly got out of the boat first, and Pope sighed heavily and muttered under his breath as he followed them. "If I lose my merit scholarship, I'm going to kill someone...maybe they're not going up there. Maybe they're just here―"

"Look, he's pointing. They're pointing! They're going up there."

Ronni took off first, trying to crouch the whole way to the side of the building where the window to the motel room was that JJ and John B went in. Kie and Pope followed behind shortly after, muttering about her leaving them behind, but Ronni was already trying to weigh her options on how to get them out of the place. She thought about having them boosting her up there, but that was counterproductive. Pope seemed to have thought ahead, bending to grab a rock and ushering the girls out of the way. Then he threw it. And they watched as it fell straight down in a pit of depression, barely catching air. They whirled around to look at him.

"What the fuck was that?" Ronni asked, looking at him with wide eyes. "Dude!"

Kie glanced down at the rock by her feet. "Didn't you ever play baseball?"

"I was on the math team!"

Ronni looked down at the gravel underneath her feet while they bickering about him being on the math team, and when she found a rock suitable to be thrown and make enough noise, she quickly picked it up. Pope and Kie stopped and moved away when she went to throw it, the rock instantly clipping the bottom of the window and making a loud impact. All three of them sighed in relief, and she turned to look at them.

"Raised by a single dad," she excused, giving them both a look.

Then, she turned back around to see that John B had stuck his head out from under the blinds. Instantly, all three of them started to gesture towards their left where the cops were coming, mouthing the words as much as possible and jumping so that they would get the message. John B must've understood because he disappeared, and the three of them glanced at one another anxiously.

"C'mon," Ronni urged, sliding back on her heels. "We're the get-away drivers."

They ran back to the HMS Pogue as quickly as possible, trying to catch their breath in the process. Kie took the reigns of the boat while Ronni and Pope leant over the side to try and see what the boys were doing. The cops were only getting closer every second, and they sucked in a deep breath when they saw them stop in front of the motel room.

"Should we peel?" Kie asked hastily, already holding the keys to start the boat.

Pope glanced back while Ronni kept an eye on the window anxiously, biting her lip. "You never leave a Pogue behind."

"No...seriously," she offered again. "Should we peel?"

"Maybe."

"Stop it. We aren't leaving them," Ronni hissed at the two, not bothering to look back. She stepped up on the bow of the boat so she could see better, and then her eyes widened. "Oh, hell, they are not―"

Pope looked at her. "What? What is it?"

Then they saw what she was talking about, noticing that JJ and John B had gotten out of the room and were now standing on the small ledge outside of the window. Ronni's jaw clenched and she stepped back down, her frustration at the two boys only growing stronger when they turned to look at them. When she and Pope waved their arms around wildly, a series of 'what-in-the-hell-are-you-thinking' gestures coming out, the two boys held their fingers to their lips to shush them. Not a second later was something falling out of JJ's pocket and landing with a loud bang against the dumpster below them.

"Oh, my fucking god," Ronni rushed out exasperatedly, and when she noticed the blinds fly up, she quickly jumped down and nearly ripped Pope's arm out of socket so he'd sit down as well, wrapping her arms around his shoulders from behind him. "Stop. Stop―play it off. Play it off, it's fine. We're cool―"

Kie nodded, trying to play casual. "Yeah. Yeah, right, um―"

They stayed that way until they watched the cops walk out of the room carrying a duffel bag in their hands. When the coast was finally clear and they drove off, Ronni waved at the boys to come down, watching as they jumped off with a bit of maneuvering and landed on the ground. Breathing in a sigh of relief when they started to run toward the boat, she let herself plop back down onto the bow and relax.

"That just took ten years off my life," she said, rubbing her eyes and trying to release the tension that had built.

The boys jumped into the boat without another word, John B taking the wheel from Kie and starting them out onto the water before anyone could start a conversation. JJ sat next to Ronni, grinning excitedly all while she frowned in his direction, still recovering from what happened. Her glare must have started to burn the side of his face because he turned to look at her, still buzzing, and grinned at her. He pulled her legs onto his lap like Kie had done earlier, squeezing her ankles. Then, he turned to look at the rest of the group.

"Well, that was fun," he said, glancing between the three of them. "You could've warned us a little sooner."

Kie and Ronni spoke in perfect unison. "Pope was on the math team."

"You were on the math team?" John B asked in surprise, turning to look at Pope next to him.

Pope decided not to ever touch the topic again. "Those cops took everything like it was a crime scene. Did you guys find anything?"

"'Did we find anything?' No, I don't think so..." JJ repeated with a smugness, then started rummaging through his pockets. Then, he pulled two things out and instantly Ronni shoved away from him when she saw the gun, sitting up straight. He held it and a stack of money out. "Oh, yeah. We did."

"JJ, what the hell. Why would you take that from a crime scene?" Pope hissed out when JJ stood up and met him halfway in the middle, and then he turned on his heel, panic already induced from the sight of the evidence. "I'm going to lose my merit scholarship―"

"Hey, hey, hey..."

JJ went to move the gun to shush Pope with it, and that was enough for Ronni. She shot up from her seat and grabbed a hold of JJ's arm, pulling it away from their friend so that he was not taunting Pope anymore, making sure the gun was still upright in the air. He instantly turned around to face her, frowning, while Pope continued to have a meltdown behind him. Kie took her opportunity to scold John B.

"What the hell, Ronni?" JJ asked, glancing down at her.

"'What the hell, Ronni?'" she repeated exasperated, looking at him like he was crazy. She raised his hand up so the gun was in between them. "What the hell, JJ! Did you even check to see if this thing was loaded? Or on safety? You're waving it around like a fucking dumbass! You've never even used a gun before!"

He rolled his eyes, tugged away from her, and continued to point it around. "Chill, V, it's fine―"

"Fine? It's not fine, JJ―" she grabbed his wrist again when he held it in the direction of Kie, her anxiousness rising with every second it was on the boat with them. "Stop it. Put the damn thing away, JJ."

"What? No. It's mine!"

Ronni met his eyes, and JJ's grin fell instantly when he noticed how incredibly cold they had become on him. She got mad at him often so he usually thought nothing of it, but the look she'd given him right then was different. Without another word and before he could even try to say anything else, Ronni pushed past him and moved to sit back with Kie, officially pissed off that JJ had taken the gun and John B had let him. She avoided eye contact with him for the rest of the drive back to the Chateau.

Step two: steal a gun like a dumbass. And accidentally forget how much the girl you loved hated anything to do with them.

★☆⋆⁎⋆✶★☆⋆⁎⋆✶

Author's Note:

This is a long one. Also, been running into a lot of stories similar to this one with the best-friends-in-love-trope so I'm trying my hardest to make this seem somewhat original and not a flat copy of anything you guys have read before. Hopefully you enjoy this because I love writing this story and this fandom.

Thank you so much! Please leave a comment and let me know what you thought about this chapter.