Ward Cameron walked down the stairs to see his daughter walk through the front door, "Hey, Sweetie. How was Scarlet's?" He asked her as Sarah was shocked to see him home but put on her best poker face.

"It was fun! I got a new dress, do you like?" She pointed at the white & blue striped dress that she got with John B and her dad nodded, "Yes, very pretty."

     "You're outfit for Midsummers is ready, right?" He asked, cautiously and letting out a sigh of relief as Sarah nodded her head. She bit her lip, deciding to not tell her dad that she didn't want to go yet.

     Their conversation was cut off with Ward's phone ringing. He put his pointer finger up, telling his daughter to hold on a minute while Sarah rocked back and forth on her heels. "What?!" He dad's voice was harsh and made Sarah flinch in shock at the tone of his voice.

     "I'll be right over, Susan." Ward hung up the phone then turned around to grab his car keys, "Cmon, Sar. You're coming with." He waved her down as he stomped through the entry of the house. Sarah followed behind him, "Dad, what's going on? Why are you so mad?"

"I gotta go get Lilah out of jail, are you coming or no?"

Sarah's eyes widened as she quickened her pace to the car. She was not going to miss this.

     Susan Peterkin walked into her office, seeing the two teenagers that lived on different sides of the island sat on the other side of her desk. Lilah's leg bounced up and down as the morning sun shined through the window into her and JJ's eyes.

     "Maybank, you're like a little rock in my shoe. I shake my foot, I think I've gotten it out, then dang, there it is again. And Miss Cameron, never thought I'd see you here but as the old saying says, never say never."

     JJ placed his hands behind his head, "Maybe watch where you're steppin'." He shrugged and if the situation was different, Lilah would have laughed but she couldn't. She was too nervous.

     "That little rock on the back of my heel makes me want to crush it."

     "Okay..." JJ trailed off and looked at the girl next to him who was fidgeting with her nails. He felt bad. That he dragged her into this whole mess. But then he remembered that she stood up for Pope when she didn't have to. She could have let Pope go to jail, he can't figure out the real reason why she did it.

     "Unlawful discharge of a firearm. Trespass on protected habitat. Felony destruction of property. All in the last two weeks. You're on a roll, cheif." Sheriff Peterkin flipped through the papers on her desk while JJ crossed his arms. Lilah shook her head, knowing the boy's actions except the trespassing one. She'd have to ask him what that meant later.

     "If you think we're gonna rat anybody out, you got the wrong idea."

     Lilah nodded her head towards Peterkin. She felt awful that she got arrested but she still wouldn't tell the entire truth about Pope. Not even a gun to her head. Okay, maybe a gun to her head but that's the extreme.

     "I know your guys' little teen brains don't like to think ahead, I want you two to come with me to uncharted territory. The future. How you gonna feel six months from now, sittin' in juvenile prison in Wadesboro? Huh? What about you, Princess Cameron? You wouldn't last a day in prison, Lilah."

     Lilah sucked in a breath as her knee bounced faster. It was driving JJ crazy. He placed his hand on top of her knee, hoping it would stop bouncing and thankfully, it did.

     "You guys know these two?" Sheriff Peterkin placed two photos in front of them. Both middle age men in their mugshots. Lilah looked at the photos, confused, then slumped back into her chair, "No? Why would we know these Geezers?"

     "Seems like somebody does." She got up from her seat and walked around the desk, "My question was, do you know these two?" She asked JJ who looked at the photos with his eyes slightly widened. Lilah looked at the boy in confusion as he took a deep breath.

     "They...they broke into John B's house, and...then they chased us through the marsh. Other than that, I have no clue." JJ shook his head while looking up at Peterkin. Lilah's eyebrows furrowed deeply as her confusion grew. "Broke in? What the hell?" She mumbled as Peterkin pulled out two more photos.

     "Here's a more recent photo." The teenagers looked at the photos only to be shown the most horrifying thing they would have seen yet. The two men's dead corpses on the morgue table. "Somebody gaffed them, then used them for chum."

     "I'm gonna be sick." Lilah mumbled as her and JJ both gagged at the photos that were in front of them. One had his arm chopped off while the other one's ribcage was cut open so wide you could see his intestines, "Whatcha think, bull shark?"

     "Here's the bad news, chief. Whoever killed these two men, is still out there, and I got reason to believe their next target is a friend of yours. John B." Peterkin sat down on the corner of her desk as JJ looked down in slight fear for his best friend while Lilah looked at the Sheriff in confusion, once again.

     "Why would they be after John B?" Lilah asked to both of the people next to her before Susan got up from her desk. "You kids don't think you're the only ones after the Royal Merchant now, do you? And, yeah, I know about that, too."

     Lilah's jaw went slack as she looked at JJ in disbelief. The blonde didn't notice though, he was too busy staring at Peterkin in slight fear. "Okay, Sheriff Peterkin, I can promise you he's not on it anymore."

     "So you say. I'm just tryin' to keep him safe. I want you to tell your friend John B to come in and talk to me and let's see if we can keep you two out of Wadesboro." And with that, Peterkin slammed the door on her way out.

     "What the actual fuck is going on? Royal Merchant? Break-in's? Chased through the marsh? What the hell?" She whispered-shouted at the boy who was still looking down in shock and fear. "JJ, please look at me." Lilah turned her body towards him which caused his hand to slip off her knee.

     He listened to her and looked at her with his jaw clenched, "If you can't tell me everything right now, that's okay but just answer this. Are you in danger? Or Pope? Or John B? Or even Kiara? Are you guys in trouble?"

     He took a second before answering. He shook his head, "No, we're fine. The Royal Merchant stuff was in the past. I just hope John B's okay, you know, after being MIA." JJ shrugged, looking back down as Lilah just nodded, "He was with Sarah."

     JJ's eyes widened making him look at Lilah in shock, "Sarah? As in your sister, Sarah? As in Sarah Cameron?" Lilah laughed underneath her breath, "Yeah, Dumbass. They did something together, I don't know."

     "He's definitely mackin' on her."

     "Meh, wouldn't be surprised."

     The door opened again with a other officer opening it this time, "Your parents are here."

     Lilah felt her whole world freeze and apparently so did JJ's because the two sat there, not moving from their seats. "Cmon. We don't got all day." The officer barked as she shut the door again. "Shit." Lilah breathed out as JJ just nodded at what she said.

     She looked at him as she saw that his knee was now bouncing slightly, "Cmon, we got this." She rubbed his back before getting up from her seat and a couple second later JJ was up out of his seat, trailing right behind her.

     Sarah was the first person who came into view for the two of them. As they walked closer, JJ saw his dad standing there by Officer Plumb with a pissed off expression on his face. He didn't want to move but knew he had to when Sarah wrapped Lilah in a hug.

     "Oh my god! They're saying you destroyed someone's property like Jesus! I leave you alone for a day and suddenly, you're a criminal." Sarah exclaimed while hugging the life out of her sister. Lilah nervously laughed as she hugged her twin back. When she let go she looked at JJ who was looking straight ahead.

     She followed his gaze to see an older man talking to an officer, "Is that your dad?" She asked him which made him slowly nod. The twins were now looking at Luke Maybank clench his fist in anger, waiting for JJ to come out but they didn't realize what that meant.

     The fist clenching wasn't just because his dad was mad at him. It meant the fists were ready for JJ to take.

     "Want me to come with you?" Lilah asked him and the Pogue immediately shook his head, "No, no. You need to stay here. Your dad will probably be out soon." JJ scratched the back of his neck before walking closer to his dad. Lilah watched the interaction of Luke glaring at JJ once he realized he was next to him but the father still continued on with the conversation with the officer.

     A minute later, Ward Cameron walks out of the Sheriff's office, "Let's go, girls." He cleared his throat as he walked up to his two daughters. "Don't you have to sign paperwork?" Lilah asked, as she saw that Luke was being presented a packet of papers for JJ. "No. Now, go." Ward strictly told her as walking towards the exit of the police station. Sarah followed her dad as Lilah followed both of them but not before stopping at JJ.

     "Good luck." She whispered to him as her hand squeezed his bicep in comfort. He nodded, "Yeah, you too."

The car ride home filled with silence with Ward fuming with anger, Sarah awkwardly looking anywhere else, and Lilah fidgeting in the back seat. She wanted to get this over with, "Dad.." She started but was immediately cut off.

     "What the hell were you thinking? Getting arrested on the day of Midsummers? This is a huge night for me and you ruined it!" He scolded her while shaking his head. He continued the drive as Lilah sighed, "I know and I'm sorry."

     "Getting arrested for destroying Topper's boat, I mean, I know you don't like the guy but he's your sister's boyfriend! You can show some respect. I raised you better than that."

     "Wait, you sank Topper's boat? Why?!" Sarah looked behind her seat, to look at her sister who just looked down at her shoes in embarrassment. "Yeah, why did you do it?" Ward asked her, seemingly in curiousity.

     "I told you, Dad. The boys were being stupid."

     "Lilah, when boys are stupid, you eat some ice cream, cry a little, then move on. You don't sink their VERY expensive boats."

     "I didn't sink it! It was just my idea!"

     Sarah giggled under her breath but stopped when her father looked at her with an irritated expression. "Well? Why did you do it?" Sarah asked again and Lilah bit her lip, not speaking which caused her father to groan.

      Ward pulled up the driveway and Lilah smiled as she saw her Jeep parked there too. She leaped out of her dad's car and ran to her own to see her keys on top of the roof. She grabbed them as her dad walked up next to her. "Inside. Now." He spoke lowly to her and she just nodded her head and started her walk into the house with Ward and Sarah trailing behind her.

Once they got inside, Ward immediately ran a hand over his face. "Tell me the full story." He said impatiently while Sarah stood there, usually she would have ran upstairs to avoid the awkward conversation but she couldn't help but he interested in why her sister drowned her boyfriend's boat.

To be honest, she wasn't mad. She liked John B now but she wanted the insights.

"Rafe jumped that kid, Pope, on the golf course. Topper and Julian helped but it was mostly Rafe. Pope was bleeding everywhere and so I decided to help him. JJ found out about it and said we should get revenge so I told them abt Topper's boat and JJ did it and we drove off on Heyward's boat."

     The girl crossed her arms as Sarah looked at her sister in shock. Shocked that her boyfriend would ever do something like that. Shocked that her own brother would ever do something like that. Rafe was always filled with surprises, whatever Sarah and Lilah thought was low, he could always go lower.

Through her words, Ward's face went from impatient to anger to understanding. "Rafe hit some kid and so you decided to commit a felony with them?" He asked her, with still a hint of anger through his voice.

"Dad, he didn't just hit him. He full on took his golf club and hit him in the head and back with it. A golf club. And that's only what I saw. Pope was literally choking on his own blood! And Topper and Julian just watched it happened because they're assholes!" She defended, watching her dad pinch the bridge of his nose, "Sarah, go upstairs, please."

The younger twin nodded before walking up to her room. Ward waited until he heard the door shut to respond to his oldest daughter. "First off, language. Second, I get it, Okay?"

"...What?"

"You were helping a friend. I didn't know you had them as friends but you were sticking up for him, that's in your blood. I've always known it. You should just be lucky that your family is your family." Ward nodded slowly before making his way to the kitchen. Lilah's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "What does that mean?"

"I cleared it from your record. According to the Kildare County Police Department, you were never arrested and if anyone says differently, you tell 'em that it was just a rumor."

Lilah stood still, in shock, at what came out of her dad's mouth. She stuttered over her words as she tried to figure out what to say. "How did you do that?" She finally got it out but quietly. She wondered if her dad even heard her words. She also found the ability to follow him to the kitchen to get closer.

"I just gave them some money, it's no big deal." He shrugged as he started to get himself a glass of water. Her head started reeling at the information, "Isn't that illegal?" She whispered to him but this time, making sure he heard.

Ward chuckled under his breath, "Not as illegal as what you did."

"...Good point."

Lilah was still in shock but the more she thought about this, the more she realized it was a good thing. "Okay, so JJ and I are good?" She felt a smile creep onto her face at her words but immediately frowned when her dad laughed again.

"No, Sweetie, just you. If I happened to pay for you and JJ, I probably would be broke. Plus, it's not like you actually did it." He pointed out and took a sip of the ice water in his glass and Lilah no longer was happy or in shock, she was upset.

"Wait, but, what's gonna happen to him?"

"He'll probably have to pay a lot of money for the boat and he's definitely on probation but I believe that's it. Not too bad." He shrugged and suddenly notice his daughter's pissed off expression that was plastered all over her face.

"Dad, he can't afford that. He's a Pogue. They can barely afford food on their table!" Her voice rose and Ward shook his head while walking over to her.

"Look, I have done a lot for this family, Okay? Now, I'm sorry that you're new friend is in trouble but he is not my responsibility. You are and I'm gonna do what I can to keep you safe which is the whole reason I payed off the cops to clean your record. Because you mean the world to me, Kid, and I'm not going to let you get on the wrong path."

Lilah's eyes started to tear up at her father's words. She would always be the favorite, no matter what she did and for that, she was eternally grateful. She let the tears fall down her face as she wrapped her arms around her dad's torso. Ward let his daughter cry into his chest as he hugged her back.

     She hadn't cried like that in a long time. She cried for JJ, she cried for Pope, she cried for her broken relationship with her brother, but mostly, she cried for herself. Because Lilah was starting to feel like a version of herself she wanted to be, not one she plastered on.

     Lilah walked up to her room and opened the door, with swollen eyes from crying on her dad's chest. He told her everything was going to be okay and for once, she believed him. She hoped for it.

     She jumped at the sight of Sarah on her bed. "Jesus, can you start wearing a bell or something?" She joked as her sister giggled and patted the bed, "Come here right now and give me details." She squealed and Lilah couldn't help but roll her eyes.

     "Nothing happened. We sunk Topper's boat and the next day I ended up going to the movie night with Pope and JJ and Rafe, Topper, and Kelce ended up jumping them and I punched Rafe..." She stopped when she heard Sarah gasp, "You punched Rafe?!"

     "Dude, all my pent up anger from the past year went into that punch, it was amazing."

     "Anyways, after that, JJ slept over here cause apparently he sleeps at John B's house and I told him he shouldn't go alone. Next day, we went to Heyward's and that's where we got arrested." She shrugged as it was nothing while Sarah's jaw went slack.

     Lilah made sure to leave out that she was cool with Kiara again. She was still confused why Sarah had lied to her about Kie but she was not in the right mindset to find that out right now.

     "Dude, what the fuck?"

     "Yeah, I know. I'm afraid I'm not cut out for this Pogue bullshit, I'm exhausted."

     Sarah laughed but stopped when she saw her twin looking at her weirdly with a smile on her face, "What?"
Lilah's smile grew, "You look different. You look happier. What happened with John B?"

     The dirty blonde blushed at the name which made Lilah squeal at her. "Okay, what I'm about to tell you is a secret. It's between us and the Pogues. No one else, got it?" Sarah told her, completely serious which just made Lilah nod. She took a deep breath before speaking, "He needed help with some information, about the Royal Merchant"

    "Pause. They're actually going after that?"

    "Yeah. And Li, now we are in on it."

     "Uhhhh, what?"

     Sarah laughed at her sister's response but still nodded her head, "Yeah, John B trusts me and I really really like him." She blushed and Lilah smirked, "I always knew you two would happen." Sarah raised her eyebrow, "I always knew you and JJ would happen."

     Lilah immediately shook her head, "Hell no. But continue, what does John B and you dating have to do with the Royal Merchant?"

     "Well, I helped him with it plus we are dating and I told him that if I was going to be in on it, you'd have to be included because me and you are a two for one deal."

     Lilah softly smiled and reached over to hug her sister at her kind words, "I love you." Lilah whispered into her shoulder as Sarah smiled, "I love you too."

     They pulled apart and Lilah's brain finally registered the information, "Wait. We are talking about THEE Royal Merchant. That shit has so much gold on it." Lilah's eyes widened as Sarah bit her lip into a smile and started nodding, "Hell yeah, it does. We are gonna be rich, not with Dad's money, just us."

     Sarah couldn't help but cackle at her sister's shocked expression.

     Rafe walked inside his house to see Wheezie by the kitchen counter, scrolling mindlessly on her cellphone. "'Sup Wheez?" He smirked and ruffled her hair which caused his littlest sister to groan and pat her hair down.

     "What do you want, Rafe?" She sneered and Rafe held up his hands in surrender, "Woah. What's with the attitude?" He scoffed at her reaction because usually it was Lilah or Sarah catching attitude with him, never Wheezie. "Sorry, I'm just in a bad mood."

     Rafe shrugged, not caring to ask why and poured him some water in a glass. "We'll never be the favorites, will we?" She asked randomly which made Rafe look at her in confusion, "Why do you ask that?"

     "I mean, Sarah and Lilah are the most important to Dad. I'm just kinda...there and he yells at you all the time. He just doesn't care about us like he does them. I mean, Lilah gets arrested and instead of grounding her, he pays to wipe her record and hugs her while she cries. If you got arrested, your ass would've been kicked out in a second."

     Rafe froze at her words and the more she talked, the more rage filled his body. "Lilah got arrested? For what?" He asked incredously, watching his sister shrug. "I don't know I only heard a little bit of their conversation. I did hear Lilah mention a Pogue though."

     Rafe scoffed, knowing that it had to do something with Topper's boat. She must've helped him. He wiped his face before slamming his fist on the counter making Wheezie jump slightly. "Damn, Maybank. I'm gonna kill him." He mumbled and then looked at Wheezie again, "And you're telling me Dad wasn't mad?"

     "No, he wasn't. I told you, he didn't even give her a punishment."

     Rafe felt some tears weld up in his eyes, out of anger. From his father, from JJ, and from his sister who could never seem to do anything wrong. He hated her and he couldn't help it anymore, it was his father's fault. He just wanted to be seen but Lilah was always in the way.

     Without a word, Rafe stormed up to his room and slammed the door.

     Now, Sarah sat by the counter, scrolling on her phone, staring at it with a smile and a hint of blush filling her cheeks. She heard heels clacking against the wood floor that made her look up and stare in awe at her twin sister. Lilah wore a red dress that had lace detail and showed off her body nicely. It tied in the back with a slightly deep cut down the front.

     Her hair was half up half down curled to the absolute max with her makeup bold and done.

     She was putting in her gold earrings as Sarah spoke, "Holy shit! You look incredible!" Lilah blushed at her sister's words, "Thanks. You're still not going?"

     Earlier, after Lilah was told about the Royal Merchant, Sarah told her she wasn't going to Midsummers because she didn't want to go with Topper. Not after everything he has done and now that she had John B, she didn't want to be with him anymore.

     Lilah understood but she was upset because she needed Sarah to help her last through the night. She couldn't deal with these Kooks for long.

     "Yeah, I'm still not going." Lilah walked over to sit on the stool next to her as Sarah went back to scrolling on her phone. Her twin looked over to see the photos of John B and her from yesterday, "Oh, you love him."

     "Shut up!" Sarah slapped her sister's shoulder but the smile held on her face. Wheezie walked in the kitchen and gasped at her sister, "You're not dressed?"
Sarah rolled her eyes, "No, I'm not going." She put her phone face down on the counter as Wheezie walked around them.

     "I mean, it's Midsummers. You've been talking about Midsummers since last year. You have a date, remember?"

     "Yes, I remember."

     Rose walked into the room and Wheezie immediately pounced at the opportunity, "Sarah says she's not going." Lilah shook her head, "Snitch." she whispered quietly to Sarah who tried not to laugh at the words. "The hell she isn't. Your father is being coronated as Guardian of Knights of Rhododendron. You're going."

     "Whatever the hell that means." Lilah mumbled which was true. She was only going to Midsummers to look all nice and swipe some drinks but she had no idea what her father's deal with it was.

     "You're not my mother so I don't have to do what you tell me to do." Sarah shrugged and Lilah made a yikes face which led her eyes to her nails. "Whatever. You're daughter says she's not going." Rose scoffed and Lilah heard her heels click farther and farther away.

     "She's off Topper, JoJo."

     The twins slowly turned their heads towards their sister with glares in their eyes. "Wheezie, please. Go. Thank you very much. What's goin' on?" Ward asked Sarah as Wheezie walked into the other room. Sarah looked down at her nails, "I just...don't feel like Topper is my splinter bean."

     Lilah giggled as she watched her dad's face morph into confusion then shake his head, "I don't know exactly what that means, but it sounds like to me like you should probably dump his ass, maybe, huh? I mean he did beat up one of Lilah's friends." Ward smirked as he shrugged his shoulders.

     The oldest daughter was actually shocked at her dad's words. She was shocked that her dad was completely okay with her being friends with Pogues. Lilah nodded at every single one of Ward's words. Sarah also nodded, "Probably."

     "Maybe just not tonight, though? Maybe you could, I don't know—"

     Sarah sighed, "I just don't wanna go with him." and Ward nodded, "I know. I know. But really, Lilah could be your buffer. Anytime Topper needs to talk to you, Lilah will swoop in and drag you away so you don't have to. Just paste on a smile and you go, and we have a good time, alright? And you deal with your love life mañana? Please."

     Sarah looked at her sister, "Would you do that? Be my buffer?"

     "You want me to make sure that you stay away from Topper and spend more time with me? Sounds like a dream to me. Now, go upstairs and get ready, I'll do your hair."

BEAU SPEAKS !
kind of a long chapter omg

HOPE YALL ENJOYEDDDD

also PLOT TWISTTTTT ward got the charges on LILAH dropped...wonder how JJ will react when he finds that out 🤔

writing lilah as the favorite is genuinely sm fun until i remember how ward ACTUALLY IS and how this is going to give my baby SOOOO much trauma 😓😓😓

MIDSUMMERS NEXT CHAPTER IM SOOOOO EXCITED ONE OF MY FAV OBX EPS