CHAPTER ELEVEN
( ! fight behind the screen ! )

MARLEY WAS WALKING towards the crowd of people who were setting up to watch the movies.

john b hadn't shown up so the group decided to just get seats and enjoy themselves. the movies were always showed on the kooks side of the island so marley noticed jj and pope were tense.

kie smiles at her friends, "i'm so glad that they're still doing this. keep calm. carry on. back to obx life."

marley smiled with a nod agreeing with her friend while the two boys stayed more uncharacteristically quiet.

kie looked at the boys, "you know? aren't you guys glad that I made you come?"

the boys looked between each other while marley laughed, "that's what she said." kie gave the girl a joking glare while jj high-fived her.

"ecstatic," replied pope after a second. "my couch was pretty comfy, i'll be honest," added jj as marley rolled her eyes at the boys before she and kie began to make their way towards the beverages while the boys talked and set the chairs up.

marley and kie had their arms interlocked as they made it fully to the man selling the beverages. "hey, uh... can we get two pepsi's, please?" questioned kie as the guy nodded.

kie began getting out her money when the girls heard, "hey cous, kie," they turned to see rafe coming towards them, "hey, what's up? how are you girls?"

they both rolled their eyes before marley replied, "we are fine, rafe." "good, good. um... tell your boy that we know what he did."

the girls looked at each other confused. "sorry, what boy are you talking about?" kie looked at rafe as he responded, "uh, he'll know."

"um excuse me? rafe are you high or something?" rafe rolled his eyes at his cousin, "just tell him."

the girls grabbed the drinks and gave rafe one last look before they began walking off.

"bye."

marley and kie rolled their eyes as marley stated, "dumbass." while kie stated, "douche."

they went back over to pope and jj and looked at the boys confused as kie explained, "we just saw rafe, and he said, and i quote, "tell your boy that we know what he did."

kie handed each boy his drink as she continued, "what is that?" pope looked to jj very scared as jj swallowed, "um... where is he?"

marley pointed behind them, "right there." all four of them looked back at the trio in the back. topper and kelce now with rafe as they stared the group down.

marley looked at her cousin very confused before watching jj push popes head back around as pope stated, "great, the whole death squad."

"don't stare bro," replied jj as kie took her seat and marley took her seat, which happened to be in between jjs legs.

jj turned to pope, "just warning you, bro. if they corner me, i'm coming out swinging, okay? slice and dicin'. i'm on edge right now," jj grabbed his bag, "if that doesn't work, i got this right here."

marley looked at jj confused, "um... care to share what is happening with the class?" kie seemed to be piecing pieces together while the boys continued to talk and marley continued to look at them confused.

"i'm sorry, jj... please tell me that you did not bring a gun here. jj, there are kids."

"no! kie, i didn't bring the gun. everything's fine, okay?" replied the boy as kie chuckled getting annoyed, "wow, thank you. that's really convincing. i love that, jj."

kie glares at the boys, "founding principle, you guys. no secrets amongst pogues. what is rafe talking about?"

pope got closer to kie and began whispering while marley looked at jj expectingly.

the boy sighed, knowing he couldn't lie to her yet also didn't what to give to much away. jj leaned towards marley and whispered, "it's probably gonna go down, okay? and if it does... run."

marley looked at jj confused, "why would it go down? and why would i run away?" he just sighs, "something happened and your cousin and his buddies aren't happy about it."

"what did y'all do?" questions kie as the boys just look at each other. jj begins to whisper, "deny, deny, deny."

marley looks at kie who just shrugs. marley soon feels jj wrap his arms around her and connect his own hands together. she reaches up and puts her own hands on top of his as she continues to lean back on the boy, still very confused and now worried about what will be happening that night.

IT WAS DARK out now and marley was resting her head on jjs knee as he ran his fingers through her hair and they watched the movie.

pope soon turned towards jj nervous, "jj?" jj sighed before looking and pope and whispering back, "what?"

"gotta take a piss," replied pope as jj just answered, "hold it." "i can't hold it. I drank too much soda," replied pope as jj sighed, "it's too exposed, they'll totally see us."

"i gotta go," replied pope as marley shushed the boys, not paying attention to what they were talking about.

jj and pope turned around to see rafe and his group watching the movie, not even focused on the two pogue boys.

"they're blocking the bathrooms," stated pope in fear as jj looked around before seeing a dark area with trees on his right.

"come here. i know where," states jj as he carefully moved the girls on his legs before him and pope stood up.

kie and marley looked at the boys confused as kie questioned, "hey, where y'all going?"

"we gotta wring it out," responded jj as kie looked at him confused as to why they were going together, "you gonna hold it for each other?"

the boys walked off as marley sighed and took the chair next to kie that pope was once sitting in. the girls shrugged at each other before going back to the movie.

after a little while, the boys still weren't back and the girls were starting to get worried. marley looked behind to where rafe and his friends use to be to see them missing.

"kie... i think something is happening. rafe, topper, and kelce are all gone." kie looked at the girl worried before grabbing jjs backpack and the two went towards where they had last seen pope and jj go.

the girls began to hear grunts and turned towards the noise to see a group of guys in a fight. they knew exactly who all the guys were and ran towards them.

marley saw kelce holding jj while rafe punched him over and over while topper and pope fought. the girls ran up as kie went towards pope and topper, "let go of him, topper! fascist asshole!"

marley ran towards rafe and pushed him away from jj, "get the fuck off him rafe!" she then turned to kelce, "kelce let him go!"

"stay out of this marley jeen," grunted rafe as he grabbed his cousin by the shoulders and threw her to the ground.

"marley!" jj began squirming even more and rafe began punching him again and again. marley got up with a groan and pushed rafe away from the boy yet again before running over and trying to get kelce off of jj.

rage punched jj again before running towards topper, pope, and kie while marley continued to  use all her strength to get kelce off jj.

it had started working, kelce was losing his grip on jj but then rafe decided to come back and picked marley up as she squirmed and fought. kelce was able to grab jj again and rafe then dropped marley onto the floor before going back over to jj again.

kie caught marleys attention and ushered the girl over. marley ran towards kie as the two began digging through jjs backpack. marley picked up the gun and looked at kie who found a lighter and ran towards the sheet that was being used to show the movie.

marley went back and tried to pull topper off of pope as he was strangling the boy while kie went to cause a distraction.

"get off of him! topper!" marley continued to try and pull topper off when the whole bottom of the sheet caught fire.

rafe suddenly noticed the fire as kie ran towards pope and topper, "get off of him!" marley ran over towards jj and kelce, before kicking kelce in the back of the knee, making the boy lose his grip on jj and fall down when his knee buckled.

kelce ran towards rafe and topper. rafe smiled at topper who was looking around seemingly shocked by his actions, "holy shit, you almost killed him, man!" rafe pat topper on the back as the three ran away.

marley ran towards jj and cupped his face in her hands. she looked the boy in the eyes as he took in deep breaths and rested his face in the palm of her hand as kie made sure pope was okay.

jj bent down and put his hat back on as marley wrapped her arm around his waist and he wrapped one around her shoulder. the two walked up behind pope and kie as pope laughed out, "you're a freaking idiot."

"i saved your ass. come on," responded kie as she wrapped her arm around the boys waist and he wrapped one around her shoulders.

both girls began to help each boy walk towards the exit.

as the walked, jj looked at marley, "are you okay?" the girl just chuckled, "jj i should be asking you that, so, are you?"

"yeah i'm good. they are pussies to come at us three on two." marley just chuckles a bit at the stubborn boy before kissing his cheek, "well i'm happy you're okay because if you weren't i would go down to rafes house and kick his ass."

jj just laughed a bit, "my hero." marley just smiled.

they made it back to where kie was parked, she had been the only one to not walk to the screening, everyone hopped in after they decided to all just stay at kies and hang out at popes dads shop the next day.

kie got in the drivers seat, with pope in the passenger, and marley and jj in the back. jj rested his head on marleys chest as she had an arm around his shoulders messing with his hair.

once back at kies, the group quickly got out of the car and headed straight towards kies room. marley grabbed jjs hand and pulled him into kies bathroom, "sit on the counter. i'm getting stuff to clean you up."

she walked out of the bathroom and headed to where all the first aid supplies was. marley and kie have had so many sleepovers that marley knew kies house like the back of her hand and vise versa.

marley grabbed the supplies before heading back into kies room. she gave some stuff to kie to help with pope before going into the bathroom again and shutting the door.

she smiled at jj who just chuckled at the girl, "marley it isn't serious, i'm fine." she just looked at him unamused, "jj i'm cleaning your cuts so they don't get infected, so shush."

he sighed as she began putting disinfectant on a cotton swab and dabbed his lip. the disinfectant stung and jj, out of instinct, immediately swatted the girls hand away.

marley looked at the boy shocked, "uh, excuse you."

"sorry."

she rolled her eyes before dabbing the cut on jjs lip again, this time the boy didn't slap her. marley continued to clean up blood and dirt from the boys face while he just watched her.

his eyes where fixed on the girl in front of him who was to fixated on cleaning up his cuts to notice his gaze. jj felt his eyes make their way down to marleys lips as she bit those exact lips in concentration.

marley sighed, "i swear, next time I see rafe i'm gonna murder him." the girl continued on her rant about her idiot cousin, but jj wasn't listening. he just continued the battle in his mind before finally he chose a side.

and oh, the side he chose.

the girl was suddenly quieted when she felt a pair of lips connect with her own. she was shocked at first before she closed her eyes and kissed back.

the two continued to kiss, each craving the others lips like a drug. they never knew how much they needed this connection until this very moment.

jjs hand was rested against marleys cheek while her arms where wrapped around his neck. neither of them wanted to ever stop, but they needed air.

marley was the first to pull away, gasping for breath. she looked at jj to see him just as winded from the lack of air as she was.

it suddenly hit jj what he did and he looked at the girl with wide eyes, "oh god, mar, i'm so sorry. i should not have done that and-"

the girl just laughed, "shut up." she reconnected their lips and all of jjs worries about her feelings towards him melted away. he could tell she liked him just like he liked her and that was enough for him.

marley pulled away again as the two had goofy smiles on their faces. neither of them imagined that it would feel that right to kiss the other.

marley bit her lip, "uh, i'll let you finish up." she opened the door and quickly shut it behind her, very happy to see neither pope nor kie in the room as she had the biggest smile on her face.

the girl and boy both touched their lips as they smiled to themselves.

THE NEXT MORNING, the four where sat laughing about the night prior in popes dads shop. neither marley nor jj had told anyone about the kiss and neither of them had said anything about it to the other.

they both went back to business as usual, yet both silently wanted a moment alone with the other to discuss what to do.

"don't let it get in your head. three of them and two of us. that's some typical kook shit right there," stated jj as he bounced a ball on his arm.

"hell, yeah," added kie as marley nodded, "pussies."

"so, what was your thought process, using your head?" laughed jj looked towards pope who marley guessed used his head in the fight at some point.

"i don't know, man. i just kind of acted off instinct. i was a cornered animal," replied pope as heyward came back in, "hey, pope, someone here to see you."

deputy shoupe then came through the door and marley knew that whatever the boys did, it was bad.

"evening, officer," states pope obviously terrified as shoupe looks at him sadly, "i have an arrest warrant for felony destruction for property. hands where i can see 'em."

jj and pope make eye contact as shoupe begins to handcuff pope.

"woah, woah, woah! what did he even do?" questions marley as heyward adds, "yeah, i'd like to know that myself." shoupe looks at heyward, "look at the warrant."

"i'm sorry, you're arresting him?" questions kie as heyward questions, "you're just arresting my boy?"

everyone begins speaking over each other trying to get shoupe to stop while pope just stares into the distance.

shoupe goes over what he's suppose to say as everyone continues to question him and yell their thoughts.

"how much did they pay you, man?"

"get those handcuffs off of him shoupe! he didn't even do anything you have proof of!"

everyone followed shoupe outside as he dragged pope towards the cop car. marley felt jj grab her hand and she intertwined their fingers together.

suddenly jj stopped walking, causing marley to stop, and stared at pope who was about to go into the cop car and get his future destroyed.

"it wasn't him!" yelled jj as marley looked at the boy next to her shocked, not understanding completely why jj was taking the fall. until it hit her, popes scholarship.

everyone turned to jj as he continued, "it was me. he tried to talk me out of it, but i was mad because he'd just been beaten up. i was so sick of those assholes from figure eight that i lost my shit," jj got close to pope and shoupe as marley wouldn't let his hand go before he continued, "i can't let you take the blame for somethin' i did. you've got too much to lose."

"jj, what are you doing?" questioned pope as he got closer to jj. jj looked at the boy, "i'm tellin' the truth. for once in my goddamn life, i'm gonna tell the truth."

marley looked at jj, "jj, please." he looked back at the girl with a sad smile, "it's okay mar, trust me."

jj looked back to shoupe, "i took his old mans boat, too." heyward looked at the boy, "what the hell?" pope looked at jj, "jj, come on!"

"just shut up, pope," shouted jj before getting quieter, "just shut up. he's a good kid. you know where i'm from."

"yeah," responded shoupe making marley frown at the cop. just because jj was from the cut and his dad was who he was, jj was automatically known to be some kid meant for prison and it made marley sick.

"this was all me," finished jj as he looked to pope. jj felt a small squeeze on his hand and smiled down at the girl who had yet to leave his side. it made the boy a bit happy inside to know she had stayed by him even if watching him right now hurt her.

shoupe turned to pope, "that's the whole truth?" jj answered, "whole truth, swear to god." shoupe turned to jj and raised his voice, "i know what you think, damn it, i'm asking pope."

pope looked at jj who nodded his head before looking back at shoupe, "yeah, that about covers it." shoupe was quick to take the cuffs off pope and put them on jj. shoupe pushed marley out of the way, making her hand leave jjs as kie grabbed the girl by her shoulders and wrapped her arms around marley in comfort.

they all watched as shoupe pushed jj into the cop car, and drove away.

pope threw his hat to the ground, "shit!" heyward looked at his son, "pope... pope? pope!" pope walked off from the group in anger as marley wrapped her arms around kie, who quickly hugged the girl back.

AUTHORS NOTE!
they kissed! i was very excited to write that cause i've been planning where to put it and i had two places in mind, but chose here!

so sad i had to add jj going to jail, but next chapter is the midsummers party and i'm so excited to write!