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It was finally the evening that Eli had been dreading. Midsummers. 

After closing up the cafe early for the day, Talia and Eli had made their way over to her grandparents’ home to get ready together for the event. After arriving at the venue, her mother and grandmother had gone to the main reception area outside, and Ollie had brought the girl inside.

Eli awkwardly waited to the side as people debuted one by one in pairs or with families, hands smoothing out the wrinkles she had caused by anxiously gripping onto the fabric.

Her grandmother had done a really good job with the selection of dresses she had reserved for Eli, and the girl had chosen a simple floor length satin dress with thin straps, with heels that had ribbon that intricately wrapped around her ankles and lower calves.

“It's almost us, are you ready?” 

Eli looked at Ollie who shot her a comforting smile, his hand reaching towards her. The boy wore a simple black tux, with blue accessories to match the girl. 

“Let's get this over with,” she mumbled as she tried to put on a smile, hand grasping onto Ollie's. The pair made their way over to the large doorway leading to the party outside, the sound of the crowd getting louder. 

Eli showed an awkward smile as the pair walked out, the clapping combined with the stares from the kooks making her feel embarrassed and wanting to curl up into a ball and die. 

“You look wonderful, Sweetie,” Cecelia beamed as she grasped the girl's hand with both of her own. 

“She's right,” Talia agreed with a large smile. “My daughter is the brightest star in the room as always.” 

Eli finally let a small but genuine smile grow on her face, leaning to give her mother a quick hug. “Love you, Mama.”

“See, I told you it would be fine,” Ollie spoke as he looked at the girl, with a cocky smile that Eli wanted to punch off his face.

“Make sure to have fun now,” Cecelia spoke with a smile. “I think I saw your friend Kiara around somewhere.” 

“I'll try my best,” Eli nodded as she looked around the garden, smile growing on her face as she spotted two of her best friends. 

“Kie! Pope!” she called out as she made her way over as fast as she could in her heels, leaving Ollie behind with her mother and grandmother to chat.

“Eli!” Pope greeted back with a slight cheer. “You look nice.” 

“Aw thanks, Pope,” Eli said with a smile. “Didn't think I'd see you here.” 

“Yeah well, if I had a choice I wouldn't be,” he grumbled. “This party is ridiculous.”

“Tell me about it,” Eli nodded, snickering slightly as she took in Kie's hair accessory. “What on earth is on your head.”

“Don't,” Kie sighed.  “It's a sore subject.”

“Hey, have you heard from JJ?” Pope questioned as he looked at the two girls.

Eli shook her head. “Not since he got bailed out. I'm worried.”

“He'll be alright,” Kie tried to reassure. “He's got the survival instincts of a cockroach.”

Eli couldn't help but snort in response. “You're not wrong. But I do worry sometimes.”

“It's all my fault,” Pope mumbled as he stared off into the party.

“You didn't do this, Pope,” Kie tried to reason. “Topper almost killed you, remember?”

“Yeah, twice now by the sounds of it,” Eli piped up. 

The sound of applause caught their attention, just in time to watch the Camerons walk out as a family. 

“Here comes Lord Capital and the Exploiters,” Kie sarcastically cheered. 

“She's definitely gonna poke somebody's eye out with that,” Pope stated in disbelief, eyeing the monstrosity of a headpiece that was on Rose Cameron's head. 

“It looks like a garden rake,” Eli said with her head cocked to the side as she assessed the accessory. “You know, the thing you use to-”

“I know what a garden rake is,” Pope cut off. 

“Jeez, okay,” Eli huffed. “My bad.” 

The trio continued to huddle together as the sun set on the horizon, playing a dumb game where they would choose a random Kook each and create dramatic voice overs for them for entertainment. 

“I'm gonna see if they have better drinks inside,” Eli informed, beginning to make her way into the building. “Wish me luck.”

After about five minutes of searching, the girl gave up on drinks, however she did discover a nice spread of appetisers. They were tiny, but certainly delicious.

She looked around at the sound of some sort of commotion coming from a distance, brows furrowed in confusion at the familiar yelling. She peeked her head around the corner just in time to see JJ running in her direction, not realising she was there. 

“J-” she began, quickly realising who JJ was running from. The girl quickly latched a hand onto his wrist catching him by surprise, pulling him into one of the rooms reserved for ladies to touch up their make-up and check their outfits.

“Eli?” JJ questioned as she slammed the door shut behind them, immediately turning the doorknob to lock the door. 

“In the flesh,” she said with a smile as she turned to face him. Her smile dropped from her face as she finally took in the state of his face. 

“Oh my god, JJ,” she murmured as both hands reached out to cradle his face, her eyes taking in the newly formed bruises on his face. “I shouldn't have let you go with him,” she mumbled, eyes beginning to water as her thumb lightly brushed over the bruise on his cheek. 

“Hey, don't start crying now,” JJ breathed out as Eli threw her arms around him and pulled him into a hug, her body shaking slightly as she tried to keep back her tears. The boy automatically wrapped his arms around her waist,  forehead leaning to rest on her shoulder.“You're gonna end up with panda eyes.”

 “You worry about the most stupid things,” Eli complained as she pulled back from the boy, lips wobbling slightly as she continued to try and hold back her tears. “Maybe you should start worrying about yourself, dumbass.” 

“But that would be boring,” he complained with a cheeky smile as he finally took in the girl's appearance. “You look smokin’ hot by the way,” he complimented as he grasped her hand and gave her a small twirl, smiling at the small giggle the girl let out. 

“I’m not used to all this make-up,” the girl mumbled as she peeked a look at herself in the mirror, still gripping onto his hand. She used her fingers to wipe away the small smudges under her bottom lashes. 

“You look pretty,” he assured as she looked at him again. “I think you look prettier without make-up though.” 

“Stop it,” the girl mumbled, embarrassed by the sudden attack of compliments from the boy. 

The girl jumped as a series of knocks landed against the door they were standing next to. The door handle rattled as the pair began to panic a little, mouthing incoherent words to each other. 

“Open up!” a voice yelled out, causing Eli to look at JJ in nervousness. 

“I've got it,” the girl mouthed, gesturing for him to move closer to the hinged side of the door.

“What is it?” the girl questioned as she cracked the door open, coming face to face with Kelce. “Oh. It's you. What do you want.”

“I'm looking for someone, let me in.” 

“Excuse me?” Eli responded with a raised voice, bracing one foot against the door to stop him from barging in. “This is the ladies room, I'm not letting you in here.”

“I'll only be a second.”

“Listen here, Kelp-”

“It's Kelce,” the boy cut off, causing Eli to roll her eyes. 

“Okay, Keloid.” The boy let out a dramatic sigh. “I suggest you get outta here before I report you for sexual harassment. Honestly, we can't even check our makeup and outfits without a man trying to barge in cause he feels like it.”

“Fuck this,” Kelce mumbled as he finally let up and walked away, turning his head back to shoot Eli a glare. 

“See,” JJ began with a large smile on his face.

Eli raised her brow as she looked at the blonde, one hand still holding onto the door “See what?” 

“Why do I need to worry about myself when I have you to do it for me?”

Eli scoffed, her mouth betraying her as a large smile grew on her face. “I've been worrying about you for over a decade now. Old habits die hard.”

“My hero,” JJ responded with a grin as the pair quickly made their escape from the room. 

“Try not to get caught, okay?” 

“I'll try my best, ma'am.”

~°• ☀︎︎ •°~

happy new year from me and jeli! gotta start the year with midsummers ofc ofc

jj may be a lil ooc in my fic but that means cuter jeli moments so it's a win for me fr

also jj is so cute in this gif i had to include it here

Nova x