The boys dropped Kiara and I off at her house about an hour ago so that we can get ready for tonight's kegger. As much as pogues don't do dress codes, we both agreed that we don't want to turn up smelling of sea salt and wearing the same clothes we've been in all day.

Its just past 6PM now and Kiara is offering me various outfits to wear, seeing as all my clothes are at home packed up in various boxes.

"This one would look cute on you," She holds out a red v neck vest top to go with the light blue shorts I've already chosen from her extensive wardrobe.

"I'll give it a go." I smile, heading into her en suite and changing into the clothes she's lent me.

Happy with how they look I grab a hair tie from Kiara's bathroom cabinet, tying up half my brown hair and letting the front bits fall down to frame my face. I find a pot of vaseline and some eyeshadow, so I dab a bit of bronze eyeshadow on my eyelids and a layer of vaseline onto my lips and spritzing a bit of body spray that I know Kiara hardly uses.

I return to the bedroom to see Kiara in a different outfit as she sits on her bed, scrolling on her phone. I forgot that Figure Eight has service, our lines will be down for days over on the cut.

"Perfect," Kiara smiles, "The boys will probably be here soon, so shall we head down to the porch?"

"Sure," I nod, following her out of the bedroom and through to the living area where her mum is sitting.

"Hi Sidney, how are you?" Her mum asks, looking up from her magazine.

"Good thank you," I smile.

"Are you excited about the move?" She replies. Mine and Kiara's parents met because of the two of us, and since my parents decided we're moving to Figure Eight they've been meeting up a lot more for dinners and drinks, in fact Kiara's dad says he'll get us into the Island Club.

"I suppose," I nod, "It'll be weird not being on the cut everyday."

"You'll get used to it." She smiles reassuringly.

"The boys are outside," Kiara tells me from where she is looking out the window.

"See you later Mrs Carrera." I smile, following Kiara out of the house.

"Bye girls," She calls out, "Don't be late Kiara."

"Sorry about that," Kiara sighs as we make our way down to John B's van, The Twinkie.

"It's fine," I assure her, "My parents are the same."

"Hello ladies," JJ exclaims as he opens the door to the twinkie for us both to climb in, "Can I just say you are looking even hotter than usual tonight Sid."

"Eyes up here," I point at my eyes, noticing his gaze focusing on my low cut top.

He coughs awkwardly as I catch him out, looking to John B and Pope for support, "I just appreciate great fashion choices." He stutters.

"Sure." I smirk as we drive back towards the cut to where the party is happening.

After another twenty minutes we pull up to the beach, and of course there's already loads of pogues here. We climb out of the twinkie, John B and Pope grabbing the keg and carrying it down towards the crowd, Kiara carrying a stack of solo cups while JJ and I trail behind.

"So what are you going to do with all your spare time when you're in Figure Eight?" JJ asks me as we approach the beach.

"I'll still see you guys all the time, just like Kie does." I assure him.

"I hope you do," He smiles down at me, wrapping an arm around my shoulder and pulling me into his side, "I- we're really going to miss you."

"You make it sound like I'm moving to Charleston," I sigh as we reach the beach.

"You're not going to go all kooky on us are you?" He asks, "You know, dating kooks, learning how to play golf, only drinking whiskey on the rocks."

"Course not," I sigh, "I've never been a kook, and I never will be, now are you going to get me a drink?"

JJ and I have always been close, we met when we were six and we've been best friends since. In the last few years I feel like our dynamic has changed slightly, he flirts with me a lot, especially after a few beers, and there have been a few times when I've entertained it. We kissed once at a new years party last year, but we never spoke about it, and I think ultimately neither of us want to risk ruining our friendship.

"One beer, my lady." He smiles, handing me a red cup of freshly poured beer straight from the keg as he takes a sip from his.

"You gonna link with me?" I ask, "See who downs it first?"

"You're on!" JJ exclaims, linking his arm through mine as both start downing our drinks. I chug as quickly as possible, finishing the cup in seconds, dropping it on the floor as I look up to see JJ is yet to finish his.

"You snooze, you lose sunshine." I smirk as JJ drops his cup.

"That's what I'm talking about," He double high fives me, "Proper pogue shit!"

"Do you think she needs rescuing?" I point over JJ's shoulder at the girl Pope is talking to, probably about something to do with science.

"You know, I think Pope's got that covered." JJ smiles, taking another cup of beer from the keg and taking a swig.

"What's she doing here?" Kiara appears beside me, gesturing to the abandoned buoy which the princess of the kooks has taken a seat on.

"Sarah Cameron at a pogue party? Things must be bad on Figure Eight." I sigh, taking a swig of JJ's beer. She and Kiara were best friends for like a year, but now they can't stand each other. I've seen her down at the surf shop a few times but I don't exactly know her well enough to form my own opinion. Never far behind is her boyfriend Topper, he's so whipped on her that he may as well be her personal lap dog.

"Shit," I mutter, "I left the crate of beers my dad gave us back at the twinkie, I'll be two minutes."

"You want me to come with you?" JJ asks.

"I'll be fine, just pour me another beer for when I get back." I tell him as I head back to where John B left the van, knowing he won't have locked it.

I reach the van pretty quickly, opening the back door, retrieving the crate and kicking the doors shut.

"If it isn't my favourite pogue." I hear a voice behind me, so I turn around to see the brother to kook princess Sarah Cameron, Rafe Cameron. His hair is styled neatly, and based on his basic button up shirt and shorts, kooks don't really do dress codes either.

"I didn't think you cared enough about the pogues to have favourites," I reply sarcastically, "Nice to know we live in your mind rent free."

"I just mean that you're the only one of your little group to see sense," He continues, leaning against the twinkie, his scent of whiskey and vanilla is overpowering.

I've met Rafe several times, he comes to the surf bar when he's finished drinking the island club bar dry, so any conversation we've had prior to now has probably been incoherent, and he probably doesn't remember it.

"It was my parents' choice, not mine," I tell him turning back towards the beach, "If it was up to me, we'd be on the cut forever."

"But you're one of us now, aren't you?" He says, causing me to turn back and face him, "What do we call you, if you're a hybrid Pogue Kook? A pook?"

"As entertaining as this conversation is, I've got to get these drinks back to my friends." I smile awkwardly, walking back towards the beach.

"I'll see you around, pook." He calls out after me, to which I flip him off with one hand, not even bothering to look at him.

It's been about three hours since we arrived at the beach and the beer is definitely going to my head as me Kiara and the boys hover around the almost empty keg, me leaning my head against John B's arm.

"Hey Sarah," JJ calls out as Sarah Cameron and Topper approach us, "Can I interest you in a pogue special?"

"I'm good thanks," She smiles, glancing at the cup in his hand.

"I'll take it, seeing as we're all going to be getting to know each other now that your friend Sidney is one of us." Topper interjects, reaching for the cup.

"Sorry, am I meant to know who you are?" I scoff, stepping up beside JJ as my friends laugh.

"I'm Topper." He tells me defiantly.

"Doesn't ring a bell." I shake my head, acting cluelessly innocent.

"Sarah's boyfriend." He continues.

"Oh yes," I clap my hands together enthusiastically, "the guy who's only relevant because his girlfriend's daddy owns half the island," I laugh, leading John B, JJ and Pope to snicker again.

"What did you say to me?" Topper steps closer to me, as if he's going to square up to me.

"I think you heard me, Topsicle, I think everyone here heard me." I reply, feeling a bit more liberal with my choice of words thanks to several cups of liquid courage.

"You better watch your mouth." He says with bitterness.

"Don't talk to her like that." JJ steps in front of me, and with him being half a foot taller than me I can no longer see Topper.

"What are you going to be about it?" Topper questions JJ, stepping closer to him.

"What am I going to do about it, huh?" JJ replies, shoving Topper in the chest before Topper shoves him back, Pope pulling me out the way before JJ can stumble back into me.

"Dirty pogues, it's no wonder she can't wait to get away from you." Topper laughs, which doesn't land well with John B as he takes a swing at him, punching Topper right in the face.

"John B, what happened to incognito?" Pope speaks up as Kiara grabs my hand, squeezing it reassuringly.

Topper throws a punch back at John B, knocking him to the floor and kicking him in the stomach, closer to the water, "Don't make me drown you like your old man, John B." He shouts as a wave comes up to them. His words light a fire in John B as he stands back up, running at Topper and knocking him to the ground, the shallow water covering them both.

They stand up, throwing punches at each other as everyone except us and Sarah continue to egg on the fight. They continue punching and wrestling each other until Topper appears to have the upper hand, grabbing the back of John B's t-shirt and holding him down in the water.

Stupidly, and probably encouraged by the alcohol in my system, I rush forward, grabbing onto Topper's shoulders in an attempt to pull him off of the man who is like a brother to me. But of course it all goes wrong, as Topper tries to free himself from my grip his elbow hits me in the face, knocking me back a few steps.

Kiara and Pope rush to my side, pulling me back to the dry sand, "Are you okay?" Pope asks.

"Shit, you're bleeding." Kiara whispers, pulling a tissue from her pocket and holding it up to my nose.

"Where's J?" I ask, looking over my shoulder to see him pacing towards Topper, gun in hand, "JJ, no!"

But he doesn't hear me, he releases the safety on the gun, pressing it against the back of Topper's head.

"You know what that is, don't you?" JJ spits with resentment.

"He's got a gun!" Someone shouts, causing everyone to run back from the scene of the fight, even though the JJ I know would never do something so stupid.

"JJ, he's not worth it!" I shout.

"Put the gun down!" Sarah shouts.

"Did you say something princess?" JJ shouts back at her.

"We're good, I'm letting go." Topper exclaims, releasing John B and standing up carefully.

"Hey, listen up!" JJ shouts, pointing the gun in the air "Get the hell off our side of the island!"

He shoots the gun twice, keeping it pointed in the air, causing a wave of shrieks and screams.

"Are you crazy?" Pope shouts.

"He was going to drown John B, and he was close to hurting Sidney." JJ argues.

"Topper is not worth it," I tell him as I step in between him and Pope, "We both know that."

"I wasn't just going to stand there and let him talk to you like that," He says, "And shit, look what he did to your face."

"I'm okay," I assure him, standing on my toes and wrapping my arms around his neck as he wraps his arms around my waist, squeezing me so tight for comfort, "It's okay."

JJ is more complicated than the rest of us, it's only ever really been him and his dad, and his father is not the sort of man you'd want to raise your kid. JJ is a good person, we all know that, but sometimes the things that make him great, end up being his downfall, he's so fucking loyal, but that often results in him hurting people to protect the people he cares about.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*       

I had way too much to drink last night.

We move to Figure Eight tomorrow, and there's so much left to do, but as of this morning I'm working a shift at the surf shop. It's peak tourist season and the tourons love to try and surf so my parents need all the help they can get, especially as our shop is also a bar, so it can get pretty busy over the summer. My dad lost his mind when he saw my face this morning, of course drunk me didn't think to clean up the blood from my nose before I fell asleep last night, so when I came downstairs this morning my face was bruised and tainted by dried blood. So now I'm working at the surf shop, when frankly I'd rather be in bed.

"Is this board good for big waves?" A customer asks, snapping me out of my hungover daze.

"It's a surfboard, it's good for any waves." I mumble, with zero patience for customers asking unnecessarily stupid questions.

"I'll take it then." He smiles awkwardly, obviously sensing my frustration.

"How long would you like to rent it for?" I ask, pulling out the rental log from under the till.

"The whole week please." He tells me.

"That'll be 120 dollars," I reply, "Are you paying by cash or card?"

"Card please." He replies.

"Just put your card in there," I instruct him, passing him the card machine, "You also need to fill out this form and return it to us before you leave the shop."

There seems to be a bit of a crowd building up down on the main dock, with a few cops strolling around and some people on their boats receiving instructions from Deputy Sheriff Shoupe.

"Sid," I hear a loud whisper of my name, causing me to look up, I spot Pope waiting by the front entrance to the shop.

"What?" I ask, gesturing for him to come in.

"Do you think your parents can spare you today?" He asks, leaning against the counter as my customer takes a seat at one of the tables in the bar area to fill in his form.

"They're already pretty angry about last night." I sigh.

"John B borrowed some scuba gear from the Camerons, we're going back to the wreck." He tells me.

"Borrowed?" I question.

"I mean, I don't think he told Ward." Pope continues.

"Stealing from the Camerons?" I hiss, "Is he insane?"

"So technically he stole it, but he'll take it back when we're done so really we're just borrowing it to see what's on the wreck." He tells me.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" I reply.

"No, I'm not, that's why I need you to come with us, to help me stop JJ and John B from doing anything stupid." He explains, fiddling with a keyring that's been left on the counter.

"I think last night proved that neither of us can stop those two doing stupid shit." I sigh.

"Hey Pope, what are you doing here?" My Mum appears from the store room, armed with several bottles of tequila for the bar.

"Just wanted to check in on Sidney after last night." Pope tells her.

"Mum, Pope was wondering if I could help out at his dad's place today," I lie, knowing that I'll be more use out on the marsh than working here, "His dad isn't feeling too great."

"Dodgy lobster supper." Pope nods in agreement.

"Alright," She sighs, "Don't be home late, the trucks will be there first thing tomorrow."

"Thanks Mrs Monroe." Pope smiles as I grab my bag and head for the exit, him following after me as we find JJ, John B and Kiara waiting on the HMS Pogue.

"Holy shit, are you okay?" Kiara asks, noticing how bad the bruising to my face is.

"Had to match John B, didn't I?" I smile, trying to soften the mode, noticing JJ seems quite reserved compared to his usual charismatic self.

As Pope begins steering us towards the cut to head into the marsh I take a seat beside JJ, nudging him gently and offering him a smile, "You okay?" I ask quietly.

"I'm alright, and I'm sorry about last night." He replies, staring out at the stretch of water ahead of us.

"It wasn't completely down to you, I provoked Topper, none of that would've happened otherwise." I explain.

"You made some great points, and Topsicle was a real highlight." He laughs.

"God, I can't believe I said that, I was so drunk." I sigh, resting my head on his shoulder.

"If it makes you feel better, I was very proud of you." He assures me, and I know he means it, because I wouldn't normally stick up for myself in situations like that, and he's told me before that I need to stand up for myself.

"Thank you." I smile, nudging him gently with my elbow.

"We're here," Pope announces as we stop in the part of the marsh we came to yesterday.

"So does anyone actually know how to dive?" I ask the group.

"Diving is a kook sport," JJ tells me, "So I think that's going to be a no."

"Great, we've stolen scuba gear, but we can't even use it." I sigh.

"Scuba gear that's also empty," Kiara tells us, "Two tanks are empty, one's a quarter full."

"That won't last long." I reply.

"Based on how far down the wreck is, I'd say that you've got about twenty five minutes, but make sure you breathe that shit in properly or it'll kill you." Pope explains, putting fear in all of us.

"No pressure then." I mutter.

"It's fine, I've got this," John B says as he puts the scuba mask on, putting the air tank on his shoulders as Kiara jumps into the water.

"Oh, that was weird." Pope says before Kiara quickly returns to the surface.

"I tied my t-shirt to the anchor rope about ten feet down so you know where to stop on your way up." Kiara explains as she climbs back onto the boat.

"Don't be a hero," I smile as Kiara kisses him on the cheek.

"Diver down?" John B responds.

"Diver down." Kiara nods as John B jumps into the water, leaving JJ, Pope and I equally confused.

"So we just wait?" Pope asks, breaking the silence.

"I'd say so." I nod, looking over my shoulder at the sound of a siren.

"Shit," Kiara mutters, "That's the cops."

"Act natural." Pope whispers as JJ dramatically leans against the windshield covering the steering wheel.

"How is that natural?" I hiss, standing beside Kiara as the cops approach us.

"Did you kids not know the marsh is closed to the public today?" Shoupe asks as he pulls up beside our boat.

"Is it?" I ask, "I didn't know about that."

"Well it is," He replies, "We're looking for a wreck, you kids haven't seen anything have you?"

"No, no boats." Kiara responds.

"You guys mind if I have a look at your boat?" He asks, stepping aboard.

"Oh sure, go ahead, officer." JJ nods.

"You got another one of these?" He asks, picking up the life jacket beside the back bench.

"Yeah it's in the hold." Pope nods.

"Very good," Shoupe nods, "Where's your other friend that you're usually with?"

"He's working." I lie, smiling awkwardly.

"Right." Shoupe replies, walking to the edge of the boat, unaware that John B is directly below him.

"Is there anything else we can help you with?" I ask, hoping to distract him from what's going on in the water.

"That's all," He tells us, stepping back onto his boat, "Just please stay out of the marsh until further notice."

"Gotcha." JJ smiles with unnecessary enthusiasm.

Shoupe promptly heads off, presumably continuing further into the marsh to search for the boat we know the exact location of.

"Who was that?" John B's familiar voice asks as he resurfaces, reaching out to JJ for help back onto the boat with his heavy scuba gear as he dumps a black bag on the deck.

"Shoupe, apparently the marsh is closed." Pope tells him.

"Guys, bogeys at two o'clock." Kiara nods over John B's shoulder.

"You guys recognise that boat?" I ask, glancing between the boys.

"Never seen it before," Pope replies, "But the marsh is closed."

"What do you think they want?" I ask.

"I don't know," John B says, slipping off the scuba gear and beelining for the steering wheel, "But we're not waiting to find out."

He begins steering, heading back towards the cut, I assume to the safety of the chateau, but as we head home, the other boat continues to follow us.

"They're still on us," Pope says with anxiety in his voice, "Does this boat not go any faster?"

"I'm trying." John B assures him.

I keep my eyes on their boat as we continue to weave through the marsh, "Shit, they've got a gun." I frantically tell the others as one of the bogeys loads up his gun, pointing it directly at us.

"Get down!" JJ shouts, pulling me down to the deck of the boat, peeking his head at the boat before ducking quickly as they open fire at us.

"John B, get down!" Pope shouts from where he's crouching beside me.

"I don't know how you expect me to get us home doing that." John B shouts as they shoot at us again.

"I swear these guys are crazy." I mutter, looking down as JJ takes my hand in his, squeezing it gently.

"You okay?" He mouths, clearly aware that the calm facade I've painted is exactly that.

"Course." I mouth back, both of us knowing I don't mean it.

"I've got an idea." Kiara tells us, scrambling to the front of the boat and retrieving one of our fishing nets.

"Careful Kie." I shout as he heads to the back of the boat, tossing the net into the water, all of us watching as their boat gets caught in it, stopping them completely as we continue speeding home.

"Thank fuck for that!" Pope exclaims.

After an eventful time in the marsh we make it back to the chateau, making our way up to the decking after tying up the boat, John B dropping the black bag from the boat on the decking as we all surround him.

"What do you think it is?" Pope asks us.

"Money, obviously." JJ muses.

"I hope its money." John B replies, pulling out a large silver cylinder.

"We're not spending it on another kegger though, please." Kiara sighs.

"It's not money." John B mumbles, holding up a gold circular item, "It's my dad's compass."

Author's note: hi lovelies! hope you enjoyed this chapter, I really enjoyed writing the kegger scenes, and I hope you enjoyed reading them!

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