We found the wreck, but we didn't find the gold.

Seeing the devastation on John B's face when we discovered that the wreck was just that, an empty wreck, was heartbreaking. I know what it means to feel loss, but to have hope torn out from under you, that's an indescribable pain that only a few can articulate.

The rest of us were gutted too of course, but for John B not for ourselves. All he's wanted is to find the gold for his father, and I imagine he feels like he's failing in his ability to do that. I just want him to be happy again, truly happy.

"Sidney."

I snap out of my daydream about the gold, seeing a concerned look on my mother's face as I remember where we are.

Dress shopping.

The midsummer's ball is only a few days away so my dad insisted that my mother and I treat ourselves to new dresses for the event. Mum picked her dress almost instantly, so the sales assistant put it aside for her while I looked through every rack, struggling to find anything I liked, until eventually I picked out about four dresses in different colours. The first two were disasters and made me look ridiculous, whereas the one I'm trying on now shows more promise.

It's lilac with a cowl neck, but it doesn't feel like a dress I would wear, and I'm not entirely sure I'm comfortable in it.

"So do you like this one?" Mum asks as I stand in front of her in the fitting room area, her sitting on the plush pink couch with a cup of tea.

"Not really," I sigh, glancing at myself in the mirror.

"Okay, well you should probably try the last one on, and hope that it's the one, because we don't have time to go shopping on the mainland." She sighs as I return to the fitting cubicle, closing the curtain and slipping out of the third dress before pulling the fourth dress on.

This one is a sage green halter dress. It's a maxi dress, like the other ones, but this one feels perfect, it fits perfectly and the colour looks right against my skin.

I open the curtain and my mum looks up from her magazine, a small smile on her face, "That's the one, I'm not just saying that because it's the last one, you look so beautiful honey."

"It feels like the right one," I nod in agreement, "Maybe with some black or white shoes?"

"Absolutely!" Mum claps her hands together, "Get changed back into your own clothes and I'll tell the cashier we're ready to purchase."

I head back into the cubicle, closing the curtain and slipping out of the dress before putting my own clothes back on, a khaki green vest top and some pale blue denim shorts. If I had the option I'd be most comfortable in these clothes, but it's such a formal event that I'd stick out like a sore thumb in anything except a perfectly chosen dress.

Now that I know what I'm wearing to midsummers I feel more content with the idea of going. It also makes it more bearable that both Kiara and Sarah will be there, so I could probably just stick with them for most of the night.

After putting the dress back on the hanger I exit the cubicle and head over to where my mum is waiting at the till, and from what I can hear she's rambling to the cashier about how excited she is for midsummers.

"Is this the dress?" The cashier asks as I hand it to her.

"Yep." I nod in agreement.

"Perfect, I'll just put it in a bag for you." She tells us, pulling out a branded bag from under the till and slipping the bag into it.

"That's so great, thank you." My mum smiles somewhat overbearingly.

After she's settled the payment we head outside into the intense Outer Banks summer sun, and I'm somewhat regretting not staying home or heading to the beach to surf.

"Sidney?"

I glance over my shoulder to see Pope, JJ and Kiara walking towards us, carrying a cool box and deck chairs.

"Hey, what are you guys up to?" I ask them as they reach us.

"We're just heading to the outdoor cinema," Kiara tells me.

"Do you want to join us?" JJ asks me, glancing at my mum sheepishly.

"Is that okay?" I ask her.

"Of course it is," She assures me, taking the dress from me, "Go and have fun with your friends, just don't be home too late, okay?"

"Got it." I nod, giving her a quick hug before joining my friends in walking down the street towards the country club.

"What do you need a new dress for?" JJ asks, walking beside me, with Pope and Kiara a few paces in front.

"Midsummers," I sigh.

"You're going to midsummers?" He scoffs in surprise.

"I know it's a kook thing but my parents got invited and they want me to come too," I explain, "besides me and Kie will have each other."

"And me, I'm working." Pope tells us.

"So just me and John B without an invite?" JJ sighs.

"Where is John B today?" I ask the group as we turn the corner approaching the country club.

"He said he's busy, he didn't say what, just that he was busy." Pope explains.

"Right." I nod, knowing that if John B is being secretive it's either about something to do with his dad or it's a girl.

"Do you think he'll stop searching for the gold now?" Kiara asks us.

"I don't think so," I reply, "Because I think the need to know what happened to his Dad is bigger than finding the gold."

"You're probably right." Kiara nods in agreement.

"How are your parents finding Figure Eight?" Pope asks me.

"They like it," I sigh, "I think they like the idea of pretending to be people they aren't."

"Sounds like my parents," Kiara sighs, "They're so obsessed with me being a pogue, they just want me to be kooks like them."

"I hope my parents don't start with shit like that." I huff as we enter the country club grounds.

They do this every year, the club put a big screen up on the grass outside the country club and people from all sides of the island come to watch whatever film they're showing. We weave through the various small groups of people, mainly families and couples before we find a good space in the middle of the crowd.

"I'm going to get a drink, do you guys want anything?" I ask my friends as they take a seat on the grass.

"I'll have whatever you're having." JJ nods, getting comfortable on his deck chair.

"Same." Pope and Kiara nod before I wander over to the concessions stand, four or five people already in line, some are definitely tourists but there's a couple I recognise from school. Except one boy who's standing adjacent to me in the queue as it moves forward slightly.

I tap his shoulder before asking, "Excuse me, do you know what film they're showing today?"

He turns to face me with a shy smile, "Not a clue, my dad just said he has to work today, even though he booked the week off to see me, so he gave me money to come here instead."

"Right," I nod, "So you don't see him much, then?" I ask before quickly realising that it's a pretty intrusive question to ask someone I don't actually know, "Sorry, you don't have to answer that."

"No, it's fine," He laughs off the awkwardness, "I live on the mainland with my mum, but my dad lives here, so I come and visit him for a week every now and again, and normally he actually wants to spend time with me, but he says he's working on a new lead or something like that."

"A new lead?" I reply with a confused look.

"He's the deputy sheriff," He explains, "I'm Mason Shoupe."

"Oh, right," I nod, finally understanding why his dad would be so busy, "So do you like the Outer Banks?"

"It's turning out to be better than I thought it would." He replies with half a smirk.

"Where do you live on the mainland?" I ask as we get closer to the front of the queue.

"Charleston, my mum fell pregnant on a holiday to the island." He explains.

"I see." I nod.

"Are you going to this midsummer dance thing?" He asks as he gets to the front of the queue, ordering a bottle of water and some popcorn before turning his attention back to me, "They invited my dad, probably to keep the sheriff's department sweet, and he wants me to go with him."

"Yeah, I'm going with my parents," I tell him as the cashier hands him his drink and popcorn.

"Well then, here's hoping you save me a dance." He smirks before heading back to take a seat.

"Four pepsis please." I smile at the cashier, handing him the cash.

"Hey Sidney," I glance to my left to see Rafe approaching me, "How are you?"

"Good," I nod, "Just appreciating the view."

"Who was that guy?" He asks, "He seemed very friendly."

"Just a guy." I reply, keeping my cards close enough to my chest.

"Just a guy?" Rafe scoffs, "What did he want?"

"He wanted to know if I'd be at midsummers, and he wanted to know if I'd save him a dance," I tell him as he rolls his eyes, "I mean who could refuse a dance with the Deputy Sheriff's son?"

"I mean if you're into that right side of the law, clean cut thing he's got going on, then who am I to judge?" Rafe sighs as the cashier hands me my drinks.

"Very good of you to be so amicable about it Rafe," I smirk.

"Oh, by the way, tell your boy that we know what he did." Rafe replies, and I don't have a clue what he means.

"What boy?" I ask.

"He'll know, just tell him." Rafe smiles before I walk back to the group.

"Just saw Rafe," I tell the boys and Kiara as I hand them a drink each, "He said, and I quote 'tell your boy that we know what he did.' - What is that about?"

"Where is he?" JJ asks with concern in his voice.

"Right there." I gesture to the back of the green, where Rafe, Kelce and Topper are standing, both JJ and Pope turning to look at them.

"Great, the whole death squad's here." Pope says with anxiety in his voice.

"If they corner me, I'm prepared." JJ tells Pope, lifting his duffle bag.

"JJ, please tell me you did not bring a gun here." Kiara mutters.

"JJ there are kids here!" I whisper shout from beside Kiara.

"I didn't bring the gun, everything's fine." JJ smiles halfheartedly.

"Wow that was convincing," I sigh, "Kiara did that convince you?"

"Not one bit." She shakes her head.

"Founding principle boys, no secrets among pogues, what was Rafe talking about?" I ask Pope and JJ.

"Let's just say it might go down tonight." Pope mutters.

About half an hour into the film I notice Pope and JJ standing up, trying to tiptoe out of the green.

"Hey, where are you going?" Kiara whispers to them.

"We gotta go wring it out." JJ whispers back.

"What, are you going to hold it for each other?" I whisper as they walk off to the side of the green, "Those two are insane, I'm convinced I'll never understand them."

"Ditto." Kiara nods as we return our attention to the film.

Two minutes go by and the boys still haven't returned, I glance over my shoulder to see if Rafe and his friends are still watching the film, but none of them are there, so I nudge Kiara, "The boys are gone."

"Shit," She hisses, quickly standing up and running around the side of the crowd so I stand up and do the same. We find JJ and Pope behind the screen, in some sort of physical fight with the kook boys.

Kiara runs for Topper to try and pull him away from Pope as I notice Rafe and JJ practically wrestling each other. In a state of delusion I try to split up the fight, grabbing onto Rafe before realising he's definitely too strong for me to get him off of JJ.

So instead I reach for JJ, yanking him away from Rafe before standing in between them both, holding my hands up to keep them apart.

"Stop!" I shout at them both, "I don't know what this is about but frankly, I don't want to, just please stop."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Sidney." Rafe grits his teeth before attempting to storm towards JJ for round two, but before he can I step into his path, resting my hands against his chest, silently hoping I can hold him off.

"Please don't do this," I whisper as his gaze stays locked on JJ who is close behind me.

"Do you know what they did?" Rafe asks me, his eyes dark with anger.

"No, and knowing them they probably weren't thinking, but please just leave it, for me," I whisper with a wobble in my voice, "They're not bad people."

Before Rafe can answer me we both realise that the cinema screen is on fire. Flames rippling along the bottom edge of the screen.

"Topper get off of him," Kiara shouts.

"Come on boys, lets go." Rafe shouts at his friends, the three of them running away from us as the fire spreads across the whole screen.

"Pope, are you okay?" Kiara asks him as he chokes on his own breath.

"Hey," JJ grabs my wrist, "What was that with Rafe?"

"What do you mean?" I ask in an attempt to play dumb.

"No one has ever got Rafe to back down from a fight like that," He sighs as we all walk away from the burning screen, "There's not something going on between you, is there?"

"What?" I stop to look at him, "Of course not."

"He's bad news, Sidney." JJ reiterates.

"Can you just be grateful that I was there to stop it." I attempt to laugh it off.

"I am grateful," He smiles, wrapping an arm around my shoulder, "Thank you."

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

It's been a busy morning at the surf shop, but at least it means less time thinking about what went down at the outdoor cinema. I've been trying to avoid the images that keep buzzing around in my head, of Rafe and JJ essentially wrestling each other. I half regret stepping in between them both, but I also don't, because I was hardly going to wait around and see if they ended up in a worse state.

I look up from the till at the sound of shouting somewhere along the harbour, my mum is working on the accounts at one of the tables in the bar area and my dad is tidying up the shop so I decide to check what's happening.

"I'll be back in a minute." I tell them both, slipping outside to see Pope being escorted to a police car, Kiara, JJ and Mr Heyward close behind.

I run along the harbour, reaching the Heyward's seafood store, nudging Kiara and whispering, "They're arresting Pope, for an obstruction of property or something."

"It wasn't him!" JJ shouts at Shoupe, getting the attention of all of us, "It was me, he told me not to do it, but I was mad because he'd just been beaten up, I'm so sick of those kooks that I lost my shit, I can't let you take the blame for something I did."

"Who beat him up?" I mutter.

"Who do you think, Sid?" JJ looks at me with glossy eyes, "Open your eyes."

"JJ, what are you-" Pope says.

"Shut up Pope," JJ exclaims, "He's a good kid, you know where I'm from, Shoupe."

"Is this true?" Shoupe asks Pope, the boys share a look before Pope nods.

"It's true." He replies.

Shoupe cuffs JJ and guides him into the police car, closing the door and climbing into the driver's seat, the rest of us stood in stunned shock, unsure what to say as the police car drives off into the distance.

We all know why JJ took the blame, because from the minute his father began raising him people wrote him off, they assumed he'd be a carbon copy of his father, but that couldn't be further from the truth. He's as loyal as they come, and he's got a heart of gold, even if he struggles to show it sometimes. And that's ultimately why he did it, because people assume he'll end up in prison one day, so why not prove it now?

If Rafe Cameron had known he'd find something that could get under his skin better than a drug, he'd have been sober a long time ago. If he knew that thing would be a Pogue, well that's a very different story.

authors note: let me know if you also love jealous rafe tehehe
also i've given mason a face claim because he pops up occasionally throughout the story, so you're welcome to imagine whoever but i'll be using christopher briney (conrad fisher) as his fc