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the worst part is i'm playing
a thousand guessing games,
i don't know if not knowing's
ever going to go away...

~ haley joelle / idk

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WHY WAS JJ SO ANGRY WITH COLLINS? Truthfully, even he didn't understand why his feelings towards her were so strong. Part of him realized he was being ridiculous, but sometimes his pride was bigger than his brain, and right now his pride wouldn't allow him to let Collins back in as easily as the rest of his friends had.

Sure, they were all just kids when Collins left. And not long after that, Kie transferred schools and for a little while, they lost her too. But at least she kept coming back. She made an effort to hang out with them. She wanted to still be their friend.

Collins, however, just left. He'd been heartbroken when Mr. and Mrs. Campbell passed away, they were 2 of the only people to treat him like he was more than just a little kid.

As soon as he'd been told about their deaths, his first thought was of Collins. He knew that she didn't have any other relatives, judging from the fact that they never spent Thanksgiving or Christmas with anyone other than the 3 of them.

He made a promise to himself that he was going to be there for her. He may have just been a kid, but he swore he'd protect her and be there for her the best that he could. So when he found out that she'd left the island completely, he was heartbroken again.

His dad was a cruel man. Had been for a long time. He couldn't even tell his son about the death of the Campbell's, he heard it from John B. the next day. By the time he'd gotten on his bike and pedaled to their home, Collins was gone.

He was unaware that she'd be back to pack some of her things not long after he finally gave up on waiting because he knew his dad would be pissed, and they ended up missing each other by less than 10 minutes.

As JJ laid in bed, part of him regretted asking to be taken home. But when he thought of how Collins left them and then just showed up out of the blue, his anger came back.

When he showed up at The Wreck with Pope and John B., the second she turned around, he knew who she was even though half a decade had gone by.

And his first thought was how the hell could she sit there with Kie, smiling and laughing, like she hadn't left all of them? And how could everyone else just jump back into things, like nothing had happened and no time had gone by?

There was another reason he was angry about her leaving and just showing back up, but he didn't want to think about that right now. He couldn't.

Meanwhile at the Ellsworth home, Collins was in the kitchen, cooking while John B., Pope, and Kie were all sat on the tall chairs nearby.

(a/n: just going to put these photos here now for reference. this is partly what I'm imagining the Ellsworth home to look like, and I might reference specific things later on)

(but pretend the table is bigger and there are 8 chairs)

They'd all been given a tour of the home, at the request of Pope who'd recently gotten into reading about architecture and was genuinely interested in the layout.

"To going full Kook!" John B. held up his glass. Collins had pointed to the cabinet where all of their cups were held, and when he saw the tall fancy cups, he pulled 4 out, exclaiming "hell yeah!".

"I might throw up a little every time you say that," Collins shook her head, trying to contain her laughter. It hadn't even been a day, but she really appreciated how welcoming they were all being.

As she stood in front of the stove, stirring the sauce and noodles at the same time, Pope came up next to her, and they somehow ended up having a 15 minute discussion about a true crime podcast that they both listened to.

When they'd first arrived at the house, Collins asked if anyone wanted something to eat even though they'd just wolfed down food from The Wreck. No one was particularly hungry, but this started an animated discussion about food, particularly things they loved to eat as kids.

John B. brought up this pasta that Collins' mom (mama) used to make, and it got quiet for a second. He apologized, but Collins reassured him that it was okay, she liked talking about them.

Then she mentioned that she knew the recipe by heart, and if they wanted she'd be more than happy to — and that was as far as she got with that sentence before a chorus of cheers broke out amongst the friends.

Once it was finished and everyone had heaping bowls of pasta in front of them, there was no conversation for about 5 minutes. Everyone focused on devouring the food in front of them.

"So what have you been up to the past five years?" John B. asked, having been the first one to finish. Kie reached around Pope and slapped punched his shoulder. "Sorry... I mean four years."

"It's fine," Collins smiled at her friends, wanting them to know it was okay, that she understood they'd be curious. "Umm, well Pope... John B. and Kie already know but basically..." And she told her story again, but she genuinely didn't mind.

"Wow," Pope sat back, trying to process it all.

"So, yeah. A year in foster care, but then I was adopted and they are honestly two of the best people I know. They knew that I was coming from basically nothing, having been in the system for so long and most of my belongings were lost, and they've given me the world."

"Are you back, like, permanently?"

"Umm, at least for a while, yeah. My dads job transferred him nearby, and he'll be working there for at least a few years."

"Well we're all glad to have you back," John B. got up and walked around the counter to give Collins a hug.

Collins raised her eyebrows. "All?"

"Okay, the three of us are really glad to have you back. And he's gonna come around, I know it."

"I meant what I said before though, if me being around is gonna just make him that upset every time, you know you guys have a good thing going and I—"

"No," Pope shook his head. "JJ is being an ass right now, and I know we all had different theories about why you left but that still doesn't give him any reason to act like a little kid throwing a tantrum."

"Exactly," Kie nods in agreement. "Besides you're way prettier than JJ, and you can cook so... JJ who? Now come on ladies and gents I think that pool we saw in the backyard is calling our name. Can I borrow a bikini?"

"Right now? But it's almost ten," Pope glances at the clock on the microwave.

John B. jumps up and grabs his keys before announcing that he'll be right back. Less than a minute later he comes back inside holding 2 pairs of board shorts, tossing one to Pope. "Night swimming, my good sir!"

The door attached to the garage opens just then, and Eleanor and Marcus walk through the door. "Collins is that your friends van in fr— oh, hello."

"Mom, dad, these are my friends. I've actually known them all since elementary school. This is John B., Pope, and Kie."

Eleanor and Marcus immediately greet their daughters friends with hugs, saying it's so nice to meet them.

"Oh and that's my van, sorry was it blocking the way? I can move it."

"Oh no," Eleanor shakes her head. "It's fine there. I was just going to say if whoever's van that was, was spending the night, you're welcome to park it in the driveway. You're all more than welcome to stay, we have plenty of room."

Collins told Kie to follow her upstairs so they could grab bikinis, and Pope and John B. stayed downstairs to talk to her parents. Just a few minutes later when the girls came back downstairs, the boys had already changed, and were laughing at a story that Marcus was telling them.

"Collins I turned on the pool heater for you guys. We're gonna head up to bed now, you guys don't get too crazy."

After saying goodnight, the 4 friends finally headed out to the pool.

"You think she's adjusting okay?" Eleanor stood at the window of their bedroom upstairs, watching as Collins and her friends all jumped into the pool.

Marcus came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. "I think she's doing even better than can be expected. Look at that, we've been here less than a day and she's already surrounding herself with good people. I like her friends."

Down in the pool, Pope and John B. were having a little contest for who could do the coolest flip into the pool.

"Ten!" Collins cheered.

"Ehh... eight," Kie shrugged, not as impressed.

John B. hopped out of the pool, making a big show of taking a bow and waving to his audience. "Thank you, thank you. Collins you're officially my new favorite."

"Ten!" She cheered when Pope went in.

"I'm starting to feel like my ten is a little less special now."

They ended up staying in the pool until almost midnight, deciding to get out and go back in the house after a neighbors backyard light came on.

Collins got everybody towels, and they dried off as best they could before heading into the house. She asked if anyone wanted to spend the night, and Kie immediately accepted, going into another room to call her parents just to double check with them.

She hated to admit it but she knew her parents would say yes immediately, not only because they knew Collins, but they trusted anyone that lived in Figure 8 a lot more automatically.

John B. happily accepted Collins' invitation, but he pointed out that he and Pope would need to go home to grab clothes. Pope said he'd wait and ask his dad once he actually got home, since it was past his curfew already.

He'd called his dad earlier to let him know he wouldn't be home right after dinner, but failed to mention he'd be coming home this late, and he didn't even want to know how many unread texts and missed calls were on his cell phone right now.

Once the boys were gone, Collins tells Kie she can take a shower first. When she's in the shower, Collins quickly grabbed a new towel and some clothes, and leaves them on the bathroom counter. After grabbing extra pillows and blankets, she puts them on the floor of her room, deciding she'll wait until John B. and Pope come back before asking everyone where they'd like to sleep.

Almost an hour later, Collins and Kie are both laying on the couch in the living room, when there are a few soft knocks on the door.

"Oh good, I realized after we didn't call to tell you we were on our way back," John B. and Pope entered the home.

"That took a while," Kie comments, also pointing out that they're still in the same clothes.

"Yeah that's sort of my fault," Pope grins. "Pops almost didn't let me leave, then he finally agreed only because I told him it was Collins, he said I'm supposed to order you to go down and see him sometime soon, by the way. Anyway he finally said yes but I could tell he was about to change his mind again so I packed a bag, called John B. and ran out the door as soon as I heard him pull up."

"And I was just about to shower when I got his call."

"Oh, well come upstairs you guys can shower here."

"Collins you're my hero."

They all headed upstairs, and Collins gave the boys towels before they both headed off to shower, after her suggestion that one of them could use the downstairs bathroom too.

Once everyone was gathered in Collins room, she motioned to the extra pillows and blankets, "okay, we do have three spare bedrooms so you guys are all totally welcome to have your own room if you want. But one of them is downstairs so I don't know if someone wants to sleep in here too since my bed is definitely big enough, and two people can have their own rooms, or we could all just be in here... yeah, however you guys wanna do it."

John B. hopped up onto Collins bed, moving to get himself under the covers. "This is the biggest bed I've seen. It definitely looks like there's enough room for all of us!" He stretched his arm out and patted the pillows next to him. "Come on guys, I don't know about you but I'm tired."

"Holy shit it's like three in the morning."

"Exactly! Slumber partyyyyyyy!"

Collins laughed, getting into bed next to John B., Pope and Kie following soon after. The bed was big enough that everyone was still comfortable, and within moments, Pope had fallen asleep.

"Fair warning Collins, I like to cuddle."

"John B., the rule!" Kie whispered before turning on her side in an attempt to fall asleep.

Collins glanced at John B. "Rule?"

"I don't know what she's taking about. Night!"

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