——

"Why did we get stuck behind the keg?" Emelina grunted, giving a fellow Kook a red solo cup filled with beer.

Kiara stood next to her while pouring the liquid into the plastic cup, "Because John B's not here to boss the boys around. And as JJ put it, he needs to reconsolidate his friendship with Pope."

Emelina rolled her eyes and began scanning the boneyard to spot the two roaming boys. She found them sitting on a log, laughing at whatever joke they spewed out. They weren't alone, though. A couple of girls crowded their area, and they too were laughing.

"Well, that's just great," Emelina whispered to herself, her insides churning as she watched a girl affectionately touch JJ's shoulder.

The feeling didn't last long when her boyfriend stepped in front of her, blocking the view of the blonde boy. "Hi."

"Hi," Emelina smiled, "I'm glad you came."

Kiara's smile faltered when Topper came to their table. She gave him a cup before Emelina could and forced a fake sweet voice, "Enjoy the party."

Topper sensed the discomfort, but to keep Emelina's wish to avoid conflict, he gladly accepted the cup and winked at his girlfriend. "I'll see you in a bit."

Kiara gagged as soon as he walked away. "You had to invite him?"

Even after their small argument, Emelina found room to forgive him for the night, but it does not mean she forgot about it.

"I could not not invite him." Emelina told her and handed another cup to a partier, "And relax, I trained him to not start problems with you guys."

"You trained him?" Kiara laughed, "What is he? Your dog?"

"Shut up."

As the party went on, more word got out and soon the boneyard was filled with Pogues and Kooks. Since school was around the corner, no Tourons were in sight. The sun had set, leaving the cool air to breeze past the drunken teens.

Emelina had left Kiara at the table to check how their spontaneous party was going and as expected, it was going well.

She felt a tug on her wrist and when she spun around, Topper was there with a grin on his lips and a cup for her to hold. "Got you something."

"What is it?" she asked, taking a sip and scrunching her nose in disgust at the mixed juices and alcohol. "This is gross. Who made this?"

Topper shrugged, "That kid Nick got ahold of their parent's secret stash. It beats better than the stale beer."

She ignored his comment about the beer and set the drink down on the sand before grabbing his hand and pulling him to the crowd of dancing teens. "Dance with me."

"As you wish."

A speaker, brought by one of the Kooks, was blasting music loud enough to dance to. Emelina put her hands on Topper's shoulder and she found JJ not that far away dancing with the same girl who touched his shoulder.

Their eyes connect and a smirk tugged on his lips. He wanted to test her and now was a perfect time. Without breaking their gaze, he brought his head down to the girl to kiss her. His eyes stayed on hers and hers only.

Emelina welcomed this new challenge and traveled her hand up to the back of Topper's head, bringing him down to her level in order to attach her lips to his.

Topper closed his eyes, yet hers remained open, keeping the long stare with JJ Maybank. Neither of them threatening to break it. Excitement riddled right through her because that is what he does; excite her.

Topper began to pull away and Emelina had no choice but to lose her unspoken competition with JJ. She hated being in defeat.

She cleared her throat and took her hands off his body, "I have to get back and help Kie." In response, he simply nodded but the frown on his lips was noticeable.

When Emelina made her way back to the empty table, Kiara stood there with bored eyes. "I think it's time to ditch the table."

"That's probably a good idea. Apparently, some Kook brought their own alc." Emelina informed her, stacking up the littered cups.

"Totally not surprised," Kiara said and poured the beer in two cups for the both of them. She handed one to her, "Have you seen Pope or JJ?"

"Not Pope, but JJ is coming our way," Emelina answered as her vision fixated on the blonde walking over to their table with two empty cups.

Kiara patted her friend's shoulder. "I'm gonna go find Pope."

"Hey, girls! I need a refill ASAP!" JJ called out, rushing closer to them. Kiara rolled her eyes with a smile and slipped away to find their missing friend.

"Where's she going?" JJ asked, his eyes following the curly-haired brunette. Emelina answered him while filling his cups with beer, "To find Pope."

He graciously accepted the cups from her and his famous smirk appeared again. "Hm, and might I say that was a sweet kiss."

She was hoping they'd never bring it up, but of course, he would take any moment to tease her. "The best," she replied sarcastically, taking a sip of her beer.

"Yeah, the best 'cause I won."

"You wouldn't have won if I didn't want to get caught."

"Caught doing what, princess? Looking at another boy while kissing your boyfriend?" he asked, his smirk never leaving.

Emelina tried to suppress a smile, so she looked down at the second cup in his hand, "What's her name?" she questioned, hoping to sway the previous conversation away.

"Sophie, I think," he answered, a small frown on his lips as he realized he wasn't paying attention when she revealed her name.

Emelina raised an eyebrow and laughed, "You think? What, is she not worthy of your time to remember her name?"

"There's only one girl worthy of my time," JJ said, grinning in the process.

She grinned back and thought of a way to tease him, "Kie's not available, Maybank."

And to that, he laughed. A genuine laugh. Because after being holed up for so long, flirty banter with the girl he admires is what he needed.

"You know it's always gonna be you," he said at last before turning around to join the party. His words had left her frozen, heart thumping against her chest, and a rose color tinting her cheeks.

One thought registered in her mind; And you'll always have me.

§

Emelina stuck herself behind the keg for a little while longer due to a small line forming every few minutes. As she handed a cup to the last two people, her eyes move over to the majority of teens circling near the shoreline. "What's going on over there?"

"A fight." the girl said, drinking from her fresh cup.

"Between who?" Emelina asked, her stomach churning unpleasantly.

"Your boys."

"Shit," she muttered, rushing over to the large group of people. She gulped when she finally reached the middle, spotting Topper and JJ tumbling on the sand.

"What the hell?!" Emelina screamed, but her voice wasn't heard now that the teens were chanting fight, fight, fight.

Pope stepped in to grab JJ, but that resulting in Kelce joining the fight as well to defend Topper's honor. They both got caught in the crossfire, making it grow wild.

Emelina ran over to Kiara once she found her and forcefully grabbed her hand to catch her attention. "What happened?"

"I don't know!" Kiara answered, her voice trembling, "Pope tried to stop them, but..."

"They do this every year," Emelina muttered.

Pope eventually discarded himself from the fight, stumbling over to the girls with a busted lip. "Fuck. There's no ending that."

"Pope, are you okay?" Emelina asked, her eyebrows furrowing in worry. He nodded and Kiara carefully sat him down on the sand to aid his wound.

"You gotta stop this, Emelina." Pope looked at her.

Kiara shook her head, "Are you crazy? Do you want her to get hurt?"

He was right. She needed to put an end to this. There was an unfair fight between the boys. Kelce had JJ under his hold while Topper aimed punches at the helpless blonde.

Anger riled up in her and she ran over to them, pushing Topper away. "Real classy of you, Topper. Two against one?"

Topper seemed to snap back into reality. He looked at her with apologetic eyes, but she wasn't buying it. "What are you doing?"

"What are you doing? I told you to stay away from them. You made a promise." Emelina said, noticing the group of teens scurrying away once they realized the fight was over.

"That promise was broken when he provoked me!"

She turned her head to see JJ spitting out blood onto the sand below him, wiping away the excess substance from underneath his nose. "You should tell your boy not to run his mouth about John B," JJ said, straightening his posture.

"Topper, what the hell?" Her voice cracked, feeling a wave of disappointment. "Go home."

Topper chuckled coldly, "You really are a Pogue at heart."

She watched him stumble out of the beach with Kelce by his side. Kiara urged the rest of the teens to leave as well, informing them that the party had now ended.

"You're such an idiot, JJ! How many fights are you gonna start before you get thrown in a jail cell?" Kiara asked him, anger radiating off of her. No answer came out of him. Kiara left to the parking lot with Pope tugging behind.

"She's right, you know." Emelina's attention went back to JJ, who was gathering his bag from the ground. "Why did you join in, Emelina? You could've gotten yourself hurt." JJ said, disregarding her statement.

"They were hurting you."

"I don't need your protection," he responded, his tone harsh and cold and Emelina felt her heart pang at the sound of it.

She ignored his comment, knowing too well that arguing with him never got anywhere. Her gaze traveled down to his hand that was starting to bruise along with his bleeding knuckles. "Your hand..."

He pushed his hand behind his back discreetly. "It doesn't hurt. Don't you have to patch up frosted tips?"

Emelina chuckled at the name and trod through the sand to reach JJ to grab his injured hand and inspect it. "Topper can take care of himself."

"And me?" he asked, his blue eyes boring into hers.

"You didn't piss me off tonight. Come on, we have to clean this off. I think Kie has a first aid kit in the car." She grabbed his hand carefully and dragged him to their friend's car.

JJ wanted to say no, as getting help is not ideal for him, but he decided to let her. He was too tired and intoxicated to do it himself anyway.

Kiara finished her tedious healing with Pope's lip as soon as the duo approached her car. "You got anything left in that kit?" Emelina asked and raised JJ's bruised knuckles in the air.

"Yup. I am always prepared for reckless nights like these," Kiara answered with rolled eyes and handed Emelina the special red and white box.

"We're gonna start cleaning up. Help us when you're done?" Kiara asked and both heads nod as an answer. Pope and Kiara eventually leave them alone to maintain a spotless beach.

JJ sat in the backseat with the car door wide open to leave his legs dangling outside. Emelina stood in front of him, placing the kit on his lap to grab an alcohol wipe.

While she cleaned off the cuts on his knuckles, his eyes remained on her concentrated face. "Do you remember the night you kissed me?"

Emelina looked up once his question hit her ears and her mind refreshed to all those nights ago, "Uh, yeah, I do."

"Why'd you do it?"

"What? I told you it was to distract my mom," she answered him while she dabbed the wipe on his hand.

He raised an eyebrow, "Was it?"

Emelina's lips turn flat, wondering why he was discussing this with her out of the blue. "Yes. How else was I suppose to give you the key?"

"You could've handed me the key like a normal person," he replied with a hint of amusement in his eyes.

She exhaled a deep breath and debated on whether or not to tell him the truth. "Okay, fine. I thought I had a small crush on you and wanted to see if a kiss would confirm it."

"Did it?"

"Yes."

A sneaky grin formed on his lips and she wanted to wipe it right off, wishing she came up with a lie to avoid the look on his face.

She moved her eyesight to the cut on his cheekbone and lightly tapped the wipe on there while asking him a question. "Why did you kiss me the night you got the hot tub?"

"Same reason as you."

Emelina couldn't help but reveal a small frown. She looked him in the eye, "Why didn't you tell me?"

JJ shrugged, "I mean... I did."

"No, I mean, why didn't you tell me then? Why wait?" she asked and her heartbeat started to quicken.

"I dunno. I'm not used to this kind of thing... y'know... feelings." JJ answered all while avoiding her eyes and playing with the zipper of the kit.

She gently grabbed his chin and forced their eyes to lock, "It's okay to feel, JJ."

Without realizing it, both of their eyes travel to each other's lips as if it was like a magnetic field. It felt compelling to give in, and she wished it wasn't.

Emelina let go of his chin and turned her head, hoping to get rid of the feeling like energy was being drained when doing so. "Let's go before Kie burns us at the stake for leaving plastic cups on the beach."

——

a/n: do you guys like chapters that aren't word for word of the episodes?? cuz i do i just hope im writing the characters well enough yk?? but the script of the episodes will come soonnn