——

A turtleneck is what she decided to wear. Emelina woke up the next morning with pink and purple bruises on her neck and after a breakdown of trying to cover it up with a concealer that barely worked, she settled on a turtleneck.

She didn't mean to keep it from everybody, but it would only stir the pot more and her friends would probably end up a lot worse than what she got the previous night.

So there she was, sitting on the couch of the Chateau with her eyes straight ahead, mindlessly nodding to Kiara's chattering.

Questions were spinning around in her head. Why did Rafe let her go? What if he hadn't? What if he sees her again and finishes what he started?

"Are you even listening to me, E?"

"Huh?" Emelina turned to look at her, then mentally cursed to herself for not being less obvious.

Kiara was immediately alerted. "Yeah, what's up with you today? I mean, why are wearing a turtleneck? The leaves haven't even turned orange yet."

Emelina brushed her fingers through her long hair. "I think I'm coming down with something... you know, the change in seasons."

Kiara raised an eyebrow, "If you have hickeys, just say it. I don't care."

"It's not that, Kie... I'm just feeling a little under the weather. That's all." she tried to persuade her, but her best friend knows her a little too well to fall for that. Her answer only made Kiara reach over and pull down the turtleneck.

Kiara jumped back in surprise, "What is that?"

Emelina closed her eyes as the memories of last night flooded her mind again. She didn't bother replying. What could she say but the truth?

"Emelina, should I be concerned or is this some kind of kink of y'all's—"

"No! God, no. JJ didn't do this." If she were any smarter, she would've gone on with that lie to save herself, but being out on the spot like that didn't give her much room to think clearly.

"Then who did?"

JJ entered through the porch with wax in his hands, "Who did what?" he asked, coming in just at the right time to intrude on their conversation. Pope followed quickly behind, muttering how much wax JJ was wasting on the surfboards.

"Can you believe he's telling me how to wax my board?" JJ scoffed, pulling out a beer from the refrigerator. "All I'm saying is that you use a lot of wax," Pope remarked.

Emelina hoped the conversation would swing this way and she wouldn't have to mention her neck again, but Kiara's concern for her friend could never be swept under the rug. "JJ, did you know about this?"

"Know 'bout what?" JJ asked while opening his can and taking a large gulp. Emelina stirred uncomfortably, "It's-It's nothing." she said, although she knew she was under the microscope now and there was no escaping.

"Now, I'm definitely curious." Pope inserted himself.

"Show him your neck," Kiara told her.

Emelina leaned back on the couch in defeat. Great. It didn't help now that JJ placed his can on the table and slowly walked over to her. His fingers hooked on the fabric, slowly bringing it down, but she couldn't look in his eyes to see his reaction.

When she did, it was what she was not expecting. Guilt.

"Was it your mom—"

"Her mom?" Kiara cut in, even more curious than before.

"—Is it because of what I said?" JJ knelt to the floor on his knees to be on her level, "Em, baby, I'm sorry—"

"It wasn't my mom!" Emelina corrected, grabbing his wrist to rid it from touching her aching skin. "Rafe did it, okay?"

All three of them widened their eyes in shock and quickly shouted out, "Rafe?!"

"Yes," she said and bit her tongue to prevent the tears from swelling up again. She was so sick of crying. "He followed me outside my mom's office last night and—and tried to kill me, but... he let me go."

"Rafe? Rafe Cameron did this to you? Are you kidding me?!" Anger was rising in JJ that he stood up and rushed to the door where his combat boots laid.

Emelina got up as well and walked over to him. "Where are you going?"

"To get my gun."

"JJ—" Emelina eye's went wide and her hand wrapped around his arm to pull him back, "Stop it! What are you going to do?!"

"I'm going to kill him."

Pope stood in front of him. "What's better than you facing jail time for the same crime as him, man?"

"Are you even thinking, JJ?!" Kiara asked and joined the circle. JJ ripped his hat off from his head in a fury motion, "Am I thinking? Kie, look at her fucking neck! Are we just gonna let him get away with this?!"

"No—but, what will he do when he sees you? He won't give you the same chance as me." Emelina told him, nerves coursing through her vein.

"Not if I get to him first," JJ said and opened the door to walk down the steps. The three exchange a worried glance before chasing after him. "JJ!"

"You're always doing stupid shit that can get you killed!" Emelina shouted after stopping dead at her tracks, watching JJ flounce toward his bike. He whipped around, "I don't give a shit, Emelina! Look what he did to you!"

She brought her fingers to softly touch her throat through the fabric of her sweater just softly enough to not fuel the pain. "I know. Just—Just come back, please."

The movement of his feet altered then switched back, clearly debating whether he should listen to her or his own angry thoughts. He chose the first option, thankfully, and she exhaled a breath and pushed her hand out for him to accept.

One of his hands was secured around hers while the other was brushing his thumb against her flushed cheek. "Does it hurt?"

She shook her head, which was a complete lie, but did anything to ease his bubbling emotions. It does not hurt as much as it did when she woke up thanks to the few pills of pain reliever.

"How did he even find you?" Kiara asked.

"My phone... apparently Sarah left my locations on and he tracked it," she answered and felt JJ's touch leave her. "Sarah?!"

"It's not her fault," Emelina said almost immediately, looking at his exasperated blue eyes.

Kiara let out a frustrated groan, "I'm so sick of him getting away with all of this! We should honestly be going to the cops. Maybe there's some of his DNA on your neck, or—or something!"

Emelina shook her head. "And watch Ward come up with another lie? No! We've already figured that the cops don't do shit for us."

"I swear to God, I'll kill him," JJ said once more and placed his hat back on his head. Emelina went to respond, but the sound of a vehicle beeping their horn stopped her. It sounded too familiar.

The Twinkie parked itself right in front of the Chateau and John B hopped out of the driver's seat with the biggest smile plastered on his face. He no longer wore an orange jumpsuit and was replaced with his old clothing before he was arrested.

Emelina widened her eyes as each of them gasped in disbelief. "Guess who's out of the clink, boy!" John B skipped over to the group as happily as ever.

"No freaking way, man!" Pope cheered and Kiara screamed, running over to John B to hug him. The rest joined the two in a group hug, "My boy's out of the can!" JJ laughed.

"We missed you!"

"I missed you guys too," John B muttered. They pulled away, and just for a brief moment, they forgot about Rafe's insane tactics and focused on their prison-free friend.

"How'd you do it? You bust out?" JJ asked, a knowing grin forming on his lips at the thought. John B turned down his question, "Uh, they dropped the charges."

"They dropped the charges," Pope repeated with bulging eyes. Kiara grinned, "That's phenomenal!"

JJ flattened his lips. "You're telling me I did all that work for nothing?"

Pope gave him a quick look. "Oh, the most elaborate escape plan of all time?"

"'Foolproof,'" Kiara used her fingers to indicate the irony of his words. JJ scoffed. "Yeah, it was, actually."

"Was it?" Emelina asked, squinting her eyes. John B's eyes searched around the group. "Wait, where's Sarah?" None of them answered. "No, no, no. Where... where... where's Sarah?"

Emelina answered. "She went to go meet Wheezie. She didn't come back. I tried calling her phone, though. No answer..."

§

They sat at the docks, patiently listening to John B as he tried to puzzle the pieces to the whereabouts of his girlfriend. "So, Sarah just dips and doesn't call?"

Pope, from inside the parked HMS Pogue, nodded, "Yeah, man. She just left her bag. Didn't tell anybody."

JJ sat beside him while rubbing his hand up and down Emelina's arm as her body leaned against his chest. His sunglasses were covering her closed eyes and she continued to lend an ear.

"Okay, dude. I... I... I really think Ward got to her." John B said. Emelina anxiously looked down at her fingers, "Or maybe Rafe..."

"I mean, the dude tried to have me killed in jail." John B continued, his ears not picking up her mumbles. Emelina snapped her head toward him, "What?"

"Yeah. He sent somebody to the prison who yoked me up and almost killed me." John B answered. JJ exhaled air through his nose, "I'm starting to wonder what the Camerons have on choking their victims."

John B stared at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Emelina pulled down her turtleneck, and by the looks of it, the bruises only seemed to be getting worse, appearance-wise. John B opened his mouth in shock. "At least we know where Rafe is getting his ideas from," she said.

"R-Rafe?" John B joined them on the boat and leaned close to Emelina to inspect her neck. "Oh, shit. When did this happen?!"

"Last night."

"Last night? Did you, uh, fight him off or something?" John B asked, more than curious as he sat down near the pair. "No, he released me and I ran as fast as I could. He wasn't running after me or anything. I don't know what changed his mind." she answered.

JJ's fist turned into a ball, gripping so tight that his knuckles turned white. "I really hope it's not what I think it is."

Emelina shuddered at the thought. "I don't think it is. I believe it's more internal... or something. He said he had thoughts that he couldn't control. Maybe he was controlling them?"

"Those are signs of an actual sociopath," Pope informed them.

"At least they're going after him. He'll pay for what he did to you," John B said then frowned, "Are you alright?" She nodded.

"Is that Sarah?" Kiara asked, pointing her finger behind them. Emelina turned her head, only to find Topper driving his Malibu boat with Sarah on board.

She felt JJ tense up from behind as he straightened his posture and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Why is she with Topper?" she muttered.

"Does he never get over his exes?" JJ scoffed.

Sarah had the biggest smile on her face the closer they got, her eyes locked on John B. The boat stopped before there's and Sarah jumped right over to pull her boyfriend in for a hug. "Oh my God. I'm so glad you're okay. Hi."

"I didn't know if I'd see you again." Sarah said them pulled away from the embrace, "Wait, what happened?"

"Uh, they dropped all the charges."

"What?"

"Yeah, no, yeah, I'm a free man. Yeah." John B said and Sarah laughed. "That's amazing!"

"I know. It's great, but... but listen, Sarah, they're coming after Rafe." John B told her. Sarah sighed in satisfaction, "Good. He's completely unhinged. He jumped me. That's why I didn't come back."

Topper butted in, "Yeah, man. Rafe has lost his mind. Literally almost drowned his own sister. Thankfully, I got there... got there just in time."

"Thanks for saving her, Topper," Emelina said sweetly, noticing how he never looked at her once. He finally did, "I didn't do it for you."

And now she wished she kept her mouth shut. I deserved that, she thought to herself. She could feel JJ's body tensing again and was thankful he said nothing in return at Topper's snarky comment.

John B sighed. "Uh, well, I guess I owe you one, Topper, don't I?"

"It's all good. I mean, somebody had to rescue your girlfriend, right?" Topper replied, and Emelina rolled her eyes. The question of how she ever dated him popped up in her mind. She hated when he got petty like this.

John B looked at Sarah with a lingering smile, "Uh, that's funny because she's not actually my girlfriend, right?"

"Uh..." Topper chuckled, his hand leaning on the bar of his boat, "Well, what is she then?"

"Tell him." John B pointed for Sarah to reveal their marriage, except she didn't. It was dead quiet for a few seconds until she spoke up, "I'm... I'm with him."

Even Emelina felt a pang in her heart at her answer and looked at John B, seeing how hurt he looked. Her fingers caressed JJ's hand until he finally opened it to interlock it with hers and she smiled.

Topper laughed, "Gotcha. You're with him. Okay, yeah. I, just, like needed a little clarity there. You guys clear on that?" He turned to the rest of them, his eyes setting on their holding hands for a moment longer until he looked away.

"I think it's clear you gotta go now," JJ said.

He nodded. "Think I'll head out. It's about that time."

Sarah thanked him, reaching over to pull him in for a hug, and nobody denied seeing the sly look on Topper's face when he locked eyes with John B. Petty.

——

a/n: congrats if you've made it this far you are able to witness the updated jjlina album with mr brightside <3 i feel like that song fits them sooo well but god that took me so long to make but anyways i hope you guys liked it :)