automatic love- jiara outer banks fanfic

chapter 15.

the wreck is full of noise. just all sorts of noise. today is one of the busiest days they've had yet. john b, kie and liv are all in, and josh came in on his day off because they needed extra help. sarah, pope and jj are at the chateau.

"so, if i get the cake can you get the balloons?" sarah says. "sur-" "actually no, i'll get both. so they match" sarah says. "o-kay?" pope says. "why aren't you guys excited!? it's kie's 18th! the youngest of the group is turning 18!" sarah says. "we are excited... just not as much as you" pope says. "i'm excited" jj says. sarah rolls her eyes. "whatever you do, don't blow the surprise" sarah says. "we won't" jj says. sarah sighs. "guys, what if melody turns up?" pope says. "she better not. i'll kick that bitch to the moon" sarah says. jj chuckles. "she's not welcome here" he says. "it's a party, loads of people are coming" pope says. "yeah but she won't come. she better not" sarah says. "well we haven't seen her since sarah punched her" jj says. "it's only been 2 days" pope says. "okay, stop overthinking. be happy" sarah says. "yeah, she's right" jj says. "okay, well... john b, me and sarah are gonna be here setting it up, jj you're taking her for food to keep her distracted. then bring her here, where us and everyone else will be hiding and we surprise her" pope says. "yeah" jj says. "alright. jj, don't screw it up" sarah says. "me? screw it up?" jj says. "yes, you're not the smartest person" sarah says. "okay, that's rude" jj says. "if i could be in two places at once i'd do the distracting, but i need to be here to set up" sarah says. "don't worry sarah, i'll be fine" jj says. "good" sarah says.

meanwhile at the wreck:

"kie, did you realise jim didn't come in today?" john b says. "oh.. yeah. maybe he realised how busy it was and decided not to" kie says. "that's the first time in years he hasn't come" john b says. "okay.. well.. should we try find out if he's okay?" kie says. "i know where he lives. i've delivered to him a couple times when he's been unwell and couldn't come to the restaurant. we'll drive by after we close" john b says. "okay" kie nods.

she's worried, jim is old, and it's not like him to not come without a call or anything.

after closing, john b and kie get in the twinkie and go to check on jim. "this is it?" kie says as her and john b get out of the twinkie. "yeah" john b says, looking at the one story, small wooden house in front of them. it's similar to the chateau, but a little smaller. kie walks up to the door and knocks on it twice. "jim!? it's kiara! we just wanted to see if you're alright?" kie says. nothing. john b stands behind kie. she knocks again, harder this time. "jim!?". no answer. john b walks to the window and looks through. there's a tv playing. he looks opposite it. "kie..." he says. "what?" she says, walking over to him. she looks through the window to see jim sitting in a single sofa chair, with his head tipped back and his eyes closed. "i don't think he's sleeping..." john b says. kie sighs. "maybe, there's a spare key somewhere round here" she says, looking round. she lifts up a pot at the left side of the door but there's nothing there. she looks under the pot at the right side, and finds a key. "found one" she says. she puts it in the door and twists. she walks inside and john b follows her. she walks through the corridor to the living room. "jim" kie says. "jim" she repeats, shaking him. nothing. "come on jim" john b says. kie puts her two fingers together and puts them against his neck. she closes her eyes and shakes her head. "he's gone" she says. john b sighs and runs his fingers through his hair. kie sits down on the floor and she feels tears form in her eyes.

a few hours later:

"guys!" sarah shouts as her and jj get out of her car. kie and john b both look over. jj and sarah both run around the ambulance and under the tape that's surrounding jim's house, and hug kie and john b. "are you okay?" jj says to kie. "yeah, just... still in shock" kie says as she pulls away from jj. "what happened?" sarah says. "we wanted to check on him when he didn't come in today, and well.. we found him" john b says. all four of them look over as they hear wheels rolling against the floor. a metal table with wheels and a body on top, covered in a black sheet with 'CORONER' written across it. kie feels a lump in her throat. she pushes it down and looks away. "they said he died of old age" john b says. "at least he didn't suffer" jj says. "yeah" sarah says. "i'll just miss him. we weren't that close but i did know him well. he had nobody. no family, no friends" kie says. "i know. i always felt bad for him" john b says.
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the next morning, kie wakes up from the sunlight shining through her curtains. she rolls over and picks her phone up. 11am. she's meeting jj at 3. she also notices all the notifications. 4 from instagram, a few messages from her dad, a few from friends from school, and from the pogues group chat. she opens instagram to see pope, john b, sarah and jj all posted something on their stories.

kie gets up and has a shower, tidies up a little, and does some studying before getting ready to go out with jj.

meanwhile, all the others are preparing kie's birthday surprise.

"no, jj move it along" sarah says. jj sighs and steps sideways slightly, pope does the same in the same direction. "actually.. no. move it back" sarah says. "sarah! we've been moving this banner around for 10 minutes now" pope says. "okay, okay there" sarah says, turning back to the balloons. "kie's gonna love this" john b says. "yeah.. orange is her favourite colour" jj says. "i'm picking the cake up in an hour" sarah says. "who's coming to this thing anyways?" pope says. "uh, olivia, robin, josh, emily, amelia, owen, freya, jackson... you know, just.. people from the wreck and school" sarah says. "how many people in total?" jj says. "uh, not sure. there's not a number. i just told a few friends to spread the word, kinda. don't worry. not everyone's coming in here. only people were actually close to. everyone else is staying outside" sarah says. "okay" john b says. "alright... i'm gonna go get kie. back here at 4?" jj says. "4. don't be late" sarah says. "roger that" jj says. "and don't screw it up!" sarah calls as jj walks out the door. "i won't!" jj shouts back.
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