𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐃𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒, 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬

THIRTY-NINE| it's my party and i'll cry if i want too

THE sun had set and the Pogues had let go of any burdens and problems and renounced down into their purest form; reckless teens. 

After stopping at the Chateau for a quick change of clothes—Eden had to dig for one of her bathing suits, she'd cleared her entire drawer of spare clothes, given she hadn't expected to be back with her friends, and had managed to find one underneath John B.'s bed—the Pogues retrieved supplies for their small party.

JJ and Kiara had ran into the local liquor store with the Maybank's fake ID—the Bexley wasn't sure how it worked, given everyone knew JJ Maybank was not indeed twenty-one—and fifty dollars from Tom Bexley's wallet, lent by Eden and returned back to the HMS Pogue with cartons of alcohol.

John B. had rummaged through his room for a solid half hour to find his speaker—somehow it still had a charge—and had started blasting music loud enough for the whole marsh to tune in. 

And through all of it, Eden wore a smile upon her face. She hadn't smiled so much throughout the past month, but today made up for all of it.  The pure bliss of energy running through the Pogues was infectious; an all time high. They were in their own little bubble which no one could possibly pop. 

The hot tub was illuminated by the fairy lights strung around the giant tree. The previous memories Eden had of the hot-tub escaped her mind as JJ's playlist blasted through the yard, a new atmosphere of laughter and care-free taking over the tears and break-downs the hot-tub once had tied too it. 

Eden donned the bikini she'd managed to find with another stolen button down of John B.'s over it, and her hair was pulled back with a claw-clip she'd found as well. Next to her Kie, who wears a bikini she'd managed to find, and Sarah, who wears a leafy green button down of John B.'s,given she couldn't do much in water with her stitches.

"Uh-oh!" Kiara cheers, joint loosely hanging between her fingers as Pope, JJ, and John B. run towards the hot-tub, now in only shorts. 

"Ladies and gentlemen!" John B. announces as the three boys approach with beer cartons in hand. JJ is first to enter the hot-tub, setting down his carton onto the rim of it before hopping in. John B. kneels down and shot-guns the first beer of the night while Pope climbs around him into the illuminated waters.

"Here we fucking go!" Eden smiled as the Maybank boy handed her a beer. The blonde passes everyone—minus Kie, who offered her joint instead—a beer and the group began to shotgun together.

Once finished, John B. held his arms up in the air with a bright smile on his face. He was home, and while not physically free from Peterkin's murder, he was at a mental ease here with his friends. "Yeah! Whoo!"

JJ grabbed a new can of beer and squeezed it, causing the contents inside to spray over everyone. Eden was too happy to even care about the alcohol sticking to her hair—she was reminded of early summer, where JJ spent his morning standing at the tip of the HMS Pogue, using the air to spray alcohol into his mouth, though it never ended up there, always flying back to hit Kie and Eden's hair, or John B. and Pope's viewpoint.

The action was the start of a night full of care free—of drinking and smoking, of laughter and content. Of freedom from all problems for a few hours. 

Eden was laughing in between every inhale of a joint, passing it between JJ and herself. Sarah was giggling at the chaos that was the Pogues as the boys jumped in and out of the hot-tub, wearing beer cartons on top of their heads, or dancing in pairs of sunglasses to the beat of the music.