Stella woke up the next morning feeling as though she had been hit by a train, and in a way she wished she had of been. The pounding in her head was a pulsating reminder of the night before. Barry and the gang had witnessed JJ storming out in anger but didn't say anything to stop the boy. Instead, they dragged Stella from her bedroom and insisted that she had a drink with them, claiming that it would help her forget about all the shit that had happened and would hopefully boost her mood. Although it didn't really help the latter, she certainly didn't remember half the conversations she had with the boys as they told her funny stories of past ventures.
The tiny bit of sun that seeped through the thick wall hanging she used as a curtain reminded her that it was a new day, one that she did not feel ready to face just yet. With a groan, she pulled her thin duvet over her head in attempt to shield her from the light, wanting nothing more than to go back to sleep. God, she wished they had power right now. She wanted to text Kiara and tell her what had happened, or track JJ down and apologise for everything with the hope that he'd hear her out. Normally she'd spend hungover days on the couch smoking weed, watching old films and passsing the time until the after effects wore off, but Agatha had fucked them over with that.
The hard knock on her door pulled her from her thoughts and the sleep that she was slowly slipping into disappeared into thin air. She groaned in reply, telling the person to come in. The knob twisted and the stature of Danny filled her doorway.
"Goodmorning, Baby Swayer." He grinned, looking far too alive for someone who had drank a litre of Jack Daniels less than 12 hours ago. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I've been ran over by a truck." She unravelled herself from the cocoon she had made, sending the cheerful man a glare. "How are you even awake?"
"We all are, it's nearly noon." He leant against the frame, folding his arms against his chest. "You need to get up, we've got shit to do today."
"What do you mean by we?" She furrowed her brows and reached for the glass of water on the bedside table, praising her drunk self for thinking ahead. "And what shit?"
"We're gonna go pay Rafe Cameron a visit." Danny smirked, clearly very excited about the activities that lay ahead. "And you're coming with us, Barry said so."
"Of course he did." She gulped down the liquid, savouring the hydration. "Although I don't see why."
"I think you'll enjoy it, might cheer you up a little." He shrugged. "Plus, we ain't gonna let you sit in here moping around all day."
"Fine." The blonde huffed, knowing that he was right. She couldn't wallow in self pity, she had to get up and pull her shit together. Plus, that simply was not Stella Swayer. She had a reputation to uphold, even if on the inside she felt like her soul was rotting, she would never show it to the outside world. "I'll get dressed, can you make me a coffee?"
"Sure thing." Danny nodded and turned to walk out the door but stopped briefly to call over his shoulder. "Take you're time. Richy's still throwing his guts up, so no rush."
Stella snorted. "Nice."
After Danny disappeared back into the main part of the house, the girl began to pull herself together. Dragging herself into the shower was hard work enough as she scrubbed her skin, the cool water attempting to create a form of sobriety she was familiar with, but eventually she felt a bit more grounded compared to when she first awoken.
After lathering herself in the usual scented moisturiser and brushing her teeth to rid the stench of alcohol, she rummaged through her clothes to find something clean to wear. She pulled out the shirt that Bohdi had leant her before screwing it into a ball and throwing it to one side, knowing that she'd have to apologise to him too. Even though they had agreed it was just a casual fuck, Stella knew she had used Bohdi in the worst way possible. It was the ultimate dick move and he certainly didn't deserve that. He deserved better.
So did JJ, too. If she had been honest with him from the start about Bohdi then maybe things could have been resolved a lot quicker, maybe it would have pushed them both to come clean with one another about how they felt, but all of that was in hindsight. She couldn't undo the past, she could only move forward with the future. JJ knew what he wanted that previous night in the chateau, she just hoped he hadn't changed his mind. Sure, he was pissed at her, but that didn't mean everything was over, did it? She had to keep repeating to herself that everything was going to be okay, that they would make up and that this wouldn't break their relationship. They had fought a lot worse than this before, over something a lot smaller too, but still doubt crept into her stomach like vines on a tower and it made her want to throw up just to get rid of the feeling.
And how could she forget John B? The injured boy that laid in the hospital bed? She really hoped he wasn't in pain, hoped he was doped up to the eyeballs on morphine so that he didn't have to endure the shock. She didn't even know how he was, couldn't find out anything either. What where social services going to say when they finally tracked him down? Where they going to take him away? One thing at a time Stella, she told herself with gritted teeth. Topper was was going to pay for what he had done, even if it was an accident like he claimedThe Kook would get what was coming to him, she'd concoct a wicked plan sooner rather than later.
Once dressed for the day in a black cropped boob tube and pair of denim shorts, she joined the boys in the living room and quickly drank the cup of coffee that had been brewed for her. Richy was nowhere to be seen and they explained that they had to leave him behind because he was that rough. What a pussy. Barry was pleased to see her up and dress and gave her a comforting hug before they ventured out in search of Rafe Cameron.
"It's still early, he's probably at home." Jez said. "Let's check there first. If he ain't there, we'll tour Figure 8. Someone will have seen him,"
So they piled into Jez's old Toyota Land Cruiser. Barry sat in the front passenger seat whilst she and Danny relaxed in the back. The car had no doors and no roof, the perfect vehicle for an island like Kildare and she appreciated the coolness of the air as he sped through the streets towards Kooklandia.
Barry knew exactly where Rafe Cameron lived. Turns out drug dealers do their homework and have contacts that can put the FBI to shame. Although the Cameron's where not a hard family to track down. They had the biggest house in Figure 8, well it was more of an estate really. Previously the Tanneyhill Plantation, it was practically a historical landmark.
As the car rolled to a stop, the boys stared at it with open mouths. "You sure this is it?" Jez asked. "Looks like a fucking museum."
"Trust me, this is it." Stella rolled her eyes, climbing from the truck. "It just screams Kook."
"The full of Figure 8 screams Kook." Danny scoffed. "But this one especially."
"Jez, you wait here and sound the horn if you see trouble, aight?" Barry pushed himself out of his seat, sauntering up the drive way. "We'll have a walk around, see what we can find."
"Don't wanna try the door first?" Danny pondered out loud.
"Nah, let's scope around and see if anyone is lurking about first." He said. "If not, then we'll knock. Tell 'em we've just came to check on our good friend."
As the trio walked around the property they couldn't help but admire the scenery and land that came with such, but Stella couldn't help but think what the hell a family of five needed with all this space? It could be put to such better use than what the Cameron's where using it for. Acres of land just to sit and have breakfast on? Pointless.
Danny and Baz lead the way down as Stella followed closely behind them. They weren't being sneaky or shy about their arrival either, the two males loudly laughing and joking. They oozed confidence and a certain dominance that screamed 'don't mess with me', and people always listened. If they didn't, then bad things started to happen.
It didn't take them much longer to find Rafe. He was at the back of the property and he was alone. Boy, was he in trouble. The Kook didn't even notice them walking up to him from behind, to busy bent over his bike and shoving drug's up his nose.
Barry had seen enough. "You gonna give me a bump, big boy?" He called loudly.
Rafe twisted round, his posture suddenly turning ridged as he became frozen to the spot. The sight of Barry on his father's property was not a pretty one, add him to a hench fella' like Danny and a very furious Stella, well, it was enough to make him quiver slightly. "Shit!"
"Man, check out this place though, huh?" Her brother shouted again, even louder than before. "It's fancy!"
"Hey, Barry, Barry— Hey—"
"It's a nice place to live, don't you think Danny?"
"Oh, I think it's real nice Baz." The muscle of the group chuckled. "Fanciest place I've ever seen that's for sure."
Rafe rushed forward, his voice in hushed tones. "Listen, okay, I don't have your money."
"Mhm."
"Alright? Uh, you shouldn't be here right now." Rafe looked around with panic in his eyes. "What are you doing?"
"I'm right here, you wanna know why?" Bear questioned, the sarcasm dripping from his voice like honey.
"Give me till the weekend, alright?" Rafe pleaded. "All I need you to do is front me more coke."
Stella scoffed, folding her arms across her chest as she jutted her hip to one side, unable to believe what she was hearing. Not only was he in debt to Barry, but now he was asking for more? She was certain Rafe had gone crazy a long time ago, but right now he was just proving he'd lost his god damn mind.
Barry's face changed from amused to pissed as he went along with the boys story, loosing his patience with each passing second. "Mhm."
"I got a guy coming this weekend." He explained. "It's cool, right?"
"Yeah, yeah." Bear nodded his head softly, but then rose his voice again. "How come you got all this nice shit though? Can you tell me that? You ain't got my money, but you got all this nice shit?"
"You think he deserves nice shit, Barry?" Danny asked from next to her, gouding the drama. "I don't think he does."
"Nah, I don't either Danny." Although she couldn't see it, Stella heard the smile in her brothers voice. It sounded sickly sweet and twisted. "Especially not after you put your hands on my baby sister."
Everything that took place in the next 10 seconds happened so quickly that she was certain if she had blinked, she would have missed it.
Danny ran forward, grabbing a hold of Rafe who struggled against his grip. Rafe might have been all muscle, a drug addict who spent most of his time at the gym and had to post about his work outs on Instagram, but he was nothing compared to Danny. He pinned the Kook's hands behind his back as he fought to get free, but it was no use, especially not when Barry laid a solid right hook into his cheekbone. "Not payin' me my money was one thing, Country Club." He sang. "But thinkin' you could get away with hurting my sister, and that I wouldn't find out? Boy, you in deep shit!"
Barry jutted his fist forward and the sound in made when it connected with Rafe's eye socket would make any normal person cringe, but Stella Swayer wasn't normal. She was a masochist, especially when it came to revenge plots, and she had waited long enough to watch the eldest Cameron get what was coming to him.
"Get off of me! What are you doing!" Rafe cried out as Danny dragged him towards the running motorbike, watching as Barry's sadistic smile stretched out. As Danny released one of Rafe's arms, Barry took hold of it. The two older guys moved in so much sync that even an outsider would know that this ain't their first rodeo. They had done this countless of times and if Richy was here Stella dare say that Rafe would still be standing.
She watched intently as the Kook howled out in pain, his skin singeing against the burning hot metal of the engine. Baz held his arm there tightly, and with Danny behind him he had no chance of escape. "Put that on there! Yeah!"
"Shit! Stop, stop, stop, stop!"
"You Kook's are always so demanding," Stella drawled as she inched closer, leaning against the bike as she stared him down. "Don't think I've ever heard you say please once. Mommy not teach you manners?"
"Stop, stop!"
"That's it you little bitch!" The venom in Barry's voice nearly shocked her, but then she remembered who he was and such shock turned into amusement. "You fucking think about touching my sister again and I'll burn your fucking dick off!"
"Stop! Chill man!"
"How's that feel, baby boy?" Baz finally released him and Danny moved away, watching as he crumbled to the floor holding onto his scorched skin, rolling around in agony. To see the King of the Kook's in such a way made Stella's heart sore, god she wished she could have taped it on her phone, JJ would have loved to have seen it. "Gonna think about your actions now, huh?"
"Oh how the mighty have fallen." Stella smiled. It was one that was quite similiar to Barry's earlier, callous and evil, revelling in the pain that Rafe was enduring,
Danny couldn't help himself either, taking the opportunity to kick Rafe in the ribs whilst he was already down, the action knocking the wind from him. He crouched down, tilting his head. "You don't know how long I've been waiting to do that."
"That's just the coming attractions, big boy!" Barry yelled before moving back over to the brand new bike and snatching the helmet. "Consider this shit right here your down payment. You got three days."
Stella and Danny watched as Bear revved the engine before taking off up the drive at a high speed. Perhaps he wanted the neighbours to know what Rafe had been up to, or perhaps he simply wanted to cause a ruckus in the normally peaceful and idelic part of the island. Either way, she was pretty sure he had managed to achieve both.
"You done with him or do you want me to break a few more bones?" Danny muttered in her ear.
"Nah, leave it." She pursed her lips. "He's gotten what he deserves, for now at least."
"Alright." He shrugged, cracking his knuckles whilst peering down at the younger boy. "Just remember Country Club, if we can get to you at your own home then we can get to you anywhere."
He didn't speak, too busy whining about the pain he was in, so much so he didn't even notice Stella leaning over him. "That's gonna scar pretty badly, might wanna get it checked out." She said with a smile, though her lips turned downwards and said smile was replaced with a snarl. "I need you to do me a favour Rafe." Stella narrowed her eyes. "You tell your friend Topper Thornton, from me, that the next time I see him he better run. You got that?"
Rafe nodded his head, groans still slipping from his lips whilst worry lines began to appear in his forehead as she moved closer. "Because if I catch him, and when I do catch him, he's a dead man walking."
Suddenly she stood up straight, lifting her foot and pressing it into his ribs where Danny had previously kicked and she did not stop until he was begging her too.
"Damn, don't mess with the Swayer's." The older guy smiled triumphantly at her when she spun on her heel and made her way over to him, swinging his arm over her shoulder. "Nice touch."
Stella smirked. "Thanks, I learnt from the best."
"That you did." He chuckled, leading her out of the property. "Now let's go find Jez. You wanna pick up pizza on the way home or Chinese?"
"Whatever floats your boat, Danny Boy."
○
After debating with both Jez and Dan for ages about what food they should get, they ended up just stopping off at Queenie's shop and grabbing a shit ton of snacks as well as some booze to help pass the time away. She spent the majority of the day on the sofa with the guys, chatting about stupid and pointless topics that really was just to help Stella relax and distract her from life's problems, but her mind couldn't help but wander back to JJ Maybank, like it always did.
Bear could see she was sad, even though beating up Rafe Cameron had initially cheered her up she was back to square one as she nursed a joint whilst staring off into the distance. So he gave her a pep talk and convinced her to go speak to the boy in question. "Look, Stel, I'm the biggest asshole going, but even I know it's better to talk things out then let them stew." He had told her. "Go speak to him, you'll sort it out."
So that's what she decided to do, take her brothers advice and go find the youngest Maybank. Knowing he wouldn't of gone home, she made her was to the chateau, smoking about 5 cigarettes on the short walk to help calm her down.
Approach the Routledge residence, the blonde heard voices and sounds coming from inside, meaning that at least someone was home. She suddenly felt nervous, a feeling that was usually uncommon to her. It felt foregin as she played with her hair. Stop being a whimp, she told herself, you're gonna have to deal with this eventually.
Her legs carried her over to the front door and as usual it was unlocked. Allowing herself into the home, she glanced around the open plan area and followed the voices until she found three boys standing in the kitchen.
"John B!" She rushed forward, wrapping her arms around the boy as tight as she could, as though if she let go he might disappear. "You're alright!"
Although the momentum of the small girl hugging him knocked the wind out of him slightly, especially when she clashed into his broken arm, he was more taken back by the gesture. Stella Swayer was not an affectionate girl, rarely showing her true emotions and she most certainly did not do in front of other people. A hard case to crack, like drawing blood from a stone, she normally chose to never act on her feelings and was known for making wise-crack jokes instead. Sure, he expected her to worry, but not be this concerned about him, especially after their argument that night. "Stel, you're hurting my arm."
She instantly recoiled back and looked at him with wide eyes, instantly inspecting the pot on his arm. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry."
"It's okay," he chuckled. "You okay?"
"Me? I should be asking you!" She exclaimed. "I've been so fucking worried man, I thought you where a gonner!"
"Yeah, well it's gonna take a lot more than Topper pushing me off a pier to put me in the ground." JB smirked. "Us Routledge's are hard to kill."
She giggled lightly, shaking her head. Her mouth opened to say something but clamped closed when she heard a door slam. Looking over her shoulder, she found JJ to no longer be in the room. "Fuck."
"Yeah," Pope pressed his lips together. "He's pretty pissed."
"He tell you what happened?" Stella asked dropping her bag onto the kitchen counter.
"Only about a hundred times." He said sarcastically.
"You know when I told you to tell him I didn't mean right away." John B joked, hiding behind his can of beer.
"Not like a had a choice." She sighed. "Bohdi was at mine drinking with Bear and the guys and everything just exploded."
"You cut things off with him then?" Pope inquired.
"I haven't spoken to him yet but I think he got the picture when Barry turfed him out." Stella explained as she began to twist a piece of hair around her finger once more. "I will though, I ain't just gonna leave him in limbo. I just wanted to fix things with JJ first."
"Good thinking." JB took a sip of his drink. "He'll come around Stel, he always does."
"Yeah I hope you're right."
"Trust me," Pope spoke. "He can't stay mad forever, especially not at you."
"Thanks for the encouragement guys." She smiled at them both. "Hey, how come you're out of hospital anyway? How didn't social services find out?"
The Routledge boy bit back a laugh. "It's a long story, I'll fill you in later. Go see your boy."
Her eyes softened as she pulled her childhood friend into another hug, one more gentle as she watched him arm carefully. "I'm really glad you're okay, JB."
"Me too, Stel."
She moved away from the two boys in search of JJ, making her way over to the corridor where the spare room was. Although she didn't realise it at first, she found herself rooted to the ground, staring into the grains of the wood. Stella wasn't sure how long she was there for, her hand ghosting over the handle, mentally preparing herself for the hurricane on the other side of the door. She took a deep breath, fingers finally wrapping around the metal, but it was yanked from her grasp and she was suddenly met with a very shocked looking blonde.
HIs eyes went soft as his shoulders relaxed at the sight of her but such actions where only brief and soon she saw his muscles tense, ocean hues narrowing. He made a turn to move past her, but she mirrored his movements and blocked the passage. "Move, Stella."
"I just want to—"
"I said move." JJ growled.
"Please, I just wanna talk." The girl pleaded.
"Well I don't wanna talk to you." He tried to walk around her once more, but the Swayer girl wasn't messing about.
Using all the strength she could muster she pushed JJ back into the room and shut the door behind her quickly, pressing her back up against it. "You're gonna listen to me!"
The boy stumbled but quickly regained his balance and sent her a angry scowl. "And why the hell should I?" He sassed.
"Because I'm asking you to!" Although she was raising her voice, her features where imploring him to work with her. The slight pout to her lips, uplifted brows and heavenly deep eyes that begged for his attention. "I fucked up, okay? It stupid, it was a mistake and it wasn't fair on either you or Bohdi."
At the mention of the surfers name, JJ couldn't help but scoff and even Stella thought it left a sour taste in her own mouth. "But I'm done with him, okay? I'm done with all this bullshit, I'm done being childish, I'm done ignoring the fucking elephant in the room because inside this is killing me." She took a deep breath in, squeezing her eyes shut as she turned her head to the ceiling. "I'm so sick of pretending I'm not in love with you, JJ."
She didn't dare look at him, too afraid of his reaction, too scared that he might no longer return the feelings that they both knew where there. "I can't do it anymore. I can't—"
A pair of lips crashing down on her own meant that Stella never got to finish her sentence. She felt JJ's body press against hers, pushing her against the wood of the door with such ferocity that she thought they might go through it.
It was as though the world around them had stopped existing and all that she could focus on was this moment. Every flirtatious comment, every argument that was fuelled by jealous desire, every night they had spent watching films in her bedroom, or drinking together at the beach, it had all lead up to this. It didn't feel real, how could it be? She had been dreaming about this for so long, they both had, but neither never having the guts to act on their emotions, blinded by the fear of feeling, the fear to become vulnerable, but none of that mattered now.
Her arms wrapped around his neck, one hand tangling in his already messed up hair. His hands found her hips and he greedily drew them towards him, fingers digging into her skin as though if he let go she might just disappear, but Stella wasn't going anywhere. He had grounded her like an anchor to his touch and she knew that her cravings for such would never go away easy. Like a form of heroin, she was hooked.
Pulling away from her he couldn't stop himself from grinning, overcome with happiness. All the shit that had happened over the past week had now been forgotten, because this is what he cared about the most. "You don't know how long I've been waiting to do that for." He said.
She donned the classic Swayer smirk, but her eyes sparkled with a joy that JJ had never seen before. "Yeah? Well you took your damn time, Maybank."
He raised a brow. "Was it worth the wait?"
"Absolutely."