"I don't want anything from you."
--☆--☆--☆--
When the Rhodes girl woke up in the morning she was expecting an ordinary day, she didn't have any plans and her mother was out for the day meaning she did have to pretend to hangout with someone. She was free.
She walked down the stairs in nothing but her pajama shirt with her hair in a ponytail. There was no one in the house she needed to impress, in fact she was the only one in the house. Upon realizing this a bright smile formed on Emerson's face. She put in her airpods, connecting it to her phone and danced around while she made herself some breakfast.
It was moments like these where Emerson was really able to feel like herself. She didn't have to fake a smile or act like someone she wasn't, she could just be. She wasn't disappointing anyone or herself. She didn't have to worry about someone judging her for not acting like the kook princess she was raised to be.
For an entire hour and half Emerson Rhodes was completely and utterly herself. Until the doorbell rang.
She took one of her airpods out, causing the music to stop. She let out a breath as she quickly tried to fix her hair before anyone could see her. Emerson was praying it was just someone with a delivery or at the wrong house, she didn't want to lose herself so soon. She walked over to the door and braced herself before opening it.
A somewhat forced smile appeared on her face when she realized the person on the other side of the door was Rafe Cameron. He quite literally swept her off her feet and he pulled her into his arms.
"Hi," Emerson laughed as Rafe set her back down on the ground.
"Hi," He placed a kiss on her lips. As soon as his lips were on hers the kook mentality went right back into her mind. She remembered her place, and her job as Emerson Rhodes.
She pulled away with a smile on her face, watching as Rafe looked down at her with a confused expression. "I look disgusting, I'm sorry," She said, stepping back into her house, holding her arms over her body.
Rafe followed her into the house, closing the door behind him. He watched as Emerson pulled her shirt down, trying to cover the fact that she wasn't wearing any pants. Rafe smirked, his eyebrows raised as he looked at her. She turned towards him, seeing the look on his face.
"Stop looking at me like that."
"Like what?" Rafe tilted his head as he stepped towards her.
"I'm going to change, you're going to stand right there and wait, okay?" She told him as she slowly backed up towards the stairs, keeping a hand up between her and Rafe.
"As you wish."
Emerson shook her head, smiling at him. She kept her hand up then turned around and ran up the stairs. She ran into her room, closing the door behind her. Emerson leaned against the door, letting out a quiet breath.
She thought about Rafe, standing downstairs waiting for her to get dressed. He was here, he wanted her, he needed her, and quite frankly she needed him. But then there was that stupid blonde pogue, who kept invading her thoughts. His face wouldn't leave her mind and it was starting to annoy the hell out of her.
Everytime she thought maybe she and Rafe would last then he'd show up and make things harder again. He'd smile at her and those stupid butterflies would invade her stomach. She needed to stop thinking about him, she needed to be thinking about Rafe.
Emerson walked over to her closet, quickly changing into her normal kook attire. She put on a yellow floral dress, and quickly brushed through her hair, putting it into a half up half down style. Makeup was applied quickly and she put on her shoes before walking down the stairs.
There was Rafe, standing in the exact same spot he was in when Emerson left only now he had his phone out. He looked up briefly, a smile forming on his face when he saw Emerson.
"All dressed up for me, huh?"
"Maybe," Emerson replied as she moved to walk past him. Before she could make it past him Rafe grabbed her waist, pulling her into him. "Hi."
"Hi."
Rafe put his hand on her cheek, keeping her close to him. Emerson quickly realized that Rafe liked holding her close to him. He's always liked being next to her but ever since she said she'd be with him he'd started actually holding her. It's like he was trying to prove a point.
"So what do you wanna do today?" She asked him.
"I thought we could get lunch at the club, then we can see Sarah and Ward after," Rafe replied.
Emerson smiled, nodding her head. "Yeah, let's do it."
"Good."
Rafe stepped away from her, holding his hand out for Emerson to take. Emerson looked down at Rafe's hand and for a second she found herself hesitating. She found herself wondering where JJ was, she found herself not wanting to take Rafe's hand.
"Em?"
"Sorry," She smiled, shaking the thoughts out of her head. "Let's go," Emerson took his hand with a smile and walked out the front door and into her life with Rafe.
--☆--☆--☆--☆--☆--
It had been a long day for the pogues. Resulting in John B spending part of his morning in the Sheriff's office, a place he had seen more and more of in recent days. All he wanted to do was solve this mystery. He had the clues, he just had to figure out what they meant.
John B used the hose by the dock in an attempt to clean himself off. Turns out running from the cops actually can make a pogue break a sweat and with the power still off at the Chateau he had no way to shower or get warm water.
"Hey, employee of the month, where the hell you been?" A man yelled to John B making him lower the hose. "You takin' some me time?" He asked but got no response as John B turned the water off. "Ward C's lookin' all over for you. You know he don't like to wait."
John B sighed as he dried his hair with a towel. He grabbed his shirt and put it on as he started walking towards Ward Cameron's boat. John B had worked for the Cameron family for a while and he had only been nervous to show up twice: the first day and right now.
He had gotten the job as a courtesy of Carter Rhodes who recommended him for a few fix up jobs on the Cameron's boat. John B now helped out with a couple families and he knew that it was because of men like Carter and Ward. The two of them were a force to be reckoned with, just like their daughters.
Carter and Ward were the two most powerful, and rich, men in Figure Eight. Everyone knew that. It was strange because in some ways the two men were very different but now they were both rich and that's all anybody seemed to focus on.
"Have a seat John," Ward told the young pogue, once they got to the boat's deck.
"Yes sir," John B did as he was told.
"Who dotted your eye?" Ward asked, gesturing to John B's black eye. Ward, of course, heard a little about the fight at the kegger but nobody gave him any real answers.
"Surf- surfing accident," John B lied as he pointed out towards the water. He hoped that Ward had bought his lie, but it was unclear.
"You've had a hard year, John. A very hard year," Ward said as he picked up his tool box. "I feel like I've done what I could to help you. Would you agree with that?"
"Yeah. Yeah. Yes, sir," John B answered.
"I told you you could always come to me if you ever need anything," Ward continued, "Is that true?"
"Yeah. I mean, you said you'd help me with my DCS case," John B reminded him.
Ward sighed as he sat down in the seat across from John B. "I need you to answer a question, and I need you to be straight with me. Did you take gear off the Druthers yesterday?"
John B remained quiet for a moment as he looked back out at the water. He should've known not to trust a kook. "Yes, sir, I did," He answered honestly. "Look, Mr. C, I'm- I'm not a thief, okay? It was two dollars worth of air. It was stale 02. You don't want your daughters..."
"John,"
"... to breathe in that air," John B continued.
"It's the principle of the thing," Ward said, and unfortunately John B could see what was coming. "I cannot have employees that I cannot trust. I don't want to do this, John, but you have made me do this. I have to let you go. And I'm gonna have to tell Mr. Rhodes because he'd want to know," Ward continued so not only had he fired John B but he was going to ensure Carter Rhodes fired him too. Now it was only a matter of time before he had absolutely no source of income. "You may go now."
John B nodded as he stood up and quickly left the Druthers. He walked down the docks in silence, the words Ward Cameron spoke to him playing over and over again in his head.
"Hey, John B," Sarah smiled upon seeing the pogue, not knowing her father had just fired him. "I'm- I'm sorry, that's it?" Sarah asked when John B ignored her and continued walking. "Not a, 'Hey, how you doin'?' or 'kiss my ass'?"
John B walked towards her shaking his head, "'Your secret's safe with me'?" He asked, quoting the words she said to him on the boat.
"What secret are- Oh, that secret," Sarah smiled, knowingly.
"I just got fired because of you, from two jobs. And I know you can't imagine that, but some people need jobs so that they can eat." He snapped at her then hit the bag of popcorn she was holding out of her hand.
"What the fuck?!" She yelled out as he walked away.
John B stormed back towards the kook princess but she didn't back away. "You are exactly who I thought you were, Sarah Cameron."
"Asshole," she breathed out, then turned around and walked away. Sarah knew there was no way that Ward should've known about the scuba tanks, after all she never told him and she was the only one... but she wasn't the only one. There had been someone else on the boat when John B dropped off the tanks. Someone who had just decided to go back to hating all pogues.
Sarah shook her head in annoyance. There was part of her that couldn't believe her own thoughts but on the other hand Emerson could've been the one to tell Ward. So with anger filling her mind she stormed over to her best friend and brother.
"Uh oh," Rafe laughed, seeing an angry Sarah storming towards them.
"Hey there you are. We were waiting-" Emerson started saying but before she could say anything else Sarah grabbed her wrist and pulled her away from anyone who could hear her.
"Sarah!" Rafe held his arms up, confused why his sister was draggin Emerson away from him.
"-What'd I do now?" Emerson asked, automatically assuming she did something wrong.
"Did you tell anyone about John B?" Sarah asked angrily, letting go of Emerson's wrist.
Emerson looked at her in confusion, wondering what Sarah could possibly be talking about. "I need a little bit more to go on."
"Did you tell anyone about John B sneaking onto the boat yesterday?" Sarah asked, a little slower this time so Emerson would understand the question.
"No?" Emerson answered but it came out more like a question.
"Then why would Ward fire him?"
"Wait, Ward fired John B?" Emerson asked.
"Yes, and he thinks it's because I told someone he stole our gear, which of course I didn't. Which leaves you since you are the only other person who knew it even happened," Sarah reminded her and Emerson held her hands up in surrender as she took a small step back from her best friend.
"Sarah, I swear to god I didn't tell anyone. I honestly have no idea how Ward found out," Emerson claimed.
"You didn't tell anyone? Not even Rafe," Sarah asked.
"I didn't tell anyone, especially not Rafe, he'd freak. Why would you think I told Ward?"
"I don't know... maybe because his best friend called you a spoiled brat?" Sarah asked, clearly pissed at the whole situation. "Plus you were the one who decided to hate all pogues after that, so I wouldn't put it past you."
Emerson scoffed at the accusation but did her best not to let Sarah completely piss her off. "I didn't tell anyone," she repeated. "I'm not that shallow that I'd make John B lose his job because I got in an argument with his best friend."
"Why don't I believe you?"
"God Sarah," Emerson breathed out in annoyance. "How many freaking times do I have to tell you? I did not tell anyone. I don't know how Ward found out but it wasn't from me."
"You didn't do it?" Sarah asked, her voice now a lot calmer and almost understanding.
"No, I didn't do it. Plus you know I like watching him work. So if he's fired I'm gonna have to find someone else to admire from afar," she joked, trying to diffuse the tension. Sarah couldn't help but laugh as she lightly hit Emerson's arm with the back of her hand. "Hey! I know you do it too."
"You have no proof," Sarah smiled as the two girls laughed. After a moment their laughter died down then Sarah took a step forward and hugged Emerson. "I'm sorry, I should've known you didn't tell anyone," she said quietly.
"Yeah, you should've," Emerson said as she hugged Sarah back. "But I'm not bailing on you no matter how much you piss me off."
"Thank god," Sarah smiled.
--☆--☆--☆--☆--☆--☆--
Emerson sang along to her car radio with her windows rolled down allowing the cool air to flow through her convertible. She absolutely loved living in the Outer Banks, she wouldn't replace it with anything.
She reached over, pausing her music, as she drove into the parking lot of Heyward's shop. No matter what you needed in Kildare Heyward could get it for you, he was just that kind of guy. As she put the car in park she noticed two pogues sitting by the entrance. Cursing under her breath Emerson contemplated if she actually wanted to get out of the car.
Just as she was about to turn her car back on to leave JJ looked up his eyes locking with hers. Now she had to get out of the car if she didn't want to look like she was avoiding him. Afterall she was a kook, if anything he should be the one worried about being near her.
Emerson calmly got out of the car just as JJ whispered something to Pope making him look in Emerson's direction. She had to restrain herself from rolling her eyes as she continued walking towards the entrance to the shop. She had almost made it inside before JJ put his hand in front of the door, stopping her movements.
"Get out of my way JJ," she told him.
"That's not much of a hello," JJ said. "You look really nice by the way. Yellow is a nice color on you."
"Get out of my way," she repeated.
JJ was kind of shocked by her change of attitude but he wasn't that surprised. She's Emerson Rhodes and he's a pogue. He assumed it had something to do with their argument and couldn't help but wonder if he should feel bad for calling her out the way he did. After contemplating it for a few seconds he decided he didn't feel bad, and now he was back to messing with her.
"You know I don't think I will," He smirked. Emerson rolled her eyes then attempted to shove her way past JJ only for him to stop her by putting his hands on her waist. Knowing she couldn't make the same mistake as yesterday she quickly pushed his hands off her. She would not allow herself to become a victim of JJ's games again. "Did I make you nervous again?" he asked.
She scoffed, "I wouldn't give yourself that much credit."
"I would," JJ spoke proudly.
"Of course you would," Emerson scoffed.
"After all I was the one who made you, a kook princess, think that hooking up with a pogue was a good idea," He stated.
"It was a kiss, nothing more," Emerson reminded him.
"Don't lie to me, you and I both know it was much more than a kiss," JJ told her, taking another step closer to her. Emerson glanced down at Pope, who was trying to pretend like he wasn't listening even though he definitely was. JJ couldn't help but smile, loving the instant panic that flashed across her face. "Maybe I should just inform one of your so-called friends or how about your new boyfriend, I'm sure he'd have a field day with this piece of information."
Emerson grabbed JJ's wrist pulling him far enough away that Pope couldn't hear them anymore. "What do you want from me?" she whispered.
"I don't want anything," he claimed, "but I'm betting you want something that only I can give you." JJ smirked and for a moment Emerson wished she could slap it off his face. "Something that you wish Rafe could give you."
"You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."
"So you're saying Rafe can make you feel as good as I do?" JJ asked her with a smirk on his face.
"You make me feel nauseous," Emerson informed him. "I need an aspirin just to look at you."
"Oh you don't mean that," JJ leaned his arm against the wall, trapping Emerson on one side of him.
"I do mean it. Now get the hell out of my way and leave me alone," Emerson snapped.
Emerson didn't wait for a response and stormed past the blonde pogue going back to her car. She really was screwed. Emerson, kook princess, found herself having butterflies in her stomach whenever JJ made eye contact with her.
Out of everybody in Kildare it just had to JJ. It couldn't have been Rafe or Topper, no it just had to be a pogue. So in that moment Emerson knew she had to do anything possible to stay away from that beautifully annoying, pogue.
(edited 2/23/2023)