"Who cares how it ends?"
--☆--☆--☆--
When JJ Maybank woke up the next morning he rolled over to find himself alone in Emerson's bed. He glanced around seeing evidence from their activities the night before and quickly realized he didn't have anything on, besides the sheets that were covering him.
"Emerson," He whispered, trying to find anything that would lead him to her location. "Emerson," he repeated, but still couldn't find her.
He sat up in the bed, making sure to keep his lower half covered. Before he could get out of the bed to try and find his pant's Emerson's bedroom door opened.
The Rhodes girl had nothing but a large t-shirt on and was carrying a mug full of coffee in her hands. He couldn't help but smirk at the sight of her, as flashbacks from the night before crossed his mind. "You're up," She smiled.
"Y-Yeah, what time is it?" He asked, trying to keep himself calm.
"Like 7:30," She answered before taking a sip of her coffee.
"When are your parents coming back," He asked, a faint hint of nervousness in his voice.
"Mm, not for another hour or two," she assured him as she walked over to her bed and sat down beside JJ. She raised her eyebrows when realizing he still hadn't put any clothes on. JJ, however, didn't say anything about his missing clothing and simply took the mug from Emerson's hands and set it down on the bedside table next to him.
"Good morning," He whispered as he brought his hand up to tuck a strand of her brown hair behind her ear.
"Good morning," She whispered back to him. She leaned her head into his hand. His hands were rough from long days of work. Emerson thought it was strange considering that her own hands hadn't put in a single day of work. She lifted her head and pulled away a little, just far enough that she could look JJ in the eye. "So listen..."
"Uh oh..." JJ said as he sat up more in the bed. "If you're regretting what happened last night..."
"That's not what I was going to say," Emerson told him. "It's about John B. Sarah called and he's awake."
"He's awake?"
"Yeah. He had a concussion and a hairline fracture but other than that he's fine," She informed him. A smile immediately began to form on JJ's face and he had never been so happy in his life. He hated worrying about whether or not he'd be able to see his best friend again. "He should be released from the hospital any time," she added.
"Oh thank god," JJ sighed.
Emerson nodded and stood up from the bed, "and about last night..." JJ turned his eyes meeting hers. "I don't regret it."
"Neither do I," He told her.
Emerson tried to hide the smile that wanted to appear on her face. "Good. I have um..." she nervously cleared her throat, "I have to shower before my parents come back." Without saying anything else she turned back around and walked into the bathroom.
JJ listened as the water turned on in the bathroom and he sat quietly, thinking to himself for a moment. He smirked as he stood up from the bed and walked over to the bathroom. He stood quietly in the doorway for a moment as steam began to fill the room. Emerson hadn't noticed him yet as she was gathering some shampoo to put in her hair.
"Mind if I join you?" JJ asked, making a small squeal leave Emerson's mouth as she turned around to look at him. JJ didn't wait for an answer as he was already getting into the shower. "Woah..." he gasped as his body hit the warm water. He had never had a shower where the water pressure felt this nice.
Emerson giggled as she lightly bit her bottom lip before gathering more of the shampoo and put it into JJ's hand. She turned around as he began to put the lavender scented shampoo on her scalp, gently massaging it in. Emerson's eyes closed for a moment, taking in the feeling of his hands on her.
JJ guided her under the water, letting all the shampoo rinse out. While she stood there she put some of her shampoo in his hair. He had his hands on her waist, holding her close to him. He just wanted to be able to be near her, and feel her bare skin against his own. When JJ stepped forward allowing the water to run over him, Emerson leaned in to kiss him. It was quick, almost like it had become a habit, like it was something they'd do for the rest of their lives.
JJ used her soap to clean off all the dirt that had been sitting on his skin for who knows how long, while she put conditioner in her hair. Once he was done he stepped closer to Emerson, her back against his chest and put the soap on her body.
His hands softly trailed down the curves of her body taking in every part of it. Emerson leaned her head back onto JJ's shoulder, pressing every part of her against him. JJ had one hand on her waist holding her in position while his other hand ran down her body. Emerson let out a small whimper as his hand moved further down.
"Em?" A voice called out from outside the room.
The two teens inside the shower immediately pulled away from each other with eyes full of fear. "Be right out," Emerson called out as she turned off the water. "Stay here," She whispered to JJ, even though he had a look that screamed let me get out of here.
Emerson quickly got out of the shower and wrapped a clean towel around her body before she walked out. She stood in the doorway, watching as Hayden picked up a baseball cap that clearly didn't belong to her.
"Hey... I didn't hear you come," She said softly.
"Who's in the shower?" He asked, without any kind of notice.
"What do you-"
"His clothes are still in here," Hayden reminded her as he pointed to clothes scattered across her floor while keeping his back to his older sister.
"Shit," Emerson said under her breath before gathering all of JJ's clothes in her hands. The second she had all of his clothes she brought them into the bathroom. "It's just Hayden," she told JJ tossing him his clothes.
"Who the hell is Hayden?"
"My brother," Emerson answered and JJ's eyes widened in realization.
"Your brother?" JJ questioned as he quickly dried himself off with a nearby towel.
"Yes, my brother," She answered. "He saw your clothes on the floor and put it all together."
JJ sighed as put his boxers back on. "What should I do?"
"Just let me handle it," Emerson told him before going back out into her room, closing the bathroom door behind her. Hayden seemed to have disappeared so she quickly threw her t-shirt back on and some of her old volleyball shorts.
"Hayden," Emerson said as she knocked on his bedroom door. She opened the door, finding him sitting at his desk with his computer open. "Hey..."
"I didn't know you brought anyone home last night," He said, justifying his previous actions. "If I knew I would've given you more privacy-"
"It's okay."
"It's the pogue right? The one you were dancing with last night?"
"Yeah," Emerson admitted with a shy smile on her face.
He sighed again, this time shaking his head at his sister. "Is he like... your new boyfriend or somethin'?"
Emerson hesitated for a moment, "No. Nothing like that."
"Then why would you risk everything for a pogue?" Hayden asked, a little bit more angry. "Mom's gonna kill you if she finds out. Not to mention you're supposed to be with Rafe."
"I don't want to be with Rafe," Emerson informed him. Neither of the siblings said anything for a minute, it was like they were both trying to process the bomb Emerson had just dropped. "I don't think I ever wanted to be with him," she continued but Hayden still didn't respond. "I guess I was just so stuck on the idea of us together that I never stopped to think about another option."
"Is this about Mom and Dad?" Hayden asked, making Emerson give him a questioning look. "You're rebelling because mom's cheating on dad?"
"You knew?"
"Y-Yeah," he said, sounding confused. "I thought it was kind of obvious. I just assumed you already knew."
"How long did you know?" Emerson asked, wishing she had figured it out sooner.
"Like a month," Hayden told her.
"A month?" Emerson was shocked, she thought this was something that just happened.
Being Emerson's only brother, Hayden knew things about her that she didn't even know about herself. One of those things being that Emerson never really saw the truth about people, she saw what she wanted to see. Meaning that even though the signs that her mother was having an affair went unnoticed by Emerson simply because she did not want to see it.
"You really didn't know?"
Emerson thought to herself for a moment. She truly didn't realize that her mother was having an affair. If she had known it would've changed her perspective on her entire family, and that seemed like too much to deal with. Even after seeing the pictures and the texts part of her still wanted to believe it wasn't true.
"I think knew I just..."
"Didn't want to know?"
"Yeah," Emerson nodded, looking down in disappointment.
"Are you okay?" Hayden knew she wasn't but he felt like he needed to ask.
He saw the way Addison treated her, and he knew it wasn't right. The young boy didn't know why their mother felt like she had to constantly punish Emerson and left him to run amuck, that's just how it always was. It was like Addison was controlling Emerson and the young girl barely even realized it.
"I have to be," Emerson told him. "I'm a Rhodes."
"Okay, but if it isn't about them, then what is it about? Because you've never shown an interest in the pogues until him."
"I don't know what it is, Hayden," Emerson admitted. "It's different with him."
"So if it's not about mom and dad then is there any chance it's actually about Ni-"
"It's not about him," Emerson claimed, stopping Hayden before he could even finish his question.
"I'm just saying you haven't really liked anyone since him."
"I'm well aware," Emerson said. "It's not about him. For the first time I swear it has nothing to do with him."
Hayden hesitated for a second before glancing over at his sister. "You're happy?" He asked.
Emerson nodded, "Yeah. I think I am."
"I'm glad," He half heartedly admitted. Even though he wished his sister could've found someone that wasn't a pogue he was glad she did find someone. "I'm not saying I support this but... I promise I won't say anything," He said.
"Thank you," she said, giving him a quick hug before going back to her own room. When she walked in she found JJ running his hands through his wet hair, now fully clothed.
"He gonna narc?" JJ asked.
"No," She told him as she put her wet hair up in the towel. "You should go see John B. I know you were worried last night."
"Right. Yeah, I should do that," JJ rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I guess I'll see ya."
"I'll see ya," She smiled.
JJ walked to her and opened it, but before he could actually bring himself to walk out he turned around to face Emerson. "Come see me at the chateau later?"
"I'll be there," she assured him. JJ smiled then quickly waved to the kook and left her bedroom. Emerson let out a sigh of content as she fell back onto her bed. She couldn't believe it, she was falling for a pogue.
--☆--☆--☆--☆--☆--☆--
"I'm sorry, you're staying where?" Kiara asked as she walked behind John B. The pogues were sitting in The Wreck, listening as John B told them everything that happened after he fell from the Hawk's nest.
"Tannyhill," He answered.
"So you're living with Sarah Cameron," She pointed out, clearly annoyed.
"Okay, look, the only reason I'm living there is because her dad bailed me out, right? And it's way better than foster care, which, by the way, is where I was about to go if Ward didn't-" John B tried explaining to the rest of the pogues.
"Hey, so do you have a membership to the clubs now?" Pope teased as John B sat down in the chair next to him.
"I don't know, Pope."
"What about those little golf carts they drive around? You get one of those?" JJ asked him.
"Does it come with a sweater vest, or do you have to buy your own?" Pope added.
Kiara sighed, done with the boy's teasing. "Look, you promised," she began. "You said you weren't with her," she said, referring to Sarah.
"Bro, just own it. She got you," JJ smirked. He still hadn't told anyone what happened between him and the other kook princess, and he planned on keeping it himself. At least for a while.
"Look, if you wanna hang out with the kook princesses, that's fine." Kiara told him, even though it obviously wasn't fine. "But I'm letting you know now that I'm not doing anything with Sarah or Emerson."
"Do you guys see them here?" John B asked. "No, right. Okay. A little focus would be fantastic. We've got the map, right?"
"It's all out of whack 'cause the guy was ganja'd when he drew it," JJ told him.
"It's 'cause the coast has changed," Kiara explained in her usual condescending tone which made JJ roll his eyes at her.
"So we just have to look for landmarks that haven't changed," Pope suggested.
"What about the old forts?"
"Battery Jasper," Kiara said pointing to the spot on the map and off they went to search for the gold.
--☆--☆--☆--☆--☆--☆--
Emerson had never been nervous going to the Cameron house before. The place was like a second home to her and the Cameron's were her family. But after her conversation with Rafe the night before she found herself hesitating before she walked into the house.
Even though technically she kind of won the argument she knew it wasn't the end. That argument was just the beginning and she had no interest in hearing what else Rafe had to say.
"Hey E!" Wheezie smiled as she walked up to the older girl.
"Hey Wheezie," Emerson said, giving the youngest Cameron child a quick hug.
"You here for Rafe? He's been talking about you all morning," She laughed as she adjusted her glasses.
"I'm here for Sarah actually, is she here?" Emerson asked, hoping to avoid Rafe for as long as possible.
"In her room," Wheezie answered.
"Thanks," Emerson said before walking up the stairs. She quickly knocked on Sarah's bedroom door before walking into the room. "Hey."
"Hey," Sarah smiled as Emerson closed the door behind her. "You didn't bump into Rafe, did you?"
"Nope, Wheezie let me in," Emerson said, explaining her presence as she sat down at the end of Sarah's bed. "How are you?"
Sarah nodded for a second as a smile formed on her face. "Well John B's living here now, so I'm pretty good," she laughed.
Emerson's jaw dropped as she laughed with Sarah. "No way. How'd that happen?"
"Ward offered to be his legal guardian," Sarah explained.
"Sounds like him," Emerson thought aloud. "So you and John B... is that like official?"
"Are you and JJ?" Sarah asked.
Emerson sat up a bit straighter, wanting to avoid the question for as long as she could. So she opted with, "I asked you first."
Sarah sighed, "I don't know the answer. Now you."
"I don't know either. But last we did... you know," She admitted with a sheepish smile.
Sarah's jaw dropped as she threw a pillow at her best friend. "Emerson Rhodes!" she gasped. "Tell me everything."
For the next couple minutes Sarah's jaw remained open as Emerson told her all about her night with the pogue. Sarah couldn't believe what she was hearing and felt immense happiness for her best friend. The only time her smile fell was when Emerson told her that Hayden found out.
"... and he thought the only reason I didn't want to be with Rafe is because... I was rebelling against my mother for-" Emerson paused when she remembered she still hadn't told Sarah about her family's predicament.
"For what?"
"My mother's having an affair," Emerson informed her best friend. Sarah's eyes widened as her mouth opened. She didn't know what to say, it was like all the words in the English language suddenly left her mind. "I think my dad's gonna leave her."
"Emerson... I'm so sorry."
"There's nothing I can do for them," Emerson said. "My falling apart and there's nothing I can do."
"You can't fix something that's already broken," Sarah reminded her.
"Hayden also thought it was about..." Emerson hesitated for a second then looked right at Sarah, hoping she'd understand.
"Oh," was all Sarah replied with. "Is it about him?"
"No. I don't think so anyway," Emerson answered. "He and JJ are nothing alike."
"But you did love him, and JJ's the first person that you've-"
"Yeah, I know," Emerson interrupted, effectively stopping Sarah from finishing the same sentence Hayden said earlier. "He's gone and I need to move on, and JJ... he's here."
Sarah smiled at her best friend. She knew just how much Emerson loved her first boyfriend, he meant the world to her. It had a been while since Emerson was truly happy the way she was when he was here, but now with JJ, she's happy again. "Look at us, two kooks falling for pogues," she laughed.
"This isn't going to end well, you know that right?" Emerson asked.
"Who cares how it ends?" Sarah shrugged with a smile.
(edited)