CHAPTER NINE
Hurricane Agatha
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(PRESENT)
Mornings were never her favourites.
The sound of the toilet flushing made Avery stir awake, quietly groaning as the morning sunshine shone through the window and casted over her face as she rose her bedhead from the pillow. As usual, the blond boy was wrapped around her, snoring slightly. She envied how heavy JJ slept when she woke up at the sound of the minor things.
"Morning, AC" John B's voice was laced with sleep, having just started to move and wake himself up. He appeared at the doorframe and paused for a moment, giving her a wave that she groggily returned.
"Hey, John" She rubbed her eyes and fell back, pushing her elbow from under. Her friend chuckled as he walked off.
Feeling his arms tighten around her, pulling her close into his chest again, JJ began to stir awake. Avery whined as he stretched out his arms, keeping them around her waist and as he stretched, he squeezed her sides. They gradually wrapped back around
her as he lifted his head from the pillow, similarly to Avery, he cringed at the sunlight and buried his face in her shoulder.
"Hi" She yawned, dragging her eyes to the corner so she could see JJ's face that had popped up over her shoulder.
"Hi," He mumbled, gently knocking his head against herself. "Five more minutes"
With a huff, Avery wiggled around, turning onto her other side so her back was no longer facing the boy. She snaked her arms around JJ's torso and hid her face in the crook off his neck, her warm breath tickled against his skin. For a short moment, the blond had thought he had convinced her to stay a little longer, hoping to stay in bed longer than five minutes, maybe all day.
"Avery!" He whinged, tilting his head back as she moved from his hold with a giggle.
His blue eyes peeled open and fluttered up at the girl hovering over the edge of the bed, in a leaned position with her palms pressed against the mattress. She gave him a goofy smile. JJ couldn't resist the smile that tugged at his lips, cursing at how contagious hers was. In a swift motion, he lifted his head up to pull the top pillow out from underneath him and swung it at her, hitting her in the face.
"Aw, looks like someone won't get the special treatment I was thinking about" She playfully pouted, casually flirting.
The two were always flirting back and forth. It wasn't something that was unusual for them and the crew just got used to it, hardly ever noticing it anymore. Sometimes it was verbal, possibly bantering, and sometimes it was physical. Both were known to show their love through touch so it was common that JJ would have an arm around her shoulders or Avery would play with his hands. They had always been that way towards each other.
Trying his hardest to not show how much her comment actually affected him, JJ played it off cool. He mocked her pout, "No, come on. I didn't mean it!"
"Well, I was thinking of doing this," Avery raised her eyebrows, crawling back into the bed and over to his spot.
She bit her lip in attempt to hold back her laughter as she pressed her hands onto his shoulders, cocking a leg over his waist so she was straddling him as he sat up. JJ's eyes widened a little, the feeling of her sitting in the position gave him some kind of butterflies and it startled him.
It didn't help that she was dressed in only a oversized top, which once was his, that came to her thigh. The night was warm and usually, neither of them were bothered by the lack of clothing as nights were stuffy during the summer season in North Carolina.
"And then this," She whispered, inching closer to his face as her hand traced down his bare chest. His blue eyes were locked onto hers, completely distracted by her to notice John B return, haltering in the doorway as he blinked cluelessly at the sight before him.
JJ saw how her eyes shifted over towards the door, following her gaze to see the brunet. He almost bounced up, bashfully sitting up more and twisting his body. He groaned, "Dude come on! Get out of here!"
With a tight smile and wide eyes, John B quickly reached for the door handle and closed the door. He walked away from the bedroom, chuckling as he heard Avery's laughter. The blonde had toppled off JJ's lap, laughing at his rosy cheeks as he narrowed his eyes at her.
"That was better than I thought" She giggled and rolled off the bed, combing her fingers through her knotty waves.
"I hate you" JJ huffed, smacking his hands over his face as he fell backwards on the bed.
"Liar," She shrugged, twirling around and opening the drawer to grab some change of clothes. The girl peeked over her shoulder to catch JJ watching her, "turn around"
"But I think I'll like this show" He teased, chuckling as she rolled her eyes at him. Choosing to listen, he closed his eyes and rolled onto his stomach, turning his face towards the opposite wall.
"You can look now," She announced, pulling on a blush pink crop topped that complimented her black denim shorts. JJ's head popped up over the covers as he rolled back onto his back. "Come on, sleepyhead, get up"
The two blonde's wondered out of the room, spotting their friends in the living space. Pope was raiding the bare fridge while Kiara was tidying up the pullout bed. The short haired boy looked up from the out of date milk with a scrunched up nose, acknowledging JJ and Avery, greeting them.
"Hey, Kiara" Avery tightly smiled at the other girl as she passed her, making her way to back door.
"Hey" Kiara mumbled, sparing the blonde a brief glance before continued with flapping the sheets around.
"How do you live in this place? You don't own anything edible" Pope's voice was the last thing Avery heard before she walked out the door, stepping out onto the porch.
The small radio caught her attention, she wandered over to it as it sat on the wooden, slightly wonky, coffee table. She perched on the edge of the worn couch and poked at the buttons, frowning as the speakers crackled and popped before she gave it a whack and managed to settle it. The weather news began speaking through the little box.
"Hurricane Agatha continues it's steady march towards Kildare Island on the Outer Banks of North Carolina..."
"Oh shit" Avery mumbled, leaning back against the couch as she squinted her eyes, looking beyond to see the tree's swaying in the wind that was picking up and the sunny skies start to cloud over.
"That's never good" Pope pointed out the blaring alarm that was sounding through the island, notifying everyone that the hurricane was coming in.
"Hurricane Agatha is coming in" Avery told the trio that stepped out of the back door with similar expressions.
The storm brewing made Avery's mind wonder to her father. Her heart grew heavy at the thought of him sheltering alone, having no idea where she was or if she would be safe during Agatha. Luckily, JJ and Pope started a new conversation and brought her out her daze, distracting her from her own thoughts for a little while.
AUTHORS NOTE!
almost double update!?!
welcome plot... also, transition?? oof
don't worry, i haven't forgot to expand avery's story, i'm just trying to worm it in with the plot and make sure it makes sense.
won't lie, i adore this chapter, the chemistry between jj and avery is so fun to write and can't wait to build it as things move onwards :)