"Sterling!" I hear a voice call, shaking me awake. I open my eyes, a voice huffing in relief. Jj's face becomes clearer with each blink. "She's okay! She's conscious." He pants, holding my shoulders tight. Pope is prodding into my skin with a pair of tweezers in his hand.
"What happened?" I ask, not daring to get up from the couch. "You got fucking shot." Jj frowns, I grimace, holding onto his hand. "Ow, ow, ow, ow." I repeat, feeling the most excruciating known to man. "Mhm, squeeze my hand, as hard as you can." Jj assures, I smile softly.
"Got it!" Pope retrieves a piece of medal from my arm. I stare at it with open mouth. "Fucking badass." I mumble, Jj chuckles. "Hell yeah." He nods, I bite my lip. "I'm gonna make that into a necklace." I look at the bullet, holding it in my hand.
"Pope, what the fuck!" I scream loudly when he grabs a needle and thread, beginning to sew my fucking arm. "A little heads up would've been nice!" I groan loudly, grabbing Jj's hand again. "Sorry." He mumbles, continuing to see the wound shut.
"Done." He says after the most painful minute of my life. "I'm gonna go down a bottle of pills, now." I huff, my arm throbbing. I finally notice the rest of the group when Sarah calls out. "Not funny." She huffs, wrapping her arms around me. "Eh, kind of funny." I shrug, earning a flick on my forehead.
"Alright, I'm exhausted. I'm gonna hit the deck." John B tells everyone, Sarah nods and follows him into the bedroom. "Me too." I mumble, trying to get up but falling to my feet. Jj holds me up by my hand. "Alright." He says before picking me up and carrying me to a spare bedroom.
He puts me down on the bed, ready to turn around and leave. "Stay. Please." I croak, my eyelids already feeling heavy. "Sure." He says immediately, standing in the middle of the room.
"Can you help me? I can't sleep in jeans, it makes my skin crawl." I whisper after many failed attempts of getting the button of my jeans, my cheeks heating up. "Uh, mhm." He scratches his head, slowly walking over. "I think I can find a pair of shorts and a shirt for you, you know, laying around." He suggests, I nod.
He walks over, fiddling with the button and pulling it down my legs. "Thanks." I mumble, still laying completely still. "Uhm, here are your shorts and shirt." He hands them to me, still stood in front of me awkwardly. I chuckle, taking them.
"You're too sweet, Maybank." I muse, slowly pulling the shorts over my legs. "Could you?" I hand him the shirt, barely being able to keep my eyes open. He nods, holding the shirt open.
He pulls the shirt over my head, sucking on a deep breath when he reaches the faint bruises. He pulls my arms through the holes of the shirt carefully. "Thank you." I whisper, closing my eyes. I wait for him to lay down to open my eyes, staring into his blue eyes once he does.
"Thank you, Jj. For everything." I express my gratitude, he waves it away. "It was nothing." He shrugs, I roll my eyes. "Well, it was everything to me." I say sincerely, coming closer and resting my head on his shoulder.
"Is this okay?" I ask, looking up, he looks down, nodding assuringly. "You're a good guy, Maybank. You should show it more often." I whisper, snuggling into him. "Only for you, Sterling." He whispers into my hair, wrapping his arms around my waist.
~~~~
"I'm gonna go wake Nads up, see if she's alright." Kie says to the group, still not sure where Jj is. She knocks on the door slowly, but opens it when she gets no answer.
Her heart melts a bit as she looks at the two, cuddling into each other. She pouts happily, quickly getting out her phone to capture the moment. She closes the door again, deciding to let the two rest.
"Guys, I found Jj." She smiles, showing everyone the image. Sarah bit her lip, knowing she made the right call when she told Jj to sleep in Nadia's room that night after the hospital. The little looks between the two were enough to make the girl suspicious.
"They're too cute to wake up." Sarah decided, shaking her head. "The gold will have to wait." Kie finalizes, biting her lip.
~~~~
I stir awake, looking around me, I lay back down when an arm pulls me closer into someone's chest. I can't suppress my smile when I look at Jj's sleeping body, poking him in the side to wake him up.
He groans, but doesn't wake. "Good morning." I whisper in his ear, making him open his eyes. "Good morning." He responds with a raspy, sleepy voice. "I think they're waiting for us." I tell him, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. "Yeah, we should probably go." He responds dryly with a smile.
"Yeah." I look up at him, he scrunches his nose, letting go of my waist and getting up. I roll over, getting up with a yawn. I stretch my arms out, groaning at the sore spot on my arm.
Jj opens the door, greeting everyone. "Well, good morning to you both." Sarah greets, a wide smile on her face. "Did you sleep well, Nads?" Pope asks, eating a piece of toast with some butter on it.
"I did. Thanks, by the way, for yesterday." I thank, he rolls his eyes, telling me it's nothing. "Mhm, I bet you slept so well." Sarah teases, earning a shove from Kie. I frown, not sure what that's supposed to mean.
"So, what's the plan? What are we gonna do with the gold?" I ask, seeing it just lay there on the table. "Blowtorch it. Melt it down, then pawn it." John b informs, I nod. "But first, food." Sarah stands up, ready to get me anything. "I'm not really hungry." I deny, not wanting to waste any of the food, it's not like the pogues can afford to feed another mouth.
"Eat." Pope tells me, I roll my eyes. "Only 'cause you asked so nicely." I smile, taking a piece of bread and spreading jam on it.
"So what's the deal with you anyway? I mean, why can't you stay at home? Not that we don't want you here." Pope asks, immediately back tracking when he thinks he's offended me. "Uhmm," I look over at Sarah, she shrugs.
"Its haunted." I tell him, he frowns, taking another bite from his toast. "Haunted? Like spirits kind of haunted?" He asks, I shake my head. "Yeah, like possessed. My whole house needs an exorcism." I sit down at the table.
"What's the date, by the way?" I ask, Sarah looks at her phone, her eyes widening when she looks at it. "Uhm, August 12th." She says quietly, looking down at her plate. I stay quiet, remembering suddenly.
"So the gold, let's not waste any time." I put my food down, having lost my appetite, and walk back to the spare bedroom to get my bag. I grab my lighter, and a pack of cigarettes. I walk outside, lighting one.
I'm not a smoker, I don't like the taste, or the smell, or the yucky feeling I get in my teeth afterwards, I don't even want to light the cigarette. But Alyssa was a chain smoker, god, I used to tell her all the time to quit. The smell stunk up the whole house, even when she did it outside. Now, I think of her when I inhale the smell.
I hear steps behind me, making me turn around. "Didn't know you smoked." Jj says as he stands next to me, looking out at the dock. "I don't." I mumble, blowing out the smoke. "Yeah, I'm having a hard time believing that when you have a lit cigarette in your hand." He scoffs playfully, I shake my head.
"I don't smoke. Not usually, anyway." I huff, taking another drag. "Mind if I?" He asks, I shake my head, handing him mine. He inhales, grimacing and blowing it out quickly. "Nope, don't like it." He shakes his head vigorously, I chuckle.
"Right? It's horrible." I throw it on the ground, stomping on it and picking it back up. Never will I litter. "So, why do you do it?" He asks, looking over at me. I squint, looking over at the big tree, a hammock hung between it and the wall of the chateau.
"Would it be corny if I said 'nostalgia?'" I chuckle, he shakes his head, suppressing a smile. "Kind of." He nods, I push him playfully, rolling my eyes. "Fuck off." I huff, ruffling his stupid, beautiful blonde hair.
"You alright?" Jj asks after a thick silence, I look over at him, thinking for a bit before nodding. "Yeah, I think I am. Is that weird?" I scrunch my nose, staring up at the sky.
"No, it's not." Jj shakes his head, playing with the rings on his fingers. "It feels weird." I chuckle, he lets out a small, angelic laugh. "You're weird, Sterling." He muses, throwing his arm over my shoulder. "Good weird?" I ask, crossing my arms. "My favorite kind of weird." He says before the rest of the pogues come outside, Jj doesn't let his arm fall, he stays like that.
"Let's melt that sucker."