They weren't a particularly touchy pair. Neither of them craved physical touch and this was the longest they had stayed in contact. But not their eyes. Their eyes told a different story. Their eyes showed two people hopelessly addicted to each other. Their eyes made all the contact the pair needed. There was a whole love story concealed in the looks, glances and stares.
"I see Kie," JJ said once his gaze moved away from the beautiful girl before him. His voice was regretful like he didn't want to stop swaying next to his girl. Stevie felt this regret too. She didn't want to leave but she wouldn't show JJ that. She just couldn't. The wall around her heart forbade her.
"And the mission continues." She put the posh voice on to hide her true feelings, returning to the character as if the most beautiful moment of her life didn't just happen. She earnt a small pity smile from JJ before the pair split for their respective jobs.
"Meet me here in 5?" JJ asked to which Stevie nodded before turning away in the other direction. No matter what happens, that moment was frozen in time in her mind. It was perfect and nothing would change that.
"Sorry what?" Kie said as she noticed her Pogue friend at the Kookiest party in existence. She had to do a double take to see if her eyes were deceiving her or if it was Stevie Olivia Routledge.
"Surprise!" Stevie smiled as she walked up to the girl, "I know you probably hate it but you look unreal."
"Thanks, Steve," Kie smiled shyly, "you clean up nice too. But what the fuck are you doing here?"
"We're gonna be filthy rich." Stevie burst into a smile with childlike wonder. Kie didn't share the same enthusiasm as she looked still confused, "We're back in the G-game baby."
"I don't understand. The gold wasn't there." Kie protested.
"John B's got it sorted," Stevie said as she started to walk away to find Pope. "Don't worry about it but we're gonna ditch this thing. I'll tell you when."
Stevie weaved through the partygoers and made her way back to where she said she would meet JJ. She saw him get stopped by an old man who thought JJ was an actual waiter. "I found Pope and gave Sarah the letter," JJ told the girl, doing one of her jobs for her. The two were about to make their way out of the party's centre when JJ smacked into Rafe's chest with the posse of Kooks behind him.
"I'm wondering if you could get me a Mai Tai my friend," Rafe said threateningly as he held JJ's shoulders. Rafe made anyone, even a 6ft JJ, look small and inferior.
"Yeah Pogue, make that two." Kelce joined, threatening Stevie. JJ discreetly reached out for Stevie's hand and pulled her behind him protecting her from Rafe as he did at the Cinema night. The Kooks surrounded the two as JJ tried to bullshit them claiming to be busy as an actual waiter.
"Help yourself to some hors d'oeuvres," JJ and Stevie kept being pushed back by the income Kooks.
"Guys, JJ's gonna get us some hors d'oeuvres." Rafe beckoned other Kook boys over and it dawned on the two that they were hopelessly outnumbered on enemy turf. JJ calmly started speed walking towards the door of the country club, still holding onto Stevie's hand.
"Run," JJ whispered once they were in the building. Whilst being chased by Rafe and a collection of Kooks, JJ and Stevie pulled chairs and tables to block their way. They didn't care about the commotion they were causing and all the shocked Kooks that wanted to enjoy their midsummers, they were focused on escaping each other and not breaking the connection between their hands.
"In there." Stevie pointed out the men's restroom. She hoped that it would be public enough that people might be in there, so rafe can't go crazy, but there would also be locking doors. At this point she didn't care about gendered bathrooms, the concept is silly anyway, she just needed her and JJ to be safe.
"That's the men's." JJ pointed out.
"It really doesn't matter right now," she pushed JJ into the bathroom, hoping maybe Rafe hadn't caught up and didn't see what direction they went in. They scouted out the bathroom frantically looking for empty cubicles but unfortunately for them, they seemed to all be full. Equally, unfortunately, Rafe saw them and had now cornered them in the locker room section of the bathroom.
"Hey, what are you doing in the locker room?" Rafe asked smugly. He pushed JJ into Kelce's arms, repeating cinema night when he had him in a headlock. Stevie ran to help but got stopped by rafe who wrapped his arms around her and carried her to the side of the room. "Don't do something stupid." he smiled at her disgustingly as he pushed a piece of her hair behind her ear.
"Don't touch her," JJ shouted, remembering what Stervie had told him about the golf course. One of Rafe's goons held her back as Rafe turned his attention back to the blonde.
"Aww do you like her?" He laughed condescendingly. "Hold him still. What-- what do you think? Four iron, right?" Rafe pretended like he was setting up a hit in golf. "Keep his head still. I'm setting this up."
"Very Rafe of you Rafe." Stevie interrupted from the corner of the room. Stevie hated feeling helpless. She couldn't do anything but use her voice, "Six on two?"
"Please stop talking," Rafe scowled as JJ kept wriggling to get out of the hold, "It's very disrespectful whilst I'm trying to hit a ball."
Rafe insulted him further, noticing the cuts and bruises on his face, like Stevie did, likening him to his dad resulting in JJ spitting at his face which made Stevie smile. Luckily a security guard got to the group before Rafe could properly hurt them. "Gentlemen- and you" He looked a bit stunned when he saw the Routledge girl, "sorry... Miss," He corrected himself. "Is there a problem?"
"Pardon me, officer. No, there is not an issue-" JJ started spewing all the world that came to his mind without thinking it threw.
"No, there is an issue." Stevie started working out a plan. If all went well they could get escorted out by the guard, which could stop the kooks from coming after them. "We got a criminal trespass in progress here. Beep call it in."
"Blatant disrespect of private property." JJ realised what the girl was doing and was impressed by her thought process. "We're in violation of all kinds of shit, sir. Escort us out of here. You got me," JJ held up his wrist ready to be cuffed. The man simply to his arm and dragged him out of the room, Stevie following shortly behind.
"You're looking spiffy too." JJ kept talking which Stevie knew was going to get him in trouble, "Your Powerpuff girls have fun."
"Stevie, you're still hot for a pogue," Rafe shouted, making Stevie's skin feel hot and mouth feel itchy like she was having an allergic reaction. Without hesitating, JJ launched out of the guard's arms ready to fight Rafe.
"JJ stop," Stevie called from beside the guard. JJ almost got to Rafe, ready to punch the shit out of him for all the things he's done to the girl he loves but the guard caught his arms and dragged him away. He kept dragging him out into the open party earning multiple gasps from guests.
"What happened?" Kie pulled Stevie aside. She was following JJ out of the party but instead stayed with Kiara on the verandah close to where Mike and Anna were dancing.
"Rafe." Stevie sighed. The two watched as JJ made a song and dance of the situation. He pointed at Rose and gave her a shout-out as well as drinking other people's drinks. There was something freeing about how much he didn't care.
"Let go of him!" Kie shouted at the guard, much to the anger of her parents, "You can't just boot him. I invited both of them. I am a member of this club." Kie drew attention to Stevie's presence. Before Kie's parents or the security had any time to react, JJ made a mess by pushing the guard into the table and yelling for his fellow pogues to join him. Stevie took Kie's hand and they ran to their favourite boys with a weight lifted from their shoulders.
Running away from danger into the arms of happiness. Pope hugged John B after not seeing him for a few days and Kie embraced him after. Stevie b-lined for the blonde, wanting nothing more than to be in his arms again. He hugged her and spun as he lifted her. Both of them feeling lighter than air.
***
After John B had broken down how he had found the gold, the five, much to Kie's anger, were waiting in the Twinkie to meet Sarah. It was awkward to hear how much Kie hated her when Stevie found her to be a source of relief from the Pogues that she needed. Yes, they came from different worlds but she wasn't a horrible person, not in the way Kie made her out to be. Neither of them had told her what had happened, Stevie didn't think to two fully knew why they hated each other, like the old JJ and Stevie, it just happened and now they're stuck in an endless cycle of hate.
"Yo, uh... so, I think I'm gonna do this one by myself..." John B stopped the pogues as they were about to get out of the car.
"Really?" Stevie smiled knowing her brother inside out, knowing there was a 100% chance he was with Sarah now.
"What?" He turned to his sister.
"Nothing." She held her hands up pretending to not know anything but it was so obvious. Whilst Kie and John B argued back and forth about the involvement of Srarah JJ made the other two laugh by pretending to give his joint a blowjob.
"I'm gonna go take care of business." John B started to leave the car after blatantly lying to the pogues, promising Kie that nothing was going on. Because the other four were so focused on Kie and her issue with Sarah, Stevie was able to slip out of the Twinkie and followed her brother to Sarah.
"What are you doing?" John b hissed.
"I'm coming with you," Stevie smiled as if it was apparent. John B started to protest but Stevie didn't care. "Look, you're not fooling me. I know you're macking on Sarah Cameron and I really don't care. Sarah and I have been close friends for years."
She could physically see the cogs turning in his head, "What?" he was flabbergasted, "How? When?"
"Look, I have a life outside of the Pogues." Stevie tried to keep the whole story brief, "I met her years ago when I felt left out between you, JJ and Dad."
"You kept it secret?" John B asked as the two started walking up the steps to the top of the Hawk's Nest.
"We don't really fit into each other's day-to-day life." Stevie explained, "We would ruin each other's image and we know that. But I wasn't gonna let the Pogues v Kooks thing get in the way. I really do like her."
Stevie felt happy when Sarah's eyes lit up at the sight of her brother. It proves that something there was real. That even though the Kook Princess and the Chief Pogue's paths never should have met, something beautiful came of it.
"Hi." She rushed over to the boy, "Stevie?"
"You're macking on my brother?" Stevie asked with a laugh. She tried to act fake offended or angry but it didn't last long, Stevie liked seeing her brother genuinely happy.
"Maybe." Sarah said with a guilty smile, "I got the map." She gave John B the final key to the puzzle. The map that would lead straight to the gold. The two stayed close to one another leaving Stevie feeling like the biggest third wheel.
"Ok you two cute and all," Stevie sighed, looking at her brother and friend in each other's arms after they jumped due to the lightning, "But we should really get out of here."
But it was too late. A drunk and livid Topper stood at the top of the stairs, waiting to shout at Sarah. They wrestled slightly back and forth as John B kept telling him to leave and go home, wanting to avoid conflict. With one small push both Routledge hurtled from the top of the Hawks nest.
Topper had pushed John B back into Stevie who was standing behind her brother and in front of a rotten rail. Her heart was in her mouth as her body hurtled to the ground. Her path, slightly disrupted by the branches of a tree that embedded into her skin as she fell. She didn't feel it when she hit the ground, only seconds later her body flooded with pain. Overwhelming pain. It rung threw her body spreading like poison.
As her breath got shorter she didn't mind dying right then. The idea of being out of pain and returning to the earth sounded quite peaceful. Her eyes started to close, welcoming the end of her pain when she saw him hover over her. He knelt and tried to lift her head, holding her face in his hands. But she couldn't feel anything. She was in too much pain and felt numb to anything else.
Everything was muffled. Sight and hearing felt blurry but she could still see the ocean of his eyes. She smiled slightly at the boy before for letting a tear escape as she finally closed her eyes. Happy that JJ Maybank was the last thing she saw.