Harley and JJ collapsed onto the sofa sigh their smoothies in hand. Harley, JJ, Kiara and Pope had gone to the Wreck before coming back to the chateau. John B had disappeared with mention of needing something from the Cameron Manor. So, now Kiara and Pope sat outside on the deck talking, whilst Harley and JJ decided to use this time wisely.
"Is this where we passionately make out?"
Harley fixed JJ with a stern look.
"I know. I know. Let's exchange long stories." JJ shifted closer to Harley so he could rest his hand on her thigh. "Ladies first?"
Harley didn't mind if she went first, she more than likely had more to say than he did. So, she started by explaining the series of events after she left him at the station. Then she back tracked to when she had gone back to the garage with Rafe, so that she could assure him nothing else had happened. She had been honest about everything other than the fact she had been with Rafe. Then came what she really wanted to talk about - the things he had said to her when was angry.
"Okay, so..." Retelling sequences of events was much easier for Harley, It felt like bringing up the things JJ had said and how that made her feel was confrontational, even if it wasn't. Unfortunately, she had to get used to this otherwise she would be treated like a doormat.
"The way you... the things you said to me when we argued made me feel horrible."
JJ jumped in, "I know. I shouldn't have said that shit and I apologised and I'll keep apologising."
Harley smiled. "You don't need to keep saying sorry. I forgave you." Harley scratched at her head with uncertainty. "I'm not upset that you got mad about me lying. I know I shouldn't have and I won't do it again. It's just... it's about how me making you angry made you say those things. I feel like your instinct, when you're angry at me, shouldn't be to hurt me or make me feel small."
JJ slumped back in his seat, a hundred sorry's no longer waiting to rush passed his lips. Instead, he kept quiet and listened. He kept eye contact so Harley knew he was listening. This was important to get off her chest, so it was important to her that he listened.
"Whenever I'm upset with you, I don't instantly want to use the things you've gone through or brought up to me as insecurities against you. That feels spiteful... and I'm not saying you're a spiteful person because I think you're very far from it." Harley paused to collect her thoughts. Her heart was hammering against her chest. She didn't know how JJ perceived her words or if she was articulating herself well. "If we have a disagreement, then we should talk about it. You shouldn't call me an idiot or make me feel stupid. And definitely not imply that I like being hit."
"I'm so sorry, Harls. You know I don't believe you're stupid for a second. Hell, you're smarter than me and John B combined. You're one of the smartest people I know and you still shouldn't doubt that," JJ straightened and turned his body to completely face Harley. He needed her to see how serious he was. "No matter how angry or upset I got, I shouldn't have called you an idiot and most definitely shouldn't have said what I did about you getting hit. I was wrong. But, I need you to know that what I was saying was directed at myself."
"What?" Harley was confused. "Why would you direct that at yourself?"
"Um," JJ laughed. It was a nervous laugh. Harley could see that he was uncomfortable now. "Uh, let's just say that I've had a relationship with someone that kept letting me down and yet I still kept going back hoping they would change. Still do."
Harley's head tilted. JJ's words felt like code for something. The words he had said to her and directed at him were about abuse. Now, he was saying somebody had kept 'letting him down'. He made it sound like a past relationship, but he said 'still do'. Did he still hope they would change or did he still have this relationship?
"What did they do? How did they keep letting you down?"
Harley studied JJ's movements. The room they sat in seemed to close up around them leaving nowhere else to go, as Harley watched JJ tense and crack over and over again. His Adam's apple had bobbed and the muscles around his shoulders had wound up tightly.
She placed her hand over the one on her thigh and flipped it so they could link hands. It didn't stop his other from taking his hat off and trailing through his blonde locks furiously.
"Um." Both teens were riddled with nerves now. JJ's leg bounced up and down whilst he fought to school his expression, but Harley could see that his eyes were flickering trying to control the tears that were pooling.
She was scared to hear what he had to say now. Was this a past girlfriend that made JJ feel this way? His mum had left, maybe it was her. Whoever it was could rest assured they were not in Harley's good books.
"There's something I haven't told you."
"Okay." Harley rubbed soothing circles over the back of JJ's hand.
"My... I've been. My dad. You've met him. You know he likes a drink and he can get himself pretty worked up and mad quite quickly. Fuck." JJ hunched forward. He was distressed and Harley wasn't sure how she could help. "I should have told you sooner. Then you wouldn't have gone there looking for me when you did. My dad hits me, Harley. He beats on his own kid."
Harley's mind went blank, before a rush of memories overloaded her mind. She thought back to all the times JJ had been bruised or sporting a busted lip. She thought back to how he never wanted her at his house and the others all thought the same. JJ had stayed at the Chateau more often than not and he never really wanted to talk about his father. The father who had saw no problem in hitting her and scaring her. He did that to JJ... all the time.
Harley couldn't hide her shock. This reality had never ever crossed her mind. JJ was the type to get into fights, so when he had said his bruises were because of some Kook she had no reason not to believe him. It had never even crossed her mind that a parent could do that to their child, which showed her naivety. How had she never realised and why had JJ or any of the others not told her?
JJ seemed to squirm in the silence. He sat forward and rested his head in his hands. A dry laugh followed. "Yeah. It's no big deal though. Just, since we're being honest and stuff, I thought I should tell you."
"Is that why you had a busted lip and those bruises on your face at Midsummers? Was your dad angry with you for being arrested?"
JJ waved it off. "Yeah, but most parents wouldn't be happy about that. It doesn't really matter."
"What?" Harley sat incredulously. She couldn't believe his words. "Of course it matters, JJ."
A parent shouldn't hurt their child. Nobody should hurt anyone really.
"Not really. No one else on the island gives a fuck, but the Pogues. I don't exactly matter," JJ scoffed. He collapsed back on the sofa and stared aimlessly at the ceiling. "No one cares and I hate that, but then I don't have to deal with the cops or DCS."
"You matter." Harley shuffled closer to the boy and ran her hand through his hair. "You matter to me. You matter to the Pogues. You matter to people. Mr Routledge loves you, otherwise he wouldn't have let you stay. Heyward secretly loves you, but don't tell him I said that. "
Cops and DCS were two things JJ despised, and he clearly didn't want to be taken away from his friends and possibly the island, but Harley couldn't help but think of ways to get JJ away from his dad.
"Heyward does not like me. I'm a bad influence on his son."
"Loads of people like you, JJ. You just don't see it. And they would be sad if anything awful happened to you."
"Would you be sad?"
JJ's eyes found hers. He looked vulnerable and yet still gazed at her like she was the best thing he'd ever seen. It made her heart flutter and her cheeks warm to a soft shade of pink. She hoped he could see how much care she held for him and how much she adored being around him. Her eyes always twinkled, but it was as if they sparkled when JJ was around her.
"I would be devastated. You know I'm in love with spending time with a happy, healthy, and chaotic you. And if you ever want to or need to talk, I'll always be here as a non judgemental listener."
JJ couldn't fight his grin. "As long as you care, that's all I'm worried about."
"Just me?"
"Mhm, only you. I'm in love with how much you care about me."
Harley's giggle triggered JJ's own laughter. He had just used her words, the ones the group always nagged her about.
"Sweet."
Harley's blush deepened as JJ reached to trace his thumb over her cheek. "Just like you." He leant forward and kissed her.
They both floated into their own rosy bubble.
Plush clouds cushioned them as they fell back. Harley's fingertips edged under JJ's white tee. She shivered at JJ's touch, her thigh pulled up following JJ's guidance and she trembled when he squeezed her skin.
"I've missed kissing you, so much," JJ murmured.
Harley couldn't help but smile before kissing him back harder as a reply. She missed it too. She missed him. Everything felt so right when they were together.
So engrossed in the hypnotising way JJ kissed and nipped at her neck, Harley barely noticed the sound of an engine outside. Somebody had arrived, but Harley was too interested in feeling JJ's six pack and trying not to moan.
"What do you want?" Kiara's hostile voice floated through the open window and captured the couple's attention.
The two eased their actions, still lazily kissing.
"Woah! Where are you going?" Kie demanded.
"To knock. This isn't your place." The Kook voice made the two pull apart.
"Was that Topper?"
Harley shook her head. "No way."
"Dude. Why are you here?" Pope jumped in now.
"To see Harley. Is she in?"
Confusion swarmed the heavy breathing brunette. The ghost of JJ's lips still had her a little dazed. Harley and JJ sat up quickly. She ran her hands through her messy hair and straightened out her top.
"Why does he want to see you?" JJ's eyes had narrowed in the direction of outside.
"I'm not sure. The last time I saw him was the night he..." Harley frowned. "He should have stayed away."
The bickering had continued until Kiara showed up at the window behind the couple and knocked. "You have a guest who can't take a hint, Harls. He won't leave until he talks to you."
Harley walked toward Topper's sleek car and stopped to turn back and face him. They were away from the group, but they could still keep a watchful eye from the veranda.
The brunette sighed. "What do you want Topper?"
"How's John B?"
She shrugged. "Alive. No thanks to you."
"I didn't push him."
"I'm not going to believe you over my brother." She glanced back finding JJ stood one step from the bottom watching the two converse. "Was there something you wanted. I'm busy and you shouldn't be here."
She noticed the scowl on Topper's face when he glanced back at JJ most likely. His jaw would lock before he relaxed and gazed her way.
"Your brother has been sneaking around with Sarah. My girlfriend. I confronted them, we argued and he lost his balance. I didn't touch him."
"Why are you telling me this?" Harley knew there had been a scuffle and John B had lost his balance, but Topper kept lying to cover his own ass. He had pushed John B and that was the main point.
"Because you're willing to ruin our friendship over these guys who aren't holier than thou. You keep saying we're bad. So are they. Your brother is a homewrecker."
There wasn't much of a home. However, Harley could sympathise. What John B had done or is doing wasn't exactly fair on Topper, even if Sarah gave the greenlight. The Cameron girl should have broken up with Topper, and John B should have waited.
"I'm sorry Sarah cheated on you. And, I'm sorry John B hasn't respected your relationship. But, Sarah isn't a nice person and I could have told you that, so maybe this is secretly a blessing in disguise."
"How is that a blessing? Sarah and I had our whole lives planned out and your idiot brother got in her head and wrecked it."
Harley took a step back now over the conversation. Topper was getting irritated and she didn't want to have a heated conversation. "Look, I don't want to talk about your girlfriend, ex-girlfriend. Whatever she is. So, if that's all you came here for, then you can go. I'm not going to be friends with you."
"What?"
"If you even really wanted to be friends, the first thing you would have done is apologise to John B." Topper scoffed which had Harley shaking her head. "See. I don't really know why you're here, honestly."
Topper's hand snatched Harley's wrist to stop her from walking away and pulled her back.
Harley yelped in surprise. She tried to yank her arm free and swat the Kook's hand away but he was unrelenting.
"Harls, come on." Topper laughed but nothing was funny. "You can't be serious right now."
"Get your hands off her." JJ came storming over and shoved Topper.
The Kook stumbled but still had a hold of Harley. "Or what?"
"I'll put your head through your window. Then, your parents can finally pay to get your cracked skull fixed." JJ pulled Topper off Harley and softly pulled her into his side. "You're done here. Go home. Don't come back to the Cut."
Harley held JJ's hand as they walked back to the other Pogues. Once she had reassured JJ and the group that she was fine, and Topper had driven off it didn't take long for things to lighten up.
"We see you two have worked out your differences," Pope shrugged innocently, the smile on his face anything but. "It was a good idea to leave you guys alone at the Crain house, I see. Genius in fact."
Harley pursed her lips, but everybody could see the happiness in her eyes from her seat beside Kiara "Mmm no. JJ is so annoying I can't stand to be around him."
"Yeah. Harley is too much for me. I can't be around her." JJ winked her way.
"Well, here comes John B and I'm sure he'd love to hear that."
Harley's happiness dimmed a little bit; John B still didn't know about her and JJ. When she had wanted to tell him, her and JJ weren't in a good place and she wasn't sure they were still a thing. Her frown deepened when she noticed Sarah Cameron trailing her brother up the steps to the Chateau.
"Dude, what the heck," Harley murmured. Kiara spotted her arch enemy next and immediately shot out of her seat.
"No effing way!"
John B ignored the outburst and hopped onto the outdoor sofa Kie had just been on. Sarah followed which made Harley get up. She didn't want to sit beside Sarah. She let herself be pulled subtly by JJ's hand and sat on the arm of his chair. She briefly glanced at him and Pope. They were just as stunned.
"You'll never guess what just happened." John B started opting to ignore the huge elephant in the room.
Discomfort wormed through each teen. Sarah stared at John B. John B looked amongst the whole group. Whilst everyone else eyed the elephant - Sarah.
Harley couldn't fathom John B's logic. She thought she was the dumb one out of the two, but he seemed to have set out to prove her wrong.
JJ being JJ humoured his friend. "What just happened? I'm bursting at the seams to know." Truthfully, he was too preoccupied tracing his fingertips over Harley's back and wishing it were just the two of them again.
"Topper must have been in the area. He stopped us at the side of the road and apologised for what happened."
Harley sat straighter. Topper did what? Why? "He apologised?"
"Yeah. Kinda. It was weird."
Silence fell again and the tension resumed.
"Why did you bring her here?" Kiara looked pissed. And, honestly, so was Harley. The younger Routledge had made it clear less than twelve hours ago that she didn't want to hang around John B's girlfriend, or whatever she was. "She isn't part of any of this. Not the Pogues. Not finding the gold."
"Look, all I care about is her cut comes out of your share," JJ pointed between Romeo and Juliet.
Harley smacked his shoulder and turned to him. "What?"
"What do you mean 'what'?" His silvery blue eyes were squinted in confusion.
"No. She doesn't have a cut. Kie doesn't want her here. I don't, so neither do you," Harley whispered. JJ never really had a strong opinion on the Kook girl, except his normal hatred towards Kooks. Then he disliked her a little more after he learnt about how she had lied to get Harley in trouble, but clearly he seemed to have forgotten and Harley had to remind him.
JJ rose his hand and interjected the ongoing argument. "I retract my previous statement. And I vote Sarah doesn't stay. Sorry, dude." The Cameron girl switched her cold stare to the blonde, but JJ was unphased. "You're more trouble than you're worth."
Kie smirked. "See. This is a Pogue thing. Our thing. If we took a vote right now you're outnumbered."
Harley didn't get why John B looked her way as if she could help. They had spoken about this and it was annoying that he was openly disregarding everything she had said. "I don't want her here."
Pope, "I'm Switzerland. But, I gotta say, I'm a little uncomfortable with all of this."
That would make any vote three to two in favour of Sarah disappearing.
"When are you not uncomfortable?" John B shot out defensively.
"I rode here on the back of JJ's bike pretty comfortably."
"It's true. Most relaxed I've ever seen him."
"You know we were all extremely comfortable until you brought her." Kiara shot at John B.
"Stop talking about me like I'm not here!"
Harley tried to bite her tongue, but being around the two older Cameron children really brought out the worst in her. "We wish you weren't."
Kiara agreed. "Right. If you don't like it, leave."
Harley and Kiara glanced at each other and smirked. It was bitchy, it wasn't their usual style but Sarah had to go.
Sarah huffed and peered over at John B. "I told you."
"Told him what, exactly?" Kie raised her eyebrows in question."That you're a liar?"
"No. That you're a shit talking bitch."
This was where things got heated. Harley wasn't one for saying horrible things to people, however when she had Sarah call Kie a bitch, Harley got defensive.
"That's rich coming from you. You're a pathological liar. A cheater. You must also be sick in the head, because you enjoy hurting other people. So, kind of like your crazy brother."
Nobody had seen Harley this angry.
"Nobody wants you here, Sarah." Kiara added.
"Will you guys shut up!" John B yelled. "Kie you're my best friend, right? Harley you're my sister. and Sarah you're my..."
"Say it."
"You're my girlfriend."
Harley scrunched up her nose in distaste, the same as Kie.
If JJ wasn't going to see sense then Kiara was going to out him to Sarah and get the girl to leave. "What was all that talk about you were just using her for information? Get a map, cut her loose."
"You said you were using me?"
John B tried to say no, but the Pogues all muttered yes.
"Look, love just walked in"
"Oh vomit." Kiara swatted John B's sappy words away. "Look cut the bullshit, John B. If she's in, I'm out."
"We're out," Harley corrected going to stand by her best friend.
"I'm not doing this. I can't."
"Dude, it's pretty easy. Real simple," JJ murmured.
"Yeah. We're actually really interested. Us or her?"
"All three."
Harley didn't like that response so when Kie began tugging her away she didn't oppose. This wasn't like when he walked away from her on the beach. No. She'd still talk to him. He was still her brother, but he was being a jerk. A really big, massive jerk.
"I hate him so much," Kie seethed. "Why does he have to bring her into this? You never forced Rafe to be around us. John B's being selfish."
Harley had to agree with Kiara's rant. John B wasn't being fair and it was going to divide the group. "He really sucks at listening."
"And using his brain. If there's even one up there anymore."
"I'm not sure. I don't understand why he thinks I would want to be around someone who's lies almost got me killed."
Kiara turned with a frown to her friend. No one had really spoken with Harley about things in depth, except Billie and Big John. Harley had spoken to the Pogues together and individually about different things but she didn't seem to want to dwell on it too much.
"You think Rafe would have killed you."
Harley shrugged. "It felt like it at the time. He was so angry and I was disorientated from it all. He only let up because I lied and said I had kissed Topper and apologised. If I had stuck to the truth I don't know what he would have done. He can be really scary."
"Asshole."
"Yeah." The wind blew between the girls as they kicked their legs over the edge of the boardwalk. "What happened with you and Sarah?"
"Typical Sarah. When I first joined the Kook Academy, I didn't have friends. I didn't have anything in common with anyone. It was horrible. I felt horrible. And then, right when I'm about to slit my wrists, Sarah Cameron asks me if I want to go save baby sea turtles."
Harley had moved closer to Kie and held her hand to show her support.
"Our first day together, we walked to the beach. We waited for the hatch and we kept the seagulls off so the turtles could get to the water."
Harley could imagine younger versions of Kiara and Sarah together flapping their arms around and scaring the seagulls with big grins on their faces. She imagined they felt like they were saving the entire world.
"That sounds really nice." Kiara and Sarah sounded like great friends.
"It was the best day of my life. I really felt... happy. And then, Sarah turned on me like she does with everyone. Like she did with you. So, if John B thinks I'm doing this with her, he's wrong."
"That makes two of us." Not liking the sad energy in the air, Harley pulled herself onto her knees and faced Kiara with the biggest grin she could. "And, anyway, who needs Sarah Cameron when you have me? I won't abandon you ever. And I'll make it my mission for us to have the bestest day of our lives together."
Before Kiara could even get a word out, Harley had engulfed her in a bear hug, giggling as they fell over.
"That sounds great to me, Harls. I'll reserve the bestest day of my life for you."
"And I, for you."
As they pulled apart, Kiara noticed JJ and Pope. The latter heading their way and the blonde seemingly trying to get his favourite brunette's attention.
"Hey, I think someone's trying to get your attention."
"Huh?" Harley followed Kiara's line of sight and spotted JJ who subtly nodded her over. "Oh. I'll come right back, Kie."
"No rush."
After greeting Pope and giving him an encouraging smile, she skipped over to JJ. Apparently, Sarah had left not long after her and Kiara and John B had gone after her like a puppy with his tail between his legs. That meant JJ could happily pull Harley into his side and lean his head on hers as they walked to her room.
"Have I ever told you that you're super hot when you're pissed."
"You always think I look super hot." Harley said coyly.
A cheeky smirk grew across JJ's face. He kissed the side of Harley's head and replied confidently. "Absolutely. You're so beautiful and smart, it's hard not to think it."
Harley's heartbeat definitely missed a few beats. Somehow JJ always managed to make her blush and feel so warm.
"If you make me blush anymore, I think I'll turn into a tomato." She softly patted her cheeks as if it would take away the pretty rouge. "So, what did JB say when Kie and I left?"
"He can't make a decision. He knows we need you and a Kie. But, he has it in his head that he can't do this without Sarah."
"He can. He was managing fine without her beforehand," Harley grumbled making JJ chuckle.
"He's a guy. And he's an idiot. He's not just thinking with his head." Harley grimaced at the image of her brother and Sarah that popped into her mind. "He's thinking with his heart or whatever he's got beating around there."
"Wait," Harley gasped dramatically. "You guys have hearts? No way."
"What? You think I don't have one."
"Not at all, Tinman."
"Harsh." JJ pulled Harley down to him so their noses brushed. He guided her hand to press over his racing heart, not once breaking their sparking gaze. Harley held her breath as she got lost in the blue seas. And, before she could inhale JJ took her breath away and stole a kiss. "I've gotta have something to give you in the future."
What are your thoughts on JJ and Harley?
Do you see Sarah and Harley becoming friends again or is that bridge burnt?
Thoughts on Harley and Kiara's friendship? More scenes?
Thanks for reading! :)