𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗙𝗜𝗩𝗘
episode two
the discovery of the compass was a mystery that John B insisted meant more. AJ wasn't so sure, but despite any of the pogues opinions he stayed stubborn. His father had always been a touchy subject since he was gone, so in his sureness they all collectively decided to drop the conversation. AJ had never been all that convinced by John B's opinions of his father's disappearance, but she tried supporting him either way. Considering she wasn't around when it happened, she felt as though listening to his ideas was the least she could do. Even if she didn't believe them.
The pogues departed after an eventful day, returning to their homes. As AJ walked back to her grandmother's humble abode, a pit was swirling in her stomach as she prepared herself for her inevitable disappointment. She had avoided speaking to her all day ( breaking the promise she had made to check in every few hours ) and knew to expect nothing good when she stepped through that door. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she followed the gravel pathway through grass adorned by daisies and eventually reached the worn down blue door. After a deep breath, she opened it.
She walked down the small hallway that lead into the living room, her eyes meeting the familiar face of her grandmother, who sat in her floral chair with a steaming mug in her hand. Clenching her jaw, her eyes suddenly noticed the other individual in the living room. Her perfectly curled and highlighted brunette hair laid, like it was being paid, precisely down her shoulders. Not a strand stood out of place, nor a smudge or crease in her make-up. Her eyes glanced upwards, a piercing stare through her sickly sweet smile and honey coloured irises as AJ chewed on the inside of her cheek looking at the woman who raised her. She wasn't too sure how much of a mother she was. But she raised her.
"What are you doing here?" Was her first question, grinding her teeth to cope with the heaviness against her chest she was all too familiar with by now.
"You refused to contact me." Daniella Jones, but most popularly known as the mayor's wife, sat poised beside her grandmother. The Jones woman wasn't related to AJ's grandmother; somehow the sweet woman was the mother of AJ's father, which could baffle anyone who met the man in question. Despite that, her grandmother always made it clear how she cared for AJ, and her son was no longer the most important person in her life. That had always been the case, and for that AJ loved her. However in the current situation of she letting her mother in, she was loving her a little less at the moment. "I want you home, Aven."
"I'm not going back." She responded, shaking her head and twisting her tongue in her mouth.
"I let you stay." Her voice was stern, almost frightening. "I let you stay to cool off and get better. But enough is enough. People are wondering why my daughter isn't living with me." She stood from her seat, her heels causing her to tower over her daughter. Whenever she wasn't in work, she had the classic housewife style. The expensive dresses and perfect posture - all of it. It was the only time she could enjoy what she could afford, otherwise it was work uniform and tied up hair.
Ever since AJ could remember, her mother had an obsession with public image. She cared a lot about the opinions of others, and that only ever got worse with time. Especially after marrying the mayor. And deep down she knew she cared about her children too, but the incessant need clouded any view of love and affection from her after a certain point. AJ had seen her once be exactly what she was meant to be - a mother. But that faded in time when AJ started to become more rebellious after her divorce. Some days she would find herself weighed down by guilt for her actions, and others she wished Daniella Jones would be a mother, not the mayor's wife.
"You can't just come here and force me to go back."
"You're my daughter and you're sixteen. I can make you do whatever I want." She pressed further with a cold tone that haunted AJ. In moments like these, she reminisced on the days her mother would be kinder. When she'd wash her hair and braid it into pigtails, decorate the curls with the flowers from her mother-in-law's shop and give a warm domestic smile to her innocently oblivious daughter beaming back at her. When she'd tuck her into bed and sing to her some kind of Pink Floyd or AC/DC song, warning her of make-believe bedbugs and promising to defeat any monsters under her bed. With time, this angelic woman from AJ's memory had become the cold eyes she glared into now.
"I'm not going back there. I can't." Her voice became unstable but her glare remained firm, physically backing away from her mother.
"Baby, you're safer at home." The woman almost pleaded, her cold demeanour faltering in exposure of the masked care for her daughter. At the end of the day, she would always love her. "The house has better security- he isn't coming back-"
"Stop." Harshly pressing her teeth together to attempt to drag her tears away, her throat tightened at the memories so suddenly being shoved into the light again - after AJ had spent forever hiding it way into the dark corners of her mind. Her stomach flipped, trying to think of anything but what her mother was referring to. The colour of the walls. The number of pillows. The seconds of silence passing by.
"Daniella..." AJ's grandmother finally spoke up, seeing the situation going too far. "Maybe you should give her some more time. You can set her up with some professional help, and she can stay here to see how it goes." She suggested cautiously.
"What?" AJ's voice was broken, in disbelief of the situation. She felt so trapped, watching as her mother appeared to consider the suggestion - neither one of them taking into consideration that the person whose life they were making decisions for was directly in front of them. Her mother turned to the older woman, "A month." AJ shook her head, but her pleads where ignored. "A month with a therapist and we'll see if there's improvements." Despite her efforts, a tear rolled down her eye. "No." She breathed out, watching helplessly as the decision was made final. Her mother gave her a final cold glance, before walking past her to the door and taking her leave. She practically walked through her like a ghost - could barely look in her eyes. Sometimes AJ wanted her mother to love her not just because she was her daughter but because she really loved her. But because of her father, she couldn't unsee him.
A painful silence bled into the room, gushing a violent distance of betrayal between the brunette and her grandmother. "It's for your own good." She spoke softly, truly believing she was helping, since that was all she wanted to do. "And it gives you longer here."
The glare through her tears was cold and thunderous. She remained silent, balling up her fists. She couldn't stay there. Her problems always found a way to infect her life, follow her like a demon haunting her memories. What was once the sanctuary from all she wished to forget, became the place she once again was relentlessly reminded of it. Unable to bare staying within the drowning feeling that flooded the room, AJ swiftly grabbed her keys and walked to the front door. She ignored her grandmother's protests and questions, slamming the door behind her as she began her walk to the last place she had left.
The chateau.
knocking frantically on the door, AJ painfully painted on a smile and awaited John B to open the door. She could faintly see his face through the window, his puzzled expression following as the door was gently pulled open. "Hey." AJ smiled weakly. "Can I crash here?". Aven Jones showing up on John B's doorstep wasn't abnormal to him by now. However as of recently, it had been happening so often that it seriously concerned him. And after her drunken state not long ago, John B began to wonder if AJ was as 'perfectly fine' as she said she was. "You might as well move in at this point." He welcomed her, moving aside. She scoffed at his comment as her eyes wandered the room, seeing JJ passed out on the sofa bed, causing her to roll her eyes in amusement. She eventually wandered to the spare room that she or JJ had become accustomed to sleeping in. By this point the chateau was practically a hotel.
John B followed her into the bedroom and closed the door in order to not wake up the blonde. "Can I borrow a shirt to sleep in?"
"Yeah, sure." He dismissed quickly. The concern lingering in his mind about her reasoning for showing up unannounced eventually drowned out any reluctances to spare an argument or her defensive habits. "What happened?"
"Nothing. Gram just snores a lot, okay? It's hard to sleep." She laughed falsely, avoiding eye contact as she kicked off her shoes and sat down on the messy bed. She tied her hair up with the black band on her wrist to occupy her shaking hands.
"I'm serious, Av. What happened?" His voice was stern; like he was frustrated with how often AJ pushed him away. But his concerns only distanced them further, as she rolled her eyes and dragged her hands through her hair and down her face in a deep sigh. She was exhausted, and had gone from one difficult conversation to another. "Talk to me."
"Nothing happened, okay? Can you back off?" She responded coldly. "I'm so fucking sick of people worrying about me." She didn't feel in control, she felt small. Like everyone was looking at her like some charity case, like an abandoned puppy on the side of the road. She hated that look. She hated that conversation. And she just wanted a place to be able to run from it. But once again she felt the blood seeping through the cracks of her bandage of false smiles and lies. Once again her past crept through the walls and pooled the floors in the deep dark black of the memories she desperately wanted to avoid.
"Well, 'm sorry, dude, but it's kind of part of the deal with having friends." John B furrowed his brows, responding firmly in disbelief of her coldness. "You're the one that came here. What did you expect? I wouldn't care?"
With her hands covering her face, she sighed, dragging them down and standing from her seat to rummage the drawers for a clean shirt. "I don't wanna talk about it, Bree." Eventually she managed to find a shirt that smelt clean, closing the drawer behind her and finally turning around to face her friend. He was stubborn; he wanted to continue their conversation. "Look, either you leave and I go to bed, or you kick me out and I'll find someplace else to crash." She spoke harshly, despite the fact she had nowhere else to go. She figured she'd find a place on the beach to sleep - set up a fire in a cave like a traditional hobo.
Fortunately, he clenched his jaw and sighed before exiting the room. He went to bed and left the conversation, knowing he wouldn't get anything out of it if he continued to push her. Sat alone in the dim light of the fractured lamp on the nightstand, AJ pressed her lips together in an attempt to swallow the tears reddening her face. Her chest felt hollow. Like a black hole consumed her insides and ripped her apart. She just wanted to sleep. Pulling her clothes off her body, she dragged the discarded blue shirt over her head. She wasn't entirely sure who's it was, but this time she didn't have the energy to care. Besides, she planned on waking up early to get dressed and leave without a painful interaction between her and John B. She just needed some time to be alone.
Climbing into the creaky bed, eventually she managed to drift off to sleep.
AUTHORS NOTE
lots of depressing shit went down this chapter. figured i'd spoil y'all with some tears since I ghosted for nearly a year. i still love this book, and rereading it and all you're comments has made me overwhelmingly happy and motivated. seriously, to everyone who's commented and voted I love you so fucking much, you guys are hilarious. i love to see you get just as excited about the plot as i am and i encourage you to keep it up. its literally my favourite thing to read.
i can't guarantee when my next chapter will be, but i promise ill keep writing as soon as I have the time and motivation. i've had a stressful few months but after rewatching obx I've rediscovered my obsession with it.
hope you're all doing well! :)
stay hydrated & ilysm <3