❛ ━━━━━ 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐃𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒 ❜
☼ ┊ 𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝑶𝑵𝑬 ... !
𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐮𝐭, 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝
📍 𝘒𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘐𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘖𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘉𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢
JULIET'S EYES SOFTLY FLUTTERED OPEN DUE to her head continuously rising up and down. she felt a hand tangled into her hair that was twirling the tendrils of soft hair, raising goosebumps on her scalp.
once juliet's eyes adjusted to the blinding light that flooded in from the open windows, she looked up to see rafe staring down at her with a soft smile. she smiled tiredly when she saw his face and rubbed at her eyes with a small yawn.
"hi." she smiled sheepishly and he chuckled deeply at her shyness.
"morning." he responded cheekily with a large smile.
juliet raised her head and looking around her bedroom. she noticed the amount of light shining in and how it signaled her that it was way later in the day. the two had been up late so it was no surprise they slept in. juliet dropped her head back into rafe's chest and began to trace her fingertips over his abs.
juliet's touch made goosebumps rise to the surface of rafe's tan chest. she was focused on her fingers but rafe stared down at her admiringly. it was weird how easily juliet could make rafe's heart race. even after being together the entire summer in secret, rafe still got nervous when juliet was around.
juliet's eyebrows furrowed lightly when she realized that rafe was still here, "what are you still doing here?"
rafe didn't normally stay the night that often. actually he did but he would normally leave quite early in fear of jj or juliet's father coming in.
"trying to get rid of me, are you?" rafe teased and reached his thumb up to rub away the crease between juliet's eyebrows.
"no no! you just don't stay that often is all." juliet explained quickly causing rage to smile softly.
"i sleep better here." rafe explained lowly, still staring down at juliet.
juliet felt the question linger on the tip of her tongue and she couldn't help but ask, "your dad still bothering you?"
rafe quickly cleared his throat, suddenly feeling like it was closing, and leaned his head back on juliet's pillows to look at her ceiling, "when doesn't he?"
rafes quick change of demeanor and sudden coldness was something that happened often whenever the topic of his father arose in conversation. he still had his arms around juliet but his lack of eye contact was his way of disconnecting and juliet knew this all too well.
juliet looked up at him, watching his jaw tighten, "do you want to talk about it?"
rafe was silent for a moment as the question hung in the air. juliet knew that it was either touch or go with this topic. rafe would either vent immediately or would push away the topic and exit the conversation as quickly as possible.
juliet watched rafe swallow before speaking slowly, "it's just...i'm going to get a job, juliet."
"i know that." juliet responded right away and she immediately knew what ward was messing with rafe about.
"my dad doesn't, he doesn't believe me when i say it. he doesn't believe in me, not even a little bit. i mean he can trust all these random clients but not his own fucking kid." rafe scoffed and juliet could feel his body tense up underneath her own.
"rafe..."
"you want to know what he said to me when i told him i was working on finding a job? he said that i was lazy, that i didn't want a job and that's why i don't have one." the words felt like they were falling out of his mouth.
he always found himself in this position with juliet. he had become comfortable fishy juliet, more comfortable than he has ever felt with anyone else, and that meant that he finally had someone to tell all of this too. one way or another, whether he wanted to or not, he would always tell juliet anything that was bothering him.
"i thought he was going to make you work for cameron development." juliet pointed out, confused on why ward was making rafe go on a job hunt.
"oh he is, this is all just a test. he is trying to prove that i can't succeed if i don't have it handed to me. that's why i need to find a job so that i can prove to him that i'm actually worth something, that i'm not just some daddy's boy." as rafe described the game that ward was playing, juliet felt her heart cave in.
before she really knew rafe, she had always considered him lucky. he had a father, a family, and a home. juliet barely had any of those things. her father was always absent, never home or around, and if he was home he was on drugs or drinking. though as she came to really know rafe she realized that just because someone's father is present doesn't mean they're better off than someone who's father isn't.
"you are worth something, rafe." juliet tried to assure rafe but he shook his head and let out a soft sigh.
"i just want to be good enough for him." he muttered in response, embarrassed by his own feelings.
"rafe," juliet let out a sigh and sat up while softly grabbing rafes face to force his eyes to look at hers, "it doesn't matter whether or not your father thinks your good enough. you don't have to prove anything to him. the only person that you need to be good enough for and prove yourself to is yourself. you are so much more than some rich daddy's boy. you are smart and ambitious and worthy. i know it's hard for you to see that but i see it. i see how much you're worth and if your father can't see that then he is blind."
as juliet goes to continue her speech rafe looks deeply into her eyes, feeling the weight of her words. juliet opened her mouth to continue her rant but rafe quickly cut her off, "juliet?"
"hm?" she hummed and turned to look him in the eyes.
unable to resist the overwhelming emotions, he gently cups her face in his hands and leans in, capturing her lips in a passionate and unexpected kiss. time seems to stand still as their connection grows stronger, sealing their bond in the magical moment.
rafes thumb gently caressed juliet's soft cheek and he continued to move his lips against hers. the softness and the taste of juliet's lips were absolutely insatiable, a feeling that rafe never wanted to stop experiencing. he wanted the moment to go on forever, for the rest of his life. he wanted to stay in juliet's bed with nothing but her and a blanket forever. they would be protected from everything bad in the world, his dad, her dad, the value of money, the world.
juliet slowly began to pull away but rafe leaned in further, trying to continue their kiss causing juliet to giggle at his neediness. rafe huffed at the fact juliet's lips had left his but he kept his forehead pressed against hers. he looked down at her with a soft smile and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.
"thank you." he whispered to her, genuinely grateful for her words.
"for the kiss or for what i said?" juliet teased causing rafe to narrow his eyes at her.
"shut up." he laughed, letting his head fall back as his body shook.
juliet laughed along with rafe and went to cuddle back up with him. though her movement was instantly stopped when her door knob began to shake and a voice was heard from the other side.
"joe?" jj's voice was muffled by the door and rafe and juliet instantly looked at each other with wide eyes.
"holy shit!" juliet whispered and the pair immediately hopped up out of their spots.
"joe, wake your ass up!" jj yelled from the other side of the door causing juliet to huff.
the pair ran around juliet's room, searching for their clothes that were taken off the night before. juliet quickly grabbed her t shirt from off her desk, confused on how it got there exactly but thought back to last night and almost giggled.
"i'm awake! one second!" she yelled back to jj as she quickly slid her shorts up her legs and adjusted them on her hips.
"my shirt! i need my shirt!" rafe ran around her room in search for his shirt while buttoning up his pants.
juliet began running around frantically as well, trying to fine rafes shirt as fast as possible. she opened the door to her closet, searching the ground for it frantically.
"where the hell is it?" juliet exclaimed with nervousness running through her tone.
"i don't know, you're the one who took it off!" rafe pointed at her in blame causing juliet to deadpan at him with an eye brow raise.
rafe put his hands up in surrender and continued to search.
"joe, cmon dude!" jj complained from outside the door, continuing to bang on the door roughly.
"i'm coming!" she screamed back as she dropped to her knees next to her head and practically shoved her entire body under it.
"aha!" she celebrated when her eyes caught the sight of his t shirt.
her fingers quickly grabbed the fabric and she slid out from under the bed and tried to stand. though her head wasn't completely out from under the bed and she smacked her head off the bed frame, "ow fuck!"
"oh my god, are you alright?" rafe quickly rushed over to juliet's side, attempting to help her up but she just shoved the shirt into his hands.
"i'm fine! go! go! go!" she quickly shook up and pushed him towards her window.
the two arrived at her window and rafe rushed to open it. though rafe turned around to look at juliet before he left.
"this is kinda fun, isn't it?" rafe smirked suggestively.
"yeah kinda." juliet couldn't help but admit with a giggle.
rafe climbed out of the window quickly, waving goodbye before running off. juliet pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and smiled widely. the butterflies that rafe left behind were always so strong and hard to deny. suddenly rafes head popped up next to her open window and she turned in surprise.
"what are you doing? you need to go!" she kneeled down so her and rafe could look each other in the eyes.
"i forgot something." he defended and juliet's eyebrows pulled together.
juliet looked behind her at her room but couldn't see any of rafes belongings, "what?"
rafe quickly leaned through the window and brought his lips to juliet's. juliet smiled into the kiss, almost giggling at the feeling of his lips on hers. the pair pulled away slowly, both breathing heavily with large smiles.
"that was so cheesy." juliet shook her head at their cheesy romcom like actions.
"had to do it." rage shrugged with a chuckle.
"bye." juliet smiled, her cheeks completely rosy with blush.
"bye baby." rafe smiled back, tapping the window seal twice before running away.
juliet let out a giggle that couldn't possibly be contained. rafe made her giddy, he made butterflies erupt in her stomach with two simple words. juliet leaned against the window and played with her bottom lip as she thought about rafe and tried to contain a smile. though the sound of jj's continuous knocking broke juliet out of her love sick haze and she quickly jogged over to the door.
juliet did one last double take at her room to make sure everything looked normal before she swung the door open, "what?"
"why was the door locked?" jj questioned with a curious look in his face as he sneakily looked around her room from over her shoulder.
"i was busy." juliet responded bluntly and leaned her body against the door to block jj's view of her room.
"busy doing what?" he interrogated further and juliet gulped.
juliet's eyes darted around as she tried to think of a good excuse but all she could come up with was, "...girl things."
"oh," jj looked apprehensive towards juliet's answer but and then his eyes widened suddenly, "oh! were you masterbating?"
juliet's eyes widened, parallel to her twin, and he jaw dropped in disgust "gross jj no!"
jj put his hands up in surrender and laughed, "it's a normal thing joe it's not a big deal if you were petting the-"
juliet gagged and reached her hand forward to slap her palm over jj's mouth, "oh my god! stop talking! what did you want?"
jj pushed juliet's hand off of his mouth and motioned his thumb behind him, "the pogues are here, we're going to jones' house in progress to drink. you coming?"
jj's words put an immediate smile on juliet's face. she and the pogues had been going to the jones house, that was currently being rebuilt to a home that was even fancier than before, to drink since the beginning of the summer.
it was a place for the pogues to relax and talk shit about the other side of the island. while the group had many places to hang out, mostly consisting of the chateau, they loved the jones' house simply for the exhilaration of the chase that went down between the group and the security guards.
"duh, let me get changed." juliet pushed jj out of her room and shut the door in his face in which jj just chuckled and walked away.
juliet leaned her back against the door with a sigh of relief that felt like it had been trapped in her throat. she smiled gently to herself as her gaze moved to her messy bed that she had previously been cuddled up with rafe in.
her and rafe had been together in secret since the very first moment they met. they were like two magnets who simply could not resist the force of their connection. they had almost instantly fallen for one another and neither of them had ever experienced anything like it. they were like two twin flames, two star crossed lovers who could never be separated. though juliet couldn't help but think about how messy their relationship could end if her friends ever found out.
the sound of john b honking snapped juliet out of her trance and she quickly jogged over to her closet. once she found an outfit that was comfortable enough to run in, an essential for the inevitable chase she was to embark on later, she quickly threw it on and grabbed her bag.
she turned off the lights in her room and shut the door as she exited. juliet's jog was filed by john b's continuous honking as she hurried through the living room. she shook her head in annoyance at the beer bottles that littered the house considering she had just clean the night before last.
"okay chill on the horn, thomas the train." juliet retorted as she climbed into the front seat of the twinkie.
when she wasn't met with an immediate snarky response she turned around with her eyebrows furrowed to see the boys staring at her with smirks and kie shaking her head in annoyance.
"what?" she questions the mischievous looks on all the boys faces.
"jj told us about how... busy you were." john b spoke with with a wide smirk and blushing cheeks which caused juliet's mouth to drop and she turned in her seat towards jj.
"i wasn't masterbating you dumbass!" she yelled and smacked jj on top off the head in which he immediately cupped in pain.
"ow! okay okay!" jj defended and juliet rolled her eyes and turned back towards the dash with a huff.
it was silent for a moment between the pogues before she heard her brother speak up again in a low tone.
"she was definitely masterbating."
"oh for sure." pope agreed with a nod of the head.
"yep." john b chimed in from the front and put the car in drive.
"shut up!" juliet groaned as the entire car erupted in laughter.
༝ ˚ ｡⋆ 𓇼 ⋆｡ ˚ ༝
"THEY'RE GONNA HAVE JAPANESE TOILETS WITH towel warmers." kiara rolled her eyes as she and juliet walked back onto the deck where the other boys remained after inspecting the new additions to the home.
"of course they are. why wouldn't they?" jj rhetorically asked as he took a sip of his beer.
"this used to be a turtle habitat but who cares about the turtles, i guess?" kie pursed her lips and shrugged in annoyance.
"bye bye franklin." juliet said sarcastically as she took a scan of the deck.
"i can't have cold towels." jj joked and kie rolled her eyes once more.
as juliet looked around the deck, she noticed that they were down one person. she huffed and looked up to see him balancing on one foot on top of the roof. she
took a puff of her cigarette and groaned when she realized that john b was back on the roof despite her constant warnings.
"can you maybe not kill yourself?" she questioned while looking up at one of her best friends.
"she says as the lung cancer grows inside her body with each puff." pope said under his breath causing juliet to flip him off while still looking up at john b.
"don't spill that beer! i'm not giving you another one." jj said before taking another swig of his own.
"why not? would you be sad?" john b questioned juliet with a cocky smile as he stared down at her.
juliet rolled her eyes and puffed her cigarette, "no, i'll be disgusted. i just bought these converse and i don't need blood on them."
"bought? more like stole." john b grumbled back, annoyed at his bad attempt at flirting.
"thrifted." juliet corrected him and looked down at her new shoes.
"yeah but at that low of a price you're practically robbing them blind." john b said causing juliet to chuckle.
"you sound like a walking ad for goodwill." she laughed and john b shrugged.
"if i was, i'd be rich-" his words were cut off by his beer can slipping out of his hand and tumbling down to the deck.
"woah, oh shit!" john b yelled and jj groaned.
"of course you dropped it right after i told you not to." jj mocked sarcastically while the girls laughed.
"good job, smart one." juliet called up to john b, squinting her eyes due to the sun.
"no!" john b groaned loudly while reaching out toward his spilled beer.
the sound of a car door slam was covered by john b's groaning but thankfully pope noticed it. he quickly peaked over the railing to see security guards hopping out of their car.
"hey, uh, security's here." pope warned causing all the teenagers stomachs to drop.
"boys are early today." john b commented while looking down at the guards.
"let's roll!" jj said, hopping up from his seat on the construction site and looking over the railing.
"pack it up boys! let's go!" juliet ushered her friends down from their spots.
"gary good to see you man!" jj yelled as he climbed down and waved to the guards.
"dammit jj! is your sister up there too?" gary yelled from the ground and juliet smiled and ran to the railing.
"course i am! no maybank left behind sir!" she put her hand to her forehead in a mock salute causing her twin to laugh.
"you guys are asking for it." kie chuckled and motioned the twins to follow the group to get away.
the group immediately began sprinting, dodging objects in the home whilst whooping in freedom. the teens laughed loudly as they sprinted towards the stairs, jj leading the group. jj broke off from the group, attempting to run to the front yard.
though as juliet ran towards the backyard the sight of gary running towards jj caught her eye, "jay, coming your way!"
his sisters words caused him to yell lightly when he came face to face with gary. he quickly turned on his toes, nearly falling, before running towards the back yard.
as juliet ran behind john b she suddenly felt hands on her hips and tugged away as fast as she could. she turned to see the other guard attempting to grab her and she scoffed.
"woah dude, you like touching little girls?" she asked sarcastically before finally escaping the man's grip and quickly running away.
she came to face the fence and saw john b turn around and motion her to keep coming with his fingers. he bent his knees and embraced juliet as she ran to him. his hands wrapped around her waist and he quickly helped her up and over the tall fence. he went after her, just barley missing the hands of the security guard.
the pair ran and immediately hopped into the twinkie, waiting in anticipation for their friends to join them. the teens smiled at one another as they tried to catch their breath. these were the types of moments that the group lived for.
kiara hopped in the back causing john b to start the twinkie and begin driving. he honked multiple times to rush pope and jj as he drove slow enough for them to catch up.
"fuck i hate running." juliet gasped for breath causing john b to chuckle at her exasperation.
"bus is leaving!" john b yelled as he watched his friends sprint after the twinkie in his rear view mirror.
juliet stuck her head out the passenger side window and banged on the car door whilst whooping, "cmon jay, daddy didn't raise no bitch!"
finally, after a long chase, jj and pope finally hopped in the back with a loud thud. the exhilaration caused the group to laugh loudly in joy as john b floored it.
"check out gary gunnin' for a raise!" pope laughed as the group looked through the open door to see gary running after them.
"cmon gary!" jj encouraged while they all laughed.
"you guys are going to give him a heart attack!" kie exclaimed whilst trying to get them to stop.
"hey, hand me that." juliet turned in her seat and motioned to a beer can in which pope quickly handed her.
she stuck her body out her window once again, jj joining her in sticking his head out the door. juliet shook the beer can at gary as the twins encouraged him to keep running while laughing.
"they don't pay you enough, bro!" jj laughed loudly, watching gary run as fast as he could.
"for your hard work! see you soon!" juliet tossed the beer at gary with a laugh and blew him a kiss.
the boys all laughed loudly while kie tried to get the twins to stop tormenting gary. jj and juliet put their heads back into the car while breathing heavily and trying to suppress their laughter.
"oh cmon! that sort of initiative is just begging to be punished." jj laughed as he defended himself to kie as she gave him a death stare.
"cmon, kie! we gave him a beer! when do we ever share?" juliet giggled while turning in her seat to look at kiara who sat in the back.
"oh shush, joe!" kie rolled her eyes playfully and juliet threw her head back with a laugh.
john b couldn't help but watch her in pure awe from the passenger seat as juliet let out her beautiful laugh. his smile grew wide as he watched the laughter fly from her mouth into the air, illuminating the space with the most beautiful song.
to john b, it felt like everytime he looked at joe time would slow down. the sun shined through the twinkie window, showcasing her freckle covered face and pink lips. the wind from outside drifted in and caused her hair to fly around unrulyingly. she did her best to tuck the long strands behind her hair but ultimately there was just too much hair.
in john b's opinion, this was one of the most beautiful and one of a kind sights someone could ever experience. juliet joe maybank in the flesh. her hair flying, her eyes wide with happiness, and her singing the most beautiful song of laughter. it was a sight that only the luckiest people would be able to experience.
juliet had launched into a story about some outrageous thing a kook said to her the other day when she noticed john b's eyes on her. she glanced at him quickly while continuing to talk and she couldn't help but get a tingle in her stomach. she finally turned her head fully and stared back at him, watching as his gaze change from her to the road every few seconds.
"want an autograph?" juliet teased with a smirk and john b looked away with a blush.
"on my chest actually." he nodded smugly, looking over at juliet with a cheesy smile causing her to laugh and shake her head.
juliet felt her cheeks become tinted and she quickly looked away from john b. she never really understood how john b had always had the ability to make her feel this way. it was hard to explain. she cared so much about rafe, he was her twin flame, yet she found herself resisting butterflies when john b would look at her.
as the twinkie zoomed past the outer banks welcome sign, juliet thought about how much she loved her life. she lived in the outer banks, quite literally paradise in earth. sure, it was the kind of place where you either had two jobs or two houses but she was surrounded by the sea and covered in sand.
there were also two tribes, despite obx being one island. she was also lucky enough to be apart of the better tribe known as the pogues. as they pulled onto figure eight, the rich side of the island, juliet looked around at the fancy houses and the people playing golf and almost chuckled to herself.
as the twinkie soared through the roads of figure eight many kooks turned and examined the car that was clearly out of place. as they drove past the island club, a few kooks from the kook academy were standing around, shotgunning beers.
"looking hot, joe!" one of the khaki covered kooks yelled, when he noticed juliet due to the open window, causing juliet to point her finger down at her throat while making a throw up sound. kie, pope, and john b all out their middle fingers out their windows and jj grabbed an empty beer can and chucked it out the window at the group of boys.
"do you even lift, bro?" jj yelled out the window in a douchey frat boy voice causing the van to erupt in laughter. juliet turned and held her fist up, jj tapped it with his and they both made explosion noises with laughing.
while there were hard times due to the maybanks lack of money and respect, she had the time of her life almost every single day with her friends and her twin brother. in a way she was more rich than the kooks, she had people who would die for her and people she would die for. she was ignored and neglected, some may see that as a bad thing and sure sometimes it is, but man was it awesome being invisible with her best friends.
juliet lived on the south side, or the cut, home of the working class that make a living bussing tables and running charters. in juliet's case however, she made a living via the druthers, ward cameron's extremely expensive yacht. that thing only remained fancy and running because of juliet's maintenance.
soon the twinkie came to a stop in front of none other than the cameron household and juliet released her seatbelt. the pogues groaned and complained when juliet told them that she had to be dropped off at the cameron's for a few hours. there was a big hurricane coming in soon and she had to make sure the druthers was latched in good before it hit.
"ugh i can't believe you actually work at this place." kiara scoffed while looking out her window at the large estate with a glare.
"me neither. i can just smell the polo tees and daddy issues radiating off of this place." jj added, looking at the home like it was some haunted house.
"daddy buy me a pony!" john b huffed mockingly with a dramatic sigh.
"daddy daddy i need a new car, this one is so out of season." pope added in a girly voice and the group laughed at his terrible impression.
juliet stayed silent though, knowing that they were all making fun of sarah whether they meant to or not. she could never tell the pogues about her friendship with sarah, they would be furious and would never truly give sarah a chance. that was also exactly why she couldn't tell any of them about rafe either.
"hey i don't see you guys complaining when i'm the one buying the beer you all drink." juliet pointed out while opening the car door and grabbing her belongings from the floor boards.
"it's busch light, not exactly a paycheck draining expense." kiara said, slight disgust in her tone considering the group couldn't exactly afford a better tasting beer.
"careful kie, your rich kid is showing." juliet teased, rolling her neck mockingly at kie in the back seat.
kie's mouth dropped and she let out a gasp, grabbing another empty beer can and chucking it at her best friend, "shut up!"
juliet shielded her face with a laugh as the can hit her in the shoulder. juliet finished grabbing her things and shut the passenger side door, leaning through the window to say goodbye.
"alright my children, be good! don't do anything i would do." she smiled cheekily and readjusted her bag on her shoulder.
"that's not the saying." pope pointed out and juliet narrowed her eyes at him.
"pope stop trying to silence women." she said bluntly causing popes eyes to widen.
"yeah, you sexist!" kie jumped in, sneaking a smirk at juliet.
"what?! i-" pope began profusely apologizing and defending himself causing juliet to chuckle as the back of the car erupted in voices.
"bye." she whispered and smiled a tight lipped smile at john b who's eyes were still planted on her.
"bye, joey." he smiled widely back as she turned on her converse covered feet and began walking away.
"wait, you're still coming to the bonfire tonight right?" john b yelled from the twinkie causing juliet to turn around.
"i wouldn't miss it for the world jb!" she yelled back, continuing to walk backwards, and blew kisses to her friends.
she turned around finally and walked towards the dock in the cameron's back yard. she threw a few cheeky smiles to the other workers who were working on things such as the garden and the pool. though she had been to tammy hill multiple times, the estate never failed to amaze her with its beauty.
she shook her head at the thought of how peaceful it must be to wake up and not have to worry about money or how you're going to eat that night. she finally approached the dock and walked down to the druthers entrance, hopping onto the deck and sliding the door open.
"ms. maybank?" she heard a familiar voice joke and the sound of footsteps running up the stairs from the cabin below.
"reporting for duty!" juliet straightened her back and put her hand to her forehead in a salute. she smiled largely when she saw sarah's blonde hair come into view as she saluted back with a laugh.
"thank god! i am so bored." sarah tackled her friend with a tight hug in which juliet returned with a giggle.
"you do know that i work here, right? i get paid to take care of the boat, not to entertain you." juliet pointed out but sarah rolled her eyes playfully.
"tomato tamato." she scoffed and dropped to the couch with a wave of her hand.
the two quickly engaged into conversation as juliet began her duties with the druthers. juliet told sarah about her run in with security an hour ago and sarah talks about her most recent topper drama while juliet tried not to throw up. juliet didn't hate topper but she definitely wasn't his biggest fan yet weirdly enough she would consider him a friend. she couldn't really not be considering he was her boyfriends best friend and one of her best friends boyfriends. to put in plainly, topper and juliet had a love hate relationship.
"i'm sorry, he did what?" juliet practically choked on her spit when the words of toppers most recent fuck yo left sarah's mouth.
"he agreed with me when i said the dress made me look fat!" sarah repeated and juliet's jaw dropped even further.
"who in the fuck does he think he is? i swear sometimes it's like flopper wants me to hit him with a car." she huffed and checked the pipes underneath the sink to make sure they weren't leaking.
"you don't have a car." sarah pointed out causing juliet to glare at her from her position on the ground,
"i'll buy one just to hit him with it." she responded matter a factly causing sarah to laugh as she watched juliet work.
"i thought i smelled innocence." a voice spoke sarcastically and juliet popped her head up from behind the counter to see rafe sliding the door closed behind him.
"you're so annoying." juliet rolled her eyes playfully as rafe approached her.
"you didn't think so last night." rafe raised his eyebrows with a smirk and bent down to kiss the top of juliet's head in which she returned with a slap on his shoulder.
rafe's words caused sarah to gag from her spot on the couch, "woah! little sister and best friend present!"
"unfortunately." rafe muttered under his breath, sarah's presence instantly annoying him.
"be nice." juliet ordered rafe as he helped her up from the ground which he rolled his eyes at.
"yeah rafe, be nice." sarah teased with an evil smirk and rafe simply ignored her presence to avoid further irritation in front of juliet.
rafe wrapped his arms around juliet's waist as she began writing down a few things to have ward check out with the boat. she smiled lightly to herself at the feeling of safety that spread through her body at his touch. she could feel rafe's strong heartbeat on her back and his head resting on her shoulder.
"who are we hitting with a car?" he questioned their previous conversation.
"flopper." juliet answered, the anger from the conversation that was interrupted coming back again.
"why?" rafe chuckled at the nickname juliet made for topper and her anger that she held when talking about him.
he never really had a problem with the love hate relationship that his girlfriend and best friend had. a small part of him found it slightly endearing, though he would never admit it.
"don't even get me started." sarah groaned, putting her face in her hands as she recounted her boyfriends words.
"is it that stupid dress shit?" rafe's words caused the two girls to gasp and juliet turned in his arms causing his grip to let go.
"he told you?!" the girls questioned in shock at the same time causing rafe to give them a weird look.
"kind of, he just told me that he thought the dress you asked about was ugly and then you started freaking out on him." rafe explained what was told to him by topper and the girls shook their heads in disbelief.
"that is not what he said. he said that the dress made me look fat!" sarah revealed causing rafe to burst out laughing but he quickly stopped when he saw the glare that juliet was giving him.
"well did it?" he asked but realized it was rude when juliet's glare deepened.
"rafe cameron!" she scolded causing him to put his hands up in surrender.
"don't get me wrong, the dress looked absolutely horrendous on me but he should never admit that!" sarah argued and rafe looked even more confused.
"so you would rather him lie to you?" he questioned and sarah groaned again.
"no! i would rather him tell me that other dresses suit me better." sarah offered up an alternative way that topper could have handled the situation.
"so you do want him to lie." rafe blatantly replied.
"no, she doesn't want him to lie. she wants him to be honest in a way that won't hurt her feelings." juliet intervened to try and explain further.
"but if the dress did make her look fat, shouldn't he tell her that?" rafe questioned and an idea popped into juliet's head.
"do i look fat?" she suddenly asked rafe causing his eyes to widen.
"what?" rafe gulped at the question.
"do i look fat?" juliet took a few steps back and motioned to her body.
"i feel like this is a trap." rafe said and juliet hugged.
"no, i'm being serious. do i look fat?" she repeated her question again and he shook his head.
"well, no." he answered and juliet raised an eyebrow.
"well?"
"no no! i didn't mean it like that! i was just trying to thi-" rafe began to freak out in fear that he hurt her feelings but her smile cut him off.
"you just proved my point. see how you were scared to hurt my feelings? he should have been honest with her while being aware of her feelings." juliet explained and rage put his hand on his heart and let out a sigh of relief.
"you scared the shit out of me." he exhaled while putting a hand on his chest with a relieved smile.
juliet and sarah chuckled at his previous worried expression and he glared at his girlfriend. he immediately bent down and positioned her waist on his shoulder before effortlessly throwing her up on his shoulder with one arm. juliet let out a loud laugh mixed with a scream as she was bent over his shoulder over six feet in the air.
as rafe spun her around, making her incredibly dizzy, the sound of the door sliding open caught their attention. rafe turned to look at the door and juliet tried her best to peak out from behind rafe's back as she was still over his shoulder.
in walked ward cameron and scooter grubbs, both with small smiles, "joe, are they bothering you again?"
"immensely!" juliet yelled desperately back to ward.
"rafe, put the girl down." ward ordered and rafe let out a sigh before carefully setting juliet back on the ground.
she stumbled lightly due to her dizziness from being spun around. though her spinning vision didn't stop her from noticing the way that wards presence made rafe stand up straighter and gulp lightly. she wished that she could comfort him but ward didn't necessarily know everything about her and rafe so she resisted. instead she turned her attention to scooter grubbs who stood by ward with a toolbox in hand.
"hey, mr. grubbs! how are you?" she questioned causing scooter to smile softly.
"i'm alive, joe." he answered bluntly causing her to giggle and shrug.
"fair enough."
"so scooter here is going to help you prep the druthers for agatha and then you can go ahead and head home." ward explained causing juliet to look confused.
"this early?" she asked, wondering if maybe she had done something wrong.
"there's a hurricane coming, sweetie. i don't want you to get caught up in it just because the druthers needs a wax." ward assured her and she smiled at his weird act of kindness.
even though ward had been nothing but kind to juliet, supplying her with a decent paying job and more, she couldn't help but feel uneasy around him. there was an eerie air around the man, maybe it was because of all the things rafe had told her about or maybe it was simply a gut feeling.
"thank you, mr. cameron."
"you keep my boat pretty enough to brag about, you call me ward." ward smiled at the maybank girl and she let out a small laugh and nodded.
"thank you, ward."
"though id appreciate it if you did it alone." he gave her a pointed look and motioned for sarah to follow him, "cmon sweetie."
"see you later?" sarah asked as she hopped up from the counter and joined her fathers side.
"course." juliet nodded as ward wrapped and arm around his daughter and began exiting the druthers.
"rafe, get working on those generators. don't make me ask twice." ward demanded in a stern tone causing rafe to nod immediately despite wards back being turned to him.
"yes sir." he responded as ward and sarah left the boat.
she could see the relaxation that took over rafe the second his father was gone but his shoulders still looked a little tight. juliet put her hands on his shoulders, massaging lightly and making him look to her.
"you alright?" she asked as she stared up at rafe's pale face.
he quickly glanced over at scooter and deflected from juliet's question, playing his feelings down, "fine. you want a ride home later?"
"to the beach actually?" she asked considering she was supposed to meet back up with the pogues for the bonfire.
"sure. come get me when you guys are done." he nodded and placed a swift kiss on her forehead before heading to the door.
"thank you." she called out as he left and he nodded.
juliet turned her attention back on scooter and noticed the mischievous look on his face. she raised her eyebrow at him and placed her hand on her hip.
"a maybank and a cameron? pigs can fly now?" scooter asked sarcastically, looking around the room mockingly.
"you hush or ill tell lana you're bullying me again." juliet chuckled and pointed a finger at scooter.
"tattletale." scooter grumbled before the two quickly got to work.
༝ ˚ ｡⋆ 𓇼 ⋆｡ ˚ ༝
JULIET PULLED RAFE'S CHAPEL HILL HOODIE over her body as she began to walk down the beach. she looked over her shoulder to see rafe watching her from his truck and she quickly blew him a kiss. he playfully grabbed the air, as if catching the kiss, and throwing it over his shoulder with a disgusted look. juliet shook her head and flipped him off playfully before continuing her walk.
she scoped her surroundings quickly to make sure that no one saw her hop out of rafe's truck. considering there was a hurricane coming the beach was practically empty. though the pogues never let a little weather ruin a good bonfire.
she walk for a while before she came up on the sight of her friends all around a makeshift fire pit. the fire was pretty small, a hint that pope had obviously made it. you would think with his smarts that he would be able to make a killer fire but that wasn't the case. anytime he made a fire it felt like sitting around a walmart candle.
"and she survives another day in the lions den!" pope cheers when he notices juliet approaching the group.
"i'm alive!" she threw her arms up in mock victory and the rest of her friends cheered loudly.
"what's for dinner?" jj immediately blurted as she finally arrived at the fire.
"oh hi, dear brother. my day was great, thank you so much for asking." juliet put a hand over her heart, pretending to be touched.
"how was your day? what's for dinner?" jj sarcastically asked, eagerly staring at the girl while awaiting an answer.
"pizza, you ass." she flicked his forehead and took a seat next to him in the sand.
"sweet!" he sang in a hugh pitched voice causing the group to chuckle.
while juliet got settled in the sand, she came to realize that one of her friends was missing. she was only surrounded by her twin brother, kie, and pope. her eyebrows scrunched in confusion and she looked around the circle.
"hey, where's jb?" she questioned her friends.
"over there." kie pointed behind the group where john b sat, shielded by some tall grass, "he's pretty sulky, i don't think his DCS meeting went very well."
juliet let out a small sigh of sadness at the fact that her best friend was inevitably going to end up in foster care. DCS had been on john b's ass ever since his father went missing. of course, he had uncle t so they laid off him for a while. that was before they came to the realization that uncle t was pretty much MIA and never in obx. now they continuously threaten him with foster care.
juliet wished that there was something, anything, that she could do to help john b. juliet was always a fixer, she always had solutions to problems and would do anything to help her friends out if they were in trouble. though after many sleepless nights trying to come up with a solution, she realized that there was almost nothing she could do to help.
"when are they going to lay off of him, man? he's trying his best." jj angrily stated with a scoff, shaking the beer bottle in his hand.
"of course he is but all they care about is that he's sixteen with no parent or guardian." juliet pointed out, saddened by the thought of john b being alone.
"we barley have a parent or guardian and they don't give a shit about us." jj spat while shaking his head and rolling his eyes.
the group went silent and jj stared down at the beer bottle resting in his hand with an angry expression. juliet felt her heart crumble slightly and guilt washed through her body. it was true, they barley saw their father and when they did he was either passed out or screaming at the twins.
though juliet had tried, since she was a kid, to be like a mom to jj. of course, she was his sister but she did everything in her power to take care of him. she did her best to make sure that jj had everything he needed. she sold her pokémon cards to buy jj new tennis shoes in fourth grade, quit volleyball to make sure jj would be picked up from soccer on time, and had stolen from grocery stores multiple times to make sure they had dinner. she had done all she could to make their life somewhat bearable but she knew that no matter what she did the hurt of not being loved by a parent would always stuck around.
"i'm trying my best here, jay." she sighed softly and picked up a handful of sand as a distraction.
jj looked over at his twin to see her small frown and he was quickly filled with guilt. he realized how insensitive it was of him to complain when juliet did everything to make sure they were taken care of. the only person he truly had in life was his twin, he had the pogues too but no one understood him the way his sister did.
juliet finally looked up to see jj's guilty expression as he spoke up, "i know, i'm sorry. thank you for being the only one who does try."
jj's words caused juliet to smile and she wrapped her arm around jj's neck. jj's arm snaked around her waist and hugged her back. she set her head on his shoulder and he set his on top of her head as they both smiled.
"love you." juliet admitted warmly and jj faked a gag.
"yeah yeah." he dismissed causing juliet to roll her eyes at his immaturity.
she quickly removed her arm from around his neck and grabbed the hood of his hoodie. she swiftly pulled the hoodie up and over his face, holding it there while he squirmed. kie and pope laughed loudly at the twins tomfoolery.
"joe, stop!" he complained as she kept the hood pulled over his face and he continued to thrash around.
jj smacked her leg with a loud slap causing her to let go at the stinging sensation. she quickly smacked the top of his head as he tried to fix his hood before standing up and making a quick getaway. juliet laughed as jj finally fixed his hood and flipped her off before she made her way towards where john b was.
"love you too!" jj yelled, responding to her earlier statement even though he had to fix his newly messy hair.
"i know!" she yelled back as she kept walking to john b.
she approached him to see him sitting with his arms resting on his knees and his head low. he looked like the was completely stuck in his mind, worrying about the uncontrollable. he was so focused that he didn't even notice juliet sit down by his side.
"hey." she smiled softly causing him to spin his head towards her quickly, surprised by her presence.
"hey." he responded lowly, moving his gaze back to the beach.
"i heard your meeting didn't go well." she brought up, hoping he would open up to her about it and she could help cheer him up.
"it went about as shitty as shitty could get." he muttered back with anger and sadness mixed in his tone.
"what happened?" juliet asked, also worried about the answer.
"the bride of frankenstein pretty much knows that uncle t is MIA." he sounded so incredibly defeated and it broke juliet's heart. normally he would never accept defeat, he would keep trying to think of a plan but this time felt different.
"and?"
"and i'm an unemancipated minor living on my own so they're going to come to the chateau tomorrow to talk to uncle t." he explained causing sigh.
"but he's not going to be there." she concluded, already knowing what this meant for him.
"exactly, uncle t in colorado means john b in foster care effective immediately." juliet looked at john b with slight surprise.
john b was never one to give up so easily. in fact he would keep going to the point it became ridiculous. when he put his mind to something he never let anything or anyone stop him.
"you know, i'm quite surprised." juliet admitted and he gave her a weird look.
"that they're going to put me in foster care?" he questioned.
"no, that you have given up so easily." juliet droned, sounding almost bored.
john b angrily scoffed at her blatant statement, "well what am i supposed to do, joe? i can't just summon uncle t out of thin air."
"of course you can't but you've never been the guy to go down without a fight." she admitted and john b shook his head at her. he was kind of annoyed by what she was saying and how little she was comforting him.
"yeah well i'm sick and tired of fighting, joe. my dad is missing, i almost flunked out last year, i have no job, and now i'm getting put in foster care. i've been fighting for nine months and i can't do it anymore." john b rambled on, his voice shaking.
though john b's rant only made juliet chuckle softly. his head whipped to her, seeing a smirk on her face as she stared out at the beach. he looked at her in pure utter confusion as to why she was finding his pain humorous.
"why are you laughing?" he asked with anger laced through his tone due to her seemingly insensitivity.
"i'm not, i'm not, i just..." juliet defended herself before pausing, "i just think you have so much potential that you don't even realize. i mean think about it, john b. you've had the worst possible year anyone could ever have and you're just now caving. you're strong as hell, we can all see it."
john b shook his head at her words, denying them completely, "i don't think giving up is considered strong."
"and i think you're wrong. you have fought through everything that has been thrown at you as a sixteen year old. you're so incredibly strong john b, you just haven't realized it yet." juliet stated matter factly, her tone light and empowering.
it was silent between the two for a few seconds. john b took in her words and felt so flattered that she saw so much worth in him that he had never been able to see. his world had been totally flipped upside down since his dad went missing and he never realized how strong he actually was to be able to deal with it all at such a young age.
"thank you." he whispered in appreciation of her words.
it was silent again and juliet couldn't help but blurt out what she was thinking, "don't give up yet."
"what?"
"don't give up yet. out of everything that you've been through these past few months, you're going to let a little foster care take you out?" she sarcastically asked and john b felt his insides deflate a little. he knew she was right but he hated to admit it.
"joe, my dad would want-" he started to try and excuse his surrendering but juliet quickly cut him off.
"your dad would want you to keep fighting, john b. he would laugh in your face if you told him that you were going to let DCS win." her words hit john b hard right in the heart. he knew his father well, but if anyone else knew his father like him it was juliet. they had all spent so much time together and john b knew she was so right.
"i say you hide from them. they can't put you in foster care if they can't find you." she joked but she also knew it was the only other option left.
john b laughed at her proposition, "and if they do find me?"
"then you run like hell." juliet answered and the pair laughed together.
john b had thought earlier that juliet was being insensitive to his feelings, that she was mocking his problems. though now he realized that the whole time she was laughing at him she was actually trying to reignite that spark in him that had died out. in that moment, he was more thankful for juliet than he ever had been before.
he words hit him hard and he knew that he couldn't give up. hell, it would be embarrassing to give up because of foster care after everything he had fought through. DCS was not going to stop him.
"you can never give up hope in the eternal struggle of the good versus the naughty, jb. you may lose the battle, but mischief always wins the war." john b smiled at her words as she smirked at him.
"you came up with that?" he suspiciously asked.
she was silent for a moment as she looked around mischievously, "no i saw it in a tv show but it sure felt cool to say."
the two bursted out into laughter and john b shook his head at his best friends antics. juliet sure did have a way of cheering up anyone and everyone when they needed it.
"it will all work itself out johnny, trust me." juliet placed a comforting hand on her best friends shoulder and he smiled a tight lipped smile.
"you sure?" he asked, wanting more reassurance because a part of him was still slightly doubtful.
"when have i ever lied to you?" she asked accusingly.
"when you stole my DS, broke it, and then gaslighted me into believing i never had a DS in the first place." john b bluntly responded and juliet went silent.
she couldn't think of anything to say so she faked confusion and asked, "what DS?"
john b shook his head and shoved her shoulder playfully. juliet and john b eventually rejoined the pogues by the fire and he quickly explained everything that happened with DCS to them. they all tried to conspire a few plans to avoid john b going into foster care. one plane was to trap the DCS worker in a large steel cage and then quickly flee to Yucatan before anyone could catch them... guess who came up with that one.
the rest of the night was filled with laughter and the normal pogue tomfoolery. though juliet felt herself space out a few times as she looked around at her friends and realized how strong every single one of them was. none of them had perfect lives, far from it in fact, and yet they all were happy. every single one of them.
it truly was crazy how much the pogues had been through for being so young. they were completely ignored by the rest of the outer banks, they barley had enough money to live day to day, and they all had troubling family lives. that's excluding pope of course. but they all had so much bad in their lives yet they were all able to focus on the good. their lives were completely hectic and crazy yet they lived every second of it.
though little did they know that the months to come would only get crazier.
𝗮𝘂𝗯𝘀 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝘀!
okay i'm not sure if i made
it super clear but her name is juliet
but everyone calls her joe bc it's
her middle name so no one
really calls her juliet besides rafe lol!
also so sorry this took so long to
get out!