Ophelia slams the door to the Volkswagen closed, rushing around the front, "Lia," Jj calls through the open driver's side window, "Seriously, when do you want me to bail you from this thing?"
Ophelia pushes her glasses up her nose, "I don't need you to bail me from anything, Jj. I'll be fine."
"It's Topper's family."
"Good point," Ophelia says, considering her options, "Three hours. Then come for me."
"Countin' down the minutes," Jj winks, and Ophelia rolls her eyes at him as she heads to the front door, her cheeks burning. Pope and Jj start to argue over what radio station to listen to, and Ophelia's amused as she enters her house.
Ophelia hears laughter in the living room, and she heads there, "Hi," She shyly says, entering the room, eyes landing on her Dads, Dr. Thorton, Topper's dad, and Topper Thorton himself, "Sorry I'm late. I lost track of time."
"It's alright, sweetheart," Michael says, "We were actually just talking about you."
Ophelia perks a brow, as she takes a free seat on the couch, "Don't worry," Dr. Thorton, Cynthia, assures, a glass of red wine in her hand, "All good things. Reid told us the story of you sneaking a chicken into the house when you lived on the farm in Kansas."
"Right, the chicken," Ophelia mutters, a certain wound from earlier in the day a little too fresh, "I was trying to paint a portrait of him, but he wouldn't sit still."
"Speaking of," Reid says, setting his wine on the coffee table, "Ophelia is actually putting her portfolio together for art schools."
"Well, that's exciting! What schools are you considering?" Cynthia asks, and Ophelia looks between her dads, who are giving her looks of encouragement.
Ophelia offers a tight smile, "Uh, Yale is the dream. Their program is one of the best in the country. But, I'm only sixteen so, I'm looking into a lot of places."
"Yes," Michael agrees, his tone a little braggy, "But you know me, a classic Columbia Alumni, I'm really just trying to get her to New York to see the school, and look into it's art program.
"Really?" Topper's dad asks, his nose turned up and his tone a little too judgemental for Ophelia's liking, "Art, what can you do with that?"
"Oh, lots of things, actually," Ophelia perks up, her eyes scanning the faces in the room. She does her best not to shrink under Topper's harsh glare, "Like my Dad, you can study art history, or be a gallery curator, a cartoonist, an architect, uh, the list goes on."
"What about you, Topper?" Reid asks, a smirk on his face, "Looking into any colleges? Oh! Your mother told me you got, what was it? Eighth at nationals this year?"
"Seventh, actually, sir," Topper corrects, and Ophelia has to stop herself from laughing at Michael taking a long sip from his wine glass, "I'm training up for next year, though. Should do a lot better."
Cynthia's lips press into a thin line, "He's looking into some schools under a general major," Ophelia winces slightly at the cold tone of the mother's voice, "His options are open."
"Right," Michael turns to Ophelia, "Ophelia, sweetheart, why don't you take Topper upstairs, show him your studio. You probably don't want to hang out with us anyways."
"Oh," Ophelia nods, standing to her feet, "Sure. Come on, Topper."
Topper is quiet as Ophelia leads the way upstairs, when she flicks on the light, she steps to the side, letting Topper look around the room. She has old work scattered on the walls and around the room, a few lamps, and a desk with some commission work that had been dropped off a few days before, "Cool," Topper mumbles, his eyes on an abstract piece.
"Thanks," Ophelia quietly mutters, not really knowing what to say, so, she starts rambling about the pieces. She explains some landscapes, an ethereal self-portrait she had almost torn apart with frustration, a few abstracts, and the textured portraits she did of the Pogues with a palette knife last summer. Ophelia grins when Topper inspects her latest painting, "That's Ophelia," She proudly chirps, "From Hamlet. She's also two months of my life, and if this were a gallery, she'd be the most expensive piece here." She also picks up the pair of air force ones and some air pods she's supposed to paint, "The shoes are for Scarlet, she wants me to paint something to do with the Harry Styles album, and the airpods are Kelce's. He wants to do a tribute for the 97-98' Chicago Bulls."
Topper nods, "If I brought a surfboard over, would you-"
"Yeah," Ophelia nods, accidentally cutting the boy off, "Yeah, I could do that. I just charge for some supplies and a bit of a service fee, but it's not bad."
"Right," Topper says, looking around the room. His eyes land on the portraits of the Pogues again, "Actually, forget it," Topper's eyes find Ophelia's again, and all she notices for a second is that they're the wrong shade of blue, "Are we just gonna forget about what happened the other night?"
Ophelia blinks at the blond, stunned for a second, "What?"
"Oh come on, Ophelia."
"No Topper, I-I remember what happened."
"Do you?" Topper asks, crossing his arms over his chest, an unimpressed look on his face, "It seems like you and your Pogues don't seem to remember your psycho boyfriend holding a gun to my head. Your move broski."
Ophelia's jaw drops, and she stammers out a response, "He's not my- uh, Jj's not my boyfriend, Topper."
"Did you know he had the piece?"
"Yes, but that's not important," Ophelia says, "I-I remember you throwing the first punch, and-and then literally trying to drown John B," Topper rolls his eyes, "I remember you not stopping even though everyone was screaming at you, so Jj did what he had to do and-"
"Oh, so you think I deserved the gun to my head?" Topper snaps.
Ophelia's eyebrows draw down in frustration, "I never said that."
"But it's what you meant-"
"God," Ophelia seethes, snapping, "Stop playing the victim, Topper."
Topper's jaw clenches, and Ophelia looks down at her fingers. She's not one for confrontation, in fact, she barely ever raises her voice. But, she'd do anything to defend her friends. So if Topper thinks he can slander her friends in front of her and she'd just roll over; He's dead wrong.
"Whatever," Topper spits, "Let's just smile, get through this dinner, and then stick to our sides of the island."
Opelia raises a brow, "Topper I live on Figure-"
"Pogues belong on The Cut," Topper spits, heading to the door and leaving the room. Ophelia rolls her eyes, muttering a string of curse words as she follows Topper down the stairs, pasting on a fake smile for the sake of her dads. She looks at the old clock on the wall, suddenly wishing Jj and the Pogues were there to bail her out of the dinner.
--
The meal is great, and Ophelia only speaks when spoken to. She listens to Cynthia and Medicine Dad joke about people at the hospital, Topper's Dad questioning Art Dad about the validity of his PhD (To which Michael had clapped back, asking about the validity of the Thorton man's job, thank god the wine-filled Cynthia laughed instead of starting an argument), and the parents trying to include and brag about their children as much as possible. Unfortunately for Topper, Ophelia is a better student than he is. This meant Ophelia had a smug look on her face, and Topper sent her glare through the entire meal.
Ophelia finishes dessert, a light angel food cake and fresh berries that the Thortons had brought, and starts collecting everyone's plates, bringing them to the kitchen and returning to the living room once she's done.
Then, a car horn blares from outside, and everyone looks at each other, confused. It goes off again and Ophelia looks at the clock, three hours on the dot, "Oh sorry," Ophelia says, looking at the Thortons, "I think that's my friends."
Reid raises a brow, unimpressed, "Your friends?" He echoes. Ophelia nods, "Would it kill them to come to the door, at least?"
"Five, four, three, two..." Ophelia counts, holding up her hand as she finishes, the doorbell goes off not once, but three times, "I'll be right back."
Standing up, Ophelia heads to the door, opening it to reveal both Pope and Jj, hushed, Ophelia whispers, "Get me the hell out of here," Then louder, she says, "Hey guys!" Looking past the boys, Ophelia spots John B in the volkswagen, he gives her a lazy wave, which she returns.
Jj and Pope step into the lavish home, and Ophelia closes the door behind them. Fortunately for her, both her dads, and all three Thortons have met them by the entrance. Ophelia would cringe at the look on Dr. Thorton's face at the sight of the boys, but she can't bring herself to care.
"Hi everyone," Jj immediately chirps, nodding at Topper, "Top, buddy, good to see you again."
"Sorry to interrupt," Pope politely says, elbowing Jj to make him stop talking, "We uh, we were hoping Ophelia would be able to come with us, we have an important thing."
Reid raises a brow, "An important thing?"
"Yeah," Jj nods, "A late birthday thing, to be specific. We weren't supposed to tell Ophelia, here, but you're forcing my hand here Reid-"
"Dr. Bowman."
"Right, Dr. Bowman," Jj repeats, his voice lowering slightly. The excuse would make sense, Ophelia's birthday was just a few weeks ago.
"Boys, I really wish we could let her go," Michael says, and Ophelia's heart drops slightly, "But we're about to start charades, the teams are even, and you had our girl all day today."
Ophelia can see the idea come to Jj's mind, his face lighting up, "That's fine, we can leave Pope here, he's great at charades! Pope, show 'em!"
Pope glares at Jj with wide eyes, sputtering slightly, "Uh, I'm really not-"
"You know what," Reid says, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose, "It's fine. Ophelia, go have fun, we'll talk later."
Ophelia tries to hide her grin as Jj picks up her backpack that she had left by the door. She gives an apologetic look to her parents, "I'm sorry, I had no idea they were coming," Ophelia says, lying poorly. Her eyes move to the Thortons, "I'm so sorry, it was really great to see you guys."
Cynthia and Topper's dad give the blonde girl a polite goodbye, and Topper just clenches his jaw. And with a smile, Ophelia slips out the door, Jj tugging her out by the hand. He leads her to the Volkswagen, and as soon as she's in the back with Pope, Jj sitting shotgun, she collapses across the floor, "You guys just pulled me out of hell. I love you. Seriously."
"Topper say anything nice about us?" John B teases from the front seat.
Ophelia sits up, "Doesn't he always?" She jokes as John B starts the car back up and pulls out of her driveway, heading towards town.
As he drives, John B turns his head, "Jj, switch with Ophelia."
"Why? It's my turn, bro."
"Just do it," Grumbling, Jj listens to John B, undoing his seatbelt and moving to the back. Ophelia crawls up to the front seat and pretends not to notice Jj's eyes on her rear end, "I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier," John B immediately says as Ophelia buckles in.
"When?"
"On the way to the lighthouse."
Ophelia shrugs, "Don't worry about it, John B, seriously. It was barely a thing, and I get it, you miss your dad. I miss him too."
John B gives his friend a small smile, "Thanks, Lia."
"What's my name, John B?"
"Okay, I have a question," Pope announces from the back seat, "How come you only let Jj call you a nickname?"
Ophelia turns her head, looking at Pope, "I learned a long time ago: If you tell Jj not to do something, he's just gonna do the thing more."
"That's true," Jj chimes, a smirk on his face, "Also because she likes me more than yall."
"Jj, shush," Ophelia scolds, looking back to Pope, "I also just don't really like nicknames. Couldn't tell you why."
Nodding, the answer being enough, John B pulls into The Wreck and parks. Pope hops out of the van, heading into the restaurant. While he's inside John B fills Ophelia in on the things she had missed. John B and Kiara had been caught by police, he had been fired from his job, and had another run in with the square groupers. Ophelia's eyes are wide on her best friend as he finishes his story, "Shit," She mutters, "That's intense."
John B is about to respond when Pope exits The Wreck, "She says she's not coming!"
"Why not?" Jj calls from the back, putting his head between the two front seats, he turns to John B, "What'd you do to her, John B?"
"You did something?" Ophelia echoes, her brow raised. John B just gives her an unamused look as he curses.
"Hang on," He says, getting out of the van, "I'll deal with it."
As John B heads inside, Ophelia turns to look at Jj, "What did he do?"
"Totally macked her."
"What?"
Jj nods, "Yeah, he told me. He kissed her."
Ophelia's mouth forms a small 'o', "But-but what about the rule? John B literally invented the rule! No Pogue on Po-"
"Come on, Ophelia," Jj says, "The rule is shit, you and I both know it."
"What?" Ophelia sputters, her eyes wide, "Wha-what do you mean?"
Jj's smirk is annoying as he leans back, not saying anything else to the blonde. He leaves her with a bundle of nerves floating in her head and her cheeks tinged pink. Pope gets in the van, raising a brow at the two blondes. One relaxed, and one extremely frazzled. You and I both know it.
Moments later, John B emerges from the Wreck, Kiara in tow. Ophelia moves to the back, allowing Kiara to have the front seat.
As they drive, they make a few stops, picking up some flashlights and headlamps as night falls on the OBX. Ophelia watches as Jj rolls a blunt with the supplies from his backpack. When he's done, he holds it up, "You mind if I just relax on this one? It's been a long day, and a lot of weird stuff's gone down. I'm just gonna lay low," Jj gestures to Pope, "Oh, did you want a hit of this?"
Pope holds his hand up, "I keep the signal clear."
Ophelia grabs the blunt from Jj's hand, inspecting it as her argues with Pope, "Dude, okay, do you understand that your problem is that you don't get creative?" Ophelia wordlessly unwraps the blunt on her leg, grabbing Jj's grinder from his lap and unscrewing the top, "If you got creative then-"
John B cuts Jj off just as Ophelia is putting more of the finely ground marijuana onto the rolling paper, "Look," John B says, "I know I was wrong about the lighthouse, alright? And-and pretty much wrong about everything else going on. But I-I was right about one thing, okay?" Ophelia screws the cap back on Jj's grinder, handing it back to him, he watches with impressed eyes as Ophelia starts to re-roll the paper, "My dad is trying to tell me something."
Licking the seal to make it stick, Ophelia quickly and masterfully finishes the blunt, handing it back to Jj. He carefully inspects it and there's only one word he would use to describe the blonde girl's work on the blunt. Fat, with a PH. Phat. Jj looks over at Ophelia, seeming slightly stunned, "Marry me," He says.
Ophelia laughs, "Only if you share."
So, Jj pops one end of it into his mouth, lighting the other with his zippo. After taking a large inhale and sighing in content, he hands it to Ophelia, who does the same. This is practically routine for them, Ophelia and Jj both sharing the same love for weed.
Luckily, John B waits until Ophelia and Jj finish off the blunt to drag the group out to the cemetery. If Ophelia wasn't stoned out of her mind, she probably would have protested. But, she's relaxed, a flashlight in hand, the whites of her eyes tinted pink, and she doesn't have a care in the world.
John B leads them down a path and Kiara says, "This place is scary. John B what are we doing?" Ophelia lags behind the group slightly, her strides slightly slower than usual, but Jj hands back for her, making sure she doesn't accidentally get left behind.
"You know how you're trying to remember a song and you can't remember who sings it?" Kiara mutters a response in agreement, "So, Redfield, this whole time I thought it was a place, right? But it's not a place," The group comes to a stop at an old, vine covered, mausoleum, "It's a person."
"Voi-effing-la," Jj chimes, and Ophelia adjusts her glasses, impressed.
"See, my great-great grandmother, Olivia Redfield. That was her maiden name," John B explains.
There's a small pause, and Ophelia looks around at the group, "Now what?"
"Help me with the door, come on," John B demands. So, on the count of three, all three boys start pushing on the big, cement door of the grave, each of them grunting as they do so.
"This door is like, seven hundred pounds, man," Pope says, "It's not gonna budge."
Ophelia steps forward, starting to push on it as well as Jj says, "We didn't come this far to get this far, right? We got this."
Then, there's a loud hiss by Ophelia, and her eyes widen. She lets out a small scream, scrambling backwards, all the boys follow, backing up as the snake slithers out from it's hiding spot. Ophelia scrambles to Jj, who is closest to her, hiding behind the boy. She hates snakes, "That's a moccasin, alright," Jj chirps holding out an arm to keep Ophelia behind him, she instinctively grabs onto it, clutching Jj for dear life as the snake disappears, "Ye olde Doctor Cottonmouth, death in tall grass!" Then, Jj starts barking at it loudly.
"Jj, shut up!" Kiara hisses.
Pope does the same, "You're gonna wake the frickin' dead, man!"
"They're afraid of dogs, everyone knows that, man," Jj reasons, looking down at Ophelia, who is still clutching his arm, "You good, Lia?"
Realizing her compromising position, Ophelia widens her eyes and releases Jj, "Yeah-yeah, sorry," She says, hoping he can't see her cheeks turning pink, "I just-I hate snakes."
"Hey," Jj shrugs, a smirk on his lips, "I wasn't complaining."
Ophelia goes to take a step forward, but Jj grabs her hand, keeping her in place, "Hold on, if there's one, there's probably dozens."
"What?" Pope asks.
Kiara's eyes grow as wide as Ophelias, "Stop!" She complains, "You're scaring me!"
Jj starts barking again, and John B rolls his eyes at the blond, "Stop barking at the snakes!" Jj protests, and bickers with John B while Pope tries to quiet them.
"Shut up," The boy says, turning to face John B, "John, look, we're not gonna get in there, alright? It's not budging. We should probably just go."
Ophelia doesn't mind the idea, in fact, she's already thinking about the food John B may have at the Chateau when Kiara says, "I can get through."
"You can?" Ophelia wonders, her eyes looking to where Kiara's flashlight is pointing. A hole in the door. Ophelia's impressed, she probably wouldn't think of that.
"No, no, no, no," John B stutters out, "You think you're gonna fit through the hole? That hole?"
"Look, this is about your dad," Kiara states, slowly shaking her head, "And honestly, I really don't believe in it, but you deserve to know the truth. I'll do it," Kiara looks over at Ophelia, "Do you want to-"
"Absolutely not," Ophelia responds, shaking her head, "I'm good out here, thanks for thinkin' of me though." Kiara gives the blonde an amused expression, before both girls reach up, clearing the branches away from the opening, the boys reach up and help out too, muttering random strings of words as they do so.
"I'm gonna boost you," Jj says, leaning up against the door and locking his hands together, "I've seen it in the movies several times, ready?"
"Remind me what we're looking for," Kiara says, eyes trained on John B.
"You'll know when you see it," John B responds.
Ophelia raises a brow, "Cryptic," She mutters under her breath. Kiara tells Pope to hold her flashlight, and Ophelia offers the brunette girl a hand as she steps onto Jj's hands.
"Now, on the count of three," Jj says, but Kiara ignores him, climbing up right away, "Okay, never mind," Jj grunts, "Just forget about three."
Ophelia watches as Kiara climbs through the hole, her eyes scanning the tomb for more snakes, the thought of them making her skin crawl. Kiara calls for her flashlight, and Pope passes it through the opening.
"You alive?" John B calls, and Ophelia smacks his bicep, making him glare at her briefly, "You got, like, a heartbeat, and everything?"
"So far," Kiara's voice echoes.
Ophelia nods, "That's a good sign!" She calls back, immediately being hushed by a ever-nervous Pope.
Kiara's voice is quiet from inside, "Uh, I need some more light," John B nods his head, sticking his lantern into the mausoleum.
"Did you find something?" Jj chips, "Is it gold?
Then, Kiara's astonished voice echoes, "Oh my god," And the anticipation building in Ophelia is almost too much.
---
A/N:
Thank you for reading!!! I appreciate you!!! Please please please vote+comment, it means a lot!!!
Here we goooooo, I'm really excited for the next chapter, there's a very wholesome John B + Ophelia heart to heart. They're the best friendship heheheh.
Let me know what you think!!!