CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
XXIV. FAIRY LIGHT COVERED TREES
AFTER JULIET'S LITTLE BREAKDOWN OUTSIDE OF BARRY'S PLACE, JOHN B HAD DROVE THEM ALL BACK TO THE WRECK. Kiara told him that it wasn't open so it was free for them to sit and talk. Not that Juliet wanted to talk, she was still annoyed at them all for making JJ feel the need to run off on his own and now they had no idea where he was. And Juliet knew there was a chance, a big chance, he'd gone home and she hated to think what would happen if he had.
"Look, he'll come around, all right? It's....he's doing a JJ thing." John B told the group, watching as Juliet continued to pace in front of the table him, Sarah and Kiara were sitting at.
"You think he'll go home?" Kiara asked, looking from John B to Pope.
Pope almost shook his head. "There's about a zero percent chance that JJ goes home." He told her but Juliet didn't agree. He had the money to pay his restitution, why wouldn't he go home?
"He might. If he has the money, he might give it to his dad for the restitution." Juliet said, stopping in front of Pope. It was the first time she'd stopped since they'd gotten there. Juliet could never stay still when she was worried.
No one had replied to Juliet, knowing she was probably right. And even if they didn't agree, they weren't going to argue with her. No one knew JJ like Juliet did, it would be pointless to argue with her about it.
The group was silent, apart from Sarah and John B whispering to each other, till Pope spoke up about the gold. Juliet had almost forgotten that's what the whole thing was over. "Okay. It's too dangerous to pawn this thing off piecemeal. So our best bet is to go down there and get the rest of it. Bring it all up at once. Put it in a safe or a vault or something. I don't know. Just until we can find someone who won't rip us off." He told them, standing in front of the table that the others were sitting on, mostly looking at John B. "I can go figure it out tonight, get it all done and we can be out there as early as tomorrow morning." He said, making up the plan in his head on the spot.
"All right, let's do it." John B said, agreeing with Pope and nodding his head.
"Easy."
But it wasn't that easy. "What about that thing with my dad?" Sarah asked John B, making him remember what he agreed to.
He suddenly remembered that he agreed to hand out with Ward the next morning. "Shit." He mumbled, making the others look at him confused.
"What thing?" Juliet asked, crossing her arms over her chest and titling her head to the side.
"I have to go fishing with Ward." He told her, looking around before meeting her stare.
Juliet sighed, closing her eyes before turning around in annoyance. "You can't get four hundred mil 'cause you're gonna go kill fish?" Kiara questioned, equally as annoyed. The gold had to be more important than fishing with Ward Cameron.
John B understood their annoyance but he had no choice. "Look, I have to go."
"Blow it off. It's four hundred million in gold!" Pope had said and Juliet had agreed with him.
"Make something up!" Kiara added.
John B sighed before explaining himself. "Look, I-I have to, okay? He...he saved me, all right? And it it wasn't for Ward I'd be in foster care." Juliet scoffed at his words. John B wasn't exactly on his death bed. "So....I have to go. Plus, it'll be better to do it at night." He paused. "Right?" He asked, looking between his friends.
Kiara and Juliet pulled a face, choosing to ignore him and Pope sighed before answering. "Fine, fine. Go fishing." He said, not having the energy to argue with him.
"And at least JJ will have probably washed up by then." Kiara then said, trying to think of the positives of waiting. JJ usually turned up the day after he fought with the group but sometimes, he waited a few more days. And sometimes, he wouldn't turn up till someone tried finding him or reached out and that someone was usually Juliet.
"Yeah, you hope so." Juliet muttered, almost spitefully. It was their fault he'd even disappeared in the first place.
Kiara almost wanted to roll her eyes, Juliet needed to stop worrying. "Jules, he's gonna be fine." She was sure that JJ would be okay and turn up tomorrow.
"You don't know that, okay?" Juliet snapped again, feeling tears begin to pool in her eyes. Juliet was so worried about JJ being at home. Luke was unpredictable, Juliet had seen it first hand. So there was no telling what kind of damage Luke would do to JJ, despite him bringing back the money he needed to pay off his restitution.
"He usually is!"
Kiara's words were only making Juliet more angry and were definitely not putting her mind at ease. "You haven't know him as long as I have, okay! Me and John B have seen him go off the rails more times than we can count, he's not okay." Juliet's voice was hoarse and filled with fear. Kiara didn't blame her for snapping at her either. "None of you get it." Juliet said, shaking her head as she blinked back the salty tears.
The blonde girl then decided to leave alone. She told the others that she needed a breather and that she was going home, she also asked them to let her know if they decided to do anything else. Juliet wasn't mad at Kiara or any of the others, but she just needed to be alone for a while. Being around the others wasn't helping her at all. So Juliet went home and hoped that it would calm her down but not even five minutes of being inside her house, she was being cornered by her brother.
"We need to speak, right now." Tyler was pulling her into the dining room away from their mother, who was in the living room.
Juliet frowned as she looked up at her brother after he let go of her wrist. "What's wrong?" She asked, she'd never seen Tyler like that before. He looked angry and scared.
"You'll never guess who I just bumped into?" He asked, raising his eyebrows at his sister. But he didn't even give her time to think and answer before he continued. "Barry." Juliet's face immediately dropped, as well as her heart.
"Oh....." Juliet muttered, casting her eyes down to the floor. How was she meant to explain what had happened that morning?
Tyler took a step closer to his little sister so he didn't have to raise his voice like he wanted to but his tone was still harsh. "What the fuck do you think you're doing stealing thirty thousand dollars from a fucking drug dealer, Jules! Are you crazy?" He said, almost whispering. When Barry had told him what Juliet and her friends had done, he was furious that she'd put herself in that situation. But obviously, Barry left out the part where he had held them all at gun point.
"It wasn't me! It was JJ, I couldn't stop him." Juliet quickly said, deflecting the blame off her and onto her boyfriend. She didn't want to but Tyler was so angry that she didn't know what else to do.
Her brother groaned in frustration. "But Barry thinks it was all of you! You know exactly what he's capable of and he thinks you're responsible." Tyler said, knowing how dangerous Barry was. "And no doubt he paid Rafe a visit about Sarah."
"JJ was just angry! Barry jumped us, held a fucking gun to my head and JJ lost it, stole the money and was going to use it to pay his restitution. There was no stopping him, he needed that money." Juliet explained, raising her voice as she grew frustrated too. Barry had a gun to their heads, she really didn't need to be scolded for the money after that.
And Tyler didn't even seem to be phased by the part about the gun. "Doesn't make it okay!" He told her, which she knew. But she didn't take the money. If it was up to her then they wouldn't have even gone to Barry's place.
Juliet had rolled her eyes at her brother. "I know that, Tyler. I'm not stupid." She snapped before letting out a sigh. "Look, when JJ shows up I'll see if I can get the money back, if he hasn't already used it." Juliet told Tyler before walking away from him and heading upstairs. Juliet wasn't in her room for very long and she hadn't lied down for that long either before she fell asleep. She must've been so exhausted that she didn't even realise she was that tired and in need of rest.
So this had meant every one of Kiara's text messages went unseen by the blonde girl and her phone calls went through to voicemail. And was why Kiara and Pope had ended up knocking on her front door. Paul had answered the door, as he'd returned home by the time they'd arrived, and greeted both teens with smiles and invited them in. He wasn't aware that Juliet was asleep but he knew she'd been in her room so he let them upstairs. Kiara didn't hesitate to wake the girl up when she walked into her room, immediately shaking her awake. She then told her about them heading to the Chateau to sort out the equipment for getting the gold and Kiara added that JJ might have washed up there to persuade her to join them. So of course she did, Juliet needed to know JJ was okay and seen as he hadn't shown up at her house yet, he was either at the Chateau or at home. There was a fifty percent chance he was there so Juliet had to go.
As Juliet was still not off the hook with her mom with the stunt she pulled at Midsummers, Juliet wasn't sure that she'd let her leave so late but as soon as she told Maria that JJ was in trouble, she let her go. Maria guessed that it had something to do with his father so she wasn't going to keep Juliet from trying to help him.
Pope drove them to the Chateau in his dad's truck, with most of the equipment in the back. They had also decided to leave everything at the Chateau seen as no one was staying there at the moment. "This has got to be done before my scholarship interview in the morning." Pope said as he pulled up at the Chateau.
"Okay, well, we gotta focus." Kiara had said, looking past Juliet who was sitting in the middle of them.
Pope nodded, agreeing with her. "I know. It's gonna be fine. We got John B and JJ inside the well, and me up top. And you two and Sarah will be outside transporting." He added as the two unbuckled their seatbelts ready to get out the truck.
"Yeah, we got this." Kiara spoke as she opened her door and got out the truck. Pope followed her actions and the two met up at the back of the vehicle. The two continued to talk as Juliet stayed sitting in the truck, deciding to leave to two alone for a minute. She could hear them talking due to the opened windows but she didn't focus on their words and decided not to listen. Juliet wasn't focusing on anything, to busy worrying about JJ, till the sound of generators powering up filled her ears and rows of fairy lights lit up around them. She immediately exited the truck and gave her friends a questioning look.
"What the hell?" Pope muttered, looking equally as confused as the two girls. Juliet then decided to take the lead and see who the hell had decorated the Chateau in fairy lights. The sound of running water also filled her ears, making her even more confused as she already was. Even if JJ was at the Chateau like they were hoping, who put the fairy lights up? And what was the noise? These questions were instantly answered when Juliet saw JJ sitting in a hot tub with a pair of sunglasses on and a bottle of champagne in his hand.
Kiara and Pope weren't too far behind Juliet, seeing exactly what she was seeing. "What did you do, JJ?" Pope immediately said, standing beside the blonde girl who began to feel herself panicking. Something was very wrong, she could tell straight away.
JJ had a smirk across his face as he moved the glasses down his nose, looking over to top of them at his friends and girlfriend. The mixture of weed and alcohol flowing through his system made him act a completely different way than he usually would've been acting considering what had just happened to him. "I got a jet going straight in my butt right now. Y'all should get in immediately, you hear me?" JJ began to speak as he leaned over the side of the hot tub to grab a glass to begin pouring the champagne into. "Salud!" He cheered, before taking a swig of the alcohol from the bottle anyway.
"How much did this cost?" Pope asked him, looking around at all the lights and decorations he had. If he had to guess, he would've said at least twenty five grand.
JJ didn't even hesitate to answer his friend. "Uh...well, with the generator, the petrol and oh, hey express delivery.....pretty much all of it. Yeah." JJ was slurring his words as he answered, confirming that he was drunk.
"All of it?" Juliet's eyes widened in more shock.
"Yeah, all of it." JJ told her.
"You spent all the money in one day?" Pope asked, as if just to make sure he heard him right.
JJ smiled. "Yeah, burned a whole right through my pocket. But I mean, like, come on guys! Look at this!" JJ's voice went up a few pitches. "Finest in jet-based massage therapy, that's what they told me." JJ told them before examining their faces. Kiara looked pissed off, Pope too but a little less than her and Juliet just looked upset. "What?" JJ clearly didn't see the problem. "Cant a man have a little luxury in his life?" The weed and alcohol weren't only numbing his pain but his common sense and ability to realise what he was doing wrong too. "Come on! All this scrimpin' and scrapin'. I mean, like....guys, you only live once, right?" JJ had taken the sunglasses off, allowing Juliet to see his eyes properly and that's when she knew he was in pain. Something had happened with his dad, that was clear to her then. "Enough of this emotional shit. Get in the Cat's Ass. Come on."
"In the what?" Juliet's voice was quieter than it had been before, as if she was trying to stop herself from crying.
"In the Cat's Ass. That's what I named her." He told Juliet, laughing a little. But he was the only one who found it amusing. "Oh! Hey, yo. I almost forgot." JJ quickly said, leaning over to where he had the glasses, pressing a button. "Huh?" Water had started squirting out from the sides of the hot tub, over each other in front of JJ as the lights started changing colours. "Yeah, that's right. I know. Disco mode. That's right baby!" JJ thought it would impress them.
Pope had frowned, not understanding the point. He'd still spent all of the money he'd stolen, all thirty grand of it. "Are you kidding me? You could have paid for restitution!" He shouted, feeling himself getting more angry.
"Or literally given it to any charity!" Kiara added, also shouting. The two didn't understand why JJ had done it. They hadn't figured out what Juliet had.
And Pope wasn't done. "Or better yet, you could've helped us buy supplies to get the rest of the gold out of the well!" He shouted, again. This pushed JJ over the edge, this made him loose the amusement over the situation and break.
JJ had his eyes screwed shut, pinching his nose while he listened to Pope and Kiara shout at him, so when they finished JJ threw his arm out in front of him, splashing through the water before he stood up. "Okay, well, you know what! I didn't do that!" When JJ stood up, the water didn't even reach his hips. This allowed all three of them to see the damage that had been done to JJ. Juliet's eyes fell down his chest, past his chain and down to the large purple bruises covering his abdomen. They looked nasty and painful, making Juliet gasp as she placed her hand over her mouth while her eyes filled with tears. "I got a hot tub! For my friends. I got a hot tub for my friends! No, you know what? Screw friends. I got a hot tub for my family!" JJ told them, as Kiara and Pope's eyes continued to scan his body. The two were aware that JJ didn't get along with his dad and was why he stayed with John B or Juliet a lot of the time and they weren't completely unaware Luke hit his son because sometimes JJ would show up after going home with a few bruises on his face or a busted lip but they never every thought it was that bad. John B and Juliet were the only ones who knew the full extent to it and ever saw it so they were shocked in seeing the large bruises littering his body.
"JJ, what the hell?" Kiara muttered but JJ carried on speaking.
"I got this for you! Guys, look what I did for you! All right? Look at this!" JJ just wanted them to appreciate what he'd done, that he'd thought of them when using the money.
While JJ had been talking, Juliet had slowly approached the hot tub. She wanted nothing more than to just give JJ a hug and let him know that she was there for him, always. So that was exactly what she did. She slid off her shoes as she took another step closer to the hot tub. "JJ...."
"No, stop being emotional. It's fine, okay?" JJ noticed the look on Juliet's face, the one she usually had whenever JJ would see her after being hit by his father. "I mean, it's sweet, right?" He said, holding back his own tears. Then the next thing he knew, Juliet was swinging her legs over the side of the hot tub and submerging her legs in the warm water. The water immediately soaked her shorts, the water reaching her waist as she wasn't as tall as JJ, but that was the least of Juliet's worries. She then pulled JJ towards her, wrapping her arms around his neck. JJ hesitated a little before wrapping his arms around Juliet's figure as he rested his head on her shoulder. "I just couldn't do it." He began to sob. "I couldn't take it anymore." Juliet could feel the water from JJ soaking the front of her top but she didn't care. All she cared about in that moment was JJ and making sure he was okay.
"I know." Juliet whispered in his ear, running her one of her hands up and down his bare back. "Hey, it's okay. I'm here." She said, tightening her grip around him as his body began to shake.
The next words out of JJ's mouth made Juliet's heart sink in her chest. "I was gonna kill him." Her hand froze on his back and moved to the back of his head instead, as if she was trying to hold him closer. What JJ had said had been audible to Pope and Kiara as they watched the two hugging in the hot tub. The words JJ had said had immediately made them step forward and embrace the two, joining in on their hug. JJ had felt the two extra pairs of arms around him, making him cry even harder into Juliet's shoulder. "I just wanted to do the right thing." JJ mumbled to his friends, just wanting them to know that his intentions were good. Which they all understood and regretted getting mad at him without knowing the whole story.
"I know." Pope had told him, squeezing his arms around them all before pulling away. This prompted Kiara to pull away and then for Juliet to pull away too. She unwrapped her arms from JJ's neck and placed her hands on either side of his face.
"You're okay now." Juliet whispered to him as she pressed her forehead against his, her eyes closing with his. "I've got you." She added, nudging her nose against his own.
JJ's arms were still around Juliet's waist and she could feel his hands squeeze the bare skin of her waist briefly before he choked out a few words. "I'm sorry."
"No, no. You don't have to apologise for anything." Juliet immediately said, shaking her head against his. She didn't want him to apologise for anything. "I love you." She then whispered, quiet enough so that only he heard, as another tear fell down her face.
After a few more minutes of standing in that position, with Pope and Kiara watching to make sure their friend was okay, Juliet finally pulled away from JJ once he stopped crying. She smiled at him before getting out the hot tub and hoping he followed, which he did. The four then went inside the Chateau, where JJ took a seat on the sofa while the others stood in the kitchen together.
Juliet told them that it would probably be best if she stayed with JJ at the Chateau for the night. He obviously couldn't go home and he was in no state to go back to Juliet's house with other people around so she wanted to stay at the Chateau with him, at least then they'd be alone. Pope and Kiara agreed that was the best thing to do and decided they'd leave and give JJ some space. They didn't want to overwhelm him too much. So they left, leaving Juliet alone with JJ.
She then joined JJ of the sofa, slowly sitting beside him. Juliet made sure all of her movements were slow and JJ knew what she was doing, she didn't want to startle him. She knew what he was like after an incident with his father, he was always on edge. Juliet placed a hand on his arm gently and suggested that he could take a shower, he'd been in the hot tub a while and smelt like chlorine. And she also thought it might make him feel better if he took a warm shower.
JJ didn't say anything but he weakly nodded before standing up and walking through the Chateau to where the bathroom was. Juliet quickly followed, still wanting to make sure he was okay. "I'll be right out here, okay." She told him when they reached the door, letting him know she wasn't going anywhere. "Just let me know if you need anything." Juliet added before leaving him alone. He entered the bathroom and almost closed the door completely. There wasn't a reason to shut it all the way. Juliet then quickly rushed into the spare room, the one JJ always stayed in, and found some clothes for him to wear. She found some warm, dry clothes and then placed them on the sink in the bathroom. She'd slowly pushed the door open and just reached in to place the clothes on the side. The shower curtain was pulled all the way so JJ hadn't even realised.
The boy was in there for a good thirty minutes. Probably the longest shower JJ had ever taken and Juliet had started to worry a little. But she didn't want to go in there, say anything incase he was just taking his time. He needed it. While he'd been showering, Juliet had changed out of her clothes that had gotten wet. She took her shorts off and placed them over a chair in the kitchen to dry off, along with her top before changing into a hoodie she found in the spare room, that she assumed belonged to JJ, and a pair of shorts she had left there that she'd found in the bottom of a draw she'd been looking through. A pair of shorts she assumed she'd left there for whenever she slept over. Juliet had then been sitting on the bed waiting for JJ.
When he finally entered the room, wearing the clothes Juliet had left for him, he didn't say a word. He just walked around to the other side of the bed and laid down. Juliet now had her back to him from the way she'd already been sitting so she twisted around and sat cross legged beside him. She didn't want to cross any lines but she also just wanted to make sure he was okay. Usually when JJ got hurt, he'd turn up at Juliet's house which made her know that he needed her and wanted comfort from her but this time it was different. He hadn't done that so Juliet didn't know what he wanted. But she took the chance anyway, she slowly placed her hand over the top of his own and when he didn't pull away, she knew then it was okay.
"Are you feeling better?" She quietly said, rubbing her thumb up and down the back of his hand.
JJ didn't turn to look at Juliet when he spoke, continuing to stare at the ceiling. "Thank you." He said, just as quietly as Juliet had spoken.
Juliet shook her head, not that she needed to because JJ was looking. "You don't need to thank me for anything." She told him, giving his hand a squeeze. JJ didn't need to apologise for anything.
"I was a jerk." JJ said, finally turning his head to look at the girl. He had felt bad about taking the money now, putting his friends and Juliet in danger.
"You were angry, you were upset. You don't need to apologise for feeling those things." Juliet said, not wanting him beating himself up over what he'd done. Yeah, he'd acted like a jerk a little but it wasn't a big deal and there were more important things to worry about.
"I put you in danger." JJ said as he tried sitting up quickly but he couldn't, it was too painful so he lied back down on the bed.
"Hey, take it easy." Juliet quickly said, pushing him down. She ignored what JJ had said and decided to ask about the bruises. "C-Can I see?" She slowly asked, stuttering a little. Juliet didn't want JJ getting upset at her for asking. But he didn't. He lifted up the t-shirt he was wearing, showing Juliet the bruises. "Oh, JJ." Juliet mumbled, her hand gently trailing over his stomach and over the bruises.
"It's fine—"
Juliet didn't let JJ finish. "No, JJ, it's not." Juliet's fingers traced the now purple bruises scattering his chest. "You don't deserve this, you know that right?" JJ didn't answer her. "JJ?"
"Maybe I do." The words fell out his mouth so easily and it fuelled the subtle pain in Juliet's chest.
JJ had looked away from Juliet once again, not being able to look at her any longer. "Hey, no. Look at me." Juliet said, moving her hand to his arm from his chest. "You are amazing, okay? The most amazing person I know, the best person I know. Don't ever think you deserve any of this." She hated that he felt that way and there wasn't anything she could do about the reason why. She couldn't give him another father, another set of parents, a loving family to make him feel the way he deserved to feel.
JJ didn't say anything back to Juliet, he didn't know what to say. But he appreciated her words, not that they made everything okay but they certainly made him feel a little better. And he appreciated her more than she'd ever realise. When Juliet realised he wasn't going to reply, she spoke again. "W-What happened? Did he not want the money?" She didn't know whether it was appropriate to ask, but she didn't get it. He'd had the money that Luke had wanted so why did everything go south.
"He was happy, at first. But he didn't want to use it to pay for the restitution. He wanted to use it himself, gamble it. So I tried taking it back and then...." JJ trailed off, not being able to describe what happened next but Juliet was smart enough to work it out. "I nearly killed him, Jules. I was so angry." JJ mumbled, closing his eyes to stop the tears.
"But you didn't." Juliet scooted closer. "And he had no right hitting you like this." She told him. There was no reasoning and no excuse that would excuse and explain why Luke did the things he did to JJ.
JJ opened his eyes to see Juliet almost sitting over him. "I got my fair share of punches in." He told her as if he wanted her to be mad at him too. He wasn't completely innocent.
"He deserved it though." And it was true.
Juliet's words almost made JJ smile. "I don't deserve you." He told her, grabbing her hand to hold in his.
"Don't say that, of course you do." Juliet frowned as she moved to lay beside JJ. She leant up on her elbow so that she was almost looking down at him. "You do" She whispered, her eyes scanning his face before landing on his lips. There was still a tiny cut on the bottom one that hadn't healed completely yet from before. Juliet then moved her head down to meet his, planting a gently kiss on his lips. She pulled back before kissing him again, for longer.
When she finally pulled away, JJ stared up at her as she kept her face close, feeling nothing but love for the girl. A consuming amount of love that almost made him feel like he couldn't breathe. It was an indescribable, deep euphoric feeling that made him feel like he could do anything. "I love you." He had whispered, smiling genuinely for the first time that night.
Juliet smiled, nudging her nose against his. "I love you, JJ. So much." She whispered back, feeling the exact same way JJ was. Consumed with a love that she would risk it all for and would either be a blessing or destroy her from the inside.
NOTE
･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ ﾟ
anyways. jj deserves the world
poor baby🥺 hot tub scene still breaks my heart and it was very hard writing it with juliet
but i love them sm. they're so cute
hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! don't forget to vote and comment! let me know what y'all thought <33