Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
CHAPTER THIRTY THREE Trouble ‿︵‿︵‿︵
(PRESENT)
The movie was boring, yet she would rather watch it then dealing with JJ.
Once the two boys got up to go to the bathroom, Kiara took the opportunity to shuffle over the chairs. She stole JJ's empty seat besides Avery, making the blonde peel her eyes away from the screen. She looked at her weirdly, watching her awkwardly lean on the flimsy arm and stare up at her like an impatient child.
"What?" Avery kept her voice hushed, not wanting to disturb those around them.
"You know I'm trying to be a good friend again–"
"– We are not having this conversation, Carrera" Avery whispered, pointing a finger at the girl. Kiara scoffed a giggle and smacked her hand down, making the blonde yelp, sheepishly covering it up with a fake cough.
"This boy feels the same way, I know that for a fact. He always has felt that way" Kiara mumbled, pursing her lips as a smile was threatening to spread across her cheeks.
"Deny, deny, deny" Avery murmured and turned her head, trying to focus back on the projector screen. Her eyes drifted to the three figures that retraced JJ and Pope's footsteps through the audience.
"Look, you don't have to admit it. It doesn't take a genius to work it out. I think you should just talk to him, it really can't be that–"
"They are in trouble" Avery blurted out a little louder than she intended to. The chorus of shushes that followed her voice made her roll her eyes.
"What are you talking about?" Kiara mumbled with a frown.
"The boys, they are in trouble. I just saw the death squad follow them" Avery was cautious of her tone, slowly rising from her chair as Kiara took a moment to realise what she meant.
Her heart was pounding. Just the thought of what could be happening to her friend's right now frightened her. She knew that JJ could, and would, stand up for himself, and hoped that Pope would too. Pushing the horrible thoughts away, she lead the way with Kiara hot on her tail. Mumbling apologies to those that they passed, Avery couldn't focus on anything else.
"Get off of him! Stop!" Avery's throat burned at how loud she yelled.
Kelce had JJ in a lock, keeping him in place for Rafe to fire punches at him. She didn't think before running at Kelce, pummelling her fists against his back as hard as she could. His foot scooted back and collided with her ankles. The first knock wasn't enough to trip her but unfortunately, the second sent her to the ground.
"Avery! No, don't touch her!" JJ grunted. He worked up every ounce of strength he had to try to pull himself out of Kelce's grip.
Getting to her feet, Avery noticed Kiara clinging onto Topper's back. Her eyes widened as she noticed Rafe finally leave JJ alone, darting over towards her friend. She called out Kiara's name and scrambled to her feet. She cursed loudly as she failed to reach them in time, resulting in Rafe picking Kiara off Topper and dropping her to the ground.
"Kie!" Avery gasped, overly relieved to see her roll over. She jumped in front of Rafe before he could go back towards JJ, shoving him back with all she could master, making him stumble back. "Don't you dare!"
"Stay out of this, Avery," Rafe growled. She didn't like the way his tone soften as he spoke again, "I don't want to hurt you"
"Would you hit a girl?" She spat. Her tone was venomous, hardly even sounding like herself.
"Avery, come on," He cracked a smile and put his hands out. Ignoring him, she launched forward and pushed him again, and again. "Avery– stop!"
Something clicked inside the Kook and he couldn't stop himself from grabbing her. His hands wrapped around her neck, feeling her gasp as he tightened his grip. They were close. She could feel his hot breath fanning her face and his chest was pressed against hers, both heaving. Pushing up onto her tiptoes, she raised her hands and cradled his hand, her shaking fingers struggled to peel his grip off of her.
"Stop! Let go of her!" JJ's yelling was faint. Kelce quickly locked his neck in his arms, quietening him. The blond thrashed around desperately, caring more about his best friend than himself in that moment.
Through her blurry eyes, Avery saw an orange glow cast over Rafe's face and a sudden wave of heat hit her. She blinked at Rafe, tears falling from her eyes as she choked for a breath. For a moment, she wasn't convinced he was going to let go. Even in the heat of the moment, she couldn't help but notice something flash past his dark blue eyes, and how as soon as it happened, he dropped her.
Her body collided with the grassy ground. She immediately smacked her hand over her chest and coughed, wheezing for air. Avery blinked rapidly as her eyes readjusted and she pushed out the last of her tears. Her body was about to go limp when two hands grabbed her shoulders, causing her slump up.
"Hi" Avery weakly said, trying to master up a smile at the sight of the blue eyed boy in front of her.
"Hi," He breathed out. JJ moved one of his hands from her shoulder to the side of her neck, creeping up to cup her cheek. She melted into his touch. "You nearly died, stupid"
"You think you could get rid of me that easily?" She regretted chuckling, feeling pain radiate through her neck.
Noticing her discomfort, JJ brought his other hand and carefully traced the red mark coming to the surface already. He gritted his teeth, popping his jaw as his blood boiled. Avery sighed and reached up, grabbing and squashing his face in her hands. It was enough to make him crack a smile and ease a little.
"Can we go home?" She whispered, staring up at him. He hummed and gently pressed his forehead against her, closing his eyes for a fleeting moment.
"Yeah, let's go home" He murmured as his eyes fluttered open and met hers.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
AUTHORS NOTE! i actually really like this chapter. like i said in the last note, i don't really have a set plan for avery's relation with rafe but this interaction has tempted me into doing a little more with them. again, do apologise for the updating. life is just good and busy at the moment but am trying to remember to write and get more published :)
