Her heart was so golden, it rivaled even the sun.
In which a girl is tired of living by everyone else's rules, so she decides to make her own.
[Outer Banks season 1]
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
IT WAS ODDLY peaceful as the Pogues sat by the water. The sun was slowly starting to set, casting golden tendrils of light along the gentle waves. The storm out at sea raged in the distance, but it wasn't close enough yet to cause any damage.
The group had gotten the boat in the water and loaded it with all the food and supplies John B and Sarah would need, so now all that was left to do was wait for them to show. Emerson prayed they'd make it in time, especially before a cop found them and asked what they were doing. She was sure everyone on the island knew by now the Pogues were John B's friends and if he was a wanted fugitive, they could become his accomplices.
Ashley would have a field day with that.
Emerson idly wondered what her mother was doing. In all truthfulness, she had probably just gone back to work. If forgetting about her problems was an Olympic sport, she'd have a million gold medals. Unfortunately, however distracted her mother was at the moment, Emerson knew she'd have to deal with the woman eventually. She couldn't avoid going home forever, as tempting as that idea was. But she really didn't want to argue with her again about the Pogues and John B's innocence.
She hadn't even realized she sat down next to JJ until his foot gently nudged hers. They were situated on the dock railing, Emerson's feet dangling a few inches above the old wood while JJ's rested on the narrow platform below. Emerson glanced down at his utility boot-clad foot and then up to him, her eyes innocent and curious as they caught JJ's.
"We should talk," he whispered. The way he glanced past her at Kie and Pope wasn't lost on her, the other pair of friends rummaging around the boat and making sure that everything was in order. Usually Emerson would be right there helping, but for once she was too nervous to mindlessly organize. She opted instead to sit by the boat and keep lookout, but that turned into her just picking at the old nail polish on her fingers until there was nothing left.
"About what?" Emerson asked stupidly. JJ scoffed and rolled his eyes, silently conveying to her that she already knew. Emerson furrowed her brows and tilted her head. "We already talked about that," she continued after JJ's telepathic response.
"Not really," he hissed. JJ was getting anxious now, and he didn't know what to do. Usually he was the one trying to run away from conversations like these, not initiating them. But there was just something about Emerson and their situation that left him needing to know where they stood. He felt like he would die if he didn't.
"JJ, I - I don't know what else you want me to say," Emerson shrugged weakly. "We kissed and I liked it, and I like you, but —"
"But?" JJ practically squeaked the word, his eyebrows shooting up as he stared at her.
"But... I don't know!" Emerson cried quietly. She threw her hands up and raked her fingers through her hair to try and alleviate some of her stress. She could feel her face heating up and her body starting to swear under JJ's steady but pensive stare. "I haven't really had much time to think about it with everything else going on."
