what now? | outerbanks

• four •

JJ

We've been boating for a little over twelve hours at this point, and it hasn't gotten any more fun. I love the girls, especially my girl, but being the only guy with them for this long is not easy.

"JJ, please, we have to be getting somewhere by now."

"Cleo, the rudder only turns so fast, okay? There's no quick way to do this."

"Guys-"

"Maybe if you let me handle it all we'd be going faster."

"I swear to God-"

"Guys!" Kie tells over us, and after we've looked at her, she points to a peninsula some way ahead of us. "Should we stop there?"

"Oh my God, Kie. You're a genius." I have to admit.

"Yeah thanks, I know."

I start to slow the rudder, before turning it off completely and stearing us into the side of the land. There is no dock, but at this point, none of us care. I make sure the boat is stable to get off of before helping the girls onto land one by one- starting with Sarah and ending with Kie. As I grab her hand to help her off of the boat, we make eye contact and hold it for a few seconds. We haven't really been able to talk about what happened between us, or what it means for us now. I would like to, but things have obviously been crazy since then, so I guess I'll have to wait. Once we're all safe on land, we sit in a row, finally taking in everything that's happened.

"Damn." Cleo breathes out after a minute or two. Not too long after, I hear Sarah whisper something to Cleo before the two of them stand and walk away. I would go after them, but I know they won't go far; and I have Kie to keep me company. The two of us sit in silence as the girls walk away, but once they're gone, Kie speaks up.

"Hey.'

"Hey." I turn my head to look at her face, but she keeps her eyes trained on the sunset ahead of her. "You good?" I ask, genuinely wanting to know.

"Oh me? Yeah, no, I'm alright I guess."

"That's good." This is how a lot of our conversations have gone since the other night. Not that we haven't always been awkward, but the kiss seemed to have really thrown us for a loop. The two of us share few seconds of comfortable silence before she talks again.

"So, what is this?"

"What's what?" I know what she means, but I don't want to seem too eager.

"JJ." She knows I know what she means too. We know each other like the back of our hands.

"Oh, us. Um, I don't really know. What do you think it is?"

"I- I think I know what it is it's just- I don't know, I-" Kie stumbles through her words and I look to find her starting to cry. The sight of tears in my eyes breaks my heart, but I know that this is what she needs. I turn so that I can wrap my arms around her, providing her with comfort. She slowly sinks into my arms and her tears turn into sobs.

"Hey, hey, you're all good. I'm right here. Right here, Kie."

"I'm just- JJ, I'm so scared." I can feel tears welling in my eyes as she says this because I know exactly what she means. I love her, but I'm scared that something's going to happen. Something always happens. But, for her, I have to be strong.

"I know, Kie. I promise, though, you'll be alright. We'll be alright."

It takes a minute for Kie to totally calm down, but she gets there, and once she's done so, she talks again. "So, are we anything? Like, actually?"

"I don't think we really have to be anything yet. Can we just, be us for now? Some good old fashioned JJ and Kie flirting."

"Yeah, yeah. JJ and Kie: the dream team."

"You know that's right. Alright, now, let's go find Sarah and Cleo."

"Good idea. Also, were you crying?"

"Me? Crying? No way in hell."

"Wimp."

"Oh shut up."

Cleo

        "So, what's going on between you and Pope?" I would literally rather her ask me any other question, but I let her interrogate me. I'm just glad that she's actually talking.

        "What do you mean what's going on?"

        "Okay, don't act all stupid on me. You know exactly what I'm talking about."

        "Alright, fine. I kissed him."

        "You what?"

        "I kissed him." This time I say it with a bit more excitement, and I know Sarah can see the love in my eyes.

        "You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this to happen. We've literally all bet on how long it would be until you guys started dating. I'm definitely going to win."

        "Well, we're not dating yet."

        "Yeah, but I mean, it'll happen sometime soon."

        "But what if it doesn't? Like, what if he doesn't actually like me?"

        "Oh trust me, he does. I can see it in his eyes. Also... a little birdie may have told me about a secret little conversation between our three favorite boys."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. Cleo, the boy is in love with you- I promise." Suddenly I hear footsteps from behind us, so I turn around, being met by Kie and JJ. The boy and girl are holding hands, and though I'm absolutely ecstatic that something is finally happening between them, all I do is exchange a knowing glance with Sarah.

"Hey, guys what's up." Sarah breaks the silence.

"Nothing, we were just-"

"We were just having a little pow-wow, you know?" Leave it to JJ to make things awkward.

"A pow-wow? Is that right?" I tease the boy.

"Yes, it is. Is that okay with you?"

"Oh yeah, don't worry. That's great with me." I raise my eyebrows at JJ, letting him know that I know what's going on. He shoots me a glare before Kie breaks it up.

"Guys quit bickering. Sorry to ruin the mood, or whatever, but we do have to get home."

"Well, do you have a plan?" I make sure to ask her, and not JJ. JJ's plans aren't always the best.

"We could try to call Wheezie." Sarah looks around and the three of us, emotionless. She knows that all of our options are pretty risky, but she's smart; she knows there's not much we can do.

"Sarah- hold on. What?"

"Look, I wish there was something else, but there isn't. I would call Rafe, but God knows what happened after we left the airstrip. Yes, calling Wheezie might be dangerous, considering Rose and all, but Wheeze is our best bet. We can trust her."

"You're not wrong. We definitely can't call my parents, and not anyone else's-"

"That's it." JJ has an idea- please, God, make it a good one. " Heyward."

a little bit of a long chapter but so fun right?!? i love love loveddddd writing this chapter. pls keep voting and commenting and sharing with all of ur fav people i'll love you forever!!! you guys make my heart happy thank you so much!

oh also! if you haven't already, it would mean so much if you could go check out my other book too! xoxo sam