Denial || An OBX Story

Chapter Nineteen

After a couple minutes, Maddie speaks up to everyone. "I hate to be the only one leaving, but I really have to go."

JJ stands up, nearly tripping as the alcohol was starting to affect his brain. "Hey now, where you going Maddie?" He slurred some of the words, making Madeline force a slight smile in her direction.

"Somewhere. I'll be back soon. I promise." She smiles at JJ who returned the favor with a crooked look on his face.

John B looks up at Maddie, "No, Mads. Where you going?"

Maddie tells JJ to sit down before looking back at John B. "Walk me out. Please?" John B sighs and stands up, taking his beer with him as he walks by Maddie's side. "I have to go home."

"Home?" John B is quick to stop, also stopping Madeline by holding her wrist. "You have everything here, there's no need for you to go there."

Maddie chews at the inside of her cheek and kicks at the ground. "I get that. I really do. But I need to check in eventually. Someone's gotta make sure he's okay."

John B scoffs, "What does it matter whether or not he's okay? He treated you like shit." John B argues, the anger in his voice easily heard even when he was trying to keep quiet. "You don't have to go back."

"John B, he's still my brother." Maddie pulls her arm from his grip. "If there's a problem with me wanting to make sure that my own blood isn't lying dead on the floor right now, than you need to loosen the fuck up." She speaks quietly but sternly. John B's jaw was clenched and he was scanning her face for any hint of a lie he could find. "I'll be back tomorrow morning. Have the boat ready."

John B shakes his head but he offers his hand up to do the Pogue handshake. She does, nodding at him before turning to leave on a short walk to her brother's home.

She didn't knock. The door was already unlocked but the house was dark, he didn't have power either. None of the cut did. She tries to walk further into the house, but she kicks a box that was lying in the middle of the floor. Logan heard her, and his footsteps were heard loud and clear as soon as they started. She reaches for her phone to turn on her flashlight, but she's pushed against the wall by her brother. Her hat falls off her head and onto the ground.

"Logan get off me." She whisper yells.

He thought she was an intruder, and his grip on her loosened but he walked away frustrated, grabbing his lantern and turning it on. "When will you ever learn to knock?" He scolds her as he kicks the box she tripped over at the wall. "I'm here having a fine night by myself and your dumbass thinks it's okay to barge in."

"It's my house too." She argues back, walking out of the hallway and towards the kitchen. "It's not my fault I get the cops called on me whenever I don't show up."

"Will you get over it?" Logan utters walking over the the kitchen and searching for a bottle in the cabinet. He pulls out a bottle of vodka, and drinks some straight from the bottle. "I need to make sure you're not out being a whore. I'm trying to teach you a lesson."

"Is my lesson self defense?" Maddie replies, wanting to get out of the house just as fast as she'd gotten in. Her eyes scanned the parts of the house that were lit by the lantern. It seemed to be in worse shape every time she'd come and check in. The walls were dented and there were cobwebs in the corners of the room. The floor was gross and the carpet needed to be cleaned about a hundred times.

"If you don't keep your ass quiet you'll be needing your self defense." Logan adds. "You sleeping on the streets?"

"You think so low of me." Maddie sighs, dusting some powder from off the counter. "Don't act like you care about where I'm staying. Even if you did, I'd never tell you."

"This is the reason our family is so broken." Logan starts, taking another swig from the glass bottle. "You didn't know when to keep your dirty ass mouth shut." He explains. "You're the reason. You ruined Mom's life, you ruined Dad's life. Hell, you ruined my life, Madeline. They're dead because of you."

Maddie felt the tears form in her eyes, but, she refused to let them fall. Not in front of her brother. "We both know that isn't true." She looks around the house again, wondering how it was even still standing on its own. "Look, I can't stay. Why don't you try and clean this shit hole up."

Maddie turns to leave but Logan throws the bottle at the wall in front of her, just a couple inches from her face. "You're lucky I don't beat the shit out of you right now. A reality check is what you need."

Maddie runs her hands through her hair and storms out of the house, the summer air making the tears in her eyes fall involuntarily. She walked back to the chateau quickly, trying to think of a way in without John B finding out she was home. It seemed as if it was inevitable though, she could see the hammock rocking and someone sitting on it.

She let out a long sigh before approaching the hammock, the sound of music in the background.

"Back so soon?" JJ asks, turning to look at the girl.
Her sniffle made him sit up straight and turn on his phone flashlight, shining it directly onto her face. Maddie's tear stained face was hard to hide. "Come here." He doesn't even hesitate to stand. Pulling her into his strong arms. The smell of alcohol was easily detected on him, and JJ's slight misbalance gave off he was still drunk from the night.

She wasn't crying anymore. She refused to let anyone from the Pogues see a single tear fall from her eyes. Maddie was supposed to be the strong one, the support beam of the whole friendgroup.

"What happened?" He asks as she pulls from his arms, both of them taking their spots on opposite sides of the hammock. "Who do I have to beat up?"

"You know damn well if anyone ever touched me I'd win." Maddie challenges him, making JJ laugh quietly. "Just a long night."

JJ decides it was better to get off the topic before it even started. Maddie wasn't one for talking to other people about her own problems. "I saw something online today." JJ chimes, making Maddie question him. "If you could die in any way, how would you do it?"

Maddie furrows her brows and looks over at him. "How drunk are you, JJ?" He laughs again, shrugging his shoulders and repeating the question for a second time. She stops for a second, thinking about all of the options she could possibly choose. "I wanna get eaten by a shark."

"What?" JJ asks, "Why do you pick the most random shit?"

"It would be my way of paying them back for letting me use their ocean all the damn time, you know?" She explains, looking up at the trees and stars above the two teens." She stops for a second. "My turn. Why is it always me that you flirt with? I mean, there's so many other girls, I'm just... me."

"Woah, we weren't doing personal questions here, Turner." JJ takes a deep breath, rubbing his face with his rough hands. "Because, we're like the same person." JJ stops for a second, thinking about what he wanted to say next. "Maddie... If you ever really did fall in love, all I'd want is for it to be me."

Maddie slightly chuckles, thinking quickly about the two of them together. "It'll never happen, JJ." She tells him, hearing him chuckle drunkly as well. "We'd be fire on fire."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asks, taking another swig of beer from his final can. His voice sounded a little hurt, but it was the intoxication, not the current conversation.

"I think we'd be bad for each other." She replies, hearing JJ sigh and toss the can on the ground next to him. "But I think we'd take over quickly."

"Maybe that's not such a bad thing." JJ mumbles as he picks up his phone to change the song.

The music pauses for a second before Dark Red by Steve Lacy comes on, making both the teens smile, leaning their heads back and shutting their eyes. As the song continued, they took turns singing each lyric. It wasn't long until their eyes fell heavy and the hammock rocked them into a sweet sleep.