Now or Never ⇀ John B Routledge [1]

ix. lust for hearts

As the sun began to rise over the marsh, Luke and JJ took it upon themselves to head into town and search for food for the group of four left at the Chateau. After getting dressed, Luke whispered to a groggy Ashtyn where he and the blonde were headed out, resulting in JJ mocking the older male for being such a 'softie' for his sister.

Even in her half asleep state, Ashtyn couldn't help but laugh at her older brothers threatening words toward the younger boy. With the way he spoke, it was obvious that the two had grown close over the last month, and she was grateful. If Luke was hanging with JJ and John B, then that left him with less time to run off with the island lowlifes.

The Cut may be considered 'poor', but the Pogues were nowhere near as bad as some of the groups he interacted with back in Greenville.

As soon as the front door closed behind the two, Ashtyn buried her face into the soft pillow she'd stolen from John B's room the night before. It smelled like him, and after the day they had, she needed as much comfort as she could get while sleeping alone on the exposed couch bed.

She barely got any sleep anyways, spending a large portion of her time locked up with John B as the poor guy tried to cope with the fact that his father might actually be gone. JJ and Luke joined the former lovers after interrupting their almost kiss; creating stupid games out of random items in the room to try to get their friends' mind off his life problems.

Everyone knew that when one pogue wasn't happy, none of them were. Especially when that unhappy member was the group's leader.

The short girl's body relaxed into the spring filled mattress, letting the material engulf her body as she slowly drifted into yet another dreamless state. If sleeping the whole day away were an option right now, she'd jump on the opportunity, but as the mattress dipped down next to her, she knew that her restful morning plans were no longer an option.

"Where'd they run off to?" John's voice was husky, a sign that the boy had not been awake long. "Honestly thought Luke would make you go with them."

He pulled the simple white sheet up to his waist before snaking an arm around Ashtyn's slim torso, pulling her body flush against his. Their close proximity caused younger girls' faces to grow hot from nerves, making Ashtyn grateful that she was facing the dark wooden wall across from her rather than John's face.

"What, can they not trust us long enough to go to the store and back?" She only said this to tease him, but when her body was flipped around to face him, she wished she had bit her tongue.

His hair was disheveled and the bags under his eyes told her that he got about as much sleep as she did last night, but there was a spark of something else hidden in those hazel orbs that keep Ashtyn from looking away. John's hand rested against the curve of her hip as his lips curled into a lazy smirk. "I don't know Ash, can they?"

She bit down on her bottom lip hard as his rough fingertips dug into her exposed skin. "Unlike you, I know how to behave."

"Oh really?" The shaggy haired brunette pulled her closer without warning, forcing Ashtyn to tuck one leg between John's longer ones to keep her body at a non-awkward angle. They silently stared at one another, faces so close that they could feel the other person exhale against their lips. "Because I think you're just as into this as I am."