𝕬n hour and a half into the 'lake picnic' and June's already argued twice with Trevor.

Once because he was being annoyingly insistent about helping Maddie get on-deck and the second time because he tried to whisper yell at her into letting him sit close to his ex-girlfriend.

Suffice to say, she did not let him do anything of the sort.

But it does irritate her how he's acting so entitled to be close to Madeleine when he's the one who dumped her and never told anyone why.

She's all for romance but the last thing she wants to do is make Madeleine feel uncomfortable and betrayed when she, herself, explicitly promised that they'd have a good time.

She's missed her so much and she's not letting anyone ruin the time they're spending together.

Least of all Trevor.

Throwing her head back, June squints up at the sky which is still considerably bright even though evening is quickly approaching.

There's something about long summer days spent with the banter and constant murmur of her friends' voices echoing around her while she relaxes and lets herself breathe, regroup her senses to prepare for the busy months ahead.

She remembers the first time she spent summer with the Hugheses, back when she was nine years old and her mother had refused to let her accompany the family of five on a trip to see their grandparents.

She'd cried so much that week because it was honestly shocking how her mom wouldn't let her go on the trip with them — despite Ellen and Jim's deepest emphasis on the fact that the little Bauer wouldn't be intruding at all and that they were actually really excited to take her along with them — and then sulked for the next ten days being passive aggressive towards her mother.

She understands now why her mom didn't want her to go. They'd only known the Hugheses a few months and still, Maureen wasn't sure that they'd be able to take care of her daughter. It was a reasonable concern given that she never let June out of her sight for more than a day.

But then she'd surprised her by enrolling her into a summer camp where all the Hughes brothers were going later that month.

And she'd kind of forgiven her mother after that. Because it had been fun.

And it was also the start of her obsession with Jack.

Tuning back into the moment, June sits up lazily smiling at Maddie who only spares her a friendly glance as she thoughtfully gazes off towards the water.

"What the fuck?".

Her attention gets captured by the conversation happening right opposite to hers.

Jack shakes his head in confusion whilst Luke stares at him in shock.

"I thought everyone knew? Why's that a big deal?", she leans forward and hears Jack ask.

Luke rubs a hand over his face.

"I didn't know. Oh my god, what the fuck", he mutters behind his hand.

June laughs at his dramatic reaction, "What's going on?".

Jack exhales loudly, "He didn't know Nico's cousin's been living in Newark since like six months now. I really don't know understand the problem is".

"Nico's cousin?", she frowns.

"Yeah, she was at the party. In May".

The party. Oh. Images of the night immediately start flashing back to her. How he'd kissed her then, how he had asked for permission before kissing her, how it had felt so, so much better than she'd always imagined.

How it had turned her into this weirdly forever happy version of herself that she's been all summer long.

She looks up to find him already looking at her and it's not exactly clear but there's just something in the way he's looking at her that tells her that he too is thinking about that night.

She purses her lips to try and seem normal.

He smiles regardless.

Because he knows.

Coughing, June speaks again.

"I don't think I met her".

"No? Because you were sitting on her table when I found you", Jack furrows his brows.

Realisation hits her as soon as Luke uncovers his face and looks at her, exasperated.

"Oh, shit", she starts cackling then, leaning back to shake her head at her best friend's amazing luck, her entire body shaking with laughter.

"You did this!", he kicks her foot and she laughs even harder, her stomach hurting as she continues giggling with everyone staring at her in amusement.

"Are you dying?", Quinn laughs, momentarily glancing behind from his place at the head of the boat.

She hiccups coming down from her laughing fit.

"No", another hiccup, "it's just that", a loud cough ending with yet another round of giggles, "Luke's so dumb".

Luke, now red with embarrassment, tries to hold his own self deprecicating chuckles back.

"I hate you".

"How'd you even find out?".

"I bullied her into finally giving me her Instagram!".

"Wait, I'm confused. What's happening?", Cole looks between the duo.

"Yeah . . . . something I should know about, bud?", Jack expectantly gazes at his brother though a part of him has sort of deduced what's happening.

"You mean you annoyed her", June snorts and turns to everyone then as nonchalantly as possible, she announces at the top of her lungs.

"Luke slept with Nico's cousin!".

Quinn's head whips around so fast that it almost seems like it'll fall off.

"You did what?".

The youngest Hughes, now the center of attention, groans as Alex, Trevor and Cole snicker at his behest while Jack just sits there blinking in surprise at the truth of his suspicions.

"I swear I didn't know!".

"Wait, Nico Hischier? As in your Captain?", Maddie weighs in her two cents and that's really all it takes for the group to descend into laughter, Jack and Quinn sharing incredulous yet humorous glances while Luke attempts to pin the blame on June for trying to be his "wingwoman" in the first place.

***
POOKIES ITS OUR GIRL JUNE'S 21ST BIRTHDAY SO GO AND EAT CAKE ON HER BEHALF !!!!!!