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.*･｡. EFF IT! .*･｡.
————MIDSUMMERS
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030.
AND WAY DOWN
THEY FALL.
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Ed had taught Sonny how to start a fire when she was just ten. He had brought her camping for her birthday, for a little father-daughter bonding, and he had gone all out. Tents and sleeping bags around the fire pit, head torches and s'mores. It was one of the first good birthdays Sonny ever had. She had loved camping ever since.

This reminded her of camping.

Sitting around the fire, throwing in branches to keep it lit, listening to it crackle.

The only thing different was the Pogues.

"Hey, guys— so, like, my dad's already gonna kill me. So, what's this mandatory meeting about?"

Pope's question caught Sonny's attention. She turned her head to look at him. It was a good question, she thought. It was about time John B filled them all in— properly, this time. Pope and Kiara were completely out of the loop and, while Sonny had the few details that John B had given her earlier, she wasn't clued in on all the specifics. All she knew was that he'd found a letter from Denmark Tanny (whoever the fuck that was) so they were back in the gold game. The rest of it? Sonny had no idea.

She was just going along with it.

    "Well?"

   John B puckered his lips.

   He aimed finger guns at Pope, pretending to shoot. Pope's lips pulled to the side before acting like he'd been shot in the chest. Sonny and Kiara rolled their eyes.

Rather than acknowledging their odd synchronicity, Sonny shifted in her dress, tutting at the now dirty silk — Nat would just lecture her about that later — and wishing she'd brought an extra change of clothing like JJ. He'd swiftly swapped that waiter get-up for his board shorts and tank top when they sat in the twinkie. Sonny got a good, long look at his abs, but she had then scoffed and told him to get his ass out her face when he tripped over his shorts. He had laughed, and yelled you love my ass, before yelping in pain when she threw one of her high heels at his forehead. It didn't do any damage but she did roll her eyes and mutter an apology when John B shot her a stern look. Luckily, JJ didn't hear.

He would've been way too smug if he had.

At the thought, she peered at him. He was already staring at her. Well, not at her — more at the baby blue flower crown still sat on her head. Her brows jumped, but JJ's eyes remained on the thin chain of fake bluebells.

Without thinking too much on it, Sonny took off the flower crown and shuffled closer to JJ on the log they shared. He was confused at first, especially when she took off his cap. His skin was slightly slick with sweat from the fire heat and she spotted a tinge of red to his cheeks now they were close, but she didn't say anything about it. Instead, Sonny tugged the cap onto her head and placed the flower crown on his.

JJ's eyes widened.

He reached up and patted the flower crown gingerly, as if he'd break it with the lightest touch, then smiled. He looked happy. Her lips tugged up at the side.

   He looked...

   ...not terrible.

"While that was scarily sweet," Pope gestured to them, not sure how to feel about Sonny being so... gentle. His stomach stirred, "Care to explain, John B?"

"Might as well tell them, man." JJ shrugged his shoulders, "Before we're gaffed."

Kiara looked alarmed, "Gaffed?"

"You ready for this?" John B brushed off the concern and gave them all long, suspenseful stares. While Sonny rolled her eyes again, sick of his theatrics, Pope and Kiara looked eager to see what he had up his sleeve. "The gold never went down with the Royal Merchant."

Pope groaned.

"Oh my go— here we go again with this!"

"No— no, alright," JJ quickly hushed him, looking between him and John B, "Hear him out, okay?"

"You're gonna wanna hear this, Heyward." Sonny added, a shrug in her shoulders. Pope raised his eyebrows, surprised by her words, but settled down.

"Thank you, bird."

Sonny rolled her eyes, "Whatever."

"The gold," John B went back on topic after sending her a grin. He left a pause for some extra suspense, finding each of their eyes, and then told them: "It's been here the whole time."

Silence.

"It's on the island," he said.

"Are you serious?" Kiara peered between everyone, eyes wide, somewhat confused.

"Dead," Sonny nodded.

"Oh my god..." she beamed, her soft features illuminated by the flickering firelight. Kiara was a sight for sore eyes and, in that moment, Sonny decided excitement looked beautiful on her. Like she was made for it somehow. But while Kiara easily jumped on the crazy train, Pope didn't.

"I'd like to voice my skepticism."

"I'm sure you would, Pope." John B replied. They all knew he was the smart one, the sensible one, and they couldn't quite blame him. "But can I please present you with our evidence, before you do, sir?"

Pope waved a hand, reluctantly, "Proceed."

"Alrighty!" Clapping his hands, John B turned and pulled an item out of his bag, routing through the rest of his crap to find it. Eventually he presented it to them and grinned like a child, "In my backpack is a letter from thee Denmark Tanny."

"Who the hell is that?"

"That's what I said," Sonny replied to Kiara, receiving an amused glare from John B in return.

"Can I explain?" He asked.

   They held their hands up and nodded.

    "Denmark Tanny was a slave," John B explained, "And he survived the Royal Merchant wreck. Check this out," the boy unfolded his papers and passed them to Kiara, who took the evidence eagerly. "Okay — slaves weren't mentioned as crew members on the ship. But my dad," he told them, "He found the complete manifest. That was his big discovery. That's the thing he found, guys."

Sonny's eyes met Pope's across the fire. They exchanged a look, one that was hard to identify but mutual, before Pope's eyes went to Kiara as she whistled for his attention and gave him the papers to read over.

"So Tanny used the gold from the Merchant to finally buy his freedom," John B continued. Sonny felt like she was in a history class. "After that, he bought his farm."

He looked at JJ.

"Drumroll please, JJ."

   JJ obliged, by slapping his palms on his knees. Kiara joined in and so did Pope after a moment, but Sonny merely scoffed and called them all childish. Her response didn't deter John B though. Rather he beamed widely at her, trying to irritate her, then held out his hands for silence.

    "Tannyhill Plantation."

Kiara's eyes widened like saucers, "Tannyhill?"

"Yep," he nodded.

From where he was inspecting the letter again, Pope side-eyed John B. Skeptical, but listening.

"After that, he uses his money to free even more slaves," as John B went on, Sonny adjusted the cap sat on her head. She leant in closer, more intrigued than she wished to admit. The fact made JJ smirk to himself as he watched her closely. "And then he sold a shit ton of rice — which pisses off all the white planters," John B pursed his lips together, "And then, they all decide they're gonna lynch him."

Sonny went still.

Her, Pope and Kiara sat silently, processing.

John B stared at them, some sort of guilt in his eyes, before clearing his throat. "On the day they were coming to get him, he writes a letter to his son. As a farewell. And, in the last line of his letter, he leaves him a coded message telling him where to find the gold."

Kiara perked up slightly, "...where?" She whispered.

John B pointed at her.

"Harvest the wheat in parcel nine, near the water."

Harvest the wheat in parcel nine, near the water, the message John B had told her about shortly after climbing into her room and demanding she got dressed for Midsummers. She assumed his plan had worked out and he'd spoken to Sarah Cameron. She hadn't distracted Topper for long, no thanks to JJ, but John B'd not said otherwise, so she could only imagine it all worked out well enough. Besides, wasn't Sonny putting her ass on the line and helping JJ what John B would've wanted? Surely he valued JJ's safety over flirty rendezvous with Sarah?

"Except..." John B paused.

They all waited.

"There's no wheat."

Crickets.

Actual crickets.

No one reacted, not quite understanding.

"You see, wheat is code for gold." He elaborated, "Check this out," he sat next to Pope and pointed at the letter, "The gold is in parcel nine, near the water."

An amazed laugh escaped Kiara's lips. Even Pope seemed amazed. About damn time.

"Holy shit!"

"Damn Booker," Sonny murmured.

"Even princess is impressed," JJ taunted, giving her a soft nudge with his elbow. "Nice going there, John B."

John B faked a gasp.

"Sonny? Are you impressed?"

"Shut up," she shot them both a mean look.

He laughed, raising his hands as he grinned. He sent them all a proud smile, "Look, all we need is an original survey map of the property and we've found the gold!"

"Okay, so this might have a small chance of being actually true," Pope admitted the defeat, smiling small as JJ jump up and marched around the fire to meet John B's opened arms.

"I am a genius!"

"Dude, it's like King Tut!" Kiara exclaimed.

"Woah— fire! Fire!" John B panicked when JJ lifted him from the ground, eyes wide. "Hello! JJ! You're near the fire. You're gonna burn—"

JJ put him down but held his arms.

"Dude," he said, "I am so proud of you right now."

"Thank you," John B placed his hand on his cheek, "Yeah, that's really sweet of you."

"Get a room," Sonny sighed.

"Jealous, princess?"

"Only of the fire," she responded, though there was a faint smile sitting on her lips. She was only acting uninterested. For keeping up appearances and all that. They were beginning to figure that out. "Wish I could burn, right now."

"Morbid," John B mused.

"Always."

"Ever the pessimist,"

"You just vomit rainbows," she countered.

"It's called optimism," John B said, "Look it up, bird."

"I'll show you—"

"Guys."

The group looked over at Pope.

"What's the plan?" He asked. Trust him to start organising when they were trying to celebrate finding the gold. Pope was like that; orderly, always looking for a way forward. It was very Pope of him, but Sonny supposed it made sense. The Pogues were at a point where they all needed to take a step back and figure out what they were going to do.

No more winging it and hoping for the best, they were just going to screw it up that way.

"Good question," John B told him, "So, Sarah Cameron's coming tonight—"

Kiara's face contorted.

    "She's gonna bring one of the maps to—"

"Wait, wait!" Kiara held up her hand to cut him off. Had she heard that right? Had everyone else heard it too? "Hold on— Sarah? Why... why Sarah?"

"Uh..."

"This is gonna be good," JJ muttered.

"Sarah, um— she—" John B stuttered over his words. The group eyed him closely. He was sweating, and it wasn't from the fire. "She— she got me into the archives at Chapel Hill, yesterday. That's where we got the letter..."

Kiara looked like she'd been slapped across the face.

"You were in Chapel Hill with Sarah?"

Sonny's brows knotted, "That's why I had to cover for you? You do know Cheryl showed up at my door, right? With some dude with a taser?"

"Yes..." John B nodded.

She had lied for him. He knew the consequences that could have for her, even if she didn't say it.

"It's just—"

"He was mackin' on her."

"JJ!"

"What?" The blonde snickered, shrugging at him. John B was only digging himself a deep hole for denying it. It never ended up well when he tried to lie. Just caused more trouble. Kiara hated it when they lied to her.

"I wasn't macking," John B defended himself.

"You were totally macking Sarah Cameron," he smirked, ignoring the glare it earned him.

"I wasn't macking on her, 'kay?" John B shut his eyes tightly, like it would help him come up with a believable lie, one that would convince them he wasn't interested in Sarah Cameron. None of them bought it, though. If he wasn't macking Sarah, then why the secret message? The distractions? John B was a lot of things, but a good liar wasn't one of them. "I was using her for—" he hesitated, "—access!"

"Access?"

He nodded, "Yeah..."

Sonny rolled her eyes at him.

"Sounds demeaning but okay," she muttered, making sure he knew he was an asshole.

"There was access alright," JJ giggled.

Sonny glared at him, "What did I just say?"

"Did you tell her about the treasure?" Kiara interrogated, somehow able to ignore Sonny and JJ as they started hissing mean things at each other.

"I was just trying to get into the archives!"

"Is that a yes?!"

"I— I— I left out key details—!"

"Yo, what?" Kiara near shrieked. Her eyes were hurt. "You let a Kook in on our secret?!"

Sonny made a face.

She turned away from JJ, who was still grumbling over her comment about him being shit at surfing. Which wasn't true, but still had the desired effect: he pouted like she'd stolen his candy and kicked down his sandcastle.

"Should I be offended?"

"Not helping!" John B told her.

"Whatever," Sonny scoffed, hiding under JJ's cap.

"What about Pogue Lyfe?" Kiara ranted. She sounded upset more than she did angry. Sonny wondered why her and Sarah had even fallen out in the first place. It was sudden and before anyone in the Kook Academy could find out, Kiara returned to Kildare High. Didn't mean they didn't decided to hate her though — she had called the cops on Sarah's birthday. "What about the t-shirt company, bro?"

Sonny frowned, t-shirt company?

She had no idea what that was, but judging by the similar expressions the four Pogues exchanged, it meant a lot. Like a sacred oath or something.

"What about P4L?" Kiara scowled, grilling John B for all he'd ever had. "What about all the—"

"I was just using her for information!"

"That's not honourable bro," Pope said, but went back to examining Denmark Tanny's letter when John B gave him a Sonny-level stink eye.

"Why don't I believe you?" Kiara asked him.

"I'm trying to make us filthy rich here," John B forced out a chuckle that deepened Sonny's frown. Was he gaslighting her?

He was making it sound like Kiara was crazy, like he'd done nothing wrong. When, in actual fact, he had. He'd let another person in on their secret — Kiara's worst enemy of all people. She had every right to be angry.

"I'm tryna make it so we can pay off Topper's boat or— or send you to autopsy school to study dead bodies!" He pointed over at Pope and JJ, who grimaced at the poor excuses. "You, you guys know me! Do I look like the type of person to fall for Sarah Cameron?"

"Uh..." JJ thought on it.

"I hope to god that's rhetorical," Sonny said.

"Yeah," Pope agreed with her, "Do you actually want us to try and answer that, or do you...?"

"Just— just stop," John B huffed.

"Look— you don't know her yet. I do!" Kiara emphasised, voice risen and strained against the lump on her throat. For a moment, Sonny actually felt bad for her. "You can't trust her!" She held a hand to her chest, hovering above her heart. This was hard for her. Kiara was nearing desperation at this point. "Believe me! Okay? I know!"

"Her brother did hit me in the back with a golf club," Pope was first to agree, wincing at the memory. It still hurt when he turned too fast. "Tried to kill Sonny, too."

Sonny shrugged.

"I had him where I wanted him."

"Rafe and Sarah are different human beings," John B did his best to argue Sarah's case.

"You know, I heard evil can be genetic."

"Sonny," John B stressed, "Again with the not helping,"

"What did she do to you exactly?" JJ asked Kiara while the Kook beside him scoffed at John B. JJ's question wasn't really interrogative, but interested. Concerned maybe. Should they be seriously considering letting in someone who hurt her? Was it something they should debate?

"She's like a— like a spitting cobra!" Kiara mimicked the mouth of a snake with her hands.

Sonny noticed that she'd avoided answering.

Her brows furrowed. She wondered if she should tell them to quit it since Kiara clearly didn't want to answer. Whatever happened between her and Sarah, it was something she didn't want to disclose, something private, something they shouldn't push her into telling them. Maybe this was more than just the average teenage girl drama. It wasn't over a stolen lipstick, or a bitchy text message, and if Sonny hated spilling her darkest secrets, then why would Kiara feel any differently? It wasn't a surprise that she'd grown defensive.

"First, she— she blinds you! And then—"

"This is a bad analogy."

"Pipe down little miss anagram," Sonny scoffed at Pope.

"Listen to me!" Everyone fell completely silent at the sudden shrillness of Kiara's voice. They listened to her. "Whatever we get, she's gonna try to take."

With that, Kiara stood and stormed off to the twinkie. She got inside and slammed the door shut.

The air was stiff.

After a few moments of listening to the crackle of the fire, Sonny shrugged; "What does it even matter, anyways?" Her eyes squinted at them, "She clearly doesn't want Barbie in on this 'cause she doesn't trust her, should you risk that? A Kook you guys can't even trust?"

    "What? Like we didn't trust you?" JJ asked.

   Sonny just blinked at him.

No one said anything as she got up and walked towards the twinkie to join Kiara.

    "I'm just sayin'," Sonny called over her shoulder, "Why are you suddenly starting to doubt her?"

She pulled open the passenger door and climbed in, resting her head against the seat. Sonny and Kiara didn't talk as they sat there. They just stewed in silence, leaving the three others to dwell on it for a long while.

————

   By the time they rolled up to the Hawk's Nest, where John B'd arranged to meet Sarah Cameron, Sonny was more than ready to jump out of the twinkie and run for the hills. It had to be the most awkward ride of her life, and that was saying a lot seeing as Sonny had done the whole I know you ran away to protect yourself but I'm taking you back so it's time you got used to your foster family car journey with Cheryl on several occasions. She knew awkward car rides better than anyone.

   They'd been sat in silence since John B had announced the idea of Sarah Cameron helping them, and it was suffocating. It made Sonny feel actually nauseous.

   She was glad to get out.

    "I think I'm gonna do this one by myself..."

   Until she wasn't.

    "Yourself?" Sonny repeated.

   John B nodded.

   Sonny stared up at him, deadpan, half tempted to kick the boy out the van and drive away.

   Kiara felt the same.

   She looked him right in the eyes, lip curling, sinking in her seat. Clearly Kiara was getting sick of him and everyone else was close behind. Even JJ, who always made an effort to stay John B's first mate, and Pope, who Sonny was sure had never been so annoyed with John B before.

    "Really?" JJ sounded tired as he adjusted the flower crown still perched on his head.

   John B frowned, "What, man?"

    "Nothin' bro," the boy shrugged, raising a hand.

    "We're sick of your bullshit," Sonny said bluntly, shrugging off John B's offended expression. JJ snorted at her tone, Kiara nodded once and Pope threw her a flat look. "What? We're all thinking it, Heyward."

    "Oh? Sick of my bullshit?"

    "Do you see anybody else's bullshit around here?" Sonny's eyes squinted at John B, who was starting to get defensive. As though he knew he was in the wrong, but still wasn't willing to admit it. "No— it's just yours."

    "And? Look— I don't wanna spook Sarah with the peanut gallery," John B defended lamely.

   Peanut gallery?

"Speak for yourself," Sonny murmured.

   Kiara tossed her hands in the air, too exasperated to listen anymore. She knew where she stood. "I just don't understand why we're involving Sarah at all."

   John B groaned, "Kie, we're not involving her! Okay?"

   Kiara just huffed.

   Honestly, to Sonny, it sounded like they were involving her. And while Sonny wasn't Kiara-level pissed, she couldn't say she was particularly thrilled about it either. She'd never been Sarah Cameron's biggest fan and she didn't like how John B had taken it upon himself to totally ignore the issues they all had with it — especially Kiara's personal issue — so he could carry on macking on her.

   Couldn't he mack on Sarah in his own time? And not get the rest of them totally involved in it?

   Wasn't Sarah still dating Topper, anyways?

   Last time she checked, Topper was head over heels for the girl. And sure, maybe not even Sarah Cameron was willing to date a maniac who tried to kill two Pogues in a week, but she still thought it was weird. No doubt it would cause some extra drama too, more than they already had. She didn't think this was the environment to bring those sorts of issues into. They were hunting for treasure. Not filming some reality TV show. John B was being selfish, he knew it too, but he didn't want to hear it from his friends. Classic male ego kinda bullshit. Sonny didn't have the patience for it.

"Then what is this?"

    "It's just, uh, like a business meeting!" He lied through the skin of his teeth, not fooling any one of them with his crappy response to Kiara's question.

To prove that it wasn't even remotely believable, JJ held up the blunt he was rolling and acting like he was going down on it, going as far to throw in a fake gag, which had Pope stifling a laugh. Sonny pulled a face, she hadn't expected Pope to find something like that funny.

"Look— once we get what we need, we can cut her loose." John B told everyone, narrowly dodging Sonny's judgmental stare. It was like she could see right through him, sometimes. And in that moment, the last thing he needed was for Sonny to see through all his bullshit. Maybe it was too late for that, though. "Okay? We need the map."

   Kiara sat up straighter, eyes narrowed.

"Promise me nothing's happening between you two," she told him, challenging him to lie right to her face. "Promise."

He rolled his eyes, "Nothing is happening, Kie."

"I'm being serious," she spat.

"Okay!"

"This isn't about you. And it isn't about us," she reminded him. Sonny wondered whether us was all of them, or just the aftermath of Kiara and John B's connection. Sonny chose to stay silent, though, instead watching them go back and forth like a broken record. "This is about her."

   John B pulled a face like a scorned child.

"Dude. She's gonna get inside your head." Kiara sounded tired now, like she'd lost her energy. "Just promise me nothing is happening between you guys," she asked him, again. Just a final time. Just to see what he would say. If he would lie, once more. "Promise me, JB."

Silence.

"Promise," he finally told her.

Sonny scoffed audibly, "Colour me convinced, Booker."

"That was really believable," JJ said.

"Hundred percent believable," Pope agreed.

"Anyways," John B cleared his throat, looking away from Kiara to avoid his rising guilt. He tugged at the collar of his shirt like it was choking him, then rubbed his hands together as he slapped a smile on his face. Sonny wondered if he had ever lied to Kiara before. He was bad at it. "Uh... I'm gonna take care of business," he said.

"You're gonna take care of that business," JJ nodded.

"You're gonna take care of it while we just sit here," Pope faked a smile when John B muttered a yep. "In a hot ass car," he drawled out. "While it's lightning."

"Thanks for the weather report, Heyward." Sonny rolled her eyes as she kicked her feet onto the drivers seat, ducking under JJ's hat and sinking as far down as she could go. Pope grumbled something quietly.

Sonny wasn't so enthused about being stuck in the twinkie either, let alone during a storm, but she had heard that a car was one of the safest places to be if you got hit by lightening — something about rubber tyres. And as much as she ached to stretch her legs, she'd rather be inside than watch John B's little meeting with Sarah Cameron. Sonny'd probably end up getting hit by lightning anyway, which would suck, so she just opted to sit back and let time run its course. What else could they do? It was out of their hands.

   Kiara sighed.

"I can't believe he trusts her."

   Sonny could. All boys fell for girls like Sarah.

"Kiara, holding onto your grudge is like drinking poison and thinking Sarah will die," Pope told her, shrugging when she shot him a glare. Sonny figured he was trying to tell her that as long as she held the grudge she was just wasting her own time, but his analogy was shit.

"Exactly!" JJ agreed.

    "Don't act like you know what that means," Sonny spoke without looking, eyes hidden just behind the rim of his cap.

   JJ frowned at her.

"It's a warranted grudge," Kiara said.

"We'd know it was warranted if you told us," Pope tried, hoping to pry it out of her.

"She doesn't have to tell us shit," Sonny argued. She knew they were asking because they wanted to be on her side, and because they were nosy, but it was getting so boring. "I don't care, anyway. So can you just shut it?"

JJ whistled lowly.

"You're so hot when you talk mean, princess."

Sonny stuck up a middle finger, deciding everything about this situation was the worst. She open the door and climbed out of the camper, ignoring the little droplets of rain as they stuck to her skin. She adjusted JJ's cap so it shielded her face and went to slam the door.

"Wait!" Pope stopped her, "You can't go out in that!"

    "I can do whatever I want," she said.

    "But—" he stumbled on his words, "What if— what if you get hit by lightning or something?"

"Then I'll thank the world for finally putting me out of my misery," she deadpanned, throwing the door shut. She shook her head slowly, "Loser."

   After sucking in a breath, feeling far less claustrophobic in the outdoors, Sonny made her way over to the giant sign for the Hawk's Nest, hand reaching for her pocket. She stopped short, realising her dress didn't have them. No blunt. A groan escaped her, echoing in the night.

    "Fuck," she muttered.

   Sonny debated going back and taking JJ's in exchange for a hundred dollars, but decided it wasn't really worth it. Instead, she stood in front of the sign and leant on a post, hoping that the silence would soothe her headache.

   It had been a really long day.

   Was this normal for Pogues? Was it going to be normal for Sonny from now on?

Did she ever even agree to that?

Before she could complain about it internally, a hard hand clamped over her mouth. She was pulled backwards, an arm wrapping around her waist.

   Her arms were pinned to her sides as her back hit a chest, feet hoisted off the ground. She squirmed and screamed but the noise was muffled by the palm against her lips, falling on death ears. JJ's cap fell off her head in her struggle and then faded from view, the twinkie growing smaller and smaller, as Sonny was hauled through the trees.

"Stop!" Her attacker hissed.

   Sonny kept kicking.

    "Sonny!"

Her struggling slowly seized. That voice.

   What the fuck?

Sonny's eyes narrowed and she clamped her teeth onto the skin of his palm, then stomped on his foot when he let her go. Her attacker bit back a loud groan of pain as she twisted her heel against his toes, "Fuck—"

"Get your hands off me!" Sonny snapped.

"Sonny—"

"Don't touch me, Topper!" She warned, jabbing a finger in his face. "I fucking warned you!"

Topper stumbled back, hands raised in defence, "Okay! It's cool! I won't touch you!"

She glared at him, hard, taking in his shaky appearance. It was tricky to keep steady on his feet and there was a sheen of sweat on his brow, a distant and angry look in his eyes. It was obvious he was wasted. She hadn't seen Topper this drunk in a long time, not since his mother had threatened to throw him in a boarding school in England if he didn't apply himself. She had said something else, something about how his dad would be disappointed in him, and it had scared him out of getting to that level of drunk ever again.

Until now, apparently.

    "Sonny—"

    "What're you doing here?" Sonny cut off.

   He was quiet.

"Did you follow us?" She asked, lip curling. "You're such a fucking creep!" She yelled.

"I didn't fucking follow you, okay?"

   She scoffed and crossed her arms, "Well I guess that makes it okay then," she quipped, face twisted. When he smirked to himself, she frowned. "What?"

"I've missed you," he admitted.

"Oh fuck you, Topper." Sonny sighed. She wondered if he could even remember that conversation they had at the club, how she vowed to do serious damage if he ever messed with them again. "Just—"

"No— no, I do!" He insisted, grabbing her and pulling her to him. "I miss you— I miss my best friend," Topper sighed, "I miss you being mean to me—"

   Sonny shoved him off.

    "Just fuck off, okay?!" She hissed.

"Or what?" Topper dared her, face dropping. "Gonna fuck me up?" So he did remember their chat. "Jeez, Sonny, you really are whipped, aren't you? By that asshole John B and his band of south side charity cases—"

Sonny scowled, "Watch your fucking mouth!"

"I'm shocked," Topper mocked a laugh, "Honestly— I am. He's so in your head," he said.

     "He's not—"

"That piece of shit stole you. He took you away from me," his face twisted, "My best fucking friend. And then he stole my fucking girlfriend," he let out a humourless laugh, staring the girl right in the eyes. She wasn't sure what to do then. "And I, I'm gonna fucking kill him."

"Like you haven't already tried!"

    "You are the worst friend I've ever had!" He spat.

    "Oh, boo fuckin' hoo!" Sonny retorted, watching him turn and storm away. She followed him, "What? Gonna to crying to mommy? Like you did with your boat?"

   He didn't reply.

     "Where are you even going?"

   Sonny frowned when she realised he was headed towards the Hawk's Nest, chest puffed out.

   John B and Sarah.

    "Topper!" Sonny yelled, "Hey—"

   She wasn't sure why she followed him — whether she was concerned he would find the two of them and do something dumb like call Sarah a slut or whether she was worried he might do something so much worse.

   I'm gonna fucking kill him.

   His words echoed in her mind as she watched him climb to the lookout point; where Sarah and John B stood. She yelled, telling him to leave it, to come back. But after the first couple steps he was out of earshot. Sonny should've yelled louder, she should've kept going.

But Sonny didn't. She didn't move.

And instead, she was forced to watch as John B's body fell through the fence and hit the ground.

   It was all a blur.

   The two boys fighting, John B's lifeless body falling through the air, Sarah's cries and pleas for help. All of it was a blur. A distorted mess that didn't reach her ears.

   Even when JJ, Pope and Kiara burst through the clearing. Even when Sarah sobbed and held John B's lifeless body, all Sonny could hear was blood pumping in her ears. Not Pope and Kiara shouting, not Sarah crying for their help. Not JJ's seething questions. What happened? Topper pushed him? Where'd that asshole go? Did you see it? Why aren't you listening? She wasn't quite there anymore. Like at chateau, JJ realised, when they were close to death. She wasn't there. He didn't know where she had gone, but it wasn't here.

   Sonny didn't hear him when he lowered his voice, holding her arm softly, asking if she could hear him, if she had gone into shock, if he could help. Her glassy eyes were only on John B, the scene replaying in her mind.

   Following Topper, the boys fighting, John B falling through the fence, his body hitting the ground.

    That was all Sonny could see. John B falling, John B falling, John B falling—

    "Sonny?"

   And then it all came back.

    "John B? Stay with me—" Sarah Cameron. "Stay with me! Please stay with me!"

    "Pope! Hurry!" Kiara.

    "Sonny? Hey— can you hear me?"

   JJ.

   Her heart faltered in her chest and a strangled gasp left the skin of her lips, like her lungs had forgotten how air tasted in its absence. Sonny didn't cry, she wasn't sure she could, but it hard to ignore the stinging behind her eyes and the warming of her cheeks she slowly glanced at JJ's hand on her arm. His gaze followed hers, face soft.

   Sonny carefully moved closer to him, walking right into his arms that had opened just for her.

   One hand found the back of her head and he pressed her into his neck, seeking as much comfort from her body as she required from his.

"Okay," he whispered, holding her close.

   They stood there, wordlessly, though they weren't sure for how long. Until there were sirens in the distance, until Sarah was begging the EMT to let her go with John B, until Pope held Kiara's hand for some security.

   It wasn't a complex gesture, but it was one that brought JJ and Sonny some solace. Simple and comforting. Gentle and soft. Not romantic but not platonic and not quite anything in between. Just two people who needed it. Needed each other. And it was so incredibly easy.

   Easier than expected.

   Because he was JJ and because she was Sonny. Because it often felt like nothing was easy for JJ and Sonny. Because it was always hard. So fucking hard.

   But this? This was easy.

━━━━━━━☆☆━━━━━━━

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