CHAPTER SIX
BEST FRIENDS, BITTER RIVALS

THE FOUR TEENAGERS rock up to the movie event in a comfortable silence, the radio in the car being the thing to ease out the awkwardness. He ignores the looks he gets from some of the people around them when he gets out, all of them probably wondering the same thing — what is Theo Silver doing with Pogues?

There's that slight itch, the want within him, to tell them all to get lost but he maintains his composure. None of these people have a right to judge him, not when half of them are terrible people with questionable morals. Besides, he's known the Pogues for a couple of weeks now, with the exception of Kiara, and he already likes them a lot more than those that live around him.

"Where's John B?" Theo asks JJ as they walk beside one another, Pope and Kiara just behind them in their own conversation. "Thought you two were joined at the hip all the time,"

"I don't even know to be honest," JJ responds, shrugging his shoulders. "And no we're not,"

The second part of his sentence is accompanied by a roll of his eyes, clearly not bothered by Theo's statement but rather amused.  Theo smiles at him slightly before looking away only to see the sight he expected but didn't want to believe, a certain brunette standing around with Rafe and Topper. It's still such an odd picture, a girl who once hated Rafe Cameron is now one of his many 'followers'. Theo has absolutely no idea how anybody could be actual friends with that guy, he's practically irredeemable in his eyes.

JJ must notice his change in attitude, taking in the way Theo's lips have forced themselves down into a frown, so he gently bumps his shoulder to gain his attention. The brunette gazes at the shaggy blonde, eyebrows raised in question.

"Ignore her," JJ says simply.

"It's not that easy, JJ. She's done a full one-eighty with her attitude in the space of like a week," Theo mumbles unhappily, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Not uncommon for her,"

It's a swipe at Maisie, an underlying bitterness ever present in his tone of voice but Theo doesn't comment on it. It seems as if the two of them have more in common then he once thought, both stranded as their friend leaves them behind. Whatever happened between Maisie and the Pogues must have been pretty bad for them to completely pull away from one another, either that or JJ is very good at holding a grudge.

"What did happen anyway?" Theo asks the boy to his side, pulling his shirt sleeves down so that he's holding the end of them in his hands. "She never once mentioned that you guys used to be friends,"

"I think you'd find she ditched us for you," JJ chuckles. "I remember the whole 'cute boy' conversation just after she moved to Figure Eight. She had a massive thing for you, dude,"

That is not unknown to Theo, his first kiss being with the girl who he once thought he really liked — turns out it was more a friendship thing than a relationship thing. She'd been the first person he'd confined in about his sexuality and the fact she'd been so supportive gave him the courage to talk to his dad and Emmy, both who were the same.

"She keeps surprising me these days," Theo sighs dejectedly, running a hand through his messy hair. "Guess you're lucky that you've got others who have your back,"

JJ doesn't say anything, nodding his head as he looks at Theo. It's more a case of not knowing what to say, his words on the tip of his tongue but unable to translate to an actual statement.

"Theo, come and get drinks with me?" Kiara pops up behind the two, dragging in the shorter boy's attention.

"Yeah of course," Theo replies, following behind the girl to the table where they're selling the drinks and food.

Kiara orders the four of them a drink and hands the money over. "Thanks for bringing us here. I didn't know you and JJ were friends,"

Theo opens his mouth to speak when he's interrupted by a familiar voice. "Oh they're the best of friends now, right Theo?"

Rafe Cameron pushes himself into their view, a smug expression plastered upon his face as he looks at the two of them. "How are you Kie?"

"I'm fine," Kiara responds with complete disinterest, her attention more so on the vendor who is getting their drinks.

"Good, good. Just tell your boy we know what he did,"

Theo stops himself from having a reaction, Rafe's vicious gaze upon him as he speaks. Kiara seems to detect the tension, eyes shifting between the two of them as Theo's jaw clenches slightly. "How about you and your posse leave him alone, yeah?"

"The police are going to have a field day with this, Theo. Your dad might be a good lawyer but even he won't be able to stop that punk from going to jail,"

"Clearly you don't know my father very well at all. I know he'll be more than happy to put you behind bars though, he's never liked you,"

Theo picks up the drinks and bumps his shoulder into Rafe's as he walks by, walking back to where Pope and JJ are now sitting. He hands them a drink each, sinking into one of the fold out chairs they'd picked up. Kiara, who must have had some more words with Rafe, walks back.

"Just saw Rafe, and he said, and I quote, 'Tell your boy that we know what he did' What is that?" Kiara asks. "And how do you know about it, Theo? These idiots didn't drag you into any trouble did they?"

"Um, where is he?" JJ asks, eyes shifting about.

Theo points over his shoulder and it grabs the attention of Pope, his eyes widening. "Great, the whole death squad!"

"Don't stare, bro," JJ warns, turning his friends head away. "Just warning you, bro. If they corner me, I'm coming out swinging, okay?"

Theo has no doubts about it, he's learnt pretty quickly that JJ is protective over his friends — he admires it really. He may be a little unorthodox, perhaps even a little reckless, but he's already shown Theo how deeply he cares. He is almost one hundred percent sure that Rafe doesn't feel the same towards his friends, meaning he'll leave at the first sign of losing this fight.

The movie is pretty uninteresting, Theo can feel his eyes fluttering shit on their own accord as the time goes by. It's not until there's a call of his name that he actually sits up properly, head turning to see the brunette girl standing behind him. JJ, who is sitting beside him, looks over to with an unimpressed expression across his face. JJ's blatant distaste for her is still a little startling at times, Maisie seems to have learned how to ignore it though.

"Can we talk?" Maisie asks, the question soft and somewhat hesitant.

"So you and your 'boys' can corner him and beat the shit out of him?" JJ scoffs, nodding over to where Rafe is practically glaring at the Silver boy. "Might want to tell him that he's not great at hiding his dislike,"

"They're not going to hurt him, JJ. I just want to talk to my best friend. Alone,"

Theo can't lie, his heart flutters slightly when JJ sits up straighter and gives her a stare of disbelief. "Best friend? You ditched him for those morons and then—"

Theo gently lays his hand on JJ's shoulder, his cheeks probably a deep crimson red, and shakes his head. "It's okay. Yeah, May, we can talk,"

Theo pushes up out of his chair, taking note of JJ's warning stare, before following after Maisie. The two move to a more secluded area, somewhere faraway enough that they won't be disturbed. It's the first time in a long time that Theo doesn't know what to say to her, how to start up a conversation with her.

"What did you want to talk about?" Theo settles on a basic question, simply wanting to get this over and done with as soon as possible. "The movie was starting to get interesting,"

Maisie smiles softly and shakes her head. "You hated it the first time we saw it T, and you one hundred percent hate it now. You were literally falling asleep,"

It makes more sense to Theo now, he's seen it before. He wouldn't be able to tell anybody what the name is, or what happens either.

"Look, I just wanted to try and clear the air again. Your my best friend Theo, I hate the fact that you're mad at me," Maisie comments.

"You were the one who didn't want me around, remember? I'm just giving you the space you wanted," Theo shrugs, ignoring the hurt that's creeping up within him. "I also refuse to be anywhere near Rafe or Topper,"

"But you're happy to hang around with JJ?"

"Yeah, I am. At least he doesn't treat me like a piece of shit,"

It's a vicious spew of words, Maisie flinching back slightly at the sound of them. "I probably deserved that. He doesn't give a shit about you, T. The minute he's used you for what he wants, he'll throw you away. He has a way of changing up his attitude,"

"Funny, he said the same about you. At the moment, I'm more inclined to believe the one who hasn't thrown me aside like garbage. You know Maisie, I've done nothing but stick up for you for years — most of that has been against Rafe. What could have happened in the last few weeks that made you think he is the better friend here?"

"I don't have to constantly nag him to do things with me for one,"

"Oh that's rich. All I've ever done is throw myself out of my comfort zone for you! I hate parties, let's be honest I hate most people, and yet I always found a way to push that aside for you!"

Theo swallows harshly, tears beginning to build up in his eyes. Maisie opens her mouth to speak up again when a yell catches both of their attention. "Let go of him Topper! Fascist asshole!"

Maisie and Theo give one another a look before rushing off in the direction of the shouting. His eyes widen as he takes in the sight, Rafe and Kelce taking turns attacking JJ as Kiara hits Topper with a bag as he attacks Pope. It's a whole mess, one that Theo wastes no time getting involved in. He makes a beeline for JJ, shoving Rafe away with as much strength as he can muster up. JJ elbows Kelce in the stomach and goes to jump towards Rafe again, Theo clutching his elbow to keep him at bay.

"Oh! Of course it's you! Mind your own fucking business for once!" Rafe exclaims, swinging his fist towards Theo who doesn't expect the advance and is saved last minute by JJ who takes the hit for him. "Stupid pogue!"

Theo stops to check on the blonde boy as Rafe moves his attention to the other two, grabbing Kiara and pushing her away. She lands on the floor, a pained groan escaping her lips and catches Theo's attention. "Shit! Kie, are you okay?"

The girl waves him off, now sifting through the bag she'd bought over to hit the kooks with. Theo goes to help her but can't escape the kick in the side from Kelce who turns his assault to JJ once again. Within seconds, the area around them has been set alight, the flames flickering amongst the darkness of the night.

"Fire!" Rafe yells, pulling Kelce away with him. Topper follows and when Theo looks up, he see Maisie standing there is shock. "Maisie! Lets go!"

The two lock eyes for a moment, a hesitance evident on her face. "I'm sorry T," she whispers before turning around and following — leaving him laying on the ground.

"I'm sorry about Maisie, Theo,"

Theo doesn't look away from the road, concentrating on keeping his emotions in check. He can, however, see JJ looking at him out of the corner of his eye. "You warned me, I should've listened,"

They'd already dropped Kiara and Pope home, Theo now driving away. The thing is, Theo just wants to go home. It's been such a long night, one that he wishes he'd never had to have lived, and he just needs to sleep.

"Doesn't make it any easier," JJ then comments, looking out the window as they pass by the water. "My house isn't this way,"

"I know. You can crash at mine tonight, I just can't be bothered to drive out there," Theo sighs.

JJ shrugs, leaning his head against the glass and holding a tissue to his bloody lip. Theo knows that's partially his fault, that punch had been meant for him, yet when he'd mentioned it JJ had waved him off. That in itself replays over and over in his mind, almost as if they boy is used to the pain of physical violence.

Turning into the driveway, Theo parks in his normal spot and then turns the car off. The lights are still on inside, meaning his dad is probably still up. The two get out of the car and go into the large home, Eric humming quietly as the kettle boils in the kitchen. He looks up and smiles but it's wiped away rather quickly, taking in the sight of a bruised and bloody JJ Maybank.

"What happened?" Eric questions, opening the cabinet under the sink to grab the first aid kit. Theo guides JJ over to one of the stools at the bench.

"Rafe Cameron and his cronies," Theo replies.

Eric sighs and begins to clean up the cuts on JJ's face, apologising whenever the boy lets out a hiss of pain. Theo can feel his hands shaking slightly as he watches the encounter, his leg bouncing up and down as he sits there.

"Alright, that's probably as good as I can do. Theo show JJ to the guest bedroom," Eric speaks and his son nods, the two teenagers heading upstairs.

"Here's the bedroom. There's a shower in there too. I'll uh, grab some of my clothes and put them on the bed for you," Theo says quietly, giving him a small smile.

Theo spins around to leave but a hand grabs his wrist. His eyes move on their own accord, landing on the blonde boy who is already staring at him. "Thanks, Theo. I owe you one,"

"You owing me a favour? How the tables have turned," Theo smiles slightly. "Goodnight JJ,"

"Goodnight,"

"I'd always clung onto the idea that I didn't need anybody outside of my family and Maisie. Why would I? The people on this island have always been far too out there for me, too superficial for me to care for. But as I listen to the soft snores through my bedroom wall, I can't think that way anymore.

A boy who I'd known all of two weeks had not only willingly hung around with me but he'd intercepted a literal punch to the face that would've left my jaw shattered and my lips bloody.

His eyes, they tell me so much about him, everything down to the smallest twinkle I'd seen when he'd been offered a room at my home for night or the warmth when my father had helped clean his face after the fight. Perhaps we aren't so different after all, for there's that yearning feeling within both of us — a desire to have people actually care for us the way we always should've been,"

NOTE!

I hope you enjoyed! Thank you all so much for 500 reads! I know it's probably not the best written story but I'm having a lot of fun with it!

Just to clear up, the parts at the end in italics are where he's writing for his book, you'll probably notice how much it'll change from the beginning of the story to the end.

Thank you for reading, hope to see you next time!