EDEN knew that she couldn't do anything wrong tonight.

While she'd usually be one to mess around with her mother, to do things that the entirety of Kooks would find rather disrespectful....she knew she couldn't screw around tonight.  If her mother got pissed off when she didn't sit the correct way, Eden didn't want to picture what would go down if she were to do something—she didn't feel like walking away with a bruised wrist or face.

Which is why as Tom Bexley pulled into the Island Club parking lot, Eden put on her best party face.  Was she truly feeling up to hanging around with a bunch of stuck-up rich kids? God no—if it were up to her, she'd be at the Chateau hanging out with John B., or trying to help JJ out for that matter—but for her own sake, she was just going to have to put up with it.

Her entrance had to be one of the more important parts of Midsummers.  You had to walk in with enough confidence to show you were respected, but not with too much confidence to the point that you looked stuck up.  Since she'd been going to the event since she was a child, Eden practically had the walk down.  She'd keep her head high and send perfect smiles to everyone who looked her way, just as she'd been taught.

So, that's exactly what she did.  Her heels clicked on to the parkway of the Island Club, and her eyes scanned around the familiar perimeter. Kooks were filling up the place, flower crowns placed on many of their heads.  Eden had lucked out, and instead wore a flower clip in the back of her messily bunned hair so she still matched everyone else, which she was currently messing with.

Noticing her daughters fidgeting fingers, Isla sent her a look, "Put your fingers down; you're going to ruin it."

Surprisingly, Eden did as she was told and stopped messing around with the flowered clip, placing her hand down by her side.  The other clutched her small bag—the inside only held her phone, why she was bringing a whole purse was unknown to her.   Following in her mothers footsteps, literally, the girl walked into the club, smiling at the people she passed.

On Midsummers, it truly didn't matter whether or not she acted more Pogue than Kook.  She'd still be respected by the crowd. 

Squeezing through crowds to enter the building, Eden looked behind to see that her mother had already started up conversation with some Kook woman, probably starting conversation on what accomplishments they'd managed to accomplish that year, comparing money-wise, et- cetera.  All of the above things she'd rather not bore herself listening too.  So, Eden looked back at her father, who gave a small nod, allowing her to venture off on her own for the time being.

Weaving through the crowd, she suddenly caught the eye of Pope, who was busying himself at the oyster station/grill. Even though he wasn't a Kook, everyone could agree that Heyward never failed when it came to cooking, so him and his father were invited to the Kook based event on grill duty, which was nice in Eden's case.

"Pope!" once she'd gotten close enough, Eden called out his name.  At the sudden calling, Pope searched around, a relieved look taking over his face once he realized it was just his friend and not one of the Death Squad members trying to mock him, or ask why he wasn't locked up yet.  

"Hey, Eds." Pope held out his hand and the two did the familiar handshake that they'd created all those years ago in greeting. "You look nice."

"Thanks, but you and Heyward are really taking the spotlight in your matching attire." Eden joked, looking over towards the older man as she did, "How's it going, Pops?"

Heyward replied, "Business is business."

A rather proper sounding voice took Eden away from her conversation with her friend's father, "Excuse me, sir.  Do we have to shuck these ourselves?"  At the English accent, Eden turned around with a small smile, knowing who'd arrived. Kie.  "'Cause it might mess up my costume."

Pope did the same with a dead panned expression before realizing it was just his friend, a smile growing on his face as he noticed her, "We wouldn't want that, now would we?" The two did the handshake themselves afterwards.  "That accent was bad."

"It was. I was gonna let it go."

"Speaking of costume—" Eden gestured towards her friends appearance, "—you look great. How much was the dress, exactly?"

Kiara playfully rolled her eyes, "Too much money that could have gone into some sort of charity, though I suppose it wasn't as much as yours—which, you look hot as fuck in, by the way."  

She supposed her mother wasn't totally useless—she was great when it came to fashion choices, especially at Midsummers.  This year it had been a green, tight-fitting dress with a leafy pattern on it to match her hair clip.  Eden felt comfortable it in, despite her hatred for fancy clothing and sent a smile to her friend at the compliment.

"Thanks for the confidence boost, Kie." 

Kie shrugged, "That's what I'm here for."

Pope sent them a look, "Can you guys keep your flirting for later?"

"Sorry, I just can't handle myself when she's around." Eden shrugged, causing the curly haired girl beside her to slightly laugh. "You wouldn't understand, Pope; you've never been in love."

"Yeah, yeah, rub it in why don't you?"

The Carrera girl changed the conversation, eyes scanning over the hundreds of Kooks walking around, flutes of champagne in hand as they chatted among themselves.  Unlike Eden, the majority of Kooks didn't really respect Kiara, which caused her to hate the event even more than the Bexley. "You ever seen this many Kooks in one place?"

"Yeah. Last year." Pope replied dryly.

"We're in the lions den."

"Exactly."

Eden shrugged. Though she agreed with her friends—this was the perfect place for something to go wrong; they were in the other's territory—she was entirely sure the Death Squad were about to try anything. After all, they now knew what could happen if they got on Eden Bexleys bad side, "Who knows. Maybe they learned their lesson after last time.  I doubt Topper wants a gun to his head for the third time in a row."

At the thought of the other night, Pope also recalled what had happened that very morning.  As he shut the grill, he asked, "Hey, have you two heard from JJ?"

Kiara's face fell, "No."

Eden sadly shook her head, "Nada. And John B.'s no fucking help; he hasn't answered any of my texts.  I hope he's enjoying his quality time while his best friend is rotting in a jail cell." 

"He'll be alright.  He's got the survival instincts of a cockroach." Kie was almost convincing herself with those words, as she was trying to do to the others.  Convince that JJ would be okay, that they'd see their blonde friend again sooner or later.

The three fell silent before Pope muttered, "It's all my fault."

"No, Pope, don't do that to yourself." Eden shook her head, putting a hand on his shoulder in reassurance, "If you want to play the blame game, blame Topper and Rafe, not yourself.  It's just going to make shit worse."

Kiara nodded, "Yeah. You didn't do this, Pope. Topper almost killed you. Remember?"

Cheering then echoed through the club, causing the three Pogues to turn their heads just in time to see the Cameron family walk in, heads high and smiles on their faces—fake or not, Eden couldn't see.  Ward was wearing a medal, almost screaming 'look at what I accomplished!', arm wrapped with his wife, Rose' who was wearing a huge gold headpiece that threaten to poke your eye out if you passed at the wrong moment.  The children ventured behind, following their parents as the crowd applauded, for what reason, Eden wasn't sure.

"Here come Lord Capital and the Exploiters." the Carrera commented.

As Rose waved towards the smiling faces of other Kooks, Pope spoke on her headpiece, "She's gonna poke somebody's eye out with that." 

"And let's hope it's Toppers." Eden sighed, lazily clapping at the Kook family, as everyone else did.  The Cameron's were the richest family in the OBX, but Eden couldn't totally roll her eyes.  Ward had spent his life working his way up the food chain, and if she'd made it here from nothing, she'd want to brag about it too.

"Cheers to that," Kiara grabbed three flutes of champagne from an incoming waiters tray, handing them over to her friends so they could all get their first swig of alcohol of the night—and certainly not their last.

The day had turned into night, and the party had only grown.

Almost all of the Kooks were now on the dance floor, laughing, smiling and having an overall good time, which was what most saw Midsummers as; a good time.  Of course, Eden, Kiara and Pope weren't a part of the majority and were counting down the minutes until the night was over, until they had their Pogue freedom back in their hands again.

While on the dance floor, Eden did anything but that.  She was leaning up against a pole, flute of champagne in her hand as she watched everyone in front of her. Last she'd seen, Pope was still over by his grill and Kiara was busy socializing with some Kook academy peers, at her mothers urging, leaving her all alone. 

Eden had grown lost in thought and barely noticed the figure that was coming her way.  Looking up, the Bexley suppressed the urge to groan as Rafe Cameron came up to her,  an all to familiar smirk on his face. "Eden,"

"Rafe." Eden used the same amount of enthusiasm, trying to quickly stop whatever he was trying to do, "Believe it or not, I really don't feel like chatting right now."

"I didn't ask," Rafe casually placed his hands in his pockets, "How's your nose?"

Suddenly reminded of the bruise that had formed on her nose, bandage covering up the wound while also yelling at everyone that she indeed had one, Eden sent a smile his way, setting her flute down on a tray, "It's actually doing pretty good, after your elbow nailed it.  Thanks for asking."

"Believe it or not, I actually wanted to apologize for that." the Cameron boy mimicked her past words, sounding rather honest, though the Bexley wasn't going to buy into his crap.  Knowing Rafe, he probably didn't mean it, "I didn't mean to elbow you."

"I'd love to apologize for my own actions, but I don't regret shit." Eden shrugged, "Oh, and I don't accept that, by the way.  Almost breaking my nose in the process of trying to kill my friends is gonna take a whole lot more than just an apology."

"How about a dance? Would that make up for your injuries?" Rafe held out a hand, almost like he expected her to take it.  From behind, Eden could see both Ward and Isla watching like hawks.  For all she knew, Isla had forced Rafe over here to make small talk and to dance.  

So, just to mess with her, Eden took his hand—something she never expected to do in her life, if she were honest—allowing him to start dancing with her, "Probably not, but I'll take the dance. If your boyfriends are okay with that, it is." She nodded towards the two boys—Topper and Kelce—who were wearing matching pastels with the Cameron, "I'd hate to be the cause behind a break-up."

Rafe rolled his eyes, placing his hand on her waist, her other hand finding refuge on his shoulder as they'd been taught as children, "They have better things to be doing then dancing with me, sadly."

"Like what? Beating up unarmed boys at the movies?"

"It was stupid of you to pull a gun on me, Eden." Rafe sighed, his voice quieter as he spoke on the past events. 

Eden shrugged, moving in time with him, "It was stupid of you to mess with us in the first place." Pausing a moment, she added, "Oh, and just so you don't have the wrong picture, I'm not scared of you Rafe."

"Believe me Eden, I learned that a while ago."

"Good. I just want to make sure you know, because if you ever come after my friends again, I won't hesitate to pull the trigger this time." Eden looked up at the blonde boy, whose mouth was surprisingly closed, his mind unable to think of a reply.  Was he scared of Eden Bexley? Of course not.  But he didn't doubt that she meant what she'd said.  Sending a smile his way, she patted his chest with her hand, " I suppose Blossom and Buttercup are waiting. Thanks for the dance, and tell daddy I say hi, yeah?"

She didn't wait for any reply before walking off, grabbing herself a new flute from another waiter.  As she passed right by her parents, she felt a cold grasp tighten around her wrist and Eden quickly turned to see her mother staring her down.  

"You shouldn't be drinking that," Isla plucked the small flute from her grasp, scolding her like a child. Setting it down, the older woman searched over her daughter, almost looking for something she could fix.  Some imperfection she could call out.  As she did so, she spoke on the dance Eden had shared with Rafe Cameron himself, "I see you were dancing with Rafe.  How did that go?"

"Boring." Eden replied, "He has no rhythm to him, and that only adds to how insufferable he is in general."

Tom spoke up, "Angel, I'm sure if you gave him a chance—"

"Have you ever hung out with Rafe Cameron?" the brunette asked her father, who didn't reply, understanding her point.  While the blonde boy may seem like a charmer on the outside, the inside him was rather different, and Eden would know, "Didn't think so."

"You shouldn't speak to your father like that, you know?" Isla's voice was oddly calm, but Eden knew she was trying not to make a scene at the biggest event of the summer.  With a reputation like hers, someone finding out what happened at home could ruin it and Isla would rather have any other outcome than lose the reputation she'd grown to receive.  "It reflects badly on you."

"No, it reflects badly on you.  Makes you seem more Pogue for not teaching your daughter proper manners." she snapped back.  Her mouth opened to comment, but she was quickly stopped by a familiar voice, a voice that belonged to someone she'd been worrying about for the past hours.

JJ Maybank.

He was currently being walked out by a security guard—how he'd gotten inside in the first place being a question Eden had no answer to.  Despite being a few feet away, his voice traveled to the dance floor, causing some to curiously watch the scene unfold.

"Look—look, man, I can walk myself." JJ's spoke quick, his arm caught in the hold of the guard who was almost walking the teenager out like he was a dog. "I got legs. Can't you see that, brother? I really appreciate what you did back there.  Let me just walk by myself." As he spoke, he fought against the guards hold, both twisting around with his every move.

"Mr. Dunleavy, I see you got your drink. Good, that's really nice of you. I'm actually gonna down that," the Bexley watched as her friend reached over to an elderly man, taking his glass from him and downing it, as he declared he would do.

"Ah! Whoo! I really appreciate the discretion, Daryl, y'know?" JJ continued to talk, his voice suddenly rising, causing the crowd —who'd been dancing—to stop and watch. "It's okay, everybody! Do not panic.  Leave it to the men and women in uniform, huh? Let's hear it for them!"

His eyes caught hold of Mrs. Cameron, and he pointed at her as the guard almost shoved him away, "Rose! You look like Lady Liberty. It's good to see you again."  His eyes then searched the crowd and finally landed on Eden, her mother standing behind her, "Ah! Isla! You are stunning. I love the whole flower thing up here." He gestured to his head.

"How the hell did he even get in here?" Isla hissed, visibly mad as the boy spoke to her casually.  Out of all Eden's Pogue friends, she liked JJ the least.  Not only was his dad one of the worst, but he was a total troublemaker.  Always getting into things, always getting others hurt—just like he was doing now.

As JJ reached for another drink, the guard yanking  him away, Kiara's voice rang through the party, "Let go of him!"  At her words, the guard stopped and turned to look at her, "You can't just boot him!"

"Excuse me, ma'am?"

"I invited him here," Kie stated, ignoring her parents who were  trying to stop the words flowing from her mouth, "I'm a member of this club."

At those words, the blonde boy shoved the guard away from him, the man flying back into some party guests. "Sorry about that." He then pointed fingers at Eden and Kiara, eyes darting between the two Kooks, "Hey, mandatory power hour at Rixon's, ladies.  Pope, you as well, alright? Rixon's Cove. Let's roll."

All three of whom he'd just named eyed one another, and JJ urged them to come forward once more, wrapping a hand around his bracelet filled wrist, "All right, Kie, come on.  Workers of the world unite."  He nodded towards Eden, "Throw off your chains!"

Eden turned back towards her parents, who sent her a dead-set stare back.  Isla had a hold on her daughters wrist, trying to hold on to her.  She spoke through gritted teeth, "You are not going."

"I'm sorry, I know it's Midsummers—" Eden fought out of her mothers grasp, trying to join her friends who were all running towards one another.  Finally, she broke away, sending a look towards her mother, "I have to go. It's mandatory."

Tom sent an almost pleading look, "Eden, don't do this."

"I'm sorry!"

Isla shouted, her goal of not making a commotion getting demolished, "Eden Bexley, if you leave this party, I don't want to see you at home again!" Her composure was gone, and Eden could see in her mothers eyes that she was serious.  Never in her time at Midsummers had Eden run off....but there was a first time for everything, right?

"Give my bed to the homeless." Eden called before turning away and running right towards her boys—and Kie, of course.  Standing right towards the exit was JJ with an ever-growing smile on his face, and beside him was none other than John B.

Running over in her heels, Eden was quick to wrap her arms around the blonde boy who'd been behind bars hours beforehand.  Expecting the embrace, JJ was quick to support her by wrapping his hands around her back, her feet leaving the ground for a brief few seconds.

"Such a disgrace, you know that, Eden? I can't believe I raised a daughter like you.  Ditching her family over friends."

Eden ignored her mothers calls, and felt her feet touch the grassy below again.  Just as quickly as she'd wrapped her arms around the Maybank, she pulled away lightly shoving his chest back, "Never pull that shit again, okay? I thought you were gonna be locked up for good."

"I can't make any promises," JJ replied as Kie came running forward, JJ spinning her around in his arms as they all began to move. 

"And you—" Eden sent a pointed look towards her brunette friend, watching as he pulled away from Pope, "—need to check your notifications."

"I missed you too, Eds." John B. gave her a quick hug before grabbing her hand and pulling her along, the brunette girl running as fast as she could in heels.

"Later, losers!" JJ shouted.

Ignoring their parents upset yells, the five Pogues then ran off, laughing and cheering like the children they were, as if all of their problems had been solved.   As if they hadn't just gotten themselves wrapped up in the biggest treasure hunt of their lives.

mara's misc!

i really love this chapter <3

ever since i started this fic, i've been waiting to write midsummers, and here i am!  ever since i watched episode five, i could totally envision eden and i'm so happy that i've finally reached that part of the fic.

midsummers is probably one of my favorite scenes and it was so fun bringing it to life. 

also, i think i'm gonna start pre-writing the rest of season one just in case i fall into another moment of no motivation.  then i can still update without having to force myself!

also also this is eden's dress btw:

and her little flower clip

ya'll can imagine the shoes lol

hope you enjoyed <3 see you back for chapter 13