𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 29.

━ 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲'𝘀 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻' 𝘂𝘀.

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐔𝐍 𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐃 𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐍 through the bathroom window, flowing through the room as I pulled up my shorts.

I still couldn't wipe the smile off of my face from the night before. It only processed in my mind— the fact that he had kissed me— the morning after, when I had woken up and pinched myself, to make sure it wasn't a dream. It wasn't.

Standing there in the front doorway of the house, I had watched John B hop back into his van, waving to me as he drove away down the street and out of sight. I couldn't move for a while, simply trying to wrap my head around what had happened, my cheeks tinted dark red.

When I had stepped back inside, I couldn't help but to lean my head on the door, my teeth biting down onto my bottom lip as the biggest of smiles rose to my face. I had never smiled so big, and for such a long time, ever in my life. The walk towards my bedroom was a daze. I had reluctantly changed out of the expensive dress that I was still wearing, stared at it with admiration for a while, and then hung it up in the farthest end of my closet. With soaking wet hair, I then waited in the living room for my grandparents to come home.

They had marched in at around ten o'clock, with boxes in their hands. I felt a rush flow through my body when Caroline's face had lit up, her good energy being the cherry on-top for the night. She had came over to me, gave me a hug as usual, and forgot all about their shipment and rather asked me about my day. She questioned why I seemed so happy. She said that I was glowing— more than usual— and that I seemed enlightened, refreshed.

She had came into my room later in the night, to see that I was still up, staring out my window. She told me that she knew something had happened. So, she sat down on the edge of my bed, and listened to me talk for an hour, about John B— because I simply couldn't hold it in anymore. She only seemed a little bit surprised when I first said his name. A wide smile was on her face as I told her all about when we had gone surfing, to staying at his house, and the boat ride in the morning. She had asked if I liked him. I had blushed and looked down.

Halfway into it, she started to talk about how her and Daryl had met. I sat with my legs under the covers, knees pulled up to my chest, and my back leaning against the headboard of my bed, listening the entire time. When our chatting had unfortunately come to an end, when she could barely keep her eyes open any longer, she gave me quick 'boyfriend advice' and then told me to take my time— with John B— before saying goodnight and going to sleep. It was refreshing to have someone listen to me talk about a boy, and then give me advice. My mother was never there to do that, nor did I even have a boy to talk about.

Now, midday, I stood in the bathroom, the sun shining down through the small glass window, cascading along my skin. My damp hair lay over my shoulders as my throat hummed a mindless tune, the sunlight casting a glow on my image in the reflection, while pots and pans clinking from the kitchen were heard in the distance.

"It's ready, bug!" Daryl's voice shouted from down the hall, as the sound of the sink water running followed after his words.

"Coming!" I called back.

I quickly pulled my head through the basic t-shirt, slipping my arms through the sides, before shuffling to grab my towel resting on the counter top. My fingers gripped around the shower curtain, and with a strong jerk, it rolled closed and the bathroom door was being opened. When I shut the light, Caroline was stepping out of her bedroom door down the hall with a smile plastering over her face when she saw me.

"Come on, bug," she said sweetly, lightly nodding her head in the direction of the kitchen, taking slower steps.

"Just gonna put my towel in my room," I smiled back softly, earning a nod in return.

My hand gripped around the knob of my closed door right as she turned her head and picked up her pace towards the kitchen. I watched her walk out of sight, a small smile on my face, while pushing open the door, and looking down at my feet.

"Hey, Charlie,"

I dropped the towel.

There was a dramatic, and quite fatal, hitch in my breath, looking up so fast that I could've broken my neck. A spike of panic pierced my heart at the sudden voice, and when I looked forward to where it came from, the smile was long gone off my face.

John B sat comfortably at the far corner of my room, in the chair in front of my wooden desk. His arms were perched up on the surface of the chair.

"What the!—" I was about to scream, and tell him off for scaring me like that.

He put a finger up to his lips, which caused the words to trap in my throat. Caroline and Daryl were right in the other room.

"The fuck!" I stared at him with wide eyes, my voice quiet, but apoplectically angry. My hands immediately pushed the door closed behind me, slowly. "What the hell are you doing here!" I whisper-shouted.

He let out a quiet chuckle, "You look cute with wet hair," he nodded to me. "Did I forget tell you that last night?"

"My grandparents are home, John B," I said with a dangerously quiet tone of voice, my tone laced with anger at the sudden appearance in my room."They're right there," I aggressively pointed my finger to the wall, indicating that my grandparents were right on the other side.

He chuckled lowly again, before standing up and taking slow steps. I barely looked down at the dark grey button-up he was wearing, which was wide open and displayed his chest and stomach, as usual.

"I know," he walked right over to me, "Needed to see you again," his words were low, as a sly smirk rose to his lips. His hands made their way to my waist.

A sea of butterflies began to swarm inside my stomach from the touch, "John B." I whispered sternly, my own hands gripping onto his forearms.

"Charlotte." He mocked me, as he bit down onto his bottom lip, inching his face down lower to mine.

"What are you doing here," I whispered, carefully glancing back to the door. When he didn't reply, I placed my hands onto his shoulders, and began to step forward, pushing him over to my bed. While cautiously glancing back to the door again, I pushed him down to sit. "You should be glad I didn't walk in naked, you pervert." I slapped his shoulder.

He looked up at me with a smile, "I wanted to see you," he softly whispered with twinkling eyes, his fingers gripping at the bottom hem of my shirt. "But that would've been a bonus," he joked.

I rolled my eyes.

He grinned.

"Bullshit," I murmured back, my face somehow relaxing into a smile, just by seeing his own grin. "You need something."

"I need you," he laughed silently, pulling me closer by the end of my top. "To kiss me again."

I laughed at the cheesiness.

Standing between his legs, my hands around his neck, he reached his face up slightly and attached his lips with mine. My stomach exploded with even more butterflies from the soft contact, my heart skipping multiple beats for a second time around.

I pulled away after a second, despite my racing heart-beat, "We can't do this right now," I said with a humorously disappointing tone of voice, as he leaned forward to try and kiss me again.

"Do what." A small grin appeared on his lips.

"You need to go," I let out a small laugh, glancing back at my bedroom door. "I'll be murdered if we get caught."

"Your grandparents like me, no?" He foolishly narrowed his eyebrows.

"Well they won't anymore, if they see us in here," I let out another soft giggle, leaning my front side against him, "why are you here, John B."

His finger slid around one of the belt loops of my shorts, "Wanted to say hi," he smiled. His other hand reached up and pushed a strand of my hair away from my face, behind my ear.

My cheeks flushed into a crimson red color.

"What do you need," I rolled my eyes, as the tips of my fingers mindlessly played with the ends of his own hair at the back.

"I need you to meet me at the Chateau in an hour," he finally said, still with the smile glued to his plump lips. "I'm going to school to get that letter translated. Then I have a plan for our next mission."

"Do you, now?" I said with a sarcastic tone.

"Of course I do," he said with a soft giggle. He began to lean in again, pulling me in by my waist.

"Charlotte?" Caroline's voice halted me from going any further, our heads abruptly turning to the door. "Are you talking to someone?"

"You have to go, right now," I immediately said, as I whipped my head back around and pinned my eyes on John B's face roughly, my face now flushing with a small panic. I whispered to him with a frantic tone, as I gripped onto his arms.

Smoothly, he was pulled up, and he quickly caught on, rushing towards my already open bedroom window.

"No, no! I'm just—" I called back to her , my hands on his back as he swung his legs over the window sill, "I'm talking to myself," I tried to sound casual, while shoving him out.

Her footsteps inched closer to the door. John B hopped out, landing onto the leaves below with a grunt.

"Are you okay, bug?" She questioned, seeming confused.

My mind panicked. "Don't come in, grandma, I'm— I'm naked!" I shouted frantically, while leaning against the window sill.

I heard John B stifle a laugh from below. I whacked the top of his head with a stiff hand out the window, and he was quiet.

"Alright, then," she called from right outside my door, surprised at my outburst, and her voice sounding unsure, "just come out when you're ready, I suppose," She laughed, and then I heard her footsteps going back in the other direction.

John B then stood up from crouching, "I'm naked?" He mocked me when I turned to face him, letting out quiet huffs of laughter. "That's such a cliché excuse, Charls."

"You wish I was," I rolled my eyes, joking, "what else was I supposed to say."

He perched his elbows up on the rim, "Chateau in an hour," he repeated, a grin on his lips.

"Roger that," I put two thumbs up, smiling cheekily.

He leaned his head through the window, catching me off guard when he planted a quick peck on my lips, before pushing himself away.

A wide smile broke out on my face, causing my cheeks to crease, when he pointed finger guns in my direction with a wink. I watched him turn around and crawl through the trees, going out of sight and away from my home.

With my heart racing out of my chest, I then closed the window and bit down on the inside of my cheek, turning away with a happy sigh.

___

There was a grey car parked outside of John B's house when I pulled up on my bike.

After the surprise from him, Caroline seemed sceptical when I had left my room and quickly joined them at the round table for lunch. Her and Daryl exchanged glances as we all ate our sandwiches, me being a tad bit quicker than normal. Nonetheless, the two chatted about something called "midsummers", which was going on later in the day on Figure Eight, while I stared out the window towards the water, the radio softly playing music in the background. Halfway through eating, I asked both of them if I could hang out with my friends.

I specifically looked to Caroline, and I assumed she got the message, because she nodded first. She had let a wide smile rise to her lips, and I gently asked if I could possibly stay the night again, just incase. Fortunately, they said yes. I had hugged them before leaving with a backpack of things.

I didn't know what John B wanted to talk to me about, or who else would be there, but I pedalled to his house anyways. Sarah had dropped off my bike the night before. When I pulled up to the back porch of John B's house, I noticed a dark grey car parked on the side of the street, in the front, which was never there before.

No one was inside the chateau and not a sound could be heard. I had figured that maybe John B was running late from translating the letter, and that I could just wait for him to get back, until I'd looked out the back window. I'd spotted John B and Jj crawling through the marsh behind the house, before I rushed out on the dock to ask them what was wrong. The next thing I knew was that we were headed to a small island on the HMS Pogue, speeding through the water as if someone was chasing us.

"Yeah— so what was that all about," I now asked, once we'd stepped out of the boat, completely away from the Chateau. "Are you hiding from someone, or something?" I was looking down as I stomped through the wet grass.

"Someone's watching us." Jj huffed out defeatedly, leaning his back against a broken stone wall. "We're being clocked."

John B hopped up to sit on another stone block.

"Excuse me?" My eyebrows sharply narrowed, shifting gazes between both of them. I stopped walking, standing on the grass that separated them.

"Yeah so— first I almost get strangled to death by Kooks," Jj was saying to John B, "and now I'm on the hook for thirty grand."

"Thirty grand?" I repeated, sounding oblivious. "What the fuck— why do you owe thirty grand? To who?"

John B glanced to me, with a certain look on his face that told me it wasn't the best moment to ask. I bit down on my lip.

"We should just dip, bro." Jj sighed.

John B scoffed. "And where would we go? Hm?"

Jj looked off into the distance, thinking for a second. "Yucatan." he shrugged.

"Yucatan," John B repeated, letting out another scoff.

"Dude, think about it— we could surf all day," Jj stopped leaning against the stone wall, and I crossed my arms. "And then just live off lobsters we catch with our bare hands."

"You just wanna leave because you got your ass beat?" John B muttered.

"John B," I said uncertainly, with an upset look on my face.

"You didn't see the photos." Jj looked down at his feet, his jaw tightly clenched.

I didn't know what they were talking about, but apparently John B did.

"What happened to your face, Jj," I looked over at him, taking a few cautious steps. "Why do you owe thirty grand? Thirty grand in what?"

He rubbed his hands over his forehead stressfully, not replying.

"Think about it," John B hopped off the stone wall and marched past me. "If they're willing to kill for the gold, then it's gotta be out there, Jj!"

"Oh my god," Jj scoffed, and then suddenly aggressively pulled off his hat. "Have you lost your mind!" He shouted.

I inched back from his sudden anger, as his booming voice ruffled through the trees above us.

"One hundred fuckin' years man." He said through gritted teeth. "One hundred years people have been trying to find this damn Royal Merchant, and no one succeeded! And now you think that you, are really going to be the one that actually finds it?" He roughly pointed a strong finger at his friend's chest.

John B let out an angry breath, turning his head to the side. He clenched his jaw.

"When are you going to get it into your thick skull, that if you keep going down this road you're gonna end up just like your dad!" Jj screamed.

Then, my stomach dropped and my eyes widened as John B aggressively pushed on his friend's chest, sending him flying back.

"Okay, can we stop, please," I said with a soft voice, even though my stomach was crawling with nerves. I stepped in between the two of them, placing my hands on John B's chest in hopes of pushing him back. He didn't budge, so I let go.

"I can't give up now, Jj!" John B screamed back, and lightly shoved me out of the way before marching right up to Jj's face, pointing a finger at him. They were inches away from one another. "The last time I saw that dude, we got into an argument."

I stood next to them, no longer between their bodies. Jj looked down at his feet.

"And then he took all of our rent money and dipped for this Royal Merchant!" John B shouted, while pointing his arm out in the distance. "And then I told him he was a shit father." His voice calmed down a little bit, only slightly cracking with emotion.

My face dropped with a sad expression.

"And you know how the rest of the story goes." John B muttered lowly, before turning away.

Jj glanced to me, making eye contact for a split second.

"Bro, that wasn't your fault." he said in a low tone.

John B spun back around, shouting, "It doesn't matter who's fault it is Jj!"

"John B," I said quietly, grabbing his forearm when he marched back over in our direction. "Just stop. How about you— um, tell us about your plan, okay," I looked up at him with a soft smile, now reaching over to grab both of his arms. "Both of you— calm down."

"I don't care who's after us, or who's gonna try and kill us," John B ignored me, "and you know that." He said in a quiet tone, pointing to Jj.

Both me and Jj watched John B march away from us.

"The gold is real, Jj," I suddenly turned to face him, my arms crossed, and the same sad look on my face. "We figured it out, John B and I."

He looked down at me with a clenched jaw.

"You don't have to tell me what happened," I looked specifically to the cuts across his face, speaking softly, "I'm sorry for asking."

"I have a plan. You guys comin' or what." John B called out to us while grabbing the boat anchor.

"You just have to trust us, I promise. Come on," I decided to take a chance, delicately placing my hand on Jj's back, beginning to guide him over to where John b was.

"What's the plan," Jj asked with an irritated tone when we got close enough, rubbing a hand over his mouth.

John B stood up and looked to both of us. "You wanna go to a party?" he asked.

I narrowed my eyebrows. "Are you asking us on a date."

He pulled up the anchor. "You both, are going to Midsummers."

Jj immediately scoffed.

"What the hell is Midsummers?" I asked, obliviously, while letting my hand fall from Jj's back. I shifted my eyes between both boys.

"I'll explain on the way," he motioned for us to get in the boat.

"This is so stupid." Jj retorted.

"Four hundred million, Jj." John B lowered his eyes. "And how much do you owe in restitution?" He said confidently, knowing he was right. "Now hop in, we gotta get Charlie to the Cameron's house."

༄

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐣𝐣 𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐩 <3

𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 !!