written in the stars - a topper thornton fanfic (outer banks)

s e v e n

song: fitzpleasure by alt-J

present

"It's a double overhead out there, bro," Pope said as he tan after John B, surfboard in hand

"Double overhead?" John B said, wiping the rainwater from his face.

"There is no way you two are going out there." Genevieve said, running after them. The wind blew her glossy, brown hair in every direction possible until it no longer resembled hair but a bird's nest instead.

"Those aren't surfable waves, bro." Pope said, glancing nervously over the ocean.

"Says who!" John B said with a laugh as he ran down the beach towards the ocean.

"John B!" Genevieve called after him, but it was pointless. "His funeral," she muttered, looking at Pope. Thunder boomed loudly.

.....

"I'm telling you, I saw a boat out there!" John B said to Genevieve as they ran back to the chateau.

"And I'm telling you that you shouldn't have gone surfing in the middle of a hurricane, John B!" Genevieve retorted angrily as she ran in the door.

JJ looked up as the door swung open as an angry Genevieve stormed in, followed by somebody that resembled a drowned rat, who he soon realised was John B. "Uh, what the fuck?"

"This idiot went surfing. Surfing." Genevieve said with an eye roll as she sat down on the couch next to JJ.

"Yo, that's sick!" He said, standing up to high five John B. Genevieve glared at them. "You wouldn't be saying that if he had drowned."

.....

The next day, Genevieve woke up to the aftermath of the storm. She was asleep on the couch. She rubbed her eyes and sighed as she stared groggily at John B, who was flicking a light switch on and off.

"No power?" Genevieve asked, sitting up.

John B shook his head. "No power."

Genevieve looked over at JJ, who was asleep on the pull-out bed.

"Yo, JJ, you been outside yet?" John B asked.

"I have polio, bro. I can't walk." JJ replied.

Genevieve rolled her eyes and stood up to follow John B outside. Thunder rumbled in the distance.

"That's not good." John B said as he stared at a tree that had been uprooted from the ground.

"That is not good," Genevieve replied.

"Agatha did some work, huh?" JJ called, apparently cured from his polio. Genevieve nodded, walking towards him.

JJ burped. "You disgust me," Genevieve muttered as they watched John B sift through the debris. "Love you too," he said with a smirk as he walked towards John B.

"What you thinking?" JJ asked John B, who was busy pulling some loose branches from the HMS Pogue. Genevieve followed him with a yawn.

"I'm thinking that storm surge pushed all the crabs out on the marsh maze." John B said, looking up at JJ.

"What about DCS?" Genevieve said, looking at John B. "Yeah, wasn't that today?" JJ replied.

"Nah, they're not getting on a ferry. Come on, think about it. It's God telling us to fish!" John B said, pointing at the sky. Or the ocean. Genevieve couldn't tell.

"Since when have you believed in God," JJ muttered as John B hopped down from the boat.

.....

Later that day, Genevieve and the others took the HMS Pogue out onto the marsh.

JJ was stood at the front of the boat, attempting to pour beer into his mouth as he forced Pope to speed up.

"We've tried this like 6000 timescale, JJ," Pope groaned. "It's not gonna work."

"It'll work. It'll work. Just watch."

It didn't work.

Genevieve groaned as she crouched down, attempting to shield herself from JJ's beer which was spraying everywhere but his mouth.

"It's in my hair JJ!" Kie shrieked as she too tried to shield herself from the beer.

Suddenly, the boat came to a sudden stop, sending everyone lurching forward. JJ flipped off of the front of the boat, Kie and Genevieve slid across the bottom of the boat and Pope and John B fell backwards, hitting their heads off the edge of the boat.

"Jesus, Pope!" Genevieve heard Kie groan. Genevieve blinked a couple times, clutching the back of her head. "Holy shit," she mumbled, attempting to breathe normally as she had been winded.

"You okay JJ?" John B called as he sat up. JJ groaned as he reached the surface, rubbing the water from his eyes. "I think my heels touched the back of my head," he said with another groan.

"Kie? Gen?" John B called. "I'm all right," Kie said. "Remind me to never get on a boat when Pope is driving," Genevieve muttered as she sat up.

"Pope, what did you do?" JJ said as he climbed back onto the boat, grabbing onto Genevieve's arm which she held out to help him up.

"Sandbar. The channel changed." Pope said, stumbling to the front of the boat to look down at the water.

"No shit," JJ and Genevieve said at the same time.

"Hey, I saved the beer though." JJ said, earning a shove from Genevieve.

"Guys," Pope interrupted. "I think there's a boat down there."

.....

Topper was stood at the dock, checking on his boat after the hurricane. He sighed as he threw some debris off of it. Hurricane Agatha had done a lot of damage. And that was to Figure Eight, where people had boarded their houses, sandbagged their doors and tied up their boats. He could only imagine the damage it had done to the Cut. And to Genevieve.

He was torn from his thoughts at the sound of a boat passing by. Who would be going out so soon after a hurricane? Sure, the fishing was always great after a hurricane, but the day after?

"Hi, Miss Amy! You guys get through it?" John B. Routledge. Of course. He narrowed his eyes as the boat passed. They didn't seem to see Topper, but Topper saw them. John B, JJ, Pope, Kiara. And Genevieve.

He felt like yelling her name. He wanted to explain himself; he needed to explain himself. But Topper was fairly certain that Genevieve hadn't told anybody about their relationship last summer, not even her best friends.

He sighed and stared at her, hoping she would shoot a glance his way. But she didn't. She passed by him like he was nothing. He was beginning to understand how she felt when he left her.