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CHAPTER EIGHT Peace
‿︵‿︵‿︵
(ONE MONTH AGO)
Peace was something neither of them had felt in a long time.
The sun had set awhile ago, leaving a sprinkle of stars and a cool breeze behind. John B and Pope were arguing over the movie version of Silence of the Lambs, the brunet boy having no idea what he was trying to defend but continued to push Pope's buttons, finding it highly amusing. Occasionally, Avery would interfere, teasingly correcting whatever was said as she was a movie enthusiast and knew loads of useless information about storylines. JJ and Kiara chose to stay out of it, sipping their beers as they watched it unroll.
The trio let out a roar of laughter, the sound echoing into the quietness. Avery tilted her back like a child, feeling her cheeks begin to ache from smiling so wide. Smoke rolled out for her mouth as she laughed, leaning over to give Pope, who sat on the other side of her, a high five.
The habit had already been picked up on by the blond boy next to her, he couldn't admit that he liked it but knowing what she went through, he understood, he did the same. He actually quit cigarettes because Avery nagged him endlessly with gross scientific facts, that were probably far from true because she truthfully didn't really know a lot about it, and turned to his juul for her.
Feeling her shoulder brush against his as she sat back down on short log they were perching on, JJ couldn't help but let out a chuckle, his lips hovering over the top of his beer bottle. He peered over at the blonde closely next to him as he took a swig of the golden liquid, his lips twitching into a smile. She looked effortlessly beautiful, and genuinely happy in that very moment.
It had been a few days since she returned and it was like she had never left. They had hardly left the Chateau, not wanting to stray too far from each other. Avery had told them everything, letting them process it all and ask anything they wanted, she knew that they deserved to know. And even if she had tried to, she would have never been able to hide it from them.
Her hazel eyes shifted over to Kiara after she felt her eyes on her, hardly holding gaze before the curly haired girl stood up from her chair and walked away. The sudden action caught the boys attention too and killed the laughter quickly. Avery had to clench her jaw to hold back the tightness wrapping around her chest, dropping her eyes to her lap as she began to fiddle with her hands.
"Should we, uh, I'm going to talk to her" Pope awkwardly spoke up, nodding vigorously as he slowly rose from his seat. He flashed Avery a reassuring smile, briefly placing his hand on her shoulder and giving it a soft squeeze as he stood up and passed.
