Waves

f o r t y

~PRESENT~

Amelia couldn't help but check her phone, hoping to see a certain blonde haired boys name, as she sipped the tea from her mug, laying sprawled out across her bed as she scanned through college websites on her laptop.

Today was the second day that she was back home, and she spent the majority of the time back home in bed. Whether she was eating, looking at college sites trying to make her decision on which one to go to, watching Netflix, or sleeping... she was in bed. It felt good to be home, but she couldn't deny that part of her was missing Outer Banks.

The texts from Sarah and Pope were consistent, and talking to them throughout the day every day helped Amelia to fill some of the void.

Her mind wandered back to JJ. It had officially been a week since she hadn't seen him or heard from him, and she couldn't help but continue to worry about him. She knew that it wasn't like JJ to run off and to not reach out to her or to any of his Pogue friends. The thought of him not being safe made her feel sick, and she quickly brushed that thought to the back of her mind.

Her bedroom door creaked open, and Nolan's head peered through the doorway. "You ready for dinner?"

She nodded, rolling herself out of her bed for the first time in hours and followed Nolan out of her bedroom and into the kitchen. She spotted Greg standing at the stove, stirring whatever he was making in the pot. The smell drifted into her nose, and she couldn't wait to eat knowing how hungry she was. She sat down at the table next to her brother, eyeing up a plate of garlic toast in the middle of the table, as Greg quickly poured the soup into their bowls. He placed one in front of her and one in front of Nolan, before taking his seat across from Amelia.

"How does it feel to be back home, sweetheart?" Greg asked, lifting the spoon of stuffed pepper soup to his lips. "You haven't been out of bed yet. I thought you would've been to Chatham by now." Chatam had a beautiful beach and a lighthouse, which was one of Amelia's favorite places to go to at home. She definitely missed visiting, but she knew the beach and the lighthouse there had nothing on the one in Outer Banks.

Amelia sighed, taking a breadstick and ripping it apart. "Good. I missed being home. Just trying to get used to being back is all."

"I'm glad you decided to come back. We missed you."

Amelia just gave a small smile as she stirred her spoon through the soup, lifting it to her lips and into her mouth. She really was happy to be home, but she couldn't get the thought of JJ out of her mind.

~ONE YEAR AGO~

"Don't let them get in your head, bro." JJ said as they walked around Heyward's store, his arm slung over Amelia's shoulders. "There's three of them and two of us. That's some typical Kook shit right there."

Amelia linked her hand with JJ's, wrapping her other hand around his wrist before smiling up at him. She had been living in fear that Rafe would come after them again, because she and the rest of them knew that it wasn't over yet. Amelia wanted it to be over, but much to her dismay, it wasn't.

"Pope, someone's here to see you." Heyward said, Deputy Shoupe quickly appearing through the front door behind him.

"Shit." Amelia whispered loud enough for only JJ to hear, and she felt her heart sink. She knew perfectly well what was coming.

"Evening, Officer." Pope said calmly, but Amelia could tell by his face that he was not feeling calm on the inside.

"I have an arrest warrant for felony destruction of property." The deputy said, pulling out his hand cuffs.

"What?" Heyward questioned, his eyes flickering between his son and the officer.

"Put your hands on the counter where I can see them." The deputy instructed. The panic was now prominent on Pope's face, and he looked to JJ as if there was a way that he could get him out of this.

"Whoa. Wait, wait, wait. Shoupe, what'd he do?" Heyward asked, confused.

"Don't do anything stupid JJ." Amelia whispered to JJ, gripping tighter onto his hand. She knew that JJ was too hotheaded and impulsive. She knew that he would do anything to protect his friends. To protect her.

"Take a look at the warrant." The deputy said, clicking the silver handcuffs tightly around Pope's wrists.

"You're arresting him?" Kiara asked, panic in her voice.

"You're just arresting my boy?" Heyward asked, his voice becoming louder.

"JJ, I mean it. Please don't." Amelia said, looking at JJ who had anger spread completely across his face. She grabbed onto his face and tried to make him look at her, but he was fueled by anger. Amelia knew at this point, there was nothing that she was going to be able to do to stop him.

"How much did they pay you man? How much did they pay you?" JJ snapped angrily. Amelia allowed her thumbs to run along his cheeks, trying to get JJ to relax. Everyone followed Deputy Shoupe and Pope outside to his patrol vehicle. JJ was still shouting, as were Kiara and Heyward. The officer had pushed JJ back numerous times and Amelia could barely think straight as everything was going into a daze around her.

JJ looked down to Amelia, giving her a small smile before leaning down and pressing a kiss to her forehead, giving her hand a squeeze. "I'm sorry, baby. I love you." JJ turned to face Deputy Shoupe. "It wasn't him! It was me."

Amelia felt everything around her turn dark.

"He tried to talk me out of it, but I was mad because he had just been beaten up. And I was so sick of those assholes from Figure 8 that I lost my shit." JJ walked over to Pope, standing beside him. "I can't let you take the blame for something I did. You've got too much to lose."

"JJ, what are you doing?" Pope questioned, glancing behind him and towards Amelia, who was frozen in place.

"I'm telling the truth." JJ said. "For once in my goddamn life, I'm going to tell the truth."

"JJ come on." Pope said, trying to make JJ change his mind about what he was doing. Pope knew that he needed to take responsibility for his actions, as he was the one who sunk the boat.

"Just shut up, Pope. Just shut up." JJ said before turning to Shoupe. "He's a good kid. You know where I'm from."

"Yeah." Shoupe nodded, eyeing up JJ.

"This was all me." JJ said, glancing over to Amelia who now had tears pouring down her face, which broke JJ's heart.

"That's the whole truth?" Shoupe asked, looking to Pope. He glanced over to JJ, who shot him a look to go along with it. He was begging Pope to go along with it.

"Yeah, that about covers it." Pope nodded, instantly feeling terrible for what was happening.

JJ looked at Amelia while the deputy took the handcuffs off of Pope. "JJ." She whispered, the tears still running down her cheeks. She ran to him, wrapping her arms around him tightly. "You're so stupid. I love you so much."

JJ pressed his forehead to hers before placing a small kiss to it. "You'll be okay, baby. I love you. I'll see you soon."

Deputy Shoupe grabbed him and pulled him away, quickly snapping the handcuffs onto his wrists. Amelia instantly had flashbacks from when they went through this before.

Pope wrapped his arms around Amelia. "He'll be okay. He'll be back soon."