𝐇𝐈𝐃𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 | 𝐣𝐣 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤

- 8 -

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for the rest of the remaining day, i did absolutely nothing. well, i guess i did something, because i helped john b and pope out with the boat and hung out with kie a little bit before heading back to my parent's house.

jj still hadn't made it back to the chateau. i will admit that i am getting kind of worried, and i did leave a couple of voice messages when the calls just rang out. it wasn't usually like him to be gone for almost 24 hours by now.

hold on. why am i keeping track? that's kind of weird... but then again, he's one, and if not the closest, of my best friends. i can worry about him without seeming weird or anything.

friday morning, i woke up to sunlight streaming into my room. i immediately grabbed my phone from under my pillow to see if i had any new notifications - from jj - since the time that i fell asleep last night.

and, wow. there actually was twp. i remember sending him a text that somewhere along the lines said 'can we meet up today? i want to talk to you about something..'

his reply was: 'yea sure' and 'i'll be back at the chateau so come by whenever'

i sent him a quick ok, and then got up from my bed. i wasn't usually a morning person, when the thought loomed back in my mind that i could stay warm in bed, but today was one of the days that i was actually feeling strangely productive. how weird.

on my phone, i checked the weather widget to see if the weather and humidity was nice enough for me to open some of my windows for when i got ready. surprise, surprise it was.

the outer banks are usually really hot and humid, except for the rare occasion - like this morning - where it's actually nice. i scrolled through the times and found out that it would definitely not stay like this, peaking at the temperature of 98.

i opened the windows, and stood in my closet trying to decide what outfit would be good for today. after a couple of minutes, i finally settled on some light blue ripped jean shorts and a cute black ribbed tank top.

i layered a couple of necklaces on there and put a row of earrings to line my ear, and put on some makeup too.

i'd probably just come back here to fix my hair and get a new outfit, so i don't have to worry about my hair right now. i have no idea what i'm going to do with it for tonight, though.

i was actually excited for it tonight, believe it or not. rafe seemed actually nice, from all the different encounters that i've had with him for the past few days.

i decided to head over to the chateau so i could maybe help with the canoe for a little bit before i had to have the dreaded talk with jj. oh this is going to go great.

by the time i made it over there, i saw them working with the canoe but no jj. he did say that he would be here, but maybe he's inside?

"hey y/n, you've come to help? how thoughtful of you!" john b yelled, placing a board next to another.

i walked up there, saying "you wish. is jj here by any chance?"

"yep, he's inside. i don't know what he's up to in there, so beware." kie mentioned, watching me walk in the chateau to go find him. better get this over with sooner than later.

"jj?" i called into the empty house.

"in here!" i heard him yell, probably from his room. i was right, he was laying on his bed, watching tv. i wonder why he isn't out there helping them, but whatever.

"you wanted to talk to me?" he asked when i entered the room, and i quickly notice his clipped tone. so he's still pissed about that. okay.

"umm yeah, can we go out to the dock?" i say, shrugging. seems like a good place to have a conversation that's terrifying me.

"yea ok." he replied, and followed me the way to the dock. when we were outside, i looked over to see the rest of the group focusing heavily on a specific board, not paying any attention to us whatsoever.

that's fine with me. i'd rather not have them hearing jj yelling at me about how stupid this all seems, which is probably what's going to happen since he's still mad at me. this man definitely isn't good at getting over an argument, considering it's been almost 2 days now.

i took a seat at the edge of the dock, and he mimicked my movements. i took a deep breath before starting what i haven't been the most excited to talk about.

"so... i need to know why you're mad at me all of a sudden. kie and john b think that it's because you're jealous, for some reason. hopefully it's not about the rafe party thing, because you really can't change my mind about that. if it's that, the best solution would to just get over it because i'm going whether you like it or not. now, if there's another reason why you're pissed at me i'd love to hear it, but that's that." i say, breathing out. that wasn't so bad.

i look up to him when he hasn't replied in a couple of seconds, seeing him look out onto the water. "you really have no idea, do you?" he asks.

"so i've heard from multiple people. and no, i actually don't."

"you know, for a kook, i thought you'd be a lot more smarter than this." i roll my eyes at that comment. of course he has to bring up kooks now, instead of actually just telling me straight up.

"so are you gonna tell me, or what? i have a party to get ready for." i reply, with a slight smirk.

he shakes his head, still staring at the water.

"so you haven't suspected that i've had feelings for you yet?"