𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 - jj maybank

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 - 𝐭𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐚𝐭

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷・❥・ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

The morning after the kegger, Bella had woke up in her own bed with a softly sleeping JJ next to her. Once they'd carried John B back to the chateau and put him to bed, the girl went to get on the pull out so she could sleep with JJ. After the mixture of emotions she had experienced, she wanted comfort, one that she could only - for some reason - find from a certain blonde boy. He was the same in only finding comfort in the girl, having the biggest soft spot for her over anyone else, also wanting to stay with her but didn't want her to have to always sleep on the couch for what he thought was his sake. Bella ended up pulling him into the house next-door and into her bed in which they crashed straight away with their bodies entangled finding their source of comfort within the other.

As JJ was still sleeping, she had lightly kissed the boys temple, gently lifted his arm that was laying over her waist and quietly crept out of her bedroom. She made her way over to the chateau to check up on her brother after his rough night and had found him sprawled in his bed with a newly developing black eye.

The girl went to leave the room and as she turned around, her eyed were met with the ones of Sheriff Peterkin ''Ah, just the people I wanted to see, get your brother up sweetie, we need to talk''

Once we'd both sat down in the living room Peterkin started talking ''Sorry to break in like this, but DCS called. They wanted me to check on you, see how you're doin', so how are ya?''

''Oh, we're great. Fantastic, uh. Thanks for comin' by'' John B said for the both of them.

''I'm so glad to hear you say that John B, but I heard a few things that worried me.'' The lady spoke to the boy who had stood up and started to tidy their messy home.

Bella shrugged at the lady ''Oh, well, you know how word gets around. Not even half of what you hear is true nowadays''

''Oh trust me sweetie, I know which parts are true. Now let me see if I can remember. Oh yeah, one of the things I heard, was that your Uncle Teddy, your guardian, hasn't been in the state for three months.'' She replied.

John B's head snapped towards her ''That's false''

The woman quickly answered back ''You don't have to say anything, I know it's true, I called the school. They said you used to be a good student, but now you're failing all your classes'' pointing towards John B and then moving her finger in the direction of the girl ''and you keep gettin' in a lot of heated arguments, fights some may call them''

Bella just looked away knowing it was true, she has too many emotions constantly building up, so she uses anger as the most prominent and gets herself into situations like fights, always throwing punches at other students and getting in shouting matches with teachers.

John B carried on denying though ''No. No, I'm only failing one, and it's history. The dude's a dick. He's out for me-''

The woman didn't care enough to listen and carried on with her previous points ''And I heard, there was a fight on the beach yesterday, and surprisingly you weren't involved'' pointing at Bella again ''but a gun was''

The girl acted shocked as if she had no clue what the Sheriff was talking about and John B carried on with his bad lying ''Okay? Gun? No'' He walked past her, patting her shoulder ''Did I get in a dust up? Yes, but was there a gun? Pfft, No way''

She lightly rolled her eyes at the boys attempts of lying ''That's okay. I know who it was. I'll get to him''

Bella's heart sank ''Who was it exactly?'' she asked to see if she actually knew, even though it was obvious that she did.

Peterkin shook her head at the girl ''Don't play dumb now Bella. Everyone has to pay consequences. Even your boyfriend''

''He's my best friend actually, but it was kind of self defence. He shouldn't get in trouble for that'' she argued - denying the fact that JJ was her boyfriend but liking the label, until she realised what she was thinking about, immediately shutting it down, reminding herself that they have been best friends for an extremely long time

The Sheriff swiftly changed back to her previous subject ''All I'm worried about right now is makin' sure you're both in a safe home''

Bella raised her hand ''I feel safe here''

John B carried on ''Yeah, super safe. Super sound. Sturdy. You know?'' He knocked on the table ''and, Uncle T's coming back. So-''

''Is that what he told you?'' She asked and they both nodded in reply ''If he really is coming home, I think you should be allowed to stay''

John B sighed in agreement ''Thank you''

''But if I have to stick my neck out for you, you have to help me. Tit for tat'' Peterkin said. ''Now let me see how you can help me. Oh I know.'' She walked over to John B and Bella looked over at them both confused. She then walked over to stand next to her brother ''So, a body was found in the marsh yesterday. Were you in the marsh yesterday?''

John B came back with a secure answer ''Yeah we were fishin' for some drum''

She interrogated ''You catch anything?''

Bella is a great liar and stepped in for her brother ''Nah, we were skunked''

She looked at me the girl, eyebrows curled in confusion ''Strange. Fishing's usually good after a storm. All sorts of things get stirred up'' she then became very straight forward, looking between them both ''You come across a wreck yesterday?''

''No'' they both said at the same time.

''You Routledges are skimmin' just above the surface. Now down here, is foster care, juvie. Pretty big drop for smart kids like you. Up here is you and your little friends doing whatever you want. Outer Banks... Or foster care on the mainland. You're both one inch above the surface. If I was you, I'd start flappin' my wings'' So she asked them again ''Now, you sure you didn't come across a wreck yesterday?''

Bella felt safe in the moment and went to admit it until John B had cut her off ''Yeah. Yeah, I'm sure''

She got in their faces looking them each dead in the eyes whenever she'd look at them ''It's better if you didn't, you understand? I'm gonna look the other way, as long as you both stay outta the marsh'' She stood back up straight and headed towards the door, her eyes skimming around the place ''I got dogs livin' better than this. You might wanna think bout' cleaning up'' and then just like that she left.

When she walked out the front door Bella just sat back down, frozen. John B picked up an empty can and threw it at the wall, startling his sister. She knew he was stressed so she made her way over to him and gave him a hug to try and help him as much as she could.