THE PICTURE OF YOU -rafe cameron-

001; welcome to outer banks

"Get the fuck down from there"

Giggles erupted into the hot summer air as she lifted one foot, a wild look upon her face as she glanced at him. Wind blowing through her messy blonde hair, the evening sun kissing her cheeks. Balancing on the roof, her old worn out vans against the construction of the new house. It was being built by an old turtle habitat, Kiara had made sure they all knew that just after she had complained about the owners installing Japanese toilets and towel warmers.

"Myra I swear to god, get down from there, you're going to hurt yourself" her older brother, by merely a year, JJ Maybank shouted from where he was sitting further down on a piece of scaffolding, his legs dangling off of the edge. "You need to calm down" she laughed, grimacing at him as she took a sip of her beer, holding it up into the air, still balancing on one foot. JJ scrunched his nose up, furrowing his eyebrows together as he glanced back up at her, the sun almost blinding him. He held a can of beer in his hands, fiddling with it as she continued to disobey him, sloppily swaying back and forth on the highest point of the roof, pretending to fall over once or twice with a devilish grin upon her face. She never listens, JJ though, a displeased scoff emitting from his chapped lips before he took a sip of his drink. He kept his eyes on her, just in case. She never goddamn listens to anything.

JJ was usually not this uptight. He was a carefree soul, or more so careless, when it came to most things. And most people. He rarely stopped to think, he just acted on whatever wacky impulse he got, following the natural path of life. Back and forth, ebb and flow. Every stupid thought that passed through his head was seemingly never stupid enough to him, or dangerous enough. Bruises and cuts, endless concussions, nothing slowed him down. He was a true wild child by heart, having been that way since birth. Gunshots thrilled him and the taste of blood on his lips made him feel alive. But when it came to his friends and his little sister, fifteen year old Myra Belle Maybank, he got protective. Sometimes a little too overly protective. He would stop at nothing to keep them safe, they all knew that. There wasn't a thing he wouldn't do for them, nowhere he wouldn't go. Earth and space and further along. That was one of the things that Myra adored so much about her older brother, one of the things that made him her hero, always.

John B sneaked up behind her, scaring her by poking her sides. She squealed, losing her balance as Kiara, Pope and JJ watched with horrified gazes. John B laughed, quick to grab a hold of her waist, saving her from what could've been a deadly fall. It was surely a three broken bones and a concussion kind of fall at least. "For fucks sake John B" she breathed out, turning around to face him, her right hand upon his on her waist, her left hand clutching onto her can of beer. Given she had spilled about a third of it as she had jumped in terror, leaving her hand a little sticky. "Sorry" John B breathed in her ear, a mischievous smirk upon his lips. "Hey John B!" JJ shouted from where he was sat "please don't kill my sister! And watch those hands dude!"

John B threw her a glance, mouthing a quick "you okay?" to make sure that she had fully regained her balance. "Yeah" Myra mumbled, standing upon her two feet, nodding her head faintly. John B nodded once before letting go of her, stepping back ever so carefully as he raised his hands up into the warm air. "Sorry JJ!" John called back, the smirk still evident upon his lips "so very sorry man". JJ muttered something inaudible, glancing away as he took another sip of his beer. Kiara and Pope, who were both stood down on the deck, laughed. Situations like these, brainless fooling around without a second thought about possible consequences, were nothing new. It was normal to all of them, a simple way of dealing with the misery that life had handed them at a young age.

JJ had been clear from the start, no one touches his little sister. John B and Pope had both gotten the evil eye from JJ early on, to which Kiara had slapped JJ for being such a typical dude. JJ had urged how very serious he was, making both John B and Pope swear that they would never try anything. Myra was off limits, to everyone. Kiara had scoffed at JJ for assuming that his sister was only interested in boys, to which JJ had gone wide eyed, proceeding to make Kiara also swear in on the no macking on my little sister rule. That rule applied to all of them in other ways too, no pouge on pouge macking. A rule necessary for their group to not to fall apart. Three hormonal teenage boys, one pretty girl and a spunky little sister. It was bound to get messy if a couple of ground rules were not established;