written in the stars - a topper thornton fanfic (outer banks)

t w e n t y o n e

song: 'bad things' by cults

present

'So, did Ward fire you?' JJ asked John B as they left the Twinkie. Genevieve had been so hung up on the whole Topper-following-them situation that this thought hadn't even occurred to her.

'No.... Not yet anyways. Just gotta do overtime to make up for the stolen tanks.'

'There must be something bigger at play. It makes no sense that he'd keep you on after catching you stealing,' Genevieve said, speaking for the first time in a while.

'Maybe I'm just such an amazing worker, ever think about that?' John B retorted.

'A worker who steals shit from his boss. Definition of employee excellence,' Genevieve muttered sarcastically.

'This house looks like it belongs to someone who smokes too much weed,' JJ said, looking around as they approached the house.

'You look like you smoke too much weed,' John B muttered, but he was swiftly interrupted by the sound of glass shattering against a wall and people arguing within the house.

Genevieve stopped dead in her tracks, and JJ instinctively stood in front of her. 'John B...'

'Shush,' John B said, slowly walking towards the house.

JJ turned around to look at Genevieve, whose eyes were filled with genuine fear. 'I don't know about this JJ.'

JJ took her hand and, keeping her close to him, followed John B towards the house. As they drew nearer to the house, they could hear mens' voices shouting, and Ms. Lana whimpering in fear.

'John B!' Genevieve hissed as he ran to peer inside a side window.

JJ pushed John B's head away from the window. 'Are you nuts? Keep out of sight you idiot.'

The three of them crouched under the window, pressed against the wall.

'The compass wasn't on the boat, so where the fuck is it Lana?'

The trio exchanged confused glances. Genevieve got the feeling that John B's dad's old compass was a lot more than just John B's dad's old compass.

John B beckoned to JJ and Genevieve to follow him as he crept closer to the front door of the house.

'Dude, he's got smuggler written all over him. We should leave, John B,' JJ said, glancing around the corner of the house to watch the men storm angrily out of it.

Genevieve peered over JJ's shoulder as she heard the sound of a boat engine revving. 'Those were the guys who shot at us! John B, I've a bad feeling about this....'

Clearly Genevieve's words had no effect whatsoever on John B, as he quickly ran up the steps and into Ms. Lana's house. 'Ms. Lana?'

Genevieve shot a glare at JJ, but followed John B in nonetheless. 'Ms. Lana!' she gasped, rushing over to Ms. Lana, who lay on the floor crying.

'We should call the sheriff's department,' John B said as he studied the cuts and bruises that were scattered across Ms. Lana's face.

'No! No, not the sheriff's department. Do not call the sheriffs," Ms. Lana exclaimed frantically.

'Yeah, that's not good. Let's go,' JJ said, tugging at John B's collar.

'You shouldn't be here...' Ms. Lana sobbed.

'Come on John B,' Genevieve, who was now stood next to JJ, said.

'Yeah, that's enough for me. Let's go,' JJ said, tugging at John B's collar again to try and get him to move from Ms. Lana's side.

'Wait,' John B said to Genevieve and JJ, 'what do you know about those guys?'

Genevieve sighed shakily as she glanced out of the window. They had gotten themselves mixed up into something very bad, but she didn't quite know what that was just yet.

'Do they know anything about this?' John B asked Ms. Lana, pulling the compass out of his pocket.

'John B!' Genevieve exclaimed.

'Idiot,' JJ muttered under his breath.

'This was my father's, and Scooter had it. Do you know anything about it?' John B insisted.

Upon hearing that, Ms. Lana became erratic. 'Scooter didn't have that, you shouldn't have that. You need to go! Get out! Get out!'

'Do something!' Genevieve hissed at JJ.

'John B, let's go,' he said, pulling John B up by the arm. 'We gotta go.'

'Tell me about the compass! I know that you know something about it!' John B yelled as JJ dragged him out and towards the Twinkie.

Genevieve glanced worriedly back in Ms. Lana's direction, but followed the boys out nonetheless. The bad feeling that had been gnawing away at her stomach was growing stronger by the second.

'What the fuck were you thinking John B!' Genevieve exclaimed, in a rare outburst of anger, once they were in the Twinkie. 'Showing her the compass? Letting her know that we have it? Are you insane?'

'That compass was my father's, Genevieve. It's rightfully mine.'

'I don't think that those two dudes who shot at us not so long ago seem to care if it's rightfully yours or not. You saw what they did to Ms. Lana, John B,' Genevieve said, running her fingers through her hair.

JJ glanced back at Genevieve through the rear view mirror. He could see her trying to slow her breathing down. JJ had noticed her doing that a lot since her mum passed.

'She's right, John B. I'm getting bad vibes off of those guys.'

'This compass made its way to me for a reason, guys. Do you expect me to sit here and not do anything about it?'

Genevieve rolled her eyes and rested her head against the window. There was no point in arguing with John B. Not when it had something to do with his dad.

meanwhile

Topper was at Tanneyhill with Rafe and Kelce, taking in the damage from the storm. Loose electricity cables, debris, uprooted trees; the place was a mess.

Once again, they were discussing the kegger at the boneyard. Rafe and Kelce had not shut up about JJ pulling a gun on Topper since it had happened. Every time Rafe or Kelce brought it up, it wasn't the thought of JJ pulling the gun on him that angered him, it was the thought of the look in Genevieve's eyes that caused him more pain than anything.

It was the anger and the pain in them that struck Topper, but it was the emptiness in her eyes that haunted him. Genevieve's eyes had always had such depth to them. Topper often found himself lost in her eyes, never wanting to leave, never able to leave. He felt that he could explore her soul through her eyes and the stories they had to tell, but when he looked into them that night at the boneyard, they were strikingly empty. Hollow, almost. And the bags under her eyes that suggested she hadn't slept in weeks... she looked broken.

'Bro, he had a semiautomatic pointed at your head,' Kelce said. 'Safety off! That Pogue.'

'They're freaking Pogues, man! You know, you should get a piece,' Rafe said.

'What do you mean?' Topper asked.

'You gotta fight fire with fire and defend the homestead, right? I don't understand why you won't just beat the shit out of him.'

'Yeah,' Topper said, letting out a shaky sigh. 'Listen guys, I'm.... I'm gonna get him back, alright? I'm making it a little project of mine. Revenge is best served cold, right?'

Rafe rolled his eyes and took another sip of his whiskey. 'Watch her fall and make a big drama out of it.'

'Who?' Topper asked, following Rafe's line of sight to Sarah, who was climbing across fallen electricity cables. Had that been Genevieve, Topper would be running straight out to stop her from going any further, but he surprisingly felt no concern whatsoever for Sarah. He sighed, grinding his jaw tight. Everytime he was with Sarah, he couldn't help but feel like he was wasting his time. Time that could be spent with someone better, time that could be spent with Genevieve.