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

t w e n t y f i v e

song: 'colors' by halsey

present

JJ, Pope and Genevieve were sat outside The Wreck, waiting for John B to persuade Kiara to come with them. The trip to the lighthouse had been the epicest of fails, but John B swore he would be right about this next plan.

Not to mention the fact that John B's last plan got him and Kiara arrested. Needless to say, they were skeptical that this one would end differently.

'Shit, JJ,' Pope muttered. 'Topper's here.'

Genevieve's head whipped around to see Topper getting out of his car, with Sarah following suit.

'If he so much as looks this way...' JJ began, but stopped when he saw Genevieve standing up. 'Where are you going?'

'I'll be right back.'

Topper was planning on avoiding eye contact and heading straight into The Wreck, but he paused when he saw Genevieve standing up and walking directly towards him, a furious look in her eyes. 'Uh, why don't you go ahead and order for me, Sarah? I'll follow you in.'

Sarah nodded, making direct eye contact with Genevieve as she kissed Topper on the cheek. She then turned, shot a glare in Genevieve's direction and headed inside.

Genevieve's jaw tightened as she watched Sarah kissing Topper's cheek, but she didn't let it distract her. 'This way,' she hissed angrily at Topper.

Topper, having never seen such a look of rage in Genevieve's eyes, followed her, but not before he made sure to make direct eye contact with JJ, who was watching with suspicion.

'What the fuck?' JJ muttered to Pope as they watched Genevieve lead Topper away.

'Maybe she's finally given up the whole "Let's leave the Kooks alone" act,' Pope said with a shrug.

JJ's eyes stayed glued to Topper and Genevieve. This was insanely out of character for Genevieve. It made no sense why she would march up to him like that, and it made even less sense that he would so willingly follow her.

'Gen, what are you doi-' Topper began, but was quickly interrupted by Genevieve slapping him right across the face. 'Jesus Christ!'

'You've been following me?' Genevieve hissed.

Topper felt uncomfortable under her stare. 'Yes, but I can explain.'

Genevieve threw her head back in frustration. 'No, Topper, you can't. There is no possible explanation that could justify you following me! You almost got John B fired, do you know that? He needs that job more than anything, and you're ratting him out to Ward? Are you kidding me?!'

'Gen, what did you expect me to do? When I saw you diving.... What were you thinking?! None of them have the slightest notion about diving! You could have died, do you understand that?'

'You do not get to act like you were doing it out of concern!' Genevieve snapped. 'As if you give two shits about whether I live or die!'

Topper felt his heart drop to the pit of his stomach. 'Do you seriously think that?' he said, his voice barely a whisper. 'Genevieve, you know how much I care fo-'

'Cared. Past tense. And yes, I do seriously think that, Topper. You didn't seem to care too much about whether I was still alive after you up and left without so much as a goodbye.'

'Gen...' Topper said with a sigh, staring at the ground.

'No. You don't get to throw a pity party. It's too painful to even think about you these days, Topper.' Genevieve sighed, glancing up at Sarah, who was staring down at them. 'So listen here, Topper. You are going to walk into The Wreck, and you are going to have a lovely meal with Sarah effing Cameron, and, might I add, your being with her clearly means that all that soulmate stuff you said to me was a whole load of bullshit.' Genevieve spat. She paused and cleared her throat; she could feel a lump forming in her throat, and she refused to let him see her upset. 'You're going to walk your pretty little ass in there and you are going to leave me and my friends the fuck alone, got it?'

Topper nodded and sighed, looking into those familiar eyes. Those eyes that felt like home. 'Got it. But Genevieve, I hope that you know it wasn't my choice. I never wanted any of this...'

'I don't want to hear it, Topper. You don't even know half of the shit that I've been through the past year. You haven't even cared to ask. And, to be honest, your half-assed excuses mean very little to me.'

Topper bit his lower lip as he watched Genevieve turn and walk back towards JJ and Pope, who were craning their necks, desperately trying to see what was going on. What on earth had happened to her after he left? If only she would give him a chance to explain himself...

JJ watched as Genevieve walked away, leaving Topper staring at her. JJ couldn't quite figure out what emotion was on Topper's face, but it wasn't the typical I-hate-the-Pogues look he was expecting. Topper almost looked apologetic. He looked... hurt?

Genevieve walked over to the rest of the Pogues, who were stood staring at her in confusion. 'The fuck was that about?' John B asked.

Genevieve shook her head. 'All that matters is that Topper won't be following us around anymore. Are we going or not?'

.....

'So, are you going to tell me what that whole thing with Topper was about?' JJ asked Genevieve. They were sat in the back of the Twinkie as the others were bickering over the climate crisis, or something of that sort.

'Huh?' Genevieve asked. She had been staring out the window for longer than she could remember.

'You pulling Topper for a chat, and him actually going.'

'Oh. I don't know. I guess the whole thing about him following us pissed me off, that's all.'

JJ glanced over at Genevieve. 'Fair enough. It's weird that Topper was so willing to go though. Like, surely he'd want a Pogue like us as far away from him as possible.'

Genevieve looked over at JJ, hurt flashing across her eyes. 'Yeah, cause who would ever have a conversation with one of us, am I right?'

'Gen...' JJ said with a sigh. 'I mean... you were so against the whole 'let's give the Kooks what they deserve' thing. How come you're only hopping on that train now?'

Genevieve sighed and looked back out the window. She shrugged. 'I'm not hopping on that train, JJ. Having a conversation with Topper is a bit different to beating the shit out of Topper when he's alone on a boat.'

JJ's head whipped around. 'What the fuck is that supposed to mean?' How did she even know about that?

'It doesn't matter JJ. I guess I just realised that life's too short to be giving people second chances when they don't deserve it. Look, all I did was tell him to leave us alone. It's not that deep.'

Before JJ could push it any further, John B interrupted. 'Guys, we're here.'