you're on your own, kid... obx

074. jj's crashout

Erin and Brooklyn walk up to the courthouse. Erin looks around, smiling when she spots her mom.

"Hi, baby girl." Lillian pulls her daughter into a hug.

"Hi, mom." Erin tightly squeezes her back. "Jacky." She grins at her younger brother.

"I still hate that name." The teenager grimaces as his sister hugs him.

"I know." Erin grins.

"Hi, Brooklyn." Lillian hugs the blonde.

"Oh." Brooklyn mumbles in shock. "Hi." She gently hugs the woman back.

Zack and JJ walk up to the courthouse, stopping when Kie's dad spots them.

JJ salutes.

"Babe, just leave it." Anna tells him. "Come on. Come on, let's go inside."

"How come he doesn't hate Finn?" JJ asks.

"I don't think he knows Finn exists, actually." Zack comments.

"Ah, my favorite troublemakers." Lillian smiles, pulling the twins into a hug. "How have you two been?"

"Uh... we-- we're good, Ms. Stewart." JJ forces a smile.

"Well, I haven't heard about you two getting into too much trouble lately. Finally taking a step back, huh?" Lillian chuckles.

"Yeah. Yeah, no, just... living normal." Zack says. He glances at Erin who gives him a comforting smile.

"You two need to come around for dinner one of these days -- all of you. It'd be great to have you. Plus, Jack misses you boys especially." Lillian gives the Maybanks a warm smile.

"Mom." Jack whines.

"Yeah. Yeah, we, uh, we'll figure out a date for that." Zack says, giving her a small smile.

"Great." Lillian brightly smiles. "Come on, Jack. We'll see them in there." She leads her son inside.

"Good turnout." Erin comments.

"Yeah." Zack mumbles.

"C'mon." Erin grabs his hand, dragging him inside.

"You ready?" Brooklyn asks.

"Nope." JJ clicks his tongue. Brooklyn weakly smiles before holding her hand out and JJ takes it after a moment. "Did-- you're good, right?"

"What do you mean?" Brooklyn asks.

"With Rafe." JJ says. "I-I mean, you said he dropped by, but he... he didn't try anything? You're not covering up any bruises or something?"

"No. No, he didn't touch me." Brooklyn states. "I mean, I was terrified, but I had Erin and he stayed on the opposite side of the counter. I'm good."

"Okay." JJ nods.

"Come on. We got a house to keep." She squeezes his hand, letting him lead the way.

+++

"Before we move on with the rest of our agenda, I want to remind everyone to maintain civility and decorum throughout the rest of these proceedings. We're one island. Why don't we all try to act like it?"

"Sure we are." John B mumbles.

"Hilarious." Zack whispers, slouching in his seat and resting his head on Erin's shoulder. She rests her cheek against his head, rubbing her thumb over his knuckles, their hands still intertwined.

"Any disruption will warrant expulsion and potential charges. Understood?" Pope gives JJ a look. Brooklyn rubs JJ's arm, hoping to keep him calm. "Without further ado, we'll go on to the reports of our council members, starting with our council member Lawrence."