BABYDOLL // JJ Outer Banks

fifteen

"this is from my dad."

the pogues were silent as john b stood mesmerized by the package with 'for: bird' scrawled over it in messy handwriting.

a sudden beam of lights flashed at the teens. "code red! code red! square groupers! square groupers!" jj whisper-yelled, frantically stomping on his blunt to extinguish it.

"go! go! go!" kie cried, ushering her friends away from the approaching men.

"it's the guys who robbed your house!" the teens ducked behind a nearby wall and turned off their lights. "homie's got a gun," jj stuttered.

kie gave a quick glance over her shoulder before taking off. "screw this." her friends didn't hesitate to follow after her.

hannah had just pulled herself over the fence when she heard pope cry out, "i'm stuck! i'm stuck, guys, help!"

jj rushed over with his gun, about to shoot it at pope's pants which had gotten caught. "pope, don't move." pope vigorously shook his head, causing jj to sigh before pushing the gun down on the fabric, tearing free of pope's lower body and leaving him in a pair of underwear. "it's like a little tootsie roll!" jj laughed as they all got into the bus before leaning down to whisper in hannah's ear, "i was right. i am bigger."

...

"that bread had mold on it like three days ago," pope deadpanned as he watched jj make himself a sandwich. the pogues were all gathered at the chateau awaiting john b's next move.

jj shrugged. "i'll just pull off all the bad parts. plus, mold is good for you. it's a natural organism"

hannah, who was playing with pogie, paused and scrunched up her nose in distaste. "how do you convince girls to hookup with you?"

"you know you want me, babydoll."

"not if you eat that sandwich, mold-breath."

"quit flirting and let's open it," kie called out.

jj grinned, grabbing his sandwich and running over to big john's office. "well, hot damn, let's do it!"

the group was huddled around john b as he pulled out a map with a large 'X.' "holy shit."

"'X' marks the spot," pope mumbled.

john b lightly dragged his finger over the lines in the map. "longitude, latitude," he whispered. "wait, there's something else in here." john b withdrew his hand from the package clasping onto a small metal device.

"what's that?" jj asked.

kie gave him an incredulous look. "it's a tape-recorder dumbass."

"even i knew that," hannah rolled her eyes.

john b waited for his friends to quiet down before pressing play. the crew sat in awe as big john's voice filled the silence, describing how he found the merchant and what had happened. when the recording ended, they all released a collective breath. john b's shoulders silently shook as sobs wracked his body.

"holy shit," jj exclaimed, "he did it! big john, he found the merchant!" hannah placed a hand on his shoulder, causing him to look at her, and shook her head.

kie glared daggers at jj. "can-can you please?" she asked, going to wrap her arms around the crying boy as he wept into her shoulder.

...

the pogues were scattered around the dock. kie was softly strumming her ukulele while hannah was sitting at the edge stroking pogie's head, which was resting comfortably in her lap, toes dipping into the water as she hummed along to the music.

"how much was it again?" jj asked, hopping off of the railing and plopping down next to hannah.

"400 mil," pope replied.

jj nodded dazedly. "alright, let's talk split. now, before we say evenly, may i remind you all that i am the only one that can properly defend us from those groupers who were after us," jj said, pulling out the gun. "protection? not cheap, okay."

"are you talking about the gun or condoms?" hannah snorted. "jay, you're in like a serious relationship with that thing. stop taking it everywhere, it's getting weird."

"you haven't trained," pope pointed out. "you've done zero training."

"youtube, bro!" jj argued. "that's at least a five percent bump right there. any objections?" kie raised her hand.

"you haven't-" pope went to protest.

jj cut him off. "i don't hear any, so..."

hannah shook her head. "i'm gonna rob your ass in your sleep."

"ooh, kinky. you gonna tie me up too?" jj grinned cheekily.

"mmhm," hannah smirked. "and if you try to escape," hannah trailed off as she traced the outline of his muscles through his shirt. jj gulped nervously. "i'm going to handcuff you to the bed and punish you." hannah's small fingers gently wrapped around his throat, giving it a small squeeze, causing a shiver to run up his spine.

"if i wanted to watch two people fuck each other, i'd go home and look up porn; i don't need a live performance," kie called to the two. hannah chuckled, releasing her grip on jj and leaning back onto her elbows. jj was painfully aware of how red his face was, and the tightness of his shorts didn't help; he found this had been happening quite a lot in the past few days. "what are you gonna do with your 80 mil, pope?"

pope thought for a moment before shrugging. "probably pay for college in advance and also textbooks— those are expensive." hannah laughed. pope, always the sensible one.

jj nodded. "what about you, kie?"

"yeah," pope said, "what does a socialist do when she's rich?"

"plan trump's assassination," hannah chirped happily, though she wasn't as vocal about her political opinions, hannah was very much a liberal like kiara.

"definitely," kie laughed. "but, honestly though, i just wanna make a double album. about OBX and the pogues, you know? the way catch a fire is about kingston. record it at marley studio, peter tosh producing."

hannah scrunched up her brows in confusion. isn't peter tosh dead?

"peter tosh is dead," pope told her.

"peter tosh is dead, i know," kie shook her head, "but the spirit of peter tosh will never die."

"i know what i'll do," jj said, "i'm gonna get a big ass house on figure 8 for me and my babydoll and go full kook."

hannah blushed. "what makes you think i'm going to agree with that?"

"we'll be married. can't take care of our kids together if we're living in different houses. we'll get marble statues of ourselves and get a koi pond, put a bunch of those fish in it. oh, and a big yard for pogie too."

"damn, who knew you were so domestic, jay."

"only for you, babydoll."

"well i for one am getting the hell out of here," jj's face fell, "only for a little while," hannah reassured him, seeing the blonde boy's somber expression. "i wanna go to college and travel the world, then i'll move back here with jay. we'll have a big, fancy kook wedding on the beach and have cute little babies that'll have your eyes and my amazing personality." none of the pogues were that surprised by her words. though she often didn't show it, hannah was one of the smarter members of the group. she'd been recognized for her academic achievements, especially in writing, on numerous occasions, and everyone knew she was going places in life. secretly, jj feared that when she did get into a good college, she would leave the outer banks and him behind, but her words destroyed those impending thoughts.

kie smiled, shaking her head at the two. "i'm never visiting."

"you're the godmother— you have to."

"what are you gonna do, jb?" pope asked.

john b looked at his friends before raising his beer. "to going full kook."

"to going full kook!" the friends cheered, clinking their bottles together as the sun disappeared into the horizon.