BABYDOLL // JJ Outer Banks

seventeen

the group was filled with nervous excitement as they made their way to the salvage yard. "pope, we're not stealing the drone. we're borrowing it," john b tried to assure his anxious friend.

"humans are the only animal that can tell fantasy from reality," pope stated.

"that's nice, pope, real intellectual shit there," hannah snickered.

"did you come up with that?" john b blanched.

pope shook his dead. "no, albert bernstein came up with that, but it applies to this whole treasure hunting thing."

"like the bernstein bears!" hannah laughed. "i fucking hated that show."

"han, no." pope deadpanned. "so, which is it? fantasy or reality?"

"why are you so weird, pope?" jj asked.

kie ignored jj's comment. "it's fantasy, but possible reality."

"reality," john b stated.

"virtual reality," jj joked.

"the whole world is a simulation," hannah concluded, "so everything is fake, including this mission and all of us."

jj's mouth dropped open at her words. "you're so fucking smart," jj gawked as he went to light his blunt which pope promptly took away.

"keep the signal clear."

jj glared at the boy. "you know what your problem is?"

"you?"

"no, i'm gonna tell you what your problem is. (shoutout to those of you know where this is from) it's that you need to relax, man. you're always so tense."

hannah giggled, reaching over to massage pope's shoulders, causing him to push her off. "i'm not too tense."

"tell that to this knot in your lower back."

...

"so, how's it going with kiara?" jj asked john b.

hannah's jaw dropped at his words. "what?! you're macking kie and you didn't tell me? and here i was thinking you two were my friends."

john b rolled his eyes. "it's not like that, and, uh, it's not like awkward or weird or anything."

"wait," hannah shook her head, "did you kiss kie?"

john b blushed, "uh, yeah?"

"pay up," hannah demanded, sticking her palm out towards jj who grumbled before reaching into his pocket and slapping ten dollars into the girl's outstretched hand.

"honestly, i did not think you were actually gonna listen to me. i was 100 percent sure she was into you, bro. pope would agree."

pope shrugged. "eh."

hannah smacked pope's arm. "the fuck you mean 'eh'? she was totally giving him signals, man!"

"so kie like definitely gave you the heisman?"

john b nodded. "oh, no question, yeah."

"maybe she likes someone else?" pope offered.

hannah rolled her eyes. "hate to burst your bubble, pope-sie, but i'm next in line to ride the kie train, right after johnny b, here."

the three boys all turned to her with incredulous looks. hannah shrugged. "what? i have eyes too, you know, kie's hot as fuck."

jj gawked at the girl. "i never thought i'd be more jealous of kie than i am right now."

"don't worry, sexy, you'll get your chance with the han-meister eventually."

"never refer to yourself as that again," jj told the girl turning around just in time to notice the security guard open the gate. "go! go! go!"

the four teens ran through the gate as jj led them deeper into the compound. hannah kept looking over her shoulder while jj began entering numbers into the lock on the door, the fear of getting caught giving her a small rush that brought a smile to her lips.

"alright, so, i might have the wrong numbers."

hannah was listening to the boys argue when she heard a growl. spinning around, she was met with a large german shepherd baring its teeth. "shh, hey, boy, you're a good boy, right?" she cooed. the dog didn't move, but it did stop snarling at the bunch. their victory was short-lived, though, because john b ran off, causing the dog to start barking again.

"hey! i got a toy, boy!" jj called out as the dog began to chase him. "wait, no, i was just kidding!"

"fuck! he's gonna get himself killed," hannah said to pope as she tried to follow jj.

pope grabbed the girl's wrist and pulled her back. "that's not the best idea. jj can handle himself. right now, we need to get the drone and get out."

hannah's eyes went to the place where jj last stood and back to pope before sagging her shoulders in defeat. the two began using a thin metal pipe to break off the lock before retrieving the drone and making their way back to the van. "who knew you were such a deviant, pope?" hannah teased.

pope chuckled. "you guys are terrible influences on me."

"yeah," hannah said as the two finished loading the drone into the back of the bus, "but you love us anyway."

...

"stealing drones makes you hungry," kie said as the pogues pulled up in front of the wreck.

jj sighed happily. "what i would do for some shrimp and grits right now."

"that would not be pretty," pope joked as they all made their way into the restaurant.

kie went over to greet her dad while the rest of the pogues stood around. hannah could hear snippets of their conversation, like how her father disapproved of them, believing that kiara should make friends with other kooks instead. hannah smiled when kie defended them, but she still felt bad for putting a strain on kie and her parents' relationship. she snapped out of her reverie when the two turned to look at the group. john b and pope gave a polite wave while jj threw up a peace sign and hannah sent them finger guns. kie shook her head at the two before telling them all to sit down, causing the four to cheer.

they all split up, each taking a different table. hannah sat on the table next to jj's the two occasionally throwing food at one another, causing kie to scold the two like children. hannah watched, still shoveling food into her mouth, as kie began dancing with john b to the music that played throughout the restaurant. they're so fucking cute. she'd wanted them to get together for ages, but the no pogue-on-pogue macking rule had put a dent in her ship.

"dance with me?" jj's voiced caused hannah to jump and instinctively swing her arm to smack him in the face. "ow!"

hannah giggled. "sorry, jay, you caught me off guard. let me make it up to you?" hannah asked, offering jj her hand. a grin lit up the boy's face as he pulled her into a more open area of the wreck, spinning her around, laughing and dancing. it was then that hannah noticed pope was still sitting by himself at the bar, watching his friends have fun without him. "gimme a second, jay." hannah waltzed over to the lonely boy, extending her hand, "may i have this dance?" hannah grinned when she saw a small smile make its way onto pope's face— she wanted all her friends to be happy. swiftly tugging pope over to the rest of the group, they all began to dance together. hannah and kie put on a mock strip show, using the support beams as stripper poles while jj threw french fries at them. this was what summer was supposed to feel like.