Forever & Always

4th of July : 11

JJ's pov:
     Hurricane Phoebe wasn't that bad. Nothing horrible happened besides some flooding and some trees down. Agatha was worse than Phoebe.
     Today is the 4th of July. I slowly get out of bed trying not to wake Hailey. I go outside to check the damage. Nothing major.
     Hailey walks up next to me surveying everything.
     "Not as bad as I thought it would be." She says leaning against my arm.
     "Yeah same here." We stood in comfortable silence. "Last night was fun." I say whispering in her ear.
     "Yeah it was."
     "Knock knock." I hear from behind me we both whip our heads around to see John B. Thank god Hailey put on my shirt before she came out here.
     "Happy fourth!" Sarah says excitedly as she comes out from behind John B.
     "Same to you." I say.
     "Hosting the annual 4th of July Kegger tonight at the cut, spread the word. We start setting up at 5:45, starts at 6:30." John B says heading back into the house. Sarah following behind.
"Damn. We haven't had a Kegger in a long time." Hailey says.
"Yeah. Shit's been different." I say putting my arm around her. "Hey why haven't you gone to see Topper lately? Not that I give a shit that your not, because I would rather you not hang out with him anyways."
"We've texted each other a few times, I just haven't went over there. If he comes to the Kegger tonight, do not... and I repeat do not start anything." She says looking at me seriously.
"I won't start anything but if someone else starts it, I'm going in guns a blazing."
"Okay then." She kissed my cheek and began walking inside. Damn she looks fucking hot in just my t-shirt.
     Hailey and I started gathering everything for the Kegger into the van a few hours later. Sarah and John B are out telling everyone about it, and no one has seen Kie and Pope today. It's really odd but I'm sure they'll be at the Kegger.
     "Ow! Fuck!" Hailey yells. I ran over to her.
     "What happened? Are you okay?"
     "Y-yeah I just um..." She look toward her finger. It's definitely dislocated, already turning blue.
     "Holy shit baby! Do you need to go to the hospital?" She looks at me and takes a deep breath. She pops it back in and screams.
     "What the fuck Hailey!" I yelled. I barely ever call her by her first name so it took her off guard. She looked at me confused.
     "What JJ it was just a dislocated finger. I've had them before and I know how to pop it back in. Don't tell me you're mad about this." She said referring to me saying her name.
     "I'm not mad."
     "Oh but I think you are. You haven't said my name in a long time. It's always babe, baby, babygirl, Hails, or H. Never Hailey. So tell me why your mad." She said stepping closer to me with her arms crossed in front of her.
     "I told you I'm not mad. I was just scared babe."
     "Don't fucking lie to me JJ! I'm not in the fucking mood!" She yells. I'm extremely shocked. She's never yelled at me before. She starts to laughing at me. I'm just standing there dumbfounded as she laughs hysterically.
     "Jesus JJ I was just kidding. Come on it's almost 4:40 we gotta go." She says walking back into château as if nothing happened. I shrugged and went inside to grab the rest of the stuff.

Hailey's pov:
     It's 9:54 and the Kegger is raging. Kiara and Pope showed up to help set up. They said they just wanted some alone time. We understood. Soon we saw Rafe and Kelce walk in. John B and JJ were running the beer and they got a little defensive. I started to walk over but Sarah stopped me.
     Kie and Sarah start talking and I took that time to sneak away. I walk in between John B and JJ.
     "Hey boys." I say looking at Rafe and Kelce with an unreadable face.
     "Hailey." Rafe says nodding at me. JJ tenses up and grabs my hand.
     "Oh that's right you two are a thing. Really wish you weren't hot stuff. You could do a lot better than him you know. Like me, I could actually provide for you. Unlike him." He looks me up and down then stares at my chest. I really regret wearing this busty top.
     "Eyes are up here bitch ass." I say death staring him.
     "Damn you got a little firecracker." Kelce says. JJ looks like he's about to lose it. I squeeze his hand and he softens a bit, but not backing down.
     "Just go the fuck away and hang out with the rest of the kooks." John B says. Rafe smirks and looks back and forth between John B and I.
     "You two look a lot alike." Kelce says pointing between me and John B.
     "I was thinking the same thing Kelce." Rafe says.
     "Okay that's enough. Leave... now." JJ says getting in Rafe's face.
     "Tell me Hailey. What is your last name?" Rafe says ignoring JJ.
     "Williams." I say with no hesitation. Even though Routledge is technically the correct answer. I've gone by Williams my whole life. Rafe sees right through me though. His eyes light up and his jaw drops. I look back at Sarah and Kie and they are staring at us. Pope had to leave early because his dad needed him at home.
     "Hailey Routledge. Has a nice ring to it. Guess it stung when you found out daddy was dead." After he says that John B punches him. I stumble backwards. Sarah and Kie run up next to me yelling at him to stop. John B and Rafe are fighting. Along with JJ and Kelce. Rafe punches John B and he struggles to get up. Kie and Sarah are trying to pull him up.
     "Let's continue our conversation then. Did it hurt when you found out Big John was dead?" Rafe says angry as I start to run away. I'm stopped by hand on my wrist pulling me back. Now a hand is on my throat. I look up and Rafe is smirking down at me. I can't breathe. I try to pry the hand off my neck but it doesn't work. My vision begins to slowly blur.
     I see Topper come out of the corner of my eye and punch Rafe. I feel air rush into my lungs as I drop to the sand. I see Topper punching Rafe. I cough trying to get air. I hear my name being called but then everything goes dark.
     I wake up in the van on JJ's lap. I feel throbbing around my neck. I suddenly remember what happened before I passed out. I'm so glad Topper saved me.
     "Hey baby." I heard JJ whisper. I smile up at him. He gently pulls me up into his chest and wraps his arms around me. His shoulder supports my neck. I see JJ's hands and they are all bruised up. We pull up to the château and JJ refuses to let me walk so he carries me to our room.
     "Are you okay?" JJ asks me as he lays be down on our bed.
     "Yeah just shaken up. My neck hurts though. Can you bring me Ibuprofen please?"
     "Yes of course baby." He kisses my cheek and leaves the room. He comes back with Ibuprofen and lays down next to me. I take the pills and cuddle up to his chest.
     "What happened after I was out?" I ask worried about everyone else.
     "Well I ran over to you, Kelce was backed down by Topper, the girls got John B to Kiaras mom's car, and Topper beat Rafe's ass for choking you."
     "Is everyone okay?"
     "I don't know about Rafe or Kelce but besides them, yes everyone is fine. Topper really stepped up I'll give him that." I looked up at him and smiled.
     "I love you."
     "I love you too." He says before we both drift off to sleep.

Sorry this is another filler chapter✌🏼