The Strays ⎈John B Routledge⎈

Pinky Promise

Chapter 2: Pinky Promise

"Morning, girls." 

"Morning." CJ answered groggily while Kie grumbled unintelligibly from her spot beside her. Both laid out on the pull-out mattress, CJ was quickly checking her few phone notifications, Kie's arm wrapped around her as she tried to get more sleep. Kie was nursing a mild hangover, but CJ as usual could handle her liquor better. "Is my brother still hogging your bedroom?" 

Scoffing lightly, John B turned to her with an eyebrow raised as he grabbed a glass for water. "What d' you think? I'm pretty sure they didn't even sleep last night." 

"Ech." CJ cringed, shivering at the thought. She did not, under any circumstances, need to know more than she already did about her twin's sex life. "God, don't tell me any more. That's just gross." 

John B chuckled, filling up his glass before taking a few sips. Filling the glass back up, he brought it over to the blonde girl, sitting down gently next to her. With a small 'thanks,' CJ set her phone down and took the cup from him delicately before taking a drink. The two were silent for a moment, CJ just drinking her water. She almost spit some out when Kie's arm randomly tightened around her stomach, tugging her closer. It made small smiles grow on their faces at the peacefully sleeping girl. 

"Is Pope still passed out on the porch?" 

"Dunno. Haven't made it out there yet. Probably." He told her, stealing the water back to take a drink. CJ narrowed her eyes at him playfully until he gave the cup back. "You fell asleep with the guitar again." 

Reaching above the girls' heads, John B carefully pulled the old guitar off the mattress. Keeping it on his lap, he lazily strummed out a couple chords while CJ watched him. It was often that one of them fell asleep without properly putting the instrument away. It was part of the family and every one of them had fallen asleep with it at least once. Hell, Pope drunkenly cuddled with it one night. This time, Kie had been trying to build some type of random melody with her limited musical knowledge when the girls set it aside and passed out. 

"What time you work today?" 

"Ten. Mike needs extra prep done for some big tourist thing. We should be off by two or three." She told him, continuing to watch as he played seemingly random notes on the guitar. To anyone but the two of them, they would be, but she knew better. They were being plucked slower, but they were the notes to the first song they wrote together. "If Agatha gets any closer, we'll need to do storm prep." 

John B groaned, his head thrown back as he moved the guitar to lean against the wall. His first attempt to speak was cut off by giggles from the other room, something the two shook their heads at. "What's the point?"

"Umm, we're dirt poor and don't need to lose anything else." CJ presented the obvious with a sass-filled look. "I mean, I don't know about you, but I like that hammock. And I enjoy actually having windows-" CJ cut herself off, looking around at the different places teenagers resided before dropping her voice to a whisper. "In both of our homes. Not to mention, I don't think anyone wants the grill flying through the chicken coop." 

"Fine, fine." He groaned, standing up to grab a beer from the fridge. "You want one?" 

"Nope, we've gotta get ready for work." CJ sighed, turning slightly to see Kie. She frowned lightly, not wanting to wake the girl up. "Do we have any ibuprofen, she might need some." 

Tilting his head curiously, John B walked back to the bathroom, ignoring the noises coming from his room. Walking back, he tipped the bottle, holding two orange pills in his hand. "Last two. Who's buying the next bottle?"