𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 {𝚓𝚓 𝚖𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚔}

𝚜.𝟷 𝚎𝚙.𝟸 -𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛-

"'cause I don't know what I want / until I fuck it up / but I feel something / when I see you now."

~

Tate climbed out of the van after Pope and stared up at the lighthouse. A warm feeling spread through her chest at the sight. She had so many memories of her Uncle John taking her and John B there as kids. They would climb the whole way to the top and stare out over the island. Tate could remember the weightless feeling she got from being up so high and smiled. Of course, Uncle John had taught them all about the history of the lighthouse, but Tate never had the attention span to listen fully. John B was always the one to hang onto every word his father spoke while Tate tended to cause trouble wherever she went.

After a long moment, John B turned to the group. "Alright," he said, pointing at JJ and talking fast.  "You're gonna post up and look out for bogeys, okay?"

JJ looked offended. "Wait... Why me?"

"Because you're not coming," Pope said impatiently.

"Why?" JJ's temper was starting to flare up and Tate exchanged an annoyed look with Kiara.

"There are independent and dependent variables," Pope said in a would-be-calm voice. "You're independent. We don't know what you'll do-"

"Shut up, shut up!" JJ interrupted, proving Pope's point perfectly.

"JJ, it's fine," Tate said dully, picking at her nail polish.

John B glanced at her and then stepped into the argument. "Listen to me for a second," he half-shouted. "Pope, Tate, you stand look out with JJ. Okay? If we get split up, we meet back at JJ's house."

"You bet, Fred."

"One more Scooby-Doo reference, Tate, and I swear to god..." John B said, a half smile playing on his face.

"Sorry."

As John B and Kiara hopped the fence and started towards the lighthouse, JJ rolled his eyes and pulled out a hacky sack. Pope walked back to the van, muttering, "I'm gonna work on my merit scholarship essay, and I'm trying to keep felonies to a minimum."

"All right, would you just shut up already?" JJ muttered. He balanced the hacky sack on his foot and then bounced it into his left hand.

"Why're you in such a bad mood?" Tate asked, holding up a hand for JJ to toss her the hacky sack. "Upset Kie and John B are getting alone time?" JJ's head jerked up only to see that Tate was watching him with a playful smirk.

"What are you talking about?" He bounced the hacky sack over to her and she hit it back with one foot.

She tilted her head, grinning at him and trying not to laugh. "Oh, come on, JJ! Didn't you used to have a crush on her? I remember you telling me-"

"Yeah, in like fourth grade," JJ snorted. "You're really out of the loop, you know that?"

Tate shrugged. "I've had other things to worry about." She frowned thinking of all of the family issues she'd had to take care of in the past years while watching the Pogues grow closer to each other. Part of her was resentful of them for taking John B, her only childhood friend, away from her, but she knew that wasn't fair. She hadn't been around.

"Talk to Rafe recently?" JJ asked, noticing her change in mood.

"No," she said simply. "Why would I?"

"I don't know." JJ dropped the hacky sack and moved to pick it up. "Seemed like you two had a thing over the school year."

Tate snorted her disapproval at this and caught the hacky sack in one hand. "I went to, like, two Kook parties and that's it." She wouldn't meet his eyes.

"I don't know, man. I heard more than that happened," JJ said with a forced laugh. He was watching her almost-hopefully.

She finally looked up at him, unimpressed. "Really? That's interesting, 'cause I never asked what 'you heard.'" She bounced the hacky sack between her knee and her shoe, not passing it back to JJ.

He didn't seem to realize that he'd crossed a line. "Oh, come on. So you guys never slept together?"

Tate's head jerked up and she suddenly looked more worried than angry. "Wait, what did you hear?"

"I don't know," JJ said, suddenly backtracking. "He just told people you guys did some stuff... I assumed-" Tate threw the hacky sack at him with such force it hit his chest before he could catch it. "Ouch! What the hell-"

"So you just believe everything you hear without even asking me first? How many people know?"

"Tate- I don't know-"

"Yeah. Sure." She was glaring at him furiously.

JJ held his hands up in mock surrender, not sure how to handle her change in mood. "Dude, seriously. I didn't mean anything by it, I was just wondering-" he broke off mid-sentence. He'd seen Tate angry before, but it was never directed at him. He couldn't help but notice the way her eyebrows folded inward when she frowned and how she chewed on the inside of her cheek before every insult. He couldn't help thinking it was sort of cute, but he shoved the thought away as fast as possible. If she knew what he was thinking, he thought, she'd totally punch him.

"Guys..." Pope called from the van,"They've been gone a long time."

Tate shot JJ another disgusted look before heading towards the lighthouse. "Whoa, whoa, wait-" JJ jogged after her, suddenly worried. "What're you doing?"

She didn't turn around. "Checking to see if they got in any trouble."

"Yeah, maybe we... shouldn't do that."

"Oh, so you're okay with them getting hurt- or falling from the top of the lighthouse- or-" Suddenly, sirens blared from down the street.

"Guys!" Pope shouted from the van. "It's the cops, let's go!"

JJ started back for the van, but backtracked as soon as he saw that Tate hadn't moved. "Tate, come on, we gotta go!"

"What happened to Pogues not leaving Pogues behind-"

"That's more of a guideline than anything," JJ said hopelessly, "You can't get caught- you know Sheriff's already after you-"

"I don't care!"

JJ took two steps towards her, grabbed her hand, and tugged her back towards the van desperately. "Come on, man, we seriously have to go."

Tate finally gave in and sprinted with JJ, diving through the open doors just as Pope started to pull away. "You guys good?" Pope called, checking behind him to make sure they'd both made it and immediately noticed JJ and Tate still holding hands. "Yo, what happened to no Pogue on Pogue-"

"I'm not a Pogue, dude! Now drive!" Tate let go of JJ's hand to pull the van door shut and then slid onto the floor, finally turning to JJ, who was grinning uncontrollably at her. She flicked her eyes towards the window, exasperated. "What?"

"Nothing, nothing," JJ said in an offhand voice, his eyes not leaving her face.

She shot him an annoyed look and pulled a pack of cigarettes out of her bag. "Hey, not in the van," Pope called back as soon as he smelled the smoke. "That shit's disgusting, I thought you were gonna quit."

Tate hugged her knees to her chest and took another drag. "That was before you guys included me in your treasure hunt. Shit's stressful."

"Same." JJ swiped the cigarette out of her hand, inhaling the smoke and exhaling in the general direction out of the window. He looked up at Tate, who was staring at him in vague annoyance. "What? You do it to me all the time."