𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 {𝚓𝚓 𝚖𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚔}

𝚜.𝟷 𝚎𝚙.𝟷𝟶 -𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚎-

"we had a moment that felt like summer / now in slumber / I can see your smile / we drive for miles."

~

The Phantom

The late-summer breeze blew Tate's hair off of her shoulders as she leaned against the doorway of The Wreck, her eyes never leaving JJ's face. He was staring out at the water, a moody frown on his lips and an uncharacteristically serious look in his eyes. He was so lost in his own thoughts, he didn't even notice that Tate was staring at him. She almost didn't want to bother him. He looked so still, like one of the statues people used to spend hours chiseling out of each other back in ancient times. He was handsome like that. Tate watched him for another half second, then reached one of her red shoes out to tap him lightly on the foot. "Hey," she said softly.

JJ snapped back to the present as he looked at Tate and his expression instantly softened. "Shirt looks good on you," he said, reaching a hand out and pulling Tate towards him by the waist.

"Shut up," she whispered, a smirk playing at her lips. They'd stopped over at Kiara's house for about two minutes so Tate could change, and the only thing she'd been able to find was an old t-shirt JJ left there on one of their late nights. The second after she swiped it, she'd heard footsteps downstairs and had to run to escape through the back door before either of Kiara's parents could interrogate her about where their daughter had been for the last three days.

Tate linked an arm around JJ's neck, but leaned back, not kissing him just yet. He narrowed his eyes at her and bit down on the inside of his cheek. "Tate, I swear to god, when all of this is over-" Before he could finish his sentence, Pope poked his head out of the kitchen.

"Hey, Tate, we need your help finding some stuff."

Tate nodded, then turned back to JJ. "Save that thought," she murmured, then kissed his cheek and untangled herself from his arms, leaving him to stare after her hopelessly.

When she got into the kitchen, she was back to business. "What's up?" she asked Kiara, who was standing on one of the counters, rooting through a cabinet.

"Do you know where my dad moved the snacks?"

"Over here." Tate headed to the opposite side of the kitchen- to a cabinet she'd helped Mr. C move the snack foods to the week before.

Kiara nodded. "Great. After that... I think we're good. And we should get out of here."

"Yeah, don't need Mama C after us," Tate said with a dry smile.

Kiara finished loading a box with all of the snack foods in the cabinet and then turned to Tate and returned the smile. "I hate that out of everything happening to us, my mom might be the most scary."

Tate laughed and took the box. "Let's go, Kie. I think your dad might scare me even more if he finds out we're stealing food."

When they got back into the dining room, Pope and JJ were standing in the doorway, discussing the chances of John B getting caught. "Well, if we're gonna be outlaws, we might as well help John B," Pope said like he was coming to some grand conclusion.