「 ✦ WHAT'S WITH GUNS ✦ 」

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𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗬𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗪𝗔𝗦 𝗦𝗣𝗜𝗡𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 and she wasn't sure what to do. After finding the tattooed man, MJ was quick to realize how morally fucked up she was. Not only did this man slam her against a wall and demand her affiliation, leaving a fat bruise on her ribs, but he further terrified her by making her prove she wasn't a narc by doing a line of coke.

Unfortantly, she felt as if she had no choice and almost as quickly as the drug hit her system she originally complied with doing it.

MJ had watched her father, Luke, snort lines of coke enough to understand the process of rolling up a dollar bill and cutting the white substance into a thin line.

She didn't remember much of the night after. 

The following morning the blonde-haired girl woke up on a leather couch in an unfamiliar place. Her hair was in a very poor braid behind her shoulders, and the scandalous red dress that once hugged her body was now replaced with a large blue t-shirt.

"You're alive," A voice nearly startled her enough to fall off the couch, thankfully she had managed to grip the side of a table and pull herself back onto her seat.

Rafe Cameron walked into her view, taking a seat in the chair across from her. His normally styled hair was messy and fluffy, making him look almost kindhearted when it was paired with the black hoodie and grey sweatpants he was sporting.

"Do you remember last night?" He asked her while sliding a glass of water and tylonal towards her, which she snatched up right away.

"No, where am I?" She let him know, her voice raspy and sore.

Rafe frowned, knowing that she wasn't aware of the bruises and red marks left on her body. He felt something in him start to grow angry at the thought of the girl being taken advantage of. Unknown to MJ, Rafe had walked in on a situation and practically got his ass killed when he removed both of them from the party.

"You're in my living room," He stated as if it was obvious, "What do you remember up to?"

She frowned, unable to remember most of the night, "I did coke and then I felt gross so I went to lie down in a bedroom and nothing after that." She gulped, the way that Rafe was looking at her and the aching pain in her body let her know something had happened to her.

"Why the fuck did you even go there?" Rafe snapped, he couldn't control his anger anymore, "That was low even for a Maybank."

"You were there also, fucking cokehead." She snapped, remembering who exactly he was.

MJ stood up to grab her shoes from the table, Rafe stood up also as he narrowed his eyes at her, any signs of sympathy and concern were gone.

Rafe had warned her about calling him that multiple times, considering he spent the night babysitting her he hadn't had a chance to do a line himself. He was starting to feel the familiar itch of a craving rise.

He stepped forward and would have collided with MJ if she hadn't taken a step back until she was sat back down on the couch.

"What did I say about that word," He didn't sound angry, and the way he had unintentionally moved her legs apart so he stood between them where enough for her hormones to grow crazy.

She held his gaze, even as he tipped her chin back up to look at him. She felt her heart beating rapidly in her chest. There was this undeniable attraction she felt towards him, something about the dominance and brief moments of care that he displayed.

"Rafe–" His name escaped her lips in a soft exhale, her legs spreading more as he pushed closer toward her.

"What did I say about calling me a cokehead, Rosemary?" His hand slipped from her chin and slithered to hold her by the back of her neck, his fingers playing with the piercings of hair that had fallen out of the braid he must have done.

She immediately gave in to her attraction toward him and arched backwards while her lower half moved forward to press against his knee. Her hands rose to grab the cuff of his sweatpants, and a ball of fire burned inside her.

MJ wasn't thinking, especially not after a shaky breath left Rafe as he looked down between them. Her fingers danced along the waistline of his pants as he continued to hold her neck, massaging her jaw with a thumb.

As his thumb brushed over a scar below her lip, one she had gained from her brother, she snapped back into reality realizing what was happening.

"Something about my brother, the one who's probably looking for me, Coke head," MJ whispered as her fingers left his waistline and went to give him a harsh shove as she stood up. 

Much to MJ's disapproval, she had no option but to allow Rafe to drive her home. She would've walked to distance from his house to her own, but her legs were sore and she didn't feel like walking a long distance without her clothes and shoes.

"You're going to have to wrap your hands around me tightly, I'm not going to bite." His muffled voice came from underneath his helmet.

MJ sat on his bike behind him, reluctantly scooting forward to half-ass wrap her arms around his torso. Rafe let out a groan and slid up the visor of his helmet before turning his head to scowl back at her.

"Common, Rosemary, you were just pressed against me ten minutes ago. Move closer."

With a sigh from beneath her helmet, she moved forward and pressed herself against him before wrapping her arms around his torso. She could feel his toned muscles tense from under his shirt as her chest pressed up to his back.

"Good girl." He praised, knocking his visor back down and kicking the bike stand away before they took off at a fast pace cruising through the warm summer of the outer banks.

Eventually, they made it to the Maybanks residence after Rafe had to practically force the directions out of her. It wasn't that she didn't want him to know her address, it was the fact that a small percentage of her was embarrassed to show him of all people the slump she lived in. She didn't want Rafe to know that his belief in her low-life reputation didn't even cut close to the real thing.

MJ also was prepared for her Dad to be home and witness not just any boy, but Rafe Cameron dropping her off at home in the morning.

"Oh my god, of course, this is your home." Rafe sniffled a laugh as his bike came to a haunt before the run-down house.

She ignored the comment and slid off the bike before pulling the helmet off.

Rafe flipped his visor up and eyed the house. Making note of the rotting wood and peeling paint that was far less noticeable than the litter of beer cans and rusted car parts.

"Do me a favour a just throw out my shirt, I don't want roaches and bud bugs." He continued to make insulting assumptions about her life.

"I don't have bugs in my house or on me." MJ scowled.

"I'm sure," Rafe said eyeing a pile of moulding beer cans on the front porch. "Just alcoholics and low life are in there, right?"

"Oh fuck you, Rafe." MJ snapped throwing the helmet in her hands at the blonde boy, nearly hitting his head if his quick reaction hadn't allowed him to catch the helmet.

MJ turned around without saying anything and walked into her house, slamming the front door shut. She nearly yelled as Luke stood in the living room, a beer in hand, and a demeaning look on his face.

He was on his last drink and had been milking it all morning waiting for one of his stupid mistakes to show up and fetch more for him. Both had been absent, and he had been growing more and more impatient.

From outside the house, taking a minute to cool down from his heated morning, Rafe could hear shouting and banging from inside the house. He was a couple of seconds away from climbing off his bike and seeing what the communion was if it wasn't for a text from his dealer with his next fix.

He convinced himself that the blonde pouge girl wasn't his problem, getting his next fix was. So, he kicked his bike on and allowed the roaring of the engine to drain out whatever trouble the girl was experiencing inside.

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Later that afternoon MJ found herself sitting in the HMS Pouge surrounded by her close group of friends. The cool wind swirled her blond hair behind her as the sun was starting to set in the distance. She hugged her grey zip-up hoodie over her bathing suit, watching as Kie inspected the scuba tanks John B had 'borrowed' from Ward Cameron.

She took a hit off a joint before passing it to her twin, "So what's the plan looking like Kie?"

"This one's a quarter full," The girl groaned, "That's only enough for one of us."

"Love it when a plan comes together," Pope said sarcastically from his spot in front of the wheel of the boat. "Does anybody know how to dive besides MJ?"

"Why not me?" MJ asked between a fit of coughs due to taking another hit of the joint. "Never mind, lungs are compromised."

JJ sniffled a laugh at his sister as everyone shook their heads. "It's kind of a Kook sport."

"Well, I've... read about it," Pope offered and Kie rolled her eyes.

"Great, Pope read about it, so someone's gonna die," She exclaimed and MJ nodded in agreement.

She had only been given the privilege of learning to dive when she was on the swim team and had also been given the privilege of learning just how fatal it could end. Diving was hard to master, especially if you had a quarter-tank of air.

"Look, y-you put the thing in your mouth and breathe. How hard could it be?" JJ inquired from the side of the boat.

"If you come up too fast, nitrogen gets into your blood, and you get the bends," Pope informed them, remembering MJ's shared information about the sport.

"Bends like, bend over and..." JJ said inappropriately and Pope quickly shot him down, telling him that the bends kill you.

"I can-- I can dive," John B proclaimed and Kie immediately questioned him, "I'll do it. It's fine," He continued and Kie looked at him before walking away from the front of the boat.

"Let me do some calculations real quick," Pope said as he grabbed some paper from a hidden nook in the boat, along with a pen. "That boat's about thirty feet down, so it'll take twenty-five minutes at that depth. This means you need to make your safety stops at about... ten and fifteen feet."

MJ shrugged her hoodie off and effortlessly dived into the water, going deeper until she reached the fifteen-foot mark. She lifted her leg and untied the bandana JJ had wrapped around her ankle earlier to cover a bruise, and tied it around the mark. Once satisfied, she pushed back up to the surface and took a deep breath breaking the surface.

"Not diving with these lungs." MJ groaned in disappointment. She was devastated by her lack of ability to dive.

"Was that the reason you launched into the water?" Kie asked, confused.

"No,0 the girl said as she swam towards the boat and pulled herself onto the boat. "I tied my bandana at the safety mark so you don't die."

"Thanks, MJ," John B grinned, he was quite enjoying the girl's body dripping wet before him.

"Cover up." JJ snapped, tossing his sister's hoodie toward her.

He was fond of the strange flirtatious behaviour between his twin and best friend. It had been a minor thing since they first became friends, but seemed to become more prominent since MJ's looming departure was made.

"Hey, if we get caught in the marsh, we're screwed, so... better get a move on," Pope said after a second and he walked towards the three.

"Be smart, pretty boy," MJ said as she gently placed a kiss on John B's cheek.

"Diver down?" He asked.

"Diver Down," JJ said as she pushed past the two and saluted the boy before gently pushing him back into the water.

MJ leaned over the boat and watched as the boy disappeared under the water. She then turned around and scowled at her brother before her attention was redirected to the sound of sirens whooping in the distance.

"Fuck, pigs." MJ alerted them as the police boat approached them.

"Just act frickin' normal," Kie said as she sat on the front of the boat, trying to stay calm as they pulled in next to them, "Evening, officers," She said as they passed JJ a rope, tying their boats together.

"How are you kids doing? You know the marsh is closed?" The officer asked as MJ and JJ shared a look. They're coded to do the classic Maybanks thing, play dumb.

She shot her brother another look, wondering if he also noticed they were the same cops from the motel.

"How do you close a body of water?" MJ asked before realizing she wasn't in the position to give athletic figures attitude, "Sorry, sorry. We had no clue."

"Why-- why is it closed?" Pope stuttered and MJ wanted to smack him for showing weakness.

"Well, we're searching out here. A boat went down," The cop informed the group, taking his time to make eye contact with each of them. "Have you seen anything?

"Nope, no boats," JJ said as he fixed his backward red hat.

"Where's your friend you always hang with? He here?" The cop asked waiting for a slip-up.

"He's working," MJ shrugged, eyeing the cop. She recognized the female cop as the one who profiled her the previous night.

"Hm," The first cop said, "I'm gonna check your little boat out"

He let himself on the boat before proceeding to search around the back of the boat. He picked up a life jacket before eyeing the kids, " " Uh... you got another one?"

"Of course. It's, uh... it's in the hold," Pope said as he lifted the hatch in front of the boat.

The cop moved to the front of the boat and hopped up on the little ledge, staring into the water.

"Don't fall," MJ said, trying her best to redirect the cops to leave before their friend came back up.

The four pouches watched as the cop looked around, staring into the water. Thankfully, he removed his sunglasses and dismissed himself before requesting the kids speak up if they found anything.

Just when MJ thought they were in the clear, the female cop turned to her and said, "Lucky you didn't spend the night in the slammer. Your pops showed up later."

JJ was confused, he watched his sister get pulled away by the cops and only heard of her release the following afternoon.

"We'll be gone soon, sir," JJ continued and the cop nodded before they drove off on their boat. He turned to his twin, giving her a look that made her shrink away.

She needed to come up with a good story before he had a chance to ask her about her whereabouts. God forbid he found out about her drug involvement and interaction with the look.

In an attempt to avoid him, she moved to the side of the boat in hopes of catching a glimpse of John B.

"He's definitely out of the air," Pope commented as he joined her over the edge.

Suddenly, John B popped his head out of the water and took off his mask.

"There he is!" JJ exclaimed as everyone let out a shaky breath, "How'd it go down there?" He asked and John B passed him a black bag that was completely drenched. "Yeah, there we go! That's my boy!"

"Holy fuck, we thought you died," MJ mumbled giving the boy a tight hug the second he removed the scuba equipment.

"Yeah, I ran out of air," he told them, returning the right hug.

"You scared the shit out of me. The cops were up here, but, uh... took care of 'em," Pope told the tanned boy as he leaned against the side of the boat.

"Hey, guys?" Kie said, pulling our attention from John B to her, "Guys, bogey, two o'clock."

MJ released her grip on the boy, turning her head to watch as a speedboat approached them quickly.

"JJ, get the bowline," John B said as he pushed the tanks away from the edge of the boat, "Go get the stern. Go!" He said to Pope and he quickly rushed away.

"Guys, don't wait for me. Go," JJ said quickly as he pulled up the heavy anchor.

John B started the boat while Pope worked with the stern as the girls kept there she's fixed on the rapidly moving boat.

"Go into the marsh," Pope suggested as they moved through the wager, , "Act natural, act natural," Pope continued as John B sped up.

"Hey, guys, they're following us," Kie pointed out as they drove through the marsh maze, the sun setting behind us.

"Dude, you gotta go faster," JJ told John B.

"Fucking go!" MJ yelled, watching as the white speedboat quickened in speed. "I think he's got a gun!"

Everyone ducked to the ground as a loud gunshot rang through the air. Another gunshot sounded as the group's eyes grew wide with fear.

John B took a sharp turn, trying to lose the guys behind them, as they took another shot at us. Kie moved past Pope as another gunshot rang off the boat, while John B yelled at her to get down. She picked up the net and tossed it behind the boat, hoping that it would catch in our follower's motor.

Another gunshot blasted, and then the sound of a motor rattling made MK glance up and notice the men were now stuck in the marsh and they had a safe distance from them allowing escape.

"What the fuck is it and guns lately." MJ huffed as she lit another well-deserved joint.

"Is anybody shot?" John B asked and everyone checked, making sure that the adrenaline rush hadn't taken over.

JJ tied the boat to the dock and John B hopped out, black bag in hand. The other three followed them off the boat.

"What do you think it is?" Kie asked, leaning against the railing while John B was crouched down in front of the bag.

"Gotta be money, right, MJ?" John B asked, "That or a couple of keys with street value to the low- to mid-mails!"

The girl shrugged, wanting to open the bag and look at what they had found.

"Can we please just open the bag?" Pope burst and everyone looked at him amused, "Okay. You guys are killing me with anticipation," John B zipped the bag opened pulled out a large silver canister.

Everyone watched patiently as he unscrewed the lid and poured out the contents. A bass compass. The group complained but the way John B looked at, it made MJ assume it was more than a compass to him.

"What is it, John B?" She asked as he stared at the brass compass in hand.

"This was my father's." He told them as everyone went silent.