#outerbanksseries

[outer-bnks]

Two Burning Hearts Are Dared to Break (JJ x OC) Ch. 3

Chapters: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10

After their police interrogations, the Pogues are invited to a funeral for John B and Sarah, but instead of finding closure, they find anger.

Warning: brief funeral scene

A/N: Everyone's kind of a hot mess right now, They’re all slowly trying to process their grief in their own time and because they’re such different characters, I want to really give them the time to do it in a way that feels natural? This chapter isn’t the best and was a bit of a filler to ensure that the storyline makes sense - the Pogues don’t know that Rafe killed the Sheriff, hence Elle’s empathy to him. 

Word count: 2,237

“Alright, thanks for your statement, we’re gonna need a few days to assess whether charges will be made and we’ll let you know. But if I were you, I’d be expecting to be back here fairly shortly” Shoupe hinted, leading Elle down the hallway to the front of the station. 

Elle turned to him, a sarcastic smile filling her face “Can’t wait”. Shoupe began to walk away, before she caught his attention again, “Hey Shoupe, just make sure Ward gets what’s coming to him. Sarah would be ashamed if she knew he got away with it” she stated, a coldness to her tone, before slamming the door shut.

She’d left her lawyer inside to fill out the rest of the legal papers that made no sense to her, grateful to finally be alone after spending three hours being pressed for answers she didn’t have. Her Dad really didn’t let her down this time, hiring one of the best lawyers in the North Carolina distract, a lady maybe mid-30s who was promised a big payout by Elle’s father if she was able to make some kind of settlement that would get the Pogues off the hook.

Crossing the road, Elle got into her car, wasting no time before heading to the Chateau to meet the others.

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“How’d it go?!” Pope yelled from the porch as he watched Elle make her way out of the car. He’d been on the edge of his seat ever since he got back from his time at the station. Kiara had to calm him down by subtly bringing up something about autopsy school which launched him into an animated discussion about a new discovery he’d read about. Kie figured that he’d increased his trips to the library in hopes of keeping his mind occupied, and to probably find out what happens to one’s body when they drown.

“It was fine. Shoupe was super suspicious about Kie and I being able to pull off stunts like that without your or JJ’s help but I pulled the sexism card and he quickly shut up. Plus I think our Pogue reputation may have helped a little”, Elle disclosed as she made her way past Kie and Pope to the fridge to grab a beer. Cracking it open she took a large swig, feeling the cool liquid run down her throat. 

Sighing, she looked around at the shack, searching for any signs of JJ. As if on cue he entered the kitchen, leaning against the doorway. She ignored the fastening of her heartbeat at the sight of him. Cocking his head to the side he asked “So are they gonna arrest Ward?”. Elle noticed the harsh tone of his voice, something she was getting far too used to.

Looking at her converse to get a break from his intense gaze, she muttered “Not yet, they.. uh.. need to assess whether to charge Kie and I first, and then they’re going to look into it.”

He scoffed, “Yeah, sure they are”, before turning around and heading back onto the porch.

Pope, Kie and Elle remained in the kitchen, absentmindedly chatting about shifts at the Wreck and Heyward’s, and returning to school, in hopes of gaining some concept of normalcy. 

JJ’s voice snapped them out of their pleasantries, the sounds of rustling and groaning coming from outside. Hurrying out they saw JJ, on top of Rafe in the driveway, both hands clenching his shirt in his hands, both of their faces red with anger. “What made you  think you could come around here?” JJ spat, shoving the back of Rafe’s head into the gravel.

“Dude...ugh get off, fucking relax” Rafe huffed, trying to maneouver his body to find a way to push JJ off of him.

Darting down to the driveway, Pope and Kie managed to pull JJ off him, Elle standing between the two as they got back up on their feet. She watched Rafe with cautious eyes, watching him brush off the gravel from his clothes and running his hand through his hair, meeting his gaze “What are you doing here Rafe?”.

“Look, I know I’m probably the last guy you wanna see right now, but I uh, came down to let you know that we’re going to hold a ceremony for her. For Sarah, and uh, kinda John B, I guess. For the accident.” he spoke, an unexpected softness in his tone. 

Pope and Kie exchanged looks, JJ stilling in Pope’s hold. Kie shook her head with disbelief, trying to wrap her mind around what Rafe was telling them,“A funeral? They haven’t even been dead 2 days yet, and you wanna throw a funeral? Are you serious?” she exclaimed. 

Elle kept her gaze on Rafe, attempting to decipher how he was coping with all this. Hesitantly he added, “It was Dad’s idea. He wanted to make sure she got the send off she deserves.”

“The send off she deserves?! She shouldn’t be having a funeral at all! It was your Dad that pushed them into that storm!” Pope spoke, his frustration coming out in the coarseness of his voice.

Rafe averted his gaze down to his feet, kicking at the gravel. Elle pretended not to notice the tears that formed in his eyes and the shaky breath he let out. Jumping in before he had the chance to respond, “Where will it be?”. 

Rafe looked up, noticing the softness in her voice. “It’ll be at the white church in Figure Eight on Tuesday at midday, and then a wake at our house”.

Elle nodded, turning around to face the others. They all looked between each other, a silent conversation taking place. Pope, Kie and Elle picked up the resistance from JJ, sending him pleading looks. They needed this, Sarah had become just as much a member of their pack as each of them. 

Pope, stepping away from beside JJ, came to stand next to Elle. His attitude muted after the emotional turmoil that had washed over the group, “Is this really for John B too?”

Rafe nodded solemnly, “Yeah, it’s for the both of them.”

“Alright, we’ll be there”, Pope responded, “you can leave now”, his firmness coming back into his tone.

Rafe gave a slight nod of his head, walking past the group up the driveway to his Jeep.

“Jesus Christ…” JJ breathed out.

The group returned to the silence that had become all too common for them, retreating back into the Chateau.

-----

Tuesday rolled around, the group deciding to get ready individually and drive in together. As Elle finished off the touches to her light makeup, she tied her hair into a low pony, checking over her appearance. The mid-length navy blue dress she wore was far too flowy for a funeral, but she’d never had to have a funeral dress before. 

Kie beeped from out the front. Grabbing her phone and purse, which mainly held tissues, she headed down. “Hey” she offered softly, hopping into the car. Pope, next to Kie in the front turned, giving her a slight smile, “Hey, you alright?”

“I think I will be. You guys?” 

“I just want to get this done with” Kie sighed sadly, backing out of the Sterling residence. 

JJ remained quiet next to Elle, fumbling with his lighter in his lap. She gazed over his outfit, opting for his navy shorts, a black button down, and no hat. Elle couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen him this dressed up, well, dressed up in JJ terms.

The ride was silent except for Bob Marley playing quietly through the car's speakers. Arriving at the church, Elle exited the car, staring up at it she was struck with a strong sense of realisation. Their lives the past few weeks had led to this. And it was their fault.

Elle didn’t know that the rest of the Pogues' minds had also arrived at the same conclusion.They had done this. They could’ve prevented this if they’d just gone to the cops and told them everything they knew about Ward and the gold. But it was too late.

Kie reached for Elle’s hand, giving her a slight tug to make their way in, JJ and Pope trudging along behind them, taking in the scene occurring around them.

The inside of the church was beautiful. Although there were only about 10 rows of seats, the ceilings were high, the walls covered in colourful glass windows, everything in pristine condition. It was crawling with people, extended family, Kooks and people from the Academy that Elle could recognise from her brief time there. At the front sat a table holding two photo frames, one holding a beautiful image of Sarah smiling directly at the camera that must’ve been from some fancy Kook event last year, due to the light pink gown she wore. And next to her, in a noticeably smaller frame, a photo of John B that Kie had taken one day after a surfing session, holding his surfboard, his hair still wet and droplets covering his skin. Where’d they even get that photo? And then piles and piles of colourful flowers, all different bouquets, resting in front of the frames. Elle swallowed down the bile that raised in her throat, averting her eyes from the gut-wrenching reality that this was their funeral. 

Choosing one of the smaller, back rows, they sat and watched as everyone around them fussed over Sarah, not once hearing the tiniest mutter of John B’s name. Elle could feel the anxiety radiating off of JJ from her right, his leg bouncing rapidly against hers. As everyone began to be seated and the celebrant took to the stage, she placed her hand on his thigh in an attempt to calm his nerves. Flinching slightly from the contact, but then allowing her act of affection to settle him. As the woman launched into a symbolic story of love and loss, Elle pretended she didn’t notice Pope’s arm slip around Kie’s waist, her body melting into his subtly.

Scanning the crowd, Elle caught eyes with Topper clearly not engaged in the conversation that Rafe and Kelce were having beside him. Elle couldn’t help but feel a small ball of sympathy gather in her stomach at the sadness that swum in his eyes. Looking away, she squeezed JJ’s thigh slightly, whether it was a reminder that she was still there for him, or a reminder of who she should actually feel sympathy for, she wasn’t sure.

Elle couldn’t help but notice how little the ceremony was about John B, and how many times Sarah’s name slipped out of the woman's mouth, her insides burning at the idea of his memory being forgotten. She tried her hardest throughout it to hold back her tears, biting her tongue to suppress the urge to sob at the stories that were being shared of Sarah, and the lack of ones about John B. She wasn’t good at holding in her emotions in such circumstances, but something about this situation told her that this was not the place to express them.

Sweet relief was granted when the ceremony finished, the Pogues quickly filing out of the church and back into Kie’s car.

As Kie began driving out, she scoffed. “That was a joke. Are they kidding me? A ceremony for Sarah and John B my ass!” 

Pope reached out his hand, hesitantly placing it on her thigh as she continued. “They were clearly using John B to make themselves look better. Oh look at us, look how caring we are, it’s bullshit! And now we have to go to this stupid wake, to hear them talk about the stupid storm, and probably how stupid John B is for dragging Sarah along with him. Why, huh? Why should we?”

The group becoming accustomed to her outbursts, remained quiet. 

“Alright then, let’s ditch. Where should we go?”JJ spoke. Elle noted how subdued his usually boisterous voice was. 

And that’s how they ended up at The Wreck, amongst a few Touron’s enjoying the last moments of their Summer holiday. For this time of the afternoon, it was oddly quiet. The Pogues sat at the table, absentmindedly picking at the food Kie’s Dad had offered them when he saw their defeated faces walk through the door. 

A soft melody filled the room, before changing to a more upbeat song. Elle recognised the tune, trying to place her finger on where she’d heard it before. Turning to Kie she’d realised. It was from the night that they’d filed into The Wreck after stealing the drones, absolutely starving. And John B and Kie had danced. She watched as a tear ran down Kie’s cheek, pulling her into her shoulder as she began to sob. Elle had been waiting for this, for her breakdown to happen. Knowing Kie as well as she did, she knew she could only keep a front up for so long before cracking. And it had, the wall had cracked, and what had begun as a small stream of water that flowed through, turned quickly into a flood.

Pope watched on, his heart aching to comfort the girl he loves. Unlike Pope, JJ couldn’t bear to watch it, afraid of it triggering his own reaction, moving his chair out from under the table and swiftly making his way out of the restaurant without bidding goodbye to any of them.

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I didn’t expect to write Kie as so vocal and angry after losing JB + Sarah but it feels right so she’s kinda losing her shit.

Excuse JJ, lil baby doesn’t know how to process his emotions :(

Angst coming in the next chapter finally!

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