The next morning when I wake up, I'm sensitive. JJ and I had stayed up until almost three in the morning draining each other of every last bit of energy we had. I lost count of how many times I fell apart by way of his bedroom skills.

I stretch and yawn as I lay in bed beside him, and he stirs as I shift around under the covers.

"I have no bodily fluids left in me," he groans in his scratchy morning voice. "I couldn't come again even if I wanted to."

I chuckle. "Honestly, same."

"It was amazing though," he mumbles as he rolls over to face me.

"Yeah. Just don't touch me today," I joke.

"Can I kiss you?" he asks.

"Of course, but I think that's all I can handle," I tell him.

He laughs. "Noted." He's quiet for a minute, just looking at me. "You're beautiful."

"Stop. I probably look crazy right now, all hungover and thoroughly fucked."

"I'm serious, Sunny. You're beautiful. No one else can compare."

I smile. "Thank you," I say, blushing slightly.

His hand finds mine under the covers. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

We get dressed a few minutes later and head downstairs to see if the others are up. John B and Sarah are in the kitchen, but Kie and Pope don't seem to be around.

"Hey, you two," John B says, a knowing smile plastered on his face.

"Hey," I say, eyeing the coffee pot behind him on the counter.

"Coffee?" he offers. I nod, and he moves toward one of the cupboards. "JJ?"

"You know I'm more the 'hair of the dog' type," he replies, walking to the fridge and helping himself to a beer.

"Ugh, I don't know how you do that," I say as John B slides a cup of coffee towards me.

JJ shrugs. "Because I know it'll work."

"Where are Kie and Pope?" I ask.

"Outside asleep," Sarah says. "They slept in one of the pool chairs."

"That sounds uncomfortable as fuck," JJ says as he takes another pull from his beer.

As if they heard their names, we hear the back patio door open and Kie and Pope walk into the house holding hands. They both take a seat at the counter.

"Morning," Kie says, a small smile playing on her lips.

"Good morning," John B says. "Do either of you want—"

"Coffee, yes," Kie says with a deep nod.

"Pope?"

"Yeah, man." He leans forward and places his elbows on the counter.

"Rafe's having a party tonight," Sarah says. "At the boneyard."

"Why there? Your parents are still gone," I say as I give her a questioning look.

"Because the maids have the weekend off and he doesn't want to clean up the mess," she says, rolling her eyes. "So are we going?"

"May as well, not like I have anything better to do," JJ says as he drains his beer. "I'll go. Sunny?"

"Yeah I guess, but I'm going to have to take it easy on the drinking."

"Cool. We can meet there around 9:00 tonight." Sarah smiles at all of us.

**********************************
After nursing my hangover for most of the day, I feel relatively normal as I get ready for the party. I had surprised myself when I agreed to go, knowing the place will be crawling with kooks. But like JJ said, it's not like I have anything better to do.

The plan is for John B and JJ to pick me up, and meet the others there. I'm anxious as I wait for them to arrive that evening.

"So this is Rafe's party?" mom asks as she fires up Netflix for her and my dad. They're so close to finishing their current true crime series.

"Yep."

"I'm surprised you and the others want to go. I know none of you are too fond of Rafe."

"Yeah, but it's summer. What else are we going to do?" I reply. Obnoxious honking starts outside, indicating the boys are here for me. "That's my cue. I'll see you all in the morning!" I say as I sling my backpack over my shoulder and head towards the door.

"Bye! Love you! Be careful!" Dad calls to me as I leave.

I bound down the front steps and climb into the back of the van, tossing my bag into the floor.

"Hello, beautiful," JJ says as I get situated on the bench seat. "You're staying at John B's with me tonight, right?"

"Yeah, of course," I tell him as we start to head out into the street.

"I better not hear anything tonight," John B warns.

"Don't worry, I'm still recovering from last night," I say.

"Too much information," he says with a chuckle.

The streets are busy tonight. It's July, one of the hottest months in the Outer Banks, but for whatever reason, we're having one of those rare cool summer nights, where the heat and humidity are low. The sky is clear, lit up brightly by the full moon and a smattering of stars. It's a perfect night to be outside. The street leading to the boneyard is lined with cars, I try, and fail, to catch a quick glimpse of the crowd as we pass on our way to John B's. He parks the van at his house and we walk the handful of blocks over together, unsure what the night will bring.

The beach itself is crawling with people. Rafe had clearly told anyone he could find that he was hosting a party tonight, and I'm pretty sure the entire island, tourists and residents alike, have come out to enjoy the perfect weather. The three of us immediately head for the first keg we see.

"I didn't think you were drinking tonight," JJ says as he watches me grab two cups and hand him one.

"I'm not drinking a lot. But I never said I wasn't drinking," I say as I take the nozzle from someone I've never seen before and begin to fill my cup. He holds his cup out to me once mine is full. When I finish filling his cup, I hand John B the nozzle. "I'm going to go find Kie and Sarah. I'll be back."

I walk away from the keg, sipping at my beer. I spot Kie and Sarah easily, and head towards them. "Hey y'all," I say as I approach them.

"Hey Sunny. Kie was just telling me some news," Sarah says.

"What kind of news?" I ask, my curiosity piqued.

"About me and Pope..." she trails off with a smile. "He finally asked me to be his girlfriend."

"How exciting! Congrats!" I say sincerely.

"Thanks. It was really sweet how he asked me. It was when we were in the pool the first time..." Kie begins explaining everything that led up to the big question, and I really want to be listening, but I spot John B, Pope, and JJ talking to two girls I've never seen before, clearly tourists, and I'm dying to know what they are saying.

"Who are those girls?" Kie asks, interrupting her own story.

"That's what I was just wondering," I say as I continue to watch them. From the looks of it, the girls are flirting, and to their credit, the boys aren't returning the banter. John B and Pope walk away after a moment, but JJ stays, talking to the girls.

"Sunny, you should go over there," Sarah says as one of the girls touches his arm and gives his bicep a squeeze. Even from far away, I can tell he's uncomfortable, and I have to laugh at his uneasy expression.

"I'm going. I kinda like watching him squirm though," I tell the girls. "But I guess I'll go rescue him."

I head towards the two girls and JJ, feeling Kie and Sarah following not far behind me. He glances up as we approach, the word HELP practically plastered on his forehead. FOLLOW MY LEAD, I mouth to him. He gives me the smallest of nods on confirmation.

"Hi, gorgeous," I say, my tone flirty. "I could see your pretty blue eyes all the way across the beach."

Both girls look at me in disgust. "Hey, we saw him first," one of them says, giving me a judgey once over. I have to hold in a laugh.

"Oh, did you now?" I reply.

"Yeah. Go flirt with someone else," the girl tells me dismissively.

"Nah, I want this one." JJ gives me a look, as if to say 'what are you doing?'.

"Come on, Stace, he said he had a girlfriend. Let her be the one to get beat up," the other girl says, motioning to me.

"Your friend is smart. You should listen to her," I comment.

"Until I see this girlfriend, I'm not leaving. This one looks like he knows how to lie," the first girl says. "He can probably do a lot more than lie with that pretty mouth." She gives him a flirty smile. JJ coughs awkwardly.

"Oh, you have no idea the things he can do." I stick out my hand to the girl as she gives me a strange look. "Hi, I'm the girlfriend. Care to fuck off?"

The girl scoffs and rolls her eyes. She walks off, dragging her friend with her. Kie, Sarah, and I dissolve into giggles as JJ groans and runs his hands over his face.

"Jesus, Sunny," he says with a chuckle. He wraps his arms around me and leans his head on my shoulder. "Why did I used to think it was a good idea to talk to freakin' tourist girls?"

"Because I was taken and you couldn't handle it," I tease.

"Shut up."

"Make me," I challenge.

He unwraps his arms from my waist and cups my face in his hands, pressing a soft kiss to my lips. "You done now?" he asks as he looks down at me.

I smile at him. "For now."

John B and Pope have joined us. "Did you mark your territory, Sunny?" John B jokes.

"Yeah. Told 'em to fuck off," I say with a smile.

After that, we remain tourist free. Even though I hadn't planned on it, I end up getting a little drunk. JJ and I play several rounds of beer pong and dominate everyone, sending me further into my drunkenness. I'm stumbling around the beach and having a great time. I end up running into a couple girls from the academy that I'm friendly with, and I walk around with them, separating myself from the Pogues. I've lost track of time, and I don't know how long I've been away from them.

"Hey, have either of you seen JJ?" I ask them as I look around. They both shrug, scanning the beach as we stand in our small group.

"Sunny!" a voice calls out from behind me. I turn around to see who it is.

Rafe and Bradley are approaching me. "Hello ladies," Rafe says as he walks up to us.

"Hey, have you seen JJ?" I ask him.

"Yeah, I thought I saw him talking to some hot tourist a few minutes ago. They looked like they were getting pretty cozy," he answers.

"That doesn't sound right," I say, looking around again.

"Well, you know, old habits die hard. It's a shame he's not spending his time with you. He just left you here all alone," he says, stepping closer.

"No, he didn't. I was just talking with Melody and Jasmine and we started walking around..."

"Come with us, gorgeous, we can help you find him," Bradley says, putting a hand on my back.

I step away from the two boys, stumbling in the sand as I try to keep my footing. "I can find him myself," I say sternly.

Both boys chuckle. "Nah, come on, Sunny, we'll help," Bradley says, grabbing my arm to steady me. "He's this way." Bradley grips my bicep and begins to pull me.

** ⚠️TRIGGER WARNING - sexual assault ⚠️ **
Skip to the next line like this if you don't want to read it.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Hey, let go of me," I say, my words coming out slurred a bit. I stumble again as I try to pull away from him. His grip tightens on my arm.

"Rafe, grab her other arm," Bradley tells his friend.

"Oh, you sharin' her, bro?" Rafe says in surprise.

"If we can get her out of here," he says to him.

Rafe grips my other arm and the two of them start pulling me towards the woods. I fight against them as hard as I can, but they're strong and I'm too drunk to be successful. My eyes frantically search the beach, looking for the girls I was just with. Where did they go?

"Sunny, stop fighting us. It'll be over a lot quicker," Bradley huffs as he and Rafe continue to haul me off the beach. I try to dig my feet in the sand but it's no use. My heart is beating out of my chest. I suck in a deep breath, ready to yell for help, and Rafe's free hand clamps over my mouth just as I start to scream.

"Shut the fuck up, Sunny, Jesus," Rafe says, rolling his eyes.

I struggle against the boys grip as we break the tree line. How has no one seen what is happening? Where are my friends? Where is anyone I know that isn't Rafe or Bradley?

The trees and brush blur by me as the light of the moon and stars quickly becomes hidden by the tree tops. We come to a stop somewhere in the woods, still close enough to the beach that I can see the glow of the bonfire and hear the roar of the ocean, but too far away to grab anyone's attention. I start to shake with fear.

"Come here, baby," Bradley says, pulling me closer to him. Rafe's hand drops from my arm and I hear him move behind me. He traps my arms behind my back as Bradley's hands push under my tank top, crumpling it under my bra. Tears prick at my eyes.

"Stop!" I say hoarsely, thrashing against Rafe to try to wiggle free. I kick one of my legs out at Bradley, but he easily dodges it and grabs my hips.

"Can you keep her still man? Come on," he says to Rafe.

"I'm trying," he grunts.

"Get her on the ground," he instructs.

"No, no, no, no, no," I sob as the two of them wrestle me to the ground. Rafe positions himself above my head, holding my arms to the ground as Bradley straddles my thighs, effectively pinning me down. He starts roughly kissing my neck as he pushes my tank top up higher, exposing my bra-clad chest. He gropes at my chest for a moment before his hands move to the button of my shorts, popping them open and undoing the zipper.

"Stop, please," I sob as he tugs at my shorts, pulling them down my hips.

"We could do the Eiffel Tower," Rafe suggests casually as Bradley shimmies down my legs, keeping them pinned to the ground as my shorts are pulled lower. They're at my thighs now.

I fight through the sobs wracking my body to slowly suck on another deep breath. "HELP!" I roar as loud as I possibly can, and Rafe quickly lets go of one of my arms to clamp over my mouth again. I jerk my head to loosen his grip over my mouth, and, surprised by my sudden movement, break the seal he's created over my mouth. I bite down as hard as I can on his hand, sinking my teeth into his skin until I taste blood.

"Fucking bitch!" he exclaims, letting go of my other arm to clutch at his hand covered in teeth marks. I sit up quickly and try to push Bradley off of me, but he leans forward, grabbing my wrists and pinning me underneath him.

"HELP!" I scream again. Bradley's hand rears back and slaps me hard across the face. It stings, but the alcohol and adrenaline keeps the severe pain of the slap at bay.

"Shut up, bitch!" he yells in my face. One hand pushes down under the side of my shorts to grip my bare hip roughly.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Sunny?" I hear John B's voice cut through the trees.

"John B! Help me!" I sob. I can't see where he is, but I feel Bradley's weight pulled off of me and I scramble to my feet. Rafe is still on the ground clutching his hand.

"What the fuck?" John B says, still grasping Bradley's shirt. I hear footsteps thumping behind me, and I look around to see Rafe is running off.

"They were trying to..." I can't say the word out loud.

Bradley rips out of his grasp and takes off deeper into the woods.

"Are you... are you hurt? Did they touch you?" John B asks as I fix my clothes with my trembling hands. His eyes are wide and bewildered looking.

"I'm okay," I manage to choke out.

"Come here," he says, wrapping me in a hug. "What happened? How did you end up here?"

"Bradley and Rafe dragged me from the beach. Rafe had his hand over my mouth and I couldn't scream." I step out of his embrace.

"Holy shit," John B says.

"Where's JJ?" I ask.

"He's with the others. Come on," he says, putting his arm around me protectively to guide me out of the woods.

My eyes scan the beach as we head back towards the crowd. I don't see Rafe or Bradley anywhere. It's just as well. JJ will try to kill them both when he finds out what happened.

"Hey! There she is!" JJ says, a big smile plastered on his face as John B and I approach. He frowns when he sees my wet cheeks. "Wait, are you crying? What happened?"

John B's mouth forms a hard line as he passes me off to JJ. I fall into his arms as hot tears begin to fall again. His grip tightens around me. "What is it Sunny?" he asks, sounding alarmed.

"It was Rafe and Bradley. They... dragged her into the woods to..." John B can't say it either.

"What?" Sarah asks in utter disbelief. "You're kidding! Oh my god!"

"Where are they?" JJ asks, the volatile tone of his voice sending a chill down my spine.

"No, please, just stay with me," I sob, clutching at the back of his shirt so hard my knuckles are probably white. "Please," I beg.

"They're fucking dead," JJ says in the same volatile tone.

"JJ stay with her. We'll go take care of it. Take her to the chateau," John B says. "Go on. Take care of her, she needs you right now," I hear him say quietly.

I can hear his heart pounding in his chest, but he agrees to John B's request. He feels absolutely rigid under my vice grip around his torso. "Come on, Sunny," he says gently, guiding me towards the path that leads to the main road. Silence hangs between us as we walk back to the chateau. I have a death grip on his hand.

Once we're safely inside the chateau, JJ leads me to his room and locks the door behind us. "I have to know what happened, Sunny. I swear to god I won't leave you to go find them, but you have to tell me."

"I was with Melody and Jasmine," I start. "We were talking and walking around, and I realized I hadn't seen you in a while and I didn't know where you were. So we were looking around the beach and Bradley and Rafe come up to us. I asked if they had seen you and they said you were talking to some tourist girl, like flirting with her-"

"I wasn't. I would never do that to you," he interrupts. "I was with John B and Sarah and Kie and Pope. We were looking for you."

"I know you wouldn't. But I couldn't find you and they said they knew where you were and they kind of grabbed me, but they started taking me towards the woods." My voice starts to waiver as I relive it. "They were both dragging me, and they held me down and...." I trail off as the tears start again. "Bradley... touched me. A little. Over the bra. And he was pulling my shorts off but John B showed up." JJ's expression is hardened, angry, like he will literally explode with rage, but I watch as he swallows it down and holds his arms out to me as he sits on the bed.

"Come here. You're safe now," he says.

I straddle his lap and wrap my arms tightly around him as I sob into the crook of his neck. "I was so scared," I say, my voice muffled.

"I'm so sorry I wasn't with you. It never would've happened if I had been around." He holds me tight against him, burying his face in my hair. "I'm so sorry."

I stay wrapped around him until my sobs turn into sniffles. When I feel calmed down, I loosen my grip on him and lean back a little to look at him. "Will you come with me in the bathroom while I shower? I feel like I need to scrub myself. And I don't want to be alone."

"Of course I will," he says softly. "Anything you need."

He follows me to the bathroom, grabbing a towel for me from the hall closet. I start the water and strip down, stepping into the near scalding water after it's had time to warm up. He sits quietly on the closed toilet as I let the water flow over me. When I finish, he