"Babygirl, wake up."
Blinking, Coral opened her eyes to JJ kneeling next to her. Opening her mouth, she snapped it shut when he held his finger up to his lips before glancing around at the others still sleeping around them. Winking, he crooked his finger for her to follow him.
Yawning, she got to her feet and followed him silently out of the makeshift shelter they'd built at the base of a small cave. Taking his hand she let him lead her along the stretch of beach they had named Poguelandia.
"Baby, where are we going?" Coral questioned, tiredly, "The sun's not even up."
"Gonna greet the day as close to Heaven as we can," JJ responded, leading her up the path through the woods to the cliffs above.
"JJ, I ain't jumping off the cliffs."
"Oh, I'm gonna talk ya into it, Babygirl," JJ laughed, "But no. I thought we could watch the sunrise from up here," he said, motioning to the rocky cliff that jutted out over the ocean below.
Smiling, Coral wrapped her arms around his neck, "You're so romantic," she giggled, kissing him lightly.
Settling down on the rock she leaned against him, sighing, "What I wouldn't give for a blanket though."
"I'll keep you warm," he told her, wrapping his arms around her.
"I don't need it for that. I need it for my ass on this rock," she responded, shifting uncomfortably.
Laughing he kissed her head, "Next time we get stranded on an island I'll be sure to bring along a blanket."
Sighing, she leaned her head on his shoulder, "You're my hero, and would you look at that sky. It's absolutely beautiful here," she whispered as they watched the sun rise over the water.
"And where were you two?" John B questioned, squinting at Coral and JJ as they walked hand in hand back to where they'd made their shelter for the last month.
"Getting our freak on in the woods, JB," Coral replied, smiling widely at her brother.
"Oh God!"
"Gross!"
"TMI!"
"Can I remind you, there are no condoms!"
"Can you not fuck my sister!"
"Relax," JJ interrupted the cacophony of voices, "We were up watching the sunrise, geez."
"Likely story," Cleo laughed.
"On that note, JJ and I are gonna see about catching some skate. Anyone want to help?" Coral questioned, looking around the group.
"Uh, Cleo and I were gonna head into the woods and look for some nuts and berries," Pope responded.
"Nuts and berries," JJ laughed.
"Shut up!"
"I swear you can make anything sound dirty," Kie laughed, shaking her head at JJ.
"It's a talent," he shrugged, "Come on Babygirl, let's go fix up our spears and get this done. If I have to eat one more plain fish or coconut I might lose my shit."
After finding sharp rocks, JJ broke off two small branches while Coral used his pocket knife to cut a vine into thinner strips to use for twine. Settling on the beach, they worked on tying the rock to their branch.
"You think we're ever gonna get rescued?"
"Rescued?" JJ scoffed, "From what? From paradise? I'm not going back. Ever. I mean, look around. We got everything we need. Right here."
"I have to agree this is the perfect paradise," she said, looking around the beach island they'd landed on after jumping off the Coastal Venture, "However, I would love maybe a house, you know, with a shower, and some plumbing."
"Gosh, look at you demanding to live like a kook," he responded, winking at her. Laughing she rolled her eyes.
Glancing down the beach she saw Cleo and Pope heading into the woods, "You notice something going on with those two?" she questioned, jutting her chin towards the two.
Looking up, JJ turned to see who she was talking about, "Well, Kie blew him off, so," he trailed off with a shrug.
"I feel kind of bad for her. I mean we're all coupled up and she's like third wheeling it every which way she turns," Coral commented.
"Can't be helped," he responded, "Well, unless you're thinking you wanna expand our relationship," he grinned, raising his eyebrows suggestively.
"You know that's a thing, right? It's called a throuple."
"Really!?"
"Easy tiger, while I love Kie it's more in the sister way then the romantic so don't get any ideas."
"Never. I love Kie too, but not enough to share you with her," he told her, "Alright, how's yours looking?" he questioned, holding up his spear, "You ready to provide for the family?" he asked when she held her finished spear up.
"Yep," she responded, taking his hand and letting him pull her to her feet.
"Let's go kill something."
"I feel like a barbarian," she commented as they headed towards a little remote cove they'd found further down the beach.
"Do you know what you're doing?" Pope questioned JJ as he cut into one of the skate he and Coral had caught.
"Are you really asking me that?"
"Well, they're like crab, ya gotta be careful with them," Pope responded, looking over his shoulder.
"Do I question you when you start spouting weird ass facts? No, I don't," JJ answered his own question, "So don't question me about how to cut a fish apart."
"Boys, do I need to separate you two?" Coral questioned, mildly.
"Okay, okay, John B your turn," Sarah interrupted, "Truth or Dare?" she questioned, throwing him the game hat she'd made from palm leaves.
"All right, truth," he picked, plopping the hat on his head.
"Truth, okay," biting her lip she thought before smiling, "If you could do it all again…what would you do different?"
"Uh, get the gold out before Ward did," JJ answered.
"Maybe hide the cross a little better," Pope chimed in.
"Not yell, 'murderer' at Ward, maybe," Kie added.
"Uh, steal a couple bottles of rum before we jumped off the boat," John B responded.
"Oh, I'm with JB on that one," Coral laughed.
"Yeah, why didn't you do that, actually?" JJ questioned looking between the twins.
"Oh, I don't know, maybe cause I was in a fight to the death," John B replied, sarcastically as Kie and Sarah laughed.
"And I was too busy jumping overboard to save your ass from drowning," Coral reminded JJ.
"Yeah, thanks for that," he smirked, blowing her a kiss.
"I would look both ways before crossing the street," Cleo spoke up, aiming a glare at John B.
"Yeah. Yeah. That was my bad."
"Your turn Kie."
"All right, Kie, truth or dare?" John B questioned, plopping the game hat onto her head.
"Truth."
"Okay, if you could go home to your parents house on Figure Eight this instant….would you do it?"
"Mmmm, good one JB," Coral complimented as they all turned to Kie.
Humming, Kie looked contemplative before breaking into a grin, "No chance."
"Seconded!" Sarah agreed.
"To no chance!" Coral exclaimed.
"The shower is tempting though."
"Ooh, I could use a fat shower right now."
"What are you talking about we got the pond," John B said, looking between Kie and Coral, reminding them of a small lagoon area they'd found and used for bathing.
"The pond? It's still salt water, JB," Coral responded. "And cold as shit," Sarah added.
"Coral, your turn," Kie said, tossing her the hat.
"Truth."
"What's your happiest memory?"
Pursing her lips, she sighed, "The summer before last. John B and I decided to head out on the Pogue for the day. We were loading up and out came dad. Decided to take a day off and come out with us. We spent the day out on the water with our dad, and when we got back JJ and Pope came by and we had a huge bonfire. We had fish and crab and roasted marshmallows," she laughed, "You remember that?" she asked the boys, blinking back tears.
"I do," Pope nodded.
"It was a good day," John B whispered, smiling at his sister.
"A damn good one," JJ agreed, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and kissing the side of her head.
Sniffling, she shook her head, "Alright, JJ, truth or dare?" she questioned, plopping the hat onto his head.
Snorting, he smirked, "I mean, do you even have to ask?"
Glancing at Kie, who nodded, Coral pointed up to the cliffs they'd watched the sunrise on that morning, "You keep talking about it. The big jump. I dare you," she whispered.
Raising his eyebrows, he kissed her quickly, before standing, "Excepted," he said before running off.
"Here we go," John B laughed as they all got up and headed down towards the ocean to wait.
Several minutes passed before JJ's blonde head could be seen at the top of the cliff, "There he is!" Coral exclaimed.
"Send it!" Pope yelled as they all cheered.
"He's not gonna do it!" Cleo called, "You're not gonna do it!"
"Oh, I won't?" JJ yelled back, "Watch me!"
"He's gonna do it," Coral laughed.
"It's highly dangerous, uh, zero reward. Yeah, he's doing it," Pope agreed.
"Come on baby!" Coral cheered.
"I love you!" JJ yelled before he took a few steps back. Rushing the edge of the cliff he dove off doing a flip in the air before going feet first into the ocean below.
"Yes!"
Screaming they all ran into the ocean as JJ made his way back out. Reaching him first, Coral jumped into his arms, "Love you!" she yelled, laughing as the others hugged them.
"Let's eat!" JJ laughed, carrying Coral back up to their fire pit.
"I can't believe you jumped," Coral whispered later that night as she laid in JJ's arms.
"You know I can't turn down a dare," he responded, kissing her forehead.
Humming Coral snuggled closer, "Maybe I don't need that house, or shower, or plumbing," she giggled.
"I'll get it all for you," he promised, "Go to sleep."
"Coral! Baby, wake up."
Groaning, Coral opened her eyes to JJ once again leaning over her, "What now? Can't I have a morning to sleep in?"
"No, there's a plane," he told her, pointing up towards the sky.
Blinking, she looked up, "Holy shit," she whispered, scrambling to her feet as JJ moved to wake John B up.
"Yo, Johnny, wake up," he said, shaking him before moving down the beach with Coral and Cleo who had their heads raised in wonder as they watched the plane.
"Pope went for the fire signal!" Cleo yelled, before taking off after the boy who'd ran up to the cliffs where they'd used large pieces of driftwood to build a fire signal they could light if they ever saw a plane come their way.
"Hey! Hey, we're over here!"
Everyone but JJ was screaming and waving their hands hoping to gain the pilot's attention. Noticing JJ's lack of enthusiasm for a possible rescue, Coral moved closer to the boy, "JJ?"
"It's fine, Babygirl," he assured her, "He sees us," he said, nodding towards the plane. Looking up, Coral saw the plane was turning back their way. Clearly seeing the blaze that Pope and Cleo managed to light up on the cliffs.
"It'll be okay, JJ," she whispered, taking his hand.
"He's gonna go to the pond," John B realized, "Come on!"
"Come on, Babygirl. Time to go home," JJ said as they followed the others back to their shelter to grab the little they had when they'd jumped off the Coastal Venture.
Hurrying towards the pond they came up to the plane that landed.
"It doesn't look like much of a rescue," Coral muttered, wrinkling her nose at the floatplane. It looked like a can on water skis with the name the Flying Fish scrawled across the side in yellow.
Letting the others rush ahead, Coral and JJ stayed back as the pilot opened the passenger door and let the stairs out. Popping out, the pilot smiled, "Well, what do we got here?"
"Uh, you know, just some castaways," John B answered.
"Well, I'll cross that off the grocery list," the pilot joked, "Uh, hang on. I got just the thing for y'all. Just one second," he said, heading back towards the plane.
Apprehensive Coral took JJ's hand, "Does this feel right?" she questioned as the pilot began digging around in the plane.
Hearing his sister, John B turned around catching sight of Sarah's face just behind him, "Hey, no. Look at this guy. You think he works for your dad? It's okay," he assured them as the pilot reemerged from the plane.
"Two things you need on a deserted island. First Aid and rum," he declared, holding up a first aid kit and a bottle of rum, "Incoming!" he called before tossing the rum bottle towards Sarah and John B while throwing the first aid to Pope.
"So, what's the story? You guys sank a boat?"
"Jumped off one actually," John B answered, "Her dad's," he continued, cocking his head towards Sarah who had picked the rum bottle up out of the sand and water.
"In-laws, man. They're tough," the pilot sympathized, "Well, have no fear. Jimmy's here," he told them, smiling.
"Well, all hail Jimmy, guys! Let's go," Cleo exclaimed, heading for the plane.
"Welcome aboard the Flying Fish. I'm Jimmy Portis. I'll be your captain today. Uh, is this all? Seven of you?"
"Uh, yeah," John B replied, "Is that too heavy?"
"Well, I mean, kind of," Jimmy admitted, "But I think old Fish here'll probably be okay," he said, tapping the side of the plane as they began to board.
Allowing everyone to go ahead of them, Coral and JJ were the last to board. Pausing on the steps, Coral looked out over the beach they'd inhabited for the last month, "Goodbye island paradise," she whispered before following JJ into the plane.