meilani hadn't returned home in days. she stayed at john b's, then kiaras and when jjs dad would disappear for a couple days, she would stay there. she didn't want to be at home, especially not after the argument she had with her father.

meilani sat in the calm water on her surfboard. she looked around at the empty beach and took in the beautiful sounds of the birds chirping. she needed the calmness to surround her after the rough few days she had been having. the sunlight warmed her face and was sure to leave another layer of tan on her already sunkissed skin. she lay flat on her stomach and began to paddle back to shore.

"hey pretty girl, i was wonderin' where you had snuck off to" the girls boyfriend greeted her with a sweet kiss. "was just surfing, not too many waves though." meilani sat down on the porch next to jj. "missed you" he said wrapping his arm around her shoulder. she nuzzled into the side of him.

"hey lovebirds" pope called out as he, his girlfriend, john b and sarah approached the pair on the porch. "what do you goons want?" meilani looked up at them, shielding her eyes from the sun. "sarah wants to go 'shopping' in chapel hill today so we decided to make a day out of it, you guys in?" john b responded. "sure, that sounds great"

the group sat on the ferry's deck. meilani watched the water as the ferry drove along it, creating miniature waves. she leaned against the railings. she felt a pair of arms wrap around her torso and a head lean on her shoulder. "what's on your mind?" the boy whispered in her ear. she stayed silent for a few moments, "cayman" she whispered back, "he would've been there for me after what happened with dad, he would've taken me off the cut for a couple days and we'd go exploring in an attempt to get my mind off of things, hell if cayman was still here maybe that outburst wouldn't have happened." jj understood what the girl was going through, he knew what it was like for someone to just disappear, john b knew too. although jj wasn't as sentimental or sensitive to the topic, he knew what she meant. he moved his head off of her shoulder and turned her to face him, her leaning her back against the railing now. "it's going to be okay, i'm never going to let anything like that ever happen to you again, although i can't promise you it, i can try my very best" she smiled back at him, "and your best is all i ask...you're too good for me j" the boy scoffed, "i'm far from too good, in fact you're the one who's too good for me." the pair smiled at eachother, closing the gap between them.

the girls looked around the stores for hours, the boys trailing behind them at every stop. "remind me why we agreed to this again?" pope sighed. "because we're good boyfriends" john b replied. "because we're good boyfriends" jj mocked in a high pitched voice. "jj i think you forget you actually have the boyfriend label sometimes" pope laughed. jj smiles, "i do."

"john, can you grab me a smaller size!!" sarah calls from the change room. the boy jogs back through the store to find the item for sarah. "simp" jj smirks. pope laughs at the boys joke. "jj?" meilani calls from the change room. "uh-huh?" the blonde responds walking towards the change room door. "i need your help in here." pope looks at jj as he agrees to help his girlfriend, "who's the simp now?" pope jokes. in response jj rolls his eyes and opens the change room door.

he's greeted by his girlfriend, in a struggle to get a shirt up over her shoulders. he looks at her and giggles. "it's not funny, i can feel my shoulders rubbing!" still laughing he approaches the girl to help her pull the top off, to no ones surprise he does it with ease. "you've done that way too many times before" the girl says. "yeah, used to. i don't anymore" he responds. "okay noted, more sex" the girl giggles. "okay you could've said that quieter." the boy stands there examining the girls half naked body. "okay you can stop staring now, your work here is done" the girl does a shooing motion with her hands. he ignores her and takes one long glance at her. "jj!" she throws a shirt at him. he walks towards her, grabs her ass and gives her a sweet kiss. "right now i'm done" he smirks walking away and out of the change room.

the group arrive back to the cut the next morning at 7am. kiara and meilani head straight to the wreck for their morning shift. "see you guys later, my place!" meilani calls out as the pair of best friends race off to the restaurant.

"are you sure about your place?" kiara looks up at meilani as they wipe down the outdoor tables. "yeah i'm pretty sure my dad has nothing better to do than work." kiara stops and looks up at the girl. "are you okay after what happened?" "i mean it's never happened before, but it's done now, i'm over it." kiara raises her brow at meilani, "kie, seriously i'm okay."

at 6pm the girls leave 'the wreck'. kiara hops into the drivers seat and the pair drive to meilanis house. when they arrive the boys are already sitting on the porch. "no sarah?" meilani says walking towards her porch. "she's helping wheezie with a school project" john b smiles. "during summer?" kiara looks puzzled. "punishment for being at chapel hill all night." the girls go inside to get changed out of their work shirts.

jj and meilani sit in one of the hammocks while the others sit on logs around their small campfire. "just on a real note guys, i wanna thank you all for being the best friends ever since day one, especially with everything that's been happening with me recently" meilani smiles at her friends. "awh lani!" kiara gets up and leans into the hammock to give her a hug, then follow the other two and they squash her in the hammock. the group laugh with eachother. "pogues for life!" they shout in unison while doing their handshake.