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The way Brooke and Jared got together wasn't ideal, but it happened, and here they were two years later. They kept their relationship a secret for more than a year before Jess ended up ratting the two of them out when he got mad at her. That'd been a chaotic time. There was a lot of screaming and crying while her father threatened to call the police and press charges. It was how any responsible parent would react when they found out their teenage daughter was dating a twenty-three-year-old man and had been for over a year. Now that she was eighteen, her parents couldn't do anything. They still didn't entirely approve, but they accepted him and their relationship because they knew Jared made Brooke happy and he treated her respectfully. However, if they knew about Jared's side gig and that Brooke was involved, her father probably wouldn't be as accepting of their relationship as he has been.

When Jared initially approached Brooke about Jess, he didn't want Sam in the mix because he didn't want to involve another person if he didn't have to. But once Brooke explained that the pair came as a package deal, she offered to keep Sam company while Jared talked to Jess alone. Brooke trusted Jared wholeheartedly; otherwise, Brooke wouldn't willingly get her baby brother involved.

After cleaning up from dinner, Brooke turned on the good sister act and lured Sam away from Jess with weed. It was cute. Her brother and his new girlfriend had been attached at the hip since they arrived. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen Jess smile so brightly as he had been that night when he looked at Sam. "You and my brother are super cute. You know that? I don't think I've ever seen him smile so much in my life," she said, stepping out onto the balcony. Truthfully, if it hadn't been for Jared needing Jess' help, Brooke probably wouldn't be as friendly and welcoming to Sam as she had been. It's not that Brooke had anything against her brother's girlfriend. It was just that Brooke didn't think they'd vibe because they hung out with different crowds at school. Not to mention Sam was also two years younger than Brooke.

Brooke had her favorite bong in one hand and some of Jared's most potent weed in the other. "You and Jess brought your surfboards, right? I don't know much about surfing, it's always been Jess' thing, but Jared says Haleiwa Town is the surfing capital of the world or something," playfully rolling her eyes and sitting at the outside table. Jared always told her insignificant facts that she didn't care about, but she listened and retained them because they seemed important to him. "He came for the surfing, I only came for the free getaway and weed," Brooke joked and laughed. She initially met Jared at her family's restaurant, but he soon began selling her and her friends weed, and eventually, things led to more. She was pretty sure she initiated their relationship, and if it hadn't been for her, they probably wouldn't even be together right now.

After breaking up some weed with her hand, she put it in the bong bowl and took a hit. The water at the bottom bubbled as she inhaled, trying to get as much smoke in her lungs as possible. Once satisfied, she held the smoke in. Her cheeks puffed out like a blowfish. She could no longer hold in the smoke when she noticed Sam looking at her. Brooke started to laugh as the smoke released from her mouth. "You can't make fun of me. I know I hold the smoke in weirdly. Jared says I look like a squirrel hiding peanuts," she continued laughing before coughing and covering her mouth with her hand.

Sam had always been a little intimidated by Jess' older sister; she was a few years older, super gorgeous, and always seemed so cool without even seeming to have to try. Sam may have idolized her a little bit in the same way that her younger brother did Jess. Sam wasn't worried about winning over Jess' parents, she'd already done that long ago; it was Brooke that she craved approval from. Being invited on this trip could have easily been because Jess didn't want to leave her behind, but she didn't care. She was here and had her chance to prove herself cool enough to date a Montgomery sibling.

Sam was painfully aware of the fact that she was the baby of the group, especially whenever Jared led the conversation. He was a chill dude and not a total creep despite the age gap, but he was clearly doing the whole adulting thing, whereas the biggest thing going on in her life was making sure to bulk up her extracurricular activities, so she'd be ready for when she started applying for colleges. Still, she was trying her best to keep up with the conversations but really, she spent most of her time latched onto Jess, quietly overthinking everything she said or did.

As hesitant as she was, Sam knew it would be good for her to have some alone time with Brooke. It definitely seemed easier to have girl bonding without any distracting male presence around, still Sam was terrified of saying something lame and Brooke judging her for it forever. Sam gave Jess a kiss, tossed on a sweater, and followed Brooke out onto the balcony. Despite living in paradise, Sam was cursed with always feeling cold, probably due to her lack of any insulation from struggling to gain any weight even when she tried. "Thanks. I love making him smile." Sam bit her tongue as she held back the part about how she loved that with his smile came his cute little dimple, it felt weird telling that to his sister.

"Oooooh yeah, we definitely have them, there was no way that we were coming without them." The moment she found out where they were going, it was the first thing on her list of what to bring. The weed and getaway had been fun so far but really, she couldn't wait to rip some waves tomorrow. Sam picked at her nails while she anxiously waited for Brooke to load the bowl, trying to think of something for them to talk about when they seemingly had very different interests. At least there was weed, they could definitely relate on that. Sam eyes left her nails and looked at Brooke once she heard a familiar bubbling noise, her eyes widening when she noticed how silly she looked. It was a nice reminder that Brooke was another human with weird little quirks just like her.

Sam laughed and shook her hands in front of her. "No judgement. But he is right, you totally look like a squirrel when you do that." Sam grabbed the bong when Brooke passed it to her and took her hit. Holding it in, she passed the bong back and glanced through the glass sliding door at Jess and Jared. Blowing out the smoke to the side, she flashed a quick smile at Jess when he looked her way before turning her attention back to Brooke. "You and Jared are like totally super cute together too! He's a, uh, real catch," Sam started awkwardly, "Ew, that came out weird. It's just... he's like hot or whatever but totally not my type. Plus, he's old. Shit, sorry. Not old but like, older than I would date. I mean, it's great for you, if that's your thing. I mean, clearly, it's your thing, you're dating him, but like... I'm just going to shut up now before I dig myself any deeper."

Jared wasn't exactly in the habit of dating high school girls after he graduated but he couldn't resist Brooke no matter how hard he tried. And he had definitely tried in the beginning, but it was as if some invisible force kept pulling him to her; she was his lobster, there was no denying it. It had been serendipity that had brought him to work at her family's restaurant while he finished getting his pilot's license and he'd fully accepted his fate at his point. He planned on spending forever with Brooke, there were only a handful of people that Jared would take a bullet for and she was at the top of that list. He honestly hoped that it would never have to come to that however but if he wasn't smart about his business ventures, it wasn't entirely impossible.

Selling weed had always been an easy side hustle but recently Jared found himself wanting more. Not for himself but for Brooke. He meant it when he said he planned on spending forever with her and to do that he needed to buy a proper ring to propose to her with so when one of his suppliers mentioned that they could use his ability to pilot small planes to help transport goods, he jumped on the job. Did he want to spend forever being a drug smuggler? No. But he could use the flying hours and money, so he was counting it as a win for now. Only problem was, he needed back up and all the people he truly trusted had left the island for college and never came back.

But there was always Jess. Jared didn't want to get Brooke too involved in all of this, but it didn't seem like he had much of a choice at this point. So, while the girls went out to smoke, Jared decided to get down to business. Sitting down on one of the barstools - where he best had a view of the balcony so he could keep an eye on them - he turned to Jess and handed him a beer. "You excited for tomorrow? Should be killer." Jared cracked open his own beer and chugged some of it down as he tried listening to Jess' response but he couldn't really focus. He wasn't sure how long he had before Jess' girlfriend decided she couldn't stand to be separated any longer and came running back in.

"Listen, I don't want to bullshit you so I'm just going to get straight to it. I didn't invite you just so we could go surfing, sorry to break your heart," Jared joked with a chuckle. "We can still surf, but honestly, I invited you so I could have a chance to present you with a business opportunity, if you will. I'm sure you could use some extra cash to spoil your little girly out there." Jared nodded in the direction of the balcony, casually glancing at Brooke to make sure she was doing okay. It wasn't that he had anything against Sam per say but she was only excess baggage in his plan, she was only here because it was the only way he was getting Jess here. "I've already talked to your sister about it, so she knows, but, well, the thing is... it isn't exactly the most legal of jobs. I don't want to get into too many details unless I know that you're in but all I'd really need from you is back up and maybe a little manual labor."

“He loves you. Like, a lot,” she told her. “The whole beginning of February, he kept obsessing over that damn necklace. He probably texted me over twenty photos or something asking for my opinions,” Brooke chuckled. “Honestly, I don’t recall him buying any of his past girlfriend’s gifts. Not even, Cleo.” Jess dated Brooke’s best friend briefly while Brooke was casually hooking up with Spencer. Cleo was the only other girl she’d seen her brother fall for hard. If she hadn’t cheated, they would probably still be together. “Lemme see which one he chose,” Brooke said, leaning forward, trying to see the charm. “Oh yeah, I liked that one,” she nodded enthusiastically, sitting back.

“Is surfing hard?” Brooke let out a sigh. “Jared says no, but my coordination on land is already… subpar at best. So, I could only imagine what it’d be like to stand on a board in the middle of the ocean. You know?” Brooke said with a laugh. “Maybe if the waves aren’t too harsh, you could teach me?” She asked and smiled. “I feel like both Jess and Jared would yell when they got frustrated with me,” she said, only half joking. “I think you’d be chill.”

Brooke watched Sam stumble over her words and sympathetically smiled when she tried to backtrack. She could tell that Sam was nervous, and Brooke understood why. For as long as Sam and Jess had been friends, Brooke didn’t pay her much mind and often ignored her while Sam was over at the house. Brooke tilted her head to the side, “It’s okay. Just breathe. We’re just two girls talking.” Brooke looked over her shoulder and into the house, watching Jared as she started to smile. Brooke looked back at Sam, her face beaming, “He’s so perfect,” she gushed. “Honesty, like, yeah, I guess it’s weird and whatnot, but,” she shrugged, “we work, and that’s all that matters.”

Brooke took the bong back from Sam. “So, other than my brother and surfing what other stuff do you like?” At this point, she was genuine. Despite the reasoning behind inviting Sam, Brooke knew she’d have to get to know her eventually. According to Jess, Sam wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. If this weekend went well, Brooke could see them getting together more often.

“Thanks.” Jess took the beer from Jared. Despite their age difference, they had a lot in common. So, when Jared started working for his parents as a fisherman with Jess, they quickly bonded. He still felt terrible to out their relationship, but Brooke had been unreasonable that night, and it pissed him off. Jess knew he had taken it too far when the police arrived at their house. Luckily everything worked out in the end. “Super stoked. Our parents used to bring us here when we were younger.” Jess and Brooke’s parents could be old-fashioned and sometimes a little too family oriented. It wasn't a bad thing. It just didn't often happen these days. His friends preferred his house because of the warm atmosphere, and his parents treated them like their kids, especially Spencer.

When Jared admitted to inviting him for other than surfing, he slightly perked up. “Oh yeah?” Jess chuckled, not expecting him to say what he said next. He took a drink, licked his lips, and turned in the direction Jared was looking. His eyes fell on Sam, and his heart sank. Jess knew Jared sold weed, but Jess didn't necessarily think he was involved this extensively. He looked back at Jared when he started talking again. From the glances Jared and Brooke exchanged, he couldn't help but think his sister was already involved. It was quickly confirmed too. Jess sat his beer on the table and took off his hat, running one of his hands through his blonde hair as he processed everything Jared was proposing. “Bro, you got my sister involved? My dad will fucking kill you if anything happens to her,” he warned. “Not even fucking figuratively. I'm talking literally. Like killing you, chopping your ass into tiny pieces, and feeding you to the fucking sharks.”

Jess looked back out the sliding glass doors, watching as his girlfriend interacted with his sister. The only way he could see himself agreeing to this was to make sure Brooke stayed safe. He trusted Jared and believed he cared for her, but this was much more than Jess anticipated. There was also the fact that Jess could use the money. He wouldn't have to waste nights at the restaurant when he could be cuddling up to Sam instead. Okay. So there were two reasons. Jess turned back to Jared, picking up his beer and downing more than half before putting his hat back on backward. “Fuck,” he muttered. After a moment, he finally looked up at Jared. “I'm in; what the fuck you got going on?”

Sam, who had been all smiles hearing about how much Jess loved her, scrunched up her nose when Cleo's name came up. She felt bad for Jess but she was thankful that Cleo had cheated or else, she may never have gotten her chance. Sam didn't feel like she had to worry about anyone taking Jess away from her, except Cleo, and that made her instantly hate the girl. Was it a little overdramatic on her part? Maybe, but she still couldn't help herself. Sam excitedly pulled the necklace out from her sweater and showed it off to Brooke. 'Cleo didn't get any jewelry, I did.' Sam reminded herself now that she wasn't fuming over the thought of Jess with Cleo.

Tucking the necklace back into the safety of her sweater, she shook her head then nodded as she listened, waiting for a chance to jump in while also being distracted by how pretty Brooke was. Their family really had some amazing genes. Sam felt like such a plain jane sitting next to her. "Me? Chill? Yeah, no. Totally. It's totally not hard. I mean, it's not like easy or anything but everyone is different. You're a good swimmer, right? That's one of the most important parts, if you ask me. Gotta be able to save yourself if you crash, ya know?" It would be nice to have another female to surf with when the boys inevitably got into their 'mine is bigger than yours' competitive ways.

Sam took a deep breath and let it out, using her hands to conduct her breathing. 'Just two girls talking... says the girl who looks like a freaking goddess most days.' Sam was going to try but she had to convince her brain to stop treating Brooke like she was a celebrity or something. "The heart wants what the heart wants, or whatever it is they say." Sam chuckled, still slightly nervous but already feeling better.

"Well, those two definitely top the list but let's see." Sam tapped her lip with her pointer finger as she thought about it. "I love doing anything outdoors. Hiking, camping, swimming, just about if it's done outside, I'm happy. But, like, I also like the normal girl things like makeup, clothes, shopping, partying." Sam rolled her eyes, mostly because she was sick of getting told to act like a "normal girl". "I just get so sick of the labels and societal expectations to act a certain way. High school is so lame. You're so lucky to almost be done. So... What about you? What do you like to do for fun?"

Sam took the bong back after Brooke had another turn, and she killed the end of the bowl. Jess has a "party bowl" piece that was so deep, she was starting to wish they'd remembered to bring it. Unsure if Brooke wanted more, Sam set it down on the table and relaxed into her chair. She could feel her hits creeping in but she wasn't going to turn down more If Brooke offered. Sam was a light weight when it came to booze but her weed tolerance was probably higher than her therapist would like, but she felt like she deserved to be able to keep some things to herself.

Should Brooke have mentioned Cleo? Probably not, by the way, Sam’s demeanor changed. She didn’t mean anything by it. Brooke only tried to tell Sam how much more Jess was into her than his previous girlfriends. “Mmhm, very much so,” Brooke nodded in agreement with Sam’s the heart wants what it wants, comment. “I couldn’t deny him even if I tried.” Sometimes when Brooke spoke of Jared, it was almost as if she worshipped him, and people easily twisted it into a narrative that suited them. It wasn’t that she worshipped him. She spoke that way because she was head over heels in love with the man. Her age could’ve played a part too, but what people don’t seem to understand is that Jared did turn her down in the beginning. He wasn’t a bad guy or trying to take advantage of her or “groom” her, as some would say. It was all consensual.

When Sam asked if Brooke was a good swimmer, she made a face. “In the pool, sure, maybe not so much in the ocean.” Despite living in Hawaii her whole life, Brooke hadn’t spent much time in the ocean. Her brain always got the best of her. “Look, there are sharks, jellyfish, and God knows what else in there,” she sighed before giggling because Brooke knew she sounded dramatic. “I’ve only recently gotten over that fear, thanks to Jared. I mean, I still get freaked out, but not like I used to. Of the two of us, Jess has always been the water baby,” Brooke informed Sam.

Listening to Sam, Brooke realized their differences and wondered if they could make this friendship work. “I’ve hiked before, but I didn’t do it willingly,” she chuckled. “My parents liked to send me off to summer camps when I was younger… which could explain why I hate the outdoors now,” Brooke stared off as she had her little epiphany.

“Well, I’m a girly girl,” Brooke stated proudly. “I love makeup and fashion. I want to be a fashion designer someday and maybe own a shop selling one-of-a-kind pieces. My dream is to move to Los Angeles and attend FIDM,” she informed Sam before quickly realizing she might not know what FIDM was. “It stands for Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising. It’s one of the best fashion colleges in the United States,” Brooke added. “Other than that, I don’t do much. I mean, I go to school. I did the whole volleyball thing all four years. I like music, and I enjoy going to concerts. I want to go to Coachella. That’ll be so fucking amazing, oh my gosh!” Brooke could quickly get excited when high. “But yeah, honestly, I turned into a housewife, but that’s okay because I enjoy caring for Jared, as domestic as that sounds.” Brooke and Jared only recently started talking about their future together once she turned eighteen, and they both wanted the white picket fence with their little ones running around the yard. Jared was securing their future, and it’s why Brooke hadn’t objected to any of his side gigs, despite some of them being dangerous.

She pulled the bong towards her, but before filling it back up, she changed her mind and pushed her chair back. “One second, I’m going to go get papers,” Brooke announced and disappeared into the house. She didn’t interrupt the boys, but once Brooke grabbed the papers from her bag, she passed by the table on her way back out, stopping and kissing Jared’s cheek. From what she could hear, everything was going as planned. Her boyfriend had a way with words and could persuade anyone, honestly.

Once rejoining Sam at the outside table, “Got the papers,” she said, waving them in the air before scooting her chair forward, closing the space between her and the table. “After this, you wanna take a walk around town? I kinda want some ice cream,” Brooke stated as she focused on crushing up some weed and placing it in the paper. Brooke didn’t want to leave Jared behind but knew he and jess needed to finish their conversation. After rolling up the joint, she held it up for Sam to see. “It’s perfect! Jared had to teach me how to roll because my joints never ended up, even throughout. One side always ended up bigger than the other,” she admitted with a giggle. She brought the joint to her mouth, taking a few deep hits, before passing it off to Sam as she held in the smoke.

Jared held his beer in one hand, occasionally sipping on it or nodding in response to Jess but his eyes mostly fixed on Brooke outside. She deserved better than tangled up in all this but it seemed like a necessary evil to get him where he needed to be. Ideally, he wouldn't mind something kind of like her parents had going on. Owning a restaurant, married forever, the whole happily ever after thing; that's what Brooke deserved. "She's only involved as much as she needs to be, dude. That last thing I ever want is for something bad to happen to your sister. But I can't keep secrets from her either, so it's a need to know basis with her when it comes to this stuff," Jared informed him.

Finally chugging down a large portion of his drink as he anxiously awaited Jess' response. He hadn't thought about what he'd do if Jess said no, because he didn't expect him to say no. That was entirely true, he figured he would have to do it alone if he didn't have Jess but that would suck if it came to that. Luckily, Jess was on board though. "Fuck yeah, bro." Jared scooted forward in his seat, put his beer down on the table, and rubbed his hands together briefly. "Alright. So my weed supplier, he's short a pilot, you see, and he found out about how I recently got my private pilot's license, which I don't know how much you know on that stuff but it just means, it just means I can legally fly me and a couple other people around but not get paid for it." Jared had noticed Brooke come in but didn't let it stop him until she stopped to give him a kiss.

"That's where you come in. I'm going to be transporting some stuff and you're going to be my passenger along for the ride, helping me log hours so I can get my commercial license, the one where I can get paid for it. If you feel so obliged, you could help with some loading and unloading but if worse comes to worse, you're just my girlfriend's brother who wanted to go flying. I'll take the fall for everything." Jared explained, trying not to get too detailed but also give enough that Jess knew what he was getting himself into. He wasn't about to send the love of his life's family into the mix without figuring out ways that they could stay safe too. Hopefully, everything would go smoothly and they wouldn't have to worry about that at all.

Sam chuckled to herself. There had been times that Sam had been on the beach with Jess and Brooke (before they were dating) and she'd always just figured that Brooke never wanted to go into the water with them because she didn't want to hang out with them. Never had she thought that Brooke might be afraid of the ocean. Sam had always been a water baby as well; in fact it was one of the things she and Jess bonded on when they first started hanging out. Sitting on a surfboard in the ocean was one of the few places where she felt calm and like she didn't have to overthink everything. All she was thinking about was how beautiful and which wave she wanted to ride. Plus, Sam had a little 'superstition' that if she thought about creatures lurking below, she'd end up accidentally drawing some to her.

"‘A’ ohe pu’u ki’eki’e ke ho’a’o ‘ia e pi’i," Sam encouraged her. "It might take some work but I'm sure we'll get you out there shredding waves in no time." Sam wasn't nearly as confident as she sounded but she still stood by the thought anyone could learn if they a) wanted it enough and b) could swim well. Sam made her own face then stared kind of blankly as Brooke went on about hating the outdoors and talked about things she could not really relate to. Sam was all about expressing herself with her clothes, but she clearly wasn't into doing what was 'fashionable' and that's all that college sounded like to her. Trying to be nice though, Sam smiled and nodded along. "Concerts are fun." Sam focused on the only thing she could relate to.

"Okay." Honestly happy for the quick break when Brooke ran inside, Sam raised her eyebrow as she looked at Jess and imagined turning into a domestic housewife for him. It didn't really suit her. What did he imagine their future would look like? That was something she was going to have to remember to talk to him about some day. She liked to think she knew him pretty well, but it still something in her gut felt weird as she watched the guys talking. She felt like she was watching a movie without any sound, and it felt oddly unsettling. Maybe it was just from her worrying about Jess and her having different visions for the future, but something was killing her vibe, so she was glad when Brooke returned.

"Welcome back," Sam perked up as she tried to pretend that she hadn't almost just had a mini meltdown. But then Brooke suggested they go get ice cream. Sam looked in at the boys and then back at Brooke as she casually and happily rolled a joint. Suddenly it was feeling like Brooke's interest in Sam was feeling very forced, more so than a normal sister getting to know her brother's girlfriend. Sometimes overthinking wasn't a bad thing. At the same time, Sam had no reason to believe Brooke would tell her the truth about what was going on. No, she was going to have to play along and get Jess to tell her later. She wasn't going to make it easy. "With the boys?" she questioned.

"I'll teach you to surf and you can teach me to roll. Usually, I just make Jess or Spencer roll for me. I should probably learn how to do it myself finally." Sam proposed as she took the joint and took a couple hits of her own before passing it back.