"FINALLY. HEY!" JJ YELLED WHEN KIE AND POPE PULLED UP TO THE DOCK. The two love birds had spent the night on the boat, so that meant that the other four had to wait before they got back before they could go anywhere. The Maybank boy ran down the dock while Bree helped John B with Sarah since she could not move very fast on her own because of the wound. "Guys, don't tie up. Stop it! We're dipping."

"What? What's going on?" Kie questioned, looking in between all of her friends that seemed a little freaked out about something.

John B helped Sarah down the ramp while Bree threw their bags onto the boat. He asked, "Where'd you guys go? What happened last night?"

"I think we all know what happened last night," the Callaway girl muttered, throwing a wink at ket despite the situation. Both the Carrera girl and the Heyward boy glared at her in response.

Pope rolled his eyes before answering the Routledge boy. "We slept on the break. What's up?"

"Slept, right," the Maybank boy scoffed as they all began to climb into the boat, ready to leave as soon as possible. "We were up all night."

"Rafe knows we're here, so we have to leave, like, now," the Cameron girl explained, and that made their eyes widen in both shock and confusion.

They stood there for a second, not moving as they looked around in question. The brunette girl just pulled the two into the boat with her while John B helped his girlfriend climb in. "We'll explain later, lovebirds. Right now, we have to go."

"Look, if Rafe and Barry know, it's only a matter of time," Kie pointed out once they found a secluded spot where they could park and go onto land. They were trying to figure out a plan for what to do about Rafe. There was no way that he had not told somebody else, especially Ward, so the police were probably out looking for them.

Pope nodded. "Before everyone knows."

"I told you," the blonde boy exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air because he suggested that they should just leave and go to Yucatan and never look back. "We should've gone South, man."

"Just stop it," the brunette boy breathed out because he could not handle getting yelled at at the moment while he was trying to think.

JJ yelled loudly and frustratedly, running a hand through his hair. "Why does nobody listen?"

"I have an idea," the Cameron girl announced, causing all of their heads to whip toward her. Whatever her idea was, she did not seem to excited or sure about it. "With me back, my dad's going to have to choose between me and Rafe."

"Sarah, Sarah—" the Routledge boy said calmly while everyone else looked at each other with unconvinced looks. Trusting Ward was definitely not on the list of good ideas at that moment.

While everyone gave her pitying looks, the blonde girl insisted, "He's gonna choose me."

"Just please listen," John B pleaded, and Bree could tell that he was trying to contain himself at the suggestion. He was so pissed at the Cameron man that he probably would not take the help even if he offered it. "Ward keeps lying to you, Sarah."

"Sarah, he's not gonna agree after everything that's happened," Bree added because there was no way that they would convince him to turn on his son, even if they had Sarah.

Sarah looked down at the ground, her fingers playing with the bottom of John B's shirt that she was wearing as she responded almost angrily, "No. I—I know it sounds crazy."

"Yeah, it does!" the Carrera girl shouted back, giving up the calm voice and expression that she had earlier when she spoke to her friend.

"I know!" the other girl answered, and her eyes were pleading as she looked to all of them. Her voice was shaky as she informed them, "But he's my dad. And I know him, and I know he loves me. I'm just asking for two hours."

《✵》

"HA!" JJ EXCLAIMED SMUGLY AS HE THREW ANOTHER PIECE OF WOOD ON HIS STACK. He and Bree were out in the woods while they waited for Sarah to get back, collecting firewood, and he was being weirdly competitive about who had more in their stack. "I'm winning."

She rolled her eyes as she searched the grass for sticks or paper or anything else that could be used as kindling so that they were not freezing that night. They were not sure when it would be clear to go back to the Chateau because Rafe was probably staking out and waiting for them to come back. So, they would have to spend the night on the beach. "For the last time, it's not a competition."

"Says the loser," he taunted, and when she glared at him, he just smiled in response.

She muttered to him playfully, "Fight me."

"Let's go," he replied, putting his fists up, and she giggled a little bit as he bounced back and forth like a boxer ready to fight. He started trying to hit her lightly as a joke, and she blocked all of his attempts even though none of them would have hurt her anyway.

She laughed, thinking back to the fight between him and Pope the night before at the party before the Heyward boy left on the boat with Kie. She informed him, "If Pope could kick your ass, I definitely can."

"Pope did not kick my ass," he argued, scoffing at her as he tried to defend himself and his pride when they both knew that the two boys had been drunk, and the fight could not be an accurate representation of who would actually win in a fight. "I let him win. You know, to make him look good in front of Kiara. I was just doing him a favor."

"Says the loser," she teased, repeating his words from earlier back to him with a smug smirk as she continued to block his playful punches. She threw some herself, and he started moving backward a little bit even though she was barely applying any pressure.

He glared at her when he realized that she was using his own words against him. He told her, "Shut up."

They continued to laugh as they fought until finally, JJ stepped on a log behind him and tripped but not before grabbing the girl to take her down with him. She landed on top of him, her hands on his chest and his on her waist. She giggled, causing her head to shake and their noses to touch. That made her realize how close they actually were. She froze for a second as he peered up at her through his eyelashes with an almost hungry and desperate look in his eyes. She knew what he wanted. She knew what she wanted, but she was so scared. So, she just reached down and grabbed the wood that he tripped over and held it up with a small smile.

"I'm winning," she let him know before pushing herself off the ground and throwing it in her stack.

She heard him stand up behind her and brush off his shorts. She closed her eyes, praying that he would just ignore the moment that happened between them. He did not. For the first time ever, he did not ignore it. "Why do you do that?"

"Do what?" she questioned, wincing when he spoke. She knew that it would happen sooner or later. She just hoped that it was a lot later. She took a deep breath to compose herself so that she could turn around and he could not see the look on her face.

"That," he answered, gesturing to her as she glanced up at him. "Every time something almost happens between us, you just stop it and pretend like nothing happened."

She shook her head, trying to hide what she was actually feeling inside. "I—I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, you do. Stop lying to me. Stop lying to yourself. I know you want this, so why can't you just let it happen? I swear to God, if you say no pogue-on-pogue macking, I'll knock myself out with this firewood," he told her, and she realized that she suddenly was not able to keep it in.

"I'm sorry, okay?" she exclaimed, finally giving in. She threw her hands up in the air before running them through her hair. "I just—There's so much going on right now, and I can't handle it all."

He gaze softened, and his took a step toward her. He reached out his hand to cup her cheek, and she allowed herself to lean into his touch. "I'll handle it with you. You just have to let me in."

She nodded slightly, inhaling deeply to stop the tears that were forming in her eyes from streaming down her face. It felt so good, and she just lived in the moment for a second. After a second, she snapped out of it.

"We better go. Sarah will be back soon," she told him, clearing her throat and stepping away from his touch. He watched her with a hurt expression as she picked up her stack of wood and ran back in the direction of the beach.

Once she reached the others, she saw the boat pulling toward them, and she realized it was Sarah. She kept running, JJ right behind her, and he yelled, "You made it!"

"What happened?" the Routledge boy asked as girlfriend hopped off the boat.

"You guys were right. It didn't work," she sniffled, and Bree could tell that she had been crying. So she wrapped an arm around her in an attempt to comfort her. "Sorry."

The blonde boy walked up behind them and said, "Welp, then that settles it, guys. Now, y'all need to load up in the paddy wagon and get the heck out of Dodge right now."

"Right, you'll need supplies, and you'll have to split as soon as possible," Pope agreed with a nod and his hands on his hips.

Kie told them, "Guys, I think it's too late." Sirens were wailing in the distance, and they saw flashing lights as sheriff's boats pulled up to the beach quickly. They cursed under their breaths when they saw them.

"They followed you here?" John B questioned Sarah as they gathered their bags. "Must've been your father."

"Stay on the beach with your hands in the air!" an FBI agent ordered, yelling through a megaphone.

Bree whipped around and started pushing people forward to get them to move. "Go! Go! Go! We gotta go! Run! We've gotta outrun them!"
The teenagers kept yelling at each other while they sprinted down the beach ans toward the tall grass as men and women with guns chased them. John B helped Sarah as she ran and whimpered because of the pain. They reached a part that was water and decided to just go through it. They swam across the the other side, and John B pointed to a huge tree. Even though it was an awful hiding spot, he told them, "Behind the tree! Let's go!"

"We're trapped. They surrounded us," JJ informed them when a couple police trucks pulled up on the road on the other side of them. He then took something out of his pocket and said, "No getting out of it. We gotta make a stand."

"JJ, no!" Bree responded when she realized that he was wiping off his gun. Nothing good could come from that.

All of a sudden, everything seemed to move in slow motion. John B lunged for JJ, grabbing the gun from him and dropping it as he shook his head at his best friend. The Maybank boy kicked some dirt over it as they all stepped out from behind the tree with their hands up. As dozens of guns were pointed at them, Shoupe yelled, "Step out into the clearing! Put your hands up! Stay right where you are. Keep your hands where we can see them."

"I'm surrendering!" the Routledge boy informed them as he stepped forward and kneeled on the ground. "Listen, Shoupe, I wanna testify."

"Don't move. Keep your hands where I can see them," Plumb ordered them, nodding to the others that were not accused murderers as well.

All of a sudden, one of the officers walked over to John B and wrapped his arm around the boy's neck. He lifted him off his knees and slammed him into the ground. JJ exclaimed, "Seriously? What?"

"No! Let him go!" Bree screamed while the others did the same. The officer then began kicking the Routledge boy in the chest and the ribs while Shoupe yelled at him to stop.

"Sheriff, what is that?" the blonde boy yelled. He tried to move forward, but the gun pointed at his chest stopped him. "You're just gonna let that happen?"

They kept screaming for him to stop as the man continued to beat John B. Shoupe lunged toward him and tried to pull him off the boy, but he failed when the officer pushed him away. He lifted John B by the collar and looked him in the eyes. "This is for Peterkin."

Then he punched him in the face.