"I'M NOT WORRIED ABOUT
WHERE YOU ARE, OR WHO
YOU GO HOME TOO
I'M JUST THINKING ABOUT YOU"
- harry styles, little freak

The next morning, Avery woke up with JJ's arm's wound tightly around her torso and his head nuzzled into the crook of her neck, breathing deeply in his sleep. The Pogues had all stayed up way too late the night before, and- aside from Avery- had a little too much to drink around the campfire. They had all crashed at the Chateau, JJ and Avery opting to sleep on the hammock so Pope could have the guest bedroom while Kiara slept on the couch.

"J?" Avery mumbled, gently nudging her boyfriend's head in an attempt to get him to arouse even slightly, but he simply nuzzled further into her neck. "JJ, it's time to get up..."

"Don' wanna..." JJ replied quietly, squeezing the Decker tighter and readjusting his arms so he was flush against his bare torso.

"JJ, I can hear the others getting out... we need to get around." Avery told him gently, rolling over so she was facing him rather than being the little spoon, running her fingers through his hair.

"There's four of them... they'll figure it out." JJ told his girlfriend bluntly, not even opening his eyes.

"JJ." Avery drug out, JJ replying sarcastically in the same tone of voice that her five-year-old self used to beg her mom for candy before dinner.

"Avery." JJ drug out in the same tone of voice, the Decker shoving his face away from her as she scoffed, JJs fingers weaving with her hair as he laid his head back where it was.

"You know," The Maybank started, looking at his girlfriend with a small smile, "you were a total badass last night."

"Badass?" Avery confirmed with a small laugh. "JJ, I couldn't even go upstairs with Sarah and Kiara without you because I was so freaked out. I don't think that makes me a badass."

"But you held it together in the basement with me. You kept John B calm and got us out of there when it was time to go- and you shoved that old bitch, which was also cool." JJ added, Avery laughing to herself, but her face immediately fell again.

"I'm not a badass, JJ." Avery mumbled. "I'm an entitled rich girl who got lucky. I didnt even realize John B was still in the well when I went to run for the door, what if he got hit?"

"But he didn't." JJ soothed. "You can't focus on the what-ifs, baby. John B's okay, we all are..."

Avery looked up at JJ, her dark eyes unsure as they met his blue ones. "What if we aren't lucky next time? What if I freeze up, what if I miss a dose and I'm even more of a mess than I already am?"

JJ cut her off, sitting up in bed slightly. "Hey, hey- don't talk about yourself like that. You aren't a mess." He deadpanned. "You are my smart, funny, total smokeshow of a girlfriend. And you are a badass."

Avery shrugged, looking out over the water. "I don't feel badass."

"I feel like my opinion is the only one that matters, baby. So, therefore, you are a certified badass- I'll even get you a t-shirt made." JJ told his girlfriend bluntly, planting a kiss firmly on her forehead.

Avery couldn't help but to chuckle at what he was spewing, pushing her hair off her neck and rolling back over to face her boyfriend. "You're such a fucking dork..."

"But you love me." JJ swooned, the brunette girl rolling her eyes at his words and cupping the side of his face as she gave him a kiss, her hand remaining on the side of his face when the two pulled apart, tracing patterns on the apple of his cheek with the pad of her thumb.

"Yeah..." Avery mumbled, biting her bottom lip in a sorry attempt to hid the grin covering her tanned face. "I do love you..."

The sound of her phone vibrating on the ground next to JJ interrupted their moment, Avery's eyes widening as JJ went to reach for her phone. The texts from the unknown number had continued into the previous night, Avery checking her phone before bed to see another series of threatening messages.

Last chance. Drop it.

I'm getting impatient, Avery

While you're at it, move back to Texas before JJ gets too attached

Was it one of her friends playing a trick? It seemed extremely coincidental that all these messages started the day she called Kiara out on her bullshit, maybe it was the Carrera? But she couldn't just outright call her out on it, mainly because Kiara wouldn't do that to her.

Right?

"Let me see that." Avery said, practically snatching the phone away from JJ, who had barely glanced at the screen before the girl practically swatted his hand away.

"Hey- who is it?" He questioned in confusion. Avery knew how this looked, she never hid her phone from JJ, especially not her texts- that was before they even got together.

"No one." Avery answered a little too quickly. "Just a friend from back home."

"Who?" JJ asked skeptically.

"Leo." Avery replied, looking down at her lock screen photo of her and JJ where a notification was displayed.

Unknown: Now you've done it bitch.

Unknown: Nice tank top, the yellow compliments your hair.

Avery felt the color drain from her face at the last text. She didn't even have to look down to remember the canary yellow tank top she had put on over her bikini last night before going to bed was clinging to her skin, almost like it was suffocating her. She immediately turned to the water, looking for a boat, and then around the Chateau for a car or maybe a motorcycle. But no one was there.

"Leo, huh?" JJ asked, Avery looking over to see an expression that bordered on anger on her boyfriend's face. "Is that why you read that text and now you look like you're gonna throw up last night's dinner?"

Avery opened her mouth to try and defend herself, but JJ quickly snatched her phone away just as quickly as she had, her eyes widening as he did.

"No!" Avery shouted, but JJ had read the most recent texts, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"What the fuck?" He questioned, scrolling up to the initial texts from the number that Avery had replied to, his brows only furrowing further. "Why didn't you tell me about this?"

"I didn't think it was a big deal." Avery mumbled, attempting to sound nonchalant, but in reality, probably needing a shot- no, a bottle- of tequila at the moment to soothe her nerves that were actively unraveling more than they already were.

"You have a stalker and didn't think it was a big deal- you have to tell someone about this stuff, Avery!" JJ told her sternly. He hated that his mind had immediately jumped to the conclusion that Avery was cheating on him, he really did, but this may have been an even worse outcome. "Ave- you should have told me about this..."

"I know, and I'm sorry, but you're already so stressed, and I didn't want to make that worse for you." Avery explained, trying her best to justify her actions. JJ's once confrontational and angry expression faded into one of concern at the fact Avery didn't feel like she could tell him about this because he was going through issues.

"Avery, I go to you about every minor inconvenience in my life, and you always listen no matter what you're going through." The Maybank told her softly. "I'm not gonna shove you away when you try to tell me that something's actually wrong, and don't tell me something isn't. Because this is stalking, Ave."

Avery opened her mouth to reply, but couldn't come up with anything. JJ was completely right, this was stalking. She was being stalked. Someone was following her and watching her every move.

"I need pills." The Decker said bluntly, clambering out of the hammock and making her way to the house where her small overnight bag with her Lexapro was. JJ immediately was up behind her, following her towards the Chateau.

"Ave- hey, hey-" He started, Avery turning on her heel and pressing her hand over his mouth.

"We will talk about this later, I promise. But right now, we have to focus on the fact we just found the Royal Merchant." Avery told JJ, her voice hushed as the two got closer to where the rest of the Pogues were currently working. "Go see what you can do to help, I'm gonna go get my meds. And just act normal, please."

JJ rolled his eyes, but nodded reluctantly, walking over to the van where Sarah and Kiara had just finished cleaning up the gold bars. Avery quickly jogged to the house before anyone could ask her anything, grabbing her tote bag from the floor next to the hide-a-bed couch. She walked into the kitchen, rinsing out a cup that was sitting on the draining rack and running a little water into it, dumping two of the pills into her hand and popping them, quickly chasing the white tablets with water, gagging slightly as she did. The brunette dumped the rest of the water out of her cup and put it on the draining rack, stuffing the pill bottle back into her tote bag, tossing it haphazardly onto the hide-a-bed and darting back outside to where John B and Pope were working on a winch, and Sarah and Kiara were talking.

"You smell like weed." Sarah deadpanned the minute Avery was close enough.

"You smell like John B's cheap-ass cologne, you don't hear me complaining." The Decker fired back.

"Kie!" JJ called, walking towards the three girls carrying a blue hand-held torch. "This better work. We can't pawn this off if there's a giant wheat symbol on it."

The Carerra girl rolled her eyes, taking the torch from JJ and smirking confidently. "It's gonna work."

"Hell of a job melting it down, Dr. Frankenstein." JJ commented bluntly as the Pogues all climbed out of the van once they arrived at the pawn shop on the south end of the island. Avery had to admit- and maybe it was because of her upper class upbringing- that the place was sketchy. The plywood on the windows with 'Good Riddance, Aggie' spray painted onto them didn't help her unease with the whole situation at all, but she digressed.

"Like you could've done any better." The Carerra retorted.

"I could've done much better, I took a welding class." JJ deadpanned.

"That would've required you actually coming to school last year." Avery told her boyfriend flatly. "And we melted them into a... shitty pancake rather than just melt the wheat symbol off because?"

"Avery agrees it looks like shit and she's hot so her opinion is the only one that matters." JJ told his friends, looking around the group with hands raised in surrender.

John B stepped up to his friends, hands raised. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey. Shh." He told the three- mainly JJ. "Chill out, okay?"

"Easy for you to say." The blonde mumbled bitterly. "You're not the one who has to pawn this piece of shit off. How did I get this job anyway?" He asked the group, readjusting his backpack on his shoulder, sulking towards the pawn shop like an eight-year-old who had just been denied candy for dinner.

"Because you're the best liar." Pope told his friends bluntly as the group of six filed into the pawn shop. The woman working the counter was an older black woman, with gray curly hair that was cut down short. She immediately took notice at the large gaggle of teenagers in her pawn shop, and didn't seem too pleased with their arrival.

"Afternoon, ma'am." JJ said, attempting to sound casual as his friends all scattered the shop to browse the assorted items stacking shelves and hung on walls, all trying a little too hard to look like they weren't listening in on JJ's conversation.

"Afternoon." The cashier said bluntly, clearly displeased with the arrival of teenagers.

"I see you buy gold." JJ inquired.

"That's what the sign say, don't it?" She replied, a smirk on her face.

"Well, I sure hope you buy a lot of it, because I'm about to blow your mind." He told her, reaching into his backpack.

"I ain't got that much mind left to blow, so have at it."

JJ nodded, grabbing the large chunk of gold from his bag, dropping it on the countertop in front of the woman with a clunk. "How about them gold apples?"

The woman laughed at him, in absolute disbelief that he thought she was that stupid. "That ain't real."

"That ain't real?" JJ repeated.

"It can't be."

JJ paused, shrugging. "Feel how heavy it is." He insisted, Avery moving closer to him and wrapping an arm around her boyfriend's waist. "Mhm. Here, les get some light on that."

The woman examined the glob of gold with a magnifying glass containing a flashlight, looking unimpressed with the antics of the teenagers. "Spray painted tungsten." She deadpanned.

"Spray painted tungsten, really? Okay." JJ replied. He glanced over at Avery. This woman wasn't buying it. "Why don't you see, uh, how soft it is?"

"You mind?" The woman questioned, holding a small hammer and pick to the gold.

"No, go for it." JJ replied immediately, a small dent made in the gold as the woman nicked the gold with her hammer, placing her finger in the small crater.

"Wow. Would you look at that." JJ replied cockily, a smirk painted on his face.

"Hold your horses." The pawnbroker interjected. "We ain't got to the acid test yet."

"Ooh! The acid test." JJ said, pretending to be enthusiastic, but actually coming off awkward as he looked around at his friends. "My favorite, guys."

The woman dribbled a small amount of acid onto the gold, watching the lack of reaction that the liquid put off when it met the metal. "Well, it ain't painted and it ain't plated." She confirmed in confusion. Based on her reaction, it was clear she very rarely had anyone coming into her store with actual, real gold- let alone a group of teenagers, half of which were from the Cut.

"Ma'am, I am telling you, this is as real as the day is long." JJ confirmed.

"It looks like somebody tried to melt it down." The woman said, eyeing JJ skeptically.

"My mom." The Maybank said, a little too quickly. "She had all this jewelry lying around the house and thought it was best to- to melt it down. To 'consolidate' it."

The pawnbroker eyed him skeptically once more as she turned around and placed the slab of gold on a scale, eyeing JJ in a way that told him she knew he was lying. "Seven pounds?" That's a lot of earrings."

"Okay, to be honest, ma'am..." JJ started, blinking repeatedly as though he was fighting back tears. "It's really hard to see my mom fall apart with Alzheimer's."

"Mhm." The woman replied, possibly even more unimpressed than she had been the entire time. "Give me a minute."

"Take your time, ma'am."

The minute the woman was out of the room, Avery looked at JJ with pure disappointment. "Alzheimer's? Are you serious right now?"

"I was under pressure!" JJ exclaimed.

"No, no- furthermore- jewelry? JJ- my dad inherited a fortune from Standard Oil and Sarah and I combined don't own seven pounds of jewelry, let alone pure gold jewelry."

"She started asking about Kie's shit melting job and I panicked! You couldn't have done any better!" JJ defended himself.

"My mom's an emotional manipulator, I could've done much better." Avery shot back.

"My mom left, I think I did pretty good." JJ bit back.

"She's coming out!" Pope whispers, causing everyone to return to their previous positions.

"So, I uh... I talked to my boss." The woman starts.

"And?" Avery asked- what was with the hesitation?

"And, uh, this is what I can do." The woman replies, passing a sticky note to JJ, who looks at it and then looks at the pawnbroker with a less-than-amused look.

"Fifty thousand?" JJ stated, loudly. "You think I walked in here not knowing the spot price? Ma'am, I know for a fact this is worth 140, at least."

"Well, sweetie, you in a pawn shop. This ain't Zurich. Do I look Swiss to you?" The woman bit back, a smirk now on her face. She knew she had them. She didn't need them to sell her the gold, they needed her to agree.

"Ninety. Or I walk." JJ told her bluntly.

"Seventy. Half price, and... uh... I don't ask questions about where you got this."

JJ stopped, turning back to his friends- mainly John B- and seeking their approval for his decision. The Routledge responded with a Shaka sign, Avery squeezing his waist slightly tighter to give her approval to the decision.

"I'm gonna need that in large denominations, please." JJ told the pawnbroker confidently, all of his friends smiling for a moment.

"Well, here's the snag. I don't have that much denominated. Not here, anyway. I can write you a cashiers check." The woman drawls.

"Cashiers- no, ma'am. I want the cold, hard- that's what the sign says. Cash for gold. And that's what I expect." JJ insists, sticking his finger in the air and pointing at the sign hung above the doorway the Pogues had just walked through. "I'm gonna get it in the cold, hard."

"Well, I have to send you to the warehouse. I have the money there. Is that alright?" The woman questioned, looking around at the Pogues, clearly having picked up on the fact that decisions were made by the whole group and not just JJ.

"Where's the warehouse?" JJ speaks up.

Avery has had uneasy feelings about a lot of decisions made by JJ and John B, but this one probably took the cake. Right now, they were driving down a road it appeared the county had forgotten of, due to the high amount of potholes and the lack of a shoulder. The roadside was overgrown with weeds, covering houses that appeared to have not been lived in at any recent point in time.

Now, despite an upper-class upbringing, Avery tried really hard to not belittle those in lower tax brackets than she was. Her boyfriend and two of her best friends came from the bottom of the barrel, miles below the poverty line, and they were two of the best people she had ever met. But this? This was the type of place people like her, Sarah, and Kiara would only ever normally be found tied up and murdered in a ditch.

"So, they keep money out here?" Pope asked skeptically, and Avery was glad someone was voicing her thoughts for her.

"That's what she said." JJ told everyone, a small laugh escaping his lips as a smile graced his face. "That's what she said-"

"Stop." Pope cut him off immediately, JJ's smile falling.

"I've never even heard of Resurrection Drive." Sarah voiced from the front seat.

"That's cause you're rich." JJ told the Cameron girl with a small scoff.

"You've never heard of it either." Kiara deadpanned.

"Wait- you guys have never heard of this place?" Avery asked, looking around at the teens who had lived here for their entire lives, earning head shakes from all of them. "Wait- guys, let me get this straight. This woman- who we don't know- sends us to this warehouse on a street no one has ever heard of in a super remote location, while she knows that we are in possession of a one-hundred and forty-thousand dollar hunk of gold and no one raised an eyebrow?"

Everyone was stunned into silence at the Decker's words. It did all seem a little too convenient.

"We should've taken the cashier's check and said that I pawned off one of Talia's one-of-a-kind Italian vases that are collecting dust in my linen closet." Avery told her friends bluntly.

The Pogues, once again, were silent, realization falling over them that they, probably, had fucked up. They were drawn out of their thoughts when sirens blared behind the Twinkie, Avery turning to see a Dodge Charger cruising behind them, a red-and-blue flashing light on the dash.

"Cops? Out here?" Kiara asked.

"Guys, this all seems way too convenient..." Avery voiced from the backseat where she was sitting next to JJ. However, her friends were scrambling to hide the gold and JJ's weed.

"Did you bring the gun?" John B suddenly asked.

"No, okay?" JJ told his friends. "Everyone told me to leave it back at the place."

"Thank God." Kiara sighed.

The Pogues once again resumed on trying to hide any weed JJ may have stashed on him, but all stopped at the sound of a shotgun cocking. Avery's head flew towards the driver's window, where a man with a mask was pointing a short-barrel shotgun directly at John B's open window.

"Why don't I just go ahead and see all them hands in the air right now." The man asked. Avery was frozen in fear, a feeling of nausea settling deep in the pit of her stomach. "All of y'all's hands in the air, right now!" The man suddenly screamed.

JJ grabbed Avery's hand, pulling her arms up, and giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. "You're okay, you're okay. Just do what he says, right? Just listen to him  and you'll be okay."

Avery wasn't listening. Every fiber of her being was thinking back to the self defense class she had been given the year before in Texas, the one she never thought she'd have to use.

'If you are at gunpoint and are told to get in a car, you die in the parking lot.'

'Die in the parking lot.'

Avery didn't want to die, though.  Not like this.

"You, out of the car, let's go!" The man instructed John B. The Routledge boy was moving slow in an attempt to not startle the man who was pointing a twelve-gauge at his chest, which the robber didn't seem to like. "Out of the car! Let's go! Hurry!"

The two rounded to the passenger side. "Let them out." The man said, pointing at the back door, which John b slowly inched towards, once again angering the masked man. "What're you waiting on? What are you waiting on? Let them out!"

The Routledge slid the back door of the Twinkie open, the Pogues all filing out with Sarah going first.

"There you go, pretty girl." The man drawled, immediately turning to the rest of the Pogues. "Here we go! Get out of the car! Hurry up!" He shouted as Kiara and Pope climbed out, followed by Avery, JJ bringing up the rear and trying to defend his friends.

"We're broke-"

"Shut the hell up!"

"Alright!" JJ screamed back. "Just relax!"

"Shut up! Shut the hell up! I'll blow your damn head off!"

"JJ!" Avery called from behind him, the Maybank turning to where his girlfriend was practically trembling next to John B before quickly joining the rest of the Pogues.

"Lay down in the ditch! Lay down in the ditch!" The man demanded, the six teens all lying on their stomach's in the ditch. Avery's hands gripped her hair tightly as she looked over at JJ for any reassurance at all, but all she saw from the blonde was anger.

"It's a set-up, guys- Avery was right." Kiara cried out.

"That old bat shanked us." JJ breathed, practically seething next to Avery. "Fuck! Goddamnit!" He groaned as he punched the ground in anger.

All Avery could hear was white noise. What if he killed them all? What if they all died in the ditch? How far could she run into the woods that were behind her- but she was at the beginning of the line. What if she didn't get the chance? She was silently sobbing, her hands clutching to the dark strands of her hair, as she wasn't currently getting any support from JJ, the Maybank still soaking in rage.

"Alright, y'all just stay like that." The man instructed, voice calmer. "Unless you want your brains blown out all over this road, don't move your heads, okay?" He said, turning back to his car. Avery simply laid there, unable to do anything but allow her tears to fall onto the asphalt that was leaving patterns on the sides of her hands from how long she had had them in one position.

She looked up when she heard a struggle from the car, seeing John B in the backseat wrestling with the man before emerging. "Guys! I got the gun!"

The rest of the Pogues all got up and ran towards the car, except for Avery. She stared helplessly as JJ knocked the man onto the ground, where Sarah hit him repeatedly with a car door. Pope kicked him, in the stomach, causing the man to roll over and shut his own car door, groaning in pain as JJ pulled the mask off his face.

"I know this piece of shit!" The Maybank exclaimed. "He's a basehead."

"Probably knows my brother." Sarah added.

"He sells coke to my dad." JJ seethed. If Avery's heart wasn't in her stomach before, it definitely was now. This man. He was the reason for all the pain JJ had ever endured at the hands of his father. Avery still couldn't bring herself to move, to attempt to calm JJ down. All she could do was sit and stare.

"Listen, I could have hurt any single one of y'all-" The man started, but JJ drove the butt of the shotgun into the side of his face.

"JJ!" Kiara exclaimed.

"Dude, chill, man." Pope attempted, JJ's nostrils flaring with rage as he stared at the dark-haired man on the ground.

"Hey, hey- look at Avery." John B attempted. "Come on, let's get out of here." The Routledge attempted, but JJ wasn't listening. He grabbed the man's wallet, reaching for his drivers license.

"We got one last stop." JJ breathed as she started towards the drivers side door of the Twinkie, never glancing at Avery.

"Hey!"

"Let's go see where this son of a bitch lives." JJ mumbled, climbing into the driver's seat before he could be stopped. John B made his way over to Avery, kneeling on the ground where she was sitting, still staring at the blue car. Her breath hitched in her chest with every breath, tears staining her face.

"Hey, hey, RiRi- are you okay?" The Routledge asked softly, Avery slowly turning to make eye contact with him but not responding verbally. "Come on, let's get you in the car. You're okay, you're alright..."

Avery didn't respond as John B pulled her to her feet and practically carried her to the Twinkie, sitting on the floor of the van next to her, arms wrapped around the girl's shoulders as her body trembled next to him, eyes spacing out as she stared blankly ahead, eyes glazed over like she was in shock as her lash line stayed filled with tears.

"Hey, hey, are you hurt?" Kiara asked, kneeling next to Avery and gently rubbing her shoulder. Sarah and Pope also sat next to the Decker, all of her friends looking at her with eyes full of concern. She wanted to turn and look at JJ, to beg him to turn around and leave it, to let them go home, but she couldn't move. She had froze, just like she thought she would. She had fucked everything up because she had froze.

This was all her fault.

The Twinkie lurching to a stop made Avery blink for what felt like the first time in ages. Tear tracks stained her tanned cheeks as she continued to stare blankly ahead.

This is all your fault.

This is all your fault.

This is all your fault.

The words repeated in her head like a mantra and her throat felt dry. Her stomach was queasy and she felt like throwing up. She honestly just wanted to be dropped off at her house so she could pack her bags and go back to Texas. This was the worst she had ever felt, and- as much as she hated to admit it- the Decker missed her parents more than anything right now.

She wanted her mother to hug her, to tell her it was okay and that her problems were temporary, that she really was okay and that no one had gotten hurt on the side of the road, that she and her friends were all okay and she was dwelling on nothing. She wanted her dad to wrap her in a blanket and let her cry her heart out on his shoulder, to tell her that she wasn't the problem and that she was his perfect little girl.

Unfortunately, her parents had made their beds, which the other clearly wasn't welcome in. And now, Avery was suffering the consequences.

The sound of the driver's side door made the brunette's head snap to the side, watching as JJ angrily stormed towards the run-down trailer house of the man who had robbed them on the side of the road- the 'basehead' as JJ had called him.

"Dude, why are we at Barry's?" John B asked, clearly annoyed with JJ. The Routledge shouldn't be the one with Avery practically sitting in his lap right now. Her boyfriend should be the one comforting her right now. And JJ knew that too, but he'd never admit it, not right now anyways.

"This'll only take a second." JJ replied bluntly, not turning to look at his friends as he walked to the door of the trailer house.

"Where are you going?"

"Yo soy justicia." JJ said shortly, still not bothering to turn towards his friends. Mainly because he could practically feel the sadness and disappointment radiating off Avery, and he didn't think he could bear to actually see her looking like that right now.

Pope looked around at his friends. "Did you glean anything from that?"

"Y'know someone should probably-" Kiara started, John B nodding and cutting the girl off.

"Yeah, I got it." The Routledge said, briefly forgetting about Avery, who was still latched onto him with her body leaned against his chest. "Shit- hey, Ave, can you get off me for just a second?"

Avery slowly nodded, her response a bit delayed as though she wasn't all there mentally- which, to be fair, she wasn't- and slowly moved her body away from John B, immediately curling on herself and sitting leaned up against the seat of the Twinkie with her knees held tight to her chest.

The Routledge walked off towards the house, and Avery could practically feel all of her friends staring at her. She couldn't bring herself to so much as glance in her direction. After all, she was the reason they were in this situation to begin with.

This was all her fault.

The four remaining Pogues sat in silence until JJ and John B emerged from the house, JJ clutching a black duffel bag in his hands. "Alright, so we're looking at about five grand each for reparations for putting us through that bullshit- sorry 'bout that, y'all." JJ told his friends as he pulled a wad of cash out of the duffel bag.

"So that's what we're doing now? We're robbing drug dealers?" Kiara questioned, climbing out of the van. Pope and Sarah followed, leaving Avery, who had silently started to cry again, sitting in the back by herself.

"This Barry guy's gonna find out." Saras added. "And he's gonna come after us."

"This is not the time to start wilin' out," Pope expressed.

JJ, at this point, felt as though his friends were against him in this moment. How could they not see that he wasn't doing this because he wanted to, he was doing this because he had to, for them. "How'd you guys like having a gun pulled on you?" JJ questioned, making the already thick tension in the air feel like pure cement. He turned towards John B, stepping up to his friend and shoving his index finger directly in between his eyes. "He had it right here on you, bro."

"Look, we've gotta go get the gold, okay? Just give me that shit- were putting it back-" John B attempted, but as he reached for the bag, JJ grabbed the front of his friends Hawaiian shirt and shoved him into the side of the van, shaking the vehicle and making Avery let out a small gasp of fright. JJ, however, continued to pay his girlfriend no mind, staring John B down with an icy glare as his brunette friend was pushed up against the side of his own van.

"Do you feel like a tough guy? Huh?" John B asked JJ. "What're you gonna do when he comes for us?"

JJ gripped the Routledge boy's shirt tighter, gritting his teeth as he replied. "We punch him in the throat."

"Yeah, good fuckin' idea, JJ." John B practically snarled back, grabbing the front of his friend's shirt and lowering his voice. "Look in the backseat of that van at Avery. She needs you right now, and not pissed off vengeful you, okay? And you currently are scaring the shit out of her, so wake the fuck up, and take a breather before you do something you regret."

JJ's eyes softened for just a moment, but he never looked away from John B, his gaze becoming icy once more just as quickly as it had changed the first time. He physically couldn't bring himself to look at Avery right now, not when he knew John B was right and that he was scaring the girl more than she already was.

"I'm not putting it back."

The words left JJ's lips in the same snarling tone John B had used towards him. He shoved the brunette back against the van so he would release his hold on his shirt, climbing into the van and trying to ignore the way his heart practically split in half when Avery flinched away from him.

He wasn't trying to scare her, but this was probably the only chance he'd ever have to get even with the man who was the cause behind the way his father acted, the reason for all the pain he had ever endured at the hands of his father. Because JJ refused to believe his father had a choice, take coke was something Luke Maybank was doing voluntarily, that Barry wasn't forcing him to keep buying- no, there way no was his father's addiction was his own fault.

"You guys coming or what?" JJ called as his friends simply stood around outside the van, staring at him blankly as they did. JJ, fed up with their lack of cooperation with his efforts, climbed out of the van, looking around at them in annoyance. "What?"

"We're sick of your shit." John B deadpanned.

"Oh, my shit?" JJ asked, looking around to see if this was a mutual feeling between all of his friends.

"Yeah." John B replied. "Yeah, your shit."

"Yes." Kiara agreed. "You're pulling guns on people shit."

"You acting like a freaking maniac-" Pope attempted to add, but JJ turned to the Heyward with a look of betrayal in his blue eyes.

"Okay, Pope- I look the fall for you, man!" JJ exclaimed, hurt in his voice as he did. "Y'know how much money I owe because of you?"

"I'm gonna pay you back, and I didn't even ask you to do that!" Pope fired back, JJ stepping up to his dark-haired friend and getting in his friend's face.

"I just did!" The Maybank screamed, his voice lowering as he continued. "Pay it back. Right here, right now- by myself." He said, looking at his friends, seeing fed-up looks on their faces as they all looked back at him, all silent. "You know what? That's exactly what I'm gonna do. Go off by myself."

As soon as JJ turned away from his friend to walk away, Avery regained power of her limbs. While John B, Sarah, and Kiara were focused on stopping Pope from chasing after JJ, the Decker pushed herself out of the van on shaky legs, running after JJ who was halfway down Barry's driveway before she caught up with him.

"JJ!" Avery yelled, her voice hoarse from crying as she caught up to the blonde, who stopped in his tracks at the sound of his girlfriend's voice. Avery gently grabbed the hand that wasn't clutching the duffel bag, looking up at him pleadingly. "Please, please, please, JJ." The brunette pleaded. "Just go put it back- we can go to my house, we can watch C.H.U.D and hang out and you can talk to me about everything- please, just go put it back."

"It's so fucking easy for you to say that." JJ snapped, looking at Avery for the first time since the robbery. "It's so easy for you to tell me to put it back because that thirty grand I owe is fucking pocket change to you. Isn't it?"

Avery was taken aback by his words. His tone was angry and his words were hostile. He had never put Avery down for her wealth before, and this was like uncharted territory for the two of them.

"JJ- I-" She started, but the Maybank cut her off.

"Y'know, maybe you were right this morning." JJ fired, voice dripping with a desire to hurt the dark-haired girl in front of him. "You are just a rich girl who gets lucky. You're a fucking Kook, Avery."

Avery felt as though all the breath had been knocked out of her chest, JJ turning on his heel and storming off down the road. The brunette felt tears welling in her eyes once more as she turned back towards where her friends were staring at the interaction between her and JJ, climbing into the passenger seat of the Twinkie and slamming the door, not saying a word as she began to silently sob.

JJ only saw her as a rich girl who got lucky.

Avery Decker was a fucking Kook.

— || 🪼 || KENSIE'S YAP !!

any of y'all call avery a crybaby and it's on sight.

anywho merry christmas to all who celebrate! i hope everyone has an amazing day and jj maybank or rafe cameron is under your guys' trees!

in other news the penguin mara and i have been raising for roughly three months has had to be put down because mara got a new phone so we have a new one named 'fuck this app' that mara named so

see you in chapter 18!!