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MY EYES FLUTTER OPEN but it's an instant headache. I take in my surroundings, realizing I don't know where the fuck I am.

The floor is cold. It feels like concrete. The walls have broken tiles and a concrete ceiling.

"Baby?" I hear JJ's voice. It's desperate and scared. A tone I do not like hearing. "JJ?" I call out and I crawl towards him. He's smiling despite the cut lip and already bruising cheek. I somehow got us into this, I need to get us out. Or at least JJ.

"Shit. Let me see you," JJ pulls me closer and holds my face in his hands. I hiss at the pain. Oh, yeah, I got punched in the face. "When did you wake up?" I ask him. "As soon as they put us in here. I've been trying to think of a way to get out. There's a guard," JJ starts to whisper, "He has knives and a gun and shit."

The guilt smacks me in the face as I trace a thumb over his cut lip, fresh blood still slightly spilling out. JJ's eyes suddenly darken. "J, what?" I ask. "Your face is bruised because of those motherfuckers. I'm gonna kill them—I'm gonna fucking kill—"

"JJ, I get it. I wanna fucking kill them too. Look what they did to your face!" I exclaim. "I'm fine," JJ shrugs it off, "They want you. We can either figure out why or just go. Listen, I have a plan. We can pretend you have a seizure and then I'll like, beg for the guard to come in. You jump him and we each get a weapon."

In theory it does sound like a good idea. "A seizure would make sense considering the fuckers clocked me twice," I roll my eyes but even that hurts. Maybe this time I should get my head checked out.

"We need to get to Bailey and Kie," I remember. "Princess, Bailey has to do her plan on her own right now. I'm worried about getting you outta here, alright? What'd I tell you..." JJ trails off, indicating for me to finish. I sigh, huffing like a kidnapped child, "To worry about myself for once. But I'm not gonna do that when you're stuck in here as well!"

JJ's mouth opens to say something but the metal door is swung open. The blonde woman who had the nerve to punch me before I even learned her name walks in, heels still clicking. JJ and I jump to our feet. I'm not scared of this bitch. "Oh, you're awake. Good. Cool. We have to talk," She says.

"We don't have to do shit," I retort. Protectively, JJ grasps my forearm. The guy that punched me walks in behind her, standing silently as he just stares us down.

"You kidnapped two teenagers. How fucking badass of you," I bitterly say. "Two teenagers who are after something much bigger than them. Just like Weston is," She says. I want to correct her using present tense. Was. Weston was working for the gold but she can't seem to accept he's dead. "Listen, we got no idea what Weston did or what he owes you but it's probably a good idea if you let us go. We got places to be," JJ says and I can tell he's holding back because he sounded all too calm.

She steps closer, "Is this place South America?"

What? She knows way more than we thought but how does she even know this?

"Is that where the cross is?" She asks. I accidentally let an amused scoff past my lips. "The cross is gone," JJ tells her, pulling me closer to him. She looks surprised.

"Did Weston offer you the cross or something?" I inquire, tilting my head at the woman condescendingly. Weston keeping any promise is a bizarre concept. He couldn't even keep a family together much less a promise.

She clenches her jaw, "What's with you and lying?" She seethes and gets in my face. "Yo, back up!" JJ yells, waving his hands in front of the woman. The guard behind her pulls out his gun, pointing it on JJ and I. "Don't point that fuckin' thing at us!" I yell.

"What do you mean the cross is gone?"

"I mean the fucking cross was melted down and it's gone. God knows what he did with it. Also, I at least deserve to know your name if you're gonna be in my face like this!"

"Leslie," She says. My mind tries to boggle the name Leslie but I don't know anyone named Leslie so, this woman is a stranger, no one that I would've remembered by hearing her name.

"You're a liar. Both of you. He was working with the Cameron's to get the cross. Ward is alive—so is your father. Grab them," Leslie says, leaving the small tiled room. "He's fucking dead and the cross was melted by Rafe Cameron!" I yell even though I don't think she can hear me.

My heart drops, the taste of metal pooling in my mouth when the guard walks over to us. "Hey, hey!" JJ jumps in front of me. "JJ, no—"

I'm cut off by the guard punching JJ in the stomach. He lets out a heart wrenching groan, doubling over and onto the floor. "Stop it!" I yell. I don't think before I do anything though because I'm launching myself at the man. As he's repeatedly kicking JJ, I shove him away harshly. With a moment of relief, I hear JJ let out a wheeze of a breath. There's only anger running through me, no proper thoughts. Just to fucking kill this guy.

The shove took the guard by surprise but only for a second. Before I can stop him, the guard grabs me by the hair, roughly throwing me to the ground. I've dealt with this before. By the same man these people so badly wanna find. My breathing is heavy as I glare up at the man. "Fuckin' bitch," He hisses and kicks me across the jaw.

My whole body shutters as the pain runs through it. All this for Weston. All this because they don't fucking believe a word we're saying.

He lifts his boot up again but it doesn't land. JJ runs at him, tackling him to the ground. The two start to wrestle, spitting out curse words at each other. JJ punches him but the guard switches their positions so now JJ is against the pavement. "Shit!" I slightly panic. I pull the man up by his shirt and off of JJ. This dude is trained and even though I pride myself in my fighting skills, he has professional training. I just have trauma.

I go to kick him but he grabs my leg, throwing me to the ground and picking me up by my hair again. "Fucker!" I yelp, clawing at his hands. There's something cold against my neck. I look towards JJ and his eyes are wide. There's a knife against my neck. The same move these unoriginal fuckers pulled on JJ. "Really? This again?" I ask.

"You gonna kill a teenage girl, bro? Is that really what you want on your conscience?" JJ tries on the man. He just lets out a low chuckle, pressing the knife closer to my skin. I feel the blade nick on my skin, making me let out a whimper. "It's my job," He says. "Weird fuckin' job," I insult him. He pulls my hair even harder, making it so there's more access to stab me in the neck. I feel another knife in the fabric of my shirt against my back. The tip of it cuts a small hole through it so that the cold metal stings me.

JJ's eyes are wild with anger but at the same time looking at me as if to comfort me. I'm not scared for me. I'm scared for JJ.

It's in his face that he's gonna do something. Instead, let me be the idiot. I throw my head back, ignoring the tip of the knife cutting into my skin. It makes an involuntary yelp leave my mouth. My head smacks the man so hard I think I hear a crack. "Oh, shit!" JJ yells, "Gun!"

"Huh?"

"Grab the gun!" JJ yells again. Oh, yeah. The gun. My head is spinning too much to think properly.

I can feel the blood seep down my back but I know it's not enough that it'll cause serious damage. The guard is on the ground and I try to grab his gun but he grabs at the hand like a zombie. "Shit!" I curse and kick him in the face. He lets out a string of groans as I grab the gun and two knives in his confused state. "Can I have a weapon?" JJ asks. "Yeah," I hand him the knife without my blood dripping from it. He spins it around, "Really?"

I smirk, shrugging as I cock the pistol and open the door as quietly as I can. When we do, I realize we're stuck in an abandoned warehouse and it's dark. The sun has set. How long were we there? I've heard of this place. The meth heads occasionally party here.

"Let me in front," JJ says, gently shoving past me while pulling a bandana over his face. "J, oh my God," I roll my eyes. Oddly enough, there's no one in sight. Which is scarier, honestly. Every couple seconds a water droplet hits the ground and it makes me flinch. I'm all adrenaline right now. The pain in my back is trying to make itself known. "How's your body?" I ask him. "Uh, I mean, I haven't worked out in a bit—"

"JJ—"

"I know. It's—fine, right now. How's yours?" JJ asks. We're walking along the hall. Whatever room we were in is the only one down this damp hall. "Uh, could be better," I admit. Telling him about the slice in my back will only distract him from the task at hand which we don't need.

We get to the end of the hall and I press my back to the wall, JJ does the same across from me. The gun feels like it fits in my hands but everytime my finger grazes over the trigger, my heart skips a beat and I remember every word Weston said to me.

A door slams in the distance and JJ and I share a look.

"Sam!" JJ suddenly shouts. I can't question him because suddenly I'm stuck in a chokehold and the gun is knocked from my hand. JJ runs at the man, knife in hand and he lets go of me to fight JJ. I stumble forward. The man lets out a loud, pained groan. What the hell is happening?

"Oh—oh, shit," JJ says, seemingly surprised by himself. "JJ?" I call out, walking over to him. As I get over there, the guard is pulling a knife from his arm, blood spilling from it. "Dumbass. Should've kept that in," I almost laugh. He comes at us again and I kick him in the abdomen away from us. He's relentless though because he comes at us again. I'm just tired of this shit. My body reacts before I do.

I drive the knife into the man's abdomen when he runs at us. Immediately, he stops trying to fight. JJ and I step back and the guy falls to the ground. I pull the knife from his skin as even more blood pools around him, hands flying over as if to collect his blood.

My hands are coated in the guy's blood and it suddenly hits me. This guy is gonna die. But he attacked JJ. He kidnapped us. Maybe he didn't deserve to live. Right?

"Oh—holy shit. Sam, hey, we gotta go," JJ says, gently grabbing me by the shoulders. I look up at him but he doesn't look scared of me. Thankfully—but my heart still drops. I lean down to grab the gun.

There's a big opening and that's what we just run towards, giving up on being quiet.

"Hey!" A voice shouts. It's Leslie. She's walking towards us but there's no guards near her, just Leslie.

"Do we run?" I ask JJ. "What? Yes—"

"Stay right there," Leslie says and pulls out a gun. It's a shotgun. Wonderful. "Dude, just give up!" I frustratedly yell. "I want to know where your father is," Leslie says. "In fucking hell! Alright? You're not getting your cross. You're not getting Weston. Whatever he is to you—"

"My lover," Leslie says, interrupting me. JJ and I both let an audible groan at this. How can this man pull so much yet he's the worst person I know? It's crazy. "Gross," JJ whispers. "You kidnapped us because you couldn't find your—lover," I say, obviously disgusted with the concept, "For a month. If I didn't know he was dead I'd tell you he really doesn't like your ass," I laugh.

"How do you even know he's dead?" Leslie asks with a chuckle. It's on the tip of my tongue. The confession to someone I definitely cannot trust.

"Hey, we don't have time for this lady," JJ says, tugging my arm. He's right and I also don't owe her an answer. I feel like the hero or the villain about to do their last act. I thought I was the hero. Maybe I'm neither. Maybe I'm just a teenage girl. Maybe that's the scariest part of it all.

I point the pistol at her, ignoring the black hole feeling the trigger is giving me.

Leslie just smirks, stepping forward with her gun in hand. "Sam, don't do this. You don't have to do this," JJ whispers, stepping in front of me and with his back to Leslie and her shotgun. He's staring into my eyes. If I was him, I'd do the same exact thing so I bite back my annoyance. The look is all sincere. He knows me better than I know myself. He knows this will only ruin me, break me down even more. I already killed one man in there.

Weston would pull the trigger. He'd shoot his lover or whatever if it meant getting what he wanted. He'd kill a teenage girl to get what he wanted.

   JJ's hands encase mine and I let him lower the gun and my hands with a small smile. He throws the gun away and into the overgrown grass. He looks over his shoulder at Leslie, "We're gonna go and if you follow us, I won't hesitate to pop a cap in you."

JJ steps in front of me, not letting Leslie see me and not letting me see Leslie. "Go, I'll keep an eye on her. Go," JJ gently says, shoving me forward. I don't look back. I do look at my hands though and the drying blood on them as we run.

SOMEHOW, JJ AND I found the Twinkie all the way from the warehouse. No one followed us. My shoulders drop in relief at the sight of the van. "Oh, fucking finally!" JJ exclaims. Before I can stop him, I'm picked up bridal style. It would've been nice if I hadn't completely forgotten the burning cut on my back. His hand travels down there to get a good hold and I wince, letting my vulnerability show.

"Uh," JJ says, "What happened—Sam, my hand is bloody," JJ sets me down in the truck of the Twinkie. It was still opened from when we got fucking jumped. "Yeah, I might've gotten slightly stabbed when I threw my head back," I let out a chuckle, wincing as I adjust myself. JJ gently turns me around, "Can I look?"

  My heart shutters at how polite he's being, how gentle he is with me even when I just did the least gentle thing possible.

"Mhm," I hum.

Softly, JJ lifts up my shirt and I can feel the fabric separate from the dried blood. With a flashlight, JJ carefully examines the wound. "Is it bad?" I ask.

"Uh—no, no," JJ stammers out. "Are you lying, babe?" I question, looking over my shoulder at him with a smile. His cold, ring clad fingers gently touch the skin around it. "I don't have shit to clean it. I'm more worried about an infection than anything right now, darlin'," JJ says, resting two kisses onto each of my shoulder blades, "Why didn't you tell me you were cut?"

"Wasn't really the time—or place, so," I answer, turning to face JJ. The cuts on his face have stopped bleeding but even in the dark I can see the bruising that has formed.

"Don't look at me like that," JJ warns. "Like what?" I ask, confused. How am I looking at him? I thought I was just examining his wounds. "Like it's your fault or some stupid shit," JJ scoots closer to me, caging me in his arms. "My dad was the reason though. Like, it's gotta be somewhat my fault," I start to ramble but when my eyes lock onto JJ's, I stop my rambling, letting my breathing stabilize.

"And I killed another guy. Like, I'm on a roll here!" I try to joke but JJ isn't having it. He just looks worried. "Uh, let me ask you something. If it was my dad that got us into this would you blame me?" JJ asks with a cocky tilt of his head.

   No. Of course not. He knows that.

I roll my eyes, leaning against the wall of the van. I immediately regret it though because it makes my cut sting. "You know that answer," I tell him. JJ smiles, "Okay, so, why the hell would I blame you, baby?" He pulls me into his lap. "I dunno," I shrug.

"You're an idiot."

"We just got back from being kidnapped and you're calling me an idiot?" I ask, slightly annoyed with how casual he's being. JJ just laughs though. He throws his head back. My face twists into a scowl.

I'm confused as to why he's laughing.

"What?" I question. JJ pulls his head back down and he holds my head in his hands, squeezing my cheeks, "It's just—I don't know honestly. Maybe you're just funny lookin'."

"JJ, I just killed a man—"

"I know."

"Then why are you laughing?" I shove him by the chest. JJ snorts, shoulders shaking. "JJ, be serious—"

"You saved our lives, sunshine. You did what you had to do. If I hadn't shoved the knife in the wrong area, I was gonna kill him," JJ gently says, holding me like I might break. How can he still trust me? I've killed two people. One of them being my own father. Barely but still.

"Oh," Is all I can say. JJ pulls me into his lap. My hands. They're coated in blood. I panic, shoving them into my pockets. "That doesn't scare you?" JJ asks with a tilt of a head, almost throwing my question back at me. "No," I quickly no. It doesn't. JJ wanting to kill someone who put us in such a situation doesn't scare me.

He lays down so I'm straddling him, "I like this."

"Uh huh. Listen, we gotta tell Bailey what the fuck happened, alright? That's if she isn't in South America with the others already," I pull myself off of him, shaking off the heavy feeling resting on my chest. Which takes a lot because I would want nothing more than to just fall apart in JJ's arms right now. It's what we both need. I'm pretty sure we're just surviving on the known pain right now of the punches thrown.

As my feet hit the ground, a car races around the same corner from earlier. Are you serious? Can we get one fucking break?

"Oh, my—are you serious?" JJ says through gritted teeth. He pulls me back into the van. "It's not the Dodge," I say. When I narrow my eyes, I can see under the moonlight that it's black Mustang.

"No. Worse. It's a damn Mustang," JJ seethes, "It's Mike."

"That's worse than being kidnapped?"

"Well, he'll just pop a cap in us, so," JJ whispers, standing in front of me as the car stops behind him. I groan, throwing my head back. Maybe at this point Mike should just shoot me, do what I couldn't do because God am I tired of these adults attacking us. Do they not have anything better to do?

JJ's breathing quickens. I can see it in the fast movements of his chest. "JJ, we'll be okay, okay? We just gotta convince him. Lie even. We're good at that, yeah?" I say, smiling and holding his sweaty hands with my crimson ones. He's pulling at the barely there scab on his lip, nodding before turning to face Mike. Another dude gets out and he has a gun in hand.

For fucks sake. Quickly, I stuff my hands in my pockets to hide the crime littered on them. Also to help myself. I keep catching myself clenching my jaw at the sight, recalling Piper's blood that once coated my hands. I have yet to go to her grave. When would I have had the time? Maybe her parents don't even want me there.

I doubt they even know the truth. It's weighing on me. I hate feeling so responsible for everything but I can't help it.

"Okay, fine," JJ says and begins to walk forwards but the gun is pointed at him, "I am so tired of that," JJ remarks. I stand right next to JJ, arms crossed. Mike looks unphased as ever, ready to beat up some teenagers.

"Good. You're both here," Mike says, "Y'all lost the load."

"Sorry 'bout that," I fake an apology. "Yeah? Are you? Now instead of me getting paid, I owe them. Which I guess means you owe me, right?"

"I know—" JJ starts.

"Get in the car!" Mike interrupts him with the order, "Both of you."

JJ puts his hands up, stepping in front of me yet again. I'm not going through this two times in one day. How many times can one get kidnapped before it's their fault?

I step to the side, still behind JJ but making sure to keep an eye on the guy with the gun. "As much as we would like to, we kinda got places to be, so...." JJ nervously trails off. "You heard him. Get in the car," The guy with the gun says. "We just said we're busy, bro. How inconsiderate," I sarcastically remark, tsking at the man. The dude is clearly annoyed with me because the gun is suddenly pointed at me.

JJ is trying to think of anything to get us out of here and to Bailey and Kie. His fists are clenching and he's trying to contain his breathing.

He glances at me as he places his arms by his side, "Okay. Look, I know you've heard the stories. About me and our friends, a little something called the Royal Merchant. A pile of gold. Is that ringing any bells?" JJ questions. "I heard some bullshit," Mike retorts. "Well, it's real!" I tell him, "We found it too."

"Yeah, I saw. That's why you got a bunch of dudes throwing your furniture in a dumpster out back your house? You're living high off the hog, bro," Mike points at JJ, teasing him about being evicted. An absolute dickhead. I mean he's always been but he's seemingly gotten worse over the years. My jaw clenches so hard my head hurts.

"Yeah, you're talking about the house that's being foreclosed? The cover?" JJ starts. Oh—oh, he's so smart. Look at that, smart plan. I have to hide my smirk as I catch onto my boy.

"The one to throw off the scent?" JJ continues as confident as ever, "Rule number one, don't do flashy shit, like pay off a mortgage when you're cashing in."

"Stop. Let me guess. You, uh, you got that gold. It's buried somewhere in a barn, right? And if I just let you go right now, you'll run right there, you'll get it, we'll split it, right?" Mike chuckles through his rhetorical questions.

I step forward, "Uh," I glance at JJ, "Not exactly. It's actually like, way better."

JJ nods in agreement and puts his hand up at the man with a gun, "May I?" JJ waits a second but the guy lowers the gun and JJ walks up to Mike, "That's just the tip of the iceberg. We're going after the main course right now. Alright? We're after the mother lode. Right, baby?"

"Exactly," I say as I walk up next to JJ, "It's why we need to get down to South America."

Mike looks unconvinced though. JJ sighs, "Mike, come on, man, we're trying to help you. By giving you the opportunity to make ten times more. No skin off your nose. Just a lottery ticket," JJ bites his cheek to hide his smile as he looks at both men, "So, in this hand, you can get the pleasure of beating my ass, not hers, just mine, right here, right now. I honestly get that temptation. I really do. But in this hand, in this hand, Mike, you got a pile of gold," JJ steps closer to him.

"It's just sitting and waiting for you, Mike," I add on. "And all you need to have is a little bit of patience," JJ also adds, "And a flight to South America."

"One that fits four, preferably," I throw up four fingers. Shit. I tuck my hand back into my pocket. Thankfully the dark hides the blood. Mike's tongue pokes at his cheek, chuckling but I can see that he wants to believe us, he wants to take the risk of getting this mystery gold from two kids.

"I told you I'm not Weston. I fuck up, I make up for it," I say, desperately trying to convince the drug dealer. Mike runs his hands over his face, chuckling a bit louder now. He takes a deep breath and his eyes bounce between JJ and I.

"You two are something else," He says. He doesn't believe us. We're fucked. Jumped two times in one day.

"Like a good something else or?" JJ asks. Mike just scoffs, "Fine. But when you two get back here, I wanna be the first to get that gold."

I'm beyond relieved. Even letting a chuckle of said relief leave my mouth. "You will be, alright? Don't you worry about it, Mikey boy!" JJ exclaims, clapping as he leads me back over to the van. I rush over to the passenger seat. Holy shit. Holy fuck. We avoided getting our asses beat—again!

Once JJ's in the van, his smile is big, smacking the wheel in excitement. "We did it! Oh my God!" He yells. JJ turns to me and pulls me closer to kiss me. I melt into the kiss, pulling him even closer to me. Yet again, I quickly drop my hands. I've really gotta clean them. "That was hot," I admit, cheeks hot. JJ smirks, "Yeah? We did that together, sunshine."

"I love you," I whisper as we lean our foreheads together. Breathlessly, JJ laughs, moving hair behind my ears, "I love you."

I take in all his features. The faint freckles and stubble he still has. I pull away, "Let's go get the girls." JJ nods, putting the van in drive, "Let's go!"

As I watch him step on the gas, my heart beats faster but I can't tell if it's out of fear of losing him—myself—or just how pretty JJ is. I can feel the blood stuck in between the lines of my knuckles, my palm.

Everywhere.

———

lowkey missed writing full chapters of these two outside of the obx storyline lol.