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𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝘀𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻: 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁

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The Pogues sat in the courtroom as they watched John B in his orange jumpsuit with handcuffs around his wrists, standing next to his public defender.

Cassie sat in the pew with jeans and a Henley top that she had borrowed from Kiara that she had left at John B's place. None of them could go home, especially Cassie. She couldn't have gone home after what had just occurred, especially not when her mother was currently on the other side of the courtroom sitting with Ward Cameron and his wife he had been cheating on.

Cassie refused to look over, not wanting to see the way her mom had probably been smirking. She had gotten exactly what she wanted. John B taking the fall for Rafe and sitting next to her fuck buddy without Rose having any idea about it.

Savannah kept sparing some glances over at her daughter who had been sitting in between JJ and Kiara. She knew it was a bad look to have her daughter not sitting with her, but this had been the first time she had seen Cassie since she accused her of killing Kevin and sleeping with Ward so at least she knew was alive.

Savannah knew that there was no way she was ever going to get her daughter back to her. She would have to be brainwashed somehow and that wasn't possible. So, if her daughter wasn't going to be on her side, she would just have to make it her mission to show that Cassie and the Pogues were wrong.

The judge struck the gavel twice, causing it to echo off of the walls of courtroom. "John Booker Routledge, pursuant to the North Carolina statute section 14, you are charged with murder in the first degree with aggravated circumstances. If convicted, the maximum sentence would be the death penalty." The judge then struck the gavel again.

"What?!" Cassie blurted out, sharing a distraught look with Kiara as everyone in the courtroom started to talk amongst themselves about the sentencing.

"Your Honor, he's 17!" JJ shouted as he stood up.

"Quiet!" The judge yelled.

"Stop. Stop," Kiara quickly said, standing up and putting a hand on a him. Cassie didn't even try to stop him because A. He was right and B. These people deserved to be yelled at for what they did to an innocent teenager.

"He's 17! Are you kidding me?" JJ continued, pointing at the judge angrily.

"You're good, you're good," Pope said, also trying to push him back.

"Hey, John B, we're gonna figure it out!" JJ assured him as the bailiff began to take John B away. John B looked over their shoulder at them, a blank expression on his face since he had been stunned.

"John B!" Sarah cried out, trying to make her way over to her boyfriend. "John B! John B, no!" She sobbed as the bailiff went over to her and started to push her back.

"Sarah!" Kiara said, grabbing Sarah to get her away from the bailiff.

"Stop, don't touch her!" Cassie yelled at the officer angrily before he took his hands off of the crying Cameron girl.

"Let's go, Sarah. Let's get out of here," Kiara said, sharing a glance with Cassie as the two of them led her out of the courtroom. "Is this a joke? Like, are we in hell or...?" Kiara trailed off as they walked down the steps outside the court room.

"This is worse than hell," Cassie spoke as she stared off into the distance, fuming. JJ looked at her, sharing the same anger she had been feeling at the moment.

"I should have never come home," Sarah commented, congested from all of the crying.

"They're gonna kill him, guys. I know it," JJ told them pessimistically, tearing his eyes away from Cassie.

"So sorry for what you and your family have gone through. Thank God the system works," a man said to Ward as they walked out. Cassie looked over, seeing Ward next to Rose with Savannah trailing behind them. Pathetic.

"Can you please shut up?" Kiara questioned furiously as she took a step forward, which made them stop and look over at her. "Of course you think the system worked because it was made to protect you and people like you."

"He'll have his day in court. A jury will decide," the man said civilly since there were people around and he didn't want to cause a scene.

Kiara had other ideas.

"He shouldn't even be in court!" Kiara exclaimed, pointing at the courthouse before she looked at Ward. "You should, 'cause you're a murderer. Both of you!" She pointed between Ward and Savannah. "You have a lot of nerve showing up to court."

"I know you're upset. I understand you're upset, okay?" Ward started to say, stepping forward towards the Pogues. Cassie made eye contact with her mother, who had been watching her furiously.

"Upset?!" Kiara repeated in disbelief.

"I know he's got you fooled. He's got you all fooled," Ward tried.

Kiara looked around before she lunged toward Ward and screamed, "No, I'm not just upset!" Shoupe and Thomas grabbed her, pulling her away from him.

"Show some respect!" Savannah yelled at Kiara.

"Respect? You wanna talk about respect?! Says the one who can't respect a goddamn marriage!" Cassie spoke up loudly, making Savannah's eyes widen at her daughter.

Rose furrowed her brows from next to Ward, looking over at Savannah skeptically. Savannah glanced over at Rose before she composed herself. "Cassie, you've been drinking again, haven't you?"

Cassie let out a scoff of disbelief. Savannah was trying to discredit her? Oh, she was going to show her. "You murdering piece of shit!" Cassie shrieked and it was her turn to lunge toward her mother, causing Ward to instinctively let go of Rose and step in front of Savannah. Rose turned her head to them, looking at them even more suspiciously.

The cops let go of Kiara and went toward Cassie, trying to pull her back. "Let go of me! They're the real criminals! They have you in their back fucking pockets!"

"You need help, Cassie. You need to stop drinking," Ward told her calmly, going along with trying to discredit what she was saying.

JJ fumed at his words.

"Muzzle your goddamned dogs!" JJ shouted at Shoupe, pointing at Ward and Savannah before he looked at the cops pulling Cassie back. "Get the hell off her!" He demanded before Cassie shoved away from Shoupe and Thomas, her body full of rage. "Why don't you take the Kooks down for a change, Shoupe?" JJ then questioned, gesturing back at Ward and Savannah.

"You wanna get arrested? Get out! You need to go," Shoupe told them sternly.

"This is bullshit," Kiara muttered, an exasperated look on her face.

Sarah placed a hand on Kiara's shoulder to turn her away as she told her, "Come on. Look, it's not worth it."

JJ and Cassie shared a flaming glance before they all began to walk away, knowing that no matter how hard they tried, the cops were always going to side with whoever had the most money.

And the Pogues? They didn't have a lick of it.

"Look, I'm sorry Mr. Cameron and Mrs. Blake, you shouldn't be going through this," Plumb apologized to them.

"Thank you. My daughter is struggling with substances. She's not in the right mind," Savannah told Plumb, feigning a sad look.

Cassie paused at her words and turned around screaming, "Shut the fuck up!"

"Cass," JJ whispered as he placed his hands on her shoulders, turning her around once more. He was angry too and he knew Savannah deserved to be berated, but nothing they would say was going to work. Especially not when Cassie screaming was only helping their accusation of her drinking problem.

Savannah sucked in a breath at her daughter before looking back at Plumb. "See?"

"I'm sorry," Plumb apologized again.

"It's not a coincidence that your daughters are sitting with us!" Kiara noted before they shuffled away from the courthouse.

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

The five Pogues made their back to the Château. None of them wanted to go home. All they wanted to do was figure out a way to help John B.

They sat on the porch as it poured outside. It seemed like the weather beared the same rage they had as the water droplets crashed loudly around the rickety house.

"I'm gonna testify under oath. I was there!" Sarah pointed to herself. "I just need to get a hold of my sister."

"Sister?" JJ repeated, looking down at Pope who shrugged.

"Kie, do you have your phone?" Sarah asked and Kiara handed the blonde her phone. "Wheezie is the only other person that knows Rafe wasn't home that day."

"Wheezie?" JJ recited slowly, blinking at her.

"I don't know what else to do. I got us into this mess. I'm gonna do my best to get us out," Sarah told him before she walked to the other room to try to contact Wheezie.

Cassie braided her hair anxiously. Wheezie was seriously their best bet? They were screwed. No, they were more than screwed. They were fucked.

JJ scoffed. "Wheezie? Yeah, that will work," he commented sarcastically before he leaned against the wall, taking his cap off. "Well, she's right about one thing. We gotta do something. Our boy is a PO-dub right now, okay? He's held captive by the enemy right now, maybe even scheduled for execution! Are we just gonna sit here?"

Cassie agreed with him. She couldn't just sit here and let Ward and her mother get away with this. This was John B they were talking about. The boy that welcomed her into the Pogues with open arms and the only one who had understood what it was like to lose a father.

And it seemed like they had gained an extra thing in common: Ward had murdered both of their fathers.

She would do anything to get John B out. Anything.

"What's the plan?" Kiara questioned right at the end of his sentence, standing up from her chair. "We start by kidnapping Shoupe?" She jeered.

Okay, maybe not anything.

"Maybe, like, that's not the worst idea actually," JJ replied and Cassie scoffed quietly at him.

"Oh, it's not?"

"No!" JJ exclaimed.

"That is actually the worst idea I've ever heard," Pope told him.

"Yeah, it's fucked," Cassie agreed although she did still want to do something. But kidnapping Shoupe? Worst idea known to mankind.

"It's...pretty bad," Sarah butt in from the other room.

"You know what? Please, just stay out of this," JJ demanded Sarah and she looked back down at Kiara's phone. "Okay, Pope, look, we've been doing everything your way, and how has that been working out? Huh?"

"Okay," Pope began, standing up, "okay, so what's your plan? You gonna storm a jail, guns a-blazing?" He challenged.

"Look, Pope," JJ responded as he pushed off the wall to get closer to the boy, "all I'm trying to get you to understand is they got our boy. Now are we just gonna sit here and do nothing? No! We're gonna go get his ass. We're gonna do something about it!" He shouted in Pope's face.

"JJ, we're not storming a jail. It's not happening," Pope told him sternly, shaking his head.

"No, fine, man. Sit in your comfy chair. Do nothin'," the blonde said before he looked at the two girls who were watching him. "I'm gonna see what I can do. Make something happen, even if I have to do it by myself." He then put his cap back on and started to walk away, out the door.

"Okay," Kiara spoke with her hands planted firmly on her hips, watching him leave.

Pope turned to the two of them after JJ left. "Should we be worried?"

"Yes, for sure."

Cassie looked out the screen window, seeing JJ get on his motorbike. "I'm going with him," she suddenly said as she began to follow him out.

Pope and Kiara whipped their heads toward her. "What?!"

"Look, at least if he does something totally fucked, I'll be there to help. And, I agree, we shouldn't be sitting on our asses. We should be doing something," Cassie reasoned before she walked out toward JJ on his motorbike.

Pope and Kiara looked at one another. "So we can both agree that if they're agreeing with one another then everything has gone to shit, right?" Pope said to the Carrera girl.

"Oh, for sure," Kiara nodded.

"Definitely," Sarah added from the other room.

Cassie marched over to the Maybank boy since he had yet to take off, not caring that she was getting soaked right then from the pouring rain. "JJ. Hey, JJ!"

JJ looked over his shoulder at the girl, looking her up and down in confusion since he hadn't expected her to go after him. "Cass? What are you doin'?"

Once she met his eyes, her stomach fluttered for the umpteenth time. She had to get it together. She was doing this to help John B, she wasn't doing this just to be with JJ.

She crossed her arms nonchalantly. "I'm coming with you."

"You're...what?"

"I'm coming with you," she repeated. "I'm not letting you do this alone. You already tried to use a goddamn gun on the cops, so who knows what else you'll try to do?" She brought up and JJ clicked his tongue, looking down.

She had still been upset with him about that. That he would risk his own life even when it was clear there was no way they were getting John B out of that mess anyway. She knew he was only doing it because that's just who JJ was, but it still made her heart ache.

This is why romantic love scared her. She was worrying about another person more than herself. And it hurt more because her and JJ weren't friends...what even were they?

She knew that they needed to talk about the other night, but she was just too anxious. Too terrified. She didn't want to face the truth of her feelings and even though it was established that the two harbored new feelings for each other, which were very different from the beginning of the summer, talking about only made it more...real.

You can kiss someone all the time and it could mean nothing. But talking about it...that meant everything.

And Cassie never backed down from confrontation, but this was something entirely new to her. Confronting a bitch? Hell yeah, she'd do it every time. But confronting your feelings? Hell no, she'll pass on that one.

Perhaps she had developed a disorganized attachment style toward relationships. She craved being close to people, but when it happened...she feared letting them down. She also could never regulate her emotions and lacked consistency when it came to her feelings.

Especially toward JJ, who made her feel one hundred and one things all at once when she gazed into his stupid ocean eyes that she had been staring into right then.

"And I want to get John B out, too. I don't care how," she swiftly added with a shrug, not wanting JJ to think this was all about him.

JJ raised his brows at her before a smirk quirked its way up to his lips. "Are you sure you aren't doing this to be closer to me, princess?" He teased.

Cassie didn't find it funny. In fact, it made her get all nervy again. The same nerves she had hated. "JJ, don't do that. Please," she shook her head and JJ's smirk fell, his brows furrowing a bit. "Let's just get outta here and do whatever you have planned. I don't care what it is."

JJ nodded slowly as he ran his tongue across his top teeth. They still hadn't spoken about the other night, but JJ had assumed things would be different now. So why was she still shutting him down? There was no way she could deny that the other night meant nothing when their lips had actually touched. And although he wasn't exactly sure what it would mean for them in the future, he knew it didn't mean nothing.

He then shook his head, not wanting to dwell on it because he didn't want to waste any time helping John B. "Yeah. Okay. Get on."

Cassie pursed her lips and got on the bike behind him, hesitating before she wrapped her arms around his torso. She could feel his body tense up from her touch, but he quickly accelerated the motorbike to leave the Château.

JJ ended up driving the both of them to his house and the rain had ended up dissipating once they arrived. "Wait, is your dad home?" Cassie inquired warily as JJ parked the bike in front of his place.

JJ hesitated before answering, "Nah. Hasn't been around that much." Cassie nodded slowly before she got off the bike. "Gotta get a change of clothes," he said as he made his way over to his house before he looked over his shoulder. "You, too."

"Oh, no. That's okay," she waved it off as she followed him inside.

"You can't be walking around in wet clothes," he pointed out and she pursed her lips, knowing he was right. Walking around in wet jeans was not for the weak.

Once she entered the house, she noticed how messy it had been. There were old beer bottles lying around and it looked like it hadn't been cleaned in a while. She wondered if his father had gotten worse and a protective rage ran through her veins.

JJ noticed her looking at the state of his house. "Uh, most of that is from my dad. I was mostly living at the Chât after we thought John B and Sarah died," he told her.

The fire inside her had died down once she met his eyes. She didn't know that. "You were?"

"Yeah," he breathed out and she hummed, feeling a bit better that he hadn't been living with his abusive father. JJ then cleared his throat and made his way into his room, searching in the closet for some clothes. "Hey, come here," he said after a second from in his room.

She apprehensively entered his room, seeing him holding a pair of jeans and a white shirt in one hand with a hoodie and cotton shorts in another. "This is probably not ideal to wear when it's hot, but it's kinda the only thing I have that could work," he told her before he tossed the hoodie and the cotton shorts to her.

She caught it, examining them. The hoodie had been a plain maroon one while the cotton shorts had been gray. They were probably going to be loose, but she could always just tie them tighter. "That's okay. Shouldn't be too bad."

"Yeah. And plus, you'll look good in my clothes," he added teasingly, winking at her.

Cassie's stomach dropped at his words. "Um, yeah, whatever," she brushed it off and JJ furrowed his brows at her.

"What's wrong?" He asked in concern, taking a step toward her.

"Nothing. Nothing's wrong," she lied, shaking her head.

"Well, it seems like something's wrong," he pointed out.

"No, JJ, it's fine."

"Is it because of the gun thing? I know you were upset about that, but I wasn't thinking and I only wanted to help John B," he explained himself.

"No, no, I know. I mean, yeah, I was upset but I-I understand why you were gonna do it."

He blinked at her before he realized what the issue could have been. "Is it about what happened the other night then? Because—"

"JJ, I don't want to talk about the other night," she immediately interrupted, feeling her face flush at the memory. She didn't want to talk about it. She wanted to avoid it at all costs until it went away.

But it was never going to go away. Not when she would be spending all her time with JJ and the Pogues now.

He couldn't believe her. She was going to try to brush the other night off? Brush their kiss off?

Brushing off the other nights? Fair. Fine. He could understand why. Nothing had actually happened. But the night where something happened? Now he was just pissed. How could she want to avoid talking about it when it was clear it needed to be talked about?

He scoffed at her. "You don't want to talk about the other night?"

"No. Not right now. We need to focus on helping John B."

He knew she was right, they should be focusing on John B. But he couldn't help but feel...jealous? Not of John B, just the fact that she was willing to talk about him and not the guy standing right in front of her.

JJ raised his brows in frustration. "Oh, so you'd rather talk about John B over last night? Oh, okay," he nodded offendedly, placing his hands on his hips as he turned away from her.

She gave him a look. "JJ, you know helping John B is more important than..."

Us. Were they an us now?

JJ paused with his back turned to her, his jaw clenching. He knew what the end of that sentence would be and the fact that she didn't finish it pissed him off even more.

"Yeah. You're right. John B is more important," he agreed bitterly before he turned around, pushing past her. Cassie spun around, watching him walk out. "You can change in here," he said without so much as glancing back at her before he shut the door behind him rather aggressively.

Cassie gripped onto his hoodie and shorts with pursed lips before she breathed out, "Shit."

authors note!
did yall really think i was gonna
make it easy for them 😝 yall
gotta know me by now im sorry