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𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝘀𝗶𝘅: 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲

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Staying up all night worrying about Rafe and Barry was one thing, but staying up all night thinking about the heated kiss that she and JJ shared was another.

It was like she could still feel his lips on her's with his hands curiously roaming her body like it had been his only desire. Maybe it was his only desire.

Cassie tried to stop thinking about it, she really did. But the bad thoughts finally morphed into the actual action, which she had been warned about before, and now she was a goner.

She couldn't understand it. How could they have started off the summer hating each other's guts to now making out in the hot tub while their friends were off with their own partners?

It was one thing for Cassie to like JJ, but for JJ to like her? There was no way. Not when he constantly poked fun at her and made it his mission to piss her off. But he had been the one to initiate last night and he seemed really eager to break the cold exterior that Cassie had put up in trying to convince herself that the other night meant nothing.

But what about last night? Did last night still mean nothing? Or had everything changed in the blink of an eye just because they had been skin to skin? Just because their lips had finally touched?

Cassie was too scared to find out.

All her life the one thing she had severely wanted was to feel included. To feel like she had a purpose in this world other than being a hot-headed, crazy bitch that was too much for everyone. That's why she always sought after ways to fit in. That's why she would do anything for the Pogues, the ones who finally included her as one of their own.

But platonic love was different than romantic love.

Cassie never had a boyfriend. She somehow always caused the guy she would be talking to freak out and run away. Probably due to her crash outs she couldn't control, but that was a different story.

She didn't know romantic love. She only had a few hookups and the last guy she hooked up with was a coke-addicted murderer who definitely wanted her dead for being the only girl to reject him. But she never actually liked Rafe. She never actually liked the other guys she had made out with or even the one random guy she lost her virginity to.

She didn't like any of them. She only did it to fit in.

So she didn't know what it was like to actually like somebody like that. Yes, her and JJ kissed, but had it just been like the other guys? Had it just been a casual kiss because the timing of it all was just right?

Whenever she was around JJ, she could feel her body heat up and her stomach start to do cartwheels. She couldn't look him in the eyes for fear of getting lost in them too much. She couldn't look at him for fear of what she would start thinking about what she wanted to do with him.

She was terrified. She had never felt this way before. She hated feeling this way, feeling so nervous. Before this treasure hunt, she rarely ever got this nervous. Sure, she would get anxious when it came to school or some type of sports event, but this was a different kind of anxiety. And now it was only heightened by being around JJ.

She didn't know how she didn't see it before. She thought the way she felt had been because she hated him, but...wait...when did she stop hating him? Could it have been when he promised not to tell the Pogues about her and Rafe? Or could it have been when the first hot tub incident happened? If so, that was a major coincidence.

Cassie didn't know what to do. She didn't know what it would be like now between them. Would it be awkward? Would he try to talk about it with her? Or would he try to forget it ever happened? Cassie wasn't sure which one she had preferred.

All she knew was last night, although she was struggling with coming to terms with what she had been feeling, that kiss was the best kiss she ever had in her entire life.

Cassie walked out of John B's house since she had tried to sleep on his pullout couch. Keyword: tried. Every time she shut her eyes, all she would see was JJ. Once she exited, she saw John B, Sarah, and JJ conversing with one another.

Sarah had been the first to notice her. "Cassie, hey!" She called out, waving her over.

The two boys looked over and once she had made eye contact with the blonde one, her stomach had fluttered and she began thinking about the kiss once more. She tried to push the scene away from her mind, but she couldn't. Especially not when she had been gazing into JJ's enticing eyes that lured her into his seductive trap last night.

"Uh, what are y'all doing?" Cassie inquired, tearing her gaze away from the boy that had just looked her up and down.

"We're trying to figure out what to do now that Rafe and Barry know we're here, but we're still waiting on Kie and Pope," John B explained.

"Right. Kie and Pope." Cassie had completely forgotten the two had sailed off together last night since she had been preoccupied after their departure. She wondered if they got up to anything mischievous like everyone seemed to have done last night.

Maybe it was just something in the air.

JJ's Adam's apple bobbed up and down as he kept his stare on the Blake girl. He couldn't stop thinking about last night either. He had a gut feeling that she had been trying to push her feelings toward him away when she said the other night had meant nothing. He knew the girl by now. He knew she liked to avoid the truth. And playing shotgun was his ticket in and it worked like a charm.

But what did that mean for him? Did that mean he liked her? That he wanted more than to be whatever the hell they were before that kiss? All he knew was the way that she had tasted on his lips was what he had been craving for a lot longer than he had realized.

But it wasn't just all about the kiss. Cassie had been different than the other girls he had kissed prior to her. She had left a mark like never before even without the kiss. And maybe it was because he originally disliked the girl. He wasn't exactly sure. He wasn't sure of anything anymore despite the fact he knew he no longer hated her. Not after last night's events that kept him up all night to savor the moment the best he could.

She was all he could think about and...he liked it.

JJ tore his gaze away from her once he heard the sound of waves rippling near John B's dock. "Finally. Hey!" He yelled out once he saw Pope and Kiara walk off the Pogue and onto the docks to tie up the boat.

JJ grabbed his backpack as John B placed Sarah's arm over his shoulder to aid her in walking. The four of them then quickly raced over to them to get down the dock. "Guys, don't tie up! Stop it!" JJ shouted.

"What?" Kiara asked in confusion.

"We're dipping," JJ told them.

"Wait, why?" Pope asked.

"What? What are you talking about?" Kiara questioned, scrunching her face up in confusion.

"I got it," Sarah assured John B breathlessly as she held onto the railing.

"Where'd you guys go? What happened last night?" John B quickly asked the two of them.

"We slept on the break. What's up?" Pope said.

JJ walked over to Pope and chuckled, "Slept, right. Yeah." He then patted Pope up on the shoulder knowingly, and Pope pursed his lips together. Cassie and Kiara made eye contact and Kiara gave her a wide-eyed stare. That didn't seem good. "We were up all night." For many different reasons.

"We gotta get the hell out of here."

"Rafe knows we're here, so we have to leave, like, now," Sarah told them urgently.

"And Barry," Cassie added, rolling her eyes at the mention of the man.

"Okay."

"Come on."

The Pogues took the Pogue to somewhere on the marsh where they could hide out for the time being. They weren't sure when someone would show up at the Château looking for them, but they didn't want to risk it.

"Look, if Rafe and Barry know, it's only a matter of time," Kiara voiced as they all sat around each other, trying to figure out what to do.

"Before everyone knows," Pope finished.

"Ward definitely also told my mom you guys were alive when he saw you," Cassie added, looking at Sarah and John B who shook their heads in frustration.

JJ scoffed as he paced back and forth. "I told you. We should've just gone south, man."

"Just-just stop it," John B tried.

"Why does no one ever listen?" JJ questioned loudly, starting to get angry.

"I-I-I get it. I get it. I get it. I understand," John B quickly said, making JJ shut up as he continued to pace back and forth. Cassie watched him, but kept quiet. No one knew what had happened last night between them, and she was determined to keep it that way.

"I have an idea," Sarah spoke up shakily, making everyone look over at her. "With me back, my dad's going to have to choose between me and Rafe."

John B stared at her before he tried, "Sarah, Sarah—"

"He's gonna choose me," Sarah cut John B off.

"Just please listen. Ward keeps lying to you, Sarah," John B told her, making Sarah glance down as she thought it over.

"Sarah, he's not gonna agree after everything that's happened," Kiara reasoned sadly.

"No. I...I know it sounds crazy."

"Yeah, it does," Kiara agreed with that, her voice rising.

"I know!" Sarah exclaimed. "But he's my dad," she continued after a moment, her voice cracking. "And I know him, and I know he loves me. I'm just asking for two hours."

JJ raised his arms up before they fell harshly to the side, shaking his head in disbelief while the others shared uneasy glances. Cassie accidentally made eye contact with him before she immediately looked toward Sarah, making JJ narrow his eyes a bit.

Sarah got up from where she was sitting, walking away wordlessly as she sniffled. John B looked around at everyone before he said, "Sarah." He turned around and walked over to her, quietly conversing with her.

"Cassie, what about your mom?" Pope piped up.

"What about my mom?" She countered.

"Would she turn Rafe in for you? I mean, I know she's done some pretty fucked up things but...would she really choose Rafe over you?" Pope asked.

"Pope, what?" JJ cut in, thinking he was crazy for bringing up the idea of Cassie seeing Savannah. He didn't want Cassie to ever be around that woman again. Pope just shrugged as he shook his head before they all looked at Cassie, seeing what she had to say about it.

Cassie thought about it. Maybe in the beginning of the summer Savannah would have, but definitely not now. Not when she was already actively trying to cover up Rafe murdering Peterkin and killing Gavin. If she ratted out Rafe, who's stopping Ward from ratting Savannah out? They may have been screwing, but that was his son.

She slowly shook her head. "I don't know, but I don't want to find out," she replied before she watched Sarah walk towards the boat. "Sarah's already going to see Ward. That's stupid enough as it is, I don't want to make things worse by seeing my mom. She'll probably try to lock me up again."

"Yeah. Good. Don't go," JJ agreed with a few nods and Cassie met eyes with him, making her heart drop to her stomach. "Can't risk it."

"Yeah," she agreed breathlessly before she ripped her eyes away from him once more, looking down at the grass beneath her feet.

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

John B, Cassie, and Pope had been sitting on the break and going over what Limbrey had told the latter two when they had went to see her. "The tape, you heard it?" John B inquired.

"Just a few seconds. But it's definitely Gavin," Pope told him.

Cassie nodded. "I think Ward might have betrayed Limbrey like he did your dad, which then made Ward work with my dad..." She trailed off and John B looked over at her.

"I'm sorry about your dad, Cassie. Ward is..." He also trailed off, shaking his head since he couldn't even find the right words to describe the man.

"Ward and my mom are both monsters," she finished for him. Any love that she had left for her mother had disappeared as soon as Limbrey confirmed her suspicions.

Blood was thick, but it was nothing like a payroll. Her mother made it clear she cared more covering up murders just to have the gold. So just because they were blood related didn't make them a family.

The Pogues were her family now.

"Do you think Limbrey and your dad might have been working together?" Pope asked John B after a moment.

John B looked down and just shook his head before he heard the sound of a boat nearing them. "Hey, there she is," John B pointed out once they had seen Sarah steering back to them. JJ and Kiara came running over since they had been gathering wood to make a fire, dropping it off next to the three of them.

"Sarah!" Kiara called out as she waved her hands toward the girl.

"You made it!" JJ called out before they jogged over to her.

"What happened?" Pope asked once they made it up to her.

"You good?" Cassie checked in. Sarah didn't answer as John B helped her out of the boat, and Cassie pursed her lips together. She had a feeling that meant things didn't go the way she wanted them to.

"So, how'd it go?" John B inquired after a second.

Sarah shook her head. "You guys were right. It didn't work," she told them before she sniffled sadly. "I'm sorry."

"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," JJ told them, pointing at the boat behind them.

"Right, you guys are gonna need supplies, and you're gonna have to split as soon as possible," Pope said with his hands on his hips.

"Guys, I think it's too late," Kiara pointed out before they heard the sounds of sirens on the water. They looked over at the water, seeing police boats heading straight toward them.

"They followed you here?" John B asked his girlfriend. "Must've been your father."

"Fuck!" Cassie cursed angrily.

"We're gonna have to find another way outta here," Pope said quickly.

"Stay on the beach with your hands in the air!" A SBI agent yelled through a megaphone.

"Now! Go now! Run!" Pope screamed and they all backed up, turning around to run away. JJ and John B dropped their bags on the floor, not wanting them to weight them down. "Come on! Come on!"

Cassie ran as fast as she could, looking over her shoulder to see that Sarah was having trouble. "Sarah!" She called out.

"I got her!" John B said as he went next to Sarah, trying to help her run but it had caused him to slow down as well. Cassie cursed, knowing that John B needed to be the one to escape the most out of them.

"We've gotta outrun them!" JJ shouted as they ran across a small dip of water, heading towards the trees.

"Go! Come on! Let's go! Let's go!" Pope urged in a strained voice.

"Go!" Sarah said before they made it across the water, heading into the forest of trees.

"Let's go! Let's go!"

They made it into the trees, trying to maneuver their way through the shrubbery and to lose the SBI agents that were right on their tails pointing their large guns at them.

"Go! Go!" John B bellowed.

They then started to run through a tall grass field, making it hard for them to see anything. Hopefully that meant they would lose the agents, but things weren't looking too good for them. "Sarah, you good?" Kiara called out.

"Yeah. You okay?" John B asked Sarah.

"Yeah," she answered shakily.

"Okay, go! Go! Go!" John B urged until they made it out of the grass field, hopping down into some water that they could cross to get to the other side.

JJ stopped right before the water and placed his hand on the small of Cassie's forward, pushing her ahead of him. She looked back over at him and yelled, "Go!"

Cassie huffed before she turned forward and started wading through the water behind Pope and Kiara as fast as she could.

"JJ, grab her hand," John B quickly told JJ, who helped Sarah down into the water.

The water started getting deeper as they reached the center of it, causing them all to have to start swimming. "Go!" Pope groaned.

"Come on! Let's go," JJ said as they started to reach the end.

"Freeze! Stay where you are!" A few officers demanded behind them, but once they reached the land the teens had kept on running.

"Go! Get up! Get up!" Pope said.

"Go! Go! Go!"

"Behind the tree. Let's go!" John B told them and they all ran behind a large tree, coughing and panting to try and catch their breaths.

They started hearing more sirens and more yelling come from all around them. Cassie had her hands behind her head, trying to take deep breaths but she was having trouble. There was no way they could get out of this and even she knew that.

"We're trapped," JJ realized.

"They surrounded us," Pope told them as he breathed heavily. "What do we do?"

"There's no getting out of this. We gotta take a stand," JJ said as he scrunched his wet bandana to get the water out. He then took his gun out, wiping it down with the bandana.

Cassie looked over and her eyes widened. "JJ. JJ, no," she squeaked. Although she hadn't even been the most against the gun out of all the group, especially because it was clear they were always in need of defending themselves, she knew that this would only end terribly if he used it.

She had already lost her dad, she couldn't lose JJ too.

He didn't listen to her as he blew on it, trying to dry it for usage. "JJ, please don't do this," she tried again, her voice wavering.

JJ finally looked over at her, seeing the pleading look in her eyes. He wanted to back down, but he couldn't. Not when his best friend's life was on the line. And if anyone knew JJ, they would know he would do anything for his friends. Even if it meant sacrificing his own life for them.

Because he felt like their lives were more worth while than his anyway.

"I'm sorry," he whispered and she let out a choked gasp, shaking her head at him. "Cass, I'm sorry." He then looked away, starting to load the gun.

She couldn't believe this. She couldn't believe him. How could he have been so selfish? Or maybe...he was being too selfless?

Suddenly, John B moved over from where he was and grabbed JJ's hand that held the gun. JJ tried to pull away from his grip, but John B used his other hand to pull the gun away from him, dropping it onto the floor. Cassie let out a relieved, shaky breath at John B's action before she shut her eyes for a few moments to try to calm herself.

"It's gonna be all right," John B whispered to JJ before he patted JJ's cheek. "Here we go."

JJ looked down and kicked some dirt over the gun, covering it up so the police wouldn't find it. When Cassie opened her eyes, she saw JJ look back over at her. She looked at him and nodded sadly, making him purse his lips as his chest heaved.

"John B! Step out of the clearing!" Shoupe yelled and John B stepped out slowly with his hands up. "Get down! Do not move!"

"I'm surrending!" John B told them as they all put their hands up.

"Don't move!" Plumb shouted.

"Hands up, John B!"  Thomas growled.

"All right, the rest of ya'll stay right where you are. Keep your hands where we can see them," Shoupe directed.

"Don't move!"

"Hey, listen, Shoupe, I wanna testify," John B said as he kept his hands up.

"It's about time. Get down. Do not move a muscle." John B lowered himself to his knees as Shoupe kept his gun pointed at him. "Everybody else, don't move."

"Don't move. Keep your hands where I can see them," Plumb said to the Pogues right before Thomas grabbed John B, picking him up from around the neck before he threw him onto the ground.

"You serious?!" Come on!" JJ barked angrily as Cassie's nostrils flared at the sight.

"Hey, Thomas!" Shoupe tried to stop him.

"No!" Sarah cried.

"Stop! Let him go!" Kiara shrieked as Thomas started to kick John B on the ground.

"Get your fat fucking ass away from him!" Cassie bellowed.

"Sheriff, what is that? You're gonna let that happen?" JJ screamed furiously as he pointed to John B, making Plumb point the gun closer at JJ.

"Don't move!" Plumb warned and JJ quickly brought his hands up again.

"You bitch!" Cassie snarled before Plumb pointed the gun at her, making JJ's jaw tighten. "What are you gonna do, shoot me? I'm not the one beating up a minor!" Cassie shouted and Plumb pursed her lips as the others kept on screaming for Thomas to stop.

"Thomas!" Shoupe said as he tried to pull Thomas away. "Stand down!"

"Get off!" Thomas yelled before he grabbed John B by the collar, holding him up. "This is for Peterkin," he told him before he punched him hard in the face, knocking him unconscious before he landed on the ground.

authors note!
the scene where thomas beats john
b up pisses me off smmmm bro like
even in the next ep when he gives the
key to the twinkie to john b, he doesnt
even apologize about it. ugh