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𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗻𝗲: 𝗽𝗼𝗴𝘂𝗲𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮 𝟮.𝟬

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The Pogues drove to JJ's, getting out of the Twinkie with JJ ahead of them all. He went over to the front door and ripped the police tape off excitedly now that the place was finally his.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he began, turning around and ripping the yellow tape in half, "I christen thee Poguelandia 2.0." He walked further onto the porch, ripping another piece of yellow tape off the door as John B walked up him. "Let's turn this piece of shit into our home."

John B smiled, trying to get over how much JJ had just cost them since his best friend looked so happy. "Let's do it."

The two did the Pogue handshake before JJ saluted, "We're home, y'all!"

That's when the Pogues all got to work. In order to uphold his promise of staying on a budget after paying way too much money for his land, JJ had found a way to get boards of wood for free apparently.

"Okay, so we're gonna have to do this Pogue-style. That means DIY, scavenger, whatever materials we can find," Pope told them as he, Cleo, Cassie, and JJ made their way over to this abandoned house JJ found.

"Look, we might have paid a little bit over on the dirt, but it's some of the best dirt, okay?" JJ tried to argue. "And we'll make it up in construction. Because these boards right here," he tapped his crowbar on the side of the house, "if we plane them, they're gonna be as good as new."

Pope got a closer look at the wood. "These are rotten as shit, man."

"They're free as shit as well," JJ replied and Cassie rolled her eyes at him.

Cleo tore a board off with her bare hands to get a better look inside. "Look, not all rotten."

"All right, yeah. Thank you, Cleo," JJ said as they got to work taking the rotten boards off to reveal the ones that were just fine.

"Okay, Jay. You're right, this might work," Cassie admitted.

"Wow, so little faith in me, Cass?" he teased her before he groaned once he pulled off another board off the house. "I'm hurt. Truly."

She scoffed at him playfully as she helped him put the board of wood down. "You're an idiot."

"But whose idiot am I?" he countered with raised brows and Cassie's cheeks flushed in response. "Exactly."

Once they were done getting the boards of wood, they brought them back to JJ's place so he could start to plane them. Cassie sat with goggles on as she watched her boyfriend in action, the machine he was using whirring loudly.

She bit her bottom lip as she took out of her phone, snapping a photo of him without him noticing since he was so focused on planing the wood. "Definitely saving that," she muttered to herself before she put her phone back, continuing to watch him with an adoring smile.

Throughout the week, they were able to get more and more done. Sarah, Cleo, and Pope managed to get a cooler for free since the man selling it recognized who they were. That didn't stop them from leaving a tip for him — they may have had money now, but that didn't automatically make them Kooks.

JJ ended up buying a charter boat called The Snapper with green and white rims. It was his new pride and joy as he kept rambling on how even though it looked rusty, she still ran as good as new.

As they sifted through old construction lots, JJ and Pope ended up finding a large, plastic shark that they all agreed needed to be put somewhere. It was too good of a prop to pass up on.

The hardest part was what they were going to do with the dock. They couldn't do it themselves, so JJ had to work on convincing Buffy, the construction guy people used on the Cut since his prices were cheap. But even so, they were still on a budget. It was a good thing Kiara started growing her special plant in the garden.

JJ was able to convince him to help them build the dock and they watched as Buffy sat in the crane, maneuvering the poles of wood on the water as Cleo yelled at him for going the wrong way.

The others, apart from Pope who was busy planning more things inside, stood on the grass, watching it go down. "I'm by no means an expert, but..." Kiara trailed off, making a face.

"That shit don't look right," John B finished for her.

"...that shit does not look right," Kiara agreed. "How much weed did he smoke?" she asked JJ.

"You didn't think to maybe give it to him after?" Sarah pointed out.

John B shrugged. "Maybe like a reward system?"

"Like for each pole, he gets one puff?" Cassie added and Kiara nodded, pointing at her.

"Bro, like, he was gonna be baking either way, all right? You can't stop Curry from shootin'," JJ argued.

"I swear, he comes up with random sayings everyday," Sarah muttered to Cassie.

"I know. I don't know what he's saying half the time," Cassie whispered back and the two girls giggled.

"Yo, Buff! Get it together, bro!" JJ called out to Buffy.

"Hey! This man's an idiot!" Cleo shouted over to them before she turned back to Buffy. "Hey! Hey, man! Hey! Let it go! Let it go!"

They watched as Buffy slowly lowered the pole into the water before he started calling out for help. JJ cursed and started running through the grass toward him. "Buff! Come on, get it together! Get out!"

John B turned toward the girls. "Should we help them or...?"

The girls all shared a look before they answered, "Nah."

"Okay, good, I was gonna say the same thing."

But alas, they were all forced to help build the dock, the part that would start out on the grass and lead out into the water since it was Buffy could only do so much.

"I need some more nails," Kiara said as she hammered a nail in place.

"Yeah, we do," Sarah realized before she started jumping up and down on the dock, trying to make sure it was steady.

"I need some new nails," Cassie commented, looking at her beat up nails from spending her time prying wood off of walls. The girls giggled, agreeing with her.

"You got the other end?" JJ asked John B.

"Yep. Yeah, I-I got the back..."

"Working on a cramp. Working on a cramp," JJ narrated as he worked with a red pipe in his hands. "We're crampin'. All right, yo, you got the other end?"

"No, dude. Do that again," Pope told him.

JJ did a double-take at him. "Why?"

"Because he's not right, okay? It has to—"

"It's fine!" JJ argued, his voice going up an octave.

"It's not— It can't just be fine."

"It's fi— Pope, it's fine," JJ grinned as the others watched, entertained by the boys.

"It's a dock. This isn't just like a school project, man. This is our dock, right? Our dream," Pope explained.

"Yeah. Yeah, it is," JJ mumbled, pretending not to take it as seriously as he did. But Cassie knew he did, from the conversations they would share at night with one another. He wanted this as much as they all did, even more so.

"So it should be perfect."

"Yeah, Pope! Show him how it's done!" Cassie cheered the Heyward boy on, clapping her hands.

JJ gave her a look. "You know what the key is here? You've just gotta make it a little janky and he does it for you," JJ told them all before he squeezed the boy's shoulders. "I love you, Pope."

"I'm sorry, but I want my dock to be safe," Pope pointed out.

"I feel safe. I feel-I feel so safe," John B replied.

They continued working on the dock until they moved onto the shack that would be on it. They were keeping the idea of making it a bait shop so they would be able to make money since what they had wouldn't be enough for the rest of their lives obviously. And since none of them would be returning to school any time soon, apart from maybe Pope, they needed to find something to do.

Once the boys were done setting up to the bones to the bait shop, they got to work on the surf shop on land. JJ stood behind Cassie as she held onto a power drill, getting ready to drill a nail into the wooden beam. "Okay, so what you have to do is just hold your hands steady and press down on the trigger," JJ taught. "Like this."

JJ reached his hands around Cassie and found the power drill that Cassie already had in her hands. He wrapped his larger hands around her own and pressed up behind her, butterflies swarming through her stomach even though she should have been used to this by now.

His pointer finger planted down on the trigger and turned the drill on, drilling the nail into place. "See? Just like that," JJ spoke in her ear once he was done, taking his arms away from her.

A shiver went down her spine before Cassie cleared her throat, looking over her shoulder at him. "A-Actually, can you show me one more time? Don't think I saw it correctly," she told him.

JJ arched a brow. "Really? Uh, okay, yeah. Don't think it's too hard, but sure." He did the same motion again and Cassie looked forward, spotting Sarah and Cleo ahead of her who were smirking and nodding at her. Cassie did the same back to them before JJ started speaking to her again, making her force the smile away so she wouldn't get caught.

After that was done, the Pogues all worked together to lift up a wall they had made and place it between two beams. They all high-fived one another once it was done and kept on working.

They kept switching between the bait shop on the dock and the surf shop on land, wanting to get as much as done over the next few days as fast as possible. They used metal boards as roofs and any other piece of equipment they could find that could work.

They managed to find a place to put the large shark, hanging it right outside the front door of the surf shop. The boys heaved it up as the girls cheered next to them.

"Bring it on home, John B!" JJ shouted excitedly as the others laughed with him. "Whoo!"

Cleo, Sarah, Pope, and Kiara got to pushing the cooler inside that they bought earlier in the week while Cassie and JJ began to set up the sails Kiara had found for the porch up top.

"You got it?" JJ asked as Cassie grabbed the rope to try to get it all the way up.

"Yeah, the wind's fighting me," she told him.

JJ tied his rope off. "I got ya. I got ya." He made his way over to her, grabbing the rope to help her before he was able to tie it off. "Boom. That's what I'm talking 'bout. Perfect," he voiced as they did the Pogue handshake. "Now let's get to workin' on that flag."

"Ugh, you're really gonna make me paint it again?" Cassie groaned as they began to make their way downstairs.

"It was so good last time though, babe," JJ told her and she gave him a look, not believing him. "I'll help this time. Promise."

So the two got to painting a black flag with white paint in order to officially christen the place as Poguelandia 2.0. It had the same drawing on it: the chicken with Crocs, smoking a J. Just like JJ had wanted.

By the end of the few months it took to find supplies, build everything up, and decorate it...everything seemed just about done and almost ready to open.

Cassie stood in the shack on the dock they named JJ MAYBANK DEEP SEA CHARTERS where it would be partnered with their surf shop on the land. John B and Cleo were busy drilling a sign into the wall that had the type of bait and tackle they would be selling whereas the others were stood inside making sure everything seemed to be in the correct place.

"I can't believe we were able to do this so quickly," Kiara spoke up as she looked around the place, releasing a dreamy sigh. "It's perfect."

"I know. I hope JJ's happy with it," Cassie replied.

"He's gotta be. This is exactly what he wanted," Sarah told her.

Speak of the devil, they heard JJ outside on the dock shout, "Hey, guys. I think we did it. We're in business, baby! Whoo! Oh my gosh, this feels good!" The girls all shared a look before they walked out, seeing what he was up to. "Look at this! Look at that! Look at that! Like, oh my God!" he kept going, jumping around the dock.

"That boy's mad!" Cleo laughed.

"Captain Maybank at your service!" JJ yelled as he stood on the rim of his boat. "Now, that that has a ring to it! Nothing can stop a Pogue! Nothing!" He jumped off his boat and back onto the dock. "Whoa! That's what I'm talking about!"

"Yeah!" John B cheered him on.

"Is he okay?" Sarah questioned through her giggles, looking over at Cassie who was just watching him with love in her eyes.

"Yeah. He's just never really had a home, you know?" Kiara told the Cameron girl. "He's happy."

"Keep going!" John B egged the boy on as he danced along the dock.

"Now do the full routine, to celebrate!" JJ panted. "A little plié. Now-now we do a little hot step."

Cassie kept on watching him, feeling her heart swell before she decided to go up to him. "Slow down, you're killing 'em!" Cleo called out.

"Slide into it!" JJ kept going.

"Twinkle toes, all right!" John B joked.

JJ spun around before he stopped once he saw Cassie right in front of him, a grin plastered on her face. "Whatcha doing?" she asked, tilting her head at him.

"Just, uh, a little dancing to celebrate," he answered breathlessly before he noticed the look on her face. "What?"

"I'm proud of you," she told him and he raised his eyebrows at her. He couldn't remember the last time someone had said those words to him and it hit a whole lot more now that his girlfriend had been the one to say it to him. "And I love you."

JJ started to smile once as he walked closer to her, allowing her to wrap her arms behind his neck and kiss him. Cleo, Sarah, and John B howled behind them teasingly, causing Cassie to break away from them and send them the middle finger.

John B laughed as he wrapped his arm around Sarah, planting a kiss on the top of her head. He was also proud of his best friend and he hadn't seen him this happy in a long, long time. He had no idea how he and Cassie managed to fall in love, but he was happy they did. The two made each other better despite their crazy moments at times.

Cassie turned back to her boy, placing her forehead on his own. "We did it," he said to her.

She pulled back, nodding. "We did. Despite everything..."

"We did it," JJ repeated. "We did it!" he shouted as the two of them broke apart, grabbing each other's hands. "Whoo!"

"Captain Maybank!" Cassie praised, gesturing to him so the others would clap for him.

"Captain Maybank here!"

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

Now with the charter shop opened up after months of building it, the Pogues waited all day for someone to finally drive up in a boat. Pope sat reading a textbook since he was trying to go back to school, Cassie and Kiara painted each other's nails, Sarah played with the empty tip jar, Cleo swung around a small fishing net, and John B and JJ had fallen asleep.

Sarah's head perked up when she finally heard the sound of a boat's engine on the water. She looked out the window, seeing the men on their boat heading to them. "Guys. Boat. Boat!"

"Oh, snap!" Kiara drawled as her and Cassie made eye contact. They quickly shuffled to put the nail polish away, blowing on their nails to get them to dry faster.

"Guys, boat!" Cassie called out to the boys.

"John B, wake up! JJ, wake up!" Sarah said.

"Somebody's here," Pope realized.

JJ slowly rose from his sleeping position as Sarah went over to him, shaking him awake. "Is that a motor?" he asked.

"Yes!"

"Get ready, get ready, get ready."

"Okay, it's our first customer," Sarah breathlessly voiced with an excited smile. "It's our first customer!"

"Guys, come on! Come on!" JJ urged as Pope and John B scrambled up to their feet, rushing down the dock to greet the men. "Howdy, sir!"

"I got it!" John B announced. "How you doing?"

"I got your ice right here!" JJ yelled out to them as he opened the cooler, picking up the bags of ice.

"And we've got bait!" Sarah added.

"And-and more!" Cassie stammered, an apprehensive smile on her face since she had never done this before.

"Bait, beer, and a fresh pot of gumbo!" JJ listed. "What do you want?"

They helped the men tie up their boat as they got out, making their way into the shop so they could look around. "Holy shit. You've got all this live bait?" the older man asked in awe.

"Big and small," Cleo confirmed.

"Oh yeah, no, it's our secret sauce," JJ told him.

"Give me a whole bucket," the man asked for.

"Coming right up."

"Man, beer, granny-made sandwiches," the man said as he watched Kiara fill up a brown paper bag of food for him. "I wish y'all had opened up sooner."

"Well, we're gonna be opening up 24/7, my friend, so nothing to worry about," JJ assured the man, whose eyes widened.

"Not a-not actually true," Pope quickly cut in. "We're not open 24/7."

"Still working on the hours," Kiara told the man with a shrug.

The man's phone rang and he answered it, holding it up to his ear. "Hey, I'm here. This place is the tits, Bobby. They even got pogies. A whole tank of 'em!"

"Just, uh, just keep the change," the guy around their age said to Kiara, handing her the cash. "Thank you, guys."

Kiara grinned. "Come back!"

"Ooh, he was so flirting with you, Kie," Cassie teased as she pinched the girl's shoulder.

Kiara rolled her eyes. "He was not."

"He totally was, girl," Sarah agreed with Cassie.

"First sale, baby! Whoo!" JJ screamed as the boys made their way back inside.

Kiara chuckled. "He said we were the tits."

"I know!"

"First dollar of our first-ever sale," Sarah spoke as she held up the dollar to show the proof.

"Oh, yeah!"

Kiara handed Sarah a stapler and the girl reached up, stapling the dollar up on a wooden beam above their heads so they could all remember this day. They all cheered excitedly, hugging one another.

"Hey, guys! Incoming!" Cleo shouted once she noticed more boats making their way up to them. "We're open!"

"We got more?" JJ inquired in shock.

"Keep 'em coming!"

They kept the shop open throughout the day, meeting new customers and proving to them that they even though they were just a few kids, they were capable of this.

Emery even stopped by at the end of the day, treating to some pink frosted cupcakes she had made as a celebration for their first day of work. She was still attending school so she wasn't able to come around as much, but it was clear the Pogues all started to enjoy her perky company more and more.

Even Kiara was slowly started to warm up to her even if she didn't want to admit it.

They spent the past few weeks doing the same thing, opening and closing the shop, although they all had the same dreams from before they gained thousands of dollars. Pope still wanted to go to school, Kiara still wanted to save the turtles. They still were the same people, just with extra cash.

Cassie already had cash all her life, which was why she didn't know what she wanted to do with her life. She remembered when her and the other Pogues went around in a circle and asked each other what they would do with $80 million dollars.

She said she had no idea what she wanted to do and would figure out once she got the money. She wasn't like Pope who knew what he wanted to go school for, and she wasn't like Kiara who knew she wanted to go around the world and save animals. She wasn't even like JJ or John B who knew what they didn't want.

But now that they had gotten the money — not $80 million, but still — she finally figured it out.

She wanted to keep on doing this with her best friends and with her boyfriend. She wanted to stay with JJ and keep working together until their hearts content. She wanted to live with him, in this place until the end of the line.

Because she was finally happy.

That happiness didn't seem to last long, however.

There had been a huge storm that had hit them in the middle of the night one day. Lightning had struck their live bait, killing them all.

John B used the fishing net to scoop some out and they cringed. "Anyone want fried fish?"

"What's the damage, Pope?" JJ wondered once Pope let out a sigh.

"Fuse box is busted. Without the live bait, the fishermen won't come, and there goes half of our business right there. We have enough profit to cover it, but barely, just barely. All right?" Pope told them all before he walked over, grabbing the can that held their last gold piece. "This is it. The last of our Au."

Sarah made a face. "What?"

"Uh, what?" John B also asked.

"The gold. It's the periodic symbol for gold," Pope explained.

"Why not just say gold?" Kiara pointed out, knitting her brows together.

"He's smarter than us, that's why," Cassie answered for him.

Pope blinked. "Because it doesn't matter, all right? This is all of our savings, and it's a no-go. This is for property taxes." Pope set the gold down on the table. "So, we're gonna have to tighten up," John B sighed at that, "which means no more $600 in gas chasing tarpon up the Gulf."

JJ blinked at him. "Pope, that's my job."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. We were chasing a bait board," John B defended themselves.

Pope held a finger up to Kiara, not listening to the other two. "No more $200 in heirloom tomato seeds, okay?" he told her and she turned her head, getting offended. He turned to Cassie. "And no more buying shit you see on TikTok."

She scoffed. "But—!"

He cut her off, "No."

"What about my imported peppers?" Cleo asked. "To make the jerk sauce!"

"Those peppers gotta go too, baby," Pope said gently.

"I need to run the charters—"

"It's not the tomatoes' fault—"

"TikTok has cool shit—"

"That's how we're making the money—"

"No, hey, guys!" Pope shouted over their arguing. "If the business starts failing, the sharks start circling, all right?" he argued before he looked at JJ. "And we don't even know if your dad is coming back."

"Yeah, well, it's not his anymore," JJ pointed out.

"Doesn't matter. What's he gonna think when he sees all this?" Pope questioned and that shut them all up. "Listen, if we want to save this place, we skinny up until the business gets afloat again. Okay?" And with that, Pope walked away, not wanting to hear their arguing anymore.

Cassie caught JJ staring at the gold nugget that Pope had placed down at the table before she nudged his shoulder. "Don't start thinking about anything crazy, all right?"

He pushed off from the table, tilting his head at her. "Now would I do such a thing?"

She gave him a blank stare. "Don't make me bring up the auction," she warned before she turned and walked off.

"Oh, come on, Cass. I've apologized!" he said as he followed after her.

"Nope! Don't wanna hear it!" she said, holding up her hand behind her even though there was a teasing smile on her face.

"Cass—"

"Nope!"

"Ugh!"

authors note!
this is what cassie took a pic of btw:

yep im jealous. wish i had a bf
like this. anyway i find this chapter
really cute bc they're all so domestic :(
i love them all so so so so much. next
chapter is the enduro and i had so much
fun writing it so i hope yall like it!