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𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗵𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗻: 𝗶 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂, 𝗶'𝗺 𝘀𝗼𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗽𝘁. 𝗶

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Debbie Ann sailed across the Atlantic as the wind whipped at the Pogues' hair and the sun glowed overhead. They had no idea what they were getting themselves into. All they knew was that they needed to find the scroll and get the crown before Groff or the Lupine Corsairs could.

The Pogues stood around each other as JJ sat on the ground, somehow finding another bottle of alcohol to drink from. Cassie watched as he took big gulps from the bottle, her heart hurting at the scene, but she had no idea what she could say to get him to stop. He would probably only lash out at her now that he had alcohol in his system.

But she didn't want him to go down this road. She didn't want the same thing that had happened to her to happen with him. She knew JJ drank at times when things got rough, but this was bad. This had been real liquor, not just some beers. He was drowning his sorrows and all Cassie wanted to do was help, but she didn't know how to. Not when he had been acting off with her ever since that morning.

She kept thinking about what he said when they were beached. "You'd be better off without me dragging you down." What the hell did he mean by that? Cassie wasn't sure she wanted to find out. She just wanted to get to Morocco, get the scroll, find the Blue Crown, and make her life with JJ go back to normal.

The universe could be kind to her for once, couldn't it?

"So, what, we're just on our way to Africa now?" Kiara spoke up as she shrugged, causing Cassie to rip her eyes away from her boyfriend and look at her best friend instead. "Quick little weekend trip?"

"What about Rafe? We know what he did to the cross," Pope reminded them.

"And what he did to a bunch of us here," Cassie added with pursed lips as she gestured around to her and her friends.

Pope nodded at that, recalling the times he had fought Rafe. "And now we want to go after the crown with him? That makes zero sense."

"Doesn't take Pope to figure that part out," Cleo commented.

"Well, we can't exactly do a lot, can we? He gave us a way out and he's steering this thing for us. It would be wrong to do something, no?" Emery pointed out.

"Trust me, Em, he's done some fucked up shit that anything we do to him wouldn't even compare," Cassie told her and Emery pursed her lips, nodding.

"Sarah, you're his family. How do we deal with Rafe?" John B asked.

"I don't know. I really have no idea," Sarah answered honestly, crossing her arms.

"All right, well, it seems like we're stuck on this boat with him so we gotta talk to him," John B pointed out.

"Talk to Rafe?" JJ piped up in disbelief from the floor.

"Well, you're definitely not talking to him," John B shut him down.

"Oh, I'm not doing it, right. Okay, what did I do now?" JJ questioned, holding his hand out.

"Look, it just might be easier if we handle it, okay?" Kiara tried to reason. "You might trigger him and that's, like, the last thing we need."

"Trigger him?!" JJ exclaimed. "Yeah, I trigger him because I get shit done, all right?"

"Yeah, like felonies and forcing us out of the country for potentially the rest of our lives," John B deadpanned. "So why don't you park your ass right there and just sit this one out?"

JJ just shook his head in response as he took another sip from the bottle, making Cassie frown before she followed the others to where Rafe had been manning the wheel.

John B knocked on the metal of the door, causing it to echo a bit. "Hey. I just wanna talk."

"All right, let's talk," Rafe replied before the others made their way into the room after the Routledge boy.

"We're on a long trek. So let's just—"

"Right, just so you know..." Rafe lifted up his shirt, taking out a gun from his waistband and holding it up for them all to see. "See this? It's a peacemaker, all right? You guys be cool, I'll be cool."

"So now you want peace?" Pope remarked, seeing as though Rafe had been making their lives a living hell for years.

"I just saved all your asses," Rafe pointed out, looking around at them with narrowed eyes. "How about a 'thank you'? You know, no good deed goes unpunished. It'll be just like in Barbados. Right, Cass? You remember?" He looked over his shoulder at her, nodding his head.

"First of all, it's Cassie," she corrected him for the millionth time now and Rafe rolled his eyes. "And second of all, that wasn't just some 'good deed.' You wanted something out of it too, remember?" Cassie reminded him, raising her brows.

Rafe chuckled ironically under his breath before he shook his head. "Okay, here's the situation, all right?" He began as he turned back to John B. "I don't want any part of your little fairy tale treasure hunt bullshit, all right? I'm just looking for Groff. I get you to North Africa, you get me to Groff. Deal?"

"We want the same thing," John B told him.

Suddenly, JJ came into the room as he cleared his throat. "Hey, Rafe," he greeted before he brought his fist up, punching Rafe in the face just as he turned around.

"Oh, shit," Pope cursed as Rafe fell onto the floor, unconscious.

"Jesus, JJ!" John B yelled.

"Oh, that felt good," JJ breathed out as the girls started to shake their heads, leaving the room apart from Cassie. "Whoo! I didn't see that one coming either."

"What the hell are you doing?!" John B shouted, crouching down next to Rafe to make sure he was okay, but the boy definitely wasn't waking up any time soon.

"You weren't seriously going to trust what he was saying, were you?" JJ slurred.

"I mean, honestly, if he didn't do it, I was gonna do it," Pope admitted.

"Same," Cassie added and John B just sent them both a frustrated look before the girl turned to her boyfriend. "But maybe this wasn't exactly the best time to do that, JJ."

"Are you kiddin'? Now I get to finally fulfill my fantasy of tying the son of the bitch up and locking him in a room," JJ enthused as he rubbed his hands together.

Cassie blinked at him before she leaned toward Pope. "He fantasizes about that?" She muttered to the Heyward boy under her breath.

"He's been fantasizing about it ever since we found out John B and Sarah were alive two years ago," Pope replied and Cassie hummed, her brows raised as she nodded slowly.

John B looked between the three of them before he huffed in annoyance. "Just help me get him up, JJ, and we can fulfill your goddamn fantasy."

JJ grinned, pointing at the boy. "Now that's what I'm talkin' about."

The two Pogue boys lifted Rafe's body up and dragged him down to the bathroom, where they tied him up and left him on the floor until he woke up. It definitely wasn't the best idea to knock out the guy who got them the ship and was steering it, but it was Rafe Cameron. AKA, the most untrustworthy guy ever.

The guy who strangled Cassie, the guy who fought Pope three separate times, the guy who shot Sheriff Peterkin, the guy who tried to drown Sarah — his own sister, and the guy who melted down the Cross of Santo Domingo.

He may have done one good deed, but that didn't make up for everything else he put the Pogues through.

After John B and JJ were able to tie Rafe up, they had to decide who would be steering the ship. The boys decided to all take different shifts to make it easier and so that one person wouldn't have to be doing all the work.

Whilst being on the boat for days, when they weren't at the helm, Pope and John B took the time to fish for some food since there wasn't much on the boat other than ingredients. Sarah, Kiara, and Emery cooked up the fish they had caught and some other food while Cleo worked below deck to make sure the pipes were good.

Cassie had been taking the time to look after JJ, who had moved onto a different bottle to drink from. She tried to get him to stop, but he wasn't listening to any of her concerns. So instead of ripping the bottle away from him, she decided to just keep in company to make sure he didn't fall off the boat from behind a drunken mess.

"Next stop...Payback," JJ stated as he looked at the map in the control room, where he had been steering the ship with Pope and Cassie beside him.

"That bitch is gonna get what's coming to him," Cassie spoke darkly, imagining Groff's disgusting face in her mind and all she wanted to do was punch it.

JJ hummed in response before he looked at Pope. "So why'd you do it?"

"Why'd I do what? Save your asses?" Pope guessed.

JJ looked down, shaking his head. "I don't know why you threw it away, Pope."

"Yeah, you know me. I don't need an excuse to crash out," Pope replied.

"Apparently us either," Cassie agreed before she ran her tongue along her top teeth. She had gone so long without "crashing out" and the first time she did in a while, that's when the cops had to be involved of course. It felt like her life had been turned upside down and she didn't know how to get it right side up.

"Well, congratulations, Pope. Because now you're gonna end up just like me. Just like Cass here already has for being with me," JJ pointed out and Cassie gave him a look, a little unsure what he meant by that.

"The cop was aiming right at you specifically, JJ. What was I supposed to do?" Pope argued.

"Maybe just let them shoot me," JJ told him, making Cassie gape at his words. "Would've been doing me a favor."

"JJ, wha—"

"You take the helm," JJ spoke to Pope as grabbed the bottle of alcohol again, interrupting his girlfriend. "I need some fresh air."

He walked out of the room and Cassie blinked at Pope, who just sighed and shook his head. She sighed herself and followed JJ outside.

"JJ," she called out but he didn't answer as he kept walking toward the end of the ship. "Hey, JJ."

"What?" He snipped as he turned around, leaning his back against the rim before he took a big swig of alcohol. She watched him do it, her mouth open as she shook her head. "What, Cass?"

"I'm just...I'm worried about you, Jay," Cassie told him calmly and he looked away from her, the wind blowing his hair back. "You just said you wanted the cop to shoot you, I mean, I'm worried."

JJ shook his head. "It was just a stupid joke."

"Well, it wasn't stupid to me and it didn't seem like a joke either. Okay? I've never seen you like this. Not this bad. Ever. I mean, the last time I did it was..." She trailed off, looking down.

She was going to say the last time she saw him like this, it was because of what Luke did to him, but then she realized how ironic that sounded. Two of his fathers, one real and one fake, had been the reasons for his bad break downs. How could that be possible?

"...Was when you found me in the Cat's Ass, yeah," JJ finished for her and she looked back up, meeting his gaze. "I guess that's what dads are meant to do. They're meant to fuck with you your whole life and when you think you caught a break...Nah, something fuckin' worse happens," he ranted before he took another big gulp of the burning liquid.

Cassie moved to sit down next to him, reaching up to guide the bottle away from his lips. "JJ, I know you're going through a lot right now but you don't have to do this."

"Oh, I don't?" He replied with raised brows.

"No, you don't. Trust me, I get it," she said and he sucked in his bottom lip, looking down. "I'm gonna be honest with you, JJ. When you were gone for a whole day...I almost drank the Vodka we have in the house. You know, for Cleo's cooking."

He looked back over at her. "You did?"

"Yeah. I thought something bad happened to you and I needed a way out to stop the bad thoughts, so I was gonna do it. I was gonna drink it. I haven't had it in years, you know that" Cassie continued and he released a quiet breath as he listened. "But then when you came back, I realized...the reason why I stopped doing it in the first place was because of you. You saved me, JJ. You showed me what it was like to have people around me who cared. And that's exactly what I want to show to you. I care about you, JJ. I love you. I don't want you to think you need this," she gestured to the bottle in his hand, "to deal with the problems you're facing. You have me. You can talk to me."

JJ sucked on his teeth as he processed her words. He was being so dismissive, so rude to her after she almost died. All because he didn't know how to handle the fact that his father had been the reason for it. He blamed himself for it happening since he knew he should have seen it coming.

He was the reason Cassie had almost died. She didn't need him in her life anymore if she wanted to keep living. He had already dragged her down when they destroyed their way through downtown and now she had been framed for murder alongside him...She didn't need to be dragged down any further than she already was.

Cassie watched the way he seemed so conflicted and her heart ached. All she wanted to do was help him that like he had helped her through what was happening with her mother a while ago. He had stayed by her side before they were even together and now that they were together, what kind of girlfriend would she be if she didn't try to help? Even if JJ wasn't accepting the help? She still had to try.

She waited for JJ to respond, but before he could, someone had cleared their throat in front of them. They looked over, seeing that it had been John B.

"Hey, uh, can I talk to JJ alone for a sec?" John B asked. "Unless...You guys were talking then it can just wait until you're done."

Cassie looked back over at JJ, who was refusing to look over at her now. She sucked in a breath before she looked back at John B, who was glancing in between them with a hint of concern on his face.

"No, we just got done," Cassie told the boy as she stood up from where she was sitting. "You can talk to him."

John B nodded. "Thanks, Cassie. Oh, and, uh, are you feeling better?"

She shrugged. The pain in her side had been subsiding a bit and with everything going on, she had been distracted from it anyway. "Yeah. I should be fine."

John B hummed with another nod before Cassie decided to walk off. She didn't want to go inside just yet so she went to the side of the boat, looking out across the blue sea as the wind blew at her blonde hair.

Once again, the color reminded her of JJ's eyes and her heart twinged yet again. They had been so happy before they decided to go on this treasure hunt and now he could barely look at her. It made her feel sick to her stomach and she wasn't sure if it was because of the wound on it or the fact that she had feelings so intense for this boy that it made her have physical symptoms.

Although she never shared this with people, not even with Kiara, she had always craved a love so deep that the most important thing on her mind would be her lover and vice versa.

She recalled the time when Kiara and John B had been dancing in The Wreck two years ago after they were able to "borrow" the drone from the salvage yard. She remembered thinking, at the time, how John B and Kiara looked cute together and how she wanted someone to like her that.

She had Rafe blowing up her phone when it was happening, but that didn't count. It was all lust with Rafe. She wanted something more. A mind blowing, life altering love that nothing could compare to.

And that's what JJ gave her.

As soon as she officially kissed his lips — not counting the time he gave her mouth-to-mouth since she wasn't exactly conscious for that — she knew that there would be no going back for her. She tried for it happen, but it just couldn't. JJ Maybank had worked his way into her mind and into her dreams to the point where even before she had done anything more with him, everything else had already occurred in her mind.

She kept the longings locked inside a vault in her head, too afraid to open them up. But JJ had been the key to opening it. He had cracked Cassandra Blake open to the point where she couldn't think about anyone else besides JJ Maybank.

And now that he had been drowning his sorrows with alcohol and was refusing to open up to her, she just wanted to scream. How was it fair that JJ had helped her all these years and she couldn't even help him?

Cassie looked down at her hands lying on the rim of the boat, sniffling a bit. She stared at her left ring finger in particular for a little longer she should have before she heard something slam from where she had left JJ and John B.

She furrowed her brows, going back over to the end of the ship to see that John B's hands had been harshly gripping JJ's shirt as he pressed him up against a barrel.

"What the hell is going on?!" Cassie questioned with wide-eyed as she neared the two of them.

The two of them looked over at her before JJ leaned his head back, releasing a drunken laugh that made the girl even more confused.

JJ brought his head back to normal, patting the Routledge boy on the arm. "Yeah, John B...You're gonna be a great dad," he spoke sarcastically before he moved his hand up to pat John B on the cheek.

Cassie's mouth parted in shock as she stared at John B, who looked like he had been on the verge of killing JJ. John B's gonna be a dad? Does that mean...Sarah's pregnant? Cassie thought to herself, completely stunned.

"I am gonna be a good dad," John B declared before he shoved the bottle of alcohol into JJ's chest and walked past Cassie, not even sparing her a glance.

Cassie turned to watch him walk off before she looked back at JJ, who had also watched John B return back inside. "JJ, what the hell did you say to him?" She interrogated as she neared the boy, who pushed up from the container.

"I didn't say nothin'," JJ said as she tried to walk past her as well, but she grabbed his arm to shove her back in front of him. "I didn't say anything, Cass!"

"Yes, you did! Why else would he have pushed you like that? Did you-did you say something about him not being a good father?" She pressed. "Because I'm assuming Sarah is pregnant after overhearing what you said."

JJ scoffed as he looked away from her, shaking his head. "He asked me to be the godfather," he revealed and Cassie blinked in shock. "I told him he wouldn't want me around his kid. And then I said how would he even know how to raise a kid? I mean, we've both got fucked up dads. We don't know how to do shit. And he just got mad at me for being honest."

Cassie let out a scoff as she listened to what JJ had to say. "Are you kidding me right now? You said that to him? How the fuck could you say that to him?"

"Because it's true!" JJ raised his voice.

"He's your best friend, JJ! He's like your brother!" Cassie exclaimed, holding her hand out to the side. "You don't say that to your brother!"

"Well, I just did, so...Sorry that I wanted to be honest," JJ sarcastically apologized with a dramatic shrug.

"Honest?" Cassie repeated. "You were being honest? So, what, you don't think you'd be a good father either?"

"No, you know why? Because both of my fathers screwed me up. I mean, one beat me my whole life and one just tried to kill the both of us! So, no, I don't think I'd be a good father with the ones I have to look up to," JJ answered and Cassie nodded with her lip jutted forward, looking away from him. "I don't even know why you'd care. Clearly you don't see a future with me anyway."

Cassie's head snapped back to meet his eyes. "What?" She breathed out, not knowing where he was getting that from.

"I mean, when I asked you if you thought about a future with us down at the pier, you couldn't even answer!" JJ pointed out.

Cassie's stomach dropped as she thought back to that moment. "I-I was thinking!" She stammered in response, not knowing what else to say.

"Just stop, Cassie! I know when you're lying! And you shouldn't even need to think about it, it's yes or no!" He proclaimed. "So which is it, huh?"

"It's yes, okay?! It's always been yes!" Cassie blurted out from the pressure he was putting on her, making him falter just a bit. "I just— I didn't know how to answer. I want to be with you forever, JJ, I'm just-I'm just scared!"

JJ held his hand out. "Of what?!"

"Of this!" She admitted.

JJ lowered his hand, his brows furrowing in confusion. "What?"

"I'm scared of this! Of-of this fighting! I'm scared of-of becoming our parents. Okay, I want to be with you, but I'm just scared. I'm scared of what's to come if we...If there's a future with us together. Which I want there to be, but...I don't want our love to leave each other if we go further than what we are now," Cassie explained as JJ took a step back, trying to process her words. "And now— Now, you're drinking your life away! And trust me, I know that sounds hypocritical coming from me, but it's not meant to be. Because out of everyone, I understand. Okay? I understand because I've been through the same thing. Maybe not the same situation, but the same coping mechanism. I struggled just like you. I drank my life away to the point where I didn't have any friends until Kie came along and then you and the Pogues did. I don't want you to go through what I went through because it was one of the most painful experiences I have ever gone through in my life."

JJ looked away from her, shaking his head for whatever reason. Either he was disagreeing with her or he was just shaking his head at himself, Cassie didn't know. Either way, she was beginning to get choked up as tears welled in her eyes.

"JJ...you're breaking my heart," Cassie admitted as her voice cracked and she held a trembling hand up to her heart. "You're breaking my heart to see you like this. To see you trying to push me away." She tried to keep her composure, but the tears had fallen from her eyes and down her face. Still, she continued, "But I'm not going to let you push me away. You didn't let me back then. And I'm not letting you now. I want to be here for you. JJ, I love you. I'm not going anywhere."

"That's the problem," JJ mumbled.

"W-What?"

"You shouldn't be with me, Cassie," he clarified as looked back at her and Cassie couldn't stop herself from letting out a strangled whimper at his words. "I want to be with you. Trust me, I do. But I realize...I realize I've dragged you down into a hole that you can't come out of. A good boyfriend wouldn't do that. I love you, I do, but I'm sorry. I don't want to hold you back any more," he said before he began to walk past her.

She grabbed onto his wrist, stopping him once again. "No, JJ. I'm-I'm not letting you do this. I'm not letting you...break up with me. I-I won't let you."

JJ refused to meet her eyes as he took his wrist away and kept on walking past her, trying to get inside to escape the painful conversation.

"You told me your biggest fear was you ending up alone, so why are you doing this?!" She called out after him hoarsely once she turned to see him walk away.

JJ paused, his back still facing her. "I'd rather end up alone than see you end up hurt or worse because of me. And that's already happened."

Cassie let out a scoff mixed with a sob. "How could-how could you do this to me? This is-this is worse than me getting hurt," she cried as JJ kept his back facing her, not being able to look at her. "I hate you for doing th-this to me. I hate you."

She didn't mean for the words to come out because she didn't hate him, not for years. But she hated how he was doing this to her, how he was making her feel when they should have been comforting each other instead.

JJ's heart stung at the words. Not because she meant them, but because he thought he deserved to hear them. "Good. You should," was all he said in response before he left to go inside.

That's when she couldn't stop all the tears from falling from her eyes, becoming a weeping mess as she felt her legs collapse from underneath her.

Although JJ had never said the words, "I'm breaking up with you," that's sure what it sounded like to her. He thought he had been doing it to save the girl from himself, but it only broke her heart even more.

She didn't want JJ to do this. She didn't want JJ to think she would be safer without him by her side. He protected her, they protected each other. But he couldn't see that. He was so busy blaming himself for what Groff had done to her that he couldn't see that him and Cassie were better off together than they were apart.

And that pained Cassie to her core.

Cassie suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap around her and she opened her eyes, seeing that it had been Pope. He had been saying something to her, but she couldn't hear it from the ringing that had occurred in her ears.

He helped her back up and that's when she wrapped her arms around him and he let her sob into his chest while he tried his hardest to soothe her.

authors note!
i apologized in advance didn't i? but do
not worry too much hehe that's all imma
say. also the way they tried making us hate
jj so his death would hurt less...hell nah
i will stick by my man through thick and
thin BC NONE OF THE OTHER POGUES
TRIED TO HELP. IT WAS SO CLEAR HE
WAS STRUGGLING AND THEY JUST
LET IT HAPPEN LIKE OMG I CANT IM
STILL SO FUCKING PISSED AND ITS BEEN
3 MONTHS LIKE OH MY GOD