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𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗵𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗻: 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂

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When the Pogues all made it back to Poguelandia 2.0, which was surprisingly not being swarmed with cops or bulldozed yet, they took the time to settle down before opening up the scroll John B took from the ship.

Cassie had stripped herself from her dirty clothes and immediately went in the shower to scrub herself from all the muck that had gotten on her body from being on the run for a whole day.

She had been careful not to let the water hit the gash on her cheekbone, not wanting it to burn. Once she had gotten out of the shower, she pulled on a robe and went to her room so she could change into something new.

However, once she walked in the room, she caught sight of herself on the standing mirror her and JJ had. She noticed the wound on her cheekbone and she stepped closer to the mirror to examine it.

It hadn't been deep or super bad, but there had been a bit of dried blood around it since she didn't want the water to get too close to it when she had tried washing her face. When she practiced making different facial expression, a stinging sensation came from the wound and she winced.

"I can help you clean it."

She turned around, seeing JJ standing in the doorframe as he leaned against it with his arms crossed. He had still been in the same clothes as before since he had been waiting for Cassie to get out of the shower. But once he saw that the bathroom was empty, he wanted to check in on her first.

"Oh, it's okay. I can just clean it myself. You should probably shower," she brushed it off

"Nah, this is more important right now," he said and she pursed her lips to the side. "Sit down and wait here."

Cassie sat down on the bed as JJ went back to the bathroom to pull out the medical kit before he brought it back into their room and took a seat on their bed next to her. He pulled out the rubbing alcohol and a cotton round, putting the liquid onto it.

"This might—"

"Hurt," Cassie finished for him. "Yeah, we both know that by now."

JJ laughed a bit before he dabbed the cotton round on her cheekbone where the wound was, making her wince a bit from the pain. He brought his hand up underneath her chin, lifting her head up just a bit so he could make sure he cleaned all around it.

As JJ cleaned her wound, she couldn't help but think about everything that they had gone through in the span of a day. Demolishing downtown, destroying Zeasy's house, running away from mercenaries, getting kidnapped by said mercenaries, and Groff finally admitting to being JJ's real father.

Cassie wasn't sure how she wasn't passed out right now from being up all night and day, but the nerves she had been feeling were keeping her on her toes. She didn't feel like she could sleep even if she wanted to.

"There. All better," JJ said after he had put some healing cream onto the wound, making her send him a small smile before it fell. "Hey, is everything okay? Well, o-obviously it's not but...Are you okay?"

Cassie released a sigh. "That was like my hundredth time getting kidnapped so I'm used to it by now," she breathed out and JJ released a short laugh. "I should be asking if you're okay. You know, with Groff and everything..."

JJ licked his lips as he looked away from her, shrugging. "Honestly...I don't know what to think. I mean, I don't even know if he made it out of there or not but, like...Am I supposed to care now that he's my father? He was never around for twenty years and suddenly I'm supposed to accept he's my real dad? I don't know. I don't know how to feel about it."

Cassie nodded with a frown. "Yeah. It's a complicated situation. It's something out of a soap opera if we're being honest," she joked a bit, but JJ only cracked a small smile. She reached her arm around him, bringing him closer to her so she could lean her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Jay. I'm so sorry this is all happening. It's...It's just not fair."

"Don't be sorry, Cass. It's not your fault that this is happening. It's just my luck. I mean, of course this whole time I'm not actually JJ Maybank who's a Pogue. Of course I'm suddenly Jesse James Genrette who's a Kook," he spoke, the name bitter on his tongue. "It's like my whole life was one, big lie and I'm not actually...I'm not actually who I thought I was."

Cassie took her head away, peering at the boy's side profile. "You'll always be JJ Maybank to me," she said and he turned to her, meeting her blue eyes. "I know neither last name brings out good things or memories to you, but...you'll always be my JJ."

JJ stared into the eyes of his lover before he suddenly broke down in tears. With everything that had been going on, he didn't have time to himself and just let it all out. But now that he was alone in his room with Cassie, his body finally allowed him to cry.

Cassie immediately brought her other arm up around him to pull him in tighter, allowing him to sob into the space between her shoulder and neck. "Baby, it's okay. It's okay," she quietly soothed him as she rubbed circles on his back, although she was trying to fight back tears as well by just seeing the state JJ was in.

If he had been hurting, she had been hurting. She didn't want to see him like this. Especially when they were so happy just a month ago and now...now he was crying in her arms over the fact that his whole life had been a huge lie.

"I-I don't know what to do, Cassie," JJ cried as he inhaled sharply, trying to breathe through his sobs. "I-I don't know what to-what to think."

"Shh, it's okay. You don't have to think about anything right now. It's just me and you right now. It's okay. I got you," she told him as he cried more, melting further into her touch. A few tears had fallen from her own eyes, but she ignored them to keep her sole focus on JJ.

With the amount of times she had cried in front of him and he had comforted her, he deserved to be comforted by her right now. He had been there for her when her mother made things one hundred times more confusing for, so she would be there for him now that his real father was making things one hundred times more confusing.

JJ had barely cried in front of Cassie. And when he did, which was extremely rare, he would always try to brush it off. But now it felt like his body was telling him that he needed to get these tears out in order to release the aching tension he felt all over his body.

And with Cassie, he felt safe. He didn't feel like he was being judged by her — not since they've been together, anyway. All his life, he would hear Luke yelling at him to "man-up" and to "stop being a pussy" for crying.

But Cassie embraced him instead. She took him into her arms just like he had taken her into his arms when she cried. She told him that it was just them two, telling him, "I got you." He found that kind of funny since whenever she cried in his arms...He would tell her, "I got you."

Maybe that was just something everyone said when they sobbed in someone's arms, but with them two, it was like they had been saying it in an entirely different way. They held each other in their arms, yes, but maybe it also meant, "I understand you."

There had been a time where neither of them understood each other, where Cassie had been an enigma to JJ and where JJ had been a paradox to Cassie. But now, they had solved the mystery of each other just like they had solved the past mystery of the Royal Merchant treasure and El Dorado.

Their love, however, had been way more important than some gold. They both realized that quickly when both of their lives had been on the line numerous times now.

And both of them would easily trade some gold in order to save each other's lives.

Once JJ had calmed down a bit, his sobs turning to sniffles, he pulled away from Cassie. He wiped at his red, puffy eyes before he looked at the girl sat in front of him, noticing how there had been some tears on her face.

"You were crying too?" He weakly asked.

Cassie quickly wiped the tears away. "Yeah, but that doesn't matter. I was kinda only crying for you." He gave her a guilty look and she reached out, placing a hand on his thigh. "It's fine, Jay. You're more important right now."

JJ's bottom lip started to tremble at that, but he forced himself to not start crying again. No one had ever cared this much about him that they were willing to put themselves aside to focus on him.

It was usually JJ putting himself aside to help someone else.

But now that Cassie had been doing it for him, he was reminded again why he had fallen in love with her in the first place. The way she cared about her friends and would do anything for them, even if it meant doing something illegal. It had been the same with him and now that they were dating, that was only personified.

And while that made him feel loved, it scared him at the same time. Those mercenaries could have easily killed her just because she was willing to be with JJ during his time of need. He didn't want her to get hurt because of him, which she had already had by the cut on her cheek. But he didn't want her to get more hurt...or worse.

"Cassie, you should have never come with me," he blurted out. He had already said this to her back when they had been on the mercenaries' ship, but he needed to say it again because she should have never been with him there. "You should've snuck out of Zeasy's when you had the chance. If you did, you wouldn't have gotten this-this cut and—"

"JJ, stop."

"No," he raised his voice a bit and she pursed her lips. "No, Cass. I mean, you could've...you could've died back there. I never want to willingly put you in danger like that."

"JJ, you could have died, too, okay? And if I had just left you alone and I found out something happened to you later...I would never forgive myself," Cassie told him and he swallowed thickly. "I'm not letting you go through this alone. Coming from someone who has suffered through something alone, it's not something I would want something else to go through. Okay? Especially you. I'm your girlfriend. I'm supposed to be by your side through everything. I'm not letting you be alone."

JJ searched Cassie's face, seeing the fervor in her expression. He knew that Cassie had a hard time dealing with her father's death. He still remembered what she had said to him that night at Midsummers when she was wasted: "You don't understand what it was like. To have no one to go to after my dad died. I-I can't go back to that. I can't do it. I won't do it."

Of course she would be the last person to leave JJ to deal with this on his own. No matter how hard he tried, she would always fight her way through to be by his side. There was nothing he could to do to keep her out of harm's way. The only thing he could do was try to protect her the best that he could.

He released a sigh, keeping his stare on the girl in front of him. "Cassie, with everything going on right now, my life feels like a fuckin' mess. The only thing that doesn't feel like that is...being with you," he admitted to her and she felt her heart swell at his words. "I love you. So much to the point where you don't understand."

"Jay...of course I understand. Because I love you just the same," Cassie responded, reaching out to rub her hand up and down his tense bicep.

"No, you seriously don't understand. I would do anything for you," JJ professed and Cassie felt her heart skip a beat. "I would do anything," he repeated quieter before he glanced down at her lips. It wasn't in a sexual way. It almost like he needed to kiss her in order to resuscitate himself from everything that had been feeling.

"I would do anything for you, too," she whispered before she brought her hand up to his cheek, pulling him in place a gentle kiss on his lips. There was no tongue or making out involved. It was just a simple kiss that reminded the both of them they were still here.

JJ brought his own hand up to cup her own cheek before she winced in pain because of her wound, making him immediately pull away. "Oh, shit, I'm sorry."

Cassie laughed a bit. "No, it's okay," she assured him. "You should probably shower now anyway before the others start to get antsy about this scroll," she shrugged and he nodded, pursing his lips to the side. "I love you, though, JJ. I really do."

JJ smiled a bit. "I love you too." He leaned down and planted a soft, quick kiss on her lips before he left the room to shower.

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

The Pogues made their way out to the surf shop, sitting inside around the table to try to decipher what the scroll had meant. Pope and Cleo had not been there since John B had explained to the blonde couple about what had happened with Pope tackling a cop for them and they had been in shock.

It reminded Cassie of when JJ took the fall for Pope when they had sunk Topper's boat. That felt like a lifetime ago and now the circumstances were so much worse. She had to remind herself to thank Pope for what he had done for her and JJ as soon as she saw him again.

As they sat around the table, they passed around a joint JJ had pulled out for all of them. After the mess they had just been in, they really needed something to wind down and relax. Weed would do just the job.

Cassie — now wearing cotton shorts with one of JJ's gray tees that had the logo for Jeep printed on it — sat next to JJ, leaning her body into him since she was starting to feel the effects from the weed. She hadn't smoked in a while so it hadn't taken her that long to feel it enter her system, but she wasn't complaining.

She needed it after the week that she had.

"Okay, so obviously, it's a map of sorts, right?" John B started off with.

"No, it's a just a bunch of random locations," Cassie deadpanned and John B gave her an annoyed look. "Of course it's a map!"

"I was just saying..." John B trailed off.

"It looks like a trippy mosaic," JJ voiced with the joint in between his fingers.

"Hey, can I take another hit?" Cassie asked from beside him.

"Anything for you, princess," JJ answered right away as he held the joint up, putting it in between her lips for her so she was able to inhale the smoke.

"It's so weird. It's all scrambled," Kiara said as she shook her head while Cassie released the smoke from her lungs.

"Ha! Like scrambled eggs," Emery laughed due to the weed in her system and Kiara slowly gave her a look. "Sorry."

"I mean, what are we supposed to do with this?" Sarah questioned, holding her hand out.

"Decode it. That's what we're supposed to do," JJ answered as the smoke from the joint rose in the air and Sarah tilted her head while she squinted at the scroll.

"But...how?" Kiara slowly asked.

"With the codebreaker? That's how," the blonde boy said he held up the joint between his fingers before John B took it from him.

"That's a joint though," Emery dumbly said, a dazed smile on her face.

"The joint's the codebreaker, Em," Cassie told her.

"Ohhh, that makes sense."

"Is this your first time smoking or something?" Kiara inquired.

Emery looked around at everyone before she answered slowly, "No."

"So that's a yes," Kiara concluded, getting severe deja vu that she didn't want to be getting right now.

"All right, everything's coming into focus now," JJ spoke, staring down at the map. After John B took a hit, he handed the joint to Sarah. "You've just got to let your eyes go out of focus for it to be in focus."

"Right, like, you need the opposite to happen for it to come into view," Cassie added although it had made no sense whatsoever.

JJ pointed at her from where he sat next to her. "Exactly."

"I think we're mind melding," John B mumbled in a daze.

"We got a mountain range."

"Yeah."

Kiara and Emery noticed that Sarah had the joint between her fingers and the latter cleared her throat as she nudged the Routledge girl while Kiara quietly questioned, "What are you doing?"

"Oh. Oh. Shit, sorry," Sarah whispered once she finally realized, quickly handing the joint to Kiara.

"Hear me out. Waterline, right?"

Kiara and Emery were still giving her a bewildered look. "I don't know, shh," Sarah quickly said to the girls but the boys and Cassie didn't seem to the notice since their focus was on the scroll.

"Yeah. Good job, John B. The blue's water," JJ assumed.

"And the green is grass," Cassie smiled once she realized, grabbing JJ's bicep to rock it back and forth excitedly at her realization.

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right, baby. Good job," JJ drawled, patting her on the head.

"The jungle—"

John B stopped himself once he heard a clatter outside followed by a dog barking. "What was that?" JJ asked, his expression darkening, before more rustling was heard outside.

JJ and Cassie looked over their shoulders as John B reached for the bat underneath the table. JJ quickly moved away from the table, trying to find something to arm himself with.

Although the noise could have been anything, it sobered them all up fast.

"I knew we shouldn't have come back here," Kiara breathed out as JJ found an oar to use.

"Are we gonna die? Oh, my God, we're gonna die, aren't we? We're so dead," Emery rambled in fear and Sarah tried shushing her, but the Zhu-Blake girl kept on rambling.

Kiara gripped the girl's shoulder to stop her rambles. "Get it together, M&M. We're not gonna die."

Emery blinked at her. "No, no, you're right. I'm getting it together. I'm so good right now. I think, like, the weed is messing with my mind a bit."

Kiara cracked a small smile before she realized the situation they could have all been in right now. "Yeah, remind us not to pass you the joint next time."

"Probably for the best," Emery agreed.

Cassie took JJ's plaid shirt that they left out to dry and placed it over the scroll to cover it up just in case someone was trying to steal it. As she did that, John B went to one side of the room while JJ went to the other side.

John B opened the door, peering outside. "Nothing on your side?" JJ asked after a moment.

"No. Nothing," John B confirmed as he stepped away from the door. "That's so weird. It kinda sounded like maybe it was—"

They all gasped and stepped back when someone bursted through the other door, knocking some things over. John B and JJ held up their weapons before they realized it had only been a disheveled Chandler Groff.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry," Groff apologized with a pant in his voice, holding his hands out.

"Shit," Cassie cursed breathlessly, placing her hand behind her head as she tried to calm her panicked breathing.

"JJ. You made it," Groff realized as looked at his son before he looked at Cassie, his lips twitching to a small smile. "And you did as well."

"Yeah..." Cassie trailed off as she slowly brought her hands down, one of her hands reaching for her necklace.

"Oh, my God," Sarah breathed out as she wrapped her arms around her stomach, still feeling freaked out. Kiara and Emery looked over at her in concern, but Sarah quickly waved them off.

"I, uh, I'm sorry to bother you here. I swam...I swam all the way in," Groff told them before he began to cough.

Cassie took in the man's appearance. He had been all muddy, so it was obvious he wasn't lying about swimming here. She just wasn't sure if she trusted him to be here after her and JJ had found out he worked for these mercenaries.

JJ shut his eyes as he questioned, "What are you doing here?" He slowly opened his eyes back up, his jaw clenching.

"I-I had nowhere else to go, son," Groff answered.

John B and JJ shared a wary look. JJ decided to take a look back at Cassie, who crossed her arms and released a deep breath since she wasn't sure what to do.

JJ contemplated it for a moment before he ultimately went over to Groff, helping him over to a seat.

authors note!
the fact that we went from jj always comforting
cassie about her mom to now cassie comforting
jj about his dad...i just love them and my lil parallels