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𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗵𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲: 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝘂𝗰𝗸

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Cassie drove down to the beach, parking her car in the lot before she made her way down to the sand. It was weird to think that they were just here yesterday and everything was partially normal and now...now things have turned to shit.

Again.

Cassie squinted out toward the water to see if she could catch sight of a certain towhead blonde, but she couldn't find anyone that looked like him. She knew her boy and none of those guys surfing were him.

She sighed to herself, going to turn back before she caught sight of a couple playing with their daughter, who looked to be about five, in the sand a few feet away.

They had both been blonde, blue eyes glistening in the sun as they helped their younger daughter build a sand castle. Cassie watched them for a second, a hint of a smile on her lips while she watched the couple laugh with one another as their daughter tried to make a castle but it fell.

She didn't know why, but she felt her feet take her over to them to get closer. As she grew nearer, she started to hear their conversation. "When your castle is made, you can be the queen, honey," the mother spoke to her child.

The daughter shook her head. "No, Mommy. You're the queen. And Daddy's the king. I'm the princess."

The father chuckled before he took his wife's hand, where a gorgeous wedding ring had been around her finger. "Guess we're the king and queen."

The woman blushed from her husband's words as Cassie secretly watched. They seemed so in love, even being married with a child. Cassie didn't think it was possible. Not when she was surrounded by dismantled families with messed up parents.

Well, apart from Pope's.

The sight in front of her made her think of the question JJ had asked her when they were on the pier, about if she imagined a future with him. And seeing this lovely couple, who looked so in love as they probably once were when they first got together...that's what she wanted her future to consist of.

She didn't have to be married or have a child, she just wanted to remain in love with JJ, which was something she never thought she would think over two years ago. But here she was, dreaming of being with JJ forever.

However, with everything going on, she wasn't sure if she would ever find peace like this for more than a couple years apparently. It just all had to come crashing down because luck never seemed to be in their favors.

Especially in Cassie's favor, who was so used to people in her life leaving her. Betraying her, even. She hoped that wasn't what was happening with JJ, who still wasn't responding to her calls and texts. But she was holding out hope, that maybe there was a reason for all of this and JJ would come back spewing an apology she would hopefully be able to forgive.

As Cassie continued to watch, the woman looked away from her husband shyly before she took notice of Cassie standing near them. "Oh, can we help you?" She asked sweetly.

Cassie cleared her throat, wiping her hands along her thighs. "Uh, sorry. I was just um..." She trailed off, looking between the couple who seemed to be a bit confused. "I was just looking for someone. Have you seen a guy around? Blonde hair, blue eyes? Six feet tall? He might be wearing a purple shirt with some camouflage cargo shorts? Backwards cap too?"

The couple looked at each other as they shook their heads. "No, I don't think we have. Sorry about that," the man told her.

"Oh, it's fine. Thank you," Cassie said with a smile before she looked at their daughter, who was still playing in the sand. "What's her name? She's so cute."

"Oh, thank you. Her name's Hope," the woman answered.

"Hope," Cassie repeated as she looked down. Boy, do I really need some hope right now. She sucked in a breath, looking back at the family. "That's a pretty name."

"Mom!" Someone shouted out and Cassie looked over, seeing a boy, who looked to be about eleven, walking over to them with a boogie board in hand.

"Luke, honey!" The woman replied, waving him over.

Cassie swallowed thickly at the name, her stomach dropping. That's when an idea had formed in her head and she began to back away. "Thanks, again. You have a nice family."

The man waved. "Thank you."

Cassie turned around, quickly making her back over to the car. With the mention of the name Luke, she immediately thought about JJ's father. Could it have been possible he was back and he had done something to JJ? She wasn't even sure where he would be if that was the case, but she knew one place where someone could have known about it.

The prison.

She couldn't go to Shoupe, not when he was suspicious of them committing a murder. So she had to go to someone else she hadn't seen for two years.

Her mother.

Cassie sat in the chair, holding the phone up to her ear as she waited for her mother to come out. She had been playing with her shark tooth necklace, nervous for how this was going to go down since the last time she had spoken to her mother, it had been to tell her Ward had died.

She wasn't even sure if this was going to work, but she had to try. JJ still wasn't answering her texts and calls, and she was growing more anxious by the second. She would do everything in her power to find him.

That's when she saw her mother come out of the door and her eyebrows raised at the sight of her. Her eyes had been sunken in, her body more frail than it once was. Her hair had graying roots from not being able to dye it and there had been more wrinkles on her face than what Cassie had remembered.

It seemed like prison, along with grief, had aged her.

Savannah sat down in the chair across from her daughter, picking up the phone and placing it up to her ear. "Cassandra. I haven't seen you in a while. How long has it been now?" She inquired, her voice monotone.

Cassie swallowed thickly. "Two years. It's been two years," she answered.

Out loud, it sounded preposterous that she hadn't visited her mother in two years. But could you really blame her? Savannah had wreaked havoc on her life and was an inch away from shooting her.

Why would Cassie willingly want to see her?

Savannah hummed, looking down at the table. "Two years? You haven't visited in two years and now you're suddenly here? Why?"

"I thought you didn't want to see me. You know, after I told you about Ward, you just walked away," Cassie recalled and Savannah rubbed her nose, not making eye contact with her daughter.

"Why are you here, Cassandra?" Savannah cut to the chase after a moment.

Cassie released a sigh. "Basically, my friends and I, we can't find JJ. He won't respond to any of my calls or texts. And I just thought maybe...maybe his dad came back. JJ helped him leave the island over two years ago now but...I don't know where else JJ could be. So I was wondering if maybe you've heard anything? If Luke came back and got arrested or something? I know the woman and men are separated here but word goes around, right?"

Savannah took in his Cassie's words, running her tongue along her top teeth. She looked back up from the table, seeing how concerned Cassie seemed to be.

"So..." Savannah began after a moment, "you came all the way here to ask me if I've heard anything about Luke Maybank just because JJ's been missing. If I didn't know any better, it would seem like you care about him. But the last time I've ever seen you, I was the under the impression you hated him."

Cassie licked her lips. "Hated him...Yeah, uh...things have changed."

Savannah raised a brow. "Oh, things have changed?"

Cassie closed her eyes before she decided to blurt out, "We've been dating for over two years now."

Savannah blinked, reeling her head back as she processed her daughter's words. She had spent a whole year hearing her daughter complain about how much JJ pissed her off only for her to be dating him now? Had it just been a ruse this whole time? Or had they fallen for each other during their treasure hunt?

"Well, that's news to me," Savannah commented and Cassie sucked in her lip, nodding. "Over two years...so it happened when you guys were stuck on an island for a month, I'm presuming? So bored that you...fell in love?" She guessed.

"Mom," Cassie said, not wanting to get into it since she really didn't want to detail to her mother about her journey of falling in love with JJ.

Savannah shrugged. "What? It's safe to assume you're in love with him if you've been together for over two years, is it not?"

Cassie leaned her head back before she released a sigh. "Fine, yes, we're in love. But, we were only kinda together on Poguel— that island. It officially happened..." She trailed off, realizing how bad it would sound to say they began dating the day after she put Savannah in jail.

"It officially happened...? Go on," Savannah urged, waving her hand.

Cassie shut her eyes again as she winced, "It officially happened the day after I put you in jail..."

"Oh," the woman said before she began to nod, her lips pressed in a thin line. "You seemed to have your priorities straight then. Put your mother in jail and get a man right after. Great priorities."

Cassie put a hand on her face, rubbing the side of her nose. Oh, God...

"A Maybank though?" Savannah continued. "Hm. Who would've thought a Blake and a Maybank would be together? Guess you could say he...stole your heart," she joked, laughing a bit at her own joke.

Cassie took her hand away from her face, giving her mother an offended look. "Are you serious?"

Savannah shrugged. "What? Am I wrong? The Maybanks are thieves."

Cassie's lip curled. "You know nothing about JJ. He had to do what he had to do to survive. He's nothing like his father," she defended her boyfriend. "Nothing."

Savannah's eyebrows raised. "Oh, so you really do love him then."

Cassie sat up straighter in her chair. "Yeah. Yeah, I do. Why? Is that funny to you or something? You thought I wasn't capable of that?" She questioned.

"Oh, no, it's got nothing to do with you," Savannah shook her head and Cassie furrowed her brows a bit. "It's just...Don't come crawling to me— Or, rather, your Aunt Bea, when he decides he wants to break your heart."

Cassie scoffed at her mother's words. The fact that her own mother was saying that to her...She must have been praying on her daughter's down fall this whole time. "What is wrong with you? I mean, you can't even be happy for me?"

Savannah leaned forward in her chair. "Why should I be happy for you when you put me in here?" She countered and Cassie's eyes narrowed. "And besides, I'm only looking out for you. Didn't Luke used to hit him? Don't want his son to do the same to you. We know I have experience with that too so..."

Cassie couldn't even believe her mother was even talking about the possibility of JJ becoming abusive. Despite his violent tendencies, he had never done anything to physically hurt her. Not even when they hated each other. And now that they were together, he would never even think about hurting her.

"I told you...JJ is nothing like his father," Cassie reiterated darkly. "He has never and will never lay a hand on me. And he won't break my heart."

Savannah gave her daughter a once over, hearing the conviction in her tone. "Alright, well...Good luck."

"Good luck?" Cassie repeated with a scoff.

"I'm just warning you, Cassandra. Maybanks can't be trusted. I mean, you're literally here because you think his father might have been arrested. Which, by the way, I haven't heard anything so you're gonna have to continue your search for your...Wait. Your search for your lost boyfriend. Would you look at that? It's already starting."

Cassie let out another scoff as she gaped at her mother, in disbelief at her cruel words. She knew her mother was a terrible person, but she wasn't going to tolerate how she was speaking about JJ.

She knew JJ wouldn't just leave her unless something had happened. In all those times she refused to accept her feelings for him years ago, he still stood by her and waited for her. Now that they had been together for two years, she knew he wouldn't just up and leave without saying goodbye.

Her mother was wrong about him. So, so wrong.

"Fuck you," Cassie spat and Savannah raised her brows. "You know what? I shouldn't have even come here. I should have just let you rot in your cell where you fucking belong. You wanna talk about Maybanks not being trusted? Let's talk about you not being trusted. You covered up a murder and you killed someone yourself. Last time I checked, neither Luke or JJ did that so...Who's the worst now?"

Savannah nostrils flared. "Those two murders were done out of love. Your father was going to hurt me— Kill me, maybe, out of his drunk state. Ward, he-he didn't mean to kill him but he did. And he did it to protect me. I did the same thing with Gavin. If I didn't shoot him...Ward could've been gone much sooner."

Cassie wanted to say, Maybe that would've been for the best, but she held her tongue. She knew what it was like to lose someone and even though she hated Ward and her mother, she knew her mother had cared and grieved deeply about that man who did save her from an abusive relationship.

Savannah continued, "If you were put in the same position I was in, you would've done the same exact thing. If someone were to try to hurt JJ, don't you think you'd wanna hurt them back? Would you just sit back, let it happen? No, you wouldn't. Because I know you, Cassandra. You can deny how similar we are, fine, but I know you fight for the people you love. If you didn't...I wouldn't be rotting in my cell like you said."

Cassie took in her mother's words, knowing that she was unfortunately right. If anyone were to ever try to hurt her friends or JJ, she knew she wouldn't just sit back.

She thought back to when Barry had ambushed them all those years ago when they were on their way to that fake warehouse. She was filled with rage. So much rage that she hit Barry with his own gun and destroyed parts of his house. She wasn't even as close with the Pogues then like she was now and she still fought for them.

Now...they were like a family to her. She would do anything for them.

She would do anything for JJ.

Cassie stared her mother in the eyes, trying to read if there had been any lies laced in them about not hearing about Luke. But she couldn't find any. She was at a dead end. Nonetheless, she couldn't give her mother the satisfaction of knowing that.

"Yeah, you're right. I do fight for the people I love. And JJ does the same exact thing which is why I know...I'll find him. He wouldn't leave me unless something bad happened," Cassie told her mother.

"Well, then let's hope nothing bad happened then," Savannah voiced, but her tone had been passive-aggressive.

"How much longer you got in here?" Cassie pretended not to know. "Oh, wait, it's forever." Savannah narrowed her eyes as her lip curled. "See you...when I want something."

And with that, Cassie put the phone back on its hanger and the left. Her mother watched her walk away with contempt in her expression for she hung up her own phone harshly, walking back inside the prison.

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

Cassie parked her car back home, slamming the door frustratedly since both her trip to the beach and to her mother did not help in her search for JJ.

She was completely out of luck, unsure of what to do next which was why she decided to come home.

She walked across the lawn, reading through the messages she had sent him that he did not yet write back to.

Cassie
Jay, where are you?
Is everything okay?
7:39 AM

JJ, why aren't you answering my calls?
The others left to go to Charleston but I'm home
Is something wrong?
8:23 AM

JJ please answer me
I'm really worried
Please call me
9:15 AM

She scrolled further down to her most recent text she had sent him, biting her lip.

Cassie
JJ, I don't know what's going on but I need you right now
Please answer me
Please
4:47 PM

She hadn't even realized that she had been gone all day, searching for the boy she loved. All of them hadn't slept that night and they had moved Terrance's body once dawn hit. It was safe to say she was exhausted, but she was determined to find JJ.

After her conversation with her mother, it was almost like she wanted to prove to her that JJ would come back even though her mother would have no idea if he had since she was stuck in jail.

But hearing her say that all Maybanks were the same and that JJ was just going to break her heart at the end of the day, it had irked her to the point where she was even considering going to the police about this to track him down.

But she knew she couldn't. Not when Shoupe was suspicious of them and if JJ's disappearance possibly had to do with Wes Genrette, which she didn't know why it would.

JJ could have easily been fine right now. He could have been out somewhere, actually running a stupid errand and his phone could have died. But Cassie was paranoid. The last time JJ had disappeared from the Pogues, she and the others had found him bloodied and bruised from his father, drunk in a hot tub.

And now with everything going on, he could have easily been bloodied and bruised in a ditch somewhere because of that Lightner guy.

She was starting to spiral. In the two years she had been together with JJ, he had never ignored her calls and texts like this. And if he had, he would have called or texted her right back. Something was off and Cassie's heart had been hurting the second he hadn't called her back right after her first call to him.

Was it wrong for her to be getting this worked up? This upset? She was trying to gaslight herself into thinking she was overreacting, but...was she really? With everything that had happened, how they almost got killed underwater?

She just wanted JJ to come back home. Come back home, in her arms.

As Cassie walked further closer to her home, Kiara and Emery came rushing out of the bait shop since they had heard her car pull up. "Did you find him?" Kiara immediately questioned.

Cassie clicked her phone off, placing it in her pocket. "No. I...I don't know where he is. I went to the break, I saw my mom—"

"You saw your mom?" Emery asked, eyes wide.

"Thought maybe Luke came back into town? I don't know, it was a shot in the dark but...she said she didn't hear anything of him getting arrested," she explained. "So...I don't know. He won't answer my calls or texts and I'm...I'm really worried."

Cassie felt herself start to get choked up at the thought of something bad happening to him, causing her to place her hand on her chest as her heart started to race.

Kiara and Emery shared a concerned look before the former gently grabbed her friend's arm. "Let's get you inside, Cece. I'm sure he'll come back. Come on," Kiara assured her as she guided the girl back inside their home, seeing how much rest she needed.

Cassie felt her lip start to tremble as Kiara brought her inside with Emery behind them. "What if he-what if he doesn't?" She spluttered as Kiara brought her inside her and JJ's room.

Kiara gave her a friend a sad look. "He will, Cassie. He wouldn't leave you. He loves you."

"But what if-what if something bad happened and-and that's why he can't come back?" Cassie questioned as her eyes watered, causing a few tears to spill down her cheeks.

"Oh, Cassie," Kiara cooed before she brought the girl into a hug, allowing the girl to cry into the crook of her neck. "It's JJ. He's got the survival instincts of a cockroach, we both know this."

"These-these people killed Terrance, Kie. What if-what if they got to JJ?" She cried.

Kiara didn't know what to say to that. In all honesty, she had been worrying about the same thing all day. But she didn't want to say that to Cassie, who was clearly so upset about it.

Emery moved to them, deciding to wrap her arms around the side of Cassie. Kiara blinked down at her since Emery's arm had wrapped around Kiara as well,  but she didn't say anything for the sake of her best friend.

"It's okay, Cassie. Everything is gonna get figured out," Emery tried to soothe her. "I think you should rest."

Kiara nodded before the two of them pulled away, allowing Cassie to wipe at her tears and sniffle. "Em's right, Cece. You should rest. We were up all night and you've been out all day...Try to sleep, okay?"

Cassie swallowed hard. "Okay," her voice came out hoarse. "Okay, you're right."

Both Kiara and Emery gave the girl a sad smile before they walked out of the room, shutting the door to give Cassie privacy. Cassie immediately stripped herself of her clothes, wanting to put on something more comfortable.

She went over to the closet, finding some cotton shorts and...one of JJ's gray hoodies. She took it off the hangar and held it up to her face, smelling the familiar scent of his cologne she adored so much.

She let out a quiet sob into it before she put it on, bringing herself down onto their bed to cry herself to sleep.

authors note!
no bc tell me why the pogues were barely
even worried about where jj was. like kie
was but she should have been more imo.
especially bc cleo was already kidnapped
and they had been texting from her phone,
that note jj left could have been easily written
by someone else likeee idk that's why im having
cassie tweak out bc i feel like that's valid with
the circumstances of everything. also this
tiktok ( https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT2NsqWQe/ )
is so jassie ugh i love them...and another thing, i
made a pinterest board for cassie
( https://pin.it/4BNPDJLzp ) if yall wanna
check it out. it's basically her aesthetic and some
outfit inspo she may wear!