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𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘆 𝗳𝗶𝘃𝗲: 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘅𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘆

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It had been dark once they reached Wilmington.

But not as dark as Cassie's thoughts.

Although her conversation with Pope had been a good one, she couldn't help but feel like she had lost JJ entirely. He had continued not to speak a word to her as they reached the rail yard and she wasn't sure if he ever would again.

This was like Sarah ditching her, but worse.

And this was also like Kiara shutting her out, but worser.

She was being thrown out, discarded. Replaced by the shiny, new toy, which in this case, was coincidentally Kiara again. If Cassie had a nickel for every time she was tossed to the side and replaced by Kiara Carrera (who had no idea she was replacing someone), she would have two nickels which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice, right?

See, this is what happens when you show your weaknesses, Cassie. People use it against you, she kept telling herself over and over again.

JJ knew the ins and outs of her brain at this point and he was using her fear of being left out against her. He knew it would cut right to the bone and honestly, she felt like she deserved it for being an absolute dick to him.

She was so persistent on keeping their relationship a secret from the others and she couldn't even throw him a bone by saying "I love you" back to him?

Maybe she did deserve to be tossed in the trash.

No, Cassie, she told herself. She wasn't supposed to be thinking like this. She was supposed to be coming up with ways on how to communicate her feelings to the boy. If she was already giving up, then there would be no hope left for them.

Was there any hope left?

As Topper drove them all over to the rail yard — Cassie left her car parked near the ferry — she couldn't help but look out the window and watch JJ riding on his motorbike next to the truck.

Her lips had been pressed in a thin line as she watched the wisps of his hair underneath his cap fly in the wind and the way his hands gripped the handlebars so tightly.

It seemed like JJ felt like someone was watching him so he looked over his shoulder, making eye contact with the girl through the window. She immediately glanced away, hoping he didn't see.

They finally made it to the rail yard and they all got out of Topper's truck, making their way over to the closest train. "Make it quick. I don't wanna be caught here and sent to jail," Topper told them as he stayed back by his truck.

"Shut up, Topper. You're not gonna be sent to jail," Cassie rolled her eyes, not in the mood for the sound of Topper's annoying voice. Although she was glad Sarah was able to manipulate him into using his truck, she really wished he wasn't here right now. Just his presence pissed her off.

"Cassie," Sarah warned with wide eyes and she put her hands up in defense. "But, uh, she's right, Top. We're fine."

"Yeah, yeah."

The Pogues climbed up the side of the train and they stood on it, peering over to try to find the correct train car that stored the Cross of Santo Domingo. However, just their luck, there seemed to be one too many trains to choose from.

"Well, there's like a thousand trains here," Kiara breathed out.

"Well, we know it's car 750X on the track to Raleigh," Pope reminded them.

"Yeah, so now we just gotta find it," JJ said.

"Well, news flash. We're not getting out of here unnoticed with a giant cross," Kiara pointed out.

"We won't have to. We can nab it somewhere further in the country. Just gotta figure out how to stop the train," Pope explained.

Kiara shrugged, blinking rapidly. "Just" stopping the train. Totally doable. "Right."

"Leave that to me," JJ voiced and Cassie's eyes flicked over to him.

"How you gonna do that?" Cleo questioned.

"Well, I got an uncle up in New Bern, right? When he got tipsy, he would just throw an old chain across the tracks, just for shits and giggles. And, uh, that old little chain would stop all the train traffic in coastal Carolina," JJ detailed to them all.

"Is this one of your made up stories again?" Cassie piped up, giving the boy a look. She hadn't meant to say it out loud, but she just couldn't help herself.

"No, no, I swear. He used a chain and it worked," JJ responded and she was a bit surprised that he even replied back to her. That's a start.

"A chain?" Kiara repeated in disbelief.

"He's actually right. There's a low-voltage current that runs across all rail tracks. You throw a chain on it, you close that circuit. It would read as another train. Crossing lights come down. Science is actually pretty sound," Pope backed up JJ's story.

"Science. I knew my science," JJ bragged, tilting his head cutely and Kiara held her hands up, her eye twitching. Cassie stomach dropped at their interaction, trying to ignore what looked like bantering.

She was supposed to be doing that with him. It wasn't supposed to be Kiara.

"Well, we don't have a chain," Pope brought up.

"No, but...I bet Topper's dad has jumper cables in the truck," Sarah assumed. "Would that work?"

"Yeah."

"Yo, what's going on?! Are-are we doing this or what?!" Topper called out impatiently from below. They all looked over their shoulders, seeing the boy holding his arms out at all of them as he stood near his truck.

"All right, you all wait here. Me and Pope will go look for it and send a signal once we find it," Cleo instructed.

Popped nodded at her before he looked at the others. "Yeah, once we get the signal. Cassie and JJ will set up the jumper cables, and Topper, Sarah, and Kie will help us unload the cross," Pope planned out.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what?" Cassie and JJ both breathed out, blinking at the Heyward boy.

"I don't wanna work with him," Cassie complained at the same time JJ whined, "I don't wanna work with her."

Pope glanced between the two of them. "You're working together. Deal with it." He then shot Cassie a meaningful look, trying to tell her this would be how she could talk to him.

Forced proximity. It always worked!

In the movies at least.

She sent him a look back, trying to tell him she wasn't ready to speak with him yet. "No, I'm not dealing with it, Pope."

"If you don't wanna work with him that bad, we can just switch," Kiara offered with a nonchalant shrug.

Cassie looked at her for a second before back at Pope, who had raised his brows. "Actually, I'll work with him," Cassie changed her mind, earning a puzzled look from the Carrera girl.

JJ glanced in between the two girls before he blew out some air, his lips vibrating. "Perfect. Just perfect," he muttered sarcastically and Cassie narrowed her eyes at the Maybank boy.

"Since when are they back to hating each other?" Sarah muttered under her breath to Cleo.

"No idea. They confuse me," Cleo whispered back.

Sarah nodded before she cleared her throat. "Do we actually have a plan right now?" she questioned in shock.

"I think we do," JJ answered.

"That's impressive."

"Let's not jinx it while we're ahead, come on," Pope told them as he and Cleo started to make their way off the train.

"Nobody ever listens to me," Cleo joked, making them laugh quietly. The two got off the train to go search for the correct car number, leaving the four of them on top of the train as they waited.

"Hey, where are they going?!" Topper whisper-shouted below them.

"They're searching for the right train!" Sarah replied.

"Cool! Thanks, Sarah!"

"Yeah..." Sarah mumbled, rolling her eyes where he couldn't see.

"How do you have him wrapped around your finger so easily? What did you do when y'all were together?" Cassie laughed a bit, finding it kind of insane how much Topper was obsessed with Sarah even though it had been months since she cheated on him with John B.

Cassie didn't like cheaters, but she could let it slide just this once because it was Topper.

"I have no idea. I mean, I didn't even sleep with him," Sarah revealed, not caring that JJ was also with them and she wasn't just talking to Cassie and Kiara. "It would make more sense if I did, but I didn't."

"What does that have to do with it?" Kiara inquired.

"Well, I feel like when you sleep with someone, it creates this bond that can't ever be broken. Like, yeah, you can avoid it no matter how much you want and you may never like the person in that way again, but it's still there," Sarah believed. "That's one of the reasons why I waited so long. Topper just wasn't the one...and then I met John B."

At Sarah's words, Cassie couldn't help herself but glance over at JJ. And he just so happened to already be looking at her. Shit.

JJ tore his gaze away first. "Come on, Sarah, did you forget I was here?" he said to her, trying to ignore what that eye contact he just had with Cassie could have meant. "I don't wanna hear about your sex life with JB. Ugh!"

"Oops. I forgot you weren't a girl."

"Oh, wow, thanks, Sarah. That makes me feel great."

"You're welcome," she replied with a sarcastic smile before she looked back out at the train cars. "What's taking so long?"

"Could they have gotten stopped?" Kiara asked fearfully.

"No, I feel like they would've alerted us or something. They probably haven't found it yet," Cassie reasoned, knowing Pope and Cleo were smart enough to make some kind of commotion to let them know to skedaddle the hell out of there.

After waiting a little longer, Sarah suddenly spotted a figure climbing up a train in the distance. "Hey, hey," she whispered, lightly tapping JJ to get his attention.

They all looked over to see someone climbing up the train and they knew it had to be Pope. They watched as he turned his flashlight on, waving it towards them. JJ put his thumbs up at him, hoping the boy would see it from that far away.

"That's it. We're green," Kiara spoke before the machinery on the train started to turn on. "What's happening?

"You hear that?" JJ's eyes darted to the side before the train that Pope was on started to move. "The train's moving, the train's moving, the train's moving!"

"Shit, shit," Kiara whispered as they started to run along the top of their train, trying to get off of it quickly so they could help Pope and Cleo.

"Go, go, go!" Cassie urged as they all climbed down the train as quick as they could. Sarah had been the first one down followed Kiara and JJ.

Cassie hopped off the train, almost stumbling over, causing JJ to instinctively reach out to steady her. He placed his hands on her hips, causing her to blink at him before he realized what he had just done.

He let go, taking a step back from her as she just stared at him. That was the first time they touched since their argument and she could still feel the ghost of his hands on her waist.

"Sorry," JJ mumbled, although he wasn't know why he apologized for that. He shouldn't be the one apologizing...right?

She sucked in a breath. "It's okay," was all she said in response, turning to follow Sarah and Kiara who were already marching back toward Topper.

"Oh, hey, Sarah," Topper sardonically greeted the Cameron girl once he noticed her making her way back to him.

"Do you have jumper cables in there?" Sarah immediately inquired, not bothering to greet him back since they were now on a time crunch.

"Here I am involved in illegal activities. This is great—"

"It's not that illegal," Sarah brushed off as she opened his truck door without his permission.

"—and by the way, I'm not even close to being okay with this," Topper quickly told her.

"Okay," Sarah replied, shutting the door once she got the jumper cables out from the truck.

"Jumper cables, what are we-what are we doing with these?" he questioned, his eyes wide.

"Topper, if you don't wanna go, it's fine. And we'll take the truck," Sarah assured him, walking past him.

"The truck?"

"Yeah!"

"Okay, okay. Hey, I just wanna make sure everyone here is okay with ending up in federal prison," Topper said to them all, trying to scare them out of this so he wasn't forced to be doing criminal activity with a bunch of people he didn't even like. Apart from Sarah, of course.

"Uh, if it gets to that, yeah, I'll do it for Pope," JJ answered as Sarah handed him the jumper cables before he got on his motorbike. He then looked at Cassie and gestured her to come over with his head.

Cassie swallowed thickly before she got on the back of JJ's bike reluctantly, barely putting her arms around him just yet.

Topper let out a frustrated sigh as JJ revved his engine, driving the motorbike away. Cassie was forced to wrap her arms around him tighter she wouldn't fall off, feeling the way he had tensed up from her touch.

It had been silent between them the whole way, but that was expected at the speed they were going at in order to beat the train.

Once they reached crossing lights, JJ parked the bike behind some bushes and a tree. "This should be far enough," JJ spoke as the two of them hopped off his bike, rushing to get to the tracks in time. He suddenly tripped over himself. "Ah, shit, ow!"

She caught herself giggling at him before JJ sent her a glare once he scrambled back up. "Oh, uh, you good?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said through clenched teeth before they reached the tracks, hearing the train's horn blaring. "Oh God, you can hear it coming. Let's fry this sucker." He began to work on attaching the jumper cables to the crossing lights they were at. "Now, all you have to do...is change the current. Let's go, baby."

Cassie tilted her head as her stomach dropped at the usage of the word "baby," unsure if he was calling her that or if it had been a general term.

JJ wasn't sure either.

She cleared her throat. "Don't get electrocuted. Or do. It's up to you."

"Had a feeling you would say that."

"Oh, you know me so well," she deadpanned, giving him a sarcastic smile.

He sent her one back before he back down at the jumper cables. "Three, two, one," he counted down quickly before he placed the cable on the tracks. "And red."

"Here we go..."

"Come on, man. Come on, come on," JJ repeated, but the light was staying green. "Okay, that's what he would do. That's literally what my— So then it would change red— Oh, my God," he breathed out frantically as Cassie narrowed her eyes at the cables. "Think, think, think. Okay, what if I blockaded the track? That's what I could do. Maybe put like a tree?"

Cassie realized what the problem was, picking one of the cables up. "Uh, hey. The train touches both sides of the track," she reminded him as she placed the cable on the other side, watching the lights again.

"Oh, right, yeah."

"Please, please, please," Cassie kept muttering to herself as watched the lights in anticipation. JJ watched from behind her before his eyes traveled to the girl in front of him, looking at her almost longingly.

He had been so caught up in staring at her from behind that he didn't even see the lights change from green to red until Cassie exclaimed, "Oh, my God. Yes. Yes!"

JJ's eyes flicked to the lights, seeing the red instead of green. "That's what I'm talking about!" JJ cheered excitedly as she turned to him, instinctively giving him a double high-five. "You're literally a genius," he complimented admirably, not even realizing they just touched hands. "I was gonna do that, though."

"Sure you were," Cassie replied. "But genius? You mean that?" She tilted her head a bit too teasingly for the circumstances.

"Don't make me take it back."

"Right."

This is banter, right? That's a good sign.

"And now we wait."

JJ panted as they moved away from the tracks, crouching down near some bushes. "It's gonna work. It's gonna work." They wait a bit in silence before they watched the train come closer, slowing down as it got closer to the crossing lights. "She's slowing down."

"We did it," Cassie laughed in disbelief.

"We did," JJ nodded, looking back at her with a smile. He didn't realize how close they were until he turned, their faces just inches apart. His Adam's apple bobbed up and down at their proximity since he had purposely been trying to stay as far away from her as he could after their argument, but now he was in a pickle.

Cassie took in a deep breath, noticing the small distance between them and the way JJ noticeably tensed up. "JJ..." she began. "We...we should talk."

However, before he could even agree or protest, a police car drove up to the tracks. "Oh, shit. Cass. Back up. Back up," he quickly whispered as he grabbed her waist and pulled her back with him, going further behind some bushes so they could hide from the cops. "Shit."

"No, no, no, no. That's not part of the plan," she voiced, watching as they got out of the car to go investigate as JJ still had his hands around her waist. She felt them around her and she glanced down, her skin heating up at his touch.

JJ glanced down, realizing he did it again. "Sorry," he apologized, pulling away.

She furrowed her brows at him. "Why do you keep apologizing?"

"What?"

"I should be apologizing," she admitted.

JJ blinked at her. "Cass, we can't talk about this now."

"No, but I-I want to talk. I really do."

"No, I mean, we really can't. The cops are unhooking the jumper cables." He pointed past her and she looked back over, seeing that the officers had spotted the jumper cables they attached to the rails and were in the process of taking them off.

"Shit," Cassie cursed. Of course when I actually want to talk, it just has to be interrupted. Just my fucking luck.

Cassie and JJ both watched, their mouths run dry. This was their only chance at getting the cross back and they weren't sure if Pope and others were able to steal it yet. Not when the cops seemed to have showed up so fast. Did that mean the others had been caught? Hopefully not.

Once the officers unhooked the cables and stepped away, giving a thumbs to the train conductor, the Blake girl turned to JJ. "They've had enough time, right?" Cassie asked him.

"I don't know. Maybe," JJ responded, not entirely sure.

Cassie released a stressed sigh, rubbing her face with her hands. She didn't care about money anymore, she just knew how important this cross was to Pope and if they weren't able to nab it now...it would be gone forever.

In the hands of greedy motherfuckers.

JJ noticed her stressed appearance. "It's-it's okay. I'm sure they got it," he tried to reassure her, but he felt odd doing so. Everything about their relationship right now just felt so out of place.

Probably because he was actively avoiding her just like she had avoided him two months ago when they first kissed.

Oh, how times have changed.

Cassie looked back over at him, looking into his eyes that still seemed to calm her down despite their tension at the moment. He then looked past her once more, his eyes widening. "The train's startin'."

Cassie looked back over, seeing that the train had started to move on the rails again. "We gotta go get them," she urged.

"And there goes the plan. All right, we gotta help them," JJ spoke as they got up to run back to his bike. However, JJ tripped yet again, losing his cap on the floor.

"Again?! Seriously?!"

"My bad," JJ breathed out as he picked his cap back up, putting it on before they reached his motorbike. He fished for the key in his pocket so he could start the bike up, something else falling out of his pocket as he did so.

"Hey, you dropped your..." Cassie trailed off once she noticed the money clip on the grass that had the initials MC on it.

She only knew one MC: Mike Carrera.

She looked down at it in confusion before she picked it up, looking back over at the blonde. "JJ, why do you have this?"

JJ looked away from her, too embarrassed to look into her eyes. "If I'm gonna be accused of being a thief, might as well get something out of it," he answered.

She gaped at him, realizing that he must have stolen Mike's money clip when they were at Kiara's house. "JJ, are you kidding me right now? You're just giving them ammunition," she told him.

"Ammunition for what, Cass? They're already against me, so who cares?" he responded.

"They didn't have a reason before. You're giving them a reason."

"Who cares? I mean, shouldn't you be happy? Because if Kiara finds out, she definitely won't be happy with me," JJ pointed out.

Cassie scoffed at him. "You think I'd be happy? What, because you're purposely talking with Kiara more to make me upset and now this throws a wrench in your plans to get me mad?" she confronted and JJ looked away. "Yeah, I know what you were doing. You're not slick, 'Mr. Bad Boy.'"

JJ began to shake his head. "You know what? We don't have time for this. Get on," he instructed.

"No. I'm not getting on. You think it's okay to just start stringing Kiara along to get back at me? I mean, unless you like her too. But last time I checked, we never ended our relationship so that'd pretty bad, wouldn't it?" she went on, narrowing her eyes at him.

"No, I-I don't like Kie. Just—" he stopped himself short and she raised her brows at him, waiting for him to continue. He clenched his teeth, getting fed up. "Get on the bike, Cass," he demanded before Topper's truck passed by them. "That's Top." JJ noticed the crate in the back of his truck with Pope, Kiara, and Cleo sitting next to it. "And that's the cross. Get on, get on!"

Cassie released a huff before she quickly hopped on his bike and JJ started up his engine, following after Topper's truck.

authors note!
oh no 👩🏻 what's happening 🧎🏻‍♀️ to me 🏍️