lost at sea - act one 

season one; episode five (part two) 

Cicadas were rampant at Rixon Cove as the core five sat around a campfire in the middle of a forest clearing at the cove. Everyone was on edge as they sat in silence, staring at one another, not knowing what to say or why they were there in the first place.

"Hey, guys. So, like, my dad's already gonna kill me. So what's this mandatory meeting about?" Pope asked as he paced back and forth before settling on the small stump next to Julianna and JJ who were sitting next to each other- JJ's arm wrapped around Julianna's shoulders and the Routledge girl pressed into his side.

"I had the same question, Pope... Would you to like to explain because apparently you guys 'have it all figured out'?" Julianna says with an enthused smirk and she watched her brother shoot finger guns over at JJ. The blonde shrugged, using his free hand to stoke the fire with a large stick that he had found, "Might as well tell him, man, before we're gaffed."

Kiara turned to look at John B with a furrowed brow and everyone waited on baited breath. "You ready for this?" John B asked, after waiting a moment, and everyone nodded. "I swear Johnny, if you don't start talking..." Julianna said in a taunting voice and the Routledge boy threw a thumbs up in his sister's direction before speaking, "So, the gold never went down with the Royal Merchant."

"Oh, my God." Pope says with a scoff as he rolled his eyes, "Here we go again with this."

Julianna held her hand out to stop Pope from continuing. "No. All right, wait. Hear him out, all right?" She asked and the Heyward boy just shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. "What do you mean the gold never went down with the Royal Merchant, Johnny?" She asked her brother and she watched a smirk fill his face, "It's been here the whole time. It's on the island."

"There's no way..." Julianna said in disbelief as she felt her body start to go numb, as those ten words washed over her like a large wave she felt her chest start to tighten. For her entire life she had heard all the stories about how the Royal Merchant held so much promise for her father, for their family, but as her brother spoke it felt as if that part of her childhood was being stripped away from her, like her father was slipping further and further away- all because of ten simple words.

As a tear rolled down her cheek the Routledge girl looked across at her best friend who was already looking at her with empathetic eyes; like Kiara knew what hearing this would do to her. "Are you serious?" Kiara asked, voicing Julianna's thoughts, and John B nodded- making every piece of Julianna's heart and soul shatter within her chest.

"Oh, my God..." Julianna said in an emotionless tone, and as she stared at her brother she felt a calloused hand make its way into hers, interlocking their fingers. She broke her stare with her brother and turned to look at JJ who was looking at her. "You okay?" He mouthed and Julianna nodded, "Yeah..."

Pope raised his hand. "I'd like to voice my skepticism."

"I'm sure you would, Pope, but can I please present you with my evidence, sir?" He asked as he stood up from his spot across the fire from the Heyward boy, making his way over to the other side of the fire. "Proceed." Pope said with wide eyes and a wave of his hand.

"All right. So, in my backpack, I have a letter from Denmark Tanny." John B said as he unzipped the black backpack that was settled on the ground off to the side of the circle and everyone looked at him with furrowed brows as he held a piece of old parchment in his hands. "Who the hell's that?" Julianna asked without missing a beat and her brother just pointed at her, smiling from ear to ear.

"Denmark Tanny was a slave that survived the Royal Merchant wreck. Check this out." He says passing the letter to his twin and the girl looked at the paper with wide eyes, "You can't be serious..." She says as she lets her eyes slowly start scanning the words on the letter while John B continued to talk. "Okay, slaves weren't mentioned as crew members on the ship, but our dad, he found the complete manifest. That was his big discovery."

Julianna looked up from the paper with a look of confusion plastered across her face. "Wait.. So you're saying that this Denmark Tanny guy used the gold from the Merchant to buy his freedom?" She asked and John B nodded, "Yes! And after that, he bought his farm."

"Why is that important?" JJ asked as he tried to read the letter over Julianna's shoulder and the group watched as John B's face continued to just light up. "Because drumroll, please, that farm is..." He says as everyone pats on their thighs bringing the drumroll to life, "Tannyhill Plantation."

Kiara looked at the Routledge boy with wide eyes and a shocked expression. "Tannyhill?" She asked and John B nodded, "Yeah. So, after that, he used his money to free even more slaves, and then he sold a shit-ton of rice, which pisses off all the white planters, and then they decide to lynch him." He says and his delivery makes the group fall silent and look at him with furrowed brows and disheartened glances.

"Yeah... I heard the tone change too... Sorry about that." He says rubbing the back of his neck before continuing, "Anyways, on the day they were coming to get him, he writes a letter to his son as a farewell, and in the last line of that letter, he leaves a coded message about where to find the gold."

Kie smiled at the boy. "Where?" She asks in a whisper as the Routledge boy points at her, "Harvest the wheat in parcel nine, near the water. Except... there's no wheat. You see, wheat is code for gold. Check this out." He says making his way over to Pope who was now holding the letter.

"The gold is in parcel nine, near the water." He finishes and both girls chuckle in complete shock as Pope shook his head in disbelief, "Holy shit."

John B nodded. "All we need is an original survey map of the property, and we've found the gold."

"Okay, so this might have a small chance of being actually true." Pope says with a smile creeping onto his face as he looks up from the letter and as he spoke JJ got up from his spot next to Julianna, leaving his girlfriend sitting by herself. "JJ where are you going?" She asks in a confused tone as she watched her boyfriend make his way around the fire.

Kiara looked at Julianna from across the fire and both girls couldn't help but smile at eachother. "Dude, it's like King Tut." She says and the Routledge girl nodded, "Exactly like King Tut!"

"Hey, whoa!" John B's exclamation brought both the girls' attention back towards him to see that JJ had wrapped him into a hug and pulled him up into a hug. John B nervously laughed as he patted JJ's shoulders, "Hello! Fire! You're near the fire. You're gonna burn."

The blonde took a couple steps away from the fire before putting John B down. "I'm so proud of you right now." He says looking at John B with a smile on his face and the Routledge boy pushed his bottom lip out and went to cup the Maybank boy's face, which made Julianna start to giggle uncontrollably, "Thank you. That's really sweet of you."

"Okay, so, guys. What's the plan?" Pope asked from his spot around the fire and John B nodded, pointing at the Heyward boy, closing the space between them. "Good question." He starts, "So... Sarah Cameron's coming tonight. She'll bring an original survey map..."

The joy that once filled the air was sucked out completely at the mention of Sarah Cameron; tensions filling the air that was stronger than any sort of knife so it couldn't be cut. Everyone's eyes were on John B as he stood there and Kiara shook her head in disbelief, "Hold on. Sarah? Wh-why Sarah?" She asked and that's when the Routledge boy knew he messed up.

"Um..." John B hesitated as he scanned the crowd of his friends, seeing how everyone was looking at him and JJ just chuckled under his breath as he makes his way back to where he had left Julianna. "This is gonna be good." He said as he lowered himself down to the ground and Julianna quickly looked at him before returning her eyes back to their trained spot on John B.

The Routledge boy cleared his throat. "Sarah, um, she... she got me into the archives in Chapel Hill yesterday, and that's where I got the letter." He says in a very low tone and Julianna scoffs, for the last three days she had been worrying about him constantly, hoping that he had gotten away from the cops and that he was safe all while he was galavanting around with the Kook Princess herself.

"You were in Chapel Hill with Sarah Cameron?" Julianna asked in disbelief as she looked at her brother with an expression of pure betrayal painting her face and John B nodded, "Yeah, um..." He says and JJ takes it upon himself to inform the group about a small detail that could've been left out. "He was mackin' on her."

Julianna and Kiara both gasped in unison as John B's head turned towards JJ with such urgency. "I wasn't macking." John B said, struggling to cover up the actual events of Chapel Hill, but JJ wasn't having it. "You were totally macking Sarah Cameron, bro..." He says and Julianna turned to look at the blonde, "You knew about his trip?" She asked sounding hurt and JJ shook his head erratically.

"I just found out tonight... Before I got to Midsummers." He explained and Julianna just looked at him with saddened eyes, "You should've told me..." She said but before the blonde could say anything else John B swooped in and tried to fix everything. "I wasn't macking on her, okay? I was using her for access."

JJ chuckled. "There was access, all right."

"JJ!" Julianna fussed, smacking him in the chest, before turning to look at her twin, "Did you tell her about the treasure?"

John B just looked at his sister. "I was trying to get into the archives."

"Is that a yes?" Julianna and Kie shouted in unison as they looked at John B with shocked eyes and the Routledge boy stared at them with the same expression. "I... I left out key details..." He said with some hesitation lacing his voice and Kiara scoffed, "Yo, what? You let a Kook in on our secret? What about Pogue Lyfe? What about the T-shirt company, bro?"

Julianna let the Carerra girl take over the questioning because she knew that if she did the night would end with her eyes puffy from crying and the already struggling relationship with her brother in even bigger shambles.

"I was just using her for information." John B insisted and Kiara shook her head, "Why don't I believe you?" She asked and the teen shrugged his shoulders. "I'm trying to make us filthy rich here. Okay, so that we can pay off a boat, or... or, uh... send you to autopsy school to study dead bodies." He says pointing at JJ turning towards Pope, pointing at him, but no one was budging on the betrayal he had done.

John B scoffed as he scanned the crowd of his friends. "Look, you guys know me." He says pointing at himself, "Do I look like the type of person to fall for Sarah Cameron?" He asked and Julianna just looked at him, trying not to smirk as he asked that question. The girl knew from the moment her brother started working for the Cameron family that he had a crush on the oldest Cameron daughter.

"Uh... Do you want us to answer that, or..." Julianna starts and John B shook his head before looking at his sister, pointing at her accusingly, "You stop... just stop."

Kiara took a deep breath before talking. "Look, you don't know her yet. I do! You can't trust her." She pleaded and Pope nodded, "I have to agree with Kie on this one... Her brother did hit me in the back with a golf club."

Julianna raised her hand to weigh in, "And elbowed me in the face two nights ago..." She felt JJ's body tense as she brought back the incident that occured at the movies two nights ago and despite her brother's shocked reaction to the piece of information his twin sister had dropped, John B still came to the defense of the Cameron girl. "Rafe and Sarah are different human beings."

JJ looked across the fire at Kiara with a questioning look riddling his face. "What did she do to you, exactly?" he asked and the Carerra girl looked at both JJ and Julianna and grew tense, taking a deep breath before diving into her past with Sarah Cameron, even though Julianna already knew.

"She's like a... like a spitting cobra. First, she... she blinds you, and then..." Kiara says, stammering over her words, and Julianna just offers her an empathetic smile as she tries her best to comfort the girl, "Kie Kie, I love the creativity with this whole thing but... This is a really bad analogy."

Kiara let an irritated groan escape her lips as she snapped. "Listen to me!" She shouted, having everyone around her fall silent as they stared at her, "Whatever we get, she's gonna try to take."

Julianna knew that her best friend's words were true; she knew that once they let in an outsider all that glittered would turn from gold to dust within seconds but then she saw her brother's face. The girl could tell that her brother trusted bringing Sarah in wholeheartedly which made Julianna uneasy, none of this would be easy and she just had to let it happen- all of them did.

—

Rock music filled the Twinkie as a random radio station played, fueling their drive into the Kildare County Hawks Nest National Reserve like a montage in an early 2000s movie. This is where John B had made plans to meet with Sarah and get the map and no matter the hesitation that filled the group everyone decided to stay after Rixon's and go as a united front.

"All right." John B said as he put the VW bus into part right outside the entrance and Pope slid open the side door with ease. "Hit it, boys!" Julianna cheered as she stood up from her spot on JJ's lap and the blonde followed her lead, "We're goin' on a recon mission."

John B turned towards the back of the van in his seat with a nervous smirk filling his face. "Yo, uh... so, uh, I think I'm gonna do this one by myself... tonight." he said and all of the Pogues looked at him with furrowed brows. "Really?" Julianna asked and John B looked at her confused as thunder rumbled the earth, "What?"

"Nothin'... It's just... You're not doing a really good job at denying the macking allegations by going alone..." She says with a small smile riddling her face, finding such joy in making his accusation because she got to watch her brother grow uneasy, "I just don't want to spook Sarah with the peanut gallery."

Julianna chuckled, shaking her head, while Kiara had a totally different reaction. "I just don't understand why we're involving her at all." Her tone was filled with a sense of snottiness that none of the Pogues had ever heard come from her. John B shook his head as he looked at the Carerra girl, "Kie, we're not involving her, okay? It's... it's just, uh, like a... a business meeting... thing. Look, once we get what we need, we cut her loose, all right? Plus, we need the map."

"Promise me nothing's happening between you." Kiara said and John B shook his head, "Nothing is happening, Kie." He says with a thick layer of sarcasm filling his tone which did not flow well with the irritated Carerra girl. "I'm being serious." She fussed and John B rolled his eyes, "Okay!"

Kiara sighed as she looked at the Routledge boy. "This isn't about you, and this isn't about us. This is about her." She explained, letting her shoulders sag slightly, "Dude, she's gonna get inside your head. Just promise me nothing's happening between you guys." She said and John B nodded. "I promise."

Thunder rolled and soft laughter escaped the lips of Julianna, Pope, and JJ. "That was really believable." JJ said with a smirk and Julianna nodded, "Oh totally, right Pope?" She asked and Pope looked at Kiara and John B then back to the new couple. "A hundred percent believable... Good job, JB."

"Anyways, um... I'm gonna take care of business." John B said, automatically changing the subject, and Julianna nodded. "Yeah... You're gonna go take care of it and we'll just sit here... in the hot-ass car. While it's lightning."

John B nodded. "So long, farewell..."

"Auf Wiederseh'n, goodnight, asshole!" JJ said saluting as the group watched as he walked away, knowing from this moment on everything was going to change.

The Twinkie fell silent for a moment before Julianna looked over at her best friend to see that she was sporting a disgruntled look. "Hey, Kie Kie..." She said in a hesitant tone, not wanting to set her off, and the Carerra girl slowly turned to look at her, "What?"

"Holding onto your grudge is like drinking poison and thinking Sarah will die." Pope said, answering for Julianna, and the Routledge girl nodded, "That is exactly what I was going to say!"

𖤓𖤓𖤓

The weather had taken a turn for the worst in the twenty minutes that John B had been gone, thunder was rolling across the island making the ground shift underneath the Twinkie, and Julianna watched peacefully as the sky lit up with silver lightning painting the sky. "Shit, another storm is coming..." Julianna said, settling into her spot next to JJ as he played with her hand while holding it.

"Okay... I can't hold my thoughts anymore. Are we going to address the elephant in the room?" Kiara asked, turning to look at the blonde and the brunette sitting across from her and both JJ and Julianna look at her with furrowed brows. "What elephant?" Julianna asked and Pope motioned between the two of them, "This elephant..."

Julianna felt a red hot flush rush across her cheeks as her eyes darted between Kiara and Pope, feeling JJ's hand squeeze hers slightly. "What about it?" She asked in a worried tone, trying her best to play it off like he didn't ask her to be his girlfriend mere hours before this moment, but Pope saw straight through her. "Come on, buddy... You can tell us anything." He says sweetly and Julianna finds herself turning her head to look up at JJ who was looking down at her already.

"J?" She asks and the blonde nodded, taking a deep breath before looking at Kiara and Pope with a small smirk plastering his face. "If we say anything, you two need to promise to not tell John B." He says, pointing his finger out at them in a semi threatening way and both the Heyward boy and Carerra girl nodded. "Fine! Spill it already!!"

Julianna couldn't help but smile brightly at her best friend's reaction. "JJ asked me to be his girlfriend!" She squealed and both Kiara and Pope looked at the girl with such excited expressions filling their faces. "This is huge, buddy!" Pope said with joy lacing his voice and Julianna nodded, "I know but you guys need to promise not to tell Johnny! He will lose his mind when he finds out!"

Her words had weight behind them. From the moment the Pogues were created, John B had made the four of them swear that there would never be any relationships between anyone in the group because if anything were to happen and a couple made within the group broke up it would cause rifts in the friend group and it would lose its luster.

"Your guys' secret is safe with us, cross our hearts, Juju..." Kiara said sweetly, leaning over to hug the Routledge girl, giving her a squeeze which Julianna reciprocated. "Thank you, Kie Kie... That means a lot..." The girl cuts herself off as she hears what sounds like a young woman screaming for help in this distance, "Wait, do you guys hear that? Sh."

As she says that a bout of thunder rolls over the island, causing a small error in her way of trying to get the group quiet, which left Kiara, JJ, and Pope staring at her with confused looks. "What?" JJ and Pope asked in unison and that was when the voice called out again, "Please, somebody help!" The voice was broken and tearful.

"Oh, wait, no, I hear that." JJ said with a nod as he and Julianna shook up from their spots. "Shit." Pope said as he followed their lead, rushing out of the Twinkie followed by Kiara whose face is painted with worry, "What the fuck?" She asked as the four of them started running towards where the woman's scream came from.

They started to run and Julianna's ankles were struggling to stay straight in her heels. "Fuck!" She grunted, stopping in her tracks, which made JJ stop and turn to look at her, "You okay?" He asked and the girl shook her head. "These fucking shoes!" She seethed, struggling to unhook the buckles, and JJ just made his way over to her, offering a reassuring nod, "Hey, it's okay... Let me help you!" He says as he kneels down and within seconds unhooks her shoes as Kiara and Pope continue to run ahead of them.

Once the heels were off, JJ hooked them onto his fingers with one hand and grabbed ahold of Julianna's with the other, the two of them running as fast as they could to catch up with the others who were stopped in their tracks. "Sarah! What happened?" Pope asked in a raised voice and as they approached the place where they had stopped Julianna's heart fell to the pit of her stomach.

John B was lying lifeless on the cold hard dirt with Sarah holding him on her lap, her white dress covered all in mud and her face was tear-stained as she looked at the four of them who surrounded her. "I don't know what to do. He needs help. Topper shoved him." She says through tears and Julianna took in a sharp breath as her hand shot up and covered her mouth in shock.

"Where the hell is he?" JJ asked with instant fury coating his voice, scanning the area, and dropping Julianna's hand as he did so which gave the Routledge girl the perfect opportunity to join the blonde on the ground, instantly falling to her brother's side. "Johnny?" She asked in a shallow voice, sounding like she was a little girl again, as a tear rolled down her cheek and she grabbed his hand.

Sarah looked up at Julianna and the girls shared a painful stare, neither of them saying a word to each other but the Cameron girl turned to look at the boys with pleading eyes. "Oh, please, please, please get help. I don't care who. Just call someone." She begged and JJ who was in the starts of a state of shock tapped Pope repeatedly, "Go. Go!"

"Johnny, come on... You can't do this to me, not now... Not after everything that has happened! Don't leave me like Dad did!" Julianna screamed, her voice hoarse as tears made their way down her cheeks, before turning back to look at her friends. "Pope, hurry!" She shouted as the Heyward boy continued to run back towards where they had parked the Twinkie.

When Julianna turned back to look at her brother she watched the Cameron girl cup his face delicately and something within her grew furious, in some way she felt as if this accident was somehow her fault, and now she was losing her mind. "John B, stay with me." She says in a whisper as she brings her head down to rest against his, "Please don't leave me." Sarah says as she presses a kiss onto his forehead and that's when it clicked for Julianna; this girl loved her brother and there was no way to stop it.

As his life hung in the valance she had to sit there and watch Sarah Cameron fall to pieces as she just held his hand; staying strong for the both of them. "John B?" Kiara's voice filled Julianna's ears and then within seconds JJ's overlapped, "Pope! Come on!"

Then after that, everything else for Julianna Routledge turned to radio static, as she stared at her brother's lifeless body. She was saying prayers within her mind, begging him to wake up and for this all to be a dream but the longer they sat there it felt like that dream was quickly turning into the dark reality of her life; nothing gold can stay.

𖤓𖤓𖤓

"Hey... babe wake up..." JJ's voice whispered, bringing Julianna out of her deep sleep she had fallen into briefly. The harsh yellow lighting from the overhead lights in the hospital room blinded her for a moment and in that brief amount of time she forgot where she was and what happened to get them to this point; for a moment she believed life was normal.

Once her eyes were acclimated to the lighting though it all came rushing back like waves to the sand; she came face to face with her reality quicker than she could take a breath. "John B..." She says in a frantic voice as she sits up from her spot laying on JJ's lap, looking around the room, feeling a mix of relief and disgust when she laid eyes on her brother still asleep and connected to all sorts of wires- sporting a cast on his wrist- with Sarah Cameron asleep in the bed next to him.

"Hey... it's okay... We're okay." JJ says, placing a hand on her shoulder, pulling the Routledge girl back towards him. "He's safe, you're safe, it's okay..." He says in a coaxing tone, wrapping one arm protectively around her shoulders, holding the girl close to him as they both look at the newly made couple sleeping across from them.

A sigh escaped Julianna's lips as she melted into the blonde behind her. "Thank you for staying last night..." She says sweetly and that's when she felt a soft kiss be placed to the top of her head; something he had done for the last couple years, but this time it felt different, "You don't have to thank me... I would've done it even if you hadn't asked me too."

The memories of the night before came flooding back and she remembered how inconsolable she was when they had brought her brother in. She didn't stop crying until she had fallen asleep the first time in the waiting room- after several comments from the trauma team that they should think about sedating her- and the one person who stayed calm enough for her was the Maybank boy; he was the rock for everyone the night before, even though he was breaking on the inside.

She also remembered begging him not to leave when visiting hours were cut off and the staff told Kiara, Pope, and JJ they had to leave. Julianna remembered him scheming with the head nurse, asking if there was any sort of possibility that he could stay with the Routledge girl and after he reminded her of how inconsolable she had been earlier in the night the nurse decided it would be best for Julianna if she had at least one person to comfort her- seeing that the only other person staying the night was just as unstable as she was.

"I know... But it meant a lot to have you here... boyfriend." She says, turning her head slightly to look at the blonde who had a sleepy smile already making its way across, "I promise you that you will never have to do anything alone ever again, girlfriend..." He says, cupping her face delicately, tilting it up slightly so that he could press his lips into hers.

The kiss didn't last longer than a minute but when they parted they looked at each other with such love and adoration in their eyes. "You're perfect... you know that?" JJ says sweetly, still cupping Julianna's face, and the Routledge girl felt a blush flood across her cheeks, "Stop..."

"What?" He asked and Julianna shrugged, "Complimenting me when I look like a drowned rat." She says with a sigh and the blonde scoffed. "You've been through hell, babe. I think it's warranted that you look the way that you do..." He says supportively and Julianna couldn't help but have a smile crack onto her face, "I think I can get used to hearing you say that."

JJ looked at her with a furrowed brow. "That you look like a drowned rat?" He asked and the girl shook her head, "No... you calling me babe."

His hold grew stronger and Julianna just let it happen. "I've been calling you babe since we were thirteen years old..." He said very matter of factly and Julianna nodded, "I know but now it's different..."

"Yeah, I guess it is..." He says pressing another kiss to the top of his head as they both go back to looking at John B and Sarah. "Hey, when are we going to tell JB about us?" JJ asked and Julianna shrugged, "I don't know... I'm scared to see how he is going to react."

JJ nodded. "I get that... Let's just give it time for us even though Pope and Kie already know, just have this for ourselves." He suggested and the girl nodded as the Maybank boy's phone began to vibrate, "Shit..." He muttered under his breath as he struggled to pull it from his pocket.

"Is it the club?" Julianna asked with a sigh and JJ nodded as he stared at his phone, "Yeah... They need me for a couple of hours today; I can always call out though." He explained and the girl shook her head. "No, you need to go in, rent is due in two weeks and I know for a fact you aren't getting anything from Luke to help with it." She said and JJ nodded, "You're right... You sure you'll be okay with miss Kook Princess?" He asked and Julianna rolled her eyes.

"If I have to be..." The Routledge girl said sarcastically and JJ chuckled, "Good girl... now I have to go, the cunt-ry club waits for no man..."

Julianna sat up to let the blonde out from his spot behind her and smiled as she watched him straighten out the clothes he was wearing the night before. "You're cute..." She said in a sweet tone and JJ smiled at her, "You're cuter..." He said grabbing the Routledge girl's hand, pulling her onto her feet and into his chest, wrapping his arms around her in a hug.

"Try not to kill her today... Okay?" He suggested and Julianna just smiled at him, "I promise I'll try my best..." She said with a nod and in response JJ pressed a kiss on her lips; something that he had done several times in the last forty-eight hours without hesitation. "I'll see you later?" He asked and the girl nodded, "Yep and I will text you if anything changes. Have a good day."

He pressed another kiss to his lips before leaving the hospital room, leaving the brunette alone with the sleeping couple, wanting nothing more than to have her brother back to normal and for them to be back at the Chateau.

She makes her way back to the built-in bench that she and JJ occupied last night and right as she brought her legs up and extended them out in front of her the blonde who laid in the bed with John B began to stir, her eyes fluttering open as she rolled slightly towards where Julianna was sitting.

"Good morning..." Sarah said sweetly and Julianna struggled to not let her eyes roll as she responded, "Morning sleeping beauty."

The two girls stared at each other for a moment before Sarah took in a shaky breath and brought herself slowly into a seated position on the bed next to the sleeping Routledge boy. "Thank you for letting me stay with him last night..." She hesitated to say and Julianna shrugged, "It's not like I had a choice."

"Julianna, I already apologized a lot last night... When are you going to stop being mad at me?" Sarah asked in a concerned voice and the brunette just looked at her like she had a horn growing out of her head, "Okay let's set a view things straight shall we... Number one: stop acting like we're friends; we are actually the opposite of that, Number two: whatever you and my brother have going on is none of my business and I know that; but if anything else happens to him I will personally take on whoever hurts him, and Number three: you better tell those punk ass kooks you call friends to stay away from me and my friends."

The room falls silent as the two girls look at each other, the only sound filling the room was the beeping of the heart monitor connected to John B. "Julianna... your brother means a lot to me, and i know its new but i can really see something long term with him... I know you don't like me but I like your brother, so like it or not you're stuck with me for however long John B wants to keep me."

Hearing how sweetly Sarah talked about John B made Julianna's heart melt the slightest bit. "And don't worry I'll keep my mother shut about you and JJ..." She says offering the Routledge girl a small smile and Julianna looked at her with a furrowed brow, "What?"

"I saw how you guys were last night and I was half awake when he left for work this morning... He really cares for you, I just hope that you can see that when it comes to me and your brother." She says and Julianna knew she was being too hard on the girl who was just trying to make the best out of the shitty situation that they were forced into together.

A sigh escaped her lips as she nodded, motioning towards the door, "Do you want to go get something to eat from the cafeteria... try to make whatever this is work?" Julianna asked as she made a large circle with her hands, motioning to her brother, the blonde Cameron girl, and herself with a half smirk playing for a spot on her face and Sarah nodded.

"I'd like that... I just need to make a quick phone call and then we can go." Sarah said and Julianna gave her a quick nod, not knowing why she signed herself up for a lunch of stale hospital food with the Kook Princess herself- then she turned to look at the sleeping teenage boy in the hospital bed; he is her reason right now and that's perfectly okay with her.

—

"You know people always shit on hospital food but that breakfast burrito was really good..." Julianna said with a small smile on her face as she sat back on the built-in bench she had been attached to since the night before and Sarah nodded, "Yeah... I guess I'm a fan of hospital food now." She says as she lets her fingers brush across the dry knuckles on John B's uncasted hand.

As the two settled into the silence once more they watched as the sleeping teenager began to stir subtly. Julianna was quick to rise from the bench and make her way over to the side of his hospital bed, eager to see his eyes open and for the relief to wash over her that her brother was okay.

With the release of a soft breath, the Routledge boy's eyes fluttered open and he slowly began to scan the room, finding his new girlfriend first before laying eyes on his twin sister. "Well look who finally decided to join us back in the land of the living..." Julianna said softly, trying not to let her brother see that there were tears in her eyes and the Routledge boy let a small, pained chuckle escape his lips as he let a small smile appear on his face, "Hey bug..."

"Hey bird..." She said in the same tone, keeping the whisper because she knew that if she talked any louder she would let the wave of instant emotion wash over her like a tsunami. "You scared us last night, you know that?" She asked and John B looked at her with furrowed brows, "I did?" He asked and both girls nodded. "You sure did..." Sarah speaks up, cutting into the twins' moment which Julianna didn't appreciate but slightly understood.

He turned his head to look forward at the blonde with a soft smile painting his face. "Hi." She said sweetly and John B sighed, "Hi. Where am I?" He asked scanning the room, not remembering anything from the incident that had him ending up here.

"St. Olive's. You fell from the Hawk's Nest." Sarah said in a soft tone, bringing his hand up to press a kiss to it, and Julianna watched as John B's face filled with this new emotion he hadn't ever shown before; adoration. "What's the damage?" He asked, still sort of groggy, and Julianna sighed, "You have a concussion and a broken wrist."

An announcement was made over the intercom system outside of the hospital room and Julianna tried her best to keep her focus on her brother as he lifted his casted arm slightly to make sure his twin was telling the truth. "Whoa." He said with a slight chuckle and Sarah nodded, "Pretty cool, huh?" She asked and as if the grogginess cleared from his brain instantly John B took in the severity of the issue and finally realized what this meant for them.

"Julie, we need to get outta here. DCS is gonna find us..." John B explained, struggling to find a way out of the hospital bed, and for the first time since the accident the night before the Routledge girl remembered they were on the run from the Department of Child Services.

As if the universe knew the two were beginning to spiral it sent someone equipped to save the twins. "Hang on there, kid. Hang on." A male voice called out from the hospital room entrance and all three sets of eyes slowly made their way toward the doorway to see Ward Cameron filling it with a small mysterious smirk on his face, Julianna's heart sank; she knew whatever was coming next wasn't anything good.

"Mr. Cameron? What are you doing here?" Julianna asked and the man turned to look at the Routledge girl, "Hey there Julianna... I just came to talk to you and your brother about something."

Chills appeared on her skin as she watched the Cameron man turn his attention towards her twin brother. "I want you to know that Sarah told me everything." He says and Julianna turned to look at the blonde, her body growing rigid and the blonde mouthed 'I'm sorry... I had to.' and the girl sighed as she turned her attention back towards John B and Ward.

"She told me about your guys little adventure, about you two running from the DCS, about how you were protecting her in the tower." He says and the room falls silent as Ward takes a second to examine every detail of John B's face- as if he was looking for something, "John, I believe I owe you an apology... Actually I owe both of you an apology..."

He points at the Routledge boy as he lays in the bed, "You were honest with me about a small indiscretion, and I went ahead and fired you anyway. And I shouldn't have. Unfortunately, from time to time, I have a bit of a... short fuse. Ask her." He said turning to look at his daughter and Sarah nodded. "It's true." She says sweetly and Julianna nervously chewed at her bottom lip, waiting for the shoe to drop.

"I'd like to make up for it, if you'll let me." He said sincerely and Julianna looked at the man with furrowed brows, "Oh yeah? And how would you do that?"

Ward adjusted the way he was standing and took a few steps closer to the group of three. "Well, I spoke with Sheriff Peterkin, and... I've offered to be both of your legal guardian, if you two'll have me." Hearing those words leave the Cameron man's being made Julianna's world go silent, she stared at the man and felt the color draining from her face.

For nine months the Routledge twins have been trying to stay in their home, trying so hard to keep their father's memory alive, trying to stay on The Cut forever; Now that is all falling apart in front of her with Ward Cameron himself acting as their knight in shining armor saving them from something they didn't need saving from, taking them from a life they were perfectly content in.

"What?" both Routledge twins asked in unison and Ward nodded, "It'd mean a roof over your heads and no more runnin' from the DCS." The room falls silent and while Julianna felt as if her entire world was turning to ash all around her John B couldn't help but be excited, letting a small chuckle escape his lips as he looked at his girlfriend. "Is he being serious?" He asked and Sarah nodded, "As serious as it gets..."

John B turned to look at his sister and despite the look plastered across her face, he thought it would be the best case scenario when it came to their living situation if they joined the Cameron family. So without asking for his sister's advice he looked at Ward with an appreciative nod, "Sure, yeah. Uh... sounds good."

A gasp escaped Julianna's lips as she watched the smile grow bigger on the Cameron man's face. "Okay, then, it's settled, you two... Welcome to the family."

"You have got to be kidding me..." Julianna said under her breath as she just stared at her brother as he shook Ward Cameron's hand; he just made a deal with the devil of Kildare. 

a note from the author !!

if anyone caught my sound of music easter egg i love you!!

also this is the first chapter of the new year!!! 

if you haven't go check out my tiktok to see the easter egg I dropped for season two <3