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Eli stirred from her sleep as she felt something on her face, the girl furrowing her brows in confusion.

“Sweetheart?”

The girl cracked her eyes open to find her mother sitting on the side of her bed, a gentle smile on her face as she gently held Eli's face.

“Morning, mama,” the girl greeted with a soft smile, hand reaching out to grab her mother's free hand. 

“Good morning, my darling,” Talia greeted back. “How are you feeling? How's your jaw?” 

Eli furrowed her brows at the question, before the memories of the previous evening flooded back into her mind. 

“Better I think,” she nodded,  wincing slightly as she lightly pressed down on her jaw. “Hurts like a bitch when I touch it though.” She sighed. “Does it look as bad as it feels?”

“It's a little bruised, but nothing a little concealer won't fix.” Talia went silent for a moment. “JJ is downstairs sleeping. Poor boy was stuttering in distress when he carried you home. I had to sit him down so he could explain what happened.”

“Yeah..” Eli trailed off awkwardly as she sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. “All I remember is trying to find some snacks and then shit breaking loose. Everything after that is a blur.” She sighed before standing up. “Guess I'll get ready before talking to him.”

“Good idea,” Talia agreed as she stood up. “I have to go and open up the cafe, but I’ve made breakfast for you guys. Make sure you eat before you leave.”

“Thank you, mama,” Eli thanked with a smile, quickly kissing Talia on the cheek. “I'll drop by the cafe with the others later.”

After taking a quick shower and making sure to cover up her bruise, Eli made her way down the stairs and into the living room.

A small smile grew on her face as found the blonde boy curled up on the couch, arms hugging a cushion to his chest.

“JJ?” the girl called out as she gently sat on the edge of the couch. She rolled her eyes when the boy barely reacted to her wake up call. “JJ,” she called again, this time shaking him by the shoulder. 

The boy woke up startled, throwing the cushion across the floor and holding his fists up as if he were ready to fight someone. Or something? He relaxed as his gaze fell on the snickering Eli, sighing in relief as he sat up. 

“Mornin’,” he finally greeted, gaze moving to the bottom of her face. “Your face is lookin’ better,” he stated as he reached out one hand to touch it, only for Eli to quickly grab onto his hand to stop him.

“It's a lil bruised up,” she revealed as she lowered her hand onto her lap, still holding onto JJ's hand. “I've just covered it up with makeup.”

“Oh..” he trailed off in thought. “I'm sorry,” he suddenly apologised as he avoided her gaze, confusing Eli. 

“What for, exactly?” the girl questioned, intertwining her fingers with his. 

“I should've stopped Topper before he laid a hand on you,” he mumbled dejectedly. 

“You couldn't have known that would happen,” the girl tried to convince. “Not to defend that stupid kook, but I don't think he meant to do it. However,” she trailed off,  causing JJ to look at her again. “You shouldn't have pulled out that gun, JJ,” she gently chided. “Why did you do it? You could have easily pulled Topper off of John B. Why risk something like that?” 

JJ sat in silence for a few moments before finally speaking. “I just saw red,” he finally responded as he looked at the girl. “He was drowning John B, and then when he hit you I just lost it.” 

Eli sighed in response. “Okay. Just.. promise me you won't do something like that again.” 

“El-” 

“JJ, please,” the girl cut off, desperately looking into his blue eyes. “You can use it if we're in a serious situation, but please promise me you won't use it for something stupid. Don't give the kooks the satisfaction of seeing you escorted off by the cops. Hey, I'll even bite them if I have to, but do not pull out that gun.” 

JJ let out a laugh at that, before begrudgingly nodding. Eli couldn't help but smile in response at the boy, gently squeezing his hand in thanks.

“My mom made breakfast for us. Let's eat before meeting up with the others.” 

After eating the breakfast that Talia Valentine had graciously prepared for them, JJ and Eli finally met up with the others at the Chateau, each of them sitting around in silence with only the sound of Kie playing the bongos filling the air. 

“Look, I'm callin’ it off. All right?” John B suddenly announced as he straightened up. “Peterkin said, if I stay out of the marsh, she'll help me with the DCS.”

“And you believed her?” JJ questioned with a raised brow.

“Yes, I believe her, JJ.” 

“An actual cop, John B,” the blonde cut off. “You believed a cop.” He scoffed as he angrily launched a pebble across the yard. 

“All I gotta do is stay out of the marsh for a couple days, and she'll help me out,” John B countered, voice raising with every word. “It doesn't help that your ass was the one shooting the gun.”

“You know what I should've done? Just let Topper drown your ass.”

“Guys,” Eli began, just to get cut off. 

“Yeah, because Topper was gonna drown me?”

“Sure looked like it.” JJ suddenly stood up, slowly making his way towards the other boy.

John B scoffed. “Funny. Keep going, come on.”

“Have you looked in a mirror?” JJ continued. “They always win, don't they, man? Kooks versus Pogues. They always, always win!” JJ suddenly slammed the wooden railing, causing Eli to flinch at the sudden action. 

“Look, it's okay!” Kie tried to calm down. 

“No, it's not okay! It is not! They don't want us to go down into the marsh. That means there's something valuable down there, and you know it.” JJ theorised as he pointed his finger around the group, finally stopping at John B.

“I know you do.  And I understand why you don't wanna go,” JJ spoke as he looked down at Pope. “You're the golden boy. You got way too much to risk. And you,” he began as he turned to Kiara. “I mean, you're already rich as fuck anyway. Why would you bother. And you Eli..” he trailed off as he stared at the girl in question. “Actually I have no idea what you're thinking.”

Eli shrugged. “I’m thinkin’ this is suspicious.” The girl turned to face John B. “I get why you don't wanna risk it, but I'm curious as to why they're suddenly helping you out.” The girl hummed as she leaned back into the couch. “You can sit this out if you want to, since technically only you were told to stay out of the marsh, but personally..” she trailed off as she looked around the group, finally settling on JJ, “..I wanna know what they're trying to hide.”

“That's my girl,” JJ cheered before turning towards John B. “You and me, man, we got nothin’ to lose! We really don't, alright?”

“JJ-”

“And I know it didn't used to be that way for you.”

“I don't want to talk about this.” John B dejectedly responded. “I don't wanna talk about it.” 

“So that's it, huh?” JJ tried to block John B as he attempted to leave, only to get shoved out of the way.

“Just get out of my way, bro.”

“Guys, relax,” Eli called out as she stood up and began to follow behind the two boys. “Fighting won't help anyone.”

“John B, listen to me. I have a plan,” the blonde suddenly announced, causing Eli, Pope, and Kie to nervously look at each other.

“You got the key to Cameron's big boat, right?”

“No-”

“There's scuba gear inside man,” JJ continued as he cut John B off. “We borrow that, and then we go down to the wreck this afternoon, and that is what is gonna save you, man. You don't see rich kids going into foster care, do you?” 

Eli shook her head with a sigh. What could possibly go wrong with this plan. 

☀︎︎☀︎︎☀︎︎

The Pogues were back out on the marsh, after John B had successfully retrieved scuba gear from the Camerons. 

Kie checked the tanks, whilst Eli  sorted out the rest of the scuba gear.

“This is empty,” Kie announced with an incredulous look as she turned towards John B. “You took empty tanks?” The girl leaned over to check the other tank before sighing. “Okay, this one’s a quarter full. It’s enough for one of us.”

“Love it when a plan comes together,” Pope sarcastically spoke from where he sat.

“Anybody know how to dive?” Kie questioned, only met by silence.

“It’s.. kind of a Kook sport,” JJ shrugged. 

“I..” Pope spoke up, “..read about it.”

“Great,” Kie exclaimed, “Pope read about it, so someone’s gonna die.”

“Well,” Eli nervously mumbled, “It’s a stretch to say I know how to dive, but I have done it before. With an instructor that is.”

John B gave her a confused look. “When did you go scuba diving?”

“It was ages ago,” Eli replied. “I was like twelve.”

“Look, y-you put the thing in your mouth and breathe. How hard could it be?” JJ questioned.

“If you come up too fast, nitrogen gets into your blood, and you get the bends,” Pope responded nonchalantly, as if he were an expert.

“Bends like,” JJ began, suggestively bending over and sticking out his butt. “Like bend over and..”

“The bends kill you,” Pope cut off immediately.

Eli snickered as JJ immediately straightened up, an awkward look on his face. “Oh, okay.”

John B suddenly stood up. “I can- I can dive.”

“I’ll do it.” Eli cut off, causing everyone to turn and look at her. “It makes more sense for me to go.”

“One of you can dive,” JJ immediately agreed, clearly relieved it wouldn’t be him. “I’m cool with that.” 

“Are you sure?” John B questioned as Eli stood up and began to prepare the gear. 

“Yeah,” she assured with a smile. “I’ll be fine. Probably.”

“Let me do some calculations real quick,” Pope stated as he stood up, grabbing a piece of paper and a pencil. “That boat’s about thirty feet down. So it’ll take about twenty-five minutes at that depth.” 

Eli nodded along. “Okay.”

“Which means you need to make your safety stop at around… ten feet. All right?” Pope questioned as he looked up at Eli, who nodded in understanding. “For two minutes. Got it?”

“Ten feet, two minutes,” Eli repeated. “Easy.”

Kiara suddenly pulled off her t-shirt and stepped onto the edge of the boat, jumping into the water with a splash a few moments later.

“Uh..” John B trailed off in confusion. “What was that?”

“I don’t know, but I liked it,” JJ said with raised brows. “A lot.”

Eli cleared her throat.  “Is that everything, Pope?” the girl continued.

“Yeah, that should be everything,” he responded as he straightened up.

“Oh yeah, so uh,” JJ began as he turned towards Eli. “When you’re down there, you look for the cargo hold.” He held up a key and pointed it at the girl. “You stick this thing inside and twist and pull, okay?” 

“Yeah,” Eli responded as JJ dropped the key into her hand. “Stick it in, twist and pull.” 

“Hey,” Kie called out as Eli began to put on the gear with the help of JJ. “I tied my t-shirt to the anchor chain about ten feet down. It’s where you need to make your safety stop.”

“Thanks, Kie,” Eli said with a grateful smile. 

“Keep an eye on this,” Pope instructed as he held out a small monitor. “You need to make sure you have enough air to decompress.”

Eli took a deep breath as she nodded. “Okay, how much do I need?”

A look of uncertainty passed over Pope’s face. “Unclear. Breathe as little as possible.”

Eli nervously bit into her bottom lip. She watched as JJ moved to stand in front of her, both hands settling on her shoulders in comfort. 

“Zen. Think Zen, you know?” he advised.  The girl couldn’t help but laugh as the boy began to imitate breathing into a mask.

“I got it,” she murmured as she carefully stepped onto the edge of the boat. 

“Hey, if we get caught in the marsh, we’re basically screwed, so.. Better get a move on.”

“Thanks, Pope,” Eli sarcastically responded. “Exactly what I wanna hear before I jump in.”

“Don’t worry, El,” JJ assured as he reached out to hold her hand, giving it a light squeeze in comfort. “It’ll be okay.”

“Yeah,” John B added. “You’ve got this.”

“Diver down?” she questioned as she pulled the mask over her face.

“Diver down,” the blonde responded as he finally let go of her hand.

Without further delay, Eli finally jumped into the water, saluting the pogues before beginning her descent into the water. 

~°• ☀︎︎ •°~

JJ with Eli: 🥺☺️🙂‍↕️
JJ with John B: 🤨 😠 😒

love that for them

Nova x