An hour later and the gang found themselves sitting on John B's porch in an awkward silence. Pope was still in a pissy mood and was ignoring everyone, Nathan was staring at JJ trying to read him, JJ was ignoring Nathan's stares and throwing rocks in no particular direction, and Kiara was lightly tapping on some bongos trying to fill the silence.

When Nathan had gotten there, John B was the only one at the house, so Nathan listened to John B rant for 20 minutes straight until the rest of the gang got there. When Nathan caught sight of JJ, he got up from his seat excitedly and made his way to him, but JJ brushed him off. So naturally Nathan felt like he had done something wrong, but he just didn't know what. He's been trying to read JJ since.

"Look, I'm callin' it off. All right?" John B says breaking the silence. "Peterkin said, if I stay out of the marsh, she'll help with DCS."

"And you believed her?" JJ piped.

Nathan's ears perked at the sound of JJ's voice.

"Yes, I believe her, JJ."

"An actual cop, John B. You believed a cop." JJ retorts.

"All I gotta do is stay out of the marsh for a couple of days, and she'll help me out. It doesn't help that your ass was the one shooting a gun!" John B exclaims.

"You know what I should have done, man? I should have just let Topper drown your ass."

"Yeah because Topper was gonna drown me?"

"Sure looked like it." JJ says getting up from where he was seated. "Have you looked in a mirror recently?"

"Come on. Tell me some more. Tell me some more." John B challenges.

Nathan stands, fed up with their crap. "Both of you need to calm the hell down!"

"Stay out of it, Nathan! You're not a part of this." JJ exclaims.

"JJ!" Kie shouts in disbelief.

Nathan clenches his jaw and sits down. He was hurt, but he was trying not to give JJ the satisfaction of showing it.

"They always win. Don't they, man? Kooks versus Pogues. They always, always win!" JJ yells.

"Look! It's okay!" Kiara exclaims.

"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, man. I know you do." He says to John B. "And I understand why you don't wanna go. You're the golden boy. You got way too much to risk." He says to Pope. "As for Kie, you're already rich as fuck anyway. Why would you bother? But you and me, man." He says going back to John B. "We got nothin' to lose! We really don't, all right? And I know it didn't use to be that way for you."

Nathan didn't fail to notice that JJ left him out. He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, already losing interest in the whole conversation. He just wanted to go back home, but this was better than having to face his mom.

"I don't wanna talk about this. I don't wanna talk about it." John B says walking away.

"So that's it?" JJ says blocking John B.

"Just get out of my way, bro!"

"John B, listen to me. I have a plan. You got the key to Cameron's big boat, right?" JJ says as he walks up to John B.

Leaving the two to argue, Kiara plants herself next to Nathan who still had his jaw clenched and wasn't really paying attention to everything going on. She wraps an arm around him. "Hey. Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm good." He replies shrugging her off.

"Look don't listen to JJ okay. You became a part of this the second you spotted that boat. You're one of us, okay. And don't let JJ tell you otherwise. I don't know why he's acting like such a dick right now."

Before Nate could respond, the boys were already walking back. They looked calmer now. John B and JJ walk into the house, and everyone else follows behind. John B starts gathering some things.

"Where are you going?" Pope asks.

"I'm gonna get some scuba gear." John B smirks.

Nathan didn't like the sound of that.

——————

When John B left, the group stuck around. Nathan was grateful because he had nowhere else to go at the moment and he didn't want to be alone. However, there was still one problem that had to be addressed.

Nathan walks up to JJ dragging him up from off the couch and leading him outside, away from Pope and Kiara who looked up confused but went back to using their phones.

"What the hell!" JJ shouts, but Nathan ignores him and only lets go once they were a safe distance away from the house.

"All right. Now that we're here, can we please talk about what happened last night?" Nathan says crossing his arms.

"No." JJ says and starts walking away.

"And why the hell not, JJ?!" Nathan yells.

JJ turns back around. "Because, Nate! My dad already hates me enough, I can't give him a reason to hate me more. Just forget it ever happened."

"Just forget it ever happened? Are you really asking me to do that right now?" Nathan says in disbelief.

"Yes, Nathan! I'm really asking you to do that right now." JJ says sarcastically and makes his way back to the house, but Nathan grabs his hand and forces him to turn around, but he doesn't let go. Instead, he softens his hold and places his other hand on JJ's cheek. They were close. One step and their lips would touch. Nathan looks into JJ's eyes, searching for some sign that JJ felt the same way he did. "Last night meant something to me. Tell me it meant something to you too."

JJ leans his head on Nathan's hand and closes his eyes for a brief, but after that second passes he pulls away from Nathan, trying to put as much distance between them. "If I did. I'd be lying."

This time, Nathan didn't stop him from walking away.

——————

Instead of walking back into the house, Nathan rode his bike with no destination in mind. He had nowhere to go. He couldn't go back home because his mom would probably put him on lock down, and he couldn't go back to John B's house and have to hold back tears every time JJ wouldn't meet his eyes. He felt lost.

'If JJ wanted to act like a douche than two could play at that game. JJ could suck his own dick for all I care' Nathan thought. He was deflecting. He could tell. It was easier to be angry than to let himself cry about it. But eventually the sadness kicked in and he stopped paying attention to the things around him and focused on JJ's words.

'Did he mean it? Did last night really mean nothing to him?' Nathan asked himself. He hoped the answer was no, but at the end of the day. JJ said it. So it must be true. Nathan couldn't help but feel like it was his fault for getting himself into this situation. 'If I never texted JJ, all of this could have been avoided.' But that thought made him feel guilty, because if he hadn't texted JJ, than he never would have met John B, Pope, and Kiara. And he would have never known what having friends was really like.

Suddenly a car appears in his peripheral vision, but he wasn't fast enough to get out of the way and he flew off his bike and skidded across the ground. Luckily he didn't have any broken bones, but he had a nasty cut on his arm and he could taste blood. He touches lips and sure enough, there was a cut there too. He sits up from the floor while a woman he'd never seen before gets out of her car and runs towards him.

"Oh my god! Are you okay!?" She yells and checks him for any major injuries.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He groans. He sees the dent he left on the lady's car. "Sorry about the car. I wasn't paying attention."

"Oh, don't apologize. I'm just glad you're okay!" The lady says. Then a girl comes out from the passenger side of the car.

"Nathan?" She asks.

Nathan looks up and his eyes go wide in shock. "Sabrina!"

She walks closer and crouches down to see Nathan's injuries. "You know. When I told you to find me, I didn't mean ride your bike in front of my car." She chuckles, and Nate smiles a bit.

She touches the cut on his lip, and Nathan winces in pain. Sabrina retracts her hand. "How else was I supposed to find you?" He laughs. Sabrina smiles in response and helps him up.

"Well I'm glad you did."

Hey, lovelies!!! So I'm getting really motivated to write this story, so you should be expecting faster updates. I'll be going to college this Saturday though, so hopefully I can still find the time to update. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Byeeee!!!😊💕