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Estrella had gone back to John B's house seeing as she left her clothes there before they were stranded. She figured he had gone out or hadn't gotten back yet, but after she showered and found her phone and charged it for a few, she got the email that Big John was alive. It was shocking to her and she knew JJ probably hadn't known, so she headed back over there.

She walks up as JJ sits up from his bike and takes a sip from his beer.

"Hey, Jay." She says excitedly, "So get this. I had an email waiting for me on my phone. John B actually found Big John. He's alive."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah." She chuckles, "Apparently, he was at the Chateau. Probably before I got there."

JJ chuckles lightly, "Damn."

"Yeah, he thinks we're close to the same treasure Singh was talking about." She says. JJ simply nods before turning back to his bike. Estrella frowns as she takes a seat on the stool beside his table, "Jay, what's up? Did something happen?"

"No." He mutters bending down beside his bike

"Is it because we're back here?" She asks, "Or what happened on the boat?"

When JJ stays silent, Estrella stands up. As he turns around, he comes face to face with her. She steps closer and JJ can feel his heart jump, "What are we doing? What are we doing? We shouldn't be doing this, nah. We shouldn't do that."

He brushes past her which confuses Estrella, but she nods, "Yeah. If you say so."

"I mean, it would all blow up anyway. You know? Like..." He starts as he walks past her again, "Look at you. You got your new threads on. Look at me. What do I got? This? This piece of shit?"

Estrella jumps slightly as he throws something toward the house. He turns back to her, "Getting kicked out of this place in three weeks anyway. Shit, I don't got parents right now. Why would you care? Why would you care? I'm just some loser that-"

"JJ."

"You don't care. No, you don't!"

"JJ, I do care!" She says walking over to him. As she stands in front of him, JJ's face scrunches up lightly.

"No, you got your whole future ahead of you." He points before walking off, "That's your future. You got that."

"Look, if you need us, we're gonna help you. I'm-" She breathes, "I'll help."

"It's that right there. Okay? Like- It's so easy for you to say that. You know why? Because for some reason you have all this faith in me. Even when I treated you like shit, you forgave me. You forgave everything."

"What do you want me to say?" She exclaims, "That I've completely forgot about it? That I don't think about it all the time? Because I do. Every. Single. Day. I replay it over and over and over again."

"If you want me to just yell at you and tell you that you fucked up, I can." She scoffs, "You fucked up, JJ. You betrayed me in one of the worst ways possible. But even after all of that and losing everything for everyone, you included, I would do it again in a heartbeat. For John B, for Pope, for Kie, for Sarah, for Charlotte, for Cleo, and especially for you. And you know that."

Estrella's chest moves up and down rapidly as she stares at him, "I mean, god, even when someone is standing right in front of you telling you that they'd lose everything for you, you just can't accept that someone cares about you."

"That's not what I'm talking about. God!" He says putting his hat on. Estrella watches as he gets on his bike.

"JJ, don't leave." She sighs. The boy revs his engine before driving off, "JJ!"

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"So there I was at the top of this crane on a huge container ship in the middle of the ocean. And what do I hear from down below?" Pope starts before he mimics gunfire

"Oh no!"

"Gunshots shooting right back up at me."

"True story." Cleo nods while Charlotte takes another bite of her food

"Mom, gunshots." Pope says, "That's when I knew there was no way we were getting off with the cross. So..."

"Boy." Heyward mutters

"Dropped it in the ocean."

"You did what?"

"It was the best thing I could do. And get this, as soon as I'm jumping off the ship, we're swimming away, I look back. They're pulling it back out the water."

"Who?"

"Rafe."

"Rafe."

"Honestly, I'm kind of glad he got it."

Cleo frowns, "You on air?"

"Yeah, I'm with Cleo on that." Heyward says

"I'm just saying, at least it's not at the bottom of the ocean." Pope says, "There's a chance, you know? Some hope that maybe we can get it back from them."

"Well, let's hope not. I had enough of this treasure hunting." Heyward says while Mrs. Heyward nods

"I want people to know that story, Pop." Pope says, "Denmark Tanny, who got probably one of the most valuable objects in all the world, and he gave it to a church full of freed slaves, and it was theirs. It's a beautiful story. I think it deserves to be told."

"Thank you so much for helping my boy." Mrs. Heyward says to the girls

"Mm. We helped each other. Right, Pope?" Cleo says

"Yeah." Pope nods. The boys parents look at the two with a smile before looking to Charlotte who smiles knowingly at them.

•••

"So, uh, this is where you guys are going to be staying. I'll move downstairs, so it's all yours now." He says opening the door of the house and leading them in, "If you, uh, need me, just give me a knock. There's one bathroom, which means we'll probably have to share, but it's all good because I take quick showers."

"Um, this is my room, which is now your room." He says to Cleo as he places towels on his desk, "My mom laid out some fresh clothes. They should fit."

"So this is mine?"

"Yeah, you know, sorry it's kind of small, but it's got a great view."

"I ain't never had my own room before."

"Now you do." He says. Cleo looks over to him fondly, "Okay, um, I'll be downstairs. So, um, if you need me, just give me a..." He says before knocking at the door, "Enjoy."

He turns and leads Charlotte to the next room, "This one's even smaller. Sorry about that."

"No, it's perfect." She says, "Thank you so much."

"Of course. My mom laid out some clothes for you, too. Hopefully they fit." He says placing towels down for her."

"Okay." She nods gratefully

"I'll leave you to it." He says walking out with a small smile

Charlotte sighs as she feels her shoulders become lighter. She plops down on the bed as she looks out of the window. Happy to finally be somewhere safe.

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"So I went back to grab clothes and a phone, and you're not gonna believe this." Sarah says. Kie and Estrella look up at her from the bench, "Rafe is back." Estrella sighs as her head falls to her hands while Kie rolls her eyes, "Yeah. I saw him at the house. I don't think he saw me, but I think the cross is coming back to Wilmington tomorrow night."

"What?" Kie says as Estrella looks up again

"Yeah."

"Does Pope know?" Estrella asks

"No. I was gonna tell him at the Chateau."

"He can't. He's on lockdown."

"Okay. Um... Then... I'll hit up Pope.." Sarah says before turning to Kie, "and then maybe you go to the Chateau and tell John B." She then turns to Estrella, "And JJ?"

Kie and Sarah eye her as she sighs, "Yeah, I gotta talk to him anyway."

"Yeah." Sarah says as the girls stand

"Okay." Kie mutters, "My parents are gonna kill me."

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Estrella sat in a chair in the backyard when she hear the familiar revving of JJ's bike. She stands as his bike stops.

"John B!" He whistles, "Yo!"

"Hey, Jay." She says. The boy turns before sighing lightly.

He walks toward her, "John B not here?"

"Nope."

He stops a few feet away from her, "What up?"

"Uh, Rafe's what's up."

"What do you mean?"

"Rafe's back on the island. Sarah saw him."

JJ sighs as he walks past her, "Spectacular."

"It's not just that." She says turning to him, "She overheard him saying that the cross is coming to Wilmington tomorrow night. Figure he must be trying to sell it."

"Great. Does Pope know?"

"Yeah, Sarah went to tell him. He's locked down, and I guess John B and his dad went and got the Twinkie." She says, "They're off to God knows where."

JJ takes the note Estrella found taped to the door, "Yeah, of course. Just when we need them."

Estrella begins to wrings her hands together as the silence settles in, "Uh.."

"Wait. Hold on, though." He starts, "We know where the cross is gonna be. That means it's still on the field. So we can come in and swoop. We're still in this, Estrella. We gotta get everybody together, then we'll come up with a plan." He says walking toward his bike, "Get to Wilmington-"

"Jay." She interrupts, "Before we formulate some crazy plan, can we talk?"

"Yeah." He mutters after a few seconds, "Yeah, we can talk."

"Something almost happened between us on the boat.."

"Mm-hmm."

"And I know that's got to freak you out. It caught me off guard too." She says, "And I know, your whole life, I know you freak when people get close, and I get it. I don't blame you. Just please don't ever say that I don't care. Because you know how I feel about you."

JJ looks up at her as she looks to him with pleading eyes. He steps closer, "All right, look. Look, Star. You're right. I flipped. You know how I be. Just, uh... Just..." He pauses, "Look. We should just... just call it a truce. Just Etch A Sketch it." He says scribbling in the air. Estrella smiles softly, "Clean slate. Truce?"

Estrella looks down at his hand as he holds it out to her, "Truce."

The two do the Pogue handshake. Estrella looks up to him as he holds onto her hand softly. JJ looks down again while letting her hand go, "So how we gonna jack this cross?"

"I don't know." She chuckles

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