CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: YOU'RE A BADASS, DARLIN'

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"so what was that errand about?" jj wrapped an arm around me as we sat on the edge of the hot tub with our legs in the water. kie and pope messed with the equipment in order to be prepared for later.

"had to clear some issues up with someone, no biggie. they listened though," i grinned, taking a long hit of a blunt. there was no plans of revealing what i actually went and did to jj. there was no need for him to know; he'd become upset and protective over me.

"of course they did. you're a badass, darlin," he sighed in content, ruffling my hair playfully.

"partners in crime," we met eyes and nodded. partners in crime; we'd been that way for a long time, and neither of us had plans of that changing anytime soon.

"john b pullin a houdini," jj announced to the three of us as he placed a beer bottle into the cup holder.

we all silently agreed as pope replied, "yeah, where is he? i got my scholarship interview tomorrow. we gotta get this done!"

"you're gonna smash it, pope. like deadass," i told him as we saw john b walking up to the chateau.

"speak of the devil," jj smiled, "hey! dude, i set up the entire winch to pull up the gold and everything."

"no he did not, i did that," pope intervened, correcting the blonde.

"i helped!" i added, to which pope nodded his head.

"hey, john b," kiara said, realizing that something about the boy seemed off. without a response, he ran into the house.

"hey."

"okay, that's it?" jj questioned, confused with the boy's unusual behavior.

"uh, what is that all about?" pope eyed jj and i, who were now getting out of the hottub.

"beats me," i shrugged, heading inside the house.

"i was gonna ask you the same question," jj added as the four of us rushed inside to see what was up. in the house was a frantic john b, searching for who-knows-what.

"you all right man?" pope first stepped up, "what, what's up?"

"what are you looking for?" kiara chimed in, still none of us getting a response.

"bro, what's going on man?" jj asked him as he pulled out the gun from the couch. thankfully, i put it back there, hopefully not raising any eyebrows.  "john b, what do you need the gun for? the safety's off!" shit, i thought to myself, realizing that i didn't put the gun back exactly as it was. the blonde boy seemed terribly concerned, and guiltiness overcame me, knowing that i had it earlier.

"just, no," kie grew anxious.

"talk to us!" jj yelled, but john b forcefully shoved him out of the way.

"fuck, you good?" i ran up to my boyfriend, who fixed his hat and nodded with a breath of frustration.

"john b, chill! what are you doing?" kiara raised her voice as pope attempted to block the way out.

"what, are you jj now?" pope huffed before getting thrown on the table.

kie grabbed pope, "shit, are you okay? john b! what the hell are you doing?" the four of us collected ourselves at what just happened and followed the boy outside, who was clearly in a wild state of mind. the engine revved, and john b went to take off. "john b, what the hell?"

"ward knows about the gold," he looked back at us, "he killed my dad." the four of us stopped dead in our tracks, grasping what just came out of his mouth. we all eyed one another, and then tried catching up with him.

"shit," jj groaned, realizing that he was too far gone.

"he'll be fine guys," pope tried to reason with us.

"hope so. elsie, where's your boot?" kiara inquired, noticing me limping slightly.

"i'm fine, mom," i replied sarcastically. "we have bigger issues to worry about."

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"so, what now?" jj wondered as we all looked at the cameron household. with john b in such a vulnerable state, who knows what he could do with that gun? when you aren't thinking straight, sometimes you tend to do things that you later regret. like jj with the hottub, or me with the breakdown at the boneyard. we were all a mess, and who knew who was gonna be next. "we just go up to the front door and ask, hey, have you seen john b?" he continued.

"look, he lives at tannyhill now, it's plausible," kie suggested, which sounded ridiculous, "look, we can play dumb."

"i'll have noooo problems with that," i finished off a beer, relatively drunk, but nothing out of the ordinary for me. i hated myself for going against jj's remarks of quitting the alcohol and drugs, but that could wait until this entire ordeal was over. nothing was going to happen to me; i've been doing this shit for years.

"play dumb?" jj clarified to make sure he heard her right.

pope commented, "it's pretty late." his scholarship interview was tomorrow and it seemed as if the only person who had that in mind was me.

"look, i've never seen john b like that," kiara became serious, "we should honestly be going to the cops."

"yeah, and say what kie? we're worried about our friend because he's on a rampage because ward cameron killed big john? like, they're not going to believe us!"

"hell, not even that, jj. going to the cops would start more trouble. we'd have to mention the gun that we possess illegally and john b's carrying. you're already in trouble with the cops," i explained, thinking pretty clearly.

"hey, i see ward," pope interrupted, looking through the window with a pair of binoculars.

"let me see," kie grabbed them out of pope's hands.

"doesn't look dead to me. let's go home," pope decided, but kiara wasn't having it.

"what?" she puzzled.

"uh, okay. obviously mr. cameron is fine. and, even if john b was here, he isn't now, okay?" pope said to her.

"he wasn't thinking clearly earlier. he probably went back to the chateau," i agreed with pope. there was no use of being there if john b wasn't.

"plus, i have the biggest, most important moment of my life in six hours," pope added.

"yeah, well our friend is in trouble," kie scoffed, not picking up what the boy was putting down.

"i'm in trouble," pope raised his voice, standing up for himself. about time, i thought to myself. "guys, i haven't been home in three days. my dad's probably put all my shit on the street by now."

"okay, so that's it?"

"kie..." i attempted to butt in.

"no," she cut me off, "in a time of need, you're just gonna bail? you're just gonna walk away?"

"kie! you gotta realize something. let's face facts. if ward knows about the gold, it's likely that it's not ours anymore. if we don't have the gold, we need to figure something else out for our futures. he needs this!" i defended pope, understanding where he was coming from, even though i personally couldn't relate.

"you're kidding me," kiara groaned.

"okay, yo, guys. can we not do this right now?" jj put his hands on his head, seeming annoyed with the situation and who to side with.

"hey, i have a scholarship interview in the morning, i can't-" pope repeated, trying to get it through kiara's mind. she didn't get what the scholarship would truly do for him. it would bring him great things.

"okay, well what about john b?" kiara shouted.

pope paused for a second. i could tell how the words stung him, without a word even coming out of his mouth. he cared so deeply for her, but she never even thought of him as an option. the idea of john b being her top priority wasn't easy for him to grasp. "why's it always about john b?"

i stumbled over towards jj in a staggered line and sat next to him. this was between pope and kie now. i looked back at the blonde, who didn't even have any words to say. i knew he agreed with pope deep down, it was so obvious. but he didn't want to admit that.

"it's not always about john b, you're so stupid! it would be any of you in this situation!" kiara gestured to all of us.

"you sure about that?" i questioned.

"shhh," jj brought a finger to my lips. "how much have you been drinking?" he looked at me concerned, but also slightly disappointed.

"not a lot," i replied, causing jj to shake his head.

"oh bullshit!" pope cursed, not believing what she was saying for a split second.

"guys-"

"this is about friendship!"

"bring it down," jj spoke in a calm voice, which was unusual for him, out of all of us.

"look, this is about pogues for life!" kie had tears in her eyes. why was she getting so upset about the situation?

"what about forensic pathology, huh?" pope said.

"forensic pathology?" kiara interjected.

"that's my life. that's everything i've worked for," pope proceeded to stand up for himself.

"that's your priority?" she stood inches from him, screaming in his face.

"stop with the moral high ground bullshit!" pope blurted.

"damn," i couldn't help but let out as kie rolled her eyes angrily at me.

"pope, come on."

"no," he turned to jj, which caught everyone off-guard.

"excuse me?" kie sniffled.

"no, no. she has no room to talk," pope disagreed. "where were you when big john went missing? you weren't there. you weren't there for john b, you weren't there for any of us. remember your kook year?"

"dude," jj said, beginning to believe he was taking it too far. i didn't though; he was being completely honest and truthful. she needed to hear it.

"yeah, you forgot about us. now you feel guilty."

"give me a break!" she then shoved pope away. they began to slap one another like children.

"hey!" jj ran up to the two and separated them from one another, "yo, yo, yo, cut it out, all right? if i'm the one mediating, we've hit rock bottom. bow, now, go," he pointed at pope as everyone else grew silent.

"pope, i'll drop you off."

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{1727 words}

kie pissed me tf off in this scene. nobody cares about pope's scholarship man😔sooo of course i needed to make elsie care and side with him😌

also um.... SEASON TWO WAS CONFIRMED THIS MORNING I TEARED UP SEEING ALL THE POSTS

ally