"Oh, hello." Bali gapped at the new girl that climbed into the boat with Pope.

"Aye, Cleo." she held out her hand as she fell onto the boat with a long sigh, "You are?"

"Bali." she said to Cleo as she sat up, "JJ and Kie aren't with you guys?"

"JJ Maybank?" Conner gave a look toward Bali.

"Yes." she said back, "Whats your problem?"

"Yo, why is he here?" Pope asked with a odd look, "Why are you here?"

"I was rescued." Conner gave him a lopsided smile, "You deliver my diet cokes."

"And your fake crab meat but that's beyond the point." Pope waved him off.

"We gotta find JJ." Bali stood up and steered the motor as John B looked out, "Tell me when you see them!"

"So, I heard JJ roughed you up pretty good before you left for Duke." Pope spoke to Conner, Bali pretending not to listen, "Maybe he won't do it again."

"Dude just came at me out of no where, laid a bunch of hits on me, when dipped." Conner spoke honestly as he tugged on the collar of his life jacket, "I can't breath in this."

"Ha!" Cleo laughed.

"Ha indeed." Sarah agreed, "Sucks to suck."

"Well, it's completely blown up." Pope said as he nodded to the life jacket, "You have to inflate it a little bit, it helps more then you think."

"I see them!" John B called, Bali letting the motor go as she stood up, "JJ! Kie!"

"JJ! Kie!" Bali smiled out to them as she waved. Slowly, as her eyes focused in, her smile fell to pure horror across her face at the sight of JJ completely limb, "JJ!"

Her yell was chilling, voice breaking because of how panicked it was. There was panic and fear in her tone, in just one name, it chilled them all. Bali jumped off the life boat immediately, kicking her legs and swimming over to them.

"Bali!" Sarah called, but was no use. Bali didn't hear her, she didn't hear anything. She just saw JJ, not moving.

"Kie! Fuck, JJ! Kiara!" Bali swam, and grabbed JJ so Kie could swim up more, "JJ! JJ, please! Please!"

Bali begged him, trying to feel for some sort of pulse but the water and his body weight was weighing her down. Kie was struggling horrible, dipping under the water ever few seconds.

"Stay with me, lover, look, come on." Bali reached at the boat as they neared, all yelling loudly, "John B! Please! Get him!"

Bali went under the water as she pushed JJ up, John B and Pope pulling him the the boat.

"Kie, Kie." Bali grabbed at her, "Go, go, get in."

Sarah pulled Kie up.

"Bal, come on." Conner reached down pulling her in with her arms as Cleo pulled her legs up.

"Is he breathing?" Bali panicked as she grabbed JJ and put her head on his chest, "I can't tell. JJ, JJ, please, please don't leave me! Please!"

"Does anyone know CPR?" John B looked around.

"Hang on, I've only been going to school for a year but-" Conner moved past Pope and listened to JJ's heart, "He's breathing but it's covered by water in his lungs, we gotta get it out."

"How?" Bali cried as she looked at him, "Please, Conner, how?"

"Fuck, if we were in a hospital they'd put a needle in his chest. It's really simple to do but we can't fucking do that." he panicked alongside her, "He's gotta do this on his own."

Bali backed up as Conner tilted JJ's head back and patted his back and chest, "Come on, dude."

The engine sputtered, the boat jolting in the water.

"No, no, no."

"John B, what is happening?"

"JJ, please, come on." Bali begged, squeezing JJ's hands as Conner came back from listening to JJ's lungs , "What do I do?"

"He's pointing at us! Hurry!" Pope called, Rafe aiming the gun out toward the pogues on the boat.

"I'm trying, okay?" John B called.

"Should we tilt him?" Kie suggested as she looks at Conner.

"No, get him on his back actually." Conner nodded as they all back up, the boat starting up again and John B driving off.

"JJ!" Bali yelled as she shook him, Conner tapping his chest again and opening his mouth slightly, "Please!"

A cough came from the blonde boy, Conner backing up ad water flew from JJ's mouth. He coughed again as he leaned over to get it all out before falling back, Bali sighing in relief as she dropping her head into the crock or his neck. JJ blinked a moment.

"There he is." Kie laughed as they all sighed and smiled in relief.

"Hey, buddy. Welcome to the land of the living, dude." Pope smiled down at him.

"Hi." Bali laughed as she came out of his neck and held his face, "Are you okay?"

JJ looked up we her with a lopsided smile, her hands holding his head, "Lookin like an angel right now, Bal."

"I hate you." she cried and laughed at the same time, falling into him again as she dug his head into his neck, "I love you."

"Yeah, I love you too." he hugged her back as they slowly sat up, "Where'd you go?"

"My mom took me." Bali smiled at him, kissing his head and his nose, "Don't go dying on me again, okay? I'll have to kill you."

"Yeah, I'll make sure of it." JJ smiled at her, leaning his head on her chest as she rocked them slightly. JJ blinked as his eyes fell onto the boy infront of him, "What the fuck is this asswhip doing here?"

"Sounds like he's all good." Conner nodded his head.

"My mom had him locked up in that bunker under our house, he helped me escape and get to you." Bali held his head and kissed his forehead once more, "Jesus christ, I miss when I thought my life was boring."

"Never boring with that idiot." John B nudged JJ with a smile, clearly beyond relived he was okay and back with them.

"What the hell happened?" JJ asked, going to sit up but deciding laying on Bali while she kept her arms secured around him was better.

"Blunt end of a machete." Kie hummed.

"Machete?" JJ and Bali asked on sync.

"The blunt end." Kie nodded in agreement.

"Next time, duck. You gave your chick a heart attack, jumping off the boat and swimming though the water like a hammer head shark." Cleo looked at the pair with a shake of her head, "Love really makes you crazy, huh?"

"Fucking crazy." Bali agreed, kissing JJ again.

"Oh, wow, okay." Conner blinked, "Didn't see that one coming."

"You should probably just-" Pope nodded, making a zip of his mouth.

"You're probably right, yeah." Conner nodded in agreement.

They all looked out at the cross being heaved up onto the boat again, Pope sighing as the sun shined down on them, "This shit ain't over."

"Told you, sequel." Bali smiled as she hit Popes leg with her free arm, "Part II."

"No, it ain't." John B agreed with Pope, "Part II."

"This is the lowest we can go." Pope nodded his head, looking out at the ocean, "We literally have nothing else to loose. The cross, gone."

"The gold, gone." Sarah huffed.

"My mom and dad, gone." Bali hummed, sitting with JJ as her head dropped to his shoulder.

"Seriously, if we had a nickel for every time we got beat up, i'd say we're at a dollar fifty." JJ spoke up with a shake of his head, messing with Bali's sand covered fingers.

"But, I mean, we've had some good stuff happen." John B spoke up with a faint grin.

"Name something." Pope suggested.

"JJ's alive." Bali pointed out.

"I didn't get my ass kicked again." Conner snapped his fingers from the other side of Bali. JJ reached behind her, a hand full of sand, throwing it at his face.

"Uh, the boiler room." John B turned his head toward Cleo and Pope, "If the boiler didn't explode I wouldn't have gotten away from Rafe. I couldn't have gotten the Zodiac and gotten us out of here."

"The wasn't luck." Cleo shook her head with a minor giggle, "That thing was gonna blow the second I stopped feeding it."

"Stealing my thunder, Cleo." John B shook his head.

"Pope, you're related to Denmark Tanny." John B spoke toward the Hayward boy.

"And I lost all his inheritance." Pope pointed out his way.

"You know what?" John B asked as he stood to his feet, "Guys, this is it. This is the Pogue life. We are in the Caribbean. It's our own little slice of paradise. With my best friends, with my family. I don't know, I wouldn't wanna do it with anyone else."

"Doesn't mean it's over either, we still have shit to do." Bali nodded up at him, "Like find my dad."

"Like find your dad." John B agreed with a nod, "And we will."

"We will." JJ agreed as he kissed Bali's forehead.

"Look, while you guys were complaining about every little thing.. JJ." John B spoke up, nodding toward the blonde and pointing toward the ocean, "I was looking at those burly lefts."

"There's some slabs out there." JJ admitted, holding back a grin.

"Just a few." John B shrugged.

"Kie, you see that. I know you wanna get out there." John B said over to the Carrera girl.

"No boards." she said with a eyeroll.

"Well, we can bodysurf till we make some boards." John B rose his eyebrows at her before turning toward Bali, "B, cmon. All that smack talk about being a god on waves, you wanna prove it?"

"Goddess." Bali corrected as she stood.

"You need to learn how to swim, dude." John B snapped his fingers ar Conner and yanked him to his feet.

"Ha! He can't swim." JJ laughed.

"Can't hold my alcohol either." Conner said honestly with a long exhale, "Yet, I can go to medical school."

"Well it paid off." Bali said to him, "Thank you."

JJ didn't know why she'd been thinking him, had no clue that Conner saved his life.

"They do look pretty tasty." Pope admitted, "There's nobody around. We could squat here for a bit."

"Pogelandia." JJ announced as he stood.

"Oh boy." John B sighed.

"I claim thee Pogelandia. I like the ring of it." JJ nodded confidently as the wind blew his hair back, "I'm gonna make a flag. It's gonna have a chicken on it. With a coconut bra, smoking a J, in Crocs."

"So much better then political flags." Bali agreed with him.

"I could use a J." Kie said honestly.

"Sarah, till death do us part." John B grinned down at the Cameron girl, "Welcome back to the Pogue life."

"Full Pogue." she grinned.

"Full Pogue?" JJ rose his brows at Bali.

"Pogue life it is." Bali gave a cheeky grin as she grabbed his hand.

"Welcome to the Pogues." Pope spoke as he pulled Cleo up, turning to Conner, "Welcome to the pogues. We don't really drink diet coke."

Conner laughed, "What about cherry coke?"

The sun was setting, the orange glow shining off the waves. Cleo and Pope attempting to help Conner learn to swim, John B, Kie, and Sarah cooking the fish and lobster they caught a few minutes ago. Deeper out in the water, right where the drop off was, two figure floated together.

"JJ." Bali smiled over at him, kicking her legs as the sun shined right down onto her wet curls and glowey skin, "I really love you."

JJ tilted his head at her, "I really love you too, Bal."

"No, like, seriously." Bali swam closer to wrap her legs around his waist and arms around his shoulder, "I don't want anyone else in this entire universe. I really don't, no matter what happens. It's you and me. For constantly."

"For constantly?" JJ asked, "Like, you love me on a loop?"

"I love you on a loop." Bali laughed, resting her forehead on his, "This world is insane and our story is kinda wack, had a lot of plot twist, and most of the time doesn't make any sense. But I love it, and it's all i'll ever what."

He didn't tell her, glad that the water was salty enough to make it seem like that's what was burning his eyes and not the fact that he wanted to cry, "No ones ever loved me the way you do, Bal."

"Would it be selfish for me to hope no one else will ever love you the way I do?" Bali asked him with a small laugh, "Because I don't think I will ever love anyone the way I do you. I know we're just sixteen and that's kinda dramatic to say but I just know."

"I know too." JJ nudged his forehead closer to hers, "I'm a mess, sometimes I feel bad for bringing you into this."

Bali nudged his nose with hers, "Your mess is mine."

That was enough for JJ to lean in and kiss her passionately, her hands cupping his face to kiss him back. Because they knew, no matter what they went through and who came along, neither of them would be able to love anyone else like they did the other.

•

kylie speaks

fuck, i'm crying. i'm gonna
miss jj and bal a lot, my
couple goals and i just adore
them. but, yall know i'll be back
for s3. for now, go find bali
her beach house, and reread
whenever you need the comfort.
i love you all, thank you so much
for going on this journey with me. till we meet again:)
if i get around to publishing that
prologue book, i will make an
announce on here about it!!
-kylie.