𝐅 𝐎 𝐔 𝐑 𝐓 𝐘 - 𝐎 𝐍 𝐄
the whole enchilada

There was a thick, constant fog of awkwardness drifting through the air, three teens unsure of what to say to each other. They had done the honors of dropping Pope off at home so he could prepare for his scholarship interview, and ever since then, it was like nobody knew where they stood.

JJ was the mediator, and he often found himself breaking upcoming fights apart for the sake of everyone's sanity. Meanwhile, Kiara was the instigator– she found it insanely easy to argue with Pope over something she should've known this whole time.

And Meredith? Well, she had no idea what the fuck her purpose was. Perhaps it was the daughter of a murderer. She wasn't quite sure.

Those thoughts were pushed aside in the depths of her mind when they showed up at the Château to see John B laying on the dock, a life jacket propped underneath his head.

The teens were more than relieved to find him intact and unharmed, physically at least. Meanwhile, his mind was swarmed with thoughts.

One of those thoughts was about the gold. After realizing he wasn't thinking rationally and had no luck finding Ward Cameron, he seeked confirmation from the Crain house. Something inside of him was itching, as if his instinct was telling him to check the gold.

So, the boy suspended into the well after finding Cameron Development equipment posted outside of the house.

And once again, they lost. The gold was gone, and the two men had taken something from him. Again.

"You sure he got everything?" Kiara muttered, breaking the silence hanging over them like a chandelier– apart from the loons calling out.

She didn't have the heart to mention Michael Waters in front of Meredith because knowing what they did, it was to be assumed that the man was in on the search for the gold.

Everything made sense now. His random acts of disappearance, his secretive phone calls, or spontaneous meetings with Ward. But most of all, his uncanny attempts to hide his office off from the world.

"Every bar," the brunette replied dryly, drained of any life. "The whole enchilada."

The three watched as John B tore his cast off of his hand, a soft grunt leaving his lips. "Look, it's not like I expected a happy ending or some shit."

Meredith felt incredibly guilty as she watched him toss his dirty and distressed cast somewhere beside him. If her father wasn't so goddamn greedy for everything, this wouldn't be happening.

"John B–" the curly-haired girl began to scold, but John B's heavy sigh cut her off.

"What, Kie?" He deadpanned. "It's a hairline fracture. Who cares?"

JJ glanced over his shoulder at the boy's hostile tone from his spot on the duck's wooden fencing, feet resting in front of him. A rolled joint was in between his thumb and pointer finger, which he had offered to Meredith on numerous occasions, hoping she would try and calm her nerves, but she silently declined.

"You should care," Kiara sighed. "Your arm's gonna be messed up for life."

"It's fine," he reassured, bending his elbow to reveal to them his hand, wiggling his fingers nonchalantly. "See?"

Meredith rolled her eyes, arms wrapped around herself as she watched the boy scrunch up his face at the slight pressure on his partially–healed hand, dropping it in disappointment.

John B looked away from his fingers when the dock began to rumble softly, the other three turning around in unison at the sound of fast–paced footsteps.

"Guys!" Meredith's eye brows furrowed deeply at the sight of Pope running towards them, out of breath and sweaty.

"Guys!" He shouted again, panting heavily. In a fit of exhaustion, Pope halted, hands falling to his knees. "Oh! Oh! Oh, God. I ran all the way here."

"You all right?" John B raised his brows in surprise, Pope's dress shirt drenched with sweat.

"How was the interview, Pope?" JJ joined the conversation, turning slightly so he could face the group.

"Don't ask," he panted out, grunting from his exertion.

"Awesome," John B shrugged sarcastically, sending his friend a lazy thumbs up.

"JB..." Pope panted out again, standing up straight. "Look, I'm sorry, dude. About everything."

"It's fine." He murmered.

The guilt made its presence back in the pit of Meredith's stomach as she watched John B's blank expression, but she knew it wasn't fine. Finding out your father was murdered by your girlfriend's father, and your friend's father wasn't fine. And she felt like shit.

JJ picked up on the way she chewed at the inside of her cheek nervously, arms wrapped around herself tightly. He nudged her with his bent knee, the girl turning at the distraction.

"Hm?" She hummed quietly, raising her brows at him expectantly.

"You okay?" He whispered, finishing his exhale of his weed. Meredith nodded simply at him before turning back to face the conversation, feeling JJ's knee resting against her back.

"But– but I don't have a lot of time," Pope heaved. "And– And I have information that is tactically relevant."

Kiara raised her brows, waiting for the boy to continue speaking, but he was still struggling to hold air in his lungs.

Finally, Pope spoke again, glancing around to make sure everyone was paying attention. "So, before I had my interview, my dad said he was going down to the private airstrip, to cut palms for Waters' big plane."

Meredith's frown only deepened, realizing that she would most likely never get the father back that she cherised as a little kid. He had changed, and his greed overtook him.

"What?" She breathed out, sighing heavily.

"You have a private airstrip?" Kiara retorted, face scrunched in distaste.

"Yeah?" The girl simply shrugged, not up for conversation. "We always have."

"So, okay," Pope cut in, forcing them to turn their attention back on him. "Because it was too heavy, it needed a longer landing strip to take off."

This time, John B leaned up slightly, no longer laying on the hard dock. His furrowed brows deepened at his friend's words, but he didn't have much of a chance to comprehend it before Pope was ranting again.

"So, I'm there sitting in my interview, thinking to myself, 'Hm, why would Michael and Ward need a longer airstrip to take off?' What could be so heavy to weigh it down?"

JJ turned around completely at this, as John B sat up in realization.

"Gold," the blonde breathed out.

"That's right," John B had a growing smirk on his lips, all watching as Pope began making wild hand gestures towards JJ.

"Exactly," Pope nodded, pointing. "Guys, this is our chance, but it leaves tonight, and we have to go."

"Guys, we can't give up now," Kiara added, smiling triumphly. Meredith pushed her back off of the fencing, JJ turning to dangle his feet over the edge.

"What's the plan, big man?" JJ smiled, looking over at the Routledge boy in question.

"We're gonna steal that shit back," John B concluded, his eyes twinkling with determination. The others all broke out into wide smiles, a grin on Meredith's face.

"Let's do this!" Pope cheered, picking up in another run down the dock. Kiara and JJ slowly picked up the pace behind him while Meredith stayed behind with John B, who had taken a moment to stare out into the horizon.

"Come on, boys!" Kiara giggled.

"You ready?" Meredith questioned, watching as he turned around with a sliver of hope because after everything he'd been through, he deserved that much.

"Yeah, and uh," he cleared his throat before turning to face her completely, scratching his head nervously. "I'm sorry about how I acted. I was pissed off, and I know you wouldn't tell them."

"It's okay," She shrugged, eyes softening. "I probably would've done the same thing."

"And I'm sorry about your dad," he muttered, opening the wound back up that she was trying to close. Nonetheless, she still mustered a grateful smile.

"Me too," Meredith sighed, tilting her head in the direction of where their friends went. "You ready?"

"Let's do this shit," he broke out into a wide grin before John B began walking down the dock, picking up into a slow jog when he knew that the girl was behind him.

And she would follow him wherever he chose to go because she owed that to John B after everything her father put him through.

John B Routledge deserved that much.

authors note!
just a little filler for you guys.