FIFTY-FOUR

❝ Construction Site ❞

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RAIN FIRES DOWN ON THE FOUR TEENAGERS as they peer over a flimsy wooden fence at the construction area across the street. Ava curls her cold knuckles around the sleeves of her hoodie, and the hood protects her eyes from the harsh water. JJ had very politely offered to give her his jumper as well as her hoodie, but she didn't want him to get pneumonia, so declined the offer.

Pope sets up his camera that he dug out from the car, resting it on the top of the fence.

JJ snorts from beside his girlfriend, "Nice camera. Where'd you dig up that relic? Why don't you just use your phone?"

Pope slowly turns his head round to meet JJ's gaze, "Well, first of all, I like my antiques electronics. Second of all, this is a telephoto. It allows me to get a close image from far away," He explains.

Kiara shakes her head, "Lord of the dorks."

Pope rolls his eyes, now turning to her at the other side of him, "For definitive proof of witness payoff, we're gonna need quality glass."

Noticing a familiar figure run through the room towards the building site, Ava elbows Pope in the side, motioning towards Ward, "There he is," She hisses, "Time to see if your fancy old ass camera actually works."

"Yo, yo. Get down," JJ grabs the top of Ava's head, pushing her down gently behind the fence, before the four of them pop up again, watching as another man sprints over the puddled road to the site.

"And there's Gavin," Pope confirms, "Where are you going, you son of a bitch?" The two men disappear from the line of sight, "No, no, no! We're losing him. Shit. Where'd he going?"

Suddenly, JJ disappears from Ava's side, and her eyes follow his figure as he dashes through a small outhouse, craning his neck around the corner as he searches for something. His head snaps back to his friends as he whistles for their attention, "Yo! Hey, I found something. Come here."

With furrowed brows, the three of them follow after the blonde boy, eyes squinting through the dark and the harsh rain.

"Gotta go up top," He calls quietly before jogging towards a ladder and scaling a tall brick wall.

Ava is the next to follow, causing the other two to climb up straight after. One they reach the top, the four of them duck behind another fence built on the top of the building as they peer across at the construction site. Pope reveals his camera once more, raising the lens to his eye as they spot Gavin and Ward.

"You rolling, Pope?" JJ questions.

"Are you getting it?" Kiara hisses.

"Yeah," Pope mutters, "Yeah, I see them."

Rolling her shoulders back with anxiety, Ava begins to tap her finger on her thigh. Feeling her arm shifting against him, JJ peers down at her fidgeting finger, and raises his hand to hold hers, before nodding up at her as she attempts a grateful smile.

"Ward just handed Gavin something," Pope informs, "I think it's a duffel bag."

JJ's brows furrow, "Guys, I think this is a payoff."

"Money for the gun," Ava affirms, swallowing thickly.

Pope hums in agreement before saying, "Gavin doesn't look happy about something. It looks like he's yelling at Ward."

"Why?" Kiara asks.

"I don't know, but he sure looks mad," Pope shrugs, falling silent once more as he inspects their conversation some more.

A sudden movement turns into a fight, causing Ava and JJ to jerk in surprise, eyes narrowing as they attempt to see the situation better.

Ava snaps her head to Pope quickly, "What's going on?"

"I dunno," Pope rushes, "They're fighting over something."

The two men continue to fight, throwing one another back and forth roughly. Ava prays for Gavin to through Ward out of the half built wall, or to push him down the wooden slab stairs.

"Why are they fighting?" JJ breaths.

"I don't know," Pope snaps once again, his friends not being able to grasp onto the idea that he can only see, not hear why it's all happening, "I'm trying to see."

A few moments later, the movement falls relatively still, leaving only one of the men standing.

"Holy shit," Pope gasps, "Ward's got a gun."

"The murder weapon," Ava nods, her eyes never leaving the construction site in front of them while JJ glances at the side of her face, his grip on her hand tightening.

Suddenly, two shots ring out over the rain and wind. JJ wraps his arms around Ava, turning her around and pulling her down behind the fence as her chest pumps up and down.

"Oh my god," Pope breaths, "Oh my god."

Kiara presses her forehead against the fence in front of her, "No, no, no, no. That did not just happen. What is going on?"

JJ pulls Ava further into his body, his head falling back against the fence, "Tell me you just got that, Pope."

With the lens of his camera still to his eye, Pope nods, "Enough to put this asshole away for life."

Another shot is fired causing JJ and Ava both to whirl around and peer over the top of the fence once more to watch as Ward accidentally lets the gun slip from his hands and to the flooded road below.

"This is freaking crazy," Pope sighs, his eyes growing wide as Ward stares out across the road, his eyes scanning frantically for the dropped gun, "Get down!"

The four of them drop down behind the fence once more, shoulders hunched to hide their fingers as Pope continues to keep the camera on Ward.

JJ studies Ava's face, noticing her staring into the darkness in front of them, "I think we should go now," He calls through the rain, "Pope, you have enough. Let's get outta here," He taps Ava's thigh, catching her attention, "You ready—"

"Hold on," Pope cuts him off, "He's coming out. There he goes. I think he's looking for the gun. I think the gun just went down the drain. He's looking for it," He explains.

Ava watches carefully as Kiara begins to manoeuvre her body around. The blonde girl tilts her head and quickly shoots her hand out towards her friend, attempting to catch her wrist, but she's already stood up, shouting towards the struggling man on the road.

"Kie!" Ava hisses.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?" Kiara's voice screams loudly over the rain, "MURDERER! YOU—"

Ava's hands clamp around her mouth, but the girl continues to yell, struggling against her friend who pulls her down behind the fence once more, hissing harshly in her ear.

"Shut up, Kie," She snaps, but Kiara continues, her yells coming out muffled and distorting, "Kiara fucking Carrera, shut your mouth."

Kiara shrugs Ava off, rolling her jaw in anger, "I don't care if he hears me! He's a murderer."

JJ gawks at her in disbelief, "Yeah, and he's gonna murder us, Kie."

"You're fucking crazy!" Ava snarls, "Do you want us to get killed, huh? Jesus christ, I can't believe you just did that."

Kiara shakes her head, raising a finger to jab it at her friend, "None of this would be happening if you hadn't given Rafe the gun!"

Ava scoffs, pressing her tongue against the inside of her cheek, "You're serious? You're blaming me. You—"

"Guys!" Pope cuts her short, "He's seen us."

"I'm not surprised," Ava snaps, her eyes glaring at Kiara who's biting her lip, "Little miss can-pay-for-medical-bills-if-she-gets shot over here will have woken up the whole neighbourhood with her screeches."

JJ grabs Ava's shoulders, turning her around and towards the ladder, "We gotta go! He's coming!"

Rolling her tongue over her teeth, Ava begins to back down the ladder, her friends calling at her to quicken as she jumps down, missing the last few steps, allowing them to follow after her as she turns to watch them descend. Kiara's foot stamps down on JJ's hand, causing him to shout in pain and whirl around, catching Pope as he falls. Both of the boys crash down to the floor at Ava's feet, Pope's camera smashing down beside them.

"Fuck," Ava snips as she watches Pope grab the now destroyed camera form the ground.

"No, no, no, no!" Pope rushes, attempting to repair the device, but it's unsalvageable.

"You're kidding me?" JJ shouts, mud coating his clothes and face, "You fumbled it?"

Pope whirls around, his eyes wide at the accusation, "You kicked me in the face!"

JJ points harshly at Kiara, "She stepped on my hand."

Ava watches as they argue, her hands running through her hand and over her soaking wet face. There's a small problem with spending days on end with close friends; eventually you'll get pissed at the small things that others do, and it will always escalate to more.

"I was trying to hurry!" Kiara screams.

Sucking in a deep breath, Ava claps her hands, catching their attention, "He's still coming, you know?" She mutters, whirling around and scaling a fence as the others quickly follow.

She walks through the rain, ignoring her friends continuing to argue behind her. She reaches Kiara's car, throwing open the back door and sliding into the seat, slamming her head back against the rest, taking in the small sliver of silence until her friends finally open their own doors, filling the car with arguments.

"Will you all just shut up?" Ava snaps, her eyes squeezing closed.

Pursing his lips, JJ pants, "Could someone fill me in on what the fuck just happened? I can't believe it. What— what were they fighting for?"

Pope's hands fumble over the camera, as he rushes, "Uh. . . it was. . . it was—"

"The gun that Rafe used," Ava finishes for him, dropping her hood, "The same one I had. The murder weapon."

JJ groans, dropping back into his seat as he fixes his hats placement, "Of course! Of course! The murder weapon!"

Kiara stares down at she phone, tapping furiously, catching her friend's attention she rambled, "Pick up, pick up."

"Kie," Ava licks her lips. slowly leaning forward in her seat while attempting to keep her tone quiet and gentle, "Who are you calling?"

"The cops!" She snaps harshly, whirling around in her seat to face the blonde girl, "Who else am I supposed to call?"

JJ shakes her head, slamming his hand against his car door in frustration, watching as Ava collapses back into her seat with a sigh, "Why would you call the police? That's Ward!" He shouts.

"Sheriff's office?"

"Hello? Hi, somebody's been shot at the— at the Grand Street construction site!" Kie screams into her phone frantically, "You guys need to hurry because he's dying. I don't know if he's already dead or not! You need to hurry!" She ends the call, dropping her phone into her lap as she raises a hand to her forehead.

"We can't stay here," JJ says.

"We have to go," Pope agrees.

Ava sinks down further into her seat, staring out of the window as Kiara cries and the two boys yell at her to drive. The car sets off, but the arguing between Pope and Kie continues, causing JJ to groan and fall back into his seat. Ava glances over at him, raising her brows.

"They're in love," JJ mouths, motioning to their two friends seated in the front.

Ava smiles gently, nodding in agreement and he chuckles quietly, before whirling his body around to lay across the centre seat and rest his head on her lap.

"Your hairs wet and muddy," She says quietly, looking down at him.

He hums uncaringly, closing his eyes as he crosses his arms over his chest and she rolls her eyes, turning to look out of the window once more, her fingers settling in his hair.

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authors note.
not proof read, at all.
hopefully season three will motivate me to update this more

ITS FUCKING CHRISTMAS YOU LOT
well it's 11pm rn but
MERRY CHRISTMASSSS 😘😘

love you all lots and thank you for 200k reads
that's mad honestly
xox