𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐎𝐍𝐄 , 𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐃𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄
𝟖:𝟐𝟎-𝟏𝟓:𝟏𝟓
𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘨: 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺'𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 » 𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭

∞

AVA'S POV:

I've spent the most of today reading the living room for the Chateau, and when I hear JJ walk into the house I don't bothering raising my head.

Making his way into the room, her throws something beside me and I look over at it with a cocked brow. My cigarettes.

"Cindy used them," He mutters.

Rolling my eyes, I pick the box up, checking how many are left, "You let a filthy touron use my cigs?"

"Yeah. Sorry," His voice cracks slightly and immediately, my head goes up, realising that something isn't right.

My eyes land on the fresh cuts and bruises scattering his face and I shoot up out of my seat in a hurry, "What the fuck, J?" I walk over to him, gently cupping his face, feeling the tears, "Who did this?"

"Dad," He stammers, squeezing his eyes shut while his lip quivers.

Fighting back a curse, I sigh and pull him into a hug and he buries his head into my shoulder, wrapping his arms tightly around my waist while he sobs loudly. I lift a hand up to the back of his head, running my fingers through his hair to comfort him.

"I hate him," He cries and a tear rolls down my cheek at hearing the pain radiating from his voice, "I hate him." He repeats, tightening his grip on me.

"I know, I know. Sh, J. It's okay. You're here with me. It's okay," I soothe quietly.

"I love you, Ava," He whispers, sniffing before lifting his head up, our eyes meeting.

My jaw drops a little, then a smile creeps onto my lips, "I love you too, J. And I promise I won't let that fucker hurt you again."

He laughs gently, moving his hands up to my cheeks and gently pulling us together for a kiss. He pulls away, "Don't tell the others. . . uh, about my Dad."

Quickly, I shake my head, "I won't. That's for you to tell, not me."

"Thank you," His lip quivers, "so much, Ava."

"JJ—"

"Oh," He smiles again, wiping away his tears as if it never happened and taking a step away from me, "I forgot to tell you, they're watching us."

I furrow my eyebrows, "Who?"

He points out the window at a few black cars parked on the drive outside of the Chateau, all of them with blacked out windows.

"Is that those men?"

He shakes his head, "They're dead. Someone murdered them."

I glance at him, "What? How do you know?"

"Peterkin showed me during our lil' interrogation." He shrugs, "It was gross. But good fucking riddance."

We hear heavy footsteps outside, both of us immediately knowing who they belong to. John B, who walks as if he's stomping all the time. JJ and I turn for a second, shooting each other a look before sprinting down the porch steps and running up behind John B. JJ grabs John B's head, immediately slapping his hand over his mouth to keep him quite. John B struggles for a second, unsure of who's grabbing him and they both fall to the ground.

"It's me, JJ. Stop, stop, stop, stop." JJ hisses quietly.

John B stops and his head snaps to me, relief washing over his face, "What are you two doing?"

"Shut up," I snarl, smacking my hand over his mouth again and shoving him against the hut wall roughly.

JJ pulls him away, and we duck behind a wall, pointing at the black cars at the front of the house, "See that?" JJ whispers, "They're watching us, okay?"

John B raises an eyebrow, giving the same reaction I did, "Who?"

"I don't know," JJ shrugs, "Let's go. Sneak around to the dock."

He pushes us both in the direction of the water, running quickly behind us. We rush into the water, it going up to my waist but JJ still ducks me further down while him and JB hold their backpacks over their heads.

"Hold on. J, how do you get into the Chateau without them seeing you?" I question, slowly pushing through the marsh.

"I managed to sneak up the back porch." He informs me.  He places a hand on my chest, stopping me from walking any further before turning around to John B, "Wait, wait, wait. You got the keys to the Pogue?"

"Yeah," John B nods.

"These shorts were fresh outta the washer." I grumble, feeling the sludge and weeds from the water push against my waist.

We hop over some land, reaching much  deeper water. They're able to stand on the bottom, but I'm too short.

"Ava, get on my back." JJ whispers, noticing how I'm struggling. He stops for a second, letting me climb on before lowering down into the water, so only our heads are popping out. He squeezes his hands on my thighs, trying to get a better grip before manoeuvring his shoulders so we're more comfortable.

We finally make it to the HMS Pogue and he pushes me up before they both climb on as well, making sure not to make too much noise. I crouch down, my back against the side of the boat while JJ unties the rope.

"John, hurry up. Come on," He rushes.

John B slowly climbs onto the seat, putting in the keys and staring to engine before speeding off. I stare down at my soaked clothes, annoyed because they were my favourite.

JJ pats my knee, sitting beside me, "They'll dry."

I glance at him, smiling weakly before dropping my head to his shoulder, "I'm so fucking tired."

❦

After a while, John B stops the boat and we hop off onto some random patch of land, trudging up a small hill and taking a seat on some rocks.

JJ scoffs, running his hand through his hair, "First, I almost got strangle to death by Kooks, and now I'm on the hook for 30 grand. We should just dip."

I cross my arms, "Okay, and where do you wanna go? Hm?"

He shrugs, "Yucatan."

John B chuckles in disbelief from beside me, throwing his head back, "Yucatan."

"No, I'm dead serious right now." JJ says sternly, "Surf all day, and then we can just live off lobsters we catch with our bare hands."

"I'm up for it," I purse my lips, nodding.

John B glares at me then back at JJ, "You just wanna leave 'cause you got your ass beat?"

"You didn't see the photos," JJ mutters, looking at the ground.

John B jumps off the rock, "Think about it. They're willing to kill for gold, then it's gotta be out there."

"Have you lost your mind?" JJ shouts, taking his hat off his head, "One hundred years, man! One hundred years, people have been tryin' to find this Royal Merchant, and no one succeeded." He jabs a finger into John B' s chest, "And you think you are gonna be the one that actually finds it? When will you get it in your thick skull? If you keep goin' down this road, you're gonna end up just like your dad!"

My face drops for a second and John B shoves him back angrily. I bring my knees up to my chest and wrap my arms around them, resting my chin on top sadly as I watch the boys argue.

"I can't give up, JJ!" John B yells, "Last time I saw that dude, we got in an argument, and then he took all of our," He points between himself and I, "rent money and dipped for this Royal Merchant. And then I told him he was a shit father," He lowers his voice, "and you know how the rest of the story goes. And I won't give up on the hunt."

"He was a shit father," I say, slipping off the rock into a standing position.

John B whirls round to me, "What?"

"He was a shit father," I repeat harshly.

"No. No, he wasn't, Ava. He loved us." He snaps loudly, marching over to me and preparing to spark an argument with me too.

"He loved you." I point at him, "Not me. I wasn't want he wanted. He hated that he had a daughter."

John B shakes his head, "That's not true."

"How would you know?" I raise my voice, "He adored you. You were his pride and joy. He spent every minute of every day with you, leaving me by myself in my room."

"Ava-"

"Do you wanna know how many times he said I love you to me?" I scoff, "Never. Never once did he say those words to me. But I had to listen to him say them to you every fucking day."

"That's not true." He says again.

I furrow my eyebrows, "Yes it is. For years and years, I watched you two have the best time of your lives. And never once, did you let me join in and speak to either of you while you were together."

"Ava—"

I run my tongue over my teeth, shaking my head, "You know what? You don't care. I mean, why would you? He loved you and that's all that matters."

He walks away, ignoring me, grabbing his backpack off the rock, "Look, I've got a plan. You comin' or what?" He glances back at us, noticing JJ and I rooted to the ground side by side, "Five hundred mill, guys."

I huff before shoving past him, stepping into the boat, "I fucking hate you."

____________________________
𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙛 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙖𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙚𝙩.