The trio found Joey quickly, all hitting her with the story over and over. Ward tried to kill John B, he killed Big John, and John B took off. Joey was in shock, taking off to the boat immediately. "What did he say? Was he hurt? I'm gonna kill Ward, dude."

"He was freaking out, we have no clue where he went." JJ said as he drove the boat toward the docks behind the Cameron house. "He looked completely out of it."

"JJ, hurry." she encouraged as they managed to get to the docks quickly, letting them float in the water.

"What now? We just go to the front door and ask 'Hey, have you seen John B?' " JJ mocked as the boat floated in the water outside of Tannyhill.

"Look, he lives at Tannyhill now. It's plausible." Kie spoke as she looked over at the large Cameron house, "Look, we can play dumb?"

"Play dumb?" JJ asked in disbelief

"It's pretty late." Pope said honestly.

"Who cares? John B could be dead." Joey looked in a panic, looking around the yard for any sight of him.

"Look, I've never seen John B like that. We should honestly be going to the cops." Kie stated as she looked at Pope before turned to JJ and Joey.

"The cop- yeah, and say what, Kie? We're worried about our friend because he's going off on a rampage because Ward Cameron killed Big John?" JJ argued with her while Pope got his binoculars, Joey kneeled down by the seats as she lifted it, "Like, they're not gonna believe us!"

"Hey, I see Ward." Pope spoke up.

"Let me see." Kie took the binoculars.

"Doesn't look dead for me. Let's go home." Pope said as he headed for the wheel again.

"What?" Kie questioned in disbelief.

"Obviously, Mr Cameron is fine, and even if John B was here, he isn't now, okay?" Pope asked Kie, motioning toward the Cameron house.

"I- Joey!" JJ gapped in disbelief as she pulled a hand gun from the seat and stood up.

"Where the hell did you get that?" Kie looked in disbelief as Joey ignored her, climbing up on the dock. "Joey!"

"Jo!" Pope called for her.

"Where are you going?" JJ called, but she ignored them, running through the yard with the small gun in hand. She hide behind trees, making sure no one saw her as she tried to find any sight of John B. Her legs took her behind the house quickly, looking on the back porch in a minor panic. The door was cracked slightly, giving her access to go in. Joey crept towards it, looking inside. The kitchen and living room were clear, letting her walk in.

"John B." Joey whispered as she looked down the small hallway, not getting any movement. She heard Rose talking from the other hall, coming her way. Joey hurried to run up the stairs, light on her feet as she searched for any sign of her ex boyfriend. She looked down the hallway, seeing the three bedrooms that belonged to the Cameron's. If he'd be anywhere, he'd be in Sarah's room.

Joey walked slowly, gripping the gun in hand incase Ward randomly came for her. She was half way down the hallway when she paused, the floor board creaking under her feet. Joeys eyes widened, her heart was racing. She hoped that Sarah would open her door, would find her and let her in. Joey gasped when a hand grabbed her shoulder, slipping around as a hand clapped over her mouth.

John B.

He shhed her with wide eyes, nodding, encouraging her to follow him. Rose and Ward where down stairs, the pair going to the window in the hallway. John B pulled it open, climbing out first as he grabbed hold of the tree. Joey followed, holding the limbs as they managed to get to the bottom. John B helped her down. "What the hell are you do-"

He was cut off by Joey throwing her arms around him, tightening around his shoulders as every form of relief washed over her. John B hugged her back, holding her tightly in his arms. "I thought Ward got to you."

"No, no, he didn't." John B promised her. "Where'd you get a gun?"

"I hid it in the boat a while back." she pulled back, the pair looking down at it in her hands. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be far aw-"

"I had to talk to Sarah." he cut her off, the pair hiding behind the tree, close together as they talked quietly. "She doesn't believe me."

Joeys face fell as she frowned. "Let's get out of here."

"Yeah." he agreed. Joey put her arm around his waist, the pair walking, pressing together and taking comfort in knowing she believed him, and he was alive.

John B woke at sunrise, the orange shining through Joeys window and to her bed. He rolled over, looking at her as she sat on the floor, her back to the wall, leaning on her knees. He found it weird, her just sitting there like that. "Jo."

She found his face, staring back at him, hours later after he slept. "Hey."

"What are you doing?" he rubbed his eyes, turning to look at her oddly.

Joey shook her head, blinking, clearly not realizing she was lost in thought as much as she had. "Just thinking."

"About what?" he pulled his legs over her bed. Joey stared as him again, her thick eyebrows frowned, wild curls even more wild then usual. "Jo?"

"I'm sorry for how shitty I was to you." she broke their eye contact, now looking toward the wall as the orange lit up her eyes. "I just kept thinking about all of it, all night. I thought you were dead and all I kept thinking about was how terrible I was to you."

John B cracked his back, leaning on his knees to look at her. "I kinda deserved it."

"No, you didn't." Joey found his eyes again, his looked like honey in the sunrise. "You broke up with me because long distance sucks, you had a right to do that, you're entitled to break up with someone and not have to deal with all the crazy and irrational shit I did to you after that."

John B moved to sit across from her, his back against her bed, the closeness of the room not keeping them too far apart. Joey took a breath as she shook her head. "When I met you, it was just a little bit after my mom died. I was just so angry with the world, and I was sad, sick of not having her back. I hated every single person that looked at me and I hated just waking up, dealing with the universe without her. But, then you kept trying with me. No matter how horrible I was, you kept trying to get to me."

John B watched her talk, keeping his eyes focused on her when she talked. He was gonna say something, but she went on. "For the first time since she died, I felt like I didn't have to hate everything, because I loved being around you. You were just, like, this wave of safety and happiness. And I hadn't felt either of those for a while."

"Jo." John B spoke when he saw her eyes, how they watery in the orange outside.

"And when we broke up, I don't know, I just was scared. I didn't want to go back to how I was before, and I thought hurting you would avoid that. But all it did was bring me right back to were I started." Joey stared into his eyes in guilt and pain. "And i'm really tired of having to pretend to hate you."

John B gave her a half smile. "I don't want you to hate me either."

"I'm sorry it took you having to almost die for me to realize it." she cried, moving to lean over to hug him tightly. John B hugged her back as she cried, not realizing he started to cry as well. "I'm so sorry for putting all that on you."

"It's okay." he promised her, a hand pressed into her back and the other behind her head. "I'm sorry you felt that way, I should have known."

"It wasn't your fault." she promised, her head laid on his shoulder, arms tight around his shoulders still. "Non of it was your fault."

She knew that she'd been the problem, and it killed her to know what all she'd done to him.

•

kylie speaks

just a little insight into
why joey is struggling to
move on from john b so
much, it isn't necessary their
relationship itself, more so
because after her mom, he was
all that made her happy, and then she lost it again, and just
wants to stop telling so unhappy again.