𝟎𝟓𝟏. 𝐛𝐨𝐲 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐤𝐢𝐜𝐤

ride ──── twenty one pilots

☀︎ 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐥𝐲𝐧'𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐯

𝖳𝖧𝖤 𝖯𝖠𝖨𝖭 𝖨𝖭 𝖬𝖸 𝖧𝖤𝖠𝖣 𝖨𝖲 𝖲𝖴𝖡𝖲𝖨𝖣𝖨𝖭𝖦．Sure, I feel as if I might still be sick but I'm chewing on some gum to ease that taste in my mouth. I've had gum stashed in the Twinkie for years── for so long that it may have expired, I don't know. I'm still chewing it.

We're driving to the Cameron estate to find Rafe and the cross. We're not sure what our plan is once we get there, but we'll figure something out. We just need to find a way to steal that truck with the cross in, and then we'll just... drive.

It feels different without Kiara, but she'd want us to continue, and we're going to find a way to bring her back into this.

One we arrive at the Cameron's estate, we park the van and hide behind the wall. "Stay low." I'm crouched in between Pope and JJ as we move along the wall. "Stay low, stay low."

We peer up and over the wall, spotting the truck that drove by us earlier. We watch Rafe get out. "How much do you wanna bet Rafe has the cross inside that truck right now?"

All the money in the world plus whatever money Rafe has in his pocket.

"There's only one way to find out," Sarah says, stepping away from us, likely heading towards the house that she technically lives in.

"Hey. Wait." John B rushes after her because despite the two of them breaking up, I know he still cares a great deal about her, and having Sarah walk into the house her psycho brother is in is not smart. It's a death sentence.

Sarah turns to him. "What?"

"Look, before you volunteer on this death mission, I need to know a couple things." Oh, no. I think I know what he's going to talk to her about, but now is so not the time.

"Death mission, that sounds familiar."

"Okay, look, Sarah, I just have questions."

"About what?"

"Us," he replies, and I suddenly wish I was invisible.

"Us?" she choruses, surprise in her voice.

"Yeah, Sarah, come on."

I pull my gaze off John B and Sarah, trying my best to look elsewhere, but I can still hear them perfectly, so looking away is kind of pointless. I just stand and stare at JJ and Pope who look just as awkward as me.

"I'm... I'm sorry," John B stutters out. "And... and I should have said it sooner. I want you to have this back." Because I'm nosey, and I can't help myself, I glance over to watch John B handing Sarah a piece of... string? I have no idea, but it must be some kind of marriage, relationship symbol, I don't know. "Will you take it?"

They stare at one another for a moment, and then Sarah steps forward to push her lips to John B's. I smile because, of course, I'm my brother's biggest supporter, and I pull my eyes off him and Sarah as they kiss one another. I'm guessing this means they're back together. Good. I was sick and tired of watching my brother mope around.

JJ nudges me, looking away from John B and Sarah. "Do you think he'd notice if I kissed you?"

"No, but I would." I glance over at Pope, huffing out a laugh.

"Hey!" Sarah rushes off towards her house, and John B turns to look at us, his smile wider than a coat hanger. "Do you want me to perform your vows while you're at it?"

"Christ, could you take any longer?"

John B steps over, slapping a hand on JJ's arm. "Shut up."

We continue to watch over the wall, observing as Sarah rushes over to the truck, yanking open the door. She must be trying to find the keys to open the back of the truck as it's likely locked.

Sarah turns to us. "I need keys!" We can hear her well enough. "I'm going inside. I'll be fine." Sarah begins to rush away, heading into the house, but I don't feel good about this. She shouldn't be going in the house, she said she wouldn't need to.

"No. No. Don't go inside!" She's already gone inside the house, it's a bit late.

"I thought you said don't go in the house!"

"I told her!"

"Do a birdcall!" Pope instructs, but nobody knows how to do a freaking birdcall.

John B attempts a birdcall, but he ends up sounding like a constipated chicken, and I can't help but laugh. "That's not what a bird sounds like, John B," I chuckle, knowing Sarah wouldn't come rushing out to that noise.

"What is that, a dying chicken?"

"It's not──" He sighs loudly. "It's a whistle."

"Yeah, right."

John B places his hands on the wall. "I'm going over."

I tug on his shirt, keeping him right where he is. "Absolutely..."

Before I can finish my sentence, the honking of a vehicle behind us catches our attention. Lovely, we've been caught doing... I don't know what exactly. "Uh, excuse me. Can I help you?" We turn, finding an older man to be stepping out of the vehicle.

Once he steps into the light of the streetlights, we find that he's holding a shotgun right at us. "Okay." I guess he isn't the mood to negotiate.

"I got double-aught bucks in this thing, so, uh, I can't miss." He chuckles lowly, shifting the direction of the gun to John B. "Alright there, buddy, off the wall."

John B steps away from the wall, and each of us hold our hands up. "Sir, it's not what it seems," JJ defends, but I don't think this guy is going to believe us.

"You guys are on the wrong side of the island," he states, and that brings an eye roll out of me. Why does it matter what side of the island we're on? I lived in this freaking house once upon a time, thank you. "How about everyone get on their knees."

"I don't get on my knees for no man," I blurt out.

My mouth tends to speak without consulting with my head.

"No man?" I snap my head over to JJ, horrified that he said that in front of my brother, but hopefully he doesn't catch on.

John B's mouth gapes. "B, he's holding a gun!"

"I know, I'm sorry!"

"Oh, my God, Brooke."

"On your knees!" The man demands, growing agitated by me. He steps closer with the shotgun pointing directly at me. So I guess he doesn't like my jokes, not in any kind of way.

For the first time in my life, I have to get on my knees for a man.

I shiver at the notion.

Slowly, we each lower to the ground, knees digging into the grass as we stare up at the man holding the gun. Our hands remain up and above our heads. "I think I should call the police," he says, looking at each of us.

"You don't have to do that, sir."

"I'll decide for myself what I need to do."

"Sir, can I just talk to you for a minute?" JJ asks, already picking himself up and off his knees. "Just to explain."

"Hey," I hiss, reaching out for his hand.

"No, I got this." He's risen to his feet, now stepping towards the man holding the gun. "Sir, I know you think we're just some derelict kids from the Cut, but we weren't that to Mr. Cameron."

"Sure weren't." I peer over at John B who has chosen to go along with JJ's plan, whatever that plan may be.

"We were his yard workers, sir," JJ explains as the rest of us begin to lift ourselves up, needing to get off the damn ground. "We were just waiting for our yard associate── Jay..."

"To... Tommy," John B utters quietly.

"Tommy..." JJ corrects, laughing softly. "Uh, we were just waiting for Tommy to get back from painting a row of flowers for Mr. Cameron's memorial." I stare at him, truly impressed by his lying technique. He's good.

The gun is lowered. "Keep talking."

JJ decides to keep talking, rambling on and on about these flowers, and how Mr. Cameron was so great to us before he died which is, of course, a massive, massive lie. Ward Cameron hated us right to the moment he died, and we hated him just as much, but if we wanna get out of being shot, we've gotta lie through our teeth.

JJ really is a good liar.

As JJ rambles on and on, the man with the gun── as he's formally known as to me── seems actually interested. He's nodding and smiling and laughing along to JJ's incessant talking. I don't even know what he's saying, I'm hardly paying much attention.

"...the Knight of the Rhododendron lives on... in here," JJ finishes. "That's why we planted those flowers."

"Yep. That's why," Pope speaks, nodding.!

"Sure. Yes."

"You smell that, right?"

"What is that, night-blooming jasmine?" the man asks after taking a whiff. I'm not smelling anything, but apparently the man with the gun can smell something.

"No, that's more like, um... like, uh..." JJ stammers over his words, placing a hand on the man's shoulder. "Sir, that's, um... natural Viagra."

"Okay!" I step up behind him, slapping my hands on his shoulders because now he's gone a little too far to the point where he sounds insane.

The man's eyes widen. "Really?"

"One sniff and bam!" I'm tugging at JJ's arms, trying to get him to move, but he's still talking. "It's hammer time! You know what I'm saying?"

"Oh, my God," I mutter.

"Our associate Tommy should be here any minute," Pope rushes out, needing JJ to shut up.

"We'll be quiet, alright?" JJ assures. "And we'll finish up here. I'm sorry to bother you." He pats a hand on the man's shoulder as he takes a step back, heading back to his cart.

"I gotta get some of those flowers," is the last thing he says before he gets in his vehicle.

"Have a good night, sir," JJ says as the man with the gun begins to drive off, leaving us.

I clap my hand over JJ's. "You are a great liar."

He winks, moving towards the wall. "I know I am, Sunny."

We each jump up and over the wall once we know the man with the gun is gone, and we immediately duck behind a bush so we can still observe everything without being caught. Nothing has happened since Sarah disappeared into the house, and the truck is still right there.

Maybe we could try and break into the back, but that would make too much noise, wouldn't it? I wonder if Sarah is okay. I wonder if she has the key and is on her way out. I'm not sure, and as the minutes tick by, I grow more and more concerned that she's trapped in a situation.

I hope she's okay.

I spot something── somebody rush towards the truck. "Wait." I sit up, realising the somebody is Rafe. He's getting back into the truck. "It's Rafe."

"He's got my cross," Pope whispers.

My eyes follow the truck as it begins to pull away from the house. Pope is also fixated on the truck as it holds his family's cross and he's hellbent on retrieving it. JJ and John B are bickering in my ear, but I'm hardly paying any attention to them. I'm sensing that Pope wants to do something a little wild.

I know him. I know him very well, so the minute he starts to walk away from us, I'm not surprised. Pope is moving quickly, heading straight for the truck as it drives away from the house.

"Pope!" I rise to my feet, chasing after him as I am not letting him get caught in another Rafe Cameron situation alone. I'm going to help him because that is what I'm here for. "Pope!" I try not to yell too loudly in case Rafe hears me as I sprint after him, ignoring JJ and John B who call after me and Pope.

Pope reaches the back of the truck, grabbing onto it quickly as I continue to run after him. My head still aches and my legs hate to see me running, but I'm doing this for Pope, I just need to keep telling myself that.

"Brooke!" My legs burn as I do my best to catch up with him and the truck. "Take my hand." I hold my hand out, reaching for him as I inch closer and closer to the truck, screaming silently as all I want to do is stop running.

My fingers brush against Pope's, and then he yanks me forward, pulling me up and onto the back of the truck with him. I don't let go of his hand as I'm afraid I'll fall off this truck.

"You're insane, Pope."

"Why did you follow me?"

I huff out a laugh, wishing I had a clear answer for that. Why did I follow him? Well, I don't really know.

"Well, boy genius needs a sidekick, right?"

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𝖳𝖧𝖤 𝖡𝖮𝖸 𝖦𝖤𝖭𝖨𝖴𝖲 𝖠𝖭𝖣 𝖧𝖨𝖲 𝖲𝖨𝖣𝖤𝖪𝖨𝖢𝖪．

A TV show or book should be written about us. Ha! Wouldn't that be something?

The sun has since risen, and Pope and I have shockingly stayed attached to the back of this truck for God knows how long, but now Rafe is reversing the truck down a dirty alley that opens to the swamp.

With him reversing the truck, we're able to step off the truck. Pope moves to get off first, and then he reaches for my hand, pulling me off. We carefully and quickly move away, stepping to hide behind a tree as Rafe gets out of the truck.

We crouch down, needing to hide in case he spots us, but we do our best to peer around the tree. We spot Rafe pulling open the back of the truck, stepping inside, and then dragging out something that was large and wrapped in a blanket.

"What the hell," I utter, shuffling closer to Pope as Rafe pulls the thing through the mud. As he grunts and pants whilst dragging the thing, I watch closely, having a deep gut feeling that the thing Rafe is dragging is actually a body.

A dead body, but a body nonetheless.

Rafe reaches the swamp, dragging the body into the gator-infested water, leaving it to the gators. I stare with wide eyes, my breathing rapid because I'm watching the psycho Rafe Cameron drag a bastard body. This is the same guy I confided in for all those minutes.

I'm appalled with myself.

Rafe steps away from the water, and just as he does, a gator moves over to the body and chomps down. A silent scream crawls out my throat as I slap a hand over my mouth. My eyes squeeze shut because there is no way I witnessed that. Pope grasps my arm, just as surprised.

"It's okay," he whispers, moving to stand up. For a moment, I don't register what he's doing until it's too late and he's shoving Rafe over and onto the ground.

"Shit!" I scramble up, rushing to his aid.

Rafe huffs out a laugh when he sees me before he looks back to Pope. "Okay, round three, bitch."

I sigh, looking from Pope to Rafe. "Great."

Rafe charges forward, pushing into Pope and tackling him to the ground. I'm exhausted, and my head still feels a little woozy, so I am so not in the mood to fight, but just like that first fight he and Rafe had, I've got Pope's back.

He's my guy. He's my bestie. I've got him.

With Pope pinned to the ground, I move forward, deciding to climb up and onto his back in an attempt to pull him off Pope. I dig my nails into his shoulders, pulling at his shirt. "Get off!" God, he's annoyingly strong, the damn bastard.

Race's arm reaches up, his elbow jabbing into my hip to knock me off him, but I don't move, I cling on like a freaking monkey. I cling on so hard that it pushes him to a stand, giving Pope the chance to scramble off the ground. Before I have chance to slip off his back, Rafe pushes back, knocking me into the truck.

"Ah!" With how hard my back hits the truck, I slip and fall. That fucking hurt, so much so that I'm now afraid I've broke my back.

No, if I had broke my back, I wouldn't be walking.

Okay, I don't have time to think about this, there's a fight going on.

I pick myself back up, watching as Rafe charges forward to attack Pope. This time around, Pope ducks and sends a punch to the side of his face which I don't have time to be proud about as that is the only punch he lands on Rafe.

Rafe picks himself right back up, of course, and he knocks Pope down. Once again, I find myself rushing forward, but I don't have the chance to climb on him this time. No, instead I reach up and snatch his arm just before he hits Pope again.

"Get off him!" I tug on his arm as hard as I can, nails digging into his skin. He grunts, taking his arm back fiercely which has me stumbling back and nearly falling on my ass.

Pope is picking himself up, attempting to send another punch at Rafe, but he misses, instead slipping in the mud and falling back, giving Rafe the chance to tackle him.

Oh, the damn mud.

I stand with my hands on my hips, watching as Rafe and Pope fight and roll in the mud. "Oh, my God." How is this my life? How am I standing here, watching a fight break out between these two idiots? Why am I here?

Boy genius needs his sidekick, B.

Rafe lifts himself onto his knees, picking Pope up and off the ground with him, his arm securely around his neck, ready to suffocate him, but there is no way in hell I am letting that happen. I've gotta be there for my guy, so there's no chance I'm letting Rafe win round three.

I move quickly, kicking my foot at Rafe's side whilst grasping his arm in an attempt to pull him off Pope. I dig my nails in again, knowing they can do some damage, and they do as Rafe groans, pulling his arm back and away from Pope.

The moment Rafe lets go off Pope, he stands and storms off. Perhaps he's leaving, knowing he won't be able to win this fight, but I don't trust it. I fall to my knees, grasping Pope's arm. "Come on, Pope." I place his arm over my shoulders, lifting him up and off the mud as he coughs and splutters in an attempt to get air back in his lungs.

I drop Pope down, letting him lean back against the tree, and as I move to sit beside him, I contemplate rushing out there and fighting Rafe in the way I know how to── with freaking words, but as I look to Pope, I reconsider, knowing I need to stay with him right now.

Rafe isn't a friend I can turn to. He isn't a friend I can confide in. He isn't a friend, not to me, not to anyone. He won't change, I should've known better than to think that.

I hear a gun cock, but I don't move, I just stay seated next to Pope who is holding his breath, afraid Rafe will find us, but that time never comes. He doesn't know we're here. We don't move until we know he's gone, until we hear the truck leaving the scene.

Pope releases a heavy breath. "We need to call Kiara." I nod mindlessly, emotion swelling in my throat as I think about what just happened. If we'd stuck around, Rafe wouldn't have hesitated, he would've just shot us.

Pope and I could've died.

"Brooke." I snap my head over to Pope. "We need to call Kie. She can pick us up."

"Y-Yeah." I reach for my phone, scrolling through my contacts until I find Kiara.

I hope her parents haven't taken her phone from her as I lift the phone to my ear, listening to it dial several times before she answers. "Brooke?"

"Kie!" I breathe heavily. "We're in trouble."

"What's happened?"

"Rafe, he has the cross." I lean back against the tree, my limbs and muscles aching. "He and Pope fought. Kiara, we need you to come get us." We really, really need her back as the boys are probably chasing after Sarah.

"This is really bad timing," she tells me, and I know it's a bad time, but we need her.

"Please, Kie." I feel tears brimming my eyes unexpectedly. "Kie, I need you," I plead, emotion in my voice. There's a pause on the other end, and just when I think she'll hang up the phone, she surprises me, but not completely as I knew she'd want to help us.

"Okay. Okay. I'm coming. Where are you?"

I could kiss her. Okay, I won't do that.

I shake my head, relief in my chest. "We're at the swamp past Angel Oak. Please hurry," I say, hanging up the phone and throwing it down onto the ground, too exhausted to push it back into my pocket.

I glance at Pope who is staring ahead at the swamp. "Are you okay?" I ask.

He tilts his head, looking at me instead. "Are you?" I wasn't expecting him to ask me that, but Pope has always been the one to care more about everybody else before himself.

"No," I admit, knowing I can be honest with him. "No, I'm not okay, and I haven't been for a while, but how can I be okay, Pope? How can any of us be okay?" I pause, dragging my hand across my eyes to wipe the tears. "We fight and fight and fight, but where do we get? Nowhere, Pope. We get absolutely nowhere. We just keep losing, and I am so sick of losing."

"I know. I'm sick of losing too. I want us to win."

"I want us to win too," I utter. "We deserve a win. You deserve a win, Pope."

"No, Brooke." He turns, wincing as he faces me. "You deserve this win more than anyone. I mean, look at everything that's happened to you. First, your dad disappears, and then you find out that he's been killed by Ward. Your brother dies at sea, and then you find out he's alive, but when he comes back, he gets arrested and put on death row. You've lost a lot, Brooke, but you're always here, helping us── helping me."

"You know, you make my life sound really shit."

Pope laughs, and I realise it's the first time I've heard him laugh in a while. "Sorry."

"No, I'm sorry." I turn, sitting cross legged. "You're the greatest guy, you know? One of my favourite people in the world, Pope, so I can safely say that you deserve to get that cross back." He sighs, leaning back against the tree.

"You deserve to know about your family, and put that beautiful cross in a museum where it belongs for the whole world to see." I shrug my shoulders, feeling this weight lift as I do. "You deserve a win after everything that's happened because, despite all that's happened to me, you have always been there for me, so I will be here for you in helping you get that cross back."

Pope nudges me, smiling. "Thank you."

"No. Thank you for all you've done for us. You're a great guy, Pope."

"Your boy genius?"

I grin, leaning my head into his shoulder. "Yes, you're my boy genius, and I'm your sidekick."

He raises his hand. "Yeah, you are." I clap my hand over his, laughing for the first time in a long time. For the first time in ages, we're acting normal with one another── laughing and pretending nothing is wrong.

The boy genius and his sidekick── that's us. That's always been us.

"Hey, Pope." I wrap my arm around his, feeling as if I could stay right here forever. He hums, hearing me. "What's the cost going to be for finally getting a win?"

He lifts his arm, resting it over my shoulders. "I don't know," he answers. "I hope we don't lose too much for a win."

"Yeah." My eyes close. "Yeah, me too."

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❀ soph speaks

pope & brooke >>>

thankyou for reading,, act two is coming to an end very soon (thank god)

rewriting can be a bitch