𝟎𝟖𝟖.      𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮

die for you         ────          the weekend

☀︎ 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐥𝐲𝐧'𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐯

𝖭𝖤𝖱𝖵𝖮𝖴𝖲 𝖨𝖲 𝖠𝖭 𝖴𝖭𝖣𝖤𝖱𝖲𝖳𝖠𝖳𝖤𝖬𝖤𝖭𝖳 𝖮𝖥 𝖧𝖮𝖶 𝖨 𝖥𝖤𝖤𝖫 𝖱𝖨𝖦𝖧𝖳 𝖭𝖮𝖶．I'm fucking petrified for several reasons. One, this could end in death. Two, we don't know if the amulet is really down there in the dark, dark water. And three, my friends and brother are looking at me with concerned faces which is not helping my anxiety.

I've asked, "Do I have something on my face?" six times only to be met by the same blank stare. They don't find my attempt to make the situation light and airy funny.

Since telling John B that I would be diving with JJ, he's been... well, him about it. I get it, I do. He loves me, I'm his only sister── his only family── but this is my decision. Besides, now he knows how I felt when he dived just over two years ago. Sure, maybe it's insane for me to dive as it could end badly if we're not careful, but my mind has been made. I am not leaving my boyfriend down in that water alone. I'm diving headfirst with him.

I've got his back, he's got mine. We're going to be okay── that's what I keep telling myself as we glide across the water, heading for the coordinates that Boogie offered us in exchange for JJ's bike. The sun is beginning to set, and by the time we reach our location, it'll be night time.

JJ is steering The Snapper, continuously looking over his shoulder at our worried friends, just as frustrated as I. "Yo, guys, lighten up, okay? Alright, you're making me nervous." His head shakes as he laughs it off. "We're gonna slide down there, take a peek. Worst that can happen, it's not there, old fart's disappointed, we go home, Pogues win. Okay? That's the worst."

Well, tell my mind that.

Not only is my mind concocting a different kind of worst, John B is also thinking of the worst case scenario which, obviously, is death in our minds. Diving is a dangerous sport, especially when not done properly, and because we are not professionals or a Kook, things could go very, very wrong.

"Meantime though, who wants to crack one with me?" JJ grins, cracking open a beer can. I shake my head, feeling way too sick from fear to drink anything. I could barely sip water when it was given to me, but JJ is fine to down a beer.

He's feeling a whole lot different than me.

"Hey. No." John B snatches the can from him, pulling it back before he gets the chance to drink any. "My sister is going down there with you, alright, so no drinking."

I stare at my brother, his concern for me making me feel even more sick. While I appreciate it, knowing he's just as concerned, maybe more so, as everybody else, I still feel ill at the thought of something happening down there. His concern is just making me more concerned. Sure, I'd be freaked if he was happy and bubbly over the idea of me diving, but I think I need him to calm the fuck down as he's scaring me. And JJ.

JJ's eyes catch onto me, a shrug in his shoulders. "Alright, just takes the edge off."

I need him to not take any edge off, not right now. I need him grounded and steady, not wasted and unbalanced. I can't have him drinking, not when he often turns to drink in the time of a crisis, and we are not in a crisis. We are going to be absolutely fine, that's what I need to keep telling myself. JJ needs to understand that too.

We're going to have one another down there in that water, and if── when we get that amulet, we can celebrate because we'll be back on the road to having money and security. We'll be back on track to saving Poguelandia 2.0.

Things will resolve themselves once we get this amulet, I trust that.

I just need to relax, take a breather, and focus on the fact that, once this is over, we never have to worry about treasure hunting ever again. Well, I hope we never have to worry again because I am done being involved in the G-game again.

I stare up at the sky, finding that it's growing darker by the minute, and we're inching closer and closer to our location. "John B, we're in Coast Guard territory now," Pope speaks, looking in mine and John B's direction as we stare forward at a buoy that tells us we're in a restricted area. "Should be about twenty yards. One o'clock." Pope turns, looking over at JJ who's still guiding us forward. "Okay, that's close enough. Hey, slow her down. We're at the drop site now."

The boat begins to slow, and I realise that I'm minutes away from being under the water. I wipe my hands against my shorts, skin prickling at the thought of being in the dark, cold water.

You decided to this, B. Don't chicken out now.

I shake my head frantically, refusing to back down as I crack my knuckles, needing to feel some life in my limbs before I plunge into the water below. God, I feel sick at the thought of things going south while we're down there.

"JJ, what's our depth?" John B asks.

"Seventy-eight," he reads.

John B looks to Pope. "Okay. Ready?"

"Here we go. Switch out." Pope glances at me, offering me a nod and a squeeze to my arm. I smile at him, knowing what he's saying to me without speaking it. "You guys get ready. John B, you keep us in position."

"Okay." Pope begins to walk over to JJ, about to switch positions him. "One minute."

John B steps over to me as I pop the button on my shorts. "Hey." I meet the eyes that resemble mine in every way. "B, are you sure you wanna do this?"

I drop my head, knowing that if I look at him, he'll be able to see straight through me. Then again, looking away will only expose my worries. "Yes," I breathe out, rubbing my hand against my stomach, trying to ease that tight feeling in my gut. "I need to do this."

"You don't need──"

"Hey." I snap my head up, looking straight at John B again, sighing loudly to ease some of the tension in my stomach. "I'm gonna be fine, John B. JJ's with me. We'll both be fine."

"You know, that doesn't make me feel any better."

I know he doesn't like the thought of me diving into unknown territory. Actually, he just doesn't like the thought of me diving, period. But my decisions been made, and I need to do this for not just myself, but for everybody here. JJ and I are going to save our home if it's the last thing we do.

I don't mean that literally, okay? It won't be the last thing we do, I promise.

Kiara steps over to us, holding the scuba suit out to me. "Are you ready?"

Kiara is here, much to my surprise given that she was helping Emory out. As of right now, Cleo and Sarah are on land, watching out for us in case the coast guards show up out of the blue, and Emory is still at her parent's house, helping her father with something. Kiara didn't give us any details on what's happening with Emory, only saying that Emory will explain when she next sees us.

I told her she didn't have to come, but I should've known my best friend would stick by my side and check in on me. She's worried, that much I can see on her face, but I imagine some of that worry is also for Emory who isn't with us right now.

Honestly, I could do with Emory's forward, snappy comments. I think her presence would ease a lot of the anxiety I feel as she doesn't know me quite as well as everybody else. She's not attached to me nor JJ, so she'd just tell us how it is. She'd pat us on the back and shove us in that water, telling us to stop being wusses.

Yeah, I could do with her presence right now, I won't lie.

I exhale a shaky breath, nodding slowly. "Yep."

"Okay." Just when I think John B's going to step back, he places his arm around my shoulders and pulls me into him, offering me a hug I didn't even know I needed. Starstruck, I lift my arms and hold onto him, stealing a minute with him before I embark on a dangerous diving expedition. "Don't die on me, B, okay?"

I chuckle, feeling the tightness in my chest swell. He repeats the same words that I said to him over two years ago when he dove into the water. Had he not done that── had we never found that boat under the water in the first place── we likely wouldn't be here right now. Do you realise how crazy that is?

Hell, had Dad just not gone missing, none of us this would be happening... I think.

Whatever. I can't think like that.

I pull back, hitting his arm gently. "You got it, bro."

He swallows, looking like he wants to say more, but he just steps back from me with a final ruffling of my hair that reminds me of all those times he'd mess with me when I was a child. "Just get that amulet, alright?" I nod, clapping my hand against his in our famous handshake.

I then watch him move to join Pope as I kick my shoes off along with my shirt and shorts. I then take the scuba suit from Kiara who helps me into it, zipping me up in the back.

Her hands grasp my shoulders once I'm zipped up. "You'll be fine." She's not just saying it to me, she's saying it to reassure herself that I'm going to be fine.

I place my hand over hers. "I know, Kie."

"Honestly, it's like surfing The Point, you know?" I look away from Kiara's, eyes darting over to JJ who just described this as surfing. Is he crazy? "We're upstream, and then the rip is just gonna... take us out."

John B clears his throat. "Sure."

"Woah." My nose scrunches, watching as JJ moves to pull out a harpoon gun. What the fuck do we need that for? I had no idea we even brought something like that. "Is that necessary?"

"Yeah, yeah, I mean, reef, fish──"

"And the man in the gray suit," JJ adds, examining the weight of the gun in his hands.

If we find ourselves down there with somebody else who also wants the amulet, I don't wanna, you know, kill them. I can fight when I need to, but this is one of those times when I don't need to fight my way through. I'm just hoping it's only us down there, that we won't be faced by anybody else because I don't know how we'll react.

"Don't forget your safety stop, alright?" I swear, I'm having this strange sense of deja vu as I'm brought back to the very beginning of our story when John B dove for that boat. "Fifteen feet for three minutes," Pope instructs. "Hear that, JJ? Fifteen feet, three minutes."

"Copy that," JJ drawls, sounding bored with all this talk, but it's important information.

"We don't wanna get the bends," I say, that being one of the worst case scenarios. "Or else neither of us will ever bend over again, JJ."

JJ scoffs, grinning. "I don't bend over, Sunny. You are the one who──"

"Sister!" John B yells, holding his hands up, looking downright murderous in the way he looks at JJ, obviously not amused by JJ's attempt at a joke. I, on the other hand, feel a weight being lifted off my chest as I allow myself to smile.

If you don't joke about something as dangerous as this, you'll get yourself worked up into a panic── that's what I've learnt. So I'm gonna laugh about this situation that could be life-threatening instead of crying.

"This isn't funny, guys." Pope gives us his best angry, concerned dad look, making my smile widen. "If you get the bends, nitrogen gets in your blood, causes excruciating pain, death, et cetera, etc cetera."

My smile drops slightly at the drop in conversation, but I attempt to remain chill. "Hey, why do they call it the bends?"

Pope crosses his arms over his chest, looking just about ready to shove me backwards into the water. Can't say I blame him. I'm being annoying so my mind is taken off the fact that, if things go south, we could be seriously injured. I need to think of anything but diving, that's why I'm being extremely chatty right now.

"Because the pain is so excruciating that you double over," Pope tells me, and that makes perfect sense. I should've deducted that before.

"Ah," I deadpan. "Fun."

It's not fun, not in any kind of way, but let's just pretend that this is all harmless fun.

Once JJ and I are decked out in our scuba gear, looking prepared and ready to sacrifice our lives── I'm kidding── we have Pope check us over just to make sure everything is securely on and we're safe.

I then feel JJ's hand push into mine as we stand facing the water once Pope gives me a once over. "Are you okay?" JJ asks, his other hand squeezing the back of my neck.

I nod, anxiety still at the base of my stomach, but I do my best to ignore it. "Let's do this."

He slips his hand out of mine just as John B steps up behind him, hitting his shoulder. "Watch over her." I scoff, glaring at the back of his head. His overprotective ass is bugging me. "If anything happens to her, you're dead."

JJ's head tilts, eyes finding mine. "And if anything happens to me?"

"Then I'm dead," I say, knowing that I'd let myself die before I let anything happen to JJ. Call me dramatic all you want, I ain't about to let anything happen to him. Why do you think I'm throwing myself under the water too?

I flash JJ and John B a smile. "Diver down, fool."

"Diver down," he repeats, pulling his headpiece on. I mimic what he's doing, putting on my own headpiece and snorkel. He then retrieves the harpoon gun, placing it beside him. "Okay, Sunny. You ready?" I breathe out a laugh as his voice is muffled by the oxygen mask.

I wink, tugging my own oxygen mask on. "All ready, Maybank."

It's going to be okay.

JJ goes first, falling back into the water and sinking down into the darkness. Before I drop, I wave a goodbye to each of my friends, assuring them that we'll be fine and that this is not the last time they'll see us. I then slide back, following JJ in dropping and hitting the water.

Holy fuck, the water is cold. Even with this suit on, I didn't consider just how cold this water would be.

The moment I sink below the surface, JJ and I pull out our flashlights to brighten the water. We then begin our descent towards the shipwreck, an easy path lit by the flashlights. As we begin to swim down, I remain close to JJ for both his sake and mine. Having him nearby will reassure me, and me being close to him will reassure him.

As you all know, I hate doing anything that requires a lot of stamina and energy such as running, so I can safely say that I dislike diving too. It's not one of the things I ever imagined myself doing, but look at me, already aching and growing tired by the second. Perhaps, if we were professionals, we'd be able to do this easily and without much strain.

The moment our lights catch onto the shipwreck, I feel myself breathe out in relief, knowing we're one step closer to being out of the water. We don't stop for long, instead kicking forward to swim into the captain's quarters that's a little further down the ship, if I remember correctly.

Upon reaching the quarters, JJ pushes open the door and we swim through with our flashlights illuminating the way. I remain close to JJ, not wanting to drift off and lose him because that would be another worst case scenario.

We spot the headboard that supposedly contains the amulet. JJ looks to me, and I nod back, instructing him to check it out. I then watch as he reaches out, feeling for something that resembles an amulet but parts of the headboard are rotten with barnacles.

He pushes back, retrieving his knife so he can cut away the barnacles. Once pieces fall away, he checks to see if the amulet is there and tucked away. It has to be here, right?

As he observes the headboard, continuing to look around, I look elsewhere, keeping an eye out for any bodies or... sharks. Are sharks in this water? Whatever, I can't think of that now. I'm instead focusing on something a little... odd. "Hey, JJ!" He joins my side, and we both look at a harpoon gun that's sitting upon a blue bag. It looks to be out of place in this old shipwreck, and I'm not sure how it got to be here or why it's here. "Weird."

Suddenly, I'm pushed down by an unfamiliar face── by another diver. I yell, surprised by the sudden attack. My head hits the ground below from the force at which he shoves me, and his hands continue to keep me low down.

"Brooke!" I push at the man's hands, attempting to fight him but he's much stronger than me and much more prepared than I. His hands grasp the oxygen mask from my face, pulling it off harshly just as JJ swims over with the harpoon gun raised, ready to attack.

If I wasn't panicking before, I certainly fucking am now, but I need to get my mask back.

He jabs it at the man, forcing him back and away from me. JJ then shoves it in his direction again, piercing his arm and drawing blood. I turn away, searching for my mask as JJ and the man squabble with one another. I catch the glint of a knife just as I find my mask and slide it back into place.

Once my mask is securely on, I find that I'm too late. JJ is being shoved backwards by the other diver and out of the captain's quarters. "No! JJ!" I lift myself up, pushing forward just as the man locks JJ in the adjoining room. "JJ!" I scream, hearing him bang on the door.

Fuck. We're separated.

"Brooke!" Panic crawls up my throat as I stare forward at this other diver, knowing I need to fight my way out of this now. I can't get around him, I know that much, but I need to get JJ out of that room. I need him.

The man grabs me quickly, catching me off guard. I'm yanked down, my back hitting the ground forcefully as he grasps my ankle. "Get off me!" I yell, attempting to kick and hit and fight, but the pressure of the water and the weight of this diver is stopping me from doing much. "Help!"

"Brooke!" JJ is banging on the door, wanting to get to me but he can't. I scream again, watching as the man tugs me up, his arm around my neck as he keeps me glued to him so he can do the one thing I never planned for.

My oxygen mask is pried from me again, this time floating away and out of reach. Besides, it doesn't matter anymore as the man doesn't stop there. He uses his knife to cut the wires of my BCP tank before he shoves me away, not deciding to kill me because that would be too nice, wouldn't it?

Honestly, killing me would be a better punishment than trying to breathe in this deep water without fucking oxygen.

The man swims away, taking my tank with him, not that I care. There's something far more important I need to save and he's behind this door, needing me to get him out. I swim towards the door, attempting to stay calm so I don't die before I reach him, but I feel weak already.

I don't want to die. Don't let me die.

My lungs burn, my throat constricts and my eyes sting as I reach the door JJ is behind. My chest tightens, both from anxiety and from the fact that I can't breathe safely and properly. I need to get to JJ. I need to make sure he's okay. I need him.

Just as I reach JJ, he shoves against the door, knocking it open and breaking the lock.

The door opens just as I feel my body grow limp. JJ's eyes widen when he sees me, panic taking over his body as he lunges forward. He reacts quickly, taking his oxygen mask off to give to me. "Here. Come on!" He places the mask over my mouth, my hands lifting up to place over his as he allows me to use his mask to breathe in oxygen. The sharpness in my chest eases off the moment I suck in that first breath. "Thank God."

I shut my eyes, sucking in another breath.

JJ's monitor begins to beep, indicating that we barely have any time left before we lose air all together. "We gotta go," JJ chokes out. "We gotta go now, okay? Come on."

Still feeling as though I'm close to drowning, I don't waste any time in getting the hell out of here. JJ pushes me forward and out of the captain's quarters, allowing me to stay ahead of him as we move away from the shipwreck entirely, rushing to get to the surface again.

We don't have time to make a safety stop, not when that other diver that tried to kill me is somewhere in this water and we're running out of oxygen. JJ has none now that he's passed off his mask and we have about ten seconds before I'm cut off. Basically, we just need to get the hell out of here.

We continue to swim upwards until we're able to breathe in the fresh air from above the surface. I cough and splutter, my lungs still burning and my chest still constricting from the weight and pressure of being underwater for so long without any guidance or air. JJ sucks in heavy, rapid breaths, alarming me.

I move myself towards him, needing to be impossibly close to him right now. I lift my arm, placing it around his shoulders as we attempt to stay afloat. "Are you okay?" JJ asks as he pulls his snorkel off.

"I-I'm okay." I cough, feeling just about ready to explode. "B-But..." I move my head, panic coursing through my veins as I search for the boat── for our friends. "Where's John B?"

JJ turns, his arm around my back. We look across the water, noticing the boat is in the distance, hidden beneath the fog that just had to appear in the midst of us being nearly killed. "John B!" JJ yells, waving his arm frantically.

"John B!" Twin, I swear to God. Sense there's something wrong! I need his twintuition to kick in and tell him that something ain't right here, that we're screaming and crying out for help because we just nearly died.

"Hey!"

Moments later, boat begins to turn and starts to make its way over to us. I stop yelling, my head dropping to JJ's shoulder as I attempt to steady my breathing, still feeling like I'm stuck under the water and I'm drowning. "Brooke!" I've never been so happy to hear his voice── to hear all their voices as they call out to us. "JJ!"

"Pope, get the ladder!" JJ yells just as the boat meets us. "Get the ladder!"

John B leans down, holding his arms out towards me. "Hand me your stuff, B." I do as told, lifting my arms to hand off the majority of my gear. "Wait, where's your BCP?" I hear the concern in his voice, see the panic in his eyes, but it's not my damn fault.

"It's gone," I answer, still breathless.

"What?" I grasp the ladders, pulling myself up first as per JJ's push and guidance. "What do you mean, it's gone?"

"As in it's disappeared and found a new owner, it's gone!" I yell, practically falling into Pope as he pulls me onto the boat. I've never felt so weak in all my life, my limbs feeling as though they're going to die on me.

"Are you okay?" he asks, moving me onto the boat and towards Kiara.

"Yeah," I exhale, tightness pulling at my stomach which I don't like the feeling of.

Kiara immediately joins me, her arm around my back as she forces me to sit down. She unzips the back of my scuba suit, and I instantly feel less constricted, but there's still a nagging feeling deep below.

JJ as he brings himself up the ladders, his breathing just as frantic as mine. "There was a..." He coughs, hand clutching his chest as he staggers onto the boat. "There was a guy that tried to kill us."

"Wait, what?" Kiara touches my face, forcing me to meet her gaze as I attempt to keep myself afloat── keep myself alive. Her other hand brushes over the pulse point in my neck, the worry in her eyes terrifying.

I'm alive, right? This isn't some kind of fucked up nightmare, is it?

"There was a boat," Pope tells, but I'm hardly listening, more focused on the strange tingling sensation in my stomach and the concern in Kiara's eyes. "We saw a boat out here, too. They were armed. We need to get out of here now."

JJ falls down beside me, his breathing still vigorous. "No, you don't understand. There's a guy down there right now──"

"No, you don't understand," Pope interrupts, his voice raising an octave so he can get his point across. "There's a boat out here. We just saw it pass!"

"Grab the ladder!" John B falls down to my side, shouting to Pope. "Grab the ladder, let's go!"

Pope does as told, tugging the ladder up. He and Kiara go to the wheel so they can begin our journey back to Cleo and Sarah. John B remains at my side, his hands now on my face as the tightness low in my stomach continues to swirl and build. "Hey, B." I blink, meeting his eyes. "You okay?"

I open my mouth, sucking in a sharp breath as I nod my head, tilting it towards JJ who is beginning to tug off his scuba suit. "A-Are you──"

"You alright, man?" John B asks, looking to JJ who sits on the other side of him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just get outta here!"

"Hey, Kie! Come here."

John B leaves my side, going to take control of the boat so we can get the hell out of here while Kiara joins me again, this time helping me get out of my scuba gear as JJ pulls his own gear off. I groan, leaning into Kiara as I push the scuba gear off my body, feeling like I'm minutes away from throwing up.

She taps my face gently, noticing the subtle pain I feel. "Brooke?"

"Yeah. I-I just..." I press a hand to my stomach as Kiara pulls the suit off me entirely. She then helps me back into my shorts, fastening the button for me. "I just need a minute."

"It's gonna be okay," she assures, going to grab my shirt.

Moments later, we're arriving back at the dock where we're joined by Sarah and Cleo. The pain in my stomach is still there, lingering and growing more and more uncomfortable with every passing second. I feel this need to be sick, but that's the last thing I want to do right now. "Okay? What the hell happened?"

"Someone tried to kill us," I reply, voice pained.

"Why? Why would someone try to kill you? That doesn't make any sense."

"Yeah, obviously, they were going after the same thing we were, right?" While I'd love to debate why we were going to be killed, there's more pressing matters at hand such as the fact that I'm in pain and I can't even express it.

"That amulet was worth something. That old man is keeping some secret," Cleo says, moving onto the boat and dropping down to JJ who winces. I can't move to check on him, the pain in my stomach getting increasingly tighter. "Then someone else is waiting down there? I knew that story was bunk."

JJ lets out a groan, a muffled scream falling from my lips as the pain becomes unbearable. "Fuck! My stomach feels like shit!"

Pope moves towards JJ, placing a hand on the side of his face. "Hey, man. Did you take your safety stop?"

"I'm gonna say it one more time. Someone was trying to kill us. We did not make the safe──"

"Shit, they have the bends." Pope looks from JJ to me, noticing that we're both clutching our stomachs. "We have to get them to the hospital now!"

Unable to lift ourselves, John B and Kiara help me up and off the ground while Cleo, Sarah and Pope pull JJ up. I fall into John B's side, crying out in pain as my stomach contorts and twists in a way it never has before. Seriously, when Pope said excruciating pain, he wasn't fucking lying.

"It's okay. Nice and easy, B." John B's voice is in my ear, his arm around my back as he and Kiara guide me up the ramp, heading towards the Twinkie. "It's okay. You've got a couple bubbles in your blood right now."

"Are you trying to make it sound cute?" My voice doesn't sound like my own as I try to speak. "Because this is so n-not cute, dude. I-I could die!"

"No, no." John B shakes his head. "You're not gonna die, B. You're fine." His reassurance isn't something I need right now, not when I could absolutely die from this. Shit!

The moment I'm in the Twinkie, sprawled out in the back with JJ, I fall into whoever is closest to me. My head falls into Sarah's lap as she wipes her hand across my forehead, a cold sweat breaking out across my skin. "It's okay," she assures, speaking softly as I writhe, the pain too much. "Deep breaths, Brooke."

"Come on, John B!" He reluctantly chose to drive, knowing he'd get us there in one piece, but he was hesitant to leave me alone. It's okay though, I've got everybody else watching over me here from the back.

"I'm going! I'm going!"

"Fuck!" I cry, squeezing my eyes shut as I pull my legs up, quite literally needing to bend as the pain worsens. "Oh, my God. Y-You weren't kidding about the pain."

This is what I imagine childbirth feels like. If so, I'm good on never having kids.

Sarah keeps telling me to breathe, not knowing that I'm fucking trying, I just can't stop the pain from getting worse regardless of how heavy and deeply I breathe. "John B, go faster!" she yells, urging him to literally break speed laws just to get us to the hospital in one piece.

My head tilts, my eyes landing on JJ who is laid at my feet. He holds his stomach, groaning and wincing from the pain he feels. I want to reach out, take his hand and tell him we're gonna be fine but I can't move, instead frozen and aching to the spot I'm currently in.

"Hey! Who was down there with you guys?"

"I-Is this really the time for twenty questions?" I ask, seriously wishing Pope didn't need to ask us that right now.

"Sorry! Just do you have any idea?"

"No idea, Pope," JJ responds, breathing heavily. "But... y'all are not gonna believe this." I watch as he shifts his hand around to his pocket, pulling out a rag that he hands off to Sarah.

"What's that?" Cleo asks as Sarah unravels the rag, revealing the amulet.

Her mouth gapes. "You found it?"

"What the hell?"

I cough, the tightness worsening. "Y-You found it?" If the pain wasn't so intense, I'd laugh out of pure fucking joy that we didn't go down there and come up empty handed. We just came back up with bubbly stomachs and the amulet. "Oh, my God. You found it."

I think he smiles, it's hard to tell. "I found it, Sunny. T-That means..." He exhales something of a laugh, wincing.

My lips upturn as our friends celebrate around us, but all I can focus on is the boy who could've died down there with me. "Yeah, I-I remember the game..." I remember what I said we'd do if one of us found the amulet, but that was before bubbles began to invade our stomach.

Oh, I'm proud of him. I had no idea he'd grabbed it, but I'm damn proud that he did.

A grin breaks out across his face. "Yeah."

"I'll just get right on that," I deadpan, knowing I won't be moving to do anything any time soon.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Is he fucking joking?

"I was too busy dying," JJ exclaims, twisting in pain as he holds his arm out, wanting to touch my hand. Our fingers brush, and if we had any kind of energy, we'd celebrate with our friends.

For now, all I want is for the pain to go away.

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❀ soph speaks

i hated writing this chapter with a passion it was exhausting like i know nothing about diving thank you

next chapter is you know what and you'll see jj's pov for some of it

you'll probably see jj's pov a lot more after next chapter as season four was obviously centred around him

thankyou for reading!!