EMERY HAD NEVER FELT SO HAPPY.

being back with her friends after they had been separated for so long was a high like none other, one she had only come close to experiencing with the strongest of jj's cousin's weed, which the maybank had given her for when she had a hard time sleeping.

but now, she felt like she couldn't stop smiling. normally, after a night like she had had where she slept on the boat, crammed onto the bench with mara, she would be exhausted and in bed by ten, but now, the moonlight beaming down on the boat, emery was incredibly energetic, with no thought of sleeping.

her friends seemed to be feeling the same, the group all laughing and exchanging stories between each other. however, their excitement clearly died down more than hers, as they were all passed out, laying across the boat with the exception of emery and jj, the blonde boy driving the boat while john b slept.

emery was laid across the roof of the boat, above where jj was captaining, mara asleep next to her. john b, pope, and levi were passed out on the bow, while kiara and ainsley were laid together on the bench where emery and mara had slept the previous night.

emery knocked on the hard plastic of the top, rolling over onto her side and looking over the edge when she heard footsteps below her, peering down as jj looked up at her, smiling up at her.

"want some company?" she whispered, jj shrugging and nodding, emery tossing her legs over the edge of the hard plastic and jumping off, her feet hitting the deck with a blunt 'thud' as the two walked back to the end of the boat, jj throttling down slightly and essentially just letting the boat float.

"so what happened while i was gone?" emery asked, the two of them sitting at the end of the boat on the floor, jj shrugging.

"we watched ward cameron murder his pilot and lost all the footage because of kie." he said bluntly, emery rolling her eyes.

"typical." she mumbled. "what'd she do now?"

"stepped on my hand when we were going down the ladder, made me fall so i kicked pope, he fell onto levi, and levi hit ainsley." jj ranted, emery slightly laughing at the thought of all of them falling down a ladder like a domino reaction.

"i was kidnapped." she stated cockily, as though it was something to parade around, jj raising his eyebrows.

"you got kidnapped?" he asked, emery nodding.

"john b went to the cameron's beach house, i went out looking for him and stubby grabbed me off the side of the road- he's probably dead now." emery added, jj staring at her intently as though he couldn't believe she was saying this so calmly. "they never hurt me, they actually treated me great. fed me, gave me a bed, i never felt threatened by them."

"what happened to them?" jj asked.

"cleo got away when the cops showed up to the boat we were gonna get the gold away on. she said he heard gunshots, and no one heard from terrance or stubby after that." emery explained. it was slightly upsetting the the melville that two of the people who she had been on an elaborate heist with were either dead or in jail.

"what else did you guys do in nassau?" jj asked. "thanks for not taking me on vacation, by the way."

"you could've gotten on the boat." emery defended herself. "after mara died we were pretty quick to get out of there, nothing else happened."

"does mom know you're alive?" jj asked, emery nodding.

"yeah, i called her right after i texted you guys." emery explained.

"that wasn't funny by the way." jj retorted, emery laughing, turning to her thin brother, the two of them staring at each other for what felt like an eternity, even though it was probably only a couple minutes. their smiles slowly faded, the two sitting in a slightly uncomfortable silence.

"i missed you." emery mumbled. "we told john b to tell terrance we had people to call but he wouldn't listen."

"it's fine." jj replied, his eyes suddenly shining in the moonlight. "i missed you too."

emery smiled back, jj turning away from her for a moment and shaking his head a little, but when he turned to emery, he clearly had tears in his eyes. she wrapped her arm around his shoulders wordlessly, pulling him into her side as his head fell to her shoulder.

"i know levi already yelled at you- but you're never running away like that again." jj mumbled, emery nodding, her head resting against jj's.

"i know." she whispered.

"he was so different after that night- after the storm." jj added. "he barely left his room, i'm pretty sure he lost a ton of weight. he slept all the time. he stopped hanging out with us for awhile, transferred to kildare high instead of the kook academy for his senior year. i've never seen anyone as emotionally gutted as levi was."

"i didn't think he cared about me that much." emery stated truthfully, jj sitting his head up and turning to face emery, pulling away from emery and turning his whole body to face his sister.

"levi cares more about you than anyone else, even john b." jj said bluntly. "don't ever think he doesn't, because had he not gotten that text, he probably would've lost his mind."

"what does that mean?" emery asked, her eyebrows wrinkled together in confusion.

"he knocked on your bedroom door every morning waiting for an answer." jj said flatly, a tear running down his face, but he was quick to rub it away with the back of his hand. "and honestly, i don't think i've ever been at a lower point that i was when i got to your house that night."

"j..." emery trailed off, not knowing what to say.

"you and john b had always been there for me, and i care about her so much-" jj started, his eyes flicking up to where mara was sleeping. "and i thought you guys were all dead."

"did you go home?" emery asked, jj shaking his head.

"mom wouldn't let me." he replied shortly. "he showed up at the house though, and mom called the cops. haven't seen him since, but he sounded pretty pissed that his boat was at the bottom of the ocean."

"i wonder why." emery asked sarcastically, but jj didn't laugh at the comment.

"he yelled at her, said that if i was gonna go around destroying his shit the least i could do was face him." he started. "he told her that it was no wonder i was hiding, that i got it from her, seeing as how she's been hiding you from him for years."

"i'm sorry, j." emery whispered, moving back over to jj and putting her arm back over his shoulders, jj shrugging.

"it's nothing that he hasn't said before, emery. but it kinda stings knowing he's been talking about amelia all this time." jj mumbled, moving closer to emery and leaning into her.

"it sucks that i got the perfect life and you got luke." emery said bluntly. "you deserved mom, you still do."

"yeah, milly's pretty great." jj said with a small smile. "she took me to the mainland, let me pick out all sorts of stuff- clothes, room decorations, and she doesn't know it, but levi took me to my house when luke was out and helped me pull a bunch of my stuff out."

"j, you're family." emery stated like it was common knowledge. "i know you're not used to it, but you have a mom, you have a big brother, you have a sister- jj, you have people who you can sit down with every night and have dinner with, and a warm house to sleep in at night, and it's all without having to climb through a bedroom window at two in the morning."

they didn't say anything for awhile after that jj just staring in front of him while emery looked up at the stars, looking around at the pogues scattered around the boat, all of them knocked out like they hadn't slept in days. the sun was just barely peeking over the horizon, the sky starting to lighten slightly, indicating the two had lost any chance of sleep they would've gotten.

"thank you." jj whispered.

"of course." emery replied with a small smile, jj pushing himself to his feet and pulling emery up with him. the two walked back over to the wheel, the sun still rising steadily as the pogues slowly began to wake up, jj steering the boat through a marshland.

"can i have some help?" mara asked from the roof, emery motioning for jj to help her, the blonde boy scrambling to help mara down and onto the deck.

"i'm starving." she groaned.

"we're gonna find some food." john b told her shortly, the stevens girl not hesitating to punch him in the shoulder.

jj stopped at a dock, tying off the bowline as kiara and ainsley bounded off the boat and ran towards the grass, kiara standing up and triumphantly holding a watermelon over her head.

"jackpot!" she breathed, emery helping mara onto the dock, the two of them walking over to the bench where ainsley and kiara had brought some of the watermelons. they hit them on a tree, breaking them in half, and reached inside to pull out the red flesh of the plants, immediately eating in silence.

"so what's going on between you to?" emery asked after awhile, looking between kiara and ainsley as she shoved another handful of watermelon into her mouth, the sticky juice running down her forearm and dripping off her elbow onto her thigh.

"nothing." ainsley attempted to say nonchalantly, but failed, laughing as she did. kiara did the same, both girls faces turning beet red as they attempted to hide their laughter from emery and mara.

"kiara! i always knew you were a little zesty!" mara exclaimed, hitting her friend on the shoulder as kiara rolled her eyes, putting another piece of watermelon into her mouth and laughing.

"so what about you and jj?" ainsley asked mara, the girl immediately grinning.

"we haven't talked since you guys found out we were alive, but i think it's going good." mara said, but there was a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

"what's with the 'i think'?" emery asked, licking the watermelon juice off her fingers as she eyed her friend suspiciously.

"he hasn't said a word to me since we got back." she said frustratedly, shaking her head and pushing her hair back with her sticky fingers. "has he talked to you?"

"i mean, yeah. we were talking until the sun came up." emery said nonchalantly. "mara, i need you to trust me on this one- jj cares about you. he definitely, definitely, definitely cares."

"then why is he giving me the silent treatment?" mara exclaimed in frustration. "boys are so stupid- i'm gonna start dating women."

"he's giving you the silent treatment because you've been missing at sea and presumed dead for almost three months, mara." emery said like it was obvious, putting more watermelon in her mouth, her half of the fruit getting down to the white part of the rind. "and you're his kinda, sorta, not really, but in a way girlfriend, and you died. literally. like, twice."

"so his plan is to ignore me for the rest of time?" mara asked, emery shaking her head and scraping the bottom of the watermelon to get the remainder of the red flesh out.

"i will tell him to talk to you." emery deadpanned. "will that make you feel better?"

"yes, yes it would." mara said, emery tossing her rind away as mara did the same, holding her hands out for emery to help her up. the two girls grabbed each other's sticky hands, emery picking up two watermelons and putting one under each arm, walking back to the dock where jj, john b, levi, and pope were having what seemed to be a very tense conversation.

"hey." emery said nonchalantly, all of them immediately stopping talking and snapping their heads towards her and mara.

"whatcha talking about?" mara asked, holding an arm out as john b rolled his eyes.

"i watched you walk over here, get your ass in the boat." he deadpanned, mara dropping her arm and placing her hand on her hip where she wasn't shot comfortably.

"and you didn't save my life so now you owe me, help me in the boat you shithead." she snapped back, john b rolling his eyes again and practically throwing his friend into the boat, hearing her groan in pain as he did.

"yeah, i hope that hurt." john b retorted as emery handed him a watermelon and then gave one to levi.

"split those, there were only four up there." she said, rubbing mara's shoulder.

"hey, by the way, these two are married." the stevens girl said suddenly, pointing between john b and emery.

"what?" levi asked, eyes wide.

"why hasn't that been talked about yet?" jj questioned further.

"are you serious? like they legally got married?" pope exclaimed.

"it wasn't legal at all, i officiated it." mara confirmed.

"i'm never letting you in on any secret again." john b deadpanned to his friend.

"he cried when she died." emery said suddenly, pointing at john b first and then mara.

"shut up!" john b yelled, but he was smiling and laughing while he did.

"little birdshit cares about me!" mara taunted, sticking her tongue out at him while he held both of his middle fingers in the air. kiara and ainsley joined them on the boat after about five more minutes, and about an hour later, the boat cruised to a stop in front of the chateau.

"guys, do you think my mommy misses me?" emery asked as she tied the bowline off, levi shaking his head.

"we actually have food at the house now, so probably not." he stated bluntly, emery standing up and smacking him on the shoulder.

"my parents probably already have my funeral planned." kiara said casually.

"i already had mine." mara said coolly.

"i also expect unpleasantries at the heyward household after i left the truck in charleston." pope added.

"milly'll adopt you." john b assured, punching his friend in the shoulder.

"my parents should have my missing persons report filed by now, it'll be like the great routledge-melville-stevens police escape, this place'll be filled with cops soon." ainsley said, looking at the time on her phone.

"no one knows we're here, right?" jj asked, everyone looking at him skeptically. "and you three aren't gonna get in any more trouble for coming home twelve hours later, right?"

"he isn't wrong." emery added.

"my mom fled the state, so." mara said, sucking on her teeth and looking around at her friends. "i say yolo, but that's just my opinion."

"am i right, or am i right?" jj asked further.

"you aren't wrong." pope repeated emery's words from earlier.

"worry about it tomorrow, guys. i mean, really, what's the worst that could happen if we just have fun tonight?" levi asked, shrugging his shoulders, john b nodding in agreement.

"let the shit hit the fan tomorrow." he agreed.

"guys, the cops could actually be looking for emery and john b. i'm sure ward didn't keep his mouth shut." ainsley said. "this could be the stupidest shit we've ever done."

"oh, ainsley, you've heard of my philosophy." jj said as he tossed his arms over his friend's shoulders.

"stupid things have good outcomes all the time." the entire dock said in sync, all of them looking around with beaming smiles on their faces.

"we doing this?" emery asked, but they had already started back down the dock towards the hms pogue.

"come on- let's get some beer!" jj exclaimed.

IT WAS DARK OUT NOW.

the christmas lights and hot tub jj had bought the previous summer had been turned on again, everyone wearing swimwear as several boxes and coolers of beer were scattered around them on the ground. jj had jumped into the hot tub, a small box of blunts he had found under the couch in his hand, which he passed around the hot tub to his friends.

emery and jj had just had a shotgun contest, which emery won, mara clapping her on the back while john b hugged her into his side. they took and empty beer box, placing it on emery's head like a hat while she posed for a photo ainsley was taking, john b and mara holding up their middle fingers in front of the girl who was flexing her tanned arms at the tucker girl holding up her phone.

"oh, oh, oh!" everyone yelled as pope waded through the water towards jj, kissing him on the neck as everyone else laughed in both shock and the fact that both boys seemed to be enjoying the moment, emery taking the box off her head and putting it over pope's face, the boy dancing with it over his head.

"i don't get good grades in school, when i get out i act like a fool." the heyward free-styled, everyone cheering and nodding their heads to the imaginary beats. "they say i come to a party and cause a commotion! im smooth, yeah, call me lotion!"

"okay!" mara exclaimed, passing the blunt to jj that she was holding for him. she couldn't get into the tub due to her stitches, but she was sitting on the edge with her feet in the water.

"yeah, pope!" ainsley whooped, hitting the boy on the shoulder.

suddenly, levi stood up, pope's eyes following the melville boy, who motioned for him to follow, pope immediately getting up and following him.

"nice discretion!" emery yelled after them, everyone taunting pope. but when they turned around, ainsley and kiara were retreating down the dock.

"you're gross!" mara yelled after them, the sound of the hms pogue starting being faint in the distance.

"they just stole your boat." jj deadpanned.

"those bitches." john b replied flatly, looking at the imaginary watch on his wrist. "your boy's out, beer time." he said, standing up and out of the hot tub.

"count me in." mara said, swinging her legs out of the tub and sliding her shoes on, following john b over to the tree where the last cooler of beer was.

"so much for no pogue on pogue macking- we left you alone for like three months, how long has this all been going on?" emery exclaimed.

"i don't wanna hear it, you got married." jj deadpanned.

"yeah, but that's different. you had one job while we were gone-"

"i had much more than one job, in the one who got you the phantom." jj retorted.

"apart from the phantom, did you really have any more jobs?" emery asked, but jj wasn't looking at her anymore, his eyes fixed on something behind the melville.

john b and mara were staring at the tree, jj and emery climbing out of the tub and walking over to their friends, who both had tears in their eyes. they turned when they saw their friends, emery looking at what their eyes had previously been trained on.

JOHN B ROUTLEDGE
EMERY MELVILLE
MARA STEVENS

2003 - 2020

P4L

"it's a cute art project." john b commented, his voice choked.

"this tree's definitely dead now." emery added, blinking her eyes rapidly and wiping under them as jj let out a small laugh next to her.

"probably, whoops." he said, turning to his friends, who all had tears welled in their eyes. "i freaking missed you guys."

all of them pulled each other into a hug, mara mostly leaning on jj. after a minute, they pulled apart.

"can i talk to you?" jj asked mara, the girl nodding as john b and emery reached into the cooler and grabbed another two cans of the remaining beers, walking back to the hot tub while jj and mara went to the hammock, jj slowly lowering mara into the hammock and laying next to her.

"what's up?" mara asked.

"what's up- mara, i haven't seen you in three months." he said bluntly. "i thought you were dead. i thought emery was dead, john b was dead."

"i know." mara mumbled, reaching over and grabbing jj's hand, running her finger over his knuckles gently, looking from his hand back to his eyes.

"that night... the night of the storm." jj started, swallowing thickly. "i haven't ever felt like i was so alone."

"you had levi and the others." mara reminded.

"they're not you." jj snapped. "mara, i had barely told you how i felt and you were dead. and i think the worst part was that i'd liked you for forever and i thought i had waited too long."

"im sorry, j." mara whispered, the maybank furrowing his eyebrows.

"why are you sorry?" he asked.

"because i got on the boat." she whispered, jj immediately moving over and pulling the girl into his side, her head falling onto his shoulder as his leaned on hers.

she had felt the same touch from emery for the last month, on the cargo ship and in the bahamas, but something about jj being the one holding her now, someone who she wanted to be with more than anything for the last month, tears fell from her eyes before she could get any control over them.

"hey- why're you crying?" jj asked, moving his head so he could lift mara's face and wipe under her eyes with his thumb.

"i just missed you so much." she whispered, leaning back into him as jj wrapped his arms back around mara.

"i missed you too." he mumbled, starting to cry himself. "you're not running away either." he added, repeating the words he had told emery.

"so only john b gets to run away again?" mara questioned, jj nodding.

"he's annoying anyways." he whispered, he and mara both smiling contentedly.

kens speaks 🪐

i made mara wait way too long for this but it's whatever

also all my recent chapters have been so long like holy shit this is almost at 4k