─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

"look, it was right here, and this is where that maniac claimed his next victim." kie pointed to the ground. after taking a drive around the block to calm down, the four returned to the crime scene to wait for the police. when the officers finally arrived, they clearly didn't believe a word the pogues were saying.

"uh-huh." shoupe nodded. "his next victim?"

"yeah."

"right." shoupe sighed. jj squatted down in disbelief as the floor was completely spotless. seeing as the two men fell onto the ground and gavin was shot, there definitely should've been traces of blood. "how long ago did you say it happened?"

"forty-five minutes ago, shoupe." jj stated, standing up straight.

"okay." shoupe said, writing something down in his notepad. "and so, ward cameron just popped one off and shot him."

"yes."

"execution style?" shoupe quizzed. marella was leaning against one of the wooden posts as she nodded in affirmation. "exactly that."

"and then he cleaned it all up in minutes?" shoupe inquired.

"yeah." kie nodded.

"i mean the rain must've helped." marella muttered.

"obviously." pope agreed.

"we filmed the entire thing." kie added. shoupe glanced up at her, finally interested in their ramble. "you filmed it?" he questioned.

"yes, but we can't show it to you because i stepped on jj's hand, and then he kicked marie, who fell onto pope, and then pope dropped the camera, piece of shit— and it broke." kie explained the situation to him.

marella sighed with exasperation, placing her head in her hands. that's exactly what had occurred, but now that she was hearing it out loud it sounded completely illogical.

"this is a telephoto, and we needed to get a long-distance image, and... and... and i fell, and it broke, so the video is basically unusable." pope chimed in. "but... but we were there, and we're wit—"

shoupe just rolled his eyes. "so, the dog ate your homework?"

"no, shoupe." kie groaned. "i know it sounds—"

"look, i don't know what you kids expect me to do with this." shoupe raised his voice with them, growing annoyed. "you drag me out here in the middle of the night for a whole lot of nothing."

"a man probably died here. how is that nothing?" marella challenged.

"right! it's not nothing." kie exclaimed.

shoupe pointed at marella as if she were proving his point. "except for some crazy stories about how ward cameron's out on a random killing spree."

"we're not making this up!"

"it's not a random killing spree!" pope stated. "gavin was his pilot! marella you were there, tell him."

marella looked at the man and rolled her eyes. "i would love to pope. but i'm sure nothing i say will be 'reliable' enough for him."

"kid, look—" shoupe started.

"okay, fine. ward was paying him hush money because he was on the tarmac that day." pope continued.

"gavin was blackmailing ward because he had the gun that rafe used to kill peterkin." kiara added.

"and then he called him here and tried to pay him off. but it wasn't enough, and then so he shot him." jj commented. "with the murder weapon."

"but then he lost the gun down the drain, and then kie started screaming at him so we had to leave." marella concluded. kie threw her hands up with defeat. "and i'm sorry about that! it was a spur-of-the-moment thing—"

"how do you know that?" shoupe questioned, his attentiveness concentrated on their prior words.

"because pope did this thing with his phone. he, like, put it in his car and—" kie tried to explain. "i heard their whole conversation." pope admitted.

"you wiretapped him?" shoupe asked, his voice laced with accusations. kie frowned, "is that bad?" she asked, sheepishly.

"no, stop. just stop." shoupe demanded. "i've had enough."

"what are you talking about, shoupe?!" jj yelled out to him as he strode away. "are you gonna look the other way again?"

"you ever heard about the boy who cried wolf?" shoupe challenged.

"why would we make this up?" kie lamented.

"i knew he wouldn't believe us." marella shook her head, following behind kie as she chased him. the girl was suffering from an extreme headache and shoupe was just making it worse.

"why can't you believe us for once?" jj yelled, right on her tail. the police deputy was just as aggravated as them, "waste of my goddamn time." he scoffed.

"why would we lie? i know it sounds crazy." kie stated. "shoupe, i know that!"

"all right, there's nothing up there." shoupe told his officers, who had been lingering outside the building. "false alarm. let's all go home."

"no, no, please don't go home." kie begged. "no. why would we make this up? can you just do your job for like minutes?"

shoupe finally stopped walking and twisted around to look at them. "hey. i-i know you're upset. and i know you think your friend was innocent."

"he is!"

"but you weren't there." shoupe reminded her. "the only actual reliable witnesses who are above ground say the exact opposite. all right?" shoupe exclaimed making marella scoff. "and both of them have a hell of a lot more credibility than any of you right now."

"you're a terrible person, you know that?" marella questioned, crossing her arms. "when the truth comes out, i expect a handwritten apology."

"it's not gonna happen, okay?" he dismissed her. "and i saw your little art project on ward's wall."

marella darted over to kie, "what art project?"

"oh, she didn't tell you?" shoupe questioned. "they graffitied 'murderer' on the wall outside his house." he announced.

"really, kie?" marella shook her head with disappointment.

"oh, come on." kie scoffed.

"do not do that again, all right?" shoupe warned her. "gonna make things a lot harder for the both of us." he pulled the door of his car open. "go home."

"at least... at least look for him!" kie begged. "someone died tonight!"

"you're really just gonna go?" marella questioned.

"get on home to your parents now." shoupe ordered. "i know athena is probably wondering where you are." he said before the car drove away.

"i told you this would happen." jj shook his head as they strolled the opposite way. "like, you're the one that had to drop the camera." he pointed at pope.

"it was your fault!" kie yelled back at the blond. jj was taken aback. "oh, that was my fault?"

"yeah, it was your fault!" kie affirmed.

"why do you always take his side?!" jj shouted. "why do you never take mine?"

"take his side?" kie shot back.

"says the one who nearly got us caught by him." marella spoke up.

"how many times do i need to apologise?!"

"hey! hey! we're not out of this yet." pope silenced the three. "we can still go get the gun."

marella cringed. "the gun in the sewer?"

"exactly."

she sighed, holding her head with agony. "jj, do you want to go home tonight?"

"do i ever?" he questioned.

"right... dumb question." she frowned, biting her lip back. "have you got a reefer? or anything?"

"really, marella?" pope sighed.

"yes, really!" she shouted back at him. "my head is pounding and my heart feels like it's going to explode. ward was like... like a second father to me. and he just shot someone in cold blood and cleaned it all up in half an hour! so forgive me if i want to take my mind off of things." she turned to the blond. "do you have it or not?"

he pulled out his weed pen from his pocket and displayed it to her. "when do i not?"

marella sighed with satisfaction. "brilliant. kie, can you take us to mine?" pope and kie shared a look of confusion at her request, but the girl nodded regardless. "yeah, sure."

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

they spent nearly an hour silently sharing jj's vape pen, the only noise playing on her phone was frank ocean's discography. the girl stood up and announced she was going to have a bubble bath. jj was baffled with how spontaneous it was, but allowed her privacy as she went into the bathroom. but what really bewildered him was when she told him to come into the room.

jj took a deep breath, his fingers resting on the cold door handle. slowly, he pushed the door open and entered the space. he wasn't sure what exactly he would see so he couldn't prepare himself for anything. but marella was doing as she said she would, submerged in a wide bathtub full of soapy water, her head and neck the only thing visible.

so jj closed the door behind him and took a seat on the blue bathroom mat beside the tub. "what's your mom gonna say if she sees me here?" he questioned.

"firstly, she definetly won't. she's always crashed out by ten, and it's midnight." marella explained. "but if she did, she'd first kill me for missing my shift-"

"you had work today?" he questioned.

"mhm." she nodded, leaning her head back and looking up at the ceiling. "then she'd kill me for staying out past my curfew. and then she'd kill me for having you here."

"that because i'm a boy or because i'm a pogue?" jj questioned.

she shrugged. "most likely the latter."

"how's your eye?" jj examined. "sorry about that by the way."

"the headache's gone now. i know it's temporary but it feels nice to have a peaceful mind." marella told him. "and it wasn't your fault. we were all pumped up on adrenaline."

jj nodded in agreement, his eyes scanning the room. his gaze landed on the ajar medicine cabinet that was stocked with old and new prescription bottles. "you been taking your medication?"

"not since... not since they've been gone." marella shook her head. "it's fine, though. i've been good."

"what about when gavin and ward were fighting?" jj questioned. "you were shaking... didn't look too good then."

"gee, thanks jj." marella joked. his eyes went wide as he shook his head. "no, no. i didn't mean it like that." he started.

"i'm kidding. i was trembling because the weather was treacherous." marella stated. jj gave her a look and she sighed. "fine, yes. i wasn't okay. but can you blame me? ward, he— and rafe too? i grew up with them." marella continued, her voice quivering. "it's just hard to take it all in, you know?"

"no one's gonna blame you for being upset. everyone in the obx knows how close your families are." jj reminded her.

"it's not just that." she explained. "ever since that day at the police tents, i can't help but feel like... like there's something wrong with me. like i'm going crazy." marella whispered. "i know i have anxiety and i know i still have dissociative amnesia, but being told that what i say is 'unreliable'? it sucks."

"but you're not crazy." jj shook his head. "in fact, you're the most sane one out of all of us."

"that's what you think jj." marella pointed out. "the entire legal system deems me as practically insane." she paused. "what if... something happens to me and-and i'm making a testimony against the defendant and they can't even take my word for it because i'm unreliable. then i'll never get justice."

jj just sat in stillness as the girl mentally unravelled right in front of his eyes. it was undoubtedly an emotional moment, and the boy couldn't prevent the tears welling in his eyes.

"or what if- what if i get accused of a serious crime i didn't commit! and then i'm immediately found guilty because without any definative proof, my words mean nothing." marella continued. "is that how you feel with me? because of my anxiety?"

"ella, you're the smartest person i know... don't tell pope i said that." he quickly said, making her softly snicker. "with all the books you read, and the philosophers you research, and the quotes you know... how could i not believe every word you say?"

marella stayed quiet for a moment before she hauled her knees up to her chest. "do you want to come in?" she offered.

jj's head shot over to her with surprise, "woah, you've gotta take me out to dinner first." he joked. marella scoffed, flicking over some soapy water to him.

"fine." he dramatically sighed, pretending like he didn't want to join her. marella shut her eyes, glancing down as jj peeled his clothes from his body. she waited until she could hear and feel him sit opposite her in the water before she glanced up. "you decent?" she asked.

"no, i'm naked." jj told her.

marella giggled, opening her eyes. once they made eye contact, jj began to chuckle as well and the two sat there, laughing for a good minute. initially, jj didn't notice that marella's chortles had converted into silent sobs.

"hey... come here." jj put his arms out for her. marella gave him a look, but his arms didn't fall. she slowly scooted closer, not wanting the water to overflow. once their knees were touching, jj leaned forward and took her hands in his, holding onto them as she wept.

⎯ ❃ jania speaks!
last scene is kinda straight out of waves and inspired by this other film i've watched. there's honestly nothing sexual about it, it's similar to chapter 13 as they both have an emotional breakdown

marella absolutely breaks my heart she deserves everything and more. so i was listening to ivy and it is so jjrella coded it's sad...