CHAPTER SEVEN
HE WHO CRIES LAST

THEO WAKES THE FOLLOWING morning to the sound of chirping birds outside his bedroom window. He can still feel the exhaustion washing over him, the previous night taking a bit of an emotional toll on him above all else. The soft snores he'd heard through the wall all night seem to have subsided, meaning JJ has either left or he's awake and downstairs — Theo hopes it's the latter.

Pushing himself up out of bed, Theo rubs his eyes and heads downstairs. There's no chatter, no sizzle of bacon in the pan and no television noise, meaning that he's here alone. A frown pulls at his lips, eyes spotting a piece of ripped paper on the bench. His fingers graze the paper, that frown lifting slightly as he takes note of the scribbled words along the surface.

"Thanks for letting me stay, rich boy. You're not bad — for a kook that is.

JJ"

Rolling his eyes, Theo folds the paper up and shoves it in his pocket. Humming, the boy grabs the loaf of bread off the side and the toaster from the cupboard, making himself some breakfast. He uses what is left of the strawberry jam in the fridge, taking a mental note that he will have to replace it next time he goes to the shop. His father is a big lover of strawberry jam as well, they go through jars of it so quickly. Theo has thought about trying his hand at making his own, though that probably wouldn't end up too great — his cooking is, well, interesting to say the least.

His gaze moves to the window in the kitchen, a soft smile appearing on his face as he takes in the nice weather outside. Days like these often involve him sitting on the porch and reading some ridiculously sappy romance novel and wishing he was the one in love. Theo has little to no doubt that today will end the same way, it's the perfect way to throw himself into some fictional paradise instead of living in this place.

The sound of silence looms over him, his dad and Emmy both out of the house for the day and he has no idea when they'll get back. So, it's up to him to find something to amuse himself until he has some company.

Just as he goes to head back upstairs, there's a frantic knock on his front door. A soft groan of annoyance leaves his lips, knowing that it will likely be somebody who is here to try and sell them something — he's so sick of having to turn away magazine subscriptions. The moment he opens the door he's met with a surprise sight, a rather distraught Pope Heyward. Theo is actually quite used to the company of the Pogues now, what he's not used to is them randomly popping up.

"Pope? Are you okay?" Theo grabs the boy's arms gently with his hands as he shakes slightly. He looks over Pope's shoulder to try and see whether his usual sidekick is with him, but JJ is nowhere in sight. "Pope?"

"I-I'm sorry for turning up but I didn't have your number and JJ– you have to help him. Nobody else is going to," Pope rambles, his words coming out so quickly that Theo somewhat struggles to decipher them.

"Pope, I need you to calm down, okay? Lets get you some water or something —"

"Theo, you have to help JJ. I-I didn't mean for this to happen,"

Help JJ? Theo scrunches his eyebrows together in confusion, still unsure as to what he's supposed to help the shaggy blonde with. He's not even here, how can Theo help him with anything?

"What happened?" Theo's voice is gentle, a calming sound to the clearly upset boy.

"Topper, the boat, they arrested him. He took the fall for me, man. Schoupe arrested him,"

"We have cameras, Silver. I saw him do it and my mum is thinking of pressing charges,"

"Shit. Uh okay, uh I'll see what I can do. My dad isn't here but I might be able to pay the money to get him out. Yeah, yeah I'll try to do that,"

It's he who is rambling now, his heart racing at the thought of JJ locked away for a crime he didn't even commit. Not only that, his best friend who had committed it had only done so because he was attacked first — JJ is always protecting his friends.

The brunette grabs his keys off the counter, bidding goodbye to Pope who is heading back to his father. He's quick to rush upstairs and change out of his pyjamas before jumping in the car and driving down to the police station. It's pretty safe to say that he's broken a few traffic laws along the way.

Schoupe is the first person he sees when he pushes inside the station, the man meeting his gaze with confusion. "Theo? Did you have a crime to report or something? Your dad hasn't been down here with any clients today,"

"No, I'm uh I'm here to bail JJ out," Theo breathes heavily, pulling his card out of his pocket. His dad had given it to him for emergency purposes, a large sum of money in the bank account that this card has access too — unlike the other one he has which is mostly for recreational purposes.

"JJ? JJ Maybank?" Schoupe repeats the name, disbelief washing over his face as he looks at the rich teenager. "Why would you be bailing out JJ Maybank?"

"Why are you so curious? I have the money, just let me get him out of here,"

"I'm afraid you're too late, kid. His dad came and picked him up a little while ago,"

There's the slight relief about the fact that JJ isn't here anymore, that he isn't locked away for something he's been wrongfully incarcerated for, but Theo knows all about Luke Maybank. The whole island knows how much of a terrible person the man is, all the adults turning a blind eye to the way he doesn't give a shit about his son because JJ isn't some rich socialite.

"Was be okay?" Theo questions the man who looks as puzzled as ever.

"He's fine, kid. His hearing is in a few weeks and he has to pay a hefty restitution but he's fine. Your dad know you're hanging around people like him?"

"Considering he helped patch him up after some rich assholes assaulted him, yeah I think he knows. I'll see you,"

Theo spins around and gets back in his car, slamming the door with a frown on his face. He simply turns the key and just drives, his body moving on its own accord as he tries to clear his head. Eventually he pulls up at a house, one he unfortunately recognizes, and gets out. He knocks rather harshly, awaiting for the person on the other side.

Topper Thornton, who looks as smug as he normally does, has that same expression forced from his face when he sees who is there. Theo has to bite his tongue at the sight of him, his hand shaking slightly as he thinks about how much he wishes he could punch this guy in the face.

"Silver?"

"You know Topper, I've always known you were a prick but getting somebody arrested takes the cake," Theo hisses.

"Heyward deserved what he got. He sunk my boat,"

"Heyward didn't get anything. JJ took the fall for him because he didn't want him to ruin his future over an asshole like you,"

"He was involved as well anyway —"

"I've forgotten how simple minded some of you people are, you and Rafe were the ones who attacked Pope first. You were the one who stood by and watched Rafe hit an innocent person with a golf club until he was bleeding and terrified. You're not the victim here, Topper,"

Topper pushes him lightly, trying to intimidate the shorter boy with his stature but Theo is far too riled up to care in the slightest. For years he's been able to hold onto the anger and let it simmer within him, but now he's about ready to explode. These people, they're all so stuck in their own lavish lifestyle.

"You'll get what's coming to you one day, Thornton. All of you will," Theo comments before leaving the blonde to himself.

Theo is sitting on the couch when his father finally arrived home, the man seemingly exhausted. He sits down beside his son, leaning his head back and sighs. "You want to tell me why you stormed the police station today?"

Fucking Schoupe.

"I didn't storm anywhere. He arrested JJ," Theo comments quietly.

That is something that seems to shock the older man. "How— what the hell did he do between me dropping him at Pope's and now?"

"It didn't happen today. Pope sunk Topper's boat and they went to get him, JJ took the fall," Theo explains, eyes looking anywhere but at his dad.

"Right and why did Pope sink Topper's boat?"

"Probably something to do with the fact Rafe Cameron attacked him with a golf club,"

Theo knows his father and he knows that this man is much like himself, the people around them are just simply so unlikeable to them. Eric has a few friends amongst them, a few that he'll happily go out to lunch with, but the Cameron's certainly are not those people. Theo's mother had been friends with Ward Cameron many years ago, and whilst they were close, Eric wanted nothing to do with them — could have something to do with Rafe's need to bother his son.

"So Rafe attacks Pope, Pope retaliates and somehow JJ Maybank is the one who ends up in a jail cell?" Eric says slowly, almost as if he's trying to process it all at once.

"That about covers it. I was there dad, I watched Pope sink that stupid boat and the only reason they didn't come after me too is because I live here instead of on The Cut," Theo exhales, leaning his chin on his hand.

"Unfortunately, this place has never been real fair, Theo. I've lived here for years and I've never once seen somebody on this side of the island actually care about what happens to those who live on the other side,"

Theo cannot wait to get off this stupid island.

Eric gently pats the boy's shoulder before pushing himself up and heading for the kitchen, more than likely so that he can get dinner started. Theo sits there for a few more moments, his mind racing, before he follows his dad. He's just about to turn into the kitchen, ready to converse with his father further when there is once again a knock at the front door. Theo feels something shoot through him that he can't quite comprehend, perhaps it's hope, at the mere thought of it perhaps being JJ.

The teenager takes a deep breath and opens the door with a soft smile, ready to greet whoever is there when he stops short. It's as if his lungs have collapsed, his heart has stopped beating and his brain has malfunctioned. The person stands there with the familiar kind smile, their face so much like it had been the last time he saw them.

"Hi Teddy,"

The melodic voice fills the air, a stabbing pain hits his chest and sends a wave of panic through his body. Theo flinches as her hand raises, her touch soft against his cheek as she takes in his features. Her finger wipes away the tear he hadn't even realized had fell, a steady stream following after.

It's like he's forgotten how to speak, how to function properly, he simply wishes he could vanish into thin air. She can't be here, she can't.

"Mum?"