chapter ten
come on, j, where are you?

After multiple reassurances from JJ about Shoupe believing their lie, although Athena still wasn't convinced, the group headed back inside to eat some food and figure out what to do next. Athena went upstairs to check on Cleo.

"Hey, Cleo." Athena knocked gently on the doorframe, the girl sitting on her and Pope's bed, staring off into space. "Can I come in?"

Cleo nodded but didn't say a word. Athena walked into the room, sitting down on the bed next to her and placing her head on the girl's shoulder. They sat in silence for a while, Athena just allowing her presence to comfort Cleo for as long as possible before she broke it.

"I'm sorry about Terrance." Athena stated. "It sucks. Being kidnapped and beaten and seeing someone die in front of you, even worse when you care about them and you try and save them. It sucks more than a normal person could even try to comprehend, let alone put the feelings into words. I understand that. So if you ever need some to talk to and to just sit in silence with you while you ponder, you can come to me, whenever, wherever, JJ can be kicked out of bed for all I care. And, if any help, I like to think that when people die they become stars so after we move Terrance he'll become a star and then still always be with you."

Athena let out a small sigh, moving to sit up and face Cleo, who had begun silently crying. "But you, my sweet girl, my sweet, strong Cleo, are gonna get through this. Because, hey, if I can do it, you most definitely can because you are a hell of a lot stronger than me. And you are not alone in the world, and you will never be alone. And we should have been here, and we weren't and that makes us sucky but we love you and we will do everything for you... it's kind of a pogue thing I guess."

Athena smiled at her one more time before placing a kiss on the top of her head and making her way towards the door, only stopping when Cleo finally spoke up. "You're a weird one, blondie."

"I've been told that before." Athena responded with a shrug. "Apparently it's endearing."

"You're a good comforter." Cleo commented.

"Thanks." Athena smiled. "Helps when you've been through it a thousand times."

Cleo fell silent for a second as Athena's words settled over them. "Can you sit with me for a while?"

"Of course." Athena nodded, getting back on the bed but this time Cleo placed her head on Athena's shoulder, the blonde resting her head on top of Cleo's.

"You're strong too you know." Cleo stated. "We are just as strong as each other."

"I suppose." Athena nodded. "We're gonna be okay."

"We're gonna be okay." Cleo repeated.

The two sat in silence for a while. It wasn't awkward, it was comforting, just two friends who had gone through trauma, and similar experiences in their lives, being in each other's presence and understanding what the other was thinking and feeling without any words needed to be spoken.

When they were finished, the decided to go back downstairs and join the group, wanting to know next steps. Cleo sat with Pope, her knife being stabbed into the wood underneath her while Athena leant against Sage stood up.

"First things first. Gotta take care of Terrance." Cleo stated.

"Of course." Sarah nodded.

"Can't just leave him here." Cleo continued. "It won't sit right on my conscience."

"Cleo's right. We gotta do something about Terrance." John B agreed. "And then we have to get the hell out of here, all right? Road trip."

"What?" JJ spoke in confusion.

"Road trip to where?" Kie wondered.

"John B, Athena and I were talking." Pope announced. "We think the North Star and the Half Moon Battery is referring to Charleston."

"If we get to Charleston before them, we have a fighting chance." John B explained.

"What?"

"We can still do it without the amulet." Athena added.

"We have no other option." John B told her. "What—What are we doing?"

"What do you mean?" Kie asked.

"The zoning notice, Kie." John B reminded them. "We're gonna lose Poguelandia."

"John B, they killed Terrance." Kie stated.

"Dude." John B huffed, falling into the seat behind him.

"We're in way, way over our heads." Kie continued.

"I know, Kie, but we have no choice." John B countered.

"We said we were gonna do it, find the treasure, if this it what it takes." Sage shrugged. "We have to."

"Dawn Patrol. Hey, JJ? Get the Twinkieup and running by dawn." John B suddenly stated, moving over to stand with JJ.

"All right." JJ nodded.

"The rest of us will do right by Terrance." John B looked towards Cleo. "We'll be back here about 0700 hours. First ferry leaves at 8. Let's go to Charleston. You okay with that, Cleo?"

Cleo held her knife up in front of her, inspecting it. "In Charleston, we could find the man who killed Terrance. I'm good with it."

She then slammed the knife back into the wood beside her, making Athena jump slightly. The group all agreed on the plan, before getting a few hours of sleep, waking up early to dispose of Terrance's body.

Athena put on a denim skirt, a pink vest and one of JJ's jackets, pairing it with her converse before she made her way to the Twinkie where she knew JJ would be.

"You okay here alone?" Athena asked him.

"I'll be okay." JJ nodded. "You good with them?"

"Yeah." Athena smiled. "I'm on designated Cleo duty so I think I have the easy part."

"You are naturally comforting." JJ responded easily.

"Thank you." Athena giggled. "I should get going."

"See you soon." JJ kissed her before the girl dropped the gun she was given to chuck in there, on the backseat, sending JJ one last smile and catching up to the group that was just walking past.

John B, Sage and Pope loaded Terrance into a wheelbarrow while Sarah and Kie carried all the blood covered towels that they needed to dump and Cleo and Athena walked slightly behind them. Athena linked her arm through Cleo's, not saying anything but simply to let the girl know she was there. They all headed down the dock, loading everything onto the boat and beginning their journey out.

"Hey. I think we're being followed." Pope announced, not that long after they set sail.

"Oh shit."

"Let's lose him. He's in a johnboat." Kie told John B.

"Hold on, y'all." John B informed them all.

John B sped up, losing the johnboat following them and heading into the middle of the ocean. They stopped, John B and Pope hauling Terrance onto the side of the boat as they all gathered around him. Athena stood next to Sarah, their hands entwined.

"I know you guys didn't know Terrance that well, but... he took care of me when no one else did." Cleo stated. "He was like a father to me. And um... And I loved him. And I'm gonna miss him. I ain't going to forget who did this. I got you, boss."

And with Cleo's words, Pope and John B pushed Terrance off of the boat. Athena let out a small sigh, leaning against Sarah.

"I'm sorry." Pope spoke to Cleo.

"Everyone's always sorry." Cleo responded. "Nothing ever happens."

The group headed back to the house, now on a time crunch to get to the dock in time for the first ferry. They made their way up the dock and towards the Twinkie, only to find a lack of JJ. Athena immediately began to phone to boy, hoping he would answer his phone but staying close enough to hear if the other's said anything. John B grabbed a note off of the windshield, reading it and taking a breath.

"What?" Sarah wondered. John B handed Sarah the note. "'She's topped off, had to run an errand, go on to Chucktown without me, catch up with you later, JJ.' Since when does JJ ever run errands?"

"Since never." Kie answered.

"Anything Thena?" John B asked.

Athena shook her head as JJ's voicemail played once again. "He's not answering."

"Great." Pope sighed. "So what are we gonna do now?"

"He said to go." Cleo spoke up. "We should go."

"He'll be mad if we stay and wait for him." Sage agreed.

"You guys go." Athena finalised. "I'll search and see if I can find him. We can catch up later."

"I'll stay too." Kie nodded. "I can keep the shop open while she searches, see if he turns up here."

"All right."

"Yeah."

"Might as well."

"Stay safe." Sage told Kie, kissing her forehead and getting in the Twinkie with the rest of the group. Athena waved goodbye to them all, trying JJ's phone once again.

"What's the plan?" Kie asked Athena.

"I'm gonna search the island." Athena told her. "I'll go to the places I think he might have run off too and I'll stay in touch."

"Okay, I'll stay here, keep the shop open and let you know if he turns up here." Kie reassured her, placing a hand on her arm. "We'll find him, Thena."

"God, I hope so." Athena let out a breath.

"We'll find him." Kie repeated, a firm look in her eye. "I promise."

"You're unwavering optimism is unnerving, Kiki Dee." Athena let out a small laugh.

"Someone has to be optimistic when you're not." Kie shrugged. "Now, go find your idiot man, and bring him back."

"I'll try." Athena let out a small breath.

The blonde hugged Kie before grabbing her bike and beginning her search around the island. She headed to all of the places that she thought JJ would go, ringing him when she reached each one in hopes to hear his ringtone but there was no luck.

"C'mon, J, where are you?" Athena muttered to herself, praying that she would find him.

Athena continued to search, her legs hurting from how much pedalling she had done on her bike. She gave up after a while, heading back to the house to drop her bike off, getting a Dr Pepper, and walking down to shop to check on Kie.

"I assume he hasn't turned up here." Athena spoke as she walked into the shop.

"Nope." Kie shook her head. "I have no idea where he is."

"I keep trying his phone but it just goes to voicemail every time." Athena sighed. "Maybe we should go to Shoupe or something."

"Why would Shoupe help us?" Kie wondered.

"I don't know." Athena huffed. "But he wants us to be honest with him, JJ's gone and I don't know where, that's my honest."

"I don't think we can confirm missing person yet, Thena." Kie informed the girl gently.

"He's going to be okay." Athena stated, although it just sounded like she was reassuring herself.

"He's going to be okay." Kie reassured her. "He's JJ."

"You're right." Athena nodded. "You're right. This is just, JJ being JJ. He'll—He'll come back. You think he'll come back, right?"

"He'll come back, Thena." Kie told her. "If not for us, then definitely for you. He'll always come back for you."

Athena let out a small breath. "I needed to hear that."

"I could tell." Kie shrugged. "Go, search."

"I'm going." Athena smiled, a newfound determination settling in. "Thank you for this."

"Anytime, what are best friends for?" Kie waved her off.

The sun began to set, darkness settling over Athena as she went out on her second leg of searching, using the torch that Kie had helpfully loaned her. The girl searched for what felt like forever, not letting up, despite how much her legs were begging from a break from the walking. She finally took a break at the lighthouse, looking around as she placed her hands in her hair.

"Come on JJ, where are you?" Athena asked herself once again. "Where could you have gone? You have to come back, I need you to come back."

Athena let out a breath, staring out into the ocean as she played with the paper ring around her neck, a small part of her fearing that she'd never find JJ, that something had happened to him, or he had run away and was never going to return, that she'd never see the person she loved most in the entire world ever again. She was spiralling, her mind running at a thousand miles an hour, the what ifs squeezing at her heart and she thought she was going to explode, crumble to the floor and start uncontrollably sobbing when suddenly a voice called out through the darkness.

"Hello little Miss Cameron."

( 💌 ) isobels notes
some cleo and athena for y'all
we love them !!
last chapter before part two and
the real drama begins 🤭
so close to the end 😭
badass athena next chapter yay