SEVEN LET'S RIDE

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Walking back to John B's house, Norman resented himself for being unable to stop thinking about the way John B had kissed him. Maybe he was a fool for thinking that there was even a possibility having anything with a boy could be okay, but a fool he would be if it meant he could kiss John B again. No, he had to get his head on straight. Literally. This was a dangerous way of thinking and he knew it was going to bite him in the ass. He didn't like John B, not in that way. Hell, they barely liked each other at all. They were still mortal enemies as far as Norman was concerned, they had simply called a truce. Part of him wondered what they would be like now if they had started off as friends. Maybe things would be different. Norman almost wished they were.

"I think my friends were right," John B said with a sigh as they looked upon the completely ransacked and destroyed house. "Maybe I need to let it go, move on. I think... I think I'm gonna start cleaning up my dad's stuff."

"If you really, like genuinely think he's alive, John B," Norman started, not sure when they stopped talking to each other like they were enemies, "you shouldn't give up. It's only denial if you're wrong, right?"

John B chuckled, a small sigh leaving his lips, "That's what I always say, my friends think I'm a dumbass for it."

The boy only shrugged in response, "You are a dumbass, but if you wanna keep looking for your dad, go for it. Do you have like... any food in this house that isn't three-day old pizza?" He grimaced as he lifted the lid of one of the pizza boxes, the smell hitting his nose immediately. "Ugh, how do you live like this?"

"Not all of us live in a mansion with maids and personal chefs," John B said with a scoff as he began to gather up as much trash as he could and toss it into bins outside.

"My mom cooks, actually!" Norman yelled as the boy walked out of the front door. He saw John B shake his head, laughing disapprovingly. He ignored him, instead, walking to the kitchen where he had stood just the day before. It was surreal to think about how much had happened in just two days. With a sigh, he started looking through the cabinets for something to eat. He was starving so he didn't care what John B wanted, he was making food. Finally, he found a box of mac and cheese that could be split between the two. While John B threw out the trash and started cleaning up the house, he searched for a pot and turned on the oven.

"Are you fucking cooking right now?" John B asked as he came back into the house, leaning against the doorway that led into the kitchen.

"Dude, I'm fucking hungry!" Norman argued, "It's mac and cheese I'll split it with you, but only if you're nice! I swear to God, I do so much for you."

John B rolled his eyes, but he could still see the smile forming at the corners of his lips that he was so clearly fighting back. "You don't do jack shit for me."

"I carried your fat ass across the beach when you were out cold because of Topper. Seriously, dude, Topper. He's a fucking twig, I could take him like any day," Norman scoffed as he found a wooden spoon and measuring glass. "Now, please tell me you have milk that isn't expired or this whole thing is going to shit."

"Pope's dad is the only reason I have any groceries at all, so there should be milk in there," John B pointed towards the fridge, "Do you need an apron? I think I have one that says kiss the cook, I think it'll suit you. Also, didn't Topper punch you in the face?"

"He caught me off guard!" Norman defended, "I can't stand to look at you right now, I'm too angry. Go clean, dumbass."

"Wait, while the water boils, let me help you clean off all that blood. It looks gross and your face is bad enough as is," John B joked as he grabbed one of the kitchen towels and ran it under cold water while Norman was sure to watch the stove carefully. The dark-haired boy pulled one of the chairs over and Norman sat down without thinking while John B took the towel to the skin underneath his nose. This wasn't that bad, Norman could handle him being this close. At least, that was until his fingers tangled in his short hair to keep his balance and grip and Norman was fairly sure he was getting heart palpitations. Shit, maybe Alisha had been right. Things got so much worse when John B moved onto the dried blood that had gone down his neck and chest and he absolutely could not handle the touch. However, he was forced to just sit there and act like nothing was happening.

"There," John B spoke once he was done, tossing the dirty towel in the sink, "A little bit less disgusting. I'm gonna go clean."

With that, the boy walked away and Norman stood, fully prepared to act like that hadn't just happened. However, it had happened and Norman was freaking out. He was fine, that meant nothing. He could have cleaned that blood himself, though, but John B did it for him. Why the hell did John B do it for him? He couldn't handle this. He needed to focus on something else. Great, the water was boiling. Norman was going to focus on the mac and cheese and absolutely nothing else. Nothing else at all. Except he couldn't stop thinking about the last five minutes.

He watched out of the corner of his eye as John B cleared off one of the tables and put a salvaged picture frame in place of all the trash. He smiled to himself, somewhat glad that John B had something left of his dad. Not that he cared, really. He didn't care about John B. He was just making mac and cheese in his kitchen because he was hungry, not because he was going to pour two bowls of it when he was done.

It wasn't long before he finished and began hunting through the cabinets for some bowls. Once he found them, he poured one for himself and one for John B before grabbing forks and heading out to where John B was sorting things out in the front yard.

"Here you go, bitch," Norman remarked as he handed over the bowl. The other boy took it, but his eyes were still focused on whatever was in his hands. With a sigh, he tossed it before grabbing the pack of matches and lighting one, tossing it into the pile of garbage.

Watching the fire, the two of them ate. Them acting like friends was probably the weirdest part of this entire few days, but Norman would be lying if he said he minded. Maybe Pogues weren't so bad after all, but he would rather die than actually say that out loud. No, John B would never know. Luckily, Norman was really good at hiding it and would happily continue being a total rich asshole in John B's mind.

The boy was silent as Norman watched him pick up a small container of gasoline and pour more, causing the flames to increase in size as they both stepped back, feeling the heat. After a moment, John B wordlessly handed his bowl to Norman before grabbing a fire poker and pulling something out of the fire and stomping out the flames as best he could. It was a bulletin board, but Norman had no idea what significance it had to the other boy. Panting, he looked down at the bulletin board, hid mind clearly reeling.

"Dude, what's up?" Norman asked, confusion evident in his voice, "What's so important about that bulletin board?"

"Less talking, more driving," John B exclaimed as he ran back into the house. Norman chased after him, placing the bowls on the kitchen counter with a sigh as he chased the boy out of the house. He was still hungry, but he would have to deal with that later. Without thinking, he hopped right into the passenger seat of John B's van, not waiting for an invitation. Strangely, he didn't feel as though he needed one. That was odd, he wasn't sure if he liked it. He knew he didn't hate it, though.

"Okay, are you gonna tell me what's going on?"

"When have I ever told you what's going on once?" John B asked as he drove, once he noticed Norman didn't have an answer for him, he nodded, "Exactly. So why do you keep asking and more importantly, why do you keep tagging along even though I never answer and I seem to continue to get you into trouble?"

"I don't know!" was all Norman could say for himself.

They pulled up to the docks and John B stopped, rolling down the window and motioning to two boys Norman recognized as Pope and JJ. Once he had their attention, he called out, "Let's ride."

The two of them got up right away, Pope sighing, "This better be good. What's he doing here? You're the one that helped us the other night, right?"

Norman nodded, "The very same. JJ... how are things?"

"I'm not gonna shoot you, Kook," was all the blond boy said in response, "What is he doing here?"

"He and I just happened to be together so he came with, don't worry about it," John B offered a hurried explanation and Norman furrowed his brow. Okay, so the worried tone in his voice was definitely going to be something Norman was making a note of to overthink about later.

"I don't know what's going on, do you guys?" Norman asked, turning around to face the two of them who both shook their heads. "Great."

They pulled up outside of The Wreck which was a restaurant Kiara's parents owned and Pope opened up the back door and hopped out to go and get her. While they waited, Norman wondered what the hell he was doing in a van full of Pogues with no known destination except for whatever John B had on his mind. Had he been kidnapped? Did this count as kidnapping?

"She says she's not coming!" Pope exclaimed as he ran back out, sounding out of breath.

"Why not?" JJ exclaimed, "What'd you do to her, John B?"

"Shit," the boy cursed, "Hang on, I'll deal with it."

With that, John B got out and it was just JJ and Norman in the car. He was desperately praying for Pope to get back in the van. Thankfully, he did, but that did not make it any less awkward. He had no idea how to act around Pogues if he was being honest. He was used to being an asshole to them, he had never known peace.

"So... do you think John B will let us stop to get food on the way? I'm starving," Norman broke the awkward silence, earning a laugh from Pope but nothing from JJ.

"How come you get shotgun, I always get shotgun," JJ commented, leaning up in between the seats to face Norman, "Do you have blackmail against him or something? Is it a Freaky Friday type of thing where you're actually John B in Rocky's body so you're forced to act like you're Rocky, but you're actually John B?"

"JJ, that's stupid," Pope teased, but the blond smacked him gently on the arm. "Hey!"

"It's plausible! You hate us!" JJ exclaimed, shooting curious eyes over to Norman. "Or is he blackmailing you? What dirt does he have on you?"

"None!" Norman caved and answered, "We called a momentary truce! Take it or leave it!"

JJ didn't look satisfied, but he leaned back in his seat and refrained from saying anything else. Thankfully, nothing else had to be said as the door to The Wreck opened and John B and Kie came out, seemingly on good terms. Once they got in the car, Kie didn't bat an eye at Norman's presence.

"Hey, Rocky," she greeted with a friendly smile, "How'd things go yesterday?"

"She knew about yesterday?" John B asked with a furrowed brow as he started the van back up, "He brought me fucking mango, Kie. Unreal."

The girl laughed, but the other two boys just looked confused. JJ asked, "So, what you guys just all befriended him without telling Pope and I?"

"We're not friends," John B and Norman denied at the same time. With a sigh, John B continued, "We just keep running into each other and shit keeps happening. He's here now, you can get shotgun on the way back if you're gonna be a bitch about it, JJ."

JJ sighed, but that seemed to be enough for him as they continued driving. "You guys mind if I just relax on this one? It's been a long day, and a lot of weird stuff's gone down. I'm just gonna lay low. Oh, did you want a hit of this?"

"I keep the signal clear," Pope declined, but Norman was honestly tempted.

"Dude, okay, do you understand that your problem is that you don't get creative?" JJ continued, holding out the blunt as he waited for Pope to take it. "Look if you got creative --"

"Look, I know I was wrong about the lighthouse, all right?" John B began and frankly, Norman had no idea what the hell he was talking about.

"Lighthouse?" Norman asked, but no one really cared to explain anything to him.

John B continued, "And wrong about everything else going on. But I -- I was right about one thing. Okay? My dad is trying to tell me something."

"Can we circle back to the lighthouse?" Norman asked once again, still awaiting an answer, "You're like, really bad at explaining things, John B."

Kie sighed, rolling her eyes, "Don't even get me started. The lighthouse isn't important, it was a dead end. What's going on here, though?"

After a few more moments of silence from John B, he stopped the van. Norman recognized where they were right away: the old cemetery. They all piled out of the van, John B muttering, "Come on, guys. Come on, hey."

Everyone began using their phones as flashlights as the sun had finally set at the end of a long day and for some reason, John B was making it longer.

"This place is scary. John B, what are we doing here?" Kie asked, sounding unimpressed. Norman couldn't blame her.

"I am getting just awful vibes right now," Norman said.

"Is it not clean and expensive enough for you?" JJ asked with a scoff.

"Dude, shut the fuck up," Pope muted and JJ looked offended, but refrained from saying anything else. "It wasn't Norman that fucked up your chances with Alisha, it was you pulling out a fucking glock."

"Can we not talk about that right now?" the blond muttered.

Norman nodded, "For once, you say something I agree with. Alisha is off-limits, right now."

"What does your fake girlfriend have to do with this?" John B cut in, "Anyway, you know how you're trying to remember a song and can't remember who sings it?"

"Yeah," Kie confirmed.

"So, Redfield, this whole time I thought it was a place, right? But it's not a place," John B explained as they seemed to come upon whatever John B had his mind set on. He raised his light to shine on the top if a mausoleum. "It's a person. Rocky, this is why that compass was so important to me. My dad left me a clue. Redfield."

"Voi-effing-la," JJ said as the name Redfield was clear as day etched into the stone.

John B nodded, continuing to explain, "See, my great-great-grandmother, Olivia Redfield. That was her maiden name. Help with the door, come on."

"Are we seriously breaking into a mausoleum right now?" Norman asked in disbelief as all of the boys went to help push open the door. "This is why I don't fuck with poor people, Kie, why do you hang out with them?"

The girl shrugged, "I ask myself that every day."

The boys had been muttering to themselves when all of a sudden they all backed up like they had seen a ghost. John B exclaimed, shining his light on something moving on the ground, "Woah, woah, a snake."

"That's a moccasin, all right," JJ explained as they all backed up, "Ye olde Dr. Cottenmouth. Death in tall grass."

JJ started barking at the snake to which Kie sighed, "JJ, shut up!"

"You're gonna wake the dead, man," Pope contributed.

"They're afraid of dogs!" JJ defended at the same time Norman did. JJ nodded, "See, at least he knows about snakes!"

John B shot him a curious look and Norman shrugged, "I was the weird snake kid, we don't need to talk about it."

They scoffed and the boy went to head back to the door, but JJ pulled him back, "Wait, hold on, man, if there's one, there's probably dozens. All around."

"Stop, you're scaring me," the girl complained with a frustrated groan. JJ started barking again and John B got exasperated.

"Stop barking at the snakes!"

"You guys are ridiculous," Norman sighed.

While JJ was going on about the snakes, Pope got John B's attention, saying, "Look, we're not gonna get in there all right? It's not budging. We should probably just go."

"I'm not a big fan of the dark or of graveyards, so I agree with him," Norman contributed, both of them earning a frustrated look from John B.

"I can get through," Kie cut their conversation short.

John B shook his head, "No, no, no. You think you're gonna fit through the hole? That hole?"

The girl sighed, the conviction clear in her voice, "Look, this is about your dad. And honestly, I don't really believe in it, but you deserve to know the truth. I'll do it. Can you help me with that?"

The four boys rushed to get all of the tree branches out of the way so she had a clear entrance. If Norman was being honest, he admired her. He was honestly terrified right now and he was thankful he was 6'5" and no one even considered him as one of the options for squeezing through that hole. He didn't mind snakes, but he hated cobwebs.

"Give her a boost," John B instructed, and JJ knelt down.

"I'm gonna give you a boost, all right?"

"You are doing that so wrong JJ, Gemma's a cheerleader she's showed us so many tricks, let me help," Norman sighed as he knelt down as well, offering more support for Kie.

The girl nodded, taking a deep breath. "Remind me what we're looking for again?"

"You'll know when you see it," was all John B offered. Kiara handed her flashlight over to Pope, placing both her hands on JJ and Norman's shoulders and one foot on JJ's hand, one staying on the ground.

"Okay, on three," JJ instructed. She nodded, repeating what he had said. She placed her other foot on Norman's hands and she jumped up into the entrance and JJ, "Or just... forget about three."

"I got it!" she exclaimed, "Oh. Okay, flashlight?"

Pope pushed her flashlight through the entrance and the four of them waited. After a moment of silence, John B asked, "Okay, you alive? Like a -- a heartbeat and everything?"

"So far," she called back. "Uh... I need some more light."

"I got you," John B nodded, passing the lamp through the entrance leaving them in more darkness than before.

"Why did you have to give her the biggest light so there's less light out here?" Norman whined. John B looked at him with a raised brow to which he responded, "Shut up."

"Truce off, I'm totally making fun of you for being afraid of the dark," John B laughed. "Fucking pussy."

"Shut up!"

"Did you find something? Any gold?" JJ asked once Kie had been silent for longer than they would have liked.

"Oh, my God," they heard Kie mutter. She passed something out through the hole, which looked to be a FedEx package.

"That's not gold," Pope sighed.

John B, however, had his eyes glued to the package. "Holy shit. This is from my dad."

The moment was interrupted as the sound of a car pulling up broke the silence and JJ exclaimed, "Code red, code red. Square groupers, square groupers! It's the guys who robbed your house!"

The five of them ran as their life depended on it which was, unfortunately, for the second time that day. They hid behind the mausoleum and struggled to get all of their lights off in time. JJ peeked around the corner as Kie asked, "Is it them?"

"Homie's got a gun," JJ observed nervously, his voice scared and hurried.

"Screw this," Kie sighed as she made a break for it. The five of them ran, climbing over the fence as quickly as possible. However, Pope got stuck at the last minute.

Everyone was yelling, JJ had the gun out for some reason to which John B was tackling him while Kie was comforting Pope. Kie and Norman ran over to help Pope, grabbing hold onto his back so he had the support to get down.

"You're gonna rip me," Pope whined as he tried to get down off the fence. As he jumped down, his shorts ripped clean off and Norman held in a laugh as they all raced back to the van. As promised, JJ took shotgun as the rest of them piled into the back.

Norman was breathing heavily, but they all had smiles on their face. They were safe.

this chapter is almost 4000 words it's to makeup for how short the last chapter was you're welcome now enjoy the parajohn content bitches except now there's a treasure hunt