THE FIVE POGUES FOUND THEMSELVES HUDDLED AROUND A FIREPLACE. rosie was seated beside jj. the green eyed brunette was using a stick to draw figures on the sand "so, are we gonna talk about the elephant in the room?" kiara questions

"technically, we're outside and not in a room" jj speaks sarcastically

kiara gave him a deadpanned look "it's a figurative speech"

"what elephant in the room?" john b questions

"the one where jj and rosie kissed and broke the rule" kiara says

jj furrows his brows "well, john b broke the rule when he kissed you" he shrugs. kiara glaring at john b for telling jj

"and some rules are just meant to be broken" rosie shrugs as she leans her head against jj's shoulder

"it was a stupid rule anyways" he added, agreeing with his girlfriend

before kiara could argue, pope cut her off "hey, guys. i'm really happy for you" he motions to both jj and rosie "but, my dad's already gonna kill me. so what's this mandatory meeting about?"

john b instantly looks to jj as he uses fingers guns "might as well tell him, man, before we're gaffed" jj spoke as he looked at rosie, who caught his eyes, she grins only knowing that they were back in the g-game

"you ready for this?" john b questions as he looks to pope, then at kiara

"yeah"

"so, the gold never went down with the royal merchant" john b reveals

pope sighs "oh, my god. here we go again with this"

jj is quick to speak up "no. alright, wait. hear him out, all right?"

john b removes his finger from his lips "it's been here the whole time" he looks over to kiara "it's on the island"

rosie raises her brows and looks to jj, who grinning nods "are you serious? oh my god" kiara questions john b

pope who wasn't fully convinced, spoke up "i'd like to voice my skepticism"

"i'm sure you would, pope" john b states as he stands up to walk around the fire they built "but can i please present you with my evidence, sir?"

"proceed" pope said

"alright. so, in my backpack" john b announces as he pulls out a folded paper "i have a letter from denmark tanny"

"who's that?" rosie questions at the same time as kiara questions "who the hell is that?"

"denmark tanny was a slave that survived the royal merchant wreck" john b opens the letter and shows the pogues "check this out"

"what?" kiara questions

"here you go" john b says as he hands kiara the letter "okay, slaves weren't mentioned as crew members on the ship. my dad, he found the complete manifest. that was his big discovery. so tanny used the gold from the merchant to buy his freedom" kiara whistles to rosie, who gets up from her comfortable spot beside jj to grab the letter. she takes a few seconds to scan it before giving it to jj to pass to pope "after that, he bought his farm. drumroll, please" jj, rosie, and kiara all use the palm of their hands to slap it against their knees to create the sound of drumrolls "because that farm is...tannyhill plantation"

rosie recognizing the name speaks up "tannyhill?"

"yeah. so, after that, he used his money to free even more slaves, and then he sold a shit-ton of rice, which pisses off all the white planters, and then they decide to lynch him. so on the day they were coming to get him, he writes a letter to his son as a farewell, and in the last line of that letter, he leaves a coded message about where to find the gold" john b says as he walked in front of kiara

with a smile curved on her lips, kiara waited for him to continue, but when he didn't, she spoke up "where?"

"harvest the wheat, in parcel nine, near the water. except... there's no wheat" he glanced at pope before walking over to him "you see, wheat is code for gold. check this out" showing pope the other paper in his hand "the gold is in parcel nine, near the water" a exciting laugh leaves kiara's lips "all we need is an original survey map of the property, and we've found the gold"

a huge grin curved onto rosie's lips, she feels jj squeeze her thigh before standing up to walk over to john b "okay, so this might have a small chance of being actually true"

john b extends his hands out for jj to hug him "i am a genius"

"dude, it's like king tut" jj says before hugging john b and picking him up slighly

"hey, whoa! fire! fire, you're near the fire. you're gonna burn" john b said as he held onto jj, before the blue eyed blond put him down

"i'm so proud of you right now" jj stated

"thank you" john b said as he took jj's face in his hands and jj had his hands on john b's torso "that's really sweet of you"

"are you guys gonna kiss?" rosie joked as the two had their faces so close to each other

jj glared at the girl "you'd like that wouldn't you?" john b continued the joke

"very much so" rosie snickers while john b leans in but jj pushes john b's face away

"ooookay! so, guys" pope calls out. all turn to look at him "what's the plan?"

"good question" john b points to him as he walks over to him "sarah cameron's coming tonight. the second rosie heard sarah's name, she knew all hell was about to break through "she'll bring an original survey map—"

and rosie was right, when kiara cut john b off "wait, wait hold on. sarah? wh—why sarah?"

"um..."

"oh boy" rosie mutters

"this is gonna be good" jj looks to the ground as he removes his hat

"sarah, um, she— she got me into the archives in chapel hill yesterday, and that's where i got the letter" john b explains

"you were in chapel hill with sarah cameron?" kiara instantly questions

"yeah, um—" before john b could finish his sentence, jj cut him off

"he was mackin' on her" rosie's eyes widen slightly, but was surprised

"i wasn't macking" john b lied

"you were totally macking sarah cameron" jj ratted him out

"i wasn't macking on her, okay? i was using her for access" john b said, trying to cover his tracks

"wow" rosie mumbles

"there was access, alright" jj spoke

"did you tell her about the treasure?" kiara questions

"i was just trying to get into the archives" john b exclaims

"is that a yes?"

"i—i left out key details"

"yo, what? you let a kook in on our secret? what about pogue lyfe? what about the t-shirt company, bro?"

"i was just using her for information" john b exclaims

"that's a dick move, jb" rosie mutters, she may not know exactly what sarah did to kiara, but from the few encounters she's had with sarah, she's been nothing but sweet to her

"why don't i believe you?" kiara questioned before glaring at rosie

"i'm trying to make us filthy rich here. okay, so that we can pay off a boat, or—or, uh... send you to autopsy school to study dead bodies" john b explains as he signals to pope "look, you guys know me. do i look like the type of person to fall for sarah cameron?"

"uh..."

a snicker left rosie's lips "do you want us to answer that, or—" john b cut off pope

"just—just stop"

"look, you don't know her yet. i do! you can't trust her" kiara argued

"her brother did hit me in the back with a golf club" pope added. at the mention of rafe, both rosie and jj met eyes. despite no secrets among pogues, this was the one secret jj would keep for rosie. the last thing he wanted was for the rest of the pogues to give rosie crap about sleeping with rafe

"rafe and sarah are different human beings" john b tells pope

"i for one agree" rosie adds

"what did she do to you, exactly?" jj asked the important question

"she's like a— like a spitting cobra" rosie furrows her brows "first, she—she blinds you, and then—"

pope cuts kiara off "this is a bad analogy"

"listen to me! whatever we get, she's gonna try to take"

"i highly doubt that" rosie mutters. yes, she probably should've kept her mouth shut, but one thing she hated more than anything, was for a girl to talk down about another girl who isn't even here to defend herself

kiara finally snapped "why do you keep defending her?!" she asks rosie "did you become her friend all of a sudden?"

"as a matter of fact, i did!" rosie argued, hating the way kiara screamed at her "and guess what, she's nothing like a spitting cobra! on the contrary, sarah cameron is the same girl who told me if you ever need anything, i'm here for you. and guess what? she helped me find my dad. she drove me down to police station, drove me to my father's house, offered to come with me to meet my father. you've  never been there for me. you've only gotten me a job at the wreck, which i'm forever grateful for, but other than that you've only ever showered me with gifts, that i've told you countless of times that i don't need, all i ever needed was a best friend"

"you could have came to me! i could have helped you!" kiara argued

"that's the thing kiara!" rosie exclaims as she gets up from her seat, pope was quick to stand as well and pull her a tad bit back so she would lunge herself at kiara "i didn't need to go to sarah for help, she offered to help me out of her own will"

a part of kiara felt betrayed by rosie, which is why her next words were "then i hope she's good enough to offer you a job, because you're fired from the wreck"

"dude!" jj muttered

a scoff left rosie's lips "you may be the owners daughter, but you're not my boss. so until i hear your dad or your mom tell me i'm fired, then i'll be seeing you at work" she looked at john b "now let's go get the damn map"

rosie blake sat in the passenger seat, as john b sat in the drivers seat, and the rest sat in the back. the anger she felt slowly left her body, but it was replaced with anxiety as they pulled up to kildare hawk's nest

"hit it, boys! we're goin'. recon mission" jj announces in a deep voice as pope open's the sliding door and rosie opens hers

just as pope, jj, and rosie were about to step out, john b speaks up "yo, uh...so, uh, i think i'm gonna do this one by myself...tonight"

"really?" jj questions

"what?"

"nothin', brother"

"i just don't want to spook sarah with the peanut gallery" john b explains

"i just don't understand why we're involving her at all" kiara argues, making rosie roll her eyes

"kie, we're not involving her, okay?" john b sighs "it's— it's just, uh, like a— a business meeting"

just behind rosie's seat, she could hear jj gulping. what she didn't know was that jj was pretending to gulp his blunt, making pope chuckle

"look, once we get what we need, we cut her loose, alright? plus, we need the map" john b shrugs

"promise me nothing's happening between you" kiara tells john b

"nothing is happening, kie"

"i'm being serious"

"okay!"

"this isn't about you, and this isn't about us. this is about her" kiara says as thunder rumbles "dude, she's gonna get inside your head" what rosie didn't see, was the way kiara glared at her. signaling to john b, that sarah had already gotten into rosie's head "just promise me nothing's happening between you guys"

"i promise"

"that was really believable" jj speaks up from his seat

"a hundred percent believable" pope added

"anyways, um... i'm gonna take care of business" john b stated

"you're gonna take care of that business so well" jj muttered

"we'll sit here in the hot-ass car" pope said

as john b was getting off, so was rosie "where you going?" jj calls out with furrowed brows

as john b heard the passenger door close, he looked over to see rosie walking towards the front of the twinkie "rosie, i'm doing this al—"

the green eyed brunette cut him off "i know. i just needed some air, and i don't want to be stuck in the hot ass van" she snickers sadly

john b nods before walking off, but quickly stops and turns back to her "did sarah really offer to help you?"

rosie glanced over to him, she nodded "yeah, it was the day when you guys tested the drone" john b smiled as he looked at the green eyed brunette. at least someone believed him that sarah cameron was a good person. rosie walked closer to him "jb, please tell you aren't just using sarah. she doesn't deserve to be treated as an object that you can just throw away after you're done using"

the curly brunette looked down to the ground, he couldn't lie to rosie of all people "i promise that i'm not using her" rosie furrows her brows, recalling that he said they were using her for the map. he sighs "the truth is, i-i like her" he admits. if there was one person he could trust, it would definitely be rosie

a snicker left her lips "kie would kill you right now if she heard you" john b was grateful that they were a few feet away from the van

"kie, you have to go talk to her" jj insisted

the girl shook her head with folded arms "why should i? she's the one who betrayed me and went to be friends with the enemy. and to accuse me of never being there for her. it's not like you guys ever are—"

jj was quick to cut her off "that's where you're wrong. i've always been there for her, after every hit, after every slap, and after every nosebleed she's ever received. i was there"

"i've lost count of how many times i've bought her, her favorite food or candy, after seeing her down at the beach with bruises on her body. if you haven't noticed, rosie usually wears baggy clothes, when she has new bruises. and jb always lets her stay at the chateau when she doesn't want to go home" pope adds

kiara bit the inside of her cheek. there was only one time when she visibly noticed rosie with bruises on her neck. the other times, she never questioned it, she liked to think it was because she fell off her skateboard

rosie's head turned when she heard someone walk behind her. she was a bit surprised when she saw kiara "kie, i really don't want to hear your scolding—"

"i'm sorry" she blurts making rosie furrow her brows "you're right. i've never really been there for you after you know..." she sighs "i'm sorry for not being there for you like a best friend should be. and for the sarah thing, i just don't want her to hurt you or john b the same way she hurt me"

rosie finally let down the wall of anger she built up. she shook her head slowly "i'm sorry too. i shouldn't have blown up at you like that. and the day sarah helped me, i was just so sick and tired of my mom and everything that she makes me go through. sarah just happened to be there and she offered help. so, i took it. i should've told you as soon as it happened"

kiara walked closer to rosie. she extended her left hand out "sarah may have been a really crappy friend to me, but i'm really glad she helped you find your dad" she said with a smile that rosie instantly matched "all is forgiven?"

"all is forgiven" rosie repeats as the two share a hug. what the two didn't know was that jj and pope were eavesdropping, and as soon as they saw that the girls were hugging, both ran over to join the group hug

over jj and pope's loud cheering, both kiara and rosie heard something "wait, do you guys hear that? sh" kiara shushed both boys as they all pulled away

"what?" both jj and pope simultaneously asked

"please, somebody help!"

"oh, wait, no i hear that" jj muttered

"shit" pope muttered before they all took off, running towards sarah's voice

as rosie was running and finally came to vision with sarah, her heart dropped as she see's the blonde girl hugging john b's body that is laid on the ground "sarah! what happened?" she quickly asked as she was the first to approach them

sarah looked up at the group with teary eyes "i don't know what to do. he needs help. topper shoved him"

"where the hell is he?" jj asks angrily

"please, please, please get help. i don't care who. just call someone" sarah plead with tears rolling down her cheeks

rosie felt her own welling up in her eyes "go. go!" jj told pope who immediately took off running

"pope, hurry!" kiara screamed out

"help, please" sarah muttered, before hugging john b "john b, stay with me" she placed her hands on his cheek and leaned down to kiss him "please don't leave me"

rosie turned towards the direction pope ran too "pope!" she yelled as she quickly wiped away a tear. deeply afraid that this could be the end for john b

"pope! come on!"

𝔞𝔲𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔯𝔰 𝔫𝔬𝔱𝔢
so i start my third fall semester of college today, and let me just tell you that i looked at one of my classes syllabus and it's work on top of work on top of work. so if i don't post, you know why. it makes me wanna cry already 🥺🥲