{ "It's a little tootsie roll." }

The sun had now set, and darkness had surrounded the sky as the group drove to somewhere John B thought would give them a clue. Star was sitting in the back with JJ and Pope as Kiara and John B sat up front. But as they were sitting a bad smell lingered in the air. Everyone immediately looked at JJ.

"Oh my god!"

"JJ!"

"Dude!"

"That's gross!"

"What?" JJ threw his hands in the air "It wasn't me!"

"Oh my god what did you eat?" John B shouted, rolling down the window beside him as quickly as possible while everyone else gagged.

"Whoever smelt it dealt it!" JJ stuck his tongue out at no one in specific like he was five.

"Whoever did the rhyme did the crime." John B quickly fought back. Looking at the boy through the rear-view mirror and sticking out his tongue back at JJ.

"Oh my god, i need air!" Star Shouted, quietly crawling over to the van door, dramatically gasping for air and even though they were still driving she slid it open.

"Come on!" JJ threw up his arms "It's not that bad!"

"Star!" Pope shouted at the girl and quickly grabbed the back of her hoodie, worried she would fall out "Close that!" he quickly pulled her back in and closed the door. "You're still high, so i wouldn't be surprised if you fell out."

"No i'm not." She scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Yes you are!" Everyone spoke at the same time as they looked at the girl, her eyes blood shot as she huffed and sat back down.

"Okay, speaking of being high, do you guys mind if i just relax on this one?" JJ spoke up as he held up a blunt he had rolled moments ago "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?" He asked, motioning the blunt towards the Pope.

"I keep the signal clear." Pope put his hand up, pushing the blunt away from him.

"I want some!" Star stated, and snatched the blunt out of the boy's hand and taking a long hit. JJ didn't even bother to stop her.

"Dude, okay. Do you understand that your problem is that you don't get creative?" JJ told Pope what he needed to hear "If you got creative, then..."

"JJ! take that off her!" John B interrupted the boy as his head shot round to the blonde while he watched Star take the hit from the blunt "She's already high enough. We don't need her passed out."

"Shut up!" JJ and Star both groaned at the boy, JJ now taking the blunt back, taking a long draw and giving Star one last hit.

"Okay, yeah, that's enough." The blonde said as he took the blunt off Star and keeping the rest for himself, making Star throw her arms in the air and groan.

"Let's go." John B piped up as they pulled up to the graveyard.

John B Kiara were the first to hop out as Pope and Star fought for who got out first as they clambered on top of each other, messing around like they were seven.

"Pope move!"

"No, you move!"

"Dude! get outta my way!"

"Both of you move!" JJ said to the fighting pair as he stood behind them, waiting to get out. "Come on princess." JJ clambered over them and hopped out the van, turning around and holding out his hand for her, which she gladly took.

"This place is scary." Kiara explained as they walked in the dark, the flashlights they all had helping a little bit. "John B, what are we doing?"

"Shut up." John B hissed at the girl beside him. JJ, Pope and Star folowing a bit behind. "You know how you're trying to remember a song and you can't remeber who sings it?"

"Yeah."

"So Redfield, this whole time i thought it was a place right?" John B explained, walking up to a tall stone grave "But it's not a place. It's a person." He held his lantern up to the grave stone, reaveling the name Redfeild engraved on the top of it.

"Voi-effing-la." JJ stated in amusement, reading the name above.

"It's my great-great grandmother, Olivia Redfield." John B turned around to face his freinds "That was her maiden name." He said as everyone stopped and looked up at the grave stone.

"JJ?" Star whisperd, stumbling over as she had stopped a bit ago to tie her shoe lace. And as soon as she said that she tripped over a rock, almost landing right on her face. "Shit." she started laughed, and then she didn't stop.

"Star!" JJ panicked as he didn't even realise the girl wasn't right behind him.

"Star! Shut up" John B whispered while JJ and Kiara helped the girl up.

"Oh yeah, i'm okay. Thanks John." She replied sarcastically, dusting the mud off her joggers.

"Oh my god." John B became anoyed "Just help me with the door." He turned to his friends, making his way over to the tomb as Pope and JJ followed.

"Are you pushing?" Pope asked as the three boys failed misrably at trying to open the door, Kiara and Star watching and laughing in emusment.

"Yes i'm pushing."

"Here, i got it." JJ said as he squeezed himself in the middle of John B and Pope.

"Oh, here comes Mr Muscles." Star mumbled to the girl beside her, retrieving a laugh from Kiara and herself.

"This door is like seven hundred pounds." Pope groned "It's not gonna budge."

"We didn't come this far to get this far, all right?" JJ spoke as the three boys grunted, trying to push the stone door with all their strength. When out of nowhere a snake hissed, slithering its way out of the crack in the stone door and making its way on the ground by the groups feet.

"Shit!"

"A Snake!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!"

"Oh my god!" Star screamed, jumping into the back of the first person closted to her, who now happend to be JJ.

"Shut up!" Pope told the girl.

"That's a moccasin, all right." JJ explained, a hint of excitement in his voice as he held Star's legs with his hands, keeping her from falling. "Ye olde Dr. Cottonmouth."

"Oh my god! JJ get it away!" She shouted, her fear of snakes was not being very helpful in that moment of time.

"Death in the tall grass." JJ said as he began barking at the snake like a dog, exstemaly loud.

"JJ, shut up, shut up!"

"Stop barking in my ear!"

"You're gonna wake the fricking dead, man." Pope pushed the boys shoulder, getting him to shut up.

"Dude, they're afraid of dogs. Everyone knows that, man." JJ huffed.

"Is it gone?" Star asked, still clinging onto the boys back "Can i get down now?"

"No, wait, if there's one, there's probably dozens." JJ exspaled.

"Oh my god!" She said becoming more scared, holding on to the boy even tighter than before.

"Can you stop!" Kiara told the boy you're scaring me. And Star." she pointed to girl on his back who was freaking out while JJ continued to bark.

"JJ!" John B shouted at the boy in a hushed tone "Stop barking at the snakes!"

"Just making sure it's clear." The blonde shrugged, holding on to the girl on his back tighter.

"Shut up, shut up." Pope told the rambling boy "Shut. Up. Look, John, we're not gonna get in there all right? it's not budging."  he told his friends. "We should probly just go."

"I can get through." Kiara said as she shawn her tourch to the hole in the wall.

"Kie, no! what if the snakes eat you." Star explained, becoming worried for her friend.

"What?" John B asked shocked "No, no, no, no. You think you're gonna fit through that hole? that hole?"

"Look, this is about your dad." Kiara turned to the boy "And honestly, i really dont believe in it. But you deserve to know the truth. I'll do it." she shrugged, walking over to the stone door.

"Okay, i gotta put you down." JJ spoke softly to the girl on his back. And as he was about to place her on the floor, she quietly spoke up.

"Wait! what if there's more snakes." She stated, her eyes widened as she clung onto the boy.

"Look, stand on that." He said almost to himself as he walked over to the big stone on the ground and placed the girl on top of it, before making his way over to help Kiara.

Pope and John B pulled away the old, dead vines out of the way for Kiara as Star watched from afar.

"I'm gonna give you a boost, all right." JJ explained as he leaned against the wall, beinding his knees to lower himself and running a hand through his hair before cupping his hands together "I've seen it in movie's serval time, ready?"

"Remind me what we're looking for." Kiara paused, looking at John B.

"You'll know when you see it." He replied softly.

"Hold my flashlight." Kiara handed it to Pope as she went to stand on the blondes hands.

"Good luck!" Star piped up, still standing on the stone.

"All right, so put hands right there." JJ guided Kiara to help him boost her up, basically taking to himself as the girl wasn't listening "Your foot. All right, on three.... Okay, never mind, just forget about three." He huffed as the girl hosted herself up without even listing to the boys words and hopping through the crack in the wall.

"You alive?" John B asked "You got like- like a heartbeat and everything?"

Star had now made her way over to the boys, shinging her flashlight on the ground becoming paranoid about the snakes.

"So far." Kiara called back.

"That's good, that's good."

"Uh... I need some more light." Kiara called out, John B quickly held his lantiern into the hole.

"Did you find anything?" Star asked, trying to get a peak through the hole in the wall.

"Is it gold?" JJ piped up.

"No. I found something els though." Kiara replied back, slipping something through the hole as John B took an envelope that said For Bird.

"That's not gold." Pope explained in disappointment.

"Yeah, no shit Pope." Star hit it boy on the back of his head as she walked past him to help Kiara out.

"Holy shit." John B sighed as he gazed at Pope "This is from my dad."

"Code red, Code red." JJ explained, taking a puff oh his blunt "Square groupers! square groupers!"

"Shit!"

"Go, go"

"It's the guys who robbed your house." JJ explains as the group quietly scrambled to hide behind a tomb, hoping they wouldn't get caught.

"Lights." Kiara told everyone to turn there flashlights off. Some doing it quicker than others.

"Turn your light off!"

"John B? your light!"

"Oh he's got a gun." JJ whispered as he watched the car pull to a stop not far from where the group was hiding.

"Screw this." Star sated, quickly hopping to her feet and began running, ignoring JJ calling her back as she knew they'd all follow.

"Star!" JJ shouted in a hushed tone, quickly standing up as he and the group quickly began to follow the girl.

The group ran as fast as they could, making sure to stay quiet so they wouldn't get caught.

Star stopped for a second, staring at the fence in front of her as she watched John B climb over with ease. But before she could even try to climb, she had been picked up off her feet by a pair of hands, helping her get to the top and she jumped off the other side.

"Come on Pope!" Star said to the boy who was right behind JJ, climbing over a bit too slow.

"I'm stuck." Pope freak out, his shorts being hooked on to the fence as he just hung there from his shorts. "Help. Guys i'm stuck!"

"Pope, come on!"

"I got you." Kiara said as she quickly made her way over to Pope.

"No, Pope, don't move okay?" JJ pointed the gun at the boys shorts only to be stopped by Star.

"Don't do that you idiot!" She said as she ran over to help Kiara.

"You're gonna rip me." Pope stated, as the girl began pulling the boy by his shorts. "Wait, no, no, guys you're gonna rip me! you're gonna rip me!"

"You're fine." Kiara told him as the two girls pulled harder untill the boy peeled off the fence, his shorts not following.

"Nice, come dude." JJ laughed as the two girl giggled at the boy in his underwear.

"Looking good Pope." Star joked, giving the boy a light tap on his bum.

"It's a little tootsie roll." John B and the group laughed as they ran to the Twinkie.

"Get in!" Kiara stated, laughing at Pope as they all hopped into the Twinkie and quickly drove away from the grave yard and back to John B's.

~

The group arrive back at the Château quickly as John B was more than desperate to see what was inside the envelope.

"That bread had mold on it three days ago." Pope walked into the kitchen seeing JJ making a PB&J. "Don't eat it!"

"I'll just pull off the bad parts." He told Pope "Plus, mold is good for you. It's like a natural organism."

"Where the hell did you hear that?" Star laughed, waking past the boy and made her way over to John B who sat at the table, holding the envelope.

"I don't know. Somewhere." JJ shrugged "Let's do it!" he quickly made his way over to the rest as he took a bite out his sandwich, instantly spitting it out and gagging.

"Pope did tell you." Star laughed as she watched the boy almost spew into his hand.

They all watched intensely as John B opened the letter, and pulled out some sort of map. Placing on the table in front of him.

"Holy shit." John B' eyes widened.

"Oh. X marks the spot." Pope pointed to the map where a big X was drawn.

"Longitude, latitude." John B ran his fingers along the lines on the page "Wait, there something else in there."

"What's that?." JJ asked, as they all look at the tape recorder in John B's hand.

"It's a tape recorder, dumbass." Kiara told the boy. John B switched it on and the sound of his father's voice spoke out of it.

Dear Bird.

"Whose bird?" JJ asked.

"Just listen." Star told the boy.

"It's what my dad used to call me." John B answered.

I hate to say i told you so, but i told you so. And you doubted your old man. I suspect at this moment, You're filled with guilt and self-loathing over our last fight, But. Don't kill yourself just yet kid. I didn't expect to find the Merchant either.

The group stood there quietly, giving each other a look as they listened very carefully to the man's words.

You were probably right to call me out. Wasn't exactly Father of the Decade. What can i say kid? i could smell the barn. And hopefully, we're listening to this in our brand new sugar-shack down in Costa Rica, livin' off passive investments and pulling on permits. If not, and you find this for less than optimal reasons, well, that's what the map is for. There she is, the wreck of the Merchant.

They all looked at the circled place on the map as big John spoke. Star standing there in almost disbelief.

If something happens to me, finish what i started. Go for the gold kid. I love you Bird, even if i didn't always act like it. I'll see you on the other side.

They all sat there in disbelief as the tape recorded beeped to an end. John B sat there just staring at it for a second, thinking this was all a dream as he tried to hold back the tears that brined his eyes. He quickly placed the recorder down on the table and walked away from the group, not being able to stop the tears that now streamed down his face as he hunched over and grabbed onto the door frame.

Star watched the boy who sobbed, and in no time quickly ran over to him, slowly wrapping her arms tightly  around the boys back from behind, being careful not to startle him.

"Omg he did it!" JJ beamed in the background "Big John. He found the Merchant..."

"Can you please." Kiara motioned to John B, getting JJ to stop talking. She wanted to go over and comfort John B but thought that mabey two people would be overwhelming for the boy. So she stayed back and let Star comfort him in that moment.

Star held the boy she had thought of as a brother since they were nine. The boy who had always been there for her, and the boy she had always been there for. They fought like siblings and they loved each other like siblings. They would fight for each other and protect like siblings, so seeing John B so broken and overwhelmed in that moment, Star's heart broke for the boy as she almost started crying with him.

"It's okay." She soothed the boys hair who had now turned to face her, his head hiding in the crook of her neck as he held the girl tightly, pulling at the back of her hoodie. "You're okay."

Star didn't know what els to say in that moment so they stood there for a a good ten minutes. Star just held the boy in her arms as he sobbed into her shoulder.

The others had made there way out side, giving the boy some time with Star so he wouldn't feel overwhelmed by them standing there and watching.

"He did it John." The girl smiled. They had now made their way to sit on the couch, Star still holding the boy in her arms "He did it, he found the Merchant."

"He did." John B smiled for the first time as he sat up, a quiet laugh escaping from his lips. "He really did."

They sat there for a few more moments, just talking about John B's dad and other things as well. John B couldn't believe his father had found it, neither could Star.

She had always thought that the older man's dream of finding the Merchant would never come true, but it did. And she couldn't believe her ears once she heard it.

"You ready to go to the others?" she asked in a soothing, yet unsure tone as she didn't want to push the boy to go out side if he didn't want to.

"Yeah." He smiled, rubbing his hands on his knees.

"You sure?"

"Yeah-yeah." He smiled once again "Let's go." He stood up, taking the girls hand in his, still waiting the comfort from her.

The pair made their way outside to the other three who were around the fire. Star plopped herself down next to Pope and John B sitting close beside her as he kept his hand in her's, wanting to stay close to his sister.
The rest of the group gave John B a comforting smile.

JJ watched the pair walk out hand in hand and sit down close, really close. He could have almost said that he was jealous in that moment, but knew he couldn't. He couldn't be so selfish to think that, John B had just listen to a tape recording from his dad and he was upset, so Star was comforting the boy. That's all she way doing, that was the right thing to do. She was comforting a friend, her brother in fact. So why on earth would the blonde be so selfish and be jealous.

The group all sat round the fire peacefully as they listen the Kiara play her ukulele. Star always loved when the girl played it, it soothed her mind whenever she did.

"How much was it again?" JJ broke the silence, chucking a rock into the distance, his little bit of  jealousy now disappearing as John B had walked away from the group a moment ago to sit by the tree.

"Four hundred mil." Pope answered.

"All right, let's talk split." JJ said.

"JJ." Star said to the boy in a stern voice, motioning her head towards John B as he had just heard the tape from his father and all the blonde was thinking about was how much money they were each going to get.

"What?" The boy threw his hand in the air "Come on. it's only fair we get to spilt it." Star rolled her eyes at the boy's response. "Now, before we say evenly. May i remind you that i am the only one that can properly defend us from those groupers who were after us." He said as he held the gun up. "Protection? not cheap, okay?"

"You haven't trained." Pope looked at the boy. "You've done zero training."

"Youtube bro!" JJ threw his hand in the air "YouTube has everything you need to know. That's at least a five percent bump right there."

"You haven't..." Pope tried to speak before JJ interrupted the boy.

"Any objections? Didn't think so." JJ spoke before anyone could even reply.

"Actually, i..." Star raised her hand who was now sitting next to Pope, Kiara doing the same.

"I don't hear any so..." JJ interrupted the girl, not wanting to hear her objection.

Kiara rolled her eyes and turned to the girl sitting across from her "What are you gonna do with your 100 mil Cutie?"

"I don't know." Star shrugged, as she sat and thought to herself "I wanna stay here. Open my own shop like my dad. Maybe be a florist or something." She shrugged, becoming almost shy by her words so she didn't look up at anyone, just stared at the ground. Star has always dreamed of being becoming a florist ever since she was little. It was the only thing she wanted to do "And i'm still not sure if i wanna go full Kook or not."

"You, Star Owens going full Kook?" Pope asked in disbelief as the rest laughed.

"Shut up!" Star shoved the boy, laughing. "What about you Pope?"

The boy thought for a second before answering "Pay for college in advance. And also, textbooks. Those are expensive." Pope said as Star laughed a little bit at the boy's response.

"What about you Kie?" JJ turned to the girl.

"Yeah what does a socialist do when she's rich?" Pope asked, Star who rolled her eyes at the boy's response.

"Just wanna make a double album." Kiara shrugged "About OBX, the pogues." She turned to look at all her friends, smiling "You know, the way Catch a Fire is about Kingston. Record it at Marley Studio, Peter Tosh producing."

"Peter Tosh is d...." Star scrunched her face up in confusion before Kiara finished her words.

"Peter Tosh is dead. I know." Kiara looked at her friend "Spirit of Peter Tosh will never die." She raised her can of beer up, earning a small chuckle from the girl opposing her.

"I know what i'll do." JJ piped up "I'm gonna get a big ass house on Figure Eight and go full Kook."

"You're gonna go full Kook too?" Pope laughed.

"Yup." JJ nodded. "Gonna get a marble statue of myself, and then i'm gonna get a koi pound." He said as everyone laughed "Put a bunch of those fish."

"I will not be visiting." Star laughed.

"Nether." Kiara nodded in agreement.

"Well, Princess you would need to visit." The boy turned to the girl, smiling "Because you'll be living there with me."

Star simply laughed a rolled her eyes at the boy "Whatever you say big guy." She laughed at the boy, a small smile creeping on her face. But what she didn't admit is that she wouldn't mind that. Living with JJ, mabey getting married. And once she got over her fear for little kids they would have some of there.... no! why was she thinking that? she shouldn't be thinking about JJ and her like that. God, shut up Star.

"What are you gonna do JB?" Pope turned to the boy who sat a few feet away from the fire, snapping Star out of her thoughts.

John B thought for a moment and turned to face his friends "To going full kook." He replied softly as he smiled.

"To going full Kook!" They all laughed, raising their beers in the air and cheering.

Okay well that was the longest chapter i have written bloody 4253 words, including Author's note tho.

I actually don't know when i'm spoused to get Star and JJ together but i think i've established this will be a slow burn but like it being slow for them getting together cuz as you can see they are VERY touchy.

I also don't know if they were at the beach, John B's back garden or on the deck when they were sitting at the fire but let's just say John B's for this story.