"Hay, Lay." JJ spoke as he handed her a wine cooler, the pair sitting infront of the empty church, "Thanks for taking my side."

After the incident on the road, JJ went to Berry's house and tried to rob him of his money. With the rest of their friends group going against him, Layla took JJs side and they left together. Layla took the wine cooler with a small grin, "Always."

"What are you drawing?" he asked her with a nod toward the drawing she'd been sketching at for a while now.

"That punks face, incase I see him ever again." Layla said, showing him the drawing. She'd gotten half of Berrys face drown now, "Ive for short term memory lose."

"So..." he trailed off a moment, "Whats up with you and Cameron?"

"Rafe?" Layla frowned her eyebrows.

JJ snorted as he popped open the can, "Sarah."

Layla shrugged, "We're friends."

"Yeah? and the whole meeting in the bathroom at Toppers party?" JJ went on as Layla gave him a look of disbelief, "You may be able to pretend it didn't happen but my third eye knows."

"You have no third eye." Layla said with a half grin, "She's straight."

"Dude, no she is not." JJ laughed at her, "Aren't you suppose to have that gaydar thing?"

"You really want me to answer that?" Layla questioned with a raise of her eyebrows.

"I'm just saying." the blonde boy spoke as he leaned on the steps, "I feel the energy."

Layla rolled her eyes and continued her sketching. JJ let the silence pass a moment before he huffed and stood to his feet, "All right, I gotta head over to the ol' man."

"Want me to come with you?" Layla asked with a hopeful look.

"No, it's better if it's just me." JJ said, giving her two twenties, "For picking me."

Layla took the money with a grin, "See you?"

"See you." he answered with a wink, turning his hat around and heading off.

"Where's Sarah?" Layla asked as she met Kie and Pope infront of John B's Chateau.

"Did we say she'd be with us?" Pope asked confused.

"No- No, I just figured-" Layla began, seeing the odd looks Kie was giving her, "Never mind, she's probably inside with John B."

"Obviously, he is her boyfriend." Kie spoke confused as Layla waved her off, popping her tank strap as the pair headed toward the back.

"What the hell?" Pope asked confused as the bright light from the back illuminated nearly the whole house. Layla walked first as she headed to the back, a grin forming on her face at the sight.

"A hot tub!" Layla yelled out with a wide grin, "All my sexual fantasies just came true!"

"Aw, am I apart of them?" JJ teased from inside.

"No, JJ, you're definitely not apart of them." Layla snorted as she turned back to the two friends behind her, the smile on her face falling as she saw the looks on their faces.

"What did you do, JJ?" Pope asked in disbelief.

"I got a jet going straight in my butt right now." JJ laughed as he popped the cap on his beer bottle, "Y'all should get in immediately, you hear me? Salud!"

"How much did this cost?" Pope asked him quickly.

"Uh... Well, with the generator, the petrol, and oh, hey, express delivery... pretty much all of it, yeah." JJ confirmed for them with a nod of his head, tilting his sunglasses down in the slightly.

"All of it?" Pope asked with wide eyes, "You spent all the money in one day?"

"Yeah, burning a hole right through my pocket." the blonde nodded quickly as he used hand jesters to show, "But I mean, like, come on. guys! Like, look at this! Finest in jet-based massage therapy, that's what they told me. Kie, what?"

Layla looked over and saw Kie stared at him with a unreadable expression.

"Cant a man have a little luxury in life?" JJ asked her in disbelief as he threw his hands up, "Come on, all this scrimpin and scraping.. I mean, like... guys-we- You only live once, right?"

Layla heart hurt when JJ's voice broke, her eyes frowned in sadness.

"Enough of this emotional shit. Get in the Cat's Ass. Come on." JJ encouraged them quickly with a wave of his hand.

"In the what?" Kie whispered.

"In the Cats Ass." JJ giggled, "Thats what I named her. Oh, hey, yo! I almost forgot."

JJ hit a button as a small waterfall went across, illuminating a brighter blue before it began changing colors, "Dico mode! Rainbow for Layla!"

"It's great, JJ." Layla gave a sad smile.

"Are you kidding me? You could have paid for restitution!" Pope hollered at him quickly.

"Or literally given it to any charity!" Kie added in.

"Jesus, Kie!" Layla yelled at her in disbelief, "Not everyone has rich families to just give this type of money away! Some of us don't get everything handed to us!"

"Oh, give me a break." Kie scoffed at her in disbelief.

"Or better yet, you could have helped us buy supplies to get the rest of the gold out of the well!" Pope cut in before the pair could start to argue once again.

"Okay, well, you know what? I didn't do that!" JJ hollered back at them, standing up quickly. Layla ran her eyes across the bruises on his abdomen, looking back at his face with worry and pain in her eyes, "I got a hot tub! For my friends. I got a hot tub for my friends. You know what? No! You know what? Screw friends. I got a hot tub for my family!"

"JJ, what the hell?" Kie asked in worry as well.

"I got this for you! Guys, look what i did for you! All right? Look at this! Look at this!" he yelled while looked around at the completely lit up backyard.

"JJ." Kie stated again, her voice broke.

"No, you stop being emotional. It's fine, okay? I mean, it's sweet, right? Everything-" JJ began as he started to cry. Kie climbed into the hot tub and hugged him tightly. Layla watched with watery eyes, never seeing JJ break down so bad. She was next, getting in and hugging him from behind, rubbing his back softly. Pope came over next, putting his arms around the three as they let JJ cry for as long as he needed.

•

kylie speaks

i'm sorry there
wasn't any sayla
this chapter! hopefully
i can get some in next
chapter but such a important
friendship chapter!!

also, this tool two freaking
weeks and that will never
happen again! i had finals
and they took up a good
amount of time but i finished
them so it definitely won't
take me two weeks anymkte
hah!