𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭: 𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧

𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒 𝐎𝐅. . . trying to get the cross pogues had called it a night. the whole ride back home was spent with topper complaining about how much trouble he was gonna be in when his dad saw the truck. that resulted in jj and coby yelling at him to shut up on multiple accounts, but the kook boy just kept yapping about it. that somehow turned into coby and topper arguing with one another, jj being the big instigator that he was. sarah had to be the one to calm her girlfriend down, coby shutting up as soon as sarah started to play with her hair. topper had dropped them all off at pope's house, much to heyward's dismay. he didn't say anything about it though, knowing that he was secretly the father figure that all the pogues needed.

now, the six pogues were back at the château, having a small celebration for big john's return. the first few minutes were spent with the older routledge reuniting with kie, pope, and jj, also meeting cleo. the rest of the time spent with the pogues explaining what they have been through within the last 24 hours. coby was sitting in a lawn chair, sarah sitting in her lap as they listened to john b talk.

"yeah, yeah, so, we, um. . . we went to the archies in charleston, and, uh, it was - it was a dead end. a dry hole." john b told his friends. coby and jj shared a look with one another, not completely believing their best friend.

"so that's the gold, the cross, and now eldorado. we're three-for-three, guys." pope listed before he turned around and threw his beer can. "the streak continues. that's great." he finished, walking off.

a frown plastered onto kie's lips, looking at everyone as she started walking off. "see you, john b."

jj sucked in a deep breath, sending another look to coby before he stood up. "i'm going fishing. thanks for the beer."

coby watched the blonde boy walk off, the sawyer girl pursing her lips out. she looked up at sarah, who was already looking at her, wondering what she was thinking and what they were gonna do. coby couldn't exactly go back to what was considered her house and sarah definitely couldn't go back to tannyhill with rafe there. coby shrugged slightly, silently telling her she wasn't sure. her eyes then went over to john b, watching him walk off to the side. she then tapped sarah's thigh gently, the cameron girl standing up from coby's lap so that she could get up. coby stood up, placing a peck onto sarah's cheek before she went over to john b. the both of them looked out at the marsh for a few seconds.

coby then turned her head to look at him, "we're best friends, right?"

"yeah." john b nodded, clearing his throat.

"so that means we always tell each other the truth." coby reminded, never taking her eyes off the taller boy.

"jake, i am telling the truth." john b assured. coby's eyebrows raised at the use of her nickname. she gave him a look, saying that she didn't believe him. he turned his body fully to face her. "what, you think i'm - i'm lying? is that what you think?"

"no, no, it's just -" coby began. she sucked in a breath, shaking her head. this wasn't how she planned on this going, john b reacting so badly. "the story that you told us doesn't make any sense. i mean, you guys get the twinkie and go off to charleston without telling to anyone. you - you just leave a note on an envelope. i'm just trying to understand why. i'm just saying that if you're keeping something that you can't tell the others, you can tell me."

john b hummed, his gaze cold.

"dude, seriously. what happened?" coby pushed, crossing her arms over her chest. "you've been acting weird ever since big john came back."

"what happened?" john b repeated.

"yeah, john b. it's me. i'm on your side." coby nodded.

"okay, coby. you know what happened?" john b started. "my dad came back. and he's trying to help all of us. meanwhile, your dad didn't want you enough to come back and taylor is at the bottom of the ocean somewhere." it felt like coby had been punched in the gut at those words, her eyes stinging. "and i'm sorry that you can't deal with that. am i wrong?"

coby took a step back as she felt the air leave her lungs, trying to fight back the tears that were trying to fall. she then let out a bitter chuckle, bringing her hands up to her hair, tucking a few strands behind her ears. "okay, don't tell me, then."

sarah watched them from her seat, her eyebrows furrowing when she saw coby walk off. she stood up, calling after her. but coby ignored her, grabbing her skateboard as she stomped off. sarah looked over to where john b was still standing, walking over to him.

"what the hell did you say to her?" she questioned.

"that she was jealous that my dad came back and taylor didn't." john b answered truthfully, watching as coby disappeared behind the château. "and that your dad tried to kill you."

sarah raised her eyebrows at that, her breath getting caught in her throat. "she was only trying to help."

with that, sarah ran off, trying to catch up with coby. and she did, calling after her and asking her to stop. the curly haired girl whirled around, a mixture of pure anger and hurt on her face. sarah almost flinched at the look, not used to being on the other side of it. she stepped forward to try and calm coby down, but the taller girl stepped back, shaking her head.

"jake -" sarah tried, holding her hands out.

"did he tell you what he said? can you believe that shit?" coby quizzed, venom dripping from her tongue.

"i know. he shouldn't have said that." sarah agreed, looking at her girlfriend closely.

"how could he even say that?" coby questioned.

sarah shook her head, not having an answer. "look -"

"i can't, sarah." coby shook her head, backing away. she didn't want to take her anger out on sarah. especially because the shorter girl didn't deserve it. "i can't. just give me some time."

"jake." sarah called, watching as coby turned around, walking to the cement road. "jake! what about me?! where am i supposed to go?!"

the questions fell upon deaf ears, coby's ears ringing as she hopped on her board. that left sarah by herself, a scoff leaving her lips as she turned around. she went back to château to retrieve her bag of clothes and her bike. she sent one last look to john b and big john, the former looking at her with sad eyes. he was only doing what his father had told him to do. but he had caused so much damage. sarah got onto her bike and rode off, going to find some place to stay.

☠︎ ✶ ♡ ✶ ☠︎

𝐂𝐎𝐁𝐘 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐃 𝐔𝐏 𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 skating around the island, not having anywhere else to go. well, she did have places to go, she just didn't want to take her anger out on anyone. she felt bad for just leaving sarah like that, but she really didn't want her anger to make her say anything she'd regret. she wasn't sure how many times she had lapped the island. she had been going at it for an hour or two. how could john b say those things? how could he even think those things? and even though she knew that her best friend was hiding something and was probably trying to get her off his back, it still hurt hearing those words come from him.

she decided to take a break on skating, walking with her board in her hand. she was on figure eight, not really caring who saw her. she was passing guffy's, her eyebrows raising when she saw jj's dirt bike parked out front. she made a beeline for the business, sticking her tongue out to the two people that had given her crazy looks as she walked in. she walked around for a few minutes in search of her friend. she stopped her search when she had ran into him on the dock, looking defeated. she walked up to him, placing a hand onto his shoulder. the blonde boy flinched, turning around quickly. he relaxed when he saw that it was coby.

"whoa, buddy. it's just me." coby said, putting her hands in the air, her board dangling. "what are you doing here?"

"tried to get my old job back. didn't work." jj shrugged.

"damn. sorry, j." coby apologized, only making the blonde boy shrug again. "why'd you want this job back anyway? guffy treated you like shit."

"yeah, but i need the money." jj admitted, earning a confused look from the girl beside him. "we've been gone for a month. my dad is. . . wherever the hell he is. the bills haven't been getting paid. so the bank is taking the house."

"oh, shit. i'm sorry." coby repeated herself, actually having some sympathy behind it.

jj shrugged for the third time, sniffling. "why aren't you back at the château?"

coby shook her head slightly, starting to walk down the dock. jj followed behind her, eyebrows furrowing. "so you know how john b's story was complete bullshit?"

"yeah."

"well, i asked him about it. just asked him to be honest with me, best friend to best friend. and you know what he said to me?" coby continued, jj listening intently. "he said that i was jealous because big john came back and taylor didn't. he also brought up how my dad didn't come back for the both of us."

jj didn't say anything for a few seconds. "johnathan booker routledge said that to you?"

"yep." coby nodded.

"john b? jb?"

"doesn't sound like him, right?" coby questioned.

jj hummed, agreeing with her. "maybe big john told him to get rid of us or something."

"yeah, whatever the hell the reason may be, he didn't have to say everything that he said. he could've literally told me not now, and i would've walked the opposite fucking direction." coby reasoned, starting to swing her board around.

"we'll get him to talk, cobe." jj promised.

coby didn't answered, letting silence fall over the two. the two continued to walk down the dock, coby's eyes falling onto a familiar boat. it was the boat that kie had somehow taken from rafe back in the bahamas. she nudged jj, gaining the boy's attention. she pointed over to the boat, the both of them seeing rafe and barry having a good time on the boat. the two pogues could hear that the older boys were talking but they weren't able to hear them clear enough.

"can you hear them?" coby asked, jj shaking his head. "are we gonna get closer?"

"definitely." jj nodded.

without another word, the both of them took their shoes off, neatly placing them next to each other's. coby put her board next to her shoes before her and jj dove into the water. they swam under towards the boat, placing themselves a little underneath so that they wouldn't be seen. coby pushed her hair out of her face, blinking the water out of her eyes before she looked over at jj. the maybank boy looked around, making sure that no one was around.

"i'm just saying we need to take this shit seriously." they heard rafe start, coby's eyebrows furrowing.

"dude, bro. i should get a tooth made out of this, huh?" barry's voice appeared.

"look, don't be touching the shit. just put it back." rafe ordered.

"so paranoid, bro." barry mumbled.

"i don't care about the cross. i'm trying to make money." rafe told him, jj and coby sharing a confused look with one another.

"i told you, my aunt, she got some contacts. she gonna help us move these little bitches. the gems, the nuggets, the whole damn melted enchilada." barry said, coby's heart dropping. rafe melted down the cross. pope's cross.

"those gems are mint, man. the gold's bullion. we're selling it in bars, all right?" rafe reminded. "i'm not gonna deal with some half-assed pogue shit with some reject from zales, bro."

"watch how you speaking about my auntie, dog." barry warned.

"i'm not talking about your aunt -" rafe defended but coby and jj didn't stay around to hear whatever else was being said.

the two pogues made their way back to the dock, putting their shoes on. the duo didn't say a word to one another as they made their way to jj's dirt bike, coby's board in her hand. the blonde boy got on his bike while coby got on her board, grabbing the back of jj's bike as he took off. the two made their way towards heyward's shop so that they could tell pope what they had learned. coby was slightly crouched down, ignoring the fact that she was soaking wet. they got there quickly, coby hopping off her board as jj placed the kickstand down. the two of them ran to the back patio, both of them still wet, but slightly drier.

"yo! bombshell!" jj yelled as the two of them approached pope and cleo. they both stopped when they saw the looks on the other pogues' faces. "what's going on? what happened? detecting a real have vibe. what's going on?"

"pope's quitting school." cleo informed, making coby look at said boy with wide eyes.

"this pope? this pope right there? pope heyward?" the sawyer girl quizzed, looking back at cleo as she pointed towards the boy. cleo nodded.

"being a coroner's kind of weird anyway." jj mumbled, earning a hard nudge from the girl beside him.

"shut up, wrench dick." pope spat, coby's eyes widening again.

"right, great. so it's definitely not the time for this. okay, shit." jj sighed, glancing at coby.

"what?" cleo asked, obviously annoyed.

"so i was down at guffy's, all right. i was trying to get my job back." the maybank boy started.

"i just happened to appear at the right time. maybe the wrong time, i don't know." coby chimed in.

"anyways, we see the catty across the way, and on it. . . is rafe and barry." jj continued. "we sneak over to hear what they're talking about. pope, he has the cross. and he melted it down."

pope looked at his two friends, his whole demeanor changing as he took in what he was just told. coby apologized, watching as the heyward boy stand up from his seat. they watched as he walked over to the wooden railing, looking out at the water. coby could practically feel the anger radiating off of him, watching as he took his time to process. she then heard him suck in a deep breath.

"fuck!" pope yelled. he then turned around, starting to pace the area. "of course it was rafe."

"yeah, i mean, we probably could've guessed that." coby muttered, watching as jj sat down in pope's previous spot.

"the cross of santo domingo, desecrated! for money?! god!" pope exclaimed, grabbing a broom that had been leaning on a wooden pillar. he put the broom on top of his head, holding both ends with his hands.

"yeah, i know." jj mumbled. "i think we need to stay calm to make a plan, but we get to stay -"

he was interrupted by pope grabbing the very end of the broom, swinging the broom into the patio floor, breaking the other end. coby flinched at the sudden motion, moving out of the way so that she wouldn't get hit. 

she sniffled, looking over at jj. "you're getting good at that."

pope ignored what she said, throwing the broken broom stick down. "this is messed up, man. even for them."

"i know. couldn't agree more, man." jj mumbled.

"and they're just gonna keep getting away with it. they're gonna keep doing this shit. gonna keep winning." pope continued, still pacing the area.

"i mean, pope, is that news to you?" jj questioned, looking up at the dark skinned boy with narrowed eyes.

pope didn't answer for a few seconds, swallowing the spin in his mouth. coby watched as his shoulders dropped as he turned around, a gut feeling appearing. she saw the look on his face, knowing what it had meant. she had worn the same look before, when her brother had died. when she was hanging on by a thread.

"no. but i'm sick of being the good guy." pope said, answering jj's question as he slowly walked off.

"pope." cleo called, said boy starting to run through the shop. "pope, where are you going?"

"we should definitely be worried about that, right?" coby asked, looking between jj and cleo. "i mean, i - i'm not the only one worried, am i?"

she didn't receive an answer from either one of them, which only made her worry more.

☠︎ ✶ ♡ ✶ ☠︎

𝐉𝐉 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐁𝐘 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐀𝐓 the château, patiently waiting outside for john b to make an appearance. they were waiting outside since it was blazing hot inside. they had left heyward's shop to go look for pope, but it turned out that cleo had found him, which led to the two ending up where they were. during their time waiting, coby had explained how she had felt guilty about leaving sarah earlier. she really hoped that the cameron girl was okay. eventually, john b had showed up, the two of them hearing the twinkie making it's way down the road. they stood up from their spots on the couch, patiently waiting for their best friend to get out of his vehicle.

"well, look who it is." jj said as he walked down towards john b, who had gotten out of the twinkie. coby stated up on the porch, a cold glare being directed towards john b. "nice of you to show up. you gonna spill the beans? gonna tell us the truth about what's going on?"

john b didn't say anything, his eyes landing on coby, who was still glaring at him. he felt guilty for what he had said earlier that day. "look, i know i've been a little shady."

"a little?" coby repeated, her jaw clenching as she looked down at the ground.

"and, um, stretched the truth a little bit." john b continued.

"yeah, that's called lying." jj corrected.

"yeah, i know."

"john b, what's going on?"

"my dad killed two guys." john b informed, his best friends looking at him with shocked expressions on their faces. "he was trying to protect me."

"no, no, no. hold on, okay?" jj quickly interrupted, john b shutting his mouth. jj looked behind him at coby, who was still at a lost for words. "you serious?"

"yes." the routledge boy nodded. "it was the guys from the coastal venture. they came here looking for denmark's diary."

"and your dad killed them for that?" coby questioned, john b looking at her with raised eyebrows. he didn't expect her to talk to him.

"yes, and then singh showed up. and they took my dad and then they tried to kill me. they took him to south america, all right?" john b explained quickly.

"whoa, south america?" jj asked.

"yes, they're on their way to south america." john b confirmed, ignoring the fact that his best friends were trying to bud in. "and then what? then they're gonna off him? i don't know!" he continued, jj and coby trying to get him to calm down. "i don't know what to do!"

"john b, stop!" jj and coby yelled in unison, the taller boy going silent.

"just breathe for a second." jj instructed. john b did as told. "i need to think."

the blonde boy turned around to go sit down on the porch stairs, running his hand through his hair. coby muttered something about needing to do more than just think, but it fell onto deaf ears. she sat down beside jj, leaning her her elbows onto her knees as she looked down at the ground. she then looked up at john b, seeing that he was still standing in the same spot. she let out a sigh, patting the spot that was right beside her. the routledge boy made his way over to his two best friends, a sigh escaping his lips.

"i don't know what to do, guys." john b said, his voice soft. "how the hell are we getting to south america?"

coby ran a hand through her frizzy curls before she sat up straight, looking up at the sky. she heard jj let out a sigh from next to her, the maybank boy puffing out his cheeks.

"no clue. but. . ." he replied, looking at coby to finish his thought.

the sawyer girl looked at him before she nodded, turning to look at john b. she put her arms around jj and john b's shoulders, pulling them in close. ". . . we're gonna figure it out."

"yeah." john b breathed out.

"we're pogues, man. we always do." jj concluded, placing his head onto coby's shoulder, john b doing the same thing.

"hell yeah." the curly haired girl agreed.

daij speaks!
AN UPDATE FINALLY. i've been going back and forth between this and guilty pleasure. but yeah here's an update. i hope to start posting more so we can get to next season😈. also question, some of you probably have read my arcan book (it was called rock bottom). i unpublished it cause i wasn't updating it. should i post it again? let me know and i will.

anyways i hope you guys enjoyed 🫶🏼