𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞: 𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫

𝐂𝐎𝐁𝐘 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐔𝐏, her hands on her hips as she looked at the scene in front of her. the other six pogues were in front of her, sitting in the dirt, their eyes on the house in front of them. fortunately, they had somehow escaped the burning house, all of them being covered in ash. they looked at the château, or what was left of the château. there was still little areas that were on fire, but most of it had burnt out on it's on, smoke circulating in the air.

coby was standing in her sports bra and shorts, having a few burns up her arm. she had shielded sarah from a piece of burning wood falling, the air making the fire grow. the flames had attached onto coby's shirt, which made the group panic. pope had quickly instructed her to drop to the floor and to roll around. she wasn't sure how long she rolled around for, but it felt like minutes had gone by before the fire on her shirt had been fully extinguished. while that whole situation was going on, john b and jj had been trying to find a way to get out. they eventually was able to get through a small opening, barely making it out before the house collapsed in on itself.

"could've been a faulty electrical wire." pope suggested, breaking the silence that had fallen over them.

"place was all wood. a tinderbox." kie pointed, not emotion in her voice.

"thing just went up. boom." cleo said quietly.

"verdicts in, bro. whoever's up there does not like you." jj decided to state, earning a small glare from both coby and sarah. now why would he say this? "sorry."

"dude." coby quietly scolded, making the blonde boy look up at her before shrugging.

"you gotta have you arm check out, coby." pope told her as he stood up, going to examine the burn on her forearm. "from the looks of it, it's second-degree, so it's not that bad. i mean, it's bad, but not that bad. could be worse."

"yeah, you could be crispy like a piece of chicken right now." jj chimed in, pope and coby both turning to look at him. even sarah looked at him, glaring once again. "not. . . not the time?"

coby looked back over to the ruins, feeling a weight fall onto her shoulders. the stuff that she had taken from taylor's room had been in the château. taylor's board had been in there. and she was pretty sure that every item that was in that house had been turnt into ash.

"you really gotta get that looked at." pope said, snapping coby out of her thoughts.

"do you know how to clean burns?" she questioned, her voice soft as she looked at him.

"i read about it." the heyward boy answered.

"that's good enough for me." coby mumbled.

with that, they all pile into the twinkie, pope telling coby to keep her arm elevated to the best of  ability. sarah made sure that the sawyer girl did what she was told, wanting to make a sling out of her shirt so that she wouldn't have to hold it up herself. pope told her not to do that since the burns aren't covered and still exposed. they drove to the nearest pharmacy, coby, john b, kie, and jj stayed in the care while pope, cleo, and sarah went inside to get the things that coby needed. when they were done, pope immediately went to coby, starting to tend to her burns. he then gently wrapped some gauze and bandages around her arm before pulling out a sling from the bag.

"um, i'll clean it again later, okay? just keep it elevated, jake." pope instructed, tightening the sling. "here's some tylenol."

"thanks, dr.heyward." coby joked, earning a chuckle from the boy.

they made their way back to the château. . . or what was left of it. they all climbed out of the twinkie and made their way over to the dock, coby thinking about how both her arms have somehow gotten injured in the same year. first she broke her right arm from topper pushing her and john b from the eagle's nest and now her left arm has second degree burns. not only that, but she has a scar on the right side of her abdomen from rafe shooting her in the bahamas. she couldn't help but wonder what else she would endure before the year is over.

coby sat down on the bench that was on the dock, looking up once the sound of thunder appeared in the distance. there were gray clouds slowly approaching, lightning flashing through them. great, now they had to worry about a storm.

"sarah, when did you say the pilot was getting in?" john b questioned, speaking for the first time since they had gotten out of the burning château.

"probably like an hour?" sarah replied, not exactly sure. "i mean, once he's here, my dad says we can leave whenever we want."

"okay, well, as much as i would love to ghost my parents again, i can't." pope spoke up.

"pope, we're talking el dorado here. can you just slip out the back maybe?" jj asked.

"great advice." kie mumbled, nodding her head slightly. coby couldn't help the smile that appeared at the girl's sarcasm.

"it always worked for me. and cobe." jj reasoned. "how to avoid unpleasant circumstances 101. if there's a problem, you don't wanna face it, turn that face and keister around and walk the other way."

"yeah, but pope actually has parents that doesn't cause harm to him and actually cares about his wellbeing, j." coby commented sarcastically, earning a look from the maybank boy.

"i'm not doing that, okay?" pope told jj.

"i just want you to be there, dog." the blue eyed boy mumbled.

"seriously, where did that word come from?" coby asked, looking at him with furrowed eyebrows.

"i'm gonna be there. i'll meet you guys at the airship in an hour?" pope reassured as he slowly started to make his way down the dock.

"yeah, we'll see you there." john b nodded.

"one hour, pope. not a second later." jj said sternly, sounding like a dad that was telling his kid their curfew.

"papa maybank in the house." coby teased, once again, earning a glare from jj. "this is how i cope with the pain, okay?"

"keep your arm elevated, c." pope ordered, pointing at her as he turned around.

"sir, yes, sir." the curly haired girl saluted.

she smiled slightly as she watched cleo follow after him, the two of them starting to talk quietly to one another. although she was thought that jj and pope would end up together, she had to admit that pope and cleo would be as dood couple, as well as kie and jj.

"i'm gonna take a stroll back to the shack. for old time's sake." jj announced. "i always wanted to go to south america. great surf, cheap weed. see you guys on the tarmac."

"i guess i'll go pack some stuff and break the news to my parents." kie spoke up, catching up to jj.

coby went into thought, watching as the two of them walked down the dock. she was wondering if she should go back home for a short time, just to say goodbye to what was left of taylor. she also wanted to see if he had another board somewhere in the room. she then looked over to sara, who was already looking back. the two of them had a silent conversation with each other, trying to figure out what they should do. sarah knew that coby would want to pack some clothes, especially some of taylor's since she wouldn't be back home. she also knew that the taller girl was hiding the fact that she was hurting over taylor's skateboard being burned up.

"you wanna sneak in to get some clothes?" the cameron girl questioned.

"wanna is a strong word. but yeah, i do." coby nodded. "gotta say goodbye to what's left of taylor."

sarah nodded, sending a small smile towards coby. they then looked towards john b, silently asking what he was gonna do in the meantime.

"probably try to scavenge anything that didn't burn up in the fire. i doubt that there's anything, but i'd like to check." john b told them, seeing the looks that he was receiving from the two girls.

"you want us to help you?" coby asked, seeing the distant look on the taller boy's face.

"didn't you just say that you wanted to get clothes from your house?" john b repeated, his eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"yeah, but i don't want to leave you alone." coby replied, shrugging slightly. "you just lost a piece of your childhood, man. your dad is somewhere in south america. i just - i don't want to leave you alone. cause you're quiet right now. and that usually means that you're spiraling. and trust me, i would know. so just let us help you."

"you're gonna make me come with you to your house, aren't you?"

"oh, definitely."

john b chuckled, shaking his head. "lets do this."

☠︎ ✶ ♡ ✶ ☠︎

𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝟏𝟓 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐔𝐓𝐄𝐒 of helping john b rummage through what was left of the château, the routledge boy made the two girls leave so that they would have time to get coby some clothes. he had let them borrow the twinkie since neither one of them had any transportation to get to coby's house. the ride there was silent, sarah feeling the emotion coming from her girlfriend. she never actually saw coby's home before, knowing that the sawyer girl would rather be anywhere else than there. but she was determined to get one of taylor's old boards to replace the one that turned to ash. so here they were, standing outside of coby's homes scowl on her face.

"you sure you wanna do this?" sarah questioned, her voice soft as she stayed close to coby.

"i'm not leaving without one of taylor's boards." coby mumbled as she walked towards the rundown home. she then looked over her shoulder. "please wait in the twinkie, cupcake."

sarah nodded, climbing back into the volkswagen van. she didn't like that coby was going in by herself, but she also knew that it wasn't a good idea for her to go in with her. coby scanned her surroundings as she walked to the door, not really feeling like climbing through a window. she had noticed that there wasn't a car in the driveway, which meant that they weren't there. at least she hoped they weren't there. her hand wrapped around the doorknob before she turned it, opening the door. she opened it slowly, wincing when it creaked. she didn't move for a few seconds, trying to listen out for footsteps. when she didn't hear anything, she stepped into the house, making a beeline to her brother's room.

she threw the door opened, immediately going to his closet so that she could grab a board. she smiled when she had seen that taylor had kept mostly all of his decks, only one of them have trucks and wheels. she grabbed that one, her smile widening when she had remembered how this was the last board he had ever used. she let out a sigh, standing up so that she could start choosing the clothes that she wanted to take. her eyes went over to the closet door, seeing that taylor's book bag was hanging on it. she silently thanked the boy for getting a bag that was able to hold the skateboard to the front of it. she then pulled some of taylor's shirts and hoodies. she neatly folded them before she stuffed them into the bag.

she left taylor's room and went to hers, getting some of her clothes. she grabbed some shorts, shirts, bras, and boxer briefs, neatly folding them all before stuffing them into the bag. she froze when she heard footsteps approaching her room quickly, looking around to hide. but it was too late, a figure appearing in the doorframe. coby realized that it was her mother. the sawyer girl could see that the woman was sober, seeing how she was standing up straight. coby couldn't remember the last time she had seen alice sober.

the curly haired girl noticed something else -- there were bruises scattered across alice's face. coby felt her chest ache briefly, but she didn't let that show, quickly putting her guard up just in case james made an appearance.

"coby, this is - this is such a surprise." alice said, a sheepish smile on her face.

"hi, mom." coby mumbled, her jaw clenching.

"i'm so happy that you're okay." alice admitted, stepping forward so that she could wrap her arms around her daughter. coby was quick to step back, putting her hands up as a way to silently say 'don't touch me.' alice stopped in place. "how are you? i didn't think i would see you again. what happened to you arm?"

"i got burned badly. and don't worry, after this, you won't ever see me again." coby informed her, grabbing the book bag and placing it onto her back.

"where are you going?" alice questioned.

"i don't think that's any of your business."

"as your mother, i think it is."

"that didn't matter when i was wanted. or when i was thrown in jail. or all those times that james beat the living shit out of me. so why would it matter now?" coby reminded, glaring at her mother.

"i know. you don't know how sorry i -" alice went to say.

coby laughed, making the older woman stop talking. "it's too late for an apology, mom. now, i don't know what's going on now that i'm gone, and quite frankly, i don't care. and i'm sorry that he's doing the same thing he did to me to you. but that doesn't mean that you can suddenly realize how bad of a mother you've been to me and taylor since we came back here."

"i know." alice mumbled.

coby scoffed as she walked past her mother, going towards the front door. she then stopped before she could completely leave, swallowing the rock in her thought as a question came to mind. she turned to look at her mother. "did you ever love us?"

alice turned to answer, but nothing came out. coby scoffed again as she walked out and back. towards the twinkie. her and sarah made eye contact as she got closer, the cameron girl immediately seeing the look on coby's face. she waited for the taller girl to get back in the twinkie, putting all her attention onto her.

"what happened?" she asked.

"my mom was home." coby answered as she threw the bag into the back. she then pulled her seatbelt on.

"she didn't try anything, did she?"

"no. but she talked to me." coby replied as she started up the twinkie. she pulled off, heading back to the château so they could pick john b up before going to the tarmac. "she's sober and tried to apologize. it also seems like she's james' new punching bag. it sucks that she's going through that, but i don't know why she thinks she can suddenly feel bad after all these years."

sarah didn't say anything, instead she reached for coby's hand, gently taking it. and that's how the entire car ride to the château was. silent. even when john b had gotten into the twinkie and they are on their way to the tarmac, it was still silent. they arrived at the tarmac pretty quickly, all of them piling out of it. coby whistled as she saw the private plane that ward had gotten them.

"i could kiss your dad right now."coby mumbled. "oh, my god. i know why we're using it and where we are going, but i can't help but feel like a rockstar."

sarah smiled, shaking her head. "you're dork."

"but i'm your dork." coby shot back.

"that you are." sarah nodded.

john b watched the two interact, glad that coby was out of the slump. the trio patiently waited for the rest of their friends to arrive. jj was the first to arrive, seeing that it was only the three of them on the tarmac. that then made him mad, thinking that the other three pogues weren't gonna be making an appearance. john b stepped in to try and calm him down.

"dude, where is everybody?" jj questioned, his voice progressively raising.

"i don't know, man." john b answered, watching as jj threw his bag to the ground.

"we should get in the twinkie, and we should just get em." jj urged, pointing towards the van.

"j, just give them five more minutes." coby chimed in.

"guys, there's pope and cleo. right there." sarah quickly announced, gesturing in the direction that they were coming from. that made everyone turn to look at them, the two of them being on a dirt bike.

"god." jj grumbled.

"were you guys waiting for us?" cleo asked as they came to a stop in front of their four friends.

"yes, we were." jj answered as he picked up his bag. "you're late. now, did you actually convince your pops this or. . ."

"cleo convinced him." pope replied, getting off the bike.

said girl raised her hands up, both jj and coby stepping forward to high-five her. jj then did the pogue handshake with her before cleo did the same thing with coby, the blonde boy thanking her for being apart of his crew.

"hey, where's, uh, where's kie?" pope then asked, everyone's happy mood immediately vanishing.

"well, i don't know. it's gotta be her parents, dude. they've been up her ass." sarah informed.

"they must've said she couldn't come. we're gonna have to do this without her." pope concluded.

"no. give me the keys." jj said, looking at john b.

"no, dude. no, no, no, no, no." the routledge boy immediately shook his head.

"give me the keys, right now." jj demanded.

"it doesn't seem like a god idea now right now, jj." john b tried.

"look. her parents already hate me. all right?" the maybank boy pointed out. "just give me an hour. it'll be like a black ops mission, in and out. all right? surgical removal type shit. plus. . . i kind of owe her. give me the keys."

both john b and coby looked at him with a knowing look, realization dawning on them.

jj picked up on this. "stop making that face and gimme the keys."

"shit, all right. you do fucking owe her. move, john b." coby muttered as she dug the keys out her pocket. she then pushed the taller boy to the side. she held the keys up for jj to take. "we get it. we just appreciate the honesty, blondie."

jj took the keys from coby, "just give me an hour."

"hurry. hurry." sarah rushed.

the blue eyed boy started to run towards the twinkie, both coby and john immediately knowing what he was gonna do. the both of them started to tell their best friend not to do what he was gonna do, but it was too late. jj was already jumping through the open window of the passenger side door. coby laughed as she watched jj struggled to climb into the twinkie.

"that door opens, bro." pope informed as jj moved over to the driver's seat.

he quickly started up the twinkie, basically taking off like a race car.

"feather, feather, feather the throttle, you know? you got 59 minutes, jj!" john b yelled after him.

"i fucking love him." coby laughed, bringing a hand up to her stomach.

daij speaks!
hiiiiiii. i'm sorry for the very shitty ending, i wasn't sure how to do it. but i hope you guys enjoyed🫶🏼