EDEN'S eyes opened to a soft but firm voice speaking.  She was still on the couch, blanket curled up with her, and the sunlight hitting her right in her eyes—how did she even end up lying in the terrible spot if JJ wasn't hauling the better one?

She slightly looked down to see a hand on her shoulder.  Eden couldn't tell who it belonged too—she was also still waking up, so her mind definitely wasn't in the right spot—but after the voice spoke again, she knew just who it was.

"You awake, sweetie?"

"Sheriff Peterkin?" Eden muttered, rubbing a hand over her face to try and wake herself up a bit more.  Why was the Sheriff here bright and early? If anyone would be here, it should be one of the Pogues or DCS for that matter, but no.  Sheriff Peterkin had invited herself in, and awoken Eden for reasons she didn't know yet.

"Mhm." The woman replied, "Where's your friend at, hon? Or is he up and out already?"

"Oh, uh, John B.'s in there." Eden pointed towards the room where—from her angle—she could slightly see the boy's still frame.  "He's probably sleeping, though."

Peterkin nodded and walked over to said room, coming in and standing right in the doorway.  Eden's eyes furrowed in confusion, but she didn't ask any questions.  She was sure whatever Peterkin had to say was important, and she probably shouldn't butt in.

Her fingers tapped on her phone screen—lock screen being a picture of her and the Pogues, of course—and the time blared in her face; 9:30.  After the night they'd had, she would have preferred at least an hour more of sleep, but the missed calls from her mother and father said it was probably better that she was up now.

Peterkin walked out of John B.'s room, and leaned up against one of the walls, fingers draping over some of the photos.   Eden had stood up, eyes trailing across the room in a small amount of disgust.  She was finally noticing how dirty the house actually was, and with Peterkin here, it didn't seem like a good look for John B., or any of the Pogues.

"I'm sorry about the, uh, mess." Eden cleared her throat, walking right past the Sheriff and towards the small kitchen that the house held.  Grabbing a glass and setting it down beside her, she spoke again. "We weren't really expecting anyone."

"I don't mind." Peterkin responded rather dryly, crossing her arms over her chest as she eyed over the countless beer bottles—underage drinking was definitely not the best look, but hopefully she passed over that part—and random items tossed around. 

"Good." She replied, before scanning through John B.'s cabinets, eye darting to find where he kept the bottle of aspirin, or some sort of painkillers.  She knew that he'd probably have a bad headache, or something along the lines of that, so the least she could do was give him something for it.  It took a minute—John B. was not an organizer—but eventually she found a bottle and took two out, setting them on the counter.

"You might want to get home." the Sheriff continued, watching as Eden filled up a glass of water,  "Your mother called the office. Said you haven't been home in a few days."

Eden took a sip of the water, nodding as she did so.  When she put the glass right next to the pain, she spoke again.  Of course her mother called the police department.  Why wouldn't she? At least she didn't for the party, like she threatened. "Well, she's right." 

"Can I ask why?"

"Because I don't like my home." Eden replied simply, lips in a straight line. That was the true answer, whether Peterkin believed it or not.  She didn't like her mother or her father, didn't like the two story house she 'lived' in—yes, she lived in a two story house, how kook, right? She didn't like anything about her home life.

"Well, no matter what, she is your mother, Eden." Peterkin pursed her lips, hands crossed in front of her chest, "She does care."

"I promise I'll go home at some point today." Eden grabbed the glass of water in one hand, holding the pain killers in the others.  She headed towards John B.'s room, but stopped for a moment outside the open door. "But, you can expect another call in a few days, because I'm not staying there."

She heard Peterkin sigh, and Eden took that as her cue to leave.  She entered the boy's room without bothering to say she'd stayed, or that she was coming in—John B. could care less, she'd barged in to his room without warning too many times at this point—and looked down at him slowly beginning to stand up.

"How are you feeling?" Eden asked, eyes trained on the boy.  She handed over the cup of water and waited for his other hand to become free before giving him the pills as well.  Eden thought he looked alright—of course he had a black eye from Topper's countless punches, but she was relieved that the black eye was the only injury.  He looked rather tired, but he was standing up, which was a good sign.  

John B. muttered a small thanks before actually answering her question, "How are you supposed to feel after almost drowning?"

"Shitty?" Eden slightly smiled, tilting her head.

"Then I feel pretty shitty." John B. replied, brushing past his friend to meet the police chief who'd been waiting for him to get up.  Eden—allowing her nosiness to take over—followed after, leaning against the wall to listen in on whatever Peterkin needed to say.

"Sorry to break in like this, but DCS called. They wanted me to check on you. See how you're doin'" Peterkin spoke as she watched the boy leave his room, eyeing him as he walked in front of her. "So, how are you, beside the—" She gestured to her eye, talking about the black eye that John B. was showing off.

"Oh, no, I'm—I'm great.  Yeah, fantastic. Uh...." John B. paused for a moment, downing the pills that Eden had given him with water, "Thanks for coming by." He turned around, giving Eden a look before quickly placing the cup down and  grabbing a couple of beer bottles lying around—as if that was going to make his situation look better.

"I'm so glad to hear you say that, John B., but I heard a few things that worried me. Let me see if I can remember." Peterkin paused as if she really couldn't remember, but started back up again after a moment, "Oh yeah.  One of the things I heard was that your Uncle Teddy, your guardian, hasn't been in the state in three months."

John B. scoffed, "Yeah, that's false."

"You don't have to say anything  I know it's true. I called the school." Peterkin stopped the boy, giving him a small look. "They say you used to be a good student, but now you're failin' all your classes." She picked up part of a joint, and Eden bit her lip as the woman put the thing up to her nose. 

"No. No, I'm only failing one, and it's history. The dude's a dick, he's out for me—"

"I heard there was a fight on the beach yesterday—"Peterkin walked forward, her voice nothing but serious.  Eden slightly cringed at the memory of Topper holding John B. down, drowning him, as well as the one of JJ pulling out the gun.  She knew they were bound to get caught.  Someone had to have run their mouth—it was probably Topper, he was the one with the gun to his. "—and a gun was involved."

"Okay. Gun? No."

Eden spoke up from her place against the wall.  JJ might have been an idiot for pulling out the gun, but Eden wouldn't let him get in trouble.  She cared about him too much for that. "There wasn't a gun involved, Sheriff.   Sure, John B. got his ass beat, but it was only fists.  No guns."

"Yeah, no guns." John B. nodded dramatically.

"You don't have to lie to protect your friend, I know who it was, Eden, and I'll be getting to him." Peterkin replied, the tone of her voice not changing.   Eden looked at John B. and gave an, I tried, shrug his way.  The sheriff then turned back to the boy, "All I'm worried about right now is makin' sure you're in a safe home."

John B. scoffed again, "Yeah, super safe." He tapped on the small table beside him, "Super sound, sturdy.  Y'know what I mean?"  He pointed the small trash he had in his hands—which he'd been using to clean up any questionable items in his house—at the sheriff. "Uncle T's coming back, so....."

"That's what he told you?"

"Yeah."

"Well, if he really is coming home, I think you should be allowed to stay."

John B. widened his eyes, giving a that's my point, kind of look. "Thank you."

"But if I stick my neck out for you, you have to help me. Tit for Tat."  Peterkin crossed her arms, giving him a small look.   Eden let out a sigh and continued listening in to the conversation, keeping her mouth shut.  Peterkin was here for John B. not her, so it was better if she just let the conversation continue that way.

Soon enough, Peterkin had started talking about the marsh, and asked if they'd found any dead bodies, or a boat.  Of course John B. had denied everything—they truly hadn't seen a body out there, so he only lied once—and eventually she'd just told him she'd lie for him if he stayed out of the marsh—which Eden wasn't sure they'd be able to manage—before moving towards the door. 

"I got dogs livin' better than this, John B." Peterkin stopped at the door, "You might wanna think about cleaning up."  The woman then turned her gaze to Eden, giving a knowing look.  "Get home, Eden."

"You got it." Eden muttered in response, giving a side smile and a wave towards the woman and she shut the door to the Chateau.  Her smile then dropped and she pursed her lips, watching as John B. tossed an empty can at the wall in anger.

She approached him, putting a hand on his shoulder in comfort, "We'll work it out, we always do." Eden squeezed his shoulder, before walking closer to the door, "My mother called the station, so I'm gonna head home before it gets worse.  You gonna be alright?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." John B. replied, slightly looking up at his friend, "Go home before you mom calls the cops on me this time."

Eden slightly laughed before giving a small salute and walking  out from the door, "See you later."   Her bike was still against the Chateau, just as it had been for the past few days and she quickly kicked the stand up and began her bike back home.

The bike wasn't too far, and it was a nice ride back.  She lived a few doors down from Kiara, in one of the bigger houses near the end of the street—two stories, painted a bright coat of white, freshly cut grass.  It was a nice neighborhood, Eden could admit that, she just didn't like the fact that she lived there. 

Eden didn't need a huge room with a queen sized bed and huge windows that gave her a view of the entire OBX.   She didn't need her own bathroom—gosh she hated even saying things like that.  Why did she get all these things when Pope, John B. and JJ had barely enough money to afford gas?

 Eden didn't answer those questions as pedaled into her house's driveway. The garage was closed, but she knew her mother was sitting at the kitchen table, pursed lips as she awaited her daughters appearance.

Eden took in a breath as she let her bike fall to the driveway.  Here goes nothing.

Creaking open the door, she slowly walked inside.  It was quiet, and Eden felt a little bit of relief come to her.  Maybe her parents were still asleep and she could quietly hide out in her room until her mother finally realized she was home.  But, her relief was gone when the stern voice sounded from the kitchen.  "Eden?"

"Did you really need to call the station?" Eden replied, walking through the arched doorway to come face to face with Isla—who had stood up at the sound of the door opening.   Her father—business owner, Tom Bexley—was right next to her wife, an expression of relief shown on his features.

Eden actually liked her father. He was nicer, and didn't expect as much from her.  He was more lenient, too.  But everything had a downside, and his was the fact that he usually took his wife's side.  He didn't like to disagree with Isla—most people didn't, except Eden of course—and so here he was, standing right beside her.

"Well, it didn't seem like you were going to come home without a little help." Isla replied dryly, narrowing her eyes at the sight of her daughter.  Eden's clothes were a little dirty, that's probably why—Isla hated when things weren't perfect, but wasn't that obvious now? "What happened to coming home yesterday?"

"If you're so concerned, John B. got hurt and I stayed to help him."

"You've been gone for four days, Eden." Tom spoke up, giving an apologetic look towards his daughter, almost like he felt bad for siding with his wife, as he always did.  Eden didn't see a point in the apologetic look.  If he really was sorry, he'd side with her for once, and actually understand why she left for days on end. "We got worried about you."

"Of course you were staying for him. You can't just spend your days doing God knows what with those boys, Eden." Isla changed the topic from the two being worried back to how this was all Eden's fault, because she obviously could have cared less that her daughter was gone. "You have to take responsibility, you're almost an adult.  I can't have you screwing up because you spent your teenage years making stupid choices."

"Do you always assume I'm doing bad things? If it makes you feel any better, I've never done anything relative to sex with them.  We're not like that." Eden responded, narrowing her eyes right back at the woman. "Isla, you know you don't care if I screw up.  It'll just reveal that you're a shitty mother and always have been."

"Don't talk to your mother like that!" Tom's voice got louder as he exclaimed at his daughter.

"Eden, I don't know what's gotten into your head, but all of the sudden you seem to think I don't care for your well being and it's not okay!" Isla's voice also rose, but for some reason she sounded more on the verge of crying than angry. "Everything I've done is for you, honey.  This—" She gestured around the house, "—is for you! Me and your father work our asses off to make sure you have better opportunities,  a better life for that matter.  And what do you do with it? You walk right past it and go and get drunk and high with your bastard friends!"

"You just don't want me to make the same mistakes you did." Eden spat, trying to keep her composure calm.  She couldn't break in front of her mother, she couldn't let her get the upper hand. "It's not my fault you fucked a Pogue and got me as a result, losing your Kook status."

"Eden Brielle!"

"No, Tom. Let her keep going." Isla muttered, looking at her daughter with a look that said, keep going, I dare you.

"The Pogues are more of a family than you ever will be, so excuse me if I feel like hanging out with them rather than being here with you."  Eden felt a tear fall down her cheek, and she walked out of the room without a response from her mother.   No wonder she hated her house,  whenever she came back, everything went to chaos.

Running up the stairs to her room, Eden slammed her door and wiped away another tear that had escaped.  If it wasn't clear by now, Eden Bexley hated her mother.

When Eden finally arrived back at John B.'s house—yes, she'd left the house un-noticed again, out her window this time—she noticed that everyone else was there.  It was oddly silent, though.  They were all in the yard, and barely even registered that Eden had came in and taken a seat next to Kiara on the cushioned bench—she was playing the bongos, JJ was throwing rocks and Pope was staring off into the distance.

John B. finally turned around—he'd been turned away from the rest of the group, lost in thought. "Look, I'm callin' it off, alright?" Eden already knew that he was speaking about this morning.  Was he really the Grady White mystery off?  Even if this could keep him in his home, he had to admit, he was invested.  "Peterkin said, if I stay out of the marsh, she'll help me with DCS."

"And you believed her?" JJ questioned at once.

John B. gave a small look, "Yes, I believe her, JJ."

"An actual cop, John B. You believed a cop—" the blonde boy slightly laughed at the end of his sentence, tossing another rock.   John B. looked rather annoyed at his friends words, and snapped back quickly, his voice slightly raised in agitation.

"All I gotta do is stay out of the marsh for a couple days, and she'll help me out."  the brunette boy tossed the stick that he'd been holding on the ground, eyeing his friend. "It doesn't help that your ass was the one shooting a gun."

"You know what I should have done, man? I should've just let Topper drown your ass."

"Yeah, because Topper was gonna drown me?"

"Sure looked like it."  JJ replied, walking closer to the group who were all tuned to the conversation, eyes darting between boys to see what would be said next.  The blonde gestured towards Eden, recalling the night before, "I mean, Eden had to do CPR on you, man—"

"Really, J?" Eden hated when her friends fought—it rarely happened, but right now, it was getting rather heated.  But, she knew her attempts wouldn't stop the two, unless she really raised her voice, and she didn't want to do that until it was completely necessary too.

"Funny." John B.'s voice was filled with sarcasm as he crossed his arms.

"Have you looked in the mirror, recently?" JJ stopped and leaned against one of the wooden pillars, almost face to face with the brunette boy.  He gestured towards the black eye, pausing a moment as John B. urged him to go on, just as Eden's mother had only a few minutes beforehand. "They always win, don't they, man? Kooks versus Pogues.  They always, always, win!" He punched one of the buoys that hung from the shed's wall, "Goddamn!"

"Look, it's okay!" Kiara tried to defuse the tension that had formed, voice in a higher pitch as she exclaimed.

"No, it's not okay!" JJ said quickly, "They don't want us to go down into the marsh. That means there's something valuable down there, and you know it, man." He jabbed a finger at John B., his voice calming down slightly. "I know you do."

He then turned to Pope, "And I understand why you don't wanna go. You're the golden boy.  You've got way too much to lose.  And you—" He turned to Kie this time, "—I mean, you're already rich as fuck anyway.  Why would you bother?"  Kiara gave him a dirty look, and he quickly turned away from her.

"And Eden, your mom would probably kill you if you got involved, besides, you wouldn't even take any money, you'd give it to us out of the goodness in your heart." JJ now turned to Eden, who furrowed her brows before he turned right back to John B. 

"But you and me, man, we got nothin' to lose!" when John B. slightly rolled his eyes, JJ continued, his voice rising again, "We really don't, all right? And I know it didn't use to be that way for you—"

"I don't wanna talk about this." John B. muttered, brushing right past the blonde boy as if he wasn't right there trying to state his point, "I don't wanna talk about it."

"So that's it?—"

"Just get out of my way, bro." John B. slightly shoved JJ out of his way, running a hand through his hair as he walked away from his friends, done with the conversation.  But, JJ wasn't quite finished speaking because he followed after, continuing to speak.

"John B., listen to me. I have a plan." the blonde came right up beside his friend, "You got the key to Cameron's big boat, right?" Ignoring the 'no' that John B. had immediately given, he went on, "There's scuba gear inside of it.  We just borrow that, and then we go down to the wreck this afternoon, and that is what's gonna save you, man.  You don't see rich kids going to foster care, do you?"

A moment of silence followed as John B. weighed his choices, but Eden knew what he would choose.  They were going to the marsh, whether Peterkin liked it or not. 

Within a few hours, Eden was sitting on the edge of the HMS Pogue, feet dangling in the water below her.  Of course, she knew that following JJ's plan was probably a shitty idea—when did JJ's plans ever go well?—but he had a point.  He and John B. had nothing to lose.  Why not risk it all?

It was almost sunset—aka, Eden's favorite time of the day.  She loved how the sky melted into so many colors, creating such a lovely picture.  That's something she loved about the OBX.  It had the loveliest of sunsets, and she was here to watch them all happen.  The sun was mid level by now—Eden could tell by the mixed orange color the sky had changed too.  They probably had about thirty minutes to get this over with if they wanted light.

"This is empty." Kiara sounded annoyed as she set down one of the tanks that John B. had taken—more like stolen—from the Camerons.  She gave the boy a look, "You took empty takes?"

Eden let out a sigh, "Didn't I tell you to check the tanks before you took them? That's like, a basic rule, JB."

John B. trailed off, unsure on what to even respond with.  Yeah, Eden had reminded him to check the tanks before he took them, but Sarah had interrupted him, and he'd totally forgotten to do it. "I...."

"Okay, this one's a quarter full." though she still sounded annoyed, Kie sounded the least bit more satisfied that at least one tank had something left in it.  But, the air left definitely wasn't enough for all of them. "It's enough for one of us."

"Love it when a plan comes together." Pope muttered sarcastically from the wheel.

"Does anybody know how to dive?" Kiara asked in a deadpan voice, still visibly disappointed.  The group stayed silent—clearly, no one actually knew how to dive in this boat.  After the silence continued, Kiara repeated herself, "Anybody?"

  "It's kind of a Kook sport." JJ added, as if that helped anything. 

After the silence continued, Eden slightly raised her hand as if she were in a classroom, "My dad taught me when I was younger.  I don't remember a lot, but I remember the basics....I think."

Pope added on, "I read about it..."

"Great, Eden thinks she remembers and Pope read about it.  Someone is gonna die." Kie spoke sarcastically, annoyance meeting right back up with her features.

JJ spoke up next, "Look you put the thing in your mouth and breath. How hard could it be?"

"Well, if you come up too fast, nitrogen gets into your blood—" Pope states, "—and you get the bends."

"Bends like, bend over and—" JJ leaned over and stuck his butt out to be funny, but Eden rolled her eyes, stating the hard truth. 

"Bends as in, you die." Eden raised her brows at him, causing him to wipe the shit eating expression off his face and stand up straight again, "If the nitrogen bubbles in your brain, you get paralyzed or, like I said, die."

"Right." JJ muttered.

John B. sat up, "I can—I can dive."

JJ, who was now rather scared of the nitrogen bubbling in his brain, actually agreed with the brunette boy, "You can dive, I'm cool with that."

"Were you busy practicing when we were talking or do you just suddenly know how to?" Eden spoke sarcastically, knowing that John B. had never been diving in his life.  She stood up, tossing a hand up. "Just let me do it.  At least I know a thing or two about it."

"No, Eden, I'll do it." John B. replied, "It's fine."

"Let me do some calculations real quick." Pope stood up, thinking.  Suddenly, being on the math team did come in handy.  After a minute of silence, he started writing down on a sheet of paper, "That boat's about thirty feet down.  So it'll take about twenty five minutes at that depth.  Which means you have to make your safety stop at about....ten feet." He looked up at John B., "Alright? For two minutes."

"Yeah, yeah.  Ten feet, two minutes.  Got it."

Without warning, Kiara jumped off of the boat causing all the boys and Eden to look over.  She gave an eye roll and yelled, "Show off!" 

"Uh..."

"What was that all about?"

"I don't know, but I liked it, a lot—"

"Hello? I'm still here." Eden called out, causing JJ  to clear his throat and continue talking as if he hadn't even said anything.  She shook her head, "Gross."

"Uh, when you're down there, you look for the cargo hold." JJ handed John B. something—Eden didn't bother to look at what it was, she was too busy watching Kiara pop back up from the water. "You stick this thing inside and twist and pull, okay?"

"Stick in, twist, pull."

"Yeah."

As John B. put on the gear, Kie spoke up from the water, "Hey! I tied my t-shirt to the anchor chain about ten feet down.  It's where you need to do your safety stop."  John B. muttered a small 'cool' and continued to listen in for instructions on what to do.

Eden handed over a timer, "Keep watch to make sure you have enough air to decompress.  You don't want to bend."

"Okay, how much do I need?"

Eden looked back at Pope for the exact calculation, but all he gave back was a shrug. "Unclear. Breathe as little as possible."

John B. gave a deadpanned stare, and Eden let out a small laugh—she couldn't help it. "You're definitely dying."

"Very helpful, Eden." John B. replied.

After John B. was all suited up and standing on the edge of the HMS Pogue—Eden had moved to stand slightly in front of him—Pope gave a few final words, definitely not of encouragement. "Hey, if we get caught in the marsh, we're basically screwed, so...better get a move on."

"Copy that."

Kiara suddenly brushed past Eden, coming right up to John B. and pressing her lips to his cheek.  Eden looked back at the two others boy's with raised eyebrows.  Pope looked just as surprised and mouthed the words, 'Since when?' to her, but JJ slightly turned away, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Diver down?" John B. spoke after a moment, still in slight shock from the small kiss he'd recieved.

"Diver down." Kiara repeated, stepping back.

"Stay safe." Eden muttered, watching as John B. jumped down and went under.  She then looked over at Kiara, a knowing look playing on her face, "What happened to 'we're just friends' ?"

"I don't want to hear it, Eden." Kie responded, rolling her eyes. 

The group was rather silent after that, waiting for John B.'s air supply to run out—which, based on how much air he had and on Pope's calculations, wouldn't happen for another few minutes.   But, that silence was ended when a quick siren caused them all to furrow their brows.

"Shit. JJ." Pope muttered, causing the boy to meet his gaze a few feet away from them.

"Guys, that's the police." JJ confirmed, moving away from his spot.

"Well shit." Eden pursed her lips. Of course the police decided now would be a perfect time to search the marsh, just when the Pogues decided to search for something they definitely weren't supposed to be looking for—they weren't supposed to be in the marsh, period, but this was more trouble than they needed.  "We're fucked if they find out about John B. and this boat, you know—"

"Just act frickin' normal." Kiara stopped Eden's words, leaning back as if she were relaxing—which Eden clearly wasn't.  She was worried, just like she had been when they almost got caught a few days ago at the motel.

As the police boat pulled right up beside them, Pope greeted them calmly, trying to start off on a good note, "Evening, officers."

The other deputy on the boat handed Pope a rope, and he quickly handed it to JJ who tied the boats together.   Eden slightly sighed, and kept staring at the officers, trying to look at normal as possible.

Deputy Shoupe pulled off his sunglasses, eyes roaming around the boat. "How you kids doing? You know the marsh is closed?"

All four teens looked at one another, before JJ spoke up with a, "No."  He kept going, "I didn't know that."

"Why—Why it closed?" Pope questioned, trying his best to sound curious rather than suspicious.

"Well, we're conducting a search out here.  Boat went down." Shoupe explained, his face rather tired looking.

"Oh, that's sad." Eden added.

"Seen anything?"

The four shook their heads again, muttering 'no's' and 'no boat' to sound even more convincing to the deputy.   Shoupe was silent for a moment, and the teens all looked back towards the ocean, avoiding eye contact.  He then spoke again, finally noticing what was off.

"Where's your friend you always hang with? He here?"

Kiara gave a small smile and shrugged rather innocently, "He's working."

"Has to make money somehow, y'know..." Eden added, giving a small smile towards Shoupe.  Despite the obvious lying that was going on in the boat, the deputy believed the two girl's  words and kept the conversation going.

"Hm." he hummed, before stepping upon the HMS Pogue, "I'm gonna check out you little boat."

"Yeah, hop aboard." Pope stood up, giving the deputy more room to check out the boat, "You wanna check—uh, check her out."

"Thank you."

Shoupe eyed the entire boat looking for anything that could be wrong with it.  Eden's breath was hitched as he viewed everything over, rather scared for the worst—the worst as in John B. comes up and Shoupe sees him and realizes that they were looking at the boat.   But, she felt semi relieved when the deputy grabbed one of the life jackets and asked if they had any extra.

But that relief didn't last too long.  As Pope and JJ kept Shoupe busy with unnecessary comments, Eden turned and stepped on to the edge of the boat, looking down at the calm waters below her.  That tank only had a quarter gallon in it.  John B. was going to run out of air within seconds—if he hadn't already, that is.

Shoupe suddenly appeared at her side, eyes trailing across the waters for any sort of sign that these kids were lying.   They were acting rather suspicious—Eden had never been a great liar and the fact that it was a deputy certainly didn't help—but Eden hoped that Shoupe would somehow believe them.

In the moment of silence that followed as Shoupe scanned the waters, Eden made a rash decision and pulled off her t-shirt—she was already in the bottoms—before taking a seat on the edge and pushing herself into the water.

Taking the hand with her shirt and sticking it in the water, she began to wave her shirt back and forth as subtly as possible, trying to warn John B. not to come up, even if he was running out of air down under.  It was a weak attempt—and somewhat dumb.  Maybe he would think that meant it was safe to come up—but she needed to do something.   She kept her eye's on Shoupe, keeping a sweet and innocent expression on her face.

"Alright." Shoupe spoke after a moment, narrowing his eyes at Eden before turning to face the rest of the group.  Eden swam back up towards the side of the boat, pushing herself up against it. "Beautiful day, innit?"

"Sure is."

"Very."

"Let us know if you see anything on your way out." Shoupe untied the rope that was connecting the two boats, and Eden let out a breath.  Just a few more seconds, and John B. could come up for air.  

"Will do. Will do."

"You got it, sir." Eden gave a small salute and a small smile towards the boat.

"We'll be gone soon, sir." JJ added as they pulled away, ending on a good measure as well.  

"Yes, you will."

The moment after the boat had driven far enough, the three teens still on the boat rushed to the edge, looking for signs of John B.  Eden did aswell, swimming herself back over to where he was supposed to be.

"He's definitely out of air." Pope stated, as if the three others teen didn't know that.

"No shit, bubs." Eden muttered back in response, anxiousness running straight through her for the few seconds of silence that followed.  But, she finally allowed a breathy laugh to fall from her lips when John B. resurfaced.

"There he is!"

"Oh, God! Jesus Christ!"

"Don't scare us like that!"

JJ ran to the ladder, grabbing the mask that John B. was taking off his face, "How'd it go down there? Did you find anything?"

John B. mimicked JJ's words in a breathy tone, "Did I find anything?"  He then pulled out a black duffel bag, tossing it up on the ladder next to the blonde's feet.  JJ cheered, excited that they'd actually been successful with this plan.

"Yeah, there we go! That's my boy!"

John B. then fell into a small coughing fit, and Eden—who'd swam up next to him to get back on to the boat—placed a hand on his shoulder. "You good?"

"Yeah, I ran out of air." John B. panted, eyes squinted.

"You scared the shit out of me." Kiara stared him down, a slightly annoyed expression on her face, though she still had a bit of relief in her tone. 

"Yeah, the cops were up here, but, uh.....took care of 'em." Pope said.

"My bad."

"You're all good."

"Yeah, you kinda missed the show, brother." JJ added.

Eden ruffled John B.'s—now soaked—hair with her hands, glimpsing over at Kiara for a moment.  But she took a double take when she saw the slightly confused look on her face.  "You alright, Kie?"

Kie looked at her friend, nodding towards the front of the boat.  Eden met her gaze and her brows furrowed when she noticed the small bogey coming in their direction.  She didn't recognize it, and it seemed odd for someone to be out on the marsh when they weren't supposed to be—Pogues excluded.

"Hey guys? Guys, bogey, two o'clock."

Pope and JJ both turned to look in that direction, and John B. stood up, making Eden drop her hands from his head, her gaze still on the small boat.

"Do you recognize that boat?" Pope asked to no one in particular.

"I've never seen it." Kie stated, "What are they doing back here? The marsh is closed."

"The same thing as us?" Eden perked up.  If they knew about this boat, then it was possible that maybe someone else did too, someone else who had the very same intentions as the group of five.

"I don't know." JJ responded, "Let's not stick around to find out."

"JJ, get the bowline." John B. muttered, eyes still set on the boat.

"Should we wait on 'em?" Pope asked once more, causing Eden to furrow her brows and send a small look his way. 

"Why would we do that, Pope?" Eden slightly shoved his shoulder, coming right up to the front of the boat, "Go and get the stern, we're getting the hell out of here."

Within a matter of seconds, John B. was at the wheel, Pope was at the edge, waiting for the stern and JJ was pulling up the bowline, yelling for the brunette boy to start driving. "Guys, don't wait for me. Go."

They started driving into the marsh maze, everyone commenting on something every five seconds.  Eden stayed watch, eyeing the smaller boat to see if it would keep on following, or if it was really just going through the marsh to enjoy the lovely day. 

Watching carefully, Eden quickly crossed off the latter option.  The two men on the boat revved up the engine, quickly gaining up on the HMS Pogue.  She quickly looked back at her friends, "They're following us for sure."

Pope groaned, "This can't be good."

"Shit." Eden watched as they quickly gained on their boat, slightly tapping the brunette boy behind her on his shoulder to gain his attention, "John B., you're gonna have to speed up, like now."

"I'm going!"

"Gun it!"

"I'm going!"

The HMS Pogue sped up, speeding right through the marsh maze, but the rogue boat didn't seem to be slowing down in defeat.  Eden was about to yell at John B. to step it up a notch, when her eyes trailed to the boat where a gun was being aimed directly for her head.

Her eyes went wide—maybe this is how Topper felt when he'd realized what JJ had against his skull—and she didn't even think before ducking down for cover, yelling, "Get down!" to her friends as she did.

Eden heard the shot go right over her head,  as well as her friends' exclaims of fear and shock.  Oh my God, they had a gun and were shooting.   She wasn't sure how they were going to get this boat out in time, but god she hoped they did.  They were fish bait if they didn't—literally.

Eden didn't even know whose hand she was grabbing—it was JJ's but, why did that matter right now?—but she immediately latched on to someone, tugging them down right next to her.  The familiar tight feeling was building up in her throat, and she could feel her breath getting short as another shot rang through the air.

"John B., get—get your ass down!" Eden breathed, her free hand slightly hitting John B.'s back.

"Oh my god, we're gonna die!" Pope shouted, hands covering his face.

Hands placed right over her head, Eden slightly opened her eyes to see the chaos around her.  Pope was curled up right in front of her, hands right over his face.  JJ was right next to Eden, slightly looking up to see the commotion—his hand was still intertwined with hers, which Eden appreciated very much.  John B. was still in the drivers seat, lightly hunched over to keep away from any stray bullets, and Eden would have yelled at him to get his ass down again if it wasn't for her eyes meeting with Kiara's moving body.

"Kie? What are you doing?" Eden yelled over the revved engine, flinching as another shot blew over her, in the direction of Kiara this time. "Get down, you're gonna get shot!"

"Get down, Kie!" John B.'s thoughts were the same Eden's, his eyes grazing over to her for a minute before he ducked down at another incoming bullet.

The girl didn't listen though, and grabbed the fishing net right next to Pope and tossed it into the water, watching as it flew right through the water, tangling with the boats engine.  A final shot rang through the air before the engine sputtered.

"Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!"

Once they were cruising away, free of the rogue boat, Eden let out a sigh and opened her eyes again.  They made it without a single bullet wound.   She looked over at the boy next to her, pulling her hand from his grasp now that they were okay.   He noticed, and looked over at her, "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Eden responded, giving a reassuring smile.  Every oncoming feeling had disappeared, and now all she felt was relief.   JJ smiled back and held out a hand, helping her up from the cramped position they'd been in.

"Oh my god, did we just do that?" Eden breathed, looking around at the group who were busy smiling—minus Pope.  He looked more concerned about what they'd just escaped.

Kie nodded and let out a chuckle, "Yeah, we just fucking did that!"

"Woo! Pogue-god, man!" JJ cheered out with a bright expression.

Once they were back at John B.'s dock, the brunette boy ran out from the HMS Pogue,  duffel bag in hand.  The rest of the Pogues followed after, leaning down—well, Eden actually knelt on the ground to get a good look—to examine what was inside the bag.

"What do you guys think it is?" Kie asked.

"I don't know, gotta be money or somethin' right?" John B. muttered, unzipping the duffel bag.

JJ was filled with excitement as he suggested, "That or a couple of keys with street value to the low-to mid-mills, man—"  He was then interrupted.

"Can we please just open the bag?" Pope blurted.

All four of the other Pogues looked over at him before John B. let out a chuckle, "Wow, Pope.  That's a rare outburst of emotion."  

"Okay. You guys are literally killing me with anticipation." Pope gestured towards the bag, leaning forward to see better. "We almost died over this."

Giving in to his friend's words, John B. opened the bag and pulled out a silver canister causing Eden to furrow her eyebrows.  After struggling to open it for a moment, he was finally able to twist it open, Eden leaning towards him to see what had fallen out.

She wasn't sure what to feel when her eyes landed on a old looking compass.

Pope huffed from beside her, "Oh, wow. Yup. That's about right."  Sarcasm flowed through his words, "Good job, everybody.  We found a compass."

Kiara frowned, and JJ took off his hat in disappointment.  Sure, Eden was also slightly disappointed.  They'd expected something big, and they'd ended up with a compass—definitely anticlimactic—but, something about the way John B. examined the compass, told Eden that maybe there was more to this than it looked.

"Dude, what? It's not worth anything." JJ spoke, looking down at John B.

"Well, he obviously has interest in it, J." Eden responded, gesturing to John B. as he examined the compass.

A glimpse of a smile appeared on John B.'s face before he breathed, "This was my father's."

mara's misc!

this chapter was literally 7000 words💀

this is the longest chapter i've ever written in a book period.  like, wow.

anyway, we're finally done with episode one, so yay!  everything is finally starting up and i'm so excited to write it.  

also, i hope the fight eden had with her mother wasn't too bad.  i took a lot of inspo between kiara and her mother, bc they're like in the same position.  

also,  originally i was gonna have eden run away, but then i realized that it wouldn't work so i changed it.  that's just a fun fact, idk.

i love eden and the pogues so much, i lowkey don't wanna hurt them anymore.

hope you enjoyed!! <3