EMERY AWOKE THE NEXT MORNING ON A CALIFORNIA KING MATTRESS BETWEEN JOHN B AND MARA.

after leaving the church, the trio had snuck into one of the melville's family friend's real estate listings, the three making themselves at home in the luxurious, unoccupied house.

however, the night proved to be one of little rest, as every time a cop car would drive by, emery or john b would jolt awake, the other rushing to comfort them. mara, however actually slept well despite the ordeal going on with the two petrified teens next to her. emery had always joked she could sleep through a hurricane- which turned out to be true when agatha hit.

emery could hear someone talking outside the window, leaning over mara's still figure to peer through the blinds. the girl saw a parked cop car, as well as two sheriff's deputies standing outside the
house.

"shit, shit- guys! wake the hell up." emery whisper-yelled, shoving both mara and john b awake.

"change your tampon and come back, it's too early for this shit." mara groaned.

"mar, the cops are here." emery gritted, john b and mara both suddenly alert.

"what the hell do we do?" john b whispered, emery quickly standing up. she ushered for john b and mara to follow her. as they were going down the stairs, the cops began to knock on the door. emery motioned for the back, quickly unlocking and relocking the doorknob, the three teens all running down the dock towards the water.

"grab a board, come on!" emery urged, all the teens grabbing paddle boards and laying on their stomachs, trying to appear as discreet as possible as they used their arms to paddle with the current, the hot outer banks sun beaming down on their backs. emery was regretting her cargo pants more and more every day, and was contemplating cutting them into shorts next time they were with jj and the others and had access to the maybank's pocket knife.

"what do we do now?" mara whispered. the house was out of sight now, but talking above a whisper felt dangerous, almost. it was like they were being watched, like the cops were around every corner, like just when they thought they were safe, that they had made it out, their cover would be blown.

"the boat ramp. it has to be almost noon by now, it'll take us forever to get there at this rate." emery mumbled, mara nodding, the girl laying flat on her board as she and emery began paddling again, but john b was going the opposite direction.

"john, what're you doing?" mara asked, john b shaking his head.

"guys, i have to go home." he stated bluntly.

"b, you can't." emery said firmly.

"emery, the gold from crain's house is there. that's all i have left of my dad-"

"i don't care, jb!" emery shouted, john b falling silent as he fought his jaw from hanging slack at the girl's outburst- she hasn't been actually mad at him in months. but something in her eyes told him that she was serious. "if you go to your house and you get caught, then then last forty eight hours of me putting my ass on the line to try and get you out of here was for nothing!"

"emery, we're gonna need the money in mexico!" the routledge boy snapped. "i'll meet you both at the boat ramp, just- please let me do this." john b pleaded, emery glancing at john b and then to mara, unease clear in her gaze, but eventually sighed.

"fine. but if you get caught, i will come to the sheriff's department myself and personally beat your ass." emery deadpanned, but a hint of a joking tone was still present in her voice, john b grinning at her a little.

"yes ma'am." he said confidently, staring to paddle towards the chateau again, emery and mara going towards the boat ramp.

"do you think they actually got the boat?" mara asked, emery shrugging.

"it's jj, i'm almost positive they got the boat." emery stated bluntly, but mara didn't look so sure.

"he would've had to go home, emery. what if luke was there?" mara asked, the melville shaking her head.

"don't even think like that- my mom would've called by now if jj wasn't okay." emery stated, mara stopping suddenly.

"you did get your phone out of the bedroom, didn't you?" she confirmed, emery's face paling. "emery- shit!"

but suddenly, emery started laughing, pulling her phone out of her pocket as she leaned her head back, hysterical cackles overtaking her body.

"that isn't funny!" mara yelped, clearly not pleased with the situation, emery only grinning at her.

"come on, it's kind of funny." she tried, both girls starting to paddle again in silence.

"it was a little funny." mara whispered, turning to emery and smirking.

"i'm like, the epitome of comedy." emery said though laughter, mara shaking her head.

"no, you're not." she tried, but couldn't contain her own laughter.

they felt thirteen again, when they used to surf until their legs hurt, and until they had gone so long without reapplying sunscreen they thought their sunburn would never fade, despite it turning tan within a couple days every time. how they would come inside to see that amelia had been on the mainland and gotten them a tub of ice cream for that night's sleepover, and she'd tell them to call jj and john b to come over for that night- she never ever thought negatively about the boys' company.

they felt the same way they had felt before the treasure hunt. before john b was wanted for murder. before jackson was back on the island. before emery had witnessed a murder.

they felt normal.

unfortunately, the sight of the boat beginning unhooked from the boat trailer in the water brought them back to real life, the two girls perking up as jj, kiara, pope, and ainsley came into view.

"guys!" mara yelled, their heads all snapping up as emery and mara paddled to the shore. jj met them at the bank, tugging mara into a hug as soon as she stepped onto the dirt, taking both girls by surprise.

"what the hell did i miss?" emery mumbled as she helped pope push the boat off the trailer, jj still holding onto mara tightly.

"don't ever do that again." he whispered. "don't ever run off like that again."

"i'm fine." mara assured, pulling away from jj and pushing his hair out of his face. "i'm okay."

"we thought you guys were pinched." ainsley stated bluntly, carrying a yeti cooler down the dock, she and emery loading it onto the boat.

"where's john b?" kiara asked.

"he said he was gonna go to the chateau, he wanted the gold from crain's." emery explained.

"you guys let him?" jj asked, finally letting go of mara as he looked at emery with wide eyes.

"arguing with john b is like trying to reason to a toddler why they can't have candy before dinner." emery deadpanned. "now give me your knife, these pants are killing me."

jj did as he was told, passing emery his pocket knife as the girl began to cut at the fabric on her leg, careful not to cut into her skin as she made her way around, doing her best to keep the cuts even.

"have you heard from levi?" pope asked emery, who was suddenly mentally cursing herself out for forgetting to stop at her house and get her anxiety meds before the trip. she bit her lip, shaking her head.

"he and i haven't talked since john b told us about jackson." she mumbled, starting to cut the other leg of her pants off, checking to make sure the legs of her newly fashioned pair of shorts would work before she pulled both pant-legs off her body, tossing them onto the dock and passing jj's knife back, the maybank boy clicking the blade shut and shoving it in his pocket, motioning for emery to follow him.

"what's up?" she asked quietly, despite them being out of earshot of the others.

"i just... i haven't gotten to have an actual conversation with you since i found out about you and amelia and... just everything." jj stated, emery nodding and looking at him intently to show she was listening.

"seems a little messed up that you finally got a family and now im going to mexico." emery stated, attempting to add a joking tone as a way to lighten the mood, but jj only nodded bitterly.

"look, ems, even before we knew all this about your mom's affair and my dad being your dad and all of that shit- you've always been a sister to me. always. and i care about you, and i want you to stay more than anything- i know you're not going to, and im not asking you too- but there's only two other people who mean that much to me and john b is one of them- emery, please don't hurt him." jj practically pleaded, emery's eyebrows folding together in confusion.

"wait- who's the other person?" she asked, jj looking at her like she had said the sky was purple.

"what?"

"you said that there were two other people you cared about as much as you care about me, and one of them is john b- is it a girl?" emery asked, now grinning widely as she had found a new way to taunt jj and hopefully bring his mood up before her and john b's departure.

"emery- ems, shut the hell up!" jj gritted. emery's voice had raised a considerable amount, the question having come out of her mouth at more of a squeal than an actual question, and emery turned to see mara and ainsley looking at them with raised eyebrows, her jaw falling slightly as she connected the dots in her head.

"it's mara." she said, smiling widely as she pointed at jj, beginning to jump up and down enthusiastically. "it's mara! mara's the other person!"

"emery- shut up!" jj demanded, the girl stopping herself from jumping anymore but still smiling at him.

"you're very lucky i can keep a secret." she said, and jj opened his mouth to reply, but an approaching police siren cut off his sentence before he could even start.

"shit- get in the boat- guys! untie it!" jj yelled, pulling emery over to the boat as the car stopped.

"no way!" mara yelled, making emery and jj turn just in time to see john b climbing out of the driver's seat of the boat.

"are you shitting me?" emery yelled, jumping off the boat and practically throwing herself at john b, who picked her up and spun her around in a circle as her legs wrapped around his torso.

"shoupe let me take it for a spin." he said nonchalantly as emery let go of him, the two strolling towards the boat as john b hugged his remaining friends.

"i'll believe that, for now." kiara said, jj stepping forward as mara walked over to emery.

"got room for one more?" she whispered, emery turning to her in disbelief.

"are you serious?" she asked. "you're going to willingly third-wheel me and john b for two months?"

"first of all, it's quality time with my mom and dad." mara corrected the melville girl. "second, absolutely i'm serious."

"hey, i found a hitchhiker on the side of the road!" emery called to john b, pointing at mara.

"wait- you're going too?" jj asked, suddenly concerned.

"yeah, why not?" mara asked, jj attempting to brush it off, like it had nothing to do with him being worried for mara's safety or the girl meeting someone else in mexico, or the fact that he might never get to tell her how he felt about her.

"just, y'know, we didn't pack enough food for a third person." jj stated. "not enough life jackets, just general stuff."

"there's four life jackets in here." john b deadpanned. "and there's probably enough food here to last all three of us the two months we're gonna be in mexico."

"besides, it'll be fun, i haven't been to mexico in forever." mara stated as though mexico was the standard weekend trip- which in all fairness, it was for her.

"just get on the boat." emery said, starting to climb on herself.

"mar, wait!" jj called right before the girl got on the boat, stopping herself from stepping onto the edge of the small ship, turning to face jj, who was speed-walking towards her.

"what're-" mara started, but was cut off when jj cupped her face, pulling her towards him and pressing his lips to hers. the kiss was soft, but mara could tell jj meant it, that he didn't see her as someone to be a one-summer hookup, that he was someone who would care about her.

she just had to make it to mexico first.

the two pulled apart, both smiling like idiots. emery and john b exchanged a glance, the two beginning to clap, hands above their heads as they whooped in support of their best friends.

"okay- now that that's done, i'm actually really sad i'm leaving now." emery stated, the spark of happiness everyone had felt in their moment of reunion snuffed out suddenly.

"hey-" john b started, eyes welled up with tears since emery brought up them leaving, the boy covering his mouth to stop the sob that threatened to escape if he didn't. "i'm sorry for basically throwing us off a cliff with this whole treasure hunt."

"i'm sorry for calling you a backstabber." emery said to ainsley, who had an arm slung around kie and another around pope, the four remaining pogues on the dock all with tears in their eyes. "and a bitch. and a whore." emery added, everyone laughing tearfully.

"hey, i mean, we were bound to run off a cliff at some point, right?" jj asked john b.

"and to be fair, i did sleep with rafe cameron." ainsley said to emery, everyone looking down as emery wiped under her eyes.

"okay- now please get out of here!" kiara urged, john b starting the boat.

"remember- cross the border at brownsville." jj reminded john b, the boy only being able to nod as he steered the boat backwards from the ramp, the pogues watching either from the dock or the boat as their friends slowly faded into small dots in the distance.

watching as their friends slowly disappeared into the glaring sun over the water.

watching as their friends disappeared to a completely different life.

kens speaks 🪐

i'm just on a grind today, first euphoria and now this??

mara had to wait FAR too long for her and jj's kiss but i hope the dramatic moment was worth it