fire and gold | jj maybank

One

The last days of summer flew by as Addison and her friends adjusted to their new normal.

The search for a sign that John B and Sarah had either perished in or survived the storm had turned up fruitless.  Pieces of the boat had been discovered but no bodies had been recovered. To the Pogues, it seemed like their friends weren't a priority to law enforcement.

Their disappearance felt unreal to Addison; she tried to stay optimistic in hopes that her friends had made it to safety and that they would be reunited in the future.

Pope wielded an axe and JJ held a blowtorch and broken fire poker in his hands. The biggest and thickest of trees in the yard, of the home that belonged to their old friend, would soon be the site of a memorial just for them.

It was to belong solely to the Pogues. The site would be sacred. Pope hacked at the bark of the tree with the axe, slowly forming the shape of a heart.

Kiara's eyes were glossy with tears as she watched the memorial get made. Addison put her arms around Kiara and gave her a hug.

Once the heart was completed, it was JJ's turn to add to the tree.

The blond boy used the blowtorch to heat the iron, burning letters and numbers into the wood.

Addison's heart broke as JJ finished John B's name.

'John B Routledge. P4L.' was what had been decided on for their tribute. Pogues for Life—after everything that had happened, the dream of going full kook was no more. None of them wanted to ever be like the many terrible people from Figure Eight. Kiara was the only tie left to Kook life as Thomas Schuyler had been arrested. Addison no longer had a foot in both doors, nor did she want to.

Her monster of a father had been arrested and placed in jail for abuse and kidnapping of his daughter. What wasn't on the list of charges he had faced? Aiding in the death of the late Sheriff Peterkin and Big John. No one on the force knew of the reason as to why Peterkin was at the airstrip that day and Ward was determined to keep it that way.

Despite the testaments that tied Rafe to being the one who fired the fatal shot, her murder was still being investigated. Ward was still out, roaming freely on the island. His lawyer fought tooth and nail against the allegations of Ward and Rafe's involvement in Peterkin's death. The only people who had witnessed the shooting were Rafe, Ward, Thomas, Addison, John B, and Sarah. With two of six witnesses gone, it was Addison against the three men. Thomas did nothing to help his daughter's case, as he had disowned her. And the Cameron's lawyer was dead set on discrediting Addison's version of the events. He pinned her as an unreliable witness due to the trauma she had gone through.

Once the branding was done, the blond joined his friends and his girlfriend.

"To John B." JJ spoke as he raised his silver flask to the air. Ever since John B disappeared, JJ kept a flask in his pocket at all times. Alcohol was his way to cope.

"And to Sarah." Kiara added quietly, her voice wavering slightly as she was on the verge of tears.

Addison didn't trust her voice enough to speak, she didn't want the dam to break. JJ's arm wrapped around her waist as he pulled her closer, and rested his head on hers. Although John B's disappearance took its toll on all of the Pogues, it hit JJ and Addison the hardest as they'd been friends with him the longest. Addison had a hard time grieving after everything she'd been through. John B was like a brother to her, especially after Alec's "death" when she had no brother figure in her life.

JJ remained as strong as he could for her. He had to remain strong for all of his friends.

In silence, JJ took a drink from his flask and Pope followed suit with his can of beer.