PARADISE ON EARTH | jj maybank (DISCONTINUED)

1.14

LAURA AND JJ WERE still sitting down on the ground, enjoying the movie. Laura was slightly leaned into him, but not wanting to make it too obvious that she was trying to sit that close to the blonde.

The two had never acted awkward around each other. Something felt different between the two recently and the entire group could feel it. Weirdly enough, they were the two most confident in the group yet both were too nervous to do anything.

Laura rested her head on JJ's shoulder, her eyes feeling droopy. A light blush covered her cheeks, and she was silently thanking god that it was dark outside now.

From behind the two, Kiara and Pope shared a look not knowing if this was their usual best friend behavior or if it were something more. But it wasn't their issue so they brushed it off.

"LB, I'll be right back." JJ said quietly. Laura nodded her head before lifting it and looking at the two boys who got up.

"Hey, where y'all going?" Kiara asked before she got the chance to.

"We gotta wring it out." JJ replied.

"You gonna hold it for each other?" Kiara asked, causing Laura to hold in a laugh.

Laura watched as the two boys walked through rows of people, until Kiara leaned forward and asked, "Alright, what the hell is going on between you two?"

"What?"

"You and JJ." Kiara asked. Laura sighed, before getting up and sitting in the chair next to the other girl.

"I don't know, Kiara. This is weird. We never talk about this stuff." Laura said, chuckling.

"You're right. Let's stop before it gets awkward." Kiara said, then the two started laughing quietly.

"It already has, Kie."

After a while, Laura started getting worried since it had been longer than it should for the two to get back. She turned around, seeing that the three Kooks weren't in their seats.

"Shit." Laura stood up, and immediately started walking to find the two boys. As she did so, she grabbed JJ's bag.

"Laura, what the hell?" Kiara asked, immediately getting up and following the brunette.

Laura ignored her, walking around behind the large screen, finding JJ and Pope getting beat up by Rafe, Topper, and Kelce. Before she knew it, Kiara grabbed the bag and continuously hit Topper with it.

"Let go of him, Topper! Fascist asshole!" Kiara yelled, until Topper grabbed it from her and threw it behind Pope.

Laura froze seeing Rafe continuously punching JJ, and then Kiara jumping onto Topper's back trying to get him to stop punching Pope. Tears began welling in her eyes watching as Rafe grabbed Kiara and threw her to the ground.

"Stay out of this, Kiara!" Rafe said, before continuing what he was doing.

Laura bent down and opened the bag, grabbing the gun. She took a moment to decide what to do, then felt the lighter in the bag as well. Laura looked up at Kiara, who looked scared. She crawled over to the corner of the screen, before lighting it on fire.

"Kelce, let go of JJ!" Laura yelled. Once the Kooks were gone, Laura ran over and hugged JJ tightly.

"You're an idiot, LB." JJ said, hugging her back just as tight.

"I saved your ass." She replied, laughing into his chest. "Let's go."

Laura and JJ decided to go back to her house, him not wanting to go home in case his dad was there which was completely understandable.

The second they got back to the house, Laura fell onto the couch, very tired. JJ sat down next to her, closing his eyes, immediately drifting off.

"Don't fall asleep yet, I have to somehow find a way to clean those damn cuts." Laura said, standing up, beginning to search for a first aid kit or something to help with the open cuts.

"It's fine, LB. It's late so why don't you just sleep?" JJ replied, still sitting up with his eyes closed.

"Because those can get infected."

"And you let your own cuts go without cleaning them." He replied, opening his eyes to see the look on her face, which he found amusing.

"You're an idiot, JJ."

The next day, the two met up with Kiara and Pope at Heyward's. "Don't let it get in your head. Three of them and two of us. That's some typical Kook shit right there."

"Hell, yeah." Kiara responded.

"What was your thought process, using your head?" JJ asked Pope. Laura tried to block out what had happened the previous night as they continued to talk.

"I don't know, man. I kind of acted on instinct. I was a cornered animal." Pope replied. Laura just nodded her head, leaning over the counter.

"Hey, Pope, someone here to see you." Heyward said, walking inside. The cops followed behind him, and Laura immediately stood up straight.

"Evening, officer."

"I have an arrest warrant for felony destruction of property. Put your hands on the counter where I can see 'em." Shoupe said.

"Whoa. Shoupe, what'd he do?" Heyward asked, confused.

Laura stepped over towards JJ, "What the hell?" She whispered. All he did was shrug his shoulders.

Shoupe walked over to Pope and immediately put his arms behind his back. "You're arresting him?!" Kiara asked, raising her voice slightly.

They all started yelling at Shoupe as he started walking out with Pope. They followed them outside, trying to get to Pope but they continuously got shoved back. Laura was trying to think of a solution, then just blurted out, "It was me!"

"Yeah, it was me." Laura said again to confirm what was coming out of her mouth. They all looked at her like she was crazy. "He tried to talk me out of it, but I was just really pissed off with the way they had been treating my friends recently... I finally lost control."

"Pope... You can't take the blame for something I did." Laura finished off.

"Actually Shoupe, it was me." JJ said, cutting the girl off. "Laura was planning on doing it but I didn't want her getting in trouble-

"It was both of us, Shoupe." Laura said, cutting off JJ and taking a step in front of him. "I'm telling the truth." She said, giving Pope a reassuring look.

"You know where we're from." JJ said, looking at Shoupe.

"Yeah."

"This was all us." JJ looked to Pope.

"That's the whole truth?" Shoupe said, looking at Pope for an answer. He hesitated for a few moments, looking around for an answer. Laura gave him a nod, hiding a sad smile.

"Whole truth, swear to God." JJ replied for him.

"I know what you think, dammit. I'm asking Pope."

"Yeah, that about covers it." He said, looking down. Laura let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding.

The two immediately got handcuffed and put in the back of the truck. The door slammed, and they were off. Laura was careful, never expecting to get arrested. But she couldn't let one of her friends who was most likely to be successful get arrested.

Laura was anxious the entire time, staying quiet and looking out the window. The view of the plain, white building was making her almost regretful. Shoupe got them out, and led them to a cell, surprisingly putting them in the same one.

Shoupe undid the handcuffs, then closed the door, leaving them be. Laura sat down, staring at the wall across from her.

"What the hell did we do?"