Gold Digger// JJ Maybank- OBX

thirty nine

THE VISIT to the hospital was hell, and Scarlett had to use her dad's money to pay for the stitches she received. She hated every moment of it, but she was glad she was no longer bleeding. And she was glad that JJ stayed by her side. When they made it back to the Château, John B and Sarah were still awake. The boys sat on the porch, keeping watch while the girls stayed inside. After changing into a fresh shirt, Scarlett joined Sarah on the pull-out couch. The two girls laid next to each other, though neither could sleep. Despite the painkillers the hospital had given her, Scarlett still had a lot of pain in her arm. And both girls were still too scared of Rafe turning up again to actually sleep.

After a few hours, dawn eventually came and the Pogues grabbed some of their things before running down to the dock. "Finally. Hey!" JJ yelled out as Kiara and Pope pulled up. Kiara climbed out of the boat, readying herself to tying it to the jetty. "Guys, don't tie up. Stop it!"

"What?" Kiara asked, pausing her movements as the others ran to the boat.

"We're dipping." JJ said simply, hoisting his backpack onto his shoulder and grabbing Scarlett's hand.

"Why does Lottie have a bandage on her arm?" Pope asked. "What did you do now?"

Scarlett shook her head. "Not us."

"What happened last night?" John B asked, helping Sarah down the jetty. "Where'd you two go?"

"We slept on the break. What's up?" Pope answered, looking concerned.

"Slept, right. Yeah." JJ muttered, slapping Pope on the shoulder as he passed the boy. The blonde climbed into the HMS, before helping Scarlett. "We were up all night."

"Didn't sleep, at all." Scarlett mumbled, holding back a yawn.

"We gotta get the hell out of here." John B stressed, helping Sarah into the boat before climbing in himself.

"Rafe knows we're here, so we have to leave, like, now." Sarah explained.

Kiara's eyes widened in shock. She spun around to face Scarlett. "Is that why you're hurt?"

Scarlett nodded. "Rafe had a gun and was shooting randomly had one of the bullets kinda hit my arm. So JJ and I stole my step-dad's car to go to the hospital."

"Damn." Pope whispered, beginning to untie the boat. "You got shot, again?"

Scarlett shrugged. "Yeah."

"You stole your dad's car?" Kiara exclaimed. "He'll kill you if he finds out."

"He won't." Scarlett told her confidently. "He won't."

⭐⭐⭐

The Pogues sailed to a hidden corner of Kildare Island. They sat in a circle on a few logs under a tree, discussing what to do. "Look, if Rafe and Barry know, it's only a matter of time." Kiara spoke, voicing everyone's thoughts.

"Before everyone knows." Pope added. Scarlett shook her head in disbelief. Everything was going right for them, she should've known it wasn't going to last. It never did.

JJ scoffed, pacing around the outside of their make-shift circle. "I told you. We should've gone south, man." Scarlett looked to her right, seeing Sarah with her gaze fixed on the floor as she pushed back tears. Scarlett scooted closer to her, wrapping her non-injured arm around her friend's shoulder and pulling her into a hug.

"Just stop it." John B shook his head, walking over to the boy.

"Why does no one ever listen?" JJ yelled. He was frustrated. Had they left the island the first chance they got, they wouldn't be in this situation and his girlfriend wouldn't have gotten shot, again. He couldn't help but blame himself for her injury. He hadn't been able to protect her. Not the evening before and not the day on the tarmac.