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CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR Dear Bird ‿︵‿︵‿︵
(PRESENT)
She scrunched up her nose in disgust.
"That bread had mold on it three days ago" Pope grimaced, sharing a look with Avery who was leaned against the countertop besides the blond boy.
"Just pull off the bad parts, you'll be fine" She sarcastically said, ruffling JJ's hair as he continued to spread the peanut butter over the dry, patchy slice of bread.
"Yeah. Plus, mold is good for you. It's just a natural organism" He shrugged, processing to sandwich the two slices and eagerly follow Avery, joining the others around the table.
Not even a second after he bit into the sandwich, the boy let out a gag and spat the mouthful into his palm. As he turned on his heels to bin the whole thing, Avery and Pope glanced at each other, the girl scoffed a laugh. Her eyes were drawn back to the large envelope in John B hands, watching him peel it open and pull out a folded map, unraveling it to place it down in front of him.
"Holy shit" The brunet blurted out, his eyes scanning over the map.
"Oh, X marks the spot" Pope pointed at the thick cross marked on the paper.
John B shortly spotted the rest of the small notes scribbled around, running his finger over them, "longitude, latitude. Wait, there's something else in there"
Her lips parted and a light frown rested on her face as she looked at the tape recorder in his hands. JJ dumbly asked what it was, getting his answer from Kiara, making Avery snuffle a smile as she rested her chin on his shoulder. He was hunched over the table with his palms pressed down on the surface, allowing her to find a comfortable position as she rested her cheek against him.
John B pressed the button, turning on a little red light as it switched on. A voice came through, "dear bird"
"Who's bird?" JJ questioned.
"That's what my dad called me" His friend quietly replied.
"I hate to say, I told you so, but I told you so. And you doubted your old man. I suspect at this moment, you're filled with guilt and self loathing over our last fight, but don't kill yourself just yet, kid" Big John's voice came from the speaker, crackling ever so slightly.
Her heart dropped at the sound of him. She never doubted him, or John B, but it was strange to have got this far. Avery unfortunately was brought back to the moment she found the first trace for her mother, the stack of envelopes hiding in her father's drawer. She discovered all the stories that wanted to be told but instead, they were shut away, taken from her.
"I didn't expect to find the Merchant either," The words sounding from the recorder brought her back to reality. Her body leaned further into JJ's side, intrigued and confused at what John B's father was saying. "Wasn't exactly Father of the Decade. What can I say, kid? I could smell the barn. And hopefully, we're listening to this in our brand new sugar-shack down in Costa Rica, livin' off passive investments and pulling on permits. If not, and you find this for less than optimal reasons, well, that's what the map is for"
"The Merchant" Avery mumbled out loud, lifting her head from JJ's shoulder to lean over, hovering her finger over the marked cross.
"There she is, the wreck of the Merchant. If somethin' happens to me, finish what I started. Go for the gold, kid. I love you, Bird, even if I didn't always act like it. I'll see you on the other side"
Static crackled on the tape, leaving the teens staring at it for a prolonged second. John B's finger subconsciously flicked it off, cutting the static sound off and silence fell around them. Avery stumbled at his sudden movement, bumping her back against JJ as she stepped out of the way. She carefully watched her friend stand for his chair and stumble, grabbing the doorframe. Her heart cracked at the sound of a whimper.
"Holy shit, he did it" JJ blurted out without thinking, still wrapping his head around what they had just discovered. "Big John– he found the Merchant"
"Can you— can you please?" Kiara mumbled, her own eyes were sparkling with tears.
Stepping over to her friend, Avery walked around to face him, her lips quivering at the sight of his damp cheeks. She stepped closer to him and wrapped her fingers softly around his wrist, pulling his grip off of the frame and ducked slightly.
John B allowed her to wiggle her away into his body, dropping his arm around her shoulders and letting his head fall into the crook of her neck. She snaked her arms around him, one around his torso and the other around his shoulder, resting her hand on the back of his head.
The sight was painful. Avery was trying her best to make it up to John B. She carried a lot of guilt, thinking about how she left him like his father. She should have been there, stayed with him. Like Kiara said, she shamefully didn't consider him when she disappeared. And they also knew that she greatly sympathised with him, fully knowing what it felt like, her mother made her feel the same way.
In the moment, Kiara recognised that. Looking at the cradled blonde, she saw her old best friend, their Avery. For so long, she had refused to let herself forgive her because she was still healing from the past, trying her best to either banish or move on from it. As she stalked over to the pair, wrapping herself around John B from behind, she didn't fight the urge to cover Avery's hand that laid on the boy's shoulder blade with her own.
Without hesitation, Avery entwined her fingers with Kiara's and felt her reciprocate the action.
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AUTHORS NOTE! okay this one was emotional. i love them so much. kiara and avery's progress is going so well and i can't wait to write more of them. not to mention jovery being #1 brotp *sniffles*
