𝐇𝐈𝐃𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐅𝐄𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒, 𝗉𝗈𝗉𝖾 𝗁𝖾𝗒𝗐𝖺𝗋𝖽

25: 𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚑

The next day after the events with JJ after reuniting with him, the blonde had seemed to be better now as the four still found themselves at the Chateau in the backyard. The youngest Carrera sister found herself kind of sitting in a metal bucket as it had been lifted up to a tree, both Kiara and Pope watching as she held onto the ropes.

A few feet away from them, JJ sat at the edge of the hot tub, or the Cat's Ass, his bare feet inside the water of the tub, the blonde occasionally taking sips of the alcohol he had set to the side. The lights had all been turned off as the sun was up instead of the usual white moon in the sky. As he stood beside Kie, Pope watched Y/n with a smile, seeing a small smile on her face.

John B had been nowhere to be seen, making them a little worried, especially Y/n, Pope and Kiara. The brunette had told them he was going fishing with Ward early in the morning, but it was already late in the afternoon which they knew he should've been done fishing with Sarah's father by now. Hopefully, he would turn up soon the Pogues kept thinking.

"I got my scholarship interview tomorrow morning. We gotta get this done!" Pope ushers his friends.

Just as he says this, John B suddenly comes stomping through, not even giving any of his friends a glance as he kept his eyes trained forward. The Routledge boy held a blank expression, not even taking the notice of the lights and the hot tub in his backyard now.

"Dude, I set up the entire winch to pull up the gold and everything." JJ informs, lying.

"No, he did not. I did that." Pope corrects.

The four exchange confused glances when he storms straight past them and into the house before following after him. The teenagers watch as their friend almost ruined up their houses in search of something, trying to speak to him but he doesn't say a word to either of them, just continuing to search. Eventually, the boy lifts up the pillows on the sofa-bed, bringing out JJ's gun.

"John B, what do you need the gun for?" JJ questions, stepping towards him.

The brunette, however, didn't like this when the blonde tried to stop him as he roughly shoves JJ onto the sofa-bed, storming off. However, Pope stands in the boys way, only to be shoved against a table as John B stomps back outside. Y/n quickly checks on Pope before they all rush out just in time to see their friend seating himself on a motorbike.

"Ward knows about the gold." John B finally speaks up and glancing over at them. "He killed my dad."

With that, he drives off, leaving his friends behind and ignoring their shouts as they all chased after him, but stopped when they realized they were too slow to continue following him as he was on a motorbike.

***

Night had now, once again, came to the island as the four Pogues found themselves standing in the HMS Pogue by the docks near the Cameron residence. After him storming out, the four had decided to go and search for John B, hoping they could find him anywhere. Both Kiara and Y/n had tried to contact to Sarah, but she wasn't answering.

"What now?" JJ asks. "We just go up to the front door and ask, "Hey, have you seen John B"?"

"Look, he lives at Tannyhill now." Y/n reminds. "It's plausible."

"We can play dumb." Kie adds.

"It's pretty late." Pope states.

"Look, I've never seen John B like that. We should honestly be going to the cops." Kie tells them.

"Yeah, and say what, Kie? We're worried about our friend because he's going off on a rampage because Ward Cameron killed Big John?" JJ questions. "Like, they're not gonna believe us!"

"Hey, I see Ward." Pope announces, looking through a pair of binoculars. "Doesn't look dead to me. Let's go home."

The others glance at him with wide eyes. "What?"

"Uh... Okay. Obviously, Mr. Cameron is fine, and even if John B was here, he isn't now, okay? Plus, I have the biggest, most important moment of my life in six hours." Pope reminds, referring to his interview.

"Yeah, well, our friend is in trouble." Y/n fires back.

"I'm in trouble." Pope argues. "Guys, I haven't been home in three days. My dad's probably put all my shit on the street by now."

"Okay, so that's it? In a time of need, you're just gonna bail? You're just gonna walk away?" Kie asks.

"Okay, yo, guys, can we not do this right now?" JJ intervenes, feeling awkward all of a sudden.

Pope glances between the sisters, gaze staying on Y/n. "Hey, I have a scholarship interview in the morning. I can't--"

"Okay, well, what about John B?" Kie cuts him off.

Pope rolls his eyes. "Why is it always about John B?"

"It's not always about John B. You're so stupid. It would be any of you in this situation." Kie informs.

"Oh, bullshit!" Pope exclaims.

"Guys--" JJ starts.

Both JJ and Y/n stood there together, awkwardly as they watched the two grow angry with one another. Y/n had stopped say anything as she knew Pope was right. He needed to get back home for his interview tomorrow morning. She just wished her older sister could see it that way as well. But, unfortunately, she didn't.

"This is about friendship. This is about Pogues for life." Kie continues, raising her voice higher.

Pope raises a brow. "What about forensic pathology, huh? It's my life. Everything I've worked for."

"Forensic pathology? That's your priority?" Kie questions.

"Stop with the moral high ground bullshit." Pope demands.

Kie raises her brows. "Excuse me?"

"You have no room to talk. Where were you when Big John went missing? You weren't there. You weren't there for John B. You weren't there for any of us. At least Y/n tried to be there more than you." Pope snaps, remembering back to when Y/n would try to take time out of her day to comfort them. "Remember your Kook year? Yeah, you forgot about us. Now you feel guilty. But, Y/n, even when you were both moping about losing your Kook best friend, she was there, unlike you."

Almost immediately after, Kie lunges at him and starts shoving him, both arguing back and forth to where JJ and Y/n quickly cut in, getting both of them on either sides of the boat. As the blonde begins driving, offering to drop Pope off, Y/n glances between the two people she cares about, thinking of which to go to. First off, she walks to her sister.

"Hey, Kie, it's alright." Y/n assures, wrapping an arm around her sister's shoulders. "It'll be fine. Pope's just stressed about the interview. We all are."

Kie nods in response. "Yeah."

Leaning forward, the youngest Carrera sister gives the oldest Carrera sister a hug before they eventually pull away. Standing to her feet, Y/n walks past JJ and towards Pope, seating herself beside him as he looks down at his feet.

"What do you want?" Pope asks, rather harshly Y/n noticed.

"We'll go find John B ourselves, alright? You just worry about your interview tomorrow morning." Y/n tells him, resting a hand on his shoulder.

Pope finally looks at her. "Really? Are you sure?"

Y/n nods, giving him a little smile. "Pope, this is your future. There's no way I'm gonna interfere with that. You deserve to go off to college and live your dreams. Besides, one of has to do something."

Pope couldn't help but smile at her words as she opens up her arms. Instantly, he wraps his arms around her waist, both of them sharing a tight hug, not even bothering to let go at the moment.