PARADISE ON EARTH | jj maybank (DISCONTINUED)

1.31

read a/n at bottom <3

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LAURA AND JJ SAT in the boat, awaiting the arrival of Sarah and John B. Her knee was bouncing anxiously, and her mind was racing. JJ was glancing back and forth from the brunette girl and the driveway, waiting for the two.

"Dude, where is he?" Kiara asked frustratedly, continuing to pace the dock.

Pope sighed, "Give him a second. He'll be here."

"He's coming. He'll be fine." Sad JJ, grabbing the tarp that covered the boat and moving it.

The same sound they've been hearing was heard, and the five turned to see a police car pulling up to the dock. JJ and Laura shared a look, before she hopped off the boat, and walked over to Briar.

"JJ?" Kiara asked anxiously.

"Hey, yeah. Get back on the boat. Untie it." The blonde replied.

Laura groaned, "I just got off the boat." Which in return Briar shoved her slightly with a smile.

But once the car door opened, it wasn't what they were expecting. There stood John B in the same clothes he's been in for the past day or two. It was getting hard to count now.

"Wait. No way. You've gotta be kidding me. " JJ said, smiling.

Pope snickered. "No effing way."

John B walked over, a fake smile resting on his face. "Shoupe let me take it for a spin."

Laura walked to her brother, "Okay, sure. I'll buy that for now." She said, hugging him tightly receiving the same motion from John B.

"It wasn't easy, bro, but I got the Phantom for you, and she runs like she was made yesterday." JJ threw the keys to John B. "You ready to go?"

"Where's Sarah?" John B asked, wearily. "We got separated in the swamp. She said she was gonna meet me here."

Briar nodded her head no, "No, we haven't seen her."

"Okay, well, I'm not leaving without her." John B replied, frustrated.

"John B, look at me. I know you feel bad for leaving, but there's no time, man. You've got plenty of gas, plenty of food. Once you get around that point, it's a straight shot around the sound to Dismal Swamp, okay?

"Once you get there, lay low, all right? Hang out for a couple of weeks and then go overland, cross the border at Brownsville, you got that? Brownsville. You– Hey! You got that?" JJ instructed.

"Yeah, yeah. Brownsville." John B replied, looking up at the boat.

JJ put a hand on his shoulder, "All right. Saddle her up, saltwater cowboy. Let's do this. Yeah."

Before John B got the chance to climb into the boat, Laura grabbed him by the shoulder and hugged. She didn't know how long it was going to be until she saw him again. He hugged her back just as tightly. "I love you." Laura whispered.

"I love you, too."

Finally, he climbed into the boat. "Hey. Hey. I'm sorry for basically... throwing us off a cliff with this whole treasure hunt thing."

"Hey, John B, yo... we were bound to run off a cliff at some point, right?" JJ asked, chuckling, trying to lift the mood. "At least we did it together, though. Pogue style." JJ hugged the four around him.

"Pogue style." John B smiled while holding back his tears.

"Get out of here! Please." Kiara said.

"Now. We'll see you in two months, down in Mexico." Pope added.

"Love you." JJ yelled at him.

John B paused, and turned back around, "Hey, wait– wait a second. Tell Sarah I said goodbye, okay?"

The five started helping push the boat out, watching John B. JJ wrapped an arm around Laura's shoulder, while she rested her head on his shoulder. And finally, John B was off.

JJ, Laura, and Briar made their way off the dock while Pope and Kiara stayed in their same positions. The three stayed quiet, not really knowing how to make any conversation right now. And usually JJ could talk about anything. But they all just lost a good friend for a few months.

Laura turned back around to see Pope and Kiara kissing, which she was not expecting at all. She turned to look at JJ and Briar, and they both had confused looks as well.

"Hey, guys, I'm sorry to ruin the party, but, uh, we gotta go right now. Come on!" JJ said due to the police sirens they heard yet again.

As they started walking back to Kiar's car, multiple cars pulled up. They all put their hands up as the cops started telling them to do so.

"We're too late. He's gone. God damn it!" Shoupe yelled in frustration. "Bratcher, have your guys stand down. Let me talk to these kids. All right, where the hell is he?"

"JJ. I see you're livin' up to your name. Pope, how 'bout you? This isn't a fucking game! You can do the right thing now! Where'd he go?"

The five stayed quiet, not knowing what to do or say at the moment. Cops grabbed them, leading them to two separate cop cars. Laura, JJ, and Pope in one, and Briar and Kiara in the other.

They arrived at the set up they had by the water, and got instructed to get out of the cars. "Right to your left here." Shoupe said, leading the way.

Laura sat down in between JJ and Briar. Shoupe came and stood right in front of them. "Sit down, don't move. We got a lot to talk about."

Laura's knee was bouncing anxiously again, awaiting any news on anything at the point. JJ rested a hand on her knee softly, trying to get her to calm down. Which worked for a while.

The storm was getting worse every moment, which caused her to start panicking again, knowing that John B and Sarah were out there. Laura looked over at Briar, seeing her looking out at the water, trying to hold back tears.

She hadn't said a word since they left the dock.

Shoupe walked back into the tent, followed by two other deputies. He took off the hood of his jacket, looking at the teens. They all stood up, walking over.

"Did you find them?" Briar asked quietly.

"No."

"So they got away?" Kiara asked, looking back and forth between her friends.

"We, uh... we lost them. I'm sorry." Shoupe said, dropping his gaze for a brief moment.

"You lost them? What do you mean you lost them? Like, they're gone? What are you talking about?" Pope asked frantically, getting mad.

Shoupe looked up at the boy, "They took an open boat into a tropical depression, Pope."

"So they're dead?" Kiara asked.

"We don't know."

JJ walked up, "You drove them straight through the storm, man! Are you kidding me? Come here! I'm gonna kill you!" He got pulled off of Shoupe by a deputy, but was still fuming.

"You killed him!" Laura yelled, finally allowing the tears to fall. "He didn't kill anyone and you know it!"

Kiara, Pope, and Briar's parents walked in, immediately walking to their own kids, ignoring the two on the sidelines.

Laura grabbed JJ by the shirt, pulling him into a hug, letting out a sob. This isn't what she wanted for him, but now she had no family left.

----

that's the end of act one :)

i've been drilling myself to get this done, so i'm taking a small break to hopefully get back on track with writing. i do already have some chapters done, but i want to go through and make sure they're publish ready.

i honestly appreciate the people who have read this far, but it's not over yet :)