𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 - 𝐁𝐀𝐁𝐘𝐒 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐌𝐈𝐃𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐒

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Willow sat with a tupperware of warm water and a washcloth waiting for JJ to get home. He had taken the cover for Pope, who sank Topper's boat, and had gotten himself arrested. Their father had already left to pick him up and Willow knew the aftermath wasn't going to be pretty.

She stood up when she heard Luke Maybank walk in the door yelling. She jumped slightly when the bedroom door slammed open and JJ walked in.

"Oh god, JJ..." Willow sighed, tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. "Come here." JJ walked straight into her arms, sobbing lightly when they embraced. When they pulled away, he turned loud music on to drown out their dad and let Willow fix him up to the best of her abilities.

As she cleaned her brothers face, Willow could feel her empty hand clenching into a fist as their fathers words were yelled over the sound of the speaker.

"Don't listen to him," Willow told JJ. "He's a worthless alcoholic. As soon as he's passed out, we'll get out of here.


"Hey, I'm gonna grab my bag from my room and we'll go," Willow whispered as the twins snuck out to the living room, Luke Maybank passed out on the couch. JJ just nodded and continued walking.

When she walked back out, she watched from the doorway as JJ held a gun to their sleeping fathers head. She wat ched him with worried eyes but made no move to stop him. They both thought of it plenty but neither had the guts to actually pull that trigger. Finally, he walked away and put the gun away in his bag before walking out the door, Willow close behind. They both hopped on his bike and left.


JJ snuck behind John B as he walked back to his house and put his hand around his best friends mouth to keep him from being too loud. John B fought back until Willow pulled him away and he realized who it was who snuck up on him.

"What are you doing?" John B hissed.

"Shut up," Willow told him. JJ pulled him towards where they could see an unknown car outside the chateau.

"See that?" JJ asked. "They're watching us, okay?"

"Who?"

"We don't know," Willow sighed. "We're gonna sneak around the dock. Come on." They hitched their bags up closer to their heads and waded through the water towards the dock.

"Wait, wait, wait," JJ suddenly stopped and turned to John B. "You got the keys to the Pogue?"

"Yeah," John B nodded. When they reached it, they all pushed themselves up onto the boat. Willow and JJ worked on untying it while it was John B's job to just drive as quickly as possible.


"First, I almost get strangled to death by Kooks, and now I'm on the hook for 30 grand," JJ said as they hid out. "We should just dip."

"Okay, where do you wanna go? Hm?" John B asked.

"Yucatan."

"Yucatan?" Willow scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"No, I'm dead serious right now," JJ told his sister. "Surf all day, and then we can live off lobsters we catch with our bare hands."

"You just wanna leave cause you got your ass beat?" John B asked.

"You didn't see the photos."

"Think about it. They're willing to kill for the gold, then it's gotta be out there somewhere."

"Have you lost your mind?" JJ shouted. "One hundered years, man! One hundered years, people have been trying to find this Royal Merchant, and no one succeeded. And you think you're gonna be the one that actually finds it? When are you gonna get it through your thick skull. If you keep going down this road, you're gonna end up just like your dad!"

"JJ, come on!" Willow shouted, finally standing up.

"I can't give up, JJ!" John B shouted back, shoving JJ. "Last time I saw that dude, we got into an argument, and then he took all of our rent money and dipped for this Royal Merchant. And then I told him he was a shit father, and you know how the rest of the story goes."

"That wasn't your fault," Willow told him, quietly.

"It doesn't matter whose fault it is, Willow! Do you not understand that? I can't give up on the hunt. I don't care who's out there, who's gonna try to kill us. Do you guys understand that? Look, I've got a plan. You guys coming or what? Four hundered million, JJ. How much do you owe in restitution?"

The Maybank siblings stared at him for a moment before agreeing to go.

"I need a ride anyway," Willow said. "Kie wants me to meet her at Midsummers anyways." It had been their thing. Kiara absolutely hated Midsummers but her parents forced her to go so she decided to make the most of it and invite her best friend in the world.


They stopped the boat on the edge of the small beach away from the ongoing party. Willow carefully stepped out, with John B's help, with her fancy dress on and shoes in her hand. JJ on the other hand was sneaking in as a waiter. Once her feet were planted on the grass she slipped her shoes on and took off to find Kie.

"Hey, sorry I'm late," Willow panted, fixing her hair as she settled in next to Kiara.

"It's okay," Kie said, handing Willow a drink. "Thank you for coming. I know you hate this, but it's always better with you."

Sarah, who was on the dance floor sneaking drinks, perked up when she heard a familiar laugh. She looked over and watched with a glint of jealousy in her eye as she watched Willow laugh along with Kiara.

"JJ," Willow whispered as he walked past her. Kiara had gotten up to get more drinks so she was sitting alone. "Give this to Sarah, okay?"

JJ gave her a suspicious look before taking the napkin with Willows messy handwriting scrawled across it. He nodded and hurried off to find the Cameron girl.


"JJ?" Sarah asked confused when he tapped her on the shoulder.

"I, uh, got a note from...Vera? Whatever that's about," JJ said, handing the napkin over.

"From Vera?" Sarah asked, a giant smile finding its way onto her face.


"Hey, I need to go to the bathroom real quick," Willow told Kie as she got up from her seat and rushed off to meet up with Sarah.


"Vera," Sarah whispered to Willow as she looked out over the balcony. "Hi."

"Hi. Wow," Willow breathed out, finally getting a good look at Sarah. "You look beautiful." Sarah chuckled softly and hurried over to wrap Willow in a hug.

"Oh, my god. You would not believe what happened," Sarah said, pulling away from the hug. "Soon as I got home, I had to sneak past--"

"That's great, but I gotta tell you something," Willow interrupted. "John B found the gold."

"He found it?"

"You won't believe where it is."

"Where?"

"It's at Tannyhill," Willow revealed.

"Wait. What?" Sarah shouted.

"Sh!" Willow shushed her and slapped a hand over Sarah's mouth. "Look, he got the letter translated. There was this coded message and we need the plat map. Know what a plat map is?" Sarah nodded. "Good, cause I don't."

"It's like a blueprint of Tannyhill," Sarah told her. "It's in my dad's office."

"Okay. Great! We need that," Willow smiled.

"I would steal anything for you right now," Sarah said. She placed her hands on the sides of Willow's face and pulled her into a kiss.

"Hey, Sarah, is that you?" They heard Topper shout.

"Get down!" Sarah whispered, pushing Willow down to her knees. From Toppers view, he could see Willow sneaking away as Sarah fixed her dress.

"Meet at the Hawks Nest at midnight," Willow whispered. "Bring the map." With that, Willow took off -- well, waddled off due to the heels she was in.

𝐇𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 - 𝐒𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐡 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐧Where stories live. Discover now