[rosemary 2] .jj maybank.

chapter one

❀

it had barely been two days since jj, kiara and pope had gotten the news from shoupe about the passing of their loved ones.

trying their best to avoid falling into a deep, depressive state, kiara and pope had already spoken to one another about their feelings and the hell-like reality they were living. as much as a small part of each of them wanted to and possibly believed their friends were still out there, they couldn't keep doing it to themselves. they owed it to each other and to john b, rosie and sarah to let them rest peacefully.

with a little convincing on jj's side, pope and kie were able to get him out of bed to help hold a small pogue ceremony for their loved ones. it was the only way the three pogues knew how to honour them.

despite kiara and pope's reluctance, they tried to refrain using the word "death" in front of their blonde friend. they wanted to help jj through the grieving process and so far he was stuck on denial. the first time they used "death", jj's stubbornness took the spotlight to offer another word instead: disappearance. jj didn't want to accept the truth until bodies were found. but who were they kidding? counting on the kildare police to find two missing pogues? jj could've laughed at the thought if it was a different situation in a different lifetime.

easiest way to put it? jj didn't want to hear any words resembling death, dead or died come from anyone's mouth. it was already spoken over and over in his head through a megaphone. all he could hear was: 'kook princess and two rogue, juvenile pogues from the cut dead in hurricane.' the blonde hadn't even been able to turn on any radio station without hearing about his three friends and the infamously stupid plan of theirs to escape into an oncoming storm. the words rung again and again until his ears rang and his heart seemed unretrievable from the pit of his stomach. he didn't want to hear it from other people too, and he sure as hell did not want to hear other people's opinions.

⤛ ∴ ∗ ∵ ☾ ❀ ☽ ∵ ∗ ∴ ⤜

outside the chateau, the three stood in front of the biggest and closest tree they could find, chopping and chipping at the wood to create a flat and carvable surface. once a flat heart shaped surface was created, jj worked on heating up one of his tools with a blowtorch to easily mark the tree with john b and rosie's names.

"is it ready?" kiara asked softly, turning her head to jj, who was bowing his head, watching the metal glow slightly from the heat. jj wiped at his nose with a sniffle and put the blowtorch down. "yep. all good to go."

once jj added the last letter, he stepped back in line with kiara and pope. the three friends stood with heartbroken expressions, staring at the words that were burnt into the tree.

2003 - 2020
JOHN B ROUTLEDGE
ROSEMARY BOOKER
⋪ P4L ⋫

pope raised his beer can, "to john b."

"and to sarah," kie added weakly with tears in her eyes. the two paused and looked over at jj who hadn't spoken yet. "to rosemary," he said softly, raising his flask slowly and taking a sip. kiara looked at both boys, seeing the shared anguish in both of their eyes. looking over at the blonde and seeing his blank expression, pope and kiara knew it was harder for jj. they all loved john b, rosie and sarah to bits. but no one loved rosie the way jj loved rosie.

kie opened the small box in her hands, picking up the friendship bracelet that lay inside. each pogue had gathered things to add to the box. the three teens had created something along the lines of a time capsule in memory of john b, rosie and sarah to bury in front of the tree. it included things like rosie's friendship bracelet that she had given to kiara before the summer, one of sarah's bright pink bandanas she left at the chateau, or even john b's sunglasses, amongst other things as well.

as kiara neatly tucked away and reorganized everything in the box, jj and pope picked and gathered small white flowers to place on the box. pope handed kie the flowers so she could put them on the box that was placed in the dirt. one by one, the three friends began to cover the box with the soft soil in silence.

here's a fun fact. you ready? here we go. everyone you know will die. and by everyone, i mean everyone. your mother, brother, sister, father. all your friends. and all your enemies... everyone.

i mean, of course, there's another way of looking at it. since its all so short and over quickly... that makes everything meaningful. everything's just one time.

meanwhile, on the other side of the island, ward cameron was in the middle of a meeting with newly appointed sheriff shoupe after susan peterkin's funeral. on the other side of the desk in the sheriff's office sat ward cameron and his lawyer, trying his best to sell his story to the sheriff and the sbi agent on the case. "...so, no, i don't give a crap what the kid and his cousin said. he killed peterkin. just like my daughter, his cousin is brainwashed and has been dealing with severe mental health issues since she was adopted by his family. she has a fragile mental state and is known to be easily manipulated."

"i'm not asking for a whole family history lesson, or any type of diagnosis. i'm just trying to get a timeline. you're telling me the plane took off... where was it going?" shoupe asked, trying his best to piece together what truly happened. shoupe was at a crossroads, he had six young adults, from the cut, telling him one thing and ward cameron, king of the island, feeding him a completely different story. one thing he knew, this case was really testing his morals.

walking out of the kildare county sheriff's station not long after, ward and his lawyer walked side by side. briefcase in hand, the lawyer reassured his client, "you don't have to worry about that, my friend, 'cause they got a whole lot of nothing. you've done your research, you've established your story. we are good." ward couldn't help but scoff internally, he hired the best lawyer money could buy. he better be good and win this case scot-free. keeping his confident and prideful exterior, ward walked to his car, confident that his status and money would benefit his case.

⤛ ∴ ∗ ∵ ☾ ❀ ☽ ∵ ∗ ∴ ⤜

as for the fugitive pogues, they were given a room to stay in from the people that rescued them. while john b and sarah lay on the bed trying to get some rest, rosie sat on a stool against the wall on the other side of the room with her legs pulled up to her chest, looking out at the water. she wanted so badly to love the water and all of its beauty and mysteries but in the moment, she was only scared of it. she was scared and unsettled of how she couldn't see even one sliver of land in the distance. she wished she had a map or something, something to settle her nerves about her lack of knowledge on their current location.

from her personal experience, large bodies of water have only brought her pain and heartbreak and fear. she felt bitter. it wasn't fair that one thing she used to love so much caused her so much loss. rosie also hated the feeling in her gut that told her to hate it. to fear it.

rosemary couldn't help but think that if jj was with her, he would try to think positively for her benefit. he would understand her point of view and understand why she was scared of the water but try to help her see the positive outcomes and how she should also be thankful. a tear slid down her cheek slowly, thinking of what he would say: 'on the bright side, ma fleur, the water saved you this time. a storm that bad? could've ended even worse. but thankfully, here you are, alive and well and living. i, for one, am very grateful for the water this time.' the freckled girl wiped at her cheek and her eyes, taking a deep breath in and slowly breathing the air out of her mouth. pulling herself out of her thoughts, rosie heard the end of john b and sarah's conversation.

"you wanna be a pogue for life?" john b asked softly. the blonde girl looked at the boy in front of her before responding, "if i say yes, you're not allowed to die." john b nodded his head with a small smile, "deal."

rosie looked at the couple, smiling sadly at their words before turning her hopeless gaze back to the water and resting her chin on her knees.

•∗•∗•∗•∗•∗•∗•∗•∗•∗•∗•∗•∗•
was very eager to get this chapter out for some reason lol. had fun writing this! it's been a minute. hope you enjoyed! xx