𝐃𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐋𝚬 𝐒𝚬𝐂𝐑𝚬𝐓, ʲᵒʰⁿ ᵇ ʳᵒᵘᵗˡᵉᵈᵍᵉ

viii. seasick

VIII. SEASICK

"all right, jj," john b hollered. "pin it here."

"roger that! x marks the spot."

the pogues were all on a boat, out in the open ocean, ready to use the ROV they'd gotten from the salvage yard. briar, on the other hand, was laying at the back of the boat, on the ground, desperately trying not to throw up.

"you good, briar?" john b sat next to his girlfriend for a minute while jj anchored the boat.

"i hate being pregnant," she groaned, scooting so she could lay her head across his lap. "i feel sick all the time."

"you got seasick before this," john b said, running his hands through her hair. "don't blame the little buddy."

"little buddy?" briar laughed. "we really need a better nickname."

"like what?" he chuckled. he looked down at briar in his lap and realized it hadn't been just the two of them in a while. him and his girl, doing their thing, just being around each other.

now it was all baby talk. looking for the treasure all the time. spending their hours with jj, pope, and kie. he missed her.

"what about. . ." briar thought for a minute. "how about pear? it's the size of a pear right now."

"pear it is," john b smiled. "hi, pear." he leaned down as put his face near briar's growing bump. "it's daddy. how's the weather in there? your momma and i are out here looking for some gold for you. we love you, little pear."

"so, so much," briar smiled and placed her hand over john b's on the bump.

"yo!" jj yelled. "mtv 16 and pregnant stars! let's wrap it up and find some fucking gold!"

"coming," john b groaned, starting to stand. "briar, can i take you on a date tonight?" he said suddenly. he wasn't sure what he had planned, what they would do or eat, but they were going on a date. him and his girl.

"of course," the girl smiled. "as long as you don't mind a plus one." she pointed to her belly at that.

"of course not," john b grinned. "little pear is always welcome."

"where're we gonna go?" briar asked.

"i have no idea," john b said with a smile. "but we're gonna have a great time."

"come on!" jj yelled again.

"all right!" john b began to work the ROV over the side of the boat. "ladies and gentlemen, to going full kook."

he dropped it into the water.

"you want a dramamine, briar?" kie asked rooting through her bag.

"please," she groaned. briar took the anti-seasick pills and lay back down. she knew dramamine made her drowsy, but she didn't care. just a few short minutes later, briar fell asleep.

🃏

she snapped her head up a little while later when thunder crashed around them.

"where'd the storm come from?" briar stumbled a bit as she stood. "we need to go!"

"700 feet!" kie yelled.

"good morning, sunshine!" jj hollered to briar. "sleep well?"

the brunette nodded absentmindedly. "we need to go back in!" she yelled again. "we're gonna get stuck in the storm."

"800 feet!" kie yelled. "we're so close, briar. just a little longer."

briar stumbled again as a wave rocked the boat. "fine! but i'm gonna be pissed if we can't get out of this storm!" the pregnant teen sat back down on the boat deck, awaiting their arrival at the bottom of the ocean.

"you good, beautiful?" john b yelled to his girlfriend as he helped kie with the ROV. his dark eyes were full of love and concern.

"yeah!" she yelled back. "kie's dramamine helped."

john b offered a thumbs up in response. "jj, hold it steady!" he hollered.

"okay, 900!" kie yelled.

"jj, we're gonna turtle in this storm," john b said. "it's not safe." he held briar close, keeping her from losing her balance on the slippery boat deck.

"920!" kie yelled.

"crank it north by northwest!" john b instructed jj. "ten seconds! pope, how are we doing?"

"almost there," pope supplied.

"there's too much current!" kie yanked on the ROV line. "we're gonna lose it!" briar flinched into john b as the thunder crashed.

"south, southwest, jj!" john b yelled. "hard!" he looked at the navigation equipment in his hand. "half speed. steady at this bearing, jj!"

briar was embarrassed to admit she knew close to nothing about boats. the valentine's owned a boat, a big one, but briar had never driven it. she understood the basics of something like the hms pogue, fond memories of sitting in john b's lap as he taught her to drive. but this boat? she was clueless.

"nothin'. a whole lot of nothing," pope said, frustrated.

"you should be right above it, brother," john b ran a stressed hand through his hair.

"kiara!" pope yelled.

"960!" the brunette replied. "970! 980!"

briar held john b's arm tightly as the boat rocked. she was also embarrassed to admit she was afraid. she'd never been in waters this bad before.

"i'm at the bottom! i'm at the bottom!" pope yelled happily.

"okay, steady here, jj!" john b instructed. "steady here. quarter speed, all right? you should be seeing something, man."

"i know, i know! wait, wait," pope said quickly. the teens all broke out into big smiles, there it was. "good, god."

"thank fuck," briar sighed into john b's side.

"see anything?" jj yelled from his place driving the boat.

"it's the royal merchant," john b whispered.

"it's the royal merchant!" briar yelled to jj, jumping up and down. only the deck was slippery, and she lost her footing collapsing into her boyfriend's side.

they'd found the royal merchant.

SADIE SPEAKS!
word count: 950
ik this chapter was short
but i didn't wanna start
the next episode <3