Metamorphose (OBX S3 book III JJ fan fiction)

TWELVE

I describe it as a part of the process, of me turning a new leaf.

The first step in moving on.

Anything to get JJ on board.

Though his first reaction went something along the lines of: "Absolutely not," his eyes seemed to soften as they met my pleading gaze. "Fuck, Lex. I just don't think it's a good idea," he added quietly, glancing around at the others as if he had just remembered they were still standing with him on the porch.

"What if we all went?" Sarah suggested, though, I couldn't help but wonder if it had something to do with a certain conversation she wanted to avoid; "It would be... fun!"

John B snorted at Sarah's use of fun, yet still, he agreed with the idea. "It's not like we can plan for the cross, or the gold, or fucking El Dorado," John B pointed out, "This might be the only plan we've got in terms of avoiding homelessness. Or starvation."

JJ glanced back at Laurie, who lingered a few feet back with the keys to the truck in his hand, the two of them exchanging a silent look that I wasn't quite able to interpret for myself. "Yeah, alright then."

"Yeah?" I asked, relief washing over me as he gave his head a quick nod. Smiling, I wrap my arm around his shoulders and plant a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you," I said, waiting until his mouth had turned upwards before pulling away.

"It's whatever," JJ grumbled, doing his best to play it off as nothing, "Let's just get this over with."

"So, Sarah and John B are coming as well?" Laurie asked as I give him the signal that the plan is a go.

"Yup."

"I'll come too," Pope piped in, who had been silent up until this point. "If there's room, of course."

JJ frowned, making me wonder if anything had gone unresolved while I was out talking with Laurie, but, he didn't seem to show any further resistance to the idea, and nodded his head. "Yea, alright. I'm sure we can all fit," he said.

"Well, if that's the case, we might as well all go," Cleo pointed out, looking over at Kiara to see that she was on board. "And, I kinda wanna see where you used to live."

I grinned as the others began to rave about how nice it used to be when we could all stay in my boathouse, happy to know that it was appreciated, even if that era in our life had passed. "Alright," my brother called out, "If we're going to go, we should at least try and avoid going too late."

"Aye aye, captain," Cleo chuckled, the rest of us agreeing with words of our own.

"Do you think it's going to be weird?" Sarah asked me, "Going back? Getting rid of everything?"

I shrugged, catching JJ as he subtly listened in. "I don't know. I guess we'll see when we get there. It wasn't too bad last time," I told her, doing my best to seem as confident as I could.

Sarah nodded, casually avoiding John B as she slips in next to me when it was time to pile into Laurie's truck.

"You still planning on saying something?" I asked quietly.

"Yeah, don't worry," Sarah sighed, her eyes shifting to study him just for a moment as if she were too scared to hold her gaze. "I don't want this to be the end," she murmured then, "As much as I've been bitching about him these past few days."