𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐄𝐕𝐎𝐔𝐒, jj maybank [ rewrite ]

𝒇𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒏, redfield

FIFTEEN

❝ I want you to tell me why you're acting differently around me. ❞

*ೃ༄

     AVA IS SAT ON THE back row of the Twinkie with her knees up to her chest and a freshly lit cigarette between her lips while she studies the small delicate lines on the cast on her arm. JJ is perched on the small seat behind the passenger chair, his eyes boring into Ava, and Pope, who is beside the girl, doesn't fail to see the blonde's long anxious silence.

"I mean, it's obvious, right?" John B speaks up, breaking JJ's gaze away from the Routledge girl, "A family heirloom. What better place to hide a message? He had to know it was gonna get back to me, right?"

Ava exhales heavily, the annoyance of the topic of her father returning, while Pope wafts the smoke away from his face, causing her to mutter a small apology.

"Yeah, it's possible," Kiara nods in the passenger seat, while she tries her hardest to seem genuine, but Ava wasn't the only one who thought Big John was very much dead.

"It could also be possible that you're convoying wild theories to help, you know, deal with your dad feels," Pope shrugs quietly.

"Jesus, Pope," Ava snorts, shaking her head gently at his attempt to be kind whilst still staying a harsh point.

"Bro, you know how I process my dad feels," JJ speaks for the first time since Ava
returned to the group, "Dank jugs and the stickiest of ickies, that's how I do it," He mumbles, smiling at the thought.

"I'm not concocting, okay?" John B grumbles, sensing the true hidden meaning behind Pope's words, "My dad's trying to give me a message."

"If it helps you believe, John B," Kiara gently rubs his arm, pulling a small smile onto her lips, "If it helps you believe."

John B's jaw ticks and he pushes her off, "Look, I— I don't need a therapy session, okay? I'm not trippin' out."

"It's okay to trip, bro," JJ reassures, "But—"

"Look, my d-dad is missing, okay?" John B whips his head around to look at his friends before turning back to the road.

Ava drops her feet from her cushioned seat and onto the floor of the Twinkie while she exhales once more before sighing heavily at her brother's words, "John, he—"

"He is missing," John holds his hand up, silencing his twin sister quickly, "He is missing, Ava. You guys don't know what it's like to have the person closest to you vanish, and then have no idea what happened."