𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐃𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒, 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬

TWENTY-SEVEN| the phantom fight

AFTER a few minutes of driving through the Cut, Kiara pulls the SUV into the Maybank driveway.

Eden looks at the shabby old place with a frown. She hadn't been to JJ's house too many times within their friendship—he always insisted at having hang outs at the Chateau or The Wreck instead of his place, and once the blonde revealed why, the group all strayed from hanging around the abusive hellhole of the house—but the place already gave her bad vibes, (though maybe it was just the stories she'd heard causing them).

As the car comes to a halt, she watches JJ's jaw clench at the sight of his place of residency—the place where his father lived. The blonde swallows before sadly remarking, "Home sweet home." There was no smile on his face as their usual was, the blonde visibly uncomfy.

Noticing this, Eden places a comforting hand on his shoulder, "J, do you want us to come with you? Because we'll come."

Kiara nods in agreement, obviously wanting the blonde to know they'd be at his side if this was too much.

"Nah." JJ shakes his head, though the Bexley doesn't quite believe his words. He takes off his hat and runs a hand through his hair, trying to gather as much courage as he could to face his father—the last time he was near the man, he'd almost killed him.

As much as JJ wanted his friends' support for this, he wouldn't dare bring them near Luke, let alone in the hellhole itself. He had to go by himself.

Opening the car door, JJ states, "This will only take a second."

He starts to head towards the door, turning back a final time to see Kiara and Eden giving him encouraging yet exasperated smiles in return.

He enters the house and Eden's smile falls.

The two girls sit in silence, the image of JJ's bruised body in their minds. The last thing the Bexley wanted was for her friend to walk out with tear filled eyes, or a split lip—she was taking the sound of utter silence as a good sign.

"Do you think his dad's home?" Kie quietly asks, also worried for her friend.

Eden shrugs, "I'm not sure where else Luke could go. He's not exactly welcomed anywhere else."

The door opens, and both girls look to see JJ exiting the house. He's looking at his shoes and his brows are furrowed, but there's no sign of blood or injury, which causes relief to rush through Eden's body—her motherly instinct was healed knowing her boy was okay.

The boy quietly got in the car, and Kiara looked over at him. "How'd it go?"

JJ held his fingers up to show a set of keys around them in an answer.

Eden sighed—one step closer to getting John B. out of the OBX.

Eden wasn't terribly impressed with The Phantom—it was nothing special.

After passing multiple cop cars, the trio made it to the storage unit where Luke's cherished boat was kept, and honestly? Eden was doubting if this boat could really make it all the way to Mexico with John B. before law enforcement found him and stepped in.