Denial || An OBX Story

Chapter Twenty-Nine

It didn't take long for them to get home. JJ tended to slow down when he had someone on the back of his bike, always more careful with their lives than he was with his own. JJ parked his bike in the back yard and he and Maddie both made their way towards the house. Maddie spotted John B and a smile crept onto her face. JJ, however, saw something entirely different.

"Let's go." He quickly tells her. "Be quiet."

Maddie furrowed her brows and looked around to try and figure out what the hell he was doing. She rushed to follow him but he was running directly at John B.

JJ practically jumps on John B's back and it immediately sends him into a panic mode. Maddie watched in enjoyment as John B fought off JJ without knowing it was him. Maddie let out a laugh as John B throws JJ to the floor. "It's me, JJ. Stop, stop, stop, stop."

John B looks up and sees Maddie and she can see relief relax his facial features. He kneels over JJ on the damp, muddy ground before shoving the blonde's shoulders further into the dirt. "What are you doing?" He yells.

"Yeah, JJ. There had to have been a diff..." Maddie begins to speak but JJ covers John B's mouth and pushes him against the house to silence him. "Oh my God, guys. Seriously get a room."

JJ grabs the sibling-like teenagers and pulls them down before pointing to a car just a few feet away from the chateau. "See that?" He asks before spinning to point to yet another car parked near the beaten up home. "They're watching us, okay?"

"Who?" John B asks.

JJ looks at John B. He wanted to give an answer but he was left without one. "I don't know. Let's go. Sneak around to the dock. Gotta go this way." He tells them as he takes off for the marsh.

Maddie takes John B's wrist and they follow JJ into the murky water. JJ and John B put their bags over their heads as they crouched to stay out of sight. Maddie was left without one, doing her best to stay unseen without the worry of being caught. About half way through Maddie asks John B if he even has the keys to the boat. He reassures her that he does before continuing to push through the weeds.

After a short swim, the three kids pulled themselves onto the H.M.S. Pogue. The boys untying while Maddie started the engine. When the boat gets pushed from the dock, she is quick to start getting the boat moving and out of dodge.

About five minutes into the drive, John B and JJ started to chill out. "So we're not even safe at our own house? We're being babysat?" Maddie asks with a scoff. Her damp hair lightly blew as the summer breeze did its job of drying it. "Next thing we know, they'll be hand feeding us cereal in the morning."

"Mads?" John B lightly asks for her, getting her attention. "Your face."

Out of the corner of her eye she can see JJ immediately look at her. His ocean blue's begging for hers to meet his. His eyes silently pleaded for her to admit just once who would dare even lay a hand on her. She knew that John B would try and blame her brother. He was the only one that even knew about Logan. She'd never admit that Logan hurt her but that fact of John B knowing he was around didn't help. JJ however didn't have even a clue. He thought it had been a long while since Logan had even spoken a word to Maddie.

"I just swam through a marsh. You should see your face." Maddie's quick to come up with an insult. It sounded like regular her and she was thankful for it to come out so smoothly. JJ's head shook in frustration, feeling his anger flow through his body.

Not anger towards Maddie. He could try as hard as he wanted to but he'd never be able to be angry at her. She did too much for him and the friend group.

John B turned back around as Maddie directed the boat to land.

When they reach the mud, John B and JJ pulled it closer ashore and she ignored an offered hand from John B, hopping off the side and onto the soft earth.

The two quiet boys follow her as she sits on a tree stump. JJ and John B forming a triangle with there they chose to sit. JJ was visibly frustrated. Everything seemed to be going wrong at once. He couldn't get the thought of the amount of bruises Maddie could have been covering up for whatever amount of time. "First, I almost get strangled to death by Kooks, and now I'm on the hook for thirty grand. We should just dip."

"Okay, where do you wanna go? Hm?" John B asks as he tosses his arms in the air.

It's quiet for a second and JJ stood up, leaning against an old brick wall. "Yucatán."

"Yucatán." Maddie lightly laughs under her breath. "That's funny, JJ."

"No, I'm dead serious right now." He smirks. "Surf all day, and then we can just live off lobsters we catch with our bare hands."

John B scoffs. "You just wanna leave cause you got your ass beat?"

"John B." Maddie subtly warns him.

JJ looks down at the ground. "You didn't see the photos." JJ mumbles. Referring to the graphic photos of the corpses of those who were previously hunting the Pogues.

"Think about it." John B raises his voice a little as he jumps off the wood he was sitting on. "They're willing to kill for the gold. Then, it's gotta be out there."

John B starts to make his way to JJ who is whispering underneath his breath. But suddenly his anger outbursts. "Have you lose your mind?" JJ yells, only a foot from his best friend's face. "One hundred years, man. One hundred years. people have been tryin' to find this Royal Merchant, and no one succeed. And you think you are gonna be the one that actually finds it?" He pauses for a second to see a tense Maddie who was sitting up straighter than before. They say when you're stuck in a hole, it's best to stop digging. His hole was far too deep now. Insulting something John B was so emotionally invested in was not going to go over well with her. There was no going back and he figured he might as well get his point across. "When are you gonna get it in your thick skull. If you keep goin' down this road, you're gonna end up just like your dad."

John B didn't even hesitate to shove JJ. Maddie stood up knowing JJ's temper could easily get the best of him. However, JJ didn't push back. John B got in the blonde boy's face, "We can't give up, JJ. The last time I saw that dude, we got in an argument." He stops for a second and JJ dips his head and eyes to look back at the ground. Avoiding John B's eyes and Maddie's glare. "And then he took all of our rent money and dipped for this Royal Merchant. And then I told him he was a shit father. And you know how the rest of the story goes."

Maddie knew better than to intervene. She could see JJ was regretting his words and his tone of voice only proved it. "Bro, that wasn't your fault."

John B stops in the middle of his tracks as he was walking away from JJ. He turns back around and stands for his point again. "It doesn't matter whose fault it is, JJ. Do you not understand that? We can't give up on the hunt, man. I don't care who's out there, who's gonna try to kill us. Do you understand that? You know that."

Maddie looks at JJ but his eyes were somehow directed back on the ground again. She steps up and takes John B's forearm and he simply taps her thigh in response. John B grabs his bag and storms away in frustration. She turns back and looks at JJ. "Five hundred million, JJ." She says, making him look up at her for the first time in a few minutes. "How much do you owe in restitution?"