UNTOLD | JJ Maybank

Chapter 11

Two days after Malou had told JJ to leave, Malou heard a knock on the door. From where she sat at the counter of the kitchen, Malou couldn't see the door to the porch. She lifted her head anyway, looking up from the bowl of cereal she had only stared and pecked at.

"Malou?", she heard a kind voice and assigned it to Kiara. Staying quiet, Malou kept staring ahead.

"Malou, are you in there? We're worried about you. You're not answering your phone." Silence.

"Can you at least tell us, if you're ok? If not, we're gonna come in anyway to check." Kiara said and Malou was kind of impressed, that they actually respected her privacy instead of just coming in.

"I'm fine.", Malou responded loudly, followed by silence again. She heard whispers and mutters, before Kiara spoke up again.

"We thought of making a memorial for John B. At the tree. Do you want to join us? We would like to have you with us.", Kiara said and Malou blinked rapidly to get rid off the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes. Malou didn't answer, instead, she got up from her seat. Leaving her breakfast at the counter, she quietly went back to her bedroom.

"To John B.", JJ said, after he had burnt in the last letter.

"And Sarah.", Kiara added as she stared at the tree with John Bs name burnt in it. The three friends stared at the memorial in silence, when they suddenly heard footsteps coming up. Turning around, they saw Malou walking up to them with a small box in her hands. The girl looked to the ground and the brown waves of hair covered her face. A few feet in front of them, Malou stopped and lifted her head.

"Can we bury that?", she asked and reached her hands out to show the pogues a box. Inside were a few belongings of her brother. One of his bandanas, a bracelet, a picture of him and their father, his first own pocket lighter and the framed-in four-leaf clover Malou had given him, when they had been around 8 years old.

"Yeah. Of course.", JJ eventually spoke and took the box from her hands. Thankfully, she nodded at him, before she nervously put her hair behind her ears. JJ went to get a shovel, before he dug a small pit. Carefully placing the box inside, he looked back at Malou and watched her nod, before he covered it with soil again. Finally, Malou stepped closer. She bent down and smoothed the soil, before she got up and looked at the burnt in memorial. Gently, Malou traced the letters with her fingers, before she stepped back again.

"Malou? We're here for you and you still are one of us. We're sorry for letting you down.", Kiara suddenly said and Malou turned her head to look at her. Kiara looked sad and her voice sounded different. Pope and JJ just looked at Malou, but their expressions were the same.

"We understand, why you did it. And if Ward hadn't turned out to be a psychopath, maybe your plan would have worked out and would have saved all of us. You couldn't know how things would turn out.", Pope went on and Malou stared at him silently.

"John B understood, too.", JJ added and Malou looked over to him. With teary eyes, Malou looked up to the sky and slowly nodded.

"I just wanted all of us to be safe and fine again.", Malou whispered as she still stared up at the sky to avoid her friends' gazes.

"We know. We know.", Kiara comforted her and took a step closer. Kiara quickly stopped herself from touching the girl and looked at her sadly, when Malou eventually lowered her head and looked at her again. At how heartbroken Kiara looked at her, Malou finally put her pride aside and decided it was ok, to need her friends. With a sob, Malou wrapped her arms around Kiara's waist and let her head drop onto the girls' shoulder. Kiara instantly returned the hug and closed her eyes to stop herself from crying. Soon, Malou felt herself and Kiara being pulled into a group hug by JJ and Pope. And even though one person was missing in this hug, Malou finally felt better. She felt more like herself again. More like a person. Alive, loved, trusted and maybe a little broken, but still more complete. With her friends at her side, Malou knew, that she could do anything and that maybe, she could heal again.