Don't Forget Where You Belong [JJ Maybank] *COMPLETE*

Chapter 6 - The Lighthouse

You sat in the backseat of John B's van as he drove along the gravel road. For as long as you had known John B, you knew that once he set his mind to something, there was next to nothing that could deter him. So, as you bobbled around in the seat next to Pope, you listened to him chase the trail his dad had left for him.

"I mean, it's obvious, right?" he said, head swivelling to speak to all of you, "A family heirloom. What better place to hide a message? He had to know it was gonna get back to me,' he paused before squeaking out "right?"

"It's possible," you assured him. You could hear the desperation in his voice as he clung to anything that resembled an ounce of his father.

Pope shot you sideways glace before stating, "It could also be possible that you're concocting wild theories to help, you know, deal with your sad feels."

He was twiddling with the compass in his hands as he spoke. Kie turned around in her seat to send him her most daring glare as you whacked the upside of Pope's head, before snatching the compass from his grasp. He went to grab it, but you smacked his hand. He let out a small "ow" before rubbing the back of his left hand.

"Bro, you know how I process my sad feels—" JJ began to speak, sitting to the backside of John B.

"Oh, here we go," you sighed, placing the compass in your lap as you piped up to hear JJ's words. He frowned at you, before shifting his body to speak directly to you.

"—dank nugs and the stickiest of ickies," he spoke matter-of-factly. You let out a sputter of laughter as you looked back down at the compass, shaking your head in incredulity. He turned back around to speak into John B's ear, "that's how I do it."

"I'm not concocting, okay?" John B said forcefully, cutting JJ off, "My dad's trying to give me a message."

"If it helps you believe, John B," Kie said, but it wasn't convincing. She just wanted him to feel better.

"Look, I-I don't need a therapy session, okay?" He said frantically.

"We know—" you tried to reassure him, but he cut you off.

"I'm not trippin' out." He affirmed. JJ started to assure him his feelings were normal,

"t's okay to trip, bro, but—"

"Look, my-- my dad is missing, okay? Missing." He said it with finality. Nothing any of us said to him would change his mind, but I already knew that. "You don't know what it's like to have the person closest to you vanish and then have no idea what happened. Just wake up every morning wondering."

His voice got softer as he spoke, the sadness evident in every word that came from his lips. You sighed, looking down at the compass.

"I know it's been really hard," your voice was barely above a whisper, careful to not stomp on the eggshells John B had laid down around you, "but it's nearly been a year."

His eyes met yours I the rear vision mirror. You knew it broke him to hear it, but you care so much about him, you didn't want him to break even more by believing something that had the smallest chance of being true.

You cut off your eye contact with him, unable to take the stare he was piercing into you through the mirror. You looked to JJ who was sat opposite you. His shoulders were hunched as he watched the two of you speak. He sat up straighter as he turned in his seat towards John B,

"Hey, he could have been kidnapped," that was his (poor) attempt to cheer John B up, "That's definitely a possibility."

"Yeah, could be in a Soviet sub getting interrogated by the KGB somewhere." Pope chimed in.