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────023, the sun is also a star.
CLEO DOESN'T FIND JJ━━NOT WHEN SHE NEEDS HIM THE MOST. But the worst part of it all, the harrowing matter of the fact, is that he needs her, wherever he is.
After her argument with Wesley, Cleo had wanted nothing more than to disappear from the world and the watchful eyes of her friends. Pope and Kiara had probed her gently, careful in their heedful questions to see if she was okay, no doubt having heard the entire confrontation, but Cleo was more concerned with finding JJ firstly, if only because solving one trouble in her life might sate the others. And, most importantly, because her concern for the missing JJ piques far more than anything else at the given moment, the need and drive to find him promising to outweigh the added stress now surfacing in her life, threatening to drown her.
They check every place they can think of after Blue Shell Cottage, from the Wreck, to the salvage yard, to Rixon's Cove, the boneyard, the old forts along the marsh, but each spot is met with a dead end. JJ is nowhere to be seen, and Cleo's heart hangs heavy with a burden of thinking this is all her fault. What if something terrible had happened to him by his father? By Barry? Rafe? The mere thought makes Cleo sick to her stomach but she pushes on, only for him.
Eventually, Cleo, Pope, and Kiara come to the sullen conclusion that they have no choice but to wait for JJ's return on his own accord. So, with that despairing thought in mind, they return lastly to the Chateau, both as the final spot to search for JJ and as a means of dropping off a few last minute supplies Pope had gathered previously for their treasure excavation in the well. Cleo is only half-paying attention now to Pope and Kiara as they talk amongst one another, attempting to fill the wallowing silence. Night has long since fallen, a calm darkness blanketing the Chateau and the only light coming from the headlights of Pope's truck.
"He'll come around," Pope is saying now, catching Cleo's wandering attention. She had since then been sat on the passenger side with Kiara in between them, her elbow perched on the windowsill as she gazes outward at nothing but indiscernible shadows. He shifts the car into a screeching park and cuts the engine, though he leaves the headlights on still. "Trust me, Cleo."
What if he doesn't? Cleo laments morosely to herself. Aloud, she says, "I just wish he wasn't so stubborn."
"He might be stubborn, but at least he listens to you, C," Kiara points out. As she speaks, Pope hops out of the car and makes his way to the opened cargo area in the back. "It may not seem like it, but he'll come back for you. Probably beg you on his knees to forgive him for being so stupid. He is pretty much whipped for you, after all."
