𝐁𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐒 𝐒𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑, 𝗃𝗃 𝗆𝖺𝗒𝖻𝖺𝗇𝗄

10: "𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐."

The group found themselves sitting together in the campervan, John B in the driver's seat like always. Y/n sat beside JJ, head rested on his shoulder as she fiddled with her father's compass in her hands. JJ occasionally glanced down at her as he played with her h/c hair.

"I mean, it's obvious, right? A family heirloom. What better place to hide a message? He had to know it was gonna get back to us, right?" John B rants.

"Yeah. It's possible." Kie replies as she shrugs a shoulder.

"It could also be possible that you two are concocting wild theories to help, you know, deal with your sad feels." Pope suggests.

"Bro, you know how I process my sad feels. Dank nugs and the stickiest of ickies, that's how I do it." JJ informs.

"We're not concocting, okay?" Y/n insists. "Our dad's trying to give us a message."

"If it help you believe, guys." Kie says in a gentle tone, glancing between the brother and sister.

"Look, we don't need a therapy session, okay?" John B tells them, defending himself and his sister. "We're not tripping out."

"It's okay to trip, guys, but-" JJ starts.

"Look, our dad is missing, okay? Missing." John B cuts him off. "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." Y/n adds.

"It's been almost a year." Kie reminds the siblings.

"Hey, he could have been kidnapped." JJ says, trying to lighten the mood. "That's definitely a possibility."

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

"Absolutely. Or Atlantis." JJ suggests.

"JJ. Look, what do you guys think the message is?" Kie questions.

"Redfield." Y/n replies. "Redfield Lighthouse. That's our dad's favorite place."

***

Eventually, the vehicle comes to an abrupt stop once they find themselves in front of an old lighthouse, cracks laying all over the walls. The group of five hop out of the campervan, looking up at the building before John B turns to his best friend.

"Right, here's what's gonna happen. You're gonna post up and look out for bogeys, okay?" John B instructs.

"Wait... Why me?" JJ asks.

"Because you're not coming." Pope responds.

"Why?" JJ questions.

"Look, JJ." Pope begins. "There are independent and dependent variables. You're an independent variable. We don't know what you're gonna do."

"Shut up!" JJ exclaims, repeating while the boy was talking.

"Listen to me for a second." John B instructs. "Pope and Y/n, you two stand look out with JJ. Okay? If we get split up, we meet back at JJ's house."

Kie nods. "Great."

Y/n gives her brother a quick hug before him and Kiara climb over the fence, making their way to the lighthouse as they leave their three friends behind.

"I'm gonna work on my merit scholarship essay," Pope starts. "and I'm trying to keep felonies to a minimum."

"Alright, would you just shut up already?" JJ responds.

Instead of responding, Pope walks in the the campervan, doing what he said and working on his essay while JJ continued tossing his hacky sack around. Letting out a small huff, shoulders slumping, Y/n placed herself on the ground, leaning against a tree trunk.

"What are you thinking about, princess?" JJ asks, noticing she was playing with her bracelets.

After years of knowing the Routledge girl, JJ always noticed the little things. Like how she played with anything in her reach when she was nervous. Or how she always rambled a lot when she was speaking to someone. He loved that about her. He loved everything about her.

"Nothing." Y/n replies, shrugging a shoulder.

"You're lying." JJ states, making her look up at him, slightly surprised. JJ nods upon seeing her expression. "Yeah, you are. You know how I know?"

"How?" Y/n questions.

"Because you didn't even bother looking at me when you answered." JJ recalls. "And, you were playing with your bracelets. You do that whenever you're nervous." The blonde takes a seat beside her. "Why are you nervous?"

"It's just..." Y/n sighs, looking at his face. "What if we can't figure out what happened to our dad? What if we can't find him? John B and I miss him so much."

JJ wraps an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into him. He didn't know what to say. He had no clue. So instead, he didn't say anything, just hugged her. Y/n was slightly grateful for it, thinking he would've said something like everyone else had said to her and her brother.

"Didn't I buy you that shirt?" Y/n blurts out, pulling back slightly from the blonde, but kept her arms around his waist.

JJ chuckles. "Yeah, you did. It's my favorite shirt."

The two share a small laugh, continuing to slightly cuddle up against one another. JJ occasionally glances down at her as he played with her hair. Occasionally, Y/n glanced up at the lighthouse, hoping her brother and friend were okay.

"Alright, I'm bored." Pope admits, breaking the silence as he exits the campervan.

"What do you want to do, bro?" JJ asks.

Y/n grabs his hacky sack, standing up. "Pope, catch!"

Not expecting it, Pope frantically moved around as he tried to catch JJ's hack sack. However, he failed to do so when it dropped to the ground, making Y/n and JJ share a laugh, high fiving one another. Rolling his eyes at his friends, Pope picked up the hacky sack, now tossing it to JJ, who caught it with ease.

For the next couple minutes, the three teenagers continued to toss the hacky sack back and forth to one another, making a triangle shape with themselves. As Pope tossed it towards JJ, the sound of sirens in the distance caught their attention.

Looking over to the sound, the three saw a police car turning the corner, driving in their direction. Frantically, Pope started running towards the campervan while JJ grabbed ahold of Y/n's hand, following after him.

The blonde hopped into the driver's seat, Y/n in the passenger's, and Pope in the middle, leaning against the seats as the blonde started the car, quickly driving out of there. Y/n glanced out of the window, catching one last glimpse at the lighthouse, hoping John B and Kiara made it out of there well and safe.