Inside the Outer Banks || JJ

28. Your Daddy

I met the others and Kie's cafe, walking in to find all of them sitting around together.
"Look, he'll come around, all right? It's..." John B started as I walked next to Pope, him wrapping his arm around my shoulder. "He's doing a JJ thing."
"You think he'll go home?" I asked and Pope shook his head.
"There's about a zero percent chance that JJ goes home." He shook his head, before turning to me, now in a whisper. "Look, John B told me what he said to you. He didn't mean it."
"You don't know that, Pope." I whispered back, leaning my head against his shoulder.
"Okay." He exhaled, now addressing the group. "It's too dangerous to pawn this thing off piecemeal. So our best bet is to go down there and get the rest of it. Bring it all up at once. Put it in... in a safe or a vault or something. I... I don't know. Just until we can find someone who won't rip us off. I can figure it out tonight, get it done, and we can be out there tomorrow morning."
"All right, let's do it." John B nodded.
"Easy." I agreed.
"What about that thing with my dad?" Sarah asked John B and my brow furrowed.
"Shit." He shook his head.
"What thing?" I asked as John B looked up at me.
"I have to go fishing with Ward." He answered.
"You can't get 400 mil 'cause you're gonna go kill fish?" Kie clarified and he nodded.
"Look, I have to go." He insisted.
"Blow it off." Pope offered, "It's 400 million in gold! Make something up!"
"Look, I... I have to, okay? He... he saved me, all right? If it weren't for Ward, I'd be in foster care." John B refuted and I nodded, "So... I have to go. Plus, it'll be better to do it at night. Right?"
"Fine. Fine, go fishing." Pope nodded.
"And at least JJ will probably have washed up by then." Kie nodded as we stood up, each of us leaving the wreck. Pope, Kie and I walked back to the chateau, making our way through the house and out to the backyard.

"Well he's not here." I whispered as I climbed onto the hammock and lit a blunt that was in my pocket.
"Allie, don't stress, he's done this before." Kie shook her head, "He'll show up once he's calmed down."
"But what if he doesn't?" I asked back, "I mean, what if he gets himself in trouble? Or hurt? What if he got drunk and is passed out in a ditch right now?"
"You really care about him, don't you?" Pope asked, looking up at me and I nodded.
"Of course."

--
"Okay, I don't think he's going to show up. We should probably go home." Kie offered and I nodded.
"Yeah you're right, your guys' parent's are probably going to start worrying soon." I nodded, climbing off of the hammock. "I'm going to go by JJ's just check if he's there."
"You want me to come?" Pope asked and I shook my head.
"No, I doubt he's there anyway. And it's on my way home, so it's no hassle for me." I answered and he nodded.
"Okay, see you later then." He nodded as we left the chateau, me turning to walk back towards my house. I walked down the street that JJ and I had walked along so often, I glanced around, looking in bushes around me, looking for any movement or sign that JJ had been there.

I reached the front door, slowly walking up, pausing as I reached the door. I took a deep breath before pulling my hand up, knocking on the door twice. Waiting quietly for an answer, but only got silence. I tried the handle, finding that it was unlocked so I slowly made my way inside.
"Hello?" I asked, slightly quieter than my normal voice. "JJ, are you here?" I asked again. I stepped through the broken glass and empty pill containers, seeing a line of coke on the coffee table. "JJ?" I asked again, slightly louder, walking through to the backyard, seeing Luke lying on the grass. I walked out, making my way over to him, noticing blood and bruises over his face. He sat up slightly, looking at me before standing up all the way.
"He's not here... Anymore." Luke announced and my brow furrowed as I stepped away from him.
"Anymore?" I asked, his eyes scanning me up and down.
"You know, I could tell who's daughter you were anywhere." He changed the subject as my brow furrowed.
"Is that so?" I asked, him nodding and walking passed me to sit on the stairs, picking up a half empty bottle and starting to drink out of it.
"Oh yeah, you're just like your mama. No wonder you've got the boy going crazy." He stated, "I mean you're even like your daddy a bit." He continued, my stomach turning at the word daddy.
"People say I don't look anything like my..." I started but he shook his head.
"I mean your real daddy. Not the Kook asshole she married." He told me as my brow furrowed, his eyes glanced up to my face, softening as he noticed my expression.
"Oh, she hasn't told you that."

"Look where did JJ go?" I asked, unable to take the conversation any longer. But instead of answering, Luke stood and walked back into the house. "Helpful."