𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐲

seventy: The Fake Key.

THE WHOLE way back to pick up Pope, Kai is quiet and not listening to the others. JJ still had his soda and he doesn't wanna ask for it back, he'd be embarrassed if JJ just didn't give it back. "There he is." JJ says at the sight of their friend coming out of the building.

He reached over to open the back door, Pope got in and silently sat down where he was sitting before as Kai had moved to sit between Kie and Sarah. They watch the boy with careful eyes, waiting for him to say something. But yet, all he does is just let out a deep breath, so John B asks, "so, how'd it go?"

"Shit just got way more personal."

After Pope explained everything, they enjoyed a couple of beers. "I still can't believe that you're related to Denmark Tanny." John B says, walking over to Pope to pat his shoulder. "Uh-huh." JJ nodded as John B looks at Pope then over at JJ. "Are we in the prescence of a royal?" His tone is joking but also genuine.

"A king?" JJ said, walking over to Pope. "We shall crown him." He said in a British accent as he pretended to put a crown on Pope. "All hail the lord of Tannyhill!" He said and they all proceeded to bow to Pope.

"Alright, everybody, relax. Can we relax, please?" Pope asked, looking around. "Relocate to Cat's Ass, question mark?" Sarah then asked them. "How soon can we move in?" Kie asked and JJ spoke up, "I don't have a place to stay, so." Kie points at him.

"Me either. Bunk beds?"

"Bunk beds. Cheers to that."

Kie and JJ clink their beers together as Kai glanced around, pursing his lips together. "I just keep thinking about the letter, the one that Limbrey sent. It had the wheat symbol on it. Like, that must mean it has something to do with the Royal Merchant." Pope says.

"Yeah. Something seems fishy."

"But if we find that cross, we can split it like we were gonna split the gold." Pope said as he looked around at them. "Yeah. I'm with that." JJ says, nodding his head. "And live happily ever after?" Limbrey walks up to them now, the man who tried kidnapping Pope with her, holding up an umbrella just for her.

JJ and John B backed up, watching as the man closes the umbrella. On instinct, Kai is instantly by JJ's side and the blond boy is grabbing his hand, interlocking their fingers. "You assaulted my father." Pope walks to her. "Oh, I didn't assault anyone." Limbrey says.

"He can identify the psycho from a mile away." Kie says, looking at the woman. "Why would my employee a-a-assault your father?" She asked as she looks to the man by her and JJ looked at John B before looking at Kai who was staring at him already. "That's absurd." The woman said as she let out a soft laugh.

"Listen, we can keep on negotiating, but the fact is that I want the key." She says and the man pushed Pope against a pillar. "Hey!" Kie shouted. "Easy." JJ says, stepping closer. "And I won't stop until I have it. I don't have a choice, which means you don't either." She says. "It's Limbrey, right? Is that right?" John B spoke up, holding a key which makes Kai look at him with a strange look on his face.

"Yes," the blonde woman says, looking at the key in the boy's hand. "Is this what you're looking for?" He asked as she turns completely towards him. "Yes, it is." She says. "Looking at the tide right now, I'd say it's about 20 feet deep out there." He said, staring at the water. "So, if I just threw it in the channel, the probability of you finding it again is slim to none. You wanna give it a shot? Let's see what happens? Ready?" He goes to throw away the key.

"No! Hey!"

He gasped as he doesn't throw the key and she sighs, looking at him. "Please don't do that." She says and he turns away from the water. "Get him to back the hell up." He said, gesturing towards the key near Pope. "Of course. Back up." She says in a gentle tone with a smile before she walks over to Pope.

"As I have told you from the beginning, I am willing to be reasonable." She says as Pope side eyes John B. "Okay." He says as Kai looked at JJ, then John B then over at Pope, wondering what the hell was going on since the three other boys were all sharing looks.

"Okay?" The woman is slightly confused. "I'll give you the key, but I want the tape." Pope says. "Of course. Of course." She says, nodding. "Pope, hey, hey, hey," John B says as he walked over to them. "You don't have to do this, okay?" He said and Kai is even more confused. "No, it's okay." Pope says.

"No, dude, this is your family."

"Hey, it's find. It's okay. It's about your dad. That's way more important." Pope says, holding out his hand for the key that John B apparently has. The other hands it over, "oh, you're a good friend." Limbrey says as Pope looks at her. "The tape." He says. "Yes, give him the tape." Limbrey nods her head towards Pope.

The man steps forward and held it up, handing it over at the same time Pope hands over the key. Pope grips the key tightly before letting go and taking the tape from Limbrey's employee. She let out a sigh, clutching the key.

"You know, I wish that you'd come to this decision earlier. We could have avoided all this unpleasantness." She said, sighing as she walks off. "Nice to meet you." John B says and the man opens up the umbrella, looking at them once, "see you around, Pope," he says. "Just go," Kie said in an annoyed tone as he walks off, following after his boss, Limbrey.

Pope walks over, watching them leave as JJ spoke up, "how long do you think we have until she realizes she has your father's old key?" He glanced at John B. "Ten minutes." He says as Pope turns around to face them.

"Whose idea was the fake key?"

"Shockingly, not mine." Kie says, shrugging softly as Kai looked at JJ, furrowing his brows at his boyfriend. "Hmm, I don't know. Should we tell him?" John B says, putting his arm around JJ. "Wow." Kiara says in disbelief. "I'm impressed. Maybe you are good for something." She adds as Kai smiled big.

"Did hell freeze over?" Pope says, coming to JJ's other side as Kai chuckled. "Even a blind pig can find an acorn at times." He says as he's between his two friends who boast over him for his idea. "I actually don't know what means, but I saw it on Reddit." The blond then says.

"We gotta take this tape to Shoupe." John B changed the topic almost immediately. "Yes, sir. Ward Cameron, we're coming for you, big boy." JJ says, grabbing his boyfriend's hand as they go to leave. Kai just smiles softly now, looking at the blond holding onto his hand.

"You're really smart, I never tell you that enough." He said and JJ laughed, putting his arm over Kai's shoulders. He pulls his boyfriend close as he pressed a kiss to his temple.

  

  

   

AUTHORS NOTE
i ship barry and rafe 😍😍😍 /j
... lowkey /gen