𝐀 𝐊𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐀 𝐏𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄, 𝗋𝖺𝖿𝖾 𝖼𝖺𝗆𝖾𝗋𝗈𝗇

25: "𝚆𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚕𝚍."

The black sky had been replaced with the original blue color, showing that it was day time. The seagulls could be heard to anyway that was near and/or on the beach as the rather loud birds flew around, occasionally landing on the ground. In the backyard of the Chateau, four Pogues could be seen.

Kiara sat in a metal-like bucket that they would use to get the gold from out of the well. Pope stood off to the side, lifting her up, both relieved that the large bucket was able to fit her weight, letting them know that it could possibly fit John B's if he had gone down to the well once again to retrieve the gold.

Sitting by the edge of the hot tub, aka the Cat's Ass, Y/n and JJ had their feet dipped into the water as they watched their two friends, occasionally sharing words with one another. The blonde had seemed better than the night before, glad he had his friends with him by his side for a long time.

John B was nowhere to be seen by the group, making Kiara, Y/n and Pope a little worried. The brunette had told them about going fishing very early in the morning with Ward, which meant they would have to wait to get the gold. But it was already late in the afternoon, and they figured he'd be back by now but he still wasn't.

"I got my scholarship interview tomorrow morning. We gotta get this done!" Pope tells his friends, reminding his sister.

Right after he says this and before the others could say anything, John B comes stomping into their view, gaze trained forward, not even glancing at his friends. The brunette's face was covered with a blank expression as he didn't seem to acknowledge to new lights and the hot tub in his backyard.

"Dude, I set up the entire winch to pull up the gold and everything." JJ calls to the boy.

"No, he did not. I did that." Pope corrects.

The four all share confused looks when the Routledge boy storms right past them and into the Chateau before they follow after him, watching as he searched for something inside. After a few seconds, the brunette grabs JJ's gun from beneath the pillows on the sofa-bed, making them even more curious and concerned.

"John B, what do you need the gun for?" JJ asks, stepping to his friend.

Seeing the blonde in his way, John B grabs JJ's shoulders and shoves him onto the sofa-bed, storming off only for Pope to step into his way. Once again, the brunette shoves Pope against a table before storming off outside. Both Y/n and Kiara check on Pope before they all rush outside just in time to see John B seat himself on a motorbike.

"Ward knows about the gold." John B speaks up, glancing at them. "He killed my dad."

And with that, the boy drives off on the motorbike, ignoring his friends shouts towards him as they tried to chase after him, but stopped once they realized they'd be too slow to do so.

***

The the moon replacing the original spot where the sun would always be and the sky now black instead of blue, the four Pogues stood in the HMS Pogue together. The Cameron's residence could be seen just a few feet away. The group had been searching for John B, hoping they'd find him soon. As they did that, both Kiara and Y/n had tried to contact with Sarah, but she wasn't answering either of them.

"What now? We just go up to the front door and ask, "Hey, have you seen John B"?" JJ questions in disbelief.

"Look, he lives at Tannyhill now." Kie reminds. "It's plausible. We can play dumb."

"It's pretty late." Pope states.

"Look, I've never seen John B like that. We should honestly be going to the cops." Kie informs.

"Yeah, and say what, Kie? We're worried about our friend because he's going off on a rampage because Ward Cameron killed Big John?" JJ asks. "Like, they're not gonna believe us!"

"Hey, I see Ward." Y/n announces, looking through a pair of binoculars. "Doesn't look dead to me. Let's go home."

The three look at him with slightly wide eyes. "What?"

"Uh... Okay. Obviously, Mr. Cameron is fine, and even if John B was here, he isn't now, okay? Plus, I have the biggest, most important moment of my life in six hours." Pope reminds, bringing up his interview.

"Yeah, well, our friend is in trouble." Kie fires back.

"I'm in trouble." Pope argues, glancing at his twin. "Guys, Y/n and I haven't been home in three days. Our dad's probably put all our shit on the street by now."

Y/n nods, stepping beside her brother. "He's right. We gotta get home."

"Okay, so that's it? In a time of need, you're both just gonna bail? You two are just gonna walk away?" Kie questions.

"Okay, yo, guys, can we not do this right now?" JJ intervenes, feeling awkward.

"Hey, I have a scholarship interview in the morning." Pope reminds again. "I can't--"

"Okay, well, what about John B?" Kie asks, cutting him off.

Pope couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Why is it always about John B?"

"It's not always about John B. You're both so stupid. It would be any of you in this situation." Kie tells them.

"Oh, bullshit!" Y/n exclaims.

"Guys--" JJ begins.

JJ stood by the side awkwardly, watching as three of his closest friends began arguing even more with one another, their frustration growing even more. JJ couldn't intervene as all three of them would just ignore him, continuing to raise their voices at one another.

"This is about friendship. This is about Pogues for life." Kie continues, now feeling tears prick her brown eyes.

Pope raises a brow. "What about forensic pathology, huh? It's my life. Everything I've worked for."

"Forensic pathology?" Kie repeats. "That's your priority?"

"Stop with the moral high ground bullshit." Y/n demands.

Kie raises her brows. "Excuse me?"

"You have no room to talk. Where were you when Big John went missing? You weren't there. You weren't there for John B. You weren't there for any of us." Y/n snaps at her. "Remember your Kook year? Yeah, you forgot about us. Now you feel guilty."

Immediately afterwards, Kie began shoving the girl to which she shoves back. Pope then intervenes, mad at the Carrera girl that he had shoved his sister. Almost everything gets so out of hand that JJ has to cut in, getting the Heyward twins on one side of the boat and Kie on the other.

As they sat beside one another, Y/n rests her head on her brother's shoulders, wrapping her arms around his waist, feeling him wrap his arms around her shoulders as JJ offers to drive them home. The Heyward girl just wishes she could be cuddled up in bed with the man she loves so much to calm her down.