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𝐑eturning to the backyard in a full-on adrenaline-driven sprint was not what either could foresee. Nonetheless, they desperately stumble through the unkempt grass, the golden hue of the string lights grazing them as they come darting from the shadows.
"There they are...!" They hear Sarah whisper-shout to John B, her finger pointed straight in their direction.
John B's attention darts to his two childhood friends after hurriedly spewing a bucket of water over the flames. "Took you long enough," he chides, frantically urging them all up the thick branches of the oak tree. "Go, go, go."
"Come on. Come, come."
Marlowe grabs at the rough bark, genuinely struggling against her flimsy balance. No matter how deeply she frowns in concentration, her head still spins with drunkenness. Sometime during the subsequent moment, she's boosted up by someone down below, though too panicked and dizzy to register JJ's forthright gesture.
Not even half a minute after all four are well hidden behind their respective branches, Rafe and Barry stride into the seemingly abandoned backyard.
Marlowe claws at the roughness of the tree, the breath hitching in her throat. They have guns.
They watch the two men exchange a few words before Barry turns to invade the house. Rafe, on the other hand, lingers out back. His eyes scan the perimeter, hoping to catch sight of at least one of the Pogues. His figure stops right under the oak tree, his eyes everywhere but at the sky.
"Where the hell are you?" they hear him mutter, a pinch of dangerous raspiness in his voice.
The brunette places her forehead against the bark, cramming her eyes shut. The dizziness threatens to get the best of her, flourishing a kind of unpleasant nausea through her. She bites her teeth together and swallows the growing sensation of queasiness.
JJ keeps his eyes on her. Observing her every little movement. A type of unwavering protectiveness swells within him at the mere sight of her, and he bites back the impulse to reach over and make sure she doesn't let the lack of balance defeat her altogether.
The shattering sound of glass breaking makes her flinch, wide eyes darting back down to the two men. Barry strides back down the stairs, his gun clutched tightly in his right hand, the other balled into a fist.
"Yo!" Rafe shouts. "Anything?"
"No, ain't shit in there, bro."
The Kook kicks at the ground. "No? Nothing?"
"No, nothing, Rafe."
He breathes heavily, motioning to the smoke coming from the firepit. "They were obviously just here based off the smoke, man!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Barry taunts, rolling his eyes. "Great observation skills, Boy Scout."
