BEFORE THE MORNING CAME

.07 - right here

the only time michelle went home was to grab a change of clothes for john b's arraignment. she figured that entering a court room wearing three-day-old ripped denim shorts would not allow outsiders to take her seriously, should she be put in a situation where she needed to be. she wondered why her house was empty, considering that the reyes siblings were homebodies at heart. there was no reason for her brother to be missing, but she took the opportunity and ransacked her own room, shoving clothes and toiletries into a duffel bag. it would be nice to brush her teeth with an actual toothbrush instead of her finger.

jj waited in the passenger seat of her car, claiming to be her "body guard," should rafe or barry show their face. while she reminded him that she did not need protection from her own brother, it was nice to have him as backup. when she exited the trailer, a swim suit coverup forged into some type of dress covering her body, she tossed her bag into jj's lap and climbed into the driver's seat. her and jj had been spending much more time together, because michelle had refused to go home.

sarah had obviously been sleeping in john b's room, leaving three out of the four remaining pogues to fend for themselves. kiara begrudgingly took jj's normal spot on the disregarded couch cushions, while he acted as a barrier between the two remaining girls. michelle slept on the far end of the pull out couch, often facing the wall with a sheet pulled up to her neck, while the blonde boy slept adjacent to her, half of his body nearly dangling off the other side of the bed, not wanting to touch michelle as they slept. it was not comfortable, but it was better than being worried if her door was locked or not.

the two drove straight to the courthouse, as kiara said she would drive separately with sarah and meet the two old friends there. pope was picked up in the old beater on the way into town, and soon, the five kids found themselves screaming, pleading, calling out for john b's innocence. jj, though angry himself, kept a firm grip on michelle's bicep, refusing to let the girl get herself in trouble. before her own eyes, she watched kiara and ward cameron arguing in the green grass outside of the courthouse. michelle was too in shock at the announcement of john b's possible death sentence to react, the only thing keeping her grounded being the same hand that was preventing her from getting herself into trouble. jj ushered both her and kiara away from the growing crowd, and pope was able to delegate the new drivers, as both of the girls who had originally drove were in a different mental state than they had been before arriving.

michelle worked on autopilot for the following days. she heard jj talk about his visit to john b, how they had concocted a stupid plan to break him out, but did not play into their stupidity. instead, michelle stayed back and cleaned the chateau, keeping her hands busy so her mind would not run away from her. she did this for three days, only stopping to eat and rest, until the chateau was spotless, and her friends could be heard shouting john b's name outside the thin walls.

the girl walked to a window and saw kiara jump into her boy's arms, and michelle immediately rushed to meet them.

"where's sarah?" john b asked as kiara release him, and michelle had taken her spot in john b's arms.

"said she was meeting her sister or something." jj shrugged, clapping his hand on john b's shoulder after michelle was released.

the three of them, pope and sarah nowhere to be found, sat and listened to john b talk about his time in the slammer, as jj so fondly called it. they learned that he had been attacked, then released, free of charges. he noted that it was nice to see that michelle had not bitten anyone's head off, and kiara made a smug comment about her lack of participation.

"lay off, kie," jj snapped. "it's a good day. our boy's home!" he intervened before michelle could get a word in, not wanting to relive the horrible night from the beginning of the summer.