TIDES OF FATE - JJ Maybank

VII. The bends that kill

:･ﾟ✧:･.☽˚｡･ﾟ✧:･.:

Lillian's POV

THE SCILENCE THAT existed the next morning at the Chateau was suffocating. I felt the morning sun creep through the window, casting a soft glow on the porch. Yet, the warmth couldn't dispel the lingering  chill in my heart. The events of the previous night played like a haunting melody in my mind, over and over again. The near drowning of my best friend played on repeat. 

I was snapped out of my thoughts when the sound of a rock hitting the bark of a nearby tree caught my attention. I watched as JJ repeated the action over and over again, no doubt a way of coping with the silence we found ourselves in. 

JJ never liked the quiet, and i knew that. The quiet meant that his mind was free from distraction and even from my seat about ten feet away from him, I could tell that he was overthinking.

„Im calling it off," John B announces, causing the rest of us to turn to him. „PEterkin said if I stay out of the marsh, she'll help me with DCS.

"And you believed her?" JJ questioned, not missing a beat.

His jaw clenched at the mention of the sheriff and his gaze fixated on the horizon before him.

"Yes," John B said stiffly, "I believe her, JJ."

JJ shook his head in disappointment and threw the stone in his hand. "An actual cop, John B. You believed a cop."

"All I gotta do is stay out of the marsh for a couple days, and she'll help me out," John B fought, growing more defensive as the seconds passed. "It doesn't help that your ass was the one shooting a gun."

"You know what I should have done? Just let Topper drown your ass."

"Yeah, cause Topper was gonna drown me?"

"He kinda did," shot JJ as he pushed off the table he sat upon. He moved closer to us and gestured to the me. "Lily had to do CPR. Maybe I should have stopped her."

"Funny," John B huffed. His sarcasm didn't go unnoticed.

"Have you looked in a mirror recently?" JJ pointed to John B's bruised face and leaned against one of the nearby pillars, letting out a humourless laugh. "They always win, don't they, man? Kooks versus Pogues. They always, always win. Goddamn!" He punched one of the buoys that was hanging from the top of the shed out of exasperation.

"Look, it's okay!" Kie exclaimed, trying to ease the tension.

"No, it's not okay!" JJ shouted, spinning around with furrowed brows. "It is not!"

I sighed and looked up at him. "JJ," I called lightly.

He glanced over at me and his gaze instantly softened. "They don't want us to go down into the marsh. That means there's something valuable down there and you know it. I know you do." He turned to John B.

The rest of us shared a look before J captured our attention again. He stepped up to Pope and looked down at him. "I understand why you don't wanna go. You're the golden boy. You've got way too much to risk. And you-" He turned to Kie. "I mean, you're already rich as fuck anyway. Why would you bother?'

Kie gave him a look and rolled her eyes.

"And Lils-" His breath caught in his throat as his eyes met mine. "You're like the two of them combined. You're gonna go off and change the world, and cure cancer or something." His gaze shifted to John B. "But you and me, man, we got nothing to lose! We really don't, alright? And I know it didn't use to be that way for you-"