The Pogue Princess

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧𓇽

JJ POV

JJ sat in the Twinkie, looking at Briella's house. He knew he had to go, it was 9:10 now, and he still hadn't made it to the Clubhouse. He was about to get out of the van, but made the decision to park in front of the neighbours for safety reasons. The more he thought of it, the more he realized it was another way to delay his plan.

Finally, he got out of the car, and discreetly made his way to the Clubhouse, not wanting to be spotted by any Dad's in the process. He had not met that man, but he knew it was an encounter he would rather save for a later date.

He made it to the yard, and then just froze. He was thinking on whether or not his plan was actually a good one, or just something he would do and instantly regret. He stood there, behind a tree, for what felt like 20 minutes. After he was startled by a squirrel shuffling in a nearby tree, he decided to just go for it.

As he approached the treehouse, he could hear noises coming from it. The closer he got, he was able to identify the sound. He heard faint sobs. Worry began to rise within him, thinking about the worse case scenarios. Last time he was here, he dealt with Briella having a panic attack. What if she was having another one? Would he really be a face she wanted to see? His pace quickened and he climbed the ladder to see a petrified Diego.

"No! No! Please no!" he begged, backing himself in the farthest corner. His eyes widened in fear, obviously expecting someone else to be in JJ's position.

"Diego, it's me. JJ, remember? We're surfer dudes," he calmly said, attempting to relax the young boy.

"JJ? You're here? I thought you didn't like Briella anymore? She said you didn't care about her anymore" he questioned, his voice at a normal tone. JJ was hurt by his words, knowing that Briella thought JJ didn't care for her caused his heart to ache.

"It's complicated lil dude, but I'm here to talk to her. But what's wrong with you Diego? Who did you think I was?" JJ asked, worried about the little boy trembling in front of him.

"I- I can't tell you JJ" he mumbled quietly.

"Diego, they won't do anything to you if you tell me. I promise, but I need to know who they are" JJ reassured him, his worry growing with the state her brother was in.

"Papa, he— he was really mad last night" he said, the tears falling from his eyes now. JJ went to sit next to him, pulling the boy into a hug, not knowing whether this was really helping, but he knew he would have loved a hug as a kid after his dad was acting up.

"I was in his room looking for my book, and he got mad at me. He was hitting me a lot, and then Briella came home and they got I'm a bug fight but she pushed him off of her and stole his car keys. She drove us to a parking lot and we slept there for the night.

Then today she didn't want me to come back home, but she had to go to that mean Rafe guy house or else he gets mad like Papa. So i snuck in here and she went to his house. But when she came back, she was in all this fancy stuff and Papa got really mad and he would let her go. He kept going and going. Then he went into the house to get the bat, but he came back and Briella was sleeping.

He got all scared and he brought her somewhere in the car and now i'm stuck here all alone and I can't go anywhere and I'm hungry and I never found my book" the boy cried into JJ's shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably while JJ tried to calm him down. It hurt JJ to see Diego like this, he had only seen the kid a handful of times but he still cared for him. What he was going through was something that JJ could relate to, and it made the whole situation much more personal.

"Diego, so when Briella was sleeping, your Papa brought her somewhere?" JJ questioned once the child calmed down a bit.

"Yeah? But I dont know where. I think he said like a beach for the ride or tide, or maybe he said Abrich street on the side? I don't know JJ I'm sorry," he said, started to panic again. JJ was quick to calm him.