P4L, carpe diem (JJ Maybank)

064

Me and J were inside the Chateau, messing around with each other. He would playfully hit me and I would do it back.

I ran at him, jumping onto him and making him carry me. He didn't have any problem carrying me, as if it was second nature.

He held onto my thighs and looked at me. But I looked at him. He was so handsome, in every way. Put him into a suit and tie and he'd still be really cute.

I brushed a piece of hair behind his ear as he fixed his grip on my thighs. "You're pretty," I muttered at him, with a smile.

"You're not so bad yourself, Routledge," he answered.

"Aw. Thank ya."

"No. Screw that. I have a HOT girlfriend, aren't ya, Cupcake?" He smirked. I blushed, shrugging my head.

"I mean, if I really tried to, I could be good looking," I teased.

"Nah. You don't even need to try, Princess. You scored me," he said to me, sitting me down on the couch.

"Eh. You sure you didn't score me?" I asked, lying back on my arms as he laid on top of me.

"Yes. You scored me. 110%. I mean, you were the one that practically begged me to come to the Chateau so you could clean the cuts," he scoffed and I rolled my eyes.

"Okay, first of all, I didn't beg you. I asked you, POLITELY, at most, like, 4 times. And second of all, you were the one that gave in," I answered.

"True." He leaned forward and kissed me. I slid my hands through his unbuttoned shirt, sliding them on his chest just for the feeling of him. He was so warm, and his touch was so comfortable to me.

He wrapped his arms around my waist, hooking his thumbs in my jeans.

We began to hear a ring come from his back pocket, and he groaned in annoyance, backing out of the kiss. "Every time! Every time I have a small moment with my girl something has to take it away," he sighed, reaching back into his pocket and pulling out his phone.

I chuckled, finding it cute how he acted.

He looked at his phone, and back at me. "It's Guffy."

~|~

We rushed outside, looking for Pope. We ran out to the shack.

We saw Pope and Kie giving each other tight hugs. "Pope!" JJ yelled, panting.

"Pope-Dope!" I added, holding up JJ's phone as I leaned against the beam of the shack.

"Just got a call from Guffy. Something happened to your pops."

Pope walked towards us, eyes shone with worry. "What?" He muttered, as I began running for the Twinkie.

~|~

We all were at Heyward's, checking in on him. He was beat up by someone, pissing off Pope.

Using the little medical skills I had because of softball and track season, I volunteered to help patch him up.

I slowly placed a bandage onto Heyward's forehead, helping the cut. "Let me know if I'm hurting you," I told him, carefully patching the sticky sides of the bandaid on his head.

He slowly winced, as I placed the last bit onto his skin. "Okay," I muttered, standing up from the railing.

"Thank you, darlin'," he said, patting my knee. "Thank ya." I sat up, leaning my back against the railing beside JJ with my arms crossed.

Pope looked and crouched at his father. "Pop, what happened?" He asked, demandingly.

"Oh, I should've known better. He came in just as I was about to lock up. Caught me by surprise. Once he had me down, he put his knee on my chest, and he asked me about...that...that key for that drawing you showed me," Heyward explained, as Pope stood up.

Pope looked up at us, curiously.

"And in case, you're wondering, I ain't tell him nothing," his pops added. "Now, did you track it down?"

Pope reached for his back pocket, and pulled out the key. He placed it into his father's hands and began examining it.

"I found it in Mee-Maw's old apartment above the pharmacy just like you said it was," Pope explained, sitting on onto the picnic table which was placed in Heyward's shop.

"Shit, boy, you should've gave this to me. I wouldn't have had to take a beating. Now, what's the big deal? It ain't worth anything. Why they want it so bad?"

I looked at JJ, biting my knuckle of my pointer finger. JJ grabbed my hand and unraveled the tight fist it was in and raveled his fingers in between mine. He kissed my hand, and placed it on his leg.

"I don't know," Pope went on. "First, I get this letter telling me that I need to go to Charleston. And then I meet a rich lady who wants me to give her key that I didn't even know was in my family!" Pope shrugged, confusion in his face.

"None of it makes any sense," Kie added, staring at the ground.

"Well, don't y'all just sit here whining about it. Figure it out!" Heyward pointed to us.

"No," Pope denied, stubbornly. "I'm just gonna give the key to that lady. It's not worth—"

"No, no, no. Did I raise you to back down from a fight, boy?"

Pope looked at him, and shook his head. "No, sir."

Heyward smiled at his son. "Alright..." he paused. "Now, I didn't think about it before. I admit that. But now...now?" He questioned, pointing to his bandaged forehead. "Now I'm interested. Did they say why they wanted it?"

"Something about... an old cross. I think it might be some kind of lost treasure," Pope explained, not completely sure in his answer.

"You know who you should talk to?" Pope looked up at his Dad from the floor. "Your great-grandmother, Mee-Maw."