𝐅𝐎𝐎𝐋'𝐒 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃 || 𝐣. 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧

CLEO CALLED THEM TO TELL THEM SHE FOUND POPE. Well, they gave her Leo's phone number since he was the only one with a device at the moment, and she called him from one of the phones on a boat that she and the Heyward boy snuck onto. She said they were safe and that he did not end up killing Rafe, which was all they needed to know.

So, JJ, Bree, and Leo were walking down the sidewalk as the sun began to set. It was not as awkward as she had thought it would be, and Leo was being weirdly cool about everything. He and JJ had talked a little bit on their adventure, so it was a pleasant walk home. Bree sighed as she avoided a crack in the sidewalk. "I'm so sorry I pulled you into all of this. You can probably go home now. It should be safe."

"Eh, it's okay," he answered, waving her off, and JJ reached over to feel his forehead. He must be coming down with something if he thought that everything that he gone through that day was okay. A normal per "There's nothing waiting for me there."

"What about your parents? How long are they gone for?" she quizzed, but the face that he made at the question made her regret it. She had assumed that they were off on some business trip or vacation, but now, she knew that wasn't so.

"Forever. I lied," he answered, and both of the Pogues looked over at hm. JJ had been kicking a rock down the road, but he now gave the boy his full attention, which was something Bree had almost never seen him do. "Well, technically, I didn't lie. I said they were never home, and they aren't. Because they're dead."

The Calloway girl nodded slowly. "Oh."

"Yeah, sorry, I made it weird," he winced, and Bree felt bad for her short response. Despite the fact that she was in a slightly similar situation and had explain that to people multiple times, she had no clue what to say. She didn't even know what she watned people to say her whnen she informed them of her abandonment.

She rubbed his arm, and despite the fact taht it was really not the time, the sight made JJ's blood boil. His eyes lingered on their skin touching as she assured Leo, "You didn't, and if it makes you feel any better, our parents are gone too."

"Yeah, my dad's God-knows-where, and her mom's AWOL too," JJ added, and he let out a breath that he did not even know he was holding when the girl's hand dropped back to her side. He clapped his hands together. "Anyway, that's enough of the sad talk. I'm hungry."