𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐨𝐲

XII. Coming With You.

     

     JJ OFFERED to drive back and so Jake sat behind the passenger seat now while Kie sat in the front, with JJ who she kept glancing over at. "Jay, you okay?" The Maybank asked now and the Lennox swallows the lump in his throat. "She's right. I promised her everything would be okay now. That Poguelandia 2.0. was our home. That we won't be apart anymore." He said as he glanced down, fidgeting with his hands and JJ just glanced over at Kie.

The Carrera girl had a small frown on her face, staring down at the floor of the van. "These things are out of our control, Jay, we thought we'd be... done. That it was all over now." She explained and then there was an unspoken "but something happened", as she now looked at JJ who's staring at the road, jaw clenched. He probably knew she was gonna point out that because of him, things were bad again, that they needed money yet again.

"Yeah... but why would I have said that? Given what all of us have been through? What we continue to go through?" He asked now and Kie climbed through the two seats, to the back of the van as she sits down next to her boyfriend, finding that he has glossy eyes and is staring down at the floor of the van. "You wanted our daughter to be... comfortable. In our new home, with our family. Of course you made promises to her, but it doesn't mean you can't keep them. It's still our home." She said and reached out, cupping his face gently.

"Yeah. We'll bring her home once everything is sorted out and it'll be back to normal, like always again." JJ spoke up and Jake just smiled at their words, nodding softly. "Okay." He said quietly and Kie leaned over, giving him a peck on the lips. "We'll be okay." She smiled and he just stared at her with a glimmer back in his eyes. "Yeah." He agreed quietly.

The trio couple now hold hands, Jake in the middle with his fingers interlocked with both his boyfriend and girlfriend, kind of swinging their arms as they head into the house. The guilt was eating him alive, but at least he had his girl and guy at both of his sides.

The three find their friends on the back patio, all sitting together and waiting, Jake handing John B back his van keys before he plopped down onto the couch, sighing as Kie sat down next to him, leaving no space for JJ who just sits at the arm rest. There's a silence amongst the group of friends, which is understandable, given the day that they all had. Cleo had went through a lot, the Heyward boy sitting with the girl and having an arm around her.

She's playing with a knife, stabbing it into the wood she was sitting on. "First things first. Gotta take care of Terrance." She said as Pope is staring at her. "Of course." Sarah agreed quietly. "Can't just leave him here. It won't sit right on my conscience." She said and John B walks over. "Cleo's right. We gotta do something about Terrance." He walks over to JJ. "And then we have to get the hell out of here. Alright?" He tells the blond boy now.

JJ simply looks up at him. "Road trip." The Routledge says. "What?" The Maybank says, glancing at the others. "Road trip to where?" Jake asked now, glancing at Kie before looking back at JJ and John B, both now looking at him. "John B and I were talking. We think the North Star and the Half Moon Battery is referring to Charleston." Pope explains.

"If we get to Charleston before them, we have a fighting chance." John B explains as Jake turns to look at Kie once more, to see the girl is staring at him, an unreadable expression on her face. "We have no other option. What... what are we doing?" John B now asked, looking around at all of them as he walks away from JJ. "What do you mean we don't have any other option?" Kie asked the Routledge.

"The zoning notice, Kie. We're gonna lose Poguelandia." He explains to her as she sighs, so Jake reached over, grabbing her hand gently. "John B, they killed Terrance." The Carrera says, her hand squeezing Jake's. "Dude." John B looks away. "We're in way, way over our heads." She continued to go on.