Pogue Rules | Outer Banks | JJ x reader

Part 8

After we all calmed down, John B told us all to load up in the van. We all did so quietly, all of us were wanting to get out there after what jut happened. Kiara and John B claimed the front seats and JJ, Pope, and I all lounged in the back. Pope was setting in the seat closest to the door and I sat sideways in the seat right behind the driver's and JJ sat in the floor in front of me and leaned back against my seat. The back of the van wasn't typical. We had ripped out the row seating and installed a few smaller seats along the walls of the van so we would have more room.

"I mean it's obvious right?", John B asked as all we sat in silence.

Pope had the compass looking at it, Kie was just looking at John B, and I played with JJ's hair while he fiddled with the papers he used to roll joints. No one commented on what John B said.

"A family heirloom", he continued, "What better place to hide a message. My dad had to of known that it would somehow get back to me, right?"

"Yeah", Kie nodded, I looked up at here and I could see the skepticism on her face, "It's possible."

"It could also be possible", Pope dragged out, "That you're concocting wild theories to help with your sad feels."

"Bro you know I process my sad feels?", JJ spoke up, "Dank nugs and the stickiest of ickies, that's how I do it", he said looked up towards John B.

Usually I would have said something about a comment like that but instead I just leaned down and kissed the top of his head and pet the back of his hair, silently reassuring him that he wouldn't need those anymore.

"I'm not concocting, okay? My dad is trying to give him a message", he said surely.

"If it helps you believe, John B", Kie assured him and I sighed.

"Look, I don't need a therapy session, okay?! Look I'm not trippin out", all of us in the back exchanged small looks at his statement.

"Look it's okay to trip, bro, but-", John B cut JJ off.

"My dad is missing. Missing. You don't know what it's like to have the person closest to you vanish and have no idea what happened. You just wake up every moring...wondering", he sighed with a shaky breath.

"John, its been almost a year", Kiara said slowly and the feel quickly turned dark.

"Hey!", JJ spoke up, "He could have been kidnapped. That's definitely a possibility."

"Yeah, he could be in a Soviet sub getting interrogated by the KGB somewhere", Pope added.

I shot Pope a look as JJ added, "Or Atlantis."

That comment earned him a smack to the back of the head, "Ow, hey", he said and cupped the back of his head and turned to look at me and I shook my head at him.

"What do you think the message is?", Kie asked him to change the subject.

"Redfield", was all he said and we waited for him to elaborate, "Redfield lighthouse. My dad's favorite place."

I looked out the windshield to see the sign for the light house which had a 'Closed Due To Hurricane' sign on it. John B drove the rest of the way up to the lighthouse. There was a small white picket fence around most of the light house and John B parked right along the fence. We all climbed out and looked around. You could hear the ocean and the birds and that was it. There was no sound of people and our van was the only vehicle around. We all walked over and looked at the lighthouse. John B turned and handed JJ the keys.