𝚕𝚊𝚢 𝚖𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 // 𝕁𝕁 𝕄𝕒𝕪𝕓𝕒𝕟𝕜

Chapter Nine // We All Fall Down

9. We All Fall Down

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"I got no excuses
For all of these goodbyes
Call me when it's over
'Cause I'm dying inside
Wake me when the shakes are gone
And the cold sweats disappear
Call me when it's over
And myself has reappeared"

~ Sober by Demi Lovato

•••

⚠️ Major Trigger Warnings For This Chapter: Relapse, Drug Addiction, Graphic depictions of violence and injuries, Aftermath of physical abuse, Emotional trauma, Depression and Suicidal thoughts, Suggestions of Sexual Abuse/NonCon ⚠️

•••

It was just after 5am and JJ lay passed out on the couch at the Chateau. He had stayed out on the dock for a bit after Valerie had left, silently fuming, before storming back to the house and trashing the place.

He couldn't help feeling terrible afterward as he had stared at the destruction he had caused. John B. would have beaten the shit out of him had he been there. Pope would have lectured him. Kie would have pulled him in for a hug and held on tightly.

The more time he spent dealing with things on his own, JJ was becoming more and more aware of his apparent need for a keeper. He hadn't gone through anything alone since the third grade and he hadn't realized just how much he relied on the Pogues to keep him from going off the deep end.

JJ was a loose cannon and without someone to to ground him, he was self-destructing.

The sun hadn't quite begun to rise over the water, when the sound of three rapid gunshots jolted him out of his sleep. He heard the squeal of tires as a car peeled out of the drive and he practically leaped out of the room, sprinting through the screened porch and out onto the steps.

He saw the glow of tail lights disappearing in the distance and a dark figure lying on the ground in the driveway.

It felt like the world around him stopped as his legs carried him deftly across the yard, reaching the figure and rolling him over.

"Fuck!" JJ whispered to himself as he took in his best friend's bruised and bloodied face, gently patting the boy's cheek to try to wake him up. "Fuck! Pope. Hey, Buddy, can you hear me? Pope?"

The boy just let out a pained groan and JJ carefully slipped a hand under his head, pulling him up to hold him against his chest. He quickly surveyed him for gunshot wounds, and luckily did not find any. "Hey, Man, it's me. It's JJ. You're gonna be okay. You're gonna be okay, Buddy."

JJ murmured reassurances over and over as he fumbled in his pockets for his phone. He cursed himself when he realized the battery was still dead and quickly searched Pope's pocket.

He called the first person he could think of to fix things.

"Babe?" A confused, sleepy voice came through the other end of the phone.

"Kie! Thank God!"

"JJ?!" The girl instantly sounded wide awake and worried.

"Listen, you've got to get to The Chateau now!" He panicked, looking down at his injured friend, shaking him gently to try to keep him conscious.

"I'm on my way."

JJ hung up the phone, shoving it into his pocket, and struggled to drape Pope over his shoulder's to carry him back up to the house. He barely made it without dropping the boy who was equally as heavy as he was.