𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 ━ 𝐣𝐣 𝐨𝐛𝐱

part twenty three

don't bother coming home until you find her, were the last words that riley's mother told her before she left the house the next day. her parents were furious when kiara didn't come home for another night, (at least to their  knowledge), so they told riley she had to go find her.

unlucky for riley however, kiara wouldn't answer her texts or calls. riley decided that her last resort was to go to john b's house which is where kie spent almost all her time.

the girl chewed on her lip as she pulled into the driveway of the chateau. she knew jj would most likely be there and she hadn't seen him since the night of midsummers. riley closed her eyes and took a deep breath before hopping out of her car.

she heard voices around the back and decided to just walk around to there instead of knocking at the door.

"riley?" john b called out once the girl came into view. him, pope and jj were all sitting together on the back porch and immediately snapped their heads in riley's direction as she walked towards them.

riley's eyes went to jj first but he had put his head down within seconds of seeing her, not even taking a moment to look at the girl.

"is kiara here?" she asked the boys. john b turned to pope and jj, their eyes all wide as they looked at each other.

"uh she's not here at the moment. she'll be back soon" pope awkwardly answered.

"well when is soon?" riley questioned.

"like uh... tomorrow," john b mumbled so quietly that riley could barely hear it.

"sorry am i hearing things or did you just say tomorrow?"

"no yeah, yeah tomorrow's right," pope said.

"where the fuck is she?" riley pressed.

"she's..." pope looked to john b for help but the brunette just shrugged, "she's on a boat."

"on a-" riley paused at a loss for words, her jaw dropping open. "please tell me your kidding."

"did you need her?" john b asked.

"do i need her?" riley scoffed, mocking the boys words. "i'm not allowed back in my fucking house without her!!!"

"what?" john b looked at the girl puzzled. "did your parents say that?"

"yes," riley groaned. "now i'm going to have to stay at the cameron's until she comes back."

"yeah uh... sarah's not home either," pope said, making jj smack him on the back of the head. this was the first time since riley had got there that the blonde had made any sort of movement besides bringing his juul up to his lips

"how would you know-" riley began before things started to click in her head. "are kiara and sarah on a boat together?!"

"yes... well..." john b stammered, unsure of how to explain the situation to the girl.

"explain," riley said with a shaky breath. she was trying her best to stay calm and not rip one of the boys heads off.

"long story."

"well apparently i've got time," riley gritted.

"long story that i cannot tell you," john b corrected himself.

"you're serious right now?" riley questioned.

"as a heart attack," john b said with a smile on his face. when riley did not return the gesture he let his face fall and averted his eyes as well. "you can stay here if you'd like."

jj's head immediately shot up at the boy's offer and john b just gave him a look that said, what else am i supposed to do?

"stay here?" riley let out a laugh.

"yeah, why not?" john b shrugged. riley looked between the boys, her eyes lingering on jj for a second longer than the others, but he still wouldn't look at her.

"you know what," riley said, pausing for a moment, "i'd rather not be murdered by my parents today."

"beer?" john b asked as he nodded his head to the chair next to him, signifying her to sit down.

"that's the only thing that'll get me through this," she mumbled, taking a seat.

after an hour or so of awkward small talk and quietly sipping on drinks, john b finally spoke up.

"i'm gonna go grab some more beer," he said, eyeing pope as he talked.

"i'll help you get that," pope said awkwardly.

"help him get beer?" jj looked up at the two, his brows furrowing. "why would he need help getting beer."

"uh you know," pope glanced at john b wearily, "john b and his butter fingers. can't hold a few cans for his life." jj looked between the two with a what the hell kind of look, but they just give him toothy grins before walking away.

riley caught on to what the boys were doing and once they had walked into the house she turned to face jj, giving him her own what the hell look.

"you told them?!" 

"what?! no!" jj shook his head.

"they both just left with the worst excuse possible, leaving us here... alone," riley said, rolling her eyes.

"i- no i- well-" jj stuttered, making riley groan. "they were mad at me when i didn't tell them the first time and i just... i don't know!"

the girl pinched the bridge of her nose, "well are we going to talk about it?"

"we didn't talk about it the first time," jj said.

"can you stop referring to the first time!" riley groaned once again.

"sorry," jj muttered under his breath.

"but..." riley trailed off, unsure of what to say, "we didn't talk about then but this time... was different."

"why was it different?" jj asked, trying to play dumb.

we were both sober and complexity aware of what we were doing, is what she wanted to say but couldn't. "you know why it was different."

jj brought his juul up to his lips, taking a hit. "what is there to talk about?"

riley understood what he was trying to say, or at least she thought that she understood. to her it meant that jj wanted to forget about it and act like it never happened, same as they did before.

"are they going to keep their mouths shut in front of kiara?" riley said tersely, referring to john b and pope.

"uh yeah," jj muttered, "she won't find out."

"okay."

"okay."

and the two just turned their heads and looked out to the dock, waiting in painful silence until the boys came back.