𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 ━ 𝐣𝐣 𝐨𝐛𝐱

part thirty five

"we go in there, guns a-blazin, make ward cameron beg for mercy, abscond with as much gold as possible and vamonos, get the hell out of there," jj announced proudly as he loaded his gun with more bullets.

riley was watching intently as he did so; she couldn't help herself from wondering where he got the bullets from. she didn't even know where he had gotten the gun from.

the tension was so thick in the van between jj and riley that she felt like she was being suffocated. luckily though, none of the other pogues took notice of it because that's just the way they'd always been with riley.

snapping her out of her thoughts, john b began to speak from the driver's seat of the van. "send that shit right down the intracoastal."

"wait for the weather," kiara carried on.

"exit to cuba," pope nodded, agreeing with the rest of his friends.

"cuba?" jj laughed. "nah man, xcalak, jewel of the yucatan. lobsters so thick, mangoes and no word for money." he finished his statement with a proud smile and looked up from his gun to see riley, who's eyes were already on him. the boy's smile immediately dropped, as did riley's. they averted their eyes from each other, looking out the window instead.

john b parked the van near the fence of the air strip and the group began to climb out. riley made her way out of the vehicle last. the others had already begun to run towards the fence but jj had been holding the door handle and waiting for her.

"hey," jj said, "can we-"

"not now jj," she mumbled before brushing passed him to catch up with the others.

"what's the plan? broad strokes!" kie said.

"i don't think got that far," john b muttered. "there's ward."

"they're loading up the gold," pope said as he looked through binoculars. john b snatched them out of his hand and peered through them himself.

"what?" kiara questioned as the boy lowered the device from his eyes.

"sarah," john b breathed before raising the binoculars up again. "wait a minute. he's hurting her.

"what?" riley panicked for her best friend.

"they're fighting," john b said as he handed kie the binoculars. "holy shit."

"g-guys," riley stammered, "we have to do some-" the girl's words were cut off my an engine starting.

"what are you doing?!" pope yelled.

"hey! don't be a hero dude!" jj pulled riley's body away from the fence as john b drove the van through it. "what are you doing?! what are you doing man?!"

jj held onto riley's hand tightly as they watched john b race down against the plane. he had managed to pull in front of it and stop, hoping that ward would stop as well.

riley let out a sigh of relief once the plane had stopped before it could have totaled the car. it was then that she noticed that she was gripping onto jj's hand just as tightly as he had been holding onto her's. she wiggled her hand slightly in his tight grasp and he looked down at their interlocked fingers.

"oh i uh.. i'm-" jj began while loosening his grip and she pulled away her hand completely before he could finish speaking. "sorry," he mumbled under his breath as she took a step away from him. the thing was... he wasn't just apologizing for holding her hand.

before anyone could say another word sirens began to wail threw the air, grasping the group's attention from the scene occurring on the runway.

"guys i can't get arrested," pope said.

"i'm on probation," jj said, running a hand through his hair. it was something riley noticed he always did when he was stressed.

"look we're no good if we're all in jail," kie stated. jj picked up his fallen hat before they all took off in a run with no destination in mind. they sprinted until they ended up in town, hanging around discarded chairs, trash cans and old cardboard boxes.

"there goes the gold," pope gritted as the plane passed overhead. riley closed her eyes and sighed as disappointment and anger ran through her system. she stood on the side of the garage, distancing herself from the group because she felt out of place. she knew she had always been out of place when she was with the pogues.

they didn't want her there, was all she could think and all she let flood her mind as she walked away and never looked back to the garage, even after she heard loud clattering metal and shouting.

"what the fuck riley?" kiara bursted into riley's room only hours later to see the girl wrapped up in the covers, her face smushed into the pillow. "why'd you just leave?"

riley turned her body so she could come face to face with her sister who was hovering over the bed, waiting for a reply. that's when kiara noticed that riley's cheeks were tear stained and her eyes were red. "wait, are you crying?"

she was crying, or, well she had been for the past couple of hours. she couldn't help but to dwell on how much of a fool she'd been, or how ignorant her words were to jj. and no matter how much she tried she couldn't stop fucking thinking about him; it was undeniably driving her insane.

"riley-"

"did you guys find john b," riley managed to mutter out, cutting off her sister.

kiara only blinked at the girl as if she had forgotten why she bursted into the room in the first place. "uh... yeah, yeah we did. we need your help."

"no you don't," riley said before flipping her body over in the bed again and turning away from her twin.

"wha-," kiara stammered, "what do you mean no we don't? riley, you won't believe what happened. rafe-"

"you were right kiara," riley began, "i'm not a pogue and i'm never going to be."

"does this have something to do with jj?" kiara questioned, earning a scoff from her twin. "jj is stupid. there are more important things we need to discuss. riley, rafe cameron-"

"you don't have to include me in this anymore. i know you hated it anyway," riley said. she chewed on the inside of her cheek while kiara remained silent, unsure if she was about to scream at her or be civil; it was really a hit or miss this days with her.

"i'm not good enough for the pogues," riley mumbled quietly under her breath, referring to the fact that not only kiara hated her but jj hadn't liked her either.

"i- you-," kiara stuttered, "do you actually fucking think that?"

"yes, it's quite obvious. now can you-"

"it's the complete opposite riley!" kiara began. "you're too good for us!"

"give me a break," riley groaned.

"i can't believe you right now," kiara raised her voice. "you have the perfect body. the perfect clothes. you're always kind. you get good grades. you're the favorite child. i mean come on! you're just fucking perfect."

"kiara-"

"don't even tell me it's not true because it is!" kiara yelled before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "i've always been a bitch to you because i'm fucking jealous. there i said it. i'm jealous that i'll never be the favorite daughter, or the one who everyone likes, or the one with the perfect gpa. the only thing i ever had that you didn't was the pogues and that's why i hated you being around them! so there. i said it. i admitted it. i'm sorry"

"kie," riley breathlessly mumbled as she stared in shock at her sister. there it was again, the nickname that she almost never used.

kiara shook her head and looked down at the ground, a few tears escaping down her cheeks. "r-riley," she croaked out, "rafe cameron shot sheriff peterkin."