𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐝𝐬 • 𝐣𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐛 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠

dove was out of breath and her and john b continued to ran through the figure eight. hopping fences and jumping over things.

of course she was fit and in shape and able-bodied, but this was all taking a toll on her. she was just exhausted.

"john-john b." dove panted.

they then spotted some cop cars as they hopped into a person's yard, so john b pulled dove with him to hide behind a bush.

"john b."

he looked over at her. even as the sun was almost set he could see her tired, red face.

she looked up at him and saw the beads of sweat and dirt on his face.

"how much—when...i'm so tired." she said.

"i know, but we have to keep going. if...if you can't keep up, you have to go because this is my life now. this is my life now, okay?" john b said.

"it shouldn't be your life. it's not fair." dove replied.

"i know, dove, i know. but now we have to keep running. are you okay to keep running?" he raised his eyebrows.

dove swallowed and nodded although she felt like she was going to pass out from exhaustion.

"okay, come on."

he grabbed her hand and they stood straight up and came out from behind the bush then continued running.

about two minutes later, they found a garage to hide in.

john b led dove in there and she sat on the ground while john b closed the garage door.

dove exhaled shakily and shook out her hands. she looked over at john b who ran his hands through his hair and panted.

"are you okay, bird?" she asked.

"never better." he panted.

"john b."

he looked at her.

"birdie, stop worrying about me." he said.

dove shook her head.

"i'll never stop worrying about you. and john b...i know you're worried too." she said.

he didn't reply and looked straight ahead.

"john b."

he looked over at her with tears in his eyes.

she pulled the boy into her and held him in her arms while he cried.

"let it out, bird. it's okay. let it out." she whispered.

john b wanted to scream. he just wanted to let out a loud scream, but he didn't. he just sobbed into dove's chest.

and just then, there was a nose coming from outside of the garage.

"all units, reports of a white male and a white female running through backyards in the one-hundredth block of church street. repeat, all unfits, neighbors reported a white male and female running through backyards in the one-hundredth block of church street."

john b slowly sat up.

the garage door began opening and john b quickly got to his feet, dove following suit.

they ran to a door in the garage that into the house and quickly entered.

when they got inside, they saw topper walking out of the kitchen with a two beers.

"john b? dove?" he furrowed his eyebrows.

"just listen to me for a second. relax." john b began.

"what the hell are you doing here, man?" topper asked, then turned to dove. "dove, you need to get away from him and go to your mom at tanyhill."