𝐀 𝐌𝐀𝐘𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐊, 𝗃𝗈𝗁𝗇 𝖻 𝗋𝗈𝗎𝗍𝗅𝖾𝖽𝗀𝖾

11: 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚜𝚜

"You should go and meet the others." John B tells her, standing right in front of her.

Y/n quickly shakes her head. "No, I'm not leaving you. I'll wait here for you."

He goes to open his mouth, but stops himself, staring into her e/c eyes. Y/n cups his cheek, debating whether to kiss him or not. Instead, she kisses his cheek, letting her lips linger slightly before pulling back. John B smiles at her before slowly leaving her arms, going off to find Ward Cameron, but not before giving her one last glance.

After a couple minutes, Y/n leaned against a wooden pole, sneakily bringing out the compass that she still had in her pocket, fiddling with it. She made sure to have her back to the people around her, so they wouldn't see the compass. From afar, she could see Sarah Cameron walking along the docks, a chip bag in her hand.

Turning around, Y/n's gaze landed on John B stomping slightly in her direction. Quickly, she put the compass back in her pocket before he grabbed her hand, muttering a small 'let's go', continuing to walk out of the docks, passing Sarah Cameron on the way.

"Hey, Y/n, John B." Sarah greets with a small smile. However, they just walk past her. "I'm sorry, that's it? Not a, "Hey, how you doing"? Or "kiss my ass"?"

""Your secret's safe with me"?" John B recalls in a harsh tone.

"What secret are--" Sarah begins, but stops herself short once she remembers. "Oh, that secret."

"I just got fired because of you." John B raises his voice, glaring at her. "And I know you can't imagine that, but some people need jobs so that they can eat."

Out of anger, John B knocks the bag of chips out of her arms, the plastic landing on the ground before pulling Y/n off again.

"What the fuck?" Sarah exclaims.

"Fuck you, Sarah Cameron!" John B replies, not even glancing back at her as he pulls Y/n with him.

As she's being pulled, Y/n glances over her shoulder at Sarah, seeing the girl's eyes slightly wide as she tries to comprehend what had just happened. They meet eyes, Sarah examining the Maybank girl's facial expression, seeing her face was blank.

Soon enough, the two found themselves walking side by side on the streets in a neighborhood. As they walked, Y/n occasionally squeezed his hand in reassurance, making him glance at her, squeezing back. Hearing a vehicle coming up to them, they look over, seeing a familiar black truck stopping beside them.

The window rolls down, revealing the two men that trashed John B's house. John B glances at Y/n, seeing her gulp in fear. His grip tightened on her hand as the sound of a gun cocking was heard.

"Time's up, boy." One of the men state, lifting there gun up, revealing it to the teenagers.

With wide eyes, John B starts running, pulling Y/n with him. The teens continue to glance over their shoulder, seeing one of the men chasing them. They turn many corners, jumping over trees before Y/n was suddenly grabbed by the man. However, John B was quick to push him to the ground before grabbing her hand, continuing to run until they were out on the road again.

Suddenly, they came to a stop when the other man in the truck stopped in front of them. Frantically, the two sprinted past the vehicle, hearing both the men following after them. As they turned the corner, John B let go of Y/n's hand, pushing her in front of him.

Glancing over her shoulder, Y/n went to climb up the fence, John B going to follow. However, the girl was suddenly pushed back to the ground by the electricity of the fence. John B shouts her name, going to run to her side, but the man sends him to the ground by punching the Routledge boy in the face.

"You gotta watch those live wires after a storm, kid." The man warns, glancing at Y/n before standing over John B. "You're gonna give me what I want."

Before any of them could do anything, however, the sound of a police siren was heard. Both men look over, including John B, seeing Peterkin hopping out of her car, staring at the man, all while Y/n continues to shake and whimper on the ground.

Both men are quick to go back to their vehicle, while John B rises to his feet, running to the girl's side, placing her head in his lap, caressing her hair. Y/n continues to shake and whimper from the slight pain.

After a couple minutes, John B was able to help her up, the two hopping into Peterkin's vehicle as she was still there. The three sat in silence, the two teenagers holding hands as best as they could.

"So, how's it working out, kid?" Peterkin asks, breaking the silence as she glances at John B. "It's a whole lot safer if you give it to me than anybody else."

In response, John B glances over his shoulder at Y/n, seeing the dirt and dust on her face from the fence, along with sweat. She meets his eyes, seeing the nod he was giving her, she shakily brought out his father's compass, slowly handing it to Peterkin.

"This thing probably saved your life." Peterkin tells Y/n. "Concentrated the shock. Lucky."

Without saying anything else, John B exits the vehicle, Y/n doing the same with the help of the boy. Standing side by side, John B wraps an arm around her shoulder, feeling her arms wrap around his waist as they watch Peterkin drive away.

***

The two teenagers stood together in the trashed Chateau. John B lets out a small breath with a little nod.

"Maybe my friends were right. I should let it go. Move on."

"Come on. Let's clean up." Y/n speaks up in a gentle voice, pulling him further into the house.

Together, they separate throughout the Routledge residence, grabbing as much trash as they could and bringing it outside. At one point, John B holds the door open for Y/n, trash in both their hands as they walk down the steps, dumping the trash in their little made pile.

"Pull myself together. Pick up the pieces."

Y/n walks back inside, walking into the kitchen to grab more and more trash to clean up. John B glances at her before his gaze lands on the floor, picking of a picture of his father and himself when he was younger.

"Stop living in denial."

The Maybank girl glances over at the boy, watching as he clears a table full of trash, placing the picture of himself and his father on the table neatly.

"Leave the past behind."

Once putting more trash outside, Y/n finds herself walking into John B's father's office, picking up the pin board with the boy's ancestors that had the compass before him on the board. She walks out the room, meeting John B near the door, handing it to him.

The Routledge boy stares at the pin board in his hands before grabbing the girl's hand, leading her outside. John B glances at her, then the board before throwing the object into the trash pile. Bringing out a pack of matches, the boy takes his hand out of the girl's to light the match.

"And bury the dead."

With that, he throws the match in the pile, watching the fire emit, becoming bigger and bigger. Y/n leans against him, feeling him wrap his arm around her. After a couple minutes, John B suddenly pulls away, grabbing a stick like object, pulling the pin board out of the fire before stomping on it in hopes to get rid of the flames.

Curiously, Y/n crouches beside the boy, watching as the boy examines the board, then pointing at a certain spot, muttering something to himself under his breath. Just then, John B grabs her hand, pulling her with him as they hop into the campervan, driving away.