𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 {𝚓𝚓 𝚖𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚔}

𝚜.𝟸 𝚎𝚙.𝟺 -𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚝𝚠𝚘-

"things go south and they never turn around."

When they rejoined the party, Pope and Kiara were climbing into the HMS Pogue. "What's going on?" Tate asked Sarah, eyeing the boat in amusement.

"They're going on a date." Sarah waved as the boat sped off into the sound. "Have fun!" she said, giggling.

JJ turned to John B. "He jacked your boat, dude."

"Pope's poking on the Pogue," said John B, staring after the boat with a lingering grin.

Tate scrunched up her face and knocked John B's baseball cap from his head. "That's so gross, JB."

Sarah wolf whistled after the boat and they all turned back to the fire. Tate reached for a beer, but then she saw John B's face slacken. He put a hand on JJ's arm, staring into the darkness. "Wait, wait, wait, wait-"

"What?" asked Sarah.

"What was that?"

JJ hesitated. "Your chicken?"

John B shook his head. "I heard a car door."

Tate got up to squint in the direction John B was staring, and JJ started imitating a chicken clucking. John B wordlessly put a hand over his mouth and JJ fell silent. Tate saw two figures moving through the darkness. She was rooted to the spot. There were too many people after them for her to have any idea who the figures might be, but she wasn't naive enough to think they came peacefully.

"Move," she hissed, and everyone unfroze at once.

Minutes later, Tate was clinging to a tree branch, high up next to JJ. The fire below was still smoking, doused by John B's water bottle but still billowing steam. She knew it would give them away.

At last, one of the shadowy figures moved into the clearing and she could see his face in the dimness of the string lights John B had strung all over the backyard.

Rafe.

She could feel JJ's hand on her arm. She couldn't tell if he was going to do something stupid, or warning her not to. She hoped it was the latter. She dug her fingernails into the bark of the tree, silently willing JJ to stay still and stay quiet. The two things he was worst at.

"Where are you?" she could hear Rafe mutter from below.

Tate looked up at John B on the branch across from her and widened her eyes. He did the same. She knew he was thinking the same thing as her. If any of them moved, they'd be dead for sure. She looked back at JJ, warning him with her eyes. He nodded slowly and tightened his grip on the branch.

There was a crash from inside the house and Tate jumped. The screen door flew open and Barry stepped out. "Yo!" he said, skipping the last step and jumping easily onto the yard.