ONLY ANGEL | JJ MAYBANK

TWENTY-ONE... and just like that

"Hey, guys, can we please not do this right now?" JJ said in exasperation. The conflict between his two friends exhausted him and he wasn't even directly involved in it.

He and Collins exchanged uncomfortable glances due to the situation they were in, stuck between wanting to find John B to help him, and also support Pope and the things that were important to him.

It seemed that neither Pope nor Kie was listening to anything else going on around them, because their bickering still persisted. "I have a scholarship interview in the morning. Collins will vouch for me when I say that I cannot put that off."

As the focus was pointed over to her, Collins shifted uncomfortably. For some reason her jeans felt too tight and her shirt felt too loose, like she was about to expose herself if she was positioned in the wrong way. "It's true, Kie, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity." Not even an underground bomb shelter could've saved Collins from the scowl Kie shot at her. Collins felt an instant sense of unpleasantness.

"But what about John B?" Kie argued. He was all on his own, no one was there to talk him down or get him to explain everything that was going on in his head. They couldn't just forget about him.

Narrowing his eyes at her, Pope scoffed and shook his head. "Why's it always about John B?"

The way he said it put Kie on the spot. They still had no reason to believe that he was in any immediate danger besides being completely wrapped up in his own feelings. Kie was being way too adamant about 'rescuing' him, and it just felt like it was going back to their little fling at the start of the summer. Shifting her eyes uneasily, Kie tried to just brush it off. "It's not always about John B, you're so stupid, it would be either of you in this situation!"

She pointed accusatorially at Pope and JJ, to which Pope just rolled his eyes at and said, "Oh, bullshit."

"This is about friendship!" Kie spat. "This is about Pogues for life!"

Getting right back up into her face and reflecting the same energy she was expelling at him, Pope countered, "What about forensic pathology, huh? That's my life. That's everything I've worked for!"

Kie just scoffed. "That's your priority?"

"Just stop with the moral high ground bullshit!"

"Excuse me?" Kie narrowed her eyes at him, her stare as cold as icy daggers.

"Pope, come on." JJ warned. Pope was opening up a box that he shouldn't be opening, but he was already too wound up to stop. Collins watched everyone carefully, unsure of what was going on. There seemed to be some history that she was unaware of, something they'd suppressed but was now resurfacing in a fit of rage.

"No." Pope said stubbornly. "She has no room to talk. Where were you when Big John went missing? You weren't there. You weren't there for John B, you weren't there for any of us. Remember your Kook year? Yeah, you forgot about us. Now you feel guilty."

"Give me a break." Kie huffed, shoving Pope away from her.

As Pope and her started going back and forth, pushing each other around on the boat, JJ and Collins finally stepped in to physically separate the two and break up their dispute.

"Hey, cut it out, guys! If I'm the one mediating, we've hit rock bottom." JJ looked between the two with defeat before pointing them to sit on opposite ends of the boat where they couldn't get into another fight again. "Pope, I'll drop you off."