THE REDHEAD ☾ jj maybank

9 | the lies and a desecration

"I'm glad that you're back, old man." Delilah states.

"I'm glad to be back, kid." Big John replies.

Kie then walks forward and hugs Big John. The hug is short, but she's just happy to see him back home; everyone knew John B was a wreck when the police stopped searching and how he still held so much hope for his father still being out there in the world somewhere, and now his father has returned alive. Big John smiles at the curly haired girl, welcoming her embrace as he had done so with the rest of them.

"Anyone want a beer?" John B asks.

"Of course." Delilah replies.

"You expect me to say no to that?" JJ rhetorically questions.

Receiving nods from the others as well, John B turns and heads inside the Château to retrieve some beers for them all. Everyone decides to settle down in the meantime, pulling up a few deck chairs and seating themselves down while getting lost in conversations. Big John, however, takes the hammock, and JJ sits on the grass with his back against the rough bark of the tree, leaving the last chair for John B. Delilah sits in between JJ's legs and leans against his chest after she kindly offered her chair to Sarah.

"I see JJ and Delilah are finally together." Big John says. "About time."

"Hell yeah." JJ replies, grinning.

"It was a long time coming." Pope states.

"Yeah. I saw the way they looked at each other as kids, and even now. I know love when I see it." Big John tells them.

"Now they can't keep their hands off each other." Kie comments.

"Don't be bitter because you're single." Delilah jokes.

"That's uncalled for, Lila!" Kie shouts with a laugh.

"You aren't married like my boy and Mrs Routledge here, are you?" Big John asks the couple.

"No." JJ quietly replies, glancing down at the ring he always fiddles with. "We aren't."

"Circumstances haven't exactly been the best, I get it." Big John says.

"I mean, marriage doesn't have to define how good someone's relationship is. Some couples can be so utterly in love but never marry." Kie states.

"That's true." Pope agrees. "I see myself marrying in the future, if it's with the right person."

"Yeah, same here. I've always seen myself marrying at some point." Sarah adds.

"I haven't." Kie admits with a shrug. "Never really thought of that. If I love someone then I love them, I don't need a piece of paper to confirm that."

John B soon walks back outside with beers bundled in his arms, silently regretting not asking anyone to help him. He passes the cold cans around to each of them before finally sitting down in the last free deck chair. As soon as Delilah receives hers, she pops the tab open and takes a sip from the drink.

Once everyone has settled down, the conversation drifts towards recent events. Pope starts to explain everything about the Cross of Santo Domingo; about how Sarah overheard Rafe on the phone, how they went to Wilmington and performed a heist, and how the crate was actually a fake the entire time. Delilah, however, interrupted half-way through to throw in the fact she jumped from the back of JJ's bike into the truck, deeming her actions as 'cool'. But this also led to JJ rambling about how he almost died while being chased by the police — a lot of sound effects and hand movements were used to make it more dramatic.