𝗪𝗛𝗘𝗡 𝗪𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗦𝗨𝗖𝗛 𝗙𝗥𝗔𝗚𝗜𝗟𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗦
𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘦 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙫𝙚
in which john booker routledge gets his secret girlfriend pregnant and starts looking for the gold
(john b
...
"pope did this thing with his phone. he, like, put it in his car and. . ." kie tried to explain.
"i heard their whole conversation," pope confirmed.
"you wiretapped him?" shoupe said angrily.
"is that bad?" kie said in a panic.
"stop. just stop," shoupe hushed the teens. "i've had enough. and get some goddamn stitches."
briar scoffed and gently poked her brow. she winced and sighed.
"what?" jj yelled. "are you gonna look the other way again?"
"obviously," briar screamed. "because that all he ever does, look the other fucking way!"
"you ever heard about the boy who cried wolf?" shoupe yelled back as he went down the stairs.
"why would we make this up?" kie followed him angrily.
"why can't you believe us for once?" jj followed kie.
"waste of my goddamn time," shoupe scoffed. "annalise had a concert tonight, but i missed that too." he mumbled the last part, more to himself than anyone.
"why would we lie, shoupe?" briar followed jj aggressively.
"i know it sounds crazy," kie jogged down the stairs. "i know that!"
"all right, there's nothing up there," shoupe called to the outer banks police departments. "false alarm. let's all go home."
"no, no, please don't go home," kie begged. "no. why would we make this up? can you just do your job for like 20 minutes?"
"hey," shoupe turned around. "i. . . i know. . ."
"just listen," kie begged. "it makes sense!"
"i know you're upset," shoupe cut kie off. "and i know you think your friend was innocent."
"he is!" briar screamed. "he fucking is!"
"but you weren't there," shoupe cut her off swiftly. "the only actual witnesses who are above ground say the exact opposite. all right? and both of them have a hell of a lot more credibility than any of you right now. i saw your little art project on ward's wall. do not do that again."
"oh, come on," kie yelled, voice hoarse.
"all right?" shoupe snapped. "gonna make things a lot harder for the both of us. go home. go to the doctor." he said that last part to briar, still hurting for the girl who once had the whole world in front of her.
"at least. . . at least look for him!" kie yelled as shoupe pulled away. "someone died tonight!"
"i told you this would happen!" jj yelled as they walked away. "like, you're the one that had to drop the camera."
"it was your fault!" kie defended pope.
"oh, that was my fault?" jj yelled in kie's face.
"yeah, it was your fault!" she screamed back.
"why do you always take his side?" jj got louder. "why do you never take mine?"
"shut up!" kie put her hands up in defense.
"hey! hey!" pope yelled from where he walked next to briar. "we're not out of this yet. we can still go get the gun. and briar, you like, definitely need stitches."
🃏
"ow, jesus, fuck, stop it," briar swatted at the urgent care nurse who stitched her up.
"no," the nurse snapped, dropping the needle. briar's eyes ticked back and forth as the string swung from her brow. "keep still."
kie hummed from the chair across the little exam room the teens had been put in.
"i called holly," kie said slowly. "her and your mom are on their way."
"thanks, kiki," briar smiled and winced when the nurse brought another stitch through. "for getting over yourself and calling my sister."
"i just wanted to tell her about you," kie whispered. "i can't face her, b."
"oh, shut up," briar winced again. "yes, you can."
cecelia and holly burst through the exam room door.
"and you will," briar added.
"oh, my goodness," cecelia ran over to her daughter. the nurse huffed loudly, once again stopping her work on briar's stitches. "what did you do?"
"kie stepped on jj's hand, he kicked pope in the face, pope kicked me in the eye," briar explained quickly. "and ward killed someone."
she whispered that last part to her mother. cecelia steeled herself before turning to kiara.
"thank you for calling holly, kiara," cece smiled. "thank you."
"you good, bri?" holly asked, coming to hold her sister's hand like they used to do at the doctor. briar nodded as the nurse went back to work on her brow. "tripping over myself. aching, begging you to come help. and now that i'm without your kisses, i'll be needing stitches."
