Carefree || JJ Maybank

Chapter One Hundred Four

Everleigh sat on the hammock, watching JJ stress. He was pacing around, and every few seconds he would ask her if she was alright. She answered yes with a smile every time. She knew that all he wanted was for her to be okay, and that it calmed him to know she was alright. The other Pogues talked amongst themselves, speaking to Everleigh and JJ every once and a while.

Everyone was waiting for Sarah to return. She told them that she was going to get John B from the police station and try to bring him home so that she could explain something important. So important that the Pogues had to give her one more chance. While none of them thought she was going to be able to get him out, they knew it wasn't impossible and that Sarah was manipulative enough to ensure him at least temporary freedom.

They waited a good while, doubts slowly creeping in every minute that she didn't return. But all of their heads snapped in her direction when she came out of the chateau. "Hey, thanks for waiting." She smiles. "Look who decided to come home."

John B sluggishly walks out from the same door Sarah had, making Kie, Pope, and Cleo all say their versions of hello. He didn't even smile, and his eyes remained staring at the ground. Almost like he was embarrassed to have even been arrested in the first place. But JJ looked relieved to see his best friend in okay shape. "You gotta be kidding me."

Everleigh stood up and walked over to him. His eyes rolled and he couldn't help but smile. He held his arms out, expecting her to fall into them for a hug. But instead she pinches the sides of his face like a grandmother would do to her grandchild. He was quick to slap her hands away before pushing her head back lightly. And when her attention was distracted, he pulls her in for a hug of his own, letting her bury her head into his chest. For a minute it felt like it was just the two of them again. But this time, it really was just them. Their mom wasn't around and their dad went missing with barely any clues just as he had before.

They didn't say a word. But when Everleigh pulled away to stand next to John B, Sarah was the first to speak up again. "I have something I want to share with you guys. I can get us down to the Orinoco." She tells them, making all of them smile.

"Are you serious?" Pope asks in honest disbelief.

Cleo, of course, was first to have her doubts. Still the only one in the group who had what would be considered common sense to her ideas. "Okay. And how's that gonna happen?"

"My dad's gonna let us use the plane." Sarah announces which made the four original Pogues share different looks between them, seemingly not fans of the idea she was feeding to them.

"Ward?" JJ immediately asks, stepping up with his jaw clenched. He wasn't one for trusting people. Especially not one for trusting Ward. Any plan that he would be involved in, was a plan that JJ wanted no part of.

"We lay low tonight, then wheels up first thing in the morning." Sarah tells them.

Pope nods and looks around at the group. They were all unsure and honestly confused. "Okay, that's a lot to process. Your dad actually helping us."

"I talked to him." Sarah nods. She was trying her hardest to convince a group of stubborn teenagers to trust a man who'd only ever given them reason after reason to never trust him. "He'll do it."

"So we trusting Ward now?" Cleo asks, seemingly on board for the plan that Sarah had for them.

Kiara looks around, but she nods at Everleigh almost silently apologizing in the middle of the group discussion that was happening. "Trust Sarah."

When everyone starts to agree, Sarah speaks up again. "But wait, I also just have one more thing to say. Uhm... Since we've gotten back from the island, I've done some things that I regret. A lot."

John B looks as if he's going to say something. His eyes flicker between Sarah and the ground. "Yeah, uh... I feel... I feel we've all done a thing or two that we regret."

He looks around at the whole group, most of them nodding while JJ just scoffs. Sarah breaks the awkward silence again. "And I don't... Poguelandia, guys. It's all I've been able to think about. We were all together on that island, and it was a good thing, and I don't want to ruin a good thing. And I... I just wanna know, are we still all in? Are we still all together?" She stops for a second, looking at all of them who stood silently. "Because I am.""

Kiara nods whispering a quiet, "Yeah." before pulling Sarah into her own hug.

"We pon road!" Cleo smiles, making Sarah and Kie laugh at her. She brought Sarah in for her own hug.

"I still can't believe you got that plane." Pope says, then hugging Sarah just as the girls had before him. "That's actually insane."

JJ smiles, walking away from where he was standing and wrapping his arm around Pope's shoulders. "Let's go get Big John, alright?" He smiles. "What do you say there, shit birds?"

"I think this deserves a woogity." Pope smiles as everyone looks at the twin siblings who stood next to each other. "How long you gonna pretend you're not coming over here?"

John B finally smiles and wraps his arm around Everleigh's shoulders. When JJ locked eye contact with her, she couldn't help but smile. "You in?"

"What do you think?" Everleigh smiles as her and John B walk up to the group. JJ accepted them into the hug as they all formed a circle.

"Oh we're really doing this, aren't we?" John B asks the group who were huddled around each other with smiles on their faces.

"We're doing it. We are so doing it, baby." Everleigh says to the group who all cheer in reply. "Pogue style, we're doin' it."