Sunflower || JJ Maybank/Cassandra Routledge

26: The Missing Information

Midsummers 5.05

His happiness and excitement are completely consuming him and now that his friends, and sister, are in the loop, it makes it all the more enticing. They all could do it. The Pogues could actually find the Royal Merchant gold.

Casey and JJ easily catch up with the other three, both struggling to keep their happiness suppressed. Yes, they know John B is beyond pissed. He is hiding it well, for the sake of the others, but they can see it clear as day. The one thing he warned them not to do, they did. However, even though they know an inevitable argument is bound to happen, they are not going to let it ruin the night. John B is back home, they successfully escaped Midsummers, and they no longer have to hide. They can finally be free to show the world what is going on between them and not have to fear who might see them.

As JJ, with Casey still on his back, and John B lead the Pogues toward the boat, Casey puts the pieces together. That's why JJ seemed to appear out of nowhere, he and her brother crashed Midsummers from the water. She should have known there was no way he walked through the front door, especially with that chance of Topper, Rafe, or Kelce being inside. "Incognito, I like it." She laughs as she hops off his back but it is immediately cut off by her grunting. Even the smallest jump to the ground sends sharp pain through her spine. No matter how careful she is, the pain is inevitable.

"You know me, Case. Always scheming." JJ jokes as he steps into the boat and holds his hand out, trying to ignore the noise he just heard from her. She smiles at him as she takes it and carefully lifts her dress to climb aboard. JJ can't help his eyes from immediately drifting down to her exposed thigh as she boards. It's nowhere near revealing anything, but it is impossible to not think about the night before. The sight of her has turned his world upside down and all he wants to do is go back to his house and repeat what they did.

"Yeah, okay." She mumbles and gently shoves him. She lets go of his hand and joins Kiara at the front of the boat as she continues playfully teasing him. "We all know this wasn't your plan. So don't pretend to be the mastermind behind it."

"Wow, I see how it is." He places his hand on his heart, as if her words are cutting deep. "That really stings, Case. Have more faith in me, would ya? I'm smart. If you believe it or not. I can come up with..."

"Will you two chill out? You're already driving me fuckin' crazy and we have a long night ahead of us." John B spits out, purposely cutting JJ off. He pushes the boat into the water with Pope's help, and once the water is at their knees, the two jump in and join JJ at the back. "We need to get back home and grab the Twinkie before we can even do anythin' and there was someone watching us earlier so I don't know how we are gonna do that. So, just, can you just shut up and let me figure this all out. I don't want to get a fuckin' headache listenin' to you two bicker back and forth."

"Well, shit." Kiara mumbles. She, as well as everyone else in the boat, was not expecting him to lose his cool that quickly. JJ and Casey were not being that annoying. Hell, they were actually pretty chill.

"Sorry." Casey whispers and locks eyes with JJ. They both know right now is not the time to be pushing him. There is too much ready to be thrown at them if an argument is to break out. The smart play would be to sit quietly and let John B cool off before doing or saying something stupid. "Wait." She finally says, repeating what he just said in her head. "Someone was watching the house? Like our house? The Château?"

"That's what I said, didn't I." He responds sharply. "There was someone stakin' out the house. I couldn't see who it was, even from inside. I tried to peek through the kitchen window but they were too far away and their tinted windows made it impossible to see their faces, but someone was watchin' us. I don't know if it's us, as in you and me, Andy, or the Pogues. But someone's on our tail and we need to be careful."