THE REDHEAD ☾ jj maybank

37 | pogue style

"She's not with you?" Kie questions, furrowing her brows slightly.

"No, we got separated in the swamp. She said she'd meet me here." John B tells them.

"No, we haven't seen her since Kie informed her of what was going on." Delilah states.

"Okay, well, I'm not leaving without her." John B protest.

"John B, look at me. I know you feel bad for leaving, but there's no time, man. You've got plenty of gas, plenty of food. Once you get around that point, it's a straight shot across the sound to Dismal Swamp, okay? Once you get there, lay low, alright? Hang out for a couple of weeks and then go overland, cross the border at Brownsville, you got that?" JJ explains.

"Yeah, yeah. Brownsville." John B repeats as he nods in response, showing that he understands.

"Alright. Saddle her up, saltwater cowboy. Lets do this." JJ says.

The blond then hops off of the pristine white boat and allows John B to take his place, but not before reaching out and hugging the three for a final time. Delilah walks forwards and wraps her arms around JB's body, holding onto him tightly like she'll never get the chance to do again. As the pair pull away, the girl proceeds to punch his arm in a playful manner as she flashes him a wide smile.

"Stay safe, dickhead." Delilah tells him.

"I see you're charming, Red." John B comments as he returns the smile.

"I'm not gonna change, JB." Delilah states.

The redhead then climbs off of the boat, making her way to stand beside JJ. The boy loosely wraps his arms around Delilah's waist while the pair stare up at their best friend, hearts sinking as they realise this is going to be their final goodbyes. Pope and Kiara sling their arms around one another, each one of them standing in a line as they hold on. John B looks back over at four with tears rolling down his cheeks, making the situation become more depressing. A light laugh escapes the brunets mouth as he tries to find humour to keep himself calm.

"I'm sorry for basically throwing us off a cliff with this whole treasure hunt thing." John B apologises.

"Hey, John B, we were bound to run off a cliff at some point, right?" JJ tells him, earning laughs in response. "But at least we did it together though. Pogue style."

"Pogue style." John B repeats.

"Get out of here! Please." Kie demands.

Not a single one of the group want their best friend to be leaving, especially not in this way, but they need to do what's best for him until the truth is able to be revealed to the world. If another second is wasted then that could bring John B closer to getting caught before he can even try to escape. Tears just roll down each one of their cold cheeks as they say their final goodbyes.

"We'll see you in two months down in Mexico." Pope informs.

"Have fun. But not too much because no one can be as fun as us." Delilah comments, smiling. "And don't forget once a Pogue, always a Pogue."

"Of course." John B agrees, pausing for a split second. "Love you all."

"Love you." The four chorus.

"Tell Sarah I said goodbye, okay?" John B tells them.

"If we see her, we will." Delilah replies.

"Don't forget. Cross the border at Brownsville, okay?" JJ reminds.

"Got it." John B assures.

As thunder rumbles loudly in the sky as a storm starts to roll in over the Outer Banks. John B makes his way to the drivers seat of the boat, turning the engine on in order to get it started so that he can leave quickly. The rest of the friends remove their arms from around each other as they move forwards, using their strength to push The Phantom away from the docks and into the deep blue water more.

Watching as John B sails away to escape the police, the Pogues all stand upon the docks with fresh tears staining their cold cheeks. This isn't something that any of them expected to do in their lives, because who knew that they'd get into do much shit and have to literally help an accused murderer escape? But they all still went ahead with their actions with no regrets, and would do the same thing if they had to go through this all.

As The Phantom travels further into the distance, Delilah pulls her gaze away as she finds that she's unable to watch for any longer. Tears are still rolling down her cheeks, stomach churning as she feels sick. JJ makes his way over to the redhead and wraps his arms around her smaller frame, which leaves Kiara and Pope on the docks to talk. Delilah rests her head against the blonds chest, her salty tears creating wet spots on his navy shirt. A few of his own tears drip from his chin and fall into her ginger hair.

"Guess there's no happy ending for us now." Delilah says.

The sentence comes out muffled due to the fact that her face is buried in his chest, seeking comfort from within his arms. JJ is still able to make our what Ly had said, pulling away from their warm hug to look down at her.

"We can make our own." JJ assures. "I mean, none of us like how the Kooks act, so why not be a Pogue and get our happy ending."

"Damn, now you're being the corny one." Delilah comments.

The girl then reaches up and ruffles his blond hair, earning herself a playful eye roll in response. A hand then rests upon Delilah's waist while the other gently cups her cheek. The pads of JJ's thumb rubs against her smooth skin, blue eyes meeting green ones. The pair feel as though they're simply falling in love once again, smiling widely at each other. Del rises up onto her tiptoes where she pushes her pink lips onto his soft ones, an arm loosely wrapping around his neck.

"I love you." JJ whispers as they pull away, his forehead resting on hers.

"And I love you." Delilah whispers back, pressing a small kiss upon the end of nose.

Meanwhile, while the couple were lost in their own little moment, Kiara and Pope had managed to sort the situation out between themselves. The two had even kissed one another, but their actions were cut short due to the sound of sirens filling the air. Each one of the teenagers spin around to see multiple cop cars pull up at the scene. Hands instantly raise into the air to show that they're all unarmed.

"We're too late. He's gone. Damn it!" Shoupe yells, frustrated. "Bratcher, have them stand down. Let me talk to these kids. Alright, where the hell is he?"

None of the four respond, not even moving a muscle in fear of releasing that specific information. They all helped their John B escape off of the island and will go to any extent to defend him, even if they have to keep lying to the police.

"JJ, Delilah, I see you're still living up to your names." Shoupe comments, turning to Pope. "How about you? This isn't a fucking game! You can do the right thing now! Where'd he go?"

"Suspect has just left Station 26 in a small boat." Bratcher says into his radio.

More thunder fumbles loudly, dark storm cloud now rolling in and taking over the once blue sky. Flashes and cracks of lightning occasionally fill the air in the distance, brightening up the area for a brief moment. The dark, aggressive weather only seems to reflect the mood that has fallen over the island, every single person being out looking for John B as they believe the lie of a powerful Kook.

Delilah shifts her head to the side slightly, catching JJ's soft gaze. He just gives a small nod of reassure, receiving a hint of a grin in return. All of the trouble that her and JJ used to get up to before the treasure hunt even began is finally catching up to them now. And if John B is the cause of the both fo them getting into serious amounts of trouble, so be it. The teens are just feeling proud of themselves for getting their best friend away from the island.