𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 of the car was warm. Comfy. Kaci Flores hadn't felt comfortable in a while.
Tears ran down her face, and her stomach had an uneasy swish to it as she thought over the events of today. Jordan was dead. Her brother was dead. Kaci wasn't sure if she could live with that type of grief. Her chest felt heavy, and she wasn't sure if she was breathing properly anymore.
Sarah had both her arms wrapped around her best friendʼs neck, leaning her head on her shoulder in comfort. Kaci didn't even move to push her off. She'd never seen the girl like this before, and it scared Sarah a little. Her brother did this. Her brother murdered Jordan. Sarah was never going to look at Rafe the same again. From this day on, she decided that she didn't want to be associated with the Cameron family name. They ruined so many lives — John Bʼs, Luisʼs, Kaciʼs...hers. They weren't good people, and Sarah felt sick to think she was once living under the same roof as them. Guilty, almost. Jordan was her brother, too.
Cleo sat beside the two girls curiously, not having ever had a friendship like that before. She bounced Kaz on her lap, allowing Kaci to have her time to cry and let out all her feelings without having to look good for the baby. She knew what it was like to lose her family; she knew that Kaci needed some time to understand it. To accept it.
Luis and John B were at the front, the two of them occasionally turning back to check up on the girls. They couldn't believe Jordan was actually gone. The youngest speaking pouge was dead. Kaci Flores was crying.
Rafe Cameron had crushed Kaci, and it was for the last time. As the girlʼs brothers, the two boys agreed on the fact that they were going to get their justice for the little pouge. For their little brother. Jordan Flores was not going to rest easy until everyone that hurt him was dead. John B and Luis swore on it.
While they were at the doctorʼs, Terrence and Chubbs had bailed with the gold, claiming that the others were taking too long. Sarah, Luis and Cleo left them to warn John B and Kaci about the cops that were out for them — thank you, Ward Cameron. They also came back to tell Jordan, but nobody could tell him anything anymore. He was gone. And there was nothing any of them could've done to stop it.
Jordan Flores would always be remembered as the funny, caring boy he was. The boy who was taken away so early. The boy who didn't even get to walk through the halls of a high school. The boy who heroically sacrificed himself for his nephew. Jordan Flores was a hero — a hero who lost his cape before he was given the reward. His sacrifice came with a great cost, but he didn't regret it in the slightest. He'd do it again if it meant Kaz would live.
Kaci sniffed pursing her lips and brushing her hair back. She tried to get herself back to normal, to control her feelings for the sake of her baby, but a shaky sob managed to break free as she tried.
"It's okay, girl, take all the time you need," Cleo assured her, holding Kaz on her lap with a bright smile. "I'm good with the baby — he's cute."
Kaci nodded appreciatively, wiping her nose with the sleeve of Jordanʼs hoodie. "Yeah, he gets the looks from his daddy."
From the front seat, John B smiled lightly at the mention of his brother. "We'll see him soon," he said confidently.
Sarah nodded and kissed the girl on both her wet cheeks. "In the meantime, I'll be his replacement."
Kaci chuckled and wiped her eyes again, using the hoodie she took from Jordan weeks ago. She just wanted him back. She couldn't live without him annoying her. She couldn't wake up the next morning without finding him cooking up some weird scheme to get a girl to like him. She wanted her brother. Her stupid, gullible, irritating little brother.
During their short stay at the Bahamas, they'd lost the gold (again), they'd lost Jordan (again), and now John B was being hunted down by cops (again). It was safe to say that none of the pouges were giving the island a five-star review. Now, all they needed to do was leave. Which was hard, considering the whole place was swarmed by cops that were looking for them.
But they met Cleo. And despite the fact that she did threaten people with knives a lot, she was a good person. A good friend. Kaci liked her.
It was beginning to get dark outside, and John B was able to pull up outside a dock. The three girls in the back turned around cautiously to check for anyone that might've been lurking around near.
"You sure we're good, Cleo?" asked John B.
"Yeah, man," she answered with a nod. "We'll just wait here until it cools down."
Luis shifted around in his seat, growing a little tired from all the sunlight he'd had today. He turned around to face his younger sister, who seemed caught up in her own mind again. He understood. She and Jordan were so close people used to mistake them as twins when they were younger. "You good?"
She nodded. "Fine."
𖧷
𝗔 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 while later, and Kaci had her sweet angel back in her arms. Kaz remained calm all afternoon, curious about his momʼs state. The moment he was handed back to her, he dug his hands into her shirt, latching himself onto her with much-needed comfort. He loved his mom. He didn't want her to be sad. Kaz was way too young to understand most things, but babies were often misunderstood for idiots. They knew when things were wrong — they could catch onto the negative energies like animals.
"Streets is quiet. I can get you to a boat," said Cleo, leaning on the fencing. "You have somewhere you can hole up?"
"Yeah, we're gonna ride the Gulf Stream north as far as it can go," John B answered. "Look for some deserted island to shell up on."
Sarah shook her head. "And then what?" she asked. "More running?"
He sighed. "Sarah..."
"Look, I know you don't trust the cops, but you're innocent," she reminded him surely. "I think we should go home."
"To OBX?"
"Yeah, you literally said, like, an hour ago that we were going to see JJ," added Kaci, eyes narrowing at him. "We are going to see JJ. And Pope and Kie."
"What about Ward?" he asked, then met Kaciʼs hard eyes. "What about Mikel?"
Kaci shrugged. "Fuck them both."
"I gotta say, I agree with JB," Luis spoke up. "It's a crime to fake your own death."
"We were kidnapped," Kaci pointed out. "We didn't fake shit."
"Yeah, and they're the ones who should be running, not us," said Sarah, going back to the topic of their parents. "Ward said he would tell the truth if we came back. I can confront him."
"Okay, but it's not about you confronting him. He's completely untrustworthy."
"Sure, but I'm your alibi. Trust me."
Kaci rolled her eyes, pulling Kaz further up her side as he was starting to get a little heavy. "I don't care what happens," she told the two boys. "My kidʼs not growing up without his stupid daddy."
Sarah nodded in agreement, standing beside her scary best friend with crossed arms.
John B sighed, taking a moment to look at the baby. Kaz smiled back at his uncle, and that was all the boy needed to be persuaded. They we're doing this for him. He deserved the kind of life none of them got to live. "Fine. OBX it is."
Sarah grinned, leaning down go kiss Kaz on the head. "Thank you, cute cheeks."
Luis shook his head. "I still say we get the hell away from all this crap."
Kaci shrugged. "Well, unfortunately, Loo, nobody gives a fuck about what you say."
Cleo started to let out a high pitched whistle, causing everyone to come out of their conversation and turn to her. "Hello, guys, we're running from the coppers right now," she reminded them. She nodded to Kaci. "Girl, you good?"
Kaci nodded, pulling Kaz up higher again. "Yeah."
"Okay, you got this, girl." She stepped backwards a little to get closer to all the boats. "Come on, guys," she whispered. "We gotta go. Stay low. We gotta go."
"We're following your lead."
"Shh. Get low."
Together, the five of them and the baby managed to get up the lengths of the docks without any trouble. Kaci kept Kaz on her chest, supporting his head with one hand incase she fell over from crouching. Luis stayed to the back, glancing behind them every few moments to check that they were still safe, Cleo was at the front and everybody else was in the middle.
"Is this cool?" questioned John B, not wanting to make anymore enemies.
"I got an uncle who works at this marina. We're safe here," Cleo told him, finally coming to a stop. She patted the water vehicle beside her. "Recognise the boat?"
"My dadʼs boat," answered Sarah, a little in shock by the sight of it.
John B wasted no time before jumping into the boat. "I thought you guys would've pawned it by now," he said, holding his hands out to help Sarah and Kaci in.
Cleo shrugged. "Seems like a good time to give it back to you."
Kaz yawned, slumping his head on his momʼs shoulder, keeping his hands on the fabric of her shirt. "Alright, I think it's time to get you to sleep, little man."
Following after the others, Luis finally stepped onto the boat, helping Cleo and John B take off the water covering. He watched Kaci and Sarah go to the other side of the boat to search for something warm to wrap the baby into. He was strangely calm considering all the hell he'd supposedly endured over the last few months — not to mention that he didn't even flinch when he was told of his brotherʼs death. That was the way Luis Flores was, though. It was the way he always had been. There wasn't much in the world that phased him. He was the idle big brother.
"Wish I could join you guys," Cleo spoke up. "It's a nice dinghy."
The other two girls looked up from what they were doing. "You're not coming with?" asked Sarah.
"Yeah, Kaz is, like, totally attached to you," added Kaci. She hadn't known Cleo for long at all, but she really was one of the greatest humans she'd ever met. She helped them out without any further questions, and even ditched her crew to save them. And in a world like this, it was hard to meet people like that. Kaz did really like her, too.
"Are you kidding?" said Cleo, turning to John B and Sarah. "You two are so hot, I'm better off on my own." She nodded to Kaci. "And Kaz is cute, but you need to go get your baby daddy back, girl." She shrugged. "Then I'll be third-wheeling on my own."
John B nodded. "Thank you," he said sincerely. "Seriously."
Cleo smiled back at them all. "No problem. Maybe one day, I get the same thing you got. Somebody helps me too. Hang tight. I'm gonna get the keys." She jumped off the boat and back onto the dock. "Too soon for goodbyes, y'all. I'll be right back!"
"Thanks, Cleo!"
As Cleo left, Kaci sighed and took a seat on the floor, resting the baby down on her lap after having wrapped him in an old blanket. "After that day, I could really use a drink," she said, leaning her head back to stare at the sigh.
"Not a chance," her older brother spoke up, slumping down beside her. "No more underage anything for you now that I'm back."
Sarah laughed. "You're really gonna love JJ, Loo," she said with a sisterly, teasing tone.
Luis shook his head confidently. "That Maybank kid that worked in the hotel?" he asked, and shook his head again. "Nah, I can straighten him out."
"Yeah, sure."
Kaci laughed lightly, admiring her baby with a golden gleam to her chestnut eyes. She really fucking loved that idiotic baby daddy of hers, and she wouldn't trade him for the world. Kaci Flores could not wait to get home to JJ Maybank. All she needed was his touch to hold back the forest fire growing inside her. She just needed him again.
"Do we have enough gas?" questioned Sarah, lifting her chin to try catching a glimpse over them.
John B nodded, standing at the wheel and around all the controls. "Um, we should be good if the wind is behind us."
"Let's hope it is."
A sudden light flashed onto them.
Kaci blocked Kazʼs eyes to protect him from the sting of it.
"HEY! You there!" an officer shouted at them, nodding at John B. He cocked his gun, slowly stepping closer to them. "Put your hands up. All the way up!"
Everybody obeyed. Kaci glared.
"Hey, don't shoot, okay?" reasoned John B, hands in the air.
"I said put them up!"
"Please, he didn't do anything," attempted Sarah, hands shaking.
Meanwhile, at the exact same time, Kaci shot back at the officer as though he was just a common folk, "He has got them up, you stupid cunt."
John B cringed.
"Hey, who do you think you're talking to?" the cop asked, pointing his flashlight directly at her and the baby in her arms.
"A dumbass," the girl retorted simply, holding Kazʼs head close to her chest and shielding him from the blinded light.
Before the man could say something back to the teen with an attitude problem, he was pushed to the ground. Behind him stood Cleo, a paddle in her hands that she used to hit the cop. She tried to run forward, but tripped over his body, causing him to pull her back by the leg.
"Hey! Stop! Get down!"
Cleo slapped him.
"I fucking love her," commented Kaci with a smirk. "I need to know when her birthday is."
Sarah chuckled and shook her head, used to Kaciʼs strange obsession with the moon and stars.
"Hey, Cleo! Cleo, keys!" John B called out to her in a little panic.
The girl managed to stand up and tossed him them over. "Go! Go, get out of here!" she told them, still fighting off the cop.
Luis and John B were fast to untie the boat from the dock, getting them away from there as soon as possible.
"You know, if Daddy ever does something really, really stupid, that's gonna be your step-mommy," said Kaci, rocking her now-awake baby and speaking to him in a cute, simple voice. She pointed to Cleo, who threw herself off the dock and hid in the water around them.
Kaz and John B looked traumatised at her words.
"She's kidding," said Sarah.
"I am not," protested Kaci dramatically.
It wasn't a usual thing for Kaci Flores to get giddy and have fun. It wasn't a usual thing for her to break the unbothered look on her face. However, after all the madness that had occurred that day, her brain got confused and let out a random sugarless sugar rush. She lost so much, she faced so many nightmares, she shed so many tears, but she was finally coming home.
Kaci was coming home. To JJ.
𖧷
𝗞𝗮𝗰𝗶 𝗙𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀 woke up uncharacteristically early the next morning. Her nose was sore and her eyes were itchy from the horrors of the previous day.
When she woke, she assumed everything was a dream. She was never kidnapped, she was never in the Bahamas. She woke up and turned to her left, expecting to see Jordan doing some random shit on the boat.
But he wasn't. He wasn't there. Rafe killed him. And once again, that sickening feeling of emptiness took over Kaciʼs soul. She could physically feel it — that pit in her stomach that was completely bottomless, a hole that went straight through her organs that was once reserved for her little brother. Because he wasn't there anymore. The only thing Kaci had left of him was the feeling she had without him. And his hoodie.
The sun was bright on the boat. Kaci wasn't sure when the last time she watched a sunrise was. The others were all still asleep behind her. Luis was curled up in a corner on his own, lost in his dreams. John B had taken an hour off driving to have a quick nap, cuddled close to Sarah.
Kaci smiled, lifting Kaz into her warm arms.
"We're going home to Daddy," she whispered, pressing a soft kiss to her smiling sonʼs squishy cheek.
Authorʼs Note
ugghhhhh, i want my brothers to love me the way john b loves kaci. i've got writerʼs block so i'm really sorry this is horribly written, but i just really want jj and kaci to reunite again. we're so close to our family being back together, i miss them sm. sorry it's taken me a couple of days to update, i've been dealing with some issues at home.
love, tay </3