𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐝𝐬 • 𝐣𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐛 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠

dove was out of breath and her and john b continued to ran through the figure eight. hopping fences and jumping over things.

of course she was fit and in shape and able-bodied, but this was all taking a toll on her. she was just exhausted.

"john-john b." dove panted.

they then spotted some cop cars as they hopped into a person's yard, so john b pulled dove with him to hide behind a bush.

"john b."

he looked over at her. even as the sun was almost set he could see her tired, red face.

she looked up at him and saw the beads of sweat and dirt on his face.

"how much—when...i'm so tired." she said.

"i know, but we have to keep going. if...if you can't keep up, you have to go because this is my life now. this is my life now, okay?" john b said.

"it shouldn't be your life. it's not fair." dove replied.

"i know, dove, i know. but now we have to keep running. are you okay to keep running?" he raised his eyebrows.

dove swallowed and nodded although she felt like she was going to pass out from exhaustion.

"okay, come on."

he grabbed her hand and they stood straight up and came out from behind the bush then continued running.

about two minutes later, they found a garage to hide in.

john b led dove in there and she sat on the ground while john b closed the garage door.

dove exhaled shakily and shook out her hands. she looked over at john b who ran his hands through his hair and panted.

"are you okay, bird?" she asked.

"never better." he panted.

"john b."

he looked at her.

"birdie, stop worrying about me." he said.

dove shook her head.

"i'll never stop worrying about you. and john b...i know you're worried too." she said.

he didn't reply and looked straight ahead.

"john b."

he looked over at her with tears in his eyes.

she pulled the boy into her and held him in her arms while he cried.

"let it out, bird. it's okay. let it out." she whispered.

john b wanted to scream. he just wanted to let out a loud scream, but he didn't. he just sobbed into dove's chest.

and just then, there was a nose coming from outside of the garage.

"all units, reports of a white male and a white female running through backyards in the one-hundredth block of church street. repeat, all unfits, neighbors reported a white male and female running through backyards in the one-hundredth block of church street."

john b slowly sat up.

the garage door began opening and john b quickly got to his feet, dove following suit.

they ran to a door in the garage that into the house and quickly entered.

when they got inside, they saw topper walking out of the kitchen with a two beers.

"john b? dove?" he furrowed his eyebrows.

"just listen to me for a second. relax." john b began.

"what the hell are you doing here, man?" topper asked, then turned to dove. "dove, you need to get away from him and go to your mom at tanyhill."

dove shook her head. "no. i wanna be with john b."

"don't you know what he did?" topper questioned.

"i didn't do it. just listen." john b spoke up.

"nah, nah, man. you killed the sheriff. you're a maniac, john b." topper replied.

"i did not kill the sheriff! you have to listen to me!" john b exclaimed and stepped forward.

topper stepped back and slowly put the beers down.

john b then began running and dove looked at him to topper, then followed john b, but topper was too fast and grabbed ahold of dove.

"no! no, let go of me! let go of me!" dove screamed.

"hey, sh, dove it's alright. i'm just tryna help you." topper replied.

"no!" she yelled.

he covered her mouth with his hand, but she bit down and he yelped before releasing her.

she scrambled over to the door of the room that john b locked himself in and started clawing at it.

"john b!" she screamed. "john b, john b, john b, john b!"

but topper got up and grabbed her, then threw her to the side.

she cried as topper quickly got a chair and put it up against the door

dove tried getting up, but topper shoved her to the side.

"you're not coming out of there john b. no
matter what dove tries to do, or what you say. i've got you, buddy. i've got you." topper said.

"topper, please." dove begged.

"shut up, dove." topper scolded.

"look, topper, just let me out, man—."

"just cut the bullshit, alright? the—the chickens are roostin', brother. like it—it is over. you're in some deep shit now, man." topper interrupted.

"listen to me! i didn't kill the sheriff!" john b exclaimed.

"you didn't shoot the sheriff?" topper raised his eyebrows.

"he didn't! it was my mom!" dove exclaimed.

topper slowly turned to look at her.

"it was my mom. you believe that, don't you? she's mary tatum. the pougiest of all pouges. a former drug addict. committed many, many crimes. do you really think i'm going to lie about that? try to frame my mom for murder? and her past too? come on, topper." dove shook her head.

topper just looked at her.

"topper, i was there too." dove nodded.

he continued staring.

"what's going on?" a voice asked.

the two looked over to see sarah.

"sarah?" john b asked from outside of the door.

"john b?" sarah furrowed her eyebrows.

dove slowly got to her feet and backed up, clenching her fists.

she began breathing shakily and then the humming began.

seeing sarah made her nervous. she was living in the same house as mary and ward. what had mary and ward told her?

"what's going on? why are john b and dove here?"  sarah furrowed her eyebrows.

"sa-sarah we need your help!" john b shouted.

"my help with what?" sarah furrowed her eyebrows.

she then looked so dove.

"are you okay?" sarah asked and stepped closer.

dove shook her head and stepped back.

sarah sighed. "i know john b didn't kill the sheriff."

"what?" topper and john b echoed.

but sarah was mostly talking to dove.

she stepped closer and grabbed dove's hands.

"don't be scared." sarah shook her head.

"it was my mom." dove cried. "my mom killed the sheriff. she killed rose too. my mom's a killer."

sarah pulled her in for a hug.

"it's okay. it's okay, dove. i'm gonna help you and john b." sarah replied and wiped doves tears.

"you're gonna help them?" topper furrowed his eyebrows.

"yes, topper, and so are you." sarah replied.

"sarah—."

"no, topper, i don't care. they're my friends and i'm gonna help them." sarah said.

topper shook his head and stepped away from the door to the laundry room.

sarah let go of dove.

"stay right here, okay?"

dove nodded and sarah shuffled over to the door.

"john b, you alive in there?" sarah said.

"yes. yup. i'm alive." john b sighed.

"okay—."

but sarah was interrupted by flashing blue and red lights outside and the loud, siren noises.

it was the police.

dove out her face in her hands and rubbed her face.

"okay, john b, there's a small door down there, you just have to move a few things around. you and dove can go through that door and—."

"alright, john b! it's shoupe out here! we got you surrounded. we don't want any more bloodshed. we're coming in!" shoupe called over a megaphone.

dove shook her head. "fuck."

"i found—i found the door!" john b exclaimed.

"okay! go through that door and we'll meet you at—."

"the abandoned church. meet us there." dove interrupted.

sarah nodded. "okay. topper."

topper sighed. "yeah. fine. okay."

"thank you, sarah. really. thank you." dove nodded.

sarah smiled. "of course. now you gotta go!"

dove moved the chair and entered the laundry room.

john b pulled her in for a kiss.

"thanks, bird, but now's not the time." dove said after they pulled away.

"i know, i just...i needed that. now come on, i found the door."

"okay. let's go. sarah, topper. we'll see you."

sarah nodded. "go."

the two climbed out of the tiny doorway and began running.

"come on, i have an idea." john b said.

they went behind a truck and dove noticed mary
and rafe there together.

dove swallowed and shook her head.

all she saw when she saw the older blonde woman was the gun in her hands and peterkin's bloody body lying on the tarmac, calling out in her raspy voice.

then she remembered that her mom killed rose.

then remembered when her mother almost shot a man while dove was in the house.

then she remembered how her mother would beat her, neglect her, and how she was responsible for her father's death.

she knew that her mother was doing this to get dove away from john b. try to make up for all of the things she's done to try to get rid of her guilt, but everything she was doing was making everything worse.

"it's my mom." dove whispered.

"i know. she's with rafe." john b responded.

dove looked down and exhaled through her nose.

"she's not going to get you, i promise. neither is rafe. now just don't make a sound, okay?" john b raised his eyebrows.

dove swallowed and nodded.

he picked up a piece of metal from the back of the pick up truck and flung it across the street to another car.

rafe and mary looked over and john b pressed his back up against the truck and grabbed dove's hand.

"did ya hear that, rafe? did ya hear it?" mary asked.

rafe inspected a car that was closer to dove and john b and dove squeezed her eyes shut.

rafe then turned a different way.

"i think he went this way." he said.

"alright. we gotta get 'em and put 'em away and get my daughter home where she belongs!" she exclaimed.

"come on." rafe said.

rafe began walking away with his flashlight and mary followed.

once they were gone, the two began running away to the church.

🕊️

john b and dove both looked up at the church, sirens in the distance.

they then broke in and dove followed john b up to the top where they could ring the bell.

when they got up there dove sighed and sat down while john b looked out of the window, then grabbed whatever he could find for defense.

he looked over at the blonde and sat next to her.

"we may be in this shitty situation, but...i did. enjoy the last memory i made here." john b spoke up.

dove half-smiled. "yeah. we almost knocked over the candle."

john b chuckled. "could've set the whole church on fire."

"how tragic that would've been." she replied.

they were silent again.

"it was beautiful, though. the bell ringing. the sun setting outside and it shining through the church. you telling me how special it is to you. i think that might've been the best part. you telling me how much it means to you." dove recalled.

john b shook his head. "you don't know how much i love you."

"what do you mean?" she questioned.

he slid over, sitting across from her and grabbed her hand.

"you didn't care about the sex. well, you did. you liked it a lot. but you cared more about this place and it's meaning and how i felt about it then you did that. i've never found someone who's cared about me more than you have. i hate to say it, but not even my dad. i just...i don't even know how to tell you how much i love you. you're perfect, dove. in every way. when...when we're out of this mess, i know i'm gonna marry you. i knew ever since i was a little boy i wanted to marry you. mrs. routledge. mrs. bird."

"well, we are in a church." dove smirked.

john b smirked and raised his eyebrows.

she raised her eyebrows back.

"stand up."

"huh?"

"stand up."

dove slowly got to her feet. john b took his dad's bandana from his neck and ripped two thin pieces from it.

he put it back on his neck and placed one of the pieces on the ground, then got in one knee.

"birdie. will you marry me?" he asked.

she nodded. "yes, bird. i'll mary you."

he stood up and wrapped the piece of the bandana around her wrist then the other piece around his before standing up.

"dove alexis tatum, do you take john booker routledge to be your lawfully wedded husband? through sickness and in health? even if he's framed for murder and on the run?"

"i do." she nodded. "john booker routledge, do you take dove alexis tatum to be your lawfully wedded wife? through sickness and in health? even if her psychotic mother frames you for murder?"

"i do." he said. "i now pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss the bird."

he then pressed his lips against hers and they began kissing.

when they pulled away, john b lifted her wrist up to his lips and kissed it and dove did the same with john b's.

then, there was a knocking on the door.

they spun around and john b picked up the candle stick and held it over his head.

the door opened to reveal sarah with topper below her.

dove exhaled and john b put the candlestick down by his side.

"it's just us. we're here." sarah said.

dove and john b stepped back and sarah and topper came up.

as topper was climbing up, he tripped and of course, grabbed onto the string that rang the bell.

"shit!" he exclaimed.

"topper!" sarah scolded.

"i'm sorry!" topper exclaimed as he climbed back up.

dove put her hands over her mouth.

"fuck!" john b yelled. "thanks, topper. thank you."

"i'm sorry, man. it was an accident." topper replied.

"no, you know what? i bet you did it on purpose. you want me to get caught." john b said and got in topper's face.

"oh really?"

"yeah, really."

"if you don't back up, i'll ring it again."

"i dare you."

"john b, enough!" dove shouted. "back away. now."

john b turned around to look at her and she raised her eyebrows at him.

"sorry, top."

he then stepped back.

the police sirens were getting closer and john b looked out of the window to see that they were driving up to the church.

"shit." john b muttered.

"what—what do we do, what's our plan?" dove questioned.

sarah looked from john b to topper, then to dove.

"we have to take our clothes off." sarah said.

"what?"

"excuse me?"

"no way."

sarah sighed. "no, not like that. we're going to swap clothes and topper and i will run out to make it look like it's you two. after we change, i'll give you an address you guys can go to and hide for the time being, alright?"

they all looked around at each other and agreed. it was their best option.

as they began swapping clothes, they smelled something burning.

"what the hell is that?" topper sniffed.

"firs. someone set the church on fire." dove replied.

"just hurry up!"

they all finished changing and sarah gave them the address before her and topper began going downstairs.

"be careful." dove said.

sarah nodded.

"thank you." john b thanked.

"yeah."

and then, her and topper disappeared.

while everyone was distracted by topper and sarah, john b and dove began running away.

they arrived at a house that was for sale under rose. clearly, no one knew she was dead because her listing was still up.

they ran onto the porch and john began putting in the code sarah had told him while dove looked behind her.

when she put in the code, they went to open the door and heard sirens and voices behind them.

"shit."

they quickly opened the door and slipped inside, hiding on the ground beside the door.

a police officer was checking the porch and jiggled on the knob, but couldn't get in.

"come on, birdie. let's go upstairs."

john b grabbed her hand and led her upstairs.

she went to the nearest window and saw her mom and rafe inspecting the perimeter.

"i swear they came here, rafe. my baby girl and that psychopath are somewhere 'round here." mary said.

rafe tried to contain his laugh. the only psychopath here was mary, but he was doing this for his father.

"i think they went that way, mare." rafe replied and pointed down the street.

"no, no. i swear they're here, rafe. they..."

mary then looked over to the house.

"they're in the house." mary whispered.

"what?" rafe furrowed his eyebrows.

"they're in the house." she spoke up.

"no, this is one of rose's listings. how would they even get in. there's a code." rafe replied.

mary thought for a moment before looking over at rafe.

"sarah came out of the church with topper in john b and dove's clothes...oh my lord, rafe, ya know what this means?" mary raised her eyebrows.

"sarah had them come here and gave them the code." rafe nodded.

"they're in there. my baby girl and that creature are in there!"

mary then charged toward the house.

dove's eyes went wide when she saw her mother storming up to the house and rafe trailing behind her.

"john—john b. bird. do you see that?" dove shook him.

he swallowed. "your mom."

dove shook her head. "no. she's gonna...she's gonna find us. no, john b. she's gonna find us."

"hey, hey, hey. she's not gonna find us. just get down."

dove swallowed and ducked down with john b.

mary stepped up onto the front porch and began pounding on the door.

"dove tatum! come out here, baby! come on out! you too, routledge! i need you, my baby girl! you're my little pumpkin pie! please come on out!" mary called.

dove squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head.

"come on, john b! you can't hide forever!" rafe yelled from the bottom step of the porch.

"dovie!" mary called.

"excuse me, ma'am, you can't be on this property. we're inspecting it and we've got it covered. thank you for being a concerned citizen." an officer said.

"no. my baby girl is in there with that murdering monster!" mary exclaimed.

"okay, ma'am we're looking into it. we've searched the perimeter and there are no signs of anyone being here. she will be okay, we are going to find her and find the routledge boy and bring him to justice."

"no! i need to get in there right now!" she screamed.

"james." the officer nodded.

another officer grabbed ahold of mary and escorted her off of the porch.

"no! no! i need my babygirl! i need my babygirl!" she shrieked.

they carried her off and placed her next to rafe.

"come on, mary. let's do some more scouting." rafe said as he stared that the officer.

mary huffed and followed rafe.

dove peeled out of the window and saw them walking away.

she exhaled. it was as if she weren't breathing.

"are they gone?" john b whispered.

"mhm."

"okay. we can go in that room and hopefully get some sleep." john b said as he stood up.

dove followed suit and he grabbed her hand and took her into the bedroom.

they closed the door behind them and lied in bed.

john b took her in her arms and they stared up at the ceiling.

"when i think of you i think of the sky." john b whispered.

"and why's that?" she asked.

"because birds fly in the sky and you're my birdie. and in my mind you're soaring through the beautiful sky." he replied.

she looked over at him and their lips connected. they pulled each other closer.

they then slowly pulled away.

"goodnight, bird."

"goodnight, birdie."

and then, they were asleep.

AUTHORS NOTE
currently at new student orientation and this girl i met slays.

muah,
lea <3