a/n please vote and comment it helps me stay motivated; next chapter at 400 votes
Kiara had headed out; following the motorbike engine cutting off to greet Pope and hopefully clear the air between them. "I think it's a pretty cool boat JJ" Montana offered the boy before heading in the same direction Kiara had; missing the proud smile that had made its way on the blonde's face.
"Hey, there." Montana heard him before she saw him and stopped in her tracks and began backing up as he rounded the boat. That was definitely not Pope, what on earth was Rafe doing here? "What's goin' on?" He called and Kiara began backing up too as the older boy jumped up onto John B's escape vehicle. "JJ?" He called gaining the blonde's attention as well "How you guys doin'?"
"Whoo-hoo!" and the sound of a whistle pulled Tana's attention behind the blonde who was still fiddling with something. The man she saw brought goosebumps to the back of her neck as her blood ran cold. She wasn't sure who scared her more at this moment "Well, well..." the slimey man beelined for JJ and had a gun aimed at his chest in less than a minute, spiking Montana's heart rate. She caught the blonde's eyes holding a mixture of fear and rage as the two older boys heard the group together. "See, don't think I forgot about me and you on the side of the road." Don't worry Barry Montana hadn't forgotten about that either; it was etched into her brain and stored for nightmares. The blonde held his hands up in surrender as Montana's lip pulled between her teeth as she bit down on it in fear. Looking over at Kie who had now made her way beside her they both shared a look questioning how they were going to get out of this. "I'm here because I want my motherfuckin' money."
That's when all hell broke loose as the drug dealer began taking his anger out on the younger teen, Kiara was quick to jump into action "JJ! JJ!", however, was quickly intercepted by Rafe who picked her up and dragged her away. Seeing her best friend being carried like a rag doll seemed to kick Montana into fight or flight as she quickly ran for the boy who had just been slammed into the cement. "That's what I'm here for!" He screamed before pulling the boy up by his hair and then slamming his face back into the floor. Forcing her fear for the older boy with a gun aside Montana acted on instinct as she shoved him as hard as she could making him stumble cack.
Montana's distraction had worked as the man's attention quickly turned to her, "Don't hurt him" Her voice was determined but there was clear fear behind it as she held eye contact with him. He took a second to look the girl up and down as recognition once again flickered in his eyes. Letting out a humorous laugh he shook his head before stalking towards her.
"Miss Summers, who knew you liked it rough" He clicked his tongue before licking it over his teeth. "Now you see as much as I'd enjoy spending some time with you," he used the gun to push some stray hair out of her face; repeating the same move he had done when they were on the side of the road. Montana's heart rate picked up again as she squinted her eyes shut trying to think happy thoughts. "I got business to attend to" he tapped her cheek twice with the gun and shoved her into Rafe's open arms.
Montana was confused as to when he had come back over to them as she looked up at the boy whose touch no longer felt warm and brotherly. She began squirming as he pulled them back away from the punch-up happening over stolen money. Only when he loosened his grip on her did she realise he had been dragging her best friend along with them the whole time with an iron grip on her wrist. Conecting their eyes Montana felt the taller give her a small sense of reassurance through a forced smile.
"Mon, Kie, we don't want to hurt you, okay?" He spoke frantically to the two girls letting them go as he blocked them from getting away "Alright where's John B?" Montana watched his eyes that were dilated and took note of the sweat gathering at his hairline; he was definitely on something but before she had a chance to question it Kiara had jumped into action swinging her palm at his cheek.
"I don't know!" She screamed and both girls watched his eyes narrowed to slits. He prowled towards Kie with crazed eyes and all Montana could do was watch in horror, she spared a glance over at the blonde boy who had just gotten kicked in the gut and made an attempt to go back and help him. However, as soon as she took her first step her wrist was gripped, looking back to Rafe she noticed he hadn't taken his eyes off Kie and wondered how he had even noticed her moving.
"Don't Mon, you'll get hurt" he glanced at her as he spoke through gritted teeth before turning back to the Carrera girl who was sending him evil eyes, "I really wish you didn't do that." he tilted his head from side to side while getting up in the girls grill; a tight hold still on the smaller girl.
"I know what you did," Kiara spoke with laboured breaths as she glanced down at where the boy was gripping Tana and pushed her fears aside as the boy in front of her acted oblivious. 'What? What did I do?' forcing himself even closer to the girl's face to the point she could taste the stale alcohol on his breath.
Kiara looked over at Montana in silent warning before putting all her breath behind "You murdered Peterkin." Silencing the old shed and making both boys turn to the older Cameron for just a moment. Montana felt his grip on her wrist tighten to the point where it was unbearable and she squirmed around while looking up at the boy whose eyes had turned dark; it was as if the words had triggered a switch to flip in his mind and all he saw was red.
"Don't you ever say those fucking words again?" His other hand connected to the curly-haired girl's neck as he began choking her; Montana watched for a moment as her friend struggled to breathe before she dug her nails into the boy's hand and tugged at it with all her might. Having his attention focused on the girl in front of him also helped and she was able to break free. Immediately she shoved herself between the two and pushed him back successfully making him loosen his grip on Kiara enough for her to get away.
However, she hadn't thought her plan through because now that Montana was in his line of vision she had become his new target. With Kiara gasping for oxygen on the floor and the blonde boy barely conscious she had no hope. Feeling Rafe's cold hand wrap around her neck made instant panic rise in her throat as she was reminded of the same predicament with her father that she wanted to forget. Squinting her eyes closed she clawed at his hand but it was no use; he was stronger.
Rafe brought his face to her as a crease formed between his eyebrows, "You chose this" he spoke eerily calmly to the girl who just shook her head the best she could in this predicament with betrayal in her eyes.
"No. You did this Rafe" Montana tried to get out between the attempted inhales as she stared into her eyes; as much as she cared for the boy and understood him she would not defend his actions. "You need help" She got out and for a brief moment an understanding passed through his eyes and they softened while looking at her before he remembered what he was doing.
Shaking away the feeling he tightened his grip on her neck which still had old bruising "Where's John B Montana?" he squeezed her so tight she felt her weight being lifted into the air as the crazy boy looked around the room ass if he were putting a show on, "Huh, Where's John B?" He was screaming in her face.
"Rafe" her voice came out in a scratchy whisper and it hurt even to say anything, she was begging him. Trying to get through to him, to see it was her in front of him, his friend; Montana.
"Where's John B? Huh?" He had no sympathy or care for who he was hurting he just screamed louder at her and she started to see black spots in her vision.
"I don't know Rafe" Montana was begging with everything left in her as the rest of the yelling in the shed began to fade into white noise and her eyes started fluttering shut.
However, before they could shut the grip on her neck was gone and she was abruptly dropped to the ground. Montana crawled onto all fours as she coughed and heaved in and out breaths begging air into her lungs. She briefly noticed Pope's arrival and assumed she had him to thank for being dropped from Rafe's death grip, glancing around she also noticed Kie had gotten to her feet and nodded to herself grateful that she was okay. Looking around she watched the slimey man trip and drop his gun that slid right past her.
"Kie! Kick it!"
Montana watched the blonde finally get the upper hand and knock the drug dealer around. She dropped into a sitting position still gulping oxygen down like she would water in a desert.
"Pope." Montana heard Kiara's panicked pleas for the boy who was beating the older Cameron senselessly. "Okay, Pope. Pope!" She could see the boy wasn't even fighting back any more but Pope couldn't stop.
"He's had enough, dude."
"He's good."
"Snap out of it, man. Snap out of it, dude!" She watched the blonde come over and try to gain his attention but to no avail. So slowly but surely Montana pushed herself up and dragged her feet over to the boy; she was leaning on a random wooden bench as she tried to speak but her throat was so sore that no sound came out.
Montana watched in horror as Pope grabbed an old piece of tube wrapped it around the older boy's throat and began choking him, the other two were screaming at him to stop. The blonde boy had gone up behind him and tried pulling him away which is what Montana decided to help with as she grabbed his hands and tried prying them away from the tube.
"Dude, come on! Stop! Stop, dude!"
"Pope! Get off!"
"Look at me!" Kiara's desperate plea seemed to snap him out of whatever trans he had been in as he looked at her in horror and disgust over his actions.
"Shit. Oh, shit."
"It's okay. Okay, we gotta go. We gotta go." Kiara offered the boy some verbal support while Montana rubbed her hand up and down his arms in hopes of calming him down as they watched Rafe rolling around in pain coughing and gasping for breath. Pope and Tana watched the other two head off to the car; tying the boat to it, however, Pope had other plans as he leaned down to be in Rafe's eyeline.
"Stay off the cut." he spat to the boy before following the others to the car, Montana leaned down to the boy who was taking laboured breaths and checked over him for any major injuries; not wanting Pope to get in trouble for anything else. Looking into the boys she saw them pleading for her and a frown made its way onto her face as she shook her head
"Tana."
With one final look, she pushed herself back to a standing position and got into the back seat of the car; as soon as her door closed they were speeding towards the dump. No one dared mention Pope's outburst which led to a pretty silent car ride, though, they did continue to hear police sirens which was a good sign right? That meant that JB hadn't been caught. Pope began fussing over Montana's neck and throat wanting to make sure she didn't 'damage her vocal cords' and Kie sent the girl a questioning look asking if she was okay which Tana just sent back a thumbs up but other than that nothing was said.
Montana sat curled up to the window as she rubbed at her throat glancing around the car for any type of liquid, before she even had a chance to try to ask a hand with a plastic bottle was brought into her line of sight. On further inspection, she noticed the rings and 'J' bracelet the hand had been sporting and widened her eyes in shock before following the arm to its face that wasn't even looking at her. "Take it" the boy said looking over at her giving her a nod and shaking his hand.
Montana grabbed the bottle, unscrewing the cap and taking a large gulp wincing as it went down her throat. Jumping when she felt a warm hand on her shoulder, "Hey, small sips" Looking back to the boy she realised he was still watching her and felt immediate embarrassment. Listening to his instruction she tried again with a smaller sip and felt the ease though still some pain. Screwing the cap back on after a few more sips she nodded to the boy and croaked out a 'thanks'
The drive to the dump was shorter than expected and as soon as they got there everyone got to work getting the boat into the water and supplies into the boat, the blonde was in charge of checking the mechanics of the boat to make sure everything was safe and Tana was on lookout.
It was currently 3:20 and the group had gotten everything set up and ready for the boy and were now been waiting; "Dude, where is he?" Kiara began stressing as she paced the dock,
"Give him a second. He'll be here." Pope reassured fiddling with some rope for the boat,
"He's coming. He'll be fine." the blonde also reassured pulling a tarp off the windshield,
"Don't stress Kie baby" Montana whispered intertwining their fingers ultimately stopping the girl's pacing though the relief was short-lived as they watched a police car with its sirens on pull to a stop right in front of them.
"JJ!" both girls glanced back to the boy who had quick thinking and jumped right into action heading straight for the boat's control panel.
"Hey, yeah. Get back on the boat. Untie it." He ushered the group around hopefully getting them out of the sticky situation.
"Shit."
But Montana kept her eyes on the car as she watched the familiar brown mop of hair exit the car bringing a genuine smile to her face in relief.
"Wait. No way"
"No f'ing way."
"I'm sorry."
"You've gotta be kidding me."
"Uh..." The group all spoke on top of each other but Montana's smile just grew bigger as she let out a relieved breath at the boy's safety. "Shoupe let me take it for a spin." shaking her head with a smile she watched as Kie pulled him into a hug; waiting for her turn. "Okay. That's believable. I'll buy that for now."
As soon as the pair pulled apart she threw her arms over the boy's shoulders and buried her face in his shirt, "JB" she whispered squeezing him so tight afraid he might disappear. He reciprocated the hug with just as much force 'MG', reminding Montana of her rough up with her father but she couldn't find it in herself to care, JB was alive and safe. "I'm-"but he cut her off 'it's okay'
"It wasn't easy, bro," That was an understatement, "but I got the Phantom for you," the blonde walked to the front of the boat as the pair pulled apart from their hug, tossing his best friend the keys "and she runs like she was made yesterday." Catching the keys with ease JB just stared at the boat in disbelief, was this really what his life had come to; running from the cops because he was falsely accused of murder? The answer was yes. "You ready to go?" he tried snapping the boy out of his thoughts
"Where's Sarah?" This made alarm bells go off in Montana's head, had something happened to the girl?
"She's not with you?" Kiara questioned as both girls looked back to the empty cop car hoping the girl would emerge sharing Montana's worry.
"No, we got separated in the swamp." He looked around hoping his girlfriend would pop out any minute, "She said she'd meet me here."He tapped the boat because that was the plan they would leave together.
"No, no we haven't seen her man," Pope said honestly with a shake of his head as John B glanced around the group to confirm the statement receiving sad smiles in return making the boy shake his head with determination in his eyes,
"Okay, well, I'm not leaving without her." making Kie roll her eyes in exasperation because his friends needed him to be safe; with or without his girlfriend.
"John B, look at me." The Maybank walked to the end of the boat and leaned down so he was eye level with JB; "I know you feel bad for leaving, but there's no time, man." He put emphasis on the time, "You've got plenty of gas, plenty of food, alright?" He placed his hand on his best friend's shoulder as he made sure he was listening. "Once you get around that point, it's a straight shot across the sound to Dismal Swamp, okay? Once you get there, lay low, all right? Hang out for a couple of weeks and then go overland, cross the border at Brownsville, you got that?" The group watched as he looked at the road again, his eyes filled with hope and it broke Montana's heart, no one should have to do this alone and here he was about to leave his home his best friends and his girlfriend to run away alone. "Brownsville." The blonde shook the boy's shoulder trying to steal his attention back but it didn't work he kept looking at the dirt road. "You... Hey!" He had to physically pull JB's head back to face him, "You got that?"
"Yeah, yeah. Brownsville." He nodded to himself looking at the panels of wood that formed the dock, trying to reassure himself that this was the right thing to do.
"All right. Saddle her up, saltwater cowboy. Let's do this." John B climbed onto the boat while the blonde jumped off and the others got ready to push the boat out,
"Hey. Hey." He gained their attention with tear-filled eyes, the sight made Montana want to take all of the boy's pain away; he didn't deserve any of this. "I'm sorry for basically... throwing us off a cliff with this whole treasure hunt thing." as the group shook their heads dismissing his worries "and dragging you with us MG" The look in his eyes showed how sorry he was; he had flipped her whole life upside down and they weren't even halfway through their summer break.
"Drag me into whatever you want JB, I'll always be there for you" She smiled at the boy who smiled back at her thanking his lucky stars for bringing her to him when he needed it most, he'd never let her go.
"Yeah, John B, yo... " the blonde glanced between the three others on the dock with him, "we were bound to run off a cliff at some point, right?" making the boy let out a laugh mixed with a sob. 'Yeah.' he shook his head trying to memorise his family's faces for the two months he'd be away from them. "At least we did it together, though." The blonde wrapped his arms over his two pogues shoulders and Pope wrapped his around Montana's waist tugging her in with them making her hiss at the unexpected touch to her bruised ribs, "Pogue style."
"Pogue style." Their unofficial leader whispered biting his lip to contain his emotions.
"Get out of here! Please." Kiara shooed him away not wanting there to be any chance that the boy got caught.
"Now. We'll see you in two months, down in Mexico." Pope ushered him off again
"See you soon JB" Montana blew the boy a kiss through glassy eyes
"Love you." The blonde said to his brother as they all watched him climb down to the cabin before he halted his movements,
"Hey, wait... wait a second." John B made sure they were all watching him as he bit his lip thinking about everyone he was leaving behind, "Tell Sarah I said goodbye, okay?" He was looking mainly at Montana knowing she was going to be the best bet at doing that but they all sent him nods or smiles letting him know they would take care of her.
"Don't forget. Cross the border at Brownsville, okay?"
"Got it." with that the group of five turned four pushed their final member out into the water and watched him sail away into the horizon, waving him off as thunder cracked above them.
"Hey Tana, you okay, did you get hurt in the stomach," Pope asked remembering the way she had winced while pulling her into him but she just waved him off 'nah, I'm good' But Pope wasn't so easily convinced, "here, can I have a look" he was giving her puppy dog eyes and she was a sucker for them so against her better judgment she nodded just praying the bruising wasn't visible yet.
Gently tugging her shirt up Pope let out a horrified gasp and muttered a disbelieving 'Jesus' gaining the attention of the other two who immediately tried to see what he was looking at muttering small whats but Montana was faster as she tugged her shirt back down.
"U-uh.. Pope" Montana tried forming a believable excuse in her head before Pope blurted as the other two looked at her questioningly "Just really likes my shirt" She didn't even believe the lie and Pope was just staring at her with eyes as wide as saucers but she just sent him pleading eyes that begged him to go along with it. Kiara and JJ then turned to said boy to confirm or deny the accusation, he was silent for a few moments trying to decide what the right thing to do would be but with the puppy dog eyes his best friend was giving him he sent her a look saying they'd talk about it later before nodding, "It has ewoks" he added because he definitely did like the shirt.
Montana let out a relieved breath before quickly spinning on her heels and making her way back up to the car. Her body was currently begging her to sit down, however, it seemed luck wasn't on her side since the car was locked. She was about to quiz Kie on where they were but noticed she was finally getting her chance to speak to Pope so decided against it and instead leaned on the car, looking up at the sky.
With the storm coming she crossed her fingers, hoping JB would make it out safely. After a few moments of listening to her thoughts, Montana felt a presence beside her, without looking over she questioned, "You alright JJ?" it still scratched a little for her to talk but it was better than before.
From her preferal vision, she noticed the boy turn to face her and tilted her head to meet his eyes holding eye contact for a moment before he let out a scoff, "I'm fine". Ignoring the attitude Montana noticed the glimmer of fear swimming in his eyes and focused on that, "He's your brother, I get it. We'll clear his name then he'll be back before you know it" She placed a reassuring hand on the boy's shoulder, Montana sent him a smile that he tried to return before muttering a small 'yeah, yeah, thanks' before the pair looked back out at the water.
Both pair's eyes caught on a sight they thought was impossible after the quarrel last night, turning to each other with matching expressions; raised eyebrows and upside-down smiles. Noticing they were sporting the same face they let out a chuckle, "Get it Pope" the boy said over a breathy laugh making Tana just shake her head in amusement. Though she held some worry for the pair considering the words Kie had shared with her the night before but chose to ignore it for now.
The innocent moment, however, was ended by the sound of sirens getting closer and closer; "Hey, guys, I'm sorry to ruin the party, but, uh, we gotta go right now." The blonde broke the pair out of their sweet bubble. "Come on!" But they were too late, police cars were surrounding them and officers came at them with guns.
Montana froze.
Kiara was straight into action holding her hands up in the air as a sign of surrender and when she noticed Pope wasn't following her actions she yelled his name snapping him back to reality. "Move. Hands up! Hands up! Move!" An officer with an FBI uniform weaved between them with his gun held up and loaded ready to arrest his suspect. The three pogues all had their hands up in the air but Montana couldn't focus on anything besides the amount of guns aimed at them, she could hear her friends saying her name but it was going in one ear and out the other. It wasn't until he hissed her name that her hands finally went up; "Montana come on"
Detective Shoup came out from another cop car up to the teens scanning the perimeter for any sign of John B before giving up, "We're too late. He's gone. God damn it!" the older man pulled his sunglasses off his face in frustration before turning to the teens, "Bratcher, have your guys stand down." his eyes scanned the group before widening on spotting the Summers girl, "Let me talk to these kids. All right, where the hell is he?" he screamed at them receiving nothing in response "Where the hell is he?" he tried again but to no avail so decided on another technique; individual questioning:
"JJ? I see you're livin' up to your name." He tried guilting the blonde who was standing in front of him but the boy just kept his lips shut and head down, "Pope, how about you? This isn't a fucking game! You can do the right thing now!" He then moved to 'the brains of the operation' in hopes the good boy would break under pressure but he had the same response as the first. The man didn't even bother with the Carrera girl seeing she was avoiding eye contact by any means. Finally, he moved to the girl who was standing slightly behind and in between the two boys, his eyes lingered on her neck making her instinctively bring a hand up to touch it snapping the man's eyes back up to her face. His face
"Montana," He spoke out on an exhale as if tired of all this, "I should have known you'd be with this lot after our little discussion yesterday" He glanced down at the girl who had been chewing on her lip, "You gonna do the right thing and tell me where John B is? There's a dangerous storm approaching, he'll never make it" he tried persuading the girl who gave him nothing but a blank face in return. "Your father's been worried sick you know? We'll have to call him once we get to the tents" He shook his head in disappointment and she saw the FBI man speak something into his walky-talky before the four teens were ushered into two police cars split up as girls and boys. As soon as she hopped in with Kiara the girls linked hands for both of their comfort as the rest of their ride was silent apart from the police radio about JB's whereabouts.
The storm had picked up immensely during the drive; the sky was now dark and the wind was picking up. make the girls' hair fly in every direction. So as she exited the car Montana's hand tried swatting out out pf her face.
"Follow Plumb to that tent." she heard one of the officers driving them over say, as soon as she took a step in that direction she was held back, "Wait for your friends." so that's what she did, letting Kiara lead the way the group of four followed the red and blue lights towards the tents that had all been set up for a search of 'Sherif murderer suspect'. Montana kept her head down as they saw reporters and journalists having their flash cameras ready to take a shot at the group aiding an abetting criminal. "Right to your left here." the officer told them as they came to an empty tent with a couple of chairs sitting beside each other. Pope sat on the end, Kiara scurrying to be next to him and pulling Montana to be on her other side leaving the last chair for the blonde. "Sit down. Don't move. We got a lot to talk about." Mr Shoupe told the group sternly before his eyes landed back on Montana, "I'll call your father now" he pointed at her before heading out; this sent Montana's brain into a frenzy, for all her father knew she was still locked i her room she doubted he had even checked on her by now and she began gnawing at her lip and her fingers uncontiously began picking at the skin around her thumb. She watched a tall man with a SBI bulletproof vest come to stand in front of them holding a gun, she guessed they now had a guard dog.
The group had been sitting in silence for the better part of an hour just watching the officers talking, discussing better plans, and looking in every direction before the power began turning back on. Instinctively Montana reached her hand down to grip the girl beside her to seek some form of comfort receiving a squeeze in return as they heard the last thing they wanted
"That's them! There they are!"
Officers and reporters rushed to the water's edge as a white boat was spotted floating the teens went to stand but as soon as they moved the man moved with them, so begrudgingly they stayed still and tried to listen for any updates. Montana's nee had begun bouncing and though she had one hand still interlocked with her best friend the other continued picking at any loose skin around her fingers. Her eyes were frantic as she tried to focus on anything else around her, they were the only ones still in the tent with this big man who was starting to scar her though she didn't let her thoughts dwell on him for too long knowing she would begin spiralling seeing what was held to his chest. However, what brought her out of her panicked state was a warm hand grabbing her own and settling their interlocked hands on her bouncing knee. She tensed for a moment at the touch before squeezing it twice as a 'thank you' making the boy repeat her action and rub his thumb comfortingly over her knuckles.
Montana let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding as she looked down at their hands, she wasn't sure if the action was more for him or her but she wouldn't dare question it. Upon looking at the boy she realised it was probably both seeing the way his jaw was clenching and unclenching and his other hand was balled into a fist with his eyes narrowed on the table.
Montana's attention was pulled away from the thumb rubbing over her knuckles as a dishevelled Ward Cameron walked past the tent. Her face must have dropped because her gaze had drawn the attention of the other three to the commotion, she heard Kiara mutter 'he has some nerve' and the grip on her hand tightened and she just questioned; "What is he doing here?" and the blonde answered "nothing good".
Over the ruckus of Mr Cameron coming the group had overheard that Sarah had made it onto the boat and was with John B, and though they were relieved JB wasn't doing it alone Montana couldn't help but feel a pit of dread in her stomach. She looked outside unwatched as the storm grew wilder and just prayed to anyone that would listen that the pair would make it out safely; they had to be okay.
Kiara had been fiddling with the 'm' bracelet on Montana's wrist trying to occupy her thoughts as no one came to inform them of anything happening. Pope hadn't moved his gaze from the table in front of them Montana assumed he was deep in thought probably about the life of his best friend. Montana had pulled her feet up onto the chair and knees to her chest in an attempt to get warm when the wind picked up and was picking at a loose thread trying to distract herself from the oncoming doom she felt looming over them. JJ was constantly pulling his hat on and off his head and running his fingers through his hair as he struggled to sit still.
They were all pulled out of their heads seeing three officers walk in covered in safety jackets for the rain; quickly pulling themselves to their feet they met the officers in their tracks. Though the look Deputy Shoupe was giving made Montana want to throw up, something was very wrong. All three of the officers were wearing that look, it was the same look people got after finding out her mother was gone, Montana knew that look all too well. "no" She whispered it so quietly no one even heard it,
"Did you find them?" Pope was first to the officers and asked the question that had been running through their heads the hours they'd been sitting there. He held no emotion, he was tired they all were and he just needed to know that his friend was okay and it wasn't all for nothing.
The man just looked down shaking his head solemnly, "No." there was pain in his eyes she could see it and didn't even want to listen, she didn't want to know what happened.
"So, they got away?" Kie questioned in disbelief glancing at the girl beside her with hopeful eyes, though they dimmed seeing the downturned frown Montana was wearing,
"We, uh... we lost them." Those were the words, the words she didn't want to hear right now; she took an audible inhale as her heart rate picked up. Montana began shaking her head back and forth, "I'm sorry."
"You lost them? What do you mean you lost them? Like, they're gone? What are you talking about?" For the brains of the group he really needed the officer to spell it out to him right now, reaching her hands up to tug on her hair Montana took a few steps beginning to feel claustrophobic.
"They took an open boat into a tropical depression, Pope." The older man explained to the boy who couldn't seem to unjumble his thoughts,
"So, they're dead?" Kiara couldn't comprehend it, they had been waving JB off just hours ago and now, what? They drove him into a store and he was gone forever, that can't be true.
The Deputy just looked down with a sad frown coating his features before looking up at the group, "We don't know." he said honestly. The older man truly hoped the two teens were alive and well and surviving the storm but that was highly unlikely and their boat had lost any radio signal, it was not looking good.
"You drove them straight through the storm, man! Are you kidding me? Come here!" The blonde was the first to flip his switch choosing to channel the emotions he was feeling into anger as he launched at the officers. Montana watched through glassy eyes and shuddered breaths as he hit at the deputy, "I'm gonna kill you!" He was quickly lifted away, although he fought in the officer's grip "I'm gonna kill you, you bastard!" H kept screaming at the authority, it was their fault, it was their fault he had lost his brother, his only constant in his life had been ripped away from him because of a lie a kook had told to save their own ass. John B did nothing wrong and now he was dead.
Pope got up in the deputy's face with frantic eyes; his best friend couldn't be gone, "John B didn't kill anyone, and you know it!" he was pointing and doing anything he could to get his point across, Montana felt wet tracks fall down her cheeks as her feet stood frozen in the wet grass.
"We're still looking for him, all right?" The boy threw his arms up in frustration as he turned only to be met with a teary-eyed Kiara who was begging for his comfort, tears streaming freely down her cheeks.
"Pope. Pope, just stop. Please, stop." she begged and Montana's feet finally seemed to work as she walked up to the deputy.
"I tried to tell you" She took in a few shakey breaths, "why didn't you believe me?" she begged the man for answers but he kept a blank face as he looked at her before shaking his head and turning away which just made the girl evermore upset.
"Pope! Pope..." The woman's voice took her attention away as she watched the Heyward and Carrera parents come in to comfort their children and it just hurt her more. Montana assumed her father knew where she was, the deputy said he'd let him know as soon as they got here but where was he? As much as she knew she'd be in trouble Montana would have liked to know her father cared enough to be there for his daughter. She watched Pope grip onto his mother for dear life and couldn't help but envy him, why couldn't her mum be here?
However, the small feeling of envy was gone almost as soon as it came as she laid eyes on the boy watching the entrance of the tent, waiting. Pushing her feelings aside she wiped the tears out of her face and forced them to stop, taking a few deep breaths trying to steady her breathing before walking up to the boy. She watched his lip quivering and pulled him into her wrapping her arms around him and despite the height difference, she felt him crumble into her arms, holding onto her as sobs escaped his mouth. It was a tragic sight that brought the waterworks back to the surface and Montana couldn't stop the tears of her own joining the blonde's.
After a few moments, she felt the two of them being tugged into the warm fatherly embrace she craved so much and that was when the sobs finally broke free of Montana's chest and she turned her head into the man's chest trying to muffle it. They stayed like that for a while her holding the blonde while being held by Mr Heyward until Mr Summers finally showed up pulling his daughter away from the older man's embrace and muttering something about him giving her a disease before they were running through the rain back to his car and home.
Montana's brain couldn't comprehend what was happening fast enough, clouded by the warm fatherly arms around her that felt so unfamiliar that she didn't even realise she hadn't said goodbye to the pogues or made sure they were okay before she left until she was under the hot water of her shower and that just made another round of tears begin falling.
authors note.
AHH MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE
guys holy cow 17k reads, thats insane thank you all so much
please continue to vote and comment it means the world but hey we finished season 1 basically
let me know your ideas on what might happen in season 2,
how do we think tana will deal with JB and Sarah?
what will mr summers do?
as always massive thanks to Sweetkiwi604 shes the best check her out if you havent already
love you all so much xx