[the heartbreaking truth]
the pogues, minus jj, and sarah were now at the wreck reeling over the events that just went down not even an hour ago.
hannah hadn't said a word to anyone and no one said anything to her.
they honestly didn't know what to say or how to say it quite honestly.
she just kept replaying the last thing he said to her before walking away.
"i was right when i said i didn't deserve you."
even before they started dating he'd always say stuff like that to her and she hated it because it wasn't true at all.
in fact, she thought it was the other way around because of how sweet he was to her all the time and how he's always taken care of her no matter what.
after what felt like a lifetime of silence john b spoke, "look, he'll come around, all right? it's jj... he's doing a jj thing." he says to everyone but he was mainly talking to hannah who hadn't looked up from her hands.
"you think he'll go home?" kiara asks her friends but hannah figured this question was also mostly aimed towards her.
she didn't even wanna think about the possibility of jj going home.
she really hoped he hadn't for his and her sake.
"there's about a zero percent chance that jj goes home." pope states looking out the window he was leaning against.
i sure hope so, yche thought to herself.
the routledge boy shifts his gaze to sarah who was sitting across from him, "you okay?" he asks her noticing she hasn't said much either.
"yeah," the cameron girl nods her head in response still holding hannah's hand supportively, "are you?"
"i mean, i'm in one piece so..."
pope sighs glancing at hannah and frowning at how sad she looks.
"hey, you alright, hannah b?" he whispers to the girl putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.
she finally looks up from the staring contest with her hands to make eye contact with him not expecting pope to be the first one to ask her that question.
"yeah, i'm okay." hannah answers with a small smile giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. "thanks, pope."
pope smiles too now directing his speech towards everyone, "okay. it's too dangerous to pawn this thing off piecemeal. so our best bet is to go down there and get the rest of it. bring it all up at once. put it in a safe or a vault or something. i-i don't know. just until we can find someone who won't rip us off. i can figure it out tonight, get it done, and we can be out there tomorrow morning."
john b nods his head once pope is done explaining his plan, "all right, let's do it. let's go."
"what about that thing with my dad?" sarah says to him.
the routledge boy's eyebrows knit together in confusion before groaning, "shit."
"what thing?"
"i have to go fishing with ward." he responds as pope, kiara, and hannah exchange looks between one another thinking the exact same thing.
yche says what everyone is thinking.
"you're seriously gonna bail on something you started to go skin and gut fish, john b?" she asks him hoping he picked up on the tone in her voice. "you cannot be serious right now."
kie adds on, "you can't get four hundred mil 'cause you're gonna go kill fish?"
"look, i have to go." he told his friends feeling the vibe of the conversation change based off the girls comments.
"blow it off." pope suggests annoyed as well that he was trying to opt out of something he's been working everyone so hard for. "it's four hundred million in gold!"
"make something up!" the curly haired girl spoke as john b responds, "look, i-i have to, okay? he...he saved me, all right? if it weren't for ward, i'd be in foster care. so... i have to go. plus, it'll be better to do it at night. right?"
hannah scoffs at his justification, "it's your selective involvement throughout this entire gold hunt that you got us into for me. but hey dude. do what you please." she mutters annoyed and extremely frustrated at how selfish he was being right now.
he acts like ward cameron is the only one who's tried to help him and that upset her even more that he's making excuses just to wriggle out of something he started.
"fine." pope huffs knowing nothing they say will change his mind. "fine, go fishing."
"and at least jj will probably have washed up by then." kie says to everyone but she was looking at her best friend when she said it trying to ease her mind a little.
hearing his name was triggering enough without her thinking about the chance that he could've gone home.
at this point, hannah didn't even care about them arguing.
she just wanted to know he was okay.
•+•+•+
after leaving the wreck the group of five all went their separate ways.
there was still no word on where jj was and his girlfriend was beyond worried.
hannah was now back at john b's sitting in her car since she didn't want to go home by herself.
"hey mom, i have a quick question for you." hannah says to her mother who she was currently on the phone with, "did jj ever come back home today?"
"no, baby. not to my knowledge. why? is everything alright? are you okay?" eniko asks with a concerned tone in her voice.
"y-yeah, of course. everything's..everything's perfectly fine. i'm fine. no worries." she reassures knowing her mother is a worrier, "i'll see you when i get home okay? i love you."
"i love you too, sweetheart. be safe, okay?"
"i will. bye."
she hung up letting a loud groan escape her mouth and leaning her head on the steering wheel of her jeep.
some might say she was overreacting but everyone knows that hannah and jj are practically inseparable.
you rarely see one of them without seeing the other close by.
they also never argue.
like ever.
so this was new to hannah.
yes, jj could definitely piss the girl off sometimes but they couldn't stay mad at each other for long.
one of them always ended up apologizing for whatever they were pissed at each other for and things would be all good.
but this time was different.
and while jj might've thought that she would never forgive him, little did he know she already had.
hannah absolutely hated feeling like this.
there was nothing she wanted more than to find him and work things out.
but a part of her kept thinking about what he said to her right before he went off on his own.
"everything good in my life i end up destroying anyways. i don't wanna drag you down with me. i was right when i said i didn't deserve you."
the way he spoke made it seem like their relationship was already over.
and that scared her more than anything.
even if they were to break up someday, jj is one of hannah's oldest and dearest friends and he'd always have a special place in her heart no matter what.
her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of unfamiliar voices and commotion not too far from where she sat.
a few seconds later, fairy lights illuminated the dimly lit house.
she lifts her head from the steering wheel looking around in confusion wondering where the noises and lights were coming from.
the girl grew even more concerned when she heard the loud beeps of a moving truck, maybe, backing into john b's driveway.
"what the hell?" hannah mutters stepping out of her car to investigate further, walking towards the château.
once reaching the backyard, her eyebrows form together in confusion seeing a group of men in uniforms and hats carrying a large hot tub into the of the backyard.
she looks around expecting one of her friends to be here but unfortunately it was just her so she couldn't get an explanation as to what was going on.
the girl notices a man with a clipboard clearly lost in thought deciding to try and get answers from him, "excuse me?" she says walking over to him.
his head snaps up upon hearing her voice waiting for her to speak.
"um, may i ask what's going on here?" she inquires looking around at the setup, "what's with the hot tub and lights?"
"are you maybank?" the man asks skipping over her questions before looking down at the clipboard in his hand for a brief second, "mrs. maybank maybe?"
not yet, hannah thought to herself but didn't say it aloud.
she looks at him oddly, "pardon? i-i'm sorry i think you have the wrong house, sir."
"we were told to deliver the hot tub here by a..." his eyes divert back to the papers in front of him reading, "jj maybank."
"that would be me, sir." a male voice says from behind her making hannah whirl around, her eyes meeting a familiar set of blueish-green ones.
her heart skipped a beat not expecting to see him this soon but also feeling a sense of relief wash over her knowing he was okay.
"jj!" hannah gasps throwing her arms around his neck and squeezing tightly.
in this moment, she didn't care that they were arguing.
she was just happy to see him.
she heard a soft wince leave his mouth when she hugged him, his body feeling extremely tense against hers, but he hugs back after a minute.
"a-are you okay?" yche asks pulling away just enough to make eye contact with him before rambling on.
"i was so scared you went home or something and everyone was just like 'hannah chill out he'll be fine' but i was still really nervous and i-i know that we're fighting right now and i'm pissed at you but i'm just really glad to see you and i wanted to say sorry for—"
"woah, woah, woah. slow down, alright?" jj chuckles tilting her chin up and placing a long kiss on her lips.
she was caught off guard by this, but soon relaxes under his touch, missing his kisses more than she thought she did.
"we can talk about all that shit later, okay? and you have nothing to be sorry for. i was an ass. let's just drop it." he says, or more like slurs, with a toothless grin.
hannah was still in shock at how quick he was to forget about everything that happened earlier but simply nods her head in response.
she took a moment to examine his face noticing his lip was a bit bruised and had dried blood on it.
there was also a small cut on his left cheek that looked like it was already starting to scab over.
the girl couldn't tell if these cuts and bruises were from a few days ago when his father beat him or if they were new.
jj had a really bad habit of biting his lip until it bled and it drove hannah crazy because it made it hard for her to tell which injuries were self-inflicted or were done by luke maybank.
just by the look in his eyes and the way he was acting she could tell something was off.
hannah couldn't exactly put her finger on it but she knew he wasn't being completely honest with her.
and once she got a whiff of the faint but pungent smell of champagne, she knew.
"are you—are you drunk?" the girl asks grabbing his face as he giggles to himself.
"maybe a little. but shhh! don't tell my girl, okay? she'll get so mad at me."
hannah face palms with a sigh, "jj, i am your girl. i'm hannah."
he must've forgotten who she was for a moment and then it hits him.
"ohhh, right right! you're my girlfriend. hannah yche. yeah, i-i knew that. you're really pretty you know." the blonde winks taking a swig of the champagne bottle in his hand that hannah hadn't noticed until now.
hannah didn't have the time nor the patience to deal with an intoxicated jj but she needed answers.
"jj, sweetie, i need you to listen to me okay?" she says cupping his face in her hands as he nods his head slowly, "what's going on? what's all this stuff doing here?"
before he can answer her question, the same guy with the clipboard interrupts.
"everything's all setup for you mr. maybank. hope you enjoy." the man flashed them a bright smile and a head nod beginning to walk off. "your payment finally went through by the way."
jj sent him a simple thank you with a wave and with that the group of men were off.
hannah's eyes divert back to jj sending him a look, "payment? what payment, jj? how did you pay for all this?"
"oh, hell yeah! this is what i'm talking about!" jj cheers not paying any attention to what his girlfriend was saying walking towards the hot tub.
following closely behind him, hannah's mouth hung open in shock at how much the backyard had transformed just that quickly.
neon fairy lights were everywhere. hung from the trees and draped around the hot tub, blow up pool floats ready to be used, and a generator powering everything sitting near the front porch.
"what the f—" yche cut herself off not knowing what questions to ask first, "jj, where did all of this stuff come from?"
"the moving people brought it here. duh." he responds with a chuckle making her roll her eyes in annoyance.
"yes, i know the moving people brought it here. b-but who ordered all of this? where did it come from?" hannah's questions get cut short by him interrupting.
"relax babe. i did. it was me." the maybank boy replies pulling his t-shirt over his head and throwing it somewhere.
she was going to respond but got a little distracted by something else in the process.
holy abs.
the girl quickly snaps out of it though reminding herself to stay focused on getting answers.
"okay, but how did you get the money to pay—"
hannah cut herself off once the realization hit her how he could've gotten all this stuff in less than a day.
"you didn't." is all she has to say for him to know what she was talking about.
"i did!" he smiles proudly stepping into the hot tub, sitting against the wall so he was facing her, champagne bottle still in his grasp. "go change into your bathing suit, baby. it feels amazing."
yche practically felt her stomach drop at his words. "jj, are you insane? you spent thirty-thousand dollars in less than six hours?"
jj slid a pair of sunglasses over his eyes, "i know right? generators cost a lot more than i thought they would. that shit by itself almost made me go fucking bankrupt."
"who the hell is that?" a recognizable female voice came closer and closer towards the backyard and a few seconds later pope and kiara could be seen.
their eyes immediately scanned the area of all the new changes, confused looks plastered on both of their faces.
hannah, arms crossed over her chest, stood there not saying a word, waiting for them to ask the same questions she did just a few minutes ago.
"what did you do, jj?" pope questions with wide eyes, sounding just as upset as hannah was.
"i got a jet going straight in my butt right now." maybank says drunkly with a laugh.
"y'all should get in immediately, you hear me?" he sloppily pours champagne into wine glasses, "salud!"
hannah, pope, and kiara were all speechless at the sight in front of them.
since no one else was going to ask this question pope did, "how much did this cost?"
"uh, well," jj starts thinking about it, "with the generator, the petrol, and oh, hey, express delivery...pretty much all of it, yeah."
pope's face went blank, "all of it?" he repeats not wanting to believe it.
"yeah, all of it."
"you spent all the money in one day?"
"yep. he spent every. last. dime." hannah tells them trying not to be angry since she knew something was seriously wrong with him.
he wasn't okay and she could see that.
"yeah, burned a hole right through my pocket. but, i mean, like, come on, guys, like, look at this!" his gaze then met hannah's as he continues, "look, baby. i know you always said you wanted a hot tub. i finally got you one."
the girl still couldn't come up with the right words to say to the boy and looking into his eyes she knew something was wrong.
something was very very wrong.
of course, pope and kiara are fuming at the boy's irresponsible decision to spend all the money in one sitting. pope suggesting that he could've used it to pay for restitution and kie mentioning charity.
"okay—well, you know what? i didn't do that!" jj finally lost his patience, his voice cracking as he stood up.
hannah's heart slowly began to break feeling weak in the knees at the sight in front of her.
he did go home, she thought.
there were welts, bruises, and cuts all over his torso and arms.
hannah felt her eyes welling up with tears, which she didn't even bother to fight at this point, knowing they were gonna keep coming no matter how hard she tried fighting them.
"i got a hot tub! for my friends. for my girlfriend." his voice was shaky and tears were flowing down his face as he spoke, "i got a hot tub for my friends. you know what? no, you know what? screw friends. i got a hot tub for my family."
his voice was cracked and strained and it broke hannah's heart to see him cry.
"jj, what the hell?" kiara asks shaking her head at his attempt at trying to make everything seem like it was okay.
"guys, look what i did for you! all right? look at this?"
"j..." hannah trails off feeling the hot tears roll down her cheeks uncontrollably.
"no, you just stop being emotional. it's fine. just please stop crying, hannah. you know i hate seeing you cry." jj cries not trying to hide his tears anymore.
"i mean, it's sweet, right? everything—"
before he could say anything else she was already climbing into the hot tub, pulling him as close to her as she could, holding him tightly.
he buried his head in the crook of her neck finally falling apart in her arms, "i just couldn't do it." he mumbles through his sobs.
hannah held him tighter running her fingers through his hair comfortingly trying her best to keep it together for his sake.
jj's whole body shook as he struggles to hold himself up from crying so hard, "i cant take him anymore! i was gonna kill him, hannah." the boy cries hugging her tightly.
"i'm here, j. i'm here now. everything's gonna be fine, all right?" her lip trembles kissing the side of his neck attempting to calm him down. "i'll never leave you alone again, okay? i promise."
soon after she says this, the girl bursts into tears right along with him wishing she hadn't allowed him to leave her sight.
she felt so guilty thinking this was all her fault and that if she hadn't let him walk away, this never would've happened.
hannah didn't even care that she was fully clothed and now soaking wet.
they just sat there weeping in each other's arms.
soon enough, pope and kiara wrap their arms around the two, engulfing them into a group hug, the four of them holding each other under the neon lights.