JJ tried his hardest to hold up his facade of anger, but it wasnt easy in the slightest. As soon as he saw her, he wanted to grab her and kiss her. He wanted to beg her to never leave him again and tell her that he loved her. But he wouldnt let himself. She left. The least she deserved was some silent treatment.
His instant reaction was to be angry and, naturally, light up a spliff. Kiara had long since given up asking him not to smoke in her car. He supposed she was done caring. He almost offered it to Brie too, knowing that she probably needed it, but he stopped himself.
"You sure you're okay?" Pope asked Brie again. JJ pursed his lips together, stopping himself from getting involved.
"I'm fine, Pope," she said; even the sound of her voice made JJ's heart wrench, "Not even a scratch. See?"
"Can't say the same for your feet," Pope noted. JJ turned around and looked down, seeing that she still had no shoes on. Had she been barefoot ever since the hospital?
"Yeah," she chuckled, wiggling her dust covered toes, "The least the cops could have done was give me some shoes."
"Wait," JJ said, "Cops? What do you mean the cops? You went to the station?"
"I got arrested, actually," she said, nervously. JJ's eyes flicked over her, watching as she rubbed the thin red marks on her wrists. "Been in custody all night."
"You got arrested?" Kiara shouted, spinning around in her seat for a second before focusing back on the road, "Jesus Christ, Brie. How did you get out? Surely they didnt let you out on bail."
"I saw the news and how the police thought John B had killed the Sheriff, so I went down to the closest police station and told them that it was Rafe," she explained.
"I'm guessing they didnt take it so well," Pope said, "Considering that they freaking arrested you."
"Yeah," she said, "Ward told them that I helped John B. Now the FBI are here too. I managed to get away when all the cops went searching for John B and you guys."
JJ shook his head. Of course Brie would manage to escape both the police and the FBI. She never ceased to amaze him.
"That's because they put a freaking bounty on his head," Pope said. Brie's mouth opened slightly in shock. "Posters are everywhere. The whole island is after him."
"Ward told them you helped John B shoot Peterkin?" JJ asked, frowning at her. She looked at him sadly, but he quickly adverted his gaze, "But you-"
"The cops claimed John B shot me accidentally when Ward tried to get the gun from him," Brie answered before he could even finish the question. She avoided looking at his face again, messing with her fingers in her lap.
"So now Ward is the hero in all this?" JJ said, angrily, "Fuck, man! I hate Kooks."
"Me too," Brie mumbled, leaning her head against Pope's shoulder, closing her eyes and sighing deeply. Pope patted her hand awkwardly. She probably hadn't slept since the hospital, so they all decided to let her sleep whilst they drove back to the garage and pulled up round back.
They stayed silent for a while, waiting until Brie was asleep before finally talking again. JJ was smoking yet another blunt, enjoying the numb feeling that hazed his brain again. Now that Brie was asleep, he felt that he could finally look at her face. She looked exhausted, dirty streaks ran down her face from her tears. She still had the faint scars and scratches on her face and the dark line in her thigh from when that drunk driver had hit her. Her injured shoulder was still wrapped in a sling against her chest and JJ stared at it sadly.
"The FBI," JJ muttered, "The fucking FBI is after us."
"They're more after John B more than us specifically," Pope corrected. JJ rolled his eyes at him."And also after Brie as well. This is turning into a freaking nightmare."
JJ's throat tightened. How had Ward managed to convince the cops and the FBI that a girl with a bullet wound was involved with the murder of the Sheriff? He hated the thought of Brie or John B getting caught and thrown in jail for this. Rafe and Ward both deserved to be locked away, and maybe Topper whilst they're at it. Psychopaths, all of them were.
"We have to talk to Sarah," Kiara sighed. "She's the only one who can clear Brie and John B."
"Yeah, but would she throw her family under the bus for a couple of Pogues?" JJ asked.
Kiara ran her hand through her hair and chewed her lip. "Let's hope so. What are we supposed to do with Brie? We're not meeting back with John B until tomorrow at three. We cant just leave her here alone, right?"
Kiara looked at JJ, clearly asking if he would stay here with her. He shook his head frantically, heartbeat speeding up. He couldnt face her after what she did. He didnt trust himself to not forgive her instantly as soon as she looked at him again with those bright green eyes. He knew that he would crumble as soon as he saw her cry.
"No way," he said, "I'm not on babysitting duty. Not for her."
"JJ," Kiara scolded, angrily, "You know why she left. And she came back, didnt she? You cant seriously be mad at her everything she's done for us."
"Oh, I can be mad," he argued, "And I am. I'm not staying here and watching her like some sort of bodyguard after she walked out on us. Absolutely not."
"JJ!" Kiara warned, scowling at him. "We all owe her, alright?"
"We dont owe her shit," JJ hissed, "She was ready to let us take the fall for all of this! She didn't even try-"
"Hey!" Pope shushed them, gesturing to Brie who was stirring slightly in her sleep, head against Pope's leg, "I'll stay here with Brie, alright? You guys go and talk to Sarah."
JJ almost felt disappointed that they didn't force him to stay here with Brie. He watched her face as she slept with her head in Pope's lap. He felt a twinge of jealousy. He wanted her to sleep in his arms so badly. He missed holding her close and feeling her heartbeat against him, her breath against his skin, the soft touch of her skin. He looked away, clenching his fists to try and take his mind away from the thought of her.
"Alright," Kiara said, "JJ and I will head over to Figure Eight and you stay here with her. I got a blanket and some bottles of water in the trunk."
JJ got out of the car and grabbed Brie's bag from inside the garage. It was only then that he noticed that he was still wearing her bracelet. He cursed under his breath at his own stupidity, but found that he didnt want to take it off. He put the bag on the backseat beside Pope, who nodded in thanks.
"Come on, Kie," JJ said, "We'll take my bike. Let her sleep."
Kiara gave Pope a small wave and encouraging nod as JJ readied the bike that was propped up next to the wall. He spun Brie's bracelet around on his wrist and sighed. His throat ached painfully after all this time bottling up his emotions. He couldnt tell if he wanted to cry or beat the living shit out of someone, Rafe Cameron preferably. He still hated him for what he'd done to Brie, even if he didnt ecactly want to talk to her right now.
"You cant be mad at her forever you know," Kiara told him. "You care about her too much."
JJ rolled his eyes and started the engine. "I have every right to be mad at her. So do you. Why are you guys just acting as if she didnt even do anything?"
"Because we understand!" Kiara argued, "And I'm pretty sure you understand too. So, why are you really this mad?"
JJ sighed and sat up straight. He wanted to tell somebody about him and Brie. Who knows? Maybe Kiara already knew. She was Brie's best friend after all. Maybe Brie had told her about them by now.
"Its just-" he huffed, "I told her things, you know? And she told me things too. I just thought I- I mean, I thought that we would mean more to her than that."
He could see the look of sympathy that crossed Kiara's face. JJ looked down in embarrassment.
"JJ," she said, softly, "You dont have to pretend with me. I saw how you two were together, even if you both did deny the living shit out of it. You love her."
JJ closed his eyes, trying to stop his heart from racing a million miles an hour. He didnt want to feel like this. He hated feeling vulnerable. Probably because of his piece of shit father.
"Kie, it's not like that," he argued, "Me and Brie, we just...I dont know. It isn't-"
"There's no point in denying it either," she cut in, "I heard what you said to her on the boat after we got you two out of the water. Why dont you just tell her? She feels the same, you know."
"I did tell her!" JJ snapped, defensively. Kiara's face dropped in surprise. "I told her, Kie, and guess what? She still fucking left."
"JJ, she loves you too," Kiara pleaded with him, "You have to know that she really does love you, even if she hasn't said it. Leaving you was probably one of the hardest things she's ever had to do."
"Yeah, well," JJ said, bitterly, "Excuse me if I'm having a hard time believing that."
"JJ, she's been through a lot," Kiara said, "But I know she loves you, alright? Just...dont give up on her. She just needs time. Please. She needs you."
JJ sighed shakily and nodded. He hoped she was right. He needed to know that Brie loved him the way that he loved her, or otherwise what was the point off all of this? He loved her so much. Every second with her was something he wanted to remember, and he didnt want anything to change that.
"Yeah," he said, looking back at the car even though he couldnt see Brie through the windshield. "Okay. Come on, let's just go."
JJ hid the bike behind a wall outside the Cameron's house and then watched as Kiara vaulted the wall and headed round to the back where she would climb up to Sarah's window. He kept watch. It seemed like they always had all of their lights on, like they somehow had to flaunt that they had power whilst everyone on the Cut were still blacked out.
Yet again, he started thinking about Brie. He leaned back against the wall and pulled his hair at the roots in frustration. This was tearing him apart. He wanted to be mad at her. She left him, just like his mom had all those years ago. That set off all of these crazy defence mechanisms, like all this pent up anger and denying how much he cared about her. He just wanted this to be easy. Everything was just so complicated.
He looked back at the house, checking for any sign of Kiara. Nothing. She was probably still talking things over with Sarah. They needed her to clear Brie and John B, but would Sarah actually sell out basically her entire family to save them? JJ liked to think that she would do the right thing. He hated Kooks, but Sarah Cameron had proved herself to not be like the rest of those stuck up bastards. She had a good heart, and JJ knew how much she loved Brie and John B. He really hoped that they could count on her to do the right thing.
The right thing. God, he always struggled to do that. No matter how hard he tried, he always seemed to fuck things up. He wished he could handle things like John B, or Pope, or Kiara, or even Brie. Actually, scratch that last. Brie never thought her ideas through properly, and even when she did, she ended up almost getting herself killed. In just one day, she had gotten herself shot and then got arrested, escaped and then ran out in front of a moving car. He shook his head, almost smiling to himself. That girl was nuts.
He thought about what Kiara had said. She knew how he felt about Brie, so there was no point in trying to deny it now. He found it weird admitting it to someone else after denying it for so long. He wondered if Kiara had told Pope or John B what she heard that day out on the boat. Or even Brie. He somehow doubted it. She wouldnt do that to him.
JJ imagined what their lives could be like in a couple of months. Brie and John B could be in jail, and so might he, Pope and Kiara for hiding fugitives. Or maybe they would get their names cleared and get the gold back so that they could finally be rich. Those two realities seemed a million miles from each other, and only one of them felt slightly realistic.
Kiara suddenly appeared at the top of he wall, dropping down next to him. She sighed heavily and brushed off her clothes. JJ turned to her.
"So?" He asked, "How did it go?"
"The bastard's locked her in her room," Kiara said, angrily, "She didnt know that Ward told the police that it was John B who shot the Sheriff. She didnt even know if Brie was alive or dead."
"Jesus," JJ muttered. Ward Cameron was one evil son of a bitch. "So what do we do now? Do we break her out?"
"We just have to hope that Sarah can get out of there herself," Kiara said, "I told her about our plan to get John B on a boat out of here, and she wants to go with him."
JJ raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Really?"
"Yeah, I told her to be at the Dump tomorrow at three," she said, "We just got to get enough supplies for them both to make it to the Bahamas."
"How are we going to get enough stuff to last them that long?" He asked, "Me, Brie and John B are pretty much broke and you and Pope can't exactly go asking your parents for money right now."
"You're right," Kiara huffed, putting her hands on her hips, "Maybe we can get enough stuff from my dad's restaurant. And we can always see what's at John B's place too."
"Yeah," JJ nodded, swinging his leg over the bike, "Come on, we'll go get your car and then head over to there."
"Let's just hope we dont run into my parents," Kiara said, "I think they would probably kill us both."
"Yeah," JJ almost laughed, "Something tells me that your dad has been wanting to kill me for a while."
"Yeah, well," Kiara smirked, "I think most people that meet you want to kill you."
JJ scoffed and rolled his eyes at her. She grinned and nudged him gently. He appreciated that. A little bit of normality in his life felt nice. It was comforting to act like they they used to before all of this mess with the gold, even if it was just for a couple of seconds.
They took the bike back to get Kiara's jeep so that they could go and pick up supplies from the Wreck. When they got there, JJ immediately opened the car door and found Pope and Brie weren't in the backseat anymore. Kiara assessed the damage from where she had backed into another car whilst trying to get away from the cops.
"My mom's gonna kill me," she mumbled, running her hand along the scratches.
JJ looked around, not seeing Pope or Brie anywhere. Surely they wouldnt just leave. They knew how dangerous it was out there right now, and JJ couldnt imagine Pope ever agreeing to any of Brie's insanely dumb plans. Especially seeing as she was still injured. Maybe that's where they went, to get medical supplies or pain relief or something.
"They're not in there," he told her, trying to hide his worry, "Where are they?"
"Chill," Kiara told him, still frowning at the marks on the paint of the front of the car. "They're probably inside."
JJ headed over to the metal door, which was still slightly open. He pushed it with his hand and green flakes of paint rained down. He stepped into the garage and his heart plummeted. His face fell, shock taking over his expression.
"What the fuck?"