Chapter Text
"All right, Sarah. It's time to come clean," Kiara instructed.
The four girls sat together on the porch after eating their food. They'd grabbed some pillows and blankets and set up a spot to relax together before they would need to go and help the Carreras.
They had managed to avoid the conversation while eating, but Callie, Kiara and Florence had all been wondering what had happened since seeing her with Topper. So, sitting down together seemed like a good time to ask.
"What happened? With Topper?" Callie asked, trying not to seem too forceful.
"Oh God," the blonde groaned, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her hands. "It's actually so embarrassing."
"Most situations involving my brother usually are," Florence said, trying to lighten the mood a bit to make Sarah feel more comfortable.
Sarah offered her friend a small smile, grateful to her. "He caught me slugging beer at the Tiki Bar."
"You weren't," Kiara almost laughed.
"Yeah. Shot drinking."
Callie had to bite the inside of her cheek hard to keep from laughing, pursing her lips. "Nope. Not judging."
Sarah, on the other hand, did laugh lightly before her expression became serious once again. "I wouldn't blame you if you were. And then a couple kids from the KCD rolled up, and they were already going to Mase. And then. . . I kissed him."
It was right then silence fell over them all. They were all just as shocked as the other, trying to reason it in their heads.
"Do you hate me?" Sarah asked them, almost scared of the response.
There was a moment where the three of them were trying to figure out how to answer the question. Kiara took a short breath, stepping up first. "Hate is the wrong word," she told her, not really giving a straight response. "So you and John B are just done?"
"No. Well, I don't know," Sarah said. "I don't want to be."
"Then you need to talk to him," Callie stated. "Because this, what you're doing, it's not fair to him."
Sarah nodded slowly. "I know. It's like, ever since the island, everything has felt so. . . abnormal, and it just felt nice to feel something normal again."
"Things might not necessarily be normal or whatever right now, but what you had with my brother was never real," Florence told her, being honest since she could tell she needed to hear it. "What you had was just. . . acceptable. You and John B, though? That's real and something worth risking that 'normality' for."
"I'm just- I'm a mess," Sarah told them all, bitter tears biting at the backs of her eyes. "I feel like such a mess."
Callie's mind couldn't help but think about JJ. He had been acting so strange lately and now today, he had disappeared and wasn't answering her calls. She wished that he would just talk to her. All she wanted was to be able to help him.
"Well, we're all a bit messed up right now," Callie said softly.
Leaning forward slightly, Kiara saw the torn look on her friend's face. "Is something going on with you and JJ?"
Sarah looked over at her, already knowing what was on her mind since they'd spoken about it earlier. Callie shrugged, rubbing the back of her neck. "I think we're okay. He's just. . . he's been off ever since the bridge. He won't talk to me about it. Not properly."
"Don't give him the option next time, then," Kiara instructed, knowing JJ almost as well as Callie. He would keep that wall up until the end if he could.
Sarah's phone chimed, drawing them all away from the conversation, curious as to who was texting her. Sarah unlocked her phone, confusion clear on her face.
"Wheezie?"
"What?"
"I texted her when we got in," the blonde informed, clicking play on the voice recording.
'Sarah, don't be mad, but I ran away. I'm in the OBX, and I have to see you. Come to our rental condo on Greensboro Street, okay? But, Sarah, please don't tell anyone.'
"I'm not the only one who thinks this smells off, right?" Florence asked. She had known Wheezie for years and something wasn't sitting right with her about the message.
Sarah sat quietly, digesting what her sister had said. Why would she do something so risky as to run away? She knew that Florence was right - something was off, they could all see that.
"I don't know, but that was definitely her voice," Sarah stated. "So, either way, I need to go there."
"Then I'm going with you," Florence told her. Sarah went to argue, but Florence held a hand up. "I'll hide outside or whatever so that she doesn't know I'm there, but there's no chance I'm letting you go alone."
Sarah thought for a moment before nodding. "Okay, let's go. We'll see you guys at the party tonight?"
"Yeah, of course," Kiara said as she stood up. "Don't worry, Cal and I have got this."
Sarah thanked them both before heading off side-by-side with Florence. She wasn't sure what was going on, but Wheezie was her sister and she needed to know that she was alright.
⋙⋘
After helping Anna and Mike Carrera set up for their anniversary party, Callie had gone back with Kiara to her house. They had stopped by her house so that she could grab an outfit and then returned.
The event was semi-formal, so she'd managed to dig a skirt out of the back of her wardrobe and a nice top to go with it. After she'd gotten changed, she sat down on Kiara's bed waiting for her to do the same.
Callie had tried to call JJ again. Each time, it was sending her to voice mail and each time, she got that little bit more worried.
"I'm sure he's just with John B," Kiara said as she walked into the room, seeing that Callie was on her phone with a worried look on her face.
The girl fiddled with the ring hanging around her neck, not looking away from the screen. "He's not answering either."
Which was true. Callie had thought of what Kiara had suggested hours ago and tried to call and text John B. Just like JJ, he hadn't answered any of it.
Kiara crossed her room to sit on the bed in front of Callie. She then removed her phone from her hands and tossed it to the other side of the bed.
"Staring at it isn't going to make them answer any faster."
Callie groaned as she let her head fall back. "I don't know what else to do."
"Help me with my hair," Kiara suggested as she turned around, sitting to face away from her friend. "And let's talk about something else. Distract yourself."
The girl thought for a moment before nodding, "Okay." She reached forward and parted Kiara's hair, easing into her question carefully, "Can we talk about you and Flo?"
Kiara didn't tense at the question, which Callie decided to take as a good sign. She was, however, hesitant to respond. "What about us?"
"Well," Callie said slowly. "I just noticed that you're together but. . . not in public. Do your parents know?"
"My parents, surprisingly aren't the problem this time," she answered quite bitterly.
"Does Flo think her parents won't accept her?"
Kiara's frown grew deeper as she thought about the girl. "She's worried that if they find out they'll send her away again."
"What?" Callie gasped. "They can't do that."
"They can, actually," Kiara corrected. "Until she's eighteen, they can do whatever they want."
Florence always acted like she was so brave and didn't care what anyone else thought, but Kiara could tell she was scared. Her parents had so much power, and they would apply it. After all, not only was their daughter dating a Pogue, but she was also dating a girl. This didn't fit their idea of the perfect family that lived on Figure Eight that they liked to portray.
Letting go of her hair, Callie leaned forward to hug her friend. Kiara reached her hands up to rest them on Callie's arm, smiling gently as she tried not to cry.
"Eighteen isn't too far away," Callie said in an attempt to comfort her friend. She knew it wasn't much, but she didn't really know what else she could do.
"It's far enough," Kiara mumbled. "Look, her parents will be there tonight, so-"
"I'm not going to say a word," Callie told her quickly.
They both knew that Callie would never have done that, but Kiara felt better knowing that she had put it out there.
After a few more moments, Callie leaned back to continue working on her friend's hair. She braided two small sections at the front, bringing them to the back and tying them with an elastic. It was simple enough while also looking nice event for the event.
"There you go," she smiled as she released the girl's hair.
Kiara got up and walked over to her mirror, turning each way to assess her work. With a nod, she looked over her shoulder.
"It'll work."
Callie scoffed playfully, "Well, next time you can do your own hair if you want 'perfect'."
"I'll keep that in mind," Kiara teased. She then went over and hugged her friend again, "Thank you."
Callie hugged her back without a moment's hesitation. "What are friends for?"
⋙⋘
"Are you kidding me, Sarah?" Kiara exclaimed. "That doesn't even make sense."
Sarah and Florence had arrived to the party not too long after it had started. The four girls had found a table off to the side where no one would hear them discuss what Sarah and Florence had found at the house.
Apparently, to no one's real surprise, Ward Cameron was alive and well.
"You're serious? Ward's on the island? This island?" Callie clarified. "This island. The one we're standing on."
"Yes," she said sharply, not needing her to simplify it further. "He's back."
Kiara shook her head, anger rolling off of her, "The second I see him, I'm turning him in, I swear. I don't know how you do it. I mean, every time I wanna complain about my dad, I just think about your dad."
Sarah scoffed, "Oh, glad to be of service."
"Works every time."
"Maybe I should try that," Florence mused.
"So glad to be of help." Sarah's eyes travelled around the party, her body tensing when she spotted her ex. "You didn't tell me Topper was gonna be here."
"Sorry," Kiara said, her one almost like a question. "My mum invited like, the whole island."
"Shit."
"It's not a big deal. We'll keep him away."
Florence nodded as she put an arm around Sarah, "It would legitimately be my pleasure."
They all laughed, but it didn't last long as they spotted Topper walking in their direction. Sarah then grabbed Florence's hand and dragged her away. "Yeah, we'll be over here."
"What? You just said you'd keep him away," Sara spat.
"We won't be far," Callie assured, sipping at her drink. "Just say the word."
As Kiara and Florence grabbed a drink, Callie spotted her family walking in. Telling the girls she'd be back, she walked across the dock to seek them out.
"Hey, sweetheart," her mother greeted, embracing her daughter. "You and Kie did a great job, this looks beautiful."
"Thanks, mum," she laughed. "I thought you guys would be here earlier."
Her dad grabbed a drink off of a waiter's tray as they passed by, sighing, "There was some extra work to make up for. It's done now, though, so that's what matters."
Callie knew that that extra work was due to the morning shift; the shift that JJ had skipped. Her parents weren't going to outright say it, but she could read between the lines.
"Well, I'm sure Anna and Mike will be glad to see you," Callie smiled, moving the conversation along.
Right on time, Kiara's dad stepped up on stage to make a speech. He thanked everyone and put out a special thanks to his wife and daughter, making it clear just how much he loved them both.
"Let's go congratulate them," Jennifer told her husband, linking her arm with his.
The man nodded, giving his daughter one last fleeting look. "Let us know if you find JJ. I wanna check in with him."
"You're not the only one," she mumbled to herself as her parents walked away.
"You didn't find him, then?" Finn asked, recalling how she had come into his room that morning in search of him.
Callie shook her head, "No. At this point, though, it might be for the best because I might actually kill him."
On one hand, she knew she was exaggerating. On the other, he was being an idiot and ignoring her calls and now that they knew Ward was on the island, that could mean anything. For all she knew, he was bleeding in a ditch somewhere.
"So, if I wanna be able to see him again, I probably shouldn't tell you that I know where he is?" Finn asked.
Callie immediately snapped out of all of the thoughts going through her head and stared down at her brother with wide eyes. "What? You know where he is?"
"I'm like, one hundred per cent certain," he claimed.
The girl scoffed, starting to believe him less, "Really? How can you be so sure?"
"Because that's him over there tying the boat to the dock," Finn stated, nodding his head in the direction of the boy.
Callie turned so fast that all of her hair flew over her shoulder. Finn hadn't been lying - JJ was right there and he was tying the HMS Pogue to the dock. When he spotted her, she could see his lips curse.
"I'll be back," she muttered.
Finn chuckled, "I'll keep him in my prayers."
The girl made a beeline for her boyfriend, only stopping when she was directly in front of him. She didn't say anything, instead, she grabbed out her phone and dialled his number.
The device started to ring from inside his pocket. JJ just looked at her, though, trying to act like it wasn't his.
"Seriously?" she said finally when he made no move to answer it.
JJ reached into his pocket and pulled out the phone, pretending to be shocked, "I got no idea whose phone this is or how it got here."
Callie scoffed as she hung up the phone. She muttered 'unbelievable' to herself as she turned around and started to walk away.
"Cal, wait!" he said quickly. JJ jumped from the boat and chased after her, grabbing her hand to force her to stop.
She didn't walk further but she removed her hand from his, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "JJ, I've been trying to contact you and John B all day. I was worried."
"I know, I'm sorry," JJ managed to fumble out, feeling guilty.
"I deserve a better answer than that, JJ. My parents deserve a better answer," she told him firmly. "Where did you go?"
The boy's cheeks burned in embarrassment. She was right - he should've called her back and clued her in earlier.
"Look, long story short, we're mounting a full search and rescue mission right now because Big John got nabbed. Like actually nabbed. Snatched, kidnapped, abducted, that kind of thing."
Call stared at him for a moment, eyes narrowing, "JJ, this better not be some stupid lie, because-"
"It's not," he said quickly. "Singh's taken him to South America."
The slight twitch of a memory was noticeable in the girl's expression. Big John had been taken by the same person that had taken her. Now, they wanted to go after John B, which would most likely involve seeing Singh again.
"So, what we have to do is get down there as soon as we can," JJ continued, filling her in on what's been happening.
"South America?" Callie repeated. "You want to go to South America? Right now?"
"Yeah, I know," JJ sighed, knowing what she was thinking from her tone alone. "It's a long shot, but we're making a plan right now."
Callie's eyes flickered in thought before eventually, she nodded. "All right."
JJ gave a confused look, "All right? What do you mean, all right?"
"I mean, all right all right," she clarified. "I'm coming with you. What's the plan?"
"What," he bulked. "No. Hell no."
"What makes you think you have a say in this?" Callie responded, standing her ground.
JJ wasn't backing down though. "You said that they're still considering sending you away," he reminded her. "I doubt a trip to South America is listed on the options for day trips."
"Well, then, I guess they just can't find out."
"Callie, no," he said firmly, making it clear he didn't want to discuss it further.
The girl took half a step back, looking at him with anger in her eyes. "So, what? You're just gonna ghost me again? I mean, at least this time I have an idea of where you'll be."
"Cal, you know damn well it's not like that."
"No, it's exactly like that," she corrected. "You are telling me to stay here and twiddle my thumbs while Big John is up for execution right now. I get it, don't you worry."
The boy shook his head, "No. I just want you to be safe."
"And there it is!" Callie almost shouted. "JJ, I don't need you to be some knight in shining armour who fights all of my battles. We are supposed to be partners - we are supposed to be working together. John B is my best friend too!"
JJ noticed Callie's parents watching them over her shoulder. He needed to walk away before they drew any more attention to themselves. "You know what? I'm not apologising for trying to keep you from getting shipped off," he claimed, throwing his hands up before turning around and walking down the dock. "I'll see you when we get back. If I get back."
Callie could feel tears burning in her eyes as she watched him walk away, "You're a selfish ass, JJ."
The boy heard her but he didn't turn around. She might have seen him that way but he needed to keep her parents from sending her away. Right now, this was the only way that he could think to do it.
⋙⋘
A few hours later night had fallen. The party was still in full swing, all of the fairy lights and lanterns providing the celebratory atmosphere.
Callie was sitting in the corner with Kiara and Florence, not really paying much attention. She was still mad at JJ - at his audacity to treat her like some child and say that she had to stay at home while they went on the rescue mission without her.
Her parents were still monitoring her after seeing the argument, so Kiara made sure to slow the rate of drink refreshals making their way to Callie. The girl was thankful for her friend for thinking for her.
"Can we leave," she mumbled, turning away from the HMS Pogue. "I'm tired."
Kiara put down her drink with a nod, "Sure. Let me see what Sarah's doing. Maybe we can sleep over."
She was about to go in search of Sarah when they all saw John B storming down the pier. He had Topper in his sight and a violent glint in his eyes. Sarah told him what happened - that was the only conclusion that they could come to.
"Oh, this isn't gonna be good," Callie mumbled, putting her glass down and walking over with the two girls to see if they could help Sarah.
"You feel good about yourself, bro?" John B scowled as he shoved Topper harshly.
The Kook threw his hands up defensively as Sarah told John B to stop.
"You need to chill out, bro. I'm not ruining their party."
"Oh, that's what you're worried about?" John B scoffed as he shoved him again. "You feel good about yourself?"
"I would walk away. Just walk away John B."
At this point, Sarah stepped in. She grabbed John B and forced him to turn around, tears in her eyes. "For once in your life, would you please just turn around and walk away? Please. Look at me. Please don't."
John B looked like he was considering what she was saying. That was until Topper opened his big mouth.
"Hey, no hard feelings, bro," he chuckled.
"Topper."
The Kook stood with a smug look on his face, knowing just how to twist the knife further. "We good?"
John B didn't say anything, just turned around and punched the boy. It was probably the hardest that Callie had ever seen him punch someone.
"No. John B, no!" Sarah shouted.
He wasn't listening, though. Instead, he moved closer to Topper, towering over him. "You like that shit, Top? Huh?"
"Stop, John B," Sarah sobbed.
Callie took half a step forward but was held back by Kiara. "John B, what are you doing?" she asked. Callie hated Topper as much as the next person, but he was going to take it too far.
"You ready for this?" John B asked Topper, ignoring everyone around him.
After about four solid punches, some adults finally stepped in. Mike Carrera and Andrew Merrick rushed over, both grabbing an arm of John B each and ripping him off of the other boy.
"Get him out of here," Anna demanded, already disappointed that their special night had been ruined.
"Get out of here!" Mike shouted as he let go of John B.
"Is that what you want Mike? Huh? What about you, Andrew?" John B seethed, looking between the two men.
JJ had made his way off of the dock at this point, standing between John B and the two men. He could feel Callie's eyes bore holes in him.
"That's what I'm talking about," Mike said angrily.
Andrew kept his temper even as he looked at JJ, "Get him out of here before he causes any more trouble."
JJ nodded, leading John B back towards the dock. "You happy, Sarah?" the heartbroken boy asked.
Callie watched the two boys walk down the dock. Both of her friends were different people that night; this hunt was breaking them all in different ways that were no longer staying below the surface.