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Chapter 21

Season 3
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I was pushing at crates at Heyward's, my brain didn't want sleep last night, so Mrs. Pope let me stay home.

I heard noise outside, then I knew I heard Pope's voice,
I said" Pope..." I jumped down from the table, and ran outside, I saw Pope hugging Mr. Pope. I screamed" Pope! Pope!" I ran to him, he let go of his dad and looked at me. I crashed into him," Pope!"
He said" Hey, hey, Skye... JJ, hey, he's gonna be-"
" JJ? JJ!" I took off, as fast as I could, I knew he'd go home.

I ran down the road, then I saw him ahead of me,
I screamed" JJ?!" He stopped," JJ!" He stared at me, I ran for him, he ran for me, I ran as fast as possible. I crashed onto him, he fell back, his arms wrapped around me.
He said" Holy shit! Hey, hey, Munch! Hey, hey... Oh, wow, it's so..." He kissed my head, I dug my face into his neck, crying.
" JJ!"
" Hey... whoa..." I looked at him, he smiled at me, wiping the tears off my face, I stared at me.
" You were gone longer than a couple hours..."
" I was, wasnt I? I'm so freakin' sorry, Skye! Would it make you feel better if I tell you we really didn't mean to be gone this long."
" Six weeks!"
" I know, I know.." He hugged me, he stood up, holding me in his arms," Hey, did you get taller?" He ruffled my hair, he kissed my head again," You wouldn't believe me if I told you what's happened since we left."
" Don't leave! Please! I don't want you to leave again!" I clung onto him,
" Hey, shh, shh, not leaving you again, that's for freakin' sure. Okay? No matter what, okay? Not leaving you behind."
" It was scary, JJ!"
" Yeah... I know." He kissed my head, rubbing my back, he started walking, he sighed." Let's go home, Munchie."

We got to our old home, JJ saw the tape and the notice, he put me down and tried to open the door but it was locked. He lifted me back up, holding me on his hip as we walked around the house. We went to the window, he opened it and lifted me up, I climbed in, and jumped down. He climbed in after me. He picked up a can and sat on the couch, he threw something then leaned back. I sat next to him, laying my head on his chest, I reached up and played with his hair.
I whispered" Missed you, Bubba."
He whispered" Missed you too, Munch."

I saw Kie walking up, she smiled at me,
I said" Kie!" I ran to her, hugging her stomach, she hugged me back, lifting me up. She started walking to JJ,
She said" Hey. What's with the sign?"
JJ said" Eviction notice. For, like, nonpayment or whatever. Doesn't matter. This place sucks anyway. Great to be back in the Outer Banks, right?" Kie put me down,
" So get this. I, uh, had an email waiting for me when I got home. John B actually found Big John. He's alive."
" Seriously?"
" Yeah. He's at the chateau."
" Damn."
" Yeah, he thinks we're close to the same treasure Singh was talking about. Hey, look. My parents didn't even wanna let me out of the house, but I told them I had to come check on you."
" Well, it's not me you have to worry about."
" Jayj, what's up? Is it something Pope said? I know he's not all obsessed about what happened between me and him. We're both past that, but something's bugging you."
" It was just weird, what almost happened on the boat with us. It was just weird."
" Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I mean it was... it was weird for me too, But... Not bad weird."
" No. Not bad weird." They got closer together," What are we doing? What are we doing? We shouldn't be doing this, nah. We shouldn't do that." He walked away from her,
" Yeah."
" We shouldn't!"
" If you say so."
" I mean, it would all blow up anyway. You know? Like... look at you. You got your new threads on. Look at me. What do I got? This? This piece of shit?" He threw a can onto the porch," Getting kicked out of this place in three weeks anyway. Shit, I don't even got parents right now. Why would you care? Why would you care? I'm just some loser that-"
" JJ-"
" You don't care. No, you don't!"
" I do care!"
" No, you got parents that live in Figure Eight, you know? You know..."
" That's not my fault."
" That's your future. You got that."
" Look, if you need us, we're gonna help you. I'm... I'll help."
" It's that right there. Okay? Like- It's so easy for you to say that.  You know why? Because you're a kook. You're a kook, Kiara." I'm really confused, why's JJ mad at Kie?
" Yeah, I'm a kook. I was such a kook when I was living in a cave with you for a month. Soaking in the kook life."
" That's not what I'm talking about. God!" He lifted me up and put me onto the bike, and got on behind me,
" Jayj, don't leave." He drove away, she yelled after him, I held onto his arms, looking up at him.

We drove up a pier, stopping at the end, JJ got off and walked away, I turned around and watched him. He broke some stuff then stared out into the water,
I said" Bubba?" I held out my arms, he looked at me, I made grabby hands, he walked to me and lifted me up, I wrapped my arms around his neck." Loves you."
He said" Loves you too, Skye. I'm sorry I'm a little mad right now." I just hugged his neck," How was living with Pop?"
" It was okay, not as good as living with you." He smiled,
" Really? A meal every night and a warm, little bed, a shower every day?"
" I'd rather have nothing if it means I'm with my Bubba." He laughed, hugging me, I felt him gulp,
" Yeah? Well, I'd rather have you than anyone else in this world." I laughed, digging my fingers into his hair," Nice, Skye... thanks, Munch."
" Your hair's longer."
" Yeah, a little bit. Yours is too."
" Who's the girl with Pope?"
" Her name is Cleo, she's one of us."

We stopped at John B's,
JJ said" John B!" He whistled," Yo!"
Kie said" Hey, Jayj." JJ put me down and turned to her,
" John B not here?"
" Nope." He walked to her,
" What up?"
" Uh, Rafe's what's up."
" What do you mean?"
" Rafe's back on the island. Sarah saw him."
" Spectacular."
" It's not just that. She overheard him saying that the cross is coming to Wilmington tomorrow night. Figure he must be trying to sell it."
" Great. Does Pope know?"
" Yeah, Sarah went to tell him. He's locked down, and I guess John B and his dad went and got the Twinkie. They're off to god knows where."
" Yeah, of course. Just when we need them. Wait. Hold on, though. We know where the cross is gonna be. That means it's still on the field. Okay, alright. So we can come in and swoop. We're still in this, Kie. We gotta get everybody together, then we'll come up with a plan. Get our asses to Wilmington-"
" Hey, Jayj. Before we formulate some crazy plan, can we talk?"
" Yeah. Yeah, we can talk."
" Something almost happened between us on the boat. And I know that's got to freak you out. It caught me off guard too. And I know, your whole life, I know you freak when people get close, and I get it. I don't blame you. Just please don't ever say that I don't care about you. And you called me a kook."
" Okay. Well, hold on."
" Which is lame."
" I know. That was lame."
" It was uncalled for. Yeah, it's a low blow."
" Alright, Kie. Look, Kie. You're right. I flipped. You know how I be. Just, uh... just... Look. We should just... just call it a truce. Just etch a sketch it. Clean slate. Truce?"
" Truce." They did the handshake,
" So how we gonna jack this cross?"
" I don't know." I pulled at JJ's shirt, he lifted me up, I hugged his neck, he rubbed my back.