gorgeous banner by darthvvderr <3

                    My legs burn from the resistence of the bike pedals, my phone in the pocket of my shorts feels like it weighs the same as the gold. The Kildare County high school comes into view quickly, the outside mostly empty due to students being in class.

    My eyes avoid the big rock memorial near the door, photos and reminders of my Brother not welcome inside my mind. 

    As soon as my tyre mounts the curb to the school, I jump off the push bike and drop it onto the grass, the wheels still spinning. I adjust my cardigan, my hands shaking in nerves as I pull my phone from my pocket, the picture already open like a beacon of hope.

    I shove any straggling students out of the way, ignoring their grunts and protests as I scan the premises for the Pogues. 

    As I walk across the campus, I catch sight of a debate on the far side, with Kiara and Pope arguing in a rush near some lunch tables. I turn, rushing over to them with my phone ready.

    "Did you guys get this?" I push my words out, turning the photo towards them so they can see. JJ appears behind Pope, his eyes trained on me in an instant with something like shock in his eyes. Probably surprised to see me moving, let alone speaking.

    "Yes, it's a group chat," Pope points out, all three of them staring down at their phones. I join Kiara's side, sitting on the table, holding my phone next to hers as her thumbs hover above the keypad.

    "It has to be real, right?" I look between everyone, wanting someone to laugh and tell me there's no way it's fake.

    "We can't rule out the possibility this could all be some kind of weird, cruel hoax," Pope stammers, his words rushed and breathless. 

    "I'm just gonna ask," Kiara shakes her head, her shaky thumbs tapping the screen as she types out a message.

    My knee bounces uncontrollably, my hands unintentionally picking at the skin around my nails as I stare down at Kie's phone. A part of me doesn't want them to reply, then there's no chance of being disappointed.

    The unknown person begins typing, the three dots causing me to flinch on impact.

    "He's typing," Kie announces, her face void of colour. The use of the pronoun makes me even more nervous; all of us are already assuming it's real and they're both alive. 

    Is JJ there? comes the reply.

    My eyes dart to the blond, his back pressed against the wall as if his legs aren't strong enough to hold himself. His hat is clenched tightly in one hand, his phone in the other. 

    I'm here, JJ types.

    The three dots reappear, and the anticipation prompts me to stand up and pace between JJ and Kie, my eyes fixed on my own screen.

    The ding sound causes me to stop in my tracks, my reeboks grinding on the concrete from the quickness. I hold my phone with both hands, reading the reply.

    Did you pimp my shortboard?

    A laugh forces itself out of me as if it were an air bubble, tears stinging my eyes. I cover my mouth with my hands, dropping down into a squat once I feel my legs become jelly.

    "It's him," JJ breathes his own laugh, Kie repeating his words in agreement.

    "It's definitely him," Pope nods, JJ walking over to pull Pope into a celebratory hug. 

    "That fucking asshole," I laugh, dropping my hand from my mouth and pushing myself to stand just as JJ lets go of Kie. He turns to me, a smile on his face so large my cheeks almost hurt for him.

    He practically lifts me off the ground as he wraps his arms around me, laughter escaping me for the first time in a long time.

    "Yeah!" JJ cheers through laughter. The familiar sound of that notification ding is the only thing to pull him away. 

    "Laying super low in Nassau," Kie reads the message as JJ and I gather our bearings and fish for our respective phones. "How the hell did they get to the Bahamas?"

    "You can't kill a Pouge, dude," JJ grins.

    "Especially John B," Pope adds.

    The phone dings again, another message being displayed: Can you clear my name? Wanna come home.    

    "Hell yeah, we'll clear your name, boy," JJ responds verbally.

    The phone dings again, another message that I read out loud, "Be in touch. P4L,"

    "That's what I'm talking about!" JJ fist pumps the air, his knee bouncing to contain his excitement. 

    The phone dings for what feels like the last time, my eyes darting to the screen in an instant.

    Pheebs, stay out of my room.

    I laugh, the small gesture warming me more than the cannabis coursing through my veins. 

    "P4L baby!" JJ shouts.

   Kie stands, lifting her hands to her head in shock with a giant grin on her face, and all four of us come in closer to embrace each other. 

    They made it.

                    "So, we going to the Bahamas or what?" JJ asks, dropping his bag down at our feet. We all take a spot on the benches on the dock outside Kie's restaurant, a fuzziness still tingling at my skin.

    "There's no way we're getting to the Bahamas," Pope dismisses.

    "I could knock off the Camerons' boat. I know where they keep all their keys," I shrug, throwing out a suggestion no matter how stupid it sounds.

    "I like your thinking, Pheebs," JJ clicks, pointing towards me and my idea with a grin.

    "The boat would never make it there, guys," Pope reasons, the annoyance clear in his voice.

    "Well, John B's gonna get nabbed sooner or later, so if we're gonna clear his name, we need to have done it yesterday," Kie points out.

    "I agree, he could barely hide from his social worker and Sarah's never had to hide before," I nod, chewing the skin of my lip as I think before voicing, "Any ideas?"

    "I'll tell you how we do it," JJ announces, pushing off the seat beside me and standing in front of us with a proud and determined look in his eyes.

    "Oh, so you have it all planned out?" Pope asks sarcastically, clearly having no faith in JJ and his ideas, not that any of us ever really do.

    "As a matter of fact, I do," JJ announces, "We kidnap Rafe,"

    Pope blinks, physically recoiling at the statement as Kie rolls her eyes. I laugh, nodding, "I'm so down for scaring that little bitch,"

     "I'm sorry, what?" Pope stammers.

     "We kidnap Rafe, tie him up and stick the gun in his mouth and just wait till he starts squawking," JJ grins, holding two fingers up to represent the imaginary gun in imaginary Rafe's mouth. 

    "You know, torture's a war crime," Kie deadpans.

    "Yeah, so how exactly do you plan on clearing John B's name from a prison cell? Because that's a felony," Pope adds.

    "All right, well, what do you got, Pope?" JJ frowns, taking a seat once again as he continues, "I was just trying to keep it simple, y'know? One stop and we're done,"

    "Guys, all we need is a material witness. We saw Ward's plane fly right over our heads with the gold inside of it. He didn't fly it. If somebody else flew, they were there on the tarmac. They saw Peterkin get murdered," 

    I cough, shifting in my seat at the mention of that day. I will never get the smell of the tar out of my nose, the sticky feeling between my fingers. When I look up, all three of them are staring at me as if they just remembered I was there that day too.

    "Unless-"

    "No, it won't work," I shake my head, stopping Pope before he can finish his suggestion, "I already tried to tell Shoupe what happened. No one believes I was there because I'm John B's sister, they think I'm covering for him. Linus made sure Ward never mentioned me. We'd need a witness just to prove I was there,"

    My mind replays every moment of that day from the second we burst through that chainlink gate all the way to the moment I tumbled out of the Camerons' car and ran for my life.

    "Wait a minute," I continue, sitting up straighter, "I was in Ward's car that day with Rafe and Sarah. I opened the back door and jumped out. There was blood all over my hands, Peterkin's blood could be on the door handle still," 

    "Do you think he would have noticed and cleaned it by now?" Kie asks, sceptical.

    I shrug, "Ward wasn't there, and Rafe was so... erratic. It's possible he didn't think of it," 

    "Worth a shot," JJ nods, his eyes softening towards me. It's the first time I've shared any details about that day, about what I went through during and after. The small glimpse into it had all of them turning to me gently. 

    "That's if we can even get to the car," Pope reasons, looking down and holding his hands out to presumably steady his thoughts "In the meantime, we just have to find whoever flew the plane and get them to confess on record," 

    "How do we do that?" Kie questions.

    "A little light espionage," Pope grins, shrugging. I smile, watching as JJ gets excited and slings his hat back over his head.

    "A little ghost recon,"

    "Woogity-woogity?" Pope suggests, holding his hands up and wagging his fingers. We all lean in, reaching out our hands and joining in on the small celebration.

    "Woogity, baby!" JJ cheers.

                    I sit with my chin in my hand, my head leaned against the window of Kie's car as I peer out at the sky above. My free hand rests in my lap, my thumbnail digging into the skin of my thigh unintentionally. 

    "If this guy was flying planes for Ward, he's gotta be pretty tight-lipped," Pope thinks out loud.

    "So then direct approach gets my vote," JJ comments, followed by the sound of his gun clicking into place. I snap my head around, watching as he eyes the weapon in excitement. Kie and Pope begin shouting over each other, both of them telling JJ to put it down.

    "We gotta keep this simple, otherwise we're never gonna get John B home," JJ defends.

     "And you think pulling a fucking gun on a guy who might not even be the witness we're looking for is keeping it simple?" I gape. He looks at me for a second as if pondering my words before nodding and lowering the weapon.

    "Or," Pope begins, changing the subject as he turns with a small white object in his hand, "We just tickle the wire,"

    "Tickle the wire?" Kie repeats.

    "I plant my phone in his car, and we listen in on Kie's AirPods," Pope explains, pulling two earbuds out of the white object and stuffing them in his ears. He holds his phone up to Kie's mouth, "Say something,"

    "Something," Kie says like a question, her words softly repeated through the AirPods.

    "Okay, we have audio," Pope declares. Kie's car slows as we turn onto a particular street, Pope's eyes scanning the lined-up houses, 

    "I think that's his house over there," I announce, leaning over JJ to point a finger in the direction of the home.

    "All right. Honk, or uh, yell or something if you see anything suspicious," Pope instructs, pulling the AirPods out of his ears and tucking them back into their container. 

    "Don't do anything dangerous," Kie says softly, his eyes trained on the man beside her. 

    I look down and snort, my brain bringing me back to the time at the Crain house where JJ and Pope mocked John B over his care for Sarah. Simpler times. We just didn't know it at the time. 

    JJ grabs my attention, quickly turning his back to me as he wraps his arms around himself and pretends to be the back end of a make-out session. I lift my foot, kicking his leg as small puffs of laughter escape me. He turns, the grin tightly on his face as Pope climbs out of the car.

    "How's it been going?" JJ directs his attention to Kie, coughing to try and calm his smile, "Y'know with Pope and all,"

    "It's good," Kie answers quickly.

    "It's good? All right," JJ nods, shifting in his seat as he continues to pretend to be serious, "In the bedroom is he, like, freaky? 'Cause it's Pope, y'know?"

    Kie turns, her face bunched up in disgust as she eyes the blond, "Why are you asking?" 

    "I don't know, just kinda curious," JJ shrugs. "Just spitballing here,"

    "You don't need to spitball. We could sit in silence," Kie says gently, a hint of sarcasm.

    "I, personally, think he's freaky," I comment, lifting my leg to cross one over the other. Kie turns to me, the same scrunched look on his face, "The nerdy types always are,"

    "Thank you, yes. That's what I'm saying," JJ nods.

    "Guys," Kie cuts in, her face stern, "We should be quiet. Wouldn't want to blow Pope's cover, y'know?"

    "Speak of the freaky devil," I mutter, watching as Pope sprints back to the passenger seat of the car. I smile, leaning back in my seat at his obliviousness to the tension.

    "Okay, phase one is complete," Pope declares, looking between all three of us slowly, "Everything... are we all good?"

    "We're so good,"  

    The car falls into silence, all of us sitting comfortably and quietly for what feels like hours. The orange sky bleeds into a dark blue, a step of our plan getting closer. 

    I lean my back against the inside of the door, my feet lifting onto JJ's lap as I rest my head against the window, my eyes closing in exhaustion. Everything has felt so draining lately. 

    "Is it time yet?" I whine for what feels like the millionth time tonight, my arms crossing over my chest.

    "Yes, actually," Pope informs. 

    I open my eyes, dropping my legs back down into my respective footwell. Pope turns, handing his phone over to me, which I gladly take, "Is your number private?"

    "Uh," Pope stutters, the stammer answer enough. I playfully roll my eyes, quickly moving to his settings and switching his phone number to unknown. 

    "Why does she get to do the tickle?" JJ groans.

    "Because I was literally there, JJ," I point out, screwing my face up at his question. I turn back down to Pope's phone, readying the phone number, "And because I asked first,"

    I clear my throat, looking between everyone for the nod of approval. Once I get it, I hit dial and put the phone on speaker, each ring like a sword digging deeper into my gut. The rings feel like an eternity, my hand reaching for the door beside me.

    My fingers touch onto a piece of paper crumbled up in the dip of the handle. I shift my eyes over, taking note of a ripped and folded receipt, nothing of importance on it. I clutch the paper between my fingers, shoving it into my pocket quickly, feeling the small ball untying the knot in my gut already. This time, I got to take something and I got to keep it.

    The line connects and the witness, Gavin, speaks, "Hello?"

    "Hello," I reply, licking my dry lips, "Is Gavin there?"

    "This is Gavin, who's this? Hello?" The static voice comes through, sounding suspicious.

    "I know what happened on the tarmac," I announce, the line going silent, only making my heart beat louder in my ears. 

    The man laughs nervously, "Um... who's this?"

    "It was Rafe. Rafe Cameron killed Peterkin," I snap, feeling all the anger from that day bubble up just by the mention of his name, "But, you already knew that, and you lied about it. You let them frame an innocent man,"

    "Okay, who is this?" Gavin replies, his voice more stern. The concern in his voice calms my racing heart, the idea of someone else feeling the panic I have been feeling is somewhat of a comfort, especially since he deserves it.

    "We're gonna prove it," I announce, sitting up straighter, "You could have saved her, Gavin, and you didn't. You could have saved all of them-"

    "You're gonna tell me who this is right now-"

    "You know who this is," I snap, feeling the rage bubble at the feeling of him cutting me off, like my words matter less than his, like his panic is worth more than mine. A silence falls over the car, all of us looking between each other as Gavin continues to shout down the line. I lick my lips once more, holding the phone closer to my lips, "You're not getting away with this."

    I don't give him a chance to continue shouting. Instead, clicking the hang-up button and handing the phone back over to Pope.

    "How was that?" I ask.

    "Yeah, good job. I was scared," JJ nods, his knee bouncing at the slight discomfort from the tension. He looks up at me, a sly grin on his face as he whispers, "Among other feelings,"

    "Freak," I wave him off. JJ does that a lot, not just for my benefit anymore. Turn things light in a typical JJ way.

    "All right, we tickled the wire. Phase two complete," Pope announces, "Now we wait and listen,"

    Within no time, the front door of the house opens, and a figure goes barreling for the car in the dark. 

    The car lights turn on, causing Pope to wave his hands and usher us down, "All right, here he comes. Stay down,"

    Pope and Kie lean their seats back, hiding themselves from the window. I duck, lifting my black cardigan over my head as I sink half into the footwell. I extend my arms over JJ, using the black clothing to try and cover his blond hair.

    The car exits the driveway and drives straight past us, all of us sighing in relief and assuming our original positions as JJ whispers, "He didn't see us, he didn't see us. Hit it,"

    "Go, go, go," I repeat, urging Kie to move faster in her efforts to turn the car on. She fumbles with the keys, turning the car on and quietly pulling out into the street. "Pope, the AirPods,"

    "Shit," He curses, pausing his fight with his seat belt to pull the AirPods out of his pocket and shove them into his ears. He wins the battle with the seatbelt, buckling up and settling into his seat.

    JJ and I push as far forward as we can, practically climbing over Pope in an effort to hear any noise.

    "He's talking to Ward," Pope informs, his eyes straight ahead. I let out a shaky breath, my hands gripping the back of Pope's seat to keep me upright. Pope scrunches his face up, turning to Kie, "Get closer, I can't hear,"

    Kie nods, pressing the accelerator a little harder and edging the car closer. 

    "What's he saying?" I question eagerly. 

    "He's talking about negotiating something, renegotiating," Pope answers. His face falls still, his eyes widening ever so slightly as he lifts his chin, "Gavin's got the gun that Rafe used to kill Peterkin. He's got it,"

    "Holy shit," My words come out breathless.

    "I think he's trying to use it as extortion, as leverage," Pope guesses.

    "Wait, he's pulling over," Kie diverts our attention, brake lights lighting up the inside of the car. "Do I pull behind him? What do I do?"

    "Go around the block," I instruct, both boys joining in the chorus and echoing my words.

    I watch through JJ's window as we pass Gavin's car, some words filtering through as he mentions meeting tonight. The car passes, moving to the rearview window as I watch in despair.

    "We're gonna lose him," Kie panics.

    "Go, go go," JJ commands.

    "I'm going," Kie replies hurriedly. 

    "I can't hear anything. Shit, I'm losing the signal," Pope informs. My knee begins to bounce from the stress, the knot getting tighter in my gut. My fist clenches the ball of insignificant receipt paper tighter, calming the knot.

    "Hurry, Kie," I almost plead.

    "I'm trying!" She defends.

    Kie turns the corner, her lights reflecting off of signs up ahead, almost lighting up the whole street. Up ahead, at the end of the road, a bunch of signs cut off the turning point with promises of road works.

   "What the hell is this?" JJ asks in concern, the road closure signs feel like a big 'fuck you' from the universe.

    Everyone falls into a panic, JJ telling Kie to pull in and turn around while Pope shouts for her to reverse. I turn behind me, watching as a worker ushers a big yellow extrator right behind the car, blocking us in.

    "Are you kidding me?" Kie exclaims.

    "Fuck this," I announce, shoving the door open and jumping out in an instant. I take off so quickly that I forget to close Kie's door behind me. 

    The others shout my name for a second before Pope follows my lead and leaps from the car, running alongside me with his AirPods in his ears.

    I lead Pope through the backyard of a house, the motion sensor lights coming on at our arrival. JJ and Kie get closer, chasing after us and shouting our names.

    "Quick, over here," I usher Pope, latching onto the top of the property fence and pulling myself over into the next backyard. The second my feet hit the ground, Pope's already beside me.

    We take off running, gaining the attention of four people in the pool. One of the girls looks up from her playful fight, her eyebrows scrunching at the sight of us.

    "Hey, Pheebs, Pope?" She says it more like a question.

    I ignore them, continuing to run through the yard as if my life depends on it. Pope turns, his pace slowing and allowing me to run ahead, "Hey,"

    I hear a grunt followed by a thud. I turn, my own pace slowing as I spy Pope curled up by a swingset, patting through the grass. I skid to a stop, running back over to Pope and reaching a hand out, "Pope hey, you good?"

    "The AirPods, I lost them," He panics, shifting through the grass for any sign of them.

    "Shit," I curse, dropping to a crouch and helping him search. The white object comes into view, my hand reaching for it in an instant and shoving it in my ear.

    "Gavin, meet me now," Ward's voice filters into my ear, a shiver running down my spine as I turn and peer over the bushes. I see the top of Gavin's car, feeling like I could reach out and grab Ward if I tried. 

    Pope finds the other AirPod, shoving it into his ear to listen.

    "At the construction shop near the surf shop. You understand?" Ward continues, his voice shaky and low, "You bring the gun, I will bring you your money, okay? And then we're done. Are we good?"

   "Yes, okay. All right, I'll... um, I'll see you there," Gavin stammers before pulling off the curb and driving out of range.

   I turn to Pope, both of us standing up straight with widened eyes and rigid shoulders. 

   JJ and Kie reach us, Kie grabbing my shoulder instantly as she looks over our expressions, "What? What does that mean?"

    "He's meeting Ward right now," I rush my words, my hands reaching to pull the AirPod out of my ear.

    "We gotta go," Pope adds, all of us turning and running back to the car.