Pilot.

chapter two , Motel Extravaganza

a/n : I literally JUST finished writing this chapter a minute ago. So, if there's mistakes...there's mistakes lmao. ENJOY!!!

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Turns out, Leah and JJ didn't just Hot Pocket and Chill. No surprise there. It always ended up that way. It's not like either of them minded though.

After Leah's dad took off and her mom started racking up more hours at the station, the girl got much closer to John B, Pope, and JJ. Of course, she was close with the boys before Kie left for school, but there would be times when the two girls would always hang out one on one. But after she left for school at the Figure Eight and John B disappeared; he group had become smaller and the four had taken comfort in one another. That year was one of the hardest things they ever had to get through. That was also the year that Leah asked JJ to take her virginity. Which is how they started sleeping together. Like it was said before...a lot happened that year.

After spending the night together at Leah's house, the two went over to the chateau and hung out with John B. Luckily, John B didn't question them arriving at the same time. The morning after the hurricane, Leah was spread across the couch. One of her arms was splayed across JJ's face and his arm was over her waist with his face tucked into the crook of her neck. John B was the first to wake up. He made his way out of his room and into the living room, he sees the position JJ and Leah were in, but he paid no attention to it. If he were to read into everything that JJ and Leah did; his attention would be on them 24/7. And he could not put his brain through that much pain and stress.

John B hits JJ's arm. "Yo, JJ, you been outside?"

"I have polio, bro. I can't walk." JJ mumbles.

"I don't think you're allowed to make jokes like that." Leah murmurs.

John B makes his way out of the chateau.

JJ opens his eyes to the voice below him. He blinks a few times to adjust to the sunlight. He then slightly turns his head and looks at the side of Leah's face. Her eyes were still closed.

"You gonna get up?" JJ asks.

Leah huffs, "How can I? You're all over me."

Leah's voice was usually airy and lively. It was the kind of voice that could make your day a hundred times better just from a simple laugh coming from her. But her morning voice...

Holy shit it made JJ want to take her to the next room right then and there.

JJ pushes his horny thoughts into the back of his mind. "Your scarf fell off." he recovers.

Leah groans and JJ grabs the green and orange scarf. He gently lifts Leah's limp head, places the scarf onto her head, and ties it. Even though Leah's eyes were still closed, she knew what was going on, and her heart wouldn't stop beating out of control. JJ lays Leah's head back on the couch and he takes a moment to look at the relaxed girl. He starts to reach for her face, but he quickly stops. Leah was such an amazing person and her life was amazing. Why in the hell would she want anything to do with you? JJ's gut turns. He pulls his hand away, he stands up and quickly walks out of the house to check on John B.

After a few minutes, Leah started to doze off again. But as soon as she drifted off to sleep, the screen door swung open and hit the wall; causing Leah to jump.

"God it telling us to fish, Lee!" John B screams at the top of his lungs.

Leah shakes her head and a small 'MnMn' comes from her throat. "Well, tell God, to get somebody else to do it." she folds her arms and turns away from the boys.

John B and JJ look at each other, mischievous smirks on their lips. They both had the same thought pop into their head. Both boys pick Leah up and her eyes shoot open. "You have got to be kidding me..." Leah whines.

"Come on, Leah. We need to eat." John B says.

"And we need the money."

Leah raises a brow, "You had me at eat. I'm starving. And I'm poor." she sighs.

"To the boat we go!" JJ kicks the door open and they carry her out of the house.

"Y'all can put me down now."

The boys lower Leah onto her feet and she stretches. "I'm gonna get my shoes--"

"Already got 'em." JJ holds out the blue Nike hightops.

Leah smirks, "Aw, thank you." she then snickers. "The two of you are like my bitches."

John B and JJ look at Leah and she slips her worn-out shoes on. They then look at each other, realizing that Leah is completely right. Leah looks at the two boys that were contemplating everything and she laughs. "I've gotta go brush my teeth before we leave, bitches." she gives them a two-finger salute before jogging back into the house.

The three Pogues picked up Pope and Kiara before setting off to fish. It's not a fishing trip without all of them. Everyone was laughing and talking on the boat. Kiara sat next to Leah. Before Kiara left for school at Figure Eight, it was so easy to talk to Leah. But now, it's like Leah didn't want to waste any time with her. It discouraged Kiara from even trying to repair their friendship.

Leah sips her beer and inhales a small breath. She stands up and makes her way over to Pope. Kie lets out a defeated breath and a lump forms in her throat. Leah throws an arm over Pope's shoulders, "So!" she looks at him. "Can I drive?"

Pope softly hums, "Depends. Can you tell me the definition of 'Auspicious'?"

Leah sputters her lips, "Uh, duh!"

Pope stares at her and Leah slightly opens her mouth.

"Oh. You mean, you want the definition right now--"

"Yeah, I mean, it shouldn't be a big deal." Pope shrugs.

Leah moves some of her bangs behind her ear. "Yeah, yeah. Okay, uh...'Auspicious'..." she purses her lips. "The opposite of suspicious..." she squeaks.

Pope rolls his eyes, "Have you even looked at the notes I made for you?"

Leah shakes Pope a bit and his grip on the steering wheel tightens. "Careful." Pope seethes.

"Pope, I look at your notes. I just don't get them." Leah shrugs and walks down the steps of the boat. Leah then ruffles John B's hair, she then feels a hand hook around her arm and she smirks from the goosebumps forming across her skin. She spins around and meets JJ's blue eyes.

"Hi." JJ breathes.

A bit buzzed, Leah giggles. "Hi." she goes to take a step closer to him, but JJ steps away from her.

Leah pouts her lip and JJ holds a pointer finger up. "We're supposed to be discreet, Lee. Remember?"

Leah raises her brows and looks around at the three on the boat. She almost kissed JJ in front of everyone. Leah points at the beer in her hand, "Bad beer." she then sets it down. "I'm officially cut off."

JJ winks, "Good girl."

Leah's body quickly becomes hot. The blonde boy raises his brows, "You wanna see something cool?"

Leah snorts, "Do you even have to ask?"

A smile appears on JJ's face. He grabs the can that Leah sat down. And he stands on the edge of the boat. "Hey, Pope. Can you go a little faster?"

Everyone lets out a groan of detest and Leah giggles.

"Here we go. I'm movin'." John B stands up and makes his way over to Leah.

"Doesn't work," Pope states, but he begins to speed the boat up anyway.

"We've tried this like 6000 times." John B adds.

"Oh, come on!" Leah waves a dismissive hand. "It doesn't hurt to try again."

"I got this. It's gonna work." JJ points at each of his friends. He looks back out towards the water and holds the beer out to the edge of the boat. He then attempts to pour it into his mouth. The beer flies behind him and hits everyone else. Leah looks away, to keep the beer from hitting her face.

"Oh, my god. You're getting beer in my hair!" Kie calls out.

"All right! All right!"

"You're done!" John B voices.

"Valiant effort!" Leah claps. "But seriously stop."

Everyone continues to shout at JJ to stop with his beer antics. The boat them slams to a stop and everyone jerks forward. Leah stumbles forward, but John B wraps an arm around her waist and pulls her back onto her seat. She whips her head up and exhales sharply, "What the hell?"

"Jesus, Pope..." Kiara groans.

Leah lifts her head up and rolls her neck. She softly groans and looks around the boat. "Everyone okay?" her eyes travel around each person, but she quickly notices the blonde boy wasn't there. "JJ...where's JJ?" she stands to her feet. Leah runs over to the spot JJ was standing at and leans over the boat. Her eyes meet JJ floating in the water.

"You okay?" Leah calls out.

JJ lets out a gasp, "I think my heels touched the back of my head."

Leah closes her eyes and softly sighs.

"Lee, are you okay?" Kiara asks.

Leah looks at the girl. "Yeah, I'm good. You?"

Kiara nods her head, telling Leah that she was okay.

"Pope, what did you do?"

"Sandbar. The channel changed." Pope states.

Leah lets out a soft huff and touches the back of her neck.

"No shit." JJ exhales a breath and swims back over to the boat.

"This is probably gonna mess this whole place up." John B says.

"Hey, I saved the beer, though." JJ holds up the bottle.

Leah shakes her head, "Well, congrats, JJ."

JJ frowns, "Is that sarcasm, I hear?" he moves the beer bottle from side to side in a taunting manner.

"Guys...I think there's a boat down there."

Everyone turns their attention to Pope.

"Shut up. What?"

"No way."

Leah moves some of her hair out of her face from the wind. "What, where?" she quickly stands beside Pope. The Peterkin girl places an elbow on Pope's shoulder and leans over the boat. She squints her eyes and focuses on the faint white object in the water. Leah's mouth hangs open, "Holy shit, you guys! He's right!"

John B and Kiara make their way over to the two teens. Leah grips the end of her t-shirt and pulls it off her body, revealing her bikini. Leah makes her way to the edge of the boat, causing everyone's eyes to go wide.

"Wait, Lee--"

Leah jumps off the boat with her arms wrapped around her knees. She cannonballs into the water and JJ laughs as Leah's head shoots up from the water. JJ and Leah high five then look at the three still on the boat.

"Let's go, guys. Some of us don't have all day!" Leah calls out with a smile. They all exchange a look. John B shrugs, "Well, when you put it like that..." he takes his shirt off and dives into the water. Kiara chuckles and takes her shirt off.

"You guys think there's a dead body down there?" Pope asks.

Leah grimaces, "God, I hope not." she shakes her head. "But, if there is I'll let you examine it as practice for college!"

"Isn't that like incriminating evidence?" Pope asks.

Leah frowns, "Well, yeah, but I won't tell anyone."

Pope takes his hat and shirt off before getting into the water. The five friends submerge under the water and swim down towards the white boat. They all get to the boat and inspect it, trying to figure out what kind of boat it is. Almost at the same time, the friends recognized the boat. Leah started to feel so excited that she had to swim back to the surface so she could scream. As soon as Leah got back to the surface of the water with her friends, they all spoke.

"You guys saw that?" JJ asks with a smile on his face.

"Yes!" Leah exclaims and she laughs.

"That's a Grady-White," JJ says.

"A new one is around 500 Gs." Leah swims back to the boat with everyone else. "Why the hell is it out here?"

"I saw that boat yesterday." John B helps Leah onto the boat. "It's the one I saw when I surfed the surge. Maybe it hit the jetty or something."

"You surfed the surge?" Kie questions.

"Nice." Leah giggles, she gently wrings her hair to get the water out.

"That's my boy. Pogue style." JJ laughs and shakes John B up.

Pope waves his hands, "Wait, wait. Do we know whose boat that is?"

"No, but we're about to find out." John B makes his way to the back of the boat.

"Dude, it's too deep," JJ says.

"Only for the weak and feeble, JJ." Leah shakes her hand into her hair. She points at the hatch where the anchor was located. John B points at his temple.

"You read my mind, Lee." John B speaks.

Leah shrugs a shoulder, "Great minds think alike."

John B opens the hatch and grabs the anchor.

"Well, I'm not resuscitating you," JJ speaks. "I'm just making that clear up front."

Leah frowns and holds a hand up. "I'll do it."

Before anyone else could notice Leah's hand up, JJ quickly lowers it. She looks at JJ and sees his annoyed expression, which causes Leah to smirk. Leah always felt like she was the jealous one in this situationship. Every girl they would meet would try and throw themselves at JJ, so the girl couldn't help but feel jealous. But for the first time ever, JJ was the jealous one. It was refreshing.

John B stands at the edge of the boat.

"John B..." Kiara shifts, not comfortable with him going back down there.

"What?" John B chuckles.

"Diver down, fool," Pope speaks.

"Diver down." John B salutes.

"Yeah, he is," JJ speaks. He and Leah then shove John B into the water.

"What if he gets hurt?" Kie asks worry evident in her voice.

Leah sticks her pinky in her ear. "Do we have another anchor to go down there? Cause if not...someone's on their own."

Kiara rolls her eyes. Leah sighs, "He's gonna be fiiine." she shrugs. "We do this all the time and he's okay. All the time."

"When have you guys ever done something like this?" Kiara asks.

Leah presses her lips together and doesn't answer. Even though she didn't answer, Kie knew what the answer was. Her Kook Year.

Did she really miss a lot in one year? It felt like she missed out on an entire lifetime with her friends.

The four friends all lean over the boat and look into the water. After a few minutes, there was no sign of John B.

"He's gonna be fiiine." Kiara mocks Leah's earlier statement. "Really?"

Leah winces, "Yeah...my bad."

"Should we go get him?" Pope asks.

John B emerges from the water, coughing.

"Oh, My God. That took forever!" Kie exasperates.

"Ah, Jeez." Leah lets out a breath of relief.

"Any dead bodies?" Pope inquires.

"Looting potential?" JJ asks.

"Food?" Leah adds, her face lighting up.

"No. No. And No."

"Food?" Kie questions. "Would you even want to eat the food that's down there?"

Leah shrugs, "Depends on what it is." She says. "If it's a sandwich--no. But if it's like wrapped Candy. Yeah."

"Your logic amazes me every time." Kie shakes her head in astonishment.

Leah smiles and tunes back into the conversation.

"I found this motel key." John B holds it up.

"A key." Pope deadpans.

Leah purses her lips, "But...Kie's right here." she points at the girl.

Kiara rolls her eyes, "Haha so funny." she looks at Leah.

Leah softly laughs to herself. Even though her jokes were never funny, she seemed to laugh at them like they were. And that always made everyone else laugh with her.

"Yes, a key, Pope." John B sighs.

"great! We salvaged a motel key." JJ voices his disappointment.

Leah rolls her eyes, "Don't sound too disappointed." she waves a hand. "That motel probably has some cool shit in there."

"Well, before that, we should report the wreck to the Coast Guard," Kie says. Pope starts the boat again and they make their way back to land.

"Maybe we'll get a finder's fee."

"Yeah, and not work all summer," JJ says. "Thanks, Agatha, ya batch!"

Leah looks at the sky and smiles softly. "It's Mother Nature just doing her job."

☆

"It sounded like she was close to cutting you."

Emilia swings the racket near the birds, to keep them from diving toward the burrows. For a moment, Emilia thought that her mom was going to cut her. There had always been moments when Emilia felt like her mom would just take it too far one day. But Emilia didn't want anyone to worry about her. So, she always made it seem like things at the household were fine. She would only tell parts of the stories, so no one would figure out the truth. No one had to know what went on behind closed doors in the Wilson household.

"Nah, she wouldn't have done that..." Emilia manages a small chuckle. Sarah glances at her friend, sensing her hesitance. She pulls her brows together, "Em, you know you can talk to me, right? About anything."

Emilia focuses on her friend's worried eyes and a lump forms in her throat. She swallows and plasters a smile onto her lips. "Thanks, Sarah. Now, come on. We have to protect these mice." Emilia goes back to swinging the racket in her hand. Sarah takes a moment to look at Emilia. The Cameron girl didn't want to push Emilia into forcing her to talk about the tough situation she was in with her parents. But, she also couldn't help but be worried about her best friend. Sarah resumes swinging her racket as well.

"Dad, the Wi-Fi's not working. I can't post anything!" Wheezie calls out.

"Wheezie, there was a hurricane, sweetheart," Ward states. He hears mixtures of shouts and laughter. He turns to the two teens running around and swatting rackets in the air. "What are they doing?"

Wheezie looks at the two girls and rolls her eyes. "Saving mice."

Ward looks at the worried wife. "I'm sorry--Sarah!"

"I'm busy!" Sarah calls out.

"What are the two of you doing?" Ward calls out to the girls.

Emilia turns to Ward, "The burrows filled with water from the surge!"

"The birds are having a field day!" Sarah shouts, running through the grass. She grabs Emilia's arm and spins her around. The two girls laugh as they stumble around the grass. "Focus, Sarah!" Emilia giggles.

Emilia jumps in the air and swings the racket with a laugh.

"The birds have to eat too," Ward states.

"It's mouse genocide, Mr. Cameron," Emilia replies.

"It's the cycle of life, Emi." Ward looks at his daughter's best friend.

Out of all of Sarah's friends that came around his house, Emilia was his favorite. She was calm, kind, and humble. Ward never knew why Sarah hung out with some of the kids she hung out with.

"I can't be a part of it," Sarah says, she loops her arm through Emilia's and pulls her over to her father. "First they came for the mice, daddy."

"Yeah, well. I have an actual human being..."

"Oh, my god." Sarah exhales.

"...that you might give some help to."

Sarah holds her hand out toward the woman, "I'm Sarah. I'm so sorry."

"This is Lana, Scooter's wife." Ward introduced the woman.

Lana shakes Sarah's hand, then she holds her hand out to the other blonde. Emilia shakes Lana's hand, but she keeps her eyes on the woman; getting a better look at her. The name Scooter was so familiar, but it couldn't be...

"Lana?"

Lana focuses on the girl, she sees her bright green eyes and warm smile. Lana's eyes slightly widen and she smiles, "Emilia!" she then holds the girl's face. Sarah smiles as Lana squishes Emilia's face.

"It's been so long!" Lana gushes. Emilia tries her best to smile despite her face being squished. "How have you been? You're new family treating you well, yes?"

Lana takes her hands off Emilia's face and she smiles while nodding. "Mhmm. Yeah, I'm really happy." she lies.

Lana smiles softly, "Good, good..."

Emilia shakes her head, "Enough about me. What's going on? Scooter's missing?"

Lana's smile lessens and her eyes become small. She hesitantly nods her head, thinking about her missing husband. Ward shifts his gaze to his daughter. "You were storm-prepping with him, right?"

"Yeah. He helped me catch the cabin on the Druthers." Sarah states.

"Last night?"

Sarah nods, "Yeah."

"And did he go out after that?"

"From here?" Emilia shoots her brows up.

"Yeah."

"No. Are you crazy? There was a hurricane." Sarah speaks.

"Well, did he say where he was going?" Lana asks. "Get a phone call or mention anything?"

Sarah's eyes sadden, "He didn't say anything to me. I'm so sorry."

"Is he okay?" Emilia asks.

"He's absolutely okay." Ward tries to assure the three. "He's just hunkered down somewhere." he starts to walk away with Lana. "We'll find him."

Emilia's eyes follow the worried wife. "I'm sorry." she calls out.

As soon as Ward and Lana were out of the two girl's line of sight, Sarah turns to Emilia; noticing the gears in her head turning. "What's going through your head right now?"

Emilia looks at Sarah, "I want a Hot Pocket."

Sarah deadpans and Emilia shrugs. "What? I worry eat."

Sarah's deadpan expression drops, "What do you have to be worried about?"

Emilia chews the inside of her cheek. "My gut is telling me that something's wrong."

Sarah shifts more weight onto her left leg. "With...Scooter?"

Emilia gnaws on her lower lip, "With Scooter." she nods.

Sarah inhales a breath, Emilia's instincts are normally right. So, seeing how worried Emilia was caused the Cameron girl to become worried as well. "Yeah...Hot Pockets sound good right now."

...

"We good?"

"Yeah, we good." JJ ties the boat down.

"All right, here goes nothin'." John B gets out of the boat along with Leah.

"Hey."

JJ, John B, and Leah look at Pope.

"Yeah?"

"Don't let them do anything stupid." He points between JJ and Leah.

Leah presses her lips into a smile and gives Pope a peace sign. "Love you too, Pope!"

"And we definitely will do something stupid," JJ says, throwing an arm over Leah's shoulders. She winces and bunches her shoulders, agreeing with JJ.

Anytime JJ and Leah were in a situation together, they both managed to make the situation much worse. One either got hurt or arrested. There was never an in between.

"I'm not making any promises." John B holds his hands up.

Pope sighs, "Yeah, I know."

"Sorry, dude." Leah shrugs.

"Be careful." Kiara hands John B the motel key. She keeps her eyes on his, causing everyone to glance at one another. "I mean it."

Leah purses her lips. John B chuckles nervously and walks away with JJ and Leah. The three friends walk through the grass. Leah's eyes fall onto the pile of mattresses. "Why are all these out here?" she lightly kicks one.

"After a hurricane, they ditch 'em so animals can have sex on 'em." JJ explains.

Leah slightly tilts her chin towards the sky, thinking. "Huh. Never knew that."

John B and JJ look at each other before laughing. Leah turns to them and pulls her brows together, "What? What is it?"

"It was a joke, Lee." John B says. "JJ's just screwing with you."

Leah cranes her neck forward and lightly shoves JJ. "Dick! What if I just went around telling people that?"

"Then that would be on your gullible ass." JJ laughs.

Leah shakes her head, but she can't help but smile with them. JJ wipes his eyes, "No, but seriously, they ditch the mattresses after hurricanes cause they're moldy."

Leah slowly nods her head and points at JJ. "Okay, now that I can believe."

"Oh, please! You would believe anything anyone tells you." John B voices.

Leah shakes her head, "So, no true."

John B and JJ deadpan. They all make their way up the stairs and Leah slumps her shoulders. "Okay, it's true--so what? I have faith in people!"

"And that is your first mistake, Lee." JJ walks backward in front of the girl. Leah arches a brow, "Is that, right?"

"Yeah. People are just liars, manipulators, and killers." JJ explains. "Never put your faith in anyone."

"Okay, well, what about you guys?" Leah asks.

"Oh, well, you should definitely put all your faith and trust in us." John B voices and he looks at JJ. JJ looks at him, "Oh, yeah. 100%."

Leah squints her eyes, "This may be because I'm gullible. But, I can't tell if y'all are being sarcastic or not."

John B smirks and JJ innocently bunches his shoulders.

"And you'll never know..." John B eerily wiggles his fingers toward Leah.

"Are we gonna talk about what happened back there?" JJ asks and stands beside John B. "Just be so careful, John..." he says in a flirtatious tone. JJ then begins to caress John B's face. John B groans and shoves JJ off.

"Yeah, what was that about?" Leah wiggles her brows.

John B shrugs, his face becoming red. "I-I don't know. Maybe she wants us to be careful."

"Well, she said it to you and only you," Leah says. "I got nothing. Not gonna say I'm hurt. But, I'm not gonna deny it either."

"Since she heard you're being threatened with exile, she's just been, like..." JJ grabs John B's shoulders. "Oh! Be so careful, John B."

"Get off." John B groans.

"Oh, give me that John D already," JJ says, causing Leah to tilt her head back and laugh.

"Like when are you gonna swoop on that, man?" Leah questions.

"Bro, you know the rule." John B says. "No Pogue-on-Pogue making."

Leah sputters, "But if that Pogue is giving you clear signs. What's the worse that could happen?"

John B hated all the questions, so he attempts to take the attention off him. "JJ, you're the one always hitting on her."

Leah's smile quickly drops from the words that leave John B's mouth. JJ huffs, "Dude, of course, I'm hitting on her. She's a super-hot, rich, hippie chick slumming with us. Why? I can't figure it out either."

"But who cares?" Leah voices, gaining control of her jealousy. "Kie has turned JJ down. Many times now. That door's locked because he's tried. Have you?"

"Wise words from Leah Peterkin, everyone." JJ points at the girl.

Leah pulls the end of her shirt out and curtsies. "Thank you, Thank you. I'll be here all week."

"You need help." John B points at JJ. "Not like a little bit of help, you need a lot of help. It's like every girl who just has a heartbeat, you're like...UHHHHH!!!"

JJ's smile drops and he glances at Leah, but she quickly looks away from him. The boy shifts, "I wouldn't say every girl."

John B frowns, "You're right, actually." he says. "I don't think I have ever seen you flirt with Leah once."

JJ pulls his brows together, "I mean, I'm sure I have."

John B shakes his head, "No, never."

Leah scratches behind her ear, her face begins to feel hot from embarrassment. Her eyes shift to the door beside them and she looks at the number. Leah clears her throat, "Is this it? Twenty-nine." she points at the door.

John B looks at the door. "Good job, Lee."

Leah dramatically shivers, "You know how I get with praise, Johnny."

John B chuckles while JJ instinctively looks away from the two. He knew that whenever he and Leah flirted with other people it was just for fun. It didn't mean anything, but JJ still couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy when Leah would talk to someone else. It made him feel like such a hypocrite to even feel that way, especially since he's the one who can never stop flirting with others.

JJ knocks rhythmically on the door, "Housekeeping!" his voice was high pitched.

Leah lightly taps on the window with the back of her knuckles. "Normally you've gotta wait a minute until someone comes toward the window," she states in a matter of factly tone.

John B purses his lips with his brows pulled together. "I'm pretty sure that's 'The Walking Dead'."

Leah glances at the sky and thinks. She then raises her brows and giggles, "Oh, yeah. You're right."

"You are so lucky you're cute, you know that?" John B says to the girl. Leah smiles, "So, I've been told."

"So, what do we say? Should we try it?" John B motions to the door.

"Isn't that why we came here?" Leah questions. She and JJ exchange a look. "Open the door, John B."

"No power. No security cameras. No ones gonna know." JJ adds.

"Spoken like a true criminal." Leah laughs and she shakes up with JJ. The girl stops and for a moment realized how close she and JJ were standing. She slightly opens her mouth and steps away from him, which causes JJ to pull his brows together. Sometimes, Leah wondered how she could even act normal around JJ knowing that his hands have been on her in ways their friends couldn't even imagine. It made the girl's face get hot.

John B unlocks the door and grabs his flashlight. JJ turns the doorknob and pushes the door open. The three Pogues look into the two-bed motel. Leah frowns, "Huh...that was kind of anti-climactic." she steps inside with JJ and John B behind her. Leah turns to the doorknob and raises her brows. "Make sure you don't leave any prints, all right?" she uses her shirt to clean the door handle.

"Well, it's not like we brought any..." John B trails off his words when he sees Leah holding gloves up with a big smile. He sags his shoulders, "Of course you did."

JJ smiles softly, "Nice going, Lee." he steps toward her and grabs a pair of gloves. Leah tilts her head up at him and quirks a brow. "I try." she softly speaks, which causes JJ's stomach to flutter. Leah notices him freeze and she giggles. She shifts her eyes to John B, "Yo, John."

John B looks at the girl. Leah tosses him gloves and he catches them. The Peterkin girl slips her latex gloves on. Leah brushes past JJ with a smug glance. "Check the bag. See if there's a name on there somewhere." John B says.

Leah gives John B a two-finger salute before walking over to the bag. She unzips the bag and rummages through it. "There's a jacket."

JJ looks over her shoulder, his hand brushing over her thigh. "No name on the jacket," he says, his breath hitting her ear.

A chill rushes down Leah's spine and she inhales a small breath. JJ frowns, "It's a nice jacket, though." he says, pretending to be oblivious to how he's affecting Leah.

Leah closes her mouth and clenches her jaw. She turns to JJ, noticing him standing toe-to-toe with her. She squints her eyes. Leah knew exactly what JJ was trying to accomplish. He was trying to get her to feel just as flustered as he did earlier. Leah's eyes glance behind JJ at John B, who was still rummaging through things in the bag that was on the bed.

"Definitely over 50." John B mumbles to himself.

Leah looks back at JJ and points a finger at him. She mouths the words 'knock it off'. JJ smirks and bunches his shoulders innocently. He then sends a wink to the girl before walking away from her. Leah's body continues to stay hot, but she gains her ability to breathe again and she exhales a sharp breath.

"He's got new balances." John B says.

Leah continues to search through the bag.

"Yo, guys, come here," JJ says, he catches the two's attention.

"Maybe this is where they were fishing."

Leah and John B stand on both sides of JJ and look down at the map. "Right there." JJ points.

Leah knits her brows together, "That's off the continental shelf." she tilts her head. "Nobody fishes there. That's the Big Swell."

Simultaneously, the boys look at the girl. Her eyes were still on the map, but she looks at them and raises her brows. Leah then shrugs a shoulder, "What? I know some things."

Leah peaks at the white post-it note and she softly hums, shrugging it off before walking away from the map. They all continue to look around the room.

"Coffee?" John B sats in an English accent. Leah frowns, "I'm more of a hot chocolate gal myself."

JJ chuckles. Normally after a night of sex, people share cups of coffee the next morning. But that wasn't the case for JJ and Leah. After the first night, they spent together, JJ saw that Leah had hot chocolate packets in her cupboard only. The coffee that was in the kitchen was her mom's and that was forbidden. Leah made that very clear. In all honesty, JJ liked having hot chocolate with Leah. It was their thing.

"Hey, look at this." JJ motions to the box. "Tissues for when you get lonely."

Leah wrinkles her nose as she shines her light at the box. "Is that really a thing?"

JJ glances at her and shrugs, "Yeah, for the mess afterward."

Leah tilts her head, "Okay, well, what about socks?"

John B turns to the girl, now interested in the conversation.

"What about socks, Lee?" JJ smirks.

Leah raises her brows and holds her hands up. "Do you...you know into a sock also or what?"

John B lets out a laugh of disbelief, "I can't believe we're talking about this."

"I just wanted to know about human anatomy, okay?!" Leah whispers harshly. "Sorry, for being curious." she looks over the tv stand and JJ walks into the bathroom.

"Ooh!"

"You find anything?"

"A really awesome Dopp kit you won't let me steal." JJ searches through the small bag.

"Yeah, 'cause we're not stealing shit." John B replies.

Out of the corner of her eye, Leah catches sight of JJ stuffing deodorant into his pocket. He steps out of the bathroom and notices Leah looking at him with a smirk. She zips her mouth shut and throws away the key. JJ mouths a 'thank you'.

Everyone knew Leah Peterkin as the Sheriff's Daughter. The girl had her moments when she was a 'goody two shoes'. But she also was against the Police force in every way possible. Her mother just so happens to be the Sheriff. And that follows Leah around wherever she goes.

John B find a safe and crouches down in front of it.

"One, one, one, one." John B types.

Doesn't open.

"One, one, one, two."

Doesn't open.

"There's no fucking way you're actually gonna go through all those numbers." Leah chuckles out of disbelief.

"Punching shit at random. That will...definitely work."

"Do you two geniuses have a better idea?" John B looks at Leah then at the blonde boy.

Leah squints her eyes, "I know that 'genius' was sarcasm." she runs her tongue across her teeth and thinks. "Hang on." she shines her light in John B's eyes before standing up. John B covers his eyes with a groan.

"Are you trying to blind me?"

"Sorry, JB, I got excited." Leah makes her way over to the nightstand with the map on it. She grabs the paper underneath the telephone. As JJ talks in the background, Leah walks over to John B and hands him the paper.

"Here, try this. The genius said smugly." Leah waves the post-it at him.

John B raises his brows and grabs the post it. He then types the numbers in and the light to the safe blinks from red to green. John B twists the knob and pulls it open, revealing the stacks of cash.

John B and Leah's mouths drop to the floor. Leah softly chuckles and she throws an arm over John B's shoulders.

"No fucking way."

"Holy shit."

Both teens speak simultaneously.

"Have either of you guys heard of shoals?" JJ questions.

"J?" Leah speaks, her eyes still on the wads of cash.

"Yes, m'lady?" JJ turns to her.

Leah turns to him with a smile, "Check this out." she motions her head towards the safe.

JJ's mouth drops open when he sees the cash in John B's hand. He makes his way over to the safe and looks inside. He looks past the money and his eyes land on the gun. JJ's eyes widen with mischief, while Leah's eyes widen with fear. How did she not notice the gun before?

"JJ, no."

JJ grabs the gun and stands up.

"Dudes, dudes, dudes." JJ giggles.

John B and Leah stand up ss they watch a giddy JJ practically dance around with the gun in his hand.

"You grabbed the gun." John B says with astonishment. He looks at Leah. "Of course, he grabbed the gun."

"Put the gun back, JJ!" Leah says in a harsh whisper.

"This is a SIG Sauer," JJ says.

"Sadly, I know what a SIG Sauer is, my mom, is the sheriff!" Leah growls. "And she wouldn't be happy about one of my friends stealing a gun from a possible--"

"This is a fucking spendy gatt, guys," JJ says with excitement.

Leah scoffs, "Aaand he's not listening." she slaps her palm against her knee and shakes her head.

He aims the gun and starts to pretend to shoot it.

"Oh, my..." Leah rubs her forehead.

"Hey!" John B grabs JJ's arm. "We are not stealing anything."

"Just take a pic of me. Right here."

Leah tilts her head to the ceiling and groans.

"You want me to take a picture of you?" John B deadpans.

"Yeah, dude, like..." JJ holds the gun up and poses.

"That would be incriminating yourself." Leah huffs. "And we're not doing that. You're done."

A tap is heard at the window, Leah snaps her head over to it.

"Wait, what was that?"

"It's the ghost of this motel room telling you to put the gun back in the fucking safe." Leah seethes.

Leah walks over to the window and peaks through the blinds. She sees Kie and Pope pointing towards the stairs, saying something. Leah pulls her brows together, she quickly makes her way over to the front window and peaks through it. She spots two familiar deputies standing in front of the '29' door. Leah's jaw goes slack.

"What? Leah what?"

"Five-O." Leah murmurs.

A knock is heard at the door.

"Fuck..."

The three Pogues run to the window. John B opens the window and they all step through it. John B stands on one side of the window. Leah presses her back against the other side of the window. JJ presses his chest against Leah's trying his best not to be seen.

Pope and Kie look at their three friends. "What are you guys doing?"

Kie tangles her hands in her hair, seeing the three. "Oh, my god..."

John B and JJ peak through the window, their jaws drop and Leah pulls her brows together.

"What the fuck...?" JJ whispers, seeing Shoupe giving his partner some of the money from the safe.

The gun slips from JJ's pocket, it hits the roof, and clatters onto the ground. Leah's eyes widen. JJ presses his hands against the wall, caging Leah in.

Shoupe pulls the blinds open and looks through them. Leah inhales a soft breath. JJ looks over at John B. Shoupe walks away from the window. "All right, let's go. There's no one here." the officers leave the room with the evidence and Leah exhales a sharp breath.

John B walks over to the window and opens it. He slips into the window. JJ looks down at Leah and notices her trying to catch her breath. He opens his mouth to say something snarky, but Leah shakes her head. "MnMn." she points at the window. "Get back inside."

JJ laughs which causes Leah's heart to twist. He enters the motel room again. Leah fans her shirt and lets out a small breath before entering the room. Once the deputies cleared the area, they make their way back in the boat.

"Well, that was fun." JJ voices.

"We told you to put the gun back." Leah lightly slaps JJ's side.

JJ chuckles and looks at the girl. "If I hadn't've dropped the gun, we wouldn't have been in that position for a long time." he softly speaks. "And we both know you liked it."

Leah softly shivers. But she quickly recovers and rolls her eyes, looking away from him. "You'll never know." she runs her tongue over her teeth.

"Could have warned us sooner," Leah says, getting back on track.

"We would have, except Pope was on the math team." Kie says.

JJ pulls his face back and looks at Pope. "You were on the math team?"

"Have you ever seen Pope do any other extracurricular?" Leah rolls her head to the side in order to look at JJ.

"No, only math things." JJ states.

Leah presses her lips into a smile, "Exactly."

"The cops took everything like it was a crime scene." John B states.

"Did you guys find anything?" Pope inquiries.

"Did we find anything?" JJ questions. "No, I don't think so..." he pulls the run and cash from his pockets, which causes Leah to roll her eyes. "Oh, yeah, we did."

Pope shoots up from his seat, "What the hell?"

"Dude, what?" Kie seethes.

JJ stands up and walks over to Pope. "Dude, chill. Come on."

"Why would you take that from a crime scene?" Pope asks.

Kie snaps her eyes over to Leah and John B. "You serious?"

Leah raises her brows and John B's smile drops.

"Hey, we tried to stop him." Leah chuckles. "But, you know JJ. He's relentless when it comes to something he wants."

Kie shakes her head at the girl and Leah pulls her brows together. "What's with that look?" Leah snorts.

"Leah, he's literally got a gun and you're chill about it? Your mom is the Sheriff--"

"Yeah, my mom is the sheriff. Not me." Leah says, her voice was soft but you can hear the slight annoyance in it. "So, if you want to turn him in or whatever. Talk to her about it. If not, stop judging."

Kie softly scoffs, "Judging?--"

"Uh, guys, maybe we should cool it--"

"Yes, judging," Leah says, exhaling a breath. "You weren't there, Kiara. You never are."

All the boy's mouths drop.

Kiara's brows shoot up, "Excuse me?" she stands up. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"No, no, no." John B shakes his head. "Cool it. Both of you. Now." he holds his hands out towards them. "We're not doing this."

Leah runs her tongue across her teeth and looks out to the water. Kiara has only heard Leah get that snappy a few times. And they were never towards her.

JJ clears his throat, hoping to break the awkward silence. He shivers dramatically, "I just love it when girl's fight over me."

"Shut up, JJ!" Both girls exclaim.

Pope covers his face and shakes his head. "I'm gonna lose my merit scholarship."

"Hey, hey, hey..." JJ places the gun onto Pope's lips and shushes him. "At least you have us, right?"

"I'm living the nightmare." Pope murmurs.

"Pope, you're not losing your scholarship." Leah waves a dismissive hand. "I mean, would you really lose it over JJ stealing a gun?"

"Yes!"

"Probably."

JJ and Pope speak.

Leah slightly opens her mouth, she then purses her lips.

"Oh. Okay, then. You might lose your scholarship." Leah moves her head from side to side.

Pope hangs his head low and JJ clasps a comforting hand onto his shoulder.

━━━━━━━━━━

author's note.

Not Leah and Kiara lowkey feuding...what's up with that?

Who are y'all's top three favorite OBX characters??? Mine are Pope, John B, and Kiara. GO!!!

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