XLV. young, dumb, and broke

      "I know you're really mad at JJ right now and you probably don't wanna help, but my dad gave me some really valuable information about the key and I really want you to come with me."

Dylan could never resist Pope Heyward. Ever since they were younger, it came second nature for her to say yes to whatever he said. They'd been in love for years and it took them only till now to realize it. But more than that, they were best friends. So, when he showed up at her front door and asked if she would go with him to his great grandmother's house, she just had to say yes.

"Y'know, we could've just taken my mom's car." She said out loud while holding into his shoulders from the back of his bike.

"Yeah, that might be a good idea for next time," Pope agreed, nodding his head. He glanced back for a brief second and sent her a soft smile. "Thanks for coming with me, though."

She smiled back and kissed the top of his hat. "Like I would've said no."

"I thought you might. I know you're still pissed at JJ."

Dylan rolled her eyes. "I'm used to his outbursts, but, when it comes to my dad, I get really defensive. I mean, JJ should know how much my dad wants to help John B. He's pretty much his son."

Pope nodded again. "No, I get it. I really do. We're grateful for Logan. We're grateful for you."

Her cheeks warmed up at his kind words. She squeezed his shoulders. It was already dark by the time they arrived at the Pharmacy which meant everything was closed. "Great, what are we going to do?" She questioned without looking at him. She flinched when he had taken a brick from the ground and broke the lock with ease. "Sure, yeah, that works."

He smirked and grabbed her hand, leading her into the building. "Come on," he muttered and they walked up the staircase that led to the woman's room.

Dylan looked around the empty room with her flashlight. "Isn't this, like, an invasion of privacy?" She whispered even though they were the only two there.

Pope paused for a second. "Yeah, maybe," he whispered back. "But it's for a good cause, right?"

She watched as he started rummaging through things, looking for the key. "I guess so."

Dylan searched through the dresser drawers and the drawers of the desks, scavenging high and low, but there seemed to be no sign of a key. Pope searched through his great grandmother's jewelry but was also unsuccessful. "Damn." He mumbled and rubbed his face, growing frustrated. "Where could it be?"

She shined the flashlight and him and put one hand on her hip, thinking. "People hide things where they know people won't find it but they also don't forget where it's at, like in patterns and such. Hiding holes, in a way." She explained to him.

Her words combined with the headlights of a car that had driven by, reflecting its light off the ceiling above them, caused a lightbulb to go off in Pope's head. He instantly took out the folded piece of paper with the key on it and held it to the ceiling. Dylan watched him quietly. He instantly started smiling. "Babe, you're a freaking genius!" He praised gleefully.

He took off walking and she smiled to herself. Dylan quickly followed him and she looked up to see one of the textiles on the ceiling was popped open. "I think she's the genius, actually." She uttered.

He quickly looked around them. "Can you get me that later?" He asked of her and pointed to it in the corner of the room.

Dylan went over and grabbed the wooden latter. She quickly took it back over to where they were, positioning it right above the textile, and Pope began to climb it. "Be careful." She whispered to him.

"Will you catch me if I fall?" He whispered back, making her smile.

"Always."

Pope grabbed the corner of the textile and tugged on it, causing a ton of dirt and dust to come falling out all over them. They immediately started coughing. Dylan squeezed her eyes shut when she felt dirt enter them and she completely missed a body falling on top of her. "AHH!"

Pope's body suffocated her along with the ton of more dirt and dust that fell on top of them. Dylan groaned in pain. "I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" The boy rapidly asked while groaning in pain himself.

"Oh, yeah, totally. Just can't feel my ribs."

He managed to roll off of her and she sucked in a deep breath, dust particles flying into her mouth. Pope scrambled to his feet, stumbling in the process, and reached for her hands. "Sorry, babe."

She grabbed a hold of them and he hoisted her up. "Told you I'd break your fall." She smiled smugly.

Pope smiled back and wiped the dirt that was covering her face. Looking up at the ceiling, he saw the gaping hole in the middle of the ceiling. "What the hell?" He muttered.

Dylan quickly stopped him before he made a move. "Maybe I should try this time?" She suggested, seeing as how she weighed less than him.

He pursed his lips. lYeah, yeah, you're right." He muttered and nodded his head.

She gave a curt nod and fixed the latter. She carefully climbed up the wooden latter. Dylan got slightly nervous when she felt it shake from under her but she kept it to herself. When she was able to reached inside the gaping hole, she started feeling around the area.

"Have you got anything?" Pope asked from below.

"I just feel a lot of dust," she responded. She moved her hand around, back and forth, and amount cringed at the amount of dust she was feeling. Her fingers brushed against something and she tapped her hand around it, pulling it out of the hole and she saw that she was holding a bag. "Pope, honey, I think I got it!"  She said to her boyfriend and her eyes went slightly wide.

Pope's eyes widened as well. "Come on. Come on!" He urged her down.

Dylan quickly came down the letter and passed him the dirt covered bag. Holding both of their flashlights,  she watched as Pope opened the bag and pulled out a small box. Inside the box was the key. She gasped.  "That's it?" She said rhetorically.

"This is it." Pope said back in shock. "Oh, shit!"

"You did it!" Dylan squealed and jumped into his arms. She laughed when he spun them both around and they cheered loudly, not caring that it echoed off walls.

Logan shifted uncomfortably on the metal seat in the visitation room of the county jail. "The amount of times I've been in here and I still get chills." He said out loud, John B sitting across from him, his wrists handcuffed.

The corner of his mouth turned up but he didn't say anything.

Logan shifted again. "I'm doing everything I can for you, JB. I promise you that." He whispered to the boy.

John B nodded. "I know, Mr. Jennings. I'm grateful.  I'm just. . ." He paused. "Really not cut out for this."

"I don't think anyone ever really is." The man shook his head. "But what I do know is that there's no evidence over your head that you've done the things they're accusing you of, and I 100% believe this whole thing's arranged."

"It doesn't matter, Mr. Jennings. You could spend the rest of your life trying to figure it out and I'll still always be the pope kid from the cut. A Pogue. They'll always know me as a murderer."

Logan frowned at the way he was giving up. He couldn't blame him. John B spent so much time running and hiding. He was caught in the chaos of a rich man's crime. He was the lower class, the forgotten youth, and that made it that much easier to point the finger at. He desperately wished he could hug John B,  the boy he had know since he was a baby, the boy whose father was once his best friend, but he couldn't.  All he could do was be there for him.

The man was shocked when he saw JJ enter the visitation room, Plumb and the corrections officer watching him like a hawk. "Hey there, Mr. Jennings."  The boy greeted nonchalantly.

Logan watched as he sat down. "JJ." He said back,  half expecting the worst, half loving that John B still had his friends.

JJ stared at his best friend from across the metal table,  neither of them speaking just yet. Slowly, a smirk curled on JJ's lips and they started to snicker, causing Logan to briefly roll his eyes. "Thought it was gonna be me."

"I did, too."

"It was you."

The man began to smile at the interaction. "I thought it would be both of you. At the same time." He spoke.

Then, all three of them started to laugh. "Welcome to my humble abode," John B said. 

"Yeah, when you said you had a new apartment, I had no idea." JJ followed along and looked around. 

"What do you think, dad?"

Logan's eyes flickered around the visitation room.  "It's, uh. . . cozy." He decided.

"Very cozy!" JJ agreed.

John B nodded. "Yeah, you could say that."

"Okay, jokes aside," Mr.  Jennings started and his eyes shifted to JJ. "I know you're not here to just visit, so whatever it is, tell us fast."

JJ's smile widened. "Okay, cool. Uh. . ." He cleared his throat. He leaned closer to the table. "I'm here for one reason and one reason only. Operation liberation, baby." 

There was a look of realization on John B's face while Logan looked confused. "Operation what?" He questioned.

"Hear me out, Mr. J," said JJ. "Okay, step one, piss off the cops so badly they don't see what's coming." He gave a cop that walked by a causal peace sign. Then, he smirked. "Check."

The lawyer closed his eyes, not believing what he was hearing.

"Step two, at exactly 11 pm this evening, you're going to have an attack of acutely appendicitis—"

"Am I really listening to this?" Logan questioned himself.

John B blinked. "Do you even know what appendicitis is?"

"Yeah. Remember eighth grade? Algebra final? I made DJ rush me to the nurse?" He quickly looked at Logan. "Sorry, Mr. J."

"What?"

"Jesus Christ."

"Worked like a charm, okay? Now, to sell it, you gotta actually look sick, though, okay?" JJ continued, going into incredible depth. "You got some of that ghost face sunblock in here?"

"JJ, I'm in jail." John B emphasized. "I have. . . a. . . a block of soap."

JJ nodded slightly. "Right."

"That's it."

"Is it white?"

". . . Yes."

"Perfect. That'll work." JJ confirmed. "Take some of that. Rub it into your face well, okay?"

Logan was questioning his existence as he listened to the blonde's elaborate and idiotic plan. Then, he remembered that it was Jesse Maybank. He also remembered who his daughter was. "Okay, I'm going to pretend I know absolutely nothing about this incredibly stupid plan and I'm going to put all of my trust into the both of you, got it?" He said to the boys.  He put a hand on JJ's back. "I need you and my daughter to do whatever it takes to get him—" he pointed to John B. "—Out of here while I do everything I can to bring that son of a bitch Ward Cameron down and put his ass in here along with his crazy ass son."

Then, he looked between them. "I never thought I'd say any of that but if Dylan trusts you, then so do I." He finished his declaration. 

John B had a soft smile on his face. "Thanks, Mr.  Jennings, for everything."

JJ smiled goofily. "You rock, Mr. J!"

Logan nodded slightly and got up from the uncomfortable table. "And Jesse?" He said to the blonde.

"Yes, sir?"

"Don't end up in here with him?"

JJ's goofy smile fell slightly into a thin line. "It'll happen one way or another, Logan."

He shook his head. "Not while in you're my family's life." He patted him on the back again and looked at John B. "Hang in there, son." He told him and finally left the room. Officer Plumb was seen walking down the opposite end of the hallway and Logan glared at her, briefly, when he passed by.

When the couple got back to the Chateau, Dylan was confused when she saw Kiara. "Hey, Kie." She announced herself.

Kiara paused and quickly turned around, the front buttons of her shirt opened, revealing her bra. Pope entered the home behind Dylan and he instantly covered his eyes. "Wow, sorry. Sorry!"

The Carerra girl quickly buttoned her shirt. Dylan noticed a pile of her clothes on the pullout couch. "Is everything okay? Why's your stuff here?"

"My mom snapped and I got booted." Kiara said and sat on the couch.

"Wait, what?" Pope instantly asked while Dylan's eyes widened.

"It's not a big deal."

"Not a big deal?" She questioned and quickly went and sat beside her. "Why didn't you call me?"

"Well, I. . . I went to your house, but, your mom said you were with Pope," Kiara explained, her eyes briefly going to him. 

Dylan frowned, now feeling guilty. "Kie, I'm so
sorry—"

"It's fine, DJ. I'm just gonna say here for a couple days,  hang out with my friends. We have stuff to figure out here." Kiara interrupted, clearly not wanting to talk about it any further. "So, uh. . . How did things go with you guys?"

The couple looked at each other. "Uh. . . Well," Pope began and crouched down. "Pops was upset."

"Upset? After you left his truck in Charleston? What for?" Kiara said sarcastically, making them laugh.

"Doesn't sound like him." Dylan added, equally as sarcastic.

Pope smiled slightly. "Uh, you know, I'm serially trying to figure that out myself. I can't really see any reason that would make him upset."

The girls laughed again.

"But, I did as him about the key, and he said that his grandmother had something like that. So Dyl and I went over to great grandmother's place, and. . ." He reached inside his pocket for the key. "She brilliantly found. . ." He showed Kiara the key. "This."

"We found it, actually." Dylan corrected with a shy smile.

Kiara looked at them, amazed, and took the key from him. "Oh, my god. Holy shit, guys!"

"That's what I said!" Pope exclaimed.

"This is exactly what we need to get the evidence!"

"We know! We know!"

Dylan got up from her spot next to Kiara and she quickly sat beside him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I'm so proud of you!" She squealed.

"Okay, okay, guys, guys, guys!" Kiara stopped cheering and they went quiet. "What do we do know?" She asked them.

Dylan and Pope looked at each other. "Uh. . ." She started.

"We, uh, get JJ?" He suggested.

She frowned slightly and her arms loosened from his neck. "Yeah, yeah. We go get JJ. Hopefully he's not in jail already."