CHAPTER FIFTEEN:
THE ONE TO BLAME
(episode four + five: spy games + midsummers | trigger warning: mentions of murder and abuse)

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WHEN HAVEN WOKE UP the next morning on John B's pull-out couch with none of her friends in sight, she certainly did not expect to show up at work to find the police making their way inside.

"What the fuck?" she muttered under her breath as she glanced around curiously. There was no one else nearby from what she was able to see, no sounds of disruption either. It hit her then. Maybe, they weren't there for someone else. They were there for them, for Pope. She wouldn't put it past Topper to have his last hurrah by reporting them to the police. "Oh, shit."

She sprinted inside, almost running right into Deputy Shoupe's back as he and another officer followed Mr Heyward over to the counter where Pope, Kie, Arden and JJ stood wide-eyed.

"I have an arrest warrant for felony destruction of property," Shoupe said as he reached for the handcuffs that were strapped to his side. "Keep your hands where I can see them."

"Wait, what?" Mr Heyward gasped, turning to gape at his son in disbelief. Pope's future was hanging by a thread between them, about to be cut loose with the weight of a criminal record. Haven lurched forward, stepping between the deputy and Pope pleadingly, "Please, sir. There has to be some kind of mistake."

"Young lady, I'll have to ask you to step out of the way," Shoupe huffed though she refused to budge. "Miss Murphy, I won't ask you again—"

"Whoa, Shoupe," Heyward cut him off. "What'd he do?"

The man just ignored him, losing his patience with the matter and shoving Haven out of the way. Protests immediately erupted as Kie quickly steadied the girl, the two having no choice but to watch as Shoupe forced Pope's hands behind his back and locked them together.

"You're just arresting my boy?" his father cried though Shoupe refused to look at him, tightening the handcuffs as he said, "You have a right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney—"

"Hey, how much are they paying you, man?" JJ scoffed, his jaw clenched as the deputy pushed Pope off the counter and began leading him outside. Haven was the first to follow them, closely followed by the others who were still doing their best to deter the inevitable. But it was no use. The other office had gone on ahead to open the back door of the police truck, and Shoupe was about to force Pope inside, sealing his fate, when a frantic JJ shouted, "It wasn't him."

All eyes went to him then, Haven shaking her head hopelessly. She knew what he was about to do. She would've done it herself if she didn't already know Shoupe would ignore her. JJ was going to turn himself in, and Shoupe would accept it for his last name and status, like the arrogant prick he was.

"It was me."

"JJ, no—"

"He tried to talk me out of it," the blonde boy cut off Arden as she grabbed his arm. He simply shook her off without even looking at her, plastering on his best smirk as he waltzed up to the car like he had all the time in the world on his hands. "But I was mad 'cause he'd just been beaten up. I was so sick of those assholes from Figure Eight that I lost my shit."

The silence was so thick, you could've cut it with a knife. Shoupe was nodding slowly, his face remaining blank as he shared a look with his colleague. Haven honestly had no idea if he believed JJ or not, but regardless he was going to take someone away in chains. It didn't matter who it was if they were admitting to it.

"Pope, I can't let you take the blame for somethin' I did. You've got too much to lose."

"JJ, what are you doing?" the boy in question hissed, looking terrified with his arms restrained but just as fearful over letting his best friend take the blame.

"I'm tellin' the truth. For once in my god damn life, I'm going to tell the truth." He looked around at each of his friends before meeting the sceptical and entirely confused gaze of Mr Heyward as he said, "I took his old man's boat, too."

"What the hell?"

"JJ, come on," Pope shook his head. He was on the brink of tears.

"Shut up, Pope. Just shut up."

Haven wished they could go back to that afternoon on the beach. A time before their problems with Rafe, Topper and Kelce. A time before JJ gave up his own name in order to defend his friend. JJ Maybank was nothing if not selfless when it came to those he loved. Who would've thought that it would be his downfall?

"He's a good kid," he murmured to a frowning Shoupe. "You know where I'm from."

"Yeah."

"Where he's from shouldn't matter," Haven snapped before she could restrain herself. "Shoupe, you can't be serious—"

"Haven, just leave it alone," JJ shouted, refusing to look her in the eyes as he shot her a warning glare. He was doing this, no matter what she said. Even Arden crying wasn't enough for him to change his mind. "This was all me."

"And that's the whole truth, Pope?" Shoupe questioned.

"Whole truth, swear to god," JJ muttered.

He rolled his eyes. "I know what you think, damn it. I'm asking Pope."

Say it's a lie, say it's a lie, say it's a fucking lie, Haven thought desperately, but she knew he wouldn't. Even if Pope was to say it was him and that JJ was just covering his back, the reckless blonde would do something; throw a rock throw the car window, punch Shoupe in the face, steal his gun... anything that would get him into the back of that vehicle so he could buy some time for Pope. It was foolishly good of him.

"Yeah, that about covers it..."

And so the handcuffs were removed from Pope's wrists and placed on JJ's. He was smirking to himself as he was pushed inside the truck, Shoupe slamming the door on him before nodding at Heyward and getting behind the driver's wheel.

"You pathetic excuse of a man," Haven snapped as she glared at him through the windshield. She didn't care if he heard or not. For someone who had seemingly made a mistake and almost arrested the 'wrong' person, he wasn't the least bit apologetic. Pope and Mr Heyward deserved more than just a nod for the whole debacle that Shoupe had just put them through.

Before they knew it, the car was disappearing around a bend and out of sight. Arden promptly burst into sobs, Kie bringing her in for a hug while attempting to murmur reassurances into her ear. Haven didn't know what she knew about Arden's pregnancy, but she had a feeling that Arden had caved and let her in on the secret. Jellybean's father had just been arrested, and he didn't even know he had something, someone, to do better for. Maybe if he knew, he would've hesitated.

"Pope, wait!" Haven looked away from the road at Heyward's shout, her face falling as she watched a horrified Pope sprint off in the opposite direction. She couldn't even imagine how awful he was feeling right now. Part of her wanted to be angry with him, to resent him for allowing her cousin to give himself up. But she knew it wasn't his fault.

She just wished she could do something now.

Hell, she wouldn't know if she didn't at least try.

"I'm going to the station," she declared to those who remained in the yard.

Kie immediately frowned at her over Arden's head. "Have, there's nothing you can do. I was just saying that to Arden."

"I don't care," she spat.

"Haven, Kiara's right," Mr Heyward spoke up. "I know he's your cousin, but he got arrested for a reason."

She scowled at him. If only he knew.

"I'm sorry sir," she said. "But I have to go."

Rushing over to where she'd discarded her bike, she ignored Heyward shaking his head, Kie protesting and Arden crying even harder as she pedalled as fast as she could with one destination in mind; the police station.

She just hoped she would get there before he did.

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THERE WAS ALREADY A car parked outside Kildare County's Sheriff Department when Haven pulled up on her bike. She let out a sigh as she recognised it, about to brave facing her uncle when the glass doors swung open and the man himself stepped out with his son right behind him, his head bowed.

Time had not been kind to Luke Maybank. In the few pictures Haven's mother had kept where she could properly see the man's face, he looked youthful with shocking blonde hair and a cheeky grin. He was definitely troubled, Haven didn't doubt that, but he seemed like he had some sort of salvageable future out there for him. The man Haven was looking at now, on the other hand, was a stranger inhabiting a broken body. He was thin to an extent that he looked unhealthy and his hair was beginning to turn grey despite him only being in his early forties. He had thick stubble marring his jawline, his chapped lips pursed into a constant sneer to match his burning anger. His eyes were blown wide from constant drug use, the black pupil almost covering the hue he had passed on to his son.

Luke Maybank was a bomb waiting to explode.

As Haven watched him shove JJ into the hunk of junk he called a car, she realised that despite appearing so different to his teenage self, her uncle was rather familiar to her. She hadn't gotten a proper look at him at the funeral held for her grandparents, but somewhere else instead. She leaned further around the corner as he turned to survey the parking lot for any witnesses.

And that was when it hit her.

Haven doubled over at the sudden shock, shaking her head in disbelief. It couldn't be him, and yet the resemblance was unmistakable.

For the longest time, she thought she imagined waking up in the wreck of her father's car. She'd convinced herself that the few seconds she stirred at the sound of someone poking around the ruins was just a figment of her imagination, something that was created to justify the loss of her dad. Even her therapist, a stern middle-aged woman named Valeria who Haven thought looked like a wine mum, told her that it was a coping mechanism her brain created to comprehend grief. Haven wanted to tell her she was full of shit, but she bit her tongue until her mother's money dwindled and she didn't have to see Valeria ever again. Still, she came to accept that if she'd actually seen the face of the driver who ran them off the road that night, it wouldn't feel so muddled up in her head.

And yet, there was no other way to explain it. Luke Maybank was the one she had seen. He was drunk out of his mind, she remembered, barely able to stay standing as he groaned at the sight of a dead man and a severely injured teenage girl. In that moment, it all made sense. Luke had gotten wasted like he always did, ran them off the road when he stupidly decided to drive, then when he saw that someone had died because of his actions, he got back behind the wheel that caused so much destruction in the first place and drove away.

Like he didn't take Haven's father away from her.

Like he didn't leave her with physical and mental scars to carry for the rest of her fucking life.

Like killing his own family had meant nothing to him.

Did he even recognise them? Or were they just faceless people to him? Bodies that did not matter through the high he was chasing.

Haven had to get out of there and fast. All thoughts of JJ were gone as she turned on her heel and sprinted back to where she'd left her bike, each bit of distance between her and Luke Maybank nowhere near enough to settle the agony festering in her heart like an open wound.

For what felt like the thousandth time in just a matter of months, Haven Murphy longed for a ghost to bring her comfort.

She couldn't go home like this. It was one of the days where her mother didn't have work at either of her jobs, and it would only take one glimpse of Haven's tear-stained face and eyes brimming with horror for Melinda to know that something terrible had taken place. And she would push and push as mothers did for Haven to open up to her, until Haven was no longer able to hold it in and she lashed out.

It was safe to say that her mother would not take kindly to being told that the man who killed her husband and almost took her daughter away from her too was own brother, her flesh and blood.

And so Haven turned to Kie, the only other person who she trusted not to ask questions. JJ was stuck with his dad facing god only knows what for a punishment, Pope was missing in action after watching his friend take the fall for him, John B was off doing whatever it was that John B Routledge did, and Arden — well, Haven never knew with her. Kie was always there before, Haven just hoped she would be there now.

Frantically ringing the doorbell, she turned away to survey the yard when the silence got to be too much. The sun's boiling rays were making her eyes burn, causing her to squint at Kie's nicely cut lawn. The day was a nice one for what Haven had just discovered.

Behind her, a lock turned and the door swung open. "Hey you," Kie smiled as she saw her friend. Haven turned around, her expression causing Kie's grin to immediately crumble. "Oh my god, Haven. What's happened? Is it about JJ?"

JJ. Oh, shit.

Haven had completely forgotten about him.

She had gone to the station to help him, and instead she left him with his abusive, murderer of a dad. Who knew how many bruises he now had because she couldn't think straight for just a second?

She was a horrible friend, and an even worse cousin.

And with that, she promptly burst into tears again.

"Hey," Kie was quick to try and sooth her, holding her arms open for Haven to rush into. She slowly rocked her back and forth, frowning as Haven clung to her for dear life. She hadn't seen her like this in a long time. It hurt her to see that pain back. "Hey, whatever it is that's bothering you, we can work it out. It's gonna be alright, Have, you'll see."

"I don't know if we can," she stammered between sobs. "Kie, it's bad. It's really fucking bad."

Kie's frown deepened as she pulled away to lead Haven inside. "Hey, let's sit down, okay? We can talk about it—" When Haven quickly cut her off with a shake of her head, she let out a sigh. "Alright, then we can watch a movie or something. Just to take your mind off whatever is happening, even for a little while. That sound good?"

Haven slowly nodded before following after Kie. She was relieved to find that Mr and Mrs Carrera weren't home, but her relief didn't last long as Luke Maybank's scowling face taunted her. Now that she knew the truth, it was like an ache she just couldn't soothe. And deep down, she knew that no amount of movies watched or quality time spent with her friends was ever going to completely resolve what Haven had just come to realise. The weight of the world was back with twice the intensity as before.

She was left to spiral on her own.