chapter sixty five
"this lifetime, or another"

"NO!"

JJ MAYBANK CLASPED ONTO his chest with both hands as the bullet rang throughout the air — he felt the pinching in his chest, the loss of air that was suddenly sucked out of his lungs like a vacuum. His blue eyes rapidly blinked, trying to even process the event that had just unfolded in the past thirty seconds.

The barrel of the handgun had been pointed directly at him, he swore for a half second — he was staring right into the metal. The first thing he saw was Rafe Cameron hovering a few feet in front him. He appeared to be in shock, whether it was because he didn't actually expect himself to press the trigger, or that he had been able to hit his target.

Except, when the dark eyes of Rafe trailed JJ's body, there was nothing. No blood, no torn holes from the bullet. JJ had been equally utterly and completely confused as the Kook boy, feeling his body as if he was expecting the pain to just start doubling in his body at any mere second. But it didn't, the pinching in his chest had been adrenaline, the loss of air was the beginning of a panic attack, everything was okay.

The bullet had missed JJ Maybank.

But, unfortunately, Evelynn Bardot was not so lucky.

      The blonde girl had been quicker than lightning, jumping right in front of JJ the mere moment that she saw the way Rafe's finger tightened around the trigger. It hadn't even really been a thought on her mind, more like a pure instinct. Her blue eyes widened as they met JJ's, the pain, the emotion, reality hadn't quite hit her yet.

      And then it all began to sink in.

      Lynn clasped onto her once white ribbed tank top as the agony grew in her abdomen. Her palms pressed against where the pain had first pronounced, she finally lowered her head to steal a glance at it. She peeled her shaky hand away from the already stick sensation that was glued to her skin the mere second she touched it.

      A dark crimson colored liquid scattered across her palm, it had practically been covering all of her skin. She gasped, everything felt so surreal. Was this even real? This had to be a dream right, the pain was just her imagination...right?

      Suddenly her legs felt much too weak to be able to support her body any further, they buckled. Before JJ could peel himself fully off the ground, and even before Rafe could dart forward to catch the girl, she collapsed backwards onto the mud.

      Sarah's going to kill me for ruining her favorite tank top.

      Oh, well, Rafe already has that covered.

     "No, no, Evelynn," Rafe mumbled more and more words, but they were groggled together — or, at least Lynn was already beginning to lose consciousness and the voices were fading away in a darkness. "Fuck, you weren't...you fucking got in the way."

Rafe Cameron didn't get to say much of anything else, because JJ collided the butt of the handgun into the back of his head. The dark blonde slumped to the ground without another sound, his eyes shut and his cheek was pressed to the cold muddy ground.

"About damn time you shut the fuck up," JJ grumbled with utter disgust, but then his attention shifted instantly once he heard the whimpering of Evelynn. He shuffled forward, dropping the gun as he deemed it useless in the eyes of Lynn. "My princess. Darling, you're going to be just fine."

Lynn's breathing was uneven, she knew best — she needed to stop her bleeding, that why she had clasped so tightly onto her wound in the first place. JJ knew best as well, peeling one of his many bandana's from his right pocket, practically sealing it to the wound. He carefully placed his palm on Lynn's cheek, gathering her attention.

The girl was already fading — he could see it in her eyes. It wasn't that she was giving up, more so the fact she was losing the battle. JJ choked up, his voice getting stuck in the back of his throat, no matter how desperate he felt the need to console the girl.

"J," Lynn whispered, not necessarily on purpose, but it's just as loud as her voice could get in the moment. Her chest was heaving, she didn't know how much longer she would be able to talk — so she needed to do it now. "I love you, JJ Maybank."

      JJ blinked through his tears, some of them slipping off his cheeks and landing on some part of Lynn's body as he leaned over her. He sniffled, staring down at his girl — the girl who was trying so hard to live.

      "I know we're teenagers, and everyone says young love never lasts," Lynn spluttered, trying to ignore the fact she could practically taste the blood rising in the back of her throat. "But I knew with you, J, I knew that I would spend the rest of my life with you. And that might just end today, but that y-you know that...You know that I don't regret a single damn thing."

      "Stop talking like you're gonna die, Evie, you're being dramatic," JJ forced a laugh, of course the only way he'd be able to make it through this is if cracks his usual light-hearted jokes. "You're gonna be just fine, princess."

      "I always had a flare for the dramatics," Lynn chuckled, but it was dry and honestly sounded like it hurt her. Her face straightened out again, she reached forward to intertwine her fingers with JJ's. Neither minded the fact that they were just smearing even more of the blood, they didn't even notice. "I will love you, always and forever. And whether that's in this lifetime, or another."

      Her breathing was slowing down, her eyelids fluttering where her blue eyes were become more and more void with each passing second. JJ didn't know what to do — there wasn't anything for miles around, and Lynn didn't have that kind of time. But Evelynn had already accepted her fate, it wasn't that she welcomed it with full arms, but she was at peace with dying.

      Sure, she'd never get to experience the joy of holding her high school diploma, a happy grin as she knew that high school would be in her rearview mirror. She'd never get to experience helping Pope and Kie move into a (hopefully nearby) college, perhaps John B, JJ, and herself would get some kind of magical miracle and would be moving in with them. She liked to imagine them all staying up until four am in the college library, where Pope would actually be studying his heart away, but the others would be trying to keep in their giggles and not be too loud where they get kicked out.

      It's inevitable for them, though.

      Into the years, she hoped with every part of her being that her best friends were her best friends for life. She would never get to experience marriage (with JJ, of course), the pure love of one another as they slid rings on each other's fingers. Her best friends on both sides of them.  JJ wouldn't pick between his two male friends for which one the best man would be — he'd break the stereotype of just having one and tell them both to be his best mans. Lynn would do the exact same, Kiara and Sarah would be glued to her side, both of them being her maid of honors.

      She'd never get to experience watching her friends have children. John B and Sarah would no doubt have a boy, or possibly two, and they'd name him after Big John. Pope would hold on the whole family bit, wanting to focus first on his career as a mortician. Kie would be the same way, but in that rich, slight alcoholic fun aunt kind of way. She'd backpack through Europe and help built secure and safe houses in Haiti, maybe meet a nice guy (or girl, after all this is Kiara) and once her adrenaline was spent — that's when she would finally settle down.

      Evelynn hated the idea of not being able to watch her best friends grow up — to not be there when they have their heart broken or when they received the best news of their lives.

      "Take care of them for me, okay?" Lynn mumbled, tears were now finally splitting from her eyes, she couldn't help it. "Tell Pope that I will be there every step of the way until he becomes that damn mortician, tell Kiara I'll be at every one of her turtle hatchlings, tell Sarah that  I'm proud to be the one who showed her how to shotgun a beer properly, and tell John B that every time a fish wrangles on his pole, I'll be the one to help him pull it up."

      JJ was sobbing at this point — the girl always had a way with words, and here she was on her deathbed, still putting her best friends before herself.

      "Please don't leave me," JJ begged, it was a ghost of a whimper. He pressed his lips to Lynn's — they were cold, already losing their color, but still, they were hers. She kissed him back with whatever strength she had, and then he parted. He pressed his forehead to hers, a soft kiss on her skin. "I love you, Evelynn, please don't leave me, okay, baby? I-I can't do this without you."

     Lynn hastily and shakily rose her hand to touch JJ's cheek, she smiled, "You can, JJ, you're stronger than you could ever imagine."

      "Don't do this," was all JJ could mutter, and in his bones, he was beginning to grow more angry with each passing second. Not at Lynn, it wasn't her fault she was losing strength, but he was mad at the world — they were taking away his Evie.

      Lynn smiled, her eyes glossed but no more tears were escaping, "I love you."

      Her eyelids slipped, her chest stopped rising and falling as it fast as it previously was, it was hardly even heaving anymore. Lynn's hand fell from JJ's cheeks, collapsing to her side. JJ's expression fell, he pressed his ear to her chest — it was hardly even beating.

      "Evelynn! Hey, Evie, stay with me," JJ comforted the unconscious girl, her head tilted as the mud clung to her body. "Stay with me!"

JJ's interest about his girl were sourly interrupted as Rafe's groaning echoed out throughout the air. He was limply picking himself off the ground, wrist-deep in the mud as he did so. Only utter fury and enrage filled JJ's thoughts, and without a single other one, he darted after Rafe.

He trampled the dark blonde boy to the ground, completely taking him off guard due to the fact the back of his head was still massively bleeding. His skull ricocheted with the ground, making him grit out with pain. JJ didn't hesitate, though, not taking a single second to wait before colliding his right fist into Rafe's face.

The boy continued with the actions, repeatedly bashing Rafe's face in with each one of his hits. Even though his own fists were pleading for him to stop, a dark red already seeping from several spots on his knuckles, he didn't.

Evelynn's gone.

He released the lock full grasp of Rafe's shirt, the boy crumpled to the ground. His face was already swollen, bruised, there were cracked cuts everywhere. JJ searched over his shoulder, his eyes meeting that of the black handgun that he had dropped after colliding it with Rafe's skull.

He dived for the object, pulling the chamber back so that another bullet would replace the empty space. He was now on his feet, where Rafe was still a sprawled mess in the mud, he didn't even see the gun originally in the Pogue's hand.

He could do this, he had every right to do this. Rafe had taken his girl away from him, so he could take away Rafe. The black gun was pointed directly at Rafe's chest, JJ didn't notice he had tears still seeping down his cheeks, he was so angry.

"D-Do it," was all Rafe could mutter, slightly shifting in the mud as his eyes finally landed on the gun. For a second, JJ had thought he had heard him wrong. "Do it. Shoot me."

JJ's index finger slowly peeled onto the trigger, his upper lip curling as all his thoughts screamed at him to press on it, to allow the bullet to hit Rafe right in between his eyes.

But he couldn't. The warm words of Evelynn flooded the back of his mind, her careful and smooth voice instantly comforting him.

You're stronger than you could ever imagine...

"I'm not like you," growled JJ, shaking his head with disdain as he dropped the gun to the ground. Mud scattered on it, crippled leaves already blowing over it. "I'm not a killer."

"She's not dead," Rafe explained, his words were still a bit scrambled together — guess that head wound was doing more damage than what either of two could imagine. "She can't be."

Rafe suddenly took JJ off guard as his foot swept under the Pogue's legs — making him tumble to the ground. JJ groaned uncontrollably as his body hit the ground with a certain force, and then he felt something collide into the side of his temple.

Then everything went black.

a/n: sorry for all the cliffhangers icjskf i never know how to properly end a chapter LOL