THE excitement the group found at school stayed with them the entire day.

I mean, how else was Eden supposed to act? She couldn't exactly contain her emotions when she ultimately returned to class—not after finding out her best friend was still alive out there, millions of miles away.

Of course, the quartet tried to keep their lips sealed at school. The students of the OBX were still all over the topic of John B. and Sheriff Peterkin, and if they heard that the proclaimed murderer was still alive, it would definitely get out and travel further than just the high school hallways. 

But now that Kie, Eden, JJ, and Pope were within the comfort of The Wreck......they couldn't keep quiet. 

"Just for the record......" JJ trails off as they depart from the Carrera owned restaurant, headed towards the dock. "....I never doubted them." 

Eden scoffs, "Sure, J."

From the front of the group, Kiara rolls her eyes, "I owe you five bucks."

The Bexley paused and opened her mouth to ask why they made a bet on their dead friends, but was cut off by the stern voice of Mrs. Carrera, whom was calling for her curly haired daughter from a few feet away, "Kiara, I do need those set-ups done by five!"

Kie seems slightly annoyed by the reminder, and her voice rises an octave as she shouts in return, "You know, there are other people who work here!"

"But ain't none of them my children!"

Approaching the boat dock, Pope sends a sympathetic comment towards Kiara at her mother's reply, "I feel that. On a deep emotional level, I understand that—" The boy barely has time to finish his sentence before he's cut off by the Maybank.

Tossing his bag on the ground, JJ asks, "So, we going to the Bahamas or what?"

"Totally. I bought plane tickets for all four of us at school—no, JJ." Eden spoke with her regular sarcasm. Out of anyone, she wanted to go to the Bahamas the most, but she knew it wasn't that plausible; at least now. Pope barely made enough to secure a plane ticket, let alone to a far away country, JJ was broke, Kiara was put on an allowance after what she pulled for the gold, and Eden's mother would never let her take that much money for an un-relevant trip. 

 In simple words, it was rather unrealistic. 

Pope nods in agreement, "Agreed. There's no way we're getting to the Bahamas."

The Bexley continues, "Besides, only me and Kiara have passports. It would take too long to get those, not to mention tickets for a realistic flight—by then John B. will have probably done something stupid and will be detained."

"John B.'s gonna get nabbed sooner or later." Kiara crosses, looking between all of her friends, "So, if we're gonna clear his name, we need to have done it, like, yesterday."

JJ stands up from where he'd been leaning against the dock, and starts pacing back and forth, "I'll tell you how we do it."

Pope looks at the blonde and speaks sarcastically, "Oh, so you have it all planned out?"

"As a matter of fact, I do." JJ turns back to face the group. Eden looks at her friend, and has hope that something relatively helpful might come from his lips, though any of that hope leaves when JJ bluntly says, "We kidnap Rafe."

"I'm sorry, what?"

Eden scoffs. She honestly can't believe he'd even put it out there—kidnapping Rafe wouldn't get them anywhere other than jail. "Let's be logical for once, please and thank you."

"I am being logical, Eden." the Maybank shrugs, as if his idea wouldn't cause trouble—she supposes he truly did run off the motto stupid things have good outcomes all the time. As if his friends weren't sending him the most incredulous looks, JJ proceeds to explain himself. "We kidnap Rafe, tie him up, and stick the gun in his mouth and just wait till he starts squawking."

Kiara sends him an unimpressed look, "You know, tortures a war crime?"

JJ shrugs, "I thought it was a good idea."

"Yeah, so how exactly do you plan on clearing John B.'s name from a prison cell? Because that's a felony." the Heyward boy rubs his hands against one another, also unimpressed with JJ's rather unhelpful answer.

"Alright, well, what do you got, Pope?" JJ scoffs, slightly upset that everyone turned down his idea—though when had they ever followed through with a plan he created.  He takes a seat, sweatshirt brushing against Eden's legs. "I was just trying to keep it simple. You know, one stop and we're done."

"Well, that one stop would be jail, so, gonna call it quits on that idea." Eden sighs. Her other friends stay quiet, and she speaks up again, hoping someone has a more thought out and useful plan than JJ. "Any other ideas?" 

Pope opens his mouth, but is cut off by the blonde boy beside the Bexley.

"You know, Eden could always just hook up with Rafe and get answers."

Eden's face twists into an array of disgust and confusion, Kie and Pope sending the Maybank boy yet another incredulous look at his idea.

"What?" JJ notices the looks and proceeds to explain himself, as he did with his original idea to kidnap the Cameron boy. "It could totally work. Show up at some party looking hot as fuck and just flirt with him, use that Eden charm. Drink a ton, get him intoxicated, and then boom, he's bound to spill something. Then, have a drunk one night stand to make it less obvious that you were just trying to get answers. Record the audio on your phone and then we show it to Shoupe the next day."

"I know I've hit rock bottom these past few weeks, but I'd never stoop so low as to hook up with Rafe Cameron......even if he wasn't a murderer." Eden knows she's hooked up with some questionable people before, but never would she venture to that level of desperation. "He has no personality, has violent tendencies, and wears polo shirts. I'd rather lick John B.'s dirty ass converse." 

"Yeah, JJ, did you just forget the fact that, I don't know, Rafe was an actual murderer?" Kiara asked, very unsure with both of the boys ideas he'd offered. 

Pope added, "Besides, we're not offering Eden out for prostitution."

Eden sends a smile at Pope, "I appreciate you, Pope."

JJ though, seems to be very sure that this idea could work, and continues to talk. He raises a hand, and begins to use his fingers to count off reasons, "Hear me out. There are plenty of reasons why this could work. One; you're both super hot. Two; you're both super rich. Three; your parents are the most respected people on the island, and have probably been trying to set you two up forever, and four; Eden, let's face it, the whole island would pay to have a one night stand with you, and I don't think Rafe would entirely loathe having you on top of him."

"Thank you but no thank you." Eden grimaces at the thought. She then looks over at Pope, whom she noticed had wanted to speak before the blonde boy butted in with his second idea. "Pope, I saw you open your mouth before JJ. What do you have to offer—that is hopefully more useful than Tweedle Dumb?"

Pope looks at all of his friends, slightly surprised that they hadn't already stated the obvious, "Guys, all we need is a material witness. We saw Ward's plane fly straight over our heads with the gold inside of it. He didn't fly it. If somebody else was flying it, they were there on the tarmac. They saw Peterkin get murdered."

Eden continues, nodding along with the Heyward boy, "We just need to find whoever it was and get them to confess on record and then John B. is a free man."

Kiara's brows furrow, "How do we do that?"

Pope shrugs, "A little light espionage."

"A little ghost recon." JJ sets his hat back on his head with a smirk.

The Heyward holds his fingers out, "Woogity-woogity?"

Eden, Kie, and JJ offer their fingers in the form of yet another Pogue handshake, and the four wiggle their fingers together.

"Woogity, baby!"

A lovely sunset was painted across the sky as the Pogues drove 

Thanks to Eden—the Bexley perks came in handy—the group was able to find out the name of Ward's pilot, his phone number, as well as his current residence on the island. If any other person barged into the Kildare airport and started questioning, they'd be kicked out, but Eden Bexley was Eden Bexley......so she got away without any further questioning. 

Now, the Pogues were supplied with information on Gavin Barnstead, and were on the way to his house with a plan in mind.

The Bexley sat in the back of Kiara's 4Runner, their getaway vehicle for the past few weeks. Beside her was JJ, who was fiddling around with something in his backpack while Kiara and Pope took driver and passenger, respectively. 

The Heyward boy was ranting on about Gavin and the plane, as he had been for the past fifteen minutes. Eden half tuned in, eyes drifting off towards the mixed colors of the sky as he spoke. 

"If this guy was flying planes for Ward, he's gotta be pretty tight lipped."

The cocking of a gun took Eden's eyes off the sky and to the boy beside her, who was holding up his ever-so famous—and ever so reprimanded—gun.

"So direct approach gets my vote." the blonde speaks, examining the gun for a moment. 

The sound of cocking hand also alarmed the Heyward and the Carrera, who turn to send him wide eyed looks.

"JJ, no," Pope whipped around in his seat, speaking to the boy as if he were reprimanding a dog rather than a person.

Kiara's brows are furrowed and her eyes are wide, "No. What?"

"How did you even get that we were literally at school and then at The Wreck." Eden sends him a look, though she doesn't raise her voice—her stern, maternal glance should be enough for him to know he isn't going anywhere with that.

Pope states, "Put the gun down, man."

"Guys! We gotta keep this simple, guys, or else we're never gonna get John B. off." the Maybank practically whines, clearly wanting to take more action than this. From beside him, Eden sends him a knowing look, and he hands the gun over to her. The Bexley hums a small 'thank you'  and sets in in the cup holder, away from usage.

"Or—"Pope pulls out a pair of AirPods with an innocent smile, "—we just tickle the wire."

"What?" Kie questions, an odd expression on her face at the phrase.

"We tickle the wire." the Heyward restates, "I plant my phone in his car—" the boy puts his AirPods in his ears as he speaks, "—and then we listen in on the ear-pods." He hold out his phone to Kiara's mouth, "Say something."

"Something."

A split second later, Pope replies with good news, "Okay, we have audio."

"Pope, remind me to order you a better AirPod case when we get back home." Eden hums from the backseat, staring at the bland white case he was currently using. 

The vehicle slows down, and Eden looks out JJ's window to see a nice house—of course not as nice as hers, but given this was closer to the South side than the North, it was nice. She looked down at the Google Maps directions, and the images match the house they're currently parked in front of. She taps Pope on the shoulder and states, "This is it, Bubs."

Pope takes the AirPods out of his ears, "Alright, honk or, uh......or yell something if you see anything suspicious." 

Eden leans forward and puts her chin against the back of Pope's seat, sending him a small smile. "Okay. Stay safe—love you."

Kiara nods, "Don't do anything dangerous."

Pope unbuckles his seat belt, sending the Carrera a smirk, "Come on, I'm not JJ."

From the backseat, the Maybank boy gives an unimpressed look at the comment, "Funny, Pope. Love third-wheeling, it's my favorite thing."

"Speaking of Pope....." Eden trails off once she knows the Heyward boy is away from the vehicle.  She's still leaning against Pope's seat, and sends the Carrera a knowing look, "How are things going between you two?"

"It's good." Kiara replies, though her voice lacked confidence or enthusiasm—Eden spoke more lovingly about John B. and JJ, her brothers, than the Carrera sounded about the topic of her 'boyfriend'.

"It's good? Alright." JJ enters the conversation, seeming relatively curious as well.  It's quiet for a few seconds, and Eden can tell by the look on the Maybank's face that he's thinking of a stupid question. "In the bedroom, is he, like, kinda freaky, 'cause it's Pope, you know....." He trails off at the look he's earning from Kiara.

The Carrera is still sending him a look as she asks, "Why are you asking?"

"I don't know. Just kinda curious." JJ replies quickly, tongue pressing up against his cheek, "Just spitballing here." 

Eden sighs—she wishes she had followed Pope. Under her breath, she mutters, "This is exactly why we had the 'no Pogue on Pogue macking' rule."

Looking rather disgusted, Kiara says, "You don't need to spitball. We could sit in silence."

"That sounds really nice, actually." the Bexley replies. She doesn't want to hear the left-over questions in JJ's mind if that was him simply spitballing.

It's quiet again for a few moments, but JJ perks right back up, taking Kiara's words as a suggestion rather than a statement. He puts his hands out and raises one above the other, "Ranking wise—"

Kiara seems annoyed as she turns around again, "Oh, you're still asking?"

"Yeah, I was just curious—"

"You're still curious—"

"Is—is John B. better?"

Eden's mouth drops and she looks at JJ with her jaw dropped, eyes wide.

 The question came unexpected to Kiara too, as she whips around in her seat with her face twisted in shock and confusion as she exclaimed, "What?"

"Can we not talk about whether Pope or John B. is better in bed, please and thank you?" Eden says the sentence like it's a question. The two boys were practically her brothers—the last thing she needed to hear about right now were their sexual activities.

"Okay, but, like, in all honesty—"

The door opens, and Pope re-enters the vehicle, causing all prior conversing to stop. Kiara's lips are sealed in a thin line, Eden looks slightly grossed out, and JJ seems unfazed, looking out the window. "Alright. Phase One is complete." the Heyward notices the awkward silence and asks, "Everything—are we all good?"

Eden pulls her own pair of AirPods out and places them in her ears, "Living my best life, Pope."

This was going to be a long few hours.

After an hour or two of sitting in the car, cramped and ready for some action,the Pogues were preparing to call Gavin. 

The sky was now a deep black, and Eden was growing rather tired. She had sent her mom a text—surprising, right?—earlier that night claiming she was out with Kiara, just so she wouldn't be questioned for coming home late, but it was growing rather late, and soon she was sure Isla would be calling Anna and Mike to make sure her daughter truly was with the Carrera girl and not getting into trouble.

It didn't help that she was cramped up in the back of the 4Runner—she was getting flashbacks to when John B. was originally wanted and they had to hide out in the Cut for hours on end, cramped and bored—with only her half-dead phone and AirPods to keep her busy. 

She was currently lounging in the back with JJ, head on his shoulder as the two watched Riverdale on her phone, sharing her AirPods between them—unsanitary sure, but Eden's had to bandage up grosser injuries, and has had to take care of a bed bound John B. with practically every illness imaginable, so she's been with grosser.

"Wait, are Veronica and Archie going to officially break up?" JJ sends a look towards Eden, slightly concerned for the couple. Her and JJ had started the show with John B. months ago, and had a weekly sleepover to watch episodes together. "Because she fucked Reggie, but she also didn't know he was coming back...."

Eden shrugged, "Honestly, I only care about Jughead and Betty, so.....oh well."

"Okay, enough Riverdale, time to call Gavin." Pope announces from the front of the car. Eden and JJ look forward to see the Heyward boy holding Kiara's phone. The Bexley takes out her AirPod, as well as the one the Maybank took, and places them back in the case at his words.

At the sight of the familiar phone in Pope's hands, JJ frowns. "Hold on, why does she get to tickle?"

"Because she's the best tickler."

Eden leans forward, "Never thought I'd have to hear that sentence, but okay."

Kiara hovers her finger above the call button, "Should I, like, do an accent?"

The Heyward firmly nods, "Definitely disguise your voice."

"Disguise my voice, how?" the Carrera puts on a British accent, though it sounds rather fake, "Like, how would you like me to talk like this?"

JJ is quick to shake his head, "Not like that."

Eden shrugged, "Ghostface? That'd be iconic."

"Not like that. No." Pope disapproves, before perking up, "Batman."

Kiara deepens her voice and adds a hint of rasp, trying her best to sound like the superhero, "Batman."

"There you go."

JJ nods, "Spot on. Let's do it."

Kiara hits the call button and dials the man. A few seconds later, a voice comes through, "Hello?"

"Hello—I can't." Kiara makes an attempt at the Batman voice, but immediately stops and pulls the speaker away from her mouth as she whispers to the group.

Pope ushers, "Just talk."

"Hello?"

The Carrera clears her throat and uses her normal speaking voice, "Is Gavin there?"

"This is Gavin. Who's this? Hello?"

"I know what happened on the tarmac."

Gavin tries to falsely laugh over the phone before asking, "Um...who's this?"

"It was Rafe Cameron." Kiara says confidently, continuing to spew the truth into the phone, "But you already knew that, and you lied about it."

"Okay. Who is this?"

"We're gonna prove it. You're guilty."

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

"You could have saved her, Gavin, and you didn't." the Carrera says harshly, letting some of her pent up rage out towards the pilot. He could have saved the sheriff, he could have kept an innocent boy innocent. "And you're not getting away with this."

"Listen to me! Who is this!?"

Kiara hung up the phone and looked back at her friends, "How was that?"

JJ shrugs, "Yeah, I was scared. Good job."

Eden hums in agreement, "I think you scared him pretty good."

"Alright, we tickled the wire. Phase Two complete." Pope says, "Now we wait and listen."

Eden reached a hand down in her pocket to retrieve her AirPods, but headlights were then seen.  The four Pogues looked out their windows to see a car pulling out of Gavin's driveway, meaning the pilot was currently on the move—Phase Three was beginning.

Whispering, the Heyward announces, "Alright. Hey, here he comes. Stay down."

The Pogues all duck down. Kiara slides down in the drivers seat, Pope ducking down beside her; Eden and JJ do a similar maneuver, the Bexley curling forward while JJ hunches over towards Kiara's seat. The headlights passed them, and the four popped right back up, anxious to follow after the man.

"He didn't see us, he didn't see us." JJ presses, "Hit it."

"Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go." Pope rushes out, wanting to make sure the AirPods would be able to connect with his phone—if Gavin got too far, they wouldn't be able to reach.  He then starts to yank at his seat belt in a hurry, getting more panicked when the item locked up, "My seat belt, my seat belt—"

JJ raises a brow as he exclaims, "Are you seriously buckling up right now?"

"Yes, I'm buckling up—"

"God, can you boys do anything without me." Eden cuts the boy off, forcefully un-jamming the seat belt for her friend—she was reminded of the many times John B. and JJ forgot to turn off their flashlights on missions, and how she was forced to do so instead. 

Kiara groans, "You do not need it right now."

The 4Runner pulls away from Gavin's house and starts following his car instead, Pope fumbling to get the AirPods in his ears. Once he does, everyone falls silent, waiting for the boy to reveal conversation is being held with the pilots car.

"It's Ward." Pope reveals, "He's talking to Ward."

JJ puts a fist over his mouth, "It's Ward. Shit."

Kiara frowns, "Are you serious?"

Eden isn't that surprised. If someone anonymously called her and revealed that they knew her secret, she'd be calling her boss to tell him the news too.

"Get clo....get closer. I can't hear." the Heyward mutters.

"Okay."

Kiara slightly speeds up, and Pope readjusts the position of the earphones, "He's talking about negotiating something. Re....renegotiating." Another pause. Eden can hear muffled voices, and suddenly, the boy's eyes widen.

"Pope, what did he say?" Eden presses, curious and concerned for what just left Gavin or Ward's lips.

"Gavin's got the gun that Rafe used to kill Peterkin. He's got it." 

Kiara breathes, "Holy shit."

Now that was the cold hard proof they needed.

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

"That gun is all we need. It has Rafe's finger prints on it, it belongs to Ward I'm sure." Eden starts to rant. She knows it'll be tough to get the item, but this was what they needed to clear John B.'s name. "I mean, we get that gun and turn it into Shoupe and John B. is—" 

"Wait." Kie's voice cut through, "He's pulling over."

Pope mutters, "Shit. He's panicking."

"Do I pull behind him? What do I do?"

"Shit, uh, go around the block, Kie." Eden blurts out. She knows they'll lose connection eventually, but if they pull behind him, they look suspicious. "Circle around."

"Yeah, just go."

Kiara groans, "We're gonna lose him."

"Go, go, go!"

"I'm going, I'm going."

"I can't hear anything. Shit." Pope announces, growing worried. He couldn't miss a single word of this conversation. "I'm losing it—I'm losing the signal. I can't.....I can't hear him."

The vehicle slows as they approach a 'Road Closed' sign ahead.

"What the hell is this?" JJ asks. The Bexley puts her head in her hands and groans because when did anything ever go as planned? 

Pope is growing antsy, "Stop. Just stop and turn around now."

"Pull in here. Pull in here and back up—"

"I'm just gonna back up."

The Carrera starts to reverse the car, but is stopped as a reverse beeping is heard. Eden and JJ both whirl around in the back to see a digger slowly backing up behind them, blocking their way out as it crosses.

A chorus of cursing is heard, and the Maybank opens the back door, hopping out. He begins to yell at the driver of the construction machine, "Hey! Yo! We were about to back up, man! You literally had to do that now—wait, hey! Pope!" 

At JJ's calls, Eden looks out her window and watches as the Heyward boy sprints away from the 4Runner. She hops out of the vehicle, brushing off the cool air on her bare shoulders, and calls out for him, "Pope! What the fuck are you doing!"

"We gotta know where they're meeting!" Pope grunts, running back in the direction they came from.

Kiara rasps, "Damn!"

Eden runs over to the opposite side of the car, where JJ and Kiara are looking at one another in confusion and concern for Pope. She eyes her friends, readying herself to run,  "We're going after him, let's go."

JJ nods and opens Kiara's car door, "Yep."

The three start to sprint away, ignoring the yell from the worker telling them that they can't leave their car. Eden doesn't really care—the workers blocked them in, anyway—and keeps pushing herself after Pope, JJ and Kie right at her sides.

Eden hopped over a fence and landed in the freshly cut grass of someone's backyard. She can see Pope sprinting, but he suddenly trips over a swing set and falls on the ground. 

"Yo, Eden!" 

The Bexley looks to the side and notices fellow classmate and acquaintance, Sean. He was in some of her classes, and they'd hooked up for a summer the year before—Eden hadn't committed to any boy in a while, and he was fine with a summer fling.

"Hi, Sean. Sorry to run through your backyard like this!" Eden sends a small smile to the boy, as well as the three other teens with him—they were playing a game of chicken in his pool.

"Oh, no big deal!"

JJ's voice is heard next, "Sean? Ah, this is where you live, you Kook!"

"See you in class!" Eden waves before stumbling over her own feet to get to Pope. The Heyward boy is hiding by some bushes, trying to get as close as he can to Gavin—his car is parked a few feet away.

Kiara is quickly in Pope's face, "What does that mean? What does that mean?"

Pope has a excited and exasperated look on his face, and JJ plants a hand on his back, "Did you hear something?"

"He's....he's meeting Ward right now. We gotta go." the Heyward rushes, expression turning into one of urgency, "Come on!"

Eden takes in a breath before sprinting back to the 4Runner, ready to hear what Ward and Gavin had to say.

mara's misc!!

yet another deal with my pookie kensie (she actually updated first believe it or not)

this chapter was pretty fun to write, and i managed to do it in like three days, so major slay for me. i have the day off of school so i was able to finish it up! 

tbh jj isn't entirely wrong.....eden and rafe would be the hottest couple on the island, (if he wasn't a literal crime against humanity and a murderer). isla's totally been trying to set them up since they were kids, until she realized eden was eden. (she's for the girls and the gays only......and her boys ofc).

also eden and jj ( and jb when he isn't on vaca in the bahamas) watch riverdale together for sure. i started the show like a year ago tbh and i'm only on s3. it mentally kills me and i understand literally nothing but oh well. it's my red flag.

also also this is the last chapter of e1??? already working through these episodes fast asf

more eden headcannons???? (her with the pogues,  her with jb and jj, her in general, the pogues with her, etc)

hope you enjoyed <3 see you back with chapter 32 (bye bye gavin!!!)