tides | jj maybank x oc

ep. 19 ~ cut down deep

john b had thoroughly enjoyed his time on the mainland over the past two days. maybe it was the leaps and bounds he was finally making in his research, maybe it was sarah cameron, or maybe it was simply getting out of the obx for a little while.

whatever it was, john b had felt like it was the best sort of escape. and, as a result, he'd hardly thought of the friends he was leaving back on the cut. and he certainly hadn't expected what he'd be returning home to.

~~~

(jj)
my first stop after a rough day with my dad was john b, it's always john b. so, with a bruised, cut up face and a sinking feeling in my chest i sit in wait at the chateau.

i got here early enough to learn he still wasn't home from- wherever he's been. but i still had to dip when the cops arrived.

not entirely sure why they're here this time but shoupe seems pretty intent on getting john b for something so it doesn't surprise me.

now, as i watch john b approach from round the back, im crouched behind the old falling down shed where booker used to look after all the lost birds he'd find. he was an interesting man that's for sure.

i'm in just the right place to sneak up behind and grab him as he rounds the corner. we go down backwards, my hand over his mouth and his elbows flying as he twists wildly in my grip.

i gotta give it to him, john b can put up a fight.

"dude it's me! it's jj! stop, stop, stop." i say, manoeuvring until we're both sat upright, "fuck." i breath out. maybe that wasn't the best way of going about that one.

"what are you doing bro?" he exclaims, muffled form under my hand.

"shut up!" i hiss back, pushing him back into the side of the shed. then i point through the trees at shoupes unmarked car, "they're watching us. watching you! okay?"

"who?"

"the cops man, who else?"

then i push him forwards and round the back of the shed, "let's go, sneak around to the dock. we gotta go round this way."

and i lead him into the water, wading through the marshland until it's head height. as much as i'm excited to see her after this, i can't help but be a little bit glad luna b's not here. the water would be over her head before it had even covered my shoulders.

we haul ourselves into the HMS Pogue as quietly as possible, all things considered. then we go, john b wincing as the engine rumbles to life, and i steer us back through the marsh, away from shoupe and anything he might have planned for john b. let alone myself.

we don't go far, only down stream to the tumble down wall ruins between my dad's place and the chateau.

there we pause and breath for a second, leaning against walls across from each other.

"first i almost get strangled to death by kooks, then they go after pope and b, and now-"

"whoa, whoa, whoa! luna b? what did they do to luna b?" john b cuts me off, instantly becoming defensive of his sister figure. it's sweet but feels a little too late if you ask me.