ONLY ANGEL | JJ MAYBANK

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

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The next morning, there was still a tingle on Collins's lips from where JJ's had touched her.

She brought her hand up to touch them with a ghost of a smile on her face as reality began to fully set in. Flashbacks of a tender kiss shared at four in the morning flew around her mind, one moment they're wrapped in darkness then the next, the sun is stretching its limbs out as it wakes the island up with its light. Right about now, crew-mates were probably getting ready to pull in traps from the night before and prepare their haul for market sale and shipment to the mainland. Every other human was probably still in bed trying to get a few more hours of rest. Mother birds took flight to start foraging breakfast for their babies, the grass soaked up the last of the dew drops from the cool night air, and two teenagers lose all sense of time while nature takes its course. It all seems so extraordinary, but it's just Earth. It does what it's done since the beginning of time, and it remains more beautiful than any man-made spectacle.

Long after, Collins is fast asleep, tucked under JJ's arm and hugging his body like a koala clinging to a tree. They'd decided to sleep on the hammock outside, thinking that sleeping under the stars, while fading in the sun, with the flora and fauna sounded like a good way to fall asleep. After all, they'd had their first kiss beneath the moonlight and wanted to make the moment last. The Earth had bear witness to their first and most intimate memory, so with the Earth is where it felt best to finish it off with. Usually Collins's nights were filled with fantastical dreams of moments beyond her world's capacity of actually happening, but it was like the inner workings of her brain had even known that the events that had taken place prior to sleep, were too incredible to top with just mere fantasy.

She'd had her first kiss. And it wasn't at all like how she'd imagined it happening, but that was what made it so spectacular. It was still magical in every right on its own, and there wasn't even so much as a molecule in her that would take it back, unless she were to relive it again which would be the only exception. Even though it hadn't been her intention to be the one to kiss JJ, it was better that it hadn't gone down so planned. It made it feel all the more natural, like it was always meant to happen that way, just like JJ had proposed that they were. Collins figured, why should their first kiss fall under different rules? Kie wasn't going to believe her when she told her that she made the first move.

The hammock gently swayed as a breeze pushed them like it was trying to rock them back to bed for just a little while longer. But the sunlight peeked through the gaps between the canopy of tree leaves hanging over them and shined into Collins's eyes, blinding her so that she was squinting in the light. Perhaps that was just further reason to keep her eyes closed and not wake up.

She stirred in the position she and JJ were in which made it impossible to get up without waking the other person. Every time she attempted to wriggle out of JJ's hold, she felt him move like she was disturbing his rest. To be completely honest, this was becoming one of Collins's favorite dilemmas; having to choose between wasting a day in bed with the blond surfer boy she'd been crushing on, or rip herself away because it was the responsible thing to do, even though she wanted nothing more than to stay.

But a hammock was no bed, and Collins was pretty sure she was scoring netting marks onto her skin, which weren't going to be a flattering look if she wanted to wear shorts for the rest of the summer.

She managed to swing one leg over the side and plant her foot on the ground to push herself up, though not quite as steadily as she would've liked to avoid JJ from waking up at the movement.

He grumbled, a frown etched on his face as he slowly blinked, his eyes opening sleepily. "You're killing me, Collins." He groaned in discontent.

"I know." She cringed. "I'm sorry, I really am."

"Then get the hell back in here." JJ demanded playfully, extending his arm out to try and pull her back to him.

"I can't. When I'm up, I'm up, there's no going back." Collins averted his hands and lightly smacked them away with a small smile on her face. "But please, don't wake up on my account."

Unfortunately, she'd spoken too late as JJ was already moving to sit up in the hammock, rubbing his eyes tiredly and stretching his stiff muscles. "Too late."

"I'm sorry." Collins whined, feeling so much guiltier as she watched him get up onto his feet. He probably couldn't have been too comfortable sleeping there anyways, but he could've at least gotten some more rest with the makeshift bed to himself.

"It's okay," JJ said, before a cheeky smile spread across his face. "You can make it up to me later."

He came up behind her and slipped his arms around her waist, pulling her back against his chest while dipping his chin into the crook of her neck. Collins chuckled at the movement, looking around them while trying to contain her complete and utter happiness to be held in JJ's arms. "How do you suppose I should do that?" She murmured questioningly, shivers running down her spine as she felt his lips and nose tickling the skin behind her ear.

"I have at least one idea on where you can start." JJ whispered into her ear, his kiss brushing against her while he took pleasure in watching her melt like putty at his touch.

It was only at the sound of tires rolling over the gravel did the two immediately shoot away from each other as if nothing had been going on between them. One second they'd been attached to each other like ants in honey, the next they were facing away from the other person with a queen-sized bed length of space separating them. It was kind of nice to know that avoiding being those teens that were hot and heavy on the PDA was a mutual agreement. Even though it'd been a long time coming, Collins wasn't quite ready to be airing out the news of them so soon. She certainly didn't want to do it with their friends walking in on them in the middle of one of their intimate affairs.

As the vehicle drew nearer, JJ turned to fix himself while Collins attempted to clear her throat and smooth her hair down so that it wasn't so messy. There, like nothing ever happened.

The Twinkie came into view as it drove towards the house, coming to a slow stop in the grass and lurching into park. Collins narrowed her gaze to try and make out the driver before they got out, though she already had a good idea on who it was, she just wanted to make sure her suspicions were right.

Sure enough, John B hopped out of the van, his head hanging low as he walked past them and into his house without a word.

Glancing over at JJ, the two shared worrying expressions regarding the brown haired boy. This felt dreadfully familiar, seeing as John B had pulled this exact same stunt on them before he'd run off and disappeared with the gun. They still hadn't the slightest clue what he'd been up to since they'd seen him last. A terribly worrisome feeling sat like a lump at the bottom of Collins's stomach. Just thinking about the many possibilities of what John B could've been up to without them knowing was scary. Collins didn't want to think the worst, but in a situation such as this one, it was her best option as opposed to leaving her open to surprise by expecting something insignificant.

Following after him without another moment's hesitation, Collins and JJ rushed into the house. Kie was already up on her feet in the living room, her brows furrowed as she switched her gaze from John B as he marched down the hall, then to Collins and JJ as they entered the house.

Collins caught a glimpse of John B's back as he disappeared into his room, slamming the door shut behind him. His clothes were filthy and absolutely covered in dirt.

"John B?" JJ spoke with his voice raised, so it carried through the door. He tapped his knuckle against the wooden frame and they all hovered around it while listening intently to make out any of the sounds on the other side.

It just sounded like a bunch of shuffling and moving around. But John B was still wordless. JJ went to try the handle, but it didn't budge. Of course, locked.

"Come on, John B, we just wanna talk." Kie pleaded, staring worriedly in anticipation for the door to finally swing open. A couple minutes passed, it was hard to distinguish any of the sounds that had come through, but soon enough, the door opened.

John B stood in front of them, a fresh set of clothes on, his eyes flickering between the three of them before he released a soft sigh and shook his head while he brushed past them. Confusion still riddled the three friends at John B's strange behavior. Collins understood how it might be difficult for him to open up to them; if this was about his father, it made sense why he would be so distraught over this to muster up the courage to explain everything to them and relive it all. But then again, if he'd used the gun in a spur of the moment, split second of impulsivity, overwhelmed with a thirst for revenge instance with irreversible consequences, they deserved to know exactly what they were dealing with.

Itching to learn more and get something out of John B, even if they had to pry it out of him, the three teens immediately tagged along behind him, intent on getting him to stop and explain what was going on with him to make him act this way.

"John B, what happened?" Collins asked, stepping outside again and trudging through the grass in the direction towards the dock, which was where John B appeared to be heading.

Once again, they were met with silence until they'd come to a halt at the end of the dock, where there was no where left to run to and where John B finally took a seat down on the wooden floor, looking out at the water. He seemed more at peace there, like it was the safe haven that he'd needed all along. It was there where he felt most at bay, where he could finally come to terms with everything that was going on in his life and still feel a sense of tranquility amidst the chaos. The waters were calm, the day was still too early, so it was subject to change, but in that moment, they were still. Everything seemed to fall stationary, even their breaths as they waited in suspense.

John B remained quiet for a long while, hugging his knees to his chest and just staring out at the dark waters that glittered where the sun hit the surface while his world continued to crash around him.

"Ward killed my dad over the gold. They were working together before he disappeared." John B finally aired, his voice slightly carried away from them over the sound of the water, making him sound much more muffled than he meant to. "They fought, and Ward covered the whole thing up."

There was silence in their shock to hear the news. It was the equivalent to a nuclear missile level of news for John B to just drop on them, so it was unfathomable that he could have even been able to receive such information and then relay it to them without showing any indications of someone without a bomb shelter. But it wasn't as though John B was taking things well and was proceeding without any sort of damage. His flat affect was concerning enough for Collins because he looked so numb to it all. He must've spent the whole night ruminating over this and trying to make sense out of a situation that made no sense in any way you looked at it.

Big John and Ward Cameron? Partners? The whole idea sounded ridiculous. But then again, there was some method to the madness that could be distinguished. Ward Cameron had the resources, and Big John had the obsession. Finding the gold would've been plenty of reason for two unlikely allies to team up together. It just seemed so incomprehensible that two individuals of such strong personalities could find a way to come to some sort of agreement with each other. Looking at it now though, clearly things hadn't worked out like they'd been meant to, so their partnership hadn't worked so well after all. That made it all the more simpler for them to understand how easy it would've been for Ward to hide it all completely, since he was the one who had all the money and power. Did he even feel any remorse for the role he played in all of this?

Kie took the first step forward and crouched down slightly behind John B, before she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder in consolation.

"I'm so sorry, John B." Collins said softly. After all this time, to find out what happened to his father this way, it was a terrible thing for someone to go through. Not only did he have his dad to mourn, but all the time that he'd spent dealing with his disappearance that he now had to spend even more time grieving.

"He took everything from me." John B said, taking a sharp breath. He ran his hands through his hair and took fistfuls of his brown locks between his fingers in frustration over this whole ordeal.

"What happened last night, John B?" JJ asked carefully. The way his friend was acting, he wouldn't be surprised if he'd done something really bad. JJ was the more impulsive one of the two, but given the circumstances, it was hard to guess what exactly John B was really capable of. They didn't want to think of their friend as someone who was capable of murder, but revenge had a way of making people do things you would've never imagined them having the guts to do.

John B clenched his jaw, still looking out at the water while he shook his head. "I fucked up, guys."

Furrowing her brows at him, Kie leaned in closer out of sheer curiosity to delve deeper into John B's blatant distress. His eyes were starting to look more red around the waterlines, and his breathing was getting increasingly more erratic. He refused to make eye contact with them.

"What are you talking about?" Kie questioned him, terrified of his answer.

"It's gone. All of it." John B dragged a hand over his face, the exhaustion and weight of everything pulling him down further and further into a rabbit hole of despair. "He killed my dad, and he took the gold. Everything I had, he took it all away."

The three went painstakingly quiet as they tried to sort through everything in their own heads. So Ward was alive but it wasn't any consolation when he'd stolen the treasure they'd spent the summer chasing. It was over. After all the effort they'd put in trying to get that gold, all the time, all the rules they'd broken— it was all for nothing? They'd actually been able to get their hands on some of it, felt the smallest fraction of the large fortune, only for the rest of it to be snatched away from them pretty much overnight. Collins struggled to wrap her mind around it. How sure was John B of this?

Who was she kidding? Of course he was sure. She just didn't want to believe it herself.

Because if it was really true, and their only chances of getting disgustingly filthy rich had gone swirling down the drain at the flushing hands of Ward Cameron, then Collins had screwed up by astronomical proportions.

Her saving grace for her and Charlie's relationship had depended on her getting that money. Everything she'd done and said to hurt him was supposed to be her sacrifice in order for her to get the gold to bring back to him as an explanation for all the times she'd raised his suspicions. It was supposed to solve their problems, and bring them together. Now, what did she really have to show to make up for all of her wrongdoings? All she had was a 온라인카지노게임, littered with confessions to crimes that would get her into serious trouble. Theft, breaking and entering, assault if Barry turned the tables on them— it was one giant train wreck of felonies stacked on top of each other. Charlie wouldn't be so forgiving with nothing to show as a reward for all those risks.

"What have I done?" Collins muttered to herself, the whole matter dawning on her as she realized what a mess she'd made between her and her brother. The things she'd said, the way she'd left. After all that he'd given up for her, she felt like the worst person in the world to throw it all back at him when he was just trying to be a responsible guardian for her. How could she have done that to him? All he did was care for her and she repaid him by acting like a selfish and ungrateful brat of a sister, just like Charlie said she was.

Meanwhile, as Collins was wallowing in her own grief, JJ was too preoccupied with his own defeat at the news that the treasure they'd been chasing was gone to pay attention to anything else. He slumped over the railing of the dock and spaced off while deep in his thoughts.

He'd really dug himself into a hole this time, hadn't he? At this point, it was as wide and deep enough to be a grave, which he was probably going to need since he had no way of paying off his restitution now. Thinking back to about two nights prior, JJ's dumbass move to blow all of the money he'd stolen from Barry was looking even more stupid than it did before. He was full of regret because the smart thing really would've been to pay off his debts, but he'd spent all of the money on stupid shit. Not that the card he'd gotten Collins was stupid, but he should've really used the rest of the money to settle his financial problems instead of a luxury jacuzzi.

Now what was he to do? The gold was gone and there was nothing left for JJ in terms of prospects. All he had left was his shitty, degrading, bust of a job bussing tables at the hotel. The money he was making there wasn't going to get him anywhere, but then again, JJ hadn't really expected to move up the food chain while working there anyways. The gold had been his only shot at getting his own fresh start. Without it, he had fewer forks in the road to choose from; with it, the opportunities were endless.

It all felt so awful. Every single one of them felt like the chair had been kicked out from under them, and they'd hit the floor so hard their asses actually hurt from their metaphorical fall.

Collins was the first to gather herself and utter the first word. She suddenly remembered the context in which John B had delivered this news, and realized that losing the gold shouldn't have been what devastated them the most. John B had lost his father to murder. What a gruesome way to learn about your father's demise. He was the one who was getting the brunt end of this whole ordeal. They should've been more concerned with consoling him than thinking about their own hurt. It wasn't even like she wanted to dismiss her own feelings, but right now, in that moment, being a good friend was her top priority. She could deal with her mess later.

Sitting down next to the boy, Collins tilted her head to meet his eyes, her gaze softened as she looked at him. "None of this is your fault, John B. You can't take any blame for this. I don't know how yet, but we're not gonna let Ward get away with this. With any of it."

John B pressed his lips together to form the saddest smile Collins had ever seen. It was more in the shape of a frown than anything, but it was sincere in the way that he'd done it so that she knew he was acknowledging her words, he just couldn't bring himself to show anything remotely resembling pleasantries when he still felt like his chest was going to explode at any given moment.

"She's right." Kie chimed in, half-hugging John B on the other side of him. "He's not going to get out of this unpunished. We know exactly what he's done."

"That asshole will get what's coming to him." JJ finished, holding his juul between his fingers before bringing it up to his lips and taking a long drag.

They all fell silent once again, giving each other the time they needed to pull themselves back together before they went on. It was such a nice day for such dreary subjects. They shouldn't have been sitting there so glum, they should've been at the beach enjoying the weather. But these were the circumstances that they were in, and not every day of summer could be so great. There had to be some bad days in the mix there to make the good ones so memorable, but this was all a little heavier than Collins felt like they'd bargained for.

Glancing behind her to peer over at JJ while he sat at the farthest corner of the dock from them, Collins tried to read his thoughts from the outside. What was he thinking during all of this? He seemed so lost in his own little island; pensive, but not giving away any of the thoughts running through his mind.

Giving John B a gentle reassuring squeeze on his arm, Collins moved to stand up and make her way over to JJ so she could get some insight as to what was troubling him. He had to be sharing some of the same disappointment that she was about Ward stealing the gold. The whole thing was just a big let down, so she wondered if maybe he had some feelings that he wanted to voice to her.

She approached him from behind and inconspicuously snaked her hand around his bicep, standing close enough to where you couldn't exactly see what she was doing if you looked at the back of them.

"Penny for your thoughts?" She asked him, working a small smile into it in an effort to lighten his mood a bit.

"Well since I guess 400 mil is off the table, a penny's gonna have to do, won't it?" JJ chuckled dryly, but still reached over to hold Collins's hand on his arm in an affectionate manner.

"So what'd my penny just get me then?"

JJ sighed, looking out off the dock where the water hit the bank, and thinking of all the different ways they'd been screwed over in this whole ordeal. "It's messed up, Collins." He simply said.

She sucked her teeth and nodded. "Yeah, I know. Makes you almost think about why we expected anything different."

"The money would've been really nice." JJ commented, sending another pang of defeat into Collins's chest.

"Do you think it'd help if we just thought about it as not being stolen from us, but as never being ours to steal in the first place?" JJ furrowed his brows in confusion, prompting her to elaborate further. "We went into this thinking that we were chasing after the gold on the off chance that it was hoarded up somewhere just waiting for the taking. Now that it's gone, maybe we just have to try and think of it like it was always gone to begin with. We never fully had the gold."

"Yeah, except we were the ones that actually got our hands on it first. Doesn't that piss you off even just a little bit?"

Collins released a soft scoff in response. "Of course it does. But what are we supposed to do? Ward isn't just some drug dealer off the cut, he's a big time real estate developer with all kinds of resources to fight off anything we come at him with."

"I know. That's what's so frustrating about this whole thing." JJ dropped his fist like a hammer with weight to it on the surface of the railing, resulting in a thud with its landing. Collins glanced back at Kie and John B, checking to see if they were listening to them, but they appeared to be minding their own business and paying no mind to their conversation. "I'm sorry, I'm just trying not to lose my head right now."

JJ took her hand and held it against his lips, focusing on her touch, listening to the sound of his breaths matching hers and the splashing of the water, and just reeling himself back in when he felt his anger starting to bubble into a sudden boil that threatened to spill out of control. He wasn't going to repeat his mistakes and lose himself. He'd learned his lesson, now here came the hard part where he had to put himself to the test.

Collins just studied him intently, giving him her full attention and being his support beam whenever he needed her. She could see how hard he was trying. She was proud of him for doing it, especially considering the circumstances. She was glad he was able to remind himself not to freak out, it showed a lot of self awareness on his part.

"We'll get through this." Collins gazed at him tenderly, holding his hand which held her other and squeezing it soothingly.

They each looked at each other with a softness in their eyes that begged to be sealed with a gentle kiss. If they were alone, there was no doubt that they would've, but with the others sitting there only a mere few feet away, it was an urge that was fought off. JJ had to admit though, if there were ever a moment when his grip on himself was ever slipping, a kiss from Collins is all it would take to grab ahold of it again. She was a reminder of why he couldn't allow himself to go into a downward spiral. If JJ couldn't keep control of himself, then he couldn't keep her. He could never let himself get so low if he wanted her to stay in his life. That's why he had to stay calm in the event where all he felt like doing was kicking shit and shouting at the earth like it was at fault.

"John B," Kie started, causing them to look over and see what was going on.

John B wrenched the black cast around his wrist off, squeezing his hand through the narrow hole and tossing the empty plaster to the side while wincing at the slight pain. "What? Kie, it's a hairline fracture. Who cares?" He shook his head impassively, showing absolutely no regard for anything.

"You should care. Your arm's gonna be messed up for life." Kie remarked, raising her brows. John B just raised his hand up at her and wiggled his fingers to rub it in her face a little bit.

Kie was in the midst of rolling her eyes and shaking her head at him, when suddenly, footsteps pounding towards them on the dock and someone yelling, "Guys!" redirected their attention over to the source of the sound.

Pope appeared, dressed to the nines in his suit and tie, running towards them until he skidded to a stop. He doubled over and started heaving for oxygen with sweat dripping down his face. "Oh my God, I ran all the way here."

"How was the interview, Pope?" JJ questioned, glancing over at him curiously.

"Don't ask." The boy replied breathlessly. Turning over to John B, he began, "Look, I'm sorry- for everything. But I don't have a lot of time and I have information that is tactically relevant."

They all each listened intently, waiting for Pope to explain.

"So, before my interview, my dad said he was going down to the private airstrip to cut palms for Cameron's big plane. Because it was too heavy, it needed a longer airstrip to take off. So I'm sitting in my interview thinking, 'Hmm, why would Cameron need a longer airstrip to take off?' What could be so heavy, to weigh it down?"

Standing up straight, Collins looked at each of their faces in realization. "The gold."

Waving his arms around maniacally, Pope pointed to her for making his point even clearer. "Exactly! Guys, this is our chance, but it leaves tonight and we have to go."

"We can't give up now." Kie shifted eagerly where she sat with excitement in her eyes.

"What's the plan, big man?" JJ nodded at John B, leading all of them to look at him for their next steps. It was up to him now. He was the one who had the score to settle with Ward the most. Whatever it was that he wanted to do, they would back him up 100 percent.

"We're gonna steal that shit back." John B answered without needing much consideration, a small smirk on his face as he spoke which reflected back on him by his friends who were bubbling with enthusiasm.

"Let's do this!" Pope jumped, spinning around to start sprinting again to the van, Kie and John B following close behind.

Collins and JJ weren't far as they grabbed each other by the hand and squeezed so tight their fingers could've broken, grinning at each other before they took off to follow their friends and continue their chase after hidden treasure. This was how their 온라인카지노게임 had began- with the 온라인카지노게임 of a treasure hunt that they'd had no clue that they'd eventually find themselves in. It only felt right to try and finish it so that they could start writing new stories, this time with the two of them together.

They all piled into the Twinkie, John B at the wheel, Kie in shotgun, and the rest of them in the back before they hit the road and started planning. It was crunch time already, they didn't have much time to plan, only the fifteen minute car ride down to the airstrip. This was going to have to be a simple plan executed with difficulty, and they were all going to have to work together in order for it to work.

As much as Collins hated to admit it, they were going to need some reinforcements if they wanted some leverage over Ward, which was why she didn't say anything when it came to JJ fixing together the gun so that he could carry it with him into their little scheme. While he was loading the gun with bullets, he offered his suggestion of a plan and said, "I say we go in there, guns a-blazin', make Ward Cameron beg for mercy, abscond with as much gold as possible, and vamonos, get the hell out of there."

Nodding in agreement, John B followed up by saying,"Send that shit right down the intercostal."

"Wait for the weather." Kie added.

"Exit to Cuba." Pope finished off.

"Cuba?" JJ snickered. "Nah man, Xcalak: jewel of the Yucatan. Lobsters so thick, mangoes, and no word for money."

"Let's do this shit." Collins stated with some assertiveness in her voice.

His eyes flickered up to look over at her and JJ blew a sharp breath between his lips. "Woah, there, pretty girl, watch your mouth. You're starting to sound tough enough to take this gun out of my hands." Also, was it bad that he liked the sound of a swear coming out of her mouth as much as he thought he'd like her voice saying other things?

"Watch yourself, JJ, because she just might." Kie warned him from up front, making Collins shake her head at them while fighting a smile.

They eventually pulled onto an off-road path leading up to the fence lining the perimeter of the airstrip, John B stopping the van a few feet away before parking them to a stop. They all filed out of the vehicle and ran to the fence to get a better look at what they were dealing with.

"Okay, so what's our actual plan for getting over there?" Collins asked, her fingers curled between the chain links as she squinted to see what was going on by the only plane sitting on the runway with workers scattered around it.

"I don't think we got that far." John B responded, all of them realizing at once how out of their depth they might've been. How were they supposed to hijack the gold when five men were hauling it around on forklifts?

Peering through a pair of binoculars to get a closer look at what was going on, Pope said, "They're loading up the gold."

He handed the binoculars over to John B who took a look for himself. "There's Ward." He was referring to the black SUV that had pulled up close to the plane and the figure that came out from the driver's side. He looked small from where Collins stood and hard to make out from the distance between them. "Wait, it's Sarah."

They all fell quiet, surprised to hear it themselves. "She's with him?" It was crazy that the thought hadn't occurred to them sooner. Where did Sarah stand in all of this? What did her presence there mean?

John B nodded, bringing the binoculars back up to his eyes and continuing to watch. "Wait a minute, he's hurting her." His back straightened out as he went into fight or flight mode. "They're fighting. Holy shit."

He handed the instrument over to Kie who went to take a look for herself before he sprinted back to the van. They were all so busy trying to see what he'd seen and make out the situation from where they stood, that they hadn't noticed John B climbing into his van to start the engine, until the sound of it rumbling to life startled them.

"John B, what are you doing?" They yelled, but it was useless when their voices hardly carried through the glass and metal of the vehicle and John B was only hearing his own heart beating and blood pumping in his ears.

The van shifted gears and started rolling forward with John B hitting the gas. The other four were forced to scramble out of the way before they were ran down by the Twinkie, while John B surged forward at full speed to ram right through the fence. The flimsy metal gave into the force and John B burst onto the airstrip, leaving a cloud of dust behind him, along with his friends.

They still tried to run after him, only getting a couple of steps in before ultimately accepting defeat and standing back helplessly. "What do we do?" Collins asked, looking around.

"What even is there to do? John B's never gonna catch up to that plane." Pope was right, the aircraft was already in motion and the Twinkie couldn't have possibly been a match to beat its speed and power. Meanwhile, they had no chance on foot at all.

They tried to see what was going on, half-expecting to see the plane taking off into the sky, the other half of them scared to death that they'd see an explosion of fire indicating some sort of collision. But nothing of the sort seemed to happen. They were left in nail-biting anticipation, just waiting for whatever came next with no clue as to what it was going to be.

Eventually, the sound of a siren came, though Collins wasn't sure whether to be afraid or relieved to hear it. "Guys, I can't get arrested." Pope said with panic evident in his voice.

"Me neither." Collins added. She couldn't afford any marks on her record. Even if she could never pay for college, Collins wasn't just going to resort to letting herself get locked up. John B would understand them leaving at the first sign of the cops.

"I'm on probation." JJ stated begrudgingly. They didn't need any more reason to get the hell out of there.

"Look, we're no good if we're all in jail." Kie pointed out, and they all silently agreed, looking off at the runway one last time to try and catch a glimpse of any commotion, but still, they saw nothing.

None of them really wanted to leave John B behind. It felt wrong to do so when they'd committed to sticking together for so much of what they'd been through. But then again, John B hadn't waited to bring them along with him when he'd sped off in his van toward the Cameron's plane, so he hadn't left them very many options to offer their assistance to him. And Kie was right, all of them in a jail cell wouldn't be of any help to anyone.

They sprinted off back down the path they'd came from, fighting off the tugging at each of their hearts that begged them to stay out of worry for their friend. They couldn't do anything for John B, not without risking themselves and then what was the point? So they prayed that they could figure something out before they lived to regret leaving him behind, which Collins had a nagging feeling deep inside of her, was what they were going to end up doing anyways.