MATILDA! CHAPTER TWENTY TWO:
JOHN BS GOING DARK
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Liz woke up the next morning, and the first thing she saw was the blonde mop of hair snuffling into her. She remembered what he looked like the previous night. Sad. Broken. Liz hated seeing him like that. She attempted to shift without waking JJ, but failed and he groaned, trying to pull Liz closer to himself.

"JJ" Liz chuckled a bit as the blondes eyes fluttered open slowly, trying to adjust to the light that was coming through the window. He nuzzled himself into Lizzes lower body.

"Hey" Liz spoke softly, knowing his head was probably pounding. She ran her hand through his hair gently "how are you feeling?"

"Like shit" JJ stated simply, and Liz nodded, and JJ let her sit up.

"Do you... remember anything from last night?" Liz questioned

"Yeah" JJ nodded "some of it. I Spent all the money and got shit faced"

"Anything else?" Liz asked again

"i think... we kissed?" Liz nodded as a smirk came onto her face and JJs face turned a bright shade of red "I spilled it to you didn't I?" Liz nodded again, chuckling along with JJ who ran a hand down his face in embarrassment.

"can you remind me of your response?" He asked and Liz giggled, biting down on her lip slightly "Would you... be my girlfriend?" JJ asked, and Liz could tell he was bracing himself for rejection. Liz put her hand on the side of his face.

"Yes, I would love to Maybank" Liz pressed a small kiss against his lips, and he began to kiss back. Liz straddled JJs legs for a moment before smiling into the kiss, stoping and getting up and walking out of the room with a smirk on her face

"Hey, thats not funny!" JJ exclaimed

Liz and JJ sat on the edge of the hot tub as Kie and Pope tested the huge bucket looking thing for their plan. "How's it feeling?"

"Feels good."

"Taking you down. "

"Okay."

"John B pullin' a Houdini." JJ said

"Yeah, where is he?" Liz asked

"I got my scholarship interview tomorrow. We gotta get this done!" Pope said and then as if on que, John B came walking towards them.

He had a determined look on his face. Or anger. Sadness. Liz couldn't quite tell. But she'd never seem that look on his face.

"Speak of the devil. Hey! Dude, I set up the entire winch to pull up the gold and everything." JJ said but John B ignored it completely

"No, he did not. I did that." Pope said and they realized John B not even looking in their direction

"Hey John B"

"Hey." They called when John B rushed in the house

"Okay, that's it?"

"Uh... what's that all about?" Pope asked
"I was gonna ask you the same question" JJ said before they went inside to see John B searching for something.

"You all right, man? What-- what's up?"

"What are you looking for?" Liz asked before He switched sides of the room

"Bro, what's going on?" John B searched a bag and pulled out the gun and looked at it

"John B, what do you need the gun for?" JJ asked "Just Talk to us!" He said before John B pushed him onto the bed

"John B, chill!"

"What are you doing?" Liz asked

"What, are you JJ now?" Pope asked before John B pushed him as well

"Shi-- Are you okay?" Kie asked and Pope nodded. They ran after John B

"John B, what the hell are you doing?" Kie yelled as she ran out to see him getting on the bike

"John B, what the hell?" Liz asked "what is going on?"

"Ward knows about the gold." He yelled "He killed my dad." He said, before pressing the pedal and started to go off on the bike

"John B!" Liz ran towards him to try and get him to stop "Shit!" Liz pursed her lips as she watched John B ride off on the motor bike.

it was pitch black outside as they sat out at the Docks of the Cameron's. Liz sat at the bow of the HMS Pogue, her heart racing thinking about what John B might do. She couldn't stop thinking about what he said.

"What now?" JJ asked, Liz could hear the anxiety in his voice "we just go up to the door and ask 'hey have you seen John B?'"

"Look, he lives at Tannyhill now. It's plausible. We could play dumb?" Kie asked

"It's pretty late" Pope said.

"I've never seen John B like that" Liz said

"We should honestly he going to the cops!" Kiara Exclaimed

"The Cops- yeah and say what Kie?" JJ snorted as he thought of the idea "we're worried about our friend because he's gone on a rampage because Ward Cameron killed Big John?"

"They're not gonna believe us Kie" Liz told the girl.

"I see Ward" Pope gasped as he looked through the binoculars

"Let me see!" Kiara grabbed the binoculars out of Popes hands and put them to her eyes

"Doesn't look dead to me. let's go home" Pope said, turning to get ready to leave but Kiara turned to face him

"Wait"

"Hold up"

"What?"

"Uh, okay obviously Mr Cameron is fine and even if John B was here, he isn't now" Pope explained "I have the biggest most important moment of my life in six hours"

"Yeah well, our friend is in trouble"

"I'm in trouble!" Pope exclaimed "guys I haven't been home in three days, my dads probably put all my shit at the street by now!"

"Okay, so that's it?" Kiara asked "in a time of need your just gonna bail? Your gonna walk away?"

"Guys can we not do this right now?" Liz told the two

"Hey I have a scholarship interview in the morning!"

"Okay well what about John B?"

"Why is it always about John B?"

"It's not about John B! Your so stupid! It would be any of you guys in this situation"

"Oh bullshit"

"This is about friendship! This is about Pogues for life!"

"What about Forensic pathology, huh?" Pope countered "it's my life! Everything I've ever worked for!"

"That's your priority?"

"Stop with the moral high ground bullshit!" Pope seethed

"Pope come on!" JJ urged them to stop their fighting

"just stop arguing" Liz told them again

"No she has no room to talk!" Pope exclaimed "where we you when Big John went missing? You weren't there for John B! You weren't there for any of us! Remember your Kook year?"

"Give me a break!" Kiara snapped, pushing Pope away but he didn't waiver only angering her more as the two continued.

JJ and Liz jumped between the two, stopping whatever was going on "Hey, yo cut it out!" JJ yelled as Liz tried to calm Kie down.

"If we're the ones mediating, we've hit rock bottom"

Liz sat with Kie at the back of the boat, and Kie held onto her hand.