𝐑𝐈𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐃𝐄 , 𝐣. 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤 ⁽¹⁾

𝟑𝟖. 𝐂𝐀𝐓'𝐒 𝐀𝐒𝐒

"How much did this cost?" Pope asked, his voice was stern.

Elle glanced around at their setting. There was a disco ball hanging from a tree, and bright LED lights were wrapped around trees. "Did.. was this all the money? Like the money you could have used for restitution?"

JJ took a sip of his drink before acknowledging the group. "Uh.. Well, with the generator, the petrol, and oh! Hey, express delivery.. pretty much all of it, yeah."

Their eyes went wide in unison as they heard the news. "All of it?" Pope gaped, staring in disbelief. "You spent all the money in a day?"

JJ kept waving his arms around, and Elle could tell he was drunk. "Yeah, burned a hole right through my pocket. But, I mean like, come on guys! Look at this!"

Kiara and Elle exchanged worried glances. "Finest in jet-based massage therapy, that's what they told me..." JJ stopped talking for a second when he noticed Elle and Kie, now staring at him. "Guys, what? Cant a man have a little luxury in life?"

The blonde girl's eyebrows were furrowed together as she struggled to piece together why he had gone off the deep end. The fact that she was also trying not to break down into sobs, didn't help much either.

"Come on! All this scrimpin' and scrapin'..." His voice started to break. "I mean, like.. guys, we— You only life once, right?" JJ stared into Elle's tearful eyes as he quieted down. Yet, he quickly snapped out of it. "Enough of this emotional shit. Get in the Cat's Ass. Come on."

Kie looked mad. Like, really mad. "In the what?"

"In the Cat's Ass. That's what I named her." He replied. "Oh, hey, yo, I almost forgot!" He flicked a switch on the side of the hot tub, and the disco ball above started spinning and shining.

The teens looked up in confusion as the whirring of the disco ball became louder. "Yeah, that's right, I know. Disco mode. That's right, baby!"

Elle's eyes narrowed as she grew more angry and frustrated. "You're kidding, right? You spent money that you stole from a drug dealer, on a hot tub?!"

"Are you kidding me?!" Pope asked, clearly just as angry as Elle was. "You could have paid for restitution!"

Kiara shook her head aggressively. "Or literally given it to any charity!"

Pope nodded. "Or better yet, you could have helped us buy supplies to get the rest of the gold out of the well!"

JJ stood up abruptly and yelled back. "Okay, well, you know what?! I didn't do that! I got a hot tub! For my friends."

As he stood, Elle's eyes scanned down his torso. It was all clear now. Multiple bruises and scars covered his entire midsection. She knew, at that exact moment, that it wasn't his fault. It was never really JJ's fault. It was always, always, Luke Maybank's.

"JJ—" Elle started, trying to grab his attention. Despite her efforts, it didn't work.

He threw his hand in the air. "You know what? No, you know what? Screw friends. I got a hot tub for my family!" His voice cracked as he spoke. Now he was crying. "I got all this for you, Elle! For everyone! You guys, my family! Look what I did for you! Look at this!"

JJ spun around, motioning to the scenery. Except, although he was trying to have a great time, everyone's faces were covered in a mask of sadness and worry. They all had come to the same conclusion, that was clear.

"JJ!" Kiara and Elle yelled together, their voices hearse.

"No, you stop being emotional! It's fine, okay?" He stopped and laughed as he talked. "I mean, it's sweet, right? Everything—."

Elle made her way up to him, followed by Kie and Pope. She quickly eloped her arms around him, careful to not put too much pressure on the bruises.

She hurried her head into his shoulder as he leaned down to do the same to her. Kiara and Pope quickly walked up and put their arms around the two blondes, as collective sobs were heard from the huddle.

JJ's were the worst. The most heart-wrenching, tear jerking thing Elle has ever heard. She'd heard him cry after getting a beating, but never like this. It was never this bad. And she'd never hated Luke as much as she did right in this moment.

"I just couldn't do it." He mumbled in-between cries. His arms were wrapped around her waist and he swayed back and forth. He was shaking violently against her skin. "I cant take him anymore! I was gonna kill him."

Elle stroked her hand against his hair while he continued to cry. She wanted him to know that she was there for him as many times as he'd been there for her. "It's okay, i'm here."

He kept crying while Pope and Kie still stayed huddled around them. Kiara grabbed Elle's hand and squeezed it, nodding approvingly as she wiped tears from her eyes. They continued to hug. All four of them, completely absorbed in comforting JJ and their own company.

"I just wanna do the right thing." He sobbed, this time into Pope's arm.

Kiara squeezed tighter. "I know. I know."

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AUTHOR SPEAKS !

if i see any of you little shits romanticizing this i'm going to find you and kick you in the throat one by one.

thanks for reading xoxo