——

"Emelina! I've been looking all over for you." Topper came rushing into the room, earning loud hushes from students nearby. He quietly apologized before joining the girl at the table.

She looked up from her notes, "You know I always go to the library during my free periods."

He nodded his head toward the door, "I thought maybe we could talk?"

Emelina gulped, knowing too well where this conversation was leading. Nevertheless, she collected her books and followed him out to the hallway. "What's up?"

Topper leaned on one of the lockers and looked at her, "Can't we figure something out? Between us?"

"No, Topper. I meant what I said." Emelina replied and clutched onto her books.

He furrowed his eyebrows, "But, you're throwing away everything. I mean, our parents paired us ever since we were babies—"

"And they didn't seem to mind when you dated Sarah. I'm sure you can find another girl suitable for your parents' approval." Emelina said, already wanting this to end.

Topper was silent for a moment, taken aback by her words. "What about your mom?"

"What about my mom?" she questioned.

"Is she going to like that you replaced me with some Pogue?" he asked, venom lacing in his voice and she hated it.

Emelina shrugged and felt a buzz in her pocket from her phone, "Everybody likes JJ. He can find a way to charm my mom with his sweet words." she said sarcastically.

Topper shook his head, "I'm being serious, Emelina."

Another buzz appeared and she ignored it. "So am I. We're over, Topper. For good."

"Why are you treating me like this? What did I even do?" he asked, lowering his voice when a classmate walked past them through the hallway.

Getting fed up with the buzzing, she opened her phone to an unknown number sending a picture. John B and Sarah appeared on her screen and a gasp escaped her lips. She read the other messages within the group chat.

Kie: WTF is this you???
Unknown: Is JJ there?
JJ: I'm here Bree
Unknown: Did you pimp my short board?

"What is it?" Topper asked, noticing her sudden change in mood.

Emelina couldn't contain her excitement, but she wasn't sure if it was real or not. "Nothing. I have to get back and study for my test. We'll talk later, okay?"

She was quick to turn around and sprint out of the hallway to the courtyard where Kiara had texted her their location.

Kiara and Pope sat on different picnic tables and JJ stood there with the biggest smile she had ever seen on him.

"Is it true?" Emelina asked and all three heads whip in her direction. JJ opened his arms wide, "It's true, baby!"

"Oh my, God." She ran into his arms after discarding her books to a picnic table and spun around in his tight embrace. She could feel the smile when he dug his face in the crook of her neck.

Happy tears fell from her eyes and soon transfer onto JJ's shirt but she knew he wouldn't mind. After all they have been through, this assurance is all they needed.

"Wait, he texted again. Laying super low in Nassau. How the hell did they get to the Bahamas?" Kiara said and looked up from her phone.

JJ pulled away from the hug. "You can't kill a Pogue, dude."

"Especially John B," Pope added on. "Our very own cockroach," Emelina said and took a seat at the table. JJ sat closely next to her and lazily draped his arm over her shoulders.

Another ding came from their phones. 'Can you clear my name? Wanna come home. Be in touch. P4L.'

"P4L, man. That's what I'm talking about!" JJ cheered and climbed up on the table to stand and scream, "P4L, baby!"

"Holy shit, dude." Kiara laughed and JJ stepped down to pull all four of them into a group hug. "Let's get them back."

They agreed to meet up after school to do a mini celebration at The Wreck. Kiara opened the door and the three follow after her down the steps. JJ trailed behind with a smile that never left his face. "I never doubted them," he said.

Kiara laughed, "I owe you five bucks."

"Kiara, I need those setups done by five!" Kiara's mother called out. She groaned in response. "Can't you hire Lina again?!"

Emelina pushed her shoulder, "No. I like sleeping in."

"And using mommy's money." JJ joked which earned an eye roll from her. Kiara and Pope lead the group over by the docks but JJ tugged on Emelina's wrist to stop them from moving forward.

"Hi, pretty girl," JJ said to her, his fingers lingering with hers. She smiled, "Hi."

"I figured somethin' out just now," he said and she raised an eyebrow in question. "Yeah?"

"Our kiss totally brought John B and Sarah back," he answered, although his voice had hints of humor in it.

Emelina laughed, "They were alive before we kissed, you know."

"Yeah, and if we kiss now, I can guarantee they will teleport right here, right now," JJ said with a growing grin. Emelina took his red cap from his head and gently shoved it over his eyes. "Nice try."

"Guys, we're over here! Hellooooo?" Pope yelled out and the pair whip their head to look at him. JJ fixed his cap and flipped it back before the two joined their friends.

"So we going to the Bahamas or what?" JJ asked, taking a seat at the lower half of the dock and she joined him. "I could totally go for a tan right now," Emelina said while closing her eyes to fantasize about the beach.

"Yeah, I'd kill to see you in a bikini again," JJ remarked. Emelina elbowed him on the side and he laughed.

"Hey, JJ, I have a request for you. Maybe don't hit on girls who have boyfriends?" Kiara suggested to JJ, shrugging her shoulders in the process.

"Actually, I hit on free girls now," he grinned. Kiara and Pope exchanged a look of confusion, resulting in Emelina answering their unspoken question. "I broke up with Topper."

"Yo, what? You broke up with Topper?" Kiara widened her eyes, "And JJ was the first to know?!"

"I've been waiting for this day. I deserve to know first." JJ argued.

"As your best friend, I think I should've known first," Kiara stated before pushing her hair away from her face. JJ chuckled, "Sorry, Kie, but I think I claimed that title."

Kiara tilted her head, "Can we go back to the days when you guys hated each other? Life was simpler."

Pope spoke up, "Glad to know you're free from the hell zone, but back to what JJ said, there's no way we're getting to the Bahamas."

"John B's gonna get napped sooner or later. So if we're gonna clear his name, we need to have done it yesterday." Kiara told them.

JJ stood up. "I'll tell you how we do it."

Pope gave him a skeptical glance, "So you have it all planned out?"

He nodded. "As a matter of fact, I do."

"Let's hear it," Emelina said, ready to listen to all the propositions.

"We kidnap Rafe."

"Never mind," Emelina shook her head in disagreement.

"We kidnap Rafe, tie him up and stick the gun in his mouth and just wait till he starts squawking." JJ finished and used his two fingers to imitate a gun.

Kiara gave him a look. "You know, torture's a war crime."

"Yeah," Pope agreed, "so how exactly do you plan on clearing John B's name from a prison cell? Because that's a felony."

"Alright, well, what do you got, Pope?" JJ asked, not liking the idea that none of his friends will go through with his plan. "I was just trying to keep it simple. You know, one-stop, and we're done," he added and took a seat next to Emelina.

"Guys, all we need is a material witness. We saw Ward's plane fly right over our heads with the gold inside of it. He didn't fly it. If somebody else flew, they were there on the tarmac. They saw Peterkin get murdered." Pope said and JJ took off his cap in thought.

"Great, so we have to find this mysterious pilot and get them to confess on record? How do we do that?" Emelina asked.

Pope shrugged and looked down at the brunette, "A little light espionage."

JJ placed his cap back on his head, "A little ghost recon."

Pope wiggled his fingers, "Woogity-woogity?"

JJ reached over to fiddle with his fingers. "Woogity, baby."

§

"If this guy flew planes for Ward, he's gotta be pretty tight-lipped," Pope said from the passenger's seat of Kiara's car as she drove over the bridge.

JJ cocked his gun, "So then direct approach gets my vote."

Emelina put her hand over his and gave him a look of warning. "That doesn't get my vote. Put it away."

Pope and Kiara tell JJ no, making him more defensive. "Why?! We gotta keep this simple, or we'll never get John B off."

"Or," Pope turned his head to look at the couple behind him and raised a pair of AirPods, "we just tickle the wire."

"What?" Kiara asked.

"We tickle the wire." Pope repeated then continued while putting the AirPods in his ears, "I plant my phone in his car, and then we listen in on your AirPods."

He pointed the microphone of his phone to Kiara's mouth and asked her to say something. "Something," she spoke into the phone.

It repeated her words back a second later. "Okay, we have audio."

"I guess it'd work," Emelina nodded and leaned back into the seat. Kiara looked into the review mirror, "Why aren't you guys wearing your seatbelts?"

"'Cause we aren't twelve," JJ replied then laid down and placed his head on Emelina's lap, making sure to give her a smile to show off his dimples.

She chuckled and began running her fingers through his hair and watched as he relaxed at her touch and flutter his eyes shut in the process.

Ten minutes go by and Kiara parked in front of a house. "I think that's his house over there. Alright, honk or, uh... or yell or something if you see anything suspicious." Pope said as he unbuckled his seatbelt.

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

He gave her a look and opened his car door, "Come on. I'm not JJ."

"I heard that!" JJ said with his eyes still closed. Pope shut his door and ran across the street to the house to complete his mission.

"I'm so glad you broke up with Topper." Kiara said to Emelina.

"Me too," JJ inserted himself into the conversation.

Kiara turned her body to focus her gaze on them. "So, are y'all a thing now?"

Secrets were the reason the group took a break and she wasn't going to let it happen again. It had been a few days so her promise to tell Kiara was overdue.

"I... Yes, Kie. I guess you could say we are a thing." Emelina confirmed and watched as her friend widened her eyes in shock.

"Wait, what—"

"Oh, thank God!" JJ sat upright after cutting Kiara completely off. "Hey, Kie, you might want to close your eyes for this."

Kiara furrowed her eyebrows, "What are you—" She closed them with her hands and faced her body back to the front. "Only a peck!" she added.

JJ placed his hand behind Emelina's neck and pulled her in to give her a kiss like he wanted. She smiled, wishing they could do more than just a peck but they pulled away after a few seconds.

"Nothing can stop me now." he said, his dimples showing again when he smiled.

Kiara turned around again. "I'm shocked—truly. I mean, JJ? With a girlfriend? Who is my best friend? And Emelina with JJ?"

"I think it sounds nice," JJ said and opens his hands to showcase his next words, "Emelina and JJ."

Emelina rolled her eyes at the both of them. "Look, my mom doesn't know about this yet so let's keep this on the down-low, okay?"

The conversation ended short when Pope came rushing to the door and shoving himself back into his old seat. "Okay. Phase one is complete."

——

a/n: gonna try hard not to make them boring now that they're together cuz im already getting a snooze fest... like my original plan was to have the last few chapters you read to be throughout season two but w the timeline it really wasn't gonna work plus i can't torture yall anymore lmfaodjd also TYSM for 85k reads <3 that's insaneee may the jjlina nation grow