Dried Paint

John B and JJ sat comfortably in the Twinkie, chatting about nothing inparticular as they made their way to Lana Grubbs house.

"Is something going on with you and Kiara?" JJ asked, out of nowhere. It seemed random, but JJ had spent the last couple hours at Kiara's and while she doubted Kie noticed she was doing it, she kept asking about John B and whether he was okay. What was he doing and how was he handling his appearance of his dad's compass. Yada yada yada.

JJ didn't like it. At all. But she wanted John B to be happy and Kie was kind and caring. Better than JJ could ever hope to be, so why not? At least, Kie was her friend so not much would change, except John B would snuggle with Kie instead of her and they'd kiss and… A deep pit drops in her stomach and she tries to ignore the awful feelings that well up at the images of John B and Kie together.

"No, why do you ask that," John B denies adamantly.

"Why not? She clearly likes you. She's like 'Oh John B'" she tells him jealously, raising her pitch in an impression of Kie's voice.

"Is that what she does?" He laughs at her, confused on where this was coming from.

"She sketched about you diving, then she practically sat in your lap-" she listed.

"She did not sit in my lap, JJ. It's not like she kissed me or anything," John B sighed exasperated. Why is she so concerned about Kie anyway? She almost sounds jealous, he thinks. So many different emotions well up with that realization, but he keeps a straight face to test his theory.

"Low hanging fruit, bro. Don't pretend that you don't notice," she stressed at him. "I see it in your eyes. You're like 'I kinda like that' and you start blushing and shit." She ranted.

Definitely jealous.

"I blush?" He asked her with a raised eyebrow, trying not to laugh at her. If only she knew.

"Yeah," she uttered back.

"Really?" He teased her.

"Yeah," she said again. God she's stubborn, he thought to himself.

When he didn't respond, she grabbed the compass from the dashboard.

"Hey don't-" he tried to grab it from her. It's his only lead to finding his father.

She dodged his hands and held the compass delicately, knowing how much it meant to him. "I was just looking at it," she soothed, studying the said item in her hand. After a minute, "I gotta admit, your father's compass in Scooter Grubb's boat. That's freaky."

"Yeah, that's why we're going to talk to Mrs. Lana, figure this whole thing out," John B replied.

"I'm sure she would love to talk to us. It's not like her husband just drowned or anything," she said carefully, not wanting John B to get his hopes up too high.

John B didn't respond to that and the the rest of the trip was made in silence. She laid the compass back on the dash with a sigh.

They pulled up to the Grubbs place, which looked like it needed some serious repairs with how rundown it looked.

They exited the Twinkie and made their way towards the house. "You know what this house looks like?" JJ chatted, "whoever lives here smokes too much weed."

As they got closer, they could hear glass smashing from inside. JJ has a bad feeling.

"Maybe we should come back," she mutters to John B. She can hear a man yelling now and it hits too close to home. Luke throwing beer bottles against the wall. Luke screaming at her. She can feel her heartbeat pick up. "It's a little too soon."

John B isn't paying attention to JJ as he edges closer. "No, no quiet," he signals her to stop talking so they can hear what's going on inside.

"Tell me where it is or I'll fuck you up!" They can hear a man's voice yell threateningly. "I'll sink you in the fucking-!" CRASH!

A woman's scream can be heard. JJ is terrified as she is terrorized with flashes of being slammed against the wall, Luke's fists coming down on her. Luke choking her. Luke grabbing her by her hair when she tries to get away.

"I-" she chokes out, but John B is facing away from her and can't see the horror painted on her face.

"Quiet," he looks back and pauses when he sees her. Damn it, he thought, he should've known. He mentally slapped himself for being so thoughtless. They need to get out of the open before the men come out. Softening his voice, he grabs her hand and pulls her along. "Come on."

"Where the fuck is it you bitch?!" The man yells again with a resounding thwack.

"I don't know," the woman cried.

John B pulled JJ along to the side of the house.

"Is it here in this house?!" The man raged. "Is it somewhere else?!"

"Please I-" the woman, presumably Lana sobbed.

John B stopped under a window. JJ briefly snapped out of her flashbacks. "You still think we should stay?" She asked shakily.

John B was about to say no and sneak them back to the Twinkie when he heard "The compass wasn't in the boat! Where is it Lana?!" And he froze.

His father's compass. They're looking for his father's compass.

"I don't know!" Lana cried.

"Don't Listen," JJ mumbled to herself, lowering her head between her knees. John B felt torn between getting JJ out of there and finding out what they wanted with his dad's compass.

The wall shook behind them and dried paint chipped off, flaking into their hair and shoulders.

"Is that paint?" JJ asked, voice trembling.

"Yes, it's paint," he whispered back. He didn't like how pale JJ's face was, but he needed answers.

"Let's get the hell out of here, man," the man inside says. So there's two of them.

John B tries to peek inside but he can't see anything, so he maneuvered to the edge of the house to get a look at the front door.

"We should just go. He's got smuggler written all over him," JJ tells him, trying not to panic. She's a little too loud and John B's afraid they're going to be heard.

"Shhh," he shushes her gently. She quietly got up and crept over to him, not wanting to be alone. She took a deep breath and seemed to calm a bit.

They both look around the corner and watch two large men storm out and drive away on a boat.

"Those were the guys that shot at us!" JJ recognized them.

The boat came around the bend and John B ducked back around the house so as not to be seen, pulling JJ with him.

It took only a second for him to process the compromised position they ended up in. He had her pinned against the house with his arms either side of her, locking her in place. He could feel her breath on his skin, he was so close. She looked up and he felt trapped in a sea of blue.

JJ felt her heart race, but this time not out of fear. She looked up into soft brown eyes and her breath hitched in her throat at how close he was.

Time seemed to stand still for a moment as they looked into each other's eyes and it was like all the feelings they'd been holding back were on full display.

His eyes flickered down to her lips and his face lowered towards hers. Her eyes fluttered shut.

But then they heard Lana Grubbs sobbing again and John B pulled back before there lips could meet.

He squeezed her hand and gave her a look that said talk later, then pulled her towards the front door.

As they entered the house they could see glass shattered everywhere, chairs flipped upside down, and well it's just plainly a mess.

"Shit," JJ mumbled quietly.

"Mrs. Lana?" John B called out.

They walked through a couple doorways in the direction they could hear sniffles coming from and found Mrs. Lana on the floor of the bathroom doorway, clutching her midsection S she cried.

"Mrs. Lana!" John B rushed over, crouching down next to where Mrs. Lana sat. "Hey, are you okay?"

He placed a hand on her shoulder, startling her as she looked at him in fear. "Hey it's okay," he soothed.

JJ could see her pupils were dilated. "Dude, she's tweaked.

"Do you need a doctor?" John B asked her gently. Mrs. Lana sobbed harder. "Let's call the sheriff's department."

"No cops, please," Mrs. Lana finally said, voice begging.

"Mm. That's not good. Come on JB, let's just go," JJ pleaded, just wanting to get as far from this house as possible.

"You shouldn't be here," Mrs. Lana wailed.

"That's enough for me," JJ turned to go.

John B stopped her. "Wait, wait. What do you know about theses guys?"

"They were looking for something," Mrs. Lana whimpered.

"Does it have anything to do with this?" John B pulled out the compass he must have grabbed from the dash when they exited the Twinkie, and held it up for Mrs. Lana to see. "Do you know anything about this?"

She studied it and he continued. Desperate for answers. "This is my father's and Scooter had it. Why?"

"Scooter didn't have it okay?" She replied mysteriously. "Don't tell anyone you have it."

"Come on," JJ insisted. She was really freaked now. Mrs. Lana is creepy and she's afraid those men will come back.

"Why?" John B asks insistently.

"They can't know!" Mrs. Lana's voice is raised, eyes wild. "You've gotta get out of here!"

"What do you know about the compass?"John B can't let it go. JJ pulls at his arm.

"Go! Get out!" Mrs. Lana screams at them.

"We gotta go. Let's go," JJ pulls harder at John B. John B let's her drag her out of there, knowing he's not going to get anything else from Mrs. Lana. He quietly gets into the passenger side of the Twinkie, replaying the conversation over and over, hoping to find anything that could give him a clue. JJ drives them out of there, leaving John B to his thoughts for now, knowing he needs time to process.