"John B!" JJ called his name before he even hit the edge of the yard. "John B Routledge! Let's roll man!"

John B slammed the screen door open and barely offered JJ a nod before heading to the Twinkie. "Bout time man, where the hell were you?"

JJ heaved his backpack into the passenger seat and climbed in as John B started the engine. "Sorry man, Sarah made breakfast."

"Oh." His response was carefully level. "That's nice."

"Okay," JJ heard his own voice become uncharacteristically stern. "Let's get something straight, here. Sarah had nowhere to go, and that's on you man."

"I know…"

"And neither of us had had anything to eat in hours, since your house. Shit man, your place was the only food I've had to eat in days." There was a pause as John B processed that information, but JJ wasn't done. "And also? She told me what you said to her dude. And if we weren't so busy trying to find your dad right now I would actually be kicking your ass."

John B was silent for a minute, and JJ decided to just let him stew in it. There was nothing left to say that John B wouldn't already know. They had been best friends for so long, they didn't really have to say everything they were thinking. Just the gist was enough, they could always fill in the rest.

After they had been driving for a minute, John B broke the silence. "Look, JJ. I'm sorry. For everything. And I'll apologize to Sarah later, I swear. It was a shitty thing to say. I know that."

"Yeah man, it was."

"I know. I know." There was the sound of crinkling paper as John B pulled out an atlas, one of the pages clearly ripped out. "But for now, we've got a job to do."

JJ nodded. Down to business. "Yeah yeah. Give it to me, JB. What are we doin?"

Anna Carrera opened the front door on the second knock. "Good morning, Sarah."

"Hey, Mrs. Carrera!" Sarah forced a smile, trying not to think about how quickly she was turned away yesterday. "Is Kiara here?"

"Not at the moment, she went to pick up some supplies for the party tonight." Anna's smile didn't look forced at all, like she didn't even remember Sarah coming by, like nothing had happened at all. "You can wait here for her, though."

"Um," she was hesitant. Mrs. Carrera was usually fine around her. They got along well, and back in the early days, when she and Kiara were best friends the first time around, Mrs. Carrera played the part of 'mom' far better than Rose ever had. Even when she had ghosted Kiara, Anna never seemed to have a problem with Sarah. So yeah, Anna was fine. It was Mike she was wary of. He always seemed a little too hard-lined for her.

Back when everything was normal, she was comforted by the idea that Mike and Ward were pretty similar. Boys from the cut who made a name for themselves. Ward always seemed to fit more comfortably into the world of kooks, while Mike always gave an air of having something to prove. But they were similar, and that helped Sarah feel at ease. Now, though, thinking of the similarities between the two men made Sarah feel a little nauseous. "Do you, uh, do you know where she went?"

Anna seemed taken aback by Sarah's unwillingness to come in, but after a moment of pursed-lip silence, she nodded. "Yeah, she ran to the Middle of the Island Restaurant, in The Wreck's supply runner. She'll either be there or back at The Wreck with Mike."

Sarah nodded, already turning back toward her bike that was laying on its side on the walkway. "Thank you, Mrs. Carrera."

Kiara was just loading the groceries onto the boat when Sarah rolled up, sweating and out of breath. She had sped down to the Middle of the Island to avoid having to wait up at The Wreck with only Mike. "Kie! Hey, Kie!"

Kiara turned around, squinting into the sun. "Sarah?"

"Kiara!" Sarah slowed as she arrived at the dock. As bad ideas go, riding her cute little vintage piece down the dock ramp at top speed would have definitely been up there. She climbed off and walked the bike down to where Kiara stood. "Hey."

"...hey? Dude, what's up? Everything good?"

"Yeah, yeah fine. JJ just had to go help John B find his dad so I was kind of on my own. And I missed you."

Kiara rolled her eyes and turned to finish loading up. "Big John ran off again?"

Sarah winced despite herself. As angry as she was with John B, and his father, she still felt terrible about their current situation. "Um, more like kidnapped, actually."

That stopped Kiara short. She froze, then set down the box she had just picked up and stood up, turning back to Sarah. "He…what?"

"Yeah, um, I guess they actually were still on the trail for El Dorado, and some shit went down, and now Singh has him? I don't know, I'm not really, um…I'm not exactly talking to him right now."

"Sarah oh my god, Big John is missing – again – and you're keeping it third degree with John B?"

"I can't…Kiara, he just said some stuff and I'm just not ready." She heaved a sigh. "I mean seriously, even JJ was pissed when I told him."

Kiara looked at her like she was rolling the words around in her head. Not her own words. Kie didn't typically think before she spoke. But sometimes someone would say something to her that she seemed to really need to chew on for a second. Sarah didn't blame her for needing some time with this one. Finally, a look of acceptance, or maybe resignation, came over her features. "Alright, yeah. I mean, not like I can help right now either I guess. I'm trying to rebuild things at the Carrera household." She gestured loosely at the groceries on the deck of the boat. "So splitting again, right now, is not really an option." She looked back at Sarah and then at her bike. "You gonna load that up or what?"

So much weight lifted from her in that moment that Sarah swore she could have actually taken flight.

Back in the Carrera household, sitting side by side on the front porch, Sarah filled Kiara in on the fight with John B.

"That's…fucked up dude." Kie shook her head. "Like, damn."

"Yeah, that was pretty much JJ's reaction too." Sarah smiled to herself. "He said he was gonna kick his ass, actually."

Kie rolled her eyes but smiled as well. "As he should honestly." Then her face fell. Well, not fell, per se, but, definitely scrunched into her thinking face. Sarah knew that face well. "How is he? JJ."

Sarah knew she would have to breach the subject at some point. "Um, yeah. He's like, okay…" Alright maybe lying to Kiara about how JJ was coping was not a good start. "At least, I mean, he's definitely pretending he is." That was more honest.

"I hate that he does that." Kiara shook her head. "And acts like everything else is fine. Like stealing my dad's money clip? And then crashing his motorcycle, like he has a death wish or something…" Sarah bit her lip. "And he won't talk to me. Like, he straight up doesn't want to talk to me. And we need to talk!" She was looking at Sarah now, and reaching out and grabbing her hand, like they used to when they were just stupid girls in the kook academy. Sarah knew where this conversation was headed, and selfishly breathed a sigh of relief at knowing Kiara was going to breach the subject all on her own. "Something almost happened, Sarah. On the boat, coming home. And then again at his house. We…" she looked down at their hands, intertwined like old times, best friends gripping each other like it would lock in the secrets. "Sarah, we almost…you know."

"Kissed?"

Kiara grimaced. "Yeah. That."

"You don't look super stoked about that."

"It's not that. Because," she looked at her in earnest, "I wanted to. And I think he did too. But he like, he freaks. Every time." She shook her head. "And I get it, but I don't too, you know?"

"Yeah." Sarah leaned her head back against the aluminum siding, cool from the shade. "Look, Kie, he's just…just give him some time. Everything is a lot right now. For him. For all of us."

"I know." Kiara's voice had that gravelly affect to it that she got when she was about to cry. "I just…I wish he knew he didn't have to handle it alone." She squeezed Sarah's hand, and Sarah looked over to find that Kie was already looking back at her with a watery smile. "I'm really glad you're there."

Sarah nodded back, her heart somehow breaking and swelling in the same moment. "Me too."

end of chapter!