Chapter 8
Smurf sets a mug of steaming hot chocolate in front of Pippa who was perched on a bar stool, the young girl smiling her thanks up to her.
"Nicky's invited me and J around for dinner." Pippa tells Smurf, lifting her mug to her lips.
"That's nice." Smurf comments, turning her back on Pippa to continue making dinner.
"This isn't going to be a weekly thing, right? We're not going to start taking it in turns to host family dinners?" Pippa groans jokingly, dropping her head into her hand as she looks over at Smurf who smiles at her.
"Not if you don't want to, baby." She replies, moving to lean against the counter across from Pippa.
"I mean, I like her and all, she's great..." Pippa trails off, taking a sip of hot chocolate as Smurf raises her eyebrows at her.
"But?"
"But...oh it's so obvious, Smurf! She likes J. Like, like-likes him." She laughs, running a hand through her hair.
"Oh sweetheart..." Smurf starts, reaching over to take Pippa's hand in hers.
"I'm not jealous!" Pippa exclaims, reading Smurf's expression as she shakes her head.
"No. Of course you're not!"
"I'm not!" Pippa protests, tugging her hand away from Smurf's quickly as her cheeks blush.
"Ok, baby. Whatever you say..." Smurf replies, moving back into the kitchen, keeping her eye trained on the teenager in front of her.
"Smurf." Pippa sighs, crossing her arms on the counter, dropping her head to rest on them. "Please. Can we just drop it?"
"Consider it dropped." Smurf says gently, giving Pippa a smile as she drops her head to the side, letting her eyes flutter shut.
"Thanks."
Pippa freezes as they enter Nicky's living room that evening, glancing around at the mess the house was in. Glancing back at J, she registers the shock apparent in his face too, knowing their mind had gone to the same place. Gently curling her hand around J's, she steps back to stand beside him, their arms pressed against each other's as Pippa looks up at him, eyes wide in shock.
"I uh, I think we should go." She calls out softly to Nicky who turns, running a hand through her hair as she looks over at her friends.
"Uh, yeah. I guess so..." she replies. "How are you...are you ok to get home?"
"We'll be ok." Pippa reassures her, stepping forwards again and holding her arms out to Nicky who steps into them, gratefully accepting the hug. "We're ok to walk, it's not too far. Say thank you to your parents for us, for dinner. Just, call us if you need anything?"
"I will. Thanks, Pippa." Pippa smiles as Nicky pulls out of her embrace, turning to head back out of the house. J squeezes Nicky's arm gently as he passes her, following Pippa out of the house, wrapping her hand in his again as he catches up with her on the pavement.
"If this was the boys..." Pippa trails off as they reach the end of the street, shaking her head in disgust, knowing of their plan to involve Paul in their next heist. "I'm going to kill them."
"I swear to God..." Pippa grumbles as she storms through the front gate, J jogging to keep up with her. "Where is he?" She shouts, pushing the door to the house through the garage open with such force it slams against the wall.
"Honey?" Smurf calls back, appearing in the hallway, holding her arms out to Pippa who ignores her, shrugging past Smurf and into the main part of the house.
"Where, the fuck, is he?"
"Pippa, honey. Who? Who are you looking for?" Smurf asks, resting her hands on Pippa's arms, stopping her in place. "What's happened, baby? Who are you looking for?"
"Baz. I'm looking for Baz." Pippa snaps, gently pushing Smurf away as she continues her search through the house.
"J? What's happened? Why's Pippa looking for Baz?"
"Uhh..." J sighs, running a hand through his hair as he hesitates, eyes following Pippa. "I should-" he mutters, pointing in her direction as she freezes in the middle of the hallway, making eye contact with Deran who was hovering in the doorway to his room, having wondered what all the shouting was about.
"You." Pippa calls, pointing her finger at Deran who raises his eyebrows.
"Pip-" J tries, copying Pippa and gently brushing past Smurf to get to his girlfriend.
"Did you do it?" She asks, inching closer to Deran who looks between the two teenagers.
"Did I do what?" He retorts, leaning against the doorframe.
"Did you break into Nicky's house?" Pippa questions, breathing heavy as J comes up behind her. "Did you rob Nicky's house?"
"So what if I did?" Deran mutters, taking a drag of the cigarette in his hand.
"You son of a-" Pippa shouts, lunging forwards, slamming her hands against Deran's chest, the pair immediately beginning to fight.
"Woah, woah! Pippa!" J shouts, reaching forwards to wrap his arms around Pippa's waist, pulling her body back against his as the pair continue to lash out at each other.
"You could have chosen anyone!" Pippa shouts, kicking her foot out towards Deran, who steps back, narrowly missing getting kicked. "Anyone, Deran! She's our friend!"
"Yeah, well, I'm just the grunt. You know that, Pippa. Talk to Baz. He's the man with the plan." Deran replies, turning away from the angry teenager and pulling his bedroom door shut behind him.
"Fuck you!" Pippa shouts, giving the door one last hard kick before pushing out of J's arms and stalking off down the hallway. J sighs, running a hand through his hair as he takes a deep breath. He makes his way down the hallway after Pippa, unbuttoning his shirt as he goes; he pauses in the doorway to Pippa's room, pulling the shirt off and throwing it on to the end of the bed as he watches her pace the floor, running her hands through her hair.
"Hey, come here," he says softly, holding his hand out to catch Pippa's wrist as she passes him, the young girl letting him pull her gently towards him and on to his lap, wrapping his arms around her shaking body.
"How could they?" She cries, wrapping her arms around J, who remains silent, not knowing how to respond, Pippa tucking her head in his neck as he runs a hand up and down her back.
"We've gotta talk to you." Pope calls as J and Pippa appear in the hallway above the living room.
"You can go, Pippa." Baz states gently as she follows J into the room, freezing at the suggestion.
"I can stay..." She says slowly, glancing between J and Smurf who gives her a reassuring smile.
"Pippa. Go hang out by the pool for a bit, ok sweetie? We won't be long." Smurf suggests, nodding towards the doors leading outside.
"But-"
"Pip. Go. Go on." Baz cuts in, meeting Pippa's eye as she narrows her own, glaring at him.
"Josh?" She mumbles, turning to look at J who squeezes her hand gently.
"It's ok." He reassures her, pressing a kiss to her temple as she sighs, removing her hand from his and slowly making her way outside. Once on the pool deck, she drops into a chair at the outdoor table, glancing over her shoulder to find Baz watching her from the house; she slips her earphones into her ears, pretending to play music as Baz turns away, whilst she listens in to their conversation from outside.
"How much did you hear?" J asks as he slides the french doors fully shut, settling into the seat next to Pippa, reaching forward to take her hand in his.
"All of it." She replies, glancing up at him. "You're not seriously going to do this? Are you?" She asks, biting her lip as J rubs his thumb across the back of her hand.
"I am." He states, nodding his head as she lets out a bitter laugh.
"Really, Josh?"
"Really, Pippa."
"Jesus Christ..." she mutters, dropping her head to look at the ground.
"Pippa." He chides softly, placing his fingers under her chin, tilting her head up to look into her eyes. "Come on..."
"It's dangerous!" She exclaims, pulling away from his gentle touch. "Camp Pendleton? Seriously?"
"They need me." J says gently, reaching out to cup Pippa's chin again.
"They'd have to figure out another way if you weren't around; you can't be the only option." She protests, leaning into his touch as he moves his hand up to cup her cheek.
"But I'm here, and I'm willing to help-"
"Josh-"
"Pippa. Please. I need to do this." He states, cutting her off gently, watching as she sighs, pulling her face away from his hand.
"Go on then. Go. I won't stop you. You're a big boy, you can make your own decisions." She huffs, rising from her seat, J's eyes following her as she steps back, away from the hand he held out to her. "But don't come crying to me when it all goes to shit." She turns on her heel, pushing past Baz and Deran as they pull open the door, heading out to J who was sat watching Pippa go.
J glances over to his left as Baz leads him into the kitchen, his eyes locking on Pippa who had curled herself up on a bar stool, knees tucked up to her chest, hands cupped around a mug of tea. She gives him a weak smile in response to a smile of his own, eyes flicking over to the older Codys as they congratulate J, giving him a shot of tequila. J turns as the group break back off into their own conversations, finding Pippa, in the short time his back had been turned, had disappeared. Grabbing his bag off the floor, he heads away from the kitchen, heading through the house until he finds Pippa, folding away clean laundry in her bedroom. She looks up as he enters her room, pulling the door shut behind him; she smiles up at him again, pushing the last pair of shorts into the drawer and sliding it shut before she turns fully to face J, who was standing still in the middle of her room, hands shoved deep in his pockets.
"What did those poor shorts ever do to you?" He teases playfully, commenting on the way she had been wedging the clothing back into the drawers when he had walked in, Pippa giving him a little smile in response.
Stepping forwards, Pippa reaches out to cup J's cheeks with her hands as he ducks his head, softly pressing his lips to hers.
"Are you ok?" She whispers, rubbing her thumbs over J's cheeks as he drops his forehead to rest against hers, nodding. "It went ok?"
"Yeah. It went fine." He says softly, placing his hands on her hips, sliding them under her t shirt and rubbing slow circles on her skin. "I'm sorry-"
"Don't apologise." She cuts him off, tilting her head to kiss him. "I'm the one who should be apologising to you. I wasn't being fair. I shouldn't have said what I did-"
"Pippa." J cuts her off gently, pressing his lips to hers in another tender kiss. "It's ok."
"I'm sorry." She sighs, resting her forehead on his. "It's your choice; if you want to do jobs with the boys, I'm not going to stop you. Just...be careful, Josh? I uh..." she trails off, clearing her throat with a shake of her head. "I really care about you, Josh. I've fallen for you. Hard. And I couldn't bare to see you hurt because of something stupid the boys got you involved in." J smiles, capturing her lips with his again in a deep kiss, pulling Pippa's body to his as she winds her arms around his neck. Walking them backwards gently, Pippa pulls J down on top of her as they fall backwards on to the bed, limbs tangling as they kiss.
"Hey," J whispers, pulling back to look Pippa in the eye, brushing her hair out of her face gently. "I care about you too. A lot. I'll be careful. I promise." Pippa smiles widely up at him, cupping her hand around the back of his head to pull his lips back down to hers.