Throwing her hair up into a ponytail Coralina waited for the water to fill in the sink so she could wash the dishes. Dumping the cups in first she started scrubbing and rinsing, jumping when a pair of arms came around her, "Geez JJ, wear a bell," she joked, dropping the sponge in the water and turning around in his arms.

"You smell good," he commented, nuzzling her neck. Giggling Coralina pushed her face into his neck, "You smell like motor oil," she told him, "Are you guys having any luck out there?" she questioned, asking about the progress on fixing the dirtbike his dad had given to him for Christmas.

"Oh yeah, JB's going through the beer while Pope's nose deep in the manual he found at the library trying to diagnose why it won't stay running. I'm gonna laugh in his face when he finally figures out it needs a carburetor, like I told him twenty minutes ago," JJ replied.

"Hey have you noticed anything weird with Pope lately?" Coralina questioned. Furrowing his brow JJ shook his head, "I don't know Pope's a weird guy to begin with so," he trailed off. "No, I swear ever since New Years he's been, like, extra weird Pope around me. Like fidgety and nervous almost," she tried explaining. Nipping at her ear JJ whispered, "Maybe he has the hots for you like I do."

Laughing Coralina shoved at his chest, "Are you ever serious?" Shrugging JJ walked over to the fridge pulling out a beer, "On occasion. Speaking of, John B mentioned you guys still haven't heard from your dad and neither has your uncle. Why didn't you say anything?" he asked, concerned.

"I didn't get a chance to," she replied, turning back to the sink of dishes. "Coral," he warned, walking up behind her. Sighing Coral shrugged, "He said he'd be back by New Year but it's literally February next week. He also said he'd call and check in from the beginning and hasn't done that at all so I don't know what to think," she told him quietly, "Uncle T is apparently starting to worry because he hasn't talked to him since November when he first called him. So he's supposed to be coming up here in the next few weeks. At least that's what he says, but I feel like everybody lies."

Turning her around JJ wrapped his arms around her pulling her into a tight hug, "I don't know what to say to you, Babygirl, to make this better for you, but you can't bottle this shit up. Talk to me, yell at me, whatever you need," he told her. Sighing Coralina moved her head to kiss him, "You do make this better, JJ. Everytime you kiss me, hug me, or take me to bed it's like I can breathe again and it goes away."

Hearing the back porch door slam the two sprang apart, JJ sitting down at the kitchen table while Coral turned back to the dishes. Glancing over she smiled when Pope walked into the kitchen, "Hey, JJ tells me you're out there diagnosing the dirtbike," she said smiling at the boy.

Eyes wide Pope stopped as he noticed JJ at the table, "Oh, uh, yeah. I, uh, just needed to grab a drink," he stuttered out all but running to the fridge where he pulled out a bottle of water, "Okay, well, uh, I'll be outside and like yeah that's where JB and I will be," he told them before hurrying out of the kitchen.

Furrowing her brow Coralina turned to look at a perplexed JJ, "See," she stated. Glancing towards the door that Pope had left through JJ nodded, "Yeah, that was even weirder than normal weird Pope," he agreed.

Another week had passed without any contact from her father or Uncle. Coralina spent the week working and finding time to sneak off with JJ. She'd also decided to subtly watch Pope and discovered that he was still acting squirrely around her. The final straw was when she'd been walking to lunch and had seen him in the hall. Instead of answering her greeting and wave he ducked into the boys bathroom without acknowledging her even though she knew he'd seen her.

Marching down the hallway, Coral stood directly outside of the bathroom and waited. Lunch was halfway over by the time he finally emerged and without giving him any chance of escape she'd pushed him back into the vacant bathroom, "Alright start talking," she demanded.

Wide eyed Pope looked around quickly trying to find an escape route. Turning and locking the bathroom door Coralina faced him with her hands on her hips, "Nope, you're not escaping me until you tell me what the hell I did to you for you to be all weird for the last month," she told him sternly.

Dropping his schoolbag Pope paced the small bathroom, "I can't. I can't say it out loud because if I do then what I saw that day is real and then I'm lying to JB and I can't. I can't lie to one of my best friends but it's really none of my business," he panicked. Furrowing her brow Coralina stepped forward and grabbed one of his flailing hands, "What did you see, Pope?" she asked quietly.

Taking several deep breaths Pope closed his eyes, "I saw you," he told her, before opening his eyes and looking at her, "Leaving JJ's," he whispered, staring at her. Feeling her heart stop Coralina gripped his hand as she sighed, "Okay, ummm, well I don't really know what to say to you other than to beg you not to tell my brother."

Pulling his hand away Pope began pacing again, "See, see, you're asking me to lie and Pogues aren't supposed to lie to other Pogues," he whined. "Pope I'm not asking you to lie. If my brother says to you 'Pope, do you think Coral and JJ are screwing each other' then yes by all means you can say 'JB I think they are'. I'm just asking you not to bring it up first," Coralina pleaded.

Wide eyed Pope shook his head, "Oh my God! I didn't need confirmation that you two were screwing," he whisper yelled at her, "I'm never going to be able to unhear that. And JB? JB's going to freaking kill him when he finds out. You are going to tell him, right? Because JB told us strictly you were off limits, but shit when has JJ ever fucking listened to anything?" he questioned.

Running her hand through her hair Coralina rolled her eyes, "JJ's not the one that made the first move, Pope. I did. Look it was only supposed to be a one time thing. Best friends just using each other to figure something's out. Oh don't look at me like that," Coralina told the boy as he scrunched his face up at her, "Anyway it became something more. He's…...he's JJ," she said throwing her hands in the air, "Look, it's no secret that some shit things have been going on but when he's with me it's like the fact that no one has a fucking clue where my father is goes away. The fact that the guy who's supposed to be our guardian right now but he's nowhere to be found either goes away. The fact that we're busting our asses to keep a roof over our heads goes away. He makes me happy and I don't want my brother fucking that up for me," she told him quietly.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Pope eventually sighed, "Fine, fine, I won't tell John B, but you know you're going to have to tell him eventually," Pope warned. Nodding Coralina kissed his cheek, "Thank you and we've talked about it. We will. We want to ease him into it. JJ thinks he has to prove himself first," she said, rolling her eyes.

Walking into history Coral smiled when she saw JJ already in class. "Hey, where were you during lunch?" he asked, "You weren't answering my texts," he said as she passed by him to take her seat next to him, "Pope didn't show up either," he mentioned as he dug into his bag, pulling out a package of animal crackers and a bottle of water, "Managed to swipe these for you," he told her.

Ripping into the animal crackers Coralina shoved three into her mouth before leaning closer to JJ, "Pope knows. I was talking him down from the ledge in the boys bathroom in the English wing," she whispered before shoving more crackers into her mouth as JJ seemingly choked on air.

Regaining his breath he cleared his throat, "What do you mean Pope knows?" he asked, alarmed. "He saw me leaving your house on New Years," she told him simply. Running his hand through his hair JJ cleared his throat again, "Okay. Okay. So it's been fun but I'm going to be moving to the mainland now," he decided.

Giggling Coralina rolled her eyes, "He said he'd keep his mouth shut and let us tell JB ourselves. So relax. No one's coming for you," she told him before sitting back in her seat as the teacher came into class.

Walking into Heyward's Seafood, Pope's family store, JJ looked around for his friend. "Hey Heyward, is Pope around?" he asked Pope's father as he rang out a customer. Glaring at the boy Heyward pointed towards the backroom, "Don't be distracting him," Heyward called as JJ headed to the backroom. "No promises," he called back.

Finding his friend breaking down boxes JJ cleared his throat as Pope glanced over at him. "I don't want to hear it, JJ," Pope declared. "Coral said you're not going to tell John B," JJ said, "I ummmm….just wanted to come by," he continued trailing off. Scoffing Pope rolled his eyes, "You came by to make sure I'm gonna keep my mouth shut."

Sighing JJ approached his friend, "Look I know what you're thinking, but it's not that at all. It's different." Pursing his lips Pope studied one of his best friends, "How's it different?" he asked.

Running his hands through his hair JJ began to pace, "Fucking Christ Pope I don't know how to explain it. It just fucking is!" he exclaimed as he stopped in front of his friend, "Look, I've known her since we were 8 years old. She's always been my family, but now it's just something different," he whispered.

"JJ, so help me God if you're just fucking around with her," Pope began before being cut off. "I'm not," JJ interrupted, "This has been going on since the end of August." "The end of August?!" Pope exclaimed, "That's like five months ago."

"I'm aware of how long it's been," JJ responded, "Do you get it now? We're not just fucking around," JJ told him seriously. Nodding Pope sighed, "Yeah I get it. Look I'm not going to say anything, but I am going to tell you like I told her you have to tell JB," Pope told him.

"I know, man, and we will. Just give us some time to try and ease him into the idea," JJ pleaded. "Fine, but when he finds out, I didn't know shit," Pope declared, "And…..I'm happy for you guys."