Pope: I'm coming back to Outer Banks. I'm coming home.
Sent at 11:33am
"Sit Brownie." Here Kiara and JJ are once more trying to convince their one-and-a-half-year-old dog to sit.
"He won't do it Kie."
"Oh, he will." Kiara woke up on this morning extra charged to finally get this dog to sit. They are stood in the kitchen with Kiara holding out a sausage, right in front of Brownie's nose. She won't give him the sausage until the puppy finally sits down. Brownie doesn't sit down.
"Let me try again." JJ gets onto his knees and takes a sausage from the table "Brownie. Come." Brownie quickly turns from Kiara and runs to the other side of the kitchen where JJ is stood. "Sit" JJ tries to do the command. Kiara watches as Brownie tilts his head. Kiara can only see the back of Brownie's head, but she is sure he's giving JJ his best puppy dog eyes. Brownie doesn't sit. JJ smirks up at Kiara as he passes the sausage to Brownie anyways.
"JJ."
"Relax Kie."
"No. He won't learn if you just give into him"
"He knows the command. He's just playing with us." JJ moves to Kiara, pulling her in for a quick hug. Ever since Kiara broke down in John B's bedroom, Kiara hasn't shied away from any physical contact (Rephrase: JJ's physical contact). He even kisses the top of Kiara's head for good measure before releasing her. Kiara takes a deep breath before going to Brownie's level. "We just want you to sit on command, Brownie." The pup stares up to her with the probable same puppy dog eyes that he gave JJ before Kiara rolls her eyes and gives in as well. Kiara lets Brownie take the sausage from her hand.
"Kie, he will eventually do it." Kiara rolls her eyes at JJ. JJ keeps telling her this every time they try to teach him the command. Kiara just wants to know when Brownie will listen. "He's just stubborn."
"Yeah, no shit JJ." Kiara laughs back.
It has been a month since Kiara broke down in John B's bedroom. They didn't speak about the break down. But over the last month, instead of dealing with nightmares alone, they find each other before they can no longer breathe. Kiara nightmares happen every other day. Every time she wakes up with the feeling of losing her breath, she finds JJ's arms and they count to return her breaths. JJ has more nightmares. He tries to push Kiara away every time by saying 'I'm fine.' They know each other too well now. Kiara knows he's never fine. To calm JJ down, the two take a quick walk around the cut in almost silence. Kiara leans into JJ when she senses him pulling away. Living together has given them both the sense of peace. They find themselves safe in each other's arms.
Ever since Kiara broke down, JJ has forced Kiara stay in the spare bedroom. She argues with him every night, stating that they promised to take it in turns to share the room. JJ doesn't give in to Kiara though. JJ tries to avoid the fights every night by pretending to fall asleep on the pull-out before Kiara can force him to take the bedroom. Brownie acts as the buffer in the arguments in the night with JJ telling Kiara 'Brownie will miss me if I don't sleep here.' Normally, Kiara argues back that 'Brownie doesn't get a say.'
However, even when Kiara gives in and takes the spare bedroom, JJ and Kiara both find themselves waking up and finding each other on the porch where JJ tells stories about the 'Fierce Pogues versus the Cowardly Kooks' to Kiara until they eventually fall asleep. Brownie often finds them asleep on the couch in the middle of the night. Brownie often joins them on the couch, snuggling up between them.
This morning, Kiara was woken by the hyperactive Brownie. She groaned out 'sit' and just for a moment, Brownie looked like he was going to follow command. So, his movements make Kiara go into training mode after making up a batch of sausages to use as momentum to learn. Not even the sausages can teach this boy. "Let's just go to the beach." JJ whines, obviously getting as bored from the lessons as Brownie.
"JJ."
"Please Kie. Neither of us are working today and we need a break." Since Kiara moved into the chateau with JJ, JJ has been working at the garage whilst Kiara works with her dad at the Wreck. They work to make enough money to keep the chateau alive. On days the restaurant is particularly slow, Mike sneaks Kiara money. "Brownie needs his walk anyway and then we can come back and keep torturing this poor boy to sit."
"Fine." Kiara gets to Brownie's level. "Want to go for a walkies, Brownie." Kiara mimics a baby voice whilst stroking Brownie's ears.
JJ smirks up at Kiara whilst talking in a mirroring baby voice. "Pup always wants to go for a walkies."
Kiara hasn't told JJ about the text she received earlier in the day from Pope. Pope is coming home today after his short-lived time at college. She's not sure how JJ will react to Pope's return. Kiara is scared they'll fight with JJ having the view that Pope abandoned them. Kiara worries that Pope's return will create an awkwardness between the three of them. Just like the awkwardness that was there before Pope let- before they found Brownie.
The sky is painted grey when they get to the desolate beach. A gale is building in the wind but they don't care. Brownie loves the sea. His tail wags back and forth as he runs towards the shore with JJ chasing after him. Kiara watches the two. They look so blissful to be out of the chateau. They look so at peace as they run between the waves as Kiara stands in the sand, not wanting to get wet this time. This is their spot. The spot where Tourons don't visit because they don't know about it. It's the closest sandy beach to the cut so Kooks are too stuck up their own asses to travel this way. It's perfect for them. Somewhere where they know they won't hear the gossip of the Kooks- with the new story being 'Kiara Carrera finally snaps and becomes just like the rest of the Pogues.' Kiara tries not to think of the gossip. She tries not to think about how her own mother is still believing the gossip.
Kiara tries not to watch how the waves are crashing into the shore. They haven't surfed or even been out far into the water since John B and Sarah disappeared. The waves are nowhere near as high as they were on that dreadful day, but Kiara cannot look away as they crash down destroying the sand underneath them. The waves are calm before the storm. A storm that Kiara cannot see coming.
No.
The waves are bringing back the nightmares. Kiara looks around the beach frantically, trying to find anything that can get her out of the trance she has accidentally entered. But Brownie and JJ are not by the shore like they were only a few minutes ago. She has a sudden feeling to run. To run back to the safety of the chateau. But a pull forces her to keep looking at the surge of waves tracing the shore. What if the waves have taken them as well? What if Kiara is the only one left? Kiara can't control how her heart speeds up as she is frantically looking around the beach. But the beach is empty. Just like it always is. The only difference is that she cannot see JJ and Brownie.
Her legs are shaking beneath her as she almost falls, stumbling backwards. She cannot be alone. Not again. Kiara's eyes are filling as voices of JJ and John B surround her. What if she has lost them again? She keeps looking down to the sea as she backs up to try and get a better view. Her back crashes into something strong before she can fall to the ground. "Kie?" It takes her a moment to put a face to the voice but a small whimper from the pup looking up at her concerned tells her who it is. JJ.
"Where were you?" Kiara cries out. She tries to remain angry but her voice betrays her.
"I had to chase after Brownie." JJ watches her, concerned. Kiara falls to the ground and throws her arms around Brownie. She holds him tightly as the pup licks at her shoulder. Kiara thinks it's Brownie's way of saying that they're still here. She feels a hand on her shoulder as her body keeps shaking. "What happened, Kie?" JJ's voice is so soft, something that Kiara needs. Kiara stands back up, fighting the urge to crawl into a ball. Her arms find his neck, clinging JJ to herself in a tight hug.
"It's stupid." Kiara breathes out against his neck.
"What do you need?" His hand is tracing her spine in the way he knows soothes her.
"Can we go home?" Kiara looks up at JJ who is still staring down at her with worry. He just nods at her and motions for them to move.
Home. It's a word that slips out of Kiara's mouth when she is thinking about the chateau. She doesn't remember when she started thinking of the chateau as her home but deep down, Kiara knows that the chateau has always been her home. They walk back to the chateau with Brownie walking closely to Kiara's side and Kiara continuously clinging onto JJ as if she would fall over if he isn't holding her steady. Her hands are clinging to the loose material in which JJ is wearing. It isn't until they are halfway back that Kiara feels strong enough to ask "Why are you so wet?" Kiara doesn't look up at him. She doesn't need to look up at him to know he's smirking.
"Brownie wanted to swim a bit deeper today." Kiara smiles.
"Of course, he did." Kiara fiddles with the material. "And you let him."
"Of course, I let him. But then I had to swim after him."
"You had to?"
"Oh, I definitely had to if I didn't want to be killed by his mother." Kiara playfully hits him and goes to pull away from the hold, only to feel JJ's arms wrap tighter around her. She cannot hide the beam of light shining from her face.
…
Pope: I'm coming back to Outer Banks. I'm coming home.
Sent at 11:33am
Kiara: okay. We'll be at the chateau.
Sent at 1:27pm
Pope comes home after being away for a year and a half. He comes home because, even if he won't admit it, college wasn't what he had thought it would be. He is not sure if it's because the last year of being in Outer Banks changed everything about him or if it's because of how every day he felt guilty of being in a secure location of a college after leaving his friends and his family after his best friend died. Every second Pope was either in his dorm or in a classroom, Pope couldn't help but feel out of place. He missed the Pogues the most. And hated the idea that he ran away from them.
As soon as Pope reaches Outer Banks, he finds himself going straight to the chateau with a sudden need to see JJ and Kiara. Pope didn't see JJ before he left. But Kiara had texted Pope how terrible the situation for JJ was. How bad JJ had been affected by John B's disappearance. How JJ had gone home and was forced to stay there for four months. It only made Pope feel like a worse friend than he already thought he was.
The chateau looks completely different from the chateau that he has spent so much of his childhood in. It finally looks like a house. Pope thinks it must be because Kiara has made JJ get his shit together. Kiara sent picture after picture of the puppy to Pope over the last year and a half. It's hard to imagine JJ and Kiara looking after a puppy. But, as Pope looks at the porch of the chateau, he starts to imagine it. The porch has thousands of toys littered around the floor. Where there used to be glass bottles of beer on the coffee table on the porch, there is now packets of different dog treats alongside a fluffy rabbit that is missing an ear. The ear of the rabbit is flopped on the floor next to a water bowl that is half full (or half empty if you're asking JJ).
When Pope tries to open the door to the chateau, he is shocked to find it locked. He looks through the window and almost gasps at how clean the place looks. Pope notices how the old, loose wires of the chateau are taped together and out of the way. The pull-out is put together, with a small dog bed at the end of it. Fair enough Pope can only see a small element of the chateau through the window, but Pope cannot see a bottle or a blunt in sight. It's as if JJ bought a maid.
JJ does live here, right?
Kiara had texted Pope earlier in the day to say to come to the chateau but they are not here. Where the hell could they be? Pope begins to walk off of the porch when he hears her voice. Kiara is laughing to something. It's a laugh Pope had missed so much. A laugh that Pope wants to hear for the rest of his life. He freezes when he finally sees her. Kiara is strolling towards the chateau clinging onto JJ as their dog is walking in front of them. Their arms are around each other so naturally that Pope can't help but feel jealousy build in himself. He knows he shouldn't be jealous. He knows that what happened between himself and Kiara was weird. It was like kissing a sister. But he can't help be shocked with seeing how close JJ and Kiara are. Pope can't help but wonder why no one told him.
Kiara and JJ.
Since when?
They are in their own trance when they move closer to where Pope is stood. Pope keeps watching them as Kiara reaches up to wipe something away from JJ's face. Pope keeps watching them as JJ whispers something into Kiara's ear and her whole face lights up. Their trance doesn't break until the dog spots Pope and runs at him. The dog jumps around at Pope's legs, almost knocking Pope completely over. Finally, JJ and Kiara glance over to the dog that is now barking at Pope playfully. "Pope?" JJ looks over at Pope, shocked. Pope can't help but wonder why JJ is so shocked. He did text Kiara. "Dude what the fuck are you doing here?" JJ smiles as he runs over to where Pope is still tripping over the dog.
"I'm home, JJ." Pope explains as JJ hugs Pope.
"Welcome home Pope." Kiara smiles as she moves closer to the two hugging boys. She doesn't join the hug.
Pope ignores the thud in his heart as he watches JJ and Kiara smile at him. He can't ruin the Pogues because he is jealous over nothing. They make their way into the chateau as Pope is bombarded by questions. 'Why are you not at college?', 'Where are you staying?', 'Are college chicks hot?' Most of the questions come from JJ but Pope answers them all. 'I didn't fit in', 'I'll back in with my parents', 'College chicks are the same as High School chicks, JJ.'
It isn't until an that evening, after a lot of alcohol, that Pope gets annoyed watching JJ and Kiara's secret touches and glances at each other. Whilst JJ is out on the porch with Brownie, Pope turns to Kiara. "Why didn't you tell me that you and JJ are together?" The question seems to shock Kiara.
"We're not together." The answer shocks Pope more.
"You've been flirting and touching each other all afternoon."
"So?"
"You don't do that with anyone else." Pope can't help but feel anger in his tone.
"We're just close, Pope. We're not together." Kiara lets out an awkward laugh. "Me and JJ? There's nothing there."
"I don't believe you, Kie."
"Well believe it." Kiara rolls her eyes. Pope is sure he sees Kiara's cheeks begin to turn red as she looks away from him. For normal people, touches may be platonic. But Pope knows Kiara. Kiara doesn't like to be touched by anyone. Then, all of a sudden, Kiara is begging to be touched by JJ.
He tries not to concentrate too much on them. But every time Pope looks over at them, JJ is fiddling with her hair or Kiara is poking into his side. JJ and Kiara look at each other in the exact way that Pope used to dream that Kiara would look at him. He really tries to not concentrate on it but when Pope looks around the chateau, he can't help but see how JJ and Kiara worked on the chateau to make it a home. He remembers the porch.
He remembers seeing the treats in place of the bottles and can imagine Kiara telling JJ off for drinking when looking after Brownie.
Pope remembers seeing the pull-out neatly made and can see Kiara helping JJ in the morning, making the bed with Brownie jumping around their feet until they fall on the newly made pull-out laughing.
He wonders if, whilst making the chateau a home, they have almost closed the gap- tiptoed over the line separating friendship and feelings.
Or maybe they're oblivious. And that would be worse. Oblivious feelings for one another could only mean trouble down the road. Pope thinks back to the night he got high and told Kiara that he loved her. Sure, it was awkward as hell and it happened at the completely wrong time. But if Pope didn't tell her, he would have never found closure in hearing her say the love wasn't reciprocated. Telling Kiara that he loved her broke his obsession over her. Maybe that's what they need. JJ and Kiara need a push to see what is going on. Pope could be that push.
…
They drink the whole evening until JJ spontaneously decides they should go to the boneyard even though they are too old for keggers now. But Pope and Kiara agree and they find themselves at the boneyard with Brownie on the lead. JJ does his normal party act by disappearing into the crowd of people, this time taking Brownie with him. Pope and Kiara are left by the firepit near the keg.
They sit in silence whilst watching the flames dance along to the quiet music from the other side of the beach. Pope watches Kiara as she looks around the beach with unreadable eyes. Pope decides to break the silence first. "Do you remember the first time I got drunk?" She looks up at him. Pope still can't read her. "I think I was fifteen. JJ made me his special drink and I got drunk after one sip."
"I think I remember" Kiara smiles. Fake smile? Probably.
"Well, a Touron girl was actually flirting with me and I wasn't scaring her away with my normal chit-chat." Pope laughs at the memory. "It was going really well until… I threw up on her."
"You threw up on someone?" Pope sees Kiara's genuine smile. Finally.
"Yeah I did." Pope snickers. "All over her."
"Poor girl."
"No, poor me. She ended up going home with JJ anyways." Kiara loses her smile. "He's always been the one to get the girl."
"Don't compare yourself to JJ, Pope." Pope isn't but he lets Kiara continue. "You're both great in your own ways. You also both have flaws but you're only human." Pope smiles at the girl in front of him. It's obvious why they all had a thing for Kiara at one point. Pope thought he was in love with her because she was the only girl that gave him attention. The only girl that tried to get to know the real Pope Heyward.
"I know you have a thing for JJ." Pope doesn't mean to blurt it out but he does. Kiara doesn't even bother to look up at Pope as her eyes keep searching through the crowd of dancing people. "And I'm not mad at you or anything. You just need to tell him."
"I'm not…"
"You have both been all over each other when you don't let anyone else touch you, Kie. It's pretty obvious that something is going on between you two." Pope keeps going. "If you just told him…"
"No Pope!" Her sudden show of anger shocks Pope. "Me and JJ are close because we're the only two left. We have to be there so neither of us will fall apart. You left us Pope. You didn't see how we had to learn how to live through our nightmares!"
Shit.
They really have been hurting. Pope didn't think moving away would make them feel lost. "I'm sorry, Kie."
"It's okay. We're fine." Pope watches as Kiara takes a deep breath. "I just can't lose him." It's the same thing Kiara had told Pope before he left. They all have lost so much that the effect of another loss could destroy any of them.
"You won't lose him."
"You don't know that Pope. I already lost him once." Pope watches her, confused. Sure, JJ went silent for four months after the disappearance. But he shut everyone out because of John B, not because of Kiara. Pope keeps quiet as he watches Kiara put her head into her hands. "We slept together after John B disappeared…" Pope freezes, not hearing anything that comes after those words. They slept together? The same day Pope and Kiara kissed? Pope watches as Kiara fiddles with the friendship she made all those years ago. The friendship bracelet that started the Pogues.
Only a few days after Kiara gave out the bracelets, they made the Pogue rules. The Pogue rules that they have all broken over the last few years. 'No secrets amongst Pogues', 'No Pogue on Pogue macking.' These rules were sacred. But now? They're meaningless. They've been broken too many times by all four of the Pogues.
"So, I can't lose him." Pope regains his control and goes back to listening to Kiara.
"You slept with JJ?" Pope can see the tears forming. "On the same day we kissed?"
"I'm so sorry, Pope." Pope just shakes his head. "We had to be there for each other."
"By sleeping together? Kie, if you don't have feelings for JJ you're leading him on."
"I…"
"You two slept together and now you keep touching him. It's almost like a promise for more and it's unfair if you're not into him. Unless I'm right and you're in love with him." Pope wants to keep venturing forward by the conversation dries up when they hear a dog bark in the distance. Brownie. Pope and Kiara look in the direction of the dog and see JJ talking to a Touron. He has a smile as big as a Cheshire Cat's grin and the girl is playfully stroking JJ's arm, obviously flirting. An instinct takes over Pope as he glances to the girl beside him. Kiara has her mouth wide open as she watches the Touron girl with JJ. Her eyes are glassed over and her cheeks are burning.
Fuck, Kiara really is oblivious.
Kiara watches JJ as Pope watches Kiara. "Kie" Pope breaks the trance, reaching forward to try and comfort Kiara. Kiara shoves his hand away.
"It's nothing." Kiara almost cries out, still looking forward to JJ and the Touron girl. Pope turns his head to look back at the smiling JJ. Brownie is by his feet, jumping at him slightly. It's only then that Pope notices JJ's smile is directed to the dog and not the girl. Kiara obviously hasn't spotted this. Pope watches intrigued when the Touron girl goes to lean in, only for JJ to take a step back. They have been to so many boneyard keggers in their lifetime and Pope has often been the audience member for JJ's hook-ups. But Pope has never seen JJ take a step back. He has never turned away from the hot girl in front of him. That is, until now.
"I think I get it now." Pope announces as he watches JJ turn and find Kiara's eyes looking back at him. Brownie must spot Kiara as well because it doesn't take long before Brownie is throwing himself at Kiara. Pope keeps watching as JJ almost skips to where Pope and Kiara are still sat. JJ's smile is back. But instead of him smiling down at Brownie, he's smiling at the girl Pogue. Kiara. "You'll realise eventually Kie." Pope whispers to Kiara as he stands up. JJ finally reaches them, looking slightly out of breath.
"Are you here to tell me you're going to have a loud night with the Touron?" Kiara almost spits out.
"No. I think I'm over the casual hook-up thing."
"Ditto." Kiara smiles up at JJ and Pope finds himself feeling in the way. He smiles at the two oblivious Pogues and makes his way up the beach.
They may not want to admit it, but it's obvious to Pope. JJ and Kiara need each other in ways that Pope can't even understand. It's just JJ and Kiara. Kiara and JJ. Two pieces of the puzzle coming together and finally making sense.
…
"You're in love with him" Pope's words are all Kiara thinks about that night. Pope has it buried in his brain that Kiara and JJ are in love with each other, which is stupid. Kiara wonders the whole night where Pope may have gotten the idea. Sure, Kiara and JJ have gotten close. Sure, Kiara is calmed with just a simple touch of JJ. Sure, living together normally means something. But they're not together. It's the safe option in which Kiara is happy with.
The morning comes and Kiara is still thinking of Pope's words. Because sure, other people have been thinking that they're together but when Pope- someone who knows them so well- thinks there's something going on it intrigues Kiara. Sure, Kiara and JJ once had a flirtation during her Kook year. And sure, Kiara may have flirted back with JJ all those years ago. But then the hunt for the gold changed everything. The flirting stopped and Kiara realised that friendship is what she needed. Kiara could live with the idea that JJ and Kiara once flirted openly but then stopped because it was just innocent flirting that meant nothing.
Nothing.
Her feelings keep spiralling when Kiara leaves the bedroom to smell the smell of brownies. Kiara walks to the kitchen to find a shirtless JJ next to the oven. No. Kiara is not in love with JJ. Sure, she lets her eyes wonder. She lets her eyes fixate on his abs and his v-line. And sure, she doesn't look away when she sees his messy bed hair. And it's not Kiara's fault that her mind wanders. She has felt him before. She has seen him naked before. She has run her hands over his body before. She has felt his body pressed against hers before. She even has kissed her way down his body before. There isn't much left for the imagination as she watches JJ stretch. Kiara shakes her stares off.
The rules are there for a reason, Kiara.
Kiara keeps shaking her head as images of JJ flood her vision. It takes her a moment before she feels strong enough to stand in the same room as him. "What are you doing?" Kiara almost laughs as her voice makes JJ jump.
"I'm making brownies." JJ holds up the bowl to Kiara with his normal JJ smirk on his face. Kiara pretends to be disgusted. "Relax Kie, they're not my special brownies." Kiara moves closer to the bowl before nodding.
"Why are you making brownies?" JJ just looks down to Brownie the dog. "JJ. Look at the fridge; it literally says on there in bold letters no brownies for Brownie."
"I'm not that stupid."
"Doubtful." JJ looks down and lets out a slight snicker that makes Kiara smile.
"Hey. Everyone knows I'm the second smartest Pogue."
"God, no." JJ's laugh only gets louder.
"Just. Taste it." JJ holds the bowl out with an untrusting smile on his face. "Trust me, Kie."
Stupidly, Kiara goes along with JJ and drops her finger into the bowl to take a taste. She avoids his eyes as she takes a taste. Kiara regrets it almost immediately when she almost pukes the mixture straight up. She glances at JJ who is laughing his head off. "What the fuck JJ!" Kiara tries her best to sound angry. It doesn't.
"It's doggy brownies." JJ laughs. "I felt bad for Brownie so found a recipe for Brownie to eat." Kiara feels her core twirl, her smile disappearing off of her face. "Relax, Kie. Brownie will love them."
Oh, Brownie will definitely love them.
Kiara feels her legs giving up from underneath her. She feels a sudden need to get away from JJ before she does something stupid. But JJ seems to spot it. JJ moves closer to the frozen Kiara and Kiara is sure that someone will hear how loud her heart is beating. She watches his movements as JJ keeps moving closer, expressionless. His eyes are stormy and she figures her eyes must be matching. Their eyes are locked to each other, teasing to see who will look away first. But JJ keeps moving closer. Her heart is thudding. There is no way JJ can't hear it. "Kie" His voice is questioning. She subtly nods, almost scared that he may not see it. But then he is leaning closer. His hand moving up to her face.
Heartbeats loud.
Eyes locked.
Lips so close.
She closes her eyes as she feels him move closer but it's not his lips that land on hers. Kiara opens her eyes to see JJ has a spoon to her mouth. A spoon with the doggy brownie mixture. "JJ!" Kiara laughs as JJ tries again.
"You'll love it, Kie."
"No. I won't" They're both laughing as Kiara grabs for the bowl, dipping her hand into the bowl to get some of the mixture. "Why don't you try it?" Kiara asks before moving her hand closer to JJ. JJ shakes his head as he moves the spoon back to Kiara.
"Kiara Carrera. Where are your manners?" JJ holds her hand away from his mouth. They are both playfully fighting each other, trying to force the other to taste the mixture until JJ gives up aiming at her mouth and dumps the spoon onto her cheek. The mixture spreads onto her face as Kiara looks at him in shock with JJ uncontrollably laughing.
"You're so dead, Maybank."
"Fuck that." JJ laughs as he runs past her into the living area with Kiara chasing after him.
Laughter fills the chateau as Kiara keeps chasing after JJ, still with the mixture glazed onto her face. Brownie jumps into attention and chases with Kiara after the guilty JJ. "Get him Brownie!" Kiara commands.
"No, sit Brownie!" JJ jokes. Of course, Brownie doesn't sit. Brownie runs at JJ, knocking him onto the pull-out. Kiara leans down over JJ and finishes the fight by dumping the whole bowl onto his head. The mixture lands on his forehead and in his hair. Kiara can't help but laugh at what he looks like. She stays on top of him as JJ sits up, still laughing.
Something rushes over Kiara as she looks down to see JJ so close to her. So close again. Their hearts beating in time. She can't breathe but it's for a different reason this time. Pope's words come crashing back to her. 'You're in love with him'. No. The words can't be true. If they're true, Kiara knows she'll lose him. She'll lose JJ if those words are true. "Just breathe, Kie." Kiara gasps for air again. "Count with me."
"1, 2, 3…"
"4, 5, 6…"
"7, 8, 9…"
"10." His hand strokes through her hair as Kiara finds her breaths going back to normal as she looks down into his eyes.
She can't admit it.
She can't lose him now.