thank you so much for all your love and support, everyone! i've read so many reviews that actually made me tear up, because i never expected for my work to do this well. thank you for everything. i hope you enjoy this chapter.

unfortunately, for whatever reason, this website doesn't let me see reviews from guests. i only see them on my email. but i did see the requests to make kiara suffer a bit, so that is what's happening here.

-m

Chapter Three:

This time, Kiara forced JJ to pillow his head on her legs instead of her resting her head on his shoulder. She wanted the blond to be as comfortable as possible, considering how much he'd gone though in the last two days. He'd been way too tired to even protest.

So, while he rested, she ran her fingers through his soft locks, massaging his scalp lovingly. She tried not to look at his myriad of injuries. It just hurt too much. Instead, Kiara did what she could to be there for JJ, kissing the top of his head whenever he jerked away or tensed in pain, or asking him how he was doing.

At one point, Kelce threw two bottles of water and sandwiches into their room. Though he refused to eat, JJ did drink some of the cool water, all while making sure that Kiara did both. He went back to sleep right after, minor nightmares plaguing him every once in a while.

"Tell me a story," he said at one point, eyes closed and hands resting on his stomach. His voice was raspy and full of fatigue.

"Like what?" Kiara asked.

"I don't know. Anything. Tell me about Kook academy. How shitty it was."

Kiara giggled softly. Even though she'd hated going there, it had been fun watching all those selfish, rich assholes doing all kinds of stupid, pointless shit. This was the perfect topic to use to pass the time. "Well, there was one time…"

For the next hour or so, Kiara explained what had happened during one of her classes a few months before school ended that year. She knew that JJ tried not to laugh too much, but when he did, it was clearly painful. In the end though, he was grinning widely, having enjoyed the rather funny story.

"Man even I would never do that," he said, looking up at Kiara with something in his eyes the girl couldn't name. Injured as he was, he somehow still found enough strength to smile just for her.

"No, you would," she replied, and JJ scoffed. They stared at each other for a long time, almost as if they couldn't look away, until the door opened again.

Just like the last time, they were forced to stand. The only two differences were JJ doing nothing to try and fight back, and the removal of their restraints.

"You're looking a little pale today, JJ," Rafe teased once they were outside. Dark clouds were settling over them, a light drizzle in play. "Everything good?"

His captive didn't reply. He just glared at the Kook with as much hatred as he could.

"Hm, he's too quiet. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I miss the sound of his voice … Maybe beating the living shit out of him isn't enough then."

JJ immediately knew what was going on when Rafe's gaze fell on Kiara, which prompted him to finally start struggling. He earned a heavy punch to his face, one that drew even more blood. "Don't touch her, Rafe, don't you dare!" he screamed, voice cracking as Rafe grabbed his best friend by the wrist and dragged her towards the edge of the boat. Once again, JJ tried to fight against the hands holding him back, but he was too weak. It was pointless. "Dammit, Rafe, please, leave her alone! Do whatever you want to me, kill me for all I fucking care, but don't touch her. Please!"

"There it is, now we're getting somewhere!" Rafe exclaimed happily. Despite JJ's broken, desperate pleas, he forced Kiara to look at him by pulling her hair, eliciting a choked cry from the girl and a roar of anger from her companion. "And for a second, I thought I couldn't do anything to make you actually bleed. Compared to this, what we were doing to you was nothing! Damn, if I'd known that, I would've destroyed you a long time ago."

Tears began to fill JJ's tired eyes, and he hung his head. "Come on, Rafe, just stop this," he said quietly, voice tight with pain that wasn't from his wounds. He was done fighting, he just needed Rafe to let go of the girl he loved so much and go back to taking out his frustration on him instead. "Please don't hurt her. Let her go. Please."

"I would never have taken you for a beggar, JJ," Rafe taunted, eyes wide and shining with insanity. "Definitely not something you see everyday." He suddenly took out a gun from the waistband of his shorts and pressed it to Kiara's head, grinning when she cried out in shock.

"No," JJ breathed out, his body beginning to tremble. "Christ, Rafe, no. Don't do this. Don't kill her just to get at me. This isn't right. You know it."

"Don't you dare talk to me about what's right, Pogue!" the other man yelled, shoving the weapon deeper into Kiara's neck. The poor thing whimpered.

"It's okay, JJ," she said softly, ignoring the pain and the fear and Rafe while she stared at JJ, who looked absolutely terrified. She realized she'd never seen him like that before. "Everything's okay. Don't blame yourself, alright? Promise me, JJ. Okay? Promise-"

"Shut your mouth," Rafe growled. He was slowly growing more and more fidgety, which hinted that maybe, just maybe, he didn't want to do this. However, his finger still traveled to the trigger, and the hold on his gun tightened.

"Please," JJ tried one more time. He felt nauseous and dizzy. The tears were now freely falling down his cheeks. "Don't."

All of a sudden, an engine sounded from the right, and when taking a closer look, everyone realized that it was John B. and Pope.

Realizing that this was his opportunity to do something, he threw his head back to stun Kelce away from him, jumped to his feet, and ran towards Kiara, reaching her right as Rafe pulled the trigger.

He instantly felt a blinding pain in his side, heard Kiara scream, but pushed all of it to the very back of his mind while he disarmed Rafe and shoved him aside. He knew that the others would take care of him. Instead, he turned to Kiara and pulled her into a bone crushing hug, both of them sobbing hysterically.

"I got you now, Kie," he whispered, his hands running up her back and into her long locks. He could feel her shaking in his arms, could hear her whispering his name. "We're okay."

"Oh God, JJ," Kiara mumbled into his shoulder blade. Her knees buckled then and she fell against him, melting into his embrace. JJ still held on to her, his entire body throbbing. She reached up to cup the back of his neck and pull him closer.

"It's over now," he said weakly, and kissed her forehead.

Somebody - probably John B. - was punching Rafe in the background. Good riddance, JJ briefly thought. That fucker deserves to die.

"Kie! JJ!" It was Pope. The young man ran over to his two friends, gasping the minute he saw the extent of JJ's injuries. "Come on, get on the boat, guys! There's a storm coming!"

JJ didn't need to be told twice. Without letting go of Kiara, he made his way to the H.M.S. Pogue, collapsing right on the familiar deck. Kiara fell behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist and letting her forehead fall against his back. They barely noticed when their friends joined them and began driving away.

"Do you guys need a hospital?" John B. asked, clearly worried.

"No," JJ answered as he interlocked his fingers with Kiara's. "Pope can patch me up."

"Oh yeah, totally, of course I know how the Hell to treat wounds," Pope said in surprise.

Smiling weakly, the blond shook his head and sighed heavily. Everything hurt. His breath was coming out in short gasps, and he was still shaking. The one thing he wanted was to get back to the Chateau and collapse on a soft bed.

"JJ…?" Kiara whispered suddenly, voice small. "You're bleeding."

"Shit, she's right." With worry written right across his face, Pope crouched in front of JJ and began inspecting the deep gash on his side. "It's a bullet graze," he concluded. "When the fuck were you shot?"

"I-I don't know … Rafe was gonna shoot Kiara," JJ recalled, grunting when Pope took his shirt off so he could bandage his torso. Everything was a blur as he tried to remember what had happened. "I needed … I couldn't let that happen. So I jumped in front of her…"

The other just stared at him for a while, shocked. Of course they knew that JJ was reckless, but they also knew that he was loyal. They just never expected for him to put himself in between Kiara and a gun.

The young girl buried her face in the crook of his neck, the images flashing before her like a nightmare. "You saved me," she murmured.

"Always," was JJ's tired reply.

TBC