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𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗦𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡
❝ unwanted ❞ visitors

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・・・・☆・・・・☆ ・・・・

Kyla had demanded that she go to Heyward's Seafood with Kiara, so that she could talk about what had happened. She wasn't going to be talking with Topper or Rafe any time soon, so she at least wanted to speak the people that stayed for her.

When she had gotten home that night, she had just told her parents that she had gotten a nose bleed, so she came home early. Thankfully, her nose wasn't broken, but Topper definitely whacked it pretty hard. And surprisingly, Kiara came home a little after Kyla did, and helped her clean up her bloody face and clothes. Kyla assumed that it was because she felt bad that she had gotten involved, and that her sister didn't actually care that she was hurt.

"Don't let it get in your head, bro. There's three of them, two of us. That's some typical Kook shit right there," JJ told Pope at the seafood place, making Kyla gave him a look.

"Hell, yeah," Kiara agreed.

JJ noticed Kyla's look, so he added, "Typical guy Kook shit."

"Uh-huh," Kyla hummed, arching a brow at him.

JJ shook his head at her and looked back at Pope. "What was your thought process, with using your head?" he asked.

"I don't know, man. I just kind of acted off instinct, all right? I was a cornered animal," Pope told them.

"Yes," Kiara said with a proud smile.

"Seems like Topper felt the same way," Kyla said with wide eyes, gesturing to her nose, which made them chuckle lightly. There was a slight bruise on it when she woke up in the morning, but she just covered it with some concealer so she didn't worry her parents.

"Oh, did the princess just make a joke? That's new," JJ teased, and Kyla rolled her eyes at him.

"Hey, Pope, someone here to see you," Heyward called out before Officer Shoupe stepped behind Heyward, making Kyla's eyes widen.

"Evening, Officer," Pope greeted with wide, worried eyes.

"I have an arrest warrant for felony destruction of property," Shoupe said, making Kyla glance at Kiara in concern. The boys had told Kiara what had happened with sinking Topper's boat, and Kiara told Kyla the news last night.

"What?" Heyward asked in disbelief. Pope looked back at JJ, who subtly shook his head at him.

"Keep your hands on the counter where I can see 'em," Shoupe instructed. "Young lady, get out of my way," he told Kiara, who backed away.

"Whoa, whoa whoa, whoa, wait, wait. Shoupe, what'd he do?" Heyward asked as Shoupe grabbed Pope's hands.

"Take a look at the warrant," Shoupe told him.

"I'm sorry, you're arresting him?" Kiara asked in shock as she took a step forward, and Kyla quickly placed a hand in front of her sister to stop her from moving any further.

"You're just arresting my boy?" Heyward questioned.

"Where's the proof?" JJ asked, also taking a step forward.

"JJ, be careful," Kyla told him, not wanting to give Shoupe another reason to arrest Pope.

"Shoupe, are you listening?"

"Anything you say can and will be held against you in the court of law," Shoupe said, ignoring Heyward as he started to cuff Pope. "You have the right to an attorney."

"How much did they pay you, man?" JJ questioned, slamming his hand down angrily before they started to follow Shoupe and Pope outside. JJ kept on yelling at Shoupe, who was trying to ignore him as best as he could. JJ then tried to put his hands on Shoupe so that he would let go of Pope.

"JJ, don't!" Kyla shouted as Shoupe pushed him off of him, having Heyward hold JJ back.

"This isn't a fair!" Kiara yelled at Shoupe, who was still taking Pope to his cop car.

"If you have anything to say, take it up to the Sheriff," Shoupe told her, trying to avoid more conflict.

"Wow, I cannot—"

"Kiara, you yelling isn't going to fix anything!" Kyla cut her off, getting tense from all the shouting.

"But—"

"I suggest you listen to your sister," Shoupe told Kiara before he stopped right next to his car, going to open the door up to put Pope inside.

But, before he did, JJ shouted, "It wasn't him!" Everyone looked over at him, a look of shock on their faces. "It was me," he said a little quieter now before he started to walk towards them slowly. Kyla gave him a confused look, but he just subtly shook his head at her, pretending he was shaking his head at himself. "He tried to talk me out of it, but I was mad because he's just been beaten up. And I was so sick of those assholes on Figure Eight that I lost my shit."

"What is he doing?" Kiara whispered quietly to Kyla, her voice shallow.

"He's taking the blame," Kyla answered, not believing this.

"I can't let you take the blame for somethin' I did. You've got too much to lose," JJ told Pope when he made it over to the car.

"JJ, what are you doing?" Pope questioned.

"I'm tellin' the truth. For once in my goddamn life, I'm gonna tell the truth," JJ told Shoupe, who glanced at Pope warily. "I took his old man's boat, too."

"What the hell?" Heyward said.

"JJ, come on."

"Just shut up, Pope!" JJ yelled in his face. "Just shut up." He then looked over at Shoupe. "He's a good kid. You know where I'm from."

Shoupe nodded. "Yeah."

JJ nodded, looking back at Pope. "This was all me."

Kyla could not believe that JJ had took the fall for Pope. Even though he was lying, he was trying to protect his friend. Maybe she had been wrong about the Pogues this whole time. Maybe they did actually care about more than just causing a ruckus...

"That's the whole truth?" Shoupe asked Pope after a moment.

"Whole truth, swear to God," JJ answered for him.

"I know what you think, damn it, I'm asking Pope, here," Shoupe told him.

JJ and Pope made eye contact, JJ subtly nodding at Pope. "Yeah, that about covers it," Pope told him after a moment.

Shoupe then took the handcuffs off of Pope, and started to put them on JJ. The blonde glanced back at the two sisters, who were just staring at him in shock.

After Shoupe drove off with JJ, Pope started to yell and throw his hat before he began to walk off, followed by Kiara. Kyla just stood there, not knowing what to do.

・・・・☆・・・・☆ ・・・・

After stopping by the police station to see if she could talk to JJ, they told her that he had already been bailed out by his father. She sighed, trying to remember where JJ lived as she drove the car away from the station.

Even though her and JJ technically weren't friends, he had helped her when she had gotten a nosebleed, and she also felt responsible for him going to jail since she didn't try hard enough to stop Rafe and Topper from beating up Pope. If it had never happened, then JJ wouldn't have taken the fall for Pope, so she had to do something to apologize to him.

Once she remembered where he lived, she quickly drove over to his house. She then parked her car outside and slowly walked up to the rickety house that definitely needed some upkeep.

When she got closer, she assumed she would hear some people talking, but she heard nothing. That honestly worried her even more. Had Rafe and Topper gotten to him? she thought before realizing the door was open. Her eyes widened, gulping. She wasn't sure if the two boys would drive all the way out here to teach JJ another lesson, but she had to be sure.

So, she slowly pushed open the door, stepping inside. She obviously didn't learn from her mistakes the last time she walked into a Pogue house unwelcome, but her motherly concern started to take over.

She was about to called out JJ's name before she saw the blonde pointing a gun at his sleeping father's head in the living room. She sucked in a breath, getting tense. "JJ," she whispered slowly, putting her hands up to show that she wasn't there to hurt him. He looked over at her, tears in his eyes as his hand, with the gun pointed at his dad, shook. Kyla took in his appearance and she realized that he was more bruised than before. Did his father do that?

"JJ, listen to me. Put the gun down, okay? Just breathe. We can work this out," she said slowly, barely above a whisper. She wasn't sure if JJ could hear her since she could barely hear herself. "Just breathe."

JJ looked back at his father, squeezing the gun tighter. Kyla quickly shut her eyes, not wanting to see what would happen if JJ pulled the gun. She then heard him take a breath in and the floor creak slightly, so she opened her eyes, seeing JJ put the gun back in his bag.

She started to nod slowly, realizing he wasn't going to shoot his father. "You can go now, Kyla," he told her as he swiftly walked past her, out the door.

She quickly turned around, following him out. "JJ, are you okay?" she asked, her voice shallow.

"Fine," he replied, continuing to walk away from her.

She stopped walking, crossing her arms to feel more comfortable. "Did he—"

"You know what? What are you doing here, Kyla?" JJ asked, stopping and turning around to face her. They were a few feet apart, but the air around them was tense. "Shouldn't you be doing your Kook activities or whatever?"

"I wanted to make sure that you were okay, JJ," she said and he shook his head, looking down since he didn't believe it. "Is that so hard to believe?"

"Actually, yeah, it is," JJ replied. "You know, you're probably only here so I don't blame you for the fact that I got put into jail. You could have stopped Rafe and Topper from jumping Pope, but you didn't. Why?"

Her lips formed a thin line. "Because I didn't know how. I wanted to, but I just..." she trailed off, shaking her head as she glanced away from him. "I'm sorry, JJ. I-I don't live the life that you live, so I can't understand what you must be going through right now and—"

"Save it," he cut her off, backing away to grab his motorbike. "I don't need your Kook pity," he said before he hopped on the bike, starting it up before driving away.

Kyla sighed, watching him drive away with a frown on her face.

Meanwhile, at the same time, Tara hopped out of the shower and placed a towel over her body. She then pulled open the bathroom door, going to step out, only to see Rafe standing there. Her eyes lit up. "Oh, hello," she greeted with a flirty smirk.

Rafe's eyes widened once he saw Tara just in her towel. "Oh," he said, clearing his throat and looking up. "I-I can just come back another time."

"Would you stop looking away? It's nothing you haven't seen before," she teased, tilting her head as she watched him slowly look down to meet her eyes. "That's better."

"But, like I said, I-I should just—"

"What are you doing here?" Tara asked, cutting him off.

Rafe sighed. "Looking for Topper. I need to, uh, yell at him for hitting Kyla in the face the, uh, other night," he told her.

"Oh, well, Topper's out getting his suit for Midsummers right now. But I already yelled at him and he's going to apologize to her the next time he sees her," Tara told him.

"Oh, uh, thanks," he said, sniffling.

She narrowed her eyes slightly. Rafe has been using more coke, she realized. She had been using the drug for a while now and she had gotten better at hiding the side effects and claiming for them to be something else, but since Rafe was new to it, he didn't seem as skilled. But in actuality, the drug seemed to have really changed her...personality.

Well, maybe not changed. More like...it brought out who she truly was.

"Rafe Cameron, when was the last time you used coke?" she asked in a teasing manner as if it wasn't a big deal at all.

"W-What? The last time I-I used was at that—"

"You can't lie to me, Rafe," she drawled, before she noticed that he had some white powder right underneath his nostril. She reached up and slide her thumb across it, bringing it down to show him the evidence. "I know it when I see it. You go to Barry, too?"

Rafe licked his lips, looking down and up again. "Tara, y-you can't tell, Ky, okay?" he said, ignoring her question. "She's already mad enough at me as it is and I-I can't give her any more reason to be mad," he told her, sniffling again.

Tara smiled. "Your secret's safe with me," she told him.

"Thank you," he breathed out.

"Like that other one is," she added, making his eyes go wide slightly. "Come on, Rafe. You can't tell me that you haven't thought about that night ever since it happened."

"I haven't," he told her, shaking his head.

"Really?" she asked and he nodded. "'Cause I bet Kyla doesn't kiss you like that," she said, making his eyes narrow. "Or touch you," she said, placing her hand on his shoulder before she made it travel down his arm, "like that."

Even though he should have pulled away from her, he didn't. He then swallowed hard. "Just don't tell Kyla about any of this, okay?" he said, ignoring her words.

She pulled away from him. "Like I said, your secret is safe with me." He then nodded before he started to walk away from the blonde. "Oh, and Rafe?" she called out, making him stop and look over his shoulder at her. "I'll see you tonight."

He traced his tongue over his teeth. "Yeah," he replied with a nod after a moment before he walked out.

Tara flirting with Rafe is so cringey to me, idek why. Probably because I suck at writing flirty scenes PLEASE. Anyway, we got a pretty angsty interaction with Kyla and JJ. I felt so bad for JJ in that scene and Kyla definitely does too 😕