◜ 　　　　　                                                     ◝

𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗦𝗜𝗫𝗧𝗬 𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗘
𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒚...

◟ 　　　　　                                                      ◞

・・・・☆・・・・☆ ・・・・

After the Carrera sisters helped set up their parents' 15th anniversary party at The Wreck, all of the island basically showed up to celebrate since their parents basically invited the whole island.

They had finished getting ready — with Kyla wearing a black crop top, with thin straps, and a long, patterned skirt that almost reached the ground. She'd put some heels, but nothing too high and had straightened hair for the occasion since she wanted to try something different.

But some of the excitement they had for the party had gone away since Sarah had told them the message from Wheezie was a trick and it was actually Ward; he had been on the island.

"Are you kidding me, Sarah? That doesn't even make sense. Ward's on the island? Like, the same island we are on, Sarah?" Kiara questioned, not wanting to believe it.

"Yes, he's back. Mm-hmm," Sarah confirmed, looking down disappointedly.

"You've gotta be kidding me," Kyla muttered, releasing a quiet sigh. She didn't know what Ward's intentions were, but she severely hoped he wouldn't get into their business again.

"The second I see him, I'm turning him in, I swear. I don't know how you do it. I mean, every time I wanna complain about our dad, I just think about your dad," Kiara told her and Kyla gave her a look. "What? I do," she shrugged.

"Oh, glad to be of service," Sarah replied sarcastically.

"Works every time."

"I'm glad I could help." Sarah then looked over to see Topper talking to some people a few yards away before he noticed her and waved. She forced smile back before she looked at the sisters, her smiled immediately dropping. "You didn't tell me Topper was gonna be here," she whispered urgently.

"Sorry. Our mom invited like the whole island," Kiara responded, glancing over at Topper.

"Shit."

"It's not a big deal."

"Shit."

"We'll keep him away."

"How are we supposed do that, Kie?" Kyla queried and Kiara just shrugged again, making Kyla sigh again.

The girls continued talking, not wanting to give Topper the chance to come over to them until he just decided to walk over to them. "Oh, great. Um, well, I'm gonna go over here," Kiara spoke awkwardly, contradicting herself from before.

"Wait, what?" Kyla whispered, thinking that they were going to stay to help Sarah."

"Please don't," Sarah begged quietly.

"I won't go far. Just say the word." Kiara then walked away, pretending not to notice Topper at all. Kyla forced a smile onto her face, determined to help Sarah deal with the boy.

"Uh, hey, Ky," Topper greeted, giving her a short wave. "You look nice."

"Thank you, Topper," Kyla forced out before she took a quick look around, noticing that Tara was nowhere to be found. Huh, that's weird, she thought, assuming the blonde would want to crash their parents' party just to annoy Kyla. "Where's Tara? I haven't seen her since...well I haven't seen her in a while," she brought up, not wanting to talk about what happened in Barbados.

"Tara? Oh, you know, she's uh...she's on vacation," Topper answered, nodding his head lightly since it sounded believable to him.

"On vacation? With Rafe?" Kyla asked, hoping that meant they didn't have to deal with the two of them for a little bit.

"No, no, not with Rafe," Topper shook his head, trying to be as vague as possible.

Kyla and Sarah gave each other a confused glance. "Oh. Okay," was all Kyla said in response, finding that incredibly odd. Tara always wanted to be with Rafe at every chance she got, it didn't make sense for her to go on a trip without him.

"Yeah. Yeah," Topper nodded. "But, uh, I kinda need to speak with Sarah. It was nice talking to you, though," he said, wanting her to get the memo and leave.

Kyla looked over at Sarah, who subtly nodded at her to tell her that it would be okay. "Okay, well...I'll see you then," she waved, walking over to Kiara.

"Oh, hey, Kie!" Topper called out once he saw Kyla walk over to her. "How are ya?"

Kiara gave her sister a wide-eyed look before she looked over her shoulder at the Thornton boy. "Oh, hey. I didn't even see you, bro."

"Uh...did you guys do these decorations? It's beautiful."

"Yeah. Party City," Kiara stated plainly, not wanting to entertain the conversation any further. She then turned back to her sister, rolling her eyes. "He's actually so awkward, I can't. I don't even know why Sarah wanted to hook up with him again."

"Yeah, well...well he's not John B, I guess," Kyla spoke and Kiara nodded in agreement before she sipped on her drink.

The sisters listened in on their conversation before Topper decided to end the conversation, not really wanting to bring too much attention to them since Sarah didn't seem too keen on saying anything about what happened. "Bye, Kie. Bye, Ky," he said to them as he walked off.

Kyla sent him an awkward wave as the two went back over to Sarah. "At least he kept it short," Kiara retorted.

"Hang on, hang on, hang on. Please, excuse me! Thank you," Mike said as he got onto the stage, the band halting their music as some people applauded. The girls turned to look at him, waiting to see what he was about to say. "Um...I just want to say a few words, and, uh, I'm not much into giving speeches, but I do wanna say thank you for coming out and thank you for your support after a rough few months. I want to say thank you to our daughters for being here. Hey, we love you two."

"Love you, too," they both said back, small smiles growing on their faces.

"But most of all...Come here." He extended his hand toward Anna, who started to chuckle as he brought her up onto the stage. "Thank you, Anna...for 15 years, for making this restaurant a symbol of our life. I love you."

"I love you," Anna replied happily as some people clapped for them.

"Figure Eight, the Cut. Everyone's together here. As one island." Kyla raised a brow at that, not sure if her father even believed what he had just said. "So, thank you for putting up with us. Cheers," he finished, raising his glass as more people began to clap and cheer.

"Thank you all for coming. Cheers!" Anna added before the music started playing again. "Come here," Anna urged her her daughters as she and Mike walked off the stage.

"That was cute," Kiara admitted.

"Was it cute? We did good," Mike responded happily.

"Did you, though?" Kyla teased, which made Mike smile brightly at the joke.

"You know we love you guys," Anna said to them before they started to joke around more, just like old times. It was the most Kyla had seen her parents smile in so long which made her more hopeful for the future of their family.

They then looked over to see that John B had came, giving Sarah a long hug. The sisters noticed their interaction, giving each other a knowing glance.

"What is he doing here?" Mike questioned, his smile slowly dropping since he didn't want the Pogues to crash the party.

Anna placed a hand on his arm. "It's all right, honey. He's just seeing Sarah, that's all," she assured him, knowing that the two had still been together.

"Yeah. They, like, got into a small fight and stuff so..." Kyla told them, not wanting their parents to worry. They had been laying low just like Kyla said and she didn't want anything to be ruined just because John B showed up to see Sarah.

"All right," Mike responded slowly, but he couldn't help but keep looking over at the couple before they walked someplace else.

・・・・☆・・・・☆ ・・・・

Kyla departed from her parents as the sun began to set, having a feeling that if John B had been here then that would mean JJ would also be there since Sarah mentioned JJ wasn't home, so she assumed he'd be with his best friend.

As she walked closer to where the dock was, she noticed the familiar blonde hair she had gotten so used to seeing. She then saw as he ducked down, trying not to be caught but it was too late.

"JJ," she said, making him slowly come up from behind the fence.

"Hey, Kyla," he replied, giving her an awkward wave. "Did you, uh, straighten your hair? It, uh, it looks good," he complimented.

"Yeah. I did," she responded frankly, his use of her full name not going unnoticed even though he did just compliment. "I saw John B here, so I figured you couldn't be far."

"Just, uh, thought I should keep my distance. Didn't really wanna spoil the party, if you know what I'm saying," he told her, gesturing toward her parents who were busy chatting with their guests.

"We had no idea where you guys were. Are you okay?" she asked, genuinely concerned since they didn't really get to speak before Kyla was practically locked in her house for a bit.

"No," JJ pointed at her, making her eyebrows knit together. "Look, long story short, we're mounting a full search and rescue mission right now because Big John got nabbed. Like, actually nabbed," he explained.

"Wait, what do you mean, 'got nabbed'?" she inquired, not really understanding fully.

"Uh, snatched, kidnapped, abducted, that kinda thing. To South America by Singh. So what we have to do is we have to get down there as soon as we can," he explained further.

She blinked at him. "South America? Are you serious? Right now?"

"Right. Yeah, I know. It's a long shot, but we're making a plan right now."

Kyla looked down, trying to think of what to say to him. "Hold on, this literally doesn't make any sense," she began.

"What doesn't make sense? I just explained it all to you," JJ said quickly, not wanting to be too long so Mike could spot him.

"You coming here after stealing from my dad and then saying we have to go to South America is what doesn't make sense," she revealed, raising her eyebrows at him.

JJ looked away from her, not really wanting to discuss that topic right then and there. "So, is that a no? Uh, you're just gonna ghost us?"

"You've been—!" she cut herself off, not wanting to be too loud to draw attention to them. "You've been ghosting me." JJ swallowed hard at that, not being able to meet her in the eyes. "JJ, I've been wanting to talk ever since you stole the money clip, but you've just been ignoring me. I mean, you almost died and I practically almost had a heart attack for you and you still don't want to talk to me. And now, we can't even talk about it because I'm not even supposed to be seen with you."

"Okay, so you're saying you don't wanna be a part of the plan when Big John is up for execution right now. Okay, cool, that's a no," he concluded, giving her a nod.

"JJ, you know I can't," she stated sternly, getting fed up with his attitude.

"Cool. All right. That's all I needed to know," he spoke sarcastically, walking away from her. He then quickly turned back around, not finished yet. "It's just that — Actually, one last thing. When you see Mike, could you just let him know that, uh, I don't feel bad about the money clip? Okay? Just let him know I actually needed it. So thank him for me, actually. Appreciate that. Thank you."

Kyla scoffed as he walked away again. "What is wrong with you?" she questioned, making him stop and slowly turn around to face her. "How can you be acting like this? We're literally together, we're dating. And — and I love you. I'm in love with you."

JJ's face scrunched up. "What?" he said, shaking his head as if he were trying to forget what she just said.

She let out a small scoff. "I mean, you haven't told me you loved ever since we got off that island. Like...do you even love me anymore?" she asked slowly, feeling tears start to form even though she didn't want to let them fall.

JJ just stared at her, knowing that he was going to regret what he was thinking about saying. Of course he had loved her. She was the first girl he had ever loved romantically. But he was right about the fact that he'd only hurt her. Everyone knew it, especially her father. He couldn't blame him for wanting to protect her.

He didn't want things to go this far, but he knew he would have to do something in order to protect her from his dumbass actions. She deserved better, far better than what he had been giving her this whole time.

"I..." he trailed off, seeing the sad look in her eyes that only made him want to pull her in and comfort her but he knew he couldn't. "I don't think this is working between us, okay?"

Kyla's lip began to quiver, those words being the last words she wanted to hear come out of his mouth. She then sucked in a breath, not wanting to start full on sobbing. "What are you saying?"

JJ licked his lips. "I'm saying...I think it's time we end this," he clarified, sniffling a bit since he wanted to cry himself.

Kyla's lips pursed as she look down, rubbing at her nose. She knew it. He had lost feelings for her. Am i this unlovable? First Rafe and now JJ? Am I just that...boring? she thought to herself, immediately thinking of the worst.

"Look, I-I think we're just better off as me...being your sister's friend," he added, not even wanting to say that they were friends since that would still put her in danger.

She looked up at him, extremely hurt by his choice of words. "Uh, y-yeah. No, yeah, that's, uh...yeah," she spluttered, unable to stop a few small tears that had escaped from her eyes.

JJ nodded slowly, glancing away from her. "I'm gonna help my best friend save his father now," he told her before he walked off, resisting the urge to look back.

She watched as JJ just walked off, the tears now spilling from her eyes. She quickly spun around and walked back towards the party, pushing past people so she could enter the restaurant and hide for the rest of the night.

・・・・☆・・・・☆ ・・・・

After crying her eyes the rest of the night, she was able to calm herself down and fix some of her makeup so she didn't look like a total mess.

Since it was her parents anniversary, she didn't want to ruin it by being a party pooper so she decided to walk back out. "Hey, you okay?" Kiara asked as Kyla neared her and their parents. "I haven't seen you for a bit...and you look like you've been crying."

"Oh, uh, I was having an allergy attack," Kyla lied since she didn't want to break the news to her just yet, forcing a smile onto her face.

"Oh, honey, are you okay?" Anna asked with concern etched in her voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just didn't want to be annoying by sneezing every five seconds so I just went into the restaurant for bit," she told them and Anna nodded, but Kiara didn't seem too convinced.

"No, not right here, bro. Not right here," Kyla heard Topper say, making her and her family look over to see John B heading towards Topper and Sarah.

"No, no, John B!" Sarah voiced, trying to stop him from getting any closer. Oh, shit, Kyla thought, knowing Sarah must have told him about what happened between her and Topper.

"Get out of of my way," he said, moving her to the side so he could get to Topper.

"No, no, we're not doing this," Topper told him, holding his hands out in front of him.

"You feel good about yourself, Topper?" John B questioned as he shoved the boy back roughly.

"Stop!" Sarah shouted.

"Okay, you need to chill out, bro," Topper said, pushing John B back.

"You like messing up my relationship?"

"I'm not ruining Mike and Anna's party right now, okay?"

"That's what you're worried about?" John B asked in disbelief, continuing to shove him.

"I would just walk away, John B."

"You feel good about yourself?" John B repeated, getting all up in his face.

"This cannot be happening right now," Kiara muttered under her breath, not wanting John B to stupidly ruin the party to give their parents more of a reason to not let them be friends with the Pogues anymore.

Sarah grabbed his arm and forced him to look at her. "For once in your life, would you please just turn around and walk away? Please," she pleaded. "Look at me. Please don't."

"Hey, no hard feelings, bro," Topper decided to say, laughing a bit.

"Topper," Sarah warned.

John B took in what he said as Topper asked, "We good?"

John B turned around to look at him for a second before he pulled his hand back, making Kyla's eyes widen since she knew what was about to happen. "No, John B, no!" Sarah exclaimed as John B punched Topper hard in the face, sending him down to the ground. Everyone gasped as the band stopped playing, looking at what just happened. "You like that shit, Top? Huh? Huh?"

"Stop, John B. John B. Stop!"

"You ready for this?" John B taunted as he bent down, picking up Topper by his collar.

"What are you doing?! No! Stop!" Sarah screamed as John B began to repeatedly punch Topper in the face without stopping. "Stop! What are you doing?! John B! Mr. Carrera!"

"John B!" Kiara stepped in, walking forward. Kyla just stayed behind her, watching in horror as John B just kept going. She wasn't too fond of Topper, but that didn't mean be deserved this.

"Hey! Hey, hey!" Mike yelled as he ran over, grabbing John B to get him away from the Thornton boy. "Hey! Get out of here!" he demanded before John B pushed away from him. "Get out of here!"

"Is that what you want, Mike?" John B challenged before JJ sprinted over, stepping in front of John B.

"Get off of him!" JJ bellowed in Mike's face. That was when Kyla decided to step forward, not wanting her father to hurt the boy even though he had just broken her heart into pieces.

"See, that's what I'm talkin' about! Both of you get out of here!" Mike screamed furiously, which made the boys start to back up to leave the party. JJ had made eye contact with Kyla and she just slowly shook her head at him, her lips pursed together before looking down distraughtly.

"You happy, Sarah?!" John B sneered as JJ kept pushing him back so they could leave.

Many people then began to rush toward Topper since he had fallen unconscious with Sarah crying as she looked in between the bloodied Topper and the seething John B. She didn't know what to do and neither did Kyla.

authors note
im so sorry 😃