"Danny, I don't want you going to Charleston," Irene repeated for the third time.

He's been trying to convince her to let him go for the past thirty minutes.

She shook her head and continued to stir the pot on the stove. She turned around and wiped her hands on her apron.

"Please, Mom, Pope needs my help."

"Pope does not need your help," she insisted as she began to cut carrots on a cutting board. She lifted the knife and pointed it at him. "You can't even walk down a flight of stairs; I am not risking you leaving town doing God knows what. Pope is a big boy. He can fix his engine himself."

Danny slumped on the island chair and ran his hand down his face. Pope and JJ were waiting in the driveway to pick him up and then get Kie.

Ever since he told his mom falling down the stairs caused his further shoulder injury, she hasn't wanted him outside at all. She would surely wrap him in bubble wrap if she could.

The doctors told him if he didn't see improvement in a few weeks, they would need to have surgery to repair the damages. They outfitted him with a new sling. It had a foam immobilizer lodged between his torso and arm to keep it somewhat elevated. It was a fucking pain in the ass.

"Mom," he implored, "When have I asked for anything?"

She sighed and stopped cutting.

He hasn't been able to sway her when saying how he could help others, so maybe he needed to make it more personable. It was killing two birds with one stone: he would tell her how he felt and use it to help persuade her.

"Please. I want to feel normal again. I just need—" he cut himself off and looked out the sliding glass door onto the deck. "I hate feeling this way. I want everything to go back to how it was."

She set her knife down and rounded the island. Her arms wrapped around Danny and she pressed her lips to his temple. "All right, Sweetheart. If this will help you feel normal, then I suppose. . ."

"Really?" he asked.

She nodded and squeezed him tight. "Yes. But since I don't trust you to keep out of trouble, I'll be right back." She pinched his cheek before turning and walking down the hallway, the clicking of her heels echoing throughout the house. She opened the front door and stepped out of Danny's view.

He slid off the stool and followed after her with a confused frown. As he stepped onto the porch, he saw her leaning through the window of the truck speaking with JJ and Pope.

"Oh, boy," he muttered and hurried over to them. She leaned through the driver's side window, so he leaned through the passenger side.

These idiots were the ones supposed to keep him out of trouble?

He caught the tail end of her order, ". . . and no drugs, guns, or crime."

He groaned in annoyance. "Mom, seriously? We're not going to a drug deal."

She fixed him with a stern look. "Daniel Reed, there are plenty of mechanics in town. I'm willing to bet you could fix it right here if you wanted to. So if you're going to Charleston for mechanics, then there will be rules."

"No drugs, guns, or crime, ma'am," Pope assured. "Promise."

"Not even a little drugs, Irene?" JJ asked.

Danny slapped JJ's chest and leveled him with a stern look. JJ simply winked back.

She smiled pleasantly at JJ and replied with a frightening amount of cheer, "If I find out you two gave my boy drugs, I will institute a permanent ban and never let him see you again."

"Wow," JJ mouthed.

"Mom! Seriously? Come on—"

"No drugs," Pope repeated. He shot her a thumbs up and then immediately reattached his hands on the wheel. "Got it."

"Glad we're on the same page," she said and leaned back. She rounded the truck and Danny met her halfway.

She smoothed the straps on his sling and took a deep breath. "Be safe, baby. I love you."

He smiled and kissed her forehead. "I love you. Thanks, mom."

"If you come back injured, you will be grounded."

He laughed lightly and nodded. When he entered the truck, and they drove down the street, she stood and watched as they left.

***

Picking up Kie was slightly more difficult, so in the end, Kie simply walked away from her arguing parents and entered the truck.

"Boarding school wouldn't be that bad," Danny said as they crossed the water on the ferry. Danny sat in the bed of the truck with his legs kicked out in front of him. Pope leaned his forearms against the edge adjacent to Danny and tapped the letter in his hand. That letter was the whole reason they were going to Charleston.

Danny enjoyed the sea breeze and the ever-so-slight chill in the air, so he wasn't too upset about the wild goose chase they were going on to clear John B's name. The ferry was packed with many people just like them: sitting in the back of their trucks or milling about by their vehicles enjoying the fresh air.

She narrowed her eyes at him as she sat on the bumper. "Okay. Then you wouldn't mind coming with me."

"Now, well. . ." he said and reconsidered. "Actually. I look great in a suit jacket, so I'd be racking in the babes left and right. We'd rule that school in less than a week."

She rolled her eyes.

Her parents have been threatening to send her to boarding school if she didn't clean up her act. It didn't help that she was hanging out with delinquents in the eyes of her parents.

"Hey," JJ said from the roof of the truck as he rolled a blunt. "I hear they got good weed at boarding school, though."

"I'm not going to boarding school. They're gonna have to kidnap me, tie me up, and throw me in a van."

JJ hopped into the bed of the truck and lit his joint. "Well, I say. . ." He inhaled and on the exhale continued, "we just crumble some herb right now."

He handed it to Kie.

"Hey, Kie, have you tried to hit John B back on that number yet?" Pope asked.

"Like, twenty million times."

"That's quite a few times," JJ said. He sat in the bed of the truck and kicked Danny's foot. Danny retaliated with his own kick.

"Some random lady at a hotel keeps answering."

"Well, until we hear from them again, we gotta try and clear his name. Right now, this letter's our best bet."

"Right. Stay on task," JJ said with a nod. "That's why I love ya, Pope."

Kie stood and held out the joint to Pope. "What Pope are you gonna be today?"

Pope stared at it and took a moment for consideration. "I'm good," he said eventually. "I'm gonna try to focus."

"Good Pope," she said and then muttered, "Boring Pope." She lowered herself and sat next to JJ.

JJ wiggled his fingers and said, "I'll take that."

Pope sighed and stepped away from the truck.

"Hey," Danny said. He held out his hand and leaned forward. "Let me get a hit." He was feeling good, so he didn't think anything weird would happen. He could take in the scenery and just relax.

JJ scoffed and took a hit in mockery. "Fat chance."

His mouth dropped open, and he let his arm fall. "Why?" he asked, appalled.

Kie took the joint back and rose it to her lips. Danny watched in envy.

"I don't know if you were there or not, but I distinctly remember the threat of 'no drugs, guns, or crime.'"

"She was kidding."

"She was not." He glanced at his watch and added, "I'm supposed to call her in fifteen minutes and give her a run down, and I will not be breaking rule number one, thank you very much."

Danny's mouth dropped open. "Call her?" he reiterated in surprise. "I'm not a baby. What the fuck?" He kicked JJ's foot once more and then again when it wasn't satisfying enough.

Kie lifted her hand for mock privacy and stated in a normal voice, "He's presenting childish behavior."

JJ copied her actions and said, "The baby is pouting now."

He wasn't, but now he was. "You guys suck."

He crossed his arms and stared out at the horizon. He kept his gaze there when JJ and Kie giggled, when they rose and eventually settled on either side of him, and when JJ lifted his phone and took a picture of the three.

"That's a good one."

"I don't know. I think we can do better."

Danny finally smiled when each of them pressed their lips to his cheeks and captured the picture.

***

Danny's been toeing the line of consciousness and unconsciousness for the past half hour. It's been easy to when JJ's hand carting through his hair felt like pure bliss, but the winding turns and potholes have been counteracting his work.

"Hey, no," Danny muttered and caught JJ's wrist. He directed JJ's hand back to his head and settled deeper against JJ's chest. The combination of the feather-light touch in his hair, the gentle breeze from the window, and the warmth against his back was heaven.

It's been a tight squeeze in Pope's truck, but they've made due. Danny wasn't stupid. He knew the others were more uncomfortable by trying to give him room for his arm. Pope and JJ were practically fused with the doors, and Kie hardly brushed against him. Anytime he offered to give them more room, they denied even needing it.

Danny more so felt JJ's sigh against his back than heard it, but JJ continued his motions wordlessly.

Danny took JJ's other hand in his and rose it to his lips. He placed a kiss on JJ's pulse point and then threaded their fingers together.

"Guys, I've read this thing like a thousand times," Kie said. She's been rereading the letter over and over trying to decipher it. "It makes no sense. I mean, the Limbreys own, like, half of Charleston. What do the Kook kings of Charleston know about a murder on Kildare Island?"

"Why you specifically?" JJ said, referencing Pope. "That's the other creepy thing. You know?"

Kie added, "'Please come alone.' That's hella sus."

"I was thinking the same thing. I think it's because—" Pope was cut off by the truck's engine hissing and sputtering. "Oh, come on."

Danny opened his eyes and sat up. Smoke obstructed the entire field of view out of the windshield.

"What's that?" Kie asked. "Pull over. That's a lot of smoke, even for your dad's truck."

JJ rolled up the window and coughed. "Pope, I got sensitive lungs, man!"

"I'm pulling over."

"Pope, just slow down!" JJ yelled when Pope turned the wheel and drove them through the small strip of grass on the shoulder of the road. "What are you doing, dude?"

"Okay, sure. Yeah, right now," Kie deadpanned.

The truck stopped abruptly, and Pope laughed in disbelief as more smoke poured from under the hood.

"Shit!" Kie said as she was jerked forward.

"No. No. No. No," Pope mumbled and opened the door. He rushed to open the hood.

Everyone else followed Pope, but Danny was content to watch from inside the truck.

"It's gonna blow up," Kie said.

"No, it's not gonna blow up. You probably unhooked the radiator, Pope," JJ said. Danny watched JJ through the rearview mirror as he picked up the hubcap. "I haven't seen this before. You knocked the entire hubcap off! Whoo! You might wanna reschedule your meeting tonight, Pope."

Kie placed her hand on her head. "Plan B? We could, um. . . public transportation. We could hitchhike. We could rent bikes."

JJ walked next to Pope to observe the engine. After a moment, he determined, "Yeah, it's the radiator."

"My dad's gonna kill me."

JJ slapped Pope's back. "Yeah, he might. He might."

***

The repair shop was less than impressive.

There were two gas pumps that looked older than he was. A singular sales rack propped next to the main door displayed oil, but only one type. So many spare tires littered the ground that it seemed like a place where cars went to die, not to be fixed. And the only employee able to assist them was a guy Danny wasn't entirely convinced knew what he was doing.

"It could be anything," the mechanic said after a cursory glance at the engine.

"I definitely think it's the intake valve," Pope said. He knew this because he had previously sabotaged it.

"Look, I can put a rush on it, but it's gonna cost you a little extra."

"That's fine," Danny said. "I'll pay you an extra two if we can fix it in the next couple of hours."

"Danny," Pope said in vain because Danny waved him off and looked at the mechanic expectantly.

"Deal," he said. He'd be stupid not to. Danny hoped he'd spend the money on some decorations not from 1967.

"Great. Hand me a wrench."

Pope soon followed the man inside the shop, and Danny continued to work on the engine. He knew he should've brought his tool kit. If he had, he'd be saving a couple of hundred bucks, and they'd have made it to their meeting on time.

Or hell, they should've taken his car. They should've dropped the truck at Danny's house so Heyward wouldn't have known any difference. His car would've been roomier too, but, oh well. They'll take it the next time some mysterious letter beckons them to Charleston.

"Shit!" he cursed when his wrench slipped, and steam burst in his face. He still wasn't used to working with his left hand.

He waved a rag in the air and took a step away to let it cool. When he glanced into the shop, Pope and the man spoke at the register. He didn't know what they were talking about, but Danny hoped Pope was trying to cut them a better deal.

He tucked the rag into his back pocket and walked over to Kie and JJ, currently commandeering an abandoned truck. She sat in the cargo bed, and JJ rested against the sidewall.

Danny walked over to JJ and leaned his back against the truck. He angled his cheek to JJ and said, "I have an ouchie. Kiss me better?"

The steam did hurt his skin in all actuality. He knew the area was probably red from irritation. And who's to say a soothing kiss wouldn't make it all better?

Kie snorted behind him, but Danny didn't waiver. He simply leaned his face closer to JJ and waited patiently with his eyes closed.

After a moment, he didn't feel his lips. He felt a hand lightly slap his cheek.

Danny's eyes flew open, and he saw JJ's shameless smile before he puckered his lips mockingly.

"You're heartless, Mon Coeur," Danny said as he placed his hand over his heart, wounded.

JJ took a sip from his flask and leaned against the side paneling of the truck to face Danny. "Oh, yeah?" he asked. "Tell me how heartless I am."

And Danny couldn't. Not really, anyway. JJ was anything but, and every day Danny was reminded of it. He took a step closer to stare into JJ's eyes as he whispered in French, "You are the most selfless person I know. And I'm so grateful to have you in my life. I cherish you from the moment I wake up until the moment I fall asleep, and even in my dreams, I am haunted by you."

"Keep going."

"I want to drive away in the truck so you can prove how heartless you really are."

"Oh?"

"Torture me with your lips and your hands until I can no longer distinguish the difference between pleasure from you entirely."

"Is that so?" JJ said, amused.

"Wait?" Kie started, "You know what he said?"

JJ continued to stare at Danny when he answered, "Not a clue."

"Too bad," Danny muttered. He took a step back and then hopped into the bed of the truck. "But fuck you," he said to JJ. "My cheek really does hurt."

He sunk down next to Kie and presented his cheek to her. "Kie?"

"You're so weird," she said under her breath but nonetheless placed her hands on either side of his head and planted a wet kiss on his cheek.

"Thanks, baby," he said and then winked at JJ mockingly. "Feels so much better."

The shop door rang, and Danny heard footsteps on the gravel. He glanced over his shoulder. Pope and the mechanic hunched over the truck's engine and spoke indistinctively. They were in a disagreement about something, that's for sure.

"This dude's a fucking dunce," he said and rolled his eyes. "You know? I caught a look at his hands, and guess what? They're baby fucking smooth. I don't think he's ever worked on a car in his life."

"Okay. . ." Kie said and shifted to look at the pair with Danny. "What's that mean for us?"

"Means I'm paying this guy to stand there and not look pretty while I fix it."

"Well, if you fix it before he starts, we can leave. And then you won't have to pay him."

Danny considered it with a slow nod. The guy hadn't even picked up a tool or placed his hand on the engine, so she wasn't wrong. "That's a good point. I'll do that. Here," he said and presented his arm to her. "Can you roll this up? I can't."

She pushed his sweater sleeve higher on his arm. "Merci, baby cakes."

Just as he was going to hop from the truck, she placed her hand on his shoulder and then moved it to wrap around the back of his neck.

"Uhh?" he said and paused out of confusion. He sent JJ a look but received no input.

She continued to look at him with such an earnest expression that Danny was a bit nervous that she was about to confess she wanted to marry him. She pulled him closer and pressed her cheek against his chest, locking her arms behind his back in an unexpected hug.

His mouth parted, and he cradled her head. "Are you okay, Kie?"

He felt the rumble of her small laughs. "I'm fine. I just. . . I never said thank you."

He was suddenly growing concerned. Now he understood how Lou must've felt when Danny sent him that thank you text out of the blue.

"Jesus, Danny, chill. You look like you're about to crush a cyanide pill," JJ said.

Still, Danny had no clue what she was talking about. He did, however, force himself to relax and enjoy the hug from her.

JJ nodded encouragingly, so Danny assumed he knew what this whole act from Kie was about.

"Thank you for pulling me out of the drain—"

"Of course, Kie," he said, somewhat offended. "What?—"

"You messed up your shoulder because of me. You had an anxiety attack because of me. We shouldn't have split up and, and I should've been just as concerned about you as John B. But you're always so, so—and I didn't even think that you weren't—" she stumbled over her confession, but Danny could easily interpret the earnestness.

"Hey," Danny said and pulled her away. He cupped her face and continued, "Stop. Kie, stop."

She shook her head. "No. Just shut up for a sec."

He closed his mouth and sat back on his heels.

"You're my best friend," she said. "I love you, and I want you to know that."

His chest warmed. "I know that."

"Good."

*****

Reminder: mon coeur— my heart

Shorter chapter but I wanted to get it out! I'm so excited for season 3!!

Thanks for reading <3