Billy is frankly just not at ease in the car with Kathryn and JJ. Even if he's in the backseat, even if he's chosen to not be as vocal as he usually is. Yeah, Billy hung out with him like, twice, and she can tell that he's being extremely silent. Kathryn is a taciturne kind of person, so she doesn't really count.

But she can tell you with the utmost seriousness that the second Kathryn parks, Billy is running out onto the cruise boat they're taking. They're not going anywhere, it's really just a boat that rounds the island where you can eat and drink and stuff. They needed a place where Rafe wouldn't be. And where Kathryn wouldn't get explosives.

She slams the car door as she gets out, glowering at Billy's running form. JJ, next to her, awkwardly stands there. She stares back at him, before moving forward.

"Kat, hey, wait up."

Taking the biggest breath known to man and hoping it leaves no oxygen to JJ, she turns back. "What do you want? I'm not giving you a kidney."

"What? No, I..."

He tries to choose his words carefully because knows that there are a few that'll set her off. She beats him to it.

"You know, I get breaking up with me. Like, not for whatever reason you can come up with, that you have nothing to offer to me when this isn't the mid eighteen hundreds and I wasn't expecting anything from you in the first place." He blinks, taking the words in with obvious difficulty. Kathryn's breathing turns shaky, and she shakes herself. She won't give him the satisfaction of making her cry again. "I get breaking up with me. But you didn't have to call me a Kook. That was a low blow."

He shoves his hands in his pockets, absentmindedly stopping himself from reaching for her, gripping his lighter instead. "Nah, you're right. I went too far."

"It's like you wanted me to blow up at you," she adds, frowning. "Weirdo. You never told me about any masochistic kink."

JJ did want her to get angry. At least he wouldn't have had to see her cry.

A smile threatens to appear on his face. "Is that... is that a joke? Are you making jokes at me?"

"No, I'm making fun of you, JJ." Seeing her so serious, he stops smiling altogether. "What do you want? You're not exactly my favourite person to talk to, right now."

"'Kay, fair. I just wanted to know where we stand before–"

"Walking in a room where everyone will jump you for screwing this up?" She reminds him, one of the very first things he told her the morning after their first kiss. "Yeah, I'd be peeing my pants too, but don't worry, I'll be the only one giving you shit." She considers his options. "Okay, maybe worry a bit."

"You know, I can actually use words? 'Cause you keep putting a bunch of 'em in my mouth."

Kathryn has to admit that he has some balls, even if she's been berating him for the whole beginning of the day. Which is why she smirks, instead of decking him. "Okay, JJ. Use your words. Why did you break up with me?"

He splutters. "I, uh? I told you."

"Nah, you said you were sorry a lot, and that I was a Kook. Not exactly a whole lot to go by." She shrugs. "I want a clean cut answer."

She's not sure she does. But it's better than that whole weird floating feeling that she doesn't have the whole truth, because when it comes to JJ, she always does. To be fair, the whole break up is a blur. She's not sure she should be revisiting it a day later, when the scars are still wounds, and most of them are bleeding.

JJ knows he doesn't want to. He barely made it through the first time, unable to use more words than 'I'm sorry,' because he was, and that feeling of regret overtook everything. But Kathryn was actually talking to him, not at him, not as a joke, not to make fun of him or insult him.

"'m not good with words," he grumbles.

"You were good enough back there."

He closes his eyes. "Look, it was just never gonna work out. You mom said it, I did you a favor." That's just disappointing. He can see it in her eyes.

Kathryn scoffs. "Okay, one: we're agreeing with my mum? Second, who said it wasn't gonna work out? Your brain damage?"

She can see him holding back a sad smile. "Something like that, yeah."

She looks at him, properly. He tries not to look her in the eyes while she inspects him. She can tell he's holding something back, even if she doesn't know why. Maybe someone said something to him. Hell, maybe his dad contacted him and sent him spiralling. If she gives him a little push...

She steps closer to him, until she has to look up to make sure he's staring in her eyes and sees the anger there, that never rests.

"Listen, JJ, I'm mad as shit right now. I'm proper pissed off."

His eyes blow slightly wider. "Uh, no, yeah, I get that."

"But I want to understand. So you can talk to me. If you give me a few days, so I don't berate you for breathing in my direction."

He seems to debate with himself about whatever goes on in his brain, Kathryn no longer wants to know, before scratching the back of his head awkwardly. If he at least tells her what's wrong with her, then she can fix it. And once it's fixed, he can come back. She can't believe how pathetic she sounds, but she just wants him back, at this point. Kathryn always wanted him.

She's not sure stepping up to him to get her point across was a good idea. Especially when she realises she's not looking at his eyes anymore. His lips are suddenly the only thing she can picture.

Kathryn was never good with desire. She always mistook it for something or other. But oh, she was burning with it now, like being deprived of his kisses was enough to have her starved. She wagers, from the hungry look on his face and the way he balls his fists in his pockets, she isn't the only one.

She thinks she's dreaming when he leans forward, like he's going to kiss her, and she doesn't move, like she's going to let him.

"Yeah, um, and then, we can, uh..." JJ swallows thickly. "We can try being friends."

Kathryn keeps her gaze locked on his, before stepping back, scoffing to herself. "Friends," she repeats, hating the word. "You want us to be friends."

He scratches his temple, blushing a little. "Yeah. Yeah, I mean, if you wanna."

She thinks she entered some kind of alternate dimension, because JJ Maybank cannot be asking her to be friends right now. Mister Waiting Game Winner is asking for friendship, and half a second ago, Kathryn was thinking of the way he tasted.

"We barely could be friends when we liked each other, how do you think we'll manage knowing we love each other?" she says, her voice growing angry by the second, cheeks burning with the shame of admitting her feelings.

He stares at her, and she notices the slight heave of his chest. "I don't know."

She shakes her head. "Whatever. Let's go."

"Kat–"

"I said 'whatever.'"

Kathryn stomps up the steps to the boat, ignoring if the blonde is following her, the sting of rejection prickling at her skin. She sits down heavily between Pope and Sarah, across from Billy and Cleo. She doesn't say a single word, arms crossed, staring at the teenage boy that sulks up and joins them, next to Billy.

Kie blinks at her. "You guys good, or...?"

"Peachy," Kathryn grounds out. She kicks her legs up on the table, crossing her ankles. "So? You got your dad's truck?"

"Um... no. You?"

"No. Mum's back in town though."

Cleo tilts her head, hearing everyone groan. "Bad news?"

"Catastrophic," Pope confirms.

"I miss her being in jail," Billy hums.

"Not to say that it doesn't suck, but, uh... I mean, even if we did have transportation, we still have no idea how to get the Cross in the first place," Sarah lets out.

"Honestly, the hardest part is gonna be security, all right?" JJ states. "So most of the guys are gonna be at the rail yard."

Pope nods. "Right, so we'll need to find some place and guard it, maybe a little further down the line, like a whistle-stop."

"And how do we carry it?" Kathryn asks, raising a brow.

"I've been saying," Cleo sighs. "You guys are getting ahead of yourselves per usual. We don't have a way to transport the Cross. What you think? On JJ's motorcycle?"

Kathryn holds back a smile, before her... ex?... stands up.

"That's not my fault."

"Okay, other options."

"Pope," she starts, shaking her head. "We've tried our other options."

"Oh my god."

They turn to Sarah, who holds her hands to her mouth, shocked at whatever she just saw. For a second, Kathryn's scared that Rafe somehow made it here, but quickly settles down. Sarah would have reacted a tad bit more seriously.

"Oh my god what?"

Very, very inconspicuously, seven teenagers turn towards the bar. It's obvious what got Sarah gasping. Kathryn blinks once. Twice.

"Is that Topper?"

"Scratch Frosted Tip, is that Josh?" She sinks in her chair. "That's, uh, oh that's wonderful."

She hasn't seen him since she's been back. Henry mentioned him once, in passing, saying he saw the kid and he told him to tell Kat 'hi.' That's about all the interaction she's had. Oh, and the last time she saw him, JJ punched him in the face because he was jealous, as he told her.

Which clearly hasn't gone away. "You've got to be kidding me."

Kie turns back, closing her eyes tightly. "School, here, the boneyard... why... is he everywhere?"

"Wait, that's good," Billy suddenly lets out. She taps JJ's shoulder, who groans, already annoyed by the sight of Juniper. "He has a truck! He came by the house to ask us if we had news about Kitty with it, I've seen it!"

Sarah hums. "Yeah. Yeah no, I've seen his pick-up."

All eyes converge to Kathryn. She sits up straight. She doesn't like where this is going. She just got out of a relationship. Said ex boyfriend is staring at the sky like god has it in for him. Also, the awkwardness of it all might end her.

"Don't do this to me, guys."

"Look, if you don't want to, we won't." Sarah is fully aware that Kathryn tends to use her body as a tool, and doesn't want to feed into it.

"But?"

Kie tilts her head back and forth. "To be fair, the guy's drooling all over the place any time you come into the room, so..." She shrugs. "Take one for the team? And if it gets too much, tap out, and we'll try Topper."

JJ takes his cap off, fidgeting with it. "Uh... Like, I think if Kat doesn't want to, she shouldn't, you know?"

Pope turns to him. "And that's not at all biased."

"Ay..." Cleo breathes out, shaking her head.

Kathryn crosses her arms, thinking on it. She already knows she's going to say yes. Part of being a good friend, she figures, is helping Pope get his family heirloom back. Besides, she doesn't mind all that much, she thinks... Her body is hers only partly, she thinks.

While she reflects on everything, she realises that she's looking at Billy, in front of her. Billy makes googly eyes at her and JJ's back, wiggling her eyebrows. The Darcy frowns, and looks at the blonde, a little unwillingly.

JJ looks about ten seconds from passing out, drumming his fingers on the table, raking a hand through his hair, glaring at Josh, who doesn't even know that he's here. Friends, uh. Just friends. He wants them to be friends.

Kathryn always liked to make people eat their words.

Sorry, Josh. "I'll do it."

Pope's eyes have stars in them. "Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, Sarah could try Topper, but she has John B. And it's not like I'm in a relationship, right, JJ?"

The table falls silent. JJ's eye twitches. "Right. I don't mind. It's chill. Whatever."

She smiles, the kind of blinding fake smile that had him weak in the knees. "Yeah, I hope you don't mind, babe. We're just friends now, aren't we?"

JJ was indeed eating his every last word. "Yeah," he agrees through clenched teeth.

Kie smacks her lips together. "I like how you didn't make it weird."

Kathryn pats her shoulder, standing up. "You started it."

She readjust her bodysuit, makes sure the neckline is low enough, the shorts fitted just right, and inhales sharply looking back at the group. Pope is delighted to be one step closer to getting the Cross. Cleo looks vaguely amused. Sarah just seems glad she doesn't have to approach Topper, Kie obviously sharing the feeling. Billy keeps looking at JJ with a smirk. She was always a little impish.

JJ is losing his goddamn mind. Of all the people Kathryn would have to flirt with, it just had to be fucking Jayden. He was sick, positively sick. And he had just told her he wanted to be friends, and from the way she keeps making eye contact with him while adjusting the top of her bodysuit, he remembers that Kathryn is nothing if not spiteful.

Flirting with Josh is easy. He hugs her the second he sees her, all smiles, and then asks if she wants to go to the top deck, which she obliges with a smile, no stranger to the hand he places on the small of her back as they walk past the Pogues. It's the first time in JJ's life that he's happy he doesn't have the gun, because if he did, there'd be a murder suicide right about now.

Josh is very touchy, Kathryn thinks absent-mindedly. He keeps placing fly-away hairs back behind her ear, smiling at her. She thinks she missed him? He was always a nice guy to her, and their last night out had been a bit... eventful, but he never did anything against her. And he was quite nice to speak to. Easy.

Josh had always been the easy way out.

"I'm so happy you're here," he says, grinning, all teeth. "I tried texting you, and figured you might not have a phone back yet." She did. She just didn't answer. "How are you, really? It must have been hard."

His bleached hair has grown completely out now, and Kathryn has to admit she much prefers his brown hair on him. His eyes seem kinder.

She offers him a half-hearted smile, looking out at the water. "Bit tough, right now," she tells him.

He seems invested, which is nice. "Oh, I'm sorry."

Kathryn's eyes divert to the left, right next to his shoulder, and fall on her group of friends, urging her to just get on with it. JJ is a little further away, leaning against the wall, arms crossed, very visibly angry, and Kathryn isn't sure if he's even trying to hide it. Well, whatever. He broke up with her. And they're friends, now.

"Yeah," she smiles back at Josh. "Yeah, no, we're like, on a little adventure, after Pope's heirloom. It's kind of why we were gone."

He frowns. "What kind of heirloom?"

"Priceless. An antique, really. From the early eighteen hundreds, at least. I think. I couldn't get that proper a look. Well, I did, but only once."

"You know, you're pretty when you talk nerdy."

She laughs easily. JJ thinks people died for less than making Kathryn laugh.

Kathryn shoves at his shoulder. "I'm not nerdy. I'm invested! Look, we lost the thing, and we could actually get it back tonight. With a little help, from a very cute friend."

Josh hums, leaning down towards her, Kathryn not leaning away. "That very cute friend is a little concerned about the blonde you usually have with you."

She falters a little. "JJ? Oh, no, don't worry. We're just friends."

He snorts. "You tried telling him that?"

"Actually, he tried telling me that."

He seems floored by the prospect of Kathryn getting rejected. "I'm sorry?"

"Hm, yeah, so will he."

Josh chuckles at that, brushing a knuckle against her cheek. "Attagirl."

Kathryn tries to ignore the way JJ abruptly straightens up and starts pacing around in her peripheral vision. "Would you be able to help?"

"Help JJ realise what he missed...? Or Pope?"

She shrugs. "We could multitask."

"I like the sound of that, actually." He sighs, stepping back, but still grinning. "What do you need, Kat?"

She winces a little. "Your truck?"

"Done."

"What?" she nearly cries out. "That easy?"

He laughs, a full sound that rattles her bones. "You're hard to say 'no' to." Her face splits in a grin. "I do have a condition."

She nods. "Yeah, sure. Of course."

"I care about the thing. And I saw what you did to mister H's truck... so I'm driving."

Well. At least they have a truck. That's not half bad. "Thank you."

She smiles at him, and kisses his cheek, as a thanks. John tugs her into a hug, which she accepts easily. Of course it's easy. There's no love there. All of it belongs to the guy who sulks as the rest of his friend group cheers. Josh was her friend, the way JJ asked to be.

But Kathryn is a good friend, she's decided. She can't let their drama get in the way of the Cross, Pope's Cross. It already fueled her into taking this decision, to flirt her way to the truck. That's as far as she'll go. A good friend.

JJ just happens to hate the concept.

Author's Note: I love you guys. Everyone here is like a little family member you're all so sweet, I genuinely always look out for comments and notice when someones missing and all. Dunno why I'm saying that but it's late and yeah <3