032 !! COMPLICATED

JJ's eyes dart towards her small figure quietly creeping up the steps of the Chateau, his gaze immediately turning to skeptical slits.

"Yo! Where the hell do you think you're going?".

She freezes in the middle of the porch, slowly turning to throw him a confused glance.

"To shower?".

"And what about letting me know that you're alive, huh? You text Kie but not me. How's that fair?".

"You expect me to apologise?", her brow arches.

"Of course I do. I was worried", he frowns crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well, you ain't getting any apology. At least not from me".

"Georgina, I swear—", JJ raises his index finger up in warning, eyes widening threateningly.

"Dad wants to know where you got the 50K from. I'd avoid the house for the next two to three years, if I were you", she cuts him off.

He clamps his mouth shut, glimpsing all over her face her discomfort not going unnoticeable under his watchful concerned gaze.

She, in turn, fixes her eyes on the fresh cut twinging over his bottom lip; one which wasn't there the day before.

Blinking silently, Georgie wraps her arms around her midsection meeting his solemn blue eyes washed with a terrible ocean of guilt.

"Did he—".

"There wasn't much damage done. You clearly weren't as lucky".

He shrugs nonchalantly, rubbing at the back of his head as he rocks on the balls of his feet.

"Nothing I couldn't handle".

She grimaces, shaking her head.

"Are you okay, J?".

JJ laughs dryly, his hands come up to lock behind his head eyebrows scrunching up whilst he thoughtfully stares at his sister.

"I could kill him. I could kill him for even touching you, Georgie. Just grab the ol' shooter and pull the trigger. I'd feel no remorse either, freedom at last".

Her heart aches, throat stinging with the anticipation of the desperate tears building up inside of her.

She hates that he feels like it's his duty to protect her from the world but there's no one to protect him.

No one to hide him while he cries his lungs out and tell him they'd happily pull the trigger on anyone who so much as laid a finger on him.

She tries to be his comfort in this raging world but JJ's a lone fighter, he figures it's just his little sister being cute throwing her arms around him like she used to back when they were kids whenever he'd slam the door of his room after another one of his fights with their father.

She'd sneak in in the middle of the night, prying open the curtains and dragging him over to the window to see the moon, shining bright and gleaming as if it was the bigger than the whole sky.

He'd sit there, wordlessly staring up at the ball of light consuming the dark up above them and just as he'd think it was to time to dismiss her, tell her to go back to her room she'd throw her arms around his small torso fitting right against him in her tiny frame.

"If I could I'd give you the moon, J", she would whisper, embracing him tightly.

"You already have, Georgie", he would murmur when sleep sucked her in, and she went limp in his arms leaning into him as they sat on his bare bedroom floor, curtains ajar and the silver light of the moon slithering in lulling them to sleep for that was the only real lullaby they could fathom.

"Murder gets you for life. I don't think I can go that long without you screaming at me regularly".

He cracks a smile, slightly shaking his head.

"Go shower. I think Pope's cooking breakfast".

Georgie looks around trying to find her favourite head of curls bouncing around somewhere near the water.

"She's cleaning up my bike".

"Why?", Georgie chuckles.

JJ shrugs, "Thought John B would bail on Ward today. I said no chance, so we placed a bet and look who won", he spreads his arms out wide, grinning from ear to ear.

She laughs, opening the door and walking right in.

The smell of half cooked pancakes greets her as she wanders through the small corridor sneaking into the kitchen to find Pope fiddling with a sorry mess of a pancake batter by the side of the stove.

"Need any help?", she leans against the wall, grabbing an apple from the grocery bag lying on the counter.

He glimpses at her, huffing.

"Nah. I'm good. This doesn't taste very pancake-y though".

"So you do need help?".

He properly looks up, turning to give her his complete attention, "No—", he stops short of completing his sentence the moment his eyes fall on the side of her neck that is now uncovered since she pushed her hair aside.

She bites into the apple, knitting her eyebrows.

"What?", Georgie speaks through full mouth.

"You didn't spend the night at your house, did you?", his voice comes out quiet as his eyes dart back to hers.

"What the hell are you talking about?", she throws an arm around herself, slowly chewing on the apple.

Pope shakes his head, abandoning the bowl full of pancake batter.

He leans back into the kitchen isle, hands tightly gripping onto the faded granite.

"You have like four hickeys on your neck, Georgie".

Her mouth stops chewing midway — hand holding the apple suspended in the air and the other coming up to touch the side of her neck, memories of the night before flashing before her eyes.

Rafe's lips, sucking.

Rafe's hands, touching.

Rafe, Rafe on top of her, Rafe beside her, Rafe this morning, Rafe who her friends hate, Rafe, just Rafe, Rafe and Rafe and Rafe Cameron—

"I'm not JJ. You don't have to be scared", Pope remarks noting her alert eyes.

She inhales shakily.

"I'm not scared".

"Good. 'Cause I'm the best friend here. I don't judge, I only offer my expert advice".

Georgie laughs, hopping up onto the counter to sit while he leans beside her.

He glances up, meeting her gaze.

"So? Who is he? Or she. I'm no one to judge", he raises his hands up.

Giggling, she takes another bite of the apple.

"It's a he".

Pope nods, leaning further back on his elbows to look up at her.

"Are you dating?".

She shrugs turning her eyes to the apple in her hand.

"Not really".

"Do you want to?".

"It's a bit more complicated that that, Pope".

He shifts to turn on his hide, frowning.

"Why? Why's it complicated, Georgie? If it's because of that stupid 'no Pogue on Pogue macking' thing then fuck that. Seriously, fuck that. No one follows it anyways".

Her heart sinks to her stomach. The fact that his first instinct, her best friend's first instinct was to assume that the guy she's interested in is a Pogue hurts so bad.

How will she ever be able to tell them the truth when this is how they've been wired since forever?

Especially when it's not just some Kook.

Georgie blinks, breathing deeply.

"It's not that. I just—I don't know. It just is . . . . you know, complicated".

Pope sighs.

"Does he treat you right though?".

A smile involuntarily takes up her lips.

"Mhm".

"Good. He'd be in for some serious ass kicking if he wouldn't".

She giggles quietly, watching his own face light up with a smile.

"Don't act like you're so innocent. I have eyes. I've seen things", she suggestively wiggles her eyebrows.

Pope coughs into a fist.

"I ain't got no idea what that's supposed to mean".

Georgie scoffs, swatting at hitting his shoulder.

"Kie? Yeah Pope, I've been seeing things since years. Get your shit together, man. You ain't as inconspicuous as you think".

His eyes widen. He hides behind his hand, groaning as he lowers his head.

"D'you think she's noticed too?", he asks from behind his fingers, voice coming out tiredly muffled.

"I'm not sure. JJ's always hittin' on her, so maybe not".

Pope pulls his head up.

"He hits on everyone".

"Exactly".

"I don't wanna ruin anything. Losin' her would be . . . . really shit".

"You won't lose her", Georgie mumbles.

Her hands comes to rest on top of his closely held fists, he slips his fingers between hers and squeezes her hand, gratefully glancing up at her emerald eyes.

"You sleep well?".

She rolls her eyes, roughly poking at his shoulder as his smile turns into a full blown laugh.

The front door slams open with a thud, startling both of them. Georgie hops down and rushes behind Pope to see what's going on.

John B comes barging in, his eyes frantic and shirt dangling open while he moves through the house riffling around trying to find something.

"John B, what's going on!", JJ follows behind him, Kiara following suit.

All four pairs of eyes meet each others, worry laced in all of their gazes.

"John B—", Georgie steps up just as he fishes out JJ's gun, cocking it to make sure it's working.

"John B, no", Pope walks up to pull him back, but he shoves him aside bounding down the steps towards JJ's newly cleaned bike.

"John B, what do you need the gun for!", Kiara runs down the steps.

"John B, what the hell are you doing?", Georgie quickly descends the steps.

He tightens his hands over the handlebars and turns to them, eyes bloodshot and hair messed up in a sense of terrifying exhaustion.

"Ward knows about the gold. He killed my dad".

He doesn't even give them the time to react before he's taking off, driving the bike off to god knows where.

***
pope = best obx character. i said what i said.