𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧
[𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒅𝒓𝒖𝒈 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒅𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒓]
❧

MARINA MAKES HER WAY THROUGH THE CROWD, pogues and kooks alike as she struggles to find Kiara. To be invited to a movie night wasn't all bad, sometimes they showed movies Marina liked. But to invited to one on the kook side of the island? Yeah, Marina wished she had just completely ghosted her best friend. Laying her eyes on the curly haired girl, she holds her bag tightly as she walks toward her.

Kiara seemed to notice her as well, standing up. "Finally. I thought you were gonna leave me alone with these two knuckleheads." She mutters as she grabs her best friends hand, hurrying her more toward the group.

"Hey!" JJ and Pope both complain and Kiara went to laugh but stopped when she notices the mark on Marina's neck.

"Woah, hey. What happened to your neck?" Kiara asks, immediately concerned as she grabs the girls jaw to turn her head to the side and get a better look. This catches the boys attention as they both look over to see what Kiara was talking about.

"Don't worry about it." Marina denies as she grabs Kiara's hand, bringing it back down.

"Don't worry about it? Mari, who did this to you?" Kiara questions with a scoff, narrowing her gaze.

"Seriously, I accidentally caught myself." She answers and Kiara didn't seem to believe it but she did let the subject go. Marina sits down, her eyes moving to JJ and Pope, leaning in their direction.

"'Don't tell anyone, we won't get caught.' I just might murder you both first." Marina whispers angrily toward them, a deadly expression in her eyes. Pope was sheepish as he looked to the ground.

"Topper did that shit?" JJ asks, his tone seeming a bit irritated as he looked at her neck.

"Rafe." She corrects as she sits back in her seat. "But what do you care?" Marina mumbles and JJ couldn't help but frown a little bit.

"What?" He responds but she doesn't say anything else.

"By the way, I just saw rafe. He said and I quote, tell your boy that we know what he did. What is that?" Kiara asks as she looks at the boys who share a look with each other warily.

"Um... Where is he?" JJ asks curiously and Kiara raises an eyebrow.

"Right there." She informs as she points behind them and JJ and Pope both shoot around, noticing rafe sitting a few feet behind them with Topper and Kelce. Marina turns as well and Rafe catches her eye, sending a kiss her way as he smirks.

"Great the whole death squad is here." Pope mutters while as JJ was just glaring at Rafe for even trying to interact with Marina.

"Don't stare, bro." JJ says, grabbing Pope's head and bringing it back in front of him.

"Ow!" Pope complains as he rubs the back of his head. Marina flips Rafe off before turning back in her seat.

"Just warning you, bro. If they corner me, I'm coming out swinging, okay? Slice and dicin, I'm on edge right now." JJ informs Pope who nods his head, not about to tell the man that he was wrong.

"Yeah, yeah."

"If that doesn't work, I got this right here." JJ picks up his bag and Marina shakes her head, just bringing her fingers up to her eyebrows.

"Yeah, yeah, so we just gotta stay in the group. They can't come get us if we're in the group." Pope agrees as JJ places a hand on his shoulder.

"Like a school of fish."

"Stay in the school. Can't leave the school." Pope states and Marina just rolls her eyes at their behavior.

"Idiotos." She mutters and JJ slowly turns his head toward her.

"Okay, we really don't need your negative attitude right now, princess." He admits, pointing his finger at her which he quickly puts down since he was scared shed break it. "What we need is your knife. You have one, right?" JJ asks her, his eyes searching her for an answer.

Marina simply takes her bag off, opening it and showing the knifes in her bag. "Take your pick." She responds and JJ can't help but smirk widely back at her.

"That's my girl." He claps his hands together, sitting back in his seat as Marina zips her bag back up, trying to ignore his comment.

"I'm sorry, JJ. Please tell me that you did not bring a gun here. JJ, there are kids." Kiara warns as she glares over at the man.

"No, kie, I didn't bring the gun. Everything's fine, okay?" JJ lied with a false smile on his face and Kiara clicks her tongue.

"Oh, wow, thank you. That's really convincing. I love that, JJ." Kiara bluntly responds before her eyes flicker between them. "Founding principle, you guys. No secrets amongst pogues. What is rafe talking about?" She asks, crossing her arms against her chest.

"Kie, it might go down tonight." Pope tells her lowly which only made her more confused.

"What does that mean? It might do down tonight, what does that mean? What did yall do?"

"Deny, deny, deny." JJ whispers toward Pope who stayed silent so Kiara only moves her gaze to Marina.

"Mari?" Kiara asks her, waiting for an answer. Both boys looked hesitant, not knowing if she would say another. But as Marina looks across the multitude of chairs, she notices her brother. "Mari." She says in a more firm tone but Marina just stands up from her chair.

"I'll be back." She responds, not looking at them as she walked away from the group. Kiara clenches her jaw a bit.

"Great, now you've turned my best friend against me."

"We didn't turn her against you." JJ denies with an annoyed eyeroll.

"And what was that, you're my girl, bullshit? I told you she was off limits, JJ." Kiara snaps at him, a disgusted expression on her face and JJ seemed a bit irritated.

"It was, that's my girl, and it was just a friendly banter." JJ tells her as he shrugs his shoulders.

"Friendly banter? News flash, you're not friends." Her words hit harshly but she didnt care at this point. Pope saw the look of hurt that flashed across JJ's face. "Seriously, and if we were friends, you wouldn't keep flirting with her." Kiara denies, crossing her arms as she felt like JJ didn't even respect their friendship when he continued to go after Marina.

"God, don't get your panties all in a twist, kie. She doesn't like me, like you said." JJ snaps back, kicking his foot against the dirt. "Besides, Pope is the one you should worry about." He admits and Pope snaps his head toward the blonde, beyond confused.

"What?"

"You were flirting with her on the boat, don't even deny it." JJ says with a scoff and Pope narrows his eyes.

"I thought all you wanted me to do is deny? And i was not flirting." He denies and JJ tried to read the boy but Pope hid his emotions pretty well.

"Okay, she was flirting with you." JJ corrects himself and Pope gives the bot an eye roll.

"No, she wasn't."

"If you think that was flirting, you've lost your damn mind, JJ." Kiara mutters as she shakes her head. They were just talking about the hobbit, not exchanging googly eyes at one another.

"Kie, nothing will happen between us, okay? You happy?" JJ couldn't help but be angry, his voice being a bit louder than he meant it to be.

"I'll be happy when you don't ruin my friendship with her because you want to get your dick sucked." Kiara retorts and that seemed to strike JJ as he simply stared back at her, a bit shocked she would say something like that.

"Kie." Pope was even surprised, just moving his eyes between his friends who seemed to be at an odds.

Meanwhile Marina stops next to her brother who was talking to some girl. "Ryder." She says, catching his attention and he turns his head to meet her gaze.

"What's up, loser?" Ryder responds, kicking his foot at her leg and she gives him an annoyed glare. She was about to talk before noticing the blonde girl was still stood next to him.

"Can you like, not be here right now?" Marina asks but it wasn't that much of a suggestion. The girl let's out a scoff as she rolls her eyes, grabbing her drink and storming away from them.

"Thanks for that." Ryder mumbles as he takes a sip of his own drink.

"I need you to do something for me." Marina admits, cutting right to the chase and Ryder raises an eyebrow at her.

"Okay?"

"Call dad and tell him I'm here and in trouble. That some kooks are trying to hurt me and my friends." Marina explains to him and Ryder was amused at first, thinking she was kidding until he realized she was being serious.

"You wanna tell me why?" Ryder questions, wondering why she needed him to do this anyways.

"Do you remember when I covered for you when you were sneaking out to go god knows where and you said no questions asked?" She retorts and he nods his head. "This is my no questions asked." Marina tells him and Ryder couldn't help but sigh. He glanced around, rubbing at his jaw.

"You want me to call now?"

"Wait until the movie gets going." Marina states before turning and heading back over to the group, all of them watching as she sits back down.

"What were you doing?" Pope asks, curiously.

"Don't worry, if they come for you, they're dead." Marina responds and Pope seemed confused as he shared a glance with JJ. "Literally." She simply looks toward the screen, not answering any more of their questions which she knew they had.

❧

SITTING IN THE MIDDLE OF KIARA AND JJ, Marina sighed as she watched the screen. She was stuck being stared at by Rafe and his posse of privileged kooks while watching the lamest movie known to man. JJ was always fidgeting in his seat a lot so that made her not be able to focus. She almost wanted to tie him down to the chair to keep him from moving. She had ropes in her bag so she could do that.

"Stop moving." Marina hisses toward him in a hushed whisper. JJ freezes for a moment, looking toward the girl who had an annoyed stare.

"Sorry, i can't sit still." He admits and she just narrows her gaze.

"Yeah, i can see that." She mutters as she looks back in front of her but he only continues to move every few seconds. "If you're antsy cause of Rafe, just ignore him." Marina tells him. That's what she did most of the time even when he was trying to get her attention.

"It's not that, i just am a natural fidgeter okay?" JJ mumbles back to her, chewing on the nail of his thumb. Marina doesn't say anything more. "Can i steal some popcorn?" He asks, his eyes lingering on her. Marina only moves the bag closer to him so he could take a handful. He throws it in his mouth. "Thanks." He mutters as he chews the food.

Marina only rests her chin in the palm of her hand as her eyes focus on the screen. She could see JJ take a few more handfuls but she honestly couldn't care less. Apparently Kiara did though. "Can you chew any louder?" Kiara mutters as she glares over at the man who stops mid chew as he looks back at her. He shrugs, swallowing the popcorn.

Kiara rolls her eyes, looking away from the man but it didn't stop JJ as he only leaned over for more. Although Kiara was annoyed by the loud chewing, Marina offering her popcorn actually stopped the fidgeting that JJ had been doing previously.

JJ reached over Marina a bit which confused her until she saw him grab her drink, taking a long swig of it before setting it back down. Marina was a bit annoyed but didn't tell him off as he settled back in his chair.

"JJ?" Pope asks quietly and JJ just looks toward him as he shoved more popcorn into his mouth.

"What?"

"Gotta take a piss." He admits and JJ clenches his jaw a bit.

"Hold it." JJ sneers back at him.

"I can't hold it. I drank too much soda." Pope responds. JJ sighs as he looks around, shaking his head.

"It's too exposed. They'll totally see us." He points out but Pope didn't seem like he cared in that precise moment.

"I gotta go." Pope says and they both turn to look toward the bathrooms only to find the death squad. "They're blocking the bathrooms." He mutters.

"What is it?" Marina asks after hearing the nonstop chatter.

"He needs to piss."

"That's how everyone gets killed in horror movies, they wander off." She points out, looking directly at Pope.

"See, told you, dude." JJ says, smirking in victory but Pope groans as he tilts his head back.

"I can't hold it." He denies, bouncing his leg up and down. Jj sighs but nods his head.

"Come on, i know where." He mutters, his eyes moving to Marina. "Stand guard." JJ tells her, not even asking as he and Pope stood up.

"Hey, where yall going?" Kiara asks, furrowing her eyebrows.

"We gotta wring it out." Jj answers her.

"You gonna hold it for each other?" She asks as she scrunches her nose up before noticing Marina standing up as well. "And where are you going?" Kiara questions.

"Refill." Marina says which wasn't a lie. JJ had drank the rest of hers. As she followed JJ and Pope to the tree behind the screen, Pope glanced in her direction.

"Why did you ask her to come, dude?" He asks with a small groan, his fingers lingering on his waistband.

"I don't know, I just thought it'd be a better chance, three on three." JJ responds, shrugging his shoulders.

"If you're shy because you haven't had your dick out in front of a girl, no one's ever impressive anyways." Marina tells them bluntly and JJ raises an eyebrow toward her.

"Way to make a man feel good about himself." He responds and she tilts her head.

"What man am I supposed to be seeing?" JJ just bites the inside of his cheek as he turns away from her, facing the tree as he lowers his shorts just a bit so he was able to pee freely, Pope doing the same.

JJ let's out a soft sigh, tilting his head back as his eyes close for a moment. Pope groans as he was finally relieved of the pressure on his bladder. "This feels better than a blow job." Pope admits. Marina glances around the area, not looking at the two men who were relieving themselves in public.

"Like you know how that feels." JJ retorts with a small snort.  He looks in Marina's direction for a split second, seeing her staring at something in the distance.

"I'm gonna go scope the area." Marina admits, not taking any commentary as she walks away from them.

"Mari, by the way? Totally blowing it, man." Pope states once she was out of ear shot.

"Jesus, I fucking know, all right?" JJ mutters as he shakes himself a bit before turning himself back in. "Now I've got kie on my ass about it too." He says with a roll of his eyes.

"I mean, she's not wrong. You make a move and she blows you off... goodbye Mari." Pope points out and JJ couldn't help but glare at his friend.

"Dude, just hurry up."

"You bring the peacemaker?" Pope asks as he tucks himself back in and he sees the way JJ's eyes widen.

"Shit, i forgot it." He admits and Pope wanted to hit him.

"One job, you had one job."

"I know. Let's go back." JJ agrees as he grabs a hold of Pope but when they go to turn, they're met with Rafe who has a smirk on his lips.

"What's up, pogues?"  He asks, walking closer to them.

"What's up, rafe?" JJ responds as he and Pope back up.

"How you guys doing tonight?" Rafes eyes roam the area a bit but sees it's just the two of them.

"Isn't it past your bedtime?" JJ taunts.

"I just wanna talk."

"Just chill out, Topper." Pope says and as JJ turns his head to see Topper and Kelce coming from the opposite direction.

"Yeah, that was some nice work you did on my boat." Topper says with a scoff and Pope looks a bit scared.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Pope denies and Topper only lets out a laugh.

"Oh, yeah. Of course you don't."

"Not so burly without a gun now, are you?" Rafe says toward JJ who glares back at him.

"Take one more step, I'll rip that prepubescent face off." JJ warns and Rafe mocks a scared look before just smirking toward the boy.

"Hey, Pope. Do you feel good about yourself stealing shit? Is your mom proud of you? Is your dad?" Topper taunts as he keeps getting closer to Pope. The boy suddenly headbutts Topper, sending him stumbling backward.

"Now, attaboy!" JJ cheers with a proud look on his face. "With your fist, like this, okay?" He says before punching Rafe straight across the face, causing the whole group to abrupt into chaos.

As Marina returns to the same area she left the two boys, she couldn't help but be annoyed as she saw the fight. Two seconds, she left them alone for two whole seconds. She notices Topper and Pope fighting while Rafe and Kelce attacked JJ.

She walks over, simply tapping rafe on the shoulder. The man was confused at first until he turned his head to see her. "Two against one, rafe? Really? I took you for a weak bitch but wow, your Seriously a little man baby." Marina tells him and JJ stares at her with wide eyes from the chokehold Kelce had him in.

"Let go of him, topper! Fascist asshole!" Kiara shouts as she jumps onto Toppers back after hearing the commotion. Rafe moves toward Marina, tilting his head. JJ fights against Kelce who holds him tightly.

"Stay out of this pretty girl, wouldn't want to bruise your little face up." Rafe responds with a smirk, bringing his thumb to her jaw and she only lets out a humourless laugh.

"Don't worry, you won't." Marina states before punching the man causing him to stumble a bit and just as he recovered, she grabbed his arms, bringing up her knee and hitting him straight in the dick.

"You fucking bitch!" Rafe shouts as he was keeled over. Marina takes out her knife, moving it toward him but he grabs her wrist harshly, shoving her to the ground.

"Hey, no, rafe!"  Kiara rushes toward them but rafe only wraps his arms around her, throwing her to the ground.

"Stay out of this, Kiara!" Rafe shouts before turning back to Marina who was getting up but just before she could, he kicks her in the stomach causing her to fall back to the ground.

"Don't you fucking touch her!" JJ sneers as he tries to push Kelce away in order to try and help the girl. Rafe doesn't even pay attention to him, just grabbing Marina by her hair and pulling her up toward him.

"You think you're so tough, huh? I should've jammed that knife into your goddamn throat." Rafe snaps, a cold look on his face as he stares down at her. Marina feels the knife between her fingers, and she grips it. But rafe suddenly punched her across the face causing her to cough, a bit of blood coming out of her mouth.

"Mari!" Kiara cries out as she once again gets up from the ground to go help her but Rafe grabs Marina, holding the knife to her throat causing Kiara to stop. He snickered maniacally before his eyes look back at Marina, her stone cold expression never faltering, never allowing any sort of fear on her face.

He slices the knife against a small part of her side but she doesn't even wince, keeping her gaze on his. "I'll fucking gut you, you hear me?" Rafe threatens and she knew it was getting under his skin that she wasnt reacting. "You hear me?!" His hand wraps around her throat and she just grabs a hold of his wrist. "Useless ass pogue! No one would fucking miss you anyways. No one!" He shouts at her as he tightens his grip.

Even Kelce and Topper had looked his way buttl their grips weren't soft enough for JJ and Pope to escape. And man was JJ trying.

"Let her go!" Kiara pleads but he wasnt budging. "Rafe, you're gonna kill her!" She screams, seeing him lifting her slightly off of the ground. Marina saw spots in her vision but she still didn't give rafe the satisfaction of looking like she was afraid of him. Because truthfully she wasn't. She wasn't afraid of death. But she also knew what was coming.

Kiaras eyes go wide as she watches someone walk up behind the pair. Rafe was so focused on Marina that he didn't even notice until the cold metal pressed against the back of his head. His grip loosens but he still had a hold on Marina.

"One more move and I pull this trigger." Diego warns him, pressing it more against him and Rafe let's Marina go completely, the girl falling to the ground and coughing violently. Kiara was so shaken that she could only stare at Marina's dad.

"S-shit." Toppers eyes go wide as he and Kelce both let the boys go. JJ shoves Kelce back but doesn't move as he also watched the scene unfold in front of him.

"You think you're some kook king? Beating on a girl because you can't take someone your own size?" Diego asks Rafe who put his hands up, slightly shaking as he felt the gun against him. "I swear to you, Rafe, you touch my daughter again and I will blow your brains out and I promise you, no one will be crying." He denies and Rafe bites his tongue as his eyes go down to the ground.

"Now, you and your little friends are gonna get out of here and you are not going to try this shit again, do you hear me? You're not gonna speak to them, you're not even gonna look at them." Diego warns the boy who still had his hands up in the air. "You're nothing more than a crackhead who spends daddy's money cause he has fuck all of his own. Well, you can find your fix somewhere else, I better not see you on the cut or so help me god, rafe." Diego turned the man in his hold so he could look Rafe in the eye.

It seemed Rafe wanted to stay cocky, to not show fear but it was showing a bit in his eyes. "You come within six feet of my daughter and I will make sure you never see another day, you got that." Diego threatens and he just hears a scoff leave Rafe's lips. Pulling the trigger right beside him, a bullet hits the ground next to the pair. Everyone was in shock, flinching at the sound. "I said you got that?!" He shouts and Rafe frantically nods his head.

"I got it, I got it!" Rafe responds, staring at the gun that was now pointed toward him again.

"Get the fuck out of here." Diego mutters,  pushing the man forward. Rafe was quick to leave along with Topper and Kelce, leaving only the pogues. "What were you thinking?" He asks as he stares down at his daughter who simply stands up, brushing off her outfit.

"I was thinking kooks never get punished." She retorts and Diego sighs, looking at her with disappointment.

"You think this is gonna help us, Mari?" He asks her, gesturing around for a moment before picking up the knife that was still on the ground. "Is this yours?" Diego asks his daughter.

"No." She lies, keeping a straight face.

"Don't lie to me. Empty your pockets."

Marina sighs as she grabs the knives from her pockets, handing them to her father. "They deserved it." Marina admits but her father really didn't seem in the mood to hear it.

"I don't care." He denies before taking a step back. "Get in the goddamn car." Diego demands, gesturing toward the entrance of the park. Marina doesn't say anything else, glancing toward Kiara before heading away from them. "You kids okay?" Diego asks, his attention going to the pogues.

"We're fine, Mr Emery." Kiara says, her voice small as she fiddles with her fingers.

"Good. Now go home, the lot of you." Diego tells them and Pope frowns, feeling the ache from his wounds encompass him.

"It wasn't her fault, she was just protecting us." Pope pipes up a bit but it did nothing to soothe the rage inside of Diego.

"My daughter makes her own decisions." And with that, he just walks away from the trio, leaving them to just share worried glances.

❧

SHE KNEW HER DAD WAS PISSED OFF. She wasn't blind. And the fact that he was more mad at her than he had been at Rafe makes be blood boil. He probably wouldn't even go through with blowing Rafes brains out because he would choose his business any day. "Do you know what could've happened tonight?" Diego asks as he slams the door behind them.

"My friends could've been killed." Marina states the obvious as she just grips the handles of her bag on her shoulders.

"No, what if someone other than me found you, huh? What if your mother had?" Diego suggests and she furrows her eyebrows as she turns to face him.

"That's what you care about?" She asks him.

"Your mother is using every little thing to take you away from me and you're just adding fuel for her." He points out, grabbing the bottle from beside him and pouring some of the liquid into the empty glass beside it.

"I was just supposed to let my friends get beaten up?"

"Theyre not your friends!" Diego shouts back at her and she flinches slightly. "You've said it yourself that you just tolerate them because of Kiara. Now you're almost getting killed for them?" He asks with a scoff and she clenches her jaw, glancing down at the ground.

"I was fine." She admits and she heard the breathy laugh that left her father's lips.

"So, i should've left rafe alone then?" Diego questions and she doesn't say anything, keeping her eyes on the floor. "You can't be doing things this stupid." He denies and she felt her blood boil as she finally met his gaze again.

"At least i fight for what I care about." She snaps back and she could tell she hit a nerve.

"Excuse me?"

"You have the money dad! The money i gave you, the money rafe supplied for his fucking drugs!" She screams, taking a step forward. "And yet where's the lawyer you keep talking about?" Marina didn't get why he wasn't using the money she was giving him.

"I'm working on it." He mutters and she only shakes her head, a heartless laugh leaving her.

"Sure." Marina couldn't take arguing with her father, turning to head toward the hall.

"I'm trying to keep this family together." Diego calls out after her.

"Yeah, maybe try a little harder." She mumbles before going into her room, not wanting to listen to his excuses anymore as she slams her door shut.

❧

MARINA HADNT LEFT HER ROOM, just drawing as she laid on her bed. Her dad hadn't come to check up on her either, probably believing letting her have space was for the best. Though she didn't know if she agreed. Hearing a tap on her window, she looks up, narrowing her gaze. Glancing around, she grabs the knife that was on her bedside table. Wandering over to the window, she made sure to stay to the side.

And as her hand slowly moves to open it, she holds the knife out firmly, only to find Kiara on the other side. Marina sighs as she drops her arm to her side. "Kie, what are you doing here? Why didn't you just come in the door?" Marina asks as she just fully opens the wndow to let the girl climb inside.

"Thought your dad may still be pissed." Kiara admits, brushing herself off before closing the window behind her.

"Believe me, he is." Marina states as she sits on the bed, Kiara following her movements.

"Nice eye."

"I feel like it suits my aesthetic." She adds, resting back against her pillows and Kiara nods in agreement.

"Oh, it's totally on brand for you."  Kiara admits and Marina smiles gently.

"So, why come to my humble abode in the middle of the night? Miss me that much?" Marina asks, raising a curious eyebrow, teasing her.

"Of course. I need constant attention from my lover." Kiara says with a gasp, laughing before she shakes her head. "No, i just didn't wanna sleep alone tonight. The fight kind of rattled me." She states as she gets more comfortable on the bed.

"Yeah." Marina nods slowly. "Pope okay?" She asks, knowing that Topper got him pretty good. Kiara just nods back at her, fiddling with her fingers. The way her foot was rocking back and forth, Marina knew she wanted to say something more.

"Can i ask you something? And you know you can be one hundred percent honest with me." Kiara says as her eyes move to Marina who narrows her gaze.

"Making me nervous, Kie. Youre not gonna make some declaration of love right now, are you?" She teases and Kiara rolls her eyes playfully with a small laugh.

"No." She denies before she chews her bottom lip. "Its about JJ." Kiara admits and Marina's eyebrows furrow in the slightest.

"Okay?"

"Look, he's my friend. And I know he can be a bit too flirtatious at times and doesn't exactly have boundaries. But if he's making you uncomfortable, I can talk to him." Kiara tells her. JJ never really understood boundaries and was too flirtatious for his own good most of the time.

"Kie, its fine. You don't need to talk to him." Marina denies with a sigh as she glances away from her.

"Mari, i know when hes being a bit much." Kiara admits. She loved JJ, she really did, she just hoped he would listen to her when she said to lay off of Marina.

"He's you friend, what can I do?" Marina mutters as she shrugs her shoulders.

"You know you're my best friend." She responds and Marina bites her cheek as she continues staring at her hands.

"Wouldn't wanna mess up kie and her boys, now would we?" Marina forces a smile onto her face and Kiara furrows her eyebrows. She truly believed that Kiara would put her last, even if she said that JJ crossed the line.

"Thats it. I'm talking to him." Kiara admits as she shakes her head. Marina frowns, not wanting JJ to become irritated because Marina said something.

"I said--"

"Mari, he's not gonna bother you anymore okay? And he can be pissed at me being protective all he wants. You come first." Kiara says, grabbing her hand and giving it a squeeze. She could see the genuine shock that showed in Marina's eyes.

"I do?" She asks, her voice cracking. Kiara never saw much emotion from Marina but when she did, she knew it meant she was believing what was being said.

"Of course you do." Kiara gives a soft smile, moving closer to the girl on the bed. "We're Karina." She says with a small laugh. Marina scrunches her nose up, the moment being a bit taken as soon as she said that.

"Is that like a solid thing now?"

"Youre never getting rid of it." Kiara denies with a smirk and Marina rolls her eyes as she allows the woman to wrap her arms around her.

❧

Authors note; not gonna lie, her dad doesn't care about her as much as she believes he does. The lies that she was fed... ooh it's gonna come out. But Kiara and Maris friendship >>>>>>>> there will never be one person who means more to Kiara than Mari does. Maybe, MAYBE her parents. But not really.