┏━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┓
❝ broken and bruised ribs ❞
┗━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┛

𝘚𝘺𝘭𝘷𝘪𝘦'𝘴 𝘗𝘖𝘝

"You guys get these groceries over to Figure Eight. Get straight back here when you're done. No fishin!" Heyward demands.

"I promised delivery this afternoon. Rich folks don't wanna wait for you lazy sons of-" Heyward stops when he see JJ holding out his hands for grocery bags "Oh, JJ, thank you. -sons of bitches"

"Right" Pope nods.

"You keep them out of trouble, kiddo" Heyward tells me and I grin.

"Aye aye, captain" I chirp, saluting the man.

Pope grumbles under his breath and head towards the front of the boat, turning on the engine. As we pull away from the dock JJ throws his arm around me and I look up at him with a small smile.

"I don't get why he favours you" Pope says in disbelief as JJ and I head to the front of the boat next to him.

"It's that charm they teach ya at the Kook academy, Popey" I grin mischievously.

"Our little Kook" JJ chimes in.

"I'm a Pogue" I pout.

"Pook" JJ corrects and I roll my eyes.

"Whatever" I huff.

"Doesn't even look like the storm hit there" I hear Pope state and I look over to see Figure Eight still completely intact.

"That's because they got generators, bro. Get used to it. And then they say the juice will be out all summer at the cut" JJ states.

"It's nice to be a Kook" Pope comments and I frown deeply.

"Lucky bastards" JJ agrees.

I slip from JJ's arm and sit down at the back of the boat. My eyes watch Figure Eight with a deep hate bubbling inside me.

We make stop after stop, delivering groceries to the rich families of the Outer Banks while joking around and poking fun at the Kooks we hate.

For our last grocery run, I grab a bag and turn to Pope with a grin.

"Come on, Popey. My delivery is near yours" I tell him as he grabs a grocery bag and a box of beers.

"Don't flirt with too many Kooks on the way, angel" JJ teases me.

"Right back at you, hot stuff" I laugh, walking away with Pope by my side.

"I have a question" Pope says as we start walking past the golf course.

"Shoot" I tell him.

"Well, you and JJ are obviously macking, so why don't you want to be his girlfriend?" He asks me.

"I do. Pope, I've wanted to be his girlfriend since Kie and I split" I answer and he frowns.

"So, why did you say no?" The Heyward boy asks in confusion.

"Because I don't want him to think I'm just some easy score. I want him to prove that he wants me for more than just sex. I want to know that he feels the same way I do" I explain and Pope nods.

"I totally get it, Vie, but for what it's worth, JJ loves you and that's something I'm completely sure about" Pope tells me and I smile happily.

"Hey, what's up, man?" I hear a familiar voice and I look up to see Rafe.

"What you been up to, runt?" My brother smirks, making me freeze in fear.

"How much for one of those beers?" He then asks Pope.

"They're not for sale" Pope states.

"Oh, wait, wait, wait. You can just give us one, then, right?" Rafe asks, pushing Pope back with his golf club.

"Or you can order one, like everybody else" Pope retorts.

"Listen, wait, wait, wait. You're not listening to me. Um...You've got so many, bro, and we've got nothing" Rafe tells the boy.

"We got nothin" Topper agrees from beside his friend.

"They're not mine. They're already paid for" Pope snaps.

"Already paid for? What the hell? You probably stole em, right?" Rafe scoffs before ripping the bag in Pope's hand causing the contents to spill out of it.

"What the hell? You owe me for that!" Pope shouts angrily.

"Dude, I don't owe you shit, Pogue" Rafe spits in disgust and I snap out my fearful state, putting down my bag.

"Just leave him alone!" I yell.

"Have I taught you nothing?!" Rafe sneers, grabbing me by my neck roughly.

"Rafe, that hurts" I whimper, my eyes tearing up as he squeezes my throat so hard that I struggle to breathe.

"I don't care, runt! I've warned you not to talk back to me, and what do you do? You talk back!" He hollers in rage, squeezing me even harder and I let out a choked cry of pain.

"Let her go!" Pope barks, pushing Rafe backwards and pulling me away from him.

"Hey, come on, man. We just wanted one of these beers! Just give us one of these beers" Topper says as he starts wrestling the box in Pope's arms.

"You guys are freaking crazy!" Pope shrieks.

"Give us a beer, man" Topper taunts him before suddenly he goes flying and my eyes widen.

"Pope!" I gasp, dropping to my knees beside my friend.

I grab his face in my hands and frown when I see blood trickling down from his head.

"Shit, my bad, man" Topper shrugs.

The anger inside me bubbles up to the surface and I jump to my feet, lunging at Topper. I push him as hard as I can and he stumbles back before grabbing me angrily. The Thornton boy pushes me to the ground and pins me down as Pope jumps at Rafe.

A sob escapes my lips as Rafe whacks Pope with his golf club multiple times, causing the boy to collapse in pain.

"Rafe! Rafe! Come on, man!" Topper yells, jumping off me.

"Stay down, bitch!" Rafe shouts at Pope.

"Hey, let's go! Let's go, man!" Topper tells Rafe.

"One last thing" Rafe spits.

I feel my body being pulled up roughly by my hair and I let out a cry. Rafe grabs my face tightly in his hand and brings my face up to his, rage clear as day on his face.

"Tell your little Pogue friends I don't wanna see them on our side of the island, got it?" He growls angrily and I whimper in pain.

"Have you got that, runt?!" He screams in my face.

I nod furiously with tears running down my face and he scoffs in disgust. He throws me onto the sand and just when I think it's all over, I feel a burning pain erupt in my side as Rafe hits me with his golf club.

"All right! Knock it off, Rafe! Come on!" Topper shouts.

I grab my ribs in pain and look up to see Rafe hold his golf club up threateningly. I flinch as it comes down but feel relieved as I hear it hit the sand next to me, tears streaming down my cheeks as I silently cry.

"Rafe, listen! Come on, man!" Topper snaps, getting frustrated.

"We don't want you over here!" Rafe tells Pope and I try to move but he sends a harsh kick to my already injured side, making me scream out in pain.

"Let her go, man! That's enough!" Topper yells.

"Stay off Figure Eight, Pogue" Rafe spits at Pope in disgust.

"Let's go" Rafe says, walking away.

Topper stands in front of me and his eyes shine with guilt but I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to calm the raging pain throughout my body.

"I'm sorry" Topper mumbles so quietly that I almost miss it.

"Top, let's go! Come on!" Rafe orders.

"Shit" Topper mutters and I hear him running away.

"Hey, you want a beer?" Rafe laughs in the distance and I open my eyes to see they're gone.

"Vie?" I hear a choked voice say and I turn my head to see Pope looking at me, his eyes swimming with concern.

"I don't know if I can move, Po" I croak, my throat sore.

He scrambles to his hands and knees, crawling over to me.

"Shh, you're gonna be okay" He whispers, sweeping my hair off my face.

He slowly helps me up to my feet and I clench my jaw to avoid screaming as I cling onto the Heyward boy. I let out a sigh of relief once I'm on my feet and Pope pulls my arm around his neck, wrapping his arm around my waist.

"Pope, I can walk now" I chuckle through my tears and he shakes his head.

"Your ribs might be broken" He worries.

"They're not broken" I assure him as we start walking back to the boat.

"How would you know?" He retorts.

"Because I've learnt the difference between broken and bruised ribs" I tell him and his frown deepens.

The rest of the walk is silent and I'm thankful for it. Pope sits in the driver seat and I pull myself up onto the dashboard, wincing at the immense pain it causes me.

We sit in complete and utter silence until Pope breaks it.

"How often does it happen?" He blurts out and I look at him in confusion "Rafe. How often does he hit you?"

"How often do we surf?" I reply weakly and the boy frowns.

"Why didn't you tell anyone? Why didn't you tell us?" Pope asks in disbelief.

"I told JJ" I shrug.

"And he hasn't killed Rafe yet?" Pope scoffs.

"No, because I asked him not to say anything" I reply, looking him dead in the eyes "Just like I'm gonna ask you"

"You want me to keep this to myself?" He mutters in awe.

"Yes, you have to" I tell him.

"But it's not right, Vie" He argues.

"You can't tell anyone. Promise me that you won't tell anyone?" I beg, my eyes shining with unshed tears.

"Okay, I promise" He sighs out in defeat.

I look down at my ribs and grimace at the ugly bruise forming on my skin. I play with the loose thread on my black denim shorts, wishing I'd worn a shirt over my red bikini top to hide the bruise.

"Why don't you wanna tell someone?" Pope asks me sadly.

"Because it would be stupid. I mean, who are they going to believe, the Kook prince or his delinquent sister who hangs out on the cut?" I sniffle, wiping my nose on the back of my hand "My dad would find a way to blame it on one of you guys"

Pope nods understandingly and I shrug my shoulders.

"I just want to keep my head down and get out of there. I don't want to cause any unnecessary wars" I sigh.

"Pope! Vie! Guys, you are not gonna believe what just happened to me. That was the best 100 bucks i've ever made!" JJ hollers as he climbs onto the boat and Pope starts up the engine "When I say count me in on all these grocery deliveries, Pope, I mean it"

JJ stands in between us and I look down to hide the bruise that's probably forming on my neck and the fact i've been hysterically crying. My arms hugging myself to try and hide the bruise on my ribs.

"What's up with you two? Bro, you good?" JJ asks Pope.

"Yo, what happened to your face, dude?" I hear JJ snap and I squeeze my eyes shut, hoping that he won't look at me.

"Jesus! What happened?" JJ growls.

"Rafe and Topper jumped us. They said no Pogues on their side of the island" Pope sniffles.

JJ lifts my chin up and I look at him through teary eyes. He moves my arms down and his eyes flicker from my ribs to my neck with rage in his eyes.

"Pope, turn the boat around" He demands angrily.

"Why?" Pope asks in confusion.

"Because I'm going to kill them" JJ snaps back.

"You can't do anything stupid" I argue, pushing back tears.

"Why the hell not?!" JJ barks.

"Because you promised me" I declare.

"Fuck!" JJ curses, his eyes holding rage as his jaw clenches.

I grab the front of his shirt and pull him closer to me. He wraps me up in a hug and I wrap my arms around his torso, laying my head on his chest.

"What are you gonna do?" JJ asks.