𝘼𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣'𝙨 𝙋𝙊𝙑

"I never doubted them" JJ declares as we walk towards the Wreck.

"I owe you five bucks" Kiara replies.

"Me too" Makoa adds.

"Kiara, I need those setups done by five!" Anna shouts.

"There are other people that work here" Kiara retorts.

"None of 'em are my children" Anna quips.

"I feel that. On a deep, emotional level, I understand that" Pope groans.

"Hi, Anna" I chirp happily and the woman grins at me warmly.

"Hi, honey!" She replies and I stop to speak to her while the others keep walking "How have you been? Kiara hasn't brought you over in a while"

"I've been okay" I shrug with a small smile "I assumed that you and Mike had been working a lot because of the amount Kiara has been at my house"

Anna frowns slightly and I quickly realise that my assumption is wrong, causing my stomach to turn in a terrible way.

"No, we've still got the same shifts as always" Anna assures me and my frown matches hers "I don't know what's gotten into her"

I suddenly feel at fault for the woman not seeing her daughter recently and I wonder if maybe the reason Kiara isn't taking me home to her parents is because she's ashamed of me. The reason she's only with me at my house is because she's embarrassed to be with me.

"Mom, stop bothering my friends" Kiara's voice breaks my thoughts and her words feel like a stab to the chest.

The fact she called me her friend only feeds into my insecurities and the bad thoughts spiral into worse ones.

"She's not bothering me" I blurt out and my tone seems to surprise both of them, even Anna looking at me in surprise "It was really nice speaking to you, Anna"

"You too, honey" She nods in agreement.

I hold my head up high and refuse to be sorry as I strut away from the duo, heading straight for the trio of boys sat at the dock. My legs pick up speed when I feel Kiara following me but she manages to grab me before I can reach the other Pogues, spinning me around,

"What's wrong?" Kiara questions me with a confused expression.

"Oh, nothing" I paste on a sarcastic smile "Don't you worry, friend"

Her face pales in realisation and she tries to reach up to grab my face but I pull out of her hold, frowning at her as I walk away.

"So we going to the Bahamas or what?" JJ asks as I sit down between him and Pope, leaving no room for Kiara near me.

"There's no way we're getting to the Bahamas" Pope scoffs.

"John B will get nabbed sooner or later. So if we're gonna clear his name, we need to have done it, like, yesterday" Makoa states and Kiara's gaze burns into my head but I refuse to look at her.

"How are we supposed to clear his name?" I speak up curiously.

"I'll tell you how we do it, princess" JJ replies, throwing his arm around my shoulder.

"So you have it all planned out?" Pope asks sarcastically.

"As a matter of fact, I do" JJ grins smugly "We kidnap Rafe"

"I'm sorry, what?" Pope asks in surprise and my brows raise as I look at the blonde.

"We kidnap Rafe, tie him up and stick the gun in his mouth and just wait till he starts squawking" JJ explains.

"You know, torture's a war crime" Kiara pipes up.

"I think it's a great idea. I'm down" I counter, ignoring the girl's comment and JJ grins at me.

"Yeah, so how exactly do you plan on clearing John B's name from a prison cell? Because that's a felony" Pope says sassily.

"All right, well, what do you got, Pope?" JJ retorts "I was just trying to keep it simple. You know, one stop, and we're done"

"Does anyone have a better idea?" I question, but I don't give anyone the chance to talk before I stand up "No? Okay, then let's go throw Rafe in the back of the Twinkie"

JJ stands up next to me in agreement but before we can walk away Makoa grabs both of us by the back of our necks and pulls us back down onto the bench.

I cross my arms over my chest with a pout and JJ follows my actions, doing the same in solidarity.

"You two are so childish" Makoa mutters in annoyance "And you've been spending way too much time together"

I glance at JJ at the same time he looks at me and neither of us can stop the grins that creep onto our faces which only proves Makoa's points, making the boy shake his head with an exasperated sigh.

"Guys, all we need is a material witness. We saw Ward's plane fly right over our heads with the gold inside it. He didn't fly it. If somebody else flew, they were there on the tarmac. They saw Peterkin get murdered" Pope rants "We just have to find whoever that was and get them to confess on record"

"How do we do that?" Kiara asks.

"A little light espionage" Pope answers, cracking a smile.

"A little ghost recon" JJ adds in amusement.

"Woogity woogity" Pope grins.

"Woogity, baby" JJ replies, the two boys doing their signature handshake.

»»-------------¤-------------««

"If this guy flew planes for Ward, he's gotta be pretty tight lipped" Pope states from the passenger seat.

"So then direct approach gets my vote" JJ says from beside me, cocking his gun and I raise a brow at him in disbelief.

"I don't think that's a good idea, J" I advise him.

"I couldn't agree more" Makoa says from the other side of me.

"No. What?" Kiara shrieks at the blonde.

"Put the gun down, man" Pope warns him.

"Guys! We gotta keep this simple, or we're never gonna get John B off" JJ exclaims.

"Or we just tickle the wire" Pope responds, holding up Kiara's AirPods.

"What?" Kiara asks in confusion.

"We tickle the wire" Pope repeats.

"How will tickling a wire help us?" I frown and JJ nods in agreement, both of us looking at Pope with confused expressions.

"Wow, you two are so blonde" Makoa comments and we both shoot the boy a glare.

"I plant my phone in his car, and then we listen in on your AirPods" Pope answers, holding his phone to Kiara "Say something"

"Something" Kiara says.

"Okay, we have audio" Pope nods.

"I think that's his house over there" The Heyward boy adds, pointing to a small one story house.

"All right, honk or, uh...or yell or something if you see anything suspicious" He tells Kiara.

"Don't do anything dangerous" Kiara warns him.

"Come on. I'm not JJ" Pope retorts, making Makoa and Kiara snort in amusement.

"Funny, Pope. Love people laughing at my expense. It's my favourite thing" JJ says sarcastically.

I lay my head on his shoulder and the blonde wraps an arm around me, gently playing with my curls. Makoa distractedly pulls my hand into his lap and he toys with the bracelets on my wrist.

"How's it been going, you know, with you two?" JJ speaks up and I realise he's looking from me to Kiara.

"It's good" She shrugs nonchalantly.

"Oh, yeah. We're good friends" I declare pettily.

Makoa and JJ still awkwardly and Kiara spins her body around to look at me in disbelief.

"Are you being fucking serious right now?" She huffs out.

"Me?" I retort, sitting up straight to look right at her "You called me your friend!"

"It was out of habit!" She snaps at me.

"Is you hiding me from your parents a habit too?" I question her in annoyance.

"What are you talking about?" She furrows her brows in confusion.

"Don't act stupid, Kiara. It's not cute" I scoff, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Your attitude isn't cute, Allison" She counters with a stern look and I have to clench my thighs together, ignoring the way her voice sends chills down my spine "Use your big girl words and tell me what you're talking about"

"Your mom asked why I haven't been over to see her recently. I assumed you were at mine all the time because your parents were working overtime but apparently they're not" I explain with deep frown on my face "Why haven't you invited me to yours?"

"I just prefer your house" She shrugs but I can tell that there is something she isn't telling me.

"Do I embarrass you?" I ask bluntly and I hear both boys wince "Are you ashamed of me or something?"

"Hey, no. Don't think like that, sunshine" Kiara sighs out and she reaches back to grab one of my hands, tugging me forward a little "It's not you. I promise"

"Then what is it?" I plead with her.

"I haven't told my parents about us yet. I'm worried that they won't take it as well as yours did" She finally admits to me and I suddenly feel guilty for being such a bitch.

"I'm sorry, Kie. You don't have to rush anything. I understand how hard it is" I assure her, leaning forward to press a kiss to her cheek and she smiles softly.

"No, you were right to be upset. I should never have called you my friend" She validates my emotions and my heart swells at the gesture "I'm sorry, sunshine"

"It's okay" I smile warmly and she kisses my hand.

"That was so beautiful, guys" JJ speaks up with a fake sad voice and I turn to see him wipe fake tears from his eyes.

"Is someone cutting onions?" Makoa fake cries from my other side and I roll my eyes as Kiara chuckles, leaning over to press a quick kiss on my lips.

I smile happily at the girl who grins at me lovingly and I sit back between the boys in content, elbowing them both to stop their fake sniffling. They both grunt in surprise as the passenger door is swung open and Pope jumps into the seat.

"Okay. Phase one is complete" He chirps before taking in the boys holding their guts in pain "Everything- Are we all good?"

"All good, Pope" I smile sweetly.