𝘼𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣'𝙨 𝙋𝙊𝙑

The sound of my laugh fills the air due to JJ telling me one of his many stupid jokes and it's followed by the pop of the cork from the new bottle of champagne in my hands.

"What did you do, JJ?" The voice of Pope Heyward causes me to jump in surprise.

I turn my head from my spot in the hot tub to see the boy is stood with Kiara and Makoa, the trio looking at JJ and I in disbelief.

"I got a jet going straight in my butt right now" Is JJ's amused response and I can't help but giggle.

"Y'all should get in immediately, you hear me? Salud!" JJ slurs as I fill both of our plastic glasses with the alcohol.

"How much did this cost?" Pope asks and I sip at my champagne.

"Uh...Well, with the generator, the petrol, and oh, hey, express delivery...pretty much all of it, yeah" JJ explains nonchalantly.

"All of it?" Makoa asks in disbelief.

"Yeah, all of it" JJ nods.

"You spent all the money in one day?" Pope grits out through a clenched jaw.

"Yeah, burned a hole right through my pocket. But, I mean, like, come on, guys, like, look at this! Finest in jet-based message therapy, that's what they told me" JJ tells them happily and I smile at them in my buzzed state.

"Kie, what? Can't a man have a little luxury in life?" He slurs, getting slightly angry.

"Come on, all this scrimpin' and scrapin'. I mean, like...guys, we- You only live once, right? Enough of this emotional shit. Get in the Cat's Ass. Come on" JJ tells us.

"In the what?" Kiara asks, her voice quiet.

"In the Cat's Ass. That's what we named her" JJ says, grinning at me proudly and I grin right back at him, clinking his glass with mine.

"To the Cat's Ass" I declare, lifting my glass in the air before downing its contents and JJ does the same.

"Oh, hey, yo, I almost forgot" He adds before switching on disco lights and water starts spraying up like a water fountain "Huh? Yeah, that's right, I know. Disco mode. That's right, baby!"

"Are you kidding me?" Pope snaps at the blonde "You could have paid for restitution!"

"Or literally given it to any charity!" Kiara adds and the pair's angry tones cause me to frown deeply.

"Or better yet, you could have helped us buy supplies to get the rest of the gold out of the well!" Pope continues.

"Okay, well, you know what?! I didn't do that!" JJ screams, standing up and I look up at him.

The trio in front of us very clearly spot the boy's collage of bruises and I'm scared to stand up myself because of the way that they're all looking at him.

"I got a hot tub! For my friends! I got a hot tub for my friends. You know what? No, you know what? Screw friends. I got a hot tub for my family!" JJ rants and I place my glass down next to the bottle on the side.

"JJ, what the hell?" Kiara mutters.

"I got this for you. Guys, look what I did for you! All right? Look at this! Look at this!" JJ yells.

"JJ" Makoa breathes out sadly.

"No, you stop being emotional. It's fine, okay?" JJ tells Makoa, his voice cracking as tears roll down his cheeks.

"I mean, it's sweet, right? Everything-" The boy doesn't even finish his sentence before Makoa moves forwards, climbing into the hot tub next to him.

JJ immediately grabs the brunette and Makoa throws his arms around him as the blonde breaks down, tears rolling down his reddened cheeks.

"I just couldn't do it" JJ cries, his head on Makoas shoulder as he desperately clings to him.

"I can't take him anymore! I was gonna kill him" JJ sobs and I immediately pull myself to my feet, wrapping my arms around the boys.

"You're so brave, JJ" I assure the blonde and he removes an arm from Makoa to wrap it around me "I'm so proud of you"

We are wrapped up in the arms of Kiara and Pope, but JJ's arms stay tightly around me and Makoa as he hides his face on Makoa's chest with another sob.

"I just wanna do the right thing" JJ whimpers.

"You're doing the best that you can and that's more than enough" I tell the boy sincerely.

"Thank you" He whimpers, squeezing my arm gently

We stand there for a moment to comfort JJ before we all pull away and the vibes settle as everyone quietens down until I make eye contact with Kiara. The Carrera girl is looking at me with an expression of complete horror and tears roll down her cheeks.

"Who did this to you?" She demands in anger, pushing past the boys to get to me.

Her outburst brings attention to me, causing Makoa and Pope to notice that JJ is not the only one covered in injuries.

"Holy shit, Alli" Makoa spits out.

"What happened?" Pope asks me in concern.

I get really overwhelmed with all the questions and JJ seems to notice this, swooping in to save me. The blonde wraps an arm around me and smiles solemnly at the others.

"Princess is a little jumpy right now so give her a little space" JJ declares with a stern look.

"Let's get you inside" Kiara breathes out, tugging me gently from under JJ's arm.

"Both of you" Makoa adds, pulling JJ with us.

Pope gathers our things for us and we all make our way into the chateau to warm up, towels being wrapped around JJ and I. Kiara ushers me to sit down on the pull out bed with her and my cheeks heat up a little from the reminder of the night we shared on this exact bed.

"Are you okay?" Makoa asks me from his seat at the table with Pope and JJ.

"Yeah, I'm better. The painkillers are strong and the buzz i've got from that cheap champagne is definitely helping" I joke and JJ snorts in amusement which I'm thankful for.

"What happened to you, sunshine?" Kiara questions, taking a hold of my hands.

My eyes drift from the table to her beautiful face and my heart completely stops in awe. I gather up every bit of courage I have and decide I've used far too much of it tonight.

"My house was broken into and robbed. I didn't see his face, but he was too strong for me to fight off" I half lie to the trio and guilt seeps into my chest when JJ avoids eyes contact, looking down at his twiddling thumbs.

"Oh my God" Makoa murmurs and I can tell by just the look on his face that he knows the truth.

"I'm so glad you're okay, Allison" Pope smiles at me warmly and I smile back.

"Hey, listen to me" Kiara speaks up, gently squeezing my hands and I give her my full attention "We're going to find this bastard. He won't get away with this. I promise you"

"It's okay, Kie. I'm fine" I assure her.

"No, it's not okay. He's going to pay for hurting you" She states sternly and my gut twists in a way that i've never felt before.

"Thank you" I smile at the girl gratefully and her anger seems to melt away as her shoulders relax.

"Always, sunshine" She gives me a reassuring smile.