𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 {𝚓𝚓 𝚖𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚔}

𝚜.𝟷 𝚎𝚙.𝟿 -𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚎-

"your heart says not again / what kind of mess have you got me in? / but when the feeling's there / it can lift you up and take you anywhere."

~

The Bell Tower

Tate was used to the feeling of being fucked over, but this was different. This wasn't just her being fucked over, it was her and all of her friends. Tate also knew that Kiara and Pope were much less adjusted to the feeling of being fucked over. This was her thought process as she leaned against the wall of the garage, JJ's juul in hand, as Pope tore apart everything in sight. Kiara looked back at her in alarm when Pope grabbed a baseball bat and started smashing the scattered junk lying around. Tate merely shrugged and took a hit from the juul. There wasn't much that could surprise her at his point, but she was worried about Pope. He didn't usually react to things like this. "Pope!" Kiara cried out as Pope  picked up a trash can and threw it against the wall. "Pope!" She looked to JJ for help, but JJ was just as lost as she was. Nobody knew Pope had it in him to act like this.

At last he stopped smashing things and, hyperventilating, collapsed onto a wicker bench in the middle of the floor. Everyone stared at him as tears rolled down his cheeks and his breath hitched. JJ was the one to break the silence. "Yeah, dude," he said, swiping his juul from Tate's hand and stepping towards Pope. "I was wondering when this was going to happen." He took a hit of the juul and then held it out to Pope like a peace offering. "Here you go, chief." Tate almost laughed, but Pope looked so miserable she contained herself. "A little weed never hurt no one."

"JJ," Kiara said softly.

"Relax, Kie."

"You know he doesn't smoke," said Kiara.

Pope's eyes flicked to Kiara, and then he reached out a hand and took the juul. What could've been pride flickered through JJ's eyes. "Well, maybe not until today," he said, collapsing next to Pope on the bench. Tate took two steps forward and sat down on the other side of Pope.

"Pope," Kiara said warningly. "What is that gonna help?"

Tate shrugged. "Usually helps a whole lot for me."

Pope looked up at Kiara, and then spoke for the first time since the airstrip. "I lost my scholarship," he said in a broken voice. "Walked out in the middle of the interview. Every- it's gone. It's not gonna happen."

"You did that for us?" Kiara asked, her breath hitching painfully. 

"No, not for us." Pope sat forward and then stood up and took a step towards Kiara. "For nothing." JJ and Tate exchanged a look and then stood up too, ready to de-escalate the situation if needed.

JJ put an arm around Pope. "I'm here for you, Pope," he said, "Welcome to my world, okay?"

"JJ-"