Underground {OBX}

Part 8

Kiara opens the door with a smile. I skip up to the front door of the Cerrera house. After giving Kie a hug, she exclaims, "Hey, I'm so excited!"

"Me too," I say as we walk inside her house. In the kitchen, her parents smile at me. "Hi, you must be Briana," her mom says. "It's so nice to finally meet you!"

"Thanks, you too," I say politely. "Thanks for letting me stay the night, Mr and Mrs Carrera."

"Aren't you a sweetheart," Mrs. Carrera exclaims. "Anytime, honey."

Kiara leads me upstairs, to her huge ass room. I set my backpack down on her bed, and look around. "Woah, this place is nice," I scoff. "Thanks," Kie says. "Dinner's almost ready. Let's go down."

We go back downstairs to set the table. Once everything is ready, Kiara and I take a seat on either side of the table. Her parents sit down and we put food on our plates. Between bites, we talk about the hurricanes and where I moved from.

"So, Brie," Mr. Carrera begins. "Would you happen to be looking for a job? We'd love to have you at the Wreck."

"I've never been," I tell him. "What would I be doing there?"

"Ah, serving and cleaning, mostly," he answers. "Sometimes, we might have you on the grill, but you'd be trained and carefully taught beforehand."

"Well, that'd be amazing," I exclaim. "You'd really want me working at your restaurant?"

"It'd be an honor to have you," Mrs. Carrera chimes in. "So would you like the job?"

"I'd love that," I say. "Thank you so much!"

Mr. Carrera chuckles. "She's a smart one. I like her."

Dinner was amazing. The food tasted great, and the conversation was greater. I mean, the Carrera's just met me and they've already offered me a job! It's incredible luck.

Later on, Kiara and I are relaxing in her room. I want to tell her about my new relationship, but I don't know how..

"What's been going on with you and JJ," Kie asks. "I mean, he protected you at that party twice, and now.. I don't know.. It seems like something happened between you two."

"Well," I say, flipping onto my stomach. "He asked me out."

"What," Kie exclaims. "That's awesome! Why didn't you tell me sooner?" She slaps my arm playfully. "I don't know. I guess we've kinda been trying to keep it on the down low, ya know?"

We talk until three in the morning, when Kie gets a call from Pope. She picks up her phone and looks at me in confusion. "Hello," she answers, putting the phone on speaker.

"Kie, can you pick me up and take me home. I'm by Tanneyhill."

"Yeah, we'll be right there."

And that was it. No questions asked. We hurried to Kiara's car, and hopped in. Kie sped to where Pope said he was, hovering on the ground, covered in blood. We climb out of the car as Kie asks, "Pope, what the hell happened to you?"

"Topper happened," Pope groans as we pick him up off the ground. "I was making deliveries for my pops, and he jumped me."

"Oh my gosh," I breathe as we sit Pope in the car. I take a look at his face. "He fucked you up, bro."

"I know," Pope grunts. "Just please take me home."

"Okay," Kie breathes. We hop in the car, and hurry to Heyward's house.

~

When we arrive at Pope's house, Kiara and I quickly jump out to help him. We each throw one of his arms over our shoulders and hoist him to the door. His dad opens the door with a worried expression. "What happened to you, boy?"

"Got jumped, pops," Pope groans. "I'm sorry, I couldn't make it to the house." His dad waves his hand. "I don't give a damn, as long as you're okay. That's all the matters."

Pope's dad was the kind of father I've always wanted. Now, I'll never have anything like that. "Can y'all grab some paper towels or something to clean him up," Pope's dad asks us. Then, he notices a new face. "I'm Heyward, by the way. Pope's father."

"Brie," I smile before following Kiara into the kitchen. She grabs a roll of paper towels, and I open the cabinets to look for rubbing alcohol. Once I find it, I grab some ice from the freezer and return to Pope's side. "Here," Kiara says, handing me a paper towel. I pour some rubbing alcohol on it, then look at Pope.

"This is going to sting," I warn. Pope nods his head carefully. I gently pat the paper towel to his face as he flinches. I start with the cuts on his forehead, then make my way to his eye and his cheek, then his lip. I take a closer look at his face. "Your nose might be broken, Pope."

"We'll get that taken care of," Heyward says, resting a hand on his son's shoulder. As Kie hands Pope the ice to help his wounds, his dad says, "Thank you girls. For finding Pope, bringing him home and cleaning him up. I owe you too much."

I wave a hand at him. "Honestly, it's no problem. We'd do anything for Pope, right Kie?" I look at Kie who is nodding her head. "Yup, anything," she says.

"Do y'all wanna stay here for the night," Heyward asks. "I can set up beds for you, if you'd like."

"Thank you, but we really should get going," Kie says. "My parents don't know we left, so we should get back soon."

"Alright, well you two be careful, now," Heyward says.

"We will," I smile. "See you tomorrow, Pope."

We say goodbye to Pope and Heyward, then hurry to Kiara's car. "Do you think they noticed by now," I ask, referring to Kie's parents.

"I hope not," she giggles. "Or my ass is off to boarding school."

Kie drives us back to her house, where we park the car and sneak onto the roof by her window. I turn around and notice the stars in the night sky. I reach for Kiara's hand to turn her around. I look at her and we both smile, then lay down on the rooftop to watch the glistening balls of gas and gravity.

"It's so beautiful," Kie sighs, resting her face peacefully. I rest my hands on my stomach and enjoy the view. "The most beautiful thing I've ever seen," I whisper, smiling.