𝐂𝐑𝐔𝐄𝐋 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑 - kiara carrera¹

𝒍𝒊𝒗. 𝒉𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒖𝒃𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔

"'ONE MISSISSIPPI, YOU'RE HERE, LOVIN' ME WITH YOUR WHOLE HEART,
AND TWO MISSISSIPPI, WE SCREAM TO WATCH EACH OTHER FALL APART
THREE MISSISSIPPI, YOU'RE GONE
SAYIN' THAT YOU'RE DO' -"

That night, the pouges were supposed to go out to the Crain basement again and steal the rest of the gold. However, after watching her brother die, Tatum Quinn decided she had other plans. With the money she'd taken from Barry, she was now relaxing in a hot tub full of flamingo floats, fairy lights and cocktails, occasionally giggling, singing and mumbling to herself.

"Tatum, what the hell?" hissed Pope as he, Kiara and JJ found the girl. In John B's backyard, in the dark, dunk singing her heart out in a hot tub, her face bloody and bruised.

She grinned at the sight of her friends, bursting with energy, and pulled Kiara in with here. "Come on, babe, let's dance!" She turned the music up higher, spinning around messily, revealing all her wounds from today to her friends.

Kiara's eyes widened, looking down at her stomach. The almost healed stab wound she received from the man that tried killing her was wide open. "How the hell did that happen?" she asked, running her finger over it, but no pain was shown on her girlfriend's face.

"Where's Thomas?" asked Pope, looking around. "Is he on his way, 'cause we have to get going soon?"

That was it. Those words were what made Tatum's whole mood drop. She tossed a letter, stained with blood, at Pope, and sent everyone a blank look. "That depends. Can someone with a bullet through their brain walk?"

Kiara froze, looking up at her girlfriend rather than her injuries. JJ's eyes locked on the girl's, her mental pain radiating through the air. Pope's mouth dropped, his eyes watering, refusing to believe what she had just said was true.

But it was true. Thomas Quinn was dead.

"Tate -"

The girl burst out into giggled, swinging herself around Kiara. "So I bought a fucking hot tub!" she squealed with laughter. "'Cause I don't give a shit about lawyers and court anymore! They can lock me up for life! I'm not getting out of this shitty town anytime soon, clearly!"

Kiara frowned and wrapped her arms around Tatum without another word. Her energy popped like a balloon and she began to weep in a way her friend's had never seen her do before.

"It's all my fault," she sobbed, her hands shaking on Kie's back. "If I wasn't so fucking deranged, he'd still...he'd still be here. If he didn't have to save me from my fucking self all the time..." A hopeless cry was torn out of her throat. "He's gone, Kiara. I just want him back - I want my brother back."

The water swished as JJ stepped into the hot tub, his face streaming with tears. Though his relationship with the male twin was completely based on annoying him, the boys had known each other since they were kids and really did love each other like the siblings they never had. JJ peeled Tatum away from her girlfriend and pulled her into a large bear hug. "It's not your fault, Tate," he told her, crying more at her sniffles and sobs. "None of this is."

Releasing herself from JJ's tight, brotherly squeeze, Tatum stared at her other friend, who was silently crying as he read Thomas' letter. "I'm so sorry, Pope," she said, her voice breaking. "He really liked you."

At the sound of her crushed voice, Pope Heyward ran into the tub and threw his arms around her with force. "It's okay," he whispered, trying his hardest to contain the sobs that were begging to be released. "It'll get better."

She shook her head. "I'll never get better; I'm crazy."

"You're not crazy, Tatum, you're hurt and you're  misunderstood," he said, squeezing her tightly. "You're not crazy."

"I don't want to be here anymore," she said quietly, soaking his shoulder with tears, snot and drool.

Kiara and JJ joined their hug, kissing the girl on her two cheeks and warming her with comfort. That's all she needed right now - to know that there was going to be people to care for her, to get her through it all the way her brother did all her life. And she didn't even know he was doing it. She didn't appreciate him enough. He deserved so much better.