Jiara Oneshots

Don't Lie to Me Pt 2

Plot- the comfort after JJ fails to hide his fathers abuse

JJ is exhausted by the time she pulls away from the hug. He's fisting the back of her shirt as she begins to move, wordless worries making themselves known. So she stays a little longer, slowly easing herself out of his grip until he willingly lets her go.

"How long has this been going on?" Kiara whispers, holding his hand when it starts to tremble.

He doesn't look at her, mumbling a response she almost doesn't catch. "A while I guess."

"And you never told anyone."

He's rubbing his eyes as he says, "Pope kinda knows. Saw the split at Midsummers."

Kiara wished she'd voiced that she saw the split on his lip, too. It was kind of hard to miss.

"What about John B and Sarah?"

"Sarah would've told someone." JJ winced again when a sharp inhale wracks his body. "A-And John B has enough shit to worry about."

"They would've wanted to help you. We all would've." She sighs, playing with her hands in an attempt to settle the tension in the air. "I thought you'd gotten into a fight with a kook or something. I was going to tell you to stop getting into random scuffles."

"If I could stop it, I would." He chuckled dryly. "But I don't want you guys worrying about me. It's pathetic."

"How?"

JJ is lost in a blank stare. "I don't know... it just is. I don't need it."

For a while he's silent enough to catch his breath. Kiara tried not to stare; she knows he's anything but comfortable in this situation. It's strange to see him like this in comparison to his usual catastrophic ways.

"Maybe we should check on the..." she doesn't say it, but JJ knows what she's talking about when her eyes dart to his torso. "just to make sure nothing's broken."

"Nothings broken, Kie."

"But-"

"I'm fine. I got a first aid kit and checked everything over."

"How did you check over your own ribs?"

She doesn't mean to sound like a scolding mother, but JJ wasn't accepting the danger of the situation. He doesn't reply so Kiara sighs again. "Can I see that first aid kit?"

JJ exits the bed to pull out a drawer. Kiara follows, staring at the price tag still attached.

"JJ..." She says, and he quickly tears it off.

"Don't worry about that. Just make sure I don't randomly drop dead or whatever the hell you think will happen to me."

She rolls her eyes. Kie knows he's hurting, but he was being ridiculously stubborn. Still, she grabbed the alcohol and a couple cotton pads, gesturing for him to sit at the edge of the bed.

It never gets emotionally easier to lift his shirt, and he's beginning to sweat anyway, so he discards the shirt beside the bed. Kiara nearly chokes at the sight.

There were more bruises than she thought. JJ feels naked once his upper body is exposed, but he doesn't say anything. She watched him play with his hands as a distraction while she puts herself to work.

At first contact, JJ hisses again, and that only makes things worse as far as pain goes. Kiara mumbled apologies after every quick swipe, trying to finish as quickly as she can. If she notices his hands digging into his thighs, she doesn't say it.

He begins to worry she might've been right about something being broken, because he hadn't had a simple breath since his fathers encounter. Of course, he doesn't tell her that. And she doesn't tell him she knows anyway.

"We should get it checked out tomorrow. At a doctor."

His breathing hitched. "Kie, you and I both know damn well I can't afford-"

"I'll pay for it, dumbass."

"But..." He's quiet again, showing the alternate side of him again; the little boy afraid of his father's shouts. He unknowingly has her full attention just by the look on his face. "What will we tell them?"

"Surf accident."

"I've done that before."

She drops the bandaid, catches it, and quickly plastered it to the small cut on his chest. It hadn't sunk in that this had been happening for so long.

"Kook fight?"

"Kooks aren't that strong..." JJ whispers back.

Kiara is deep in thought as she wonders what to do about the worst of his injuries. "We could just... tell them. They'd help you out."

JJ barely lets her finish the sentence. "Fuck no. No, no, no. You saw what they did to John B! I'm not going into foster care!"

"But-" Kiara tries, and JJ glared at her.

"Hell no." He repeats. "No fucking way."

He sighs when she finally snaps the cap back on the bottle. Neither of them are sure what to do next, and the silence drags on as a result. It is then that they hear the front door open, and JJ is scrambling to grab his shirt.

Kiara watches, but she doesn't get to say anything before John B calls from the door. "Guys! We stopped for sandwiches! Get your ass in here before they're gone!"

"Like us three are gonna finish three dozen sandwiches." Pope remarks, and Sarah snorts.

JJ bolts to the kitchen, leaving Kiara behind. She follows shortly after with an unamused expression. Said expression falters when she noticed his hand back on his stomach as he goes to sit down. She supposed if she were in JJ's shoes, she wouldn't want to go out and tell everyone everything either.

"Where'd you guys get these?" JJ grins at his friends.

Kiara doesn't like how obvious it is that he's upset. Even if she never noticed quite as much before, looking for the signs, she felt her chest tighten. He never seemed to fully relax.

Whatever their next move would be, Kiara would make sure he was comfortable. She would also make sure he spent the night anywhere but home.

She was determined to save him.