GOLD RUSH : a good girl's guide to murder oneshots

FINE LINE

part TWO of August Thirtieth

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Standing in front of Cara's house had never been so hard.

She couldn't believe she had let this all happen.

Pip had been the one to figure out that Cara's father was a murderer.

Now, Cara would find out that her best friend was a murderer, too.

This wasn't going to be easy, Pip knew that, but she was so angry at herself for this.

She glanced behind her at her father, watching her from the car, and he gave her one nod.

It was time.

Pip sucked in one quivering breath, a lone tear trailing her pale face. She wasn't quite sure how she had any tears left in her after everything she'd been through. Hadn't she cried more in one year than she ever had before? How wasn't she all cried out? And, she could really go for a Xanax, right now. That would make her life better.

No.

Nothing could make her life better.

Pip dragged her feet along the concrete driveway, up to Cara's front door, hands shaking as she knocked.

When the door swung open, Cara's face immediately shifted from her usual smile — fake, but still usual — to concerned.

"P-Pip? Wh - is everything okay?"

Pip broke, back shaking as she began to sob again. She shook her head, letting Cara lead her inside. Whatever Cara called out to Naomi was static to Pip. Everything was static — her vision, the couch against her fingers, every little sound, her breathing. Nothing was right. Where was she, right now?

Naomi's voice grounded her. Naomi's arms cradling Pip grounded her. A hug from Naomi was exactly what she needed.

"I have to tell you guys something," she said finally, quietly, as she held the cup of tea that was suddenly in her hands — when had Naomi made tea?

They must've been having tea before Pip arrived. Another good thing she was ruining.

Great job, Pippa.

Cara and Naomi shared a glance, a worried one, at that.

"I killed Jason Bell," she admitted, back hunching again as her face fell into her palms.

And despite the fact she had just admitted to murder to her best friends — to the sisters she never had — they didn't react the way she was expecting.

The girls shared another glance, and Pip heard a sigh.

"We know," Naomi said softly. "We figured it out. But... tell us the full story."

"You obviously didn't just... kill him. There's more to it — there has to be." Cara's voice was shaking, and Pip could tell she was holding back a waterfall of tears.

Of course they'd known. They must've known from the day they heard to news.

Pip looked up at them, and she nodded, and for the second time that night, she told them every last detail of how she nearly died.