One Stupid Thing

2:0:40

Before the events of season 2 occur

"Thanks for having me, Mr. and Mrs. Carerra," I say gratefully. My overnight bag grows increasingly heavy in my hand. Kiara invited me to spend the night at her place tonight and I didn't hesitate to take her up on the offer. Anything to get out of that house.

"It is absolutely no trouble at all, Stella," Mrs. Carrera beams at me. "In these hard times, we understand that you girls need to be there for each other more than anything. Besides, Mike and I are just glad that she has friends other than those—"

"Mom!" Kiara interrupts her mother before she can finish her insult. "Stella! Why don't I show you to my room. Follow me." I flash an awkward smile back to Mrs. Carrera and hurry to follow Kiara down a flight of stairs, into her bedroom.

Kie's room suits her extremely well. The walls may be painted a boring shade of grey, but she decorated them colorfully. Dreamcatchers, photos, records, and posters litter the walls. The comforter on her bed is a cool mauve color and it is adorned with multicolored pillows.

"Woah, your room is so cool," I say, looking around to take it all in.

"Oh, thanks!" she smiles. "It's nothing special, really." Kiara walks over and shuts the door quietly after me. "Phew, okay. Now that we can actually speak freely, the boys are coming to pick us up at the Wreck. I've snuck out my window a million times. It's a piece of cake."

"Oh, wow, okay," I laugh. "I mean as long as I'm not home I'm not going to complain."

"Seeing JJ is just an added bonus, right?" Kiara teases. She rubs her shoulder against mine playfully.

"Yeah, yeah. Him too," I giggle. Kiara goes and sits down on her bed and I join her. "I just don't understand how my father didn't get any kind of investigation for what John B said before he... died," I sigh.

"Yeah... me neither. I mean no one just makes up something like that, especially when he probably knew what his outcome was going to be," Kiara replies, flopping back onto her mattress.

Kiara and I spend the night watching rom-coms and telling each other all the details about the boys. Basically doing what normal girls do, until her parents fell asleep. Kie raises a finger to her lips and walks over to the window. She unlocks it, pushes it up, and pops out the screen completely clean. Jeez, she really has done this a million times.

Kie climbs through the open window quickly and quietly and I follow closely behind. Once she pops the screen back in, we sneak around the house and walk down the road to the Wreck. Her parents live really close to their restaurant so it wasn't too far to walk. When we got there, Heywards truck was parked with the lights off. The two boys were leaning on the front.

"Hey, Pope. It's those two Kook girls," JJ jokes.

"Oh, gross. We should hop in the truck and hurry away before they get too close," Pope adds.

"Ha, ha, very funny," Kiara says sarcastically, walking up to Pope and playfully punching his shoulder. He jokingly acts like she hit him harder than she did.

"You know you love us," I tease. I snatch JJ's hat from his head, put it on mine and run.

"Hey, hey! Get back here!" he shouts, chasing me around the truck. Giggling, I run as fast as I can, looking back to see how close he is. I turn back again and he's gone. Confused, I turn back, but then, from behind, he grabs me around the waist. I laugh out of breath, kicking my feet until finally he sets me down. "You know what?" he says, looking down at me. "Keep it. It looks better on you anyway."

"Awh, you are too kind," I gush with a silly accent. I go up on my tip-toes and peck his stubbly cheek.

"Are you two coming?" Kie shouts from the passenger seat. They must have gotten in the truck when we were messing around.

"Yeah, sorry!" I giggle. JJ walks around to the other side of the car and we both hop into the backseat.

"We've missed having you around all the time, Stella," Pope says warmly.

"Trust me it is not my choice to stay there. If I could stay in the Chateau I would," I explain.

"Then why do you, El? Why do you stay there after everything that's happened?" JJ asks. He spits out the words like they taste sour on his tongue.

"I know you guys won't understand this, but as long as I stay there, everything will be peaceful. My dad won't try to control my life. He keeps his image, I keep my freedom. The second I disobey him is the second he lays down the hammer," I explain. "My family doesn't even know I am still in contact with you guys. He thinks I'm hanging out with Scarlet."

"Sarah's friend?" Kiara asks.

"Yeah. He thinks we are helping each other grieve or something," I tell them. The whole group goes quiet. Only the slow reggae music on the radio keeps it from being completely silent. We pull in to the Chateau. I've been back here multiple times since everything happened, but the sadness never subsides.

We get out of the truck and walk around back. The boys already had the place lit up and ready for a bonfire. Four chairs are set up around the makeshift fire pit. I take a seat in one, Kie takes the one to my right and Pope sits on the other side of her. JJ lights the fire with a blowtorch before coming to take a seat at my left.

That night we go around telling stories about John B and Sarah. Some make us cry, but some make us laugh too. It's all so bittersweet. They should be here with us right now, gathered around this bonfire. Life is so unfair.

Before it gets too late, the boys drop us back off down the block from Kiara's house. We discreetly sneak back into her bedroom, climb under her cozy, mauve duvet, and fall asleep.

The next afternoon, Kie drops me off at the end of the driveway and I walk up to Tannyhill with my bag over my shoulder and a smile on my face. It's never a dull moment with the Pogues. I open the front door and head straight for my room. I just sit down on my bed when my dad appears in the doorway. He knocks even though I've already seen him.

"How was Scarlet?" he asks me.

"She's doing better," I lie. "She cried less this time around."

"Ah. Well, funny thing actually, I was stopped by Anna Carrera on my way out of the Island Club this morning, and she told me just how lovely it is that you and her daughter have been there for each other through all of this," he approaches. I freeze. Shit.

"Dad, I—," I begin, but he cuts me off.

"I thought I could trust you not to lie to me Stella, but I guess not. You need some time... alone to think about your actions," he closes the door and I hear a click as he locks it from the outside.

"Wait, no! Please! Give me another chance. You can't just leave me in here!" I hurry over to the door, hopelessly trying to turn the knob and banging on it's wooden surface. "Shit." I turn and lean against the door in defeat. I should've been more careful. Welcome to true imprisonment, Stella Cameron.

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I decided to write a little bit of a "bonus episode" in between the events of season one and two. My creative juices just kept flowing and I hope you enjoy it!