𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 [𝐣𝐣 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤]

𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝

John B drove through the streets, ending up on a livelier block only a few minutes away from where we had dropped off Pope. Us girls went into Kildare Surf while John B and JJ stayed in the twinkie.

We looked around the store for a bit, nothing really catching our eyes. Until I came across this oversized beach hat and tried it on. "How does this look?" They both laughed at me as I placed the hat back where I got it from.

I turned to them, "Alright. Tell me how we got here." I asked, motioning between them. We'd all been back together for nearly a week and a half and I hadn't heard their side of how they managed to get over their problems. I'd only known JJ's brief retelling of it.

"Let's just say the boys got creative and stranded us on a boat in the middle of the marsh over the summer. Sarah got stung by a jellyfish and all we had was weed to kill the pain." Kiara summed it up for me.

"You didn't pee on her leg?" Kie shook her head, "Rude."

"I asked her to!" Sarah exclaimed with a laugh.

We giggled together. "Life was simpler then." Kiara reminisced. I can only imagine what summer was like before everything with the gold happened. If it was as good as it always had been, it definitely was simple.

"I guess." I said with a sigh as I remembered my simple summer with Zach and Miles. Pogue Life continuing on with them while I was in Charleston. We grabbed some fountain sodas from the store as we continued to look around.

Sarah gave me a confused look, "No, no. You had friends. I'm still trying to figure out how you up and left all of that to come back here with your best friend who was a fugitive and to live a life that was the complete opposite of what you were doing in Charleston." I guess she had a point. Why would I leave a life of stability, and almost luxury, to come home to the garbage fire that was Kildare? While it looked like the good of Charleston outweighed the bad of the OBX, nothing could compare to how homesick I was feeling. For my dad and brother, and for my friends here.

"Yes, I had friends, but I never really gave up the Pogue Life. I just started a new charter of Pogues." I joked as we walked out of the store, sipping on our sodas.

"Well, as long as you were growing the brand." Kie joked. My gaze wandered over to the van as I tried to figure out what the boys were talking about. At the same time, I was trying to figure out how to talk to JJ. He would never go for anything if it meant we would be breaking the rules. And I think that's what confused me the most about the whole situation. After midsummers, we had a moment. When we were in Charleston, we had several moments together. Every time I thought we were getting somewhere, nothing ever happened. It didn't even matter that John B and Pope both had broken our 'rules'. Both kissed Kie over the summer with no repercussions. Why was it so bad if something happened with us?

"So, what happened with Topper?" As the question left Kiara's mouth, I watched Sarah physically squirm.

"Nothing. If it wasn't for him, Rafe would've killed me and Liam would've helped hide my body. Of course, I thanked Topper. He saved my life. I've put him through so much already. And you'd think that that is the crime of the century." Maybe now wasn't the best time to mention Liam asking me to be his friend through all of this. We walked back to the van as their conversation continued.

"Speaking of Liam, I know he had been in Charleston a few times. Did you guys ever see each other?" Sarah asked me and I sucked in a breath.

"Uh," Kiara looked at me and raised a brow waiting for my answer, "4th of July." I answered with a shrug, "We were both at Miles' then went over to a friend's house."

"Oh okay." I guess I didn't have enough information to give. They went back to their conversation and I stayed quiet.

"Tell me about it. All of this crazy shit's happening, and Pope's giving me the silent treatment for not being in love with him."