Home is You

Chapter 3. Some things you just know

A/N This one is written by me 🥰

JJ groans when his body starts throwing him into consciousness, and subsequently the most killer hangover he's ever experienced. If these were normal circumstances he would swear off the bottle forever(wouldn't mean it, but he'd say it). Not today though.

He turns and feels Pope's weight against him, arm wrapped snuggly around him. Geez was this guy cuddly. Thought it was just a Kiara thing when he crawled out of the pullout that first night. God he hated seeing her in someone else's arms.

Kiara. He digs out his phone. She's texted him a few times. Kinda hysterical but he'd never say that to her face. Probably wasn't even the right word. Worried? Concerned maybe?

He moves to sit up and it startles Pope enough for him to wake, propping himself up on his elbows. He checks his own phone and JJ watches his face contort into something like disappointment. He let's the phone hang loose in his grip as turns to ask JJ,

"Hey, man," Pope says. "You alright?"

JJ scoffs. "Yeah. Excellent."

Pope ignores the sarcasm and gets up fully, seemingly typing something out before decidedly tucking his cell into his pocket.

"What's got you all hot and bothered?" JJ remarks, running a hand through his hair and down his neck.

"Nothing," Pope clips.

JJ pouts his lip and nods like he doesn't believe him but isn't about to confront him on it either. 

"Kiara text you?" the Heyward boys asks.

JJ, again, nods, but doesn't fully look at Pope. He sighs heavily, like he's about to speak with common knowledge. "Yep, she's in a definite spiral," he assesses.

Pope scrunches his face. Who the hell was JJ to be calling out spirals? "Why do you say that?"

JJ lifts his brows at his brother, like he can't be serious. "Oh, I don't know," he goes, touch sarcastic. "Maybe because her two best friends died and she's playing Mom to the both of us."

"Both of us?" Pope clarifies.

"Yeah?" he says, wondering why Pope sounded doubtful. "Like she isn't texting you a million times, checking in," he challenges. He rolls his eyes like Kiara is being ridiculous and expects to be agreed with, but Pope only blinks.

Kiara was texting Pope a million times.

About JJ.

Pope huffs a sigh, deciding to put attention where it was actually needed. He looks around, noticing that things didn't look half as bad as they did. He was able to clean up some last night, but there was still a lot left to do.

It almost seems pointless now that John B is gone, but the truth is they all still need the chateau. Especially since none of the remaining pogues' parents are keen on anyone hanging around their real homes.

How sad is that? That the one place that was a safe shelter for them all belonged to people no longer here to maintain it.

Pope pulls himself out of the pullout, and starts to clean, picking up papers and putting them in piles before filling the trash can. He's not even begun to dig in on it when JJ climbs out of the pullout himself and heads towards the kitchen.

The one bottle of hard alcohol they had was used up, but JJ still manages to find a couple unopened PBRs.

"Are you serious?" Pope asks as JJ leans against the counter.

"What?" he asks, taking a drink.

Pope lets out a breathless chuckle, raising his hands to indicate to the mess all around. "You could help," he says. "Take it easy with the drinking, last night was bad enough."