'she's kook fuckin' royalty, man.'
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a lot of things go unnoticed in the outer banks. things like missing millions in gold, underage drinking, and the bruises that litter the skin of the kook princess.
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( back down )
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LUCY HAD NEVER BEEN SO GRATEFUL TO KIARA AS SHE WAS WHEN THE OTHER GIRL THRUST A TATTY OLD TEE SHIRT AND A PAIR OF PYJAMA SHORTS INTO HER HANDS. Wasting no time, she began the process of removing the dress, the fabric like a second skin. Kiara averted her eyes as she did so.
"Thanks for the PJs." Lucy kept the conversation on safe ground.
"Don't worry about it," Kiara replied, waving a hand, "John B wouldn't want someone wearing Kook getup in the Chateau, anyway." Lucy swallowed the small insult. It wasn't worth a response.
"You don't actually have to share with JJ, by the way," Kiara said once Lucy had finished changing. "Force him to sleep on the couch. He'll bitch and moan, but he'll do it."
"You're my saviour," Lucy said, smiling at the other girl. "Does he really snore that badly?" Kiara nodded emphatically. Lucy laughed. She'd forgotten how nice that felt.
The guilt for laughing caught up to her quickly, though. Here she was, left behind by Sarah, the girl she called a best friend, and she was laughing? The sound died in her throat.
Something was changing within her, and Lucy wasn't sure what to make of it.
Kiara was looking at her curiously, waiting for her to speak again.
She didn't, and a comfortable silence settled, and a few minutes passed as the girls busied themselves, hanging up their sodden evening outfits and removing the dark smudges of mascara from beneath their eyes.
Kiara sighed, pushing her curls out of her face.
"You okay?" Lucy asked.
"Yeah," Kiara started, losing her words and trying again, "I just can't stop thinking about John B." She squeezed her eyes tightly shut. "He's alone in that hospital and I... I hate it. It doesn't feel right to be here without him." Lucy shook her head softly.
"He's not alone," she began to say, "He's got Sarah." Kiara rolled her eyes.
"May as well be alone, then." Lucy grimaced.
"She cares about him, you know." Lucy's voice was quiet, tentative. After all, she and Kiara had barely just gotten back onto steady ground.
"I'll believe it when I see it." Kiara's voice was final.
Silence settled again, this time uncomfortable. Suffocating.
Lucy was the first to speak up again.
"Hey, Kie?" Lucy looked over her shoulder towards the other girl, her use of the nickname tentative. Kiara didn't immediately bristle, so Lucy figured she was on safe ground. "Sarah and I, you know we're not going to replace you, right?"
