legacy // obx

0.2

THAT NIGHT, POPE, JJ, AND KIARA SLEPT IN THE CHATEAU ONE LAST TIME before it was to be taped up and ransacked as evidence. JJ took his normal spot on the couch near the front door, Kiara took John B's old bed, and Pope slept on the floor next to her. He had been worried about her since her outburst against Shoupe only a few hours before, and he didn't want to leave her side. 

The scene felt so familiar, and if Kiara closed her eyes and imagined hard enough, it was almost like she could feel John B there with them. Like it was just another sleepover in The Chateau, and they were all going to wake up in the morning, grab some brews and go fishing in the marsh as a family. 

But she couldn't. Kiara couldn't help but stay awake. She was exhausted and drained from all the emotional duress that the last 48 hours had put her through, but when the time came, she couldn't find it in her to rest. Kie sat up, looking over the side of the bed to a peaceful Pope, sound asleep. Her heart ached for him and for all he gave up for his friends within the last few days. Pope had sacrificed his entire future, his scholarship, and his relationship with his parents for John B and the Pogues. Kiara couldn't help but feel like it was all for nothing. She wished she could do more for him, just like she wished she could have done more for JB when the time came. Maybe then he wouldn't have met such an abrupt end. 

Kiara swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood, careful to not wake Pope. She walked softly out of John B's room, stopping momentarily at the busted up door that led to Big John's office. Looking at the door, Kiara thought of the tape and hearing Big John speak to his hopeful son. She remembered the way his voice filled the room as all four Pogues listened to the tape play; she remembered John B's strained sobs after hearing his dad for the first time since he disappeared. It all seemed so long ago now. 

She continued past the office and through the front door, on to the porch outlooking the marsh. As she passed a sleeping JJ, she looked at the bruises that covered his abdomen and she wanted nothing more than to take away his hurt. He had sacrificed so much for his friends, too. They all had. But that's what being a Pogue meant, right? 

For the first time since his arrest, JJ seemed relaxed. His face was calm as his body rested, and Kiara wished that he could stay this peaceful forever. No one should have to be put through the hand that life dealt him, especially at as young of an age as he was. 

Kiara tore her eyes away from her sleeping friend, trying her hardest to walk quietly, but the floorboards creaked as she stepped. She made it to the porch, greeting the cool nighttime air, and took a deep breath for the first time in a while. The storm had calmed significantly, and the winds were practically gone. All that remained of the tropical depression that killed her friends was soft rain that fell against The Chateau. 

As she looked out past the dock, she couldn't help but wonder what was next. Are they supposed to go back to school in the fall, and study and take classes and pretend like this never happened? What about the rest of the summer? How were they supposed to survive one Pogue short? It all just didn't feel real, and Kiara couldn't help but feel like this was somehow her fault. She thought about how John B almost dropped the whole treasure hunt, and how if he was never running from DCS, he never would have stayed with Sarah and they would both still be alive. She should have tried to convince her mom to let JB stay with her family. She should have never let John B down into that well. She should have done something, anything. Everything felt so preventable in hindsight. 

She was so lost in her own head she didn't hear the footsteps coming up behind her. "Kie?" 

She turned her head to meet a tired-looking JJ walk out on the porch next to her. "Kie, why are you up?"

"I couldn't sleep. Did I wake you?" She asked, eyebrows slightly raised in a concerned expression. 

"No, I was having trouble sleeping anyway," JJ sighed and looked out on the marsh. "How are you doing?" he asked, genuinely concerned. 

"I...," Kiara started but trailed off. How was she doing? Well, absolutely awful for the most part. "I don't know," she finished. 

It was silent for a little while before Kiara finally mustered up the will to reopen the subject. "Do you think they found their bodies yet?" 

"Christ, Kie. Why do you have to say it like that?" JJ cursed. 

"It's a fucking question, JJ." 

"We don't know that they're gone yet...," JJ started, merely as a way to try and lighten the tense air around them, but even he knew he was kidding himself. 

Kiara shook her head and laughed bitterly. "They're gone JJ. They're floating face down in the middle of the ocean right now and there's literally nothing we can do about it." 

Kiara was angry and bitter at the world and JJ didn't know how to handle her. He's never seen her like this. She was always the one to comfort the boys when they broke. She was always their shoulder to cry on and their stronghold. JJ knew that Kiara was hurting. Fuck, they all were, but he hated seeing Kiara like this, and he didn't know what to do. "They're dead, JJ. John B and Sarah are dead," Her voice broke at the end of her phrase.  JJ looked over to see her eyes begin to gloss over as tears fell down her cheeks. 

"Kie...," he whispered, softly, as his best friend began to break down. 

"No! Stop being emotional, remember? That's what you told me! That's what you told me and they still died," Kiara's cries turned to sobs as JJ grabbed her and wrapped his arms around her tightly. Her head sat perfectly in the nape of his neck as he held her. "They're dead, J." Kiara's body shook as she cried into his shoulder. 

"Shhhhh, Kie. It's okay. We're going to figure it out. We always do," he closed his eyes as they began to water. He couldn't afford to cry right now, Kiara needed him to be strong. She was always the strong one, but right now she needed him. Her arms hung loosely around his torso and her thin frame felt so fragile against his. 

"JJ, please don't go back home. Stay with Pope, or stay with me, or sneak back into The Chateau every night, but please don't go back home. I can't lose you too." Kiara whispered, but JJ heard every word. 

"I won't. I won't go back home," he spoke softly. The reality was, JJ had no idea what was going to happen next. His father would be so angry when he finds out about The Phantom, and JJ feared what would happen the second he showed his face in front of his father. He didn't really have a plan, a home, a family, and now he didn't have a best friend. But he couldn't tell Kiara that. She had enough to deal with. JJ had to handle his own shit. 

"Promise?" Kiara had calmed down, but she didn't want to let go. JJ was her lifeline, and she felt safer than she had in a very long time being held by him on the porch of The Chateau. 

"I promise, Kie." 

He didn't want to let go either. 

- 

thats a wrap for chapters 2! lmk how you all are liking things! 

for clarification, i don't have plans to be creating new characters to add to the plot, so im thinking of keeping it strictly original obx characters. let me know what you all think! i have some good ideas for different plot twists, character interactions etc... 

love you all!

xx mia