legacy // obx

1.0

1

KIARA AND THE TWO OTHER POGUES DID NOT WAIT AROUND TO SEE THE END of Sarah Cameron's funeral. The second Rafe started to go off the walls, Shoupe and his task force started to close in on the event, and Kiara didn't need JJ to get arrested for concealed carry. He was already on probation and one more knock to his record would send him over the edge. Kiara didn't need any more surprises like that. 

JJ walked ahead of Kiara and Pope, without saying a word to either of them. Kiara could feel how hurt he was. She could feel how tense he was. It had manifested so deep in him that Kiara wished she could just reach deep within him and take it all away. She wished she could stop his head from spiraling down into whatever pit she knew she was going to have to drag him out of eventually. She felt so helpless, watching JJ lose his grip on his life, and knowing that there wasn't much Kiara could do to help him. She wanted to say something to Pope. She wanted to talk about JJ to him, to have someone there to sympathize with how upset she truly felt over him. Kiara wanted someone, anyone, to help her help JJ. But she knew involving Pope in anything related to her and JJ was a bad idea. It was all a bad idea. Going to the funeral, kissing Pope, spending the night with JJ in The Chateau. Hell, even just going on the treasure hunt in the first place was a bad idea. It seemed like everything in Kiara's life was confounding on top of one another, making her more confused than she knew how to handle. She didn't know what to do anymore. 

By the time Kiara had pulled herself away from her own thoughts, they had reached the car. JJ tore open the door to the backseat, throwing the backpack in it aggressively, and hopping inside. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked out the opposing window like he didn't want to make eye contact with Kiara. She wondered what he was thinking. 

Pope and Kie still hadn't really mastered how to deal with JJ when he got like this. Usually, he stormed off by himself and disappeared for a few days. Usually, Kiara and Pope just gave him the space he needed to blow off steam and waited for him to show up again a handful of days later. But now, JJ couldn't afford to run away for a few days. He was smart enough to know that he needed his friends, and being wreckless like that would have to be a habit of the past. 

Kiara hated the tension that settled between the three friends on the ride home. JJ was stone cold and unreadable. Pope was so apprehensive about the situation that he feared one wrong move would send any one of them over the edge. Kiara was upset over all the shit they had to go through that she just didn't know what to say anymore. Nothing felt real. Kie felt sick to her stomach at the reality of it all. 

Pope drove as Kiara stared out the window, watching the Island that she used to take so much pride in pass her by. Now, she felt nothing but anxiety as she watched Figure Eight fade into The Cut. Her home didn't even feel like home anymore. It was all wrong. All of it. Pope pulled up to The Chateau, and JJ wasted no time in jumping out of the car and disappearing into the shack. Kiara watched him walk away before leaning back into the passenger seat with a sigh. She ran her fingers through her hair and closed her eyes for a brief moment. 

"He'll be okay, Kie," Pope started, trying to help. 

"Will he, Pope?" she snapped. "Will he? Because we said the same thing about John B and he ended up dead." Kiara immediately felt bad for her outburst, but she didn't apologize.

She continued to stare out the passenger window to avoid meeting Pope's gaze that was burning a hole in the side of her head. She couldn't face him. 

"What's this really about, Kiara?" Pope's tone turned cold, almost angry. 

"What are you talking about?" She decided to look towards him, finally. His face was almost blank, but a small expression of concern peeked through. Or was it accusation? Kiara couldn't tell the difference anymore. 

"I mean, what is this really about? Is it about JJ? Is it about me, or us?" Pope began to raise his voice. 

"Jesus, Pope! Do you really have to twist every situation into this? I'm just trying to help him." 

"You know what Kiara? Yes. I am going to turn it into this. I need answers from you."

"What the hell does that mean?" Kiara was taken aback. She had never really had to deal with this side of Pope before. 

"You know exactly what it means. I told you I loved you and now you're running away from it." Pope's eyes were dark and brooding. Kiara wished she was anywhere other than in the passenger seat of Pope's car in that moment. 

"I'm not fucking running, Pope," Kiara started to defend herself. 

"Than what are you doing? Because I've about had it with the waiting."

"I'm helping JJ! He needs us!" Kiara yelled back in response to his accusations. She couldn't believe the words that were coming out of Pope's mouth. 

"Enough with JJ! What is with you two? He's not a fucking scapegoat Kiara!" Pope was pissed. 

"I'm not using him as a scapegoat! What the fuck are you trying to say, Pope?" Kiara matched his volume. In the back of her mind, she wondered if JJ could hear their conversation. 

"You kissed me, Kiara! Are you forgetting that?" 

"No, I'm not forgetting it!" Kiara could sense where this conversation was headed, and she felt a wave of anxiety flow over her. She was hoping she could put this talk off as much as she could, but it was clear that tension between her and her friends was reaching a climax. 

"Then cut the bullshit and tell me the truth! Do you want this or not?" Pope wasn't as loud with his question but his voice remained angry and unsettled. 

Kiara knew her answer. She had known her answer for a while, but she didn't want to hurt Pope. She didn't want to cause him any more pain than he had already been through, but it looked like her time for evading had expired. All Kiara wanted was to protect her friends, and now, she was the one tearing them apart. She stayed silent, staring straight ahead and hoping that if she just ignored it all then everything would go away. 

"Kiara," Pope stated again, unwavering. 

"No," Kiara finally spoke, softly. She looked out past the marsh as the water sparkled in the setting sun. She thought about how just this morning, she and Pope had been sitting together on the docks. That felt like so long ago. "No. I don't," She finished as a few tears escaped out of her watering eyes and slid down her cheeks. 

It was quiet for a while before Pope broke the silence. "I have to go," he said. The anger had completely vanished from his tone and had been replaced with heartbreak. 

"Pope-," Kiara started, wanted to fix what she had done to him. 

"I have to go, Kiara." Pope wouldn't look at her. Kiara knew it was pointless to fight him. She knew that she had done irreversible damage. 

"I'm sorry," she muttered before opening the car door and slipping out of it. She made the same trek towards The Chateau that JJ had made only minutes before. Her head hung low as she heard Pope's car start and drive away. 

She sat on the steps of the porch instead of heading inside, watching the water in the marsh flow back and forth as the small tide controlled the waves. Her eyes watered enough to have a few more tears fall, but she soon gained her composure. Kiara knew that this was what would happen eventually. She knew the second she kissed him that she was going to inevitably break his heart. She just didn't know she was going to end up breaking hers along with it. 

Kiara sat there for a long time, hoping for an answer that never came. 

- 

HI GUYS DID YOU MISS ME

im so so so so so sooooo sorry that this update took so long. I have been so incredibly busy for these last two ish weeks and i just couldnt find the time to write and edit (and writers block had me for a few days)but we're back now and on the grind again!!

AND THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT. WE BROKE 4K READS THATS CRAZYYYY

you guys are the fuckin best. take care of yourselves and ill see u tmr or sunday <333

xx mia

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