Five Years Later • JIARA •

6

Kiara's POV:

We were at a small cabin in the middle of the woods. I had no idea where we were but JJ was familiar with this place. We were inside and he was starting a fire in the fire place as it was cold and frosty here.

He grabbed a blanket from the bed and he gave it to me. I sat on the couch and JJ came and sat next to me. I put the blanket over him as he looked cold too.

"So where are we?" I asked trying to start a conversation

"Doesn't matter..." He said clearly not wanting to talk about it

If he was going to act like this, I was going to act like a bitch back to him.

"Tell me where we are and why the hell are you living with your dad if you have this place?"

"Leave me alone. The only reason you're here is because you drove me here. I've told you before, I don't want you in my life anymore..."

"That's bullshit, JJ and you know it. We both know that I'm the only person that you'll talk to. We haven't talked since that night in Costa Rica. You have five years that you haven't talked to anyone about. So what the hell is the big secret? What have you been doing for the last five years that you didn't talk to anyone about?" I yelled at him

"Fuck you, Kiara!" He said pissed at me

"You already did that.." I said in a bitchy voice

"At least I wasn't engaged to someone else.." He said drinking right out of the vodka bottle he was holding

"I didn't mean to do it.." I said fighting tears because I felt so guilty

"Oh, you didn't mean to have sex with me? Because you just accidentally made out with me and accidentally took my clothes off and accidentally acted like you were having fun and accidentally slept in my arms all night. Yeah, you didn't mean it. Whatever, it was a one-time thing and didn't mean anything. It never will..." He said

"You're right, it meant nothing because I've seen you hook up with other girls. Most of the time you never let them sleep over and you sure as hell don't kiss them goodnight and hold them in your arms all night long. But you're right, it meant absolutely nothing." I argued back

JJ did something totally unexpected and he grabbed me and he kissed me. It was a short kiss. He pulled away so fast and he said, "See, nothing."

He was right, that kiss didn't make me feel anything. It was the intense eye contact after that awkward kiss that made me feel everything.

"You're engaged to Cole. It can't mean anything. You and Pope did it and you were dating him and you guys got over it."

"Don't ever mention that again. Worst two minutes of my life."

JJ started laughing and said, "Two minutes?"

"I was being generous, maybe a minute.."

JJ rolled his eyes and laughed and said, "I'm still pissed at you..."

"I know so I'm going to leave and I will send John B back tomorrow to get you."

"No, no one knows about this place and I want to keep it that way."

"Okay, so I will come back and get you when you're ready to leave" I said trying to come up with a solution

JJ agreed so I went to my car and I left JJ alone. I heard him scream and then I heard glass shatter. I turned around and went back inside. JJ was crying and he threw the bottle of vodka at the wall. He saw me and told me to get the hell out. I ignored him and I picked up the broken glass and wiped up the spilled alcohol all over the floor.

JJ was having a complete breakdown and I tried to calm him down, but he wasn't listening. He just screamed and yelled. This would freak most people out, but I knew how to handle him when he got like this. I walked up to him and I hugged him. He calmed down and when he was relaxed, I backed away and he got pissed again, so I left him alone. I couldn't leave him in this state so I went out to my car and I just sat there. It was starting to get dark and I texted Cole and told him that I was on the mainland and going to spend the night with one of my friends, Amber.

Amber was one of my kook friends, so it wasn't a complete lie. I still had the blanket and I eventually fell asleep in my Jeep Grand Cherokee in the driver seat. I woke up in a bed. I sat up, so confused about where I was. I realized I was inside JJ's cabin. He walked over and handed me a cup of warm tea.

"Thank you..." I said taking it as I was freezing

"Why the hell were you sleeping in your car? You said you were leaving."

"I didn't want to leave you alone after seeing your little breakdown last night. I'm fine but how did I get in here?"

"I went outside to throw up around 2 am and saw you asleep and freezing cold so I carried you in here. Don't worry, I slept on the couch." He said in a much better mood than last night

"Thank you, JJ..." I said sipping the tea

"What did you want to talk to me about last night when you came to my house?" He asked me

"The fight you had with Cole. He wants to get a restraining order."

"Shit... I'm sorry, but I'm telling the truth when I say that he started it."

"I believe you and I will try to talk him out of it. I just need you to behave around him."

"I promise, Kie. I'm sorry.." He said looking down avoiding eye contact with me

"What did Cole say?" I asked knowing he tried to tell me before and I didn't listen

"That the world would be better off without me and so would you... Believe it or not, I'm glad we ended up here last night because I was not in a good place."

I felt awful for not listening to him the other night. I hugged him and I felt him melt in my arms as he hugged me. I whispered, "That's a total fucking lie. I need you in my life and the world needs more people like you, JJ."

We made casual conversation as we cleaned the place up. He put the fire out and cleaned things up and then we were leaving. He started my car and I walked out still wrapped in the blanket. JJ got in the driver seat and I sat in the passenger seat with the heat on full blast.

"Are you still cool if I drive your new kook car?" He asked

"As long as you don't drive like Pope" I said smiling which caused JJ to laugh

He drove back to the cut and dropped himself off. I went home to Cole and he was busy working. I went upstairs and put the blanket I still had away under my bed and then I took a shower to warm up as I was still freezing.