𝐇𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬: 𝐀𝐬𝐩𝐲𝐧 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐧 ~ 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬

𝐓𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐦𝐛

Thankfully, the guys had left some blankets and pillows, so the three of us got everything situated on the deck and laid down.

We had been completely silent after discussing everything that had happened between the three of us. Even Sarah and I weren't talking to each other.

After quite a while of painfully loud silence, Kiara finally broke it.

"Hey, Sarah," She mumbled.

"Hey Kiara," My sister responded.

"Promise me that you won't bail on John B," Kie sighed. "He's not just some other guy, and he really, really likes you,"

Sarah turned on her side to face her. "I won't"

"Promise me,"

"I promise,"

"Oh, and Aspyn..." Kiara continued. "I'll tell John B I'm the reason you stopped hanging with him so he'll know that you didn't just bail,"

I sat up, causing her to do the same.

We stared each other straight in the eyes.

"What if he gets mad?" I asked.

She shrugged. "Then, I deserve it,"

Suddenly, a wave of guilt came over me, and it hit me so fucking hard.

I shook my head. "No, you don't.

"John B never needed a friend like me anyway," I scoffed. "If anything you did him a favor,"

She looked at me confused. "What? Why do you think that?"

"Because I'm a terrible person!" I yelled, my voice breaking.

"A, what are you talking about?" Sarah asked, sitting up as well. "Is everything okay?"

"No!" I cried. "Nothing is okay! Nothing has ever been okay!"

"Not only was I fucking horrible to Pouges, I was an asshole toward you and Wheezie! I'm a bitch, Sarah. I really am!" I yelled. "I'd constantly snap on Wheeze for no reason and I blamed dad's favoritism on you!"

"And the gold..." I sniffed, getting quieter. "That motherfucking gold,"

"What?" My sister asked.

"I didn't offer to help find the gold just because I could," I mumbled. "I did it for dad,"

"For dad?"

"I, um...I overheard John B talking to everyone about Denmark Tanny and The Royal Merchant, which reminded me that dad had been looking for the wreck," I explained. "So, I asked John B if I could help y'all because I knew he would trust me. Then, after finding the gold, I was gonna tell Ward about it so...so he'd finally appreciate me,"

They both looked at me shocked.

"So, yeah, I'm a horrible person that was gonna stab all of you in the back, but after these past few days I realized I couldn't do that!" I sobbed.

"You...You were gonna tell dad?" Sarah hesitated.

I nodded, wiping the tears that ran down my cheeks. It felt as though a boulder had been taken off my shoulders.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered. "I thought I needed his approval, and that seemed like the only way to get it,"

I suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap around me. My sisters. She hugged me tighter and my slow tears turned into sobs yet again.

"I thought that I didn't need his validation but I did!" I cried into her shoulder. "Deep down, I still needed it and I didn't even realize! How fucking stupid can I be?!"