𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 ━ 𝐣𝐣 𝐨𝐛𝐱

part twenty eight

kiara groaned loudly with her head between her hands as her elbows rested on a table.

the teens had gathered at the empty restaurant that was closed for the day. they needed to figure out a plan that integrated jj's sudden departure from the group, as well as riley's presence.

"i cannot believe you knew," kiara gritted, picking up her head and narrowing her eyes at john b.

"i was sworn to secrecy!" john b held his hands up in the air defensively. "bro code!"

"oh bro code, sure," kiara mocked. "what about pogue code! no secrets amongst pogues!"

"can we stop talking about this like i'm not right here?" riley huffed in her seat that was a distance from the rest of the group.

"well then how about you leave?" kiara snapped.

"can you stop being a bitch for just one second of your life?" riley shot up from her seat and took long strides over to her twin who had also pushed her chair back and stood up on her feet.

john b and pope quickly arose and stood between the girls, lightly holding each of them back.

"we have more important things to do than sit here and watch y'all have another cat fight," john b said.

riley scoffed, "important things? like things you can actually tell me now?"

"in your dreams," kiara huffed attempting to lunge forward at her sister again but pope wrapped his arms around the girl tightly and pulled her back.

"kiara we have to tell her," sarah said.

"you're one to talk," kie spat.

"hey!" john b went to stand behind sarah's chair, and he placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, "that's enough! what is your deal?"

"my deal?" kiara dryly laughed. "my deal is that my sister has been sleeping with my best friend and all of you knew and didn't tell me! and now, just as i had warned would happen, she is being dragged into pogue things that don't even seem like pogue things anymore! i mean two kooks!! are you serious?!"

"kiara," riley mumbled under her breath hesitantly, trying to get her twin to calm down.

"don't kiara me," she snapped.

"you know what," john b began, "sarah, pope, and i are going to step outside so you two can work out your shit."

pope groaned and everyone turned their attention towards him in confusion. "what?" he said, opening his eyes and looking at everyone staring, "i don't want to third wheel."

"come on," john b huffed, grabbing pope's arm and dragging him outside; sarah following behind them. the two girls remained silent as they watched them walk outside and around the building, out of view.

riley was the first to break the silence, "so?"

"so what?" kiara said. "so you slept with my best friend again and now you want to be apart of our group?"

"its not like that," riley shook her head. "you were the one who asked me to pick you up if i remember correctly. i did you a favor! if it weren't for you i wouldn't even be here right now!"

the other twin huffed, at a loss for words. riley was right; however, kiara couldn't let her stubbornness get past the fact that riley slept with jj.

"so you and jj are what then? dating?" kiara questioned.

"no!" riley was quick to answer.

"then what?"

"i don't... i don't know," riley said. "it's weird. i don't really know what it is. okay?"

"see, this is exactly why i didn't want you getting involved with him. i don't want you to be involved with our shit," kiara said. "you're not a pogue and you never will be!"

"i know i'm not!" riley shouted back. "but i think i deserve to know what y'all are up to after having a gun held to my head."

"you hate us," kiara responded, "why the hell would you even want to be apart of this?"

"would it really be that bad for us to... i don't know... spend some time together?" riley mumbled.

"that's a load," kiara huffed.

"i'm being serious."

"we've never gotten along riley. what makes you think we ever will?" kie pressed.

riley sighed, "i know that we parted when we were growing up because we liked different things; but, just because i'm friends with people you don't like doesn't mean we have to stay parted."

"kooks and pogues don't get along for good reason," kiara stated.

"but we're not just kooks and pogues. we're sisters," riley said.

"i get that. and i get that i've been a bitch, okay? but we're just completely different people. i can't imagine us ever getting along like that," kie said.

"jj and i are completely different people," riley defended.

kiara snorted at her sisters comment. "here's what you need to understand riley... sex and feelings are two completely different things to jj."

"i didn't mean it like that," riley muttered under her breath. "i know that, and i don't have feelings for jj."

"so then what's your motive then? fucking him just to spite me?" kiara asked.

"can we just not talk about him?" riley said. "its not important right now. i just want to know why we were almost murdered. does it have something to do with the gold john b mentioned earlier?"

kiara's eyes widened at her twin's remark but she quickly collected herself and sighed. "i'll go get them."

"really?" riley's face brightened at her sister's sudden change of mind.

"seems like i don't have much of a choice," kiara grumbled and the smile immediately fell from riley's lips.

"things could change between us kie," riley said softly before kiara left to go gather the rest of the group.