Twisted Mercy~ JJ

boat duty

Mady kept her head down as they drove through the cut. Kiara was careful to avoid high volume areas, and anytime a cop car would go speeding by, they would remind her to duck.

Kiara and JJ had a quiet conversation in the front, but Mady couldn't bring herself to join it. Instead, she leaned her head against the window and watched as the trees blurred together before her eyes.

Her heart broke all over again every time she thought about her family, and this quiet car ride was particularly a good place for those memories to surface.

She closed her eyes, allowing a trail of tears to run down her skin silently.

She finally let herself feel for a moment, while working through the truth about her family.

Where are they now?

She soon recognized her surroundings, and wiped her tears with the palm of her hand before anyone could notice.

She took a deep breath and watched as her mother's house got closer and closer.

JJ finally spoke, cutting through the silence. "Home sweet home." The way his voice cracked sent a twinge through Mady's heart, and she could tell Kiara felt the same way.

"Do you need backup?" Mady squeaked out, barely above a whisper.

JJ appeared to be thinking and Kiara pressed her lips together.

"Do you want us to come? 'Cause we'll come."

"No." JJ shook his head and pulled the baseball cap off. "This'll only take a second." And with that, he was out the door.

Kiara and Mady exchanged a nervous glance, and watched as he walked towards the steps, sending one last look over his shoulder before entering the house.

A few moments passed and Kiara spoke up. "You really like him, huh?"

"JJ?" She questioned, pulling her eyes away from the house to look at her. "No way."

Kiara rolled her eyes. "Yeah right."

Mady gave her a side eyed glare and narrowed her eyes.

"It's pretty obvious you've got something going on." She pressed. "I've never seen him act this way with a girl before."

"I have that effect on boys," Mady shot back, playfully tossing her hair over her shoulders causing Kiara to snort.

"I'm serious." She chuckled while turning a little more in her seat to look at Mady in the back. "I haven't seen him bring a girl home, since...like... the boneyard?" She thought aloud.

Mady pulled her eyebrows together and gave her an unimpressed stare. "Wasn't that... like 2 weeks ago?"

"For JJ, that's a lot. Even you know that."

Mady nodded along slowly, admitting that she understood what Kie had meant.

"So..." Kiara started again, trying to make conversation. "Have you kissed him?"

Mady fixed her expression to appear casual, and made sure to hold eye contact while shaking her head no, slowly.

Kiara narrowed her eyes at her, and a second later Mady slowly nodded her head.

"I knew it," She smirked to herself.

Oh, if only she really knew what we've been up to.

"So you and Pope?" Mady changed the subject. "What's goin' on with him? What happened this morning?"

"I think he's just mad that I rejected him." She sighed. "But... I feel really bad."

"He'll come around Kie. You've been best friends for years. If you don't want a relationship, he doesn't get to be mad about it. It doesn't go one way." Mady tried to remind her friend.