𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐞〚𝚙𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚢𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 〛

Chapter 14

The movie wasn't as interesting as Delilah thought it would be, but perhaps it was the fact that she couldn't concentrate on a single word that was spoken by the actors. 

Her eyes were shutting on their own and she forced herself to focus. She couldn't afford to fall asleep, no matter how tempting it now seemed. She refused to let JJ and Pope fight against the Kook squad on their own. The thought kept her awake.

"Girl, you look done," noticed Kiara.

"I hope it doesn't look as bad as it feels," she groaned, leaning her head against her friend's shoulder.

She chuckled. "You dozed off at least once."

Delilah raised an eyebrow. "And I didn't fall?"

"Kinda. You were leaning back against Pope," she said, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

But the blonde girl took no notice of the tease, looking around urgently.

"Where is he?"

"Who?"

"They. Them," muttered Delilah, getting worried. "Pope and JJ!"

Kiara eyed her curiously. "They went to take a piss."

"What about Kelce and Topper?"

"Um..."

Delilah cursed under her breath, unable to spot any of the boys. Something was going on. 

Her eyes darted towards the woods, although she knew Pope was too scared to take the risk of isolating himself. But where else could they have gone?

"Kiara, we have to find them," she said firmly, trying to cover exactly how worried she was.

She didn't need to repeat herself. Kiara was up and following her in no time, people staring at them weirdly as they ran by. 

At the edge of the forest, she came to a halt, ears perking at a sound. Curses and shouts of pain. Someone was getting beaten up. 

She sped up, forgetting to tell Kiara what was going on. She couldn't let them hurt Pope. She had promised to fix it, she had promised it wouldn't happen again. 

Her eyes locked on the fight happening behind the movie screen and for one desperate moment, she wished one of the spectators could see what was going on and call the cops. But she knew who would get blamed for this. Certainly not the rich kids. 

Blinded by rage, she sprinted for Topper, who was holding Pope down and repeatedly punching him. Without thinking her move through, she tackled the kook, ripping him away from her friend. 

Holding him down with all her weight, she pressed her knee to his chest, a sadistic smile playing on her lips. "Not so confident now, huh?"

But her petite body didn't do much to keep him down. Topper grabbed her shoulders, rolling on top of her.

"Do you think I'll play nice with you just cause Rafe told me to?" he spat at her seething face. "Well, guess wha..."

He interrupted himself with a painful groan as she kneed him in the groin, taking advantage and punching him in the face. Delilah threw him off of her, knowing that she did not need to hit him again. The boy was weak, refusing to stand up and try to beat her up.

"Stay away from Pope," she hissed, resisting the urge to aim a good kick to his ribs.

JJ had the upper hand in his fight, so she rushed towards Pope only to stumble back with a yelp. 

A wall of flames blocked her way. 

Kiara crawled away from the flaming sheet, looking shocked from the results. She held a lighter in her hand. Panicked screams came from the other side of the movie screen.

"Kiara, what in the world?" Delilah stammered, feeling the heat of the fire against her face.

"I..."

They both snapped out of their surprise, realizing there was a much more important issue in hand. The boys. Delilah bolted for Pope, who was still stunned from the blows to his face, while Kiara yelled to JJ to get the hell out of there.

"Thanks," breathed Pope, leaning heavily against her as she hurried to get the both of them away from the fire.

"My fault," she wheezed, the smoke entering her lungs. "Should have been more careful."

He shook his head, limping by her side as they fled to the parking lot. "This is not the place to argue, but if it was, I beg to differ."

They were joined by JJ and Kiara in front of the boy's dirt bike.

"You're a freakin' idiot," she told Kiara with a smile.

The curly haired girl scoffed. "I saved your ass."

Delilah knew her friend had a point, but turning into a pyromaniac was a risky move. In her defense, shock and panic could make someone do crazy things. 

The blonde girl frowned, staring at JJ's bruised and bloody face.

"Are you alright?" she worriedly asked.

JJ tried to smirk, but flinched. "I'll be fine, Del. Don't worry."

"You're not doing home looking like that," firmly said Kiara. "We're going to the Chateau."

He nodded, relieved. Pope, on the other hand, stiffened.

"I can't do that," he fretted. "My parents are waiting for me and will go nuts if I don't phone to tell them where I am. They can't see me like this!"

"Pope," Delilah softly interrupted him. "I'm not letting you get in trouble for this. You're coming home with me."

He blinked, surprised. "But..."

"Nope!" she said, knowing he was about to argue. "I'm not taking any suggestions."

"So it's settled." Kiara clapped her hands, cutting their discussion short. "You take care of Pope, I'll watch JJ."

"Yes, mam," she answered with a military salute, ignoring the boys' protests.

But as they walked through the shortcut leading to her house, Pope's steps became heavier and heavier. He had received one too many blows to the head. 

Even as he gritted his teeth with every step, he weakly tried to convince her to abandon him.

"Don't feel responsible for what happened," he said, breathing heavily. "I don't want to be a burden..."

"Pope," she finally snapped, slightly irritated. "I will not leave you on your own when you are feeling like this! I care for your safety, you fool."

"Oh," he answered, as if the possibility hadn't occurred to him.

Through the darkness, she saw him smile.

A/N Hey folks! I managed to squeeze in an update before my one-week limit, so yay me. Hope you enjoy! 

Thanks for reading and for voting, y'all are the best!

-Aella