The Pogues

Pick Her

Cassie ended up being the one to drive JJ and Pope home after their excursion and findings at the Crain house. Cassie dropped off JJ first at his house as she bid her goodbye, "Goodbye asshole!" Which was met by, "Goodbye sweetheart." Pope couldn't help but laugh as she rolled her eyes but kept her smile. As the pair drove off, they found themselves sitting quietly with Pope in the shotgun seat.

When the sun began to set, creating a hue of blues and pinks, they pulled over, climbing on to the top of Cassie's white jeep while looking over the lake to see the last glimpse of the sun before the night took over. Cassie turned to Pope, "You love her, don't you?"

"Huh?" he turned and looked at her. She had a golden aura from the sun as it reflected off her blonde hair and lit up her blue eyes. "Kiara. You love her."

Pope gave a small laugh and looked at the ground in embarrassment. "I see the way you look at her. I mean, I'm your best friend, how could I not notice," she laughed. Pope looked back into the sun, "She's beautiful, strong, so determined in everything she does. I don't know, I mean, I guess I just always had something for her."

Cassie smiled at his face that only held happiness, "I mean, you even smile when you think about her." He laughed again and looked at her, "Yeah, I guess I do."

Cassie looked into the sky, "It'll come. I know it will." Cassie inched closer and put her head on Pope's shoulder who moved slightly, then put his head on top of hers. After a few moments, she felt his throat rumble, "And JJ?"

Cassie couldn't keep the smile off his face, but then it turned into a frown very quickly, "He doesn't like me like that. No matter what I do, I'm not enough."

Pope pulled back and looked at her scoffing. "Cassie, you are more blind than the old man in the green kook house. He looks at you like you are a goddess from another planet." Cassie huffed, "I wish, Pope, I wish."

Pope shook his head as Cassie started to cry. He turned quickly and put his arm around her, "Hey, hey, hey." "Whatever I do, whatever I say, I'm not enough. I'm not good enough for him. I want him to love me as much as I love him, I want to be able to be his rock and I want to be the only girl he's worrying about instead of the Tourons he makes out with. I want to be more than just his friend, I want him to be more than my lover, because he's my everything. He's my lifeline and whatever I do, he doesn't love me back. Pope, why doesn't he love me back?"

His heart broke as her eyes spilled more and more tears while her voice cracked. She let out another sob, "It hurts so much."

Pope took a deep breath, "The other day, when JJ and I were hanging around, we started unpacking some groceries and goddamn, the whole time he just talked about you. He wouldn't shut up about you. He was like, Cassie this, Cassie that, Cassie is so beautiful. I mean, when he took the fall for me and when I was going to tell the police the truth, he stopped me and said, 'No, man, I got this. Cassie wouldn't want this on you and that means that I wouldn't want it. She told me what I did was pure goodness and when she said that, and for the first time, I felt good.'"

Cassie looked up, "He said that?"

Pope nodded, "Cassie, you will never understand how much JJ really loves you. How much he cares about you. In this whole world, you are the person he cares about the most. He would do anything for you. So never say, you aren't enough because you are more than enough, especially to JJ."

Cassie looked up and gave a sad smile at Pope, "Thank you, Pope, thank you."

"Anytime, Cass, anytime."

~~~

Cassie woke up late the next morning, tired from all of the Merchant findings they had discovered the day prior. She found herself groaning as she forced herself to crawl out of bed and make some coffee. She spent the most of the fleeting morning with breakfast while her toes were dipping in the ocean water.