𝗞𝗮𝘇 𝗙𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀 watched his mom in extreme confusion from his high chair. Just a moment ago, she was smiling and feeding him cold mash from a spoon, and now she was sitting in her seat, fingers through her hair as she let out choked sobs. She tried not to let him see her upset, but it all came out too soon for even Kaci, herself, to realise it was coming. It just happened, out of nowhere.

Inhaling a deep breath, Kaci finally looked back up, trying her hardest to push back all the tears, running her hands straight down her hair. She smiled back at Kaz, who was frowning, assuring him that everything was alright. Which it was. Everything was fine. Kaci had no idea where the sudden panic came from, but it was so unlike her that it ended up being way more exaggerated than it actually was.

Behind them, the door to the Château opened, it's rusted metal creaking so loud that Kaz winced. Kaci wiped over her eyes another time, planting a kiss on his forehead, brushing a few strands of dark hair away from his face.

"Anyone home?" Kieʼs voice came shortly after, her footsteps echoing through the small house. "Kaci?" She entered the kitchen, brows furrowed, seeing the red around the girlʼs eyes. "Hey, what are you still doing here? The boys are practically throwing a party outside."

Kaci smiled, gesturing to Kaz. "Yeah, I know, I'll be out in a sec — just feeding him."

"Is he even allowed food yet?"

"Not real food, just formula milk."

Kie chuckled, feeling a little awkward, kind of like Kaci didn't want her there. "Are you sure you're okay?" she asked again.

"Yeah." Kaci shook her head, putting on a huge smile. "Yeah, no, I'm just stoned, that's all."

That was when Kie knew something was up. She never smiled like that, never. That was a Sarah smile, not a Kaci smile.

Rather than saying something, knowing that the Flores girl would only continue to make excuses, Kie threw her arms around Kaci, wrapping her into an affectionate, meaningful hug.

Taken back by the sudden touch, Kaci slowly wrapped her arms back around Kie. It felt nice. Like she needed it. Like this whole thing was something she'd been holding in for so long, and she just needed to get it out.

"You can talk to me, you know that, right?" Kie said quietly into Kaciʼs neck.

"I know," Kaci told her with a nod, "I'm just confused."

Kie pulled away, keeping her hands on Kaciʼs arm. She frowned. "About what?"

Kaci shrugged. "I don't know, it's just...everything has happened so fast, and I just —" She shrugged again, feeling uncomfortable about opening up. "— I haven't really had any time to process it."

Rather than letting her confusion show, Kie nodded understandingly, seeing light tears arm themselves behind Kaciʼs eyes. She didn't say anything, letting the girl go on without any interruptions.

"I mean, Jordan...he's dead," her voice croaked at the mention of her baby brother. "My ex boyfriend murdered him. And I'm just — I'm trying to do everything to not be down for Kaz. I'm just trying to be okay, and it works.

"And then, suddenly, Luis...he's, like, crazy." She shook her head, feeling sick at her thoughts, not wanting to say the rest out loud. "He took Kaz and we killed him, and that's good — that's...I know that had to happen. But..." She shook her head another time. "I don't know, he's still my brother. And I wanna, you know, grieve him, I guess? But then, that's selfish, because of everything...and..."

Kaci took a moment to pause, only now noticing the tears again. She huffed and dragged them away with the sleeves of JJʼs hoodie she wore.

Kie continued to nod, squeezing her arms assuringly.

"I'm just — I'm so confused. About everything," Kaci started to ramble. "My dad, he's really trying, y'know, and I'm just being so mean to him, and I don't even know why. And Marie — she's dead, too. And I haven't even thought about it once. She was my mom, Kie, and I don't even care."

She sat down onto a seat, feeling her legs give out, and finally let out a sob, eyes glowing through the tears as she looked up to Kie with such a hopeless expression that it almost made the other girl cry. "Maybe I'm just not a good person," she said. "I don't deserve this — this live. I don't deserve JJ, I don't deserve Kaz. It's just, like, they're all so much better than me, and I want to be like that, too. But I can't just stop being, like...like a bitch."

Seeing that the girl was finsished, Kie sat down beside her. "You're not a bitch, Kaci," she said first, sending her a soft smile and helping wipe the tears away, "and JJ and Kaz are the luckiest boys in the world to have you with them."

She sighed, honestly wishing she could take away all of her pain. It wasn't fair how much all of the others had been through, whilst she'd been moaning about basic teen problems. Kie often felt like the only thing she could do was watch all her friends break and crack, and she had no way of helping them. She just wanted to help her friends. It was all she ever wanted to do.

"I can't even imagine being in your shoes, Kaci," she went on to say, taking time to really think about her words. "Giving birth at such a young age, all the Rafe crap, your family...you're so much stronger than you think you are." She shrugged. "And I think you use your whole cold, unbothered attitude to protect you from all of it."

Kaci furrowed her brows, having never thought about it that way.

"But we all love you, so much," Kie added. "And we all understand, and we love your personality. I honestly have no idea what JJ would be like today if he didn't have you by your side." She shrugged, smiling softly. "I don't know what else to say, Kaci, but just remember that you're not alone. You're a pouge, we're here for you. Always."

Kaci smiled back, wiping her eyes again.

"I know it's confusing right now, but it will get better." Kie leaned forward to squeeze her hand. "I promise."

Feeling better after finally letting it all out, Kaci let out a small sigh. A year ago, she never would've believed any of this could've ever happened. And, out of all the people to vent to, she never would've imagined it would be to Kiara Carrera. But it was. And it felt good.

She smiled appreciatively, a real one this time, and leaned over again to wrap her arms around Kie. She was greatful for the pouges. They were real friends, real family.

"Now, let's go outside and make sure Sarah doesn't kill herself from being trapped alone with the boys."

𖧷

𝗔𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻 B finally showed them the tape, all the cops in town had been out searching for Ward Cameron. It was a cause of celebration for the pouges, a final win. Luis was dead, Rafe was going to be arrested, and so was Ward — the only enemy they had left was Limbrey. As far as the teenagers were concerned, they were going to be filthy rich in the next few weeks.

"Hey, Princess, you good?" said JJ as Kaci and Kie walked towards them, a smiling Kaz in her arms.

Kaci smiled back at him. "Yeah, we're good."

JJ nodded, lifting his head up to kiss her softly, which she returned. He opened his arms out for Kaz, who gladly sat onto his daddyʼs lap, sticking his tongue out at John B.

She sat there for a few moments, JJʼs hand on her waist as he laughed and joked around with the other boys. Kaz was enjoying himself, seeing that everyone was okay and happy.

Then, she caught eye of her blueberry in the corner. Anybody from a mile away could tell she was going through a lot, that the smile on her face was only for show. Sarah didn't want to be sad, she wanted to be happy for John B, but it was hard when it was about her family.

Without any spoken words, Kaci and Kie made eye contact and went over to sit with their third fruit. "Do you regret it?" Kie asked her first, going back over sending the tape to Shoupe.

Hand in her hair, Sarah shook her head. "No. He deserves all of it, and I know that."

"He's your dad, I get it," Kie told her.

"Yeah, me too," added Kaci softly.

Kie shrugged, looking between the two of them. "I'm sure it sucks to be in the middle."

Sarahʼs phone started to ring, a picture of Topper Thornton showing up. She sent the two girls a smile before standing up to take it. "I'm sorry."

Kie nodded. "Yeah."

A few moments later, Sarah turned back to them, a guilty expression on her face. "They've got the arrest warrant."

𖧷

𝗞𝗮𝗰𝗶 𝗙𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀 held her best friend in her arms as she broke down, now unable to stand after watching her father blow up on his boat. The screams of Sarah Cameron could be heard throughout the whole island, her pain spreading everywhere, haunting people. Kaci had never heard anything quite like it, it was terrifying to think somebody could be feeling that way.

JJ tucked Kaz into his chest, shielding the babyʼs eyes from the horrific scene ahead. It was all too noisy for the infant to bare — John Bʼs cheering, Sarahʼs screaming, the copsʼ barking.

Topper Thornton raced forward to grab Sarah, sending Kaci a noble nod and allowing her to get back to her baby.

As Kaci ran back to JJ and Kaz, John B finally started to realise Sarahʼs pain. Everything went quiet again, and it was only the sound of her sobs that kept the place alive. His face soon fell, seeing that Topper was the one to comfort her, because he was too busy being excited. A flash of guilt fell over his eyes as Kaci sent him a sharp glare.

But it was too late for him to help Sarah now.

"C'mon, I don't want him to get burnt by anything that's fallen," said Kaci, looking up at JJ with concern for their son.

The blonde boy nodded, wrapping Kaz tighter into his arms, and the two started walking off the dock.

Kaci stopped to see Sarah again, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "Call me if you need me, okay?" she said, and Sarah nodded, knowing she wanted to stay with her family for the time being.

Authorʼs Note
we got a lot of soft kaci in this chapter :(( kie is such a good friend idc. i can't wait to write the bonfire scene, though, to bring back badass kaci. we'll probably have some more mikel scenes coming soon, too.
love, tay </3