𝒊𝒊. sunken ship
━━━━━━━━━━━━
❛ daphne monroe 𝒙 kiara carrera ❜

❝ I just wish things were better
between the ones that I love. ❞
- jodie,, sza

(season 1 episode 1)

word count; 5,300+

"SHUT UP," JOHN B SAYS WITH a smile, not fully believing Pope about a possible sunken boat.

"No way."

"Sure."

Pope ignores the chorus of responses that come. "No, no, guys. I'm serious," he urges them, pointing down into the murky water. "There's like a boat down there. For real." John B and Kie now step up beside him, Daphne slowly doing so as well while JJ looks from where he is in the water. "It's a boat!"

"Holy shit, he's right," Kiara responds, shock clear in her voice. "Let's go."

Despite the slight nerves that fill her, Daphne follows after everyone. She pulls off her T-shirt, slides her jean shorts off and kicks off her sandals. When she jumps into the water, she's hit with a sudden coolness that spreads to every single part of her body and a slight sting goes through the cut on her chin. If it were any other time, the cold would be horrible. But, considering how hot it is outside right now, she doesn't mind. Jumping right after her is Kiara and John B, leaving Pope alone on the boat.

"You think there's a dead body down there?" Pope starts to peel his own shirt off, in a hurry so he doesn't miss out on anything. "Guys, wait up!"

"Whoo!"

"Get your ass in here, Pope!"

"Come on!"

Together, they all swim down to the lost and abandoned boat. Each one of them takes a long look at the wreck before them. It's just sitting there. No damage seems to be done to it, making the whole thing even more suspicious. Like, how long has it been down there anyway? And, what happened to the person on the boat if their body isn't here?

Soon, they can't hold their breaths any longer, and are forced to resurface once again. They all take a moment to gasp for air before they start talking about what they saw, breathless yet, ina strange way, giddy.

"You guys saw that, right?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah, I did."

"Yeah."

"Sure did."

"That's a Grady-White," JJ comments as they all swim back to their own boat. "A new one of those is like 500 Gs, easy."

As they all climb on the boat one by one, Daphne can't help the small smile on her face, completely weirded out at what they found. She grabs onto the side of the HMS Pogue, and pulls herself up with one big yank. Swinging her legs up, she sits herself on the edge, making it up just in time for the group to continue their conversation.

"That's a primo rig."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," John B agrees, whipping his mop-y, wet hair out of his face. "That's the boat I saw when I surfed the surge. Maybe it hit the jetty or something."

"You surfed the surge?" Kiara is now focused on this aspect of the conversation, concern lacing her tone and disappointment crawling its way over her features.

"Yeah."

"That's my boy. Pogue style."

With a disbelieving expression, Daphne glares at them as she uses an elastic she always wears around her wrist to tie her hair back into a ponytail. Finally, she's feeling as though her breathing is returning to normal. After crashing the Pogue and then finding a new boat, her heart hasn't stopped thumping hard against her rib cage. The news about John B surfing the surge hasn't helped anything, and she's definitely discussing it with him later. She can't believe how foolish he can be sometimes.

"Wait, wait. Do we know whose boat that is?" Pope questions, wiping the water off of his face.

"No, but we're about to find out," John B comments as he pulls his anchor out.

"Dude, it's too deep," JJ tells him, looking back down into the deep water, knowing it won't be safe. Even though unsafe things are usually JJ's favourite things, they're not when it comes to his friend's lives. Kiara looks at JJ, clearly having thought the same thing and obviously a little shocked that he pointed it out.

"Oh, for the weak and feeble, JJ," John B brushes it off, holding onto the anchor and standing up.

"Well, I'm not resuscitating you," JJ says, "I'm just making that clear up front."

"I really don't think it's a good idea, John," Daphne says, wary of him going in so far for a longer period of time.

"It's fine."

"John B," Kie begins, unsure as well. The two girls make eye contact, almost able to understand what each other are thinking before looking back over at John B.

"What?"

"Diver down, fool." Pope salutes his ridiculous friend, voice completely serious.

"Diver down." John B salutes back, looking at JJ who now wears a sly smirk.

"Yeah, he is." JJ shoves John B into the cold water, taking the teen by surprise.

Pope, JJ and Daphne watch as he sinks into the water, all while Kiara turns to look at Daphne. Her expression is rather unreadable but she looks . . . concerned, hand reaching out to her face. When she's holding the spot just under her chin, Daphne looks up at her, confused. Kiara's thumb hovers over the cut on her chin. "Are you okay, dude? It's still bleeding, you know."

Daphne brushes her hand away with a teasing smile, self consciously looking over at Pope and JJ who are paying them no attention. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me." She shrugs. "Just a small cut. Besides, what d'you care? Thought you wanted me to fall off the house the other day."

The brunette girl looks as though she wants to say more, but instead glances at the boys around them and then back down into the water, shrugging as well. She grabs one of her arms awkwardly, continuing to look at JJ and Pope, as if she's worried they caught this moment of sincerity between the two girls. "Whatever you say, Daphne," Kiara says, clearing her throat uncomfortably.

No one knows about Daphne and Kiara hooking up. Honestly, Daphne's not even sure how it happened. Before, they hated each other with a great passion. Then, one night, they were the only one's left on the dock at John B's. It was late, midnight and they were smoking weed. It sort of just . . . happened. One moment they were sitting in silence, the next moment they were kissing. It doesn't mean anything. The hooking up, that is. It's just a summer fling, something to do, something to forget about by the time school rolls around. That's why there's no need to make a big deal out of it by informing the Pogues that they're breaking their "no Pogue on Pogue macking rules," because there aren't any real feelings there. Daphne has a sneaking suspicion that Pope knows somehow, genius that he is, but he's never said anything about it to her. It could be because they're best friends and he knows that telling her won't go over well or perhaps something else. Either way, Daphne is grateful.

"Should we go get him?" Pope asks his friends practically the second John B emerges from the water, coughing, and whipping his hair out of his face.

"Oh, my God," Kiara curses, relaxing now. "That took forever!"

"Ah, jeez." Pope lets out a relieved sigh. "Any dead bodies?"

"No."

"Looting potential?" JJ questions next as he pulls the anchor out of the water, looking at all of their friends.

"Money?"

"No. And, no." John B holds up a key, eyes squinting as water continues to drip into them, and the sun glows painfully hard. "I found this motel key."

"A-A key?"

"Yes, a key, Pope."

"Great!" JJ says sarcastically. "We salvaged a motel key."

"Ya think we'll win big bucks for it?" Daphne asks, giving them all a sardonic smile. "Great find, JB, so glad you risked your life for it."

"Guys, we should report the wreck to the coast guard." Kiara gestures around as they take off in the boat again, thinking logically about this. "Maybe we'll get a finder's fee."

"Yeah, and not work all summer. Thanks, Agatha, ya batch."

When the group gets to the coast guard, it's a mess of people.They're everywhere, all trying to talk to the one man actually working. As the Pogues make their way through the crowd of people, Daphne already has a feeling this won't go over well. It'll take hours for this man to speak to all these people. John B, JJ and Daphne manage to push their way to the front of the group.

"Excuse me!" John B tries to no avail. "Excuse me."

"Hey, man, we-we found a boat. You're gonna wanna hear this."

"Hey!" The guy interrupts JJ, clearly annoyed and on edge because of how many people are all shouting different things at him. "Calm down."

John B officially gives up, walking over to where JJ and Daphne stand on the other side of the desk. He takes away the pen JJ has just snatched up from a holder on the desk, only for the blond boy to immediately take it again when John turns the other way. Instead of making JJ put it back like she usually would, Daphne simply links her arm through his, and tugs him away.

"Well, that went well," Pope comments once they're all together again, face downcast in disappointment.

"So, what's the plan?" JJ asks as he shoves the pen into his pocket, leaning with his free arm against John B.

"I think I know how we're gonna find the guy who owns that boat." John B holds up the motel key in explanation for what their next adventure of the day is going to be.

"No, no. We don't know whose room that is," Pope says, logical as always. "It could be anyone."

JJ takes the key, and tosses it to Kiara. "I'm in."

"Come on," Kiara says with a smile, turning to follow after JJ who is already heading back to the boat. "I'll be lookout."

"This isn't a good idea, guys," Daphne states, even as she drags her feet along after them.

"Finder's fee. Just sayin'." John B gives Pope a pat on the arm as he also joins the group. "And, hey, at least you'll only be an accomplice. Come on, bubba."

Daphne glances back to see a sulking Pope following after them.

˗ˏˋ ꒰ 👙 🌑 🌻 ꒱ 'ˎ˗

IT DOESN'T TAKE THEM LONG until they're arriving at the front of the motel. It's not at all what Daphne had expected. From where she stands beside Kiara near the front, she can see the paint chipping off the walls, and old mattresses thrown about haphazardly across the front lawn. There's only a few cars parked around it, probably because of the hurricane chasing the guests away. A frown makes its way over her face,and she tilts head as she takes it all in.

JJ lets out a low whistle. "I thought the Château looked bad."

"This place is a shitshow."

"Motel or meth lab?"

"You be the judge."

"Looks like both," Daphne says, scrunching her nose.

"Doesn't look like a place somebody with a Grady-White stays."

"No," Pope agrees, sounding wary about their little adventure now more than he was before. "It looks like a place someone with a Grady-White would get killed."

"All right. Here we go."

"This is your captain speaking," JJ says in his best imitation of a caption over a PA system that he can manage, taking a hold of the rope he's going to use to tie it up. "HMS Pogue comin' in for landing." As he jumps onto land, he yells out, "Whoo!" It takes JJ only a few seconds to secure it.

"We good?"

"Yeah, we good."

"All right." John B steps away from the wheel, and follows after JJ. "Here goes nothin'."

"Hey."

"Yeah?"

"Don't let him do anything stupid," Pope orders John B, pointing over at JJ with a serious expression to convey the fact that he's not joking.

"Oh, we will," JJ instantly replies, nodding firmly with a faux serious expression.

John B only shakes his head solemnly. They all know JJ well. If he's going to get up to no good, it's going to happen whether someone is watching him or not. Nothing can stop a determined and impulsive JJ. "I'm not making promises," John B replies, tone full of exhaustion at even the thought of trying to contain JJ.

After only a couple of seconds of staring at John B, Pope's expression falls, and he practically collapses to the HMS Pogue's floor with exasperation. "Yeah, I know."

"Then, you go babysit with him," Kiara suggests, grabbing Daphne's tote bag and shoving it into her hands. When she goes to protest, Kiara holds up a hand, stopping her right where she stands. "Nope. They're fools. They need a babysitter. And, you're the only other one here willing to walk into a potential meth lab." She leans in to whisper something only Daphne hears, "Be careful, please."

"Ugh, fine," Daphne gives in, throwing her tote bag over her shoulder with a little pout on her face. Babysitting is not exactly what she was expecting out of the day. Though, she should expect it everyday. "This is the worst day ever."

Kiara grabs John B by his arm, forcing him in place for a second. "Uh, be careful," she tells him, staring into his eyes hard so he knows she's serious while handing him the motel key. Kiara has always been one of the ones who strongly believes in their little friend group, no matter how much she teases them all. If she ever lost any of them, it would absolutely break her. But, being completely honest, it would break all of them. "I mean it."

From behind an awkwardly smiling John B, stands an extremely confused JJ. Daphne can already feel the boy's misreading this interaction, and thinking about it in a romantic context instead of platonic. It's so weird to Daphne because it's not like Kiara wants John B to die. So, why does it have to be something romantic? Sometimes she honestly thinks that the boy's in her friend group are absolute fools. And, she's definitely not jealous or angry that John B and the rest of the boy's so obviously have a crush on Kiara. Definitely not.

"Yeah," he mumbles out in a nervous laugh, then more clearly, "Yeah." As John B hopes out of the boat, he gives JJ a pat on the shoulder, and says, "Let's go."

As they head towards the building, Daphne looks around in a bit of confusion. Mattresses cover the lawn, parking lot, and decks in front of all the rooms. "Why are all these mattresses out?" she asks, looking to both boys for an answer.

"After a hurricane, they ditch 'em 'cause they're moldy," JJ explains, gesturing around a little at the mess before them.

The rest of the way up the stairs and to the second floor is spent in silence. It's a comfortable one. Most every silence in their friend group is comfortable. They've all gotten to know each other so well, it's like they're a family. Daphne can perfectly read everyone, and so if a silence was ever awkward, she would be able to tell why right away. It's just how they are, and always have been. And, hopefully, continue to be. There's very little that Daphne hates, and that's secrets and change.

When they make it up to the top floor, JJ wraps an arm around John B's shoulders, with his other hand, he reaches it up and grabs at his chin. "Just be so careful, John," the blond says in a jokingly lewd manner. It's clear the other boy has had enough of his antics already, and pushes JJ away when he gets close to his face.

"God, you're so weird," John B says, rolling his eyes at his best friend.

"Dude, what the heck was that about?" JJ questions, gesturing towards where Kiara and Pope still sit in the HMS Pogue. Daphne spots Kiara staring at her, biting her lip nervously, and when they make eye contact, she quickly looks away.

John B just shrugs. "I don't know."

"Maybe she wants us to be careful," Daphne suggests, eyes widening in faux shock, throwing a hand over her mouth like it's the most ridiculous thing ever. The most bored expression crosses JJ's face when he glances at Daphne, and she has to hold back a smile at how unimpressed he looks.

"Since she heard you're being threatened with exile—" JJ continues, ignoring Daphne's remark completely, "—she's just been, like, "Oh! Be so careful, John B."" He latches back on to John B, and starts massaging his shoulders in a way that makes it impossible for Daphne not to laugh.

John B mumbles a "Get off," which JJ listens to as the brunet boy slips right out of his grip. He stands on the other side of Daphne so she's in the middle as JJ continues his teasing, ""Oh, give me that John D already." When are you gonna swoop on that, man?"

"Bro, you know the rule," John B says, exhausted as he throws an arm around Daphne. They both share a look. It's full of understanding and exasperation with their friend. John B glances back at JJ as he continues, "No Pogue-on-Pogue macking."

Daphne shrugs a little bit, giving JJ a look as she leans into John B. "Besides, you're the one who's always hitting on her," she points out, ignoring the sting in her chest as she does. The thought that Kiara has other options for people to date doesn't sit well with her. What's even worse is the fact that she cares that Kiara has other options. This was never supposed to be more than a fling. It's not more than a fling. They don't even really like each other, it's all physical. Still, Daphne can't figure out why the sting won't go away.

"Dude, of course I'm hitting on her. She's a super-hot, rich, hippie chick slumming with us," JJ says it like it's obvious. "Why? I can't figure it out either, but who cares, bro? I know that door's locked because I've tried it. Have you?"

"You need help," John B declares, letting his arm fall off of Daphne's shoulders so he can