༄ 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝖿𝗂𝖿𝗍𝗒－𝗍𝗐𝗈 ༄

𝑻𝑯𝑬𝒀 𝑴𝑨𝑫𝑬 𝑰𝑻 to Shoupe's office, presenting him the gun. Thalia was worried, because if Shoupe believed them, then Rafe and Ward would be going to jail, and if he didn't believe them, then Thalia was going home to a house of murderers. Neither option appealed to her. Thalia and Kie sat on chairs in front of Shoupe's desk, the boys standing beside them. Thalia hadn't been in this office since before Peterkin died, and Shoupe was honestly surprised she had stayed out of trouble for so long. "So y'all are telling me this is the firearm Rafe Cameron killed Peterkin with?" Shoupe asked after the Pogues had told their tale.

        JJ nodded. "That's exactly what we're telling you, Shoupe." he affirmed, on Pope's left.

        "And the exact same firearm that Ward just used to kill Gavin." Pope added, his hand on the back of Thalia's chair.

        "And where's that corpse again?" Shoupe asked the teens with a sigh.

        "Didn't you look?" Kiara gaped, both she and Thalia covered in dirt and mud.

        Shoupe sighed again. "I checked the hospital. I went by his house. He was out." the sheriff said.

        Thalia rolled her eyes, remaining quiet. "He was out?" Kiara asked, eyes widening.

        "No shit! 'Cause he's dead!" JJ shouted, Pope trying to calm him down.

        "Shoupe, Listen to yourself. It makes perfect sense." Kie tried.

        Shoupe talked over them. "Just because he's not in his damn home does not mean he was a victim of a homicide." the man said slowly, Thalia taking a deep breath.

        "What are you talking about?" Kie asked, her voice raising in pitch.

        "You gotta be kidding me." JJ muttered, ripping his hat off of his head.

        "Are you at least gonna send it in for ballistics and shit, or are you just gonna sit on your ass?" Kie asked, Thalia rolling her eyes, slouched in her chair.

        "He'll sit there and wax that damn mustache. Is that even real?" JJ taunted, Shoupe rising to his feet.

        Pope shoved JJ. "Shut up, JJ!" he said, Thalia breathing deeply.

        Kie frowned. "It's not fair." she whined as Shoupe moved towards the door.

        "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I hurt his feelings?" JJ asked, scoffing.

        "Shut up!" Pope yelled.

        Shoupe opened the door to his office. "Get out. I got work to do. Y'all are smelling up my office." he demanded, and Thalia scoffed loudly.

        She and Kiara stood up. "Did Ward bribe you? This doesn't make any sense." Kie asked as she walked out of the office, angry tears in her eyes.

        "You ain't gonna do shit." JJ muttered, walking out behind Kie.

        "You're a useless, piece of shit, Shoupe." Thalia said with a mock smile, walking out of the office quickly.

        "Out!" Shoupe yelled after her, Thalia lifting her middle finger at him.

        They piled into Kie's car, Kie dropping Pope and Thalia off at Pope's house. Thalia knew she couldn't walk into her house in the disgusting state she was in, so Pope offered to let her shower and change at his house. "I don't even want to know what y'all were doing." My. Heyward tossed his hands up as he walked away, Pope and Thalia smiling.

        Mrs. Heyward wouldn't let Thalia inside until she was clean, which Thalia thought was hilarious. She used the outdoor shower, Pope handing her a towel when she reached for it. "Thanks." Thalia said meekly, drying her cleaned body.

        Thalia pulled on the clothes Pope handed to her from where he sat, a pair of athletic shorts Kie had in the back of her car, one of Pope's shirts, and one of his sweatshirts. Thalia combed her fingers through her damp red hair, emerging from the stall and taking a seat beside Pope on the picnic table he was at. "Do you feel better?" Pope asked, his eyes lighting up when he saw her.

        She nodded. "I feel like a human being again." Thalia said, scrunching the ends of her hair, trying to dry it.

        "Yeah, well, you actually smell like one now." Pope teased, sliding closer to Thalia and wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

        Thalia smiled, dropping her head to Pope's shoulder, letting him hold her. "Thanks, Pope. For everything." Thalia said quietly, reaching down to rub the incision on her knee.

        Pope dared to kiss the crown of Thalia's head, her cleaned brace drying beside him. "Anytime," Pope bit his tongue to keep him from asking the question he so needed to know the answer to. But he had to ask it, he just had to. "Hey, Thalls?" Pope asked tentatively.

        "What's up?" Thalia said, looking away from her knee and at Pope.

        "What are we? Are we together? Because I like you, a lot." Pope said, his hand still on Thalia's back.

        Her face fell. She knew this was coming. "I like you, too." Thalia settled on saying, feeling her heart speeding up.

        Pope could tell this wasn't gonna go the way he wanted it. "But you don't want to be with me." he finished what he thought Thalia's next statement was going to be, removing his hand from her body.

        Thalia frowned, placing her hand on the nape of Pope's neck. "I want to be with you more than anything, Pope. I just can't right now." Thalia said gently, trying to mask her true feelings.

        "I know you have a lot of shit going on right now. I get that. But you can't go through life waiting for things to calm down. You have to live." Pope spoke softer than he ever had in his life, turning to look at Thalia, noticing everything about her, all of her habits, all of her quirks.

        "I'm surviving." Thalia said, feeling desperate for a drink.

        Pope shook his head. "Surviving isn't living, Thalls." he said quietly.

        Thalia swallowed thickly, ashamed. Her hand fell from Pope's neck, and he caught it in his own. "Pope, I'm fine. Okay? I can take care of myself." Thalia's words didn't convince Pope, and they didn't even convince her.

        "But you're not fine. You don't have to be fine all the time, you don't have to take care of yourself. Other people care about you, we want to help you." Pope tried, shifting impossibly closer to Thalia.

        Thalia shook him off, standing on the ground in front of the picnic table. "God, you don't care. You say you do, but no one does." Thalia said, her voice strained.

        Pope's face fell. "Thalls, I do care." he spoke strongly, trying to calm the redhead down.

        "You trying to fix me, but you can't. I'm not broken, I don't need fixing, I'm me, okay?" Thalia said, breathing heavily.

        The boy in front of her didn't know what to say. "Thalls, I don't want to fix you. I want to be with you because of who you are. I care about you, and I just want to be with you." Pope said gently, saying everything Thalia had ever hoped someone would say.

        A tear fell down her cheek. She knew she wasn't ready to be in a relationship, to commit to someone, but she wanted to be with Pope. When he kissed her, she knew everything would be okay. Thalia wasn't what Pope needed, but Pope was exactly what Thalia needed. They used the excuse of Thalia needing her hair to dry before she went home as a way to hang out for a little while longer. They sat on the couch in his living room, watching tv. Thalia sat with her knees pulled to her chest, head on Pope's shoulder, his arm around her. "I should probably go soon." Thalia whispered.

        Pope nodded, his fingers running up and down Thalia's bicep. He drove her back to Tannyhill, her dried brace on her knee. As Thalia tried to get out of the car, Pope gently turned her face to his and kissed her. "See you tomorrow?" he asked hopefully, and Thalia confirmed.

        When she got inside, Ward was packing. "Are you going somewhere?" Thalia asked, confused.

        Ward looked up from his bag. "Rafe and I have to take care of some business. We'll be back in a few days." he answered, and Thalia didn't believe him, but she didn't expect the truth.

        "Bringing Rafe, that's a bold choice." Thalia quipped, trying to act like everything was normal.

        Too exhausted to respond, Ward just sighed. "Go to bed," he instructed, and Thalia rolled her eyes, beginning to make her way upstairs. "Who's sweatshirt is that?" Ward called after her, and Thalia turned around.

        She looked down at Pope's hoodie and then at her uncle. "It's mine now." Thalia answered cryptically, not wanting to talk about Pope with Ward.

        "Okay, but who did it used to belong to?" Ward reframed the question, a hand on his hip.

        Thalia frowned, biting at her lip. "You know Pope?" she asked, and Ward nodded slowly. "We're friends."

        Ward furrowed his brows. "Friends?" he questioned, not believing Thalia in the slightest.

        "Yep. Night." Thalia said quickly, turning the corner and going upstairs before Ward could continue their conversation. She shouldn't have done what she did that night, but she just needed a release. The drugs were right there, she didn't want to waste them.

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