༄ 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝗇𝗂𝗇𝖾𝗍𝖾𝖾𝗇 ༄

THALIA AND POPE snuck into his bedroom because his parents were awake, and if they saw the state the pair were in, the questions would be nonstop. His house was small and run-down, and Pope was embarrassed, but Thalia tried to lighten his mood. "Cute room." Thalia teased Pope as he shut his window, holding JJ's blood-covered bandana to her face.

        Pope rolled his eyes, sitting down on his desk chair. "You really punched Rafe? For us?" Pope questioned, taking his hat off of his head.

        "No, you're not that special," she said, and Pope smiled. "I punched Rafe because he's a privileged asshole. And the odds of me getting kicked out for this are fairly high, so that'll be fun when I get home." Thalia sat on the floor of Pope's room, head pressed to the side of his bed.

        Pope nodded. "If you do end up getting kicked out, you could stay here. With me. I'm sure my parents would be okay with it." the boy said shyly, averting his eyes from Thalia.

        Thalia smiled lightly. He was just so different from her, so light, like he hadn't ever seen darkness. She didn't want anything to change him. "Thanks, Pope," she said, and he nodded. Thalia stood up, utterly exhausted. "Come on, let me clean you up." Thalia offered him his hand, and he took it, pulling himself to his feet.

        They entered the bathroom, Thalia forcing Pope to sit on the edge of the bathtub. She rummaged through his drawers and found alcohol wipes and bandages, beginning to clean his various wounds from Topper. "Ow!" Pope winced loudly, Thalia slapping a hand over his mouth.

        "Do you want your parents to hear something? What a whiner." Thalia said with a sigh, continuing to clean Pope's cuts.

        Once she was done, and Pope was all cleaned up, she ran a washcloth under water and held it to her nose, mopping up the blood she had accumulated. "That from Topper?" Pope asked, standing, and Thalia nodded.

        "The pussy didn't even break the bone." she said. A bruise was forming, but that would be the extent of her injury. Pope didn't even know that he was staring at Thalia until she looked at him peculiarly.

        "Thanks for this." Pope said quietly, awkward as ever.

        Thalia smiled to herself. "Anytime," once the bleeding stopped, she lowered the cloth to the countertop, looking into Pope's eyes. It was silent, as the pair just looked at each other. "I should get going." Thalia said quietly.

        Pope nodded. "Right, yeah. Back to Figure Eight?" he asked, following Thalia out of the bathroom.

        "Yep. Hopefully, I'm not locked out." she said nonchalantly, opening Pope's window, preparing to hobble out.

        "If you are, come back here," Pope offered, and Thalia chuckled. "No, Thally, I'm serious. My dad likes you, I know he'll let you stay. I don't want you going back to that motel." Pope stepped closer to Thalia, shirt unbuttoned.

        Thalia just looked at him again. "Why are you so nice to me? I don't get it." Thalia said, trying to figure Pope out. He was too good for her, that was for sure.

        "I don't know," Pope shrugged. "We're friends." Pope decided to say, and Thalia nodded. Obviously, they were friends.

        "Night, Pope." Thalia hobbled out of Pope's window on one working knee, walking the distance to Figure Eight.

        When she opened the door, Rafe and Ward were sitting in the living room and Thalia sighed heavily, dropping her bag to the ground. "Come here, kid. We gotta talk." Ward said regretfully, and Thalia knew what was coming.

        She kicked off her sneakers and sat down on an armchair across from her cousin and uncle. "Hanging out with Pogues is not a crime. John B used to work here, we're friends, sort of." Thalia said, messy red braids poking out from the hood of her sweatshirt. She saw Rafe's bruised nose and almost smiled.

        Ward shut Rafe up before he could speak. "No, it's not, but the things you've been doing, running around the island with thieves like John B, and kids who break boats. That's not okay. You and me, we made a deal that you wouldn't end up like your mom and dad." Ward reminded Thalia, and she sighed.

        "I haven't ended up like them, at all. I don't run drugs like my mom, I don't beat up kids like my dad. This isn't about them, Ward. It's about your son being an insane, little bitch." Thalia bit back, arms crossed over her chest.

        "You're the one that hit me, psycho." Rafe leant forward, Ward pushing him back against the couch.

        "Okay, okay, that's enough!" Ward shouted as the two started arguing, yelling insults at each other. They had been like that since they were kids. "New rules: Rafe, leave your cousin alone. Don't worry about what she's doing. Thalia, stop hitting people. And no more Pogues."

        After that, Thalia had nothing left to say. She left the living room and stomped up to her bedroom, ignoring both Wheezie and Rose. Of course, it was all her fault, not Rafe's. It didn't matter what Thalia did, Rafe was always favored over her. She was absolutely sick and tired of it.

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