𝓢𝓔𝓒𝓡𝓔𝓣𝓢 𝓑𝓔𝓣𝓦𝓔𝓔𝓝 𝓣𝓦𝓘𝓝𝓢 // 𝒪𝐵𝒳 𝒪𝒩𝐸

𝟎𝟕𝟎: 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐈𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐝.

The 4 Pogues spent 2 hours in the hot tub. The first half an hour way spent supporting the blue eyed blonde, the next was spent fantasising about their life now they had the gold and the last hour they just enjoyed each other's company reminiscing on childhood memories.

It was exactly what they all needed, a break from the gold hunt they were so deeply absorbed in and a distraction from all the fucked up shit going on in their lives.

JJ and Saylor were yet to speak to each other one on one as neither of them knew what to say. For the first time in his life JJ Maybank was speechless.

They then took it in turns to shower and change into some clean clothes. The short haired brunette girl was the last to join her friends on the porch.

JJ had now sobered up and Kie seemed to be much calmer then before.

After a long 15 minutes spent in her room anxiously picking at her nails she decided it was time to tell them what she had spent the past 2 weeks hiding.

The floor boards creaked as she stepped out onto the wooden porch. Pope, JJ and Kie were all sat on the outside sofa so she walked over to sit on the bench opposite.

"Saylor wh..." Kie began. She was honestly desperate to understand what was going on with her best friend.

"I have kept allot of things from you guys and I am so sorry" She cut her off.

Realisation dawned on Pope as to where this conversation was going and he tried his best to prepare himself to hear the story again. Honestly he wasn't sure he could hear it again, it hurt to much but he knew she needed him.

"I thought I was protecting you guys but now I see that wasn't exactly the case" she looked at JJ quickly before breaking their eye contact. "I love you guys and you deserve the truth"

"S... do you want to wait for JB?" Pope asked her sincerely.

Instantly she shook her head. "No i uh, think it's best I tell him when he's alone" Her best friend nodded in understanding.

Saylor knew she couldn't look at either 3 of their faces whilst she explained. She didn't want to see the hurt, the pity, the disgust on their faces so she looked down at her hands.

"I.. uh - fuck - this is hard" she stuttered not knowing where to start or to word anything. Her leg was bouncing anxiously, that was until she felt a comforting touch on her knee.

Pope had moved to sit next to her and sent her a reassuring smile when she turned to look at him. The two other Pogues looked at each other wearily seeing how serious the situation was.

A shaky breath was exhaled before she found the confidence to speak. "The men who shot at us... who broke into the house they were the people I owe money to" she decided to start with that and work her way up to the harder stuff. "My mum racked up a pretty large debt so I started working with Barry to pay it off, that's the reason he tried to take the gold. He wanted to help me." she felt very defensive over him, she didn't want them to think of him as a monster. "He would pull my mum off me when she took it to far, he would clean my cuts, ice my bruises...."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Kie asked her voice soft.

"Not exactly my proudest moments" Saylor tried to joke but the weight of what she still had to tell them was starting to restrict her breathing.

Kie nodded understandingly but JJ remained silent, he knew there was more to come.

"What I'm going to say next is going to come as a shock and will be hard to listen to but just let me explain" she felt the need to give them warning.

Pope moved his hand from her knee and intertwined it with hers. He took a deep breath himself dreading hearing it again.

After a few small nods to herself Saylor began talking again. "My mum and Ward are together" gasps from the two could be heard but she hardly heard them over her breathing beginning to pick up. "They knew that they couldn't go public with the news so... so they pushed me and Rafe together." She closed her eyes as she recalled the memories. "At first we couldn't stand each other but we soon realised we were in the same position and It bought us closer together. We were happy for a while and the idea of getting married didn't sound so bad anymore."

Kie held look of complete disbelief where as JJ had his fists and jaw clenched at the thought of them being together... let alone married.

"But then he started using and everything changed, he changed" Tears collected in both hers and Popes eyes. This was it, the part of the story neither wanted to remember. "One night he came to visit me after an argument with Ward and he was upset and angry... he was so angry" Her next breath came out as a whimper and all 3 of her freinds felt their hearts strain at the sound. "I couldn't stop him" she let out a sob.

Pope within an instant pulled her into him just like the night on the dock when he had first found out.

Everything clicked into place. Why Saylor was at midsummers, the date Rafe had told JJ, her hatred for Sarah... the nightmare in the van.

Kie sprung to her feet and latched herself onto her female best friend. She had her own tears falling down her face but kept repeating to Saylor how it wasn't her fault and how she is so strong.

JJ thought he couldn't feel anger stronger than he had after the run in with Barry. He was wrong. He stood to his feet and stormed out the porch. His first instinct to find Rafe and quite literally end his life.

"JAY!" Saylor cried after him. When he turned she saw every single emotion on his face as tears filled his eyes. "Please"

She needed him more then she ever had before. She needed him to tell her it was ok, to tell her she was safe, to tell her he didn't hate her.

The anger was strong but his love for her was stronger.

He walked back over to her and pulled her into his chest resting his head on her head.

Two broken teens stood as one.

˚ ◌༘♡ ⋆｡˚ ꕥ