Chapter 3: Peace Offering

Kiara climbed the stairs, tugging at her shirt. It was her favorite deep blue tank top, with the water mark of turtles along the hem. She'd changed her clothes three times before coming over here, which annoyed her. Since when did she do anything but throw on the top thing in the drawer when she was hanging out with the other Pogues?

But today was important.

Pope's bedroom door was open but she knocked anyway, lingering in the opening like there was still time to flee. Hell, crawling into that snake-ridden Redfield tomb had been easier than this.

"Come in," he said, turning his head toward her but his eyes still caught on the screen of his laptop. She could see about fifty browser windows open, the first one showing scholarship information. That was a good sign, she told herself.

"Hey, I, uh, brought you something."

"Oh!" He startled at the sound of her voice, clattering out of his chair and just catching it before it tipped over. "Hey, uh, hi. Yeah, come in." He seemed to realize what he was doing and sat back down, then tugged at his hat. Crossed his arms. Uncrossed them and minimized the browser window, then the next one behind it, then seemed to realize there was no point and just shoved the laptop away. "What's up?"

The folder curled her in her fingers and she lifted it a little higher, waggling it with a rueful smile that felt tight on her face. They'd seen each other here and there since The Talk, even been surfing once. But the words that passed between them were too casual, too sparse to be real. And then for the last week, she'd all but disappeared, working fervently on the project she was holding in her hand now.

Well, disappeared except for JJ climbing in her window late at night, stifling her giggles into her hand as he growled kisses into her neck. The grind of sand against her back when they'd walked on the beach late at night and ended up kissing so feverishly they tumbled onto the ground and just sort of…stayed there.

She cleared her throat, hoping the heat climbing up her throat didn't show. Instead of trying the small talk they seemed incapable of making these days, she snatched the top sheet of paper out of the folder and pushed it at him.

"What is—" His eyes narrowed as he read the legal language. "The Royal Merchant? The—" His hat brim rose with his eyebrows and his chin jerked up. "Kie, is this what I think it is?"

"The deed to the Royal Merchant, or as much of a title of ownership as maritime salvage law allows," she confirmed, perching on his bed, and then feeling weird about it. "I brought the drone footage and the coordinates to a lawyer, who agreed to work for a much more reasonable fee once I made it clear the gold was gone."

"But what's the point, if the gold is gone? I mean—I'm sorry, this is a great gift but why would you…"

"The gold is gone, but the ship is still there. Probably a few artifacts of historical significance. The Royal Merchant is one of the most famous wrecks of all time. The language is a little thick, but I think you're even allowed to charge some fee for people who want to study the wreck for academic reasons. Should make you some decent money. Not four hundred mill kind of money, but car money. Textbook money." She swallowed. "I hope you don't mind I had them put it jointly to you and JJ."

"Of course not but Kie, what about you? You were as much of a part of this as any of us and John B—"

"John B doesn't need it anymore," she said through a tight throat. Saying his name always hurt, every time. "And I'm okay. I'm going to inherit the Wreck and it does fine. Even after I turn it into a sustainable seafood showcase and switch it to a nonprofit to give the surplus to ocean sanctuaries, I'll make a good living. This is yours, Pope. You and JJ's."

"Yeah, uh." He looked down, rubbing his hand over the top of his hat. She knew they hadn't talked much since she and Pope had gone their separate ways, because JJ had been spending most of his time with her. She made him promise to let her tell Pope about them in her own way, and JJ was pretty used to telling Pope everything, so he was avoiding him instead of having to lie. Which was probably what Pope was thinking about right now. But that was all part of her plan. It wasn't a dead boat stranded in the marsh—it was much more long-term than that, their need to be in each other's lives and cooperating, for the money they both desperately needed.

Well, money that Pope wouldn't need quite as much, here in a minute.

She took out the second piece of paper and passed it over without a word.

"Dear Mr. Heyward," he mumbled as he read to himself. "We are pleased to award you the…" He looked up again, his eyes as wide as a bolting horse. "The merit scholarship."

He said it in the breathy, awed undertone most people used to say "The Virgin Mary" and despite the tension winding ever tighter around her ribs, she found herself smiling. "Your merit scholarship. You did it, Pope. You're going to get off this island, just like you wanted."

"But how—I mean, I ran out of the interview." He paused, staring at her. "Like a crazy person. There's no way they'd give it to me after that."

"Turns out they're pretty big fans of the Royal Merchant. Amateur historians, if you will. Well, and one real historian. You told them in your interview that you found it, but you didn't provide proof, so they kind of thought you were nuts. I took them the drone footage, the coordinates, and your salvage claim and they were…pretty darn impressed." She smiled. She'd wanted to give him the surprise herself to cushion the blow of what came next, but when she'd seen their faces…she'd almost wished she'd brought Pope along so he could have enjoyed a well-deserved gloat.

"But the gold is gone," he said again.

She laughed. "Pope, they're academics. They want to study the Royal Merchant, not spend it."

He looked down at the papers in his hand, back at her. "I…thank you. I just…thank you so much, Kie." He stopped, and she felt herself tensing.

"What?"

"I guess I just…why didn't you tell me you were doing all this? It's amazing, it's incredible, it's going to change my whole life. But why'd you do it like this, all on your own?"

Kiara felt like a horrible person. "I wanted to do something nice for you," she squeaked out.

His eyes narrowed. Her hands started to wring at each other.

"Well it is," he said. "Really nice. I don't even know how to repay you for this. The scholarship and—are you sure you don't want a share of the salvage title? That feels wrong, to leave you out of it."

She had to say it. Her heart rose in her throat like an overfilled balloon and she bit her lip. "Could you maybe…do me a favor?"

He stared at her. "Obviously."

"Maybe, sort of, somehow promise to not hate me forever?" Her toes squirmed in her flip flips, and sand filtered out onto his carpet.

"What—" He broke off, his face changing. He turned away, flopping backwards onto his bed so his weight bounced her almost all the way off it. "Ugh," he said. "Can't you guys wait and just get together after I leave for college? So at least I can pretend it's not about you liking JJ better than me?"

Of course he'd guessed. Fear battled with relief in her chest. He wasn't shouting. That had to be a good sign. If anything, he sounded…resigned.

She turned and crawled across the bed to him, giving him her best, most coaxing smile. Please, please don't hate me. "I don't like him better than you, Pope. I like him…different than you."

"Macking different," he muttered.

She looked down, blushing as the flutters woke back up in her chest at the thought of kissing JJ. God, they were embarrassing. "Maybe."

Pope covered his face with his hands.

Her blush disappeared and she reached for his arm. "Are you mad? You're mad, aren't you?"

"What did you think I'd be, Kiara? You kissed me like five minutes ago, and now you're trying to bribe me to forget that you moved on so fast your head's probably still spinning. Who kissed who, huh?" He propped himself up on his elbows, glaring at her with those intelligent eyes of his like laser beams, carving the truth out of her heart. "Did JJ kiss you first? Or did you kiss him? What are you doing, just trying us all on like shoes to see which ones you want to keep?"

"That's not fair—"

The window rattled and they both jumped as JJ's grinning face popped up in the pane and he waved. "Yoo hoo!"

Pope groaned and heaved himself off the bed to unlatch the window. "Dude, I told you to stop climbing up there. You're kicking the shingles loose."

JJ folded his long body in through the window, wiggling when his back caught against the frame. "Yeah, but if I came through the front door, I couldn't very well listen in to see how things were going in here, could I?"

"JJ!" Kiara yelped. "Let me handle this, okay? You promised."

"Nah way, Kie. You were crashing and burning in here." He slung his arm around his friend. "Besides, Pope loves me best. I knew you couldn't pull this off without me."

Pope slapped his arm off and turned to glare. "Dude, you knew I liked her."

"Bro, you knew I liked her," JJ shot right back.

They stared at each other for a long moment and Kiara gritted her teeth.

"I'm a better boyfriend," Pope said, his voice dropping to a low, unhappy rumble.

"You are." JJ ducked his head in a nod, conceding the point immediately.

"Then why didn't you let me—"

Kiara stepped in between them and heaved them apart with a straight-armed push. "Probably because neither of you get to decide that for me. That's my call, thank you very much. JJ, out." She pointed to the window, then turned to her other friend. "Pope, c'mon. We didn't mean for this to happen. And I don't love him more than you."

Pope laid back on the bed, staring determinately at the ceiling. "I wanna be alone."

JJ jumped onto the bed, making the mattress bounce, and grabbed Pope in a tight koala hug with his arms and his legs, laying his head on his friend's chest even when he tried to squirm away. "We both love you best. And you're the smartest. I'm just the most handsome. She couldn't help herself."

Pope smacked him, glaring.

"See? Even you can't keep her hands off me."

Kiara stifled a laugh into her hand, rolling her eyes with frustration and affection all at once.

Pope was still scowling down at JJ, who was attached to his chest like a barnacle. "You gonna say it?"

"Those three little words? I did, twice, if you were paying attention. But if you want me to tell you you're pretty…" JJ batted his eyelashes.

"You know what I mean."

JJ sighed. "Okay, okay, you can have my good fishing pole. A good fisherman can work with any pole."

"I hope that's not a euphemism for something else," Kiara put in, trying to lighten the mood. Pope ignored her.

"The restitution," he said to JJ. "That's what you're going to say, isn't it? You took a felony on your record for me. You're both the reason I had any chance at that scholarship at all, so I can let you have this. I can't very well argue with that, can I?"

JJ's jaw went hard and he sat up. "I don't know what you're talking about. I sank the boat, I did the time, I'll pay the restitution." He shrugged. "Probably. At some point. If Barry gets around to making some more drug money for me to steal, or if I can get a decent turnaround on a gently used hot tub on Craigslist."

Pope just stared. "Is this some reverse psychology bullshit? You want me to think you weren't going to play that card, just to make me feel even more guilty?"

JJ stood up off the bed, pulling off his hat and slamming it backwards onto his head. "That sounds like a bunch of AP class psychobabble to me. All I know is, you're not actually pissed enough to want Kie to be unhappy. And for whatever reason, right now the girl's crazy enough to think that what she wants is me." He ducked his head, his voice going low and hurt. "And you know how long I've liked her, man."

Kiara looked to him, wanting to reach for his hand and also not wanting to make this any harder on Pope than it had to be.

Pope exhaled, glaring at JJ. "Dammit."

JJ lit up, his dimples appearing all in a rush as he grabbed Pope, hauling him off the bed and then up off his feet in a hug. "You can have the fishing pole. You need all the help you can get, anyway."

"Ugh, let's just never talk about it again." Pope sagged tiredly into the hug as JJ put him back on his feet.

Kiara scuffed the rug with her toe, looking hopeful. "So…friends?"

"We were never not friends," Pope said wearily. "Now get out of here so I can sulk about JJ being a better kisser than me."

"I think you mean, start looking online for roommates at your new college, since you now have a full ride." She kissed him on the cheek, unable to hold back her smile. "You're the best person."

"I seriously fucking am, right now." Pope pulled off his hat and pointed it at her. "And don't you forget it. Now scram."

JJ waited until they were past the doorway before slinging an arm around her waist and giving her that damn panty-heating, heart-melting grin of his, totally unrepentant in its own beauty. "I told you Pope loved me best."

Author's Note: I have two more fics coming right up for this fandom, heavy on the Jiara, so don't be shy with the Author Follow button! And if you have authors to rec to me in this fandom, I need reading material!