Together

64. I know what you did

And God knows, I'm not dying but I bleed now
And God knows, it's the only way to heal now
With all the blood I lost with you
It drowns a love I thought I knew
-Ellie Goulding

The plan was fairly simple and highly anticlimactic in the end, all things considered. Luke claimed that he needed three thousand dollars to get on his feet. Kiara was kook born, but that didn't automatically mean she had access to large amounts of cash at the drop of a hat.

She needed time to collect that kind of money. She grabbed the cash that her dad had given JJ for the Jeep and that he haphazardly tossed to her on the beach when she won the bet of whether Ben wanted to see him surf. She hadn't actually counted it before, just stuffed it in her sock drawer, not really sure what to do with it at the time.

Twenty-five hundred dollars in hundred-dollar bills was counted and she sighed with some relief. Now she only had to collect the extra five hundred.

She had it, of course. She'd been working at the Wreck since she was thirteen. But her parents were keenly aware of the number in that account and had alerts sent to them if she ever took out more than a certain amount at one time. Her solution to that was to spend days after school going to an ATM outside their bank and withdrawing the cash in small amounts until she had it all.

Once the money was collected, she pulled in John B. He was really just someone to be there in the distance when she handed Luke the cash.

She did not enjoy being alone in Luke's presence at the Wreck but didn't want to meet somewhere super public either, because she didn't want to be spotted talking to him in broad daylight. And a night time meet up was also completely off the table for her.

So, for safety and secrecy's sake, John B drove her out to the foreclosed Maybank shack and stood beside her as she handed Luke the money in a paper lunch bag. He huffed in satisfaction.

"You're going to leave Kildare," she instructed. Her gaze was narrow and her voice unwavering. That was the deal after all. Cash in exchange for him leaving, not bothering JJ anymore. "Clear?"

"You got it, miss figure eight."

John B practically dragged her back to the Twinkie, not feeling nearly as confident as she was and a thousand percent relieved that she decided to bring him in on this plan and didn't try this alone.

Kiara felt relief for the first time since Luke came up to JJ in that shitty gas station. Finally the weight was off her chest and she felt like she could breathe deeply again. The nightmare was over.

He was gone and JJ was safe.

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Three days later

Kiara is closing the Wreck. It's been a fairly uneventful night. Without the tourist season things are much slower and it's easy to just be lazy throughout the shift. She's actually had time to pick at a dessert as she goes from one table to the next.

There aren't many people left in the restaurant when JJ makes an appearance, hopping up to the bar top and jokingly requesting a beer from Mike. It doesn't completely fall flat. At least he wasn't kicked out, just got a well-deserved eye roll before Mike retreated back to his office.

JJ didn't have a chance to talk to Kie about why she's been so distant with him. A couple days after talking to John B about it and he finally had the courage to just ask her outright like he was advised, but by then there was no need. Her mood was completely different. She was reaching out and asking to spend time together. It was like things went back to how they were before.