"Don't tell me what to do."
--☆--☆--☆--
"So we really need all of this stuff?" Emerson asked as she, Kiara, and Pope gathered all the supplies they'd need to get the gold from the Crain House.
"Yes we do," Kiara answered her, "and we'd be able to load it a lot faster if you helped."
"I'm on the injured list, remember?" Emerson asked as she lifted up the ice Pope had given her. She smiled at Pope who just shook his head at her, he suddenly regretted giving her that ice.
The three of them were loading supplies into Heyward's truck. Sarah and John B dropped them off after they left Barry's, so the two of them could spend some alone time together.
"It would go even faster if Sarah and John B stuck around," Pope muttered under his breath, but both girls could clearly hear him.
"They're in love," Kiara said in a sing-songy voice as she twirled around.
"It makes me sick," Pope said, pretending to gag.
"Oh you won't think so when you're in love," Emerson said, poking Pope's arm. He swatted her hand away making Emerson's face twist in confusion for a moment but it quickly turned into realization. "Oh my god!"
"What?" Kiara asked with wide eyes. "What happened?"
"Pope is-" Before Emerson could finish her sentence Pope practically slapped his hand over her mouth. She tried to talk but he wouldn't let her.
"Don't." He told her, using his free hand to point at her. She sighed then held her hands up in surrender.
"You guys are weird," Kiara told them as she went to pick up another box.
"Pope is in love," Emerson whispered to the boy but he just shook his head at her.
Before they could get back to work the sound of an engine from a dirt bike started quickly approaching them, getting louder and louder with each passing second. Emerson turned around but she knew who it was before she saw the bike.
"Oh damn..." Emerson muttered.
"What the hell is he doing here?" Kiara practically spat.
"Let me take care of this," Emerson said looking back at Kiara and Pope who reluctantly agreed. Emerson gave the ice pack back to Pope before she started walking towards him just as he pulled his helmet off his head. "What are you stalking me now?" She asked.
"You're a home invader now?" He asked, noticing how she hesitated before looking down. "So that's your new thing, huh? Robbing drug dealers with your new pogue friends?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," She claimed.
Rafe scoffed then took a step closer to the younger kook. "You need to listen to me! Barry is a bad guy, Em."
"Kinda figured, him being a drug deal was kind of a giveaway," She said, with a small shrug of her shoulders.
"Emerson, you just don't seem to get it," Rafe told her. "If we are not together then I can't protect you."
"Please," Emerson scoffed.
"Barry won't just let this go," Rafe added. He ran his hands angrily through his hair as he took another step closer to Emerson. "I'm already in deep shit out here, okay? I just need you to not do anything stupid," He said making her roll her eyes.
"You're the one whose in trouble with a fucking drug dealer!" Emerson yelled at him. "Don't talk to me about doing stupid shit."
"I don't do stupid shit!" He yelled loudly, the volume of his voice making Emerson flinch slightly. Rafe stepped towards her as he lightly tapped his fingers to the side of his head. "I don't do stupid shit," He repeated.
"Fine, okay!" Emerson yelled back. She glanced over her shoulder, noticing how both Kiara and Pope stood up a bit straighter, like they were ready for a fight.
"I don't do stupid shit!" He yelled again, but it was more like he was trying to convince himself that was the truth. "Everyone keeps getting in my fucking way! I-I got kicked out of my goddamn house because of Barry! But I'm not stupid!"
Emerson's expression softened for a moment. Even if she hated Rafe she'd never want him to lose his family. She knew just how much he needed them. "Ward... he kicked you out? When? Why did he-"
"Don't act like you care about me," He said, shaking his head at her. "You never ever cared!"
"Rafe," She breathed out. She could see how much all of this was killing him. She knew all he wanted was to do something good for his family. "I do care. I never wanted you to get kicked out of your house."
Kiara and Pope had been watching the two kooks the entire time they've been talking. Neither of them knew how this would end, but they knew it wouldn't be good when they heard the sound of another engine heading their way.
"We've got company," Pope told Kiara.
Emerson glanced over her shoulder seeing the other dirt bike, heading there way. She recognized the bike and knew it was Topper. She should've known that the Thornton boy would've followed Rafe to get them.
"You don't fucking care!" Rafe yelled as he practically stormed over to Emerson, putting his hands on her arms. "You never fucking cared about me! You don't care about me, or you family-"
"I do care!" Emerson yelled back at him. "Why do you think I put up with your shit in the first place!?"
"My shit?! You put up with my shit?!" He scoffed, not believing what he was hearing. "I'm not the one stealing 25k from a drug dealer! And I'm not fucking a pogue!"
"Get your fucking hands off me!" She yelled trying to move away from him.
"Give Barry his fucking money back," Rafe told her, his voice calming slightly, like he to make sure she understood him. He gripped her arms tightly, surely leaving bruises on her skin.
"Don't tell me what to do," She spat as she pulled herself out of his grasp.
"Somebody has to! Especially now that your dad's gone," Rafe's words made Emerson freeze in his arms. Even Rafe realized the mistake he made. "I-I'm sorry."
"Don't!" She shouted, pushing him away. "Just go! Go!"
"Emerson please, I didn't mean it," He stepped towards her, grabbing her again. She fought against his grip but he didn't let her go. "Please! Emerson just don't leave me."
"I didn't want to, Rafe," She snapped, the words falling out of her mouth before she could stop them. "I didn't want to leave you. My life would've been ten times easier if I could just convince myself that I loved you. You're the one who made things difficult."
"I can change. I can- I'm a proactive type of person, Emerson," He told but she just shook her head.
"I'm sorry," She whispered, the words barely falling from her lips. "I wanted to love you Rafe. I think part of me might always be yours... but I can't. I can't keep telling myself that I love you when... when I'm starting to fall for someone else."
Rafe didn't say anything else, but he wasn't admitting defeat, not yet anyways. From his perspective he heard Emerson say that she'd love him if he got the other guy out the way, so that's what he intended on doing. He walked away, going back over to his bike. Emerson watched as he put his helmet on and left. As if on cue Topper looked up and over at the kook. Emerson stood still as Topper drove his bike up to her, leaving Kiara and Pope.
Topper looked at her, watching as she quickly wiped away a tear that fell onto her cheek. Of course he knew about Carter leaving, pretty much everyone in Figure Eight knew about it. He got off his bike and tried to take a step closer to Emerson, she backed away then looked at him with tears in her eyes.
He hated seeing her like this, and most of all he hated that there was nothing he could to do help her. Topper stepped towards her, not letting her back away this time. Even after all the shit they've gone through she's still one of his best friends. He couldn't just stand there and watch her cry.
He wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly. It took her a moment but eventually Emerson's body relaxed. Her tears began to fall and that only made Topper hold her closer.
From afar Kiara and Pope shook their heads. Neither of them understood the friendship between Emerson and Topper. They didn't realize that Topper had been there for her during some of the hardest parts of her life.
"I'm sorry," He whispered.
"For what?" Emerson asked, making no moves to pull out of his grasp.
"Your dad. I'm sorry he left."
"It's my fault, if I did better maybe he-"
"Don't say it," Topper interrupted her. "He didn't leave because of you. He loves you."
"Then why did he have to leave me?"
Topper didn't have an answer for her question. How could he, he was only a sixteen year old boy with no idea what was going on in the Rhodes house. He shook his head, his grip loosened on the Rhodes' girl slightly as he decided to change the subject.
"I heard about you and JJ... at the beach," Topper admitted, making Emerson turn and look up at him.
"That was you watching us?" Emerson asked him, with a horrified look on her face.
Topper hesitated for a moment. He couldn't tell her the truth, no, she wasn't supposed to know yet. "Y-Yeah, it was me," He lied.
"I should've known," Emerson whispered to herself.
"He doesn't love you, you know that right?" He asked her, wanting to make sure she knew the answer to the question. "You're just having a rough time and he's a good distraction, but what you guys have isn't love."
Emerson suddenly grew defensive, she pulled away from Topper completely, crossing her arms over her chest. "How would you know, huh?" She asked. "You don't know anything about me and JJ."
"I know you, Emerson. That's all that matters," He declared. "I know you. When things get rough you need a distraction, I know better than anyone. I was your distraction after Nick left, and now that your dad left JJ's become... well, me," He continued making the Rhodes girl shake her head at him. "We thought what we had was real too, remember?"
She did remember. She remembered every moment they spent together. No matter how hard she tried to forget, those memories never left her.
"This isn't like that," She told him, truly wanting to believe the words that left her mouth. "It's not the same."
"Keep telling yourself that, E, maybe one day you'll actually believe it," Topper said, it was almost like he knew what she was thinking. "It's not too late to leave the pogues, you know? You can still come back." Topper told her. He hoped he could convince her to come back. He knew he could do it, if she had the right motivation.
"What if I don't want to come back?"
"Then you're making a mistake," Topper told her. "And I know you Emerson, you don't make mistakes."
"I don't think this is a mistake," She told him.
Topper shook his head at her then walked back over to his bike. "Be a Rhodes, Emerson. It's who you're meant to be," He told her then drove off on his bike.
Emerson let out a sigh then walked back up to Kiara and Pope. "Let's finish this," She said to Pope and Kiara. They didn't say anything else but Kiara picked up another box and Pope gave Emerson her ice pack back.
--☆--☆--☆--☆--☆--
The drive back to the chateau was quieter than Emerson expected. She wasn't mad about it, she could use some quiet. Pope turned on the radio so it wasn't completely silent. Both of them knew something was wrong with the kook, but neither of them had the courage to ask what was wrong. She wore this look on her face like she was ready to snap, and nobody was ready for that.
Pope parked the truck near the entrance to the chateau. He sat there for a second before getting out, Kiara following soon after. Emerson sighed then opened the car door, following Kiara and Pope to the back of the truck.
"This has gotta be done before my scholarship interview in the morning," Pope announced to the girls.
"Okay, well we gotta focus," Kiara agreed.
"I know, it's gonna be fine. We got John B and JJ inside the well, and me up top. Then you two and Sarah will be outside transporting," Pope told them.
"We got this," Emerson said, letting out a sigh.
"Cool," Pope said, then he opened up the back of the truck. "I got a winch. That tin can hold over like... 200, 300 pounds," He estimated.
"Thanks," Kiara said to him.
"Uh, for what?"
"Stranding us," Kiara glanced over at Emerson who smiled at her. "You know, making us make up."
"What makes you think that was me?" Before Kiara could answer the question the sound of a generator powering on caught all of their attention. "What the hell?" Pope asked, once the overhead lights turned on.
"Who the hell is that?" Kiara asked, then the three of them started walking closer to the chateau.
"Oh wow..." Emerson's eyes widened when she saw all the lights decorating the front yard of the chateau. At first she was so distracted by the lights she didn't even notice JJ sitting in a brand new hot tub until she heard the sound of a champagne cork popping.
"What did you do, JJ?" Pope asked.
JJ was sitting comfortably inside the hot tub with a bunch of inflatable cup holders floating around the water. Emerson could tell instantly that something was off, she just couldn't figure out what.
"I got a jet going straight up my butt right now," He informed them. "Y'all should get in immediately, you hear me?" JJ said then he started pouring the champagne into two glasses. "Salud!"
"How much did this cost?" Pope asked while JJ drank straight from the champagne bottle.
"Uh... well, with the generator, the petrol, and oh, hey, express delivery... pretty much all of it, yeah?" JJ answered, his words slurring together.
"All of it?"
"Yeah, all of it."
"You spent all the money in one day?" Pope asked again.
"Yeah, burned a hole right through my pocket," He told them with a smile on his face. "But, I mean, like, come on, guys, like, look at this!" JJ wanted them to appreciate everything he bought but judging by the looks on their faces they didn't. "Finest in jet-based massage therapy, that's what they told me." He added, only then noticing the look on his friends' faces. "Kie, what? Can't a man have a little luxury in life?" He asked, taking his sunglasses off. "Come on, all this scrimpin' and scrapin'..." JJ added a sense of realization taking over the boy. "I mean, like... guys, we- You only live once, right? Enough of this emotional shit. Get in the cat's ass. Come on."
"In the what?"
"In the Cat's Ass," He snickered. "That's what I named her. Oh, hey, you, I almost forgot." JJ reached over flipping a small switch on the side of the hot tub making a disco ball appear above him. "Huh? Yeah, that's right, I know. Disco mode. That's right, baby!" He smiled.
"Are you kidding me?" Pope shouted. "You could have paid for restitution!"
"Pope..." Emerson said softly.
"Or literally given it to any charity!" Kiara added.
"Guys," Emerson gave them both a look. She didn't understand how they couldn't see it, they couldn't see that JJ was breaking right in front of them.
"Or better yet you could have helped us buy supplies to get the rest of the gold out of the well!"
"Okay! Well, you know what?" JJ asked as began to stand up in the hot tub. "I didn't do that!" Emerson felt her breath hitch in her throat as her eyes moved down to JJ's torso which was now covered in dark purple bruises. "I got a hot tub! For my friends! I got a hot tub for my friends," JJ repeated. "You know what? No, you know what? Screw friends. I got a hot tub for my family."
"JJ, what the hell?" Kiara breathed out, her eyes finding his bruised torso.
"I got this for you. Guys, look what I did for you!" JJ yelled, turning around, only showing them the bruises on his back. "Look at this! Look at this!"
"JJ..." Emerson whispered. Tears formed in her eyes as she looked at the boy in front of her.
"No, stop being emotional," JJ told her. "It's fine, okay?" Despite having a grin on his face it was clear that JJ was anything but fine. "I mean, it's sweet, right?"
Emerson's feet started moving towards the hot tub before her brain could process where she was going. She lifted her leg, stepping into the warm water as she pushed past the jets that were spraying her.
"Just get in!" was the last thing JJ said before Emerson wrapped her arms around him. JJ hesitated for a second but then his arms went around her waist, holding her close. "I just couldn't do it," He said into her shoulder. "I can't take him anymore! I was gonna kill him." JJ cried, as Emerson held him as close as she possibly could.
Suddenly nothing mattered to the young kook. She didn't care that her dad was gone, she didn't care that Rafe was still on her case. All that mattered to her was making sure JJ was okay, nothing else.
JJ's body curved into hers, just wanting to feel her skin on his. Her hands ran down his back, trying to calm him down. "You're okay," she whispered softly. "You're going to be okay."
The blond boy let out another sob just as the water began to shift around them. Emerson turned her head seeing Pope and Kiara as they wrapped their arms around the two, wanting to show JJ the comfort he deserves.
"I just wanna do the right thing," He told them, tears still falling onto Emerson's arms.
"We know," Kiara told him. "We know."
[edited]