𝐇𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬: 𝐀𝐬𝐩𝐲𝐧 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐧 ~ 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬

𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭

⚠️TRIGGER WARNING⚠️
this chapter contains mention of suicidal thoughts. if you don't feel comfortable reading that material, there will be stop signs (🛑) to indicate where to stop reading, and then green check marks (✅) to indicate when it's okay to continue.

i'm always available to talk if you need to.
love you guys❤️❤️
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Rafe and I approached Barry, Topper trailing behind us. I wasn't sure why he had followed us, but I didn't really give a shit.

Rafe grabbed Barry and gently steered him away from the club entrance. "Hey, what are you doing, man? You good?"

"No, I ain't good, man!" Barry shot.

He lunged forward and grabbed my shirt, yanking me toward him. "You wanna tell 'em why, Aspyn?"

"What the fuck did you do?!" My brother asked.

"I'll tell you what she did," Barry said. "Aspyn, Sarah, and their little surf rat friends stole 25K outta my house!"

"Isn't that right, A?!" He asked, letting go of my shirt and shoving me backward.

"No?!" I lied as I caught my balance from his push. "I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Oh, you don't?!" He yelled, closing in on me.

I backed away as he continued to approach me. "Dude, chill..."

"No! I won't chill!" He yelled. "I want my money!"

"BARRY!" I screamed, seeing him swing on me.

Thankfully, I was able to dodge his punch.

"DUDE! STOP!" I yelled, my hands placed on his chest as I attempted to push him away.

"HEY! CHILL!" I shot, thankfully getting him to back off for a moment.

"Let's talk!" I told him. "Me and you!"

He glanced at Topper and Rafe. "You two stay put, I ain't done with y'all,"

Barry motioned for me to follow him.

We stepped aside to a place nobody could hear.

"You're lucky I don't beat the shit out of your ass right now!" He shot. "The fuck do you want?"

"Listen, when you were in the van with me, I realized the gold wasn't there," I lied. "I don't know what the hell they did with it, but it was gone,"

He furrowed his brows in confusion.

"Since we couldn't get the gold then, I still needed the Pogues to trust me," I continued. "If they didn't, I wouldn't be able to get the details we need to actually get the gold,"

"So you had to do something to make them think they could trust you again?" He questioned.

I smirked. "Precisely"

"That's genius fuckin' thinking there," He chuckled. "You're smart, A, you know that?"

Smart enough to come up with a lie that quick.

I shrugged. "I've heard that a few times,"

"So, what about my money?" He asked. "Where the fuck is is?"

"I don't know. I came here to meet Rafe right after we left you," I said, continuing my lies. "What the hell those Pogues did with it is beyond me. I'm sorry dude,"

He clenched his jaw, his expression twisting with anger. "I'm gonna get those fuckin' Pogues,"

He grabbed my arm, yanking my back toward Rafe and Topper.

"She ain't got nothing to do with my missing money, but Sarah sure as hell does!" He huffed, roughly releasing me.

"Sarah?" My brother questioned. "She won't pick a dollar up off the street, what are you talking about?!"

"Yeah, there's no way Sarah did anything," I agreed.

Which was true, Sarah wasn't even in the house.

Though, I couldn't tell Barry that because he believed I wasn't there when his money was stolen. I had to act just as clueless about the situation as Rafe was.

"Do I look dumb to you?!" Barry asked, getting into our faces. "You think I don't understand what's goin' on here?! Cause I'm telling you right now, y'all better sort this out with your sister, or else I am. Cause I want my money!"

"We don't know what you're talking about," Rafe told him. "Enlighten us,"

"Enlighten you?!" He snapped. "The Pogues are all around Outer Banks stealin' shit out of everybody's house and y'all got no idea what I'm talkin' about? Your sister's involved in it!"

"Sarah Cameron, home invader? Do you realize how stupid-"

My brother was cut off by Barry latching onto his burnt arm, throwing him to the side. "How many times I gotta deal with you?! That's 25K!"

Topper grabbed Barry, pulling him away from Rafe who was wincing in pain.

"We're good! We're good!" Top said, trying to deescalate the situation.

"We're good! We're good!" Barry mocked. "Stand down!"

Topper held in hands up in surrender, taking a step back.

"Y'all sort this out with your sister!" Barry told Rafe and I. "Imma get my money, and if it's not from y'all it's from her. Remember that,"

"Alright, alright!" Rafe huffed.

"See y'all around," He smirked, getting into his car then speeding off.

Topper turned to Rafe and I, looking a bit shaken from what had happened. "Hey, what the hell's going on?"

"I-I don't know," Rafe stuttered, pacing back and forth.

"I know damn well she does though," He said, pointing to me.

Topper turned to face me. "Do you, A?"

"Yep," I shrugged. "Well, I know more than I let on,"

"What?! What the hell?!" Topper asked.

Rafe came over, grabbing both of my wrists. "Do you realize what you did?!"

I immediately pulled away. "I didn't do anything! I wasn't the one who took his money! I just convinced him that I wasn't there when it happened,"

Rafe scoffed. "I knew it! I knew you were lying about something!"

"Then why didn't you tell Barry?" I asked, crossing my arms.

Rafe just stared at me for a second, eventually just shaking his head as he turned around to leave.

He knew I was lying the whole time, but kept his mouth shut. Probably because he knew what Barry would do to me if he didn't.

Holy shit. Did that mean Rafe actually cared about me?

Topper grabbed Rafe's shoulder, stopping him from walking away. "Woah, wait. What are you gonna do?"

"Nothing," My brother replied. "It's not my problem,"

"That's Sarah you're talking about! Hell, Aspyn too! Those Pogues are doing a number on them!"

Rafe turned to look at him, staying silent.

"What are you gonna do?" Topper repeated.

My brother simply stared at him for a moment before eventually walking toward his bike. "Alright, come on,"

I turned to walk away. "Have fun with that, y'all,"

Topper grabbed my arm, spinning me back around. "Nope, you're coming,"

"What?"

"Aspyn, you've gotta understand what these Pogues are doing to you!"

"They aren't doing anything to me!" I argued.

"Come with us and I'll prove you wrong!"

"I'm not going!"

"Aspyn, just fucking come!" Rafe yelled. "I'm sick of hearing y'all!"

I rolled my eyes, huffing. "Fine, whatever,"

Frankly, I was sick of hearing Top, so I gave in just so he'd shut the hell up.

-

I rode on the back of Topper's bike while Rafe rode his. We drove through the streets of Figure Eight until coming across the Twinkie.

Upon noticing the van, my brother sped up and pulled directly in front of the vehicle, which had to make an extremely abrupt stop to avoid hitting him.

Topper and I were still slightly behind, as we hadn't sped up like Rafe, but I was able to see Sarah storming over to Rafe and John B leaning against the van door.

We eventually pulled up behind the Twinkie, John B turning around at the sound of another motorcycle.

"Hey, Booker," I greeted, getting off the bike. "I was forced to come here,"

"Makes sense," He replied. "What about you, Top? Come to try and kill me again?"

"Yeah, here we go, it's always the Kooks fault, isn't it," He scoffed. "Look man, I'm sorry about your arm, but I hardly touched you,"

"Roughly pushed," I corrected. "You roughly pushed him. I watched you,"

John B nodded. "Yeah, you did,"

"Listen, I'm not the one corrupting these girls from a prominent family, getting them involved in a life of crime," Topper said, changing the subject.

"I was already involved in a life of crime, Top!" I snapped. "I was dealing drugs, I was doing drugs! You literally watched me get arrested for having cocaine!"

"Yeah? Well, Rafe told me you stopped selling and using,"

"Yeah, I did. So what?"

"You were just starting to get away from doing illegal shit, and here they are getting you back into it!"

"You have no idea what's going on, man!" John B shot, getting more defensive.

"I have no idea?" Topper scoffed. "I know you're out stealing 25K from a drug dealer! You're getting them involved in that shit?!"

"I'd give Barry his money back, like, yesterday!" I overheard Rafe tell Sarah.

"God, how many times do I have to tell you we don't have it!" I huffed, making my brother shoot me a glare.

"You worry about your shit, we'll worry about ours!" Sarah shot, pushing Rafe away from her.

"I'M TAKING CARE OF MY OWN SHIT, OKAY?!" He screamed. "And one day...I'm gonna be running the show, and y'all are gonna wish you were nicer to me then,"

Then, as if nothing happened, he turned and began walking back to his motorcycle.

"Why don't you give us a save-the-date on that?" Sarah called behind him. "You psycho!"

Topper got into John B's face. "Listen, I know that I'm the one that cares about her, not you,"

Apparently they were having their own argument while Sarah and I dealt with our brother. Just fucking great.

"Why don't you get on your fuckin' bike, Topper?"

"Or what?" Top challenged, a smirk tugging at his lips.

John B glared at him. "Get on the bike,"

Topper motioned toward his bike. "Come on, Aspyn,"

I scoffed. "Hell no,"

"A-"

"I said NO!" I snapped.

"Fine," He huffed, getting onto his bike. "Do whatever you want, see if I give a shit,"

"See if I care," I shot back, shrugging.

He glared at me silently, putting his helmet over his head.

"You're better than this!" He yelled to Sarah and I just before speeding away.

Once they were gone, John B approached my sister, wrapping an arm around her. "Well, he's a tool,"

"Yeah, tell me about it. I dated him," She scoffed. "I'm sorry about that,"

"Hey, you don't have to apologize," He assured. "You didn't do anything,"

My sister nodded in response.

"Come on, I'll drop you off at home, A," John B offered, climbing into the drivers seat.

"Thanks but I'll just walk,"

"You sure?" He asked. "It's not that close,"

"Yeah, I just gotta clear my head, you know?"

He nodded. "Alright, just be safe,"

I lifted my shirt, revealing the gun that was tucked into my waistband. "Always,"

"You still have that?!" Sarah questioned.

I shrugged. "Gotta have protection, right?"

John B shook his head, laughing. "Guess so,"

"Just don't get caught with that thing, please," Sarah told me.

"I won't," I assured.

-

The sun had begun to set on my walk home. I studied the beautiful pink sky as I strolled along the side of the road.

It was weirdly relaxing to watch the sun disappear further and further into the clouds.

Suddenly, a truck's bright headlights illuminated the area, catching my attention and taking me away from the peacefulness of the sunset.

The driver slowed as I got into their field of vision.

What the hell?

The truck then came to a stop, pulling right beside me. My stomach twisted. Shit like this was always fucking terrifying as a girl.

In a split second decision, I hastily grabbed the gun and pointed it at the vehicle, just as the driver began to roll down the window.

"I swear to God, I'll-"

"Woah, Aspyn, chill!" I heard. "Put the gun down!"

I lowered the weapon, realizing that Pope was the person sitting behind the wheel.

"Goddammit, Pope!" I breathed, putting my hand over my heart. "You freaked me out!"

He looked at me with wide eyes. "You freaked me out. I wasn't expecting to have a gun pulled on me!"

"I'm sorry! I thought you were a kidnapper or some shit," I told him. "Having a random car pull up to you is fuckin' terrifying as a girl. Especially when it's almost dark,"

"I wasn't even thinking about that," He sighed. "Sorry, I scared you,"

"It's alright," I replied. "Sorry I scared you,"

"What are you doing up here anyway?" I asked, putting the gun back into my waistband.

"Picking up Kiara. We're going to work on the pulley system," He answered. "You wanna come too? We could always use another pair of hands,"

I smiled. "Yeah, sure,"

Once I was situated in the passenger seat Pope continued his route to Kiara's.

"You know, I was hoping you'd say yes to coming," Pope said.

I chuckled. "Why?"

He shrugged. "You're just fun to be around,"

"Thanks," I replied plainly. "I highly doubt that's the full truth though,"

"What? It is the truth?"

"Is it?" I asked. "Is it the truth?"

"I'm sure that's not what you thought of me just last week," I muttered, my voice breaking.

"Aspyn-"

"I need you to be honest with me," I interrupted. "Was there ever a time you were scared of me?"

"Honestly...yes," He sighed, obviously not wanting to give me that answer. I appreciated his honesty though.

"Midsummers is the first thing that comes to mind," He muttered. "When you said you needed to talk privately, then took me away from the crowd, I thought for sure you were going to do something,"

"Obviously under your brothers or friends encouragement," He added. "Still though, I was scared,"

I quickly blinked the tears out of my eyes.

Fuck. I hated crying.

🛑🛑🛑🛑🛑🛑

"Shit, Pope...I'm sorry," I apologized. "For everything,"

"Hey, it's okay," He said softly.

"No, it's not!" I snapped. "Nothing I've done has ever been okay!"

"I feel so fuckin' guilty about everything! I can't handle it anymore!" I cried. "Sometimes I don't even want to be here anymore!"

The car abruptly stopped. "What?"

"I don't want to be here! I can't deal with the fact that I was so horrible!" I sobbed, unable to control my tears. "I couldn't deal with it even before I became friends with y'all!"

"The only thing that got rid of that guilt was cocaine. It was like it wiped away every bad thought I've ever had!" I continued. "I'm not using anymore though, so not only is the guilt overtaking me, but everything else in my life is!"

"I feel like nobody wants me here! Like, I'm just a waste of time!" I yelled. "I mean, who would want someone like me here anyway?!"

Pope placed a hand on my cheek, gently turning my head to look at him.

"You aren't a waste of time," He assured, in a calming yet stern voice. "Do you hear me?"

I sighed. "It doesn't feel like that,"

✅✅✅✅✅✅

"I need you to listen to me, okay?"

I nodded.

"You don't have to feel guilty, because we all forgive you. You aren't a waste of time because Sarah needs you, Wheezie needs you, we need you,"

He took a breath. "And never say that nobody wants you here, because I do,"

With his hand still gently placed on my cheek, he pulled me into a kiss.

A spark of passion shot through my body as his soft lips pressed against mine.

After a few seconds, he leaned back and cupped my face with both his hands. "I do," He repeated.

"You're gonna get through this, alright?" He said.

I nodded. "Alright,"

He grabbed my hand and laced his fingers through mine. "You trust me, right?"

I gave a small smile. "I trust you,"

With all of my emotions bottled inside of me, and the fact that I was no longer using coke, that breakdown was bound to happen.

Though, one thing I was grateful for was that Pope was there with me. I wouldn't have wanted anyone else by my side at that moment.