TW: sexual assault (attempted?)
Cordelia knocks on the front door of the Carrera household, impatiently waiting for somebody to answer. JJ just dropped her off and, not wanting to deal with Kie's questioning or anything, he quickly sped off.
The door swings open to reveal the older pogue girl. Kie's jaw drops at the sight of Cordelia who weakly smiles at her.
"Oh, my God. What happened? Are you okay?" Kie asks, inspecting the younger girl's injuries.
"It's, uh... it's nothing." Cordelia attempts to brush off.
"Was it your dad?" Kie asks. Cordelia simply looks down, nervously messing with her rings which gives Kie her answer. "Fucking asshole." She seethes.
"Can we just, like... get ready for this stupid, soul sucking event?" Cordelia asks.
"I'm gonna clean your cuts up first, okay?" Kie says and the blonde nods. Kie gently brings Cordelia into the house, shutting the door after her.
After dealing with the cuts and covering all of the visible bruises up with makeup, they started getting ready for Midsummers.
"Okay, I have to get the flower crowns from my mom's room and talk to her. You good?" Kie asks her friend.
"Yeah, go on." Cordelia assures, managing a small smile. Kie leaves and Cordelia turns back to the mirror, finishing up her lip gloss.
The blonde quietly sighs as she puts in the earrings Kie's loaning her. She observes the cuts on her face -- both from Rafe and Luke -- and wishes they weren't there. Cordelia frowns, really wishing she wasn't going to be stuck around kooks all night especially when all she wants to do is curl up in a ball and sleep for a decade.
But as long as she sticks to Kie or Pope, who she knows is working there, she knows she'll manage to somewhat survive the night.
Cordelia looks up when she hears footsteps, looking in the mirror to find Kie walking in with a flower crown on top of her head, another one in her hands.
"Here you go." Kie places the flower crown on Cordelia's head, placing a few bobby pins to help keep it in place. "And now we can go have fake fun at a big party while people suffer miles away." The curly haired girl sarcastically smiles.
+++
After getting to Midsummers, the two girls quickly separate from Kie's parents and easily find Pope with his back turned to them as he deals with some seafood.
"Excuse me, sir, do we have to shuck these ourselves?" Kie asks in a British accent. Pope rolls his eyes, turning, but softens when he realizes it's his two friends. "Cause it might mess up my costume."
"We wouldn't want that now, would we?" Pope asks, him and Kie doing the pogue handshake. "That accent was bad.
"Yeah, it was. I was gonna let it go." Kie says. Pope's smile drops when he gets a good look at Cordelia's face.
"Holy, shit." He gasps. "Wha-- did you run into Rafe again?" He asks.
"No. N-No, not Rafe. Just, um... you know, supposed loving parental figure." Cordelia says. Pope frowns and Cordelia forces a small smile. "It's fine. I'm fine. I don't want to talk about it."
"You ever seen this many kooks in one place?" Kie asks, helping change the subject, earning an appreciative smile from Cordelia.
"Yeah. Last year." Pope says.
"We're in the lion's den." Kie says.
"Exactly. Hey, have you heard from JJ?" Pope asks.
"No. He'll be all right, though. He's got the survival instincts of a cockroach." Kie says.
"Delia?" Pope asks.
"He's fine." Cordelia forces another smile. "Trust me, I look worse than him for once." She chuckles without any humor. "I'm, uh... gonna get a drink." She says, giving them another fake smile as she walks away. The blonde makes her way to the drink table and fills a cup up with some water.
Cordelia hears movement next to her, looking to see Fletcher, making her slightly freeze. She quickly looks towards the crowd, avoiding the boy as he fills up a cup with water.
Fletcher looks up, his eyes widening at the cuts on Cordelia's face.
"Holy fuck! What happened to your face?" Fletcher asks.
"You might wanna try better greeting if you ever wanna get a girlfriend. Or boyfriend, whatever way you swing." Cordelia says.
"Did Rafe or Topper do that?" Fletcher asks.
"Some of it." Cordelia shrugs.
"And the rest?" Fletcher asks.
"Why the hell do you care?" Cordelia asks. "What, you suddenly wanna stop being a dick and be friends again? After six years? Really?"
"You know, you haven't exactly been easy to deal with either." Fletcher shoots back.
"What did you expect? You go around insulting my people, you think I'm just gonna be all giggles and sunshine?" Cordelia asks.
"No, but--"
"What do you want, Fletcher?"
"I... I'm sorry. Look, it isn't my fault that my brother and his friends are dicks, but I'm sorry." Fletcher says.
"Don't you hate us? What does it matter?" Cordelia asks.
"Okay, I've made snarky and rude remarks. I haven't harmed any of you." Fletcher says.
"Oh, really? Would you like to take me back to the third grade? You know, that one recess where you embarrassed me in front of three different grades." Cordelia says.
"Delia--"
"No. No, you do not get to call me that anymore. That is for my friends."
"Okay, there's no way everybody remembers." Fletcher says making Cordelia roll her eyes.
"I remember, shithead. That's the point that matters. My friends remember. And if I ask, I can get JJ to murder your kook ass." Cordelia threatens.
"Because he does so well in fights." Fletcher remarks.
"Well, in his defense, he's usually outnumbered lately. Besides, don't forget him pointing a gun at your brother's head the night of the kegger." Cordelia reminds.
"Right. The night he went all psycho." Fletcher says.
"Because Topper went psycho first. At least JJ was saving John B's life. Topper's only plan was to kill one of my best friends." Cordelia says.
"Look, I'm sorry, okay? For everything. Comments, past encounters, Topper and the other assholes, third grade, the stutter mouth calling. All of it. I'm sorry." Fletcher says. "That what you want to hear?"
"I would prefer you mean it." Cordelia says. She takes a sip of her drink, but immediately chokes on it when she spots the Cameron family enter.
"Oh, God. What the hell is she wearing?" Cordelia asks through a few coughs. Fletcher follows her gaze, finding Rose's spiky crown looking headband.
"Yikes." Fletcher mumbles. "That is not safe."
+++
It's nighttime now and the event has been going on for a bit. Kie and Cordelia have stuck together a majority of the night. Now, however, Cordelia is alone since Kie's parents dragged her off to mingle with other kooks, not wanting Cordelia to tag along.
JJ enters the area and looks around for Sarah, needing to get the note from John B to her. He glances around, finding Cordelia sitting alone at a table and messing with some snacks she got. He relaxes, able to see she isn't being bothered by anybody and goes back to looking for Sarah.
Cordelia is sitting alone and looks up when she hears slight commotion, finding JJ running into the building with Rafe, Kelce, and a couple of other kooks running after him.
"Shit." She whispers, getting up and following them. Cordelia loses them for a bit, but catches up in time to see them go into the men's locker room. Cordelia goes up to the door and hesitates. Having an inner battle, Cordelia soon opens the door, rushing in.
She stops when she walks into the bathroom part.
"What the fuck?!" A guy exclaims.
"Cordelia?" Fletcher asks, turning the sink off after watching his hands.
"Hi. So-Sorry. I-I'm not looking." She says, quickly rushing past, shielding her eyes. "S-Sorry."
She feels a hand gently grab her arm and looks up to see Fletcher.
"The fuck are you doing in the mens' locker room?" He asks.
"JJ, he--" Cordelia stops when she hears Rafe.
"Your face looks really bad. Starting to look like your dad a lot more." He says and JJ spits in his face. "Oh, shit." He chuckles.
She follows the noise, going into the next area of the room, finding Rafe and the few kooks standing around while Kelce holds JJ in a headlock.
Cordelia doesn't think as she charges at Rafe, pushing him back, actually knocking him back a few feet.
"Leave him the hell alone." She glares at the Cameron boy.
"Shit." Fletcher whispers, knowing this can't end well for either Maybank.
"Look who joined the fun." Rafe chuckles. "You know, are we sure that JJ's the protector and not baby Cordelia here?" He asks, looking between everybody and smirking while watching JJ struggle against Kelce harder.
"Rafe, just leave them alone." Fletcher says. "I mean, what does this get you?"
"Joy." Rafe grins.
Cordelia takes the advantage of him not looking and raises her leg, kicking him in the crotch. Rafe yells out in pain, doubling over, holding onto his once again injured spot.
Fletcher lets out a snort as the other kooks all let out exclamations of sympathetic pain and JJ quietly chuckles.
"You know, that's getting really fucking old." Rafe darkly laughs, finding the strength to stand back up.
"Yeah, so is your whole fucking existence." Cordelia retorts, glaring at him.
Rafe glares at her before charging at her and slamming her against the wall, gripping onto her jaw tightly. Cordelia winces in pain, injuries from earlier hurting more now. Rafe grips her jaw, forcing her to look at him, the girl having to crane her neck due to the eleven inch height difference.
"How 'bout instead of kicking my dick all the Goddamn time, you do something useful and suck on it." Rafe darkly smiles.
"I-In your fucking dr-dreams." Cordelia says, trying her best not to sound nervous, but failing. Rafe slightly smiles before he grabs her throat and harshly bangs her head into the wall before tossing her to the floor.
Cordelia whines in pain as she holds onto her head. Rafe grabs a fistful of her hair and pulls her up into a sitting position.
"Think we can make it happen now." Rafe says.
Fletcher realizes Rafe is serious and it's not just another probably empty threat. The younger boy rushes forward, trying to shove Rafe back, but the Cameron stays planted in his spot.
"Dude, this is too fucking much. How sick in the head are you?" Fletcher asks,
"Relax, Fletch. You can have the next turn." Rafe says, patting Fletcher's chest a couple times.
"Rafe, if you fucking touch her--" JJ threatens, fighting against Kelce's hold.
"What? What are you gonna do, pogue?" Rafe asks. "Can't do shit."
"How 'bout you stop being a psycho dick for once? Go work on your own daddy issues instead of taunting them about theirs." Fletcher says.
Rafe glares at him before punching Fletcher and then shoving him over the bench in the middle of the room, the Thornton falling onto the other side, letting out a small groan of pain.
"What does coke give you better strength or some shit? You don't work out that much." Fletcher mumbles to himself, holding onto his ribs in pain.
Rafe fists some of Cordelia's hair up again, forcing her to sit up.
"Get to work." Rafe tells her.
"Rafe--" One of the guys tries to intervene.
"Shut up!" Rafe barks at him.
"Dude, come on." Kelce protests.
Cordelia looks at JJ, her eyes full of nothing but terror while his are full of anger and panic as he fights against Kelce.
"Shut up, Kelce. It's the least she owes me." Rafe says.
Before Rafe can do anything else, the lights flicker on and off.
"Gentlemen!" They hear. Kelce shoves JJ away from him as Rafe harshly lets go of Cordelia and backs away, her head knocking against the wall once more. "And lady." The security guard says, confused to see the girl.
"Is there a problem here, guys?" The guard asks.
JJ instantly pulls Cordelia to her feet, keeping her on his side opposite of the kooks, keeping a gentle yet protective hold on her arm.
"Pardon me, officer. No, there's not an issue. I just..." JJ trails off as he looks between Rafe, Kelce, and their buddies. "Well, actually, yes. No, there is an issue. Uh, we got a criminal trespass in progress here. Beep! Call it in, right? Blatant disrespect for private property."
"Yeah." Rafe agrees.
"Her and I are in violation of all kinds of shit, sir, but these young gentlemen..." JJ starts to fix Kelce's tie with his free hand until Kelce smacks his hand away.
"Don't touch my shit." Kelce seethes.
"Uh, caught us, sir, and they're about to take us away. And that's what you should do, escort us out of here. You got us." JJ says, holding his hands up.
The guard grabs onto JJ's arm with his left hand and Cordelia's arm with his right, beginning to drag them out.
"All right. Fix that tie, son. Ah, you're lookin' spiffy, too. You Powerpuff Girls have fun." JJ says.
"Tell Kiara she looks pretty hot for a pogue." Rafe says. JJ breaks out of the guard's grip, charging back at Rafe.
"JJ!" Cordelia calls as Kelce and Rafe start shoving JJ back and the guard grabs him, pushing him away.
"You think I'm afraid of you, bro?" JJ asks Rafe.
"Hey, safe travels back to the cut. Hey, Delia, I'll find you later and we'll finish up." Rafe says. JJ charges in his direction, but the guard manages to grab him before he gets too far.
"Stop it! Come on! Out!" The guard orders, shoving JJ out of the room and dragging Cordelia with them.
"This ain't over!" JJ yells.
"Hey, hey, it was really nice seeing you guys again!" Rafe shouts out as the guard gets the two siblings out.
"You know, you're a sick fuck." Fletcher tells Rafe.
"What? Who doesn't want a blowjob?" Rafe asks.
"You're nineteen. She's fourteen. That's not only disgusting, it's fucking illegal. She's a year older than Wheezie." Fletcher says.
"Well, way to kill a mood." Rafe mutters.
Fletcher scoffs out of disbelief before storming out, but not without harshly shoving Rafe into the wall.
"Look--Look, man, we can walk ourselves." JJ says as the guard drags them outside. "We got legs. Can you see that, brother? I really appreciate what you did back there. Let us just walk out by ourselves. And, hey, you should really treat a young lady with a little more respect."
"Mr. Dunleavy, I see you got your drink. Good, that's really nice of you. I'm actually gonna down that." JJ says before taking the glass of alcohol and doing just as he said he would.
"What the hell's the matter with him?" Mr. Dunleavy asks.
"Sorry, sir." The guard apologizes.
JJ lets out an exclaim as the alcohol makes it down his throat.
"I really appreciate the discretion, Daryl, you know?" JJ says. "It's okay, everybody! Do not panic. Just leave it to the men and women in uniform, huh?! Let's hear it for them. Rose! You look like Lady Liberty." He says making Cordelia shoot him a confused look.
"It's good to see you again. Hey, buddy, can I have one of those?" JJ asks a passing waiter and takes some food off the tray anyways.
"Let go of them!" They hear and turn to see Kie on the porch, her parents rushing up behind her. "You can't just boot them!" She exclaims.
JJ eats a couple pieces of food before giving Cordelia the other couple of pieces he grabbed.
"Excuse me, ma'am?" The guard questions Kie.
"I invited them here." Kie says, ignoring her parents quietly trying to stop her. "I'm a member of this club."
"Most of that is true!" Cordelia exclaims through a mouth full of food as JJ shoves the guard away, knocking him into a table.
"Sorry about that." JJ says. "Hey, mandatory power hour at Rixon's, Kie. Pope, you as well, all right?" JJ says, lightly grabbing onto Cordelia's wrist, the girl too focused on grabbing more food. "Rixon's Cove. Let's roll. All right, Kie, come on. Workers of the world unite. Throw off your chains!"
JJ lightly drags Cordelia over to where John B is, their friend letting out a cheer when he sees them. Cordelia grins, seeing John B, and hugs him, the older boy hugging her back, ruffling her hair.
"Colonel." JJ holds his hand up to his forehead.
"Captain." John B holds his free hand up and the two salute each other.
"Mission accomplished, sir." JJ says.
Kie and Pope run in their direction, Pope rushing to John B and Cordelia, the girl still tucked into the brunette's side. Pope crashes into a group hug before the five are off.