"The fact of the matter is that one day we will be 25 and living our own lives, and all of the stuff that happened will be just a memory. And we'll all still be sitting around a fire during the summer and laughing." Sarah's voice was aggressive in this conversation, June sifting through hangars of clothes as she spoke. This was a usual occurrence here lately, the girls wanting to get out on the town and shop since they were always together, Sarah would vent, June would listen. It was routine.

"And then what did he say?" June asked, pulling a shirt from the rack and holding it up to herself. Sarah nodded at the shirt and June dropped it into the cart, both of them continuing walking.

"And then he said he still thinks the shop shouldn't have shutters."

"I still think it should have shutters though." June said as she held a shirt up to Sarah, the Cameron girl giving her an obvious look as she gestured to her.

"Thank you! See but it's like we don't see eye to eye on anything right now. Sometimes I feel like he's purposefully going against me." Sarah and John B had used their cut of the gold from El Dorado to open a surf shop, and after a strenuous couple months of making that dream come true, they were finally to the decorating part.

"Why would he do that?" June asked, stopping the cart and looking at Sarah with a confused look.

"I don't know...I know he says he's over it and everything but sometimes I feel like all he thinks about is what happened with—" June knew she as talking about Topper, her head shaking as she pointed to Sarah.

"He can't hold that over you forever you know?" June knew the detrimental things that hold something over someone's head would do to a relationship.

"I know which is why I want to sit down and talk to him but then he acts like everything is okay and like I don't want to be the one to bring it up." Sarah said, a fear of staying something with John B being the main reason why she didn't want to say anything. They had been doing good, but they didn't seem to ever be on the same page.

"Maybe you should just bring it up anyways."

"Maybe..." Sarah pursed her lips, her face changing into a completely different expression. June didn't notice the change due to the fact that she was moving through the hangers again, Sarah feeling a bout of nervousness as she changed the subject."So what are you bringing to Popes dinner tonight?"

"Dinner? What dinner?" June looked up in confusion,  dinner at Popes being news to her. Sarah gave her an obvious look, turning the cart around and starting towards the checkout.

"Popes having a dinner tonight." June let out an exasperated sigh, Sarah giving her a sideways glance as they got in line to pay.

"Nobody told me about a dinner and now you're saying I have to bring something?" The stress in her tone was evident and Sarah grabbed her shoulder, squeezing it and shaking her head.

"You don't have to bring something. He just asked if we would. It's fine...me and John B will cover your ass." June immediately shook her head, holding a finger up to Sarah as she checked out at the register. She grabbed her bag and thanked the worker before heading towards the door, Sarah following diligently behind her.

"Who's gonna be there?" There were two specific names she was hoping to not hear, her the look on Sarah's face told her almost immediately that her wish wouldn't come true. The Cameron girl pursed her lips as they got into Junes car, the girl closing the door and then looking over at her with a sheepish expression.

"Oh you know...everybody." Sarah said, hoping that she could convince June to go anyways. However that was all she needed to hear, the March girl shaking her head and putting the car in reverse.

"I'm actually busy tonight." She said, backing out of the parking spot and then putting the car in drive. Sarah looked at her with an expression of disbelief, her face falling as she shook her head.

"With what?"

"My therapist asked me to do some silent reflecting, I've got family dinner because it's Sunday, I've got a shit ton of homework, I haven't showered since Friday night, and...dinner with people I dislike isn't a good enough reason for me to blow all of that off." June ended the debate, Sarah letting out a groan as she looked away from the March girl. June had told the truth, something she knew Sarah valued over excuses, but she could tell she was disappointed in her refusal, June practically able to feel the gears turning in her head. The Cameron girl looked back at her and spoke, June turning the radio off as she prepared for the usual lecture.

"You can't avoid him forever, you know. There's gonna come a time where you're gonna have to talk to each other. Even if you don't want to." June let out a sigh, knowing Sarah was right. However when she thought of speaking to JJ casually she felt her skin crawl and a sickening feeling in her stomach, her head shaking as she pushed the thought away.

"I know that. I know. But I'm not ready yet. And you can't force me. I've got to be ready on my own time." 

"Let me ask you something and I want you to be completely honest." These were the questions June dreaded the most, her hands gripping the steering wheel so hard that her knuckles were turning white. She nodded for Sarah to continue and she did, June really opening her mind to what she was going to ask. "Are you ever gonna forgive Kie for what she did?"

June had thought about this a lot actually, almost everyday. She questioned herself a lot on the timeline of this friendship that had been broken, on whether or not she had tortured herself long enough. She wondered how she could forgive Rafe, who had essentially done worse things to her. But the answer to that has struck her the same every time,  making it hard to tell when she would be able to forgive Kiara. Rafe had never presented himself as her friend, he had been clear with who he was from the beginning, he had hardly betrayed her...only ever acted in character. However Kie had been Junes friend, had accepted her, and beyond that June had given her the benefit of the doubt even when she knew how she felt about JJ, because she trusted her. Kiara had truly betrayed her, bargaining her life for a chance at freedom, and it had only hurt so bad because she had really trusted her.  She hated being rushed into forgiveness, especially when it still hurt.

"Would you?"

"I think so. I think I would forgive her." June listened to Sarah's words but  didn't think she really understood how much she had broken her heart when she had done what she had done.

"If it was me and I did something like that to you,  would it take you four months to forgive? Or do you think it would take a little longer? Also throw in the fact that I played an essential part in ruining your relationship with John B, and you can't blame  it all on her because he's the one in the relationship but she's your friend that you trust and she fucked you over. How long would it take you to forgive that?"

Sarah was silent after June said that, her lips tightening into a straight line as June shook her head. Her heartbeat was  pounding and her stomach was turning in anger and she wished Sarah had never asked about it, because she knew it would be the only thing she really thought about for the rest of the day. Of course she would forgive her, of course she would because she was a very forgiving person. But the real question was if she should.

"Plus you literally hated her for like a year because she called the cops  on your party. So don't even." June said, Sarah shrugging and nodding her head. In all honesty the divide in the group was getting disheartening, June never showing up to group things and just working around her insanely busy schedule to try and see everyone in smaller groups or individually. Sarah understood why she was still upset, what Kie and JJ had done was a highly spoken of issue in the group, and it was the main reason why they hardly all hung out together as a group anymore. It wasn't the same without her, and yet it wasn't the same with her, it was all different.

Sarah and John B had had a discussion a few nights before regarding this exact situation, coming to the conclusion that this couldn't go on much longer without some sort of intervention. John B was considering the boat trick, the one he had pulled on Sarah and Kie and June when they were having issues. He wanted to lure JJ out and then lure June out and trap them together for a night, and hopefully they could at least work out some of their problems. However Sarah suggested something more subtle, something like a dinner and then locking the two of them in a room together. Hence the mention of Popes dinner. Pope was having a dinner, it would just have a side of imprisonment, because Pope and Cleo were now in on it too. But June was refusing to go, so they would have to reschedule their grand plan for another time. Things were getting sticky now that they had hit the four month mark, everyone feeling antsy that they couldn't all be together. They would take matters into their own hands if something didn't change soon.

"Can you please just come to the dinner? Please for me?" Sarah begged, June shaking her head almost immediately.  "Oh my god you never come to anything and it's getting so tense and I wish you would just show up because  it's never the same when you're not there and everybody misses you and I wish you would—"

"How about this...I'll come to the next one. Alright?" June said, wanting Sarah to calm down.   The pleading look disappeared from her face immediately and she had a winning smile, June feeling kind of creeped out by the way her entire face lit up.

"Perfect."

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Just want you guys know that updates might be slower considering I'm trying to get things just right. Hope you're enjoying so far!