"I cannot believe you dragged me here."

Sarah rolled her eyes at her sister's complaining, "I did not do anything." Lilah scoffed in response, "You used me. You're a user, Sarah Cameron." She teased which ended up making the twin laugh.

"I'm sorry I used you for a ride to get snacks. But you weren't doing anything plus you said you needed something from the pharmacy anyway. I thought you would want to spend time with me after working like every other day."

Lilah nodded, "Okay, that's true."

The two girls walked into the pharmacy, Lilah leading as Sarah trailed close behind her. They decided to get their snacks first before going to the actual pharmacy counter.

"So...are you finally gonna tell me what awful thing Julian said to piss you off? I mean it had to have been really bad for you to drop him entirely." Sarah looked at her sister, playing it cool that she was asking something she didn't necessarily know if Lilah was ready to answer yet.

     "Just said some things about me that were untrue." Lilah responded as she looked at the ice cream flavors, trying to figure out which one she wanted. Sarah just slowly nodded with her lead down, realizing Lilah was infact not ready to talk about it.

     Lilah finally picked out a pint of Ben & Jerry's Cookie Dough, "And you."

    Sarah whipped her head back up, "Me?"

     "He said I wanted someone else. A Pogue. Then called us sluts. Both of us." Lilah shrugged as she walked through the refrigerated isle, trying to see what else she could get.

Sarah was in shock, "I'll kill him. What the hell is wrong with men nowadays?"

     Lilah shrugged again, "The world's biggest question." She giggled at her twin who was fuming that he called both of them that word. "Hey, it's okay. I really am done with him. He doesn't get to say stuff like that about my family especially you."

     Lilah felt a pair of arms wrap around her and smiled as she hugged her sister back. "I love you." Sarah whispered into her shoulder, "Yeah, yeah. I love you too. Now, get your snacks and stuff so we can go."

     The girls finally got the stuff they wanted before walking up to the pharmacy counter, "Pickup for Lilah Cameron." She smiled at the pharmacist lady who just nodded before going to the back. "What medicine do you take, anyway?" Sarah asked from beside her and before Lilah could answer, the lady came back out.

     "Here you go. Have a nice day." The pharmacist handed her a small bag, "Thank you, you too!" Lilah waved goodbye as her and Sarah walked to the check out counter. "Hello? What is it?" Sarah pryed and Lilah just opened the bag so her sister could peek in to look.

     "Birth control? Seriously? The thing you needed to pick up from the pharmacy was birth control?"

     "Uh, yeah? Just because Julian and I broke up doesn't mean I should get off it. I take these like clockwork. Do not want to be on an episode of Teen Mom plus I do enough taking care of you and Wheezie."

     "I take care of myself?" Sarah scoffed in offense at her sister who just slowly nodded her head, "Right, which is why I drive you around."

     The cashier finished their items and the two walked out of the pharmacy to see a boy fall over a chain. "Jesus Christ." The two Camerons ran over to see John B wincing on the asphalt in pain, "Dude! Did you just yeet over that chain?"

     "Did you just say yeet..?"

     "Oh, my god. Holy shit, your shirt." Sarah bent down to look at John B's fresh wound that bled through his shirt. "Yeah, that's not ideal." He seethed out in pain as Sarah shook her head, "That's not good at all."

     "Could you guys take me to the hospital?" He asked and Sarah looked at him, confused, "Like right now?" Lilah looked at her twin sister in disbelief, "Obviously right now, Sarah. Okay, cmon. One, two, three, and up."

     The girls guided him to Lilah's Jeep and layed him in the front seat that was put down so he could rest comfortably. Sarah got in the back as Lilah got into the driver's seat. "Hey, do you — do you see a car? Like a — like a cop SUV? Blue and white, maybe." John B hit Lilah's arm, signaling that he was talking to her.

     She looked around to see a cop SUV driving right next to her car, "Yes, there is a blue and white cop SUV." She felt frozen in her seat as John B cursed under his breath before turning his head towards Sarah, "Do you see a guy with no neck?"

     Sarah looked out the back window, "There is a guy. He, in fact, does not have a neck. There's a woman with him." John B sank lower in the seat, "What are they doing?" Sarah smacked Lilah's shoulder and told her to start driving. To that, Lilah put the car in reverse and started backing out of her parking spot.

     "Can you just go?!"

     "That's obviously what I'm doing, dumbass!"

     "They are just stopped at the dead bike." Sarah breathed out before Lilah drove off, "Why are the cops after you? Did you rob a bank? Do a little grand theft auto?" Lilah joked to the Pogue who just looked out all the windows, "Probably best you don't know."

     "What are you, like, a fugitive, John B?" Sarah looked at him as she sat on the edge of the middle seat. "I don't know. More like a refugee or something." He looked at Sarah back before turning his head towards Lilah, "Actually, you know what. Don't take me to the hospital. Just take a left, please. I gotta do somethin'."

     "Fine, but if you bleed anywhere on my car, I will find you and I am so serious."

     Lilah took a left at the next stop sign.

     John B got out of the car to get something quickly and Sarah looked at Lilah, "Take him to our house and I'll clean him up there." Lilah looked back at her sister with her eyes widened, "I mean, okay? What about dad?"

"You distract him, obviously. You're the current favorite."

Lilah shrugged as she turned towards the road ahead of her, "Alright."

John B hopped back into the car, "Hit it, Sancho. Come on, come on, come on." She glared at him, "Shut up! I'm going and don't call me that."

Lilah drove up the driveway as Sarah and John B argued next to her. "We've gotta clean that wound." Sarah told him but John B did not want that at all, "No. Sarah, I cannot be here." Sarah rolled her eyes at the Pogue in the front seat, "Okay, well, you're gonna have to trust me."

"Yeah, I did that one time already."

"We've already been through this. I didn't rat you out, okay? So suck it up, buttercup."

Lilah parked the car in her spot and the three teenagers made their way through entry of the house, "Hey, I don't think your old man would be happy if an ex-employee was bleeding all over his house." John be spat out at the twins who just shushed him harshly,

"Stop bleeding then."

"Well, it's not exactly something I can control, Lilah!"

The trio creeped into foyer, as quietly as possible until they heard Ward's voice. Sarah pushed John B into one of their living rooms which made him hide behind the door. "Jerry, don't tell me we can't renegotiate the rate. We can absolutely renegotiate the rate, Jerry. That's what we are doing right now."

Lilah knew better not to bother her dad when he was on the phone but at that moment she didn't care, "Hi dad!" She gave him a smile before Sarah nodded, "Hi!"

"What are you two doing?"

The twins slightly froze, "Uhh.." they dragged on, not knowing what to say and fearing they got caught. "What do you mean?" Sarah finally asked and Ward pointed to the open front door, "Shut the door. Come on, girls." The two sighed in relief, quietly, "Right. Sorry, dad." Lilah frowned and he waved his hand down, "Don't worry about it, just remember for next time." He said before walking out the door and shutting it.

"Here. You clean him up. I have to get ready for the movie night thing."

"You're still going to that? Even after you and Julian broke up?" Sarah whispered to her and Lilah nodded, "Yeah. I'll probably go alone or hopefully I'll see someone I tolerate." She shrugged which Sarah bit her lip, "Fine. Have fun and please be careful."

"I will. Now, go!" Lilah ushered the two up the stairs, watching Sarah and John B hold hands as they ran and she couldn't help but smirk at the two.

Lilah started getting ready for the annual OBX movie night in her room, wearing a navy blue tube top and white linen pants layered with a bunch of gold jewelry. She finished off her lip combo as her mind drifted to Pope. She hoped he was okay. She knew he was a bit of a goody two shoes, therefore, she assumed he had a guilty conscience of what they did.

     Weirdly enough, Lilah did not.

     She stuck by her promise to Pope and did not tell anyone. Not even Sarah, who she told everything to. Lilah has barely seen Rafe around the house after they drowned Topper's boat and she was happy about that.

     Lilah and Rafe have always had a complicated relationship. They were super close when they were kids but then when Ward started showing more attention to the twins, they grew apart. Rafe held resentment towards the twin sisters, even destroying their toys when they were younger. Then, Wheezie was born and their dad still favored the twins but Wheezie had Rose.

And Rafe was alone.

When Lilah realized this, she was already too old to do anything about it. Plus, when she thinks of Rafe, she doesn't think of her older brother who nonstop played with her until she was five years old or her brother she would bandage after he got into random fights when he was in high school.

     She thinks of the brother who broke her dolls. She thinks of the brother who would tell her dad whenever he knew she was slightly disobeying the rules. She thinks of the guy who would yell at her whenever he was too coked out.

That's when Lilah knew she couldn't help him and she didn't know if she wanted to. It made her feel like a monster but as time grew by, the guilt stopped creeping in as he just did bad thing after bad thing.

But, deep down, he was her blood. And family meant everything to her, no matter what happened.

Lilah took a deep breath before getting up from her vanity. She grabbed her purse, which already had everything in it, and ran downstairs to her car that was parked in the driveway. She placed her Prada sunglasses on her eyes before pulling out and drove to where she would hope to find Pope Heyward.

About ten minutes later, Lilah parked in a parking spot in front of Heyward Seafood. She shook out her nerves before getting out of her car, with her sunglasses covering her eyes and her bad in hand. She looked full Kook which is exactly how she liked to look.

She walked in and towards the cashier to see an older man, counting money in the cash box. She walked right up to him as she put the sunglasses on the top of her head to be polite, "Um, hi." She waved slightly awkwardly at Heyward who looked up stunned when he saw who she was.

"Hi, what can I do for you, Miss Cameron?" The man asked and Lilah bit her tongue to tell him not to call her that. She felt like it made her sound old. Instead, she slightly laughed, "Is Pope here?" She watched the man's face twist in confusion, "Pope? Like my son Pope?"

"Yeah, is he working today?" She asked but Heyward's face was still confused but before he could respond, Pope walked out with a box of stock. "Lilah?" He spoke in confusion and the Cameron realized how similar the boy and his dad looked at that moment and let out a slight giggle.

"How do you know Lilah Cameron?" Heyward asked and Pope froze slightly but his dad just put his hands up in surrender, "Actually, don't wanna know. Get out my sight!" He shooed the kids off and Lilah couldn't help but let out another laugh, knowing the dad was just joking around.

He motioned her to follow him, as he was still working and had to stock the shelves. She listened and followed him to the shelf he was working on, "Um, so what's up?" He asked her, focusing on the cans and bags in front of him. "I kinda just wanted to make sure you're doing good. You are doing good, right?"

"Yeah, my face is practically healed already." Lilah nodded at what he said but still looked down at the store floor. "Pope, I really am sorry..." He stopped her. "Lilah, it's really okay. It's not your fault so stop blaming yourself." He told her, completely serious and Lilah nodded again, playing with her fingers.

"Want some help?" She asked him as she looked up and smiled when she saw Pope nodded with a small smile on his face. She grabbed multiple cans to put on the shelf and the two stocked in comfortable silence.

Lilah took a deep breath, "Okay. I'm not the type of person to get sappy or whatever you guys call it...but I also wanted to thank you for saying you trusted me. It means more than you can imagine." Pope looked stunned of a second as Lilah continued, "My friends...well you know, they suck. I've always known that but that's part of being a Kook. You become friends with the fake people and become equally fake back."

"I'm not fake though. I can't be, I don't know why. I say my truth no matter who I'm talking to. Especially Topper, God! I hate him so bad." She groaned which made Pope laugh at her rambling. She laughed back, "What I'm trying to say is that I know we aren't exactly friends but you're a great person. And I mean that, Pope."

Pope exhaled, "Thanks, Lilah. I appreciate that."

She smiled before putting the last of her cans on the shelf, "Please don't tell JJ I said any of that. I'll never live it down."

"Okay but only if you answer this question." He turned his body towards her as the box was now empty. She nodded and Pope asked his question, "We always joke that I'm the only one in our group that you like. I guess I've always wondered why."

Lilah nodded taking his words in, "You've never treated me like a Kook. I've seen you act towards your friends, you're kind and you care about them. And when you interacted with me, you were always awkward but you were still nice. Even when JJ and I would argue, even when I would roll my eyes at John B, and even when Kie and I weren't on the best terms. You were always very nice to me.

Pope slowly nodded before Lilah added on one more sentence, "I don't think you ever realized how much that meant to me." She smiled and suddenly, Pope felt like he gained another friend. "You're wrong."

"About what?" She looked at him with a confused expression.

"About us not being friends. 'Cause we are now."

She smiled brightly as Pope high-fived her but the moment was cut as they heard Heyward's voice, "Pope, a table just left, can you go clean up their trash?"

Pope huffed and stuck up his pointer finger, signaling that he needed a second to her before he walked outside. It sunk in that for the first time, Lilah gained a real friend that wasn't her family and she started grinning profusely. She started looking around the store, looking at all the snacks before Pope came storming back in, "Do you have your car?"

"Duh, Pope. How else would I have gotten here?"

"Great. Let's go." He grabbed her wrist as the two walked to her car. Lilah was more than confused at this point, "Dude, you're scaring me. What's going on?"

"I'll give you directions. Just drive!"

"I am so over people demanding me to drive them today."

Lilah pulled up to a house and immediately made a disgusted face, "Welcome to The Cut." Pope said, seeing the look on her face which she rolled her eyes. "Pope, I can't walk on there. I'm wearing WHITE flip flops and I see a ton of dirt." She sneered out and Pope just shook his head, "Let's go, out you go!"

She groaned loudly and immediately heard a gunshot. She yelped, "Jesus Christ! What the hell is going on?!" She grabbed Pope's bicep in fear and he slapped her hand off, "Relax." The boy started to walk forward to the house.

"How the hell can I relax when I'm getting dirt all over my favorite beach shoes?" She whined out before following him anyway.

Lilah slowly traced behind Pope to see JJ holding the gun she heard before, shooting a teddy bear, "That's scaring." Pope screamed JJ's name but the blonde has earmuffs on. After the third, "JJ!" Pope yelled, his friend looked over at Pope and looked shocked to see Lilah there.

"They know."

Pope explained to her that Topper and Rafe glared at him through their car when he was outside Heyward's Seafood. Lilah understood the urgency to get to JJ now. JJ took off the earmuffs, "What?"

"They know." Pope exasperated and JJ shook his head, "Alright, chill, bro. They don't know shit." JJ walked over to the two, still confused on why they were together but he noticed Pope was scared shitless so he didn't ask. Lilah sighed before sitting down on a wood log that was in JJ's backyard. "Topper knows I sunk his boat." Pope started pacing back and forth with his hands on his face.

"How do you know they know?" JJ sat down next to her and looked at her, hoping she would answer for him because it was obvious Pope was freaking out. "Because Rafe and Topper posted outside of Heyward's and mad dogged me." Pope breathed out as Lilah shrugged, "I wouldn't say mad dogged, just glared at you."

"Will you calm down and get a grip, man? They don't know shit." JJ looked at his friend now, watching him pace. "They have cameras. They could've seen me." Pope spat out but JJ shook his head, "There was no power, Pope. How could they have seen you?"

"We have generators, you know?"

"You're not helping. Like at all."

"She's not wrong though! They don't give scholarships to kids who vengefully sink boats. It's not a good look on my transcript."

JJ officially had enough, "Enough with the regret, bro! They caved your face in! They hit us, we hit them. It's the law of the jungle." JJ told him and Lilah nodded her head, "You know, he's right. They deserved it, Pope. What happened to you should not have happened and they should know not to mess with you." Lilah got up to stand next to JJ and crossed her arms.

Pope took a deep breath in and out as JJ grabbed Pope's shoulder, "Now, if any Kooks come up to you and ask if you had anything to do with it, you walk up to 'em, look 'em right in the eye, and..."

"Deny the living shit out of it."

"That's right. Deny, deny, deny. And you." He looked at Lilah who just looked back at the blonde with her eyes slightly widnened as she pointed to herself, "Me?" JJ nodded, "You had nothing to do with this and you hide beside us tonight at the movie thingy." Lilah scoffed, "What? No. If Pope goes down, I go down to."

"Not happening, Lilah. I mean it."

Lilah didn't know why JJ started acting like this all the sudden. He didn't care about her, at least she didn't think he did. And to JJ, he didn't know why either but he felt protective of her all the sudden, especially knowing that if Rafe finds out she helped them, he would throw a complete fit and he didn't want her to deal with that.

"And, for saftey, we don't give anwhere without protection." JJ nodded and Lilah sighed, "Okay, you lost me now. The gun? There are gonna be kids there, JJ." She scolded him and the blonde boy threw his hands up with a groan leaving his mouth.

"I will say, it was weird seeing you two agree even if it was just for a second."

BEAU SPEAKS !
HEYYYYY

nothing to say other than next chapter is a pretty big chapter 🤭🤭🤭

lilah & pope as well as lilah & john b are going to be so fun to write like im so excited!!!

ps: i hope yall don't hate rafe and lilah's storyline...i have a whole plot for them when i reach s4 so i needed to do a backstory thing

ALSO WANT TO ADD ON THAT I DID NOT MAKE UP THE DOLLS STORYLINE 😭😭😭😭 there is a pogue life book from netflix and sarah talks abt how rafe would break her dolls which i think is sooo crazy and i wanted to include it in the fic #donthatemerafefans #iamalsoarafelover #justs4thotbh #abitofs2&s3causehesunhinged&it'sfunny #otherthanhimburningthecross !!!!!!