The Cameron family waited inside for their walkout. Lilah thought it was a bit prestigious to be announced in front of everyone but she didn't mind it, she wanted everyone to look at her because she looked great. She also wanted people to know that she wasn't in jail and that it really was just a rumor to them. Sarah sat in the chair inside, slumped, as she was still annoyed that she was here.

     Lilah sat next to her, on the arm of the chair when the event coordinator came up to the family, telling them it was time to walk. Rose and Ward linked arms as the Cameron siblings trailed behind them. The Kooks clapped as they walked out and all Lilah did was just smile shyly.

     "Hey. Hey, Sarah. I waited on you. You said you wanted to walk in together." Topper grabbed Sarah's hand and Lilah stood her ground next to her sister but before Lilah could respond, Sarah did instead, "Yeah, well, I came with my parents."

     "Can we talk for a sec?" Topper motioned his girlfriend away from everybody but mostly Lilah who was shaking her head, "Actually, our dad wanted to talk to us, maybe later, Top?" Lilah faked a smile at him and he huffed at her.

     "It's okay. Just tell dad I'll see him in a sec."

     Lilah's eyebrows furrowed, "You sure?" She watched as her sister nod then walk off with Topper, away from her and towards the other Kooks. Lilah ran her hand over her face before looking around the venue. Her eyes landed on Kiara and Pope, away from everybody, standing by a grill. She swiftly made her way over to the two as the two Pogues talked to each other.

     "What are you guys making here? I'm already hungry."

     Pope whipped his head to see Lilah Cameron, in her Kook element. He immediately wrapped her in a tight hug that made her stumble back a little, "Woah, Pope!" She wrapped her arms around him and tapped his back, a bit awkwardly at the sudden hug.

     "Holy shit! What were you thinking?! Taking the fall for me? Was your dad mad? Are you grounded? Did you owe a ton of money? I'm so sorry, Lilah-"

     "POPE! It's okay! Take a breath before you have a heart attack."

Pope pulled away and nodded, "I am really sorry, Lilah. You shouldn't have had to do that. It was me and Shoupe should know that. You were just helping me-"

"Dude, I literally gave you the idea, don't you dare tell Shoupe anything. They needed to know that they shouldn't mess with you. I don't regret it one bit and I'd do it again." She held Pope by his shoulders and she smiled softly at him.

     Pope wrapped her in another hug and Lilah looked at Kiara who stood behind him, surpressing a laugh. Lilah hugged him back before ultimately, letting go and walking a few steps to Kie. "Thanks for getting my car to my house, I really appreciate it." The Cameron nodded at the Carrera girl who just waved her hand, "It was no problem. Glad you're okay."

     The girls weren't the best of friends as the thought of Lilah still being a Cameron lived in Kiara's mind, not trusting that family one bit but she also knows that Lilah cared about her friends so she was going to stay civil.

     "Have you guys seen JJ?" Lilah asked the Pogues who shook their heads, "You were the last to see him. We haven't seen him since this morning." Kiara shrugged and Lilah just nodded at their words. "He's okay, right?" Pope asked her, with a nervous expression clouding his face.

     "I mean, yeah. Last time I saw him the cops were handing him off to his dad."

     Lilah noticed the sharp inhales of the two and she looked at them confused, "What?"

The Kook had heard stories about Luke Maybank, none pleasant. She used to chose not to believe all of them but the sinking feeling in her chest always came back when she saw JJ with bruises or cuts anywhere on his body, even when she hated him. She used to think it was pity but she's not so sure what the feeling was anymore.

     Before Pope could answer, Kiara spoke up, "His dad is hard on him. He probably got an earful." She nervously laughed but Lilah didn't notice and just hummed and shrugged her shoulders.

     "Lilah." The group heard and now, it was the blonde's turn to sharply inhale when she heard her father's voice behind her. "Hi dad." She smiled at him as he now stood next to her. Ward plasted on a smile and looked at the two Pogues in front of him and his daughter. "Miss Carrera and you must be Pope. My daughter has talked about you and that other boy a lot in the past six or so hours."

     Pope's eyes widened, "Sir, I am so sorry-"

     "Nonsense. I've always taught my kids that if you find good people to be around, you latch on. Lilah has always been protective, she gets that from me. She saw an opportunity and protected you, I couldn't be more proud of her. But, I have to ask, can we just keep this between us four? Tonight is a big night and I just don't want it to be messed up."

     Kiara tried her best to hide her confused expression but Pope immediately nodded his head, "Won't be a problem, Sir." Ward chuckled, "Call me Ward. Anyone my daughter calls a friend is a friend of ours. If you and JJ need anything, you let me know, got it?" Ward smiled at Pope who looked slightly shocked at the Kook's words.

     "Got it. Thank you, Ward."

     The older man nodded and gave Pope a fist bump before fully turning to his oldest daughter, "Sorry to pull you away but we need to take pictures." Lilah nodded as she waved bye to her friends, "I'll find you guys later."

     The Pogues waved back to her then continued their conversation before she walked over there.

      Lilah was doing a good job at keeping Sarah and Topper away from each other. It helped that Rafe had him and Julian occupied at most times. The Cameron twins chugged wine secretly throughout the night and danced with Wheezie. They were having a great time and Lilah was only thinking about the present, not the past or future.

Suddenly, Sarah felt a tap on her shoulder and Lilah froze at the sight of JJ in a tux. "JJ?!" Sarah looked at him but he put a finger up to his mouth, telling her to shut up, "Yep. I got a, uh, note from Vlad." JJ held up a piece of paper towards the younger twin and Sarah felt blood rush up to her cheeks as she blushed profusely.

JJ danced around her and looked at her over his shoulder, "From Vlad?" She smiled and Lilah giggled at her lovestruck sister. "Just read the note." He winked at her and then his eyes finally landed on her sister. Lilah Cameron looked over Sarah's shoulder and read the note while JJ stared at her in awe.

"Go, I'll cover for you." Lilah shooed her off as her sister nodded and practically skipped away to the bag drop to meet John B.

She turned around and smiled when she was met with JJ's shocked face, "You got some drool on your chin." She mimicked wiping it off his face and he swat her hand away.

"Please. You look decent at best."

"Right. Dance with me." She grabbed his hand as he shook his head, "I don't dance." He still held onto her hand, not letting go, watching her roll her eyes. "What is this? High School Musical 2? Just sway, dude."

"Unfortunately, I don't know the reference you just made." She gaped at the boy, "You've never seen High School Musical 2?" He chuckled at her reaction, "I haven't even seen the first one let alone the second one."

"Okay, then I guess we will have to have a movie night."

     "I guess if we have to."

     JJ realized he was swaying side to side with Lilah. He didn't realize he started to when they were talking and when Lilah initiated it. He wasn't the only person who realized something. Lilah frowned as she took in the boy's face, realizing he had fresh bruises on his face.

     "What happened to your face?" She asked, inquisitively and felt JJ stiffen at her question. He cleared his throat before backing up from her grasping, leaving Lilah's body that was once flaming hot, now cold as ice.

     She suddenly wished she didn't ask.

     "Nothing, I scared John B and he hit me thinking I was one of the guys that killed those dudes Peterkin showed us."

"He hit you multiple times? He didn't realize it was you after the first or second punch?

"Nope." JJ shrugged before he backed away, trying to escape her, as he noticed she did not believe him one bit. So here he was, trying to flee the scene but he wasn't quick enough when Lilah grabbed his wrist tightly, "Whatever happened. You can tell me, I won't say anything."

He scoffed which made the Kook reel back and look at him with offense, "I won't."

JJ shook his head, "Yeah, right. Face the facts, Cameron. You're not one of us so I'm sorry that don't trust you enough to tell you some of my deepest feelings and secrets." He said the last sentence with a sarcastic tone and Lilah had to bite her tongue out of anger, knowing she couldn't cause a scene. Not here.

"Literally where is this coming from? I put my ass on the line for Pope, who is one of your best friends and I've been nothing but nice to you for once. Look, you're right, I'm not a Pogu and I wouldn't be caught dead being one but I thought you and I were becoming friends. Guess I was wrong."

Now, it was JJ's turn to stop her but he didn't. He stood still and watched her walk away to the champagne table. He watched her look around, (not at him), then grabbing a glass to chug it down quickly so no one saw her.

JJ's thoughts of Lilah were cut off when her older brother and Kelce cornered him.

Lilah was upset. She was angry at JJ. She was angry at Sarah for ditching her, (even though she encouraged her to go see John B). She was still angry at Rafe for his recent attitude. And she was angry at herself.

JJ's words hurt her a bit, even though she would never admit that to anyone, but she knew she shouldn't have asked him right there, standing next to a bunch of nosy Kooks. She didn't want to assume the bruises were from his dad but she couldn't figure out any other explanation. It made her feel a bit guilty especially if she ends up finding out that Luke Maybank was just a poor drunk asshole.

And not a poor, drunk, abusive asshole.

Lilah scrolled on her phone as she sat inside the venue when she saw JJ run past her as Rafe and the rest of his possee chased after him. Her eyes widened as she tried to think fast. She was angry at JJ but one thing she did know is that he didn't need anymore hits to his face.

She got up and fast-walked to a security guard by one of the glass doors surrounding the place, "Hi, there! My name is Lilah Cameron and I just wanted to let you know that some punk snuck in here, dressed as a waiter, and is trying to cause some trouble. My older brother and his friends are trying to chase him down so there wouldn't be some big scene but once the kid ran, I knew it was time to let you guys know."

The guard nodded before glancing inside, "Which way did he go?"

Lilah pointed down the hallway, "Down there then make a right. Looked like he was headed towards the locker rooms. Please kick him out, Sir. I do not want this night to be ruined for my dad, it's a big night for him." She smiled sweetly as security just nodded again, "No problem, Ma'am. Thank you for letting me know."

She watched as the guard walked away and mentally gave herself a pat on the back for her lying skills. She made her way down the patio, to try and find her dad as she knew he wanted to dance with her and Sarah.

"Lilah."

The Cameron girl groaned at the voice, "Are you like stalking me or something?" She turned around to Julian who was in a simple pastel tux like all the Kook men wear and Lilah thought it looked disgusting. Not only on him but everybody else as well.

"No, why would you think that?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because you won't leave me the fuck alone?"

Julian took a deep breath, "I don't understand why you're still so pissed off. I love you, Lilah. I've been in love with you since freshman year and I know you feel the same way." He tried to reason but she immediately shook her head, "Not anymore."

"But I miss you."

"Obviously."

He scoffed, "And these Pogues? You really think they're good for you? They sank Topper's boat and apparently you were there when it happened. Heard you even got arrested for it."

She slammed her hands into his shoulders, "Shut up! You don't know what you're talking about." She whispered-yelled but Julian was pissed off, "I can't believe you would do that to Topper. He's your sister's boyfriend. He's your friend.

"When have Topper and I ever been friends?"

"Not the point. What I'm saying is, this Pogue phase you're going through is going to end soon and you're gonna crawl back to me in no time. But I don't have forever, Lilah." Julian started to walk away but Lilah was quick to latch her hand onto his wrist.

"You're a pathetic excuse of a man. Over my dead body will I ever come crawling back to you. Now, if you excuse me, I have to go find my dad."

Before she could walk away from her scowling ex boyfriend, they heard a shout from outside the door she walked out of earlier, "Look, Man, I can walk myself. I got legs. Can you see that, brother?"

JJ was being dragged out the door by the security man she sent after him and she hoped that it was the right decision instead of letting him get beat up. She heard Julian scoff beside her but she wasn't paying attention to him, her eyes were fixated on JJ getting thrown out.

     His eyes were also on her but he was glaring at her.

     He hated seeing her next to Julian. He felt the feeling in his chest grow as he watched Julian's hand rub her arm. Lilah didn't notice the touch, she was too busy watching JJ get pushed around by security but he noticed and he wanted to scream.

     At Julian for being near Lilah when he was the one that called her names and was a dick to her but he didn't have time for that. So instead, he screamed at himself in his head for being dumb and fighting with Lilah when she didn't truly do anything wrong.

     The security guard tighten his grip on JJ which made the blonde roll his eyes, "I really appreciate what you did back there. Let me just walk out myself. Oh! Mr. Dunleavy, I see you got your drink. Good, that's really nice of you. I'm actually gonna down that."

Lilah's eyes widened as she tried to find her dad in the crowd. He was dancing with Sarah but his attention shifted when JJ stared yelling, "It's okay, everybody! Do not panic. Leave it to the men and women in uniform. Let's hear it for them. Rose! You look like Lady Liberty. It's good to see you again." His voice trailed farther away as Lilah pinched the bridge of her nose in embarrassment.

     Her dad liked him without even properly meeting him but it all went down the drain now that JJ ruined her father's night with an outburst.

"Let go of him! You can't just boot him!" Kiara's voice echoed throughout the patio which made everybody whip their heads around to the girl in the purple silk dress. "Excuse me, ma'am?" The guard asked her as Kiara's parents tried to stop her from yelling but she wasn't listening, "Look, I invited him here. I'm a member of this club."

     As the security guard was distracted, JJ pushed the guy off him which caused him to knock over people's drinks, "Sorry about that."

     "Hey, mandatory power hour at Rixon's, Kie. Pope, you as well, all right? Rixon's Cove. Let's roll. All right, Kie, come on. Workers of the world unite. Throw off your chains!" JJ ran and met up with John B on the side as Kiara shook her head and started running off the patio, to meet her friends.

     Pope looked at his dad and threw off his apron and ran to hug John B. Lilah ran to the railing to look over at the group to see Kiara run into JJ's arms in a tight hug as he spinned her around. The Kook ignored the weird jealousy feeling in her chest as she felt more of another emotion in her chest as she watched the group of Pogues run away.

     She finally tore her eyes away from them and met her twin sister's eyes in the crowd. She knew what that feeling was as soon as they locked eyes.

     Admiration.

And both the Cameron sisters were feeling it.

BEAU SPEAKS !

OMG HEY YALL THIS WAS FUNNNN

its been a minute! #sorry i cut my finger open LIKE SO BAD BC I LITERALLY SLICED MY KNUCKLE WHICH IS MY JOINT AND NOW I CAN BARELY BEND MY POINTER FINGER. PLUS i didn't necessarily know how i wanted this chapter to go yet BUT ITS OUT!!!

next chapter is gonna be mostly written by me and not the show I THINK but if im wrong...no one call me out on it 🤗

anyways lilah and jj back to hating each other 😅 JK they're just mad at each other rn but dw they will be back AND they'll be BETTER THAN EVER TOGETHER

ALSO tiktok will probably be shutting down. IM SO MADDD i love editing especially for my fics:( im still kinda holding up hope but let me know if i should make an insta maybe??? I LOWKEY HATE MAKING NEW INSTAS bc im always scared its gonna connect to my contacts and ppl ik will see it but tbh i alr have an acc i dont use so maybe ill use that🤷‍♀️

ANYWAYS ^ let me know in the comments here if i should make an insta and still post edits and stuff!

BUT FOR NOW!!!! check out my tiktok @skiestheiimit.wp i just posted like two new edits (ONE IS A S3 SPOILER so enjoy that 🫣)