"Ricky! Ricky! Hey! Bro!" JJ hollered as they jumped out of the car at a house.

"Yo, the head is the heaviest part of the body!" Joey yelled as John B helped her while Kie and Sarah grabbed his legs.

"Ricky, hey! I got a problem, bro! I know you're mad at me!" JJ shouted as he knocked harshly on the door to get the mans attention. The four helped carry Pope toward the door, leaving the truck in the drive way.

"Please! We need help!" Sarah yelled after the door slammed in JJ's face, "He got stung by a wasp! He's having a reaction! Please help!"

The five began yelling over each other, all trying to explain at once in hopes of him opening the door and taking pity upon Pope, who still was gasping for air in their arms.

"He can't breath, Ricky!" JJ began hitting the window suddenly, "He's right here!"

"Open the door, shit face!" Joey shouted, giving a harsh kick to it.

"Who can't breathe?" Ricky asked as he swung the door open, all sighing in relief at the half naked guy.

"Look at him! Help my friend!" John B spoke quickly and in a begging manor.

"All right, jesus christ." Ricky huffed as he pulled the screen door open, letting them in.

"Hey! Nice to meet you. Sorry." Sarah said quickly as she walked in first, John B next as he helped the girls with Pope.

"You know, I wouldn't come to you if it wasn't an emergency." JJ said to him quickly as Sarah shoved everything off the table, laying Pope down across it as he gasped for any form of breath, "Hang in there, buddy."

"What's wrong with him?" Ricky asked quickly.

"Wasp got him." Joey looked around. "You're gonna do medical procedures in this filthy place?"

"Joey!" JJ gapped.

"Is he allergic to wasp?" Ricky spoke as he looked at each of them.

"Clearly." Kie explained with wide eyes.

"A beehive worth of wasp." John B explained with a violent nod.

"Raise his legs." JJ encouraged as John B did so.

"What's his name?" Ricky asked.

"Pope." Sarah informed him as Joey rubbed Popes shoulders

"Hey, Pope? Hang tight. I gotta get my kit." Ricky said as he hurried off quickly.

"He's looking for a kit. Go help." John B encouraged JJ quickly as the blonde sprinted after him.

"Breath a little, okay? Like a little bit." Kie cried as she looked down at Pope, "I just need you to focus. Focus on your breathing, okay?"

"It's like a duffel bag!" Ricky yelled as him and JJ looked around.

"Where's your kit?" Kie shouted in disbelief.

"You could find things better if your place wasn't such a mess!" Joey yelled at him.

"Okay, I got it!" Ricky yelled as he ran back in, the black bag in his hands.

"Okay, what do we do now?" JJ asked quickly.

"You don't do anything cause you're not a paramedic." Ricky spoke quickly as he pulled a shot from his bag, "Okay. Hey, Pope. How you doing, man? You look like shit."

"Is that it?" Joey gapped at the needle.

"Here's the thing. This is a pediatric dose of epinephrine." Ricky said as he looked her way.

"He's not a kid." Kie said in disbelief.

"Is that gonna be enough?" Sarah spoke quickly.

"It is ten times a normal dose. So if it doesn't stop his heart, it'll help him." Ricky explained as they all gapped as him, "But I gotta use the whole thing or it won't work. And i'm not going down if he dies."

"That doesn't sound like a decent plan at all!" Joey shouted at him.

"Fine, okay, do it! Do it! Hit it!" JJ explained quickly to Ricky, his arms locked around Joeys right one.

"Okay. That's it." Ricky spoke after he pushed the medicine, removing the needle from Popes arm.

"Now what?" Sarah questioned.

"Now we wait." Ricky explained as they all looked down at Popes body. He laid limb, completely still.

"You killed him." Kie spoke in disbelief.

"No." Ricky shook his head.

"Yes, you did!" she snapped at him, "What did you do?"

"I did exactly what you asked me to do." Ricky argued with her.

"Please! Please! Pope, please, come on!" Kie cried as she looked down at Pope.

"Pope, cmon bro." JJ shook him.

"Are you kidding me?" Joey looked at Ricky. "You're suppose to save him! You killed my frien-"

Popes chest suddenly heaved, harsh breaths coming from his mouth. Joey dropped her head onto John B's shoulder in relief.

"There he is. That's my boy right there!" JJ explained as he pointed at Pope, a large smile across his face.

"It's hot! I'm really hot, guys!" Pope explained, yanking his jacket off once Joey helped him sit up.

"Okay, take it easy." JJ laughed as he held his shoulder.

"Okay, Hulk Man." Joey helped him up with a laugh. "Yeah, he's burning up. Pope, you're on fire."

"I gotta get outside." Pope explained as he jumped off the table. "I'm on fire!"

"Simmer down." John B tried to reason.

"It's hot!" Pope yelled as he ran outside.

Pope began running around. Kie took off as John B and Joey shared a look before doing the same. Only, once they ran out of the door way, they tripped on each other's feet and flew over the steps. Joey huffed. "What the hell?"

"You tripped me?" John B gapped as her in disbelief.

"You tripped me!" she defended herself.

Pope sprinted and jumped into the air, "Let's go get that cross! Game six, baby! I'm Michael Jordan!"

"Look at the time." John B helped Joey off the ground, showing his phone. She gave a nervous look. "Duke University?"

Joey swallowed, shaking her head. "I'm scared."

"Duke University?" he repeated.

"What if they think i'm gross and not good enough?" she went on.

John B gave her a grin. "Duke University?"

Joey sighed loudly. "Duke University."

"Oh my shit!" Joey held her hand to her chest as Pope hit the breaks at the train station. "Pope, i'm not gonna get in if i'm dead!"

"I'd never kill you!" he gasped in disbelief. "One of us has to get the scholarship, right?"

Joey smiled, leaning over the seat to give him a smooch on the cheek. "So glad you're alive."

"Good luck." Sarah smiled as Joey got out.

"Thanks, lady." Joey smiled.

"You got this, Jo." Kie promised her. "Just, remember to not get into your head and don't pretend to be someone your not."

"I'll try." Joey exhaled, squeezed her hand as she circled the truck.

"Make us proud, JoJo!" JJ called as he blew her a kiss. "I'll crack open a cold one for you while you're gone."

"I'll be back tomorrow." she exhaled. "Tomorrow night."

"We'll meet you at your house." he nodded at her.

John B got out with her. "You have enough money for the ticket?"

"Yup, to and from." she nodded, the train was loud in the tunnel. "Still feel like throwing up."

"You're gonna do great. They'd be fools to judge you and try to take away your already accepted scholarship." he gave her a knowing look. "I mean, the university will be the cleanest it has ever been."

Joey laughed. "That's true."

"You have wanted this for so long, Jo." he reminded her. "Don't let your head sike you out."

She swallowed the lump in her throat. "I won't."

John B hugged her tightly as she hugged him back. "We'll be waiting when you get home."

"Hopefully I don't get kidnapped by some Duke frat guys." Joey hugged him tightly, scared to let go, scared to let him go, scared to let the life she had in OBX go for just a moment to see what her future would consist of after high school.

"All right, get out of her fancy lady." John B pulled back, dusting her shoulders off. "You got everything you need? Snacks? Water?"

"Got it all." she nodded her head. "You gonna let me go?"

John B inhaled. "Should I let you go?"

Joey hesitated, blinking with a swallow. "Do you want to?"

"No." he said in return. "But, I think I have to."

Joey grabbed his wrist, looking into his eyes with a knowing nod "You've got to let me go, John B."

"You gonna let me go too?" he exhaled.

"I am, not because of me, or because of you. But, because of Sarah." she spoke as he looked down at her. "Because she loves you more then anything and the way you look at her, and the way you talk to her, it's so real, John B. You and I, it's the wrong time. Right now, this is you and Sarah. This is your time. Maybe it's forever, maybe it's not, maybe you and me will have a time another day again. But, for now, you need to follow the girl you love more. And I know that's not me."

John B hugged her again, shutting his eyes as she hugged him tightly. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, I wouldn't change anything." she promised, squeezing her eyes shut. "It's just time to look at new beginning, it's gotta be. Can't keep holding onto the past."

"I think so too." he pulled back with a nod. "So, this is it."

"This is it." Joey gave a minor smile. "I'll see you when I come home?"

"I really hope you can see a future in Duke, Jo." John B said honestly. "Just, come back home."

"Always do." she gave minor nod, the train roared. "That's my que."

"That's your que." he agreed, opening the truck door.

Joey grasped it tightly, leaning her head in. "Hey, JJ?"

"What's up?" he hummed, she pulling her backpack off and pulled out a folder with her full name on the front.

"I love you, okay?" she passed him the folder with a nod. "And it means a lot to me that something good came out of us having such of piece of shit dad."

"Our-" JJ started with wide eyes, being cut off by Pope gassing it and yelling about his cross.

Joey smiled as she watched the car speed and swerve off, feeling her eyes water. She'd only be gone a day, but something about it, something was still there. Something was in her stomach and felt like this was a new step, a new beginning she'd see one day. She wasn't ready, Joey didn't handle change well at all, and she couldn't let go of the past at all. But sometimes, just sometimes, she knew she had to.

"Joey?" she turned.

"Topper." she gapped at him, the train gave its last call.

"You headed to Duke?" he asked, getting a nod. "Me too."

She inhaled. "So, is our pact still on?"

"Which one?" the blonde asked.

"Pretending like we don't know who each other are once we get to our dream college? Pretending line we didn't eat jalapeño poppers together?" she cracked a smile, the conversation they had when they first started to talk coming back to her.

Topper didn't find it funny, blinking as he looked away. "I was actually here to ask you if you wanted to pretend like we never made that pact in the first place and go together?"

Joey blinked, scanning him over. Topper nodded. "I thought about what you said. All of it."

She bite at her lips. "And?"

"And, you were right." he pointed out. "I acted out of past feelings even though..."

She waited, waiting for him to say something. The blonde nodded. "Even though every time I started to really talk to Sarah, stuff that wasn't about her, that had nothing to do with her...I realized no one knew me except you."

"Because you know your secrets are safe with me?" she rose her eyebrows.

"Because I feel like I can talk to you about everything." he corrected her as Joeys eyes softened and her eyebrows knitted together. "You get me, you understand me, and I don't even have to say stuff sometimes and you just get it. I could never get that with anyone else, even if it's with my ex that I get stuck on every now and then."

"I get it. I mean, you weren't wrong about me and John B." Joey admitted her mistakes as she nodded to him. "But, the people i've known for years don't understand and know me the way someone i've only known a few months does."

Topper stared at her.

"So, you let Sarah go?" she frowned her eyebrow together.

"Honestly, Joey... I don't think I have a choice." he exhaled, like he was exhausted. "You're all I think about anymore, and when we're not together I feel like i'm in some blank bubble of pretending to be someone i'm not, and wanting things that I truly don't want. I was taught to be strong, to not show weakness because it is only a sign of less power in this world, and that you are nothing without it. But, you have become my weakness, and you will always be so much more important then showing any power."

Joeys eyebrows knitted together as her lips felt like turning up, but her stomach was twisting, her body was on fire. It was her turn, but she was lost of words to say. Yet, it didn't matter, because he was there to continue to speak so she didn't have to. "These past few days that we haven't been together, i've realize how much I don't enjoy my life without you in it. You're the entire reason I enjoy existing everyday. And without you there, all i'm left doing is thinking about when you'll show up."

The train started, leaving as Joey jogged the few feet closer to Topper, her hands latching onto his face as she pressed her lips into his. It was the most natural thing, the most easiest thing in the entire universe for her to do. As if they'd ever kissed before, as if she'd held him like this plenty of moments before. Only, no, never once has she. He kissed her back, with every reason of his existence to cherish such a moment as if she'd slip away once again. Every confusing thought, every painful memory, every unsolved trauma had disappeared tremendously in the embrace of the other.

•

kylie speaks

THE ENTIRE REASON HE
ENJOYS EXISTING IS BC OF
THE GIRL THAT FELL INTO
HIS POOL WHEN RUNNING
FROM A DOG BC HER MOPED
DIED!

the entire time i was watching the second season of bridgerton
all i kept thinking about was
how much anthony wnd kate
remind me of joey and topper
and this confession he just did
only made it so much worse.