Someone to stay || JJ Maybank

18

"Revenge"

"So, what happened?" JJ asks me as we sit down to the bow. We made a plan for our revenge, which surprisingly was mostly planned by Pope. Some part of him really snapped back there since he didn't object once when we made the plan. The plan to drown Topper's dear boat that JJ admired yesterday. I think they deserved much worse, but Pope and JJ were sure this was the perfect revenge.

"Pope already told you, Rafe and Topper jumped us", I shrug, still constantly touching my lip and cheek like I could heal them just like that.

"No, details", JJ clears his question. His eyes watch closely my fingers as they go to my cheek once again. "Did Pope land at least one punch? Or did he just let them do that?"

I shift my eyes down. Pope probably would've been able to fight back if I didn't ruin everything and Rafe left him alone for a while longer. But it was useless to be smart afterwards. "Well, he threw the first punch, or pushed them first I think", I say my eyes still on the floor. "After that it was pretty helpless. Rafe threw him to the ground and I tried to take revenge for Pope."

JJ's brows raise in surprise. "You did?"

"I punched Rafe", I close my eyes. The memory of what happened after plays crystal clear in front of my eyes. "And when I backed away after and he looked like he would jump on me, Pope came to rescue, even though he already was hurt pretty badly."

"That's our Pope", JJ smiles.

"Right, but.." I need to take a moment before continuing. I don't want to tell JJ what happened. I don't want him to think I'm a horrible person but, he deserves to know. Everyone deserves to know that Pope wasn't weak, that's not why he was the one laying on the ground after. "I kind of said something dumb. Teased them, that they won't hit a girl. And they didn't, but they hit Pope instead while I could only watch", I feel tears burning in my eyes. I had managed to keep from crying but now it was almost impossible not to cry. "Pope id hurt so bad because of me. I encouraged them to fight, I didn't think it through", I whisper.

"Hey, it's not your fault-" JJ tries to pull me into a hug but I pull away.

"But it is. I didn't know Pope would try to get up again, but I should've kept my mouth shut. But I got what I deserved." First tear drops down my cheek but I quickly wipe it away. "They did punch a girl after all."

"What?" I feel JJ tense next to me but I don't look at him. Not before the tears have dried from my eyes.

"You knew that", I whisper. "First Rafe pushed me away from Pope so he could mock him. And when I got up and tried to hit Topper too, Rafe got his revenge."

I feel a hand slowly going over my cheek, JJ's thumb caressing the skin over the bruise. It hurt a little when he pressed it, but I didn't react. Felt wrong to say anything when he was touching me so gently. "It's not your fault", JJ repeats. "They would've done that anyway."

"You can't know that", I whisper. Finally the tears have disappeared but I'm afraid that if I lift my gaze to meet his they'll come back.

"Pope tried to save you, even though he knew you didn't need to be saved", JJ says, lifting my head up so my eyes would meet his but I keep avoiding them. "Hey, come on, even if he was mad, you're still even."

"Is that supposed to help?" I scoff. How helpful. I got us in trouble but at least we both got punched.

"Okay, maybe that wasn't the best thing to say", JJ admins, a little smile playing on his lips. "Pope doesn't blame you, okay? He's just-"

"You don't know that."

"-angry right now", JJ continues like I didn't say anything. "Not at you, at them. He lost a fight. Boys tend to be pretty mad about that."