❁ • 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 • ❁ a pope heyward fanfic

𝟹𝟸 ❁ 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚠 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝, 𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎

"Can you walk?" Pope asked when the van pulled up to the chateau.

"...yeah I think." Kayanna responded, focusing on the constant pain in her side.

Sarah slid the door open and hopped out along with Kie and John B. John B mumbled something incoherent under his breath, probably about how they were putting off talking about "the plan" again.

Kie leaned into the back of the van. "Did it not hurt?" She asked, wondering how the situation escalated so quickly.

"No... it hurt." Kayanna said, inching forward in her seat. "I got shot."

"Why didn't you say something?" Kie asked.

"I— I just thought the Tylenol wore off."

Kiara rolled her eyes at her best friends carelessness. "You should have told me."

"Sorry." Kayanna said, inching forward again. If she didn't have to bend to walk out of the van she probably could do it on her own.

"Here." Pope spoke, reaching for her hands.
She gripped onto his as he pulled her up, trying not to show her pain.

Together they made their way out of the van. Once she'd stepped out of it, she released Popes hand from hers. She could walk on her own from there. They followed Sarah and John B inside.

"Beer?" John B asked, at the powerless fridge.

"Yes." Sarah answered pulling herself up on the counter.

As if the beer reminded her of JJ, Kie had a small frown on her face. She grabbed a water and leaned against the counter next to Sarah.

"This way." Pope spoke, turning down the hall. Kayanna followed slowly after him into the bathroom. She edged past him towards the toilet and put the seat cover down before carefully lowering herself onto it. She then worked on pulling off her shirt as painlessly as possible. Pope opened a drawer, pulling out a washcloth and holding it under the sink before ringing it out and turning to Kayanna.

He handed it to her, letting her clean away most of the blood. When she finished he knelt in front of her, his fingers going towards the top of the bandage. Kayanna squeezed her eyes shut as he pulled it off as slowly and as carefully as possible. When he got it fully off she opened her eyes. Pope took the washcloth and wiped around the wound as softly as possible.

"So are you gonna tell me who did that to your wrists?" Pope asked, his eyes never leaving the wound.

Kayanna was taken aback by the question. Especially since he hadn't looked away from her side. "Uh— no one." She said too quickly, suddenly hyper aware of her wrists.

He glanced to her eyes and then back down to her side. His silence was loud to Kayanna. It said "bullshit" and "I'll talk to you when you're going to tell the truth". It probably didn't actually say anything but still, it drove her crazy.

"It doesn't matter." She spoke, breaking the horrible silence.

Pope didn't look up at all this time. His eyes stayed on her side. Before the silence could get to her again Kay broke it.

"You don't even care. Why should I tell you?" She asked, a little more roughly than she'd meant to. It'd been a long day.

His eyes met hers again and his hand that was cleaning her bullet wound fell to his side.

"I don't care?" He repeated with a hint of irritation. When Kayanna didn't answer he went on. "I don't care? You don't even care about yourself!"

"I care." Kayanna spoke quietly, regretting the confrontation.

"Really? Because it doesn't seem like it. You never care when you get hurt, you never ask for help, you never participate in conversations— God! It's like you don't want anyone to care about you." He sat back on his heels. He shook his head taking a breath to calm himself down. "I got you a job, I hung out with you, I taught you to surf, I- I told you about my sister." He laughed dryly. "Shit, I'm cleaning this out for the second time," he gestured to the bloody mess in front of him. "And you don't think I care?!"