-31-

"Im here, Im here." Stella spots Sarah and Kiara, "Sorry, I was... well I think you can tell." She gestures to her appearance. "Sorry. So what's up?"

"I found Sarah and Topper having breakfast. I wanna know what happened?"

"He caught me slugging beer at the Tiki Bar." Sarah slowly admits as Stella sits with them, "Shot drinking."

"Im no judging."

"I wouldn't blame you if you were. And then a couple kids from KCD rolled up, and they were already going to Mase. And then.... I kissed him. Do you guys hate me?"

"Hate's the wrong word."

"So you and John B are done?" Stella asks.

"No. Well, I don't know. I don't want to be. Like since the island, everything has felt so... abnormal, and it just felt nice to feel something normal again. And like... im a mess."

"You're not the only one." Stella nudges her. 

"Yep Stella is right,  you, me,... JJ." Kiara pauses, "He stole that money clip from my dad, and im still pissed about it. Just pretending he doesn't care. He won't talk to me. "

"Wait, what? He hasn't mentioned that at all ." Stella tells Kiara.  "When did he take it?"

"The night before we stole what we though was the cross. That's why I didn't go on the bike with him... you know I'd rather argue about it. But he's just ignoring it."

"Yeah well that's JJ.... do you want me to talk to him"

Kiara shakes her head, "It's fine, anyways what about you Stells?"

"Well If you guys were to hate anyone right now... it would be me."

"What have you done?"

Stella leans her head against the wall, "So when I was kidnapped by Singh... I wasn't the only one. Which is how I got out...."

"Who -"

"Rafe, he was going to make a deal about the cross but Singh thought he knew about the diary... we didn't, not that he believed us. Anyway nothing happened... between us, but when we got back to the OBX, Rafe... he was the one who got the real cross."

"Shit... does Pope know."

"Yep... Rafe and Barry are going 50-50 on it... anyway Pope found out that he melted it down, and he took his dads pistol."

"He was going to kill Rafe."

"Cleo talked him out of it... thankfully. But here is when you guys can hate me, I was there too, but on Rafe's boat because... well, anyway um ... Rafe was about to walk back into Pope's view so... I kissed him."

"You kissed my brother!?"

"You kissed Rafe!?"

"Yes... think about it though, I did it to help Pope... because if he had shot Rafe."

"You keep telling yourself that Stells." Sarah smirks. 

"So you see why im a mess too. I feel awful."

"Because of Pope?" Kiara asks. "You know you would of never been able to stop Rafe."

"I still..."

"Whose clothes are you wearing?"

"Not Rafe's."

"I think we just all need to a fresh start." Kiara sighs, "There's just so much going on right now."

"If I don't hate you for kissing Topper, will you-"

"It's different Stells."

"But still..."

"I won't hate you.... yet."

"That's good enough for me." She smiles at Sarah.

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

"So if you would kindly follow me. The Vip section." Rafe wraps an arm around Sofia, showing her the balcony. 

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, only very, very special people are allowed here." He smirks. "So you can see the water."

"Wow the water." Stella teases, interrupting the two of them. "Hi Im Stella." She smiles at the girl.

"Sofia." She smiled back.

"Hey you live on the cut, right?"

"Yeah I do."

"How much has he paid you?" Stella asks, taking the drink off Rafe.

Sofia looks confused, while Rafe scowls, "What are you talking about Ettie?"

"Sorry, it's just that Rafe hates pogues. I mean give him five minutes and he'll try kick me out."

"Fucking ridiculous." Rafe mutters.

"See." She nods at him. 

"Im sorry about her, she's drunk." Rafe tells Sofia before dragging Stella away.

"No i'm not, fucking liar." She tries to remove his hand from her but fails.  "I literally just got here and I want my money."

 "Oi. Don't go running you two." Barry yells, handing us another drink. "Country club! Stella! Come on, guys! Let's celebrate. Cheers me on that right there. It ain't a bad plan, man. That shit really did work, didn't it?"

"What'd I say?"

 "Only one real way I see this shit falling through for." Barry sits down.

"How's that?" 

"With your Pops, Rafe." Barry admits, as Stella sits down next to the boys.

"What do you mean, my pops?"

"Think about this shit, bro. Your dad has confessed to killing a whole raft full of folks, ain't he? But the only body that we have, Rafe, is Sheriff Pete. And your daddy didn't kill Sheriff Pete, Rafe. You did."

"Hey. We're not talking about this right now, Okay?"

"We're good, bro. You had to save your dad. i respect that shit. And then he took the fall for you. But think about it from his perspective. Because the only thing standing between the life he used to live and the life he's living now is you, Rafe. I don't give a damn how religious, self-righteous you think your daddy is. Sooner or later, he's going to realise it's you or him. What do you think Stells?"

They both turn to face her as she finished a drink , " Mmmh, Barry don't go making him scared of his beloved father now." 

"Well, I'd move to get him off the battlefield before he starts squawking.  But that's just me. You do you, Country club." Barry holds up his hands in defence but Rafe was still glaring at Stella.

It was dark out and Stella still hadn't left Rafe's house. She was supposed to be meeting  Sarah  at Kiara's family party, but the free drinks had side-tracked her.  Pope was with Cleo and the boys, well ...god knows where they were. 

"What do you want?" She exhales, feeling someone presence behind her. 

"This is my property Ettie, I'd watch your tone."

"What are you going to do? hmm?" She turns to him.

"What would you like me to do?"

"Go away or get me another drink."

"Have mine."

"Gentlemen." She mutters, drinking it.  "So that Sofia girl?" She asks.

"Jealous?" He smirks, wiping a drop from her lip.

"No..." She clears her throat, " Just find it funny how someone who supposedly hates pogues... seems to be surrounded by them."

"Less emotional connection."

"Yeah right. Prove it."

"How."

Stella looks around, before grinning, "I have an idea."Her hand slides down his torso, she was too drunk. "You don't care about Pogues, especially not me... so you can't make a sound." She whispers as her hand slips into his underwear.

"There are people-"

"Do you want me to stop?" 

He glances behind him, "Just... I swear if we get caught."

"Shhh." She tells him. If anyone were to look over it would look like they were just having an intimate chat. Well until Stella decides to hover his lips over his, teasing him.

"Struggling?" She whispers.

"No." He exhales, and she speeds up. "Like I said less... emotional connection."

 Stella smirks as he pushes himself closer to her hand.  "You close baby?" She looks up at him, biting her lip. She quickly looks behind him, before pressing her lips onto his and gently biting down on his bottom lip. 

He lets out a sigh of pleasure. "Fuck Ettie." He muffled against her lips. She breaks into a smile, but doesn't pull away.  It must of been all the drinks, because she didn't want to move her lips off of his.

"Less emotional connection, eh?" She managed to whisper, not moving back.

"You cheated." 

"How did I cheat?"

"You kissed me."

"Well how did I know that would have an affect on you?" She finally steps away, starting to feel nervous, "Next time, you won't last as long." She winks before walking off, leaving Rafe to sort himself out. 

After Rafe returns, there's barely anyone left. He scans the room for her.

"Looking for someone?"

"No." His eyes land on her. "What are you still doing here?"

"Free drinks?" She shakes her glass. "Im mentally preparing for-"

"Your dad being an alcoholic didn't scare you off?"

Stella scoffs, "Don't be a dick."

"It's just a question. You're scared to sleep because of him yet you drink... you've taken drugs. Maybe your-" Stella chucks the remains of her drink at him, before walking out.