1 Chapter 1: The Meeting

-FLASHBACK-

"Agh," the young boy screeches as his offender's arm makes contact with his abdomen.

"You don't mess with me, Pogue."

"I didn't do nothin' to ya," the boy begs.

"Rafe, stop," a girl's voice whispers, but the pounding continues. "RAFE STOP!"

The girl runs between the fight, pulling Rafe away from the young blonde. "Kie I swear to god, I'll fucking hurt you."

"You wouldn't dare." She lets go of the boy, giving him a final glare, retreating to the blonde. Kneeling next to him, she lightly brushes his cheek. "It's swollen," she whispers.

The boy flinches at her touch.

"Stay still."

The boy looks up. "I don't need your help."

"Well, I'm offering it." She peers into his eyes. "We need to get you some medicine."

The boy stares at her, looking her up and down in the process. "We'll need to go to my house," the girl mumbles. She helps the young man up to his feet and towards her car. "Get in."

"I said I don't need your help-"

"-And I said get in. Look at you, you're bleeding, you need help, whether you like it or not." The boy stiffens in place. "If you don't get in, I'll have to call someone to get you." No questions needed to be asked as the boy leaped into the jeep.

"I'm Kiara, by the way," she formally introduces herself, holding out her hand. The boy looks away towards the glass window, ignoring her lingering arm.

"I don't need help from Kooks." And with that, all conversation seizes.

---

"Here," the brunette offers her hand out to the blonde.

"I'm good," the boy states, getting out of the car and wincing from the pain.

"Okay," Kiara mutters.

They make their way to the front of the house, the boy eyeing it suspiciously. Kiara gets out her keys and opens the door, making sure to close it once they got in.

"We'll have to go to my room," she informs the boy. "My parents aren't home, so you'll be fine." The two make it up the stairs, towards her room.

"Wait here, lemme get the stuff," she tells the blonde, disappearing into her bathroom.

"So this is Kook's life," the boy says to himself.

"Okay, I'm gonna need you to lay down," Kiara says as she appears back into the room.

"What? You wanna jump me too?"

"No, I just need a better view of your um..." she trails off, using her arm to move towards his body.

Sighing, he lays down on her carpeted floor, looking at her, watching her next move. She kneels next to him.

"May I?" she asks, using her eyes to motion to his shirt.

"Pull my shirt up?" The boy chuckles. "You're the doctor."

The girl gives off a small smile and lifts up the boy's shirt. Her hands freeze and her eyes widen.

"You're stomach..." she trails off.

"I know I'm beautiful," he smirks. The boy sits up, eyeing his beaten-up body. He chuckles.

"You've never done this before, have you?" She shakes her head. "Here, let me see that."

Handing him the cloth and materials, she watches intently at what he does.

"Just wipe a little, till the blood is gone," he explains. "Then add the hydrogen peroxide to clean it up. Here."

She takes the cloth and peroxide from him. "I'll do it."

He looks up at her as she begins to wipe his wound slowly. "So, I didn't catch your name."

"You never asked," the boy whimpers from the pain.

"Well, I'm asking now. What's your name, stranger?"

"I don't give my identity to strangers." Kiara rolls her eyes, bandaging up his wound and moving upwards, towards his face.

"You can sit up now."

She dabs the side of his lip with the cotton swab. "All done."

She helps the boy up to his feet. "You get to leave now."

The boy stumbles towards the door, then turns back. "I need a ride."

Kiara smirks. "Alright." Downstairs, she grabs her keys and they head out.

"Shit."

The boy looks up. "What?"

"My parents," her explanation was clear. If they found her with a boy that looks like he'd just brawled with a dog, they'd be pissed. In their house, at that. "You need to hide." Her eyes wander to what could cover him up. "Go behind the house. I'll get you in 5."

The boy willingly does as she says and disappears behind the house as Kiara runs toward her parents.

"Mom. Dad," the girl greets her parents. "What are you doing here?"

"This is our house," her father chuckles.

"I bought some fresh mangos," her mother says. "Let's go inside and have some."

"I can't right now," Kiara immediately retorts. Realizing her situation, she clears her throat. "I mean, I'm meeting up with someone. A friend."

Her parents look from her to each other and to her again. A smile spreads across her mother's face. "Alright, I'll cut up the mangos and put them in the fridge."

That was too easy. Ever since her family moved to the Outer Banks a year ago because of work, it was hard for her to make friends. She made a friend at a time, but it didn't work out so well. It wasn't her first time there anyway. She lived there for some time, then had to leave to stay with her grandmother for a few years.

Kiara hugs both her parents and watches them enter the house. Once the coast is clear, she walks to the back of the house, to find the blonde hiding behind an oak tree.

"You're really bad at hiding," she giggles. The boy walks out from behind the oak.

"All clear, let's go," she tells him. He follows her back to the jeep. "So where am I dropping you off?" He leads her to a rusty cabin house by the river bank.

"Here." He gets out of the car, starting toward the house.

"Hey!" Kiara calls. "It's your turn."

The boy looks confused. "What?"

She gets out of her car and walks over to the boy. Extending her hand over to him, she says, "Hi, I'm Kiara."

The blonde looks from her hand to the girl. She begins to pull her hand away.

"JJ," he says, reaching for her arm and lightly shaking it. "I'm JJ." The boy tries to form a smile.

"Nice to meet you," Kiara smiles and begins to walk back to her vehicle. "Well, I guess I'll see you around?"

The boy nods and starts on his way to the house. "I guess you will," he whispers to himself, a small smile forming.