I climb out of the truck with Pope and Kie. They talk amongst themselves as I wander towards my house. Rows of lights flick on, that's new.

"What the hell?" Pope says.

I walk towards my house slowly, unsure of who was in my yard. The yard was decorated with tons of colorful lights that were wrapped around trees. The sound of water catches my attention as I walk around a bush, revealing JJ in a hot tub.

I was still upset with him for earlier in the day but I knew something was wrong. I walk toward the hot tub.

"Baby! What's going on?" He exclaims. His speech slurred from the alcohol he'd obviously been consuming.

"JJ.." My voice cracks.

"What the hell did you do, JJ?" Pope asks.

"I have a jet going straight up my butt right now." JJ giggles. "Y'all should get in immediately, you hear me? Especially you Babydoll, you look real good in a bikini." He hold up a glass of champagne. "Salud!"

I see Pope and Kie glance at each other, picking up on my nicknames.

"How much did this cost?" Pope asks.

"Uh, well with the generator, the petrol.. and, oh hey, the express delivery." He laughs. "Pretty much all of it, yeah."

"All of it?" Pope asks incredulously. "In one day?"

"Yeah," JJ answers. "Burned a whole right through my pocket. But I mean come on guys! Look at this!"

Kie just stares at him, shock written across her face.

"Kie, what? Can't a man have a little luxury in life? All this scrimpin' and scrapin'. I mean, like.. you only live once, right? Enough of this emotional shit. Get in the Cat's Ass."

Tears burned in my eyes at the sight of him like this. I blinked them back, trying not to cry. All I could do was watch as the scene played out. I was speechless.

"In the what?" Kiara asks quietly.

"The Cats Ass, that's what I named her. Oh, hey! Look." JJ presses a button. More lights come on. "Disco mode! That's right baby!"

"Are you kidding me?" Pope seethes.

I connect eyes with JJ. "Come on, Baby. Not you too." His eyes search mine.

"You could've payed for restitution." I say emotional.

"Or literally given it to any charity." Kie adds.

"Or better yet, you could've helped by supplies to get the rest of the gold out of the well." Pope says.

I roll my eyes, neither of the things they said were that important right now. All I could focus on was the broken boy in front of me.

"Okay, well you know what? I didn't do that!" JJ says standing up. Dark bruises paint his chest and stomach. You could tell they hurt by the way he moved. My breath hitches in my throat. "I got a hot tub! For my friends, my girlfriend. You know what? No, screw friends, I got a hot tub for my family!"

"JJ, what the hell?" Kiara says.

"Look what I did for you guys!"

"JJ.." Kie breathes sadly.

Tears burned my eyes as more glided down my cheeks. Every part of me hurt. I hated seeing him like this. Seeing him so hurt, so upset.

"Stop being emotional. It's fine! Okay?" JJ tears up, beginning to cry.

I turn to our friends. "Can you give us a minute?"

Kiara looks hurt, clearly still adjusting to my closeness with JJ. Pope wraps an arm around her shoulder and leads her into the house.

I look back to JJ. "It's sweet, right? Everything." He sobs.

"You can stop pretending." I say climbing into the tub with him.

"Just come here." He sobs, breaking. I wrap my arms around him, pulling him close to me as he sobs into my shoulder. Tears stream down my face, falling onto his own shoulder. Sobs wrack his whole body causing him to jerk against me as he cries.

"I just couldn't do it." JJ cries. I pull him tighter against me. "I can't take him anymore! I was gonna kill him." I run my hand through his hair, the other holding him against me.

"I know." My voice breaks with emotion.

"I'm sorry, Kat. I'm so fucking sorry. God, I was so selfish. I hurt the person I love most." JJ sobs harder.

I pull away, cupping his face so he looks at me. "Listen to me, I love you. More than anything. Nothing can change that. I know you didn't mean to hurt me, okay? I forgive you. JJ, it's okay." I wipe the tears that roll down his cheek bones.

"I just wanna do the right thing!" He cries.

"I know, JJ. I know. You're not the bad guy here, okay? He is. You deserve none of the shit he's thrown at you all these years. You're a good guy, J, my best fucking friend and the love of my life. It's okay to break down sometimes." I run my thumb across his cheek, trying to calm him down.

"I love you." He says shaking his head.

I pull him against me, pressing my lips to his. "I love you too." I whisper resting my forehead on his. "Let's get you cleaned up, yeah?"

He nods at me, making his way towards the edge of the tub. He climbs out, then picks me up after him, pulling me out. He clings tightly to my hand, pulling me back to look at him.

"You know I love you, like you're my whole world. You are the most important thing in my life and the best thing I have."

I nod at him before he pulls me in for a deep, passionate kiss.

We walk inside, Kie and Pope sit on the pullout watching us. I pull JJ into the restroom with me. I turn on the shower for him and pull out a towel, placing it on the counter.

"I'll be right back." I tell him before finding Kie and Pope in the living room.

"Is he okay?" Kie asks.

"Yeah, I think he will be. He's gonna stay here for tonight, with me."

"What about John B? He doesn't like that you two are together still."

"He needs me. I need to be here for JJ right now. You guys can sleep on the pullout or head home, either is fine."

"I wanna stay." Kie says.

"Me too." Pope agrees.

I nod, heading back into the bathroom.

I peel off my clothes, joining JJ in the shower. He looks my body up and down before pushing me against the wall gently. He presses a deep kiss to my lips, grabbing my hips. My hands glide over his chest, making their way to his cheek bones. He pulls me as close to him as he can.

I pull away. "We can't, J. Our friends are the next room over and they're still getting used to the idea of us."

"I know." He sighs.

"Are you okay?" I ask sympathetically.

"With you here? Yeah, I'm okay." He runs his thumb underneath the stitches in my arm. "We've both been through some tough shit."

"We're in it together." I tell him.

He cups my face, kissing me again.

"I want you." He whispers against my lips. A shiver goes down my spine.

I had to admit I wanted him too. It'd been awhile with everything that has been going on. And JJ was also so attractive and standing this close to him, naked was not helping

I step out of the shower, wrapping a towel around my body. He does the same before grabbing my hand and pulling me into my room.

As soon as we're inside my room I press my lips to his. He pushes me against the door. My hands find his hair, running through his blond strands and down his neck. He picks me up, I wrap my legs around his waist, trying to get even closer to him.

He carries me to my bed and lays me down, standing between my legs while hovering over me. He pulls away for a split second, looking at me. A breath releases from him.

I run my thumb along his cheekbone, as he hovers over me. I pull him towards me, separating his lips slowly with mine. His strong hands wrap around my back, pressing me against him. I run my hands up and down his sides. JJ spreads kisses across my jawline, making it back up to my mouth.

"Kat.." he mumbles against my lips.

I hum against his lips. "Hm?"

"You're beautiful."

My hands slide down his chest wanted to feel his skin against mine. I run my fingers over every muscle in his chest and down his abs. I stop at the top of the towel around his waist, playing with the hem. I start to pull it up with one of my hands. He realizes and pulls it off for me, meeting my lips with his again. He grabs me with an arm, pulling us all the way into the bed.

JJ hovers over me, straddling me with his legs. I reach up to pull him back down to me. His hand runs over my chest slowly. He pauses when he gets to where the towel ties. Using one arm he lifts me up and pulls my towel off with the other. He looks at me again, his eyes dark with lust.

"I love you."

"I love you too, J."