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marcellaasblog · 2 years ago

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Eyes for the Geezer

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Summary: Your boyfriend Wyatt takes you to go meet his parents for the first time.When you find out Wyatt has been cheating on you threw out y'all whole relationship,you take Eddie up on his offer but will that do you any good in the end?

Warnings for the whole series: cheating, divorce, angst,smut, smoking,p in v,daddy kink, pervert Eddie, Wyatt's mom is an ass to you, mention of Steve, insecure reader,dom Eddie, switch reader, Wyatt mom is a cheater,huge age gap,insecure Eddie, and of course fluff with a Happy ending??

Author's notes: Eddie is 50 reader is 27 . I'm gonna keep the same names from the old story. Beth (Eddie's wife) Wyatt (beth & Eddie son) mack/Mackenzie (Wyatts ex girlfriend)

Part 1 // part 3

Part 2

Everything was going great,Wyatt was laughing at his dad's joke. You were chatting up with Beth sipping some cheap wine,All four of y'all were being peaceful with each other and you liked it. You liked being a part of things like this.You like feeling included instead of being left out.

You can get used to this.

That's until Wyatt's phone went off and it was like the whole energy in the room shifted.

Wyatt started up an old argument from years ago which caused a yelling battle in front of his parents.

Was it embarrassing?

Yes.

Was Wyatt being an asshole?

Definitely.

Wyatt did the most childish he can ever possibly do

Left

Without

You!

You gotta be fucking kidding me! What were you supposed to do now ,you can't just stay in someone's house that you barely knew.

Eddie felt terribly bad that Wyatt was being a dick to you.

But he did get to have you at this house, so that was a bonus.

Eddie didn't want to take you back to the hotel so he made up an excuse saying he was very tired and and maybe you and Wyatt needed some space from each other so he let you sleep in their guest bedroom for tonight . Eddie went to go get the room cleaned up for you like a good man he was.

On the other hand Beth was already pissed that her son left a woman in her house she barely knew. Which was understandable But you were too tired to even care about what she said.

You just needed Eddie to hurry up with the room .

Maybe some good sleep would help you but tomorrow you needed to go talk to Wyatt and sort things out with him.

You love him and you weren't going to let a little fight get between the both of you.

Eddie lays out a new sheet on the bed for you as he Puffs up your pillows for your pretty little head. He wanted to make sure you were as comfortable as possible.

He thought to himself for a second.

Would it be wired for him to turn on the cameras that were in the guest room?

Yes,yes it would. but hey no one had to know.

He just wanted the camera on so he could keep an eye on you and to make sure you were okay and safe.

He just wanted to make sure his guest was comfortable.

Yeah keep on telling that lie to yourself munson.

Eddie heads downstairs after he got his camera to turn on making sure that he could see the video footage on his phone.

He swears he's just doing it to check up on you.

That's all.

"Hey y/n the room is all yours now." Eddie said as he led you upstairs.

"Thank you Eddie this means Alot,sorry about the whole argument that me and Wyatt got into . I swear we were okay till now. I don't know what got into him." You apologize putting your purse down on the Queen size bed slipping your coat off from your tired body.

Oh,if only you knew what he knew.

"Don't apologize sweetie,it wasn't your fault. Wyatt can be an ass sometimes,but he gets that from his mom." Eddie said, leaning against the door of the guest room. You giggle at Eddie's little comment about Wyatt.

"No but seriously don't feel bad."

"I know but I can't help it , I didn't want to be a disturbance to your family the first time I meet y'all." You sit at the edge of the bed taking off your beat up boots.

Eddie eyed you as you leaned down to take your boots off, he caught a glimpse of your perky breasts from the opening of your shirt. He shifted his legs leaning on the other foot quickly pulling the crock of his pants away to his already hard bulge.

Fuck him for getting old and getting hard so quickly.

"You're not a disturbance y/n."

"That's not what your wife thinks." You tell Eddie as you look up at him.

You were right,but Beth hates everyone. It was normal.

"Yeah well ,this isn't her house it's mine so you're allowed to stay here as long as you please." Eddie told you to put a smile on your face.

God you had such pretty lips with a pretty smile.

He was just about to say fuck the plan so he could feel your lips on his.

Take a deep breath Eddie not yet.

"That's very kind of you Eddie thank you" You tell him

"No problem sweetheart, we're friends now and friends help out friends." He applied as he backed out the door.

"WAIT EDDIE."' you said as he turned his head back into your view.

"Yes?'

"Do you have anything to wear I don't feel like sleeping in my jeans tonight." You asked, biting your bottom lip.

"Uh yeah let me check I'll be right back."

"THANK YOU!" You yell down the hall as he quickly jogs to his only to see Beth already in bed flipping through the channel on the tv.

"What did she want to know?" Beth asked as her eyes were still on the tv.

"She needs some clothes to sleep in so I'm checking your draw real quick." Eddie said as he opened the drawer tossing clothes out of her drawer not caring if he was making a mess.

"You gotta be fucken kidding me ,first she fights with our son then she stays the night and now you're letting her wear my clothes. Are you serious right now Edward?" She asked as Eddie van heard the venom in her words.

"For fucks sakes Elizabeth she didn't start shit with Wyatt he's just an ass and she can stay here as long as she wants, fuck she can maybe move in if she wanted for all I care, and lastly This is my house not yours." Eddie slamming the dresser drawer.

"And you know what she doesn't need your clothes I'll just let her use mine." Eddie stomped into his shared closet looking through his clothes looking for a big shirt since he didn't have pants to give you. He pulls out one of his old work flannels as he storms out of his bedroom knocking at the guest room you were in .

"Hey so funny story, Beth did want me to give you any of her clothes so I found an old flannel of mine because I did NOT have pants for you, so you can just button it up and pray to God that it will cover your body." He let out an awkward chuckle.

"Oh, no that's okay I'm perfectly fine with that.Thank you." You take the flannel out from Eddie's hands.

He felt the coldness of the tip of your finger on his palm as you grabbed the flannel from him.

Yeah okay that he needed to get out of there IMMEDIATELY.

"Well okay I'm gonna go lay down if you need anything I mean anything just knock on our door and let me know."

"Alrighty Eddie thank you goodnight." You tell him as you let a tired yawn out stretching out your arms.

"Good night sweetie." Eddie left and quickly ran into his room entering his bathroom not caring what Beth was complaining about now. He locked the door behind him quickly pulling out his phone as he pressed on his home security cameras.

Eddie didn't feel one bit of guilt as he slid down his pants to his ankles as he set his phone on the toilet top hovering his cock over the toilet bow as he watched you take off your top.

Eddie took his length into his own hands as he teased himself slowly starting at the tip of his leaking cock.he looks back at his phone as he sees you throwing your shirt on he bed,from the view he had he saw how your tits jiggle at every movement you made.he could see you reaching down to undo your pants he teases the tip as he smears his fluids all around his leaking tip as he grabs his ball with his other hand massaging them with his finger.He bites down on his lip trying to keep quiet as his wife is in the other room.you dropped your pants to floor bending down as he sees a perfect views of your round ass. Eddie strokes himself as he could ear the wet sounds of his hand meeting his cock .He closed his eyes for a second imagining your kneeling down in front of his while he strokes himself, he really wanted to cum in your mouth but also on your tits or wait! maybe on your ass or even better inside if you he wondered how tight you would be and if you would giggle while he slips his cock into your tight Young pussy. His thoughts got so wrapped up in his head he forgot that he was watching you. Eddie opens his eyes only to see that you are done and ready for bed as he sees you snuggling up with one of the pillows.

Fuck!

He had to go back to using his imagination as he jerks himself one last time letting out a low grunt as his hot white cum shoots into the toilet and all over his hand and balls. He rides out his orgasms slowly setting down his sensitive balls.he grabs some toilet paper to clean himself up , he hisses as he whips off his cum from his sensitive soft cock.

Did he just jerk off to his son's girlfriend and feel no guilt whatsoever?

Hell yes he did.

He was growing impatient all he needed was for Wyatt to fuck up so he he can move along to the next step. He is Lucky that Wyatt and you are here for a couple more days that will definitely be more time for things to unravel.

Eddie laid in his bed that night with his wife in his arms he thought about you and How pretty you were when he first saw pictures of you and How nice and sweet you were when he met you and how sexy you were when you were changing. He smiled at the thought of getting to taste you very soon.

you lay in the bed but you couldn't get the thought out of your head of Eddie watching you while you slept.

A smile creeped up on your face as you watched the red light blink from above your bed.

Oh if only he knew that you could see the bright blinking red button.

He was a pretty face with no brains.

You went to sleep with a uncomfortable aching feeling between your legs.

"Hey y/n sweetie it's time to wake up,I made you pancakes"Eddie looks down at the plate.",well kind of I burnt them so ego's it was." Eddie said, scratching the back of his neck. He looked at you and your sudden movement but you weren't waking up when he set the plate down on the dresser and he moved your hair out of your face. You looked Peaceful a little too peaceful, your skin was glowing in the early morning sunlight and your plumped lips squished together by the pillow in your cheek he giggled a bit on how your hair looks and the way it was sticking up, his thick fingers caress your cheek whispering for you to wake up. He heard you your little whines as you slowly stirred awake opening your eyes as you got a glimpse of Eddie, but your fist were too fast before you could stop yourself as you punched him in the face.

Eddie yelps In shock and in pain as he stumbles back.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT FOR!?" Eddie asked as he viciously rubbed his cheek.

"OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! I AM SO FUCKEN SORRY I DIDN'T MEAN THAT, YOU JUST SCARED ME AND MY BODY REACTED BEFORE I COULD I'M SO SO SORRY EDDIE." you say as you get out of the bed not even caring if you're wearing pants or not all you wanted to do was just help him.

"Well at least I know you can defend yourself." Eddie chuckled nervously as he saw you get out from the bed getting a glimpse of your naked legs.

"I am so sorry, come on, I'll help you downstairs." You grabbed Eddie's hand slowly but quickly walking him down the stairs.

"Hey I'm hurt, I'm not that old I can walk down the stairs perfectly fine." He didn't mind, actually he thought it was pretty cute for you to take care of him.

"Yeah I know but it would make me feel way much better." You sit Eddie down on the chair as you open up the freezer looking through it to find an ice pack or ice at this point.

"It's on the side door bottom shelf." Eddie said as you lookback thanking him.Eddie eyes roamed your body as he got a glimpse of your black cotton panties as you bent down.

Shit you might need to take care of something else for him too.

Quick it Munson, STOP BEING A PERV.

You grabbed a paper towel as you wrapped it around the ice pack not wanting to put it directly on his eye . Eddie hisses at the coldness pressing on to his pulsing red eye.

"Sorry." You say As you hold it there for a second. You couldn't help but notice as your eyes roamed his chest that he had more tattoos but you couldn't make out what they were.

"Hey, my eye is up here." Eddie told you as you let out a nervous giggle.

Eddie grabbed onto your hand that was holding the ice pack as he slowly moved it from his eye replacing your hand with his.

"Hey I got it from here how about you go upstairs and eat your breakfast and maybe" he looks you up and down."put some pants on please."

You look down at your bare legs as you back away from him.

"Yeah you're probably right thank you Eddie, and I'm very sorry."

"Hey, it's all right it was an accident." He told you as he put his hand on your shoulder.

You nod your head as you quickly walk out of the dining room almost tripping as you turned back around to ask Eddie something.

"Hey by the way is it okay if you can drop me off at the hotel once I'm done." You asked .

"If my eye is still attached, yes I don't mind." He joked looking up at your nervous face.

"Hey Im fucking around, I don't mind."

"Yeah I knew that , thank you Eddie." You ran up the stairs.

"NO PROBLEM SWEETIE!" he yelled.

"Hey you ready doll?" Eddie asked swinging his keys in his hands.

"yup I'm coming." You walked down the stairs In your outfit you had on from yesterday.

Eddie opens the door letting you go out first as the gentleman he is .

You wait for Eddie to Lock the door so he can point to which car yall were taking, but instead he goes to the garage putting the code in the pad.

The garage door opens up as Eddie passes you a helmet.

"what's this for." You looked confused

"we, sweetie are taking my bike instead, it is way to hot out here." Eddie drags out his huge two seater motorcycle.

"holy shit is that a BMW R1250 RT !" You asked really as you put the helmet on your head.

Eddie looked back at you with a smirked on his face,he likes how intrigued you were .

"Yeah! how did you know." He was shocked to know you knew about bikes not that it was a bad thing it's just that beth and Wyatt would get annoyed when he would bring up his bike in conversations he thought it was pretty cool if you to know he felt his cheeks heat up looking at you as your eyes roamed his bike.

"It been a dream of mine to get one but Wyatt said it was too dangerous for me." You happily put on the helmet as you do a little dance of excitement.

God could you get any more fucken hotter.

"HA, well look at that beth said the same thing , I haven't took this baby out in while cause of her." Eddie drags his bike out into the street puts on his helmet, Eddie throws his leg over his bike as he starts up the engine hearing the loud sound roar of the Motorcycle.

You get all excited as Eddie lends his hand out telling you to get on.

"Hold on tight babe, don't want you pretty self getting hurt." Eddie said over the loud noises of the bike.

You wrapped your arms around Eddie feeling how big and stiff his torso really was you swear you could feel abs under his jacket. As Eddie takes off you lean your head onto his shoulder feeling the hard wind breeze on your neck.

Eddie could stop his smiling under his helmet as he could hear you humming and giggling . He could feel your arms tighten around him as your hands dangled above his croch.

It is the wrong time for him to be getting hard.

Eddie let his thoughts flow as he try's to get him mind off of his uncomfortable bulge.

He can hear your little gigglea of excitement from behind him. He thought it was so adorable on how you were reacting.

How can Wyatt be so cruel to someone so innocent and sweet?

You arrive at the hotel. Eddie parks his bike taking off his helmet. His hair looked funny as it stuck to his tatted neck . You could help but giggle as you see Eddie putting his hair up into a bun.Eddie turns around sticking his tounge out at you as you shook your head.

You and eddie turn your heads when you hear one of the hotel room doors open and a blonde tall woman walks out while she pulls down her red skimpy dress but right behind her is Wyatt as he grabs her by the back if her neck smashing his lips into hers

Your smile drops as you stare up at the scene in front of you.

You couldn't believe it.

Before Wyatt can look down at you and eddie, Eddie turns his body to make sure Wyatt can't see you

"Sweetheart, look at me please." Eddie asked as he could hear the small cry coming from your whining lips .

"Can you just please take me somewhere else?" You asked not looking up at him as you play with the end of your shirt.

Eddie kisses your head starting up his bike as he makes eye contact with his son.

He smirks up at Wyatt taking off to the closest diner.

The waitress sits you and Eddie at a booth. Eddie puts his big hand over you hand caressing your knuckles between his fingers.

He sees you as you start to cry he quickly gets up from his side scooting into your side as he takes your body into his arms.

"Shh it's okay baby I got you, let it out pretty girl." He says as he rubs your arms and back kissing your forehead your head he tries to comfort you as much as he can but he's not very good at that.

"I'm so mad at him ,I trusted him, why would he do that to me." You say as you can feel your hot tears running down your cheek Eddie wipes them away with his thumb looking at you with all the sadness in his big brown eyes.

Eddie didn't like it but either. Yeah he wanted his own son to fuck up . but that's because he wanted him to show you how he really was and that he wasn't faithful and he never loved you from the start .

Wyatt was Just like his mom when he found out that beth was still sleeping with Steve her ex-boyfriend not just any guy named Steve but Steve Harrington the guy that he thought was his friend.

But for all he cares Steve can keep her he just hopes that Nancy know About her husbands and Beth's little affair they have going on Steve owns Nancy at least that.

But besides that he wasn't going to stick around and watch poor little you get your feelings hurt or watch him get fucked over by the same woman.

"Y/n?

"Yes Eddie?"

"Would you like to take up an offer ?"

Taglist: @userlaiss7 @ali-r3n @eddiemunson95 @names-were-taken @taylorswiftspeaknow @peachy-bunnns @jackchampionsbbg @hellfirefiend @eddiesguitarskills @alyisdead @nope-thanks

The @ that are Crossed out did not let me add you I'm very sorry about that.

#eddie x reader #eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie stranger things #eddie munson smut #eddie x fem!reader #older!eddie #older eddie munson #old!eddie #dilf eddie munson #eyes for the geezer

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rose-tinted-juls · 2 years ago

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holy damn lover another MASTERPIECE is here!!! (yeah it took me an eternity to read it, i hate uni) honestly my lifespan expands by at least five years whenever i read about chris and charles.

1. "you're stuck with me now, boyfriend and all that" catch me SCREAMING why do i feel so emotional this is not normal

2. the way charles cooks breakfast and in the meantime keeps leaning over her shoulder to correct the padel video LOVE LOVE LOVE i can so imagine him like this fr + let's also mention the beauty of a line "i'm going to padel you upside the head" bc it's just perfect

3. chris correcting charles' english 😭 but in this cute and definitely not rude way 😭 and charles doesn't mind, not when it's her correcting him 😭

4. "hold your fire, find your english" I LOVE THIS lmao i'm so gonna use this the next time my sis and bro in law comes to visit (he's not from my country) there were so many instances when i could've used this in the past. i will now. thank you for blessing me with it.

5. "why did i not know this?" - "i don't know. why didn't you know that?" - "google said nothing about this." - "you googled me?!" - "you didn't google me? ...yeah, that's what i thought." THIS WHOLE DIALOGUE. i mean i still don't know why i'm fangirling over it so hard bc it seems sich a simple conversation. maybe it's the fact that it's chris and charles. but. i just do. love it.

6. chris blushing when charles casually implies that she'll visit many times. and the line "he doesn't have to take special care to include her in his life, he just does it - does it like he's always been doing it, always been sharing these small parts of his life with her." OMG this is what i live for. god when is it my turn??

7. the detail of charles bringing a napkin to his mouth so he can reply to her sooner SO REAL. these are the things that make this story feel like you're actually living through it

8. another detail that made me scream bc it's just REAL REAL, is when they're walking and chris moves a bit further away from him subconsciously and charles pulling her right back 😭😭 also, charles saying that she will ruin his first impression in the eyes of her family lmaoo

9. charles testing his knowledge of her family while she tries to finish her book 😭😭 so so so adorable! and "my perfect little angel" OMFG

10. let's not forget about charles worrying his ass off bc he doesn't want to ruin everything by making a stupid mistake and ruining her family's opinion and her own like come on 😭😭 this is so charles and you can't convince me otherwise

11. "she can't possibly understand it because he doesn't even properly understand it, the way he feels about her." poetic. truly poetic. 🫶🏼✨

12. charles trying to convince chris to go back to bed by pointing out how warm and soft it is AND then them running around. his reaction time (obvs), the way he catches her with a strong grip AND how he carries her back to bed. *chefs kiss*

13. well. the smut. let's just say that i loved it. & "never apologise for that" !!!!! jesus bloody hell. and now let me not continue bc then i'll be burned for the things i'd write

14. him mumbling in french (already dying bc that's the best thing ever) and her asking him if he's talking trash about her. yes. <33

15. that final phone call. already the fact that he wanted her to call asap when she gets home. and then the call itself. charles being a child about the hickey, them terribly trying to overcome the language barriers, and then the "thank you for calling me." - "thank you for wanting me to call." i'm dead. this must be heaven.

oh mack you did it. once again. as you always do. you make me scream, giggle, cry, smile, stop breathing, throw my phone away. i adore this story, i adore your mind for coming up with it and then creating this masterpiece with all these gorgeous words, and i adore you. <333

miss americana & the heartbreak prince

—05. Monte Carlo Ave. —word count: 9.3k —warnings: obvious implications of sex, no smut. club activities, so much fluff you'd wish you were dead. angst in the middle. love, mackie... so, just like chapter 4, there is a nsfw cut of this chapter whose link is embedded in the post. all nsfw warnings will be on that post. thank you for bearing with me while I took my sweet ass time writing this next part--there is no exaggerating how busy my life has become in the past couple months.

He wakes up at five-thirty-seven in the morning, exactly twenty-three minutes before his alarm is set to go off. Charles can’t remember the last time he was awake before his alarm, or the last time his alarm at home was set to go off before the sun rose.

It was fear that woke him up—fear of waking her up.

Her. Chris. His girlfriend, who is sound asleep next to him, in his bed, in his apartment, in his city.

She’s a cute sleeper, he knew—he knew, because she’d fallen asleep on FaceTime calls half a dozen times, because he’d watched her for a nearly creepily amount of time in Abu Dhabi, when he couldn’t believe she was actually there. She’s a cute sleeper, and yet, the shine hasn’t worn off yet, because he still watches.

She’d gone to bed in a hoodie from work and no pants, because, of course she had. Of course she had. She’s got one hand awkwardly craned under her pillow and another wrapped up in the comforter like it’s a finger trap, and her hair is messy, so messy and half-stuck to her cheek. It’s fucking adorable, and he feels so lucky.

He gets nervous then, nervous that she’s going to wake up and he’s going to be staring and it’s going to be weird, so. Instead of continuing to ogle, he reaches for his phone from the nightstand, turns the volume all the way down and scrolls through social media pretending not to steal a glance every time she takes a deep breath or moves a muscle.

It’s half an hour before she yawns awake, and he’s relieved that he doesn’t have to wake her up, after all.

“Morning,” he says, clicks the power button on his phone and lets it fall face down on his chest.

Chris smiles. “Morning,” she breathes, and leans over to kiss him.

“Mmm,” he hums, pushes his index finger against her lips. “What happened to morning breath?” He asks.

“Nope,” she speaks against his finger, threatens to bite it. He knows he wouldn’t stop her, but moves his finger anyway to kiss her properly, to let her smile out of it. “You’re stuck with me now, boyfriend and all that.”

“Gross,” he smiles. “I love it.”

She flops back against the mattress with a laugh, “What time is it?” she asks, leaning over to reach for her own phone.

“Six,” he hums. She scowls at her lock screen. “We have plans at seven.”

“Oh?” She peruses, sits up to stretch properly, to yawn again and ruffle her hair and God, she is so beautiful. He might never get over it.

“Padel…” he smiles, wonders if he’s about to get in trouble, to start their first fight as a couple at six in the morning on a Tuesday. He probably should have run this past her, he thinks, run all of it past her. He’d just gotten so caught up in the planning of it all. “...with my brothers.”

Her hands flop from her hair onto the comforter, landing with a soft thud on the padded fabric. When she looks at him, she’s still smiling, but her eyes are tired, confused. “Baby, what is padel?”

– – –

They cook breakfast together—well, Charles cooks breakfast. Chris spends the entire time leaning against the kitchen counter cradling her phone, watching a YouTube video on the basis of padel playing. Charles keeps leaning over her shoulder, plastic spatula in hand, and correcting the man in the video. That’s not what you do, he hums. They don’t know what they’re talking about.

After the fifth comment in as many minutes, she turns to him with a chill-inducing glare. “I’m going to padel you upside the head,” she says, with a smile on her face—which only makes it that much more terrifying. He nods, steps back from her shoulder and returns to the crepes he’s butchering on the stovetop.

– – –

“I have to know,” she asks, sat on the floor in the bedroom, in the limited space at the end of the bed, tying her shoes. “What was the plan if I didn’t pack workout clothes?”

“Eh,” he mutters, rifling through the hangers of sweatshirts hanging in his closet. “I would have put on you some of my clothes,” he continues, pulls his two best options down from the hangers and holds them up for her. One, a blue Ferrari crewneck. The other, gray, from his friend’s line.

“You would have put me in your clothes,” she corrects his English, and if it was anyone else he’d find it insufferable. But he doesn’t, not with her, so he chuckles and his smile grows and he can feel his dimples. For the dramatics, though, he rolls his eyes.

“Which one?” He asks, taking turns raising the two sweatshirts.

“As tempting as the team kit is,” she laughs, and he tosses the gray one to her. He could have guessed the gray one, he thinks, but she’s surprised him more than once before. “Thank you,” she hums, pulling it over her head and carefully fixing the wisps of hair that fall from her tonytail when she does it.

“Always,” he nods, holds a hand out to pull her to her feet.

– – –

Arthur and Lorenzo are already at the court when Chris and Charles arrive, attempting—and failing—to play a round of singles padel on the doubles court Chalres had reserved for the morning.

Just as they approach, a shot ricochets off of Arthur’s racquet and flies past Lorenzo, colliding with the glass wall behind him with a thud. Lorenzo jogs after the ball, laughing, pointing at his brother in a sore act of celebration.

Arthur is just as sore a loser. “Ah!” He calls out, gesturing with his own racquet to the tape that runs along the top of the net. “Filet!” Net!

Lorenzo blows air from his cheeks and scoffs, firmly bouncing the ball against the ground a few times before picking it up properly. “S'il te plaît!” Please!

“Mon pote, allez,” Mate, come on, Arthur groans. “Ça tremble encore!” It’s still shaking!

“Arthur, j'étais à trois mètres,” I was three meters away.

Charles grins, pulls open the door to the court, holding it open for Chris to step in front of him. “Retiens ton feu,” hold your fire, he calls out to his brothers, “trouve ton anglais,” find your English.

Both boys' heads shoot over, scowls still apparent. “Do you see this? Do you see him run into this net?” Arthur shouts, still gesturing wildly with his racquet.

“Do not let him convince you, you know what you saw,” Lorenzo interjects, carries on even though the game has been abandoned and they instead jog over to greet Chris and Charles. Lorenzo is first over, kissing either of Charles’ cheeks. “You saw this?” He asks, and Charles laughs, nods.

“I did.”

“Bullshit,” he laughs, shoves Charles’ shoulder and turns to greet Chris. “You?”

Charles expects to find some apprehension on Chris’ face, something that shows she’s not sure of her place yet, but he doesn’t find any. Confidently, she speaks, “He’s crazy, you weren’t even close,” and then kisses each cheek.

Lorenzo tosses his arm around Chris with a laugh. “Charles,” he speaks, points to her with the same hand that’s thrown over her shoulder. “My team.”

Charles chuckles. “I try not to make a habit of telling my girlfriend what to do.” Chris blushes at the very mention of it—girlfriend. If he knew it would be that easy to make her blush he would’ve asked weeks ago. He might’ve asked in Austin, if he’s being completely honest with himself.

“Oh-ho?” Arthur’s already teasing, clapping his hands on Charles’ shoulders and laughing like a madman. “Girlfriend, huh?”

Neither of them—Chris or Charles, say anything. Between the flush of her cheeks and the depth of his dimples, they might as well have it spray painted on their foreheads. “Right,” Lorenzo offers, “well, Chris, as the only person around here with some sense, you’re on my team.”

“You can have her,” Charles teases, Lorenzo quirks a brow. “She has no idea how to play, but also she is a rule master.”

“Abandoning your own girlfriend,” Chris interjects, the same teasing tone laced in her voice. She pretends to shiver, grand and dramatic, even though it’s eighteen degrees and sunny and she’s got long pants and a sweatshirt—his sweatshirt on. “It’s cold, man.”

He rolls his eyes, sticks a racquet in her hand and moves to kiss her, which is more than close enough to Lorenzo for him to abandon his position next to Chris, retreating to the safety of the court, bouncing the padel ball as he walks. “Ready to take us?” Charles asks quietly, just to her. Arthur is somewhere in the space behind him gulping a water bottle in an almost comical manner.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” she replies, half-chuckled, demeanor light and bouncy. There’s something about her that always seems full of energy, ready to take on whatever is put in front of her head-on.

“Don’t worry,” he practically whispers, winks and gives her shoulder a soft squeeze. “I’ll go easy on you.”

Chris clicks her tongue against the roof of her mouth, feigns offense and scoffs loudly, bringing the head of the racquet up to the center of his chest, pushing him back a few steps. “Don’t you dare.”

He doesn’t know what’s gotten into him, offering—practically promising—to let someone else win. There’s still a basket somewhere in a storage closet full of broken video game controllers from his childhood. And once, for three entire weeks when they were six and nine, he and Arthur weren’t allowed at the dinner table together because they would race to finish their food and promptly get sick. Then again, it is Chris, all bouncy ponytail and quick wit in his home in his clothes, so. Maybe it isn’t as far-fetched as it seems.

As expected, it becomes apparent quickly that Chris is a beginner at a game the boys have spent years playing. She misses shots and struggles to find her footing and the best positioning, but it doesn’t crush her mood, dampen her energy. Lorenzo—her teammate, takes on quite a coaching role, offers an equal amount of encouragement and advice.

She’s a quick learner, though. Charles knew she would be. So, despite the sound loss she and Lorenzo take in the first game, she manages a decent amount of solid shots and a spattering of genuinely impressive ones. She’s quick, that’s her advantage. She might not know what to do when she gets to the ball, but she always gets there. And, when she scores her first point, actually jumps into the air when she gives Lorenzo a high-five, he can’t help but find himself soft, a smile tugging on his lips, holding back on the points that follow in hopes of seeing her goofy grin again.

“You did quite well out there,” he tells her when they’re between games. Her eyes light up and she hums around a mouthful of water, hurries to swallow it before she laughs.

“Really?” She coughs, clears her throat. “You think?”

He nods. “You’re quick,” he mutters before taking a drink of his own water.

“I ran track in high school.” He quirks a brow, which makes her smile, which makes him choke on a laugh mid-swallow. You’d think neither of them had ever had a drink from a plastic water bottle before.

“Really?” She nods, hums her response, toying with her ponytail. Her bangs are loose, untucked from her ears and her hair-tie, and he feels the overwhelming urge to brush it from her face. “Why did I not know this?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugs. “Why didn’t you know that?”

“Google said nothing about this.”

“You Googled me?!” Briefly. Briefly, he had googled her at the very beginning of it all. Really, it was more Googling her family than it was her, they are the ones with all the information out there. He needed to make sure he wasn’t starting something with a raging white supremacist or a murderer.

“You didn’t Google me?” She scratches the back of her head, not-so discreetly looks anywhere but her. “Yeah,” he laughs. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

With a playful eye roll, she promptly changes the subject: “you want to be on my team?”

“I…” he laughs, “...don’t know if we are there yet.”

“Oh,” She laughs, brows raised with a goofy smile and it’s official—her laugh is never going to not give him butterflies, never not going to be so much better in person. “The truth comes out.”

Chris is soundly defeated in three straight games, despite finding herself with a new teammate each round—first Lorenzo, then Arhur, and finally, after five minutes of her best puppy-dog eyes, the most competitive man alive ( her boyfriend) agreed to be her teammate.

It’s hours later by the time they leave the country club—no, no, Charles said it was specifically a padel club. They part ways with his brothers and then they’re driving back through the winding streets to his apartment. She ogles, like she’s been doing since she got here, all the careful, intricate architecture and the perfectly manicured manner of the whole place. It’s like people don’t live here, like she’s in a made-up land. She latches onto every imperfection—a crack in the sidewalk, a shrub with a single projection, a half-ragged French flag on the stern of a super yacht. It makes it all feel human, lived in, like the place someone can grow up, the place he grew up.

After two hurried showers and a change of clothes they set off for lunch at Charles’ self-proclaimed “favorite restaurant.” It’s a sushi place, which she finds interesting, because not once has she heard him talk about sushi when talking about his favorite foods.

Charles parks in a garage that’s a fifteen minute walk from the restaurant because, as he puts it, she’s walking the streets with the nation’s best tour guide. He starts the tour with the middle three corners of the Grand Prix, in reverse order—the hairpin, mirabeau bas, and portier, and then they take the quarter-or-so mile walk to the first of many monuments that Chris wouldn’t even attempt to pronounce in her own head. It’s there, somewhere between the forced tourist photos he snaps of her at Le Pêcheur and the one at the Promenade Princesse Louise-Hyppolyte, the truth comes to light.

“What do you mean you did not tell anyone you were here?!” He exclaims all dramatic-like, dropping the phone from in front of his face, abandoning the search for what he considers the perfect angle. “You left the country, Chris.” She shrugs, doesn’t really see the big deal in all of it. It’s not like she… no, it is like she purposely didn’t tell people. That’s exactly what it is, actually.

“I thought we were keeping this on the down-low.”

“Not that low!” He scolds, but she can tell he wants to laugh. He should, she thinks. It’s funny. “What if you die?”

She rolls her eyes. “Are you planning on killing me?” He glares daggers, burns a you’re not funny look into her head. “Letting me be killed?” She’s sure it annoys him to no end, positive almost, but it’s not like she can go back in time and tell everyone, and even if she could, she’s not sure she would. She likes this being just theirs, at least for now, while they can still manage it. She likes not having to report back to her parents—to her dad, especially—about her hotshot, young punk racing driver of a boyfriend and the silver spoon he feeds her french delicacies with.

He sighs, shoulders wildly heavy, and holds her phone back out to her. His eyes are soft, frustrated in a way she didn’t expect them to be. She really didn’t think it was that crazy of a decision. “You should have told someone,” he says, and she feels immensely guilty.

“Hannah knows,” she blurts, an honest offer of anything she has to not get such a serious look from him. He’s not meant to be serious.

“Hannah knows?”

“She knows I went somewhere. I didn’t tell her where,” she says. I didn’t tell her where because my brother and father don’t want me to date a race driver, she doesn’t say, because that would only make him more nervous.

“You should have told someone you were here,” he says, drags out the vowel sounds and tosses an arm over her shoulder. He kisses her temple, pulls her into him and chuckles. Okay, okay. He’s not actually upset.

“Probably,” she nods, a smile pulling on the corners of her lips. “I can tell them when I get home, if you want. Start some drama over Thanksgiving dinner.”

“Oh, yeah, I’m sure making a good impression will not be hard after that.”

MayaBay, that’s the name of his favorite restaurant, Thai and Japanese and a sushi bar that Charles talks about for the entire walk there. Apparently securing a reservation at the restaurant was hard enough, but a seat at the coveted sushi bar was something else entirely, and, according to Charles, was his first failed call after Chris’ visit was planned. She tries to tell him that it doesn’t matter where in the restaurant they eat, but he’s insistent that he’s going to try again and again, and again every time she comes to visit until he can manage to get them in.

Her cheeks flush red at the revelation and she continues to hold out hope he’s oblivious to the heat that radiates from her face every time he meets her with some sort of compliment or insistence of inclusion. She doesn’t even think he’s conscious of the latter, which makes it all that more special. He doesn’t have to take special care to include her in his life, he just does it—does it like he’s always been doing it, always been sharing these small parts of his life with her.

Lunch is enough to leave her full for the entire day. Po Pia Kung and Ceviche and Roti and Nigiri—two plates, no wasabi, per Charles’s request—and she’s worried that she’ll be full before getting the chance to lay eyes on their entrees.

“This place is so special,” she tells him from across the tiny table, around the too-big centerpiece. “Thank you.”

He hums around a mouthful of Roti, brings a napkin to his mouth when he swallows so he can start talking that little bit sooner. “For what?”

Chris shrugs. Thank you… for. For. For everything, she supposes. “For wanting me here.”

He smiles, dimples digging deep, cheeks turning a rosy shade of pink when he adjusts in his seat, leans forward enough that it’s just barely perceivable. “Thank you for wanting to be here,” and you blush right back.

It’s got to be quite the sight for any onlookers, the two of them acting all middle-school. They aren’t aware enough of the other people in the restaurant for it to be of note, and even if they were, they wouldn’t care.

It’s Pad Thai for the main course with a side of three bites of Charles’ Kadou Yang stolen in the midst of quiet conversation, and then, as if they haven’t shared everything else already, they split the restaurant’s signature, meant to share dessert.

“So,” he hums, somewhere on the walk back to the car—or, to the surprise Charles refuses to reveal that’s on the way back to the car. He swings their interlocked hands between their body, drags the action out in the same way he does the vowel. “When do I get to come to Georgia?”

It takes her by surprise, puts a kiddish smile on her face. It should be obvious that he would want to come, because, well, it’s where she lives. But, every conversation has always been about her coming to him. And it makes sense to her, because he’s always moving and she’s always in the same place. It makes sense that he wouldn’t come to her, but now that she thinks about it, it makes more sense that he would. “You want to come to Georgia?”

“That,” he laughs, “that is a silly question. Of course I want to.”

“Well, I mean. You’re always welcome, but I don’t know what your schedule looks like.” She knows it’s a mess, undoubtedly, even if she’s never laid eyes on it. She can only imagine the amount of people wanting him in places year round, and having all of that squished into a couple month period of time? She wouldn’t be surprised if he spends more time traveling in the offseason than he does when he’s actually racing.

“I don’t know what it looks like, either,” he takes out his phone and clicks through half a dozen apps with his free hand—the one not intertwined with hers. “Uh…,” he chuckles at the screen like even he can’t believe just how in demand he is. “Next month I’m in Italy for some days, then France for Christmas and London for New Year.” Chris leans over to look at his calendar.

“What about there?” She asks, pointing to the block of dates that are empty between his color-coded trips to Italy and France. “My brother’s wedding is that weekend,” she says, and then realizes how crazy the proposition sounds and instantly attempts to retract it, “but you probably don’t want to go to that.”

She’d love more than anything to have him at Chase and Hannah’s wedding, but she can understand why he would want to do anything else. It’s one thing to make him travel all that way, but then to make him travel all that way for a wedding, where he’ll have to meet the parents and the siblings and dog—that’s just a cruel thing to imply is expected of him. It’s certainly no way to keep him wanting to come back for another visit.

He bumps his shoulder against hers. “I love weddings.”

“Yeah?” She bumps back, dumb little smile on her face. “When you don’t know anyone there and your girlfriend is in the bridal party?”

He nods. “Yes.”

Unconsciously, she puts distance between their arms, to keep from getting too hot or to keep them from tripping or maybe for no reason at all because she really doesn’t notice that she does it. “My whole family’ll be there,” she continues meekly, and their arms are almost taught.

“Good,” Charles scoffs, and pulls her right back to his side, like even an arm’s length is too far. “I can fix the first impression you’re going to break.”

Chris rolls her eyes, both at his words and his actions—painfully endeared by both. “Why are you so convinced I’m going to have something bad to say about you?”

“I’m not worried really about what you say, but your father is not going to like me if you say to him, ‘this is my boyfriend who I saw in two different countries without telling to you.’”

“Yeah,” she nods, bites back a laugh against the skin on the inside of her cheek. It shouldn’t be as funny as it is to her; the state of her life. “Yeah, you definitely have a point there,” she cuts the vowel short, chokes on a laugh, sucks in her own lips in an attempt to keep them from spilling, the laugh escaping silently through her nose. He meets her with a matching—no, a somehow dramatized mirroring—of her expression that only makes it that much harder not to laugh. When she finally does break, there are practically tears in her eyes, and it was never even that funny.

He smiles at her laugh, like always, and shakes his head. “I will have to come to this wedding to do damage control.”

“Probably,” she nods, still laughing. It’s like it’s all just sunk in for her—the boyfriend. The long distance boyfriend, as in, long distance. Whatever everyone else considers long distance, times the distance of the Atlantic Ocean and the average net worth of his hometown. The fact that he was a stranger just a few months ago, and now she’s in her second foreign country in three days with him and it all feels so normal. The fact that she didn’t even want to go on that Hot Lap—hot laps, plural— or that she didn’t have any interest in going to the race. If she’d tried just a little bit harder to get out of it, or stayed in the beer tent for just ten minutes longer or, or, or. It’s not funny at all, and yet it’s hilarious.

“You’re ridiculous, you know this?”

“I know this.” She sighs, deep and slow and grounding, one stray chuckle slipping through her lips before she can continue. “Don’t book any flights, then—Until I make sure it’s all good with Hannah.”

“Yes ma’am,” he says, salutes her with his phone still in his hand and everything.

“Okay, so,” Charles sighs, drops his head against the pillow with a soft plop. Lunch was hours ago, now, succeeded by a walk around the Japanese Gardens, a trip to the supermarket because his fridge is, as Chris so affectionately referred to it as—bachelor pad chic—and a personal tour around the Prince’s Car Collection where he got to show off his favorite memories. It’s after dinner, even. After half-stale pasta made by him and meal-saving chicken expertly prepared by her, after two episodes of a French reality show with English closed captioning, after a day he won’t soon forget. It’s then, in bed, while she reads the final pages of the book she’s been cutting away at for weeks now, that he tests his knowledge on the information he’s been quizzing her for afternoon. “Chandler is the oldest, and she’s dating Alexis.”

“Correct,” Chris says, turns the page on her book.

“But the drama is that Alexis doesn’t like any of your family, so she and your sister moved away and don’t come to anything.” She hums her response this time, and he wonders if she’s even listening all that much or if he could get her to agree to anything right now. “And then Chase is in the middle, he’s marrying Hannah. But the drama is Hannah was—” before he can even get the next word out, she’s glancing over at him to interject. “Hannah is your best friend, and was before Chase dated her. And she has a little boy named Reid with a dickhead.”

“Yup.”

“And then you, my perfect little angel.”

She smiles at the pages of her book. He likes making her smile. “Don’t forget it.”

“Your parents are Bill and Cindy, short for… William and,” he pauses. She pauses. He has no idea what Cindy is short for. “Lucinda?” Chris blinks, hard, dog ears the corner of her page and shuts her book. If he didn’t already know it was a pretty shit guess, he sure knows it now. Sometimes a blink is worth a thousand and one words.

“No,” she says, furrows her brows so subtly that it shouldn’t be recognizable, but it is. And then she blinks again.

“I knew that,” he boasts, his best cocky tone and a matching smug expression on his face. “I was just testing you.”

She chuckles, leans to her right to set the book down on the bed-side table there. “On my own mother’s name?” She questions, tucking herself under the covers and scooching over, leaning against his chest comfortably. He would let her lie like this as long as she wanted. It’s so sweet to have her in his arms.

“Well, you call her ‘Mom,’” he explains, even down to the forced American accent when he says ‘Mom.’ “So maybe you did not know.”

“Cindy isn’t short for anything.”

“Like I said,” he twists her hair around his finger slowly, mindlessly, without any sort of purpose or intention. When she uses him like a pillow this way, he can always smell her shampoo. He’s been trying to place it for days now. Coconut, he knows—but there is something else there, too, something he can’t put his finger on. “I know this.”

“Okay, continue then.”

“I will,” he says, lets the twirled hair fall from his finger and kisses her head with a smile on his face. “They have a dog called Beans that you call Beanie-Baby,” he pauses. “And the drama is, your parents do not like me.”

He can see the apples of her cheeks flare in his peripheral, a laugh stirring in her chest. “The drama is: there is no drama with them,” she says. “They’re all bark no bite.”

He adjusts underneath her, sighs all heavy and deflated because the thought of it—her family, her parents. It’s so fucking intimidating, it is. Because he knows how important they are to her, how highly she regards their opinion, even if she pretends that she doesn’t. He knows that it’s everything to her, and if he makes even a single mis-step he could ruin it all—their opinion, her opinion, all of it. And something in his gut, a pit in his stomach tells him that she’s already made a mis-step for him when she came over here without telling anyone she was coming. Why wouldn’t she tell anyone she was coming? “What do I even talk to them about?”

“I don’t know,” she says, adjusts to accommodate his adjustment, and eventually they’ll get properly comfortable. “Racing.”

“We race in different cars.”

“But it’s all cars.”

He opens his mouth to speak, pauses, clicks his tongue against the roof of his mouth and then finally, “it’s different.”

“I think you’re overreacting a bit, here,” she says, and he rolls his eyes. He’s not overreacting, she’s underreacting. “I get along with your Mom and your brothers and I don't know what anyone is saying half of the time.” Okay, okay, maybe she has a point there. He did kind of throw her to the wolves this week—not that his family are wolves, just. Meeting the parents before the relationship is even a relationship is. It’s just messed up for him to do, and she’d handled it gracefully, perfectly and flawlessly charmed everyone.

But then again. “Yeah, but you’re you.” Anyone would be charmed by her. She’s very charming.

“And you’re you.”

He shakes his head. “You don’t understand.” She can’t possibly understand it because he doesn’t even properly understand it, the way he feels about her. The fear he feels about losing all the indecipherable feelings. It’s just good, everything about her, about being near her. It’s all so sweet and nice and good and he really, really doesn’t want to screw it up.

“You’ve already met my Dad,” she starts, clearly trying to calm him down, to ease his nerves. “My brother is just like him but more annoying,” she laughs, and even though he’s half deflated, her laugh still puts a weak smile on his face. “My sister probably won’t speak to you, and my Mom loves anyone that calls her ma’am and tells her she looks young. Just don’t talk about racing with her.”

“You just told me—”

“With the boys,” Chris clarifies.

“Your Mum doesn’t like Chase racing?”

“Does yours?” Good point. Is there a mother on the face of the planet, over all of history, that loved the idea of their kid racing other kids around high speed corners without any regard for their own lives?

“Then why did she let him?”

“I’m sure the same reason yours let you. Dad’s can be very convincing.”

His stomach drops. “Yeah. Yeah, they can be. My dad was.” His fingers trace mindless circles on the skin of her arm, soft and warm and clean. His eyes focus on the little red light on the bottom of his television, the one that’s only on when the TV is off. “He would spend so much time at the karting track with my brothers and I, you would not believe it. Sometimes my Mum would say that we lived there and should take blankets to sleep in the karts,” He says, and Chris laughs, makes him aware of his tracing fingers, but doesn’t stop them. “She would always say to us, ‘be careful, drive slow,’ and my Dad would always say ‘be careful, have fun.’ Now Mum will say to us just to be careful.”

“Did your Dad drop the ‘have fun,’ too?”

Red Light. Soft skin. He knew it was coming, it’s always coming, only a matter of time before he had to tell her. Honestly, he’s surprised it had gone this long, that she hadn’t asked about his father the moment she met the rest of the family and he was absent. He can’t stomach the look of pity she’ll give him. She can take it from everyone else, always had—but the image of that look on her face, the dead dad look. He never wants her to look at him like that.

Red light. Stupid shapes. “No, uh,” he drags out his own words, putting off the inevitable by even a few more moments. “My father died when I was a teenager.”

At least he knows her google search of him months earlier wasn’t too in-depth. “Oh my God, Charles,” She says, voice quiet and soft, like she thinks her words will break him. They won’t. He wishes she knew they won’t.

“No,” he chuckles, kisses the top of her head. “No. Don’t look at me like that,”

“I’m not,” she protests, but he doesn’t have to look at her to confirm. Nobody is above the look of pity.

“You are.”

“You’re not even looking at me,” she says, sits up off his chest. He keeps his eyes on the red light. “Look at me,” she insists, a soft hand on his jaw, pulling him back to her.

He rolls his eyes before he looks, before there’s an eternity of silent eye contact because she doesn’t have the look on her face. Anyone can tell she feels bad, especially him, but it’s different. It’s different, and he doesn’t feel like some pathetic puppy in a cold corner. He doesn’t feel like a nineteen year old who’s world is in shambles. He just feels like him. Like it’s all okay.

“I’m sorry I didn’t know,” she finally speaks, and he hears it now. She doesn’t think he’s going to break, that’s now why she’s meek. She feels guilty, guilty that she brought it up, that she didn’t know, that he thinks she would ever think he would break.

“How would you?”

Sincere in her apology, in her guilt, she doubles down. “I’m still sorry.”

Her eyes are filled with something pure, some innocent kind of affection and he feels awful that she feels awful. “I’m sorry for going on about him.”

“I’ll listen as long as you want to talk.”

He smiles, a genuine laugh falling from his lips. “I can talk forever.”

“Then,” she smiles, leans over to kiss him before getting comfortable again, snuggling into his chest like before. “Tell me all about him.”

They sleep late the next morning. Maybe they’re adjusting to the timezone—unlikely, especially in Chris’ case—or they were just up to late talking, but Chris is stretching against the sheets, against Charles, just after nine.

It’s no surprise that she wakes up tangled in a mess of limbs, not even something she minds. Even with her hand asleep and painfully tingley. She knows that she won’t get to wake up like this tomorrow morning, or the morning after, or every morning for at least a month, so. She doesn’t mind the heat and the sleeping limbs and the threat of a knot in her shoulder.

She wiggles out from his grip without waking him, grabs her phone from the bedside table and checks the time. She scans the room, eyes floating over all of her things scattered about. She should start packing up, she thinks. Start packing and getting ready to leave.

She tiptoes across the room, around the corner into the bathroom to start there, far away from his sleeping body. Quietly, carefully, she brushes her teeth, washes her face and tugs a brush through her hair, tying it back into a ponytail. Slowly, she gathers her stuff—makeup and hair tools and skincare—and packs it away carefully into her toiletries bag.

When she comes back into the bedroom, still cringing with every creak of the floor under her feet, she finds Charles awake in bed, soft, sleepy smile when she turns the corner. “Come back to bed,” he’s pleading before she can even mutter a good morning.

“I have to pack,” she argues half-heartedly, because she wants nothing more than to climb back into bed, and his voice is no help—all hoarse and raspy with sleep.

“Why?” He asks, drags the letter sounds out into a yawn that makes her smile.

“Because,” she says, draws out the e-sound to tease his cadence. “It’s almost nine-thirty, and I'm leaving in two hours.”

“You don’t have two hours of stuff,” he protests.

“I don’t like to be late,” she continues over her shoulder, opening her suitcase and laying it flat on the floor at the end of the bed, readjusting the still-folded clothes she hadn’t ended up wearing.

“Well,” he says, stretches against his sheets and then he’s getting out of bed with another yawn. “Let me help you, then.”

He steps around her open suitcase carefully. There isn’t exactly a surplus of floorspace for him to find his footing in. He disappears into the bathroom, locks the door behind him while she continues to gather her things, reappearing ten minutes later. “Give me a kiss,” he says, trudging over to her with open arms.

“You’re so needy this morning,” she quips, slinking her arms around his neck and pulling him down into a kiss. He hums against her lips in agreement and the vibration makes her giggle into his mouth.

Chris makes an attempt to return to the task at hand, but he has different plans, and follows around right behind her. His arms wrap around her torso everytime she stills for even a moment and he hugs her from behind, kisses her shoulders and her neck and her hair.

“You make it hard to pack,” she tells him, and he laughs into the crook of her neck. What she really means is: you make it hard to leave.

“Come back to bed.”

“I want to,” she sighs, leans back against his body.

He turns with her so they’re facing the bed. “It is right there,” he says, and she groans. “Look at it, all warm and comfy.” He’s right, the sheets look so soft, the pillows so fluffed. It’s a bed begging to be slept in, to be lounged on, to be snuggled by.

She wiggles from his grasp, backs away from him towards the door and makes a challenge that she knows she has no intention of winning; “We can go back to bed,” she starts, still inching further away from him, further away from the bed, “if you can catch me,” and then she bolts.

Chris’ high school claim to fame might have been that she was an all-state track and field athlete, but she’s got nothing on her boyfriend, who’s made a career out of his reflexes. It’s all pants and squeals and laughs that go on for entirely too long.

She realizes that she’s trapped when they’re stood on opposite sides of his dining room table, and she couldn’t be the least bit bothered. She tries to fake him out, to move left and then right, but he predicts the move before she even makes it, catches her with a strong grip around her waist and lifts her off her feet, carries her into the bedroom and tackles her onto the bed.

click here for the nsfw cut

Chris’ flight leaves Nice at 12:30 pm, and then it’s a two and a half hour layover in Amsterdam, until finally, she lands in Atlanta long after sunset. She Ubers home and by the time she’s flopping down onto her couch, it’s almost eleven. Charles is the only call she makes before crashing. Then again, who else would she call? He’s one of two people who knew she was anywhere but home, and the only one who’d made her promise to call—despite the time difference and the Uber delay—with the threat of calling the first Georgia police number he could find on google to report her missing.

He answers on the third ring, voice with the same rasp of that morning. “Hello?”

“Hi,” she speaks through a yawn, lays the phone beside her ear on the couch cushion and leaving it on speaker.

“Hey,” he laughs, and she can perfectly hear the smile on his lips. She can almost feel it, the way the room reacts to it.

“You gave me a hickey,” she says, fingering the bruise that lies an inch above her collarbone. His giggle on the other end is loud and boyish—particularly teenager-ish.

“So, you made it home safe?”

“Well, if you ignore the vampire bruise on my neck.”

“Sorry,” he says, but he’s still laughing like a little kid.

“It’s not funny,” she warns, thinly veiled because even she can hear the tired laugh at the back of her throat.

“It’s a little funny.”

Chris rolls her eyes. “I have to see my entire family tomorrow!”

“Eh,” he hums, and just like the smile, she can see the shrug. She can see him so well it’s like he’s here or she’s there or that they’re somewhere together. Somewhere that doesn’t really matter, because they’re both there, smiling and laughing and shrugging. God. God, she already misses him so much. “They already don’t like me.”

“Charles!” She scolds, but she’s laughing now, too.

“I’m sorry,” he smooths. “I am. I didn’t do it on purpose.”

“I know,” Chris sighs, pokes her own neck. “I’m not upset, I’ll just have to whisk it all morning.”

He chuckles. “You have to do what?”

“You know, like. For eggs…or baking. A whisk,” with every word that leaves her mouth, another letter is types into her phone’s search bar. Google Translate: whisk. “Le fouet?”

“Le fouet??” He questions with a tone that would make her think she’d called him a slur. “I do not think that is right.”

“Le fouet à…” she trails off, debating internally over the pronunciation of the words in front of her. “How do you say the ‘o’ and the ‘e’ when they’re together?” She asks, butchers it before he has the chance to give her any answer. “Œufs?”

“I have no idea what you are telling to me.”

“Telling you,” Chris corrects. “What I’m telling you.”

“Oh, mon dieu,” he groans. “This is sad. We can talk in the morning.”

“Okay,” she nods, yawns again. It’s long past her bedtime, and she has no idea how many hours now she’s been awake for. It’s gotta be going on twenty or more, surely. Surely.

“Thank you for calling me,” he says, softly, genuinely grateful for the call. She’s grateful he’s grateful. It’s sweet, all the little things he does to show he cares. The way he does most of them without realizing it.

“Thank you for wanting me to call.”

last chapter masterlist next chapter

#juliana's fic rec #i'm not okay 😭#cl16 fic #queen mack <3 #my fanfic commentary #my fave fanfic

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outerbankspreferences · 4 years ago

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Caught Pt. 2 - JJ Maybanks

Caught Pt. 2 – JJ Maybanks

Word Count: 1952

MASTERLIST

JJ’s movements stop at the sound of his full name. No one used his full name. JJ looked back down at her. “I thought you said he wasn’t getting home until tonight.” He spoke while pulling at of her causing you hiss at the over stimulation. “I thought he wasn’t, he said he had to work and then he was going to Sarah’s.” Y/N spoke trying to find your underwear JJ had thrown across the room, “where did you throw my underwear?” She whispered as if they weren’t already caught. JJ tossed her a new pair out of her dresser along with some shirts and his t shirt.

Once the two of them were dressed JJ reached for the door knob. “Now or never” he chuckled to small girl behind him. What he couldn’t see was the anxiety rushing through her. Nether had ever talked about what it was they were doing. Nether confirming whether they were together or not. They had been hooking up for a couple of months now but that was it ever was. It her Y/N every time he came over, would sleep with her and then just leave. She would never tell JJ but it always made her feel worthless, like she was nothing more then the tourons he would normally hook up with.

What she didn’t know was that JJ was head over heels in love with her. When the two of them started hooking up, he stopped meeting up with tourons. he didn’t realize he was in love with her until after their first time. For her to trust him that much meant something to him. When the two of them were together everything was different. It was like he could finally something good in his life. He wanted to keep this to himself for the fear that she might slip away form him if everyone knew.

The two of them walk out of her room and down the hallways. The floor boards creaking beneath the weight of their feet. The floor had been making the same sound earlier, expect the young couple were eager for what awaited them then, not so much now. Y/N was practicing her speech repeatedly in her head. She could feel the anxiety bubbling in her chest and she went to grab JJ’s hand for comfort to find him already reaching out for hers.

The two made it into the kitchen to find John B taking a very large shot of whiskey before glaring at the both of them. He scowled at them holding hands, and Y/N could already tell he wasn’t taking this very well. She was the first to break the ice, speaking in calm voice, “we never meant for you to find out this way.” John B just raised his hand to cut her off, looking over at who he thought was his best friend. Now he was questioning it, John B trust JJ with his life, and especially his little sister, never did he think he would cross this line. “How could you do this?” He asked the blonde, “I’m sorry, but I love your sister John B.” JJ spoke up and you gasped.

Nether of you had said those three words in the 3 months you’d been hooking up, and you had wondered if JJ was feeling the way you had. JJ took another deep breath before speaking again, “I know in my head that it’s wrong. She’s your little sister and I’ve known her since she was a little girl, but she makes me feel things I don’t always understand, but they’re good things JB. When I see her happy and smiling, she makes my day just a bit better. When she says something stupid and then starts to laugh, I realize that I want to hear that laugh everyday. And it’s killing me because she’s your sister man, I didn’t mean for it to be her, but it is and I can’t say that I’m sorry about the way I feel.” JJ pleaded with the brunette, hoping he could hear the truth in his words.

The two men looked between each other almost having and internal conversation that Y/N had to witness. John B was trying to see everything with reason, but Y/N noticed how red his face was getting, she was also keeping an eye out for the tell tale signs of his hidden anger. She squeezed JJ’s hand to acknowledge she heard every word he said, silently encouraging him to continue.

He was about to speak again when John B’s fist connected to his face causing JJ to let go of Y/N hand and stumble back words cursing. “John B!” Y/N exclaimed rushing over to JJ, “are you crazy” She hollered at him. JJ pushed her out of the way before taking a swing at John B, pushing him into the wall. Before she knew it the two boys were fighting on the floor. At one point JJ was on top landing a punch to John B., and John B. would tackle him down to the ground. She had seen the two boys fight before, but nothing like this before.

She was lucky that Pope and Kie had decided to stop by and could hear the yelling from the driveway. Pope moved Y/N out of the way, and pried JJ from John B’s death grip, “hey-hey, let go man! What the hell is going on here?” He shouted at them, and all three of you shared the same look. She stood in between the two boys, John B was fuming his face red and contoured to anger. JJ looked like he was on high alert, not sure if his friend was going to take another swing at him. “Oh yeah JJ, go a head. Tell them how I just caught you sleeping with my sister.” John B spoke in a matter of fact tone, and then stomped out the door slamming it behind. The loud bang made Y/N flinch and heart drop to the bottom of the floor. “You what?” Kie was the first to speak but she wasn’t surprised. She and Sarah had their supposition about the two of you.

She pushed past Kie to follow John B outside ignoring the protest from their friends to give him some space. “John B wait. Just let me ex-.” She tried to speak before he cut you off. “There’s nothing to explain Y/N! I know what I saw.” He hollered at the younger girl. JJ was coming up behind him. “She’s not ready for this and you know that. You are not going to break her like you do every other girl on this island. She might tell you that it wont bother her, but it will. When you break her heart, you will break her.” John B yelled at JJ.

It was like the two boys were talking about something else. Y/N really didn’t understand what John B was saying but JJ knew. John B had confided in him multiple times about how losing your dad had hurt you. How not having a mother hurt you, and how he was scared that when you found love, that it might not be requited and he wanted to keep you from that hurt. It was a big reason JJ started hanging out with the younger girl more. He wanted to help his friend keep an eye on you and at first he thought it was because he loved her like a sister but he soon discovered that wasn’t what was going on. He fell in love with her like a lover, there wasn’t a time he didn’t want to be around her. “I’m not going to hurt her. Not because she’s your sister but because I love her. I don’t know what I would do without her man. She makes everything so much better and I’m not really sure why. Maybe it’s because she’s always so calm, or maybe she’s got a great sense of humor, hell man I don’t know. I do know when I try and think about how much I love her it scares me. It scares the living shit out of me that one day she might leave. So maybe your worried about her, but I don’t think you need to worry about your sister man, I think you need to worry about me. Because if she leaves me John B. I know I won’t survive without her.” He took a deep breath looking at his friend.

All five people were silent. Everyone taking in the words that JJ just spoke. It was one of the few times JJ had an outburst of emotion like that, and the first time he’s ever had that kind of emotion towards a girl. “I’m sorry that it was your sister man, but I’m not sorry about the way I feel about her.” JJ almost whispered like he didn’t want anyone to know what he was saying. Y/N could have sworn her heart dropped at hearing those words. She always loved JJ, and just assumed that it was a puppy love crush, she would move on sooner or later, but she never did. Y/N kept looking between the two boys, waiting for one of them to speak. “I don’t need your permission JB. Don’t let this get between our friendship.” The younger girl spoke up.

John B thought over all his options. His sister was right, this could potentially ruin not only his friendship with JJ but his relationship with his younger sister. He had noticed the change in her behaviour lately. She wasn’t always moping around the house depressed and sad like normal. She had a little of her normal lovable attitude back thanks to JJ. “Okay but no more sleeping in the same bed. And no PDA, I don’t want to see you macking on my little sister.” Both Y/N and JJ let out a breath of relief looking at each other. Both you and JJ giggled to each other already excited to break John B’s rules.

JJ motioned for you to follow him to the end of the dock were things were a bit more private. The two of you walked awkwardly together slightly bumping shoulders. You both sat on the rale of the dock looking into the water not speaking to each other. “I meant what I said Y/N.” JJ spoke but you didn’t look over. JJ admired the way you looked in the sunset. The colors compliment your skin tone that was just starting to tan in the spring heat. The way your hair moved in the breeze that had picked up. “I know.” The young girl spoke and JJ started to panic. Maybe she didn’t feel the same way for him as he did for her. Maybe he just completely embarrassed himself in front of their friends for feelings that she might not even have.

“I love you too JJ. I always have. I thought you were just with me for the sex.” She spoke, and JJ cringed at the reputation he had. JJ took her hands in his and she looked at him, “never once was this ever just ‘sex’. I fell for you so hard, and I don’t think I want to see you with anyone else.” He spoke in a serious tone. He moved a little closer to her, putting his hands under her chin to lift her face towards his. Their faces were inches apart when Y/N closed her eyes waiting for the kiss to come, “John B. said no PDA.” JJ whispered to her. “Oh to hell with John B.” She spoke pulling him in for a deep kiss.

TAGLIST:

@drewstarkeysbitchh @lemur46 @jjmaybankzz @taylathornton

#jj maybanks #jj maybanks x reader #jj maybanks x you #jj maybanks imgaines #jj maybanks x yn #jj maybanks outerbanks #jj maybanks obx #jj maybanks one shots #jj maybanks fluff #jj maybanks angst

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cakesunflower · 4 years ago

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Outer Banks Series Rewrite/JJ Maybank Fic Series [5. Midsummers]

Disclaimer: None of the characters (except for Stella) or their dialogues (for the most part) are my own, and belong to the writers & creators of Outer Banks!

Previous Parts: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Read on AO3!

Here’s episode 5 “Midsummers”!

“Dude—Mom catches you out here, and you’re dead.” Stella peeked one eye open, catching sight of her sister standing over her, arms crossed over her chest and eyebrows raised. “You’re literally out in the open.”

Kie’s concern came from the pen Stella was currently twirling between her fingers as she lay on the ground in their backyard. Stella didn’t say anything, instead took another pull from the pen, letting the familiar smoke invade her lungs before blowing it out slowly. The act did its job in calming her down, and Kiara let out a sigh before shifting to sit down next to Stella, before going down on her back, too.

Stella could feel her sister’s gaze on her as Kie turned her head to look at her, but Stella kept her gaze up at the sky. It was sort of cloudy, but there wasn’t a threat for rain. If there had been, the celebration later tonight would’ve been rescheduled ages ago.

“Look, I know you’re worried about JJ—” Kie began, but Stella cut her off.

“He willingly let himself get arrested for something he didn’t do, and he has a drug-addict, abusive dad to go back home to. We haven’t heard from him yet.” Stella looked at Kie, then, jaw hard. “Of course I’m worried.”

Kie’s gaze was soft with sympathy, but Stella could see her own concern swimming, too. After all, Kie cared about JJ as well. Maybe not in the way Stella did, but just as good. “He’ll turn up,” Kie assured. “He always does.”

Despite Kie’s efforts, Stella wasn’t all that comforted. And maybe Kie saw the deep worry that had etched itself into Stella’s features, because Kie’s face softened even more, looking at her sister gently as she asked, “What’s going on?”

Stella’s throat worked as her heart drummed in her chest, forcing herself into a sitting position while Kie kept on her back, looking up at her. For a moment, Stella hesitantly chewed on her lower lip, wondering if now was the right time to indulge, but it was Kie. It was her sister, and if Stella couldn’t tell her, she couldn’t tell anyone.

“JJ and I kissed.” There. She said it. Now it was out in the open.

Kie blinked once before her eyes widened almost comically, shooting up in a sitting position opposite of Stella as she demanded, “What? When?”

“Yesterday,” Stella admitted, stomach flipping as memories of her and JJ’s actions played through her mind like her favorite movie. She couldn’t stop the small smile from playing on her lips. “We were at John B’s, before coming to the summer series.” She fiddled with the pen between her fingers. “It just—it kind of just happened.”

Kie scoffed with a shake of her head. “It didn’t kind of just happen,” she mocked. “This has been waiting to happen for so Goddamn long.” Stella tried not to laugh at the happiness shining in Kie’s eyes, which did a lot to relax Stella. She’d been worried Kie would ram on her for breaking one of their friend group rules, but Kie seemed anything but disappointed. Her eyes widened then, shoulders lifting. “Oh, shit, John B and Pope owe me twenty bucks!”

Stella blinked. “I’m sorry—what?”

Kie snickered, looking all too delighted. “We kind of had a bet going on over how long it’d take for you and JJ to get together.” Stella’s eyes widened, jaw dropping in disbelief. “I bet it’d happen before Midsummers and would you look at that! You just made me forty bucks richer, sis.”

“Wha—” Stella cut herself off with a scoff, ripping up some grass before tossing it at Kie. She shrieked through a laugh, jerking back before brushing away the pieces of grass. “Are you kidding me?! You guys bet on us?”

“Of course we did,” Kie responded with a smirk, not at all looking apologetic. At Stella’s gaping expression, she rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on, Stel. You two have been dancing around each other for so fucking long. We were getting tired of waiting, so we thought we’d have some fun with it,” she finished with a shrug.

Stella couldn’t believe what she was hearing, cheeks heating up at the information. She wasn’t mad or upset that her sister and friends bet on when she and JJ would get together—she was just surprised, and a little bit amused. She wondered how long the bet had been going on for. But instead of asking that, she instead inquired, “So I’m guessing JJ and I are in the clear for breaking the no Pogue-on-Pogue macking rule?”

Kie waved her off, smile still in place. “You two are the exception to the rule,” she said confidently before crossing her legs and shooting Stella an expectant look. “So? Tell me how it was.” She quickly held a hand up. “But not too many details because it’s JJ and he’s like my brother and, ew, gross. But I still wanna know! How’d it happen?”

At that, the heat in Stella’s cheeks intensified into a fire as she recalled every single detail from yesterday—as if she could ever forget. “I was, uh, persuading him to come to the summer series with us.”

Kie’s eyebrows shot up. “Persuading, huh?” she repeated with an impish grin, prompting Stella to let out a giggle. “Well, looks like it worked. Not that I’m surprised. That boy is stupid for you.”

Stella pressed her lips together to keep her giddy smile from widening. “Stop.”

Kie snickered. “Man, you two are gonna be unbearable now, aren’t you? All over each other all of the time.”

“Dude, I don’t even know what we’re doing,” Stella instantly responded with a shake of her head. “All we did was kiss. We’re not suddenly together, Kie.”

She didn’t look convinced. “Only a matter of time.”

Stella’s heart fluttered in her chest. Of course she wanted to be with JJ—it was all she could think about for so long. After that kiss, it was closer to being a reality than she could ever imagine, but they needed to talk about it, first. “Maybe. But first he needs to let us know he’s okay and that his dad didn’t fucking kill him.”

Her words were tight in her throat as she said them, sending a new jolt of worry through her. JJ never really talked about it, but she knew the kind of man his dad was, knew what he was capable of. JJ getting arrested wasn’t going to go over well; it wouldn’t with any parent, but God only knew how Luke Maybank would react to it. So, yeah, Stella was sick with worry over JJ, and she just fucking wished he’d call or text her back.

Kie sighed. “Listen, maybe—”

Whatever Kie was about to say was interrupted by their mother’s voice shouting at them from the back porch. “Girls! Get in here! You need to start getting ready.” Simultaneously, both Stella and Kie threw their heads back and groaned, loudly—loud enough for Mrs. Carrera to hear them. “I don’t wanna hear it! Get your butts in here now!”

They stood up, and as Stella shoved her pen in the pocket of her shorts, Kie grumbled, “I hate everything.”

While every other soul on Figure Eight either was overjoyed to be attending Midsummers or envious that they couldn’t, Stella and Kiara were probably the only ones who hated the party. For Kie, it was more of a socialist thing that Stella respected her for, but she also knew that her sister’s disgust with Midsummers, ultimately, existed for the same reason as Stella’s: they hated the people they were surrounded by.

All of the Kooks would be gathered tonight for the party—this year a celebration for Ward Cameron, A.K.A the father of Sarah Cameron, Kie’s worst enemy. Stella didn’t care what the party was for—she despised it. The most Stella liked to dress up was in clothes of her choice, and sure that could sometimes include make-up and dresses, but not full on evening gowns with flowers in her hair. It often felt like she was getting dressed up as a lamb for a slaughter, being pushed into a crowd of Kooks who thought they were better than everyone else because of their overflowing pockets. The adults were bad enough—Stella did not want to even see the people her age.

Namely Rafe, Topper, Kelce, and anyone who was associated with them. Especially after what they did to JJ and Pope yesterday. Dicks.

But Midsummers, much to both Stella and Kie’s chagrin, was important to their parents, especially their mother. So as soon as the two girls returned inside the house, Mrs. Carrera was ushering them towards the bathrooms, like they were toddlers who needed supervised bath times.

“Hold on a second—” Mr. Carrera paused, and Stella and Kie exchanged looks when their mom sniffed the air around them. Her eyes then zeroed in on Stella, hands on her hips and eyes blazing as she demanded, “Did you just smoke, Stella?”

Knowing there was no point in lying, Stella huffed. “I needed something to take the edge off if I have to go to this stupid party.”

This wasn’t the first time their mom caught them smoking or smelling of weed, but it pissed her off just the same. While Kie tried to stifle a smile, Mrs. Carrera glared daggers at her Stella. “You’re not getting out of this, Stella. You better drown yourself in body wash and perfume when you get ready.”

Stella rolled her eyes behind her mom’s back, but listened all the same, albeit reluctantly. Kie was the first to hop into the shower in their shared bathroom, so Stella took the time to lay in her bed and unlock her phone, hoping to see a text or missed call from JJ. Her heart jumped when she saw just one text from him, chest tight as she read it quickly.

JJ: Don’t worry about me. I’m good. I’ll see u later.

That was it. Just ten words of reassurance and then nothing. Part of Stella was relieved to have received anything from him at all, but another part still felt worried and a little annoyed. She—all of them—had been worried sick over him after yesterday, and this was all he could say? Stella figured she shouldn’t be too surprised. It was typical JJ behavior. He got in a bind and somehow got himself out of it, and never really let his friends in on if anything was wrong. But the tough guy persona could only get him so far.

Chewing on her lower lip, Stella drafted a text, but not to JJ. Instead, she sent a message to John B.

Stella: You heard from JJ? Do you think he’s okay?

John B responded within moments.

John B: Yeah, it’s all good. I’m with him right now. We’ll see you guys tonight, alright? Keep an eye out.

Stella blinked at the cryptic message, wondering what the hell he was talking about. But if recent circumstances were any indicator, something was probably going down tonight. Stella’s stomach flipped in both apprehension and excitement. These boys might be the death of her.

Soon enough, Kie was out of the bathroom and it was Stella’s turn. She showered and brushed her teeth, stepping back into her room to catch sight of a satin slip dress with a halter neck waiting for her on her bed. It was a pretty golden color with a V-neck trimmed with lace, and a pair of white and gold sandals were waiting by the bed, too. Stella huffed, the towel wrapped tightly around her. She knew for a fact that her mother thought she needed to have everything out for her otherwise Stella would be useless in getting dressed for Midsummers. It was kind of insulting.

Stella expertly dried her hair, letting the natural curls come into place, before doing her makeup. She kept it light, as always, because not even Midsummers was going to make her slap on a face full of makeup, especially in the middle of summer. Some foundation, mascara, highlighter, and lipstick was as far as she went, with her jewelry consisting of a dainty diamond star necklace and the rings on her fingers.

“Oh, good, you’re dressed,” Mrs. Carrera said upon entering her room. “Come on, let me do your hair.”

Stella frowned but listened, sitting down in front of her dresser while her mom stood behind her. She worked quickly and efficiently, braiding back the two front locks of her hair and intertwining small yellow flowers in them that Stella tried not to wrinkle her nose at.

As her mom worked, Kie wandered into Stella’s room. Her slip dress was spaghetti strapped and a lavender color, a couple of layered necklaces around her neck, and her hair down in an updo with a crown of pink and purple flowers and locks of curly hair framing her face. She looked stunning, even with that scowl she wore as she stormed into the room.

“This is disgusting,” she announced without preamble.

Mrs. Carrera wove another flower into Stella’s braid, her voice dry above her as she responded, “I know. It’s just horrible. I’m asking you two to relax and go to a fun party.”

Kie scoffed, towering over their mom. They may be twins, but Kie somehow got the tall gene from their dad, standing at the elegant 5’8”, while Stella hadn’t grown past 5’5”. “We look like bourgeoisie pigs.”

Stella tried to keep the snort from escaping, covering it up with a cough as their mom finally patted down Stella’s hair, letting out a satisfied hum before stepping back. She shot Kie an exasperated look and said, “Will you please not worry about socioeconomic injustice for one night?”

Kie scowled and Stella’s face scrunched up. This was so much more than that. She twisted around in the seat and stood up, crossing her arms and siding with Kie, “Mom, people not three miles from here have no power, no running water—and we’re going to Midsummers.”

Kie nodded vigorously, gesturing to Stella. “That’s so tone deaf.”

Mrs. Carrera huffed, picking up the little pouch she’d dropped on the dressing table and pulling out the diamond earrings. As she put one in, she said, “Do you know how hard we had to work to get into the Island Club?”

Both Stella and Kie rolled their eyes, having heard this a hundred times before. “Yeah, Mom, how could we forget?” Stella sighed. “You had to grovel for, like, ten years—”

“Twelve,” Mrs. Carrera corrected, “and we also had to cough up a huge chunk of dough, and do you know why we did that?”

Kie wasn’t impressed. “To keep up with the Joneses?”

Mrs. Carrera’s hands were on her hips, looking at her daughter pointedly. “No. So you two could have the experiences that I had as a child. Sweethearts, do you know what the Island Club is?”

“A factory farm for debutantes,” Kie flatly said at the same time Stella said, “Where brain cells go to die.”

Kie gave her a subtle fist bump as their mother glared at them before smiling exasperatedly. She placed one hand on each of their cheeks, looking at both of them as she said, “It is a nice place, with nice people, where you can do fun stuff.”

Neither of them bought the company line. “With out of touch rich people,” Stella added.

Kie rightfully finished, “While the island sinks slowly into the ocean.”

Their mom dropped her hands from their cheeks, stepping back and shooting them a look. Clearly, she was done trying with her stubborn daughters. “Okay, I want you two to put on your party faces if you wanna live,” she said before walking out of the room.

Both Stella and Kie sighed, looking at each other in resigned defeat. Stella picked up her pen, offering a half hearted smile. “Wanna take a hit before we go?”

Kie scoffed, taking it from her. “Or maybe ten.”

Less than fifteen minutes later, the girls were at the Island Club with their parents, and instead of doing the polite thing and greeting the other party goers, Stella spotted a familiar face and grabbed Kie’s hand, jerking her chin to where Pope was working out on the lawn at the grill. She’d almost forgotten that he was working the party with his dad. Thank God for small miracles.

As they approached him, his back to the girls, Kie startled Stella by speaking in a terrible British accent, “Excuse me, sir. Do we have to shuck these ourselves?” Pope swiveled around as Kie grinned and Stella shook her head in bemusement. “’Cause it might mess up my costume.”

Pope chuckled. “We wouldn’t want that now, would we?” he asked and Stella stepped forward with a laugh, slapping her hand against his, front and back, before ending with a snap of her fingers. Their handshake. As he repeated the act with Kie, Pope added, “That accent was bad.”

Kie nodded. “It was. I was gonna let it go.”

Stella scoffed. “I wish you had,” she said as they came to stand next to Pope, arms folded across her chest. The three of them observed the scene before them, of all the guests gathered around in their fancy dresses and suits, drinking from flutes of champagne or drinks from the bar. “You ever seen this many Kooks in one place?”

“Yeah. Last year,” Pope answered.

Kie was squinting against the sun, but just like Stella’s, her brown skin glowed a pretty golden color against it. “We’re in the lion’s den.”

“Exactly.”

Pope glanced at the two of them, gaze lingering on Stella longer as he asked, “Have you heard from JJ?”

Kie shook her head. “No.”

“Just a text,” Stella answered, prompting Kie to look towards her, raising an eyebrow. Stella’s lips pursed. “He said he was okay and not to worry about him. But I won’t really believe it until I see him.”

“He’ll be all right,” Kie said, frowning to herself. “He’s got the survival instincts of a cockroach.”

Stella swallowed inaudibly. Kie wasn’t really wrong.

“It’s all my fault,” Pope said, the guilt thick in his tone as he frowned at nothing. He looked like he might be sick over everything that’s happened.

Stella frowned as Kie said, “Uh, you didn’t do this, Pope.”

“Yeah,” Stella chimed in firmly. “Topper almost killed you. Remember?”

He shot her a dry look. “Not something I can forget.”

Stella shot him a small smile. “JJ was just trying to do right by you. He—he knew what he was doing.” She stumbled over her words briefly because, well, she wasn’t entirely sure if she believed them. She believed that JJ thought he was doing the right thing, but getting arrested was no small thing. He was just adding onto his record, and this time for something he didn’t even do. JJ put loyalty above anything else, and it was one of her favorite things about him—until it landed him in trouble he might not be able to get out of.

Midsummers, as expected, was boring as usual. The adults drank and the teens snuck in their own alcohol in hidden flasks, dancing to the music from the live band while almost everyone kissed Ward Cameron’s ass. Stella stuck by Kie’s side, mostly because she didn’t care for anyone else there and because Kie kept glaring at Sarah Cameron, who looked like the perfect Kook princess. She was missing her not-so-Prince Charming, Topper, who seemed to be sticking by Rafe and Kelce’s sides than with Sarah. Hmm. Interesting.

At one point, Stella excused herself to go to the bathroom, walking inside the country club and down the hall. She did her business, ignoring the giggles of the few other girls inside as she washed her hands. Just as she stepped out of the bathroom, however, she let out a gasp and stumbled into the doorframe as a figure rushed off in front of her, her gaze instantly following.

She’d recognize those blonde locks anywhere.

Stella’s heart thundered, gripping the doorframe tightly as she called out, “JJ?”

*****

Despite the severity of needing to find a hiding spot or escape, the sound of Stella’s voice had JJ stopping in his tracks. He turned, catching sight of her down the hall, too far down the hall, looking every bit as breathtaking as he expected her to in a golden dress that hugged her so perfectly. And the way she was looking at him—the surprise and relief and tenderness he was sure she reserved just for him—had JJ’s heart pounding right out of his chest, and not just because he was trying to save himself at the moment.

“Stella—” JJ stopped, looking through the glass of the doors, seeing Rafe, Kelce, and three of their suited up buddies purposefully making their way over. “Shit.” His blue eyes met her concerned brown ones. “Sweetheart, I’ll explain everything later, but I gotta run right now. Just—I’ll see you in a little, okay?”

“Wait, JJ—”

But he didn’t stick around, as much as he wanted to, and instead turned and ran off just as he heard Rafe and his buddies walk in. They’d spotted him talking to Sarah because he’d needed to give her a letter from John B, after he’d spoken to and received a surprising hug from Pope, and now they were hot on his ass looking to throw more punches. JJ’d already received a beating from his dad—he didn’t need anymore, thank you very much.

Except he made his way into the men’s room, and Rafe and his buddies were pretty fast and managed to corner him no problem. Five against one—this was totally fair. Assholes.

Rafe pushed him and JJ grunted, struggling as Kelce came up behind him and locked an arm around the front of his neck, the other keeping his head in place as JJ grabbed at Kelce’s arm to loosen the grip. He struggled, heart pounding, as Rafe looked at his friends. “Hold him still. What—what do you think? A four iron, right?” He mimicked holding a golf club. “Keep his head still. I’m gonna line this up.”

JJ didn’t make it easy for Kelce to keep him still. “Very Rafe of you,” JJ said through gritted teeth. “Five on one?”

Rafe looked pristine in his stupid blue suit and bowtie. JJ hoped he’d choke on it. “If you could please stop talking? It’s very disrespectful. I’m trying to hit a ball.” Oh, fuck no. “Learn your etiquette, my friend.”

JJ kept grunting, struggling against Kelce, using his hands as much as he could to try and get away. JJ’s voice was hoarse against Kelce’s grip as he spat back, “I’m gonna kick your teeth in.” As much fire as there was in his voice, JJ wasn’t entirely sure he’d be able to deliver on his promise. Not when the odds were stacked against him.

Rafe smirked sardonically, crouching to look up at JJ with a mocking sort of sympathy. “Your face looks really bad. Starting to look like your dad a lot more.”

The insult was grating, especially given that the bruises and cuts on his face were courtesy of his father. JJ couldn’t do much more than spit in Rafe’s face. He jerked back, wiping the saliva off his face as he grinned. “Oh, shit. Alright. It was—”

The lights began flickering. “Gentlemen!” Kelce roughly let go of JJ and pushed him off, prompting the blonde to struggle before he righted himself. The security guard approached them. “Is there a problem?”

“Oh! Pardon me, officer. No, there’s not an issue. I just—” JJ cut himself off, his breathing labored as he panted to catch his breath. He looked at the others and JJ ran his fingers through his hair before deciding on a different course of action. One he knew would likely get him out of this. “Actually, yes. No, there is an issue. Uh, we got a criminal trespass in progress here. Beep!” He waved a finger around. “Call it in, right?” The others looked at him, trying to appear casual and like they weren’t doing anything wrong. “Blatant disrespect for private property.”

Rafe clicked his tongue, scratching his ear. “Yeah.”

JJ turned to the guard. “I’m in violation of all kinds of shit, sir, but these young gentlemen—” He made a show of righting Kelce’s bowtie before he jerked him away.

“Don’t touch my shit,” Kelce said lowly.

JJ continued, “Uh, caught me, sir, and they’re about to take me away. And that’s what you should do.” He held his fists up like he was ready to be handcuffed. Again. “Escort me out of here. You got me.”

The guard grabbed his arm. JJ was relieved. “Come on.”

“All right.” JJ looked over his shoulder as the guard pulled him out, looking at the Kooks. “Fix that tie, son,” he said to Kelce before looking at Rafe. “You’re lookin’ spiffy, too. You Powerpuff Girls have fun,” he turned back around.

Rafe took a step forward, his voice smug. “Tell Stella she looks pretty hot for a scarred Pogue.”

Fire erupted in JJ’s veins at Rafe’s comment, a newfound anger rushing through him at the blatant insult from the son of a bitch. JJ didn’t care who they were—nobody talked about Stella like that. Not at all, not in front of him. JJ’s body moved at his own accord, a low growl escaping him as he jerked away from the guard and tried to launch himself at Rafe, consequences be damned of a five against one. The asshole insulted Stella. JJ couldn’t just let him get away with that.

He rushed towards Rafe, only for Kelce to jump in and push him away as the guard came to his back and pulled him away. “Hey! Stop it. Come here! Let’s go! Let’s go!”

But JJ struggled, the urge to bury his fist in Rafe’s face overwhelming after his words. “You think I’m afraid of you, bro?”

The guard pulled him back. “Come on.”

JJ turned and was guided out as Rafe’s voice followed him out of the locker room. “Hey, safe travels back to the cut!”

JJ shouted back, “This ain’t over!”

The guard didn’t let his grip on JJ go as he guided him down the halls and towards the doors, his grip tight as they burst through the doors out onto the patio. “Look, man, I can walk myself!” JJ exclaimed, earning gasps and looks from the guests at him being escorted out. “I got legs. Can you see that, brother?”

The guard didn’t seem to care. “Come on.”

“I really appreciate what you did back there. Let me just walk out by myself.” He struggled against the guard’s grip before spotting the older gentleman from earlier who had asked JJ for a drink. At this point, JJ didn’t care for the attention he was drawing on himself, stumbling over to where the man stood. “Mr. Dunleavy, I see you got your drink. Good, that’s really nice of you. I’m actually gonna down that,” he said quickly before grabbing the drink and downing the whiskey in one gulp.

The man gaped at him, the guard apologized before pulling JJ away. Everyone was watching, murmuring, and JJ never had mastered the art of subtlety, so he made a commotion as he was so kindly escorted out. Might as fucking well go out with a bang.

“Let go of him!” JJ turned at the sound of Stella’s voice, standing up on the patio with Kie by her side. Their parents were behind them, quietly telling Stella to stay quiet while her gaze met JJ’s. He stopped, kind of fucking mesmerized by the sight of her. “You can’t just boot him!”

The guard stopped, still holding onto JJ, who was still watching her. “Excuse me, ma’am?” the guard asked.

“I invited him here,” Stella continued, her voice loud and carrying over the newfound silence amongst the crowd. Everyone was looking at her, but she didn’t seem to give a shit, and JJ kind of fell in love with her all over again.

Next to her, JJ could hear her mom say, “Stella, stop it.”

“No, she’s right,” Kie spoke up, glaring at her parents and then at the guard. “We’re members of this club.”

“Girls, stop it,” Mr. Carrera seemed to be saying to them.

JJ took the opportunity of the guard being distracted to jerk out of his grip and push him, wincing as the man went stumbling into a waiter carrying a tray full of glasses that went shattering on the ground. “Sorry about that!” JJ said over the commotion before looking towards the girls. He pointed at them, blonde hair falling over his shoulders. “Hey, mandatory power hour at Rixon’s, ladies.” His gaze found Pope’s amidst the crowd’s. “Pope, you as well, all right? Rixon’s cove. Let’s roll.” He was walking backwards, people making their way for him as they all gaped at him in disbelief and annoyance. JJ looked back at the girls, holding his arm up. “All right, girls, come on.” He gripped his wrist. “Workers of the world unite. Throw off your chains!”

His gaze met Stella’s, who was watching him in, what he realized with relief, was amusement. He saw the looks she and Kie exchanged, a silent communication going on between the twins while their parents most definitely murmured warnings at them. And then, much to JJ’s relief, Stella and Kie broke away before running down the stairs.

JJ grinned widely, finally facing John B, who had been watching the whole thing with a grin. “Colonel.”

John B returned the salute JJ offered him. “Captain.”

JJ grinned. “Mission accomplished, sir.”

John B laughed as JJ shouted for the girls, watching as Pope pulled off his apron and handed it to his dad before running towards John B and JJ, all the while Mr. Heyward yelled, “Don’t do this! Where the hell do you think you’re going?”

But Pope didn’t listen, instead high fived John B and JJ, before John B ran off ahead and the two of them faced the girls running over, as well. Kie and Pope ran side by side, laughing, and JJ opened his arms so Stella could run into his embrace, and he laughed into her neck as he lifted her off the ground with a spin before setting her down, grasping her hand in his, and following the others as they ran.

“Later, losers!” John B shouted over his shoulder towards the partygoers.

Stella was laughing, the sound brilliant and wonderful in JJ’s ears as Kie cheered while they ran. JJ couldn’t help but laugh as well. It may have been a shitty couple of days, but at least he had his friends.

*****

The fire crackled between them as Stella sat on a log next to JJ. The cicadas were chirping against the otherwise quiet of the night, and JJ had changed out of the waiter get up and was back in his signature hat, shirt, and shorts combo. The sight of the shark tooth necklace Stella had gifted him around his neck always made her chest tighten in the best way. She and Kie were still in their Midsummers dresses, but mosquitos and bugs never bothered Stella, so she sat comfortably as the fire warmed them.

She kept looking towards JJ, though—at the cuts and bruises on his face. The sight of him injured tightened her chest uncomfortably, made her stomach twist nauseatingly. No doubt his dad had done this to him, and it enraged her. She wished, with every fiber of her being, that she could get him as far away from his dad as possible. It hurt, so badly, to see JJ injured at the hands of his abusive father. JJ, despite what others may see as faults and flaws, was probably the best person she knew. He had such a big heart, a soul that deserved to be loved and protected instead of stepped on and beaten. She desperately wished she could protect him from the cruelty of others. He deserved someone to do that for him.

“Hey, guys. So, like, my dad’s already gonna kill me,” Pope said as he and John B dropped some sticks to feed the fire before sitting down. “So what’s this mandatory meeting about?”

Stella watched as John B looked at JJ, pointing at him as if he needed permission. JJ nodded. “Might as well tell him, man, before we’re gaffed.”

John B smiled like he held some kind of secret. “You ready for this?” he asked, looking at Kie and Stella.

The two girls nodded impatiently. “Yeah.”

The fire glowed against John B’s skin as he looked at all of them. “So, the gold never went down with the Royal Merchant.”

Stella blinked as Pope groaned. “Oh, my God. Here we go again with this.”

Next to her, JJ sat up, holding out a calming hand to Pope. “No, all right, wait. Hear him out, all right?” he asked, raising his eyebrows at Pope and the girls.

John B had a finger to his lips before continuing, “It’s been here this whole time.” He looked to Kie. “It’s on the island.”

Her expression was one of shocked disbelief. “Are you serious?” She looked at John B before laughing in astonishment. “Oh, my God.”

Pope held up a hand. “I’d like to voice my skepticism.”

Stella was still trying to wrap her head around what John B said as he stood up. “I’m sure you would, Pope, but can I please present you with my evidence, sir?”

Pope rolled his eyes. “Proceed.”

John B held up a piece of paper he pulled out from his bag, proceeding to tell them about a letter he had from Denmark Tanny, a slave who had survived the wreck of the Royal Merchant. He showed it to Pope and the girls, telling them that the slaves weren’t mentioned as crew members on the ship, but that his dad found the complete manifest—his big discovery. Stella listened attentively, mouth agape, looking towards JJ who nodded with a smile on his face. He knew all of this already, it seemed. It was probably why he and John B had been together earlier.

“So Tanny used the gold from the Merchant to buy his freedom,” John B was saying. “After that, he bought his farm. Drumroll, please, because that farm is,” he paused dramatically as the group of them slapped their knees with their hands. “Tannyhill Plantation.”

Kie stopped. “Tannyhill?”

John B nodded, standing like a professor giving a lecture. “Yeah. So, after that, he used his money to free even more slaves, and then he sold a shit-ton of rice, which pisses off all the white planters, and then they decide to lynch him. So on the day they were coming to get him, he writes a letter to his son as a farewell, and in the last line of that letter, he leaves a coded message about where to find the gold.”

John B had Stella’s attention as she hung onto his every word, shaking her head as she asked, “Where?”

John B grinned. “Harvest the wheat in parcel nine, near the water.” He held up a hand. “Except, there is no wheat. You see, wheat is code for gold. Check this out.” He walked over to Pope, pointing at something in the paper Pope was holding. Stella leaned over to look as well. “The gold is in parcel nine, near the water.”

Kie laughed in disbelief as Pope murmured, “Holy shit.”

John B slapped his arm. “All we need is an original survey map of the property and we’ve found the gold.”

He was grinning widely as JJ stood up. Pope slowly started, “Okay, so this might have a small chance of being actually true.”

Kie bounced excitedly where she sat. “Dude, it’s like King Tut!” she exclaimed, earning a laugh from Stella.

“I am a genius,” John B announced, just as JJ tackled him into a hug. “Hey, whoa!” They teetered slightly where they stood before JJ lifted John B up. “Hello! Fire! You’re near the fire. You’re gonna burn.”

JJ pulled away and Stella snickered as he said, “I’m so proud of you right now.”

John B nodded somberly. “Thank you. That’s really sweet of you.”

With a shake of her head, Stella interrupted the moment by asking, “Okay, so, guys.” They all looked towards her. “What’s the plan?”

John B pointed at her as JJ made his way back. “Good question. Sarah Cameron’s coming tonight. She’ll bring the original survey map—”

JJ sat down next to Stella just as her eyes widened, gaping at John B before her gaze instantly shot to Kie, who was frowning. “Hold on,” she interrupted. “Sarah? Wh-why Sarah?”

Stella tensed, looking between a bewildered Kie and a hesitant John B. She and Pope exchanged glances, both of them suddenly aware of the tension building in the open space. “Um—” John B trailed off.

JJ took off his head, muttering, “This is gonna be good.”

Stella looked at him, catching the wince he shot her way. Silently, she frowned at him, but JJ shook his head before nodding towards John B, who stood with his fists on his hips. “Sarah, um, she. . . She got me into the archives in Chapel Hill yesterday, and there’s where I got the letter.”

Kie’s face scrunched up even more, looking a mix of pissed off and confused, while Stella gaped up at John B. “You were in Chapel Hill with Sarah Cameron?”

John B’s throat worked. “Yeah, um. . .”

Next to her, JJ announced, “He was mackin’ on her.”

Stella gasped as she stared at him, wide eyed, and JJ nodded somberly while Pope coughed uncomfortably into his fist. Across the fire, Kie was glaring up at John B, and Stella hated the betrayal she could already see melting into Kie’s eyes. John B shot JJ a glare. “I wasn’t macking.”

JJ lifted his chin, unrelenting. “You were totally macking Sarah Cameron.”

He wasn’t helping the situation, so Stella lightly flicked his arm, prompting JJ to immediately look at her, pressing his cut lips together to keep himself from smirking. She narrowed her eyes in warning, and all JJ did was link their arms together and pull her to his side.

“I wasn’t macking on her, okay?” John B spoke up, exasperated. “I was using her for access.”

JJ scoffed lightly. “There was access, alright.”

Stella pinched his side at that, despite the inappropriate laugh threatening to burst. Kie wouldn’t appreciate it, and Stella could tell her twin was seconds away from pushing John B into the fire. “Did you tell her about the treasure?” Kie demanded.

John B’s eyes widened. “I was trying to get into the archives.”

Kie’s voice grew loud with disbelief. “Is that a yes?”

“I. . . I left out key details,” John B said, looking to the others for help. Stella pressed her lips together, pressed up against JJ. If anyone noticed, they didn’t say anything, not with the current situation going on. Poor John B wasn’t going to get help on this.

“Yo, what?” Kie scoffed with a shake of her head. “You let a Kook in on our secret? What about Pogue Lyfe? What about the T-shirt company, bro?”

Suddenly, it was a battle between Kie and John B, and all Stella, JJ, and Pope could do was sit on the sidelines silently and watch. “I was just using her for information,” John B tried.

Kie shot him a wry look. “Why don’t I believe you?”

John B was growing exasperated already, shaking his head at the unhelpfulness of the others before looking back at Kie. “I’m trying to make us filthy rich here, okay, so that we can pay off a boat, or. . . or, uh. . .” He looked towards Pope, “send you to autopsy school to study bed bodies.” Stella’s face scrunched up as JJ suppressed a snort and Pope blinked owlishly. “Look, you guys know me. Do I look like the type of person to fall for Sarah Cameron?”

JJ blinked. “Uh—”

Stella tilted her head at John B. “Do you want us to answer that?” She could guarantee neither he nor Kie would appreciate the answer.

John B held up a hand at Stella. “Just—just stop.”

Kie shook her head, her jaw tight as she frowned deeply. “Look, you don’t know her yet. I do! You can’t trust her.”

Pope chimed in, “Her brother did hit me in the back with a golf club.”

John B looked to Pope. “Rafe and Sara are different human beings.”

JJ’s cheek was resting on top of Stella’s head as he asked Kie, “What did she do to you, exactly?”

Stella sighed. Oh, boy.

Kie held up two fingers and jabbed them forward. “She’s like a. . . a spitting cobra.” Everyone blinked, bewildered. “First she—she blinds you, and then—”

Stella was already shaking her head, sitting up straight as she said to her struggling sister, “This is a bad analogy.”

“Listen to me!” Kie exclaimed, clearly fed up with the situation. “Whatever we get, she’s gonna try to take.”

Her words were met by silence, other than the crackling fire and chirping cicadas. John B stood quietly, throat working, clearly unsure of what to say as JJ and Pope stayed in their own awkward silence, too. Stella suppressed a sigh. It seemed as though it was up to her to smooth things over, even if she did slightly side with Kie in all of this. She didn’t have a begrudging hate towards Sarah like Kie did, but they were sisters, and Stella needed to show solidarity. But she could also, in some way, see John B’s side of things. God, this was gonna be tense.

“Kie,” Stella spoke up carefully, prompting Kie’s gaze to connect with hers. “Whatever John B promised Sarah, that’s his issue. But if she’s the only way we can get the map, then we need to let it happen.”

Kie’s jaw was hard. “I don’t want her involved. I don’t want to deal with her.”

“We won’t,” Stella said, glancing quickly at John B before looking at Kie again. “Let John B deal with her.” When Kie didn’t look entirely convinced, Stella let out a huff. “This is bigger than your beef with Sarah. I know you know that.”

Silence fell upon them for a few moments as they all waited for Kie to respond. She sat quietly, hands gripping the log she sat on, mulling over Stella’s words. Stella, in turn, hoped she got through to her sister. They needed Kie to be on board with this, no matter her issues with Sarah. They’d already gotten this far in their treasure hunt—an old beef shouldn’t hinder them now.

Stella remained quiet, waiting for Kie to make a decision, although she silently enjoyed the sensation of JJ’s fingers ghosting up and down her arm, their arms still linked together. It was calming when others would argue JJ was anything but.

“Fine,” Kie finally gave in and everyone instantly sat up. She glared at John B. “As long as I don’t have to speak to her.” John B pressed his hands together and brought them to his mouth, his grin already forming. “I just hope you know what you’re getting us into.”

After John B profusely thanked Kie for agreeing, they killed the fire and got up before heading back to the van, since they had to drive to meet Sarah. The twigs and leaves crunched under their shoes as they went, but as Pope, Kie, and John B chatted while walking ahead, Stella lingered back and grasped JJ’s hand to slow his pace down.

He looked at her, eyebrows raising. “What’s up?”

Stella looked up at him, her fingers ghosting on his chin. Finally, she let the worry come out in full force as she asked, “Are you okay? Did—” she stopped, throat working to get rid of the lump that formed. “Did your dad do this?”

JJ’s jaw worked, blue eyes glimmering under the moonlight as he looked down at her. “Got a good chunk of money to pay in restitution,” he told her. “The old man’s not too happy about it.”

Despite herself, Stella felt the hot tears sting in her eyes. She preferred the pink in JJ’s cheeks when they were flushed when he was happy or even drunk—not the pink and harsh reds that surrounded the cuts and marked the bruises. Stella wasn’t sure she ever hated anyone as much as she hated JJ’s dad. Her throat was tight, unable to say anything except to croak out his name, “JJ—”

“Hey, hey,” he shushed her, hands coming up to cup Stella’s that had been ghosting along his sharp jaw. He held her hand in both of his before pressing a kiss to it, blue eyes locked in her brown. “I’m okay, Stel. They’ll heal. It’s no big deal.”

Stella scoffed, though her concern remained clear. “You can’t actually expect me to believe that.” The flutters in her stomach returned when JJ kissed her hand, when he looked at her with those baby blue eyes she loved so much. She let out a breath. “You’re sleeping over at John B’s, right?”

JJ offered her a small dimpled grin. “When am I not?”

Stella pinned him with a stare. They’d stopped walking and she knew they had to move soon, but she took a breath. “Whenever you can, either sleep at John’s or you sleep at mine. Okay?”

JJ raised his eyebrows, though she could see his gaze soften at her offer. But he kept the mood light as he teased, “You inviting me to your room, shark bait?”

Her heart jumped. “Wouldn’t be the first time we shared a bed,” Stella pointed out. It was the truth. They shared hammocks, chairs, couches, and beds countless times before.

“Yeah, but it’s different now, isn’t it?” JJ questioned.

She looked at their hands before meeting his gaze again. “Is it?” she returned, throat working in anticipation. This was it. This was Stella asking JJ if whatever was happening between them was real, if something more was going to come out of it than a few kisses shared.

JJ’s gaze was intense, deep in a way she wasn’t used to as it stole her breath. “It is.” Steady, resolute, firm. No room for arguments. Thank fuckinf God.

Stella felt her grin appear before she could help it, relief warming her, and JJ mirrored her smile before ducking his head and pressing his lips to hers. She returned the kiss slowly, gently, not wanting to hurt his cut lips. Her heart jumped excitedly as he kissed her, but it was cut short, unfortunately, when John B’s voice cut through the air.

“Oi! What happened to no macking?”

The two of them pulled apart, but John B was grinning, as were Pope and Kie as they looked at the two of them. Stella’s face flushed as JJ slung his arm around her shoulders before they began walking towards their friends. “I’m sure we can make an exception,” JJ said smoothly, cockily.

John B’s grin was wicked. “If it means you’ll finally stop whining about how much you looooove Stel, then yes we will.”

Stella laughed, cheeks flushing, while JJ spluttered. “I never whined!” he protested as they joined their friends.

Pope rolled his eyes. “That’s true. You just bottled it all up inside because you’re emotionally constipated.”

“Sounds about right. I’m the one who made the first move,” Stella said, grinning widely at JJ’s betrayed expression, laughing as he used his arm around her to push her away. Stella continued laughing, along with the others, as she stumbled away, but didn’t lose her balance because JJ instantly caught her hand and pulled her back to his side.

“Whatever. I like an assertive woman,” JJ said with a charming grin, pressing a kiss to Stella’s temple as they neared the van.

Pointing at Pope and John B as they climbed inside, Kie said, “You two owe me twenty bucks, by the way.”

“No, we don’t!” John B argued as he started the van. “It’s after Midsummers.”

Pope nodded in agreement as Kie grinned wickedly before meeting Stella’s gaze as she sat on the back bench. With a giggle, Stella confessed, “It was actually yesterday. Before the summer movie series.”

John B and Pope’s gazes swung to JJ, who leaned back with his arms propped on top of the back bench casually as he said, “It’s true, boys.” John B shook his head and began driving, and JJ added, “Can’t believe you three bet on us.”

Sitting on the floor opposite of them, Pope scoffed. “Can’t believe it took you two this long to get together.”

“Okay!” Stella spoke up loudly, clapping her hands together once and shooting all of her friends a look. “We’re done talking about this.”

They reached their destination soon after that, a spot off in the middle of the woods where a tower stood, the apparent meeting spot John B had set up at Kildare Hawk’s Nest. As soon as he parked the car, Pope slid open the back van door as JJ slapped his knees. “Hit it, boys! We’re goin’. Recon mission.”

But before any of them could even get up, John B turned to face them. “Yo, uh. . . So, uh, I think I’m gonna do this one by myself. . . Tonight.”

Thunder rumbled overhead as Kie rolled her eyes and Stella and JJ fell back in their seats. She raised her eyebrows as JJ drawled a knowing, “Really?”

John B frowned. “What?”

JJ took off his head. “Nothin’.”

John B sighed, fixing his own hat atop his head. “I don’t want to spook Sarah with the peanut gallery.”

Kie shrugged, voice sharp and annoyed as she looked at John B. “I just don’t understand why we’re involving her at all.”

Stella let out a sigh as she leaned back, JJ now sitting on the ground next to her, his head resting against her leg as she crossed her arms over her chest. “Kie, we’re not involving her, okay?” John B said, exasperated. “It’s—it’s just, uh, like a—a business meeting. . . Thing.” On the ground, JJ made a crude motion with the joint he held and made a gulping sound, prompting Pope to grin in amusement while Stella rolled her eyes at John B. He was not selling this well. “Look, once we get what we need, we cut her loose, all right? Plus, we need the map.”

Yeah, okay. Stella wasn’t quite sure how much she believed that.

Kie pursed her lips, leaning forward as she stared John B dead in the eye. “Promise me nothing’s happening between you two.”

John B widened his eyes, answering breathily, “Nothing is happening, Kie.”

“I’m being serious.”

“Okay!”

Kie was still frowning, as if she was trying to get John B to get the message through her glare. “This isn’t about you. This isn’t about us. This is about her.” Stella pressed her lips together as she watched them. Kie’s beef with Sarah was so damn deep, she wondered if they would be able to do with if she wasn’t on board with Sarah helping out just this once. Personally, Stella didn’t give a shit about Sarah Cameron; she just didn’t like her out of principle for the way the end of that friendship hurt Kie. Everything else was between Kie and Sarah. “Dude, she’s gonna get inside your head. Just promise me nothing’s happening between you guys.”

John B looked at her as lightning flashed outside and thunder rolled. “I promise.”

“That was really believable,” JJ piped up.

Pope nodded. “A hundred percent believable.”

Stella lightly knocked JJ with her knee while glaring at Pope, effectively shutting both of them up. John B didn’t dignify them with a response, instead saying, “Anyways, um, I’m gonna take care of business.”

JJ shook his head, playing with the joint. “You’re gonna take care of it so well.”

Stella waved John B off dismissively. “We’ll just sit here,” she said dryly. “In the hot-ass car.”

Pope added, “While it’s lightning.”

They left the back door of the van open as John B got out, backpack on as he walked off towards the tower. The wind rustled outside, thunder rumbling every now and then to accompany the flashes of lightning that warned of a storm rolling in. “Kiara, holding onto your grudge is like drinking poison and thinking Sarah will die,” Pope said once John B was gone.

“Exactly,” JJ nodded.

Kie shot the two of them a withering stare before looking at Stella. Her twin merely shrugged. “You know I’m on your side,” Stella said. “But you can’t really tell John B what he can or can’t do.”

“I’m not trying to tell him what to do,” Kie shot back. “I’m just warning him against the kind of person I know Sarah is. She’s gonna fuck us over.”

“Look, we just—we just gotta trust that John B knows what he’s doing,” Pope tried to placate, looking between Stella and Kie. “That he’s using his head.”

Kie scoffed, not really convinced. “I know what head he’s using, and it isn’t the one on his shoulders.”

“That’s a good one,” JJ mumbled quietly where he sat.

They were quiet for a few minutes, just listening to the rumble of thunder, before conversation started up again. Pope had asked about what happened at Midsummers, and JJ launched into the story that led up to the Kooks cornering him in the men’s room while they waited for John B to return with the map.

JJ was saying, “Rafe and Kelce followed me—”

Kie cut him off. “Wait, do you guys hear that?” Her eyebrows furrowed together. “Sh.”

Stella frowned. “What?”

And then, in the distance, over the sound of the wind howling and thunder rumbling, came a girl’s voice yelling, “Please, somebody, help!”

All of their eyes widened, instantly on their feet as JJ grunted, “Oh, wait, no, I hear that.”

“Shit,” Pope cursed as they all stumbled out.

“What the fuck?” Stella muttered, gripping the skirt of her dress so it didn’t get tangled in her feet as she ran.

The voice, Stella realized, belonged to Sarah, and her heart started pounding as they ran towards the Hawk’s Nest, throat already drying in worry. The first thought in her head was that something went terribly wrong, that John B was hurt, and when they all cleared a group of trees towards the base of the Nest, Stella’s fear came true as a gasp ripped through her at the sight of John B lying on the ground, Sarah crying as she cradled his head and begged for him to wake up and open his eyes.

“Sarah! What happened?” Pope asked as they came running over, skidding to a stop, their breathing labored.

Sarah was crying, and Stella’s heart clenched at the sight of John B, unconscious, fear drenching her veins in ice as she instantly gripped Kie’s hand. “I don’t know what to do,” Sarah sobbed. “He needs help. Topper shoved him.”

Anger heated Stella’s skin, momentarily taking over the terror trembling her body as JJ demanded, “Where the hell is he?”

But Sarah just cried, “Oh, please, please, please get help. I don’t care who. Just call someone.”

Stella pushed Pope away as she panted, “Go! Call 911! Go!”

Pope took off and Kie shouted after him, “Pope, hurry!”

They all stood, breathing labored and hearts pounding, unsure of what to do as their friend lay unconscious. Worry weighed heavily on them all, to the point where Stella couldn’t even stop to question the way Sarah was holding John B to her, crying for him, kissing him and begging for him to wake up. No, nothing else mattered other than their injured friend, the tears stinging in Stella’s eyes as she prayed to anyone who was listening that he would wake up. Soon. Now. Please.

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julesclues · 5 years ago

Text

fake dating

“please talk to me about it” // chapter 5

warnings: mentions of sex and verbal abuse

pairings: jj maybank x reader

word count: 3.35k

you wake up with a pounding headache. you thought maybe hitting your head a couple times on the wall would be better than what you were experiencing right now. you groan and look over at the nightstand next to your bed. you grab your phone and you gasp in nervousness. you had 23 miss calls from your mom and over 100 texts wondering where you were. “fuck,” you whisper, and roll to your side. your body collides with another, and you scream. “woah princess, relax, it’s me,” you hear them say. it was jj. “god jj,” you moan. he smirks and you give him a look. “when i imagine you moaning my name, it definitely doesn’t look like this,” he states. you roll your eyes and giggle with a deep red blush creeping up on your face. you slap his shoulder lightly, remembering the events from last night, and look back down at your phone. “you’re so immature,” you complain. “i have to call my parents back,” you say, sitting up. jj stretches and groans, still laying down. “us having sex reminded you of your parents?” he asks jokingly, and you let out a tiny gasp. “might i remind you jj, we didn’t have sex!” he chuckles and so do you. “i know, i know,” he sighs, pretending to be hurt. “your mom thinks we did though.” your eyes widen. “oh crap, i forgot about that,” you say, while dialing your mom’s number and hitting the ‘call’ button.

she immediately answers and starts yelling at you. “y/n i’ve been calling you all night! where are you! i was worried sick!” you look back at jj and he sits up, not breaking eye contact with you. “i’m with jj mom. we’re at john–“ she cuts you off before you can finish. “oh god y/n! i was so worried! you can’t just run off with your boyfriend to do god knows what and not tell your mother!” you sigh and get up from the bed. “mom, please. i’m fine! i’m with jj,” you repeat. ”what if something happened to you?” she asks, not knowing you had that whole confrontation with rafe. you look down at your bruised knuckles from hitting rafe in the face. you smile slightly from the satisfaction of the memory. “nothing would’ve happened to me!” you yell, pacing the room, feeling jj’s eyes follow you. “i was with jj, okay? i know you were nervous, and i’m so sorry, i lost track of time. but i wasn’t alone ma. he’ll protect me.” you turn to him and he smirks. “i’ll use protection all right,” he whispers, and you groan is disgust.

“stop being horny,” you whisper. “what did you say?” your mom asks from the other side of the phone. “nothing mom,” you say quickly, and jj laughs. “was that jj?” you hear your mom question from the other side of the phone. “yes ma.. look, i’ll be home soon, okay?” she sighs and says okay, saying she loves you and that she’ll see you soon.

“oh and one more thing y/n,” she adds on. “your father is really mad at you. he was worried too.” you scoff in disbelief. your father being worried about you? please. “yeah, sure he was mom. i bet he was shitting his pants,” you say sarcastically. jj knew you were talking about your dad. he had noticed some tension the other day he was at your house for dinner. especially when he brought it up and you shot him down. he knew something more was going on behind the scenes. he wanted to be there for you. he wanted to be the one you went to first when you needed comfort. he didn’t want you to go through anything by yourself. he knew how lonely and broken it could make a person feel.

“watch your language y/n! he was worried. just cut him some slack, okay?” you scoff after hearing your mother’s words. for all of your life, your father has treated you no better than trash. only when there were people around was when he would actually act like a father. his worry your mom kept constantly talking about, was actually a disguise for anger. he never showed it in front of your mom or little sister, but he would get really enraged when it came to you. that’s why when you tried to get help, no one would believe you. he thankfully never laid a hand on you, but there’s a first time for everything.

“whatever mom.. look, i have to go, okay?” you say, seeing jj get up and look through his closet for a better outfit other than pajamas. “okay okay. just be back in time for dinner please. oh, and bring jj!” you pinch the bridge of your nose, wishing you could just go back to bed. “mom come on, i don’t think jj would want to come back. dad’s just going to rip into him again, like he always does!” your mother huffs in anger. “y/n l/n bring your boyfriend for dinner and stop talking bad about your father!”

“goodbye mom,” you say, ignoring her and hanging up. “trouble in paradise?” jj asks, taking off his shirt to exchange it for another. you nod in agreement, biting the inside of your mouth. “what’s wrong?” he asks, slipping the shirt over his head. “why? does it look like something is wrong?” you ask back. “you bite the inside of your lip when you’re stressed,” he comments, whiling pointing to his own mouth. “you noticed that?” you question. why would jj be noticing things that not even your parents knew about you?

“yeah,” he says casually. he starts taking off his pants and your eyes go wide. “woah!” you exclaim, turning around. he laughs, as you hear the noise of his pants on the floor. your cheeks were as red as a tomato and if you were to turn around, you thought they would explode. “you’ve seen me without pants before y/n,” he says, walking to his closet to find shorts to wear. “th-that’s different,” you stutter. “you w-were in your swimsuit.” you hear him grunt while lifting up the pair of shorts. he grabs your arm and spins you around to look at him. “here,” he says, giving you his sweatshirt and some shorts. “where’d you get the girl shorts from?” you laugh. he laughs along with you and thinks. “honestly, i don’t know. they look about your size. some girl must’ve left them here.” your eyes widen as you realize what he meant. “ew! i don’t wanna wear one of your girl toy’s shorts! how did she even leave without pants..?” jj shrugs while yawning. “i’m going to the bathroom. just wear the clothes,” he says, ignoring your question.

before you could protest, jj walks into the spare bathroom and you groan, looking down at the clothes. since you didn’t think you were going to sleep over john b’s, jj gave you one of his t-shirts and boxers to sleep in. he would never admit it to you, but he thought you looked absolutely adorable in his clothes.

you start to change out of your, well, jj’s, clothes. you slip the sweatshirt over your head and almost instantly feel warmth. you take in the minor scent of weed, but the major scent of cologne. jj always found a way to smell amazing, even if he was smoking for hours straight. you loved it.

you slipped on the shorts of the unknown woman, feeling a little disgusting. you were bare foot, so you tried to find some slides or flip flops jj had that would miraculously fit you. you open his closet and are greeted by a strong whiff of his scent. his closet was actually well organized, unlike his room. you hear the toilet flush and jj walks out almost instantly, making eye contact with you. “i need shoes,” you chuckle nervously. he eyes you up and down, before meeting your e/c orbs once more. “you look hot in my clothes,” he grins. “oh my god, shut up,” you groan, feeling butterflies erupt in your stomach. “you love it,” he smirks, walking closer to you. he comes right in front of you, so tall, he might as well be hovering. “the shoes are right here,” he says in a low voice, pointing to the bottom of his closet, but still making eye contact with you. you turn your eyes from his to the shoes, and smile. “thank you!” you say enthusiastically, bending down to grab the shoes.

you felt jj still eyeing you. not knowing whether he was looking at your head or your ass, you didn’t really care. you looked hella good in those shorts anyways.

you stand back up and slip the slides on, looking up at jj. “oh i almost forgot,” you say, looking in the mirror to fix your hair. “my mom wants you to come for dinner tonight. wanna come?”

“i’ll go anywhere with you my love,” he jokes, and you chuckle. “shut up doofus.” he smiles widely and laughs. “doofus? is that a new nickname?” you turn to him and smile. “yep,” you speak softly, popping the p.

you both walk out of jj’s room, and are greeted with pope and john b. “why hello lovebirds,” john b says, raising his eyebrows. you chuckle and sit down at the kitchen island, while jj plops down on the couch. pope hands you a water bottle and you thank him while yawning. “good morning,” you smile. john b laughs and you give him a confused look. “it’s 2:30,” he chuckles. “i think you mean good afternoon.” your eyes widen when you realize you have to be at your house by 3:00. “babe, we gotta go,” you say, grabbing his hand and pulling him up from the couch with a grunt. “where are you two going? gonna go mack on each other?” john b comments, making a small blush rise up to your cheeks. “john b!” you yelp. “w-we’re going to dinner at my house,” you stutter, making jj laugh. still holding jj’s hand, you walk out of john b’s house and start walking down the street.

“you’re still holding my hand love, not that i’m complaining,” jj exclaims. you go to let go of his hand, but his grip tightens. “what’re you doing?” you ask jj. “the pouges arent here, it’s okay,” you add. “isn’t it one of the rules though? to hold hands?” you smile at the small gesture, hoping he didn’t realize you were flustered. “yo-you’re right.” quit the stuttering, you think to yourself. “then let’s go,” he says confidently.

20 minutes pass and you two finally make it to your house. you let go of jj’s hand, and groan. “my hand hurts so much,” you sigh. not saying anything, jj opens the door for you and you thank him. you’re immediately pulled into a long, awkward hug with your mom. “woah, relax ma, i’m good,” you speak in her shoulder, hesitantly wrapping your arms around her small body. “i was so worried about you! what is wrong with you?” she questions as she pulls away and slaps your chest. you roll your eyes and look into hers. “please calm down mom. i’m okay. jj and i left the midsummers early and went back to john b’s house.” she gives you a glare and squints her eyes. “and what did you do decide to do, hm?” she asks, making you groan and blush a bit. “m-mom can we just eat dinner please?” you laugh awkwardly. she finally agrees, and leads both you and jj to the kitchen, where your dad and little sister sat.

your dad looked pissed, but you tried your best not to make eye contact with him. no eye contact meant that you wouldn’t have to stir up a conversation about where you and jj were, what you were doing, and why you didn’t answer the million texts your mother sent you. you and jj sit down next to each other, as your mother walks to the stove to put the chicken in the oven. jj senses how tense you are, so he puts his hand on your thigh. you stiffen up a bit before relaxing into his touch. you were wearing shorts, so you felt the coolness of both his fingertips and rings. you don’t turn your head, but you move your eyes to look at him. he is eyeing your father, while your father is looking at your mother in the kitchen.

“so,” your father starts, making you look up at him. “where were you yesterday?” you look at jj and he gives you a small smile, calming you down a bit. “i was at midsummers but jj and i left early.” you didn’t want to tell him about the fight that went down. he would never let you hang out with jj or the other pouges ever again. “why did you leave? so you and your boy toy could get it on?” you gasp in offense and glare at your father. “my boy toy?!” you yell, as jj squeezes your thigh a bit, to try and calm you down. you ignore it, and the butterflies it sent to your stomach, and continue to get mad at your dad. “jj is my boyfriend,” you emphasize. “he’s not some fling, or something i use just to feel pleasure! he’s my boyfriend and i love him so get your shit together and be happy for me for once!” your father stands up with a loud bang, scaring both you and your sister. “dad..” your sister whispers, not used to seeing him like this. you, however, have seen him like this more times than you can count. “you’re a good for nothing whore y/n! of course jj would only be using you for your body! you think he really loves you? how could he? you’re you. and there’s no cure for that,” he hisses harshly. you take a sharp breath in, as your eyes goes wide.

“wow,” you chuckle sadly, standing up, making jj’s hand fall from your thigh. “why don’t you tell everyone how you really feel.” your eyes glisten with tears as you look at jj. “go home, okay? i’ll talk to you later.” before he could say anything, you run upstairs and slam your door.

jj turns to your father and slams his fist on the table. “what the fuck is wrong with you?” he screams. your father is taken aback by the anger in the blonde’s voice. “excuse me?” he scoffs in offense. “how dare you speak about y/n like that? i love her! i would never use her for her body. sure, we might be young, but she taught me what love is. i fell in love with her, and i’m glad i did. you’re her father. you’re supposed to love her when no one else does, or when no one else will. you’re supposed to be there for her no matter what. you’re a sorry excuse for a dad and i really hope you get help because you’ve just lost your daughter for good.”

not wanting to hear your father’s response or reaction, jj runs upstairs after you and violently knocks on the door. “leave me alone,” you cry. “y/n,” jj whispers sincerely. once you hear that it’s him, the door almost swings open immediately. you stand in front of him, your hair frizzy and eyes red and puffy. “i thought you were going home,” you sniffle. he looks at you with sad eyes and walks in your room, shutting the door with his foot behind him. “are you okay?” he asks, as you lay down on your bed. he comes to the other side and lays down next to you. he turns his head to look at you and you do the same. “yeah,” you answer falsely. his eyebrows twitch as he waits for you to continue. however, nothing else comes. “you’re not okay,” he says and you look up at the ceiling. “please talk to me about it,” he exclaims softly. you turn back to him with soft eyes, and just his look alone makes you break down.

you sob, as he wraps his arms around you and pulls you to his chest. “he always says shit like this,” you cry. your tears were getting jj’s sweatshirt wet, but he didn’t care one bit. he just hugged you tighter, hoping that if he hugged you tight enough, he could just squeeze all the sadness out. “he’s only mean to me. not my sister, not my mother. just me. what did i do so wrong that he does this? he verbally abuses me jj. he doesn’t hit me, but my god, it hurts so bad.” you knew you were putting yourself in a vulnerable place in front of jj, but you didn’t care. if anyone understood what you were going through, it was him. and you were glad to finally have someone to talk to.

“i’m so sorry,” he whispers, running his fingers through your hair as your head rests on his chest. his other hand is rubbing your back up and down, giving you chills. you giggle softly at the feeling of his fingertips and he looks down at you. “why are you laughing?” he asks with a small smile. he loved seeing you laugh. “you’re tickling me,” you admit. you lifts your chin up with his hand and raises his eyebrows. “oh yeah?” he asks, and you nod. “like this?” all of a sudden, he starts tickling your sides and stomach, making you laugh in excitement. “jj!” you yell as you laugh hard. his hands go everywhere as you try to wiggle out of his embrace, but it’s no use. he flips you over so you’re under him, and he’s on top of you, still tickling you. “okay, okay! jj, please!” you yell in laughter, tears coming out of your eyes and you move your head back and forth. he finally stops and looks down at you, as you pant trying to catch your breath.

“you’re beautiful,” he admits in a whisper. “shut up maybank,” you say with a blush, smacking him lightly in the chest. “thank you for making me feel better,” you say as you still stare into your eyes. “of course.” your eyes flicker to his lips for a quick second, wondering what it must feel like to kiss them. they must be soft, but when he’s kissing you, he’s probably rough. you try to remove the thought from your head, but when you look back up to his eyes, they’re on your lips now.

“j..?” you whisper. “yeah?” he asks in the same tone if voice. “i wa–“

ring ring

your phone rings loudly, making you jump in nervousness. you turn your head to your nightstand, as jj let’s go of you and gets off, clearing his throat with a slight blush on his cheeks. “it’s kie,” you grunt, getting off the bed, trying to forget the moment you two almost had. maybe you were just imagining it. yeah, you say to yourself. i was imagining it.

“hello?” you say, answering the phone. “hey y/n,” you hear her say. “we’re having a kegger tonight. you and jj coming?” you turn to jj and pretend to drink something, your secret signal for a kegger. he nods with a small smile. you turn around and pace around the room. “we’ll be there,” you say in excitement. “john b!” she yells. “they’ll be there!” she repeats in a scream, and you hear john b mumble an “okay.”

you hang up the phone and turn to jj. “i really don’t feel like going downstairs right now,” you admit. he smiles widely at you and plops on your bed. “what’re ya doing loser?” you ask, sitting down next to him. “let’s watch a movie!” he says, turning on your tv. “or, you know, netflix and chill,” he smirks. you roll your eyes and groan. “you’re so inappropriate maybank!”

“only for you my love.”

🏷 tag list: @spencereidbasis @lonely-kermit @pankow1218 @downbytheouterbanks @softtfordrew @maybanksbaby @teamnick @diverrdown @octopus1284 @merchantjjreply @k-k0129 @broken-jj @obxmxybxnk @euphoriapains @sofianunes10 @1d5sosddl @peterparkour15 @hales-a-bells @bailspogue @lemur46 @prejudic3 @itsagurl @castiel-savvy18 @drewswannabegirl @queenofthepouges @harryswigss @lunaposey @largedenominationsplease @kay667 @poguestyle17 @itsyagirljay @agirlwholovescoffee @illbesafeforyou @poguestyleskye @httpstarkey @jjpoperights @netflix-imagines @mijnliefste @anotheryoungin @mitchloveswriting @cheshirecat107 @danicarosaline @nearlydanger9 @marvel-ousnesss @brie-gr3y @otrbnks @mayleenmaybank1 @wallsrudy

#jj maybank #john b routledge #kiara carrera #outerbanks #pope heyward #jj maybank fanfiction #jj maybank imagine #jj maybank obx #jj maybank x reader #jj outer banks #rudy pankow imagine #rudy pankow x reader #rudy obx #rudy pankow #jj obx #topper obx #sarah cameron #rafe cameron #john booker routledge

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flamminghotweedos · 5 years ago

Note

#95 with jj please🥺

A/N: #95 on the prompt list is so funny out of context, I hope I did it justice and you enjoyed! 🥺 this is set in Episode 1 Season 1 right after the Pogues found the boat.

Word Count: 1636

Warnings: I don't think any, bro, straight up fluff and some makin out

Pairing: JJ x reader

Requested: yes, #95 "where did you get a baby?"

~Baby Jay~

“That’s the boat I saw after Y/N and I surfed the surge,” John B. said after you and the other Pogues climbed back into the boat.

“You surged the surge?” Kie asked, making John B. shrug and JJ high five him.

“That’s the shit, pogue style,” JJ walked over to you, shooting a quick wink making you laugh and roll your eyes.

No pogue on pogue macking. But something about JJ made you want to risk it all just to have a little something extra there. So you did. You two had secretly started to hang out more outside of the other three. You both knew that you were 1. Keeping a secret from the other pogues and 2. Definitely macking on each other, so it was best if you didn’t get caught. Which meant the touchy moments and flirty remarks between you two had to be dialed down.

“Wait, wait do we know who’s boat that is?” Pope asked, splashing water over the boat as he jogged to the bow.

“No, but we’re about to find out,”

“Dude it’s too deep,” JJ argues as John B. took out the anchor. A sudden nerve crashes through you, hoping John B. would drown.

“Only for the weak and feeble, JJ,”

“Well, I’m not resuscitating you. I’m just making that clear upfront,” JJ jokes and nudged into you, noticing your sudden nervousness.

“John B,” Kie warned, making him laugh and ask what, you finished her concern.

“Be careful,” John B. waved the both of you off.

“Diver down, fool,” Pope gave a little salute.

“Diver down,” John B. gave the same salute back,

“Yeah, he is!” JJ yelled with a sudden push on John B. knocking him off the boat.

“JJ!” You warned as the four of you leaned on the boat, searching the water for John B. to come up.

“Why are you so worked up? He’s fine,” JJ shrugged and you watched the water longer. Then a little longer. And a little longer.

“Should we go get him?” Pope asked just as John B. cleared the surface coughing.

On the way back to shore, you and Kiara agreed on the same idea. Going to the coast guard and maybe getting a finders fee.

“Besides, I doubt the coast guard is gonna have time for five teens talking about a boat wreck,” Pope made a good point, as you all saw the massive group of people from around the coast guards stand on the dock you floated up to.

“You guys got this? I’ll be right back,” JJ said before anyone tied the boat up, running off down the dock towards a familiar woman, a neighbor of his as you helped the other three tie the boat to the dock.

“I’ll be right back,” John B. said, walking towards the officer arguing about canine diabetes and snapping at John B.

Pope, Kiara and you stood out of the way, leaning against the watching John B. walkout, JJ nowhere in sight.

“Well, that went well. So what’s the plan?” Pope asked as you searched the packed area for JJ. Kie noticed your flickering eyes and put an arm around you.

“I think I know how we’re gonna find the guy who owns that boat,” John B. said holding up the motel key. Kiara smiled over at you, making you laugh.

“No. No, we don’t know who’s room that is, it could belong to anyone,”

“I’m in,” JJ’s voice spoke from the side of you, everyone looking in his direction as he finally popped into the conversation. Except now, his tan arms were holding what looked to be a baby, maybe a year old, maybe two. The point was, you all had no idea who the fucking child was or who it belonged to. He smiled calmly like everything was normal as a few shocking noises left the crew’s mouth.

“Uh...JJ?” The baby made a giggle noise.

“Where did you get a baby?” You asked and let out a laugh you didn’t know you were holding. You watched him look down at the little girl, curly hair blowing in her face making her giggle.

“Please don’t tell me it’s yours,” John B. joked. You walked over, something inside you loved the look of JJ holding a baby. How good he looked while holding the child as well. Hell, he’s only 16 and you could agree to have his kids right that second.

“No,” JJ laughed and smiled over at you when you brushed the little girl's hair out of her face. “No this is my neighbor’s daughter, Annie Jane,” to your surprise, the other three joined around the baby as well, trying their best to make the child laugh and smile. Once she did you all sighed and looked around. You noticed Kie look at you longer, wiggling her eyebrows at how close you were standing by JJ and how cute you two looked together.

“Right, the motel,” JJ said after a few silent seconds. Everyone said different agreements out loud and started to head towards the walkway of the dock.

“Y/N, come with me to give her back,” JJ smiled and walked towards his neighbor, knowing you’d follow him. John B. gave you a knowing look as you stopped and changed your path, flipping him off secretly as he walked with Pope and Kie back to the van.

“She’s so cute,” You said and smiled and the baby now looking at you from over JJ’s shoulder.

“Hey, Bonnie,” JJ said as an older woman stood up from her seat.

“Oh my sweet baby Jay,” her thick, southern accent and nickname for JJ made you giggle causing her to look over at you. “You must be Y/N,” she held out her hand and shook it.

“Yeah, nice to meet you,”

“JJ’s talked a lot about you,”

“Bonnie-“

“Don’t let him lie to you. I could tell you were the sweet, pretty one he talks about, says your name a lot,” you were enjoying the sudden redness on JJ’s face, and not just from being sun-kissed.

“Alright, well our friends are waiting on us so we better get going,” JJ handed the baby back to Bonnie as she rolled her eyes and took her daughter.

“Thanks, Baby Jay,” she called as you walked away, JJ’s arm naturally slinging itself over your shoulder, pulling you closer.

“Might have to start calling you ‘Baby Jay’ from now on,” you smiled over at JJ making him shake his head and laugh. He looked up and saw John B. and the others stop and start talking to another kid from the Southside.

“Yeah, that’ll go over smoothly with the rest of the crew,” You two laughed and JJ kept his eyes up, seeing if John B, Pope, and Kiara’s conversation was going to belong. He squinted slightly like he was debating something and looked at the large boasts you had been passing by.

“No but seriously, you with a baby hit differently,” JJ’s head finally snapped over, one of his eyebrows cocked up as a smirk rose on his face.

“Oh really,”

“Yeah just...kinda wanted to mack on you right there,” you joked but only heard your laugh, looking up from the ground and over to JJ who kept the smirk on his face, knowing he had a plan.

“JJ!” You yelled as JJ took your hand and pulled you to the other side of the dock, sneaking behind one of the Kook’s large, white boats, finding a little shack next to it, out of sight by a majority of people in the area.

“What?” He pushed you up against the concrete wall, face only inches apart now. “You’re the one who said you wanted to mack on me,” you loved the smirk he had on his face, him knowing it drove you crazy. You laughed and wrapped your left hand around the back of his neck and pulled him closer, feeling his familiar, warm lips dance against yours. He pressed his body into more, smiling into the kiss as you let out a soft moan, granting him access to slipping his tongue in. So, you wanted to get him back. You slid your hand up the nape of his neck, running your fingers up into his hair and tugged at the roots, longing for the moan that vibrates against your lips.

“You guys seen JJ and Y/N?” Kiara’s voice rang loudly as a group of working Pogues walked down the dock.

“Saw then walking down the dock but that’s it,” JJ pulled away from you, an embarrassed giggle escaping your lips,

“Shh shh shh,” JJ held his finger to his now plump lips and grabbed your hand. He crouched down and lead you around the other side of the shack, carefully holding you back as he watched Kiara walk back towards where Bonnie was.

“Come on,” JJ whispered, pulling you with him as he jogged towards the dock, now walking calmly like you had been doing nothing wrong.

“Where’s Kie?” You asked making Pope and John B. look over to you. The two gave you confused expressions.

“Looking for you guys...where were you?”

“Talking to Bonnie,” JJ shrugged and slid open the twinkies’ door and let you in first. “Let’s go Kie!” JJ yelled as Kiara started walking back down the dock, throwing her hands up and jogging towards the van.

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samanthadalton · 5 years ago

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Hey! Do you think you could write an avaxmc fic that’s today’s chapter (81) of mtfl but from mack’s pov? Like a rewrite, with more gayness and no boys? Maybe have mack see them at some point, or find them sleeping together the morning after? Idk it’s just an idea and ofc it’s ok if u don’t wanna do it, just thought i’d ask

i loved this idea anon, idk if its super gay but I tried writing it from what i think Mack would be like, i hope you enjoy tho ❤️❤️

(also ive been so busy this week, i hope to do some writing for star crossed lovers next week as well as some more requests💖)

taglist: @cloud9in @midnitesteph @kamilahsayeet2063 @dopeyouth @avalawrencefl @alleycat97 (i added people from my other ava fic and people who might like the fic)

The tales of the sister

Now playing as Mack

I know something has been going on between Emma and Ava since we’ve come back from Jenning’s lodge but I don’t know exactly what. I scrutinise Emma as she fluffs the pillows for the 100th time tonight before taking out her phone to check her makeup...again.

“Chill Emma, it’s only Ava” I add a tiny dose of teasing to my voice, while Emma’s cheeks begin dusting with a tiny bit of red on them before she pointedly looks away.

“Everything just has to be perfect,” her eyes scan the living before she moves the tv remote an inch to the left before placing her hands on her hips, satisfied.

“Why?” I raise an eyebrow at her, trying to get any crumb of information since Emma and Ava used to always leave me out of the big girl gossip.

Emma freezes for a split second before her eyebrows furrowed together in contemplation, “I don’t know, it just has to be.”

I nonchalantly shrug my shoulders and sit on the couch before grabbing a handful of popcorn and shoving it into my mouth. Emma swats at my arm, “Mack! Don’t make a mess!”

“Whuh- iuts pouhpcourn” I retort, my mouth still filled with popcorn as Emma begins stress cleaning around me until the doorbell suddenly rings and she stands up straight so quickly before plastering a wide smile on her face. Just before she opens the door, she throws a warning look at me over her shoulder.

“Ava!” Ava squeals and tackles Emma into a huge bear hug while Emma just giggles like a schoolgirl, yuck.

“Hey, hey, let me say hi to Ava.” I see Emma shooting daggers at me in my peripheral vision but I ignore her as I give Ava a quick hello hug before settling back into my seat on the couch. “So” I take another handful of popcorn but before I can throw it all into my mouth, Emma glares at me, her eyes wide and full of warning, so I roll my eyes at her and plop a couple into my mouth before giving her a melodramatic smile. “What’s on the agenda for girl’s night?”

Ava and Emma share a weird look before Ava speaks up, “how about 2 truths and a lie?”

“Yes, I’ll finally get to learn your secrets.” I conspicuously rub my hands together, excitement running through my body.

“Yeah, now that we can trust you not to be a total blabbermouth,” Emma taunts.

“Hey I wasn’t that bad,” I throw my hands up defensively as Ava laughs.

“Yes you were.” Ava gestures over to Emma,” remember when Emma and I were freshmans and you came with your dad to pick Emma up from school and you literally screamed out that I had a crush on the science teacher.”

“Wait what was his name again?” Emma and Ava go silent as they try and remember before Ava slaps her thigh before shouting, “Mr Durrant!”

“Oh my god yeahhhhh,” Emma shakes her head as she and Ava laugh together but when they catch each other’s gaze, their laughter slowly fades and is replaced with an intense stare. Ava deftly glances at Emma’s lips before I awkwardly cough gaining the attention of the two girls again.

“So, 2 truths and a lie? I’ll go first. I’ve been arrested. I used to have an imaginary friend and I have a belly piercing.”

Ava and Emma share a conspirutual look before simultaneously saying, “belly piercing.”

“Come on Mack, you really think I forgot about your imaginary friend Lily? You used to always talk to her and have tea parties with her.”

I grumble and cross my arms together, “whatever someone else go next.”

“I’ll go.” Ava calls out. She presses her lips together in a thin line deep in thought before making an, “ah-ha” sound. “I’ve never broken a bone, i’ve been in a car crash and I have a secret cinder account.”

I reflect on Ava’s answers for a few moments before coming to a conclusion. “Definitely the broken bones. Did you think I wouldn’t remember the nasty fall you took in cheer your freshman year?”

Emma still in deep contemplation, quietly gazes at Ava. Her eyes roam her facial features before she squeaks out, “cinder account.”

“Ding, ding, ding.” Ava lifts her forefinger, tapping it on her nose, “we have a winner. To be honest I thought about making one but I chickened out at the last minute.”

“What? Why would you even consider making an account, you’re gorgeous. I would’ve thought you would have girls lining up around the block?

“Well even though we didn’t work out, I’m still grateful for the time I had with Bayla. She made me feel like I wasn’t alone because for a long time I felt like I was.” She flickers her gaze at Emma, her eyes softening, “And thanks to her she helped me realise that I have my eye on someone else.”

Emma gives Ava a small smile, hmmm so maybe something did happen between them and they haven’t told me before they keep giving each other flirty looks all night. Just to mess with them a little I break the moment between them by throwing a piece of popcorn at Emma, “I guess it’s your turn.”

“Okay fine. I’ve seen two boys from our school topless, I’ve dyed my hair blue and” she looks over at Ava, her eyes full of longing. “I kissed a girl.”

I KNEW IT. I KNEW IT. THEY KISSED.

I play off Emma’s statement cooly with a blank expression on my face, trying to hide my happiness for them both. I subtly look over at Ava who is so trying not to blush right now but is attempting (and failing) to suppress a smile. Cute.

“Emma I live with you, I know you haven’t dyed your hair blue!”

“You got me.”

“Now that you mention it you would look good with blue hair.”

After a lot of convincing, we finally managed to get Emma to agree to dye her hair blue.

“I have a box of dye under my bed. I'm going to go grab it.” I leave the two girls and begin inspecting the contents under my bed, looking for the dye. I triumphantly cheer to myself, like a loser, when I find the box and as I’m about to enter the bathroom, I see Ava leaning down and whispering into Emma’s ear. I can’t hear what she’s saying but I can see Emma’s reflection in the bathroom mirror, her eyes glistening with desire? Excitement? I don’t know but I can tell Emma’s slightly nervous because she’s chewing on the inside of her cheek.

Emma’s about to respond to Ava before her eyes catch mine in the mirror, “Mack!” her voice startled, “we didn’t see you there.”

“Yeah I figured.” Emma looks away abashed while Ava awkwardly coughs before reaching out and plucking the dye from her hands.

We begin mixing the dye together with the bleach and then Ava begins parting Emma’s hair, her fingers slowly tangling in Emma’s hair, before giving it a playful tug. Yuck they’re indirectly not so indirectly flirting in front of me. Right in front of my metaphorical salad!

“Do you guys think I’ll look different after I dye my hair?” Emma asks as Ava begins painting on the dye with her fingers.

“How do you want to look?” She raises an eyebrow at Emma.

“Hot.”

Ava snorts, “please, like you need a boost in that department.”

“Hey everyone could use a little hotness, well everyone except you because you’re practically a goddess.”

Ava’s grin widens and she takes in Emma’s admission. “It’s true. I guess it’s a cheer captain thing.” I clamp my mouth shut, trying so hard not to say anything to ruin this moment, hoping that they’ll forget about my existence. And maybe it works a little too well because Emma and Ava flirt the rest of the time we’re dying her hair and it takes everything in me not to scream and tell them to stop being so weird.

“Wow you look sexy,” Ava beams at Emma as she brushes through her now blue hair, stars practically glistening in her eyes.

“Thanks, I guess I’m catching up to you in the hotness department.”

Ava growls, (weird), her voice a whisper, “mmm. I think you’ve definitely surpassed me.”

I think I barfed a little in my mouth when I finally have had enough and I throw my hands up in the air, “I’m going to bed!” I turn back and teasingly wiggle my eyebrows at the girls, “make sure to behave yourselves.”

I crash into my bed but an hour later I hear Emma’s bedroom door shut and a flurry of giggles coming from her room. I guess they’re now making out? Gross. Right where I can hear them. I fold my pillow over my ear, trying to drown the sound of the laughs, and sound of kissing and sucking? I don’t know and I sure as hell don’t want to find out. Eventually I doze off and when I wake up the next morning I creep up to Emma’s room to see if she’s awake and can make me breakfast. But when I open the door, I see her half naked body, tangled up with a half-naked Ava as they peacefully sleep in each other’s embrace. I quickly but quietly close the door and flop back into my bed, glad that my older sister is getting some but sad because I don’t know when I’m going to get my pancakes now.

#playchoices #my two first loves #mtfl ava #ava mtfl #ava x mc #ava lawrence #mackenzie price

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soundtrack-scribe · 4 years ago

Text

Painted Pink Room

A/N: @talkfastromance4 mentioned that a part 2 to this would be cool and I had some ideas for it, so here we are.

Word Count: 2.3k

And away, and away we go!

It took a month for McKenna to finally sleep through the night in her own room, not that Calum and Luke minded in the slightest. Nap time was fine, but there was something about sleeping in the dark alone, even with the aid of a nightlight, that sent McKenna scurrying into bed with her dads every night.

So when Calum rolled over one morning and found empty space before his hand smacked into Luke’s arm, he shot awake. “Where’s Mack?!”

Luke mumbled angrily in his sleep. “Shh, Cal, I’m sleeping…”

“And Mack is missing!”

That got Luke’s attention, blue eyes snapping opening. He sat up straight, throwing back the covers. “What do you mean she’s missing?!”

“Do you see her in here?! Did she sleep in her own bed all night?”

“She better have otherwise she might be actually missing…”

Both men jumped out of bed and raced down the hall to McKenna’s room. And found her peacefully sleeping in her bed, Duke and Petunia curled up on the floor next to her. “How is she still asleep?” Luke asked in a whisper.

Calum shrugged, checking the time on his phone before groaning. “Probably cuz it’s five in the fuckin’ morning…”

“You woke me up at five in the morning because Mack was asleep in her own bed?!”

“I panicked, okay?! She’s never spent the whole night in her room before, what was I supposed to think?!”

“Sssshhhhh!” Luke shushed, gesturing for them to leave the room. “You wanna wake her up, or go back to bed? I, for one, vote for going back to bed.”

Calum yawned, agreeing with Luke that more sleep was needed. “Hey, Lu?”

“Yeah?”

“She did it. Whole night in her own room,” he smiled in pride.

“Yeah,” Luke matched Calum’s grin for a second. “But I’m kinda gonna miss her elbow in my ribs.”

“Yeah. Me too…”

And as much as they missed the little body squeezed in next to them, they did enjoy the extra uninterrupted hours of sleep. They also enjoyed McKenna tiptoeing into the room with both dogs at her side to wake them up, asking for breakfast.

~~~

“Alright, little miss, how do we want our hair today?” Calum asked her after Luke helped her get dressed. “Up or down?” He swung her up and sat her down on the bathroom counter, spinning her around so they both faced the mirror.

“Up!”

“Ponytail, braid, or bun?”

“Tail!”

“Great choice!” Calum grinned before setting to work, taking in pride at how well he’d learn to do her hair over the past handful of weeks. “Did Daddy tell you what we’re doing today?”

“‘Ool?” she asked, cocking her head to the side and turning a little.

“Gotta sit still for me, darling.” He gently set her straight again. “But, yeah, you’re right. We’re gonna go swimming today. Do you know why?”

She thought about it for a second, her little face scrunching in the mirror.

“You know you scrunch your face just like Daddy when you’re thinking,” Calum noted.

“Like Daddy?” she asked, scrunching her face more.

“Just like him.”

“Eyes like Papa!”

“Yep, eyes just like mine,” Calum smiled at her. “Can you remember why Daddy said we’re swimming today?”

“No.”

“It’s because we’re meeting some friends today!”

“Fwends?!”

“Yeah! Uncle Ashton and Uncle Mikey are gonna come over, so you can meet them and your cousin Wyatt.”

“Wots of fwends!”

“A little bit, yeah. But they’re excited to meet you.”

“Me?!”

“Yes, you! So, what do you say? Wanna go swimming with your new friends today?”

“Yes!”

“That’s my girl! C’mon, let’s go find Daddy.”

~~~

There was a small downside to having told McKenna that friends would be coming over to swim. It was the fact that she had very little concept of how time worked. So any sound of a car driving past was met with an excited gasp of “Fwends?!” and Calum and Luke having to shake their heads and go, “No, Mack. It’s not time yet. We have to have lunch and a nap first.” A cycle of conversation that repeated on an endless loop even after lunch had been eaten and the nap had been taken.

“Seriously, where the fuck are they?” Luke asked in a low, aggravated tone.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Calum replied in a similar tone, huffing and pulling out his phone. Then he sighed in relief, flashing the message at Luke. “On their way. 5 minutes ago.”

“Which means they should pulling up any-”

“Fwends?!” McKenna interrupted as a car turned into the drive.

“That better fuckin’ be them,” Luke grumbled, marching for the door and pulling it open. “Hey, ya made it!” he hollered.

Ashton laughed as he slung a bag over his shoulder. “Sorry mate. Someone took forever to go down for a nap.”

“S’alright. Still got most of the afternoon. How long can these two swim for anyhow?” Calum pointed out, stepping onto the porch next to Luke with McKenna at his side. “Look, Mack, our friends are here! You wanna say hi?”

McKenna peered around Calum’s leg over at Ashton and Michael, her eyes wide. “Big wike you…” she whispered.

Calum laughed. “Yeah, Uncle Ashton and Uncle Mikey are big like me and Daddy. But look! Wyatt’s little like you.”

“Hey, McKenna,” Michael said, crouching down in front of her. “I’m Mike, and this is Wyatt. Wyatt, do you wanna say hi to McKenna?”

“Hi,” the little boy said, before glancing up at Michael, and whispering “Swimming now, Daddy?”

“You don’t wanna say hi to your uncles first?” Michael whispered back.

“Oh…” Wyatt turned his attention to Calum and Luke. “Hi.”

“Hey, bud,” Luke chuckled. “Mack, they said hi. Do you want to say hi back?”

“Hi…” she offered up shyly.

“How ‘bout we hit the pool, yeah?” Ashton asked, trying to steamroll through the shy hellos.

“Great idea!” Luke agreed. “C’mon, Mack, let’s go get your swimsuit on.”

“Otay!”

From there, conversation flowed much more fluidly as the four men leaned against the pool walls, chatting about work ideas while McKenna and Wyatt splashed about on the steps, engaging in their own imaginary play and toddler babble. “So how are you guys adjusting and everything?” Ashton asked once they’d worn down work ideas.

“Fine I guess,” Luke said with a shrug.

“Yeah. She actually slept the whole night in her own bed last night,” Calum added.

“Shit, that’s a huge step. Have you reached the tantrum stage yet?” Michael asked.

Calum and Luke looked at each other and shook their heads. “No,” answered Calum. “She gets whiny and pouts about things sometimes. But no major meltdowns so far.”

“But don’t jinx us,” Luke added with a laugh.

Just then there was a particularly loud splash and all of them turned as Wyatt came up sputtering, before letting out a scared wail. “Whoa!” Ashton rushed, stepping over and helping Wyatt back up on the step. “Deep breath. You’re okay. What happened? Did you slip?”

“She! Pushed! Me!” he continued to cry, pointing at McKenna who scowled at him.

Calum grabbed McKenna, pulling her away from Wyatt before setting her on the ledge in front of him. “Did you push Wyatt?”

She nodded.

Calum sighed. “Why?”

“He mean.”

“He was mean to you?”

“Uh-huh.” And to demonstrate, she dipped her hand in the water and splashed Calum in the face.

“Hey!” Calum said sternly, grabbing her hand. “We don’t splash people in the face. That’s not nice.”

“He did!”

“Oh…” Calum said in understanding. “He splashed you in the face so you pushed him?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Okay, but we don’t push people, darling. That’s not nice either. If you have a problem, you come get me or Daddy, okay?”

“Otay…”

“Okay. So what do we say when we’re mean to someone and hurt them?”

“Sowwy…”

“Don’t say sorry to me. Say sorry to Wyatt.”

“Sowwy ‘Ayatt…”

“It’s otay,” he sniffed.

Ashton and Calum set both kids back to play before making their way back over to Michael and Luke. “So what happened?”

“I think Wyatt accidentally splashed her in the face and she got pissed, so she shoved him,” Calum recapped.

“So we’re raising a vigilante? Cool,” Luke laughed. “Good to know.”

“Shut up, it’s not funny,” Calum scolded.

“Eh,” Michael shrugged. “In all fairness there’s a 50/50 shot that Wyatt splashed her on purpose.”

“That’s true,” Ashton nodded. “Tried to break the habit about a billion times, but hey, maybe he just needed to get shoved to make the lesson stick ya know? They’re kids. No one got hurt. That’s what matt- Wyatt James, don’t splash her.”

Wyatt’s hands were poised in the water, ready to splash at McKenna again. He giggled, not thinking Ashton was serious and gave McKenna a face full of water. On instinct, she shoved him off the step again.

“Dude, what did I just tell you?” Ashton groaned as he went over to get Wyatt.

“Alright, we’re done,” Calum said, following Ashton to collect McKenna. “That’s enough swimming for the day.”

“Good call,” Ashton nodded.

“Papa, no!” the toddlers shrieked as they got taken out of the water.

“Yeah, I bet you’ll listen next time then, huh?” Ashton asked.

“Papa!” Wyatt continued to sob as Ashton wrapped him in a towel and sat with him in a chair. “I… wanna… swim!”

“Me too!” McKenna hiccuped.

“Maybe later. Right now we’re taking a break,” Calum told them both.

“Daddy!” McKenna cried.

“Oh, you’re mad at me so you want Daddy? Alright, see how far you get,” Calum chuckled, as Luke and Michael made their way over to the rest of the group.

“What’s up, sweetheart?” Luke asked, taking McKenna from Calum.

“Swim, pwease?”

“Nope. We’re all taking a break.”

She let out a loud cry, burying her head into Luke, who reached over to shove Michael. “I told you not to jinx us, ya cunt.”

Michael laughed, “Wait til she has a tantrum over something completely ridiculous.”

The men continued to talk, while whispering small assurances to the toddlers that “It’s alright. You’re fine,” until the hiccuped sobs turned to soft sniffles.

“You understand why Papa had you take a break?” Michael spoke softly to Wyatt. “We don’t splash people in the face.”

“Accident…”

“The first time, maybe it was. But the second time we all watched you. Papa even told you not to, and you did it anyway. That’s why McKenna pushed you, and that’s why we all had to take a break.”

“Oh… Sowwy…”

“Not to me. To McKenna for splashing her, and to Papa for not listening.”

“Sowwy Papa.”

“Thank you, bud,” Ashton smiled at his son. “I love you.”

“Wuv you. Sowwy, ‘Kenna.”

“It otay.”

“What else do you say, sweetheart?” Luke guided. “Papa already warned you about pushing people the first time, that’s why you had to take a break.”

“Sowwy ‘Ayatt.”

“It’s otay.”

“Daddy?” McKenna asked, tracing her fingers over Luke’s painted nails.

“What’s up, sweetheart?”

“Dis pwetty.”

Luke waggled his fingers. “They are pretty, huh?”

“Mhm. Mine wike dat?”

“Yeah, we can get your nails painted.”

“Me too?” Wyatt asked, perking up.

“If you want, bud, sure,” Michael nodded, before directing his attention to Calum and Luke, “You guys got nail polish? We can do it now.”

“Yeah, we got a whole bunch,” Calum answered. “I’ll go get the stuff. Lu, you wanna get her changed out of her swimsuit?”

“On it.”

Fifteen minutes later found the group hunkered down in the living room, nail polish bottles scattered on the coffee table while little fingernails were swiped with pretty colors. “Tada!” Luke cheered as he capped a bottle of bright red polish. “Look, your nails are just like mine, now.”

“Papa too!”

“Oh, I dunno. Does Papa wanna match with us?” Luke asked Calum, waving the bottle back and forth.

Calum looked at his nails, and shrugged. “Eh, fuck it. Go ahead.”

“You want the red, or do you want your usual black?”

“Red’s fine.”

“Alright, Mack, you wanna help me paint Papa’s fingers?”

“Yeah!”

“Careful not to smudge hers,” Calum warned lightly as he settled back, giving Luke one of his hands.

Carefully, Luke held his own fingers over McKenna’s on the brush to guide her as she painted Calum’s nails for him.

On the other side of the coffee table, Ashton was blowing on Wyatt’s fingers to help the glittery purple nail polish dry. “You know, Daddy used to have hair kinda like this.”

Wyatt looked over at Michael and laughed. “Daddy hair purple!”

“My hair was lilac, not purple,” Michael corrected as he swiped black nail polish across his own nails.

“Not the lilac. The…” Ashton snapped his fingers as he thought. “Fuck what was it? It was like purple, blue, and black all at once.”

“Galaxy. Yeah, that one was fun.”

“Probably my favorite hair color of yours honestly,” Calum told him.

“Yeah, you ever gonna dye your hair again, Mike?” Luke asked.

“Maybe when you finally decide to dye yours.”

“I did dye my hair!”

“You’re blonde, and you dyed your hair more blonde. Doesn’t count.”

“How does that not count?!”

“Cuz you gotta dye it another color.”

“It was another color!”

“No, it was a different shade. Not the same thing.”

Luke made sputtering sounds of disbelief. “Cal! C’mon, tell Mike it’s the same thing.”

Calum snorted. “I’m with Mike on this one. Dying your hair a different shade, isn’t the same as dying it a different color.”

“You’re supposed to be on my side.”

“Not if that side’s wrong, I’m not.”

“You’re an ass for 1. And for 2, your nails are done.”

“Very pwetty,” McKenna beamed, proud of her handiwork.

“Thank you very much, darling,” Calum said, leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead. “Now we all match. Me, you, and Daddy.”

Tag List

@aquarius-hood1996 @creator-appreciator @philthepegacorn @myfavfanficsever @cxddlyash @youngblood199456 @stormrider505 @iknowyouthinkimbulletproof @hoodhoran @metalandboybands @maybeememez @major5sosstan @1weekago @kaitieskidmore1

#painted pink room #calum hood #calum hood fic #luke hemmings #luke hemmings fic #calum hood x luke hemmings #dad!cake #dad!sos #5sos #calpal irwin

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russellbby · 1 year ago

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Sometimes you just need your brother || Pt.5

Summary: While Makayla is still recovering in hospital, Max get everything done to officially becomes the legal guardian of her..

Makayla Verstappen (OC) x f1 grid

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Taglist: @eugene-emt-roe @fionaschicken @charli123456789 @badgermaster27 @heyheyheyggg @ferrarifan4ever

a/n: This is the final chapter, as I don’t really have any more ideas! If you guys do, please send them in as I loved writing for this series!

It was been a few days since everything, Makayla was still in hospital recovering and Max had got everything done to make him officially the legal guardian of his little sister.

“Everything is done, then?” Daniel asked as he entered Max‘s car. “Yeah, finally” Max replied. “You did the right thing, otherwise god knows where Mack would end up after she’s out of hospital” Daniel added.

The pair were on their way back to the hospital, Makayla was getting discharged today. “Hey Mack!” Max said as they entered the hospital room. “Hey kid!” Daniel added as they both sat down on the chairs.

“Hi! When can I go home?” Makayla mumbled. “Just need to fill out all the paperwork, then we can go Mack!” Max told her as a smile appeared on her face.

“How’s all the other paper work going?” Makayla asked her brother, him and Daniel looked at each other before Max looked back at his younger sister.

“I’ll leave you two to talk about that in peace,” Daniel said as he left the room. “It’s good news, right?” Makayla asked him as she watched Daniel leaving.

“If your good news is me being your legal guardian from now on, then it is good news” Max said with a smile as Makayla’s face lit up. “Really?!” Makayla exclaimed.

“I wouldn’t tell you, if it wasn’t Mack” Max told her as he was pulled into a hug from her. “Thank you so much, I don’t know where I would be without you. I’ll repay you back for this somehow, I promise” Makayla said

“You don’t need to repay me for any of this, I wanted to do this as I wanted you to have a better life” Max told her as he kissed her forehead as he wiped tears that weee falling down her face. “I love you,” Makayla mumbled.

“I love you too Mack, c’mon let’s get you home” Max added.

“KayKay!” Penelope exclaimed as she ran towards the girl who just entered the apartment. “Hey P!” Makayla giggled as she hugged her tightly. “Hey! What about me?” Max said.

“I like KayKay better!” Penelope added as Max playfully rolled his eyes but had a smile on his face. “Hey Mack, how are you doing?” Kelly asked.

“I’m good, thank you” Makayla said as the pair hugged before Penelope grabbed ahold of Makayla’s hand taking her to her room. Max and Kelly watched the pair with a smile on their faces .

“How is she really doing?” Kelly asked. “I really don’t know, she was very happy when I told her about me being her legal guardian, however on the drive home she didn’t say a word” Max said.

“Mack just needs time, she’s been living with your father for 16 years this is a big change for her” Kelly told him. “Yeah, I just hope she will be okay and will continue with her dream career she wants” Max added.

“It’s Mack we are talking about, when have you ever since that girl without a book about nature, animals or the environment?” Kelly joked as Max smiled.

“That sure is Mack we are talking about” Max said.

makaylaverstappen

Liked by maxverstappen1, danielricciardo and 238,017 others

makaylaverstappen: random dump with my favs🩵🤍

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user42 She’s back!!!🤩🤩

user06 I want this!! Look at the baby turtle!!😭💗

user7 Can’t believe she’s 16..

landonorris Sharks and Orcas do u have a death wish?!

makaylaverstappen Do you wanna hear it? :)

landonorris maxverstappen1 get this kid a therapist!

user74 Lando has a fair point..sharks & orcas?!

user34 Kayla’s reply😭

user10 Join the therapy club!

user08 Live for Mack & Lando interactions!

maxverstappen1 Going to get yourself killed one day.

makaylaverstappen Let’s goooo!!

maxverstappen1 Definitely getting you a therapist😐

user86 Surrounded by all those sharks?!

user02 Max doing the right thing! Join the club Kay😭

user91 Love Max and Makayla so much!!

user54 Aw the dolphin!!

user39 Dream job! Keep it up Mack💗

#f1 #f1 imagines #formula 1 #max verstappen #max verstappen imagine #max verstappen x sister #max verstappen x reader #verstappen!reader #f1 grid x reader #verstappen!sister

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obx-adventures · 5 years ago

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Birthday Wishes (JJ Maybank x reader)

Summary: What happens when you realize you have feelings for your best friend?

——

“Dude, what are we watching?” I hear JJ ask as I walk back to the couch. I sit down, curl my legs under me and lean into his side.

“I told you I wanted to watch 28 Days. This is 28 Days”

“Right, but where are the zombies?” I laugh out loud at JJ’s confusion. We’re 40 minutes into the Sandra Bullock movie and I am pretty impressed I was able to trick him for this long.

“That’s 28 Days Later, JJ. This is 28 Days. Remember, it’s the movie I would watch with my mom all the time when I was younger.”

At this, JJ’s face softens. He knows that tomorrow is the 5th anniversary of my mom’s death so he shuts his mouth and puts his arm around me so we can comfortably watch. I feel my eyes start to close as I listen to the comforting sound of JJ’s heart beating. Before I can fall asleep, the porch door slams closed. John B comes in with a look of excitement.

“Guys, I finally did! I kissed Sarah!” JJ can feel me stiffen next to him and gently squeezes my shoulder. He’s the only Pogue I told about my crush on John B and he knows this is going to upset me.

“That’s great, JB” JJ says quietly. “But, Y/N and I are watching this movie. Tell me all about it on our way to the Kook’s tomorrow. What time do we need to leave again?”

I zone out while JJ and John B talk about their landscaping gig on Figure 8 ‪tomorrow morning‬ and try to control my breathing. I do not want to cry in front of JB so I focus on taking 5 deep breaths.

JJ, John B, and I have been best friends since 3rd grade. When my mom died, they were at the hospital with me. Then, after Big John disappeared, JJ and I practically moved in. JJ walked in on me crying in the kitchen one day after John B told us that he was trying to mack on Sarah Cameron. He held me as I cried into his chest and he’s spent the past couple months being my rock. I normally talk to Kie about boys but this one feels a little too personal since it’s JB. The one positive to come from this train wreck is that JJ and I have grown even closer.

“Hey, you ok?” I feel JJ whisper into my ear. I realize that John B has gone to his room. I nod and thank him for saving me from hearing the gory details.

“No problem. I got you, Y/N. I know that tomorrow is going to be rough with your mom stuff, so I plan on coming straight home after this landscaping job. We can go on the boat or watch movies, whatever you want.”

I smile up at my blonde best friend and see the honest concern that is in his eyes. He pulls me into a hug, and we settle back into a comfortable silence while we watch the rest of the movie. I drift asleep feeling grateful to have JJ in my life.

----

The next morning (if you consider ‪1pm‬ morning like I do), I wake up alone on the couch. JJ covered me with a light blanket before leaving with John B. For a moment, I think about going home to see my dad. I know today is hard for him too, but I don’t think I’m the person who can help him through it. He blames me for my mom’s death (I got out of the car accident with only a broken arm and she died 2 days after without ever waking up) and I can’t face the verbal abuse he’d likely dish out today while he drowns his pain in booze.

After going to the bathroom and making myself some coffee, I hear the boys get home. JJ sounds agitated but I can’t tell why from inside. I head out to greet them and try to figure out what’s going on.

“JB! You know today is hard for her. Why would you invite Sarah fucking Cameron over?” I stop in my tracks as I hear JJ scold John B. Before I can move, they come around the porch but don’t see me before John B responds to JJ.

“Dude, I forgot what day it was. But I can’t uninvite Sarah now. She’ll be here in an hour. I’m sure Y/N will be fine with it. It’s not like I’m ditching her.” JJ smacks John B on the chest with the back of his hand as he sees me standing there. John B follows JJ’s eye sight and looks guilty when he sees me.

“Y/N, I’m sorry. If you don’t want Sarah to come over, I’ll call her right now. I just thought that we could all go out on the Pogue and you guys could get to know her.”

Instead of responding, I turn around and go back in the house. I decide the best way to avoid this conversation is to take a shower, so I gather up some clothes from the spare bedroom, but I’m stopped by John B standing in the doorway to the bathroom.

“Please, stop,” John B moves his hands to my shoulders, but I can’t make eye contact with him yet. “I’m a dick, I know. I guess I was just so pumped about kissing her yesterday that I lost track of the days.”

I force myself to look up at him but am saved from responding by Pope and Kie walking into the house.

“Dude! Why is JJ so pissed off? We saw him punch a tree and kick a chair across the yard as we were pulling up.”

I use Pope’s distraction to slip past John B and close the bathroom door. I start to cry as I climb into the shower. But for once, my tears aren’t because of my unrequited feelings. I’m crying in anger (which pisses me off even more) and feeling so let down by John B. He forgot that today was the anniversary of my mom’s death. He fucking forgot! He knows how crippling my Survivor’s Guilt can be and he knows that the best way to help me through it is by all the Pogues being together and doing nothing. Last year we spent the whole day drinking and watching the Harry Potter movies. It just helps being with them and knowing that they are there for me.

I hear the bathroom door open and know that Kie has come in to check on me. I can hide from the boys but never from her.

“Y/N, do you need anything? I finally got John B to tell me what happened. He’s a fucking ass. JJ has calmed down and is worried about you. I told him I would check in but, if you need me to, I’ll kick all of them out and we can have some quiet time.”

“Thanks, Kie,” I respond softly. I don’t bother hiding my sniffles. Kie knows I take showers when I get emotional. “Maybe you can send them on a food run? Tell John B that it’s fine. He can go with Sarah today.”

“Yea, no. After JJ told me what happened, I kinda freaked out on John B until he called Sarah to cancel.” I giggle at the image of Kie towering over John B, most likely with her patented disappointed look and a finger in his face.

“You didn’t have to do that, Kie. If he would rather spend the day with her, it’s fine.”

“Nope. Founding principle, pogues stick together. I’ll send them to get food but I don’t think JJ will leave until he sees you’re ok.”

“Give me 5 minutes. I’ll meet him in the spare room. But only him. I can’t look at John B right now and I’ll spare Pope awkwardly trying to make me feel better.”

Five minutes later, I walk into the spare room and see JJ pacing. His jaw is still clenched and the worried look from last night is back.

“J, I’m ok,” I sit on the bed and pat for JJ to come sit next to me. “How’s your hand? Pope said you punched the tree?” I grabbed his hand and can see his knuckles are red with some broken skin.

“I’m fine, Y/N,” JJ pulls his hand from mine and lifts my chin so he can look at my face. He can see that I’ve been crying and goes to give me a hug.

“JJ, don’t look at me like that. These are angry tears. He fucking forgot!” I can see from JJ’s reaction that he thought I was crying about Sarah. “I just can’t believe him. He can be so fucking self-centered.”

“You aren’t upset that he invited Sarah over?”

“At this point, I want him to go hang out with her,” I can tell I’ve surprised JJ so I try to explain further. “The whole point of this ritual is to be with my family and know that you all are with me because you love me. I don’t want him here out of pity or guilt.”

I’m not expecting JJ’s reaction. He pulls me into a tight hug and I can’t help but wrap my arms around him too. He whispers into my ear, “I’m here because I love you.”

For reasons I can’t explain, hearing JJ say this and feeling his breathe on my ear causes my stomach to knot up. He sounds so genuine and has packed so much emotion into the hug and statement. We’re startled apart by Kie coming into the bedroom to check on me. JJ gets up and leaves the house to meet the other boys and Kie has a weird look on her face. Once the van leaves, Kie brings me out to the couch. She’s pulled out the emergency stash of ice cream that she and I have hidden in the freezer. When I reach out for the spoon, she pulls it back and I prepare for the interrogation.

“What the hell did I just walk in on?” She quirks up her eyebrow and stares me down.

“Nothing, Kie. JJ was just worried about me.” I try to ignore the increase in my heart rate from the insinuation in her question. What is wrong with me?

“I’ve noticed you guys have been getting closer. Is something going on?” Kie is way too observant. I don’t want to bring someone else into my little drama so I try to play everything off as business as usual.

“No! You know JJ, he says he’s not much of a hugger but we both know that’s an outright lie.” And this is true, at least with the Pogues. We’ve all been through too much together and physical affection has always been part of our dynamic.

“Come on, Y/N, you two are always next to each other and I’ve seen the way he looks at you. Spill!” I’m surprised that Kie thinks JJ looks at me in a different way. But I can’t let myself focus on that too much. I finally decide to cave and bring her up to speed on everything.

“Ok, fine. I’ll tell you everything but only because it doesn’t really matter anymore. But give me the spoon first!” Kie looks smug as she hands over the spoon. After filling Kie in on my crush on John B and JJ’s support, she has a lot of follow up questions.

“Wait, so you’re telling me that you’re crushing on JB right now, not JJ?” I bristle at her statement and realize maybe I wasn’t fully understanding my own feelings.

“Well I was…” I start off tentatively but the gears in my brain are working furiously. “I think today was the smack upside the head I needed. I’ve always thought of John B and I as closer friends than me and JJ but that’s been changing over the past couple months, and not just because of my crush. I guess I was taking for granted how genuine JJ is and how much he cares about his friends. And now I’m even doubting if I was really into JB. I mean, other than you, I’ve never had to share the boys with another girl. So, I thought I had a crush when I got upset about JB and Sarah. But after his dick move this morning, I don’t feel anything like that towards him. I’ve only been into a couple of guys in my life but none have ever gone away like flipping off a light switch. Maybe I was just jealous that I would have to share him with someone other than you… Oh shit, Kie! I should have talked this through with you before!”

“Obviously,” Kie says through a laugh. “But what about JJ? You’re right, he cares a lot about all of us, but I think it’s a little more than that with you.”

Before I can answer, the boys walk into the house. It looks like they robbed a movie theater with all the candy and snacks they are carrying. JJ still doesn’t look like his normal, carefree self. I give him a genuine smile and reach out for his hand. He helps me up and tries to assess how I’m doing. Before he can finish scanning my face, I pull him into a tight hug.

“Thank you, J.” I whisper to him. “You are my absolute best friend and I love you too.” I hear JJ open his mouth to speak, but he doesn’t get a chance to say anything before John B walks over to us.

“Umm, Y/N, can I talk to you for a minute?” John B’s sheepish voice makes me lift my chin from JJ’s shoulder. He lets me go but gently places his hand on my waist to let me know that he’s there for me.

“JB, look, you did a shitty thing,” John B looks down and I can feel the guilt radiating off him. “I wish you didn’t, but I understand that you got caught up in your new relationship. Let’s just move past it, ok?”

“I really am sorry,” John B pulls me into a hug, but JJ doesn’t move his hand from my waist until I wrap my arms around John B too. “I’m here for you today, 100%”

“I know,” I pull back and decide the best option is to bring some lightness back to the group. “And your punishment for being a dick is having to pick the first movie we watch today.”

“Oh, c’mon,” We all laugh at John B’s groan. He knows that picking a movie for the group often leads to mockery and teasing. All of us have different tastes in movies so we frequently fight over what we watch. As I look at the Pogues, I feel the love I so desperately needed today.

----

It’s been two weeks since the anniversary of my mom’s death. I still haven’t been home, and my dad hasn’t even tried to find me. While I know it would be more painful to see him, it still hurts. So, I decide to throw myself into planning JJ’s birthday celebration.

At first, I thought about throwing a kegger at the Boneyard but changed my mind after JJ came back from his house a couple days ago. This time it looked like he escaped without any physical damage, but I could tell from the look in his eyes that he wasn’t unscathed. I decided he needed something smaller with just the people who love him so I’m organizing a full day of Pogues-only fun.

When I told the other Pogues my plan, they all agreed and decided to be responsible for one activity. John B is coordinating a boys fishing trip in the morning followed by a day swimming in the marsh, Kie is planning the barbeque, Pope is using Heyward’s contacts to get some fireworks, and I’m planning the campfire dance party.

“Y/N, I know that we need the colorful fireworks but I think I’m going to get JJ some M80s too so he can blow off some steam,” Pope and I are talking through the details of his portion while he walks me to my shift at the Wreck.

“That’s a great idea, Pope. But you’re the most responsible one in our group so you will need to make sure he doesn’t blow us all up.”

“I can’t promise that,” Pope tells me, getting visibly anxious at the thought. “I mean, it’s JJ and explosives. He’s going to do whatever the hell he wants anyways.”

I laugh with Pope as we walk into the Wreck. I stash my purse under the counter and tie on my apron as he sits down. While I’m not as close with Pope as I am with JJ and John B, he’s still one of my favorite people. He balances the chaos that JJ throws out and is usually able to stop JJ from following through on some of his crazier plans.

“What’s the deal with you two anyway?” I freeze at Pope’s question and wonder if Kie has been planting ideas in his head. My suspicions are confirmed when she comes from behind me with a mischievous look on her face.

“Yea, Y/N, what’s the deal with you and JJ?” She looks smug as she rests her arm on Pope’s shoulder.

“Guys, we aren’t having this conversation. JJ is my best friend. Now shut up and wipe those smirks off your faces, he’s about to walk in”

They turn to look at my blonde best friend and are not surprised when he is only looking at me. I, on the other hand, am frozen in place. I can’t describe the way he’s looking at me or why that look is making me grin like an idiot.

“Hey, Y/N, can I talk to you for a second?”

When I can finally tell my body to move, I nod. Pope and Kie walk back to the office and I don’t miss the glint in Kie’s eye or Pope’s knowing look. JJ takes Pope’s vacated seat at the counter and looks at me seriously.

“Do you want me to tell JB that Sarah can’t come to my birthday thing on Saturday?”

“Is that why you look so worried, JJ?” I place a hand on his and give him a reassuring smile. “There’s no need. John B already told Sarah it’s a Pogues-only day. But even if he did invite her, it wouldn’t upset me. I promise I’m all good.”

I have been trying to convince JJ for the last two weeks that I’m ok with John B and Sarah dating. He obviously doesn’t believe me. I’ve finally come to terms with my growing feelings for JJ but I haven’t decided if I’ll tell him yet. Either way, I need him to understand that I don’t have anything more than friendly feelings towards John B now. If only so he doesn’t keep worrying himself. I decide in the moment that I need to be blunt, at least about John B, so I sit down next to JJ to explain clearly.

“JJ, I realized when everything went down a couple weeks ago that I never actually had a thing for John B,” I pause for a moment and watch as he processes what I said. “You guys are my family and I think I just freaked out at the idea of Sarah interfering in that. John B is my friend, and only my friend. Not my crush. Ok?”

JJ gives me a skeptical look but before he can respond, Kie joins our conversation.

“JJ, she’s being honest with you,” JJ’s eyes widen when he realizes Kie knows what we’re talking about. “I know you think she’s trying to put up a good front so you don’t worry about her, but you actually don’t need to worry. We talked about this while you boys were at the store that day.”

JJ looks back to me for confirmation and looks very relieved when I nod back at him. He also has a different look in his eyes, one that I’ve never seen before. The look from a few minutes ago was more like tunnel vision, he didn’t seem to notice or care about anyone else. This look almost looks hopeful. For a minute I allow myself to think that my best friend may have feelings for me, too. But before I can think about that too much, my dad walks into the Wreck.

“Y/N, where the hell have you been?!”

I look down at my shoes and brace for the fight. I’ve been putting this off too long in the hopes that he’ll forget about me, but it seems like I was wrong. When he reaches me, I have to stop my nose from wrinkling up. He smells like he’s showered with a bottle of tequila. I still can’t bring myself to look him in the eyes so he grabs my chin harshly and pulls my face up. JJ tenses next to me but I reach out to touch his knee before he can do anything.

“You little bitch, I saw the flowers you left at her grave,” my dad growls at me. “I thought I told you never to go see her. You should be the one in that grave instead of her.”

Luckily, Pope saw my dad stumble in and got Kie’s dad from his office. They both approach us, and I can see that Mr C is trying to figure out the best way to defuse this situation.

“Y/N, can you help chop some vegetables before the dinner rush?” Mr C decides to try to avoid a scene. Unfortunately for him, my dad is too drunk to care.

“I’m not done with her yet,” my dad says loudly to Mr C. I can feel the tears brimming in my eyes, but I don’t want to give him the satisfaction. He turns back to look at me but still won’t release my chin. “Now you may like whoring it up with those boys but I’m still your father. You will not go see your mother again. It’s the least you can do after killing her.”

Pope stops JJ from jumping up while Mr C gets closer to us. He puts his hand on my dad’s forearm and I can see him applying pressure until my dad lets go of me. Mr C steers my dad out the door and I break down into tears once he’s gone. JJ’s arms find me first but it’s not long before I feel Pope and Kie wrap their arms around us too. Mr C comes back and tells me I don’t need to work today. After a few attempts at telling him I’m ok to work, I nod and let JJ guide me outside. Pope and Kie know that JJ is the best person to comfort me right now, so they hang back while we leave.

JJ gets me back to the Chateau and explains to John B and Sarah what happened. John B gives him the keys to the boat and JJ takes me out to the marsh. By the time I’m fully calmed down, the sun is setting over the ocean and I’m relaxing with JJ’s arms around me. I notice that, during all of that, JJ didn’t need to say anything to make me feel better. Just being with him was enough. We sit there for another hour and enjoy the peace together. Every once in a while, JJ leans down and gives me a kiss along my hairline. Each time he does, I relax further into him. After the last kiss before we head back to the Chateau, I realize that I need to tell him how I feel.

---

We are sitting around the fire, drinking, smoking, and listening to my JJ Birthday Jams playlist. All of us are tired from the day’s activities but it’s the wonderful exhaustion you feel after spending a great day with your people. Pope was right about JJ enjoying the M80s. He was like a kid on Christmas morning when Pope brought out the package of explosives. Kie convinced her mom to make the secret Carrera family potato salad to go with the other food so all of us are stuffed.

But it’s not a birthday without a cake so I decide to go get the one I made before we all are either too drunk/high or asleep. John B opens the door for me so I can bring out the cake and all of us serenade the birthday boy. I sit next to him on the hammock and he’s grinning ear to ear by the end of the song.

“Make a wish, JJ,” I whisper to him and he looks straight into my eyes as he blows out the candle. Kie takes the cake to cut it for us and JB and Pope help her dish it out.

“What did you wish for?” I lean in as I ask him. It’s tradition for me, JJ, and John B to tell each other our birthday wishes so I’m surprised when he shakes his head and won’t make eye contact with me. “But it’s tradition!”

“Maybe later, let’s just enjoy the rest of the day,” he tells me and I’m sensing a sadness that wasn’t there before.

“Alright, JJ,” John B brings over pieces of cake for the three of us. “Let’s hear it. Where does this birthday rank on the list?” This is another tradition we have, ranking our birthdays at the end of the party.

“Solid second place, maybe first,” JJ says as he takes a bite. “Nope, changed my mind, first place. This cake is awesome.”

I smile at the complement and we all fall into a pleasant silence while we eat. After we’re done, Kie, Pope, and John B decide to head in to bed. I put my hand on JJ’s to signal that I want him to stay with me. After they are all inside, I turn my body towards him, and he follows my lead.

“Y/N, everything ok? You just got real serious. Did something happen?”

“It’s ok, J,” I take a deep breath and try to find the courage to tell him how I feel. I open and close my mouth a few times trying to get the right words to come out. I’ve never been shy to talk to JJ so he brings my hand into his to try to settle me.

“Hey, hey, hey, don’t be shy. You know you can tell me anything.”

When I meet his eyes, it all clicks for me. This is JJ. My JJ. I could tell him that I murdered someone, and he would offer to help me hide the body. I don’t need to be nervous with him. Even if he doesn’t feel the same, I know we’ll still be best friends. This realization relaxes me and finally gives me the courage to talk.

“JJ, I need to tell you something. But before I do, I need you to know that I’m not expecting you to say anything back. I just need you to know.”

He nods to me in encouragement and gently squeezes my hands.

“You are the most important person in my life. You make me laugh and calm me down. You hold me when you know that no words will make me feel better. You make me feel strong and you support me in everything I do, even if it’s really fucking stupid. Lately, my feelings towards you have been changing. I think I’m falling in love with you.”

I don’t know how I expected him to respond but I was not prepared for silence. He looks dumbstruck and he’s not moving at all. Not even his usual fidgeting. I take a deep breath, kiss his hand that is holding mine, and stand to go inside. Maybe he just needs time to think about what I said? He isn’t normally a careful person but maybe he thinks he needs to be cautious about this. As I start to walk away, he reaches out to grab my hand. When I turn back to him, he puts his hand behind my neck and pulls me into a kiss.

People talk about fireworks when they kiss someone for the first time. But for me it’s like a fire. It starts slow (because I am in shock) and then all at once I feel engulfed in warmth and light. My hands reach up to his face and I feel him sigh into me when I start kissing him back. The kiss is rough and passionate but also emotional and beautiful. My body moves closer to him and I shudder a little when I feel his hand move from the back of my neck down to my lower back. I’m getting lightheaded so I pull away to take a breath and rest my forehead on his.

“This was my birthday wish,” JJ whispers to me.

#jj x reader #outer banks #jj obx #jj x you #jj x y/n #obx netflix #jj maybank #jj maybank imagine #jj maybank x reader #jj maybank fanfiction #jj maybank fic #jj maybank x y/n #jj maybank x you #jj obx fic #jj outer banks #jj obx imagine #outer banks imagine #outer banks fanfiction

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bellakitse · 4 years ago

Note

Hi! I was just rereading some of your fics and came across something with little baby Luca in it! That of course sparked reading everything with him in it and I was wondering if you were ever going to do an origin story of him? It Takes a Village part 3? Part 1 and 2 are legit my favorite Tarlos stories. Thank you for all you do in this fandom 🥰

Hey, nonnie!

Thank you for the ask! Glad you’ve been reading my Luca stories. I love that little boy and knowing others like him too makes me so happy.

To answer your question, yes. I have finally started part 3 of it takes a village and yes it’s Luca’s origin story. The fic is still in the early stage though and my outline for it a bit long, so it’s gonna be a few weeks before it’s up.

I don’t have a Luca scene yet to tease you with, but I do have Luna Joy Ryder’s first scene done and I’m just as excited for you all to meet her as much as Luca.

Here’s a sneak peek at that cute little girl.

Exiting the car, Judd doesn’t wait to voice his displeasure. “You fools really out here macking on each other outside my baby girl’s birthday party?”

“They’re in love, Judson,” Grace tells her husband. She grins at him as he comes around the car to give her a kiss on the cheek.

“Hi, Gracie,” he says as he hugs her and gives her the flowers he and TK picked out for her. “Happy day, mama.”

“Sweet boys,” she smiles at him and TK.

“We’re in love too, baby, and we don’t slobber all over each other,” Judd continues to complain, much to everyone’s amusement. TK doesn’t pay him any mind as he holds out his arms for his goddaughter.

“My little moon!” he exclaims as Luna squirms out of her father’s hold, also reaching out for TK.

“My TK!” the little girl shouts back, wrapping her skinny arms around his neck. She lets out a high-pitch giggle as TK gives her a series of quick kisses.

“Happy birthday, moon,” TK says softly, hugging her to his chest.

“I’m four,” she tells him excitedly. “I get a toy?” she bats her eyelashes at them, much to everyone’s amusement. Luna Joy is already an expert at wrapping all of them around her tiny fingers.

#anon #ask #fandom love #stef writes #Anonymous #it takes a village series #my writing

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alleycat97 · 5 years ago

Text

Slippery Slopes Pt.2

Part two y’all! Sorry it’s late, I’ve been busy. Should be one more part to finish this up!

Tag list: @samanthadalton @fundamentalromantic @avalawrencefl @penda-bear @queen-arabella-of-cordonia @kamilahsayeet2063

It had been an interesting 24 hours since the accident on the slopes yesterday. No word had been passed on about Emma and that left her suitors restless. Mason couldn’t cope with the fact that his father or ex best friend had committed such a cruel act that hurt Emma.

Noah couldn’t believe he was even in this situation. He should have never trusted Jennings but he let his guard down for the sake of the trip and Emma, and this is what he got. He was looking at charges for trespassing and endangerment while Principal Jennings seemed to be clearing his name.

Mack couldn’t stop pacing, Dr. Price was doing an awful job of updating his own daughter on her sisters progress. Ava wasn’t fairing much better. She had organized their room over and over trying to make sure it’s perfect for when Emma came back to the lodge.

It was just a sit tight and stand ready type of situation. None of them had a personal car available, so trapped at the lodge they were.

Ava stopped her cleaning when she heard a cellphone go off, to no surprise it was hers and the caller was Bayla. She grumbled and put the phone back down, she had called 4 times already today. Ava couldn’t bring herself to talk to her girlfriend knowing Emma was hurt in the hospital. She would sound weak, vulnerable, all red flags Bayla didn’t need right now.

Another call rang out across the house, this time it was Mack’s phone, and judging by her facial reactions, it was with her father. Mack nodded enthusiastically and ended the call, yelling out to find Mason.

“Emma is ready to come back here, dad said she will be ok, we need to go and pick her up. Spare keys are in his room, I’ll grab them and we can go.”

“What all was wrong?” Ava rushed out of the room and into the foyer.

“He didn’t say. I guess we will know when we all get back.” Mack said noticing the gloom placed on Ava’s features. “She’s gonna be alright.”

Ava went and tidied up the room once more and without knowing what Emma would require, she just cluttered the entire nightstand with odd and ends eliminating the guessing.

The front door slamming was her queue to come running, she leaned over the balcony railing only to see Jennings and Noah.

“I don’t know how you got those signs in my bag old man, but this isn’t over.” Noah hissed shoving his way past Principal Jennings.

“Maybe you should think twice before doing illegal activities. You’re never going to learn trailer trash.” Jennings barked stopping Noah dead in his tracks.

Jennings was an asshole. This dude seemed to get off on making teenagers lives miserable. The tension was unbearable.

“I know you knew about the course being closed. I just can’t figure out why you’d try to hurt Emma. You’re a sick bastard and if I go down, you’re coming with me.” Noah said inching up into Jennings face.

The scene was split up when Mack came through the door. Mason in tow pushing an unconscious Emma in a wheelchair. She had a cast on her leg and looked so cold. Dave brought up the rear looking like hell. Looks like sleep wasn't an option for him either.

“Ah yes there she is. How did everything go?” Jennings asked unfazed of what transpired.

Mason ignored him and tried to walk past to the staircase with Emma sleeping.

“I said how did everything go?” Jennings said jerking Mason back almost causing him to fall. Noah shoved Jennings aside helping to stabilize Mason so Emma wouldn’t fall out of the chair.

“Ask Mr. Price dad! Let go of me, Emma needs to be in bed!” Mason snapped shoving his fathers hands away from him.

Jennings jumped at the outburst and gritted his teeth, turning to Dave. “Let’s talk in the kitchen, I’ll have the Chef whip up some coffee.”

With the adults gone and the room de-stressed, Noah assisted Mason in carrying Emma up to her room, Ava steering clear of them until Emma was placed in bed.

“Ok boys thank you. I can handle her from here.” Ava shot out shoving them aside to check on Emma.

The boys looked to each other confused but didn’t say anything about the outburst. Mason needed his own rest and Noah had a busy day ahead of him with Jennings and the ski patrol assholes.

“Just let us know when she wakes alright? Mr. Price has her medicine.” Mason said closing the door leaving Ava alone with a sleeping Emma.

Ava had no clue why she wanted the privacy with Emma. She was a taken woman and Emma was her bestie. Nothing else, she tried to convince herself.

But the longer she sat and stared at Emma, the more her heart pounded, the more she wanted to wake her and kiss her all better. The thoughts of such activities made her dizzy and she had to get away. But it was Emma, she had this way of keeping her grounded and for the life of her, Ava couldn’t drag herself away.

So she continued to sit in silence, begging for Emma to wake up, because quite frankly? She didn’t look too well.

Ava easily got up and slipped out of the room and looked for Mr. Price. She heard some quiet commotion from the kitchen, what a shock.

“Now you listen here Jim, I don’t know how it happened, all I know is my little girl just underwent a major leg surgery after she took place in your little race.”

“Now I know how it looks Dave, I’m quite sorry that it happened, but Mr. Harris is the culprit here. I should have known not to place trust in him. What a terrible thing, taking down those signs.”

Noah heard his name and flew into the kitchen,

“I told you Jennings! I didn’t take down any signs!”

“Quiet scum! Adults are talking here! Don’t you have a meeting with the ski patrol?” Jim teased.

“I don’t know how you twisted this on me, but I’ll get you back.” Noah inched closer so only Jennings could here, “Maybe I should call off our deal?”

Whatever was said, Jennings went pale and cleared his throat. Removing himself from the conversation.

“Mr. Price?” Ava said entering the room. “Emma is still asleep. And she’s so pale, she looks sick.”

“I feared that. It’s her medication, she should be awake anytime now for another dose. Here, please give her one of these when she awakes. I’m going to get some rest.” Mr. Price said handing over the medicine.

Ava returned to the room with the meds and hot tea to find Emma slowly awaking.

“Hello sleepy head.” Ava rushed over with a smile.

“Where am I?” Emma groggily spoke out.

“Back in the bedroom with good ol me.”

Emma rubbed at her eyes trying to get them to open, “Are you an angel?”

Ava snorted, “Oh now you wanna shoot your shot huh.”

“Worth a try.” Emma laughed. “I feel terrible.”

“You look it.” Ava agreed dodging the pillow Emma tossed.

“Here Mahomes, here’s your pill and I made your favorite tea.” Ava giggled as she sat down next to Emma to help her take the meds and give her a sip of tea.

“Psh, Mahomes wishes he had this cannon for an arm.” Emma tried laughing but she done exhausted herself.

“Relax, you just underwent surgery. I’m actually impressed they released you so quickly.”

“Perks of having a doctor for a dad. I’m not about that hospital food.”

The two sat in silence for a moment while Emma sipped her tea. It was so nice just the two of them, Ava had Emma all to herself, no intruders, no boys, and no Bayla. Crap....Bayla was still her girlfriend.

Ava came to and realized she was stroking Emma’s delicate hair, resting her hand on Emma’s soft cheek. She quickly composed herself and stood abruptly, creating as much distance as possible.

What was this? What were they? Friends? More than friends? Ava knew what the answer should be, but the timing was terrible. Bayla was her own girlfriend, and Emma had her own issues.

A text shot through to Ava’s phone, it was Bayla. “Speak of the devil.” Ava whispered. She had been putting her off for long enough and by judging by the text she received, Bayla wasn’t happy.

“Ava?” Emma called out oblivious to Ava’s aggressive texting.

Ava turned immediately to face her, “Yeah?”

“Where are the boys?”

Ava doesn’t know why, but with her issues with Bayla and her feelings for Emma, hearing her ask for the boys really added fuel to her blazing fire.

“Idk. Mason is resting and Noah and Jennings are with the ski patrol.”

Emma could hear the aggression in Ava’s voice, but she couldn’t tell if it was at her texting or towards her about her question.

“Is everything alright Ava?”

“Yeah. It’s just Bayla. She’s bugging me because I haven’t responded in awhile.”

“Oh. I wonder what has her in a twist.” Emma asked innocently.

Ava knew why. She told Bayla before she left the arrangement, so naturally she had to keep tabs on her at all times. Trust between the two were slipping, but Ava wasn’t helping her cause and Emma wasn’t either. “Because that’s what a good girlfriend does!” Ava snapped surprising Emma. “She’s just concerned!”

“Oh. I understand, I’m sorry.” Emma apologized.

“No Emma you don’t! You don’t understand and you never will!” Ava said slamming her phone down on the counter and stomping towards the door.

Something told Emma deep within this was more than just Bayla being worried, she couldn’t help but think this was all her fault and the reason Ava was upset.

Ava had to get out and breathe, she loved Emma, but she couldn’t take her indecisiveness. She couldn’t stand competing for her hand any longer, it was time to set the record straight. She stepped back in to grab her phone before heading back out again.

“Where are you going?” Emma tried.

“I’ve got a phone call to make.”

#playchoices #pixelberry #ava x mc #ava lawrence #mackenzie price #noah harris #mason jennings

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obxhoe · 5 years ago

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Hi!! I was wonder if you can write JJ x Reader when the reader and JJ are friends but both have huge crushes on each other. One day at John B’s house they both confess their love. They then kiss and all the other pogues see and are happy?!! You can add smut if you write it, if you want. Thanks!!

a/n: sorry this is late, i started writing this a few days ago and then went on a spontaneous ~trip~ if you know what i mean lol ;) anyways i literally love this request also thank you for being my first request ever :) I hope you like this!!!!

word count: around 1700

warnings: alcohol, weed, swearing, teeeeeny tiny bit of smut idk if you could even call it that lol

It was written in the stars that you and JJ were meant to be. Everyone knew it. Well everyone except you two. You and JJ have been friends for years now, you clicked immediately. The friendship had always been flirty, consisting of jokingly arguing, laying on each other while watching movies or by the fire. But somewhere along the line you had caught feelings for him. No matter how hard you tried to suppress or deny it, they were there and they weren’t going away anytime soon. It never got easier seeing him flirt with other girls, your chest always felt tight and heavy when you looked over and saw him chatting it up with some touron. Kie was the first one to know about your feelings for the beautiful, blond haired boy. She kind of figured out on her own when one night at a party at the boneyard she saw you lock eyes on JJ and a ditzy girl talking closely, JJ eyeing her up and down. You slammed your cup down and walked away towards the water and she knew immediately what was going on and followed you. The conversation was simple: she knew and you were just completely oblivious to how obvious your feelings were.

Since then, not much has changed. You’ve kept your feelings to yourself, and well Kie, and JJ has kept his attention on whoever his girl of the week is. What you didn’t know, but Kie, Pope and John B assumed, was that JJ had feelings for you too. Of course you are oblivious to the signs, but everyone else can see it. He looks at you while you speak as if you are the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen. When he sees you talking to other guys, his fists and jaw clench. He keeps it hidden, or so he thinks he does, but the other pogues can see it all. The girls he hooks up with, he does that to try to take his mind off of you.

Tonight is the usual party at the boneyard. At the last party, JJ walked off with another girl and returned the next morning to the chateau covered in hickeys and the sight of that made you sick. Hell, even thinking about it makes you feel sick. You decide tonight, you’re just going to finally let loose, get somewhat drunk and hopefully find a semi-attractive guy to hookup with to forget about JJ for a little bit. You fiddle with your rings while waiting for John B and the rest of the group to pick you up. Hearing the car reach the gravel driveway, you shoot up. All of a sudden feeling butterflies in your stomach knowing that the boy you’re hopelessly in love with waits behind the door of the van. Pulling open the door you see Kie look you up and down giving you a smirk and thumbs up. John B whistles and Sarah playfully hits his arm but shoots you a wink. You try not to look at JJ. What you don’t see is that his face has flushed, he licks his lips and his fists are clenched by his sides.

It’s not too long after arriving that you start to feel the buzz from the alcohol creeping in, starting at your toes and working into your hands. You can’t stop giggling at the stupidest things and you finally feel a bit at peace. That is until you see a girl approach JJ, grabbing his hand and pulling him to dance. Your stomach drops and you search for some guy so you can do the same. You jump at a deep voice behind you and quickly turn around, finding yourself face to face with a tall brunette with piercing green eyes.

“Dance with me.” he asked, actually more like demanded. You nod, his hand on the lower half of your back, guiding you to where everyone else was dancing. Your back is to him, swaying to the beat of the music. Usually you would be self conscious dancing in front of all of these people but the alcohol in your system was giving you the confidence you needed. You felt his hands wrap around your front, placing one hand on the side of your hip and one on your thigh. All of a sudden you make eye contact with the one person you would rather go without seeing for the rest of the night. You locked your eyes with his and you continued to grind your hips into the boy behind you. You feel his breath and your neck and you roll your head back. You look back to where you just saw JJ and he’s not there anymore, but the girl is.

“Y/n,” you hear Kie behind you. You turn and she nods her head towards the parking lot. “We’re heading out. You're sleeping at John B’s with us right?” You look at your phone and see that it’s 2 am already.

“Yeah, I’m coming.” You turn to the guy you’ve been dancing with and flash him a smile and give him a flirty wave goodbye. It was good to forget about JJ for a bit.

When you get into the van, you see Pope in the driver's seat, JJ sitting shotgun and John B with Sarah in his lap in the back. You climb in and say hi to everyone, but JJ ignores you.

When you reach the chateau, JJ gets out and slams the door, rushing towards the house.

“What the fuck is his problem” Sarah said making a face.

“Dude I don’t know. He got in the van all huffy and pissed off for some reason. I saw him like shove a girl off of him and storm away from her. I don’t know if she said something or what.” Pope chimes in.

“You should talk to him” John B says to you, everyone agreeing with him.

“Fine” you sigh, hoping that whatever bad mood he was in would easily be sorted out. You all pile in the house and you notice JJ in a hammock in the backyard. You hold your breath and walk outside.

“Hi. What’s going on with you?” You ask, somewhat shakily.

“Why do you care?” JJ days and it feels like you’re being stabbed in the chest.

“What the fuck. What is your issue?”

“I don’t know Y/n. Just go away. I’m sure you’d much rather be spending your time with that guy from the party right now.” He mumbles while lighting a joint. He takes a deep inhale, and you’re lost for words.

“Is… Is that what your mood is about? Me dancing with another guy? Why would you even care about that?” You’re shaking, too many emotions running rampant through your head.

“Nevermind. Forget I even said anything.” You snag the joint out of his hand, desperately needing to relax. After you exhale you speak, slowly, trying not to irritate him further.

“No JJ, can you please tell me what the hell is going on with you. Because never have I seen you like this.” He takes the joint back and looks you dead in the eyes.

“Do you not see it Y/n? I like you. I fucking like you. I’ve liked you for so long it hurts. Seeing you with that other guy made me so angry that my vision went blurry.” He shakes his head. “I’m fucking head over heels for you and it drives me crazy.” Your stomach drops, and you can’t think straight.

“You- What? No. There’s no way. You fuck around with so many girls, it makes no sense.”

“I do that so that I can try to push away my feelings for you. And it never works. I always just sit there wishing it was you, it’s pathetic.” He throws the dying joint into the ground. “You don’t have to say anything more, it's fine, just let me be please.”

“No” You state, he groans.

“Please.”

“No JJ” you take a deep breath. “I’m not leaving. I can’t. Do you wanna know why I was dancing with that guy? Because I was so done with thinking about you with other girls. Because I needed to forget for one fucking second that I could never have the one thing I want most in the world. I’ve cried to Kie so many times it’s embarrassing. I jus-” He cuts you off by grabbing your face and pressing his lips to yours. You climb onto his lap, careful to not flip yourself off of the hammock. You breathe him in, taking in every second, your heart fluttering out of your chest. He lets out a small moan as you grab onto his hair. You pull away, looking into his ocean colored orbs. His eyes fluttering, his breath quick.

“You like me?” He whispers with a smile on his face. You nod, quietly laughing with a grin plastered across your face. He pulls you into a hug murmuring “I can’t believe this” into your hair. You lay there for a few more minutes before retreating inside to grab some water and head to bed. You sit on top of the counter as JJ opens the fridge. He walks in between your legs and places a kiss on top of your forehead. Then your nose. Then your mouth.

“Fucking finally.” You hear Kie yell behind you.

“John B you owe me 20 bucks” Pope hits John B on the shoulder. Your face is bright red as you pull away from JJ and look behind his shoulder. Your best friends are standing 7 feet away from you, with smirks and smiles across their faces. You cock an eyebrow, confused as to why they're all so happy. What about no pogue on pogue macking?

“You’re not mad?” you question.

“We’ve been waiting on this forever. It was so obvious you guys liked each other, we’ve had bets going for months.” John B laughed.

“It was about time” Kie shrugged. “I’m just happy I don’t have to keep the secret anymore.”

Everything just fell into place, it was blissful. You fell asleep next to JJ on the couch, snuggled up by his side, the happiest you’ve been in a very long time.

#jj imagine #jj maybank #jj maybank x reader #john b #john b imagine #obx #obx imagine #obx x reader #outer banks #pope heyward #kie carrera #jj smut #jj #jj outer banks

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gerberbabey · 5 years ago

Text

cocaine | kiara carrera

madison bailey rlly met her gf ON TIKTOK, thats wild and now i see that my chances arent as low as i believe. anyways love that for them.

writing this made me so damn depressed. like if anyone would like to fall in love w me, im just here...chillin.

masterlist | cocain series: 2 | 3

summary: Kiara falls in love with someone who isn’t willing to love anymore (story inspired by the mentioned song and this scene).

warnings: that gay shit, cursing, angst, underage drug use, underage drinking, mentions of dying, unrequited love?

♫ Cocaine by Pink Sweat$ ♫

Kooks could talk as much shit as they wanted but it didn’t exactly stop them from showing up at the boneyard for a kegger. They whined and complained about Pogues but still came around to the other side of the island because they knew they would have a good time.

“It’s like watching National Geographic,” Kie winced and you sputtered out a laugh, stumbling back as you tried to keep the water from dripping onto your clothes. There was a pocket of Kooks jumping around to the music, moving in a weird sort of unison that was both stiff and awkward.

“Ew,” Kie laughed as you leaned forward to spit out the water that you had been trying to drink. To be honest it wasn’t that funny of a comment but you were also high of your ass so everything was hilarious.

“I can’t breathe,” you huffed out and Kie had to hold you steady when you stumbled into her. You were laughing so hard that it was at that point where you weren’t even making any noise. She couldn’t stop herself from laughing because of how hard you were laughing.

“Oh my god (Y/N) it wasn’t even that funny!”

“Then why are you laughing?!”

“Because you’re laughing!”

The two of you burst out into another fit of giggles as you wrapped your arms around the girl, resting your head on her chest as she wrapped her arms around you and struggled to keep the two of you standing.

“Are you two ok?” Pope walked up to the two of you just as you stumbled into the sand in a laughing heap. You let out one giggled and took in a deep breath as you stared up at Pope, your head hazy and heavy.

“Chillin dude,” you drawled out and Pope shook his head before he helped the two of you up. Kia brushed off the sand from her curls and you gave an aggressive shake of your head as you brushed out the sand from hair at the same time. Kie let out a noise and Pope stepped back to avoid any sand flying at him.

When you stopped you stumbled to straighten up. Everything around you was moving fast and yet slow at the same time and you let out a laugh.

Kie couldn’t help but look at you with a dopey look on her face. She wished she could tell you just how much she loved you. The day Kie had realized she was in love with her best friend was a bit of a stressful one. Kie was a firm believer of the “No Pogue on Pogue macking rule”. Not only did she believe it would change everything if broken, she also didn’t want to have a reason to be tied down to the Outer Banks. She loved her friends, her family, and her life on the island but she knew she was capable of so much more. Deep down in her heart she knew that she was meant to travel the world. That the best way for her to succeed was to get out of the Outer Banks and into the world.

But then one day she looked into your eyes and knew she loved you. That she was in love with you.

You were friends with the Pogues before she’d joined the group but you were the first one she met. You met the rest of the Pogues through JJ, and then had integrated Kie into the group after you started working at The Wreck.

After the betrayal of Sarah Cameron and the pain she went through being ostracized by her entire school, meeting you and then the boys had been her saving grace. Sure you weren’t jumping to your feet to try and help baby sea turtles into the ocean, but you always listened to her. You understood her.

“I mean everyone’s freaking out about plastic straws but the cups are like...more plastic,” you added to her rant and she nodded enthusiastically.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying!”

She was pretty much convinced the two of you were soulmates the day you had played her a playlist that you made just for her.

Yet even though she was so head over heels in love there was too many reasons why she couldn’t tell you.

One of the biggest reasons was your lack of faith in love and relationships. Convincing you that falling in love and being in love was a good thing proved to be a difficult feat. You’d been hurt so much by the concept of love that you’d moved past the point of thinking you’d ever fall in love. You left it behind and believed wholeheartedly that it wasn’t something meant for you. You didn’t believe in marriage and didn’t believe that you would ever find that person. You’d stopped looking and that meant that you couldn’t and wouldn’t see Kie in the way she wished you would.

“Yo (Y/N)!”

You and your friends turned at that and Kie watched you grin as you ran up to the boy who called you. You jumped into his arms and Kie bit her lip.

“Dude! What the fuck is up?!” You yelled as the boy laughed and let you down. You were jumping around excitedly, “Yo when did you get home?”

“Yesterday.”

“Who’s that?” Kie asked JJ and the boy turned to look at what she was talking about.

“Huh? Oh that’s Quincy, he graduated last year I think? Went to the Navy or something, him and (Y/N) were really close.”

“Oh.”

Kie wondered why she never heard about Quincy.

“Kie!!!” You waved her over and Kie pushed down that weird feeling that was rising up and hid it with a smile. She moved to stand by you and tried not preen when you took her hand in yours, intertwining your fingers and holding on tight. She hoped that Quincy would conclude that she was yours. (You may not have been hers, but she was wholeheartedly yours).

“Kie this Quincy. He was my fuckin plug before he left,” you laughed and Quincy crossed his arms and gave you a look. Kie felt a little relieved but then thought about this.

“Didn’t you start smoking when you were like...in middle school?” Kie asked and Quincy laughed while you shrugged.

“Yeah, can you imagine how I felt seeing this 12 year old asking me if I sold?”

Kie tried not to cringe. You’d been smoking for way longer than she’d known you. Your tolerance surpassed JJ, likely because of your lack of tolerance breaks. Kie could argue that at least you’d only smoked weed and hadn’t dove into other, harder drugs. The one time you had, Kie nearly had a heart attack and the boys almost killed a boy for urging you to take it.

You’d told her once that you just really liked how being high made you feel. The strain you smoked made you feel relaxed. It eased your mind and your body.

You told her that you started smoking after your parents separated. They’d fallen out of love and decided that rather than being adults and dealing with their issues themselves, they’d put the weight and stress of their problems onto your shoulders. A year later you had decided you were going to quit because you’d fallen in love with your boyfriend of a year and a half. You nearly did stop getting high, but then your boyfriend broke up with you, didn’t tell you you why, and then ghosted you.

3 days later he’d posted about his new girlfriend (he’d reassured you nothing was going on between them when you were together. The time stamp of the filtered picture told you and everyone else otherwise).

Kie wanted to spite the people who’d led to the walls you built around your heart.

You had guided Kie and Quincy back over to the other Pogues and Kie couldn’t help but cling to you that night. She didn’t like Quincy’s familiarity with you. It was kind of childish really but it’d been a while since you’d looked eager to interact with anybody who weren’t the Pogues. Kie’s heart skipped a beat when she realized how absolutely ok you were with her holding and touching you.

“Hey...(Y/N)?”

“Hmm..?”

The two of you were laying in her bed. The kegger had ended some time ago and though the two of you would’ve usually stayed at the Chateau with the boys, she’d decided she wanted to spend the rest of her night alone with you. She’d appreciated Quincy taking the two of you to her house.

“You really don’t think you’re going to get married?” she questioned quietly and she watched you open your eyes and look into her own.

“Hm...Yeah. Probably not,” you told her honestly.

“Why not?”

“...I don’t know. I don’t think I’d want to commit to someone that much. Plus...I don’t think anyone would wanna commit to being with me either.”

Kie would.

“But what if someone loves you...so so much, but you just won’t open yourself up to them? Would you really risk losing that before you even know it?”

You stayed silent at that. This was something that constantly went through your mind. sometimes you thought about those “what if” moments constantly. What if you’d given that boy a chance? Would you be in love with him now? Would the two of you be happy?

Yet you also thought: but maybe the two of you would be miserable instead. Maybe it would just lead to more pain.

“I don’t know if I could deal with being hurt because of love again.”

“...Ok...”

The two of you eventually drifted off to sleep. Kie’s chest hurt but she dreamt about kissing you.

Kie sometimes wished that she could be the one to bring your heart out of its hiding place. She wanted to be the person that you were willing to finally love. She wanted you to toss aside the risk of getting hurt because she’d make it clear to you that she would never hurt you.

JJ had gotten too high once, and had told her that you and him sometimes went to the dock and just sat there in silence. That the two of you would allow your worries to ease just by being beside one another and that you both knew that even without talking, or venting, or even smoking, you understood how JJ felt and JJ understood how you felt.

Kie wanted that.

She wished she didn’t have to push so hard for you to feel comfort in her, but she would continue pushing nonetheless. Despite how close the two of you were as friends, vulnerable moments were rare with you.

“Kie, I need you to leave this alone ok? It’s seriously not any of your business,” you’d tried to shake her off and she only became angrier. The boys had shuffled out of the room the moment you’d walked in with Kie yelling at you.

She had went to pick you up and caught you snorting a line of...something, in your room.

“None of my business!? I can’t just let you hurt yourself like this (Y/N)!”

“Kie you smoke with me! Fucking weed is killing me just as much as any other drug would! If you cared so much then don’t cherry pick what you decide to care about!”

“Don’t ever tell me how I feel!”

“God you’re not my fucking mom Kie, just stop!”

“No (Y/N)!”

You’d stormed off after that argument. Out of all the people in your life you thought Kie would be the last person the chastise you for anything you did. You thought she understood. Kie felt terrible when you didn’t come around to the Chateau or even talk to her and the Pogues for the rest of the day. Kie’s heart was in your hands and you were squeezing.

The next day, Kie had bursted into your room crying.

“You can’t be mad at me for just wanting you to be ok...” she sobbed and you held her tight to you.

“I know Kie, I know. I’m sorry,” you mumbled into her hair before you gave her a kiss on the forehead. She pulled back to look at you and she took in the worried expression on your face. She was hyper aware of the feeling of your thumbs stroking her cheek. Kie shut her eyes and leaned forward to press her lips onto yours.

Her heart broke into a million pieces when you gasped and backed away.

“Oh my god...” Kie sobbed and stood from where the two of you had clung to each other on your bed, “I’m sorry-I just..I’m gonna go-”

You couldn’t say a word as you watched Kie rush out of your room.

“Fuck!” she yelled before the door slammed shut.

part 2...?

#outer banks imagine #kiara carrera x reader #kiara carrera imagine #kie carrera x reader #kie x reader #kie imagine #kie carrera imagine #x reader #reader insert #angst #romance #poc!reader #woc!reader #outer banks #obx #obx imagines #outer banks fic #obx fic #outer banks fanfiction

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