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amerie-wadia · 4 years

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jj spends all the restitution money on a hot tub and misses his hearing. he doesn’t tell pope.

a mayward one-shot that has been floating around my head since the first time I watched the show. i've read so many post-canon mayward fics (and they’re all great) but none of the ones i’ve read really address jj’s restitution money. i wanted this to be longer but i hate writing about legal stuff since i don’t understand it, so this is somewhat short. i don’t think i’m gonna make a part two, but i might write like an established relationship drabble in this same series/universe/canon.

Pope knows it’s a bad idea to go to JJ’s house. He’s been there a handful of times before and usually Luke is off playing poker, working, or getting drunk at his favorite bar. This time is different, though. This time, it’s been two weeks since he’s heard from JJ and JJ has no idea Pope is coming. The last time Pope showed up out of the blue JJ was sending bullets through his childhood teddy bear.

When Pope parked his car in the driveway of beaten down grass and sand, it was like looking at still water. The only movement or sign of life surrounding the house was the soft sea breeze rippling through the branches and the tattered screens that no longer stuck to their frames. Pope hesitated before stepping out of the car.

Luke is a scary dude. Luke scares Pope more than anybody on the island and when he opens the front door, he looks pissed.

“The hell do you want?”

Pope figured it was obvious—that he had come for JJ—but Luke didn’t appear to be connecting any of the dots. Pope glanced over Luke’s shoulder, he had never seen the inside of JJ’s house. Dishes, dust balls, and bottles littered the living room where Pope could see. The smell was strong and Pope couldn’t tell what it was. It didn’t smell like weed, but it also didn’t smell like a cigarette. He figured it must be a mix of sweat, alcohol, and garbage. The only thing he could even compare it to was bile.

“Is JJ home?”

“No.” Short and stark. His eyes didn’t even blink and he looked ready to close the door so Pope quickly interjected, still keeping his distance.

“When will he be home?”

“He’s not.”

Which wasn’t even a full sentence and Pope couldn’t figure out what Luke meant by it.

“What?”

Luke rolled his eyes and sighed as if Pope was a nail under his foot.

“He’s not coming home, kid. So get out of here.”

“Why? Where is he?” Pope knew he shouldn’t push, especially with someone like Luke, but his answers were vague and peculiar and the last time Pope saw JJ was the night John B died. He needed to make sure JJ was okay.

“Wadesboro.”

Oh. Oh shit.

“What? Why?”

“Kid, I don’t have time for the interrogation. I have a business to run, so you get off my property before you make me mad.”

Pope thought Luke had been mad the whole time but now his fists were clenched and as much as Pope needed to keep asking, he knew the answers had already stopped coming.

“Thank you.”

“Get out of here.”

Luke had disappeared into the house by the time Pope was starting up the engine. Wadesboro? How the hell had JJ managed to get himself thrown in juvie in the two weeks since Pope had seen him? Not that JJ getting arrested shocked Pope, per se, but still it shocked him. Pope pulled out of the driveway and went fifteen over the speed limit until he got to Kie’s house.

“Kiara!” He called out as he padded his knuckles against her front door, ringing the bell enough times that his own father would give him a soft smack on the back of his head. “Kiara, open the door!”

He rang the bell two more times before the door opened and Kiara’s wide eyes met his own.

“What’s wrong?” she asked immediately, reaching out to tug him inside. Pope realized his hands were shaking a little bit when she wove her own through his.

“It’s JJ.”

“You finally heard from him?” She pulled him up the stairs and over to her bedroom. It was only the second time Pope had ever been in it and the lines were too straight, the floors too clean, and her shelves too neat for the room to feel like Kie’s.

“I went to his house,” he admitted and as Kie’s mouth opened wide to reprimand him, he continued. “He wasn’t home and his dad told me that he’s in Wadesboro.”

“Wadesboro?” Pope could tell she really didn’t understand because she still looked angry.

“Juvie.”

Her face dropped and she plopped down beside Pope.

“Why?”

“He wouldn’t tell me. What do we do?” Pope could feel the panic in his voice and Kie held onto his hand again and gave it a squeeze.

“We can use my dad’s lawyer. We can go visit him.”

“When can we visit him?”

“I don’t know. Here,” she said, opening up her phone to Google. “I’ll look up their visiting hours and we can go see him.”

“Do you think he’s scared?” Pope asked, because it felt wrong to ask if he was okay. He knew Kiara didn’t actually have a good answer for him. She just nodded and continued to type with her thumbs.

It calms Pope to watch her focused, watch her biting her lip. She finds the hours and tells Pope that next weekend they can go.

“That’s in four days away!” Pope exclaims, as if Kie doesn’t know and as if being upset could solve his problem. Usually, Pope is the one finding the solution but right now all he can think about is JJ sitting in a prison cell and an orange jumpsuit.

“Oh wait,” Kie interjects, softer and it worries Pope. “No, we can’t. He has to put us on a visitation list otherwise we can’t see him.”

“How do we contact him to put us on a visitation list if we can’t see him?”

“I don’t know.”

“Kie?”

“Yeah?” she asks, finally drawing her attention away from the phone and back to Pope. He feels himself near tears and he thinks she might be too. “Do you think this is my fault?”

“What? Of course, not,” she insists, her voice gentle and high and she squeezes his hand. “Why would you even think that?”

“I let him take the fall for me. What if he couldn’t pay back the restitutions and now he’s in jail because of me?”

“Juvie. He’s in juvie not prison.”

“it’s the same thing.”

“No, it’s not.”

“We have to help him.”

Her face softens again and she just nods, resting her head on his shoulder as if the idea how helping JJ has already exhausted her.

“We should talk to your dad’s lawyer, then.”

“Yeah?”

“Maybe he can get us on a visitation list, at least.”

———————————————————————

“Who are you?” JJ asks when somebody who is absolutely not his lawyer takes a seat on the other side of the table. There is nobody else there but JJ can see the guard’s shoulder through the little square window on the door. His right hand is cuffed to the table and he’s sweating through his clothes and even he can smell his own odor. The man sitting down beside him has a suit and gelled hair and wristwatch. He smiles slightly at JJ and it makes him squirm.

“My name is Gabe Walters. I am your friend Kiara Carrera’s father’s lawyer. They’re really worried about you, bud.”

Bud sounds weird. Bud makes JJ feel even more uncomfortable and he wishes he had something in his hands to fiddle with.

“I already have a lawyer.”

“You have a public defender, is that right?”

JJ nods because, to be honest, he doesn’t know if that’s what the first guy was called. The new lawyer sounds very confident when he says it, so JJ just goes along with it.

“The Carrera’s would like for me to represent you. I think I can get you out of here. Is that something you would like?”

The way he worded that comment was sneaky and JJ knows this guy already thinks he’s a loose cannon. Maybe he is a loose cannon. He doesn’t want a pity lawyer. He has no idea how Kiara even found out he was in. juvie.

“I already have a lawyer,” he says again, quieter, because he really doesn’t know what to do and the guard outside has turned around to glance inside the room and it’s distracting. JJ adjusts the way he sitting and kicks as his toes.

“I can’t force you to do anything. But I have a lot more time and more resources than the lawyer you have now. I know, Jim, he’s a good guy. But he has a pile of cases so high he can’t see the top.”

JJ shrugged, wanting to say yes but also knowing very well that he couldn’t. He didn’t have the money to pay the restitution let alone pay a fancy lawyer to get him out of juvie for not having enough money.

“I can’t afford it anyway,” he finally said after a minute of silence that he was dying to break.

“I don’t think you understood, son. You wouldn’t owe me any money. The Carrera’s want to cover the legal fees.”

Fuck no.

“No, that’s okay.”

“Are you sure?”

“They shouldn’t have to pay anything.”

The lawyer sighed and rested his hands on the table. He was looking too deeply into JJ’s eyes so JJ reverted his gaze down to his lap, all too aware of how grimy and tired he looked. It was pathetic.

“I know how important pride can be, especially when you’re in a place like this where they’ll try to strip you of every ounce of what you’ve got. I sat where you when I was seventeen. I had a shit lawyer and I ended up serving three years for stealing a bag of chips. I didn’t have anybody in my life offering me a hand. You don’t have to take it, I’ll leave right now if you ask. But I’d think all of this over before you make your decision.”

It was patronizing, but comforting. JJ looked up and the lawyer’s eyes were still glued to his own.

“You think you can get me out?” JJ asked softly. The lawyer nodded.

“I can’t make any promises, but I think there’s a very strong possibility I could get you home within the next two weeks.”

Home. JJ wanted nothing more in the world to go home. His bed, his pillow, clean underwear, pooping with the door closed.

“Okay, then.”

“Is that a yes?”

“Yes, sir.”

———————————————————————

Kie’s dad’s lawyer gets her and Pope on the waiting list for the following weekend and she offers to drive since Pope is a terrible driver when he is anxious. Plus, he always goes exactly the speed limit and it makes Kie go ballistic. She picks him up Saturday morning and they stop at McDonald’s on the way there for breakfast.

Normally, Kie has music queued up for long car rides. Today the drive is silent.

After around five hours, they pull up to the detention center. It’s cold and lifeless and wrapped in a snake of barbed wire fences. There are boys outside playing basketball and walking around a track. Kie looks over to Pope and he looks paralyzed.

“If you can’t go in, it’s okay,” she tries to reassure him. She knows how scared he is of the prison. How scared he is to see JJ. She reaches out for his hand.

“I can do it,” he says, voice quiet but determined. Kie just nods and turns off the engine.

It takes them a few minutes to find the correct entrance and then they go through security, sign in, and take a seat in the waiting room. The chairs are made of plastic and leave imprints on Kie’s thighs but she can feel how close they are to JJ. There are a few other people in the waiting room, one looks like a lawyer, there is a set of grandparents, and a woman who is likely somebody’s mother. She’s crying and it makes Kie’s stomach churn. The two guards standing by the door are chatting, laughing. While the woman cries.

“Alright, this way,” a guard finally instructs the two of them down a hall. Kie can see windows beginning to line the wall ahead. It’s the visitation room. Her heartbeat increases and Pope squeezes her hand. “Only thirty seconds of touching, you cannot give him anything, and we have the right to escort you out immediately should the situation escalate.”

Kie isn’t paying attention to what the guard is saying because as he opens up the door to the room she spots a blond head of hair.

“JJ!” Pope cries, both of them dashing toward where JJ is sitting. He stands, turning to look at them, and they both stop in their tracks. He has a dark bruise lining his neck like a noose and his eye is purple. The smell is putrid. He doesn’t move, just blinks as he takes them in. A huge grin grows over his face and Pope throws himself at JJ.

Pope takes all thirty seconds so Kie just gives him the best smile she can muster up and takes a seat beside Pope. JJ won’t stop smiling and Kie wants to smile back, she really does, but he looks to terrible and Pope’s hands are shaking and there are way too many other people in the room.

“Are you okay, dude?” Pope speaks first, voice warm and grounding and it brings Kie out of her head and into the moment.

“Never been better,” JJ lies, giving them a shrug and his smile drops for a moment. She sees the exhaustion and hurt in his eyes before he brings the smile back, even if it’s just for a second it was there. “I mean, it could be a lot worse.”

“How long have you been here?” Kie asks. JJ doesn’t meet her eyes, just looks down at his hands and then up at Pope.

“Only a week.”

“What the hell happened?” she asks when he doesn’t elaborate.

“Missed my hearing. Forfeited my plea deal when I bought that stupid hot tub.”

Kie’s eyes are welling up by how cold his voice sounds. He’s still smiling but his eyes are hollow.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Pope asks, so delicately that Kie almost didn’t even hear it. “Do they let you use the phone.”

“It costs money to call somebody in a prison.”

“JJ,” Kie melts, feeling a tear roll down her cheek but she tries to wipe it away before anybody noticed. She knew she couldn’t get too emotional right now. She needed to focus on JJ right now.

“Call us tomorrow, yeah?” Pope asks, but it doesn’t sound like a question.

“There won’t be much new to talk about.”

“We’ve missed you.”

Kie nods her head in agreement, not trusting her own voice quite yet. JJ keeps his stupid fake smile on his face and scratches at the back of his neck. Involuntarily, he reminds them both of the bruising around his neck.

“How long are you going to be in here?” Pope asks.

“At least until my next hearing. Maybe longer.”

“When is the hearing? We’ll come,” Kie offered, her voice shaky but she tries to steady it.

“It’s two weeks from tomorrow,” JJ comments and Kie pictures him sitting in a cell and counting down the days. “And thanks, but since I’m under eighteen you actually can’t come.”

Pope lets out a trembling breath and Kie knows how hard he’s fighting not to break down. JJ still sounds and looks lifeless, hiding behind his smile.

There’s yelling from across the room and the guards are rushing over to break it up. They announce that visiting hours are over because of the fight and JJ loses his fake smile. The guards step closer to escort Pope and Kiara out but before they arrive JJ grabs a hold of Pope and tucks his head against his shoulder. Pope holds onto him for a moment—even kisses his forehead, which makes Kie really want to cry because Pope is the kindest person she knows—and then the guards pull them apart. They’re too aggressive with both of them and Kie wants to yell but she’s afraid and so she holds onto Pope and tells him that it’s going to be okay.

A guard manhandles JJ out of the room, his grip hard and frank, but JJ doesn’t look to put up a fight. He smiles to Pope and Kie. She can’t tell if it’s genuine but she gives him a small smile back until he’s being led out the door and Pope and herself out another. The visit was supposed to be a lot longer. Kie still has so much she wanted to ask.

The second they get in the car, Pope starts to cry. Kie shoves down her own desire to let it out and pulls Pope into a hug. His grip on her is tight and she buries her face against his chest as it bounces up and down to the rhythm of his cries.

———————————————————————

JJ calls Pope every day. He waits in line for usually about an hour or two until one of the phones is free and dials up Pope’s number—another guy had to teach him out to use the payphone, but it wasn’t that once he figured it out. Pope picks up after two rings every time. They talk until the guard tells JJ his time is up.

“How did the date go?” JJ asks since the day before Pope told JJ that he and Kiara were having a date night.

“It was nice.”

“High praise,” JJ jokes, and it feels so good to be light-hearted for a moment, to hear Pope chuckle through the phone. JJ feels hot eyes on his back from other guys waiting to use the phone but he curls toward the wall and clutches the phone close to his ear.

“Things are awkward between us. Like, we both care a lot about each other…” Pope trails off and JJ would let him finish but they don’t have an unlimited number of minutes.

“But?”

“But sometimes I wonder if us being together is actually a good idea.”

“Oh, shit.”

“Like, I care about her obviously. And we like spending time together but when it comes to the romantic stuff, it just feels weird.”

“She’s a bad kisser?”

“No! No. But, I mean, I don’t feel much emotionally when she kisses me.”

“But you feel it physically?” JJ laughs and he can feel Pope rolling his eyes.

“I’m being serious, JJ. I think we might break up.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not going to affect the Pogues though. I mean, we’ve talked about it actually, what we would do if we broke up.”

“You know, talking about how you would handle a breakup in the first three weeks of dating usually isn’t a good sign,” JJ comments.

“You’re telling me. Have you heard any more from your lawyer about the hearing?”

“Nope.”

“Are you ready?”

“It’s not like I’m the one who actually has to do anything.”

“I’m ready for you to get out of there.”

“Me too.”

The guard tells JJ the time is up and Pope tells JJ he loves him. JJ says it back. It’s just something they do now.

JJ likes it a lot more than he would ever admit. He thinks about it when he sits back down on his bed. His roommate is reading a book, not angry right now like he usually is, and JJ lays down and stares at the cinderblock wall, thinking about Pope and Kie having to break up. Thinking about his hearing. Thinking about Pope. Thinking about his dad. Thinking about how he has to go to the bathroom but isn’t in the mood. Thinking about going home.

———————————————————————

Pope and Kie wait outside the courtroom, Heyward sitting them beside and Mr. Carrera. Pope has told his dad the day before that he was going to go to JJ’s hearing and just sit outside, in case they released JJ on the spot. Heyward had done a double take and then immediately picked up the phone. Pope had thought his dad was ignoring him and was annoyed until five minutes later he popped his head in Pope’s doorway and told him he got his work shift covered and he would come too.

Mr. C and Heyward talked about fishing quietly, blissfully unaware that Pope and Kie had broken up the night before. It had been a loving breakup—if you can call a breakup loving. Kie had agreed it would be for the best. She said she never wanted to lose their friendship and Pope had been eternally grateful for how amazing of a person his best friend was. He reached out for her hand about halfway through the hearing as he started to get lost in his worries. She gave it a squeeze.

The doors open and Mr. and Mrs. Thornton spilled out first. They were both standing too straight and it made Pope uncomfortable but they walked out with their lawyer and then JJ’s lawyer made his way through the doorway. Then Luke. Then JJ.

Pope felt like he had just lost one hundred pounds.

“You’re out!” Kie cried excitedly. JJ flashes her a big smile and this time it looked genuine. Luke said something to the lawyer and then reached out for JJ’s arm. The flinch was tiny, but Pope noticed it.

“JJ, it’s good to see you,” Heyward started, but Luke gave him a wild look and then tugged JJ.

“You can talk to your friends later. We need to have a chat.”

Mr. Carrera took a step in front of them to block the path to the exit.

“Our kids have been waiting here for two hours and would appreciate a moment to say hello.”

Kie’s dad had balls. Luke didn’t seem to care.

“I’d appreciate it if you took a step back.”

His words were vicious and JJ started down at his feet. JJ’s entire body was tense and he was biting down on his lip and Pope had never in his life seen JJ looked so scared. Pope’s chest hurt and he squeezed Kie’s hand.

“Take a step back. And don’t you talk to me about my boy again.” He turned to JJ. “Outside, now.”

Mr. C took a step to the side and Luke pulled JJ out of the courthouse.

“You know,” the lawyer said quietly to Mr. C—but Pope was good at eavesdropping and listened. “I know a good Children and Youth Services lawyer. If that’s necessary.”

Pope’s blood boiled when Mr. C just nodded and shrugged. What can ya do? There was a lot they could fucking do. Heyward lead Pope and Kiara out of the courthouse while Mr. Carrera talked a little bit more to the lawyer.

At least JJ wasn’t in juvie anymore.

“Have either of you ever met JJ’s dad?” Heyward asked as they walked outside. Kie shook her head but Pope nodded. “When?”

“About a week ago.”

“I don’t want you ever going near that man again, got it?”

Pope got it. Kie nodded too, even though Heyward had no control of her here.

“If you ever JJ say something that sounds off about it, I want you to let me know.”

It was too late for that, and Pope wasn’t sure if he even could tell his dad what he knew about Luke. What he figured was about to happen. It made him feel sick. But he agreed and so did Kiara.

“What an ass,” came Mr. Carrera’s voice as he approached the three. “Excuse my language, honey.”

Kie looked over to Pope as if to silently ask what they could do to help JJ. Pope shrugged.

“We drive all this way, provide him with a lawyer that actually gets his kid out of juvie, and he can’t even let the kids say hello?”

Heyward was mad, but Mr. Carrera seemed genuinely shocked. He must not have heard the rumors about Luke Maybank before.

———————————————————————

“How did the hearing go, baby?” Pope’s mom asks when they arrive home.

“He’s out of juvie.”

“Isn’t that wonderful. Maybe we can have him over for dinner one night this week to celebrate.” It’s the first time either one of his parents have ever asked Pope to invite JJ to their house. Heyward sighs behind Pope as he places the key ring on a hook and comes into the kitchen to start up the electric kettle.

“Pope why don’t you go and lay your suit across my bed. I can put it away for you,” his mom instructs. He knows that they just want him to leave the room so they can talk about JJ and his father. Pope wants to leave before they start asking him questions he’s not allowed to answer, so he grabs a cheese-stick from the fridge and makes his way to his bedroom.

He has two unread messages from Kie but he’s not really in the mood to answer them. He changes his clothes and places the suit on the bed like he was told. He opens up his phone and sends a text to JJ, asking him how he’s doing and when they can hang out. He doesn’t expect a response back tonight, but he hopes that he’ll get one anyway. He’s used to talking to JJ every day.

Pope waits until his mom calls him back into the kitchen for dinner. They don’t talk much about the hearing or JJ or JJ’s father during dinner. Pope finishes quickly, thanks them, cleans his dishes, and heads to bed. He’s wiped out from the day and he has to get up early to tutor a freshman in geometry the next morning, so he’s ready to get in bed and go to sleep by ten.

He comes very close to falling asleep when he hears a clinking sound. Then another. And another. It’s coming from his window. Kiara can’t throw for shit, so his mind goes straight to JJ and he’s rushing over to the window to pull the blinds up. Sure enough, JJ is standing in his backyard, throwing pebbles at Pope’s first floor bedroom window.

“Be careful, you could break a window,” Pope says as he slides the window up high enough for JJ to crawl through.

JJ’s not crying and he’s not covered in blood, which Pope takes as a good sign. As he stumbles to his feet, Pope sees the bruises peaking below the hem of his shirt. JJ tugs it down into place.

“Are you okay?” Pope asks because what else is there to say.

“Fine. I just couldn’t stay in that house any longer.”

JJ’s words are practiced and Pope knows they’re a façade, but Pope also knows this is not the time for an argument.

“Are you gonna stay for the night?”

“If that’s cool?”

“It’s good, I just need to go get the air mattress.”

“No!” JJ cries and reaches his hand out as if to pull Pope back. “I don’t want to wake your parents.”

“They’re asleep, they won’t hear.”

“Please, Pope.”

Pope isn’t sure if he has ever heard JJ say please in his life so he respects his wishes. Pope has a twin bed, so he’ll just sleep on the floor and let JJ take the bed.

“Do you want to shower or have something to eat?” Pope asks, trying not to sound too gentle because he doesn’t want to embarrass JJ. JJ’s eyes fall and he shrugs. Pope takes it as a yes.

“I’ll get you some food, the bathroom is just down the hall. Don’t turn the handle too far left or the water will burn you.”

JJ doesn’t say anything but Pope hands him a clean towel and heads into the kitchen to heat up some of the leftover mac and cheese. Pope wonders how much JJ ate in juvie. How much JJ eats at home.

He can hear his parents faintly arguing in their bedroom from the kitchen and tries to block it out but he hears JJ’s name and instantly panics.

“You think DCS doesn’t know about his father? Do you know how many times I dropped Pope off to elementary school and that little boy was bruised or bleeding? We have nothing to report that they don’t already know.”

“You should’ve heard the way he spoke today. The way he scared that kid.”

“I believe you, baby.”

“We have to do something.”

“We’ll have the boy over for dinner. As many dinners as he wants.”

It wasn’t really a fight, just louder than usual. The microwave buzzed and Pope removed the plate and fished a spoon out of the drawer for JJ. He took them back into his room even though he technically wasn’t allowed to have food in his room. And technically he wasn’t—JJ was. There was no rule that JJ couldn’t eat in his room.

And after the conversation he had overheard, Pope didn’t think his parents would actually be upset if they found out.

JJ walked back into the bedroom shortly after Pope. He was wearing the same clothes from earlier but his hair was wet so Pope figured he must’ve showered. Pope ushered to the mac and cheese sitting on his desk and JJ took a seat.

“It’s not as good in the microwave, but it would’ve taken forever to turn on the oven.”

“It’s perfect,” JJ hummed, shoving heaping spoonfuls of pasta into his mouth until he started to cough. Pope, unthinkingly, reached out to put a hand on JJ’s back and it caused JJ to jump out of his seat and he fell on his butt beside the desk. Wide-eyed and quick-breathed, JJ scooted further against the wall until it hit his back.

Pope took a step back and held his hand to his chest.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t think.”

“I’m fine you just uh startled me,” JJ said, trying to sound nonchalant but his voice cracked and his eyes were still big.

“JJ.”

JJ swallowed and Pope noticed the spit up pieces of mac and cheese on the carpet. They would probably stain. JJ’s eyes had gone wet and Pope hesitantly stood before him. He held his hands up so JJ could see where they were. That they weren’t reaching out to hurt him. With his eyes locked onto JJ’s, he reached out a hand to help JJ up.

“I’m sorry,” JJ whispered, taking Pope’s outstretched hand and helping tug himself up. JJ looked to the floor where the mac and cheese had sprinkled. “Shit.”

“Don’t worry about that. Just eat slowly, okay? We have more if you’re still hungry.”

JJ nods and takes a seat in Pope’s desk chair, taking a significantly smaller bite of mac and cheese. If it wasn’t so hearting breaking it might be funny how the moment he begins chewing a tear falls down his cheek. But it is heart breaking and Pope doesn’t know what to do because he’s not good with words and he can’t touch JJ. He sits at the edge of his bed so they’re close, but he doesn’t touch. JJ doesn’t wipe his tears away, and he eats slowly just like Pope suggested.

He finishes what’s left on the plate and tries to steady his breathing but his chest is rising and falling rapidly and Pope notices the way JJ is fiddled his thumbs around the hem of his shirt.

“You take the bed,” Pope says, standing up and taking a few steps back so that he’s not in JJ’s space.

“That’s stupid,” JJ whispers.

“It’s not stupid at all.”

JJ looks up at him and Pope realizes he hasn’t actually stopped crying yet. Pope motions his arm toward the bed even though he wants to reach out and pull JJ into a hug. But he can’t. JJ stands and climbs into the bed. He lays above the covers so Pope grabs a fuzzy blanket from the upper shelf of his closet and sets it at the foot of the bed.

“If you need it,” he says. JJ pats the space beside him softly and Pope freezes.

“Please?”

His voice is barely there and there are still tears running down his cheeks and Pope is in absolutely no position to say no to JJ right now.

Pope slides into the bed, laying down on his side and sticking his hands under his head so that they’re face to face. JJ blinks, tears fall, and he reaches his hand out to the middle of the space between them with his palm facing up. Pope isn’t sure if it’s what JJ wants, but he pulls his hand out from under his head and places it on top of JJ’s. JJ grips his hand instantly and Pope feels relief wash over him.

“Are you okay?” Pope asks again, wondering if maybe in the dark JJ will have a different answer than he had before.

“No.”

“Can I hold you?”

Pope is surprised he even asked the question and wants to take it back the moment he opens his mouth. It sounds so stupid and JJ gives him a confused look and Pope feels like an idiot.

But then JJ mumbles, “Yeah,” and Pope doesn’t feel like an idiot anymore.

He reaches his free hand out above them and JJ burrows into the space between Pope’s chest and his arms and Pope wraps his arm down across JJ’s back. JJ’s tears are wet against his shirt and they seep through his skin. It’s sticky.

“I’m so glad you’re home,” Pope says, wanting to see JJ smile. JJ doesn’t smile though, only chokes on his breath. “JJ?”

“I didn’t mean to,” he whispers. It’s hard to hear him before JJ is speaking into Pope’s chest but he manages to decipher the message. “I never mean to do it.”

“It’s not your fault.” JJ doesn’t seem to hear and continues mumbling into Pope’s shirt.

“I didn’t mean to do forget the hearing or spend all the restitution money. I didn’t mean to.”

Pope’s heart is crumbling like rubble to ash and he can’t seem to hold JJ any tighter so he uses one of his hands to run circles around his back because it always calms Pope when his mother does it to him.

“It’s not your fault.”

“I didn’t mean to get John B killed or break up you and Kie.”

“You didn’t get JB killed, man,” Pope says, even though it feels weird to call JJ man when he’s holding him so gently. “And Kie and I didn’t break up because of you.”

JJ shakes his head and continues rambling as his cries begin manifesting into sobs.

“I didn’t mean to make Mom leave.”

Pope thinks JJ might be too far gone to realize what he’s saying at this point.

“I know,” Pope says, running his hand through JJ’s hair and then brings it to his back again to run his fingertips around. “It’s alright.”

JJ shakes his head again but he’s finished talking—unable to get anything else now that he is sobbing. His fingers are twisting Pope’s shirt and he can feel his nails lightly throw the fabric across his chest. It doesn’t hurt, but it reminds Pope that JJ isn’t just sad but angry too. That JJ isn’t just soft but has sharp edges and steep slopes.

“It’s alright,” Pope says again, brushing through JJ’s hair and across the skin of his arms as he tries to sooth him. JJ clings to him.

The sobs eventually die down and JJ’s hand loses its grip on Pope’s shirt. Pope can hear snores escaping his lungs and feels relieved that he’s fallen asleep. Pope holds him just as tight, taking the blanket from the end of the bed and uses his foot to pull it closer. He wraps it around them both—giving the vast majority of the blanket to JJ. He brushes the hair out of JJ’s eyes and tries to keep his fingers as far from the purple and blue skin as he can.

In his sleep, JJ curls closer to Pope.

Since JJ is asleep and Pope wants to scream but cannot, he chooses instead to press a kiss to JJ’s forehead. It’s all he can think to do. It’s not enough.

———————————————————————

tagging: @kikifromtheblock (if anybody would like to be added to a mayward taglist, feel free to lmk!)

#obx #mayward #jjpope #my writing #so much angst in this one #in almost everything i write #dear fluff writers: how do you do it??

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marcspectrr · 2 years

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hi :) could you perhaps drop some of your favorite jjpope fic recs? thank youuu!

Hi!! I'll admit, it's been a WHILE since I've read for obx but I do have some mayward fics in mind that I'd LOVE to share :)

if i had a gun

stay and finally // beautiful stranger

Please, just do yourself a favor and binge all of @johnbbutmakeitace 's works. It'll be a good time, I promise. The characterizations are always on point, I honestly can't hype them up enough.

tell me, is it worth it? by the lovely @maybankiara

This fic was scrumptious. Amazing depiction of the kind of love between them, amazing characterizations (as always), amazing JJ and JB brotherly bond on the side, just amazing.

august slipped away by @gayroman

I read this back in March and I still think about it. The best word I can think of when describing this writing is gorgeous, because it is thoroughly gorgeous. An intimate, vulnerable, in-character love confession that stuck with me.

Folsom Prison Blues by @pope-mayward

This one is unfinished but I loved it nonetheless. The summary immediately pulled me in and even though I read it back in August of last year, it still tickles my brain sometimes. JJ fresh out of prison? Getting mistaken for Luke once he's back in the obx? There's this undertone of mystery to it that's quite addicting.

Sour Memories by @the-pogues

Here's a soft one-shot for you. A slow Saturday morning filled with sleeping in and reflecting, with some baby!pogues scenes to develop JJ's introspection later in life.

A Very Pogue Halloween by Trogdor19

This short one-shot had some ultimate Pogue goodness as well as some cute mayward fluff and humor that had me giggling, the characterizations are *chefs kiss*.

If Only The Gold... by Trogdor19

Okay so, this one is a throuple fic, however, it has some of the best mayward I've ever read. The fic starts out with and is heavily centered around JJ and Pope in the beginning and it's absolute gold (no pun intended), I HIGHLY recommend this fic to anyone. I've literally read hundreds of obx fics and it still remains to be my all time favorite fic :)

These are just off the top of my head and are closest to the surface as far as memory goes (which is not that good lol). I could definitely be better with keeping track of what I read and what I like so if I find some more, I will definely add on to this list :) Again, I have been out of the loop lately so all of these are from a while ago, but they are truly some of the best imo!

#outer banks #jjpope #mayward #jj maybank/pope heyward #obx fic #thanks for the ask!#i tried to refrain from recommending throuple fics as most ppl are not multi shippers like me #but throuple fics do tend to have some of the best mayward characterizations #only bc to write a throuple you have to really nail all the dynamics involved #and i do have a list of fics for jj/kie/pope #maybe ill post a separate list for them if anyones interested :)#anyways i hope you enjoy these fics!

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jjpopeweek · 3 years

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Join us for JJPope Week 2021: October 4th-10th!

I am so excited to announce that we are back for another year! Thank you to everyone who participated in 2020, and thanks to everyone who filled out the survey! Your feedback was very helpful in organizing this year’s event :) You may have noticed we have made the change from ‘Mayward Week’ to ‘JJPope Week’. This is just to be more recognizable to people who may be less familiar with the ship, and it is the same event as last year!

Prompts:

For the gif/art/fanvideo makers:

Day 1 - October 4th: Favorite JJPope scene from season two

Day 2 - October 5th: Favorite JJPope episode from season two

Day 3 - October 6th: JJPope + a song/quote/poem that reminds you of them

Day 4 - October 7th: JJPope + colors

Day 5 - October 8th: JJPope + glances

Day 6 - October 9th: JJPope + touches

Day 7 - October 10th: Free choice

For the fic writers:

Day 1 - October 4th: Rewrite a scene from season one or two

Day 2 - October 5th: Angst or Hurt/comfort

Day 3 - October 6th: JJPope from an outsider POV

Day 4 - October 7th: AU

Day 5 - October 8th: Fluff or established relationship

Day 6 - October 9th: Future fic or pre-relationship

Day 7 - October 10th: Free choice

Rules:

- Please post every work to Tumblr so that we can reblog it (if your content isn’t reblogged within 24 hours, please send it to us via private message so we can fix that!)

- Please tag your work with #jjpopeweek2021

- Participate in as many or as few days as you want!

- If you have any questions feel free to reach out

- As the characters JJ and Pope are minors we ask that you please not write smut/have nsfw elements in your JJPope Week creations. If you do they will not be reblogged by us.

- Have fun!

JJPope Week 2021 is run by @diazbuckleys, @maddiebuckley and @jossetesaltzman. If you have any other questions you can reach out to any of us as well :)

Feel free to promote other places such as twitter, and please reblog to spread the word!

#jjpopeweek2021 #announcements #jjpope #outer banks

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chefsydney · 4 years

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masterlist!

mayward week 2020:

mayward week day 2 - “why are you whispering” + halloween!au

mayward week day 3 - “how much of that did you hear?” + angst

mayward week day 4 - “i’m not going anywhere” + established relationship

mayward week day 5 - “what are you thinking about?” + pining

mayward week day 6 - it’ll be fun, trust me.” + fluff

mayward week day 7 - free choice

a merry mayward holiday:

merry mayward holiday! day 12 - first christmas together + parent!jjpope

merry mayward holiday! day 17 - holiday shopping

merry mayward holiday! day 18 - ice skating

jjpope week 2021 (my faves):

jjpope week day 2 - hurt/comfort

jjpope week day 6 - pre relationship

my stuff:

steamroller

k*lling boys

me & him

#for the one (1) person who asked lmao #all of them r jjpope #m #masterlist #my writing stuff

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domesticmail · 4 years

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jmaybanks’ masterlist!

welcome to my masterlist!! sorry it’s taken a second to get it up and running, i saw that i’m close to 500 followers so i figured i would finally do this!

fics: generally over 1k words, will have pairing/warnings specified!

blurbs: typically under 1k words, not serialized!

icons:

✰ smut

✩ fluff

✿ angst

❀ personal favorite

jj maybank x reader

artist!reader

hammocks and hamburgers - in which y/n refuses to take a break from her painting, not even for food

✿ selfish - requested jj x reader angst based off of this song

❀ you send me - you’ve never painted a sunset before. john b. forces jj to fix this problem asap. slight jealous!jj vibes

of kooks and pogues - a series

one - after your mom died, you and your dad needed a place to escape, somewhere her memory wasn’t haunting you around every corner. one day, your dad comes to you with a new home on an island you’ve never heard of: the outer banks, paradise on earth.

dancer!reader

✩ the window - requested jj x reader where they pine after each other every saturday morning

young!reader

scrapes - a series

✿ one - you’re the youngest of the pogues by a year - 16 to their 17. they love to care for you, baby you, make fun of your age. that was all fine and dandy for a while, but the jokes got tiring, so you decided to prove your strength to the group. when you hurt yourself after some dangerous shenanigans, you find out that one of them cares more about you than you’d thought before.

the wreck, a collection of obx blurbs based off of a prompt list!

jj maybank x reader

❀ not your type

surfing

catch your stare

mayward

that night

#jmaybanks #obx #jj maybank x reader #outer banks #sarah cameron #jj maybank #john b routledge #kiara carrera #pope heyward #masterlist #mayward

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maybankiara · 4 years

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I DIDN’T UNDERSTAND, BUT I WAS TERRIFIED OF LOVE

pairing: Sarah Cameron x Kiara Carrera

summary: It takes Kiara a little too long to realise that it’s not John B she loves, it’s Sarah, instead. Based on the song Girl Crush.

word count: 5.2k

warnings: slight cussing, cannabis use, underage drinking.

additional: pining, fluff, gay angst, and a lil bit of mayward on the side because it was too good not to include it. i based this off the actual interpretation of the song, in which the narrator is jealous of the girl her ex is dating, not in love with her. except maybe...in this case, maybe she’s jealous of the boy, after all.

also, idk what’s the game that jj and kiara play at the beginning, it came to my mind and it’s basically the pogue version of “true or false” except you just say “poke” and then say whatever statement you think is true.

masterlist

read on archive of our own

Kiara has liked John B for as long as she can remember. Well, not really, but long enough for that to become a thing that she just associates with herself.

Kiara Carrera likes John Booker Routledge. That’s all.

For years, she has taken this for granted. Sure, she is in love with one of her best friends, but it doesn’t matter, because they are all in love with one another, at least a little bit. She loves JJ and his disgusting sense of humour that never fails to make her laugh; Pope’s dedication to his academics and how much he always relaxes around the Pogues; and John B’s ability to get them all to do stupid things they shouldn’t be doing.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she’s okay with things never changing, because she doesn’t want them to. If she were to lose her Pogues, she wouldn’t know what to do with herself – who is Kiara Carrera without her closest friends?

It’s this kind of love that Kiara values over any other.

And it’s fine, perfectly fine, until John B begins dating Sarah Cameron and things change.

That’s also about the moment that Kiara realises that shit, i’m in love with john b.

JJ is the one who notices it first. They’re sitting at the porch of the Chateau, waiting for John B to come back from his first date with the infamous Sarah Cameron. They’ve all heard about her – a Kook, a rich bitch from the wealthy side of the island. The Kooks stay off the Cut. They Kooks only date Kooks.

Pope’s away, studying for whatever it is this time. He made Kiara and JJ promise they’d call as soon as John B’s back, so it’s just the two of them.

Kiara’s fingers trace shapes in the dust covering the wooden planks. They’re doodles, nothing in particular, and the smell of weed fills her nostrils.

‘What’s up with you?’

‘Nothing,’ she responds, not taking her eyes off the floor.

She hears JJ shift and sees him rest against the outer wall of the house, legs propped up on the couch. ‘You’ve been moody.’

‘Don’t call me moody.’

‘See?’

Kiara throws a bit of dust at him, but it doesn’t reach him. She huffs, crossing her arms on her chest, and leans her back against the wall, too.

JJ grins. ‘I’ll poke.’

‘Don’t poke.’

‘Poke.’ He throws a toothpick at her. ‘You’re stressed out about school.’

Kiara frowns and an airy laughs escapes her, scratching at the tension within her. ‘No.’

‘Poke.’ JJ throws another toothpick and grins at her, widely, shifting his legs until they’re almost in her lap. She pushes them off, but he puts them back there, and she just gives up. ‘You’re stressed because Pope is stressed.’

‘That doesn’t even make sense.’

‘It does. You’re empathetic. It makes sense!’

‘Well,’ she sighs, ‘it’s not it.’

JJ nods. ‘So there is something.’

The air is filled with yet another cloud of smoke, and Kiara almost gives in to the feeling. She’s been feeling a little agitated lately for whatever reason, and the idea of smoking while not being completely herself doesn’t sound appealing.

‘Poke,’ he says. The joint is hanging between his lips and he’s sprawled across the floor, and it would make her laugh if it wasn’t something she sees every single day. ‘You’re upset about John B.’

Kiara shakes her head, but there’s something off about that. She turns her gaze away from JJ and begins playing with his shoelaces, instead.

He pulls his legs before she has the chance to. He’s looking at her in bewilderment, his mouth agape. ‘Holy shit. That’s it.’

‘It’s not.’

‘You’re blushing. It’s John B.’

‘It’s not John B,’ insists Kiara.

‘Poke,’ JJ says. ‘You’re upset because he’s with Sarah Cameron.’

‘No—’

‘Poke. You’re jealous.’

‘I’m not jealous!’ she snaps, finally. Her cheeks are burning hot and it’s not embarrassment, regardless of what JJ might thing. She shoots him a glare, her chest heaving. ‘I just don’t like the idea of a Kook infiltrating our circle.’

JJ nods, putting on a serious face, even if you can see beneath it. He smokes the last of his joint and flicks the butt, puffing the smoke in Kiara’s face.

‘Whatever you say, Kie.’

What he gets in return is a middle finger, and the conversation shifts to something else. It’s only when they hear John B’s van pulling up that JJ gives her the look, but she gives him the same so it stays between the two of them. JJ is a snitch, between the Pogues, but this is a line he wouldn’t cross.

Not when it’s about two of his three best friends.

Except John B doesn’t walk out of the van alone, and if she had any hope of things between the Pogues not changing, it all falls into water when Sarah Cameron walks over to Kiara and JJ, holding John B’s hand.

Kiara feels as if she’s about to combust.

Weeks later, the ongoing war between her and Sarah is the new Pogue thing. Kiara manages to convince them it’s about the whole Kook thing—‘She’s not like me. Kook’s a Kook and I was never one’—and they all buy it, apart from JJ. Sometimes she think how they never give JJ enough credit for how smart and perceptive he actually is.

John B doesn’t notice. Pope doesn’t really care. He mostly makes bets with JJ on who’ll win each argument, and how long it’ll take John B to realise that he should probably choose between the two girls.

Thing is, JJ didn’t get it right – Kiara isn’t jealous. Pope is the one to notice that first, when things click for him.

The two of them are lying on a hammock at the Chateau, legs intertwined. It’s a breezy March evening and they’re wrapped up in a blanket. Not too far from them, John B and Sarah are cozied up on the couch. He has her arms around him and she’s leaning into his neck, his fingers playing with the tips of her hair. JJ is off somewhere, probably taking his “me time”.

Pope shifts in the hammock. Kiara feels the movement and it’s sudden, and when she looks at him, his eyes are squinted and lips curious.

‘You like John B,’ he says.

Kiara just runs a hand through her hair, pulling her lips into her mouth. She doesn’t know what to say.

‘Shit. You actually like him.’ Pope stares at you with a hand clasped over his mouth, eyes wide in shock. ‘How long?’

‘Not long,’ she admits. ‘It’s because of Sarah.’

Pope nods, as if he understands. ‘Because you were enemies in school.’

‘No—’ Kiara begins, but then her face falls and she grunts, throwing her head back. ‘Yeah. Maybe. I don’t know. Sarah always hated me.’

‘You never really told us about your Kook year, you know.’

‘It’s just…’ Kiara sighs, tugging at a loose string in the hammock. ‘Sarah and I were really close in the beginning, and then she shut me off. She started hating me. And I don’t like her, okay? I don’t and I never will.’

‘Is that the whole story?’

‘I guess. No. I don’t know. We were best friends. She came up to me, the most popular girl in the school, the prettiest one, and asked me if I want to save turtles with her.’ Kiara glances at where the blonde is sitting – the sight of John B and her ex-best friend doesn’t sit right with her. ‘It was the best day of my life.’

Pope is quiet for a bit. Sarah’s giggle reaches the two of them and Kiara finally looks away, towards the other side, out to the sea. Its calmness is the opposite of the buzz of her own feelings inside her chest. There’s something about the whole situation that screams WRONG, and it’s more than just John B being with a girl who used to call her best friend then broke her heart.

When Pope takes her hand, it’s sweet and comforting. He doesn’t smile, but she feels it, anyway.

‘How does it feel?’ he asks. ‘When you look at them?’

Kiara shudders. The image pops up in her mind before she manages to stop it – John B and Sarah, standing in the kitchen, not noticing Kiara walk into the living room. His hands are on her waist, pulling her close to him, and his lips are pressed against Sarah’s forehead, his eyes closed. Her hands are wrapped around his torso and it looks so domestic, so… Kiara can’t even find the words.

There’s a thought, though, and the thought comes suddenly, when John B leans and kisses Sarah’s lips. The thought is wondering what Sarah’s lips taste like – do they taste like him? Or do they taste like Sarah, still?

Kiara shakes herself out of the moment, unable to suppress the shudder that runs through her. She knows Pope feels it, but he doesn’t comment on it, and she’s grateful.

She looks at her friend, wondering if he can see right through her. ‘I just wonder what it feels like. To be her.’

Pope nods as if he understands, and Kiara thinks that maybe he does. She’s seen the way he looks at JJ and the girls he’s with.

Maybe the two of them are not so different, after all.

‘I’m sorry,’ he says.

Kiara gives him a sad smile. ‘Me, too.’

She wonders if he understands what she means.

It’s almost May when things start getting stressful. It’s finals time for the Pogues at Kildare High School and also for Kiara and Sarah at the Kook Academy. This is what the rest of their lives depend on – it comes as no surprise that John B and Sarah are in a constant state of arguing and making up, each cycle more passionate.

Safe to say, it drives the Pogues insane. They’re studying at Pope’s, mostly, as Heyward said he prefers to have his son under his roof when the situation’s as important as this. Kiara and Pope manage to get JJ to concentrate more than usual, adapting their own studying tactics to JJ’s ADHD.

They’ve begun to ignore John B’s cries about Sarah being mean to him, or how they’re on the verge of breaking up. It’s mean, a little, and Kiara thinks she should care a little more, but she finds herself non unsatisfied that this is the situation.

She doesn’t think either of them are happy.

One of many stress-filled Fridays rolls around and they take a break from studying, chilling in John B’s living room. JJ has a joint between his teeth, despite John B saying his dad’s going to complain about the smell. His legs are propped up on Pope’s lap, inconspicuously, but Kiara can see the tension in Pope’s neck.

She wonders if she has those little tells, too, when she looks at John B and Sarah.

Her gaze shifts to them and she feels her stomach twisting in on itself. Sarah’s half-sitting in John B’s lap, her bare legs peeking out of the blanket. She’s freshly shaven – Kiara finds herself trying to guess if it feels as soft as it looks, and what John B’s fingers must feel like on them.

JJ’s laugh breaks Kiara out of her trance. She laughs, too, because when she turns her head, JJ’s upper half is on the floor and Pope’s holding onto his feet, looking mildly inconvenienced.

‘Asshole,’ Pope mutters.

The Pogues laugh and JJ blows him a kiss, making himself comfortable on the floor. Kiara notices the twitch of Pope’s ear, the one specific tell he has – he doesn’t blush, not really, but his ears twitch.

She laughs, a bit longer than everyone else. Pope glances at her and she shakes her head. ‘Y’all are idiots.’

Behind her, Sarah laughs, too. It’s a sound lower than she’d except, and she still hasn’t gotten used to it, months later. Kiara glances at her and catches the girl smiling at her, resting her cheek against John B’s shoulder.

Kiara looks away. It hurts too much.

It’s Pope who holds her gaze and he gives her this half-smile that almost breaks her heart. Somewhere along the line, they realised both of them are just pining after people they shouldn’t like that way.

But Pope smiles when JJ tries to kick him in the chin, helps him get up, and JJ smacks a kiss on his cheek. It’s not the same, it’s not what Pope wants, but it’s more than she could ever get. JJ only has eyes for the Pogues, and Pope is getting the most of his affection – John B only has eyes for Sarah.

It’s not like she can blame him. Still, she can’t help but think about Sarah’s golden hair, soft over her shoulder; she wonders what keeps John B kissing her. Does she kiss good? Is she good with her tongue, with her lips, with her words? She wonders what it feels like to run her fingers through Sarah’s hair, letting them rest on her neck.

She just wants to know what’s so special about her.

This time, when she glances at Sarah, it hurts as much as any other.

But not as much as it does when they break up, not even three days later, and Kiara ends up being the one consoling Sarah. It’s awkward, at first, because Kiara still kind of resents her for what happened freshman year. The two of them are sitting on the floor of Sarah’s bed, listening to Frank Ocean because apparently that’s what straight white girls listen to after a breakup.

Kiara is drawing. She’s doodling in her notebook, wishing she could be studying, but knows that Sarah needs her. They’ve only recently learned that most of Sarah’s friend didn’t support her relationship with John B and her friendship with the Pogues, and she was more alone than ever.

like i was first year, Kiara thinks.

Sarah glances at her. She’s sitting with her back against the bed, legs pressed close to her chest, arms wrapped around them. Her face is sour, tearful, but there are no tears on it.

Kiara puts down her notebook, sighing. ‘I don’t get why you asked for me. You don’t like me, I don’t like you.’

‘I never said I don’t like you.’ Sarah’s voice is quiet, miles away from the usual girl. She looks almost guilty; something bubbles in Kiara’s chest, but she pushes it down.

‘You didn’t invite me to your birthday party.’

‘Are you talking about my sixteenth birthday?’

‘Yes.’

‘Kie, that was two years ago,’ she says, voice breathy from shock. Her head’s tilted and lips parted, eyebrows making the slightest of movements. ‘Is that why?’

she doesn’t understand, Kiara realises. ‘You cast me out, Sarah. We were best friends. The day we met is one of the best days of my life. And then, you just—’

Kiara pauses, because she can feel she’s about to say things she could regret. She focuses on her breathing and relaxes it, fingers playing with the hem of her shirt. She doesn’t drop Sarah’s gaze, but Sarah’s eyes lower and she’s staring at the floor.

This is the first time a tear slides down the girl’s cheek, after all she’s been through.

She sniffles and smiles through whatever it is she’s feeling. ‘I have—’ she pauses, clearing her throat. When she locks eyes with Kiara, there’s something different in them – something she saw in Pope’s eyes all those months ago. Understanding. ‘Do you know why I broke up with John B?’

Kiara shakes her head.

The smile that Sarah gives her is sad, but not a devastated kind of sad. It’s the sad that glows in sunlight, that looks almost golden, that makes your eyes tear up because it’s too intense. It’s not inherently negative, but it’s full of emotion, hidden beneath a sheer exterior.

‘I can’t stand it when people like me. Not like you liked me,’ Sarah says, her voice barely louder than a whisper. ‘I push them away. I thought it was different with John B, but I couldn’t— I was wrong. It wasn’t John B.’

There’s a moment of silence, and Kiara feels as if there’s something more going on. She knows, vaguely, of the conversation that took place prior to Sarah giving her a phone call and asking her to come over. It was Sarah’s call to end the relationship, and both of them seemed kind of certain that it ended for good.

Suddenly, the idea of Sarah not being at the Chateau, with the Pogues, seems almost impossible. It feels like a vision from a different world – a world that somehow doesn’t seem right, not anymore.

Kiara takes her eyes off the blonde. Her eyes fall on the sketchbook, where his hand has been tracing a shape, and she realises it’s not a shape, but a person.

She closes the notebook. Her throat is dry and Sarah is looking at her, and maybe the silence between them is a little too loud.

‘You were my best friend,’ she finally said. ‘Of course I liked you.’

Sarah holds her gaze, unwavering, lips slightly pursed. She doesn’t say anything after that, not for a long time. But whatever’s going through her mind ends, and she relaxes her hands, letting them fall next to you. Her head’s tilted and her smile is small, sympathetic.

‘I’m sorry,’ she tells Kiara. ‘I really am. It wasn’t the right thing to do. But I just want you to know that I’m happy we got the chance to try again.’

It’s risky, and Kiara can’t believe she’s doing this, but she nods. ‘Promise you aren’t going to bail on me this time?’

Sarah smiles, and it’s bright, the usual smile she gives people when she’s herself, for the first time since Kiara arrived to the Cameron mansion. ‘I promise not to bail on you, Kiara Carrera.’

And she doesn’t. Things end on a good note between her and John B – turns out while Sarah was the one who instigated it, it was bound to happen, much like the Pogues predicted. Kiara goes over to the Chateau once Sarah’s better, and she finds the boys drunk, playing some drinking games she’s never heard of.

JJ pulls her into a hug the moment she arrives, and it’s almost unexpected how carefully he’s holding her.

‘Don’t do anything I would do,’ he whispers in her ear.

Kiara smiles against his cheek, giving it a light kiss. ‘Don’t worry, J. I’m not you.’

She sits on the couch and asks John B how he’s doing, and he pulls her into a hug. Pope catches her gaze, and his eyebrows shoot, glancing at her hands wrapped around John B’s neck.

‘Thanks for coming,’ John B says.

Kiara ruffles his hair, laughing lightly. ‘Of course. You’re my best friend.’

Pope and JJ stare, waiting for something—anything—to happen, except it doesn’t. They’re the Pogues, drinking beer in John B’s living room, helping one of them to put himself together, and that’s all there is.

They continue playing games, they give Kiara some beer, too, and it’s a fun night. John B doesn’t seem too beat up about the situation, which makes her happy, but that’s all it does. She doesn’t feel relief that he’s now single; she doesn’t feel the need to jump at him now that she has the opportunity.

Instead, her eyes glance to John B’s right side, which is where Sarah’s head would usually rest; his arm isn’t wrapped around anyone’s torso, and it feels almost like there’s something missing.

JJ is the one who catches her looking, but she doesn’t notice. It’s the expression on her face that makes him wonder; the way her eyes are gazing at the spot that used to be someone’s, almost tearfully, her smile shallower than it used to be.

Pope notices and Kiara notices him looking, because he’s sitting right across from her. The tilt of his head is asking her if she’s okay, and she nods, giving him a smile.

She is. She doesn’t have a reason not to be.

This is what she’s wanted all along, right?

But she can’t help the way her stomach flips when she looks over to where Sarah should be, and how she feels the empty space as if it were her own.

JJ notices. And JJ brings it up, a few days later, when they’re finally alone. He’s sitting in her bedroom as they wait for Pope to join their study group, having been held back by Heyward. JJ is spread across her bed but his feet are in her lap, unwilling to be anywhere other than people’s laps, apparently. The back of his head is propped up on his hands and he’s chewing a flower he plucked out of Kiara’s mom’s garden.

He nudges his foot into Kiara’s stomach, forcing her to bring her attention off the textbook she’s reading. ‘I poked you.’

Kiara sighs, closing the book. ‘What is it this time?’

‘You’re bothered about Sarah.’

She looks at him, lips pursed, and gives him a slight nod. ‘She’s our friend. Obviously I’m bothered.’

JJ frowns and purses his lips, mimicking her, and points a finger at her. ‘Poke. You’re upset because of more than that.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Poke. You know what I mean.’

‘No,’ Kiara insists, ‘I don’t.’

His grin is wild and he has this face that says he’s in on the joke, on the secret, even if this time there’s no secret. ‘Poke. You miss Sarah Cameron.’

‘I do. So?’

‘Poke. You miss Sarah Cameron.’

‘You’ve just said it.’

JJ’s grin grows bigger and he shifts around, until his feet are playfully bopping at your knees. He looks like a kid that’s having fun, and Kiara smiles against her will, rolling her eyes.

‘Poke.’ He props himself up on his elbows and clicks his tongue against the roof of his mouth. ‘You know that’s not what I mean, Kie.’

Kiara shakes her head, finally pushing him off of her. ‘Wrong poke. And I’m done talking about this.’

JJ opens his mouth to talk, but he’s interrupted by Pope who walks through the door already ranting about his dad’s strict measures of keeping him in check, and JJ’s attention to whatever he thinks is going on with Kie is gone immediately.

She sees it, now, and understands it in a way she hasn’t before. Pope and JJ don’t need anyone else – they only have eyes for each other. Sure, JJ keeps his feet in her lap, too, but he’s gentler with Pope. He teases him more, they joke around more, but he also seems more playful, brighter.

It’s not something Pope notices, of course, and Kiara wonders if she should intervene.

But it’s not her decision to make, so she doesn’t. Instead, she revels in the appreciation they have for one another, and doesn’t stop to wonder why it makes her think of Sarah’s golden smile when she said Kiara liked her.

In fact, she doesn’t think of her and JJ’s conversation until mid June, the day before Midsummer’s. Sarah takes her dress shopping, after the two girls have been spending quite some time together. The blonde has held onto her promise on not giving up on their friendship and Kiara appreciates it more than she could let her know.

Well, she does, by going shopping with her, and letting Sarah try to find her the ideal dress for Midsummer’s.

It’s a fun day. The Pogues are all working at the event and Kiara knows it’s going to be odd for her and Sarah to be on the other side of the food chain, but that’s the way it is in Kildare.

They’re shopping in Chapel Hill and they’re on a ferry home, when Sarah leans her head against Kiara’s shoulder.

It’s sudden and unexpected; Kiara fights the need to shudder. Her mouth opens to ask something, but her voice betrays her – what is she even going to ask? This is something JJ does all the time, something John B has done before, and Pope must’ve, too. She had girl friends when she was younger and they’d all do this thing.

It’s normal. It’s perfectly normal and unexpected – they’re friends after all.

She relaxes her shoulders slowly, hoping Sarah doesn’t notice. It’s a warm and sunny day, but there’s a breeze and she feels the scent of Sarah’s perfume. It’s sweet, just like a summer day, with a dash of some flowery scent in it. It’s her shampoo, Kiara realises, and her hair is just as soft as she thought it would be.

Before she realises what she’s doing, her hand slides around Sarah’s shoulder. Her skin is warm underneath Kiara’s fingertips and Sarah relaxes into the touch.

Neither of them talks for the rest of the ride.

When they get off, Sarah chats as usual, as if nothing has happened, and Kiara begins to wonder why she’s having to convince herself that yes, she’s right, nothing happened.

They drop off the clothes at Sarah’s house, since that’s where they’ll be getting ready tomorrow, and Sarah offers to give her a ride home – except she doesn’t drive her home.

She drives her to the far north of the island. It’s a sandy beach, not far from Sarah’s home, and it’s just a little further from where most of the Kooks go for tanning. Golf courts aren’t too far away, either, but that’s not why Kiara gasps quietly when she finally realises where they are.

‘This is where we helped the turtles hatch.’

Sarah nods, turning the key and taking it out of the ignition. She spares Kiara a brief glance before she’s out of the car, the door slamming behind her.

what the fuck is going on crosses Kiara’s mind, but she follows her friend out of the car.

The blonde is walking ahead and Kiara runs a little in order to catch up with her. The sound of her feet in the sand is louder than she’d like, but it doesn’t matter, because it makes Sarah laugh.

They take a seat next to the ocean that’s still, only the moon shining above it. There’s a lighthouse on a small island in front of them, too far to be loud enough to disturb them.

It’s almost as if the only sounds Kiara can hear are the ocean, Sarah’s rhythmic breathing, and her own heart pounding in her chest.

‘It was the best day of my life, too,’ Sarah says, staring out into the ocean. ‘I didn’t know it at the time.’

Kiara’s fingers begin drawing shapes in the sand. ‘Happens.’

‘Kie.’

When she looks up, the intensity of Sarah’s gaze is almost too much for her to bear. It’s almost as if there’s every single emotion pushed into a single glance, and sometimes Kiara thinks Sarah is too powerful for her own good.

It’s also somewhere about this moment that Kiara’s eyes glance to Sarah’s lips and she begins to wonder how they’d feel when being kissed, if they’d move in the same rhythm as hers. It’s also somewhere about this moment that Kiara realises that she’s not thinking about John B kissing her, and it probably never was about John B kissing her, in the first place.

It wasn’t Sarah she was jealous of. All these touches she kept imagining, forbidden and quiet in her head, masked as through the lenses of John B – she didn’t want to be with John B, she wanted to be him.

oh is just about the only coherent thought in Kiara Carrera’s brain in that moment. Because Kiara Carrera does not and has not liked John Booker Routledge.

It’s been the blonde girl she thought she was jealous of, and that’s been the problem the whole time, and Kiara wonders how long?

The ocean is dancing in the quiet and Sarah’s breaths are quiet and Kiara’s mind is quiet and all she can think about is all the thoughts she’s had for the past months—no, years—and they’re rewriting themselves, to be the truth, to stop fitting the narrative she thought she was living.

JJ’s telling her she’s upset about John B dating Sarah, a joint in his mouth, poking the guess at her. Pope holding her hand as they talk about her situation, which is also the moment she realises his situation regarding JJ, and it makes sense how she knew it felt the same. JJ is on her bed, flower in his mouth, poking the guesses at her, and this time he’s right when he says that she misses Sarah.

The blonde bastard is probably the first one who figured it out.

But then her mind wanders off to sitting on the floor in Sarah’s room, golden sunrays shining on the blonde girl, and Kiara figures it must just be the blonde instinct, because when Sarah said she stopped being friends with her because Kiara liked her, there was a misunderstanding.

The oh comes again, and Kiara’s eyes are still staring at Sarah’s lips.

Maybe a moment has passed since Sarah called her by her name. For Kiara, a lifetime has passed, a lifetime has changed.

Sarah bows her head, catching Kiara’s gaze. ‘I pushed you away because I liked you, too.’

A moment – that’s how long it takes for Kiara to press her lips against Sarah’s, her hand cupping the back of the girl’s stomach. It’s everything and nothing like she’s imagined, because it’s not John B kissing her, it’s Kiara, and it feels more earnest than any kisses between her and John B have.

Sarah’s lips are soft and she still smells like the same perfume and shampoo, and she tastes like the food they had at the Wreck, but she also tastes sweet and like summer and she’s all summer days and summer nights and moments that never end.

Their lips move in sync, brushing and colliding all at once, a dance that feels like second language. Kiara’s hands graze Sarah’s jaw, kissing the corner of her lips, and Sarah’s hands are underneath Kiara’s waist, underneath the shirt, and where her fingers touch bare skin, she leaves fire.

When they part, they’re both out of breath, but they’re smiling and laughing and Kiara is savouring the moment, bottling it up, knowing this is the new best day of her life.

She kisses Sarah, again, and again, and once more just because she can. It’s not something she thinks she’ll ever get tired of.

‘I thought I was jealous of you,’ she whispers into Sarah’s mouth, kissing it again. ‘I thought I just had a girl crush.’

Sarah laughs, and it’s heavenly, and Kiara feels the flutters in her stomach and they’re not empty anymore because Sarah is here, right in front of her, all hers.

Their lips brush again and it’s soft and it’s exploratory, and they’re both crossing a line they didn’t even realise was there, but it feels right. When Sarah laughs again and says ‘must’ve been one hell of a girl crush,’ Kiara kisses her until she’s too out of breath to laugh, and Kiara thinks that maybe she’s happy that John B took Sarah out on a date all those months ago, after all.

#outer banks #obx #sarah cameron #kiara carrera #sarah cameron x kiara carrera #outer banks fic #obx fic #kiarah #kierah #my fic #f: obx #s: kiarah

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afropogue · 4 years

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ship: jjpope

prompt: “you are my family”

“Now this is too adorable!”

“More like this is too embarrassing.”

JJ and Pope are sitting on the couch. Pope’s side is leaning against JJ’s chest, while the blonde man has an arm slung around the couch head frame behind Pope’s head. His other hand is propping up a thick brown leather book, pages wide open as the two boys looked through the pictures displayed on each page. JJ had found an old photo album while scoping out the Heyward’s living room, being the nosey person he was, and insisted on going through it. After all, how could he pass up on the opportunity to see cute baby pictures of Pope?

Pope had protested, obviously, but JJ was stubborn and Pope had eventually relented. That’s how they found themselves looking through the Heyward’s family photo album. The photo they were currently looking at consisted of a young Pope, no older than 4, sitting in a bathtub. Little Pope is surrounded by bubble-bath foam, one stubby hand balancing a small plastic rubber duck on his head, staring innocently at the camera as if what he’s doing is perfectly normal.

JJ laughs at the photo. “You need to recreate this.” JJ suggests. Pope huffs.

“Why would I do that?”

“It would be hilarious, don’t you think? People recreate photos all the time, it’s cute.”

Pope gives him an unconvinced look. “I’d look stupid.”

“You could never look stupid.” JJ says cheekily, grinning at him.

Pope rolls his eyes, the fond smile on his face extracting any heat from the action. He turns the next page. It’s a group family photo, with a myriad of people, presumably extended relatives. It’s an old picture, but it’s clear enough that JJ can make out the younger versions of Mr. and Mrs. Heyward, youthful faces each adorning bright smiles.

Relatives of various ages are in the photo, huddled against one another in a warm family photo. Most of the younger members are sitting on the floor, some have their arms wrapped around each other while some are clearly distracted, as their eyes don’t directly meet the camera like the majority of the family’s are.

“Think you can find me?” Pope challenges teasingly.

JJ scans through the faces of the young kids in the photo. He points to one of the faces. “This one. I’d know that cute face anywhere.” JJ states, charming smirk on his face as he shoots a side glance at Pope.

Pope ducks his head abashedly, cheeks burning from the praise. They’ve been together for a while, yet JJ still never ceases to find a way to make him flustered.

The two of them continue going through the album, Pope still flushing with embarrassment every time JJ coos at photos of his young self, and explaining the stories behind each picture.

“Hey JJ can I ask you something?”

“Yeah shoot.”

“Do you ever miss your family?” Pope asks.

Because of their close proximity, he can feel JJ visibly tense. Pope is about to open his mouth to apologize for being intrusive when JJ actually answers.

“Well,” JJ replies, “I definitely don’t miss those beatings from my dad.” he chuckles humorlessly.

Pope frowns, stomach twisting with guilt. The light-hearted atmosphere breaks slightly with tension, and Pope internally curses himself for causing it. “I’m sorry JJ I shouldn’t have asked, I didn’t mean-“

“No, no it’s okay. Sometimes I do miss the way my family used to be, before my mom left and dad wasn’t an asshole. When we were all together. I didn’t have any close extended relatives so it’s always just been the three of us.”

JJ sighs, not meeting Pope’s eyes. “I used to wish that my family would go back to the way it was, when the three of us were ‘happy’. Or I guess our illusion of happiness. JJ says, voice low and gentle. There’s a tinge of bitterness to his tone.

Pope still feels bad for bringing the topic up. He was just curious, but maybe he should’ve kept his thoughts to himself. JJ rarely talked about his family. Not that he needed to, neither of his parents deserved to be in his life, and JJ never spoke of any other close relatives.

“But I don’t need to worry about them because I have you now,” JJ says, voice still soft but with increased confidence, “You are my family.”

Pope’s chest immediately swells with love, heart so full that it feels like it could burst at any moment. He tilts his head up to meet JJ’s gaze. He lifts a hand to cup the blonde’s cheek, pulling him in for a tender kiss.

“I love you.” Pope says after they pull away, letting his head rest on JJ’s shoulder.

“I love you too.”

#jj #pope heyward #obx pope #pope #jj x pope #jjpope #mayward #jjpope fic #mayward fic #jj maybank #john b #obx #outer banks #obx jj #jj obx #pogues #fluff #fluff prompt

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thistreasurehunter · 4 years

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Attention JJ/Pope Shippers!!

Warning: mature adult content beneath the cut.

So, I’d be really interested to know what kind of content all you JJPope / Mayward shippers out there would be interested in reading.

I’ve recently started writing for JJ/Pope (previous fics here). I know there are some amazing JJ/Pope fics out there, written by some really talented writers, but sadly there doesn’t seem to be any JJ/Pope smut [A/N: for the record, in my head I’ve aged the characters up a few years, so they are both 18+] (I might be wrong, but I haven’t been able to find any, and if there is, please point me in that direction!), so my question is: is that because JJ/Pope shippers don’t want to read that kind of content? Do you all prefer your fics a little softer? I’m thinking fluffy, innocent, wholesome goodness? Because if that’s the case, then I can totally take my writing in that direction!

But, somehow, I just can’t believe there aren’t more Mayward shippers out there, like me, that are hungry for some steamy JJ/Pope content! Because if that’s the case, then I’m more than happy to oblige with that too! *waggles eyebrows* Just tell me what you want baby, I want you to feel ~good~, my fingers are at the ready (over my keyboard, obviously! *cheeky grin*)

But seriously, I’m a safe space. Come whisper your naughty thoughts in my ear, lovely anon. I want to hear all the filthy, sexy things you think about these two gorgeous boys. The horny thoughts that make your stomach twist, that make you squirm in your seat, that set off that low insistent throbbing between your legs. Come whisper in my ear, lovely anon, and I might be able to write your fantasies into reality…

Or, you know, maybe that’s not your thing. Maybe I just need to go have a cold shower! Maybe you’d prefer to read something that makes that warm happy glow light up in your chest. If so, I want to hear about that too!

To get the ball rolling, I’ve jotted down a few of my own ideas below. These are nothing more than some half-formed thoughts at the moment, but just let me know if anyone would be interested in me developing any of these. Depending on the content, if these did go any further, I might take some of them out of my After the Rain timeline and have them as one shots (just so I don’t spoil the tone of that slow-build relationship development). But, yeah, these things take ages to write, so I want to make sure there’s an audience for them first.

Also, just to let you know, I’m new around here *waves* (and have a really tiny blog!), so I’m struggling a bit to promote my work and establish myself in this fandom. (HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who has liked, reblogged and commented on my work so far – it really means more to me than I can say! And also apologies to my handful of followers for clogging your dash with multiple reblogs of my Master List while I try and boost it!).

Sooooo, if you’ve got this far down this post, and you feel like helping a new writer out, I would LOVE it if you could share this post, or some of my work, with your followers (my Master List is here). A shout-out or a rec from you would literally make me smile so wide the corners of my mouth would touch my ears. I know there are more lovely JJ/Pope shippers out there somewhere, but I don’t know where you are, and I don’t think you know I’m sitting over here in my dusty corner of the internet wanting to make you smile! 😞

So, anyway, that’s my plea and my plug done, now on to the prompts…

Fluffy ideas:

They give each other sensual massages – I’m thinking dim room, warm oil, slowly rubbing each other’s feet, strong hands pressing into the muscles of their backs, boyfriends looking after each other after a long day…

Pope comes out – Pope decides to come out to his parents, and they accept him and JJ with open arms.

JJ’s dad finds out he likes men too – little bit of angst, because Luke doesn’t take it well, but Pope comforts JJ and ends up making him feel safe and valued and wanted.

Cuddles on the sofa – soft eyes, warm hearts and lots of giggles.

Smutty ideas:

Massage with a happy ending - Similar to the massage idea above, but with more moaning and groaning and then they end up rubbing more than just each other’s backs.

Blowjobs – the hot, wet, urgent, I-need-you-right-now sort of thing. Shaking and bucking up, hands pressing on hips, steamy eye contact and then throbbing and pulsing and swallowing.

Rimming – the nervous, stomach-fluttering feeling of being touched ~there~ for the first time

Anal fingering – P-spot action, baby!! I imagine pairing this with a blowjob tbh.

Anal sex – How about: JJ bottoming from the top – straddling Pope, sinking down onto him and riding him slowly. Pope’s mind just blowing from how sexy JJ looks above him. Or, maybe on their knees, Pope taking control, panting and rutting and letting all that primal, cave-man energy overtake them. Or, first time anal: top!JJ and bottom!Pope, something both sexy and sweet as they explore each other in that way for the first time.

Or, trying some other deliciously kinky things together – edging, orgasm denial, tickle fetish, desperation, dressing up, toys, role play…

Or maybe we want to see some more classic fanfic tropes:

Soulmate AU/Bonding – pining and slow burn? Or maybe, surprise!-I’ve-been-bonded-to-a-guy-but-I-didn’t-realise-I-was-gay?

Undercover relationship – probably speaks for itself, but some kind of slow, dawning realisation that they’re just idiots in love. Probably throw a bit of forced bed sharing in for good measure.

Gender swap (little bit ‘out-there’ but bear with me):

JJ/girl!Pope – him loving to bury his face between her legs, licking and sucking and savoring her sighs and moans. JJ loving giving his girl!Pope multiple orgasms. Slowly fingering her in the hot tub. Basically a lot of clit action. And P in V. Lots of that too.

girl!Pope/girl!JJ – yeah, just a couple of sexy lesbians – tongues and fingers and maybe a strap-on?

Pope/girl!JJ – I imagine girl!JJ would be just as snarky and sassy and definitely ‘wears-the-trousers’ in their relationship. I imagine them having sex against a wall, Pope holding girl!JJ up, hands wrapped around her thighs, pressing into her, her legs wrapped around his waist. And because of the angle, she has no leverage to press back and chase her own orgasm, she just has to hold on and let Pope take her there. And halfway through, I can hear her say jokingly, “If you run out of steam before I cum I’ll pummel you.” (Spoilers: he doesn’t.)

Yeah, so, there you go. I’ll just leave this here and hopefully it’ll find its way to the right people! 💙

[GENERAL DISCLAIMER: In anything I write, the characters are all 18+. I have never, and will never, write underage fic. I think it’s very important for me to make that completely clear.]

#jjpope #mayward #jj/pope #jj x pope #jjpope smut #jjpope fluff #mayward smut #mayward fluff #jj maybank #pope heyward #outer banks smut #outer banks writing #outer banks fic #obx #jj/pope smut #jj/pope fluff

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