#but yeah so Pogue loves fries

[dhampiravidi]

continued from here:

Jayn beamed, the way she always did when in the presence of Pogue Parry. Hearing him call her by one of his many nicknames just made seeing him even better. She quickly sat down her shopping bag (which didn’t have much in it anyway), still holding the bag of fast food in her other hand.

“Hey, cowboy,” she replied, reaching up to gently pat his head. He’d used a bandana to cover the front half of his hair and tied back the rest in a ponytail. She ignored the mess on his pants and used a hand to steady herself on his hip while she pecked him on the lips. “I like your hair. You should do that more often, tying it back--it’s cute! Oh, and Cass and I stopped by the diner. We thought we’d bring you some lunch before we went home.” She smiled mischievously. “I got you extra fries.” Of course, it was only fair to also buy him a Coke, but Jayn knew how much he loved fries. Pogue got some every time they went...well, anywhere.

Something did feel a little weird, though. When Jayn had been with Cassia, they were pulling each other around and giggling, being eighteen-year-old geeky girls. It wasn’t like Jayn had ever pretended to be anyone but herself around Pogue. But while in front of him, she felt like she’d been hiding...something. And she worried that she was ignoring Cassia every second that she paid attention to Pogue.

@in--noctem

[maybaenk]

Aftermath

Summary: In which JJ is the only one who can ease the pain.

Pairing: JJ Maybank x reader

Warnings: SA, mentions of SA, mentions of ED, cursing

NA: this story is about the reader dealing with the aftermath of a SA so be careful before reading. Also if you’ve been through this, please speak up to your loved ones. My dm’s are always open if anyone needs to talk.

This is very personal to me, it hits home, so please do not judge. Just scroll.

————

JJ Maybank had never been one to be silent.

He would constantly be telling stories, cracking jokes and teasing people. His voice would often be loud and he would sweet talk his way into just about anything, his way of speaking just captivating. He was the kind of person to lighten up an entire room as soon as he’d walk in, everything about him enthralling.

That’s why, upon noticing him grow quiet one Friday afternoon at The Wreck, the pogues immediately knew something was off with him. They silently decided to let him be, although they quickly grew worried over what was happening to him. They brushed it off as him being mad at something his shitty father had done, that usually being the reason of his bad mood.

However, Kie had noticed the way his eyes would linger on you. You were sitting, quietly, in front of JJ. She observed from her spot next to him as his eyes would frequently flicker to your frame. You were playing around with your food, not really hungry it seemed, as your mind wandered to what seemed to be a world of your own.

She sighed, eyes softening upon seeing her best friend look so off. You’d been distancing yourself from them for the past days, and she remembered how JJ had told them he thought it was weird you’d suddenly grown sick the day after the kegger that took place five days ago. That’s what you’d told them, you’d been sick and would stay in bed until you’d be better. JJ had told them he was worried when the fifth day had passed and you still hadn’t reached out but didn’t want to invade your personal space.

This was the first day you’d shown up since then.

Kie asked herself how she couldn’t have understood immediately JJ was acting this weird because of you.

She sighed, returning to her conversation with the boys and thinking of ways of approaching you later to ask what was wrong.

JJ’s eyes, however, never strayed from you. He watched you pick at your food with your fork and he furrowed his eyebrows; you loved fries.

“Hey.” He softly spoke up.

You didn’t answer, didn’t even seem to have heard him. His leg nudged yours under the table.

Your eyes snapped to his, for the first time today, and he was taken aback by the void dullness in them.

“You okay, baby?”

If this had been any other time, you would have blushed at the nickname he’d often use for you. He was your best friend in the whole world, your golden boy, and yet you couldn’t deny your feelings for him. Sometimes you’d wonder if he felt the same.

But this wasn’t any other time. Something had happened to you, and you couldn’t let him find out. So you put on the best fake smile you could before answering.

“Yeah, sorry. Just tired.” You replied, eyes averting from his own in hope he wouldn’t see right through your lie. He always seemed to.

JJ saw the way your smile didn’t reach your eyes. His frown deepened when he saw the sad look you were trying to hide behind them and he shook it off. You were already starting to zone out again.

“You not hungry?” He inquired, choosing not to say anything about your evident lie.

You shook your head lazily, placing your chin on your hand as you returned your eyes to him, then to your plate.

“You never say no to fries.” He spoke, and before you could think of another lie as to why you weren’t hungry, he did again, “C’mon, bub, you have to eat some.”

Your heart swelled at his sweet tone, but you couldn’t bring yourself to smile. Nor to answer.

You looked at him when you heard him move and saw him pick up a single fry, holding it up for you to bite. He gave you the best puppy eyes he could, and your heart quickened at the look he was giving you, and you would do anything to make him happy.

“Just one.” He pleaded, smiling at you, “For me?”

You sighed, finally cracking a smile at how cute JJ Maybank was. You could never say no to him. His grin widened when he saw you smile for the first time today and he brought the fry closer to your mouth.

“Fine.”

You bit it, gently taking it from his hand. You chewed slowly, really, really not in the mood for eating.

“There you go.” He praised you once you were finished, “One more?”

————

Your friends took off to the Chateau, of course asking you if you’d be crashing there. They’d tried convincing you with the promise of a bonfire and a lot of beer.

Any other day, that would’ve done it. But this wasn’t any other day, so you’d gently reclined, telling them you were still feeling a little off. They’d eventually given up, telling you if you had changed your mind, that’s where you’d find them.

JJ had offered to walk you home, but you’d told him your mom was on your way to pick you up. A total lie, but he didn’t need to know. Of course, being the gentleman he was, he’d told you he’d wait for you but you’d insisted on him going with the others so he wouldn’t have had to lose his ride to the Chateau. He’d reluctantly agreed before taking off, too.

You’d walked the whole walk home in silence, trying to find peace within it.

The water now cascading on your skin did nothing to help you with the uneasy discomfort you felt in your whole body. This was the third shower of the day, and it was doing little to nothing to help you soothe that feeling. You scrubbed at your skin, too hard. You scrubbed every inch of your body, washing it again and again. Your skin became red when you scrubbed too hard in the places he’d touched the most.

You tried shaking the thought out of your mind.

Stop thinking about it.

You shuddered, a memory of the feeling of his hands grabbing your legs suddenly flashing through your mind.

It wasn’t long before you were sitting on the shower floor, knees brought to your chest with your arms around them.

You sobbed quietly, shaking, the hot water falling on you and burning your skin. You wanted to forget the feeling, you wanted to forget it all. The steamy water was nothing compared to it.

————

You’d ditched them again that night. This time you’d told them your mom needed your help with something.

You sure everything’s okay? JJ had texted you.

Please, God, don’t let him find out.

You hadn’t replied.

You were in your bed, knees to your chest as you laid on your side in one of JJ’s t-shirts he’d leave over when he’d sleep here.

You’d hoped JJ’s scent and the feeling of being in his shirt — it always comforted you, would make you forget about what had happened. About him.

You found yourself wishing to be with him right now, craving his touch.

You soon realized you needed to be in his arms, you needed nothing more than his comfort right now. The only comfort you could have.

You needed him now more than ever.

You grabbed your phone.

I need you

You hoped he would see the message, not feeling like calling him. You knew he’d leave his phone laying around the Chateau when crashing there.

You didn’t know JJ had kept his phone with him the whole time, hoping you’d answer his text or to have some news.

He answered just a minute later.

Are you home?

Yes

Leaving now

Twenty minutes later his last text you heard a knock on your window. He chose not to ring on your doorbell, assuming your mom would be home since you’d told them she’d needed your help, not knowing if you wanted her to know he’d be over.

A little startled, you looked up to see JJ standing there. You sighed in relief before getting up to open the window for him.

“You could’ve come in by the door.”

“Thought your mom was home. Didn’t know if you wanted her to know I was here.” He explained, climbing over the window edge.

You felt panic rise in your stomach, before you had to tell yourself he wouldn’t think much of it.

“She left a while ago.” You quietly told him, deciding to leave the window open, the summer breeze light on your skin, “And you know she doesn’t mind.”

JJ wanted to tell you about how he thought you didn’t want her to know because maybe, just maybe, you didn’t want her to know something was wrong with you. You didn’t usually go and talk to your mother about your problems, not wanting to burden the poor woman, already too much on her hands. JJ knew that.

But he decided to change the topic because you yet had to admit to him something was wrong. He was hoping you’d tell him tonight, given the fact you’d told him you needed him.

He got closer to you.

“What did you need me for, Y/N/N?” He gently asked you, his voice so sweet you thought this boy would be the death of you.

You shrugged, eyes tired. You grabbed his hand and pulled him to your bed.

“Just needed you here with me.” His eyes softened.

He couldn’t even be disappointed at you for not telling him the truth, you looked so tired and sad it was starting to pain him.

“Okay, baby.” He whispered, hand coming up to place a strand of hair behind your ear, then resting on your cheek, “Just let me change and then we can cuddle and watch a movie or something, yeah? How’s that sound?”

You smiled feebly, feeling the urge to burst out crying. You pushed your emotions back, nodding at him.

“Yeah? Okay, I’ll be a minute.”

JJ was quick to grab one of his sweat shorts from your closet, changing into that and removing his t-shirt. He placed it on your dresser before taking off his shoes and plopping down on the bed with you.

He adjusted himself on the pillows before tugging you to him. You laid down on your side, resting your head on his chest and your arm around his torso. His arms was around you as he pulled you closer.

“That’s better. Now, what do we wanna watch?” He asked, picking up the remote control on your nightstand.

You let him pick the movie, loving to hear him rent about the new sequel of an action movie he was dying to see once it came out. He settled for the first movie, telling you you just had to see it so you could watch the second one with him.

You smiled into his chest, comfortably nestling into his arms. You didn’t really care about movies right now, just his presence, but you loved listening to what he was saying. You always did.

You were the only one out of his friends who actually enjoyed listening to his bullshit. It made his heart warm.

The movie started playing, and it was a few minutes in that you spoke up.

“Thank you, J.” Your voice was low.

“For what?”

“For being here with me. I’m sorry if I forced you here, I know you’d have more fun at the bonfire.”

You felt him pulling you impossibly closer.

“Don’t say that, you know I’d rather be with you.” He replied, making butterflies flutter in your stomach.

You sighed, nuzzling further into him.

He was easing the pain.

You thought the conversation was over when you heard his voice again.

“I know something’s wrong. It’ okay, you don’t have to tell me right now. I’ll be waiting.” He whispered.

You didn’t know how you managed to keep the tears at bay this time. You held on to him tighter as you silently wished for it all to stop.

————

It had been a week and a half since that day. The Outer Banks’ summer breeze swept through your hair and gently caressed your skin as you sat on the HMS Pogue, silently looking out at the water.

This was the first time your friends had managed to convince you in coming with them on one of your ritual days on the Pogue. You relished in the feeling of comfort being here with them brought you, momentarily stranding your mind away from what tormented it. JJ had been by your side all this time, giving you your space but nonetheless providing you the comfort of his touch and presence whenever you needed him. He’d been so careful with you your love for the boy had become unbearable.

You flinched when you felt a hand on your thigh, quickly calming down when you turned your head to see JJ. He looked concerned at your sudden movement.

“Sorry.” You quietly said, your hand reaching down to touch his fingers on your skin.

A frown was on his face, but he didn’t let it sit there for long before he changed the subject.

“You wanna swim?” He asked, carefully.

You let your eyes roam around the boat, shamefully noticing it had been stopped at your usual spot and everyone had long dipped in. Your thoughts had distracted you from reality.

“Oh.” You let out, masking the surprised tone in your low voice, “I don’t really feel like it today. But you go ahead.”

JJ’s eyes stayed on you, eyes scanning your face. He gave you a small pout.

“Come on, a little dip.” He gave you that pleading look that always made you give in, “It’s really hot today, you’re gonna burn yourself.”

You sighed, already knowing putting up a fight wouldn’t be no use. With a little nod, you sighed softly before following him in standing up when he took your hand.

“Can’t have my princess all burned now, can I?” He grinned, happy you’d agreed.

He let your hand go when you needed to remove your clothes. You slipped out your shorts before removing your t-shirt.

JJ’s frown returned when he took in all the weight you’d lost. He took you in carefully, his eyes noting the way your ribs were starting to lightly show and the way your thighs did no longer touch each other.

“I’m ready.” You told him, averting your eyes from his scrutinizing gaze.

“Y/N…” He started, voice unsure.

He was worried now.

“Let’s go.” You interrupted him and pulled him away by his hand.

The water was cold against your skin, the refreshing sensation making you almost hum tu yourself.

With a little push from JJ, you timidly joined the others who were currently floating and joking around. Sarah and Kie were splashing each other when you swam towards them.

John B immediately lightened up at your presence, smiling softly at you.

You couldn’t help but feel disappointed when you felt your mind slowly begin to drift away as soon as they brought up a topic you didn’t really care about. Normally, you would have. You cared about everything your friends said.

The cold water was starting to make you shiver. You were starting to feel lightheaded, the contrast between the hot sun burning on your already hot skin and the water that minutes ago had seemed so refreshing was now starting to bother you. Your head felt hot and throbbing. You sighed as you started to feel dizziness fog up your mind.

“You okay, Y/N/N?” Kie’s voice brought you out of your daze and you looked up to see them all staring at you, worried looks painted on their faces.

“Yeah, you’re looking a bit pale right now.” Pope stated, eyebrows furrowed and a concerned expression on him.

JJ was immediately by your side, hands coming up to grab your hips and hold you against him.

In the suddenly confused state you were in, you remembered feeling relief just by his touch.

“Hey, hey, what’s happening, baby?” JJ rushed as your body slumped against his.

Black dots started to blurry your vision, and you shuddered against your best friend.

“I’m not-“ you started, “I think I’m going to faint.”

“Fuck, JB help me out here, man.” He frantically began, voice panicked as John B immediately swam to you.

They helped you back on the boat and you didn’t remember anything but the hot sun beating down on your skin, your head felt burning and your heart racing.

“Shit, don’t faint on me, baby. Come on.” All you heard in your semi-unconscious state was his voice.

They made you lay down on a towel messily laid on the floor where there was a bit of shade. Kiara grabbed the cooler and got you water as fast as she could, throwing the bottle to JJ.

“Lift her head up, JB.” He instructed briefly before helping you drink it.

You couldn’t really understand what was going on. Everything felt hazy, you tried waking up but you could feel sleep luring you into unconsciousness.

When you woke up a few moments later, a cold bottle of water was placed on your neck and JJ’s eyes were the first thing you saw.

“There she is.” His shuttered voice breathed out in relief.

You could hear the pogues muttering grateful words.

The concerned look in them, the desperation, almost made you cry and you wanted to apologize for making them worry but you couldn’t. You still felt a little dizzy.

“Come on, baby, let’s get you up so you can drink some more.” He placed a hand behind your back to help you up, then placed himself behind you so you could rest against his chest and between his legs.

“Feel any better, Y/N/N?” John B hopefully asked.

“A little.” Your voice felt hoarse, your head still a little dizzy.

You could fill the unspoken questions lingering in the air, the hesitant looks. They were debating whether or not to finally speak up, to finally demand to know what the hell had been going on, why you were suddenly so skinny and why you were acting so distant. You hoped they wouldn’t ask.

And they didn’t. Maybe they thought it was a conversation JJ should have had with you.

As the boat moved to shore, you became painfully aware of the swinging of the boat. You thought you’d be throwing up had you had food in your system. You were kind of grateful for that.

The rest of the ride home you didn’t remember very much. You still felt fuzzy, your mind fogged. You could hear the pogues worrying around you and offering water to you but the only thing that mattered was JJ’s touch on you. You were pressed up against his chest, safe in the protective embrace of his strong arms.

JJ carried you inside the Chateau as soon as the boat stopped at the dock, not even waiting to help. He placed you softly on his bed, the one in the guest room that was now practically his. You whined playfully at the loss of contact, reaching your arms out for him. He didn’t seem as amused.

“When is the last time you’ve eaten anything?” His blue gaze suddenly felt cold on you, he sounded angry.

You looked away, eyes immediately filling with tears. It wasn’t often that he was mad at you, and you hated it.

“I’m sorry.” Your voice was low, trembling.

When you’d gathered the courage, your eyes found him again. His expression had softened, realizing he’d been approaching this the wrong way.

He sighed, hands coming up to cover his face.

“I’m gonna make you a sandwich or something, and you’re gonna eat it for me, okay?”

You relished in the familiar sound of his sweet tone, you couldn’t take him being mad at you.

Without even thinking, you nodded.

He disappeared, leaving you alone. Maybe it was time to open up. Maybe you had been hurting him and the rest of your friends for too long now. He deserved to know.

When he came back, you let him help you eat the sandwich. He sat beside you and encouraged every single bite, his voice honey as he helped you. You didn’t want to, you weren’t hungry; the bread felt disgusting in your mouth and you hadn’t eaten in so long you couldn’t even get past half of it.

But you did, because he was looking at you with this pleading look in his eyes and JJ Maybank was your weakness.

“There we go. All finished.” He happily praised you, a lingering kiss on your forehead.

You gave him a small smile, the best one you could master.

“I need to shower.” You told him.

You surprised yourself by not wanting to be left alone, by wishing he could come with you. Would it freak him out if you asked him to come with you?

“That’s fine.” He whispered.

When you got up to leave, he spoke again.

“I wish you’d tell me what’s going on with you.” His voice was strained, and when you turned back to look at him again where he was sitting on his bed, his head was in his hands.

You felt your heart shutter, pain immediately blossoming in your chest at the sight of the boy you loved pleading, begging you to just tell him why you had let yourself fall apart. To let him in. To let him help you.

It really was time to tell him.

You sighed, walking back to the bed.

When you sat down your hands began trembling. You didn’t look at him, you looked forward into nothingness. You could feel his gaze on you now.

How did one approach this? How did one get this kind of thing out? You spent what felt like minutes trying to get the courage to speak up, to say something.

And JJ waited. He sat silently, waiting for you to be ready.

It was only when his hesitant fingers touched your hand that you found the courage hand that you spoke up.

“It was that kegger.” You started, voice feeble, “It was like — like, two weeks ago.”

“What about the kegger?” You could hear the confusion in his voice.

“I don’t know if you remember that touron that flirted with me all night, the one I left with.”

A pause.

JJ was starting to get it, a terrible feeling settling in the pit of his stomach.

“What did he do?” His voice was stoic, hard. You felt your hands tremble.

It wasn’t unusual for you or him or any other of the pogues to leave with someone, to hook up with someone met at a party. You’d always told him you’d never went further than making out. Just once had you went third base with a guy, someone you’d been seeing for a few months at the time. (Of course, being in love with him, you’d always hoped JJ would be your first time, and so you’d been waiting for him. Even if you knew he certainly wasn’t a virgin himself.)

So It wasn’t anything new for you to maybe leave with someone, but what had him dreading your next words was that he’d already started connecting the dots. You’d been miserable for weeks and it had something to do with this guy. JJ didn’t think of himself as smart, but he also didn’t think it would take a genius to figure it out.

“He—“ how could you go on? How could you shutter his heart? “JJ I can’t…”

You felt your eyes beginning to sting, the burning anticipation of tears. You exhaled deeply, trying to look at him. You weren’t strong enough.

His hands found your face, gently forcing you to look at him. His eyes were begging you, an angry and desperate storm simmering behind the blue ocean.

You let go then, completely crumbling beneath his touch, his hold. A broken sob left your lips as the tears cascaded in an endless flow on your cheeks.

JJ shut his eyes, looking like he was straining himself, like it physically pained him to see you like this. He took a deep breath, his gaze found yours once again and this time his eyes were watering.

“Did—“ he stuttered, his voice completely broken, “Did he touch you?”

You knew he meant raped, but he didn’t want to trigger you even more. You knew he knew now the boy had taken you against your will, had taken the very thing you’d saved for someone special in a brutal, scarring way you would never forget. You knew he’d ruined you forever.

You found the will to nod softly.

His hands suddenly left your face, the absence of his touch leaving you feeling cold and alone. You sobbed, again, as you watched him storm out of the room. You tried following him, calming him down, but how could you when you didn’t have enough strength for yourself?

You placed your hands on your ears when the yelling and shuttering of glass reached you. Despite this, you could still hear the rumbling of objects being thrown and the voices of the pogues now intervening. You could vaguely make out Kie’s voice trying to calm him down and John B screaming at him to tell him what happened.

You don’t know how you found yourself curled up in the corner of the room, knees to your chest and hands still covering your ears. Your eyes were shut as your chest heaved uncontrollably as you fought the panic attack you felt coming.

Then, silence.

A shattered sob. Someone crying.

JJ.

You didn’t know how much time had passed before you felt the touch of someone on your hands, prying them away.

“Hey, hey, it’s me.”

Kie crouched down before you, her eyes glossy and lips trembling as she reached her arms out to you.

She knew. Everyone knew now.

“I’m sorry.” She cried and you found yourself engulfed in her embrace, her arms around your body and your head buried in her neck.

You couldn’t breathe, you felt the anxiety and the panic swallowing you as you fought to stop the sobbing.

“JJ.” You hoarsely let out between broken cries.

“Okay, okay, babe, calm down.” She whispered to you, standing back to hold your face in her hands, “Try to breathe for me, he’ll be here in a minute, okay?”

She turned around quickly, and only then did you notice Sarah standing in doorway. Her hand was on her mouth as she silently cried, too shocked to do anything.

“Sarah, please get JJ here.” She pleaded, her voice as serious as ever.

The blonde was gone in mere seconds, disappearing in the hallway to supposedly retrieve her friend.

You needed him, and hoped he’d find the strength to be there for you. You hoped he’d be there to hold you.

“Breathe for me, okay?” Kiara’s eyes found yours and you felt your heart warm at the worry you saw in them.

Your friends cared for you so much, and yet here you were making them cry.

You nodded, just for her sake but really couldn’t.

“I love you.” You sobbed out and reached your hands out to hold her hands, still trying to breathe.

She inhaled and exhaled deeply, trying to show you how to do it. Tears flowed down her cheeks at your sweet words, and Kiara had never felt so guilty in her whole seventeen years. How could she have been so blind? It was so clear something had been wrong with you, yet she’d never pushed it as not to overstep any boundaries you had put between yourself and the pogues lately. She just though you needed your time.

“I love you too, Y/N/N.” She sniffed, her hands finding their way around your shoulders again in a desperate attempt to hold you to her, to protect you. It was too late, she’d been a shitty friend, she felt it was her fault.

“Kiara.” Sarah’s worried voice sounded from behind her.

Kiara backed away to look at her blonde friend, her eyebrows furrowed at the concerned tone in her voice. Something was wrong.

“JJ’s gone.”

You don’t know how you recovered from the sinking feeling in your chest and the panic attack that sentence triggered, you don’t remember how long it took them to calm you down, how long they’d tried helping you breathe for. At one point, Sarah had been so scared she’d proposed calling an ambulance. But then you’d grown so tired, slumping against Kie’s chest as she softly ran a hand down your back, silently thanking God. You just remembered them laying you down on the bed, each of them on either side of you as they held you close in their familiar, comforting embrace. The last thing you remembered was the thought of JJ in your mind.

JJ.

Even in your sleep you could swear it was his scent that was engulfing you. You could vaguely sense his strong arms around you as you stirred awake.

You opened your eyes, and you could feel how swollen they were. They were probably red, too.

And there he was. You’d been right.

You don’t know when, but he’d moved you so you were laying on him. His arms were around you as he rested against the headboard, your face buried in his neck.

You moved your face away, slightly, just so you could look at his face.

You felt your breath hitch when you found him staring right back at you. An intensity in his eyes you’d never seen.

“JJ.” Your voice was hoarse, broken.

His eyes immediately softened. You could see the dark bags under them and your heart shuttered.

“I’m here.” His voice was soft, broken.

You sighed, falling back into his embrace.

You had a terrible feeling about his disappearance, a fear in the back of your mind about where you were almost sure he could have gone during the time he was gone. What he could have done.

You knew he remembered who the touron was, and knew for a fact he’d still be on the island for a whole month. The two things combined didn’t make for a good ending.

You didn’t want to ask, though, just wanting to be with JJ. You didn’t want to think about him, about what JJ could have done to him. The only thing that worried you was the consequences, but you knew your boy was smart, so you pushed the thoughts away for now and just enjoyed the way his presence subsided your pain.

“Don’t leave me again.” You whispered.

He inhaled, like it pained him to hear you say that.

“I won’t.”

You knew he wanted to say more, he was just trying to figure out the best way to do it. He’d never been one to talk, never good at expressing his feelings. You didn’t mind.

“Does it hurt?” He cut the silence, deciding on voicing his worries regarding the physical part first.

You frowned, tightening your grip on his shirt.

“Not anymore.” You let out.

You could hear his rage in the silence.

“What time is it?” You tried diverting his anger, suddenly wondering how long it had been.

“Four.” His hand found his way to your head, his fingers starting to play with your hair. He knew it calmed you.

You loved him so much, it hurt you. How you wished it was him instead. You’d always thought that maybe, somehow, he would be. That’s why you’d been waiting, saving your special moment for the person you loved most in the world.

Your mind started to wander. You imagined how it could’ve been, how sweet JJ would be with you. You imagined his lips on yours and his strong arms around you and his scent clouding your senses. You imagined his sweet words when it would hurt, and then your mind betrayed you and instead carried you to your pained cries and his threatens to stay still.

You opened your eyes, trying to forget about it.

In a daze, you let the words out.

“You know, I’d always hoped it’d be you.”

You felt surprised hearing yourself voicing your feelings for him after all this years.

You didn’t regret it, it was how you felt. And it was time he knew. You were kind of grateful of the numbness that brought you to confess yourself to him, or else he’d probably never known.

You felt his breath hitch, the movements of his hand stopped.

It took him some moments to speak up.

“What do you mean?” He tried, hesitant.

There was no use in trying to take it back, you wanted him to know.

“I’d always hoped you’d be my first time.” You admitted, being completely honest now, “For so long, I’ve rejected everyone because I was waiting for you.”

You didn’t want him to say he felt the same about you, that he loved you. You didn’t care if he reciprocated your feelings because you were just so glad you’d finally told him the truth that either way you’d be happy. You’d love him nonetheless.

Silence.

Obviously, though, all of your heart hoped he would.

You didn’t expect what happened next.

You didn’t expect the broken sob that left his mouth, you didn’t expect him to pull his hands away from you to cover his eyes with their back.

You knew your heart was already completely broken, so why did it feel like this was the most painful thing you’d ever gone through and that it was shuttering for real this time? You felt devastated at the thought of being the cause of this. What had you done?

You sat back, looking at him and you felt tears running down your cheeks before you knew it.

“JJ, I’m sorry.” You hurried, “You don’t have to say anything back. I swear, I don’t care if you don’t feel the same.”

He cried, his knees coming up to his chest and his hands staying on his face, shielding its view from you.

It took him so long for him to speak up, you’d already concluded he was feeling guilty about not feeling the same. You waited, tears cascading down your skin as you watched the boy you loved break down in front of you.

You didn’t know how long it passed when his voice cut the silence.

“Maybe-” he started, but had to breathe a few times in order to go on, “Maybe if you’d known — if I had told you I love you and I’d do anything for you, you would have never met that fucking sick-”

He stopped, now sobering up and realizing the mention of that guy could have triggered bad memories for you.

You stayed silent, refusing to believe this.

JJ actually felt the same about you?

You felt something, something for the first time in almost a month. You felt happiness swirl inside of you and you had to breathe out in relief at the feeling of something other than pain.

JJ removed his hands from his face.

“This is my fault.” His eyes were completely broken.

You could see behind them the guilt that would forever torment him. Suddenly you put your happiness aside and the realization hit you that he believed if he’d confessed himself to you, this could have been avoided.

“JJ, what are you saying?” You rushed to him, your hand coming up to meet his beautiful face, “Don’t ever believe that. This is none of your fault. It’s his. No one else’s.”

He shook his head, furrowing his eyebrows. JJ looked away from you, a pained expression on his beautiful features.

“You don’t understand, Y/N.” His voice was strained, “I could have avoided all of this.”

You couldn’t believe he was blaming himself.

You shook your head, “No! JJ, you couldn’t have known. You couldn’t have know how I felt about you. Stop blaming yourself, please. You’re hurting me.”

He turned to look at you again, his gaze immediately finding yours.

Only then did something shift in his eyes. Another realization. This time, JJ felt extremely selfish. He looked into your eyes to see the pain behind them and could only think about how extremely selfish he was being in giving you another burden to carry. The worry of him feeling guilty.

“I’m sorry, angel.” It was all he said.

Exhausted, he slumped against the headboard again, laying down on the cushions. You were hesitant, not really knowing if he wanted your comfort. It was paining you, the absence of his touch. You needed him, but also knew he was fighting another battle in his head.

Then he extended his arm to grab you by your waist and pull you against him. You sighed in relief once in his arms again.

“I really want you to know that it had nothing to do with you. Nothing could have changed it.” You sniffled, your hand coming up to play with his hair.

JJ felt like shit. Here you were, trying to make him feel better when you were the one who’d gone through it.

He nodded for your sake, although in his mind he’d always think that if he’d just told you, maybe you two could have been together. Things could have gone differently for you.

It wasn’t about courage. In fact, JJ didn’t have a single amount of shame in him. It was just that he loved you so much and he was so sure you could never reciprocate his feelings that he preferred not to ruin your friendship. He always thought it was pretty clear he liked you, that the pet names and the constant physical contact gave it away. But apparently they didn’t. Not for you at least.

There wasn’t time for you to wonder about what was going to happen now, the distraction from this moment already subsiding to the pain you’d constantly felt all of this time. It was draining.

You’d love him no matter what, whether he wanted to be with you or not. That, you knew.

Now, you just wanted to feel the comfort he brought you and you just wanted to be with him. To have him so close to you. Because he was the only one who could ease this never ending pain.

His voice cut your thoughts off.

“I wish it could have been me, baby.”

You guessed with all of the tears you’d cried, it’d be physically impossible for you to have any more in you to spill. But apparently not.

“I know, now. That’s all that matters.” You spoke, “You’re all that matters, JJ.”

You felt his heartbeat quicken underneath your head.

“We’ll figure this out together, okay?” He asked.

You held him tighter. You nodded, grateful for his presence.

He spent the rest of the night whispering sweet nothings in your ear, wiping away your tears and caressing your hair. You’d barely speak, too drained from everything.

At some point, you felt sleep carrying you away. But not before a thought occurred to you.

“I love you, too, by the way.” You whispered softly.

[outermaybanks]

not really a kook - based on this request (jj meets a 'kook' who makes him reevaluate his rule) a/n: im sorry this took so long life got a bit hectic, but i loved this request and i hope you like what i wrote!!! i dont think i need cw for anything but if i missed something please let me know

“y/n, table eight needs fries,” Kie said quickly as she moved passed you. “Heard,” you quickly reply. Today was your first official day working for the Wreck, but Kie had been training you for weeks leading up to it. You were apprehensive, when she first asked you to get a summer job at the Wreck, not because you couldn’t handle a little hard work, but because you knew it was mostly inhabited by tourons and kooks, and while you technically fell into the category of the latter, you hated most kooks.

Except Kie. She was like, the only person on this island who got you. You didn’t like entitled people, you had grown up poor for a good chunk of your childhood, but your grandpa bought a lot of stocks decades ago, and never could figure out when was the better time to sell, so he never did, and when he died 6 years ago, your mother inherited everything. But just because now you lived in a big house, you could still remember how it felt when kids teased you for having to thrift your clothes. 

Your parents, on the other hand, let the money change them practically overnight, along with your younger sister and your older brother. In fact, you were currently ‘cut off’ because your parents didn’t like how you spent the money. You liked to buy clothes, and makeup, and go out to eat, of course, but you also had a habit of donating money behind your parents back, or walk around the cut and give handfuls of cash to people that looked like they needed it; there was no shortage of that over on the cut. 

You had made exactly two friends when you moved to Kildare island; Kie and Sarah Cameron, and when Sarah Cameron decided popularity was more important to her, it was just you and Kie, which you didn’t mind. She had other friends, but you had a lot of hobbies that took up your time, so you never really minded that you hadn’t met them. So when your best friend asked you to help her out by working at her family restaurant, you couldn’t say no. Besides, it would feel good to earn your own money. 

Mr. Carrera handed you the fries for table eight, and you quickly carried them over with a smile on your face. Kie said that part was important. 

“Hey, I just got a text from some of my friends, they’re gonna swing by. You wanna hang with us?” Kie asked after the lunch boom ended and there was a lull in the restaurant. “Uh, which friends?” Kie gave you a teasing look, “How many friends do I have besides you?” “Maybe you made more, now that you go to the other school, how could I possibly keep up?” you tease back, taking a drink from you water bottle. Kie rolled her eyes playfully. “The pogues, John B, Pope, JJ-” “Yeah, yeah, I remember… um… do they know you’re inviting me?”

Before Kie could open her mouth to reply, “Whaddup!” a loud voice called through the restaurant, making Kie turn. You looked past her to see three guys walk in. “What are you guys doing here already? You just texted me.” Kie said, putting her hand on her hip. “Uhhh,” the tall brunette one said, pulling out his phone, “well, we said we were coming 30 minutes ago, and this place is only 20 minutes away.” Kie checked her phone then groaned at being proven wrong. “Well, I’m still scheduled for another 30 minutes, so…” “That’s cool, we’ll just hang,” the blonde one said. 

Kie sighed, throwing her towel over her shoulder. “Well, guys, this is my friend y/n, y/n, this is Pope, JJ, and John B,” Kie introduced, pointing to each guy respectively. “Guys, this is, y/n.” “Cool, nice to meet you,” Pope was the first to acknowledge you, sticking his hand out formally. You smiled as you shook it. “You guys too, I’ve heard lots about you.” “You’re the one who moved here, right?” John B asked. “Uh, yeah, about 6 years ago.” “Haven’t seen you around before,” JJ said, almost accusatory. “Uh… sorry?” you tried. “Guys! Stop giving her the third degree. I swear, this is why I never bring new people around you guys,” Kie scolded. 

You gave an awkward smile and a small wave before quickly going behind the counter to wipe it down. JJ couldn’t help but watch you, his mind swirling around with thoughts. Why hadn’t Kie brought you around before? Was she hiding them from you? Was she hiding you from them? Why hadn’t he seen you in school or around the cut? Were you from her Kook days? Why was Kie still friends with someone from her Kook days? Why would a Kook willingly work for minimum wage at the Wreck? He laid his arms down on the counter, leaning forward as he blocked the next part of the counter, which meant when you reached where he was, you had no choice but to look up at him.

“So… y/n. Haven’t seen you here before… when did you start?” JJ asked, making you furrow your brows, but then you chuckled. Kie had warned you her boys were a bit much, and you found it cute that JJ was living up to it so fast. “I started today. Kie was nice enough to offer me a summer job,” you explained, carefully picking his wrist up to move it, he quickly crossed his arms, letting you continue cleaning. His eyes stayed on you even as you moved past him. John B smacked his arm, making JJ turn to see his friends giving him knowing looks. JJ wet his lips before turning back to look at you. Fuck it, he thought. Kie hated Kooks, she wouldn’t willingly be good friends with one. “Hey, did Kie invite you to kick it? Because you totally should,” JJ rambled, making you smile to yourself. “Uh, she did actually, right before you guys walked in.” “And now they know, so you can come,” Kie spoke up, with a cocky smile. 

“Okay, I’m down. What’s the plan?”

When you and Kie got off work, John B drove you all back to his place, the Chateau, with the promise of grilling, and taking the boat out on the water. John B was more than happy to teach you how to grill, and JJ took the opportunity to interrogate Kie.

“So, what’s the deal with y/n?” JJ asked bluntly, taking Kie by surprise. She raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. “Why do you wanna know?” “Well… just seems a little odd that we’ve never met your only other friend. How did you meet her anyway?” Kie rolled her eyes. She knew JJ hated Kooks, but she also knew that like herself, y/n was not really a Kook, and she didn’t want JJ to judge her before he got to know her. “Soccer. I did it for like one summer, and it just so happened to be the year she moved here.” “Well, why didn’t you ever bring her around?” “Because I knew you guys were gonna get weird and scare her off,” Kie teased, pushing JJ back by his forehead as she walked past him, but JJ wasn’t giving up that easily.

“Okay, okay… she got a boyfriend?” JJ asked, making Kie stop in her tracks. “Seriously?” Kie asked in an annoyed tone as she turned to face him. “What? I’m just trying to get to know your friend, Kie,” JJ lied, making Kie roll her eyes. “She doesn’t have a boyfriend. Anything else you want to know, you gotta ask her,” Kie said, throwing her arms up in surrender. 

Truthfully, she was playing dumb. She knew exactly what she was doing. She always thought you and JJ would be good for each other, and if she could just get JJ to not see you as a Kook, maybe that’s exactly what would happen. 

“I’m gonna grab a beer, you want one, y/n?” JJ offered, taking you by surprise. “Uh, sure, thank you, JJ,” you answered with a smile.

JJ walked over, opening your beer before handing it to you, you gave him another smile as you took it, raising it slightly to say thank you. JJ took the opportunity to do cheers, so you both took a drink, eyes locked on each other the whole time.

Oh, he was good, you thought. He didn’t have to say a word, and you were already drawn to him. 

After eating, you five loaded onto John B fishing boat, you and Kie sitting on the front of it as John B drove. The sun was just starting to go down as you got into the middle of the water, the view was absolutely perfect. “I think this is the prettiest thing I've ever seen,” you said softly, mostly to yourself.

JJ couldn’t agree more as he watched you sitting the golden glow of the sunset. He decided to be bold, and reached out to move a piece of hair behind your ear. When you turned to him with a teasing smile, his heart skipped a beat. “That’s like the cheesiest move in the book,” you taunt. “Alrigh’ alrigh’, that’s fair,” JJ laughs. “So did I completely blow it?” Your smile grew, so you turned your head away. “I didn’t say that.”

The rest of the night was filled with laughing, smoking, and stolen touches wherever possible. When Kie announced she was taking you home, you wanted to strangle her, but you didn’t want to seem too eager, so you agreed.

“You and JJ seemed friendly,” Kie said with a knowing smile as she drove her mom’s jeep towards her house for a sleepover.

“Ugh, was I total dork? I feel like I was a total dork,” you whine, letting your head fall back against the headrest. “No, no, he totally likes you… but there’s something I have to tell you.” “What?” In an instant you nervous, as if JJ was gonna pop out of the back seat. “Listen… a couple years back, JJ went on a date with a Kook, Jules, only… it wasn’t a date, it was a trap. She just wanted to humiliate him. JJ… hates Kooks. Like, more than anyone else I know. If he finds out your parents are rich, he…” Kie trailed off, but you could figure out what she was getting at. “Your parents are rich and you guys are like best friends,” you pointed out. “I was grandfathered in, I met the Pogues in 6th grade, pre-Jules embarrassment.” “Great. I finally meet a guy that isn’t a total asshole and I can’t go for him because my shitty parents are rich. Awesome.” Once again you let your head hit the headrest.

“No one said that,” Kie said suddenly. Slowly, you opened your eyes and turned your head to look at her. “What?” “If we just… don’t tell him…” “Kie. He would hate me if he found out I kept it from him on purpose.” “So… let me take the heat. You didn’t know until I just told you, play dumb.” “I don’t know, Kie-” “Do you like him?” You scoff, “I-I don’t know, I just met him today.” “I didn’t ask if you wanted to marry him, do you like him?” “...Yeah,” you answered shyly. “Then just trust me. Don’t bring it up if you can avoid it, okay?” You were still unsure. “Okay?” Kie asked again. “Yeah, yeah… fine.”

JJ was waiting at the Wreck when you showed up for your shift the next day.

“JJ? What’re you doing here? It’s Kie’s day off,” you say as you put your hair up, a small smile playing at your lips to see him again so soon. “I know, but she said you were working… I was wondering if I could pick you up when you get off, take you out?” he asked, bracing himself for the possibility of rejection, but you just smiled. “I’d love that JJ…”

As far as you were concerned, that was the best decision you ever made. Being with JJ was like nothing you had ever felt before, he always did anything to make you smile, make you laugh. He was a breath of fresh air from what you were used to, Kooks who think their existence is a gift to the world, taking everything too seriously; but not JJ. JJ just wanted to make you smile.

As time passed, and your relationship with JJ going strong, you found yourself forgetting what Kie had told you about JJ hating Kooks, because it didn’t matter. You hated them too, and avoided them as much as you could, spending more nights at Kie’s and the Chateau than at home. 

But it was wrong to keep it from JJ, and nothing could change that. And karma has a funny way of working. 

You and JJ had been dating for about 3 months, summer coming and going in a flash, but Mr. Carrera decided to keep you on staff, and you had liked working there and feeling independent from your parent’s money, so there you were; working an afternoon shift, when everything started to fall apart.

Word must had traveled to Figure Eight that you were working here, because when you showed up for your shift, Rafe Cameron the one and only, was already sitting with a group of his friends, being loud and obnoxious which only amped up when he saw you. 

“Well look who it is! Bitch who thinks she’s better than everyone finally got cut off,” Rafe said boisterously. “Fuck off, Cameron,” you said plainly, not letting his words bother you as you put your hair out of your face, jumping into action. You had spent your whole life dealing with Rafe’s obnoxious personality, you could survive it.

 But then, JJ walked in, and in slow motion you could practically see everything slipping from your fingers. “Hey babe. Thought I’d keep you company,” JJ says with that handsome smile. You force yourself to give him one back, trying to pretend you weren’t internally panicking. “Hey baby,” you said quickly before pecking a kiss to his cheek. “Oh, well now I understand everything,” Rafe said loudly, loud enough to be heard across the restaurant. “Y/n’s dickwhipped by a pogue.”

You can’t think, a million things to say or do pop into your head and you can’t prioritize them in time to act. “Babe? Is Rafe talking to you? How do you know Rafe?” JJ asked softly, which just broke your heart more as you were too shocked to reply, at least, before Rafe beat you to it. “Oh Y/N? We go way back. She used to have sleepovers with Sarah when her and Kie were on the soccer team together, isn’t that right?”

You try to look at JJ, but his face is scrunched up in confusion. “Sarah? You mean… from Kie’s kook days? But then-” The look on his face broke your heart, and you couldn’t pretend you didn’t know why; you couldn’t bring yourself to lie to him twice. “JJ, just let me explain, okay?” you try, but JJ doesn’t let you, as soon as the sentence is out of your mouth, confirming his fears, he’s running for the door, leaving you standing there with a broken heart. 

Two weeks passed and you were unable to get JJ to talk to you, and every attempt just made you feel worse and worse, so eventually, you took the message. Kie tried to be there for you, but you were reluctant to accept help from her since she was also JJ’s friend, so you spent most of the time locked in your room, being even colder to your family than usual. 

Meanwhile, at the Chateau, you weren’t the only one feeling the effect of the breakup. JJ had been cold, impulsive, starting fights with anyone who tried to talk to him, and soon everyone felt the effects ripple through. 

“JJ…” John B decided to be brave. “What?” JJ snapped back in reply. “...Man, we’re worried about you,” John B said, already JJ was rolling his eyes. “We can see you miss her. Bro, who cares if her parents have money? She’s still the same y/n.” “She lied to me.” “She didn’t lie to you!” Kie confesses, then sighs, “After the first night you guys met, I could tell you both liked each other. You haven’t really liked a girl since the Jules thing and I just wanted you to give it a chance!”

“You told her to lie to me?” “I told her not to bring it up. But I mean- did you ever ask her if she was a Kook?” JJ got a bit flustered at the question. “I-It doesn’t matter. She kept it from me on purpose.” “Only because I told her too! That first night, when you guys were vibing, that was real. She didn’t even know yet. And honestly- it’s a bit hypocritical for you to not see me as a Kook, but to see her as one. She hates Kooks too.” Kie said, bringing her drink up to her mouth, silently saying that she had said her piece. 

JJ sighed as he stared down at the drink in his hands. For once, something one of his friends said was starting to get through to him.

“Man… what do I do? I feel like I’m going crazy without her.” JJ said, desperation leaking from his voice. “Go talk to her,” John B suggested. “How? It’s clear I don’t know anything about her” JJ said, already getting defensive again. Kie uncapped a sharpie and grabbed his hand, writing on the skin. “This is her address. Now you have no excuses.”

On his bike, he got there in about 20 minutes.

Your parents had long abandoned trying to understand you, but they tried to show their love however they could, which to you meant respecting your privacy when you were upset, so you were surprised when you heard a knock at your bedroom door.

You sniffled and used your sleeve to wipe away any residual tears, getting up slowly to open the door, seeing your mom standing there with a worried expression on her face, despite her attempts to hide it. 

“Hey, sweetie, you doing okay?” she asked softly. “I don’t want any dinner.” “Well, actually, there’s someone for you at the front door, a boy. Said his name was JJ?” you didn’t need to hear anything else before you moved for the staircare, almost tripping over your feet. 

JJ was looking around awkwardly when you saw him standing in the foyer. “Hey…” you said softly, hoping he didn’t notice the way your voice cracked. “Hey… So this is your place? It’s… nice.” “JJ please believe me, I don’t- I didn’t want to keep it from you, Kie told me to, and I shouldn’t have listened- I don’t- I’m not like-” you struggled to find the words. “You’re not a real Kook.” JJ finished for you, taking you by surprise, and for the first time since the breakup, you had hope. 

You stepped slightly closer, unsure of what to say, but determined to not let the conversation die here. “Kie said you didn’t know about… Jules or whatever, the first night we hung out. Is that true?” You swallowed, a bit unsure of what this had to do with anything, unsure which answer he wanted to hear, so you were just honest. “She told me later, when she drove us to her house. But that first night, on the boat, no I had no idea.”

JJ took his hat off to rub a hand anxiously through his hair. “I wanted to say I’m sorry. Back at the Wreck, I didn’t give you a chance to say anything, and that wasn’t fair. I just wasn’t ready to hear it.” You nodded softly along with his words, understanding his position. “What changed?” you decide to ask.

JJ chuckles awkwardly. “I guess you’re harder to stay away from than first thought… And I’m pretty sure my friends would murder me if I didn’t come talk to you.” His words made you chuckle, which felt good after two weeks of crying, but then you two stood in silence, just staring at each other for a moment.

“I’ve missed you, y/n… I don’t… I don’t care if your parents have money. Kie’s right, you’re no more a Kook than she is.” JJ finally said, and you felt like your legs might give out from under you. His words made your heart flutter with hope. But you couldn’t make the same mistakes.

“I still understand… if you can’t be with me. What Jules did was fucked up,” you say softly. “Yeah… yeah it was. But you’re not Jules… and… staying away from you isn’t punishing her, it’s punishing me,” JJ said, making your eyes widen as you step closer. “Does that mean…” JJ looked at you, all the walls he built over the years seemed to fall down in that instant. “Please… take me back. I’m losing my mind without you, I can’t sleep, I can’t eat-” you don’t let him finish as you run over to wrap your arms around him. JJ immediately brought a hand to your cheek, lifting your face to look at him before he pressed his lips to yours. 

“I’m sorry I was an idiot.” JJ breathed out after you two pulled away. You shook your head, “I should’ve just told you.” “No, Kie was right. I would’ve assumed- Don’t tell Kie I said she was right.” JJ quickly added, making you giggle before you pulled him down for another kiss.

[r1vrsefx]

party

rafe cameron x reader

summary: yn decides to end things with rafe… but can she?

warning: toxic relationships, drug abuse, coke, drinking, kissing and implied sex

"I just don't know what to do." y/n sighed from the passenger seat. "I know you don't want to hear this but he's toxic and he treats you like shit half of the time. And that's coming from his sister." Sarah looked over at the girl.

y/n and Rafe have been dating for a good six months. for the first few months of their relationship it was great, he would buy her flowers, take her on dates, basically just spoil her.

That was until he started using. When he was high he could care less about her. It was very rare when he was sober and good to y/n. She couldn't put up with the constant fighting, him disappearing for days and his aggression towards her.

She's been thinking for the last couple of weeks if he is really worth her time and energy. "I mean it's not the best to hear but it's true" y/n sighed as they parked. "I know. I'm sorry." They got out. The music was loud and could be heard from down the street. The smell of weed and alcohol could be smelt through the air.

Sarah and y/n always went to Toppers annual end of school party . Everyone knew Topper threw the best parties in the OBX. And everyone always went , the kooks, the pogues and even the tourist who are just visiting.

They step foot into Toppers big ass house and went straight to the coolers for beer. "Hiya." Topper came up behind Sarah wrapping his arm around the girl. "Hi." She giggled.

"Hey Top, have you seen Rafe?" y/n questioned. "Uh yeah he's down in the basement." He motioned to the door leading down there.

"Good luck." Sarah smiled. y/n flashed her a smile before going down there. Music rang through her ears. She tried her best to get down there successfully with out tripping over any people sitting on the stairs.

She spotted Rafe, sadly snorting coke, sitting at a table with girls surrounding him. She sighed and made her way over there.

"Hey baby!" He shouted over the music. She sat in his lap as he drank. "Why don't you let me do some lines off your stomach, yeah?" He lifted her shirt a little. She grabbed his wrist, "No let's go talk."

"No we don't need to talk." He scoffed. "Rafe come on." She got up and he followed. She pulled him into one of the guest rooms. She sat on the bed and he sat next to her.

"You're scaring me." He laughed. "We can't keep doing this." She told him quietly. "What are you talking about? We are fine." He scoffed.

"No Rafe, we aren't. We're toxic. You couldn't give two shits about how feel anymore. All you care about is drugs and your stupid fri-" She was cut short.

"You know that's not true! You know I love you!” He raised his voice. "Not the way you used too." She looked away tears pricking her eyes.

"Come on baby." He placed his hand on her thigh. She removed his hand, “Don't call me that." She got up. "Please don't leave me. I need you." He pleaded. "Stop making this difficult Rafe." She let a tear fall.

"I love you." He grabbed her hands. "No you don't." She couldn't look at him. "You have no idea what I'm feeling." He shook his head. "Please give me another chance. I promise I'll be better. I'll do whatever you need me to do. I'll- I’ll get sober." He used his hands to talk.

"You say that every time." She turned around so she was facing him, running her hands through her hair. He wrapped his arms around her waist and started to plant soft kisses on her neck. "Rafe." She groaned. "Mhm?" He continued.

"Stop making it hard to hate you." She turned around. "One more chance, please." He smiled willing. No matter how many time Rafe messed up she would always love him. No matter what, it would always be him."One more. Than that's it, I mean it." He hugged her.

"Let's go to your place yeah? I'll make it up too you." He smiled.

[kookygranger]

Fairytale of Hawkins: Part Two

Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader

A cheesy hallmark Christmas fic inspired by @bettyfrommars's tow truck!Eddie and prompts #1 & #6 from Betty and @allthingsjoeq's Holiday Prompt Party

Summary: A petting zoo, Secret Santa and mistletoe never being around when you need it.

Warnings: reader doesn't have family, reader and Eddie are in their late 20s/early 30s, swearing

Word count: 5.3k

Author's note: Okay, it's 11:54pm on Christmas Eve where I am and this is far from perfect, but I wanted the people who enjoyed the first part to have this for Christmas so here it is. I hope you're all safe and you get moments of peace and joy these holidays.

Part One

You were handsome You were pretty, Queen of New York City When the band finished playing They howled out for more – Fairytale of New York, The Pogues/Kirsty MacColl

3 Days 'Til Christmas

“So uh, what’s goin’ on with you and Robin’s friend?”

Hawkins town centre is frosted with a light dusting of snow that fell in the early morning hours. Picture perfect, like a Hallmark Christmas card. The hum of festive cheer in the crowds doing last-minute gift shopping and partaking in the charming small-town seasonal activities is mostly drowned out by an argument between Dustin and Lucas, Max and the younger Sinclair sibling rolling their eyes in annoyance. They sit, impatiently waiting for the rest of the party to show up, on the edge of the fountain frozen over with the cold snap that swept through town at the beginning of the week.

Steve’s perched on the back of a bench a few feet away, ignoring the squabble as Eddie toes the ground in front of him.

“First of all, I know you know her name. And B, nothing is going on, she’s a great girl and a really good friend to Robin.” Steve shrugs, “We both told you you’d like her.”

Eddie squints, his leather jacket opening to reveal a dark red sweater as his pocketed hand gestures in question, “Why me specifically?”

Steve shrugs again, “Rob and I both thought you’d hit it off. It just feels…right. Don’t you think?”

“I mean yeah, yeah she’s beautiful. Cute as hell when she gets flustered. But she’s a city girl–used to more than this, right?” He looks around at the small-town square, filled with little kids dressed in matching sweaters and flustered mothers pushing prams with clenched smiles. “She’ll be gone well before the ice on the road thaws.”

“So? What’s wrong with having a little holiday fling?”

Eddie sucks his teeth, “I don’t think I can.”

Steve lets out a low whistle, “You’re that head-over-heels already?”

“No.” Eddie shakes his head, cheeks flushing pink from more than just the bite to the wind, then sighs. “Think if I have a fling I might just get there though. This is Robin’s fault she shouldn’t’ve talked her up so much!” Steve chuckles at his friend’s distress. “Doesn’t help that she looks like a damn angel when the snow’s kissing her eyelashes.”

Steve rubs his face, “Jesus Christ.”

***

You and Robin had vowed to hold off drinking for the rest of the holidays after your night at The Hideout, which was followed by a day spent on the couch, groaning about loud noises as Gremlins beamed across the TV in the darkened living room. When you’d finally managed to peel yourselves away from the nest you’d made out of blankets, large diet sodas and greasy fries from the drive-thru, you decided to cross off making Christmas cookies from Robin’s list of “holiday activities that could make the grinch’s heart grow.” She assured you weren’t the Grinch in this situation but it certainly felt, pointed.

The misshapen sugary treats weigh down your tote bag as you walk arm-in-arm with Robin towards the designated meeting spot.

“I keep making a fool of myself in front of Eddie.”

Robin smirks, “You’re doing fine.”

“I can just be so,” you hold out your hand in a vague gesture and grimace, “sometimes, you know?”

Robin laughs, “Oh, I know.”

“Thanks.”

She squeezes your arm that’s wrapped around hers and shakes her head, “Everybody loves you I promise. And if they don’t yet, they will.” You both round a corner, the fountain and a group of animated college kids coming into view. Steve waves from across the street, Eddie turning his head in your direction then away again quickly when you make eye contact.

“Right.”

***

“C’mon now everyone keep up.” Steve claps his gloved hands together, his cheeks pink and his brows furrowed in faux admonishment as he leads the group towards the petting zoo set up for the weekend in the parking lot of Bradley’s Big Buy supermarket. You can tell by the glisten in his eyes how much it means to him to have all of his found family in one place.

You laugh softly when he claps Dustin on the back and the younger boy tries to shrug off his embrace.

“He’s in his element this time of year.” Eddie falls into stride next to you, the both of you now bringing up the rear of the boisterous group.

You nod, a small smile permanently etched on your face from the company. “I can tell.” You walk the rest of the way in silence, watching the antics of the strange mix of personalities in front of you with a distant bemusement as you tried and failed to come up with something to say. Had you called him sexy at one point the other night or did you dream that?

The stench of hay and something less savoury wafts over you as you all enter the car park under a bright red banner with ‘Petting Zoo’ written in white cursive on it. You’re about to ask Eddie if they did this every year when a middle-aged woman stops you with a brochure held out in front of you.

“Have you found Jesus?” She’s standing by the entrance in a matching woollen navy-blue coat and skirt, heels on her stocking-clad feet and hair quaffed perfectly in a bob accentuated by the pearls on her ears and neck.

You don’t even think about your response before it slips out, “Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t realise he was missing.” You can see Eddie smirk out of the corner of your eye. It was just meant to be a light-hearted joke, but the woman clearly didn’t see the humour.

She purses her lips in a thin line and snatches the brochure back out of your reach. “I should’ve known you were one of his type.” You keep walking along, her voice changed back into a sweeter version as she asks the next person the same question behind you.

You turn to Eddie, his eyes downcast and shoulders higher than they were a second ago. “What type are you?”

He rubs the back of his neck underneath the black knitted scarf that matches his beanie. “Uh, devil worshipper according to this town.”

“Oh, I’m actually lapsed. Found all that sacrificing was getting in the way of my day job you know?”

The smile that catches at the corners of his mouth makes your tummy flip.

“I know whattya mean.” He nods, all dramatics with his feigned seriousness, “So much laundry with all those blood-stained clothes.”

“Right? Such a hassle.” You both laugh as you look at each other. “Do they actually think that?”

Eddie shrugs, “It was worse when I was in high school, but I still get the odd bit of holy water thrown in my direction.”

“Why?” You shake your head and frown, serious this time. “Just because you listen to Motorhead?”

“That and I was the leader of the Dungeons and Dragons club in high school. It’s a game for nerds really, but it kinda got swept up into the satanic panic that was going around at the time.”

“That’s so…dumb.”

He huffs a laugh through his nose, watching your feet walk in sync together. “Yeah, I guess it is.” His head snaps back up, “Wait, how do you know Motorhead?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” You bump his shoulder and scoff, “Did you just judge a book by her cover Eddie the devil worshipper?” He opens his mouth to speak but his reply is cut off by an animalistic snort that has your head turning in curiosity. You gasp as you spot the furry brown creatures leaning into patting hands over a wooden fence, “They actually do have reindeer here!”

Eddie grins as your face lights up. “Did you think they were lying?”

You shake your head, “I thought they’d just be regular deer. I’ve never seen–“ You grab Eddie’s leather-clad arm in your excitement and he looks down at your touch before you bound off towards Robin who’s laughing at your reaction.

El and Max have to coax you into actually patting one when you get closer, the antlers much more intimidating in person. They giggle as you squeal and pull back your hand when a cloud of condensation escapes from the deer’s nostrils as it huffs loudly.

You turn to laugh with them, distracted as the reindeer leans in closer, your body tensing when you feel its hot breath on the back of your neck before it snatches your scarf from around your shoulders. The girls yell as you whip around to see it trot off, barely processing what just happened when you feel a warm hand on your back, Eddie’s frame coming into view as he slips past you and jumps the fence. He’s able to grab the scarf out of the creature’s mouth and sneak back onto your side of the fence before anyone who works there even notices.

You’re speechless as he hands your scarf back to you, El and Max cheering along with Robin and Nancy who’d noticed the commotion.

The younger girls are giggling again when Max interrupts the silent look you and Eddie share while the scarf is held in between the both of you. “You’re a real knight in shining armour this week Munson.” He looks up at Max as she and El walk away, looking for their boyfriends to ask if they’d brave a reindeer pen for them.

“Thank you, Eddie.” You take the scarf from his hands, grimacing at the wet patch on the light fabric. “Don’t know if you can get reindeer drool out of cashmere though.”

He snorts, “Maybe you shouldn’t have worn something so expensive to a petting zoo, princess.”

You brush off the nickname, not entirely sure if it was meant in jest. “You know I’m a feminist, I’m gonna need you to stop coming to my rescue Eddie.”

He smirks, “I don’t think that’s feminism, I think that’s stubborn independence to the point of detriment.”

He was taunting. Flirting really, but Eddie forgets it takes time for people to figure out he’s not just being grumpy all the time. That he isn’t as mean as his initial wariness of people might suggest. For a second he forgets that you haven’t always been a part of this group – that you don’t know him like the others do.

The awestruck look that had graced your face drops. “Jeez okay, I didn’t realise we were reading each other.” His eyes go wide as you shrink into yourself. “You know, I realise you probably don’t like me very much and you might feel like I’m ruining your time with your friends at Christmas, but I am trying Eddie.”

He hates the way your eyes begin to water.

“Robins told me so much about all of you, I know how much you all mean to each other and I really didn’t want to intrude on that, but she insisted that it would be okay. She’s letting me spend the holidays with her family because I don’t have one, and I don’t want her to regret that.” You look down at your feet, “I’ll make sure to stay out of your way from now on.” 

Eddie clenches his eyes shut as you walk away to find Robin or anyone else who won’t mind you joining in.

“Nice work Munson.”

***

Once the group have had their share of reindeer petting and eaten the cookies you and Robin had brought along with some hot cocoa from a nearby stand, everyone gathers in the town square again for the annual Secret Santa. You’re huddled together with Robin, head leaning against hers as you steal each other’s warmth and the group gathers in a circle, Steve tossing pieces of paper with everyone’s name written on them into his beanie.

Eddie keeps stealing glances at you as Steve goes around the group, dramatically holding a gloved hand to each of the teens’ eyes and yelling, “No peeking!”

Eddie feels shit. He can’t believe he’s made you feel unwelcome. Well, he can. He knows he can be guarded when it comes to letting new people into his life, but you’re one of Robin’s best friends – spending Christmas with her because you don’t have anywhere else to go and he’s made you feel like he doesn’t want you here. Asshole.

When Steve gets round to you and Robin, he holds the hat out to her then moves on to Jonathan and Argyle next. You figure you’re too new to the group to partake in this tradition, which seems fair. Steve rounds out the wonky circle with Eddie, dropping the beanie with a “whoops” before fumbling on the ground with it, then holding it out to Eddie. You notice him squinting his eyes in suspicion, wondering what’s going on between them when Steve comes back to you.

“Lucky last,” he smiles that charming cherub grin of his and you reach into the beanie to pull the last piece of paper out.

Of course it would be.

Steve reminds everyone of the budget and secret part of Secret Santa with a pointed look at Mike, who frowns in offence before the group starts heading off in different directions.

Robin moves to stand in front of you. “Who’d ya get? Do you need help? I can bend the rules for you seeing as you don’t properly know everyone.”

“Yeah, I feel like I’m a bit disadvantaged.” You laugh nervously, “I uh, I got Eddie.”

“Oh great! He’s easy. Big nerd, you know what he likes.” She starts counting off on her fingers, “Music, DnD, Lord of the Rings and all that fantasy stuff.”

“Yeah, I guess.” You shrug.

She hooks her arm with yours again, “C’mon let’s go together, I got Nancy. I feel like you’ll be better at picking something for her than me.”

***

After an hour and a half, you’re about ready to give up. You helped pick out a faux-leather journal and fountain pen set for Nancy from Robin, but you haven’t been able to find anything remotely good for Eddie’s gift. Everything feels impersonal like something he could’ve just picked up himself and the last thing you want is for him to be disappointed that you got him for the gift exchange. Just another friend-only activity that your presence has ruined.

You’re currently browsing through a second-hand bookstore, hoping to find something you can curl up on the couch in your apartment with during the rest of the holidays, while Robin’s popped into the bath and body shop across the street to look for a gift for her aunt.

Your eyes scan the hardbacks in the fantasy section, fingers running lightly across the spines when they come to a stop on a light green book. You tilt the book from the shelf, admiring the mountains and dragon carved in navy blue adorning the border. This could be perfect. Carefully opening the worn cover, you find an inscription written in the yellowed pages that makes you smile. You close the book softly and head to the counter to ring it up. Maybe he wouldn’t be disappointed.

Dear Henry,

In celebration of our mutual liking – I hope Bilbo becomes a friend as well.

Happy Birthday,

Love, your Arwen

***

Christmas Eve

The butcher paper wrapped gift sat heavy in your palm as you’re greeted by Steve in his living room when you and Robin walk in. You hold up the present in question, keen to get rid of it before your clammy hands ruin the red satin bow decorating it, and Steve points you in the direction of the pile under the colourfully lit tree. You take a moment to admire the personal ornaments, the glint of a red 20-sided dice reminding you of the other inhabitant of this apartment.

The famous Harrington Christmas Eve party had been talked up by Robin for months. In her attempt to get you to Hawkins, she promised you a preview of the King Steve you’d heard her tease him so much about (which he vehemently denied was a thing), potently spiked punch (which you would not be partaking in) and impromptu games out on the street that would cause noise complaints from the neighbours.

And now that Steve and Eddie shared an apartment? Apparently, rowdiness was a prerequisite.

You’re more nervous than you should be as you settle in, taking solace in Jonathan and Will’s quiet company on the couch as you sip on a non-spiked mug of egg nog. It isn’t until half an hour later that Eddie even shows up, despite this being his apartment.

He walks into the living room, cheeks red from the cold, snow still sprinkled on his shoulders and in his hair. He’s followed closely by Dustin who’s rugged up in an assortment of knitwear that looks like it was definitely made by a doting family member, and grins when everyone greets him.

“Finally, you two.” Steve walks in from the kitchen with a bowl of freshly poured potato chips. “Everyone’s here, we’re getting ready for Secret Santa.”

Eddie just nods at him, offering you a tight-lipped smile when you catch his eye before he walks over to the tree to place something under it with his back turned to you.

While everyone gathers in the living room, he ducks out. Returning without all the extra layers, his crisp white t-shirt takes you by surprise and your eyes wander to the silver chain around his neck.

Pull it together, honestly.

“Okay, I’m first!” Robin walks across the room to the tree by the front window, only to be stopped by Steve’s arm.

“What? Why are you first?”

“Well, someone has to be dingus. Why not me?” 

“Uh, maybe we should let our guest be the first?” Everyone turns their head towards you and the attention makes you sink further into the couch.

“Oh, no Robin is always first.” You wink in her direction, then frown. “Wait, did that sound weird?” You look at Jonathan and Will who both chuckle, the older boy giving you a shrug.

After Robin tears through her present the decision is made to go anti-clockwise around the room. The closer it gets to Eddie who’s sitting on the couch opposite you, the more your palms begin to sweat. You don’t think your heart could take him being indifferent to his gift, and you hated that you cared so much about what he thought. What was this town doing to you?

When Steve hands Eddie his gift your back automatically straightens, perched perilously on the edge of your seat you grip the mug of egg nog in your hands. He takes his time with unwrapping, not diving straight in and tearing like you would’ve expected, even draping the ribbon around his neck once he’s untied it. When he gets to the gift the room is mostly silent, save for the Christmas carols playing from the stereo in the corner. You’d already clocked The Kinks, The Damned and Ramones – sure that the boy who held your last ditch gesture in his hands had picked the tunes.

Eddie’s face is stoic as his fingers run along the cover of the book. When Dustin and Mike, sat near him spot what it is they share exclamations of “Sick”, but you’re more interested in the metalhead’s opinion. You take in a deep breath as he opens the well-preserved cover and you watch his eyes read the inscriptions.

After much back and forth you’d decided to leave your own message next to the original one. Writing in pencil in case he wanted to erase it.

He rubs his freshly shaven jaw then his eyes find yours across the room. They’re soft. Pools of awe that match the tone of his quiet voice.

“Thank you.”

You offer him a small smile, “You’re welcome.”

“How did you know it was from her?” Dustin pipes up from his seat on the floor.

“Lucky guess.” His eyes hadn’t left yours until then, and you watch him scan the message again.

Dear Eddie,

I know you’re already well acquainted but I thought what better company on a long winter’s night than the second best party to go on adventures with (second only to your own of course).

Merry Christmas,

C.G.

xx

You feel his eyes on you as the rest of the gift-giving takes place around you. Wiping the sweat off your palms now that the moment was over, but the tension you’d felt hadn’t lifted from your chest – only tethered itself to the cause that was sitting across the room lightly brushing his thumb over your offering.

You’re the last in line to open your Secret Santa, but the attention of the room has been caught up in the gifts that have already been revealed. You’re admiring the new camera bag Jonathan is turning over in his hands when Steve taps you on the shoulder. He holds out a small parcel that fits in the palm of his hand and winks at you when you take it, before walking over to sit by Dustin.

You look down at the parcel wrapped in shiny red paper, tugging at the twine tied around it when you feel the weight of the couch shift beside you.

Eddie takes up more room than Jonathan who’s now sitting on the arm of the sofa across from you with Nancy’s arm draped over his leg. He’s manspreading a little, but the only reason you notice is because of the close proximity of his knee to yours.

“You got me,” he gestures to the gift in your hands, “I mean I got you. Well, I guess both are true.” He holds up his new copy of The Hobbit and smiles softly.

You look down at your lap again and begin to unwrap your present, Eddie’s leg bouncing next to yours. A glint catches your eye as a pair of dangly ruby earrings is revealed.

“They’re not real obviously,” Eddie scratches his jaw, “and Robin said you’d be happy with anything, like a snow globe or candy but I saw these in the drugstore and thought they’d look good on you.”

You smile, “Eddie they’re really pretty. Thank you so much.”

He blows out a puff of air, “You like them?”

“I love them, honestly. Oh, look we match!” You hold out the earrings next to the ring on his finger sporting a small ruby stone.

His cheeks are dusted in pink as he smiles, “Yeah, I guess we do.” You ask him to hold the earrings you had in before as you swap them. “You don’t have to put them on now.”

“I know, I want to.”

His tongue darts out to wet his bottom lip, mesmerised as he watches you put on his earrings. “What does C.G. mean by the way?” He opens the book in his lap again.

“City girl.” The frown on his face troubles you momentarily before he speaks again, doe eyes pining you down once more.

“Thank you. It’s really special. You’re really–“ He trails off, eyes searching yours as you wait for him to finish his sentence. But he doesn’t. Instead, he gets up so abruptly that you flinch. “I gotta uh, find something…I’ll be back.”

You turn to Will who had been not so subtly watching the whole exchange from the other side of the couch and gives you a sympathetic smile when you say, “I still don’t know where I stand with him.”

***

For the next twenty minutes, you only see glimpses of Eddie as he darts in and out of rooms. Stomping around like he’s on a mission, a crease etched deeply in his brow. While Nancy and El are admiring your earrings in the kitchen, you hear a squeak of shoes on the linoleum before you see a blur of brown hair disappear around the corner.

You excuse yourself, finding Eddie alone in the hallway, leaning up against the wall with his arms crossed and head tilted to the ceiling.

“Eddie, are you okay?” He shakes his head and huffs out a bitter laugh. “What’s wrong?”

“There’s always goddamn mistletoe at these things. Steve always gets drunk and tortures people with it, but then this year? Of course there’s none!”

You step closer, now standing in front of him but he doesn’t meet your eye. You’re confused. “Why do you need mistletoe?”

“So I have an excuse to kiss you.”

Oh.

OH.

Wait, what?

“Why don’t you just…kiss me?”

His head snaps down, eyes flickering back and forth between yours with a frown. “Can I?”

You bite your lip to stop the enormous smile threatening to creep onto your face. “Yes Eddie, you can kiss me.”

He pushes himself off the wall, crowding your space and reaching a hand out tentatively to touch your face, thumb gently stroking your skin like he had the book. He searches your eyes for any hesitation before he leans in slowly until your fluttering lashes tickle his cheek and he can’t take it anymore. The kiss is as soft as the snow falling in flurries outside, one elongated peck before you're both leaning in for another, and another. Turning tender as he reaches his other hand to pull you closer by the waist. You can taste peppermint on him, probably from one of the candy canes hanging on the tree, but it’s the warmth from his chest and the heady scent of his cologne and smoke that clings to his shirt that has you lost in him. So lost that when his thumb gently pulls down on the side of your mouth, you let him in with no hesitation, his tongue now spreading his warmth from the inside.

“Wow, that got R-rated really quick.” You jump and lean back, not moving far with Eddie’s grip still on your waist. You look down the hall and catch Robin nodding with a look of slight disgust on her face next to a smirking Steve standing there with his arms crossed.

Eddie bows his head and sighs, “Really? Think you can maybe take the commentary somewhere else Harrington?”

He holds up his hands in defence, a leafy twig with white berries hanging from his hand. “Hey, I was just coming to give you two a push, but it looks like the party’s already started.”

Eddie pinches the skin in between his brows, “For fuck sake.” You cover your mouth with your hand at the sight of the deep blush creeping into his cheeks, which deepens even further when you both hear Dustin yell from the other room.

“Did he kiss her yet?!”

Eddie groans and moves his hand to the small of your back to guide you out the door, flipping off the audience at the end of the hall before grabbing your coats off the hanger. He helps you into yours and leads you outside the apartment building by your hand.

For the first time since you arrived in Hawkins, you don’t notice the cold that greets you, focused entirely on Eddie’s warmth as he crowds you against the brick wall of the building. He holds one arm above you, almost enveloping you in his soft waves when he leans in.

That intense gaze has you shying away again, opting to play with the zipper of his jacket instead of looking back.

“You really liked your gift that much huh?”

“I really like you.” He tilts your chin up.

“I didn’t think–“

“I’m sorry if I made you feel unwelcome,” he frowns. “I have trouble letting people in.”

You shake your head and he moves his hand to stroke along your jaw. “It’s okay, this is a very special family I’ve walked into. I understand why you’d be wary of anyone disturbing that.”

“You fit right in. I promise.”

“Thank you, Eddie.”

He smirks, “Also, I’m just really, really bad at flirting when it comes to drop-dead gorgeous city girls.”

You grin, “I think you’re probably better at it than you think.”

He leans in, lips a breath away from yours, “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

***

Christmas Day

The screen door shudders under your touch as you knock on the trailer, your gloved hand coming back to wrap around the translucent cake plate tucked into your chest. You hear muffled footsteps before the inside door swings open to reveal a beaming Eddie on the other side.

“Hi,” you smile.

You step back to let him open the screen door and he meets you with half a step out, grabbing the plate from you before placing a gentle kiss on your lips that has you desperate for more.

“Hi, sweet girl. C’mon in.”

You follow his warmth, “There’s only half left of the cheesecake. I’m sorry Robin and her family already ate most of it, then I kind of hid it when I realised I didn’t have anything to bring over – I think it tastes pretty good though. And I brought this wine, which is all they had left at the store and it only came in this gigantic bulk size, I think it might be half water–”

You feel Eddie’s smile as he presses his lips to yours again, “It’s okay sweetheart. You didn’t have to bring anything.” “I know, but I wanted to make a good first impression and we both know that I…don’t.”

He chuckles, “Trust me, I was blown away as soon as you stepped outta that car.”

You roll your eyes, snappy reply dying on your tongue when you hear a door open and an older man walks down the short hallway towards you. “Hi, Mr Munson.” Eddie squeezes your shoulder as you step forward with your hand held out and introduce yourself. “Thank you so much for having me, I hope I’m not intruding on your Christmas.”

“Nonsense,” he frowns at you, the resemblance uncanny, and brings you in for a tight hug. “Please call me Wayne, darlin’. Honestly, Ed’s been bouncing off the walls waiting for you to come so you might be able to do me a favour and get him to sit still.”

“We were just watching Gremlins.”

“Oh, I love that film! I didn’t get to appreciate it the other day because I was hungover–I mean…we were busy baking cookies.” You feel Eddie’s chuckle on the side of your face.

“She brought baked goods and wine, Wayne. All for lil’ old us.” He squeezes your shoulder again.

“It’s not any good.” You hold out the cheap bottle to Eddie’s uncle.

“Oh hell, anything you can uncork, uncap or unscrew, I’ll drink it.”

You laugh, shoulders relaxing under Eddie’s subtle massage.

***

You feel light.

Floaty and fuzzy with the laughter coming from beside you, your body sinking into the worn couch and Eddie’s gentle stroking of the back of your hand grounding you in the moment. The Munson’s, like almost everybody else in Hawkins had welcomed you into their home with open arms.

It was Christmas and you were curled up on the couch with a boy who meant something to you. Allowed to be a part of a family if only for a short period.

“So little miss, you headin’ home tomorrow?” You turn to Wayne, who’s sitting in his armchair, eating a piece of the cheesecake you plated up for him with Eddie’s help.

“I was planning on it, but you know the airport gets so busy during the holidays and Robin’s still gonna be here so…I think I might just stay till New Year, actually.”

Eddie’s head snaps from the TV set towards you. He grips your hand a little tighter to get your attention.

“Is that right?”

You turn to him, “Yeah. Are you–are you gonna be around?”

“No,” he shakes his head, frowning in that way that’s starting to make your heart flutter, “I gotta work. Lotta damsels in distress needin’ me to rescue them from the side of the road.” You feel the heat creep up your neck as Wayne rolls his eyes at his nephew.

“Wanna ride shotgun?”

~ THE END ~

Tagging: @eddieslooneymoonie, @micheledawn1975 – thank you for asking!

[kenzirr]

The summer sun cast a golden hue over the lush greenery and sparkling waters of the Outer Banks. The Pogues were gathered at The Wreck, their usual hangout spot, sharing laughter and stories over a spread of burgers and fries. John B, Sarah, JJ, Kiara, and Pope were engrossed in animated conversation when Y/N walked in.

Y/N, a Kook, had always stood out with her confidence and charm. She moved to the Outer Banks a few years ago and, despite the social divide, she had always had her eyes set on Pope Heyward. His intelligence, kindness, and occasional awkwardness were endearing. She had admired him from afar for a while, waiting for the right moment to make her feelings known.

As she approached the table, Y/N felt a small smile tug at her lips. Today seemed like the perfect day to take a step forward. She was smooth and collected, traits that always set her apart.

"Hey guys," Y/N greeted, sliding into the empty seat next to Pope. She made sure her presence was felt without being overbearing.

"Hey, Y/N!" the group chorused, their faces lighting up at her arrival.

"What's up?" John B asked, taking a swig of his soda.

"Not much," Y/N replied, her gaze naturally drifting to Pope. "Just enjoying the day. Thought I'd come see what you all were up to."

Pope shifted slightly in his seat, his nerves evident but manageable. "Hey, Y/N," he said, trying to keep his voice steady. "We were just talking about the next treasure hunt plan."

"Oh, sounds intriguing," Y/N said, leaning in slightly, but keeping it casual. "You always come up with the best plans, Pope."

Pope's ears turned a shade of pink. "Well, I mean, it's a team effort," he stammered.

Y/N smiled, her fingers idly tapping on the table. "Of course, but you're definitely the brains of the operation. I bet you could find anything if you put your mind to it."

JJ, sensing an opportunity to tease his friend, smirked. "Oh, Pope's got a lot of talents, Y/N. You should see him in action."

"I'm sure he does," Y/N replied, her eyes never leaving Pope's. "Maybe he can show me sometime."

Sarah nudged Kiara and whispered, "Looks like someone's interested in Pope."

Kiara grinned. "Took them long enough."

Pope cleared his throat, trying to regain his composure. "So, Y/N, have you ever gone treasure hunting before?"

"Not really," Y/N admitted, "but I'd love to learn. Especially if you’re my teacher."

John B chuckled. "Looks like Pope's got himself a student."

Pope smiled nervously, feeling the heat rise in his cheeks. "I, uh, I think I can manage that."

Y/N leaned in slightly, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "You know, Pope, there's something really attractive about a man who knows his stuff."

Pope's eyes widened slightly, and he fumbled with his drink. "Uh, thanks, Y/N. I, um, think you’re pretty amazing too."

"Aw, thanks," Y/N said, her eyes sparkling. "Maybe we can go on a little adventure together sometime? Just the two of us?"

The rest of the group watched with amused expressions, enjoying seeing their usually composed friend so flustered.

"Yeah, that sounds… that sounds great," Pope managed to say.

"Perfect," Y/N said, giving him a warm smile. "It's a date then."

JJ couldn't hold back his laughter any longer. "Man, Pope, you’re smooth."

"Shut up, JJ," Pope muttered, though there was a small smile on his face.

Y/N placed a gentle hand on Pope's arm. "Don't listen to him. I think you're doing just fine."

Pope looked at her, a mixture of nerves and happiness in his eyes. "Thanks, Y/N. I’m looking forward to it."

"Me too," Y/N replied, giving his arm a light squeeze. "I'll see you around, Pope." With a final smile to the group, she stood up gracefully and walked away, her goddess braids swaying gently with her movements.

As soon as she was out of earshot, the teasing began.

"Dude, what was that?" JJ exclaimed, still chuckling. "You were blushing so hard I thought you might pass out!"

"Shut up, JJ," Pope said again, but his smile betrayed his annoyance. "I wasn't blushing that much."

"Oh, you were," Kiara chimed in, grinning. "It was cute, though."

John B clapped Pope on the back. "Looks like Y/N's got a thing for you, man. You gonna ask her out?"

Pope, still recovering from the encounter, shrugged. "I mean, she kind of asked me out already, didn't she?"

Sarah laughed. "Yeah, she did. And you better follow through. Y/N's great. Don't mess this up."

Pope nodded, a determined look crossing his face. "I won't. I really like her."

JJ put an arm around Pope's shoulders, giving him a friendly shake. "That's the spirit. Now let's just hope you don't trip over your own feet on this date."

Pope rolled his eyes, but he couldn't hide his smile.

[destourtereaux]

it was always you - jj maybank x fem!reader

summary: jj is your best friend, always has been... but things start to change when he asks you out on a (fake) date.

word count: 1.9k

follow @lovebirdupdates to join my "taglist"!

requested? yes, by @goldengoddess ; fake dating trope with jj where he confesses!

a/n: hi y'all, this is my entry for the lovely @pogueslandia's writing challenge! i really love this fic so reblog if you do too <3

prompt: "we can't be friends. i cannot just be friends with you."

Ever since that fateful day you’d run into Kiara Carerra at her family restaurant, you’d been a Pogue. It wasn’t up for discussion, it was a fact, plain and simple. You had just arrived in the Outer Banks, all alone aside from your parents, and she’d befriended you, then introduced you to her crowd. You had all hit it off immediately, and in the summer months that followed, you’d grown closer every day.

You loved their carefree energy more than anything. Whenever you were with your friends, you felt like you could conquer the world.

If you had to be completely honest though, you were always closer to JJ than any of the others. It was if the two of you shared a connection that no one else could even begin to understand. Often, you’d catch the blonde’s gaze and know immediately what he was thinking, resulting in a burst of laughter as you both realize. This happened commonly enough that all the other Pogues were used to it; Kiara would just roll her eyes, John B would glance over briefly, and Pope would just completely ignore it.

No matter how close the two of you were, there was one line that was never crossed. The friend zone line. Both of you took the “No Pogue on Pogue macking” rule very seriously, despite how many times JJ flirted with you or joked about how rules were meant to be broken. You couldn’t risk losing the best friendship you’d ever had, so it was worth setting this boundary. That’s why it was such a surprise when JJ came up to you one day and asked you out. Straight up.

Of course, he’s always jokingly doing it; a “you, me, the kegger tonight?” here and there, and a constant slew of pick-up lines, each one worse than the last...but this time there was no telltale smirk on your best friend’s face. He was dead serious.

“Y/N. I need a favour. Will you date me?” JJ casually asks out of the blue, stealing one of your fries at the same time. You slap his hand away to a resounding “Ow!” and squint at him.

“Say what now?”

“I think you heard me, Y/N/N,” he smirks. “But don’t panic, bub, it’d be a fake date. You know we’re just friends,” he continues, ruffling your hair.

If you hadn’t been so shocked by his question, you would’ve messed up his hair right back, but nothing could deter you from getting to the bottom of this right now. “What the hell does that mean? Fake dating? But why?”

JJ shakes his head as if he’s disappointed in your lack of common sense, “Well, you see. There’s a new girl, Claire, I think her name is. She’s got this really hot accent --”

“You’re telling me we’re gonna break the one rule we ever followed because you’re turned on by some touron’s way of speaking,” you stare at him, incredulous, “I always knew you were dumb but this has got to be a new record. JJ, we’re friends. Best friends. Nothing more than that.”

“I know, I know, but just… that’d make it more believable, you know? Everyone knows we have the potential to date so it wouldn’t be much of a surprise. And it’ll just be for a month. That’s only like 30 days. And I’ll take you on dates you’ve never each dreamed of,” he finishes with his signature grin.

“Whatever, just don’t come crying after our little plan doesn’t work, J. As long as it doesn’t involve us running away from the cops at the end, I’m in,” you finally reply.

He pumps the air and tackles you, pushing you down in the sand, but you’re not finished.

“JJ?”

“Yeah?’

“You’re so fucking lucky you have me as a friend.”

------

The first thing you two did the day after the deal was tell the Pogues that you’d started dating.

“No WAY!” John B’s eyes had widened, as he clapped JJ on the back. “Didn’t think you’d actually have the guts to tell her; good on you bro.”

JJ had coughed at this, momentarily losing the relaxed smile he always carried. But he had quickly recovered, and slipped an easy arm around your waist. The move felt innately natural, as if his arm was made to be holding you, was meant to be there.

Pope had simply congratulated the both of you, remarking “I knew this was gonna happen.”

On the other hand, Kiara’s reaction was somewhere in the middle, rather teasing. “I knew you two snuck off after that party once! I could never prove it but it’s finally amounted to something!”

She sent you a small wink, and you flushed, remembering the time you’d gotten so drunk you’d lost all inhibition and kissed JJ then dragged him away from the crowd.

“Just couldn’t keep your hands off me huh, Y/L/N?” JJ smirked at you, earning a jab to his stomach.

Weirdly enough, you felt a little burst of joy at each of their comments, but you brushed it off, attributing it to the adrenaline rush you always got from lying. It was bound to be heightened because these people knew you better than anyone...

------

It was nearing the end of the month. You and JJ had spent the past 20 something days keeping up this charade. There were fleeting kisses brushed against the cheek, the forehead, the lips, and longing gazes across the fire as its light illuminated both your faces. Often, you two would break off from the group and end up at an isolated place, where you talked til the sun set and night fell.

You were confused as to why this facade kept up outside of the public eye, but you never questioned it. True to his word, JJ’s dates were nothing if not creative, and you’d enjoyed every second of this crazy month. You almost didn’t want it to end. But that was silly.

Little did you know, JJ was harbouring the same thoughts.

This particular afternoon, you were sitting beside your best friend on the couch as he talked to John B about some random thing they’d seen the other day. After a few failed attempts at joining their conversation, you simply gave up. It was so hot, and you were feeling rather drowsy that day, so it was no surprise when you found yourself drifting off.

JJ only realized after your head landed softly on his shoulder. He glanced over quickly, and saw you there, eyes closed, clearly asleep. You were breathing lightly, and your hair was all askew, covering half of your face. He smiled softly, almost in spite of himself.

“What?” John B prompted.

JJ didn’t answer, only gestured at you with his one free hand. “Asleep,” he mouthed silently, “can you get a blanket?”

“Black what??” John B repeats, never having been one to read lips.

JJ rolls his eyes, and mimes putting a sheet over your body.

“Oh! Blanket,” the boy concludes, finally realizing.

JJ nods fervently, and his eyes widen as you shift your head in your sleep. He doesn’t want to wake you, you looked so peaceful lying on his shoulder, and if he was being honest, he quite liked the feel of your body’s warmth seeping into his. All of a sudden, he felt an urge to protect you, to take care of you and make sure you were happy. He wanted to wrap you up in his arms and never let go. He wished he could live in this moment forever, taking in the smell of your shampoo and the softness of your hair on his shoulder.

An hour later, JJ’s shoulder was beyond sore, it had become completely numb. The blond had refused to make a single move during that time in fear that you’d be startled awake, and so he’d sat there in silence, alternating between getting lost in his thoughts and studying you.

Luckily, when you finally woke up, he was not watching you creepily. Instead, you saw him staring straight ahead, at a picture of the two of you framed on the wall. You were grinning at the camera as he kissed your cheek, the two of you practically radiating joy. Seeing that moment again, JJ made a decision, and when he turned back around to check on you, he found you staring at him in curiosity.

Startled, he broke eye contact. “Oh good, you’re awake,” he murmurs, as if still scared to speak too loudly.

“Yeah I am! Sorry I dozed off on you -- oh god. Tell me I didn’t make you sit here this whole time,” you reply, mortified. “JJ, you didn’t need to, that must’ve been so boring, not to mention uncomfortable…”

“No, you’re fine, love. Don’t worry, I didn’t mind,” the boy reassures you, still using that soft tone of voice.

You shake your head, a little bit confused. “What’s wrong?” you prompt. After all, you were his best friend, and you saw right through him. Something was bothering JJ.

The boy coughs, then opens his mouth and closes it again. But in the end, his bravery won out. “Y/N… we can’t be friends anymore. I cannot just be your friend.”

The words might as well have been a bomb for how well they landed. Involuntarily, your eyes welled up with tears, and a strangled sound came from your throat. What did he mean?

“Oh, no, no. It’s not what you’re thinking, princess,” the blond quickly reassures you, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. Even in his own state of anxiety, he can’t stand seeing you sad.

“I can’t be the one you always talk about other boys to… the best friend you use as your wingman. I can’t stand by just waiting for someone else to take you away from me, and steal you away to who knows where. I want to be the person who makes you blush and laugh, the one you rant about at one of those girly sleepovers...”

You sit in shock, reeling from your best friend’s sudden confession. “But…what about Claire? That’s what this was all about, JJ!”

“You still don’t get it, do you, Y/N? There was no Claire. There was never a Claire. I just… it was always you,” he chuckles sadly, before opening his mouth to begin no doubt another self-pitying sentence, but he’s cut off by you pressing your lips to his in a bout of bravado.

“Shut up,” you smile against his lips, eyes shining, “you’re such a cheesy idiot, J.”

Your best friend's eyes widen before he begins to kiss you back, with a ferocity that makes you lose all sense of self, pushing you down onto the couch and propping himself up above you. It was as if the universe had been waiting for this very moment, like the final puzzle piece snapping into place.

“Yeah, but you love me.” And he was absolutely right.

The two of you are far too invested in each other to notice the footsteps approaching the room until it’s far too late.

“Ew! What the hell, you two -- I didn’t need to see this today," comes a disgusted voice.

“Get the fuck out Kiara,” JJ snarls, and throws a pillow at your friend as you burst into giggles.

------

tagging: @pogueslandia @maybanksslut @calaryssia @taylathornton @amordesiempre01 @ohhersheybars @jorja-cameron @msmarvelknight @hopebaker @princessnnylzays @willowpains @kaiparker1972-blog @nngkay @toji-dabi-wife @dannyclaire1975 @dylanobrienstoothbrush @cmrxac @lemur46 @rottenstyx @volleyballdood24 @pjnjzc @emmalvei-blog @duck2857 @oldschoolkiddo @jjswhore @mmoskova @charlottesalvatore @mardema

[mydogisveryadorbs]

stood up | jj maybank

summary: jj rescues you from being stood up

warnings: slight cursing, mentions of smut (if you squint), tiny bit of angst, tooth rotting fluff, rafe being a prick, jj being a soft angel

masterlist :)

(gif credit to the owner)

2.3k+ words

✰⋆✰⋆✰⋆✰

It's gotten to the point where you are actually twiddling your thumbs to entertain yourself while you wait. Gnawing on your bottom lip, you glance at the analog clock on the diner wall. 

Your waitress, who you've learned over the last five times she's checked on you is named Cathy, walks toward your table again. “You sure I can't get you anything while you wait, sweetheart?” Cathy asks, holding her notepad in one hand and a pen in the other, ready to take any order you give her. She seems like a sweet older woman, maybe in her mid-60s, but you can't help but be annoyed at her for continuing to come to your table. You know it's her job, but doesn't she realize that you're probably not going to change your mind about ordering no matter how many times she comes back.

You feel your face warm as blush blooms across your cheeks and you shake your head. “He should be here any minute,” you tell her in an attempt to be convincing, however, the waiver in your voice giving away your true feelings.

You had been sitting in this booth for just under an hour and a half waiting for your date. To say you were shocked when Rafe Cameron had abruptly asked you on a date last week would be an understatement. The two of you had barely spoken to each other and before that, you didn't even know that he knew your name.

Pulling up the text conversation between the two of you, you check again to make sure that you got the time and date right, even though you've looked seven other times already. Much to your dismay, the text still hasn't changed.

Meet me at Joe’s Diner on 

Friday night at 7.

“I'll just grab you another Dr. Pepper,” Cathy says, giving you a look of pity as she takes away your empty glass.

You lick your lips. “Actually, I'll just take a water,” you tell her, knowing that the more sugary, caffeinated soda you drink the more anxious you will become.

Cathy nods. Walking off to another table.

Did he really stand you up?

Sure you were aware of the fact that Rafe Cameron had a reputation of sleeping with a lot of girls, but would he really stoop this low? It's true that you weren't very well known at the kook academy. You made pretty good grades and ran for the cross country team, but for the most part, you went unnoticed at school. Maybe you should have realized that a guy like Rafe Cameron would never actually want to go on a date with a girl like you.

Your stomach turned in your belly and you debated calling your older sister to come to pick you up. Looking around, you noticed most of the people in the diner were giving you sympathetic looks, obviously understanding that you had been stood up.

This might as well go down as the most embarrassing moment in your life.

Gulping, you shuffle your feet under the table preparing yourself to make a fast exit out of the diner. You are taking one last deep breath when someone plops down in the seat across from you.

You quickly look up and your eyes meet none other than JJ Maybank. The infamous pogue and weed supplier of almost every teen on the island.

“Hey,” the blonde boy says to you with a smile, picking up his menu. “Sorry, I'm late. The traffic is insane right now.” 

You continue to stare up at him in bewilderment, completely confused about what is going on.

He leans forward slightly and you do the same. “I'm JJ. Just go with it, yeah?” he says in a whisper. “Whoever didn't bother to show up is a dick,” JJ adds, sitting back in his seat as his eyes roam the small menu in his hands.

Your eyes widen in realization and you look around to see that no one is staring at your table anymore. You open your mouth to tell him he doesn't have to do this for you when Cathy returns, notepad open and pen at the ready.

“Finally,” she says under her breath, but still loud enough that both you and JJ are able to hear her. “What can I get for you two?” Cathy asks.

“We'll have two cheeseburgers and two orders of fries,” JJ says in a cheery tone. “Oh and two chocolate shakes,” he adds after a second, handing off both of our menus to Cathy.

You look at him again, mouth gaping open like a fish, but no words find their way out. JJ just smiles at you, softly patting your hand which is resting on the table in front of you.

Cathy finishes writing down your orders and looks up, eyes moving between the two of you in suspicion. “Will that be on one check or two,” she asks, her voice slightly monotone.

“One.” “Two.”

JJ and you speak at the same time. Your eyes move to his and you stare each other down.

“One check, please,” JJ says without looking away from you.

“That'll be right out,” Cathy says, quickly scurrying away from the two of you.

Unable to stand the continuous eye contact with the cerulean eyed boy, you glance down at the napkin in your lap. “You don't have to stay here, you know?” you say to him, not looking up. “I'm fine on my own.”

JJ shrugs. “As far as I'm concerned, I just scored myself a date with a really pretty girl,” he says as if it's no big deal that he just saved you from the embarrassment of the century. “Speaking of which, I didn't catch your name.”

You look back up at him and JJ offers you a small smile. A curl from his mess of blonde locks has fallen on to his forehead and you have an indescribable urge to reach across the table and move it to the side. You've heard a lot about JJ Maybank and his player ways over the years, but being this close to him for the first time you finally understand why all the kook girls are so obsessed with him. He's gorgeous; tall, tan, and toned. The three T’s.

But in the past few minutes, you've decided that there is an even more prominent quality that attracts guys and girls alike in figure eight. It's his pogueness. That's the best word you can come up with to describe the combination of his fashion sense, lifestyle, and aura. Everything about him is everything that kook teens are not. They do say that opposites attract.

“I'm (Y/N),” you say, reaching your hand out across the table for him to shake. It's the first time you've spoken directly to him and JJ is bewildered. Your voice is confident and yet it has a softness to it and JJ can tell from the small interaction that despite the fact that you conform to peer pressure, you have a strong will.

After a moment of silence, you speak up again. “Seriously,” you tell him, sincerely, “You don't have to stay here with me.”

“Seriously,” JJ says, slightly mocking you. “I want to,” his tone is so honest that it makes you really want to believe him. “In fact,” he adds, his eyes brightening with an idea, “Let's make it official.”

You give the blonde boy a confused expression so he continues. “(Y/N)- wait what is your last name,” he asks quickly and you tell him. He clears his throat, pulling one of your hands into his two big ones. “(Y/N)(Y/L/N), will you do me the honor of going on a date with me.”

For a moment you are distracted, looking at how he is holding your hand, but you snap out of it, looking up at him.

You just got stood up by the wealthiest and most attractive guy in figure eight, who by the way has nothing on the blonde boy in front of you. How are you supposed to believe that JJ actually wants to go on a date with you?

You think about the fact that he practically saved you and how he's been nothing but sweet since he got here. 

“Sure, JJ Maybank,” you say with a smile. 

JJ’s brows furrow and he smirks. “You know me,” he asks, but it's more of a statement. It is your turn to look at him in confusion so he explains. “I never told you my last name.”

You blush, hard, knowing that you were caught. Trying to play it off, you shrug. “Everyone on this island knows who JJ Maybank is.” The blonde boy’s smirk only grows at your statement.

“So I've got a reputation,” he asks cheekily.

You nod your head, playing along. “Oh, yeah. A big one,” you tell him, a big smile growing on your face.

“Hmm, let me guess,” JJ says, leaning forward in his seat. “You've heard all about how I'm a weed-smoking party boy who goes home with a different girl every night?” You nod, the smile never leaving your face. “Well, I guess I have some work to do to show you I'm actually a decent guy huh?” 

The boy almost pouts at his words and you can't help but let out a small giggle. JJ smiles wide, thinking that your laugh has to be the cutest thing he's ever heard.

You open your mouth to give him a snarky response, but before you can, Cathy walks to your table with your orders. Your jaw drops and your mouth waters at the sight of the large cheeseburger in front of you.

JJ laughs at your reaction. “I probably should have asked if you eat meat,” he says. “But judging by your reaction you do,” he adds with a laugh.

You blush at his comment as the two of you dive into your burgers and fries. As the night goes on you learn that you have more in common with the blonde boy than you ever thought possible. You share a very similar taste in music and you bond over your love of the ocean.

You are in the middle of ranting about your adoration of sea animals and how you would love to study them one day when you notice JJ staring at you with an unreadable expression. 

“What?” you ask, feeling self-conscious under his gaze. Do you have food on your face or something?

JJ shakes his head with a smile, resting his chin on the palm of his head. “Nothing,” he says, tilting his head slightly. “You're just really beautiful.”

You know that your face is tomato red at his comment. Pulling your hands up, you cover your face with them in an attempt to hide your blush. JJ tugs at your arms, gently pulling them away from your face. “Hey, don't hide,” he says with a small giggle. “Your blush is adorable.”

A few minutes later when your embarrassment has simmered and your face is back to its normal color, you look up at JJ, copying his actions from earlier and resting your head on your palm.

“You're way different than I expected, JJ,” you tell him with a small sigh. 

JJ smiles. “Is that a good thing?” he asks, his smile not faltering.

“Good,” you say, simply.

“Good,” JJ says, smiling wide.

When the check comes you offer to pay half but the boy refuses. “At least let me pay the tip, JJ,” you plead, moving to pull some bills out of your wallet. 

JJ puts a hand on yours, stopping you. “Next time,” he says and you comply out of shock from his words. He wants a next time?

Cathy wishes the two of you a good night and you glance down at your phone noticing it was a little past 11 meaning that you and JJ had been together for almost two hours.

JJ walks you home like a true gentleman and the two of you stop in front of your door. He grabs both of your hands in his, looking down at your shoes and back up to your face.

“So, I know this was kind of unconventional,” he says, voice slightly waiving with nerves, “But maybe you'd want to go on a real first date with me sometime.”

He scratches the back of his neck, not meeting your eyes, and a big smile makes its way to your lips.

“I'd love to, JJ,” you say, tugging his hand so he looks back at you. JJ has a smile that matches yours and his eyes flicker down to your lips before coming back up to meet your eyes.

You bite your lip. “If you don't stop me right now, I'm gonna kiss you,” JJ says seriously.

You look down before looking up at him confidently. “What if I don't want to stop you,” you say, not breaking eye contact with his cerulean eyes.

JJ wastes no time in pressing his lips to yours. His hand reaches up to cup your jaw, the other gripping your waist as his lips work against yours. You let your arms snake around his neck as you deepen the kiss. Pulling away, the two of you breathe heavily. 

JJ touches his forehead to yours, pressing a small kiss to your nose.

“You gonna invite me in?” he asks, only half-joking.

You let out a breathy laugh. “Not a chance, Maybank,” you say and he pouts.

“One more kiss,” he asks, giving you his best puppy dog eyes.

You laugh pressing a quick peck to his soft, pink lips before slipping out of JJ’s arms. He lets out a dramatic groan.

“Pick me up tomorrow at 6,” you tell him confidently before you open your door. Looking back you see him nodding profusely so you walk inside, shutting the door softly behind you.

Leaning your back against the door, you can't help the grin that makes its way to your lips. 

Your sister spots you as she walks downstairs. “Hey, (Y/N/N),” she says with a smirk. “You're home late. I take it the date went well.”

“Yeah, really well.”

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masterlist

[outerbongs]

It’s Perfect!

JJ x Female! Reader

AN: I’m back besties!!! The writing won’t be every day but I will gradually get back into it! I have like 16 requests I’m gonna get through over the next few weeks <3

Request (Anon): Super fluffy and surf themed JJ x reader pls x

Summary: JJ and reader have been dating for a while. He never took you on a real date because he’d known you since you were little. He plans the perfect first date for you, with everything you love.

NO WARNINGS JUST EXTREME FLUFF!!! <3

You and Kiara are sitting at The Wreck sharing fries on your guys’ break.

‘You’ve never been on a real date with him?’ You shake your head. Deep down, you had wished that every time he asked a question, it would be those 8 letters. All you had wanted for the 6 months you had been dating. 

‘I thought he was stupid but wow…. That boy is something else.’ Kiara sits in disbelief. What neither of you knew, was that JJ was sitting in the booth behind, and heard everything. Time for the perfect plan. 

JJ headed to the dock and went out on the Pogue with John B and Pope to brainstorm plans. 

‘Bro, your first date? You’ve been together for 6 months.’ 

‘Yeah, but we knew each other before, so we didn’t need to get to know each other. But I heard her and Kie today at the Wreck. She wanted a first date. All this time. I’m an idiot.’ 

‘Okay. Let’s think. What does she love the most?’ JJ sits for a while and thinks of every possible thing you loved. Then his brain clicks. He has the perfect plan. He tells the others and they all go and set it up. 

It’s a few hours later, and you and Kie are watching a movie when JB and Pope walk in. Pope stretches his hand out to you. 

‘M’lady, if you would please follow me.’ You and Kie share a look before letting out a chuckle. You attempt to question the boys but the only reply you get is a hush from JB. They make you close your eyes on the drive to the beach, and when you arrive. They walk you down the sandy path and stop you just as you begin to feel the warm breeze on your hair. As you open your eyes, you’re greeted with a grinning blonde, standing next to a checkered red blanket filled with strawberries,peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, bottles of summer fruits, and small red velvet cupcakes. All of your favourites. He remembered. Your hands reach your mouth as a silent gasp is followed by a cheesy grin, your eyes are bright with awe. 

‘Y/n Y/l/n, will you go on a date with me?’ You let out a laugh as you nod your head. You run up to him and jump into his arms. Whispering ‘thank you, it’s perfect’  into his ear, a few tears left your y/e/c eyes.

You sit for hours talking, munching and laughing that your mouth hurts from smiling too much, but you didn’t care. After all the food has been eaten, you sigh and look at the water, laying your head on his chest. 

‘Thank you, JJ. This has been the most perfect date ever.’ He looks down at you. 

‘What makes you think it’s over?’ You sit up and look at him with confused eyes. He leaps up, grabs his surfboard from behind the nearby tree, and runs into the water. Behind him, the sunset lights up the ocean. He turns back to you. 

‘You coming?’ He gestures to the second board behind the tree. Your smile brings a laugh as you run into the water with him. He watches in awe as you surf the waves, your smile filling your face, your clothes dripping wet. He wonders why he didn’t do this sooner. He’s never been happier. Snapping him out of his trance, you sit on your board opposite him. 

‘Now this? This is perfect. I love it, thank you.’

‘I love you, Y/n.’ You stop. He just said it, for the first time. For 2 months, you’d wanted to say it. No more hearts, no more ‘I love the fact you…’. He said it, straight up. 

‘I love you too, JJ Maybank.’ 

[extratragic]

put the pieces back together

pairing: JJ Maybank x reader

warning: depression & all that good stuff that comes with it. (promise it’s really just soft JJ)

word count: 2057

(found the gif @rudypankows )

request: Could you do a scenario where the reader breaks up with jj bc she doesn’t want him to deal with her problems (depression,Anxiety, low-self esteem anger issues) and when jj finds out why she broke up with him he goes and comfort her if you will 👉🏽👈🏽🥺 angst to fluff 🤧❤️

summary: JJ is just the person to take care of the girl he loves

y/d/n = your dad’s name, y/m/n = your moms name, y/b/n = your brothers name

   “I just... I can’t do this anymore, JJ. I’m not good for you.”

That was the last time that the group saw you for weeks. 

You and JJ had been dating for six months at that point. Everything was going perfectly according to JJ, and everything was going perfectly until absolutely nothing was going perfect in your life. 

It wasn’t a sudden switch like you’d had before, either. 

You felt the way that you’d want to be home more often than going out with your friends. Even shopping felt like a drag, but you thought you could push past it this time. You didn’t wear your bikini anymore, though. You either wore a once piece or a swim shirt with shorts. Your body just looked... off when you put a bikini on, and your self-esteem couldn’t handle being around Kie while you felt like that. 

You weren’t eating, either. 

JJ was the first to notice that when you did come to The Wreck with them, you would steal fries from his plate but that’s it. 

Depression kicked your ass when it wanted to, and when anxiety joined the party, you felt like you couldn’t be around anyone. 

You were diagnosed with anxiety at eleven years old, and then depression at thirteen. You’d only known the Pogue’s for a year, and they only knew about your anxiety. Telling people about either diagnosis made you feel uncomfortable, but you knew that this group was insane and might just push your limits. 

When JJ got a text from your mom three weeks after you broke up with him saying that she needed him, he yelled at John B to drive the HMS back to his house at that second. His leg was bouncing the entire ride and he felt like he couldn’t breathe. Did something happen to you? Did something happen to your siblings? Your dad? 

Kie tried to comfort him, but he didn’t listen to any of them. He was scared. He knew something was wrong with you and he didn’t tell anyone about it. 

JJ was off of the boat and on his bike before anyone could say a word to him. Yeah, you broke up with him, but you were still his girl. He wouldn’t have a problem beating someone’s ass if they came near you, and he would always be there if you needed him. And right now, you need him.

He knocked on the front door and your dad opened it after a few seconds. 

“We need to talk before you see her,” he said. 

JJ nodded and walked into your family’s home, sitting on the couch with your parents. 

“She told us that you know about her anxiety,” your dad started off. JJ nodded again and your dad took a deep breath before continuing. “She was diagnosed with depression a couple years after the anxiety. She’s on medications, but sometimes it’s too much for her to handle. Everything’s been okay since she became friends with you guys. But sometimes everything hits her at once and... this happens,” he sighed, running his hand over his face. 

“Is it my fault?” JJ asked weakly. 

He was so scared that he was the reason behind what was happening with you. Did he do something to set you off? Did he go too far in something?

“No! No, JJ. Sometimes her anxiety attacks are easier to figure out, but these... the depression episodes are hard for all of us, especially her. It could’ve been finals that started it, for all we know. The best thing that we’ve learned is that she needs someone she loves by her side,” Y/d/n said. 

JJ took a deep breath and looked at the hallway that led to your room. 

“She broke up with me,” he said quietly. 

“We know. But we also know y/n, and we know that she loves you, JJ,” Y/m/n told him.

“Can I see her?” JJ asked. 

They nodded and he stood up, walking down the hall and grabbing the door handle with a shaky hand. After collecting himself, he opened the door, relaxing just a little bit when he saw y/b/n sitting beside you. His heart broke when he saw you on the bed. Your comforter and his blanket were wrapped around you and you were laying on the bed, looking at nothing. 

The fairy lights that you always - always- had on were off. Your clothes were in a pile by your desk. Your room was just a mess, and you were such a clean person that it shocked him. 

“Can I...” JJ trailed off, looking at your brother. 

He nodded and whispered something to you before getting up. When he stopped by JJ, he looked back at you and sighed. 

“She’ll be okay. You just gotta remember that,” he told JJ. 

JJ nodded shakily and your brother patted his shoulder before leaving. 

“Hey, sweet girl,” JJ said softly, crouching down beside your bed. 

You looked at him and he smiled softly, tucking your hair behind your ear. You closed your eyes and he kissed your forehead before laying down beside you. While JJ played with your hair, you barely moved from your spot. His phone chimed and he looked at the screen, seeing a text from your mom. 

We’re going to get something to eat from the wreck. If you want something, you can just text it. 

p.s, y/n hasn’t showered in almost a week. if you can get her up, that would be great for her

“Want something to eat, baby?” He asked quietly. 

He barely heard the ‘no’ escape your lips, but he texted your mom to get your favorite order anyways. He loved it, and if you wouldn’t eat the main part, then maybe you’d eat the fries. 

There were texts from John B, Kie, and Pope, but he’d just text them when you were asleep.

“You sleepy?” He asked. 

You shook your head and he nodded, looking over your face carefully. He could tell from the dried streaks on your cheeks that you’d been crying, but your eyes held no emotion other than pure exhaustion. Your pretty pink lips were chapped and there was a small crack on your bottom lip. The eyebrows that you usually kept perfectly plucked were no longer in perfect condition, but he thought you still looked good. Even in what you thought was your worst, he still thought you were beautiful.

You were always beautiful in his eyes. 

“When’s the last time you showered, sweet girl?” He asked. 

You shrugged and he raised his eyebrows. “Dunno. A week?” You guessed. 

Your voice was broken and raspy like you had barely used it over the last three weeks. 

“Wanna shower? I can help,” he offered, running his fingers through your hair. It was a little greasy at the roots, but it didn’t bother him.

“You don’t have to take care of me. I broke up with you,” you muttered.

He scrunched up his nose and sighed, nodding. That one hurt just a bit.

“Yeah, true. But you’re always my girl. So, shower?” He asked.

Tears slowly filled your eyes and you nodded. “I’m sorry,” you choked out.

“It’s okay. It’s okay, baby. I know you’re hurting,” he told you.

He pulled you into his arms and kissed the top of your head, squeezing you tightly. You grabbed his hand and held it to your chest as your tears fell from your eyes and onto his chest.

The two of you eventually made it to your bathroom and he took his clothes off until he was in his boxers, then he helped you undress. For some reason, the people that owned the house before your family had a stool for the shower, but it came in handy now.

You sat on the stool with your back towards the showerhead with your forehead on JJ’s abdomen. He washed your hair for you, smiling softly at the smell wafting through the small bathroom. His favorite smell was your berry scented shampoo and conditioner.

When you first got it, you were always complaining about how you never got anything that smelled the way you thought it would. Once you washed your hair with that, he fell in love with it just as much as you did.

After washing your hair, he got down on his knees and helped you wash your body, kissing your cheeks as he went along. When he fished your arms, he kissed your right cheek. After your legs, he kissed your left cheek. He kept going until you told him you felt clean.

“Any other special pampering?” He asked, smiling softly.

“My face,” you answered. 

He grabbed the small pink thing that he always saw you use and put the face wash on it, rubbing it into your skin. You smiled when he mumbled a ‘sorry’ when going near your eyes. It didn’t hurt, it just felt weird that someone else’s hand was this close when your eyes were closed. 

“All done. Did we miss anything?” He asked. 

You shook your head and he turned the water off, getting out of the shower. He took his soaked boxers off and wrapped one towel around his waist and wrapped the other towel around your body. It was fluffy, just as you liked it, and you snuggled against JJ after he wrapped you in the towel.

“What pajamas, baby?” He asked.

“I dunno. Let’s figure it out,” you told him.

He nodded and went back to your room, stopping in front of your closet. You picked out one of his shirts that he left there and slipped it on, moving away from JJ to wrap your towel around your head. You grabbed a pair of underwear and shorts, then climbed into bed.

“Your clothes are in the top drawer. Get dressed and cuddle,” you told him.

He laughed and did as you said, quickly getting dressed. When he got into bed beside you, he realized that the sheets were different than before.

“Hang on,” he said, quickly shooting up and going over to your vanity. He grabbed your moisturizer and walked back over to you, gently rubbing it into your skin.

“You hungry?” He asked when he finished.

You shook your head like you did before.

“Okay. Well, I am, and I asked your mom to get me something. I’ll be right back,” he told you.

“Okay,” you said quietly.

He kissed your forehead and went into the kitchen, seeing your parents and brother eating.

“You got her up?” Your dad asked.

“Showered and changed. She says she’s not hungry, but I figured that she might want some fries at least,” he told them.

Your mom smiled happily at him, sliding the to-go box across the table.

“Keep the crumbs off those sheets,” she playfully warned.

“Yes, ma’am,” he grinned, taking the box and plastic silverware and going back to your room.

When JJ came back into your room with your favorite meal from The Wreck, your heart melted. Food just didn’t sound good at all to you, but you knew that you had to eat something today. Usually it was your brother that got you to eat, but JJ was definitely better than him. 

“J,” you said quietly. 

He hummed, pulling the covers over his legs and putting an old towel over the comforter to keep the crumbs from getting on the sheets.

“Thank you,” you told him.

His blue eyes met your loving gaze and he leaned in slowly, waiting for your nod to kiss your lips softly. 

“Anything for you, my sweet girl,” he said, pecking your lips again before digging into his dinner. 

You smiled softly and laid your head on his shoulder, occasionally stealing a fry. He held up the fork to your mouth and you took the bite, making him grin. He was simply just happy with making small progress. You knew that this was far more than small progress and it made you feel even better. 

JJ, the broken teenage boy, was able to keep you sane through your bad times. You, another broken teen, just happened to be one of the few people to help JJ through his bad times. 

You put each others pieces back together, one at a time. 

[collecting-stories]

Shit Talk - JJ Maybank

Request: Hi !! can i please get a boyfriend JJ Maybank x kook!reader, she decides its time for JJ to meet her kook friends knowing that they’ll like him but they ended up liking him a little too much because all they did was flirt & compliment him and they also kept embarrassing reader infront of JJ to make them seem better than her? Basically fake friends trying to steal your gorgeous boyfriend out of jealousy and reader starts to cry because of this and JJ gets angry!! 😭❤️❤️

Outer Banks Masterlist

-

JJ slammed the door on your suv as he got out, eyes already on the large plantation style home you were parked in the horseshoe driveway of. Despite the sunglasses he was wearing he shielded his eyes as he stared at the opposing building. “Can we talk about why you’re forcing me to come to this party if you hate all the people here?”  

“Cause they’re my friends from school. Sarah will be there too, I don’t hate Sarah.” You reasoned, grabbing the card for your friend’s birthday and making sure you had everything else on you. Keys tossed to JJ over the hood of the car as you slammed your own door shut. He slipped the lanyard around his neck.  

“No, but you constantly bitch about everyone else.”

“It’s cause they’re the worst.” You shrugged. And they were truly the worst people you knew. Like all the mean girls from every teen drama rolled into one ultimate evil entity, these girls were literal demons but you were obligated, through school hierarchy and the desire to not ruin your social standing, to attend social gatherings like birthday parties. And you’d been blowing them off lately to spend all your time with JJ.  

“But we’re going?”

“Yes.”

“I’m so confused.” JJ confessed, “you know if you don’t like someone, don’t hang out with them.”

“Says the most likable person I know.” You grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the front door.  

“Hey, just cause everyone likes me but that doesn’t mean I hang out with people I don’t like. Except you…but I really needed a new phone so-“  

You stopped to turn and smack his arm, a fake gasp leaving your lips as if you were truly offended by his teasing. “JJ! Shut up. You’re such a jerk.”

“And yet you like me.”

“Maybe.” You shrugged, “I’m good at faking it.”

“I’ve seen you with people you don’t like…you’re incapable of fake nice.” He replied.  

“Prepare to be amazed.” You leaned up, closing your eyes and pressing your lips to his for a kiss only to be interrupted by the door opening and the distinct squeal of your most hated friend. You pulled away and turned around so fast you practically gave yourself whiplash.  

“Oh my god you made it!” Scarlett bounced out of the house, wide smile on her face as crossed the threshold and wrapped you in a tight hug. Despite dry hair and skin that looked like she’d just applied a layer of body shimmer her bikini was slightly damp against your cover-up.  

“Hey! So sorry we’re late I was halfway out the door when I saw myself in the bathing suit I was gonna wear and had to change…it was not cute.”  You lied, returning the hug. You’d pit stopped first to buy a last-minute card and take money from the atm and then to get coffee. As you had reasoned with JJ, there was no way you were surviving this pool party without caffeine in your system.  

“Lies, you look good in everything.” Scarlett insisted though she’d definitely sung a different tune in the past. Her eyes landed on JJ as she stepped back and she smiled, “whose this?”

“Oh, duh, this is my boyfriend JJ, I figured when better to introduce everyone than at Ashley’s party.” You offered, stepping aside so you weren’t blocking him.  

“For sure,” She did a once over of him like he was merchandise and JJ only smiled, biting his tongue to stop himself from saying anything you would be pissed at him for. He would save his comments for the sanctity of the car. “Well I’m Scarlett, there’s a lot of people here so if you forget just let me know and I’ll tell you.”  

“Awesome.” He replied. Scarlett grabbed his free hand, pulling him away from you and beginning to drag him inside the house as you followed behind. He looked back at you, mouthing an ‘I’m gonna kill you.’

‘Airpods’ You mouthed back, ‘and you love me.”

He shook his head, a grim expression on his face but you knew he was only joking.  

-

Despite the entire crowd being contained to the outside pool deck and yard you lost Scarlett and JJ relatively easily. Or, Scarlett lost you so she could spend quality time cozying up to your boyfriend. While you felt bad leaving him to the wolves while you found the drink table and chatted with Sarah, you weren’t too worried about him otherwise. You had heard all about JJ’s past womanizing from a wealth of jealous pogues but you didn’t have any doubt that he was faithful.  

He was a great boyfriend, better than any guy you’d dated before. Too good to be subjected to a round table of Scarlett, Ashley, and their friends. So you grabbed yourself a drink and headed over to save him.  

“Oh my god and one time-” Scarlett’s voice died off as she saw you getting closer to them and she smiled at you in faux excitement, “oh hey!”

“Hey,” you nodded at her before turning to look at JJ, “hey there you are.”  

“We were just getting to know JJ. You know, vet him and all.” Scarlett replied, leaning over her armrest to grab JJ’s arm. He shrugged her off and shifted in his seat.

“Exciting.”

“You wanna sit?” He asked, tilting his head back to look at you, pleading eyes begging you to sit down.  

“Oh I don’t think there’s a chair.” Ashley piped up, looking around the table. Four other girls occupied the chairs around them.  

“No problem, I’ll make do.” You tapped on the arm of JJ’s chair, smiling at Ashley when he moved the chair so that you could comfortably sit on his lap. He put and arm around your waist to keep you secured and laid a kiss on the side of your neck.  

“Oh, good.” Scarlett forced a smile, jaw tense. “Anyway, I was just telling JJ, do you remember that time in 8th grade when we went on that double date to the ice rink on the mainland.”  

You paled almost immediately. She was really going to play that game. “Uh…no.”  

“Oh my god!” Scarlett turned more toward JJ, wide smile on her face, “First of all, she was so chubby in 8th grade like thank god for hitting the gym and doing those CrossFit classes cause you looked like a potato. Plus she ate like everything! Do you remember that? You had like a hotdog and fries and ice cream and then we were skating and she said she didn’t feel good and she blew chunks all over the guy! Who was it, I can’t remember his name?”  

“I have no idea.” You replied.  

“Oh my god I totally remember that!” Ashley laughed. “Someone videoed it and put it up on the school’s insta...it was hilarious.”  

“Doesn’t really sound it.” JJ said, grip tightening.  

“You’re way cuter than he was anyway,” Ashley mentioned, “I think he was like a family friend or something. And you’ve stuck it out too, how long have you guys been dating?”  

“Three months.”  

“It’s good it’s the summer. You can get out before you have to experience hibernation weight.” Scarlett added and the other girls around the table laughed at the joke. You smiled nervously, trying to look unbothered by what they were saying. You should have known that the moment you sat down the attack would start, Scarlett had her eye on JJ the minute she walked out of the house.  

“What?” JJ was not laughing.  

“Oh my god, I don’t know what she does but she always gains like…what is it? Like 15 pounds?”

“Yeah.” You nodded.  

“Like 15 pounds in the winter.”  

“Yeah get her while she’s still cute cause you are way too hot to spend time stuck with someone who bloats up every winter.” Ashley replied.  

“I can’t believe I haven’t seen you around, Ashley’s right you’re super hot.”  

Suddenly Ashley smiled, reaching across the table to tap the space in front of you and get your attention. “Oh, oh my god do you remember okay, so this one time-“  

“Actually, I gotta go. I got work.” JJ said, cutting her off. He bounced his knee to signal for you to get up, “babe,”

“Yeah, of course, I’ll see you guys later.” You stood, trying to remember if JJ had told you that he had a shift today. You couldn’t think but then your mind was swimming with their insults. You were only vaguely aware of JJ grabbing your hand.  

“Seriously? You’re ditching in the middle of the party?” Scarlett asked, offended that he was leaving and even more so that he was leaving with you.  

“Yeah well,” JJ shrugged, looking over at her, “if I stay any longer I’ll probably punch one of you in the mouth so, not really in the mood to sit around and listen to you bullshit about my girlfriend.”  

“We were just joking!” Ashley insisted, “Weren’t we joking?”  

“I wasn’t laughing.” JJ replied. He tugged on your hand when you didn’t move, “come on.”  

The two of you excited the backyard and made it all the way to your car, JJ slipping in the driver’s side as you sat in the passenger seat, still trying not to have an absolute meltdown in front of him. And in front of the security cameras they would probably check later just to see if they made you cry.  

“Thanks…” You muttered, leaning against the window.  

“You weren’t kidding, they are the worst.” JJ replied as he backed down the driveway. In the santity of the car he could say what was actually on his mind and it was extensive.  

“I know.” You did know, you’d been dealing with it since you were in kindergarten and Scarlett told you that you had fat thighs. “Scarlett’s known me forever so she has years of embarrassing stories.”  

JJ nodded. He took one hand off the wheel and reached over to hold your hand. “You know I think you’re beautiful right?”  

“Yes.”  

“Yes you know and believe me or yes I don’t want to talk about it anymore so I’m agreeing with you?” He asked, glancing over at you.

You bit your lip to stop from smiling, “if you know which one it is, why are you asking?”

“Cause I want it to be the first one?” He said. “Those girls are seriously the worst.”  

“Well I hang out with them less now that Kie goes to school with me but I still have to see them sometimes. I can’t avoid it.”

“Yeah I know.”  

“Thanks for coming, and for saying you’d punch them in the mouth.” You said, laughing a little as you recalled the horrified look on Ashley’s face when he said that.  

“Them and anyone else who talks shit on you.” He replied.  

-

taglist: @maplelattes22 @poguesrforlife  @freckled-and-daydreaming  @chasefreakinstokes@millie-753 @fangirlwithme @alex12948 @katherine097 @tangledinsparkles@tragicmisfits @carbonated-beverage @mariofgreengables @damonsalvawhore27@dopedoodes @dolanfivsosxox @belledutchess @poguelifeeee @faded-blue @parkerpetertingle @thebookwormlife @summer-clouds-and-long-days@jellyfishbeansontoast @minigranger @hoewkeye @love-someone-special @tiredfeels @strangerthanfanfiction713 @the-only-nana@tomzfrog @mozz-are-lla @vindictive-hearts @poguestyleskye @ssprayberrythings @jenahbell @beautyandthebleh @lavenderxraindrops @gothackedalready  @teenwaywardasgardian @sarahcxmeron @haha-fuck-you-thot @stillbelieve398-5 @rewindlr @queenniccimicci @thedarkqueenofavalon @alytavzla @bqmblebee @linniep @nerdypartytrashpsychic @xxchxrryxx @spencer-reid-is-a-cutie @mirjanak @danielladreaming @obx-saltlife @youngestxhearts @spnobsessedmemes @wowitswondergurl @celestialmaybank @mybnkjj @averagxfangirl@mysterious-adventurer @justawilddreamerchild @rhyetaylor62 @calm-rejects @99sxuxii@oh-annaa @katiaw2 @aiifandomsunite @marteenuhh08 @x-lulu @ceruleanjj @wicked-laugh @obxwriterfan @justkeepdreamingswift @allie-mcginn@pcterparxer @literarycharleton @khiaraaa-in-spacee @crushe-s @teamnick @daydreamlilys @collectiveuniverses @activist-af @mdgrdians @buckys-sunflower @vindictive-hearts @copper-boom @jolomez @timotaychalabae

[socialwriter]

Circles

*Not my gif, credit to original post*

Pairing: JJ Maybank x Female Reader

Summary: You meet the blonde surfer boy you’re meant to spend the rest of your life with

TW: Cursing, my inadequate knowledge of surfing, underage drinking, smoking 

1.7K words

A/N: @kindapinkskies​ and I apparently both love soulmate AUs so I wrote this oops.

Ever since the age of thirteen, you had had the tattoo of a small circle on your hip bone that matched your soulmate's somewhere in the world. Middle school girls would gush over their dream soulmates and the beautiful tattoos that graced their bodies, whereas of course you had no godly idea what your soulmate even looked like and your tattoo was a fucking circle. How lucky were you?

You see, you aren’t able to see any other person’s soulmate tattoo until you grow to love them, whether it be platonic, familial, or romantic. Scientists thought that it was so that everyone would be more experienced in love by the time that they actually met their soulmate. You thought that it was a way to simply torture you with the what ifs and not knowing if the guy who you’d just gone on a miserable date with also had that little circle on hip. 

Recently, you and your mother had moved to the Outer Banks, and she was convinced that this would be where your so-called soulmate would find you and you would live happily ever after. You, however, were not convinced. It had already been a week and you had yet to make a friend in town. It's not like you didn’t try, it's just that everyone that you came across was either busy working or a pompous asshole that stuck their nose up at you. So here you were, day 7 of wandering aimlessly around the Outer Banks, hoping that someone would take notice of the lost puppy dog look on your face. No luck, however, so you decided to grab a bite to eat since it was a little bit before noon and your stomach had started grumbling about ten minutes ago. 

You decided to stop at a place called ‘The Wreck’. If what you’d heard from casual conversations around the island was true, then your meal here should be at least halfway decent. You enter an almost entirely empty restaurant, given it was just before the lunch rush. You ding the bell at the hostess desk, causing one of the girls in a group of teenagers around your age sitting at the back of the restaurant to stand and approach you. “Hi, welcome to The Wreck. How can I help you?”

You give the girl a small smile, she seemed pretty nice. “I, um, I was just stopping by for a bite to eat. I’m starved.” You tuck a loose strand of hair behind your ear, suddenly aware of the fact of how sad it was that you were here to eat alone. 

“You a touron?” She questions, causing you to give her a very confused look. 

“I’m sorry, a who now?”

She chuckles, shaking her head. “That’s what we call the tourists around here. So, you visiting?” She asks. You make an ‘o’ shape with your mouth at her explanation before shaking your head. “No, me and my mom just moved here about a week ago, so I just don’t really know anyone on the island or anything about it.” You explain.

She nods, a smile beginning to grow on her lips. “Well why don’t you hang out with me and my friends.” She gestured over to three guys and a girl sitting in the back, already watching. You send them an awkward wave, which some of them reciprocate. “That would actually be really nice …” You pause, realizing that you didn’t even know this girl’s name.

  “Kiara. Carrera. But everyone just calls me Kie.” She informs you, holding out your hand for her to shake.

“Y/n L/n.”  You tell her, shaking her hand before she leads you over to her friends.

“Guys, this is Y/n L/n. Y/n, this is Pope, JJ, John B, and Sarah.” She says, introducing each one of her friends, pulling up a chair for you before quickly going to grab you a bite to eat.

You suddenly felt very awkward under the eyes of these four strangers, willing yourself to disappear before Sarah decides to start up a conversation with you. “So, Y/n, did you just move here?” She questions. You appreciate her attempt at small talk. 

Nodding, you tell her “Yeah, my mom and I just moved here like a week ago. We used to live on the mainland but she got a job offer we couldn’t refuse, so we moved to the Cut and now here I am.”

“Sweet, you’re a pogue.” One of the boys, you think his name was Pope, said. Before you could question him on what a pogue actually was (you were guessing there was more weird slang that you would have to learn), but before you could, the blonde, JJ you thought, spoke up. 

“So you surf?” He questioned, leaning forward. You had to admit, he was pretty attractive, his blonde hair tousled in a perfectly imperfect way and his blue eyes seemingly piercing into your soul. You shake your head, never having the opportunity to learn. You answer seems to disappoint JJ, causing him to deflate and mumble “disappointing” under his breath, which earns him a whack on the back of the head by the third boy, John B. “Be nice.”

Kie then returns with some french fries and a sandwich for you to munch on, and the conversation moves on to something about a boat.

---

After the not so good first impression with JJ, the blonde had apologized to you and insisted that he be the one to teach you how to surf. While his apology seemed genuine, you were still slightly terrified of surfing. However, JJ assured you that it wasn’t nearly as dangerous or terrifying as you thought, and promised to be with you every step of the way.

He taught you how to swim out to the waves, when the perfect time to get up was, and which waves were a no-go for a beginner like you. Eventually, he had convinced you to actually take a spare board that John B had and go into the water, waiting until a wave that you could ride actually came along. He yelled at you from the shore to go for it, giving you a thumbs up and cheering you on while you nervously rode the wave. At the end, you smiled to yourself, loving the pump of adrenaline that came with surfing. You swam back to shore, squealing and pulling JJ into a hug, which he reciprocated with a chuckle. “I did it!!” You exclaimed, excited by your success.

JJ pulled back from the hug, smiling. “Told ya you could, I am the best surfing instructor you’d be able to get after all,” he said with a smirk, causing you to playfully shove his shoulder and roll your eyes. Something about JJ just felt right, like the two of you meshed together. You were two pieces of the same puzzle, and this feeling only continued to grow the closer you got over the coming weeks. 

---

Sarah had insisted before your outing on the HSM Pogue the next day that you, her, and Kie have a girls night at her place. So here you were, up at 2 am, talking about nothing before the topic of soulmates inevitably comes up. Sarah tells you that her and John B had had a long love hate relationship before eventually getting together and discovering that they were soulmates. You had figured as much, if the subtle PDA and looks they’d sent each other at The Wreck earlier were anything to off of. Kie, similar to you, hadn’t found her soulmate, but told you that she was actively looking for them like you. “So what does your tatto look like Y/n? Where is it?” Sarah questioned, shifting on her bed which she was currently laying on.

“Oh, mines so stupid. Its a little circle, right here on my hipbone,” you said, pointing at the tattoo that you didn’t even know if they could see yet. At your description, however, the smiles on Kie and Sarah’s faces falter, both girls tensing and glancing at one another. “What, is that like a bad omen or something that I don’t know about?” You question, nervous by their reaction. 

Kie awkwardly laughs it off, shaking her head at you. “No,no, its nothing bad. Just, I think you might find out who your soulmate is sooner than later.” She states, causing your brows to furrow. But she drops the subject quickly, and you don’t question her on it for the rest of the night.

---

All six of you were on the HMS Pogue goofing around. After Sarah and Kie had pulled John B and Pope off to the side before getting on the boat, the four had been treating you and JJ a little odd. You just brushed it off, thinking that you were just imagining the change in attitude. You were currently sipping a beer, resting your head on JJ’s shoulder while he smoked some weed. When you had finished, you stood looking at the rest of the group. “Anyone else in the mood for a swim?” You questioned, already pulling off your t-shirt to reveal a bikini underneath. 

“Yeah, I’m just gonna dri-” JJ starts, dropping the newly opened beer in his hand when he looks at you. You look at him like he’s crazy, shuffling your feet to avoid them getting covered beer. “JJ, what the fuck!” you groan in annoyance, but he seems to not notice the mess he’s made, eyes fixated on your stomach. Everyone else looked on with knowing expressions, but no one dared say anything. 

“Is no one going to clean up this mess but me?” You question, looking at every like they’ve gone insane. JJ moves to pull his shirt off, and you can’t help but roll your eyes. “J, we are not cleaning up the beer with your shirt,” you tell him, giving him a look. 

“No, I..” he points to his hip. At the small circle tattoo that matches yours. Your eyes widen, and you look up at him, a silent conversation seemingly happening between the two of you. This boy, the one who you’d grown so close to, who you’d felt so complete with, was your soulmate. Suddenly everything became clearer, like your life had just started making sense. Knowing it was him, provided you with a sense of clarity.

You both slowly approached each other and JJ gingerly grabbed your hand, running him thumb over your knuckles. “Hi.” You said softly, a smile forming on your lips.

“Hi.”

[obxlife]

Childishness (JJ x Reader)

A/N: And now a JJ fic! I’m so excited about this one. I swear this anon has the best ideas ever (I’m pretty sure it’s the same anon that requested Hotel Madness). I just love this kind of childish and fluffy concepts with JJ.

Pairing: JJ x Reader

Word count: 3,704

Request: Hey! me again — so like an imagine where you're close friends with Kie and work at the Wreck with her and just always having this banter with JJ or something

Summary: You had met JJ because he was a friend of your coworker, Kie. And from the start you both seemed to hit it off. If by hitting it off you meant banters and ridiculous discussions. 

Warnings: A bit of swearing, a bit of angst, a bit of abuse (no fighting but bruises and the aftermath of abuse) and a whole lot of FLUFF

CHILDISHNESS

JJ had first heard of you from Kie. He was out on the water with all of the Pogues when she had mentioned you, her new coworker, and how cool you were. 

“So there’s this girl, Y/N, right?” Kie began to say. “She started working my same shifts about a week ago and she’s awesome. But you guys would never guess what she did yesterday!”

The rest of the Pogues weren’t very interested in what Kie was saying (except Pope, who stared at her with loving eyes), so they simply muttered out a small, “What?”

JJ was at the bow, pulling up a net filled with fishes onto the boat as John B was sipping a beer next to the fishing rod he had perched on the side of the HMS Pogue. 

“She kneed Rafe in the balls!” Kie exclaimed. John B spit out his beer out and JJ whipped around to look at Kie. “Holy shit, really?” John asked from his side. JJ was now interested in this girl. If she could kick Rafe with no shame, then she was definitely worthy of the Pogue’s time.

“Yeah! He had been trying to flirt with her all night and then when she finally rejected him, he got all pissy and began to come at her.”

“And then she kicked him?” Pope inquired. Kie nodded her head vigorously. She took a sip from her beer before laying it down next to her and continuing on the bracelet she was making. 

“I think we should hang out with her. She’s really cool.”

The Pogues never agreed to actually hang out with her, but JJ’s curiosity was peaked just enough for him to head over to the Wreck the following afternoon during Kie’s shift. 

Opening the door to the busy restaurant, JJ spotted Kie behind the counter. He sat down in front of the bar and smiled at her. Kie just gave him a knowing look. 

“She’s outside right now, but she’ll be back soon,” she said, turning her back on him to get some drinks for a couple of customers. JJ opened his mouth out wide, offended that she had said that (even if it was true).

“What? I only came here to see you!” he exclaimed. Kie rolled her eyes and noticed you walking back inside. Following Kie’s eyes, JJ spotted you for the first time. His mouth fell open again. This time in shock. 

You were exactly his type. From your hair color to the shape of your face to your lips to everything. You were everything he had ever wanted in a girl. 

“I can’t believe some of these customers!” you told Kie, not even sparing JJ a glance. 

Kie laughed. She knew what you meant. “Yeah, tell me about it.”

Turning towards JJ, you smiled at him. “May I get you a drink, sir?”

JJ knew that you thought he was a customer, so he kept playing along with what you thought. “Yes, please. And also some fries, babygirl.”

At the nickname you rolled your eyes. This was what you had been talking to Kie the past few shifts you had together. Customers were always trying to flirt. 

Kie laughed at your reaction before throwing the rag in her hands at JJ’s face. Shocked you turned to look at her. Noticing your expression she laughed even louder. 

JJ removed the rag from his face and glared at Kie. “Wow, thanks, Kie. That was so nice of you.”

Kie continued to giggle while your questioning eyes darted between the blond boy and the brunette girl. 

“That’s you get for trying to flirt with her, J.”

You were still confused. “Um, excuse me? Do you two know each other?”

Kie simply nodded while JJ continued to glare at her. “Yeah. This is JJ, my best friend.”

“Oh,” you blushed. You had been pretty rude to him before and now it turns out he’s Kie’s friend? “I’m sorry for being rude. I’m Y/N.”

JJ stared at your hand that was outstretched before you. He took it, shaking it up and down before relishing in its softness. He smiled, making you smile in return. Then you let go. 

Before an awkward silence could fall over the three of you, JJ said, “I wasn’t joking about the drink and the fries, Y/N.”

The teasing tone in his voice made you laugh. Instead of heading towards the kitchen, you turned to Kie. “What do you think? Should we get him what he wants?”

Kie pretended to think before shaking his head. Once again JJ pretended to be offended before transforming his facial expression to resemble one of a small puppy. 

“Your puppy eyes won’t get you what you want, JJ,” you said, already comfortable around him. He had an aura that was friendly and sweet, and you liked it. He seemed to be nice and funny and a good friend, which were all traits you cherished in people. 

“You’re the first girls that have ever resisted my pleas,” JJ stated in a breathy voice. You giggled once again as Kie moved past you towards a table that was on her section of the restaurant. 

“Yeah, right. I don’t believe that at all,” you lied. He was attractive, and you could bet that he had spent many nights with many girls. And that he had a line of girls hoping to be his next conquest. 

“Are you kidding? Have you seen me? I’m the definition of hot,” he stated as a fact. Grabbing onto your tray, you began to move away from the counter. 

“I’m working right now. I’m too busy to hear your dirty lies!”

As you walked away JJ checked you out, shaking his head. He was glad that you had taken his joking lightly, and even gladder that you had been able to respond to his banter so smoothly. Not only were you perfect look-wise, but you seemed to be perfect personality-wise as well.

Once you had returned to the counter you found JJ still there, playing around with a lighter. Kie was still not back and you guessed she was probably taking orders from new clients that had entered the Wreck recently. 

“So, are you like an arsonist or something?” you asked him teasingly as you approached him. You had cleaned out most of your side of the restaurant, which meant that you could relax for a little. “You seem to like playing with the fire of that little lighter.”

JJ smirked. “I might be. I guess you’ll never truly know.”

You gasped, pretending to be scared for your life. He looked up at you as his fingers stilled, cocking an eyebrow in your direction. Once a smile broke out onto your face, his smile followed along. 

*********************************************

“You know that the Lake Ness monster would win, right? Like, it’s obvious,” you said before heading to a table to take the family’s plates. You smiled at the small children and their parents before saying, “I’ll be right back to take your orders for dessert.”

JJ had been following you around the Wreck, trying to reply to your conversation. “You’re kidding, right? King Kong would win!”

You spun around to look at him. “How? I bet King Kong can’t swim, and we specifically said that they were in a body of water.”

You continued to make your way to the kitchen, pushing the doors open as JJ followed you right in. Nobody even flinched at his presence. He had been there every time you had been there during that day. He had been visiting the Wreck a lot more frequently since he had met you, always trying to make an excuse to see you. He would mostly steal Kie’s belongings when she was hanging around the Pogues and then take it back to the Wreck the following day. It was the best way to make sure to have an excuse to see you and talk to you. 

JJ would not admit it to his friends, but over the past two weeks he had developed a crush on you. It began with a simple infatuation the first day he had met you, but it had developed to a full-on crush after having bantered with you for the first time. 

Your childishness was something Kie lived for. There was never a boring moment between you two, and hearing your ridiculous arguments always made her day better. She was also happy for her blond friend. Kie could tell that seeing you was JJ’s favorite part of the day. The smile on his face every time he was around you or around someone that mentioned you was enough evidence of this. 

“Have you seen King Kong’s muscles? That boy is ripped!” JJ exclaimed while putting his hands before him as if it was obvious. You still had your back towards him while you left the kitchen, but turned your head to stare at him. God, you thought.

You headed towards the table you had just been at a minute before and took your notepad from the pocket of your apron. “Okay, what may I get you for dessert?”

As the family relayed their order to you, JJ stood at your side waiting. He watched you write, the loopy and smooth letters of your writing covering the page. When he saw you hesitate regarding an order, he said, “Vanilla ice cream.”

You gave him a thankful smile as you wrote the last order down and went back to the kitchen. JJ was still hot on your trail. “So? What are you going to say to defend the Lake Ness monster?”

You laughed as JJ kept pushing. “Or are you ready to admit that I’m right?”

“God, no,” you exclaimed. You pinned the order at the wire that hung over the dessert station in the kitchen. “Look, is King Kong ripped? Yes.”

JJ did motions of victory as you turned towards him. “Are his arms going to be of any use if he can’t swim? No, they won’t.”

JJ froze in the middle of his victory dance. “Huh?”

You giggled for the millionth time around JJ. “I rest my case.”

You pushed past him and exited the kitchen. You stood behind the counter, grabbing a coke can and spilling its contents into two glasses. 

You placed one on the counter for JJ and sipped the drink from the other cup. It was cold, which refreshed your sweaty body. JJ took his usual seat behind the counter and smiled at you before taking a huge gulp from his coke. Your nose scrunched up. 

“How can you drink that so fast? The gas bothers me way too much to be able to do that.”

JJ burped. “I’m just too good at chugging. Years of practice at keggers, you know?”

You swatted your hand in the space between you and JJ, trying to get rid of the smell of coke he had burped out. “I bet you suck at chugging. You’re just saying that to make yourself sound badass or whatever.”

JJ laughed and exclaimed, “I swear it’s true! Just ask Kie about it.”

You giggled and took another sip from your cup. Suddenly a bell chimed from the kitchen. You stood up and headed inside taking the dessert order from the counter where it was perched on. Once outside you headed towards the table of the small family and placed the food down. 

“And the vanilla ice cream,” you stated placing the tall glass on the table along with a spoon. “Is there anything else you would like?”

The mother of the family smiled at you before shaking her head. However, her small daughter said, “You and your boyfriend are really cute!”

You blushed. “My what?”

“Your boyfriend,” she repeated as if it was the most obvious and natural thing in the world. “The blond boy that follows you around!”

You turned to look at JJ. He already had his eyes on you and waved his hand when they connected. You blushed even harder than before and returned your body towards the girl. 

“He’s not my boyfriend,” you explained. She just shrugged and continued to lick her ice cream. 

***************************************

It was the first time in a month that JJ wasn’t at the Wreck during your shift. You frowned at how bored you were. Everything seemed dimmer when he wasn’t around, and you felt yourself longing for his presence. 

“Cheer up, baby,” Kie said to you. “He’s just busy. It’s not like he has another girlfriend or something.”

You sighed, rubbing your hands on your face before trying to slick your baby hairs back. “I know that. I just get bored.”

“Ugh, you guys are so in love it makes me nauseous,” she groaned, making you laugh. 

“We aren’t in love. We’re just friends.”

Kie could only scoff. Nobody with eyes would ever believe that. 

“You keep telling yourself that.”

You frowned at this. Did you and JJ really give off that impression?

You were brought out of your thoughts by a customer raising their hand and waving you over. You sighed, missing JJ. 

**************************************

One day JJ showed up extremely bruised. It was a Thursday, which meant that it was your day closing up. The restaurant was almost empty and you gasped when you caught sight of him.

“JJ!” you sped to where he had collapsed. “Are you okay?”

JJ nodded slowly, but it soon turned into a shake of his head. “I got beat up.”

“Well, I can see that, Captain Obvious. What do I do to help you?”

JJ laughed at your response before simply hugging you. He breathed in and out, calming his heart. It had quite the opposite effect, as his heart began to hammer in his chest from being around you. 

You wrapped your hands around his body for a few moments before pushing him back. “I’m pretty sure there’s a first aid kit somewhere.”

As you began to search for the kit, JJ clenched and unclenched his hands. He wasn’t going to tell you about his father, but he could at least seek comfort in you. 

Placing the kit beside him, you began to clean JJ’s wounds. The ones on his face weren’t very big. The cuts had already begun to bleed less as you passed the cotton swab over them. The bruises were a bit bigger, and as you slowly raised his shirt (after asking for permission from him), you noticed he was completely littered with them. 

You took out a tube of cream from the kit that said it would help get rid of bruising. Taking some of it in your hands, you used the fingers of the other to spread it over his skin as softly as you could. You didn’t want to hurt him more than he already was. 

JJ tried to level his breathing. He hated feeling the way his father made him feel. Luke Maybank made JJ feel weak and sad and unloved. The exact opposite of what you made him feel.

Once you stood up and stared down at JJ you had the urge to hug him. So you did. He wrapped his arms around you. A tear fell down his cheek and onto the skin of your chest. His sniffles filled the silent air of the restaurant, and you were certain you heard the kitchen door close behind the last person leaving. Your hands moved up and down the blond’s back until you could no longer feel him shake. 

He pulled away from you just enough to look up at you. He opened his mouth to speak his gratitude towards you, but you said, “I know, JJ.”

He closed his mouth again and pressed himself as close to your body as possible. His vulnerability shone new light upon him, revealing a side to the boy you had never seen. You wanted to help him and be there for him and just -- you wanted to love him.

Your realization made you freeze for a second, afraid of what it meant. However, not a second later, you realized that if it meant being with JJ than it was fine. He made it fine.

Trying to lighten the mood you said, “Are the other guys worse than you are?”

JJ laughed softly, tracing his fingers over the vertebrae of your back. His fingers circled them through your shirt. “You bet.”

His whisper was soft but he sounded strong. Because that was what he was. Strong. 

You didn’t let go of him until the sun began to rise the following morning. 

*************************************************

John B had noticed that JJ began to stay over at the Chateau less and less. He had decided that the next time he saw his blond best friend, he would ask him about it. 

“Where have you been staying recently, man?” John B inquired the following day on the HMS Pogue. JJ was laying down at the bow of the small boat while Kie was seated on top of her cooler and Pope was resting against the seat behind the wheel. 

“At Y/N’s,” JJ replied, not really thinking much about it. Kie perked up, as well as the two other boys. 

“What do you mean ‘at Y/N’s’?” Kie wondered. Pope and John B weren’t really sure who Y/N even was. 

JJ groaned. “I mean I’ve been staying at Y/N’s.”

“Are you sleeping with my friend, J?” Kie voiced out. That made everything click in John B’s and Pope’s mind. 

“Holy shit, you got a girlfriend?” John B asked. He was surprised and shocked. JJ had always been a ladies’ man and never one to commit. 

“No way,” Pope whispered. 

JJ rubbed his hands over his face before putting his hands in his hair. “No, Kie. I’m not. But thanks for putting that image in my head and making me hard.”

The exasperated tone of his voice was enough to confirm that he was indeed not sleeping around with you. 

Kie gagged at what JJ had said while John B let out a boisterous laugh. 

“So what’s she like?” Pope asked. 

“I’ve told you about her thousands of times already! Did you ever listen?” Kie questioned. 

John B and Pope shared a blank look before muttering, “No, not really.”

It was JJ’s turn to laugh. Then he spoke, “She’s amazing, man. Y/N’s just easy to be with and she’s down to earth and easygoing and -- she’s perfect. Perfect for me at least.”

John B cooed. “Our little J is in love!!!!”

Pope laughed and began to poke at JJ’s side, teasing him about you. Kie joined in as well and noticed how red JJ’s cheeks were. He was blushing. 

When everyone calmed down, Kie asked, “You actually love her, don’t you?”

JJ could only nod. He really did. 

*************************************************

“Oh my God, shut up! You know burritos are better than tacos!” you shrieked at the blond in front of you. 

You were closing up the Wreck, about to head home with JJ. He had arrived in the early afternoon and had been making conversation with you. Obviously you both fell into your normal antics. Childish banter. 

“No way,” JJ laughed. He grabbed onto your hand and began to walk home with you. “I know for a fact that tacos are better. They are way more - I don’t know - fresh than burritos are.”

You looked down at your clasped hands and smiled. The past few weeks had been different compared to the first seven months of your relationship with JJ. He had been holding your hand and hugging you for longer than usual. And you absolutely loved it.

“How about we just agree to disagree for a change,” you offered to him, looking up into his baby blue eyes. 

He smiled back at you and gave in to what you had said. “Okay.”

You walked in silence for a while, turning down a small street on the Cut where your house was. Your hands were swinging between your bodies and you wondered whether he felt the same things you did for him. 

“What are we doing tonight?” he asked you. Normally you would always have a plan: a movie to watch or something to bake. JJ had always just followed along with whatever you wanted. 

“I don’t know,” you admitted. “We can do whatever you want to do.”

JJ smiled at this. All he wanted to do was lay in bed and hug you. So that was exactly what he did. After each of you had taken a shower and changed into something to sleep in, he pulled you into your bed and smiled at you. His arms went around your body and pulled you close to him. 

You felt the sudden urge to kiss him. But you didn’t act upon it. You only stared at him. 

He opened one of his eyes. “What are you doing?”

You sighed. You thought of what Kie had said to you earlier that week. He loves you, her voice rang in your head. I know he does, and I know you love him, too.

“I have a confession,” you began. “I really want to kiss you right now.”

JJ snapped his eyes open. “Oh.”

Silence floated around you only for a second before JJ spoke again. “Why don’t you?”

You stared at him blankly. “What?”

“Why don’t you kiss me?”

“Oh, um, I don’t know. I’m nervous, maybe?”

JJ laughed at the stressed tone of your voice. You were going to begin to rant soon, so JJ decided to prevent that from happening. He leaned forward and connected your lips for a moment. He began to pull back, but you wrapped your hands around his neck, bringing him back towards you. His lips were soft and gentle and sleepy. Your’s were too. 

When you broke apart the both of you smiled. 

“That wasn’t so bad, Maybank.”

JJ laughed and brought you to rest on his chest. “Don’t be so childish.”

You scoffed, offended. “I thought you loved my childishness.”

“I do,” JJ mumbled, drifting off. “I love all of you.”

You smiled softly, pressing one last little peck on JJ’s lips before laying down and dozing off. 

“I love all of you, too.”

[dreamypeaches]

don’t wake up pt. 1 | rafe cameron x reader

summary: you and rafe cross paths at a boneyard kegger and find a space to escape in each other

warnings: making out, cursing, alcohol use

word count: 2.2k

a/n: so i posted this last night, then realized my account is so new that it wouldn’t show up in the search or tags. but i just got a bunch of followers, so hopefully y’all enjoy this! also, all characters in my fics are 18+, unless i specifically say otherwise. also also, fuck canon rafe, we don’t know him.

series masterlist

 The Boneyard was packed with Pogues, Kooks, and Tourons. It was the middle of the summer, the height of the party season in the Outer Banks, and there was no party like a kegger at the Boneyard. You and the Pogues were at the center of it all, music pounding in your chest louder than your heartbeat as you danced with Kie and Sarah. The liquid in your red solo cup spilled as you spun around, accidentally bumping into JJ, who was approaching the dance floor with a drunk grin on his face.

“Having fun?” He questioned as he gripped your waist to keep you from falling.

“Always am!” You slurred, gripping his hand and pulling him onto the dance floor with you and the girls.

At the beginning of the night, your dancing would have been sexy, grinding with Kie and Sarah, shaking your hips as you moved seductively. Now, you were a point of drunkenness where your legs no longer coordinated with your mind. You jumped and yelled along with the music, a goofy grin on your face. You wrapped your arms around JJ’s shoulders as you both screamed the chorus of the song, rocking back and forth like the waves not far from the dance floor. As the song faded out, JJ led you off the dance floor. You downed the last of your drink and giggled as you and JJ tripped over nothing in the sand. JJ collapsed on a log next to Pope and John B., both boys much more sober than the rest of their friends.

“You too better not puke in my living room,” John B commented.

“How dare you, I’m not even that drunk. In fact, I could go for another right now,” JJ said, standing from the log, swaying, and immediately falling back down on his ass. He stood up again, successfully, and grinned at you.

“Y/N, care to join me?”

“Nah, I’m gonna go for a walk. I want to feel the waves on my feet!” You giggled as you turned away from your friends and marched towards the ocean. The music slowly faded the farther you got, stumbling to an empty area several yards away from the party. As you stepped towards the water, letting the tide roll over your feet, you noticed a figure a few feet away sitting on the beach. He was nothing but a silhouette in the night, but you approached him anyway, your drunken state leading you to want to be a little too friendly than you normally would be. You stumbled over to the stranger, but realized as you got closer that it wasn’t a stranger at all. Rafe Cameron sat on the sand with his need pulled to his chest, hands resting on his knees. His button up shirt was halfway open, blowing slightly in the breeze as he stared at the ocean.

Being a Pogue, your normally would have avoided Kooks like the plague, especially this Kook. But for some reason, possibly your drunkenness or some invisible string of fate connecting you to him, you continued walking toward him until you were standing right above him. You unceremoniously collapsed into the sand beside him, causing him to glance at you strangely.

“What are you doing here, Pogue?” He said, though he lacked the usual venom behind the words. You turned your head towards him slightly, giving him a small smile before turning back to the ocean.

“It’s so beautiful, isn’t it? Especially at night, you can see the moon reflecting off the water. It looks like a portal to another world that just goes on forever. Sometimes I wish I could just jump in and disappear. End up in some other universe where everything is as beautiful as the ocean.”

Rafe stared at you as you spoke. Despite you being a Pogue, he’d always found you beautiful, though if his friends asked he would use a different word like hot or fuckable. But right now, as the moon shone down on your hair and the light from the kegger illuminated your outline, he couldn’t think of any other word but beautiful. As you spoke, your words floated from your mouth and into his chest, wrapping around his heart in a comforting embrace. He had gotten into an argument with his dad before the party and he felt like shit. He’d tired to bail, but Kelce and Topper dragged him from his home on Figure 8 and down to The Cut, promising liquor and drugs would cure his bad mood. They had no idea the real reason behind his anger and sadness.

As soon as he could, he escaped from the loud and chaotic kegger to this quiet spot on the beach, needing a moment on his own to just be. Then you come along and, had you ben anyone else, he would have yelled at you to go the fuck away. But no, it was you, the Pogue who always smiled at him when they made eye contact, the one who apologized for her friends when they started shit, but wasn’t afraid to chew him out when he was the shit-starter. He’d always tried to ignore his little crush on you, knowing it would never happen. But now you were here and speaking to him like no one else had.

“Yeah, that sounds nice.” He replied, not taking his eyes off you. You turned and made eye contact with him, raising an eye brow at him.

“So, what’s the Kook King doing sitting over here all alone?” You asked. Rafe gave you a sad smile, breaking eye contact to look at his hands, tapping his fingers on his knees.

“I could ask the same thing of the Pogue Princess,” He said. You laughed and Rafe’s heart skipped a beat. He’d never heard your laugh before but now it was the only thing he ever wanted to hear for the rest of his life.

“I’m not the Pogue Princess,” You chuckled, shaking your head, “I just wanted some air, and to feel the waves under my feet. Helps me stay grounded.”

Rafe nodded and looked back at the ocean. A comfortable silence settled between the two of you for a short moment. You were the one to break it.

“So? I answered your question, now you need to answer mine. And I asked first so if you don’t answer that’s just plain rude.”

Rafe chuckled and glanced at you. He ran his hand through his hair, messing up the slicked back style. You watched as his hair fell in his eyes and licked your lips. Rafe was a dick, yes, but you couldn’t help but notice how attractive he was. All those times he and JJ were at each other’s throats, your eyes would wander to the tall boy, taking in every detail of him. You would never admit it the other Pogues, but he intrigued you. He was never as rude to you as he was to the other Pogues. Once he’d even smiled at you and said “thank you” when you’d handed him a cup of beer at a kegger. Kiara, who had been right next to you, was convinced he had been possessed.

You had never been a fan of the whole Kook versus Pogue rivalry, you thought it was cliche and dumb. But you continued to abide by the rules of the island, despite the constant urge to go up to Rafe and befriend him. After all, you had made friends with Sarah, why not the other Cameron sibling?

“Didn’t really want to come to this kegger in the first place. Since I’m here, might as well enjoy some shitty beer and a great view while trying to ignore all my problems.”

“I get that. I ignore my problems all the time. Whenever I get ice out of the freezer and a couple cubes fall to the ground, I always just kick them under the fridge.”

Rafe laughed, a genuine, joyful laugh that made your heart flutter.

“I’ve done the exact same thing many, many times,” He said.

“I’m assuming your problems are a little bigger than ice cubes.”

The smile slowly faded from his face and he nodded. “Yeah, just a little bit,”

You looked at him as a pained expression crossed his face. You already missed his laugh, and you were determined to hear it again.

“Well, can I help you ignore your problems? Even if it’s just for a little while?” You said.

Rafe looked up at you, eyes sad but a smile on his lips. “I would love that.”

You and Rafe talked about nothing as the party continued to rage on behind you. You told him all the shitty jokes you knew while he told you about embarrassing stories about his sister and his friends. You got into a short argument about what fast food place had the best fries, never coming to an agreement. You weren’t sure how much time had passed, hours maybe, but you didn’t want it to end. You had moved closer to Rafe and he to you until your thighs and shoulders were touching. The conversation had died down for a moment as you made eye contact with each other. His tongue flicked out and licked his lips, drawing your eyes to them.

“Do you know what else will help you ignore your problems?” You asked. Both of you slowly moved closer and closer towards each other, eyes flicking from eyes to lips and back again.

“What?” Rafe asked. You answered him by leaning forward and connecting your lips to his. Your hands gripped the sand for balance has he reach up to place a hand on the back of your head, pulling you closer to deepen the kiss. His other hand rested on your hip, gripping it as if his life depended on it. You raised your hands to run your fingers through his hair, almost falling on top of him. The Hand on your hip swiftly wrapped around your waist, pulling you into his lap. You straddled him, fingers threading through his light hair. He tasted like beer and mint and heaven. His tongue ran along her bottom lip and you opened your mouth, allowing him to explore to his heart content. His hands moved underneath your shirt, running up and down your sides. One of his thumbs brushed up against the bottom of your breast, feeling you through the thin fabric of your bra. You let out a moan into his mouth that motivated him to move further. His grip on you tightened, pulling you flush against him. Your lips were soft and sweet, every negative thought disappearing from his mind, being replaced by you, you, you. Rafe didn’t want to forget a single part of this moment. He memorized the curve of your hip, the softness of your lips. The way you smelled and the way you moaned and breathed and tasted. He was euphoric, questioning whether or not this was a dream.

His hand had just ventured underneath your bra, lips creating dark spots are your neck when someone yelled from the direction of the kegger.

“Y/N!”

Your eyes snapped open as you looked towards the edge of the kegger. In the distance, you could see the silhouette of the Pogues against the fire light. They were waving their arms and shouting your name. Rafe, however, paid no mind, sucking on the sensitive spot below your ear that made you moan.

“Rafe,” you moaned his name. You pulled his hair, forcing him away from your neck to look in your eyes. “I have to go.”

You kissed him again as you slowly removed yourself from his lap. His hand gripped your arm as you stood, your lips still attached. You giggled as your rested your forehead on his, pecking the tip of his nose. You finally disconnected from him, but your eyes never left his as you walked backwards toward the other Pogues.

“I’ll see you around, Cameron,” You said before turning on your heel, jogging towards your friends. Rafe stood their frozen, hair a mess and lips swollen as he stared at your retreating figure. A he couldn’t help but smile as he stood up, brushing the sand from his body. As he walked toward where Topper and Kelce were standing, he prayed for another moment where he got to taste your lips.

You reached the Pogues, a smile still on your face as you adjusted your messy hair.

“Ready to go?” John B asked. You nodded walked next to Kiara and Sarah towards the Twinkie. Both girls examined your giggly state and the hickies that littered your collarbone and neck.

“Who was that?” Sarah asked, smirking at you. Your words caught in your throat for a moment, unsure if you should tell the truth or not. You quickly glanced over the fire and met Rafe’s gaze. He winked at you and blush crawled up your cheeks. You quickly looked back at Sarah and smiled.

“Just some Touron,” You answered. Sarah and Kie laughed at your blushing face, asking you more questions about the Touron you had just made out with on the beach. You told them you knew nothing about them, dodging their questions and suggestive looks. Tonight had been a dream, you weren’t ready to wake up yet. As you approached the parked van, you took one last glance at Rafe and smiled. You hoped you would never wake up.

[bisexualkiecarrera]

4 times JJ complimented you + 1 time you complimented him

JJ Maybank x Fem!Reader

wordcount: 3.5k+

warnings: just drinking, smoking and cursing!

1. 

Hanging out in a group of only hot guys and your best friend Kie wasn’t always easy. You loved your friends dearly and normally, any day spent with them was a good one. There were just some days that you just couldn’t bring yourself to have fun when all you could think about was how you looked in your bathing suit. 

You’d explained it to Kiara during a sleepover once when she asked why you hadn’t come in the water that day, opting to stay on the boat in your baggy t-shirt. She didn’t really understand but she tried her best to be helpful whenever she saw you get in your own head after that. John B and Pope were either absolutely oblivious or smart enough to know not to push the subject when you answered their concerned questions with “I’m just a little tired, don’t worry about it.” JJ knew without you ever muttering a word, familiar with the feeling of being uncomfortable showing people your body, even if it was for a completely different reason. 

The day in question was the hottest day of the year so far, and even though you were sitting in the smallest bit of shade the HMS Pogue’s tiny driving console provided, you felt a line of sweat drip down your spine. 

“Babe, come in! Seriously, it’s way too hot for you to not be in the water!” Kiara called as she swam up to the side of the boat, head barely resting on its edge. Your eyes skittered over to the boys, treading water several yards away, but the only one who seemed to be listening to your conversation was JJ. He gave a small encouraging smile before turning back to the two boys splashing each other like children. 

You bit at your lip for a second, mulling over your decision before realizing it really was too hot to stay dry. You mumbled out a “fine” as you went to slip your arms out of your sleeves, “but go back to the boys and I’ll meet you over there.” Kiara gave you a wide smile before pushing off the boat, swimming gracefully back towards the group. 

You shed your shirt quickly and got in the water, trying your hardest to make as small of a splash as possible. You sink your head under the water, wetting your hair as you make your way towards your friends. You take a look at Pope now floating peacefully on his back and make eye contact with a smiling John B. “Hey, little minnow. Nice of you to join us.” You roll your eyes fondly at the nickname, leftover from when you were kids. Back before you the world taught you to be self conscious, it was nearly impossible to get you out of the water and back into regular summer clothes, and so your fishy nickname was born.

You wink at JB before swimming quietly towards Pope, who still had his eyes closed as he faced the sky. You get close before stilling for a second, letting the waves settle around you. You lean in towards his ear and let out a “boo!,” sending the boy flailing. The three others laugh off to the side as you and Pope begin a splash fight. Not long after, JB can’t help but join in, followed by Kie. You take this as an opportunity to wade over to JJ, who’s looking at you with pride mixed with something you can’t quite place. “What’s the look for, J?” He takes a second to look over your face again, brow furrowed slightly in confusion. 

He shrugs a little as he answers, meeting your eyes. “You just look really pretty like this, all happy and back in the water.” You feel heat unrelated to the temperature cover your face as your eyes dart back to your friends, Kie now hanging on Pope’s back. 

“You’re just glad there’s finally someone who can beat JB in a race in the water.”

2.

A movie night at the Chateau just isn’t complete without an all-out pig fest, food scattered on every counter and table. Kie is generous enough to supply you all with enough fries from The Wreck to last a lifetime, and Pope brings along some ice cream, but always the cheap kind that his dad is willing to part with. John B mans the grill, making you all hot dogs and cheeseburgers while JJ provides the bud and whatever beer he can steal out of his fridge or convince his cousin to buy for him. Over the years, he’s also claimed the spot as your assistant, hovering over your shoulder as you move around the Chateau’s already cramped kitchen making brownies. 

It’s been years that you’ve been making what you call “kitchen sink” brownies for you and JJ and JB. They appear at every birthday and holiday and whenever someone is especially sad. They’re really just boxed brownies with whatever snacks you can find thrown into the batter, but JJ loves to be the one who gets to crunch up the toppings and sprinkle them, and you figure that the world owes JJ Maybank every second of happiness he can find. Tonight, the search through your kitchen at home proved especially successful, coming away with not only chips and pretzels, but also mini oreos and a pack of m&ms. 

JJ walks around the counter to see your finds spread out on the counter and his jaw drops. Your giggle tears his eyes away from the assortment and he raises one eyebrow in question. “You’re sure your parents are cool with you taking all this stuff?” The question makes you laugh, and you lean in like you’re about to tell JJ a secret.

“If I’m gonna be honest,” you drop your voice to an almost-whisper, “I think my mom bought extra snacks this week just for this.” A small smile appears on his face, and if you hadn’t known him for so long, you would have no clue that there was a little sadness behind it, thinking of his own parental situation in comparison to yours. “C’mon, J. Batter’s done, pan is greased. All I need is your supreme topping skills.” 

What seems like forever, but in reality is only 30 minutes, passes by before you slip back into the kitchen to take your brownies out of the oven. The raggedy oven mitt JB leaves on the counter for you is barely hanging on by a thread so you grab the extra cleaning rag to wrap around your covered hand for protection. The second the pan touches the oven, JJ is there behind you, looking over your shoulder. You turn to him, eyebrows raised in scolding as his hands fall to your hips. You place your hands on the plane of his chest and push gently backwards, shaking your head. “I’ll put a five minute timer on. Go sit, you know they’re too hot right now.”  He allows you to guide him back to the couch before you pull out your phone and set the alarm, pulling you to settle into his side. 

The timer goes off and JJ jumps so quickly it genuinely startles you. You all share a chuckle at how fast his feet moved, and in no time at all, he’s back next to you, a brownie on a paper towel in each hand. He extends one out to you and you gladly take it. “Hey, man, thanks for getting me one too, really thoughtful of you,” John B says as he makes his way to the kitchen to cut one for himself and Kie and Pope. JJ’s mouth is already full of brownie and there’s a smug smile on his face as he swallows. He shouts a “yeah, of course, buddy!,” after your friend’s retreating figure before turning to you. 

“You know these brownies are ring-worthy, right? Like, SO fucking good I’m considering proposing right now.” 

You giggle at the statement as crumbs fall from his lip. Your only answer is “JJ, you know you did half the fucking work, right?” He laughs at your response and wiggles his eyebrows. 

“Guess that makes us both wifey material!”

3. 

By far, your least favorite part of your friendship with JJ is tending to his various cuts, bumps and bruises. Between JJ’s general recklessness, his ongoing beef with Rafe Cameron, and Luke Maybank himself, it felt as though you spent every other day standing between his knees as he sat on your bathroom counter. This time, a particularly heated run in with the kooks had thankfully left JJ with nothing but a busted lip, bloody knuckles and an adrenaline high. His mouth was running a mile a minute, recounting every step of the fight despite the fact that you’d witnessed it all first hand. 

“Did you see the look on Rafe’s face when he hit the ground? Absolutely unreal!” You let out a frustrated huff as he waved his hands wildly, not noticing your own hand outstretched to grab his. 

“Yeah, J, I saw but please give me your hands. I need to put antiseptic on.” Your voice is a little pleading and he quiets at your request, laying his wrist in your hand and watching your face as you get to work. You dab at the cuts with a soaked cotton ball, and it doesn’t escape either of you that JJ no longer flinches at the sting. Once you’ve moved on to the other hand, his stare intensifies as you carefully move his rings around to make sure there’s no hidden nicks underneath them. When it’s time for you to move onto his face, he places his hands gently in his lap and lets you inspect his face closely, turning it from side to side with a finger at his chin. Your demeanor lightens a little when you’ve decided the damage is as minimal as possible. “Really glad you managed to keep Rafe away from the money maker this time. Well, mostly.” You punctuate your point by pressing the cotton to the tear in his lip and the pressure makes him hiss. You pull your hand away and grab the vaseline, smearing a small amount over the cut as gently as possible. “You really should ice that, J. Keep the swelling to a minimum.”

You realize a little belatedly that he hasn’t taken his eyes off your face the entire time you’ve been working and your eyes raise to meet his. The look in his eyes is a little confusing and a little startling, and his voice is gentle when he says “Thank you for patching me up. You always take the best care of me.” 

You let out a deep sigh before patting his leg gently and moving towards the door. “I think I could find work as a school nurse with all this experience you’ve given me.”

4. 

A boneyard party used to be your absolute favorite way to blow off steam on a Friday night. The sand, music, booze and weed were the easiest way to melt away the stress of a long week, but lately, the stress of seeing your best friend sneak off with some random had you absolutely dreading stepping foot on the beach. Most of the time, you had a pretty easy time keeping your less than platonic feelings for JJ at bay. You always rationalized swallowing your emotions down by telling yourself that you both needed each other as a friend way too much to jeopardize that. It was getting harder and harder to listen to your own advice lately, and partly because you weren’t quite sure what he was feeling. He’d been especially affectionate lately, not giving second thought to curling his body around yours on cold nights around the fire. His compliments had become less silly and teasing, and sometimes when he looked at you, it felt like he was staring straight into your soul. 

Tonight, you’d allowed Kie to pick you out an outfit from your closet, not wanting to spend time debating with yourself and getting yourself stressed. She’d picked out a pair of high waisted denim shorts and a cropped white t shirt, topped with a yellow scarf to tie around your ponytail. It was simple enough that she knew you’d be comfortable but cute enough that you’d feel confident. 

Secretly, she’d also seen the way JJ eyes had dragged slowly over your figure when you’d worn those shorts the week prior. Neither of you had spoken to her, or Pope or JB, about your feelings for the other, but they as a group had all witnessed the gentle way you handled each other and had their suspicions that one of you would break soon. She’d driven you to the boneyard, promising to stay sober enough to relocate you all back to the Chateau at the end of the night. She pulled your hand along, heading straight to where she knew your friends would be congregating, just behind the keg. JB and Pope each had a full cup in hand when you approached and JJ had a joint hanging from the side of his mouth. “Gentlemen, let’s get it going,” Kie startled the boys, a giant smile across her face. 

A few hours into the party and a considerable amount of beer later, the realization hit you that JJ hadn’t wandered off to find someone to mack on yet. He’d even turned down the touron who approached him first, despite her tiny skirt and flawless makeup. It had to be some sort of record for him, usually his presence at these parties was fleeting. You thought back to just the week before when you’d watched him lead a beautiful curly-haired girl back to the Twinkie. You’d felt nauseous watching them flirt, his legs parted as he sat on a low hanging branch with her settled between them. Her hands rested on his chest as she stared up at him from under her eyelashes and you had to rip your gaze from the pair when he slid from his perch and wrapped her hand in his. You kept your eyes on the ground as they passed, but like a train wreck you couldn’t help but watch, you were unable to stop yourself from throwing a last glance in their direction as they approached the van. He’d turned to look at her with a sly smile on his face and must have caught your eye over her shoulder. His smile dropped quickly and something looking like an apology crossed his face for a second but when you looked away again, focusing on holding the burning tears in your eyes back, he recovered and smiled back at the girl, pulling her into the spacious backseat. 

Even just the memory had you tense, and JJ felt the uneasiness radiate off of you from his position by your side. He called your name gently so as to not call attention to the two of you and you turned your head quickly, blinking away your thoughts. Your eyes focused on the concerned look on his face. “You alright? Did someone upset you?” JJ’s eyes were already scanning the crowd for who could have possibly upset you and it pulled a small smile to your face. 

“No, J, I’m alright, just thinking. All good now.” His face turned back to you, a small pout gracing his lips. He asks if you’re sure and when you nod in agreement, he turns his attention back to your friends. The two of you watch Pope and John B argue about if Gatorade was actually better for you than regular water or not for a few minutes before you turn back to JJ. “Hey, JJ?” Your voice is small and it surprises the boy beside you to hear you so timid. When his attention is turned on you completely, you start your question. “Is there a reason you turned down that girl before? She was like, stupidly pretty.” You’re finding it a little hard to meet JJ’s eyes as you ask, so you fiddle with the strings on your bracelet instead. 

A small chuckle leaves his lips before he replies with “I got the prettiest girl at the party standing next to me already. Why would I leave?” Your eyes meet his and there’s no humor anywhere on his face and you can feel yourself get hot under his gaze. You’re left speechless for a second before the sound of Kie’s voice pulls you from the moment. You clear your throat and turn back to your friends, mumbling under your breath. JJ replies with a “hmm?” and you repeat yourself a little louder this time, so he can just hear you.

“Kiss ass.”

+1

Somehow, Kiara had managed to convince her parents to allow you to come to Midsummers as her guest and by an even greater miracle, you’d managed to save enough babysitting money to buy yourself an appropriately fancy dress, floor length and blue with pretty flowers embroidered on it. You arrive at the Carreras’ house early in the afternoon to begin getting ready, helping Kie put her hair up with some flowers pinned in. You chose to keep yours mostly down and let your best friend weave some braids in, tiny beads sprinkled down the length of them. Neither of you put on very much makeup, but it was still more than you’d worn in recent memory, and it felt nice to look in the mirror and actually feel pretty and put together. Kie comes up behind you as you look in the full length mirror and wraps her arms around your waist, chin resting gently on your shoulder. “We look fucking good, don’t we?” She giggles and scrunches her nose up as you meet her eyes in the mirror. 

You nod emphatically before turning to face her, a wide smile on your face. “Hell yeah, we do, baby! The lady pogues know how to clean up good!” Your response makes her laugh, head thrown back, and it makes you wish all your friends would be in attendance, despite how much you love girl time with just you and Kie. 

Your dreams of being able to spend the night with all of your friends almost came true, spotting John B on Sarah’s arm from across the room upon your arrival. The night became even sweeter when you saw Pope standing next to his father, but even as the five of you stood together at the edge of the party, people watching and laughing, you couldn’t shake the feeling that JJ was the piece you were missing most. Kiara and Sarah left to make their way to the restroom and Pope was pulled away to help his dad, leaving you and JB standing in the corner. “You should go see him, you know. Skip out early, I’m sure Kie wouldn’t mind.” You turn to look at your friend, confused at his sudden idea. You had a feeling you knew exactly what he was saying, but you waited for clarification, fiddling with the glass in your hand. “JJ is at the Chateau and before I left, he seemed pretty upset that he wouldn’t get to see you in your dress.” 

He holds out the key to the twinkie and your jaw drops a little, and it makes JB chuckle, shaking his head slightly at your obliviousness. It really hits you all at once, exactly what JJ’s recent change in behavior meant. The intense stares, the end of his slew of meaningless hookups, and especially the sincere compliments that you’d been taking as a joke. You knew you had to see him, so you looked up at JB and handed him your glass, taking his keys from him. “Tell Kie where I went, please.” You turned and started to make your way through the crowd and you heard John B’s cheer through the noise of the party, smiling as you reached the door. 

You don’t even bother turning the radio on when you get in the van, the pounding of your heart loud enough. When you get to the front door of the Chateau, you can hear the television on and it takes a second to see JJ’s outline resting on the couch. The front door slams behind you and JJ doesn’t turn right away. “Jeebs, why are you ho-” The question catches in his throat when he turns and sees you in the doorway instead of John B. He breathes out a quiet “wow, hi.” You move towards him, wrapping your arms around his shoulders so that his hands fall at your hips. 

“JB told me you wanted to see me in my dress, so here I am.” You look up at him teasingly as a blush spreads across his cheeks. “Plus, I couldn’t really have any fun at the kook party. The cutest boy in town wasn’t there.” It’s JJ’s turn to be left speechless and it makes you giggle. The sound pulls him out of his trance and its milliseconds before his lips are pressed to yours. You snake your fingers into his blond hair and you feel his hands squeeze at the meat of your hips as your lips part and he licks into your mouth gently. It feels a thousand years before you pull away, resting your forehead against his. “You’re my favorite person, JJ Maybank. I think you always will be.”

[topsytervy]

Kooky Pogues

Blurb: Your two friend groups don't really get along...until they do

*I'm literally only tagging this as Rafe since it mostly focuses on Rafe but it does involve a good chunk of the others so yeah*

Word Count: 5,414

Warnings: semi-canon Rafe, mentions of cocaine, mentions of drinking, mentions of abuse if I remember correctly, swearing, grammar/spelling mistakes, I think that's it

Little notes real quick:

-we're pretending gold is not a thing here, Peterkin is still alive and has not been murdered, and Sarah didn't cheat on Topper.

-I'm from Wisconsin so I chose Wisconsin cause I know Wisconsin and I don't have to really do research on it so I'm sorry if you hate Wisconsin. Believe me, I do too sometimes.

-And last is this came about cause I feel like if the kooks and pogues didn't hate each other, they would be like that one group of friends in high school that everyone just knows. They would be THAT group.

I was originally going to do something like this as a Christmas blurb where everyone was friends and they and the reader all go get a tree and decorate and shit but that obviously never got posted.

Lowkey kind of want to write more things about them as an entire group of friends though.

Anyway, enjoy :)

~~~~~

You moved to Outer Banks from Wisconsin your freshman year of high school and it was...different to say the least.

The weather was the main thing.

In all your entire sixteen years on earth, you had never experienced a hurricane. Snowstorms were common in Wisconsin so those you didn’t mind, minus the shoveling that your parents had you doing afterward, and you were still a little iffy on tornadoes considering you experienced maybe three in your whole life, only one hitting the town you grew up in and the other two just being warnings.

Hurricanes though were an entirely different category and it was safe to say that you were freaking out because you had never personally experienced one yourself.

And here was the entire town of Kildare knowing what to do and being pretty calm about it.

So, naturally, you stuck out like a sore thumb when you were in the store and trying to figure out what you would need.

It just so happened that three boys would be in the same aisle as you and one of them would be way too observant for their own good.

“She looks confused,” Kelce said from his place next to Rafe who was currently figuring out what soup he wanted.

Rafe and Topper glanced over to see who he was referring to and saw you, scanning shelves as you fiddled with a hair tie on your wrist.

Rafe shrugged, turning back to look at the soups. “Or she’s just a little nervous about Agatha. Believe it or not Kelce, I’m pretty sure some people still get nervous when it comes to storms.”

“I don’t know. I don’t think I recognize her.” Kelce squinted, trying to get a good look at your face which caused Topper to sigh.

“Maybe she’s a touron and now she’s stuck here because of the storm.”

Kelce looked at his two best friends. “Well, the least we can do is help her.” And then he began walking towards you.

Rafe and Topper looked at each other before making their way after their friend.

“Need some help?”

You jumped slightly at the voice and whipped your head to see three boys standing beside you. You placed a hand over your heart and closed your eyes. “Sorry. You startled me.”

“No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have crept up on you like that.” He apologized before repeating his question. “Do you need some help?”

You hesitated before nodding. “Yeah. I’m not exactly from around here. I’ve never really dealt with a storm like this before.”

“Where are you from?” Topper asked.

“Wisconsin.”

It’d be a lie if they said they weren’t a little taken aback by your answer, expecting it to be a state at least somewhat nearby. Not necessarily in hurricane territory but certainly somewhere closer to Outer Banks. Not a state from up north.

“Wow, okay. So this must be different for you.”

You nodded in response and Kelce smiled. “No worries. You’ve got three of the best people here to help you out.”

You chuckled before introducing yourself. “I’m Y/N.”

“I’m Kelce, that’s Topper and that one’s Rafe.” He pointed to each one who did a little wave.

Your smile didn't falter as the names of the three boys rang a bell in your brain.

You were warned about those three when you met the pogues a couple of weeks ago.

“Trust us, Y/N. They look nice but that’s just cause of their nice ass clothes. They’re the spawns of Satan.” John B had told you at The Wreck after school that day.

He, JJ, and Pope met you at school earlier that day and had told you that you needed to meet the other member of the group, Kie, and that you would love her.

Kie came around with some food and she rolled her eyes at the boys before turning to look at you. “They’re not the spawns of Satan per se. They just act like spoiled brats and like they’re God’s gift to everyone.”

“No. They’re spawns of Satan.” JJ sided with his best friend, grabbing a couple of french fries and shoving them into his mouth.

“No, JJ, you’re the spawn of Satan.”

“The point is,” Pope interrupted before an argument could break out, “not exactly the best people. Specifically Rafe.”

But now, there you were, standing with the three boys you were warned about as they helped you grab things that would prove useful in the storm. They even helped you load everything into your car.

“Thank you, guys. I probably would’ve been stuck in there for way longer than necessary if you three didn’t help me.” You smiled as Topper closed the trunk to your car.

Rafe shrugged. “No problem. You better hurry back home though. Don’t want you getting caught in Agatha.”

You looked towards the sky and grimaced at the darkness before saying thanks once more as Kelce opened your door and you climbed in, waving goodbye to the boys as they waved back.

Before you could pull out of your parking spot, Topper was holding his phone screen up, his Snapchat on display. You quickly grabbed your phone and typed in his snap username before adding him and he added you back. “Let me know when you get home or I’ll be watching the news like an old man for the next week.”

You shot him a thumbs up before reversing out of the parking space and driving away.

“She’s sweet,” Rafe commented as they watched your drive out of the parking lot.

The other two nodded in agreement before heading to Kelce’s car, Rafe and Kelce both telling Top to send them your username.

You thought the same thing about the three kook boys because, in your mind, if they thought they were so high and mighty of themselves, they wouldn’t have helped you out the way they did.

Now here you were, two and a half years later and still friends with two groups that hated each other. Both groups were incredibly confused at the fact that you were friends with the other and neither group liked the idea of sharing you with the other but you told them that they wouldn’t have to mingle with each other.

As much as you wanted to be able to hang out with all your friends at once, you knew that wouldn’t happen without a fight breaking out and you didn’t want to deal with that.

The only issue you had with your friends was Rafe and his relationship with coke, knowing damn well that him being high didn’t help anything in the least when it came to the pogues, especially JJ.

You had learned that at a party when Sarah had found you and informed you that JJ seemed off and he wasn’t talking to anyone. You decided that you would try to talk to the blonde and excused yourself from the kook boys, telling them you wouldn’t be long, before following Sarah to where the pogues were.

Sure enough, there was a lively conversation going around but JJ wasn’t really participating, just nursing a beer as he stared at the sand underneath his boots.

You sat down next to him and bumped your shoulder against his, causing him to glance at you and send him a small smile. “What’s up, J?”

“Nothing.” He shrugged and you nodded.

“You sure?”

JJ looked at you and noticed the concern in your eyes, sighing as he turned to face you. “It’s nothing I can’t handle, Y/N/N.”

You frowned at his answer, not liking what that could mean. “JJ, are you in trouble?”

“See this is where the line gets blurry for us cause you and I have different definitions of trouble.” JJ took a sip of his beer as you stared at him. It didn’t take long for him to break underneath your gaze. “It’s just my dad. Like I said, nothing I can’t handle.” He mumbled, finishing off his drink.

You immediately placed your cup on the ground and wrapped your arms around the blonde in front of you. He placed his head on your shoulder and you heard him sniffle. “Wanna go somewhere away from here and talk, bud?” You felt him nod and you whispered an ‘okay’ before unwrapping your arms from around him and leading him away from the party and farther down the boneyard.

You spent the next hour listening to JJ before wiping his tears and pulling him in for another hug, rubbing his back as you did.

And that was when Kelce, Topper, and Rafe had decided to go look for you. Rafe had had a line or two during the time you were with JJ and was already slightly on edge, thinking that maybe you got swept up with some touron on your way back and they were getting a little too handsy without your consent, when he spotted you holding JJ.

Before anyone could stop the oldest Cameron, he was storming over to you two, not amused with the fact that he, Kelce, and Topper were getting gypped out of their Y/N time. After all, it was their turn to have you for most of the night since the pogues had you the entire day yesterday.

“Alright, Maybank, you’ve taken up enough of her time!” He hollered, Kelce and Topper behind him just in case they needed to be there to drag their friend off of the younger boy.

JJ, however, misread this action as a threat when he turned to look at Rafe and he immediately went into defense mood, standing up as he let go of you and put on his tough-guy act.

You stood up and stepped between Rafe and JJ to serve as a barrier of some sort to make sure no fists would fly.

“Rafe, I promise that I’ll be back soon but I gotta help JJ with something first.” You told him gently, suddenly aware of how quickly this situation could escalate considering this was a party and there was definitely some alcohol consumed by both boys.

“What? Do I gotta get hit by my dad too so I can have some time with you?” Rafe spat.

Your hand came to your mouth as your eyes widened. You couldn’t believe Rafe would say that.

JJ stared at Rafe as he kissed his teeth before turning to look at you. “I don’t think you should be hanging out with Rafe for the rest of the night, Y/N. He’s high and he’s enough of an asshat when he’s sober so god only knows what the hell is going to go down when he’s higher than a damn kite. I don’t want to risk you being around that.”

Your gaze shifted to Rafe and saw his expression flicker from anger to hurt for a second before shifting back to anger. “Maybe she shouldn’t hang out with you ever again JJ considering all the trouble you get into. I don’t want to turn on my tv one day to find out one of my best friends is dead in a ditch because you decided to do something stupid and drag her along.”

JJ laughed. “Says the guy who is friends with Barry, the most dangerous drug dealer in town. You put her life at risk every time you screw him over.”

You sighed and rubbed your temples. “Please stop.” The two arguing boys looked over at you as Topper and Kelce kept observing the situation. “JJ, We’ll talk more tomorrow. I’m going to take Rafe home.”

JJ looked between you and Rafe before sighing, running one of his hands through his hair before nodding. “Yeah. Alright. Be safe and text me when you get home so I know you made it back safely.”

“Yeah. Of course.” You wrapped your arms around his neck and his went around your waist for your goodbye hug. “Everything's going to work out in the end, mkay?” You whispered. He nodded, squeezing you a little before letting go. You turned towards Rafe and let out a breath.”Let's get you home, Cameron.”

You held out your hand for the keys to his truck as you, Rafe, Kelce, and Topper all made your way back to where the cars had been parked. “Do you two need a lift back as well?” You asked Kelce and Topper, trying to tell them that you and Rafe needed to have a one on one conversation.

And by some miracle, Kelce seemed to pick up on that because he immediately turned Topper into the direction of the beer pong table and went “Hey, isn’t that Chrissy. I still owe her a beer pong match.” And ushered the slightly confused blonde towards the direction of this person named Chrissy.

You walked to Rafe’s truck and climbed into the driver’s seat as he climbed into the passenger, both of you feeling strange sitting in the seats the other would usually sit in.

You weren’t going to lie, you were a little scared to drive Rafe’s truck considering your car was a 2002 Chevrolet Prizm and, let’s be real, there is quite the size difference between a truck and a little old car like that, but you would rather drive a vehicle you weren’t exactly used to than let Rafe drive while under the influence.

You started the car and carefully pulled onto the street, making your way towards your house since your family was on a weekend trip on the mainland, one that you politely declined because you did not want to share a hotel room with your two younger siblings and your parents, and you especially did not want to either share a bed with your siblings or sleep on one of the chairs like you had done countless times before.

About ten minutes into the twenty-minute drive, you heard Rafe mumble something.

“I’m sorry?” You asked, glancing over at him.

“I said you missed the turn.” He repeated, slightly louder this time and referring to the road you needed to get to Tanneyhill.

“I was thinking we could stay at mine tonight, bud.”

Rafe tapped his finger against his thigh as he nodded, becoming nervous at how quiet the ride had been thus far and how you hadn’t even yelled at him on his behavior towards JJ. At how he completely ruined your night just because you were checking up on one of your friends like you always did.

You were there for Topper and Sarah both when they broke up, JJ when things got bad with his dad, Kie when she felt so overwhelmed with the kook life and the expectations, John B with DCS, Pope while he was stressing about his scholarship, Kelce when he felt like he wasn’t good enough and, of course, Rafe with his drug habit.

You should be pissed at him right now for getting mad at you helping out a friend.

You were five minutes away from your house that sat on the edge of the Cut when the silence became too much for Rafe and he snapped. “Can you just fucking yell at me already and get it over with!”

You jumped slightly at the sudden outburst before glancing over at him. “Why would I yell at you?”

You had yet to yell at any of your friends, even when they were being childish and very anti-pogue or anti-kook.

“Because we should still be at the boneyard, dancing, getting drunk and whatnot but instead you’re here, driving me back to your house because JJ and I had a spat.”

You shrugged. “Am I upset that you dragged me away from a serious conversation with J? Of course. But if you think I’m going to yell at you for it, then you really must be high.”

“I’m not that high. JJ was being dramatic back there. I had two lines, that’s it. Two lines barely does anything for me anymore.” He muttered.

You pulled into your driveway and parked his truck next to your car before turning off the engine, turning to face Rafe. “Why did you say that, Rafe?”

A confused look crossed his face. “Cause it doesn’t…” He replied slowly, thinking you were talking about his comment about the lines.

“No. Why did you say, in front of JJ, that thing about having to have your dad hit you too in order to get some time with me?” Rafe’s gaze dropped to the floor and he fiddled with his fingers, shrugging in response. “You do know, Rafe. It wasn’t just to get under his skin this time.” Your voice was soft as you spoke, scared that anything louder would spook him and put him on defense. “What’s wrong, bud?”

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing if it’s bothering you.” You unbuckled your seatbelt and turned your entire body to face him.

He sighed. “I just feel like every time I need to talk to you about something that happened with my dad, something else always comes up with JJ and his dad that involves you having to go patch him up or something. I’ve maybe talked to you twice about something that went down with dad.” He whispered.

“Rafe, just because I go to help JJ, doesn’t mean you can’t text me to come over after and talk to me about your problems.” You explained.

“I just don’t want you to get overwhelmed with everything. I feel like everyone goes to you for their issues and I don't want to add on to whatever stress you're already dealing with."

You sat there in silence for a few seconds.

"Is that why you turn to coke? You feel like you can't talk about your problems to anyone or you feel like a burden if you try to?"

Rafe shrugged. "I don't really know. It's an escape from everything, I guess."

“Oh, Rafe,” You leaned over his center console and wrapped your arms around him.

That’s all it took for Rafe to lose any composure he had, breaking down and letting out everything he had bottled up right there in your driveway.

You sat there in his truck, stretched over his center console as you hugged him, listening to him as he spoke through his sobs, your hand rubbing his back in soothing circles.

"I wish I wasn't such a fuck-up." He sniffed when he had finished.

"You're not a fuck-up, Rafe."

"Yes, I am."

"Stop talking about yourself like that, Rafe. I hate it when you put yourself down.”

“Sorry,” He mumbled, “I just wish I was better. Is that better? I wish I was more like Sarah. I wish I was the son dad wanted."

You pulled away from him. "Everyone has their flaws, bud. You can always get help and I'll always be here for you through the ups and the downs. You know that right?" Rafe nodded. “Feel a little better?”

“Yeah.”

You smiled at him before opening your door and hopping out. “Let’s get you to bed then.”

Rafe followed your actions and as he stood behind you, waiting for you to unlock the front door, he spoke so quietly you almost didn’t hear him.

“Can you come with me tomorrow? To get help?” He was staring at the ground, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

You looked back at him as you opened the door. “Absolutely.”

****

You stood outside with Topper and Kelce, nervously fiddling with the ring you had with your finger as you waited for Rafe.

Three months had passed since he entered rehab and you had visited him a couple of times during his stay but not as often as you had liked considering you still had school and work.

Your head whipped up when you heard footsteps approaching your small group and you grinned when you saw Rafe

You let Topper and Kelce greet him first as you took in the small amount of stubble on his face and his slightly longer hair. Rafe pulled away from the two boys before walking over to you and engulfing you in a hug. You immediately reciprocated the action, smiling as you did. “You look pretty damn good, bud.” You told him. “I feel pretty damn good.” He answered back, pulling away as he held you an arm’s length away. “Any girls or guys I should know about that have magically appeared in these past three months?” You laughed as you shook your head. “No. No girls or guys you need to worry about.”

Rafe made a noise of approval before turning to face the entire group. “Just so we're clear… I call shotgun.”

You and Kelce both groaned as you all walked to Topper's car, Rafe grinning as he yanked open the passenger door. As you buckled in, Topper started the car. “Alright. What are we doing so I know where I'm going?” “As much as I would love to join you, I promised my parents I would watch the twins while they went out shopping for my birthday present.” You stated. Kelce made a face. “Shouldn't they go with your parents to get you a gift?” “Here's the thing about my brother and sister, they get distracted easily and have to constantly be reminded by my parents that they are not here for them, so mom and dad have found it easier to leave them at home with me and just find a gift that they can just say is from everyone.” You explained as Topper headed towards your house. Rafe shrugged. “Fine by us. That leaves us alone to discuss your gift.” He smirked as he looked back at you. You rolled your eyes. “You don't have to get me anything.”

“We know but we want to.” Topper’s eyes met yours through the rearview mirror. “Fine but if I end up spending my birthday in the hospital, you three are paying the bill.”

Kelce, Rafe, and Topper all saluted you, causing you to roll your eyes once more before the conversation turned to catching Rafe up on everything that had happened while he was gone.

The three boys all waved goodbye to you before waving to the twins who were looking out the window.

“So where are we going? The mall? That little boutique she likes?” Topper reversed out of the driveway before glancing at his two friends. “TanneyhillWheezie. I need to grab my wallet and I'm hoping Sarah's there.”

Kelce and Topper stared at the older boy in shock, never having heard those words come out of Rafe's mouth before. Kelce leaned forward and placed the back of his hand on Rates forehead. “You feeling okay, man?”

Rafe swatted his hand away. “Just drive to Tanneyhill.”

Topper did as he was told, driving the route he knew all too well. Rafe was out of the car before Topper had fully stopped, heading straight into the extravagant house and up the stairs. He stopped in front of Wheezie's door and knocked on it, only for it to open seconds later. “Hey,” He greeted. Wheezie's face lit up at the sight of her brother and she tackled him in a hug, causing him to stumble a little. “Damn, Wheezie. Did you join the football team while I was gone?” he laughed, wrapping his arms around her. “Did you get my letters?” She queried, looking up at him. He nodded. “All thirty-six and a half of them.”

“I sent you thirty-seven.”

“Didn't anybody tell you that if you send someone a letter and it only fills half the page, it only counts as half?” Wheezie rolled her eyes. “Whatever. The main thing is your back and now I don't have to write letters anymore. I can just text you.”

Rafe laughed as he let go of her. “Fair enough. how are you? Has dad been giving you a hard time?” he dropped his voice down, not knowing where his dad was. “Not really. He didn't like it when I asked about you though. I once asked if we could visit you and you would've thought I told him I was pregnant and dropping out of school.” Wheezie casted her gaze down to the floor. “I had to have Topper or Kelce send out the letters for me because dad ripped up the first one I wrote you. It was like he wanted to wash you from everyone's memory. He even yelled at Sarah when she told him that it was pretty fucked up to rip up the letter when I was just trying to stay in touch with you through a hard time.”

“I'm sorry, Wheeze.”

She shrugged. “It’s fine. At least you’re back.”

Rafe gave her a small smile. “Is Sarah home or out?”

“Her room. Kie’s over though.”

“Thanks. I’ll catch up with you later. We’ll watch a movie or play a game or something.”

His half-sister nodded before heading back into her room, closing the door behind her.

“That was the cutest thing ever. She almost makes me wish I had a little sister. Almost.” Topper said from behind Rafe, causing him to jump a little.

He pushed past his two friends to head towards his sister’s room, knocking on the doorframe as he peeked in.

Sarah and Kie both looked towards the door from whatever show they were watching and Sarah gave him a smile. “Howdy, howdy. You’re back.”

“Yeah and we all need to talk. That means your boyfriend and his friends too.”

“Cutting straight to the point, I see. Why do we all need to talk?” Sarah questioned.

“Because it involves Y/N and her birthday.”

“We already got her a gift,” Kie stated, turning her attention back to the tv.

“That’s great and all but I think she’d like to have all her friends together on her actual birthday than have to spend it splitting the time between her friends cause she’s scared they’re going to turn it into a battle of who’s the better friend group.” Rafe looked between the two girls.

“Rafe, buddy, I love you and all but what the hell is bringing JJ, John B, and Pope over going to do? It’s going to end horribly.” Kelce spoke up.

“We’re all going to have a nice little chat and sort out our differences even if it takes all night and watching a movie with Wheezie.”

Kie sighed. “She did once tell me it’d be nice if she could hang out with everyone at once, she just doesn’t want to make things worse between the two groups.”

Sarah picked up her phone. “I’ll call John B and tell him I need help moving something and that he should bring Pope and JJ to help."

Within twenty minutes, three sets of footsteps were sounding throughout the house as the three boys thundered up the stairs.

"Alright, we better be getting lunch for doing this." JJ stopped in his tracks when he saw the three kook boys. "And I'll be leaving now. I'll just have a peanut butter sandwich for lunch instead." He said, turning around to leave.

"Oh no, you're not. You three are going to join this therapy session whether you guys like it or not." Sarah stared at them as she stood up, beckoning them inside.

"I would just like to point out that any 'therapy session' with him, usually ends with fists." John B pointed towards Rafe.

"Believe it or not, Rafe suggested this," Sarah informed her boyfriend.

"And that's not the least bit suspicious to you."

"If you three want to do something nice for Y/N/N this year for her birthday, you'll sit your asses down and participate." Kie glared at her three friends. The pogues exchanged looks and Kie snapped. "Sit!"

"Sitting." JJ flopped onto the desk chair as Pope and John B filed in, Sarah closing the door behind them.

***

A week later, you waited for your parents by the door, your younger siblings next to you as you three slowly grew hungrier waiting for your parents to make sure they had everything they needed.

"By the time you two are done, the day's going to end and we'll have to wait until next year to celebrate Y/N's birthday," Sammy called out.

"Yeah. And then you'll need to have two cakes. One for her seventeenth birthday and one for her eighteenth." Alex added.

You rolled your eyes but couldn't help complaining yourself. "Seriously. Can we go? You said that if we didn't leave now then everything would go to shit and that was ten minutes ago!"

"Okay, okay!" Your dad and mom came rushing out and you all exited the house. "I thought I raised you three to have some patience."

"Well, when you say 'don't have any snacks between now and dinner' and your kids listen for once, your children aren't going to have a lot of patience." You patted his back before taking your spot in between the twins in the backseat.

As you drove to The Wreck, you continued asking what the surprise was.

"Is the family visiting from Wisconsin?"

Your mom shook her head. "Just wait and see."

Alex leaned over. "Trust me when I say that you wouldn't guess it in a million years." Your brother grinned.

"Welp, here's high hopes but something I wouldn't guess in a million years, did you get me a Ferrari?"

"Hell no. I'll get a Ferrari before you do." Your dad shot at you as your family pulled into the parking lot of The Wreck.

You followed your family inside, Mr.Carrera wishing you a happy birthday as you passed him, and just about passed out from what you saw.

Gathered around the table, laughing and chatting as if they were all old friends, were your two friend groups.

"Oh my God. I think I'm hallucinating. Dad, you might have to take me to the hospital."

"There she is! The birthday girl. Welcome to the seventeen club!" JJ hollered.

You rolled your eyes as you walked over, your family following as you went around and hugged everyone. "What the hell got all of you to hold hands and have a civil conversation?"

"You'd be surprised how therapeutic hitting someone with a pillow can be," Pope commented.

"You will also be surprised at how quickly a bunch of teenagers will bond together to make sure a thirteen-year-old doesn't win monopoly," Kelce added.

Your brows furrowed in confusion and Topper smiled. "The point is, we all have reconciled and you do not have to worry about someone bouncing someone's head off a wall on purpose."

You nodded slowly before taking a seat in between Pope and Sarah. "I think I've entered an alternate universe."

"Trust me, you haven't." Mr.Carrera reassured you as he brought over the cake.

The group sang happy birthday and you smiled before blowing out the candles, your dad and Mr.Carrera beginning to slice the cake after the candles were removed.

"Alright, so who was the mastermind? It has to be one of the reasonable ones." You took your plate from your dad as you looked around the group, grabbing a fork. "Unless it was one of these two which I wouldn't doubt if they managed to lock you all in a pantry or something one day." You motioned to your brother and sister with your fork.

"Actually, it was Rafe."

You looked at Kie before turning your attention to the guy across from you who shrugged. "It was nothing."

You shook your head. "Well, I'm just going to say it right now, don’t be offended if I don't love your gifts cause all of you together takes the cake for the best gift."

"Wow. Cheesy much." John B teased.

You went to respond but heard a whistle cause the whole group to turn towards the noise. Your mom stood with a camera in her hands, a smile plastered on her face.

"Alright. All of you together for a picture now because two groups have become one and this must be documented or no one will believe it."

You all moved around slightly so everyone could be seen and smiled, listening to the click of the camera that told you the photo was taken.

You leaned across the table towards Rafe. "Thank you."

"No. Thank you."

~~~~~