#it’s like the ones about kie and jj being siblings or Sarah and jj

[fangirl-writes]

Who Do You Love?

JJ Maybank x Fem!Reader

Warning(s): angst

Request: I NEED MORE ANGST SO WHAT ABT THE READER IS UNSURE IF JJ LOVES HER OR NOT SO SHE BREAKDOWNS IN FRONT OF HIM AND HE REASSURES HER AND FLUFF ENDING

Notes: Man JJ and angst just go together and that’s unfortunate but a happy ending is mandatory. Also Cleo’s in here but there aren’t any season 3 spoilers. I think if this situation were actually in the show, it would be way more action-y and dramatic but I wasn’t feeling that so have this instead.

It wasn’t that JJ was a bad boyfriend. On the contrary, he was a better boyfriend than his circumstances would’ve led you to believe.

But lately it had been nagging at you; a year into the relationship and he hadn’t told you he loved you. Not once.

It wasn’t like you hadn’t said it. In fact, when you said it the first time, JJ looked like he was ready to break up with you on the spot.

But he didn’t and you just assumed that he wasn’t ready. You always put your whole heart to things and JJ was no different. You’re convinced he’s the one.

But now, after everything that’s happened to you guys, he still can’t say it?

John B. and Sarah got metaphorically married after not even six months in a relationship and JJ can’t tell you he loves you.

Are you that unimportant to him? Or is this just a fling to him? And breaking up with you is just something he hasn’t gotten around to yet?

It’s a stupid thought, JJ never does anything he doesn’t want to do and he’d never play with your feelings like that, but you can’t wrap your mind around why he doesn’t just tell you.

There can’t be another girl, right? That’s just silly when would he have the time-

...him and Kiara had been spending a lot of time together lately.

But her and Pope- no. That hadn’t worked out either. Was that where you and JJ were headed? To an unceremonious end that you wouldn’t talk about? You didn’t think you could be as cool with it as Pope.

Maybe that’s because you weren’t a true pogue.

Which was just as silly because you’d been friends with them since way before you and JJ became a thing. But you two were the first to break the “no macking” rule, even before Kiara kissed John B.

Oh, fuck.

First John B. and then Pope...Kiara wasn’t just making her rounds on her friends, right? Trying each of them out until one fit?

No, how could you even think that? That’s a horrible thing to think about one of your friends. But the insecure little girl inside of you was trying to come up with an explanation. One that wasn’t just “he’s not ready.”

Because why wasn’t he ready?

You tried to push these feelings down. Tried to not stare at John B. and Sarah with jealous longing, to not feel queasy inside when Kie and JJ hugged.

If anyone noticed your discomfort, they didn’t say anything. There was just so much going on, as always, and anyone’s feelings that weren’t out in the open fell to the wayside.

But, if you were being honest with yourself, it was starting to wear on you.

“Hey, pretty girl,” Cleo said, snapping her fingers in front of your face. “Why ya staring at Kiara like you wish her head would explode?”

You blinked, a blush coloring your cheeks. “What? I-I wasn’t-”

“Now, come on. Don’t lie to your auntie Cleo. What’s going on?”

You rubbed your arm, considering. Cleo might be the best person to talk to about it. She and JJ weren’t really close, so she could give a rather unbiased perspective on things. Maybe she could help.

“It’s just...you don’t think there’s anything going on between them do you?”

Your gaze was transfixed on the way Kie and JJ laughed, doing a little dance to the music playing at the wreck. 

“Them two? Nah. They bicker like siblings, but I don’ think either of them are interested like that. Besides, aren’t you and JJ an item?”

You nodded. “Yeah but lately I’ve been...kind of worried about it.”

“How so?”

You took a deep breath.

“It’s stupid, really, but JJ and I have been together for over a year now and...he hasn’t told me he loves me. Which I know is a stupid thing to be worried about but I can’t keep it from bugging me-”

“Hey, hey, slow down there,” Cleo said, coaxing you from the brink of rambling. “If it’s botherin’ you this much then it’s not stupid.”

You bit you lip, anxiety pooling in your stomach.

“For what it’s worth, JJ looks at you like your da sun. But if you’re really this worried about it, just talk to him. Either way it goes, you’ll have your answer.”

You gave her a grateful look. “Thanks for listening.”

“Anytime. We’re friends, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. Now go talk to yer boyfriend before someone’s head explodes.”

You laughed, feeling a little more relieved, but that anxiety returned the closer to JJ you got.

He was his beautiful self, as always; drinking a coke in board shorts and a muscle tee, sunglasses perched perfectly on his nose, and strands of blond hair falling gracefully over them.

“Hey, baby,” JJ greeted casually as you approached, putting a hand on your thigh when you stopped by his seat.

“Hey, J,” you replied, trying to keep the waver out of your voice. “Can we talk?”

His eyebrows furrowed. “Is everything all right?”

“Yeah! Yeah. I just need to talk to you about something...alone, preferably.”

You glanced around the group, who were all staring at you with curious eyes and wondering glances. You never asked JJ to “talk,” especially not alone.

“Yeah, uh, okay.”

JJ got up anyway, but you could tell by his body language that he was just as weirded out by this as the rest of the pogues (except Cleo, who gave you an encouraging nod when you glanced at her).

He reached for your hand, but you crossed your arms to sneakily avoid it and took off toward the docks. That he definitely noticed.

“Are you sure everything’s okay?” He asked, sitting himself down beside you on the dock.

“Actually, no, but also yes? Um, you’re gonna think this is stupid and I really need you not to blow up at me for it because I think I’d lose my mind if you did.”

“Y/N, what’s going on? Talk to me.”

You let him take your hand this time and squeezed it for comfort.

“I just...why haven’t you said you love me?”

JJ’s brow furrowed. “What?”

“It’s stupid, I know, but, J, why? I’ve told you I love you. I’ve told you multiple times, even just out of instinct, but you haven’t said it once.”

“I say it-”

“No. You don’t.” You snapped.

This put JJ into defense mode. “Why’s it so important to you anyway? They’re just words. Just because you say them doesn’t make them true.”

“But are they?”

“What?”

“Are they true?”

Tears were rolling down your cheeks now, unable to control your emotions when he was discounting your feelings like this.

“This is stupid,” JJ said, standing up.

That shattered you.

“So, that’s it then?” You asked, feeling your heart sinking in your chest. “You don’t love me?”

“Of course I love you, Y/N! Why the fuck would I be with you if I didn’t love you?”

“I don’t know, you tell me!” You shot back. “Because this has been bothering me for weeks and you haven’t noticed anything’s been off! You’re too busy with this stupid treasure hunt and hanging around with Kiara-”

“Is that what this is about? You’re pissed because I’m hanging out with Kie?” JJ asked, face pinching angrier with every second.

“No, that’s not what I-”

“Well, maybe I should date her! At least she wouldn’t act like this!”

“Maybe you should!”

JJ’s face fell and silence settled between you.

Tears were still falling from your eyes and you hugged yourself, regret and guilt pooling in your stomach.

“You don’t mean that,” JJ whispered.

“I don’t know,” You replied, softly.

“You don’t know what?”

You shook your head. “I just don’t know. I don’t know if I meant it. I don’t know if you love me. I don’t know if I want to be dating you any more.”

JJ looked like you felt, completely shattered. Tears were pooling in his eyes and his mouth was slightly open, like he wanted to say something but couldn’t get the words out.

“Y/N-” he started, reaching out for you.

You stepped back from him. “Just...just don’t.”

You shouldered passed him, heading up the dock.

JJ watched, frozen, as you grabbed your bicycle from where it was leaned against the Wreck’s building and biked away.

He also caught sight of his friends, who’d been watching the encounter from the balcony, and they looked to him, confused.

What just happened?

JJ wasn’t sure either. But he knew that if he didn’t do something soon, he was gonna lose the most important thing to him.

It wasn’t until the sun had gone down that JJ finally showed up at your house.

You’d been expecting him since you left without resolving anything in your fight. In fact, you’d been aching for him for that long, wishing he’d come hold you in his arms and tell you everything would be okay, like he always did. But when he was the cause of the pain, would that make it better or worse?

You were almost asleep when there was tapping on your window.

You went to it almost too quickly, opening the curtains to see JJ standing on the roof with a small bouquet of flowers in his hand and an unsure grin.

With a deep breath, you opened the window.

“Hey,” JJ said, sliding into your room as you moved out of the way.

You didn’t respond to him, just crossed your arms and waited for him to start talking, a tired frown etched on your face.

“Um...these are for you,” he said, holding out the bouquet.

They were Gaillardias. The flowers that grew in the soft sand along beach walkways. JJ always said they reminded him of you because they were bright and beautiful and thrived in the sun.

The thought warmed your heart and you felt yourself wanting to cry again.

You took the bouquet from him, “thank you.”

You put them in a small vase that was on your desk, having once held the flowers JJ got you for your birthday a few months ago and you were just too lazy to put the vase away. You were thankful for it now.

“So,” he started, taking a seat on your bed. “Can we talk about our fight?”

You shrugged. “I guess we have to, right?”

JJ nodded as you sat next to him.

“I’m sorry for bringing it up,” You said, avoiding looking at him. “I knew it was stupid and I still brought it up. I just wanted to know...”

“It wasn’t stupid,” JJ replied, also not looking at you. “I’m sorry for saying it was.”

“Would you tell me why?” You asked.

“I-” JJ sighed, turning sideways and pulling you along with him so that the two of you were facing each other.

You wrinkled your nose. “JJ your shoes are all sandy-”

“I’ll take them off,” he said, quickly pulling his sneakers off his feet and dropping them on the floor, making sure to wipe away the sand before taking a deep breath and continuing. “I can’t say I love you because I really do. It’s hard for me to say because everyone I’ve loved before have left me. My mom’s gone, I loved my dad just as much as I hated him, Big John’s gone, I thought I lost John B.”

JJ hung his head, stopping to take a breath. “I guess I’m just scared that I’ll lose you, too,”

You chuckled a little. “You know, it’s funny, I wanted you to tell me you love me because I didn’t want to lose you. I thought that if you weren’t saying it, that meant that this wasn’t something you were invested in.”

“I’ve never been more invested in anything in my life,” JJ admitted.

You smiled. “I guess that’s all I need.”

“No,” JJ shook his head. “No, this time I’m going to say it. I love you, Y/N.”

You felt like crying all over again. “I love you, too,”

JJ took your face in his hands and pressed his lips to yours. A gesture you returned, putting your hands on his chest and gripping his grey t-shirt tightly.

A thunk hit your window, causing the two of you to pull apart and turn your attention towards it.

“Oh, yeah,” JJ said, getting up and sticking his head out of the window. “We’re good, guys!”

Confused, you joined JJ at the window.

The twinkie was sitting in your driveway, passenger and side door open, with the rest of the pogues around it.

“Good,” John B. said. “We were starting to think she killed you.”

“Not yet, he’s still worth keeping around,” you said, jokingly.

“You guys coming down? We’re gonna go have a bonfire now.”

JJ smirked. “Nah, I think we’ve got some more apologizing to do, if you know what I mean.”

“JJ!” You said, shoving his shoulder and blushing furiously.

“Be safe!” Pope said.

“Use protection!” Kiara said.

“Don’t do anythin’ I wouldn’t do!” Cleo chimed in.

“I hate you all!” You said, disappearing back into your room.

JJ laughed, leaning back in and closing the window.

“Now,” he said. “Where were we?”

“I’d really like to start at ‘I love you’,” you said, smiling bashfully, sitting back on your bed.

JJ leaned forward on his hands that were on either side of you. “Well, then I love you,”

You were giddy inside. “Alright, let’s do this.”

JJ laughed as your wrapped your arms around his neck and leaned backwards on the bed, taking him with you.

Yeah, maybe love doesn’t only have to be said in words, but it’s nice to hear. And JJ would say it indefinitely more times, if only to see the smile it brought to your face.

[obxsummer]

Break in the Line // The Pogues

pairing: platonic!pogues x maybank!reader

summary: having the maybank name attached to you was a curse. you've never had to pay for it until a drug dealer decides to take his revenge against your brother and dad out on you.

warnings: physical violence, cursing

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--

When people heard the name Maybank, it generally didn’t mean anything good. Luke Maybank was a local piece of shit and JJ Maybank did enough to get himself into trouble more often than not. The one time the name meant something good, was when it applied to you. You weren’t your brother and you definitely strayed from your dad at every moment possible. People questioned often how you managed with an out-of-control sibling and a drug addict father, but it never seemed like that for you. Sure, your dad sucked, but JJ never seemed too out of grasp for you. In fact, your brother was one of your best friends, but that didn’t mean you had to act like him or vice versa.

The Pogues looked to you more often than not to keep them from doing something stupid, which happened more than it should. In turn, they tried to keep you from their shenanigans as much as possible. You didn’t mind when they did things that were slightly illegal but at some point, you had enough with the crazy adrenaline and left them to their own devices. 

You weren’t oblivious though, as much as you wish you didn’t know what they got themselves involved in. You knew your dad painted a large target on yours and JJ’s back with the way he acted. Hence, the situation you found yourself in right now.

The day had started off fine. You were hanging out with the Pogues on the boat, happily content with the sun on your skin and the laughter of your friends surrounding you. These were the moments you savoured, when you could just act like kids and not have to stress about life at home or where you would get your next meal. 

“Y/N, heads up!” You barely had time to open your eyes before a beer can was being tossed your way. Cold ice dropped on your skin from the drink as you sat up to shake the cold water away.

“I know you did not just throw my sister a beer, John B.”

You rolled your eyes. “Chill out, JJ.” You glared at him from behind your sunglasses, annoyed with the off and on babying he often treated you with. You guys weren’t too far apart in age but JJ took every opportunity to annoy the shit out of you when he could. 

You’d grown comfortable being around your brother and friends for majority of your life. You had known John B since you were practically born with Pope and Kie close behind. Sarah was the newest addition but the two of you formed a relationship relatively quick. She understood what it was like to be on the shy side and a little more introverted. The others definitely were not in that boat in the slightest.

“Sooo,” Kie pulled the attention back as she sat down from getting her drink. “There’s a kegger tonight and I think it’s pretty much obvious that we should go.”

“I’m down,” John B instantly agreed, lifting his drink in agreement.

Pope shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t have to help Pops at all so count me in.”

“It’s not like I have shit to do so.” JJ turned his hat backwards as he looked over to where you were opening your drink. “Y/N?”

You hummed for a moment in thought. “I don’t know, guys. I might just crash at the Chateau for movie night.” In your defense, you’d spent the entire week with the group nonstop. Minus the few classes you didn’t have with one of them, you’d seen them every day and quite frankly, your social battery was past empty.

“I’m with Y/N,” Sarah raised her hand slightly only to be hit with a groan from her boyfriend. “Seriously, John B. You guys can go and Y/N and I will chill until you get back. It’ll be fine.”

It took a little bit of persuading but eventually, the rest of the gang piled in the Twinkie to head to the kegger while you and Sarah bundled up for a classic movie night. JJ said something about not burning the house down on his way out, to which you flipped him off in return. Sarah managed to find some not-expired popcorn in the cabinet and made it for the two of you before you settled in to watch your film.

“I’m really grateful you’ve been spending time with everyone,” Sarah spoke up about halfway through the movie. I gave her a deadpanned look. She shoved your shoulder lightly in return. “Seriously. I know it’s not really much of your scene but it’s nice to have another person around to buffer the chaos.”

You shook your head. “I definitely had my fair share. I’m just glad you backed me up about staying in tonight. They can go-go-go nonstop and I need a six day recovery inbetween school days.”

Sarah opened her mouth to respond to you but was cut off by a crashing noise coming from outside. The two of you froze, staring at each other in horror for a moment. You waited for a second before moving slowly and opening the patio door, wishing for once JJ was here with his gun. Sarah moved quietly behind you as you stepped down onto the grass.

“Who’s there?” You tried to make your voice seem menacing, to show no fear. You were terrified.

“There she is, there she is.” Your heart dropped at the sight of Barry jumping from around the corner with a clear taste for vengeance in his eyes. “Just the Maybank I was looking for.”

“What do you want, Barry?” You backed up slightly as he neared you. “I don’t have anything to do wit-”

He laughed and rubbed his hands together as he took you in. You felt small in your oversized sweats and a t-shirt that definitely belonged to one of the boys. “See, that’s the thing, princess. You seem to have everything to do with this.”

A harsh slap to your cheek had you cowering back, Sarah gasping out your name as she moved to your side to hold your arm. The two of you weren’t prepared for something like this in the slightest. 

“Your shitty ass father didn’t give me my money, your brother still owes me, and since they seemingly aren’t bothered by it, I’m gonna send them a message instead.”

Barry ripped you out of Sarah’s arms and threw you to the ground before you had a chance to defend yourself. The pain came soon after, moving faster than you could keep up with. Punch after punch becoming numbing. You could vaguely hear Sarah’s shouts to stop but Barry was determined.

A sharp hand around your throat chopped your airflow off before Barry lifted you off the ground and slammed your back against the house. Eyes blurry with tears, you did your best to look him in the eye and act like you weren’t afraid, weren’t fearful that he could easily kill you.

“Sorry to mess up your face, princess. It’s nothing personal,” Barry let out a sick laugh before releasing you to the ground. You could hear the crunch of his footsteps as he ran away. 

“Y/N, Y/N.” Sarah’s hands were shaky as she kneeled next to you. “I-I called John B and JJ, a-and Kie and Pope but nobody’s answering!”

You coughed aggressively once you got air back into your lungs. “Inside,” You choked out as you let Sarah pull you to your feet. A small yelp left your mouth as your left ankle gave out but your friend was quick to step in and help you inside.

Sarah was absolutely panicking as she helped you settle on the pull-out that the two of you had previously occupied for movie night. You hissed as you settled into the mess of pillows and blankets but thanked her regardless.

“You okay? What can I do?” Sarah ran over with a mix of frozen vegetables and ice packs that she could find before she was applying them to your already bruising skin.

“I’m okay,” You mumbled as you accepted a bag of frozen peas for your throbbing black eye. “Did JJ answer yet?”

Sarah took a quick glance at her phone before shaking her head. As much as she wanted to believe you, she could tell you clearly weren’t holding up well. Moving into the bathroom, she found some painkillers and some relatively new first-aid supplies that she figured would help. 

You tried not to panic about what had just happened but in the silence of the room, your mind started wandering. What if Barry found JJ next? Did your dad set the two of you up? Would he come back if this pattern continued? You would do anything for JJ, that much was guaranteed, but you weren’t up for taking shots meant for your father. 

“Whew! That was a good one if I can say so.” JJ’s voice rang through your ears just as Sarah was returning with some meds for you to take. You knew shit would hit the fan the second JJ, John B, and Pope caught sight of you. Sarah offered you a cup of water to take the pills with when the screen door swung open.

“What the fuck?!” Your brother’s yell rattled around the house as soon as he caught sight, causing you to wince at the sharp noise. “What happened?”

“Why are you yell-” John B’s question was cut off as he entered his home to see his girlfriend with various bandages and meds before his eyes drifted to your bruised and battered body. “Okay. What the hell happened?”

You groaned, “Please stop yelling, holy shit.” Kie rushed around the boys to climb on the other side of you. Her hand was gentle as possible as she took the frozen veggies from your hand so they could assess the damage.

“Who did this?” Pope’s question was demanding as he stood behind the other two boys, the three of them radiating enough anger to wipe out the island. 

“Barry,” Sarah answered softly. She and Kie made moves to help you sit up as easily as possible to pull your shirt from your frame, leaving you in a sports bra with more bruises filling into view.

Pope shuffled over next, pushing pillows behind your back so you could lean against them a bit more comfortably. He took some of the supplies from Sarah’s hands and gently applied some Neosporin to the small cut on your cheek from Barry’s rings. 

JJ’s vision was red as he took in the sight of you. He was supposed to stop this from happening, supposed to protect you as your older brother from the shitty people in your life. This was never supposed to happen. “I’m going to fucking kill him. Let’s go, John B.” The threat was real, all of you knew that. Once JJ got in a mindset like this, it was hard to pull him out of it. 

“Jayje.” 

The nickname was quiet coming from you. It was enough to snap him out of his rage for a moment, taking a second to consider his actions before he was replacing Kie’s spot and holding an ice pack against your injuries. He could see the heaviness in your eyes and knew it was taking a toll.

“I know you’re tired, but you have to stay awake.” JJ watched as you took a shaky breath but nodded slightly to him nonetheless. “Tell me what happened.”

Sarah had wrapped herself in John B’s arms, still shaken at the turn of events. “We were just watching the movie and heard this crashing noise from outside, so we went to investigate. Barry showed up right after.”

“Said it was a message to you and Dad,” You finished her story and blinked up at your brother with teary eyes. “I’m scared, J. What if he comes back?”

JJ was fighting every urge to bust through the door and teach the drug dealer exactly who he was messing with. He knew it wasn’t the time or place. “Not gonna happen. Not with me here, okay? I’m sorry, Y/N. I should’ve been here.”

“It’s not your fault. He’s a raging psychopath, can’t exactly predict when he’s coming. Just promise me you won’t do something stupid? Any of you.” Your comment was directed to the three boys, more so John B and JJ knowing they would take off as soon as you fell asleep. 

It took some convincing for everyone to settle down and eventually, the six of you agreed to finish the movie you and Sarah had started hours before but never finished. You had fallen asleep soon after, wrapped in various blankets and tucked in between JJ and Kie as the sound of the TV lulled you into a deep slumber.

JJ was still raging, even if he wouldn’t admit it. He couldn’t stand the thought of someone putting their hands on you in regard to the shitty things he and your dad did. It made him sick to think that you would pay for their mistakes. You, who had absolutely nothing to do with the chaos he put you through.

John B glanced back at your brother, having a sense that he hadn’t let it drop. One look from JJ confirmed the Routledge boy’s suspicion: nobody messed with their baby Pogue and they’d make sure of it.

--

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[psychwxrdd]

Chapter III - Whats your favorite scary movie?

Summary: Everything goes downhill once Kate hurts Rafe Cameron. Well, should've known better than to break the Kook's king heart. Now she'll have to pay with her loved ones life.

Warnings: 18+, dni if you're a minor, death mentions, murderer, horror, stalker themes, possessive behaviour, ghostface! rafe, slasher, smut, obsession, yandere, rape mentions, Rafe is really unhinged

Kate couldn't remember when she felt asleep, but when she woke up, it felt weird. Not just everything that had happened at that night, but she couldn't shake off the feeling that something was off. At her own place, something around her.

She checked her phone and realized it was 2am, and there was a bunch of calls from JJ and Pope, unread messages from Kie and Sarah. All of them asking if she was okay. Kate furrowed her eyebrows, what was going on?

Her house was empty, she was home alone at that night. Her parents were out of town for the night, her siblings wouldn't come home this weekend, but mom and dad surely would be back in the morning. The emptiness and silence started to bother her, it felt uncomfortable. She was used to being home alone, and she was no longer a kid, but she felt a weird sensation on her guts. Her heart was beating faster, like the beggining of a panic attack. It was a cold night, but she was sweating under the blankets, she needed air.

Kate decided she would drink a glass of water, maybe watch some tv show too. Her heart still felt heavy, her eyes still felt like crying, but she needed to get herself together. Later, she would text her friends and boyfriend back, but now she really needed to calm down.

The moment she opened her door to step outside her room, she felt chills all over her body. Something telling her she should go back to bed, to stay there. Maybe lock the door... But Kate wasn't one to believe these kind of things. She knew it was just her fear of being alone in the dark talking louder.

Following downstairs, she was paying attention to any sound she could hear. Wind outside, her own footsteps, the loud, terrible silence. It was so quiet she feared anyone would scream all of sudden, at any moment.

Quickly walking to the kitchen, not staring at her sides to avoid seeing something she would regret. She hated being like this, a tall child trapped on a adult's body. She surely would remind herself to bring this topic on therapy.

Putting the water on her bottle, she stared outside the window, amazed by how dark the night seemed. It wasn't just inside her house, then, the sky looked so black. But when her eyes followed to her backyard, realizing her parents car were parked there.

What the fuck?

She thought they would only be back at morning, and why were they still inside the car, tho?

She jumped slightly when she heard her phone ring. Already nervous, she didn't even checked who was calling.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Kate." The voice sounded weird...deep.

"Who's this?"

"Whats your favorite scary movie?"

She rolled her eyes, realizing it was one of those pranks.

"Seriously?"

"Why would i be playing?"

"This is so corny, you should be more creative"

Kate chuckled, about to hang.

"I'm sure you will be more than surprised in a few hours"

"What do you mean?"

The voice went quiet, but she could tell the person was probably smiling.

"Whats your favorite scary movie, kitten?"

She thought it was better answer, maybe then the person would stop bothering.

"Halloween"

"Nice pick. Are you a baby sitter?"

"No"

"Better then" the deep voice chuckled "You're one of those girls who have a thing for Michael Myers, then?"

"What? No, i'm...Shit no" Kate laughed "Why would i have a crush on a psychopath?"

"Well, you tell me. Aren't you and Maybank dating?"

Kate frozed. Serious?

"Rafe?"

"It's not him, sweetheart."

"Who is it then?"

"Someone who wants to play a game with you"

Kate's heart was racing, this was all so weird. Of course that was Rafe, what did he wanted from her? Was it some kind of joke? Was he aware she was such a scared little baby? Cause it was fucking working.

"What kind of game?"

"I still haven't named it, but it's cool, you'll like it! You just have to answer my questions, do as i told you, and if you do everything right, you win!"

"And what if i don't?" she sounded annoyed, but in reality, she was just scared.

"Then i'll gut your parents in front of you"

She frozed. Her eyes teared up, her hands were shaking and almost dropping the phone on the floor.

"Fuck you, asshole!"

"I will"

She cried like a kid, staring at her parents car and still wondering if this was just a very bad joke.

"They aren't inside the car, sweetheart"

"What do you want from me?" she yelled.

"I want you. Just that"

"Please..." she cried "Don't hurt them, i'll do as you ask, just leave them"

"It only depends on you, pretty girl. Now c'mon, lets play the game."

She sits on the floor, hugging her own legs.

"Tell me about the first time JJ fucked you"

She closed her eyes, realizing what this was all about. Where this was about to go.

"Why?"

"I want to know, tell me"

She sighed, trying to stop her cries. "What exactly do you wanna know?"

"Everything. Did you threw yourself for him or what? How did you guys came to the point where he fucked you?"

He wasn't just asking. His voice was exasperated.

"We were talking, and..." she whimpered "and he kissed me. Then it just happened"

"Just happened, huh?"

"Yes!"

The voice let out a dry laugh.

"Did you got wet for him? You fantasized about it?"

"Yes..."

"And did Rafe crossed your mind while you were spreading your legs for that dirty pogue?"

Kate couldn't stop crying.

"Stop fucking crying and tell me, bitch!" he shouted.

"No, Rafe didn't crossed my mind!"

There was a brief moment of silence.

"You know what? I should've raped you when i had the opportunity, fucking whore. I always thought about it, always fantasized about it. Just pinning you down and forcing myself into you, while you cry for me exactly like you're crying right now. But i loved you, i wouldn't actually hurt you. It would be a rape for you, but for me... I would be making love to you."

"You're so fucking sick" Kate felt repulsed. She much rather Rafe to just kill her instead of hearing him saying those words.

"I know. But i love you, honey, can't you see that? I wanna hurt you with all the love i have inside me. Why did you do that? Why did you go for JJ instead?"

"Because you make me feel bad, Rafe."

"For now you call me ghostface."

"I'm gonna call the police, i'm serious!"

The voice sighed. "Yeah, i think your mom wants to tell you something before i stick my knife on her throat, wait a second."

Kate's eyes widened, remember what was at cost.

"Kate..." her mother's voice sounded so desperated, it broked her heart deeply "My beautiful girl, i'm so sorry."

[echobx]

Jiara has done nothing for JJ or Kie's character development. It has actually caused character regression. JJ was a bad friend to Pope last season and he didn't even apologize for the way he handled the whole Kiara situation. Pope deserved better than that. Idc what anyone says their friendship is not the same due to this. It doesn't matter that Pope and Cleo are a couple now. If I was Pope, JJ would be kept at arms length.

As for Kiara, she has a different personality each season so that's why her development is all over the place. The only thing consistent is her loyalty to the Pogues. She deserves a better storyline than just trying to "fix" JJ while he pushes her away until she gets kidnapped. Free my girl from the fans who only see her as their self-insert to ship with the overrated white boys, especially Rafe the Rat!

yeah, JJ didn't feel like himself and more like a bad copy of who he was in the seasons before in like 90% of s3, the only time he was the same as always was ep7-8 when he was with JB.

I don't know if I would say he was a bad friend to Pope, but he was obviously less of a friend to him, and Pope decided to balance it out by spending time with Cleo (which tbh was the one good thing that season) and for selfish reasons I want JJ and Pope to reconcile and go back to being lovesick fools for each other (I'm never gonna let jjpope die. idc about the haters)

the only way I can think of s3 in terms of jiara, is by looking at all of it as sibling vibes (bc that's all they ever had, there was never any romance) and just ignore that kiss that both actors visibly didn't put any work in to make it look like they actually care about the ship.

honest to god, i feel like both Madison and Rudy are probably the biggest jiara haters out there.

concerning Kie, I will always defend her against the writers, bc s1 I actually thought she had such great potential, but then fans wanted her with Pope, so that happened, and then fans wanted her with JJ, and it happened again. wanting a poc woman to be with a white man so hard that you pressure the writers into doing it feels sinister to me. at least she and pope had a tiny bit of chemistry.

but then again, her whole arc is heavily queercoded. and Madison (an actual queer woman) knows this and wants to embrace it, but they won't let her. and I can't even imagine how it must feel to play a character and hope for them to get good character development just for them to fuck you over every new season. s1!Kie was very much a "pick me" girl already, and they could've easily gotten her a great arc and away from this pick me behavior, but instead they leaned into it even more, and then they made her into a bitch who plays with her best friends feelings. her development is literally nonexistent. she stays the same rather shallow girl all the way through.

I watched s1 and hoped to see Kie evolve into a real girls girl, someone who doesn't repeat her dumb hurtful mistakes. but they destroyed it all bc as we have also seen with Sarah, they don't know how to write women.

and I sometimes even question her loyalty to the pogues bc if she was really all in, why would she ask JB to pick her over Sarah. like, I know it makes sense for her as a pick me girl to do that, but i still hate it. and it also seems like most of the time she treats being a pogue like a hobby instead of actual reality and the lives of her best friends. (which is one of the main reasons why her and jj will never work even if they had chemistry)

on Rafe, i do hope they keep Sofia as his gf (even tho RafeBarry is just so much fun) but as much as I hope that they don't pull the "he fixed himself to be with her" I just know that they don't have enough brains to actually know not to do this.

[loveharlow]

SEVEN - FAIRYTALE

CHAPTER SYNOPSIS; [4.5k] JJ and Y/N are finally showing some sort of regret for their actions and it's only a matter of time before this whole spat of their comes to an end, not without proper apologies of course.

CHAPTER WARNING(S); swearing, mutual pining, mild angst, avoidance, the reader has an older sister because I said so and wanted to up the word count, FLUFF (it's been so long since y'all saw this word, I know I know)

A/N; ONE MORE CHAPTER!! Also, Ik the whole sister thing came out of nowhere but I feel like we needed an outside perspective other than the pogues and the sibling trope is just *chef's kiss*, so...

*If you have your settings on dark mode, the text may appear black for you. i don't know why and I have tried to fix this. Sorry.

series masterlist

“MORNIN’ POOL PRINCESS.” John B croaked as I entered the kitchen where he and Kie were perched at the counter. Giving him a heads up as a greeting as I rubbed the sleep out of my left eye. I sat myself next to Kiara and she nudged my shoulder in acknowledgement.

Once my eyes didn’t feel as stiff or dry, I blinked them open as a yawn escaped my throat. “Are we still on for today?” I asked tiredly, resting my chin in the palms of my hands while my elbows rested on the marble countertop. 

“Actually, no.”

Directing my gaze to the messy-haired brunette boy sipping on a mug of coffee, my eyebrows brought themselves together in confusion. “I thought-”

“Apparently, Sarah forgot to buy the tickets.” John B interrupted, seemingly annoyed at his girlfriend's lack of proper planning skills. 

“And we can’t buy the tickets now because they’re sold out, so.” Kie added, scrolling through her messages on her phone. 

“We’re just gonna go to the beach later today.” John B proclaimed. “There’s one not too far from here but we heard it’s way too crowded during the day.” 

I nodded in agreement as the three of us fell into a somewhat comfortable silence — Kie paying little mind as she texted who I presumed to be Mariana from the black hair in the contact picture. Yes, I’m being nosey. Cope. Then there was John B who looked to have woken up on the wrong side of the bed but was trying his best not to show it. I was starting to wonder if it had anything to do with what Sarah mentioned the other day, about them being in a tough place recently.

After a few moments passed, I lifted myself from the bar stool and trotted over to the fridge, grabbing the half-full carton of orange juice and pouring myself a glass. “I think I’m gonna head back into the room. See you.” I muttered before dragging my limp and tired frame back into my shared room with JJ.

Entering the room, I immediately noted the empty bed — lopsided pillows and covers thrown to the side. 

“Oh,” I heard to my left, whipping my head to a certain blonde staring at me — phone in hand as he looked up. “There you are.”

I gave a slight ‘hm’ in response and rounded the bed to my side, picking up my phone from the nightstand and looking through my notifications. “Yeah, I was talking to JB and Kie. We’re supposed to go to the beach later.”

Now it was his turn to give a small ‘hm’ in response.

The tension between us was still clear as day but not as thick anymore. There was no more burning anger or crippling confusion, at least from my perspective anyway. It was just…odd.

I made no moves to look up at him and continued catching up on what I had missed over night — random twitter posts, group text messages, story mentions.

“Can we talk?” And there it is.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I said there was no more burning anger, I’m still upset. I just no longer want to sock him in the balls.

Side-eyeing him, I shrugged. “We just did.” He let out a long, defeated sigh — a tell-tale sign he was about to say something. Something I most likely did not want to hear. So, before he could speak, I did. “I’m gonna call Adele.” I said shortly, plopping down on the mattress with my back to him.

Adele is my sister, older by 4 years. She's always one of the first people I turn to and she knew all about my situation with JJ, more than Kiara, save for a few minor major and recent details.

“I’ll, uh, give you some space then.” He muttered before the sound of the bedroom door was heard opening then closing shut, my deep breath leaving my chest. I’d talk to JJ eventually but I needed to sort my words out and clear my head first. We both clearly saw where speaking from the top of our heads has gotten us thus far.

Clicking on her contact, the phone rang before I heard a voice on the other line. 

“Hey! How’s the trip-”

“I need your help on something.”

“SHE HATES ME.” JJ whined, throwing himself onto the mattress of Pope and Kie’s shared bed. Pope had just left the shower, throwing a hoodie over his head as he examined himself in the mirror. The bathroom door was wide-open, allowing the two boys to communicate freely in separate parts of the bedroom.

“She does not. You’re just dramatic, and get your nasty ass feet off the pillows.” Pope reprimanded.

JJ groaned and sat up properly on the mattress, a childish pout plastered on his face. “What am I going to do? She won’t talk to me, Pope. She’s probably venting to Adele about me as we speak, which would suck because Adele would kick my ass-”

“I won’t deny that.”

JJ and Adele had an almost brother-sister bond because of how long JJ and I had been friends. They annoy each other and tease one another but it’s all love at the end of the day. However, during their teasing and play fighting, JJ discovered Adele held a considerable amount of strength and refuses to get on her bad side to this day.

“For one,” Pope continued on. “Y/N could never hate you.” He assured as he exited the bathroom, sitting himself next to JJ on the bed, facing him. 

“I don’t know man. This is different.” The blonde boy sighed. Pope proceeded to pull JJ's legs onto his own lap, patting his calf before speaking,

“Okay, well I am now your therapist for the day. Talk to me.”

JJ sighed as he adjusted the cap on his head, moving his hands to rub on the thighs of shorts nervously. “Okay, uhh, how do I start-”

“From the beginning. From whatever happened between you two that started this whole mess.”

“Alright, okay. Uh, it was that kegger about a year ago.” He began, easily recalling the chaos filled night. "We were drunk and I was coming onto her and she wasn’t pushing me away, she was into it. Things sort of went from there I guess?”

“Went from there?”

“I don’t know, man. We made out for a couple hours, felt up on each other-”

“Hours?”

“Pope. You’re supposed to be listening, man.”

“Right. Sorry.” The boy held his hands up in mock surrender, a silent signal for the blonde to continue his story.

“Anyway,” JJ dismissed. “We had agreed that it was a one time thing, that it wouldn’t happen again because we thought it was best for the group. But, I don’t know, I just couldn’t do it. Stay away from her, I mean. I tried Pope, I really did. But that girl just does something to me.” He admitted, vulnerability shining through his features. “We let it go too far one time. Just one time-”

“Woah, woah,” Pope interrupted, eyes going wide in what he might hear as a response. “What do you mean exactly when you say you let it ‘go too far’?”

…

“JJ…”

The blonde averted his eyes and scratched the top of his baseball cap. “It was only once. I swear.”

“JJ.” Pope turned to fully face his long time friend. “Did you and Y/N sleep together?” The blonde slowly nodded his head and Pope threw his back with a disappointed groan. “Well, this whole thing makes a whole lot more sense now! Dude! What the hell? When?”

“A couple months back, around 6 months ago maybe? We didn’t mean for it to happen. That’s not to say I regret it.”

“Well, I can’t tell you much, JJ.” The boy admitted solemnly. “What I can tell you is that no matter how strongly she feels about you, no matter how much she loves you — in a romantic way or not, she’s not gonna wait around forever. We both know that Y/N is caring and patient but every one has their breaking point. If she feels like you’re taking her kindness for a weakness, she won’t hesitate to leave. You know that. And she seems to have given you more chances than I expect she would if it were anyone else.”

JJ nodded shamefully in agreement, biting the inside of his cheek in contemplation.

“So, I’ll give you this-” Pope started up once again. “An ultimatum — either you tell her how you feel by the end of today-” He paused to raise his phone in the hand that remained mainly out of sight during their conversation, revealing the device unlocked and recording. “-Or I’ll just let her listen to our entire conversation.”

JJ's eyes went wide, his frame shooting up in the bed in a swift and desperate attempt to get the phone — only for Pope to draw his arm back out of reach and quickly stand from the bed.

“Pope-”

“Make a choice, JJ.” He taunted, ending the recording but still edging away from the frantic blonde who was now up and on his feet, closing the space between the two.

“Pope, c’mon man.”

“Time’s ticking…”

“Okay! Okay, I’ll do it just fucking delete it!” JJ exclaimed, now standing inches away from Pope after his last futile attempt to gain control over the situation.

“I will once you tell her!” Pope proclaimed, pocketing his phone in his shorts. Crossing his arms over his chest and looking his friend in the eyes, Pope raised his eyebrows. “Better get to writing, my friend. You have a love confession to make.” He teased.

“GUYS! SUN’S SETTING!” Sarah’s voice bellowed through the house. I had just finished tying  the strings on my bikini top, still letting my sister’s words ring around in my head. 

“Life goes on. Either you keep trying or let him go, but it’s up to you.”

Talking to her really did help to weigh my options, observe my situation. We aren’t in highschool anymore. We’re adults and it’s time we acted like it. Whatever happened to JJ and I in the long run, I’d just have to accept it.

So, grabbing my beach tote and slinging it over my shoulder, adjusting the sunglasses atop my head — I left the room to join the others out in the foyer. 

“Always the last one down.” John B teased.

“Always loud and wrong.” I shot back playfully, reaching the bottom of the stairs and plucking the backwards baseball cap on top of his head. 

“Alright,” Sarah began. “The beach is about 45 minutes away. You guys wanna stop to get food or no?”

Everyone agreed that we would and we headed out of the house to pile into the car. 

About halfway there, we stopped at a drive-thru to eat something quick and continued on to the beach, the boys covering their ears as us girls sang at the top of our lungs to the radio with the sole purpose to annoy them.

“UGH THIS IS MAKING ME HOMESICK. I MISS OUR BEACHES BACK HOME.” Sarah groaned as she walked at the forefront of the group, our feet digging into the warm, damp sand as we made our way closer to the shore.

“Is this a good spot to set up the chairs?” John B asked, to which we all nodded and unfolded the lawn chairs we brought with us, digging the legs of them into the sand.

The beach was dark and calm, with only two other groups of people, that we could see anyway. Sitting down, John B cracked open the beers and passed them around the group and things pretty much took off from there.

Cracked a few jokes, shared some laughs, now we were playing never have I ever. 

“Okay, Okay,” Kie spoke through laughs. “Never Have I Ever… kissed more than one person in twenty-four hours.” 

“Okay, that’s not even fair!” John B defended as the group broke out into laughter. “It was 9th grade…”

“They were twins!” Kiara croaked out through her hearty laughs, a hand placed on her stomach as she practically fell out, making us all laugh harder.

In the midst of our carelessness, none of us had noticed one of the girls from the other group on the beach had made her way over, tapping JJ on the shoulder as she approached behind his chair.

“Hey…” She said flirtatiously, shifting her weight and twirling a strand of her brunette hair. She looked about our age — her slim frame adorned in a bikini that barely covered much, sand stuck to her thighs and her hair damp from the water. Our group fell into a stunned, awkward silence due to the intrusion. “You from around here?”

“Uh, no. I’m not.” He answered hesitantly, whipping his head from her to us — to me? We all cut our staring and fell back into chatter, meaningless as we tried to talk while also eavesdropping. 

It couldn't have been more than two minutes before the girl was walking back to her respective group, where her friends were watching and giggling as she made her way back. JJ turned back around in his chair, his cheeks blown as if he was holding back a laugh.

“She’s gonna call someone but it’s not gonna be me. I pray she isn’t bold enough to send a nude as a first text or something.”

“You gave her the wrong number?” John B added, his expression one of surprise. JJ nodded and leaned back in his chair, sipping on the nearly empty beer in his hand. “JJ? Turning down women? Guys, I think hell has finally frozen over.”

“Ha, ha.” He retorted. “I’ve actually been chilling for a little while, if you haven't noticed.” He glared at his friends. “And she’s not my type.” He said flatly, staring directly at me with no indication that he was trying to hide it.

I felt my cheeks grow hot and I was not going to let him know that he was getting to me, not after everything that happened in the last few days. What is up with him anyway? So, sitting my beer on the ground, I got up from my chair and shimmied out of my shorts to reveal my bikini bottom.

“I’m gonna go for a swim.” I announced, getting hums of acknowledgement before heading off on my own. Reaching the edge of the water, the waves hit my toes before receding back. The water was cool, not too cold. It prompted me to go further, just until the water hit right under my chest.

My thoughts were running a muck in my mind, clouding my brain with every thought I’d set aside. I took two handfuls of the cool, salt water and splashed it on my face. Surprisingly, it helped. 

My nerves jumped for a second when I felt two cold hands on my shoulders, whipping around with a yelp to face Kiara who was holding back a laugh with her hands up in surrender. “Kie! What the hell?”

“Relax.” She drawled. “I was just coming over to see how you were doing.” I crossed my arms over my chest to rub my forearms which were growing slightly cold due to the water that got splashed on them and Kie ran her hands through the water waiting on me to speak.

“I’m doing better, I guess.” 

“Anything new about you and JJ?”

“There is no ‘me and JJ'. So, no. Nothing new.”

The brunette girl scoffed and looked off to the side. “Jeez, y’know I miss when you would look at that boy like he hung the stars in the sky himself. Now, everything is so…negative.”

I shrugged and drew my lips into a thin line, pushing my eyebrows up for a quick second. “Yeah well, shit happens. Things change.”

“Things like what? C’mon, don’t leave me out of the loop. I was the first groupie.” She pleaded like a begging puppy. I groaned, but ultimately decided to confide in her. She practically knew everything anyway.

“We got into a small argument last night and I talked to Adele about it earlier and I’ve just been going over what she said.”

“Well, what did she say?”

“That I have to make a choice, basically. A whole bunch of shit about entering the adult world and learning to make hard decisions, for better or for worse.”

“Your sister’s always right, somehow.” Kie stated, me nodding in agreement. 

“I just-”

“Mind if I steal her for a moment?” A raspy voice spoke from behind Kie, her turning and me peering over her shoulder to find the topic of conversation standing nervously. 

Before I could respond myself, Kiara was speaking for me. “Yeah, go ahead.” She said, turning back to me and wiggling her fingers as I glared at her before she headed towards the shore. I turned my back to face JJ, staring at the moon that I didn’t even know had risen.

“Can you look at me?” He sounds so desperate that I couldn’t help but turn around to meet his eyes. He couldn’t be more than a ruler’s length away from me, the moonlight illuminating on his hair, making his blonde strands shine even more than they normally do.

I had a feeling that the pogues were watching from the beach but I knew they couldn’t hear a thing. 

“So…you wanted to talk to me?”

“Yeah, I uh,” JJ stuttered, playing with the water around him and taking a deep breath. “I wanted to apologize.” My demeanor fell, my hard expression faltering. “Actually apologize. For everything. Everything I said and did. And everything I didn’t say and didn’t do.”

“JJ…”

“Just let me do this. Please?” He pleaded, hands opened and eyes wide. I sighed and nodded for him to go on. He brought his hands in front of him, wringing them together as a nervous tick. “The first night when we kissed, I was happy. Happy because I liked you for so long but I didn’t think you felt the same way and that night showed me something different. It showed me that there was a chance. But it was like when morning came, all of the guilt came with it. I thought about how what happened would have destroyed our friendship and caused problems within the group so that’s why I made that deal — that it was a one-time thing.”

He looked up to stop the tears falling that were brimming in his waterline.

“But I knew from that moment that it was a lie. I could try and try to get myself away from you but it would never work. But I didn’t want to put that on you. The same guilt that I had settled myself with, I didn’t want that for you. So, I tried. But anytime either of us got too close to one another it was game over, really. And the one time that we…” He lowered his gaze directly in line with mine, a silent agreement that we both knew the night he was referring to.

“Look, I know you don’t want to hear a timeline of events that you’ve lived through so I’ll just get on with it.” He urged himself. “When you started to ask questions, about what we were and what was going on, I never had an answer for you. Because I knew what I wanted but I wasn’t sure if I was what you needed. I would get caught up in my own thoughts and reservations that I would scare myself out of giving you the answer you wanted. It was always on the tip of my tongue, just like it is now.”

He waded closer, barely any space between us now as his voice lowered to just above a whisper. 

“I love you. Possibly more than I love anyone else I’ve ever known. And I’ve been an asshole, I know that. I put you through hell because of my own insecurities and I won’t blame you if you can’t forgive me. But you needed to know that. You need to know that I love you and I have for quite a while now and I’m ready to say it, to own it. And I’m prepared for however you react because I know that I waited too long to do this.”

By this point, hot tears had gathered in my own eyes. JJ and I were close so I had seen him at what I had presumed was his worst. But I was wrong. This, this, was his lowest point. He was vulnerable and open and honest — all the things he hated to be in the public eye and even in front of the people we call friends and family. So, I knew that everything he had said came from a place he buried deep within himself.

I’d be lying to myself if I sat here and said that these last 2 days hadn’t been hell. Not because JJ put me through it, but because it felt like we were drifting apart. JJ had been my rock for years — my shoulder to cry on without judgment. Even with our ups and downs, he would always be there. Thinking about what Adele said earlier, about making decisions and being an adult.

This was the time for that. I won’t ignore what we’ve been through recently but he was right — we needed to own up to it.

“It’s not all on you,” I started, reaching out to put one of my hands over both of his. “I was stupid.” His face fell and I could tell he was going to try and reassure me but I looked at him and shook my head, a signal to let me finish. “I was and I cannot put that on you and I won’t let you take all the blame for what’s happened. I won’t let you do that to yourself.”

I pursed my lips together before speaking again. “When things started, at the kegger, I was relieved. Because I had gone back and forth about my feelings for you for years. And I thought that you had realized you felt something for me too. So yeah, the morning after that night crushed me a little bit. It knocked down almost every single piece of hope I gained. And every time you came back, that hope would keep building and get knocked again. And at some point, I realized what I was doing to myself. I was hurting myself by loving you. That’s why I started to ask questions. Because I needed to know. To know if it was worth it.”

My hands traveled up his arms to link together behind his neck. “And I won’t lie to you. I was starting to think that it wasn’t. I started to think that you’re JJ and you ‘don’t do relationships’. That thought brought me the comfort I needed at night to sleep. Because I couldn’t think of any other reasonable reason why my best friend didn't feel like my bestfriend. I’ll admit, I still don’t fully understand where we went wrong, the miscommunications, any of it. But I think we can get there — get to a point of understanding.”

JJ's hands unlinked from one another and went to my waist, his forehead falling against mine. “I want to try this. But we both have to want this, JJ. And we both have to try.”

I felt him nod against me, his head craning up to place a kiss on my forehead. “I swear to you, I’ll do my best. I want this. I do. And I’ll prove it to you, only if you let me.”

We stood wordlessly in each other’s arms for a few passing moments, at some point my head dropped to rest on his chest as his arms encircled me in an embrace. I wasn’t crazy or delusional. I knew this didn’t erase anything we had said or done to each other in the past 2 days, before that even. It would take time, and maybe a lot of it. But if we saw some kind of worth or value in working towards doing better, for ourselves and one another, then this was a moment to be cherished.

Because it’s a starting point. A good one. A better one. And this time, I didn’t have to convince myself of anything. I didn’t have to draw from context clues or body language to plead my case, to find some kind of saving grace. It was all here — laid out and in the open. He loved me and I loved him.

After a while, I lifted my head away from him to look up and meet his eyes. “I know you’re probably sick of hearing this but at least this will be the last time.” I half-joked. “What are we?”

And he just looked down at me with the most adoring expression I had ever seen. One of his hands came up from its place under the water on my waist to cup my cheek, drops of water dripping down as his thumb caressed my face.

“Well, I was hoping this meant that I could call you my girlfriend.” 

Then I tried my best to bite back a smile as my cheeks grew hot, the heat crawling up to my ears. “I think..” I started nervously, biting the inside of my bottom lip. “I think I’d like that.”

“Yeah?” A boyish smile broke out onto his face. 

“Yeah…” I whispered. Both of our pupils were blown wide and I felt this overwhelming rush of a feeling I couldn’t quite place but it felt...good. Really good. “Before we head back though…” I started with a mischievous glint in my eyes. “I’d like to put in my first official girlfriend request.”

His eyebrows arched in curiosity, and I’m pretty sure I saw some amusement in there. “Oh yeah? What?”

Wrapping my legs around his waist under the waist, I gazed into his eyes, my gaze only shifting for a second to look at his lips that were slightly parted. “Kiss me.” I whispered.

“Well, you didn’t have to ask for that.” Was all he said before he was leaning forward so his lips could meet mine, his hands trailing down to hold my thighs and pull me more into him. When I started to pay attention to my surroundings, I could hear the whoops and cheers of our obnoxiously loud friends all the way from the shore.

“Whoo!”

“It’s about time!”

I could feel JJ smile into the kiss at their antics, prompting one to spread on my own face, breaking the kiss but we made no moves to create space between one another. “They’re ridiculous.” JJ laughed.

“Gotta love ‘em for it.” I assured, moving my face back so we could look at each other normally.

“NOW BRING YOUR ASSES BACK OVER HERE SO WE CAN PLAY TRUTH OR DARE!” Kie bellowed from the beach.

“We should probably-”

“Yeah.” But the blonde made no moves to put me down, turning around and walking us both back to shore as the waves moved around us. 

And as we came back into clear view of our friends, our people. The night felt right. And I felt happy and warm. Content. 

Whatever happens from here, at least we gave it a fair chance. 

But right now? I couldn’t be any happier.

General taglist; @livlaughquinn

JJ Maybank Taglist; @ronnieissupermegafoxyawesomehot @maybankslover

Bittersweet escape taglist (please use my inbox to be added, just ask:)); @totallynotkaibiased @magnificantmermaid @livlaughquinn @maybaenk @honeynicoole @lomlhs-blog

feedback is appreciated! thanks for reading.

©loveharlow

[pankowperfection]

Hi! So i hope you‘re doing good and i would like to make a Request. So Reader is John Bs Small Sister And she‘s not really ,,Best Friends“ with Jj or the Pogues in general but still don‘t hate each other. Then she goes onto a Kook Party and suddenly Notices Jj in the Crowd. Of course she knows he‘s there because John B asked him to look after you. Jj basically watches the Boys trying to get you to sleep with them and being all flirty until Jj breaks the Situation. He takes her a few Meters away and they have that kind of Conversation. Like the: Why do you care you only do this for my Brother anyways. And then he kisses her and They end up going to the Chateau and sleep together. (John B is out with Sarah or smth). ,,We can‘t do this your John Bs Sister.“ stuff yk? Have a Great Night/day🫶🏻

Good Intentions

Summary: JJ keeps watch over you at a party, but decides he can't stay away anymore

Warnings: smut, mentions of drinking, mentions of drug use, oral (fem receiving), 18+

Being John B's younger sister meant inheriting the other pogues as family, regardless of whether you wanted them or not. They were basically siblings you'd never asked for, so while everyone was polite when you were all together, you weren't particularly close with any of them. Unfortunately, John B always dragged you out with them so you weren't just sitting at home alone and tonight that had meant going to a kook party on Figure 8, the very last place you wanted to be.

You had stressed about what to wear, in the end opting for a pair of ripped jeans and a lacy black tank top that showed a little bit of under boob. Strappy sandals on your feet you headed to the kitchen, finding JJ and John B gathering beer to take to the party. "Are you guys almost ready?" JJ turned around at the sound of your voice, looking you over head to toe. You missed the way his eyes darkened at the sight of your exposed breasts, how he swallowed thickly before looking away. "Yes y/n, chill. Just gathering supplies. Let's go." You follow the group outside, piling into the Twinkie and praying the night goes smoothly.

Of course as soon as you arrived at the party, everyone split off into different directions, leaving you alone. John B had gone to search for Sarah, Kie and Pope settling into a deep conversation about environmental changes needed to protect the beaches. JJ headed out to the back patio overlooking the beach, searching for a quiet spot to roll a joint. Wanting to look like you belonged you wandered into the kitchen, pouring yourself a drink into the red plastic cup before making your way back to the main part of the party. Unbeknownst to you, JJ had come back inside, positioning himself in the corner of the room to keep watch over you as John B had instructed.

He'd always been secretly attracted to you, never making a move because he didn't want to be the guy to go after his best friend's younger sister. He had spent many hours admiring you from a distance, wanting to be the one to make you laugh on a bad day. Countless nights he had laid wide awake in bed, wondering what it would be like to kiss you, to feel your bare skin beneath his fingers. How did you taste? What would it sound like for you to moan his name? The thought of anyone else touching you, getting to see you in that way, made JJ see red.

Over the next few hours, several guys approached you and tried to get you to dance. Each time you turned them away, getting more frustrated with each pursuit. The final straw was when none other than Rafe Cameron had stalked up silently behind you, placing his hands on your hips and pulling you back against him. You let out a gasp, spinning around in his arms quickly and attempting to shove him away. "Rafe, get off of me." He smirked down at you, leaning in closer. "Shh, relax sweetheart. I just want a quick taste. Let me show you a good time." Without further thought you threw your drink into his face, leaving him fuming before stalking off to grab another.

Suddenly you were pulled into the hallway, a familiar large frame caging you in against the wall. "JJ, what are you doing?" He sighs, letting his hand trail down your face before tucking your hair behind your ear. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Seems like you haven't had a moment of peace all night, all these dumb kooks treating you like a piece of meat." You look up into his blue eyes, something different in them that you haven't seen before that makes butterflies erupt in your stomach. "I'm fine J. Why do you care anyways? I know John B asked you to look out for me, but I can take care of myself." He smiles, dimples on display making your heart beat faster. "Oh I know, I saw that for myself. You look so hot, even hotter when you threw that drink in Cameron's face. Sexiest thing I've ever seen."

He leans closer, hands on either side of your face, close enough you can feel his breath on your lips. "JJ...." His lips are on yours in an instant, soft at first, savoring the feeling of your lips against his. When you let a moan slip and tangle your hands into his hair he loses all restraint, pressing his body into yours as his tongue plunges into your mouth. His hands are everywhere, caressing softly over your breasts and bringing your nipples to hard peaks before traveling further south, ghosting over the front of your jeans and making your panties soaked. You can feel his hard cock pressing into your core, grabbing onto his ass to pull him closer still causing him to groan into your mouth. You pull apart breathless, chests heaving and heat flooding through your system. "Take me home J, please." He nods, making some kind of excuse to John B about you not feeling well and letting him know he was taking you home.

The ride back to the Chateau is quiet, air thick with sexual tension. You barely make it over the threshold into the house before he is on you again, picking you up and carrying you to the spare bedroom he calls his own. He sits down on the bed with you straddling his lap, hands kneading the flesh of your ass as you grind down over his length. You pull his head back, exposing his neck as you kiss and suck over every inch of exposed skin. "Shit y/n. We shouldn't do this, your John B's sister." You push him down onto the bed, rocking over length again in slow, deliberate motions that cause him to moan again. "Tell me you want me to stop J and I will." You continue, friction of your jeans rubbing your clit perfectly as you start to pick up speed. "Fuck,” he groans, flipping you over quickly and trapping your hands over your head.

"You're sure this is what you want? Cause once I start, I won't be able to stop." He searches your face for any sign of discomfort, wanting to be certain that you really do want to cross this line. "I want you JJ. Please, please make me feel good." With that he helps you sit up, quickly discarding your shirt and taking in the sight of your naked breasts. "God, you're so perfect," he coos, leaning down to take your left nipple into his mouth. You weave your fingers into his hair, holding his face close as he lavishes your sensitive bud with his tongue. He kisses his way to your right breast, repeating the same actions as his hand pops the button on your jeans. He pulls the zipper down slowly, connecting his lips to your neck as his fingers dive under the material of your panties. When you feel the coolness of his ring touch your overheated skin you moan, hips bucking up into his touch. "Mmm JJ, feels so good." He takes his time, teasing two fingers up and down through your folds, lightly grazing your clit with each pass. "So wet for me sweetheart, bet you taste so good."

His hot, greedy mouth kisses down your body, pausing long enough to remove the rest of your clothes before settling between your thighs. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do this." His breath tickles your pussy, eyes threatening to roll at what is about to happen. "J please, need you so bad." With that he dives in, devouring you with such ferocity you swear you might pass out from the overwhelming pleasure. Your nails rake into his scalp and he moans, vibrations making your thighs tremble. Two fingers tease around your entrance before he plunges them inside, curling them just right so his ring massages your walls. "Fuck J, don't stop." He increases his pace, fucking you with his fingers while his talented tongue worships your clit. "Come on sweetheart, cum for me." His soft command does you in, body trembling as you grind against his face while you ride out your orgasm.

The sight of your release shining on his chin as he comes up to kiss you makes you feral, pushing him onto his back again before hovering over his length. "Easy sweetheart," his abs tense beneath your touch, struggling to not show how excited he is at the thought of you riding him. "Is this okay? Can I ride you?" His eyes roll back at your words, moan leaving his plump lips that tells you all you need to know. You line him up before starting to slowly sink down, his thick length stretching you in a way no one has. "God, you're so big." You finally bottom out, taking a moment to breathe and adjust to how deep he is inside of you. "Y/n, fuck. Need you to move, squeezing me so fucking tight."

His hands grab your hips, guiding your motions as you start to bounce up and down on his length. His fingers dig into your hips, grip bruising but you just don't care. Suddenly he lands a soft smack to your ass making you gasp and clench around him. "Oh god," he groans, bucking up into you to meet your thrusts. Before you can realize what happened he has you on your back, legs over his shoulders as he plows back into you. You let out a whimper, nails digging into his back as he starts to thrust hard and fast.

"You feel so good, don't want to ever stop." He pins your hands over your head again, laying down on top of you and sucking bruises into your neck. The new angle feels amazing, each thrust stimulating your clit. "Yes J, just like that. I'm gonna cum again." He somehow speeds up, rocking into you faster. When he bites the sensitive spot on your neck your orgasm washes over, wave after wave of pleasure coursing through your veins as you moan out his name. "Shit princess, gonna fill you up." A few thrusts later he stills, warm release coating your walls as he comes to a halt.

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[rudystree]

ok how are we feeling?

OK LET’S GET INTO THIS. 🧨

I’M READY (MAYBE).

my heart is so full. i am satisfied. i am overwhelmed with feels but in a good way. and i’m sucked right back into the boat show. i love remembering why i love these characters and their story and their relationships. i watch the show mostly for jj tbh, and boy was he carrying this season.

of course i had minor disappointments, that’s kind of a given. like most ppl i was not a fan of the big john x john b storyline. it was boring and frustrating to watch them. way too much screen time given to that which could’ve explored other things…i thought this season they’d really give us some answers to big questions (kie’s kook year? jj and sarah’s moms? how did the pogues even meet?) but alas. can’t have everything.

here’s some of what i DID get:

JIARA. do i have to elaborate on how fucking amazing they were? how they were the most precious and also badass duo ever? how their slow burn was perfectly executed? the way they were so damn protective of each other? kie helping jj understand that he’s loved and cared for? jj going absolutely ballistic whenever he thinks kie is in danger? the angst? the way he admits that he thinks he’s just a loser and she can do better than him? the way she understands that he’s sensitive and doesn’t let people close easily? the way pope gives his (semi) blessing? the way john b teases him? the absolute fucking heart eyes they carry the whole season? because they’re the two most endearing characters of all time? this season was about a treasure hunt and they were each others treasure and they fucking found it and i am so damn emo.

CAMBANK SIBLING ENGERY. i’ve been craving more jj x sarah interaction and i finally got it. the way sarah was searching for jj to stay with because both of them have no where else to go (as john b is off with his idiot father)? the way she calls him jayj like the others now? the way she was so freaking worried about him getting hurt? making topper turn the whole truck around to help jj?the way she angrily pushed and then hugged him so tight when they found him alive? john b and sarah sometimes feel like the parents of the group and sarah really stepped up when he was gone. she’s so much more than john b’s gf, she really made the group feel like the family jj needs.

JJ x JOHN B going on their little adventure together was one of my favourite things. i adore watching them together. the way jj was waiting for john b at the chateau? john b confiding in him because that’s his best friend in the world and they need each other? the heads on each others shoulders and “we’re gonna figure this out”? the typical funny crazy moronic stupidity from these two (pls someone gif them crawling under the table or jb catching jj eating from that guys fridge)? the badass fight scenes they have together? not to mention jj’s reaction when they had to leave john b on the island??? “we’re not splitting up again” “we’re not leaving him” kill me now? their little scuffle / wrestling that was really pathetic because they’d never seriously hurt each other? jj going to the ends of the world for him? yeah.

CLEO. she was everything. carlacia killed it. she was exactly what the group needed, especially pope. they pulled off their relationship so well. also her and jj being a badass duo and holding knives to peoples throats together? yeah that’s the energy i needed this season.

The pure SATISFACTION of watching kie deceive rafe and push his whiny ass into the water. ward getting killed. big john getting killed (sorry). it was all very satisfying to watch. as much as they made topper slightly likeable this season, it was also nice to watch him lose after his psycho ass burned down the chateau.

JJ MAYBANK. hello!?? did y’all see this man? because i have never felt this straight before. the outfits (red tank top hello????). the smirks. the body. the water scenes. the everything. this man could do absolutely anything to me. he could run me over with a truck and i would thank him. john b in ep10 also made my lady parts tingle. but jj truly did not give me a break. he could’ve just stood there for 10 hours it would still be great.

THE FOUND FAMILY. my babies. they love each other so much and this season did a great job showing it. i would’ve liked to see more, but what we did get was nice. all the poguelandia scenes. the way jj just wanted to stay there and provide for his family? the angst when they return and jj realises the others all have their own families to go to? the flashbacks to jj being close to john b and his dad? him play fighting with big john who is like his own second dad? jj ready to have dinner with the heywards (him and cleo’s adoptive parents basically)? i’m so emo.

overall i feel like this season was just a lot darker and more serious / mature than the ones before. where S2 was kind of an exciting mess of random, funny, weird craziness and stupid decisions, S3 felt way more grounded and realistic but at the same time a lot more sincere. i loved watching the new dynamics and see cleo complete the group. madison and rudy killed it. it was amazing and i cannot wait to rewatch it (and reblog all the amazing gifs and content).

[hepaidattention]

OBX s4 ideas?

• flashbacks throughout the season of stuff we missed between the time jump. maybe show us some jiara missing scenes, show us jarah starting up their surf shop

• Rafe full villain mode now. with Ward being dead, there's no way Rafe won't blame Sarah (who he instructed to keep his father safe). I feel like Rafe will either go completely nuts or take a 360 turn as a good guy. good guy feels unlikely. he'll probably get that arc once he's done some more horrible things in the name of his father

• vengeful Topper on Team!Rafe since ya boys now a full fledged arsonist tsk tsk

• Kie and JJ are together, but they're gonna have a rocky season OR they're not together and we have to watch them work stuff out to go back to each other again. considering we already watched all s3 will they/won't they my guess is just a rocky season. jarah has been through too much for them to be the rocky relationship anymore and JJ is too damaged for their not to be difficulties to overcome. Kie's parents, for one.

• jiara still be jiara. super casual about it all when with the pogues because they're still best friends, only when they're alone they get into a little more trouble ;)

• the pogues all dealing with a little bit of a identity crisis. they're rich but still pogues and still treated like pogues for the most part, and they'll have to figure out where they fit in now as young adults

• this is a longshot but always my dream: JJs mom comes back and turns out that Sarah and JJ are siblings

• they'll a be dealing with adulthood now and it'll be weird for them. jiara and jarah will have to face how to be in a mature relationship where they both have jobs and lives, and they'll have to now deal with their careers getting in the way of treasure hunting rather than school and parents

• JJ is going to try really hard not to screw stuff up with Kie and act on his natural self destructive tendencies and I think s4 might really focus on how damaged JJ really is, having to face those demons head on if he wants to really be with Kie.

• I would do anything for some pure full-pogue crew scenes, all of them just together and living life, dancing, laughing on JJs new boat

• Kie will still be working things out with her parents. she'll probably have some serious trust issues and probably a lot of fights.

• Jarah gets legally married. I would CRY for a Jarah wedding oh my god. And JJ and Pope the groomsmen and Sarah and Cleo the bridesmaids and JJ crying as John B gives his vows ALSO crying and Pope's dad marries them 😭😭 I literally would cry so hard it needs to happen.

• and meanwhile they'll still be trying to find Blackbeards treasure, which I am excited about because it isn't a personal treasure to find at this point. they're literally just looking for it because they love the hunt and they're a bunch of adrenaline junkies. there's no "if we don't find it I'll die of starvation" or "it belonged to my family legacy" mentality connected to it, so it makes the opportunity for seeing other characters growth much easier. I'm excited

• the Pogues being like official treasure hunters now, and JJ makes jokes about their new team name (bad ones only) and acts like they need to do a vlog and share it to the world.

• John B rebuilds the chateau with his new fortune and the Pogues still do most their hanging out there. JJ lives in his boat but he also docks it at John Bs dock and spends most his time annoying Sarah and John B, who I predict live together

• this season will likely happen the summer before Pope goes off to school, so directly after s3 ends. OBX is known for taking three months max in a time span for a season and Pope going to school will complicate things. if the show got a s5, they would either have to time jump AGAIN or only take place in the summer so Pope will still be there for the treasure hunting.

• Cleo and Pope will have to figure out what they really mean to each other, since Pope is going to school. my guess is the break up because of him leaving, but by the end they decide that's stupid and get back together.

what do you guys think will happen???

[enternamehere75]

Thinking about how John B, Pope, Sarah and Cleo will react to Jiara John B is gonna be supportive, he’s gonna tease Kie and JJ about it but want them to be happy. I also would love if he’s like clueless about them getting together at first like he just has no idea but i would also lose it if he teases kie about it on poguelandia so aaaa Pope is difficult- I think he will be iffy about it at first cause history with kie and i reckon kie and jj are gonna be nervous about talking to him- BUT I HOPE that he is supportyive and understands and he doesnt get mad about it cause ick- Sarah will 100% tease them about it and I REALLY THINK/HOPE that she is the first to notice it, and talks to jj about it and perhaps also kie (cambank siblings YUH) she will definitely be by kies side thru the angst and will be like attack dog to jj if they fight but also i see her maybe being the one to talk to jj about how he could fix it and shit ! Cleo oMG I WANT HER TO THINK THEY ARE A COUPLE ALREADY cause she has no clue about the romantic/friendship stuff between the pogues- other than jarah b- so i would LOVe if she just assumes they are dating and she brings it up or smthng or like- “kie, tell ur boyfriend to stop doing ___” and everyone like explains to her/freaks out/jj and kie get defensive and sarah is like- ooooo Im not well.

[kierreras]

can you rank top-5 best obx duos for your?

oh, i assume we're talking dynamics, not couples, right? cause if couples, it's very predictable for me to say jiara, cleope, jarah, heywards and rafe/barry? okay, as for dynamics i think my rating looks like this: 1. kiarah 2. jj & john b 3. cambank siblings 4. jj & pope 4. john b & kie so, first one is kie and sarah cause i love some girl power dynamic duo. also, i want to see more of female friendship representation in modern teen dramas. because as a girl who was raised on shows like gossip girl and vampire diaries, i had shitty examples of how girls should interact. so i love kiara's and sarah's dynamic after they became friends again! and maybe it's cause most of their interactions in my mind are headcanons, but they have so much potential to be a healthy female friendship representation, so i hope to see more of them in next season when they are navigating through troubles as young adults. second place is jj and john b, because once again i love best friends. they are a definition of brothers because no matter how pissed they are at each other they will always help one another without even thinking about it. also, i want to add that male friendship in obx doesn't have toxic masculinity involved, so it's a big plus for me as well. okay, do i have to explain about cambank? cause i can write an essay about them. i don't know why there wasn't any scenes with sarah and jj talking about their families. because they are different sides of the same coin. they have shitty fathers and even though these said fathers screwed them up million times, they still love them. jj and sarah can understand each other like no one else. and we had some crumbs of them being there for each other, but i think it's lazy writing because the opportunity is right there, writers just need to add a little effort and explore their friendship more. jjpope dynamic was something i didn't think i'd like from the beginning. however, i felt in love with them after pope's fight with rafe. the way jj was so concerned about his best friend made me actually like them a little, but when jj took a blame for pope i was a goner. they are really a great example of friends that should have nothing in common, but they have genuine friendship. john b and kie is my big brother/little sister duo that we were robbed of for two seasons already, but i hope that they will come back to us in fourth season. they had a great potential since season one, but they were really sidelined, unfortunately. yeah, sorry, so many words here, but i love talking about all the obx-related stuff, soooo

[sun-undone]

You definitely reminded me of some key points in season 3 that I definitely didn’t consider.

The château being burned down by topper seal the deal of him becoming an enemy. It would be EXTREMELY hard to see topper having a redemption story after that with some corny BS line like “ hey John b no hard feelings with the château, right?”💀💀💀

But just a warning 👀 if you hear Sarah’s voice starting off a epsiode with a reflective monologue of confusion and indecisiveness, then You know what’s coming 😂 let’s see if the pates intentionally screw us over with her character growth.

I agree with Jarah B being the stable couple as the other couples are still fresh and have some more exploring to do with their dynamic. I would love to see a bond created between JJ and Mike maybe closer to the end of season 4 to show Mike he can be the guy for kie and mike should give him a chance just like he was given one before he got accepted into the kooks.. we’ll seeeeee

NOWWWW

MR COUNTRY CLUB HIMSELF

Mark my words if Rafe does not become a Pogue by the end of season 4 he will die sacrificing his life for them with his final words laying in Sarah’s arms saying

“ I finally did something right”

( if I am completely wrong just forget I ever existed 🤣🤣)

LETS BE HONEST Ward created a monster with rafe. But rafe mistakes EAT HIM UP ALIVE which is why he is heavy on drugs. I still remember him crying because Barry didn’t have any coke for him one day and he freaked out. Rafe is a lunatic but not a serial killer. Which is why he went back to save Ward after putting a hit man on him. Rafe wants real acceptance! His problem is he always tries to fix his mistakes last minute.

Rafe isn’t a kook because of the luxury lifestyle. He’s a kook because of power and validation. Unlike topper who is a silver spoon fed kid with no siblings. Just a spoiled single child.

If the JJ and rafe fight happens. I think it’s early in the season. I don’t think they’ll make it a big ordeal. I feel like the Pogue gang will have bigger fish to fry by the end of the season if they’re on a new treasure hunt.

OK, please rip my response to shreds with your thoughts, I’m all ears.

Look at what this stupid little boat show has done to us 🥲

oooooh okay this is such an interesting topic, Rafe is such an interesting character to begin with, so i think his storyline in s4 is the one i'm most curious about. especially since we got nothing from him in the s3 finale for whatever dumb reason.

this is a very complex conversation to have, but to start, i don't think i want a redemption for Rafe! and i think they kind of closed the door on him sacrificing himself for the pogues or Sarah in particular by having Ward do it in season 3. i truly don't know how far they're gonna go with him seeking revenge on the pogues for Ward's death, or what they plan on doing with his character after this season, but whatever it is, i just don't see him turning a new leaf by the end of it. the ending for Rafe i'd most like to see is him going to jail and losing all of his assets and possessions, including Tannyhill, so Pope can snatch it up and make it a museum that tells the true story of Denmark Tanny. but i'm getting ahead of myself, let's talk about the really juicy stuff

do Rafe's actions eat him up anymore? i definitely agree that in the first 2 seasons, he was an absolute wreck trying to hold himself together with coke and by desperately seeking Ward's validation to keep himself occupied. but what about in season 3? he has that scene with Kie in episode 2 where he tries to paint himself as the victim for killing Peterkin, and i think that his denial truly runs that deep at this point. through spinning the story in his own mind, he's convinced himself that he did the right thing so he doesn't have to feel all the complicated emotions that we saw him feeling at the end of season 1 and even into season 2 in the aftermath of the murder. but in terms of Sarah, he does actually get emotional when he explains that he knows it was wrong, which is incredibly interesting to me. he clearly hasn't done the same mental gymnastics in trying to defend himself for that, so i could definitely see him genuinely feeling remorseful, which opens up that same incredibly complex dynamic that he and Sarah have had for a while now. there's a part of him that will always resent her for being Ward's favorite for so long, but now we can see that there is real guilt about trying to kill her. i think that scene really captures the pure instability of Rafe's mental state that still exists in some capacity, mainly in terms of Sarah, which we unfortunately don't see a ton of moving forward in the season since he barely has any scenes with the pogues. in general, he actually seems pretty confident and secure, maybe the best we've ever seen him, in terms of his mental and emotional state. so is the guilt really bothering him that much? the coke doesn't seem to be a coping mechanism for him like it had been before, like he was constantly using for the majority of season 2. but we just didn't see him struggling with his past actions in season 3, it was much more about his present and especially his future.

but for season 4, i'm definitely expecting a return to the more unstable side of Rafe as he plots revenge. who will he target in particular? who does he think is most responsible? will he choose to leave the other pogues out of the crossfire? if he gets the chance to kill Sarah again, would he take it? if he really was remorseful at the beginning of season 3, has that been overtaken by rage by the beginning of season 4? the year and a half time jump makes this much trickier cause maybe he's been trying to keep his mind off of it and do his own thing and resist the urge to get revenge but when he hears about the pogues getting recognition for their findings, it sends him off the deep end again? or has he been stewing the entire time? has the time given his rage the chance to simmer down a bit or has it only boiled over into something worse? now that he has the blessing of his father, which is the only thing he's ever really wanted, what are his motivations? how will he shift his way of thinking now that there's no more Ward to aspire to or to spite, and how will his mental state fare now that he believes that the pogues have taken away any opportunity he might've had to mend his relationship with his father?

there's truly so many things to consider and countless different avenues that his path could take, and i really do not know what is most likely at this point!! Drew hasn't even gotten to set yet so there's absolutely no bts to speculate about either. personally, i love Rafe as a character and i don't wanna see him killed off, and like i said before, although he expresses remorse in 3x02, i'm not sure if it's gonna be enough moving forward. i've always been interested in his character and have never shied away from the fact that Ward absolutely aided in fucking him up for life, BUT i just don't know if Rafe himself thinks he needs redeeming. and i especially don't know if he'll be thinking in that way in the aftermath of Ward's death.

but really, who knows???? i'm voting squarely against a redemption or any kind of sacrifice, but god, i am so so so intrigued to see where the pates take him.

this was really fun to think about and i could probably ramble on for way way way longer, but this is long enough already!!! thanks for sparking up the discussion! ☺️

[reader-bookling123]

JJ Maybank’s little sister Max Mayfield head canons

• JJ being very overprotective

• JJ giving Maxine her nickname Max

• JJ giving max his old red jacket with white stripes

• JJ and John B teaching Max how to skateboard

• The Pogues teaching Max how to drive while they were high and Kie and Pope were out- she may have hit 3 mailboxes

• Sarah teaching Max about how when shopping you should pick what makes you feel most like yourself

• Kie teaching Max how to braid her hair

• Pope giving Max his Wonder Woman Comic and helping her start a collection

• John B teaching her how to play his favorite video games such as Dig Dug

• Kie getting mad at the boys for teaching Max how to swear

• The first person Max flips off is Rafe when he bothers her at the skate park and JJ is just having a proud brother moment

• JJ and the others teaching Max how to surf

• Calling Max the Mini Pogue much to her annoyance

• Kie bringing Max juice boxes on boat trips

• When Susan and Luke get a divorce Max tries to bring JJ to Hawkins but fails

• Max doesn’t like Billy because she doesn’t want to replace JJ

• Max and JJ constantly writing each other letters

• Max visiting the Outer Banks one weekend per month

• Max introducing the Party to the Pogues

• Pope and Dustin vibing

• JJ thinking Max and Mike are like him and Sarah- non biological siblings

• JJ thanking Steve and Nancy for looking out for Max

• JJ freaking out after he finds out Max was at Star Court during the ‘fire’

• JJ coming to Hawkins with the others after he finds out about the Upside Down and how Max has a death curse

• JJ and Eddie becoming friends after having a full conversation about weed

• JJ not accepting Max’s letter for him

• The Pogues trying not to laugh when Max threatens to sue Steve

• JJ crying while Max was floating at the Cemetery

• The Pogues not wanting Max to be the bait for the plan

• JJ refuses to leave Max’s side while she is in the hospital

AN; that’s all let me know if you want anymore crossovers

[obxsummer]

Holding On // Ghost of You

summary: relationships are being tested all around, limbrey's a witch, and an explosion has jj wondering if the routledge siblings will ever be the same again

warnings: you know what happens to ward, cursing, sadness, ya know the usual angst

a/n: idk how i feel about this chapter but here ya go

navigation -- series masterlist

“So, Sarah just dips and doesn’t call?”

John B, as much as you loved him, was a dumbass. In his defense, he did just get out of prison and you had no doubt that there was a lot on his mind, but sometimes you wanted to slap him. Clearly, his girlfriend wouldn’t have an idea that he was back and evidently, he couldn’t think far enough ahead to consider that.

“Yeah, man. She just left her bag. Didn’t tell anybody.”

“I-I really think Ward got to her. I mean, the dude tried to have me killed in jail.” As your friends flipped toward him in concern, a chill ran down your spine. “He sent somebody to the prison who yoked me up and almost killed me.”

“You serious?”

“Yes! Do you see these bruises? I didn’t get them from a massage, Kie!”

“Do we know who this dude was?”

“What? No!”

“Enough!” The word was enough to snap them out of their conversation, all eyes coming towards your direction where you hid behind your sunglasses. “He’s not lying. Ward told me it was coming a week ago, before the court session. I don’t know who it is, but obviously he paid someone. Either way, it doesn’t matter now. You’re home, that’s the biggest hitch in his plan, okay? So, it’s fine for now.”

John B sent you a death glare as he plopped onto the HMS Pogue across from Kie. “No, Y/N, it’s not fine. We gotta find Sarah.”

“No, literally,” You repeated smugly as you pointed past his shoulder towards the approaching boat. “She’s right there.”

John B turned around to see Topper’s Malibu gliding through the water with the Kook himself accompanied by none other than Sarah Cameron. She didn’t hesitate to shout your brother’s name, relief overwhelming her features as she stood up from her seat.

“What the hell is she doing with Topper?” Kie’s distaste was hard to miss as she glanced over her shoulder to look at you, JJ, and Pope. You could only shrug in response. Topper was the one Kook who didn’t make you want to throw hands. Sure, he could be annoying and privileged, but he meant well at the end of the day.

“Sarah, they’re coming after Rafe.”

“Good, he’s completely unhinged.” Her comment made you laugh sharply. It’s almost like you’d been saying that for a while now. “He jumped me last night.”

Now that, you weren’t expecting. Ward had the biggest soft spot for Sarah, so you assumed that followed for Rafe too considering he was a daddy’s boy. Clearly, the eldest Cameron child had gone beyond that, especially when he shot her in the hip not too long ago.

“Yeah, man, Rafe’s lost his mind. Literally almost drowned his own sister,” Topper added, “Thankfully I got there just in time.”

The awkward tension made you want to gag in disgust and based on JJ’s face, he felt the same way. The blond boy gave you a small wink as he rested his hand on your ankle, rough fingers brushing over your skin. You shifted towards him quietly, flipping around so you could rest your head against his thigh. The sun was warm against the thin long-sleeve shirt you had tugged from JJ’s drawer this morning, but you weren’t complaining. 

You closed your eyes and tuned out the uncomfortable conversation between your brother and his girlfriend, instead opting to listen to the small waves and seagulls up above. You had yet to let your body relax from the GoGoGo it had been experiencing for so long but you hoped you’d be able to adjust soon. 

“Hi, babe.” The yellow light from the sun disappeared from your closed eyelids before you blinked directly into JJ’s gaze. A small smile formed on your lips as you reached up and gently smacked his face away.

“Don’t babe me,” You joked as you pulled your sunglasses back down and closed your eyes again in favor of the quiet peacefulness. “Where’d everyone go?” Your voice dropped to a murmur as JJ’s fingers ghosted over your warm skin.

“Chateau,” He answered simply. “Lovers quarrels on all ends but you and me, sunshine.”

Rolling your eyes, you sat up and pulled your legs to your chest as you faced him. “Oh, is that what we are? Lovers?” You’d never seen JJ so clammed up except in that moment which sent you spiraling into laughter. “Holy shit, you’re blushing so hard.”

“Stop it, dude!” He shoved at you jokingly and ran a hand through his hair. “So not cool, fuck.”

You gaped at him. “Did you just call me dude?”

“Yeah. Dude.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” Leaping forward, your hands grabbed his worn flannel and pushed him back against the wooden dock. Your thighs resting against his, your weight barely supported by your own muscles as you pressed your palms against his chest. “Call me dude one more time, Maybank, and it’s over.”

“Alright, alright!” He raised his hands in mock surrender before you climbed off of him to start up towards the house. “Dude!” With the last word seemingly in his pocket, he took off up the wooden walkway, leaving you behind with an open mouth. 

--

Life wasn’t slowing down anytime soon, and the second JJ left your side to answer Pope’s phone, it was chaos all over again. The adrenaline rush didn’t stop until your hands were ripping open bandages and gently placing them on Mr. Heyward’s broken skin.

“Let me know if I’m hurting you,” Your voice was quiet as you slowly pressed the adhesive band-aid into place on his forehead.

“You’re doing just fine,” Heyward responded before you stepped back. “Thank you, darlin’.”

Pope’s face was instantly in front of his father’s the second you pulled away. “Pop, what happened?”

Mr. Heyward gave a quick rendition of the altercation, which, unsurprisingly, was about the key that had mysteriously become a heavily wanted item. You weren’t focusing on his conversation very much though, and instead turned to where your brother was pouting on the bench next to you. 

“Hi,” You quietly whispered as you moved closer to him. “You okay?”

His nervous leg tapping didn’t stop as he sat up straighter. “No. Not really?” It took one look for you to see the tension in his muscles and the stress on his face.

“What’s wrong?”

John B sniffled slightly, quickly brushing his eyes to wipe small tears. “Nothing. Not here, please.” You muttered a small agreement, letting your brother tuck himself into your side without question. Your heart broke for him. It was unbelievable that Ward Cameron had managed to take down the entire Routledge family, one after the other, in a small amount of time. You wanted to fix it - you wanted to fix everything that had gone wrong. 

After your conversation with Pope’s dad sentenced you to another adventure to see his grandma, you found yourself buckled in the passenger seat of the Twinkie. John B had practically shoved you into the seat, clearly wanting to be left alone for the ride which he knew you would comply with. You pushed your feet onto the dash and kicked the seat back as the tree shadows danced along your vision while your brother drove to who-knows-where. 

JJ’s fingers slipped beneath your right tank top strap as he sat behind you, fingers gentle as they danced across your skin. One thing you had noticed since you came back was the constant physical attention. JJ always had physical contact, one way or another. You wondered if something truly shifted between the two of you or if maybe, this was just new and you would grow used to it. Not that you were complaining either way.

“Guys, the thing that Limbrey said, I don’t think she meant to let it slip. She said the key leads to the Cross of Santo Domingo.”

“Wait, can I see that?” JJ interrupted Pope’s explanation as he reached across to pull the heavy key from his friend.

“Are we supposed to know what that is?” You didn’t miss John B’s eyes constantly flickering to the backseat where Sarah was sitting. Your brother got jealous easily, but honestly, so did you. It’s hard to worry about your place in someone’s life, and you didn’t doubt that he was questioning his own spot in Sarah’s right now after the escapade with Topper.

“I’m guessing it’s some sort of historical artifact of great importance,” Pope offered. 

You tuned them out again, your brain not having the mental capacity to keep up with the wandering conversation each time. John B’s fingers suddenly pushed against your knee with force as the van came to a stop. “Get your shoes off my dash.” His comment was somewhat quiet but you heard him loud and clear.

“It’s my dash too, you asshat.” You mumbled but did what he asked before JJ was pulling your door open.

“Hey, uh, actually I think I’m gonna do this one by myself,” Pope spoke up before the whole group piled out of the car. It made sense, it was his relative you were coming to see and there was no need to overwhelm her.

“Are you sure?” Kie asked as you swung your legs into the doorframe, ready to follow if he asked. “We don’t mind.”

“Yeah, I can handle it. I don’t really need you… so,” Pope awkwardly trailed off but you could tell the sentence was meant to sting.

JJ huffed at the still beefing couple, “Oh, we’re just all one big happy family today, aren’t we?” His sarcasm wasn’t missed as Pope walked towards the building and everyone took note to pile back in the van.

“Well, now where do we go?” You groaned in boredom as you put your feet back up on the dash, pulling the door closed as you did so.

“There’s a little strip of shops around the corner?” Kie offered as she sprawled across the bench in the back. “Kill some time there.”

JJ and John B opted to stay and hang out in the van while you, Sarah, and Kie took the time to browse and get some fresh air. The small convenience store you walked into was bubbling with customers. You quickly separated from the girls, opting to grab a can of Pringles to snack on before meeting them at the fountain soda machine.

“I just don’t understand why he’s mad at me for it,” Sarah’s conversation continued as you inserted yourself. “I mean, it’s not like I was any less excited that he was home when I saw him. It just felt awkward to be like ‘Oh hey, thanks for saving my life but by the way, I’m kind of married but not really to my boyfriend’.”

“Tell me about it,” Kie scoffed as you paid for your items and walked back outside. “All of this crazy shit’s happening and Pope’s giving me the silent treatment for not being in love with him.”

Sarah gave her a smile as she twisted her straw around in the cup. “And we’re the dramatic ones.”

“Speaking of dramatic, what’s going on with you and JJ?” Kie turned the conversation towards you, much to your distaste. 

You gave them a small shrug. “Nothing official. We’re just taking it day by day. I mean, I love him and he’s my best friend, so I’m not sure what will happen from here. There’s still a lot I have to figure out for myself, so we’ll see.”

The three of you piled back into the van, this time with JJ in the passenger seat with you lingering behind him. The drive back to Pope’s grandma’s was quiet with the sound of the radio playing lightly in the background. The boy in question was quick to throw the door open and plop in his seat before John B broke the silence and asked how it went.

Pope’s reply was short and simple but left you questioning everything that happened so far. “Shit just got way more personal.”

The entire drive back to Heyward’s dock was filled with the explanation that Denmark Tanny was a relative of Pope’s. The journey you all had been on suddenly became so real and if anything, it drove you to want to succeed even more.

“I can’t believe you’re related to Denmark Tanny,” John B said as you pulled yourself up onto the wooden railing to sit. “Are we in the presence of a royal?”

“A king?” JJ played along as both of them stared at Pope with wide eyes before switching to a high pitched accent, “We shall crown him! All hail the lord of Tannyhill! We are not worthy!”

Pope rolled his eyes but couldn’t help and smile at the antics. “Everybody relax, can we relax please?”

Sarah took a sip of her beer before raising her hand like a student in class “Relocate to Cat’s Ass, question mark?”

You raised your drink in agreement. “I’m down with that!”

“How soon can we move in?” Sarah continued to play along, this time teasingly towards you and John B.

“Cause I don’t have a place to stay.” JJ jumped in with her, the two of them going back and forth.

“Me either, bunk beds?”

“Bunk beds. Cheers to that!”

You shook your head slightly as Pope cut them off to talk about the letter Limbrey sent him. JJ, calming down from his antics, came to stand between your legs and let your arms rest along his shoulders. He wouldn’t say it, but after losing you to Ward, again, he hated the thought of you leaving his grasp. The comfort and relief he found in the simplest of touches with you calmed his racing nerves and he could finally feel at peace for once. He was scared - scared that one day he would reach and you would be gone and he didn’t know what he would do. JJ loved you, it took him a while to come to terms with it in the chaos of life recently, but he loved you. He just needed to tell you.

“Listen guys. I keep thinking about the letter Limbrey sent. It had the wheat symbol on it. That must mean it has something to do with the Royal Merchant,” Pope explained as he paced back and forth. “If we find that cross, then we can split it like we were gonna split the gold.”

“And live happily ever after?”

The new voice coming from behind made you jump in your spot, JJ’s hands instantly going to your knees as he turned with you to see an older woman approaching with a man by her side. John B was suddenly tense and with the way your friends reacted, you were able to conclude that this was the Limbrey woman Pope kept talking about. 

Pope’s expression dropped as he slowly stepped towards her. “You assaulted my father.” He was quickly pushed back by Limbrey’s bodyguard looking dude.

“Oh, I didn’t assault anybody,” The woman claimed.

Kie crossed her arms, completely unamused by the situation in front of her. “He can identify the psycho from a mile away,” She countered.

“Why would my employee assault your father? That’s absurd,” Limbrey brushed off with a fake laugh. “Listen. We can keep on negotiating, but the fact is that I want the key. Until I have it, I don’t have a choice, which means you don’t either.”

Your brother shifted to the left of you, leaning against the railing you were seated on as he held the golden key in discussion up in the air. You could see the smirk itching to form on his face which made you wonder what he was up to. “It’s Limbrey, right? Is that right?” When he got the confirmation he was looking for, the woman’s attention was on him instantly as she stared at the object in his hand. “Is this what you’re looking for?”

Like a stray dog looking for food, she practically begged, “Yes, it is.”

“Looking at the tide right now, I’d say it’s about 20 feet deep out there. So if I just threw it in the channel, the probability of you finding it again is slim to none. Wanna give it a shot?” Without waiting for a response, John B faked a throw, earning screams of protest. 

With a look of distaste towards your brother, she let out a sigh of relief when she noticed he didn’t throw it. “Please don’t do that.”

John B wasn’t phased by it and instead, motioned to the guy who was keeping Pope pinned against the wall. “Get him to back the hell up.”

Limbrey quickly agreed and told her partner to move before she walked closer to Pope. “As I have told you from the beginning, I am willing to be reasonable.”

Pope’s eyes moved across the three of you until John B gave him a slight nod. “Okay,” He agreed, which confused Limbrey more. “I’ll give you the key, but I want the tape.”

John B moved from your left to approach him, continuing to milk their plan. “Pope, hey, hey, hey, hey. You don’t have to do this, okay?”

“No, it’s okay,” You could tell Pope had picked up on the missing pieces and was rolling with it. “It’s fine. It’s okay. It’s about your dad. That’s way more important.” He held his palm out for your brother to place the key in it before facing Limbrey. “The tape.”

“Yes, give him the tape.” The two items were exchanged simultaneously as the woman let out a sigh of relief, “You know, I wish that you’d come to this decision earlier. We could’ve avoided all this unpleasantness.”

You groaned as she began to hobble away. “Never come back, Wicked Bitch of the West!” You called after her, including a middle finger for fun as JJ held back laughter in front of you. 

“How long do we think we have until she realizes she has your father’s old key?” The boy in your grasp turned to your sibling with a smirk.

“10 minutes,” John B responded without a beat.

Pope turned around in shock. “Whose idea was the fake key?”

“Shockingly, not mine,” Kie shrugged with a slight smile on her face.

John B hummed for a second, his arm resting against yours across JJ’s shoulders as he tugged him closer in acknowledgement to pat his chest. “Hmm, I don’t know. Should we tell him?” 

“Wow,” You laughed from your spot and ran your fingers through his hair so he’d look up at you. “I’m impressed.”

“Did hell freeze over?” 

“I’m actually in shock.”

“Who knew JJ could actually be good for something.”

The smile didn’t leave anyone’s face, especially when John B brought up bringing the tape to Shoupe. You could see a flicker of emotion in Sarah’s expression but couldn’t bring yourself to think on it too much as you let JJ pull you along in excitement.

--

While JJ, John B, Kie, and Pope were buzzing with the news of Ward’s demise, you couldn’t pull your eyes from Sarah’s sulking form. You were thrilled to see the downfall of two people you despised, knowing full well Rafe and Ward deserved what was coming. Still, your heart hurt for the girl in front of you, knowing you’d be a mess if it were your dad and John B in that position. Hell, listening to the rumors about your brother was enough to spiral, let alone watching it all be true. 

Getting up from your spot on the counter, you came to sit on the outdoor couch with Kie and Sarah. “Do you regret it?” Kie asked, sensing the negative reaction soon to come from the girl next to her.

“No,” Sarah shook her head slightly but it didn’t help the frown on her face. “He deserves all of it, and I know that.”

“But he’s still your dad,” You added as you swirled the can of beer in your hand. “I get it. I’m sure it sucks to be in the middle.”

You caught a glance at Sarah’s phone screen as it started to ring. Topper’s face was on the screen, his name in big white letters shining back before she excused herself to take the call. You could tell the convo wasn’t going as well as she wanted and quickly got to your feet.

“Hey,” You hissed as you stepped into the kitchen, silencing the boys and their antics. “The warrant’s out. Based on the convo she’s having, they’re probably on their way.” A series of cheers followed your statement and you quickly looked over your shoulder to see Sarah staring. Mouthing an apology, you turned back to the boys and smack JJ lightly on the back of his head. “Seriously? Calm down. And comfort your fucking girlfriend, JB.”

You turned sharply on your heel, John B huffing out a disagreement before the three of them were up and heading outside. Grabbing Kie and Sarah on your way, you all piled into the van with the star couple up front. Pinned between JJ’s legs as you sat on the floor, the elevated adrenaline was not helping the panic in your system. As much as you wanted justice for Ward, you hated that Sarah was caught in the crossfire. 

“Babe,” JJ’s voice was soft as he reached down to offer you his hands to let you hold them tightly and relieve pressure. “It’s okay, it’s gonna be fine.” As soon as his statement finished, the sound of police sirens drowned out your reply as you saw four cop cars speed past. 

“Oh my God. Can you please hurry? I need to be there for Wheezie.” Sarah watched them move anxiously, her eyes scanning the road rapidly. 

“You think I wanna miss this?” John B countered. You didn’t have the energy to scold him for his shitty attitude, instead focusing on your balance as he took a corner sharply to catch up. The brakes squealed when John B finally came to a stop and everyone rushed to pile out. The concrete wall that surrounded the Cameron Estate blocked your path. 

Pushing up to your tiptoes, you struggled to see over the barrier before you got annoyed by all the pushing and shoving. “Screw it, I’m going over.” With a huff, you pushed your strength into your arms and hauled yourself over the wall to the grass on the other side. John B and Pope hopped over right away, JJ staying to assist Kie and Sarah before you all took off towards the dock. 

As John B took the lead, you reached back to grab Sarah’s hand. If your brother wasn’t going to be the bigger person, you were always the one picking up the slack. Sure, Sarah’s family had ruined you, but it wasn’t her fault, and you weren’t going to let her sit through the pain that you did of wondering what you would say to your dad before he was gone.

She let you guard her for a second before breaking away when she saw her sister. The comfort didn’t last though before she was shifting to head down the dock where the Druthers was out on the water. The police lined the wooden surface as they tried to talk Ward down from his scheme, but nothing really mattered until Sarah called out for him. 

“What are you doing here, Sarah?” Ward’s voice was harsh as he yelled across the water. You maneuvered through the officers surrounding you until you were front and center to the scene ahead. “Vic! You gotta get her out of here! She can’t be here right now!”

Shoupe wasn’t listening to the plea, “Just come on in, and you…you can talk to her!”

Your chest felt tight as you watched Ward lean against the railing in desperation. “Sarah, I’m so sorry, baby! I can’t!”

The crank of the anchor being pulled up was louder than you expected as other police boats arrived on the scene. Ward was quick to climb down the ladder and disappear into the cab of the boat as Sarah yelled in protest. The moment of anticipation hung in the air like a still thread before everything shattered with an explosion. 

The dock rocked beneath your feet as you stumbled, hand reaching out to JJ for help before the heat of the fire was on your face. Debris flew everywhere as you ducked down in shock and realized the scene in front of you. He was gone. Dead. Never returning. 

Sarah’s cries were ringing in your ears as you sunk to the ground, mouth open with the realization that Ward Cameron destroyed his boat, his family, and his life all in one quick moment. Tears burned your eyes but you refused to look away until JJ was pulling you to your feet to leave the scene behind. More cops piled in after you, the echo of a firetruck somewhere in the distance as you rushed up towards the van. You couldn’t fathom the feelings Sarah was going through, but a part of you was finally relieved. Ward Cameron got what he deserved.

--

“Hi.”

The simple greeting had you glancing up from your spot in the hammock to see JJ shuffling towards you. His Kildare Surfing Co. zip-up faded in the glow of the sunset but regardless, he was angelic in your eyes. You pulled the sleeves of your thin sweater over your palms and forced a small smile. You’d been quiet most of the day, the weight of what had happened a day ago heavy on your mind 

“Hi.” A small sniffle left your body as he climbed in across from you, his hand instantly going to your bare shin to comfort you in a way that only he could. 

JJ didn’t know what to do. He hated seeing you this way - so sunken in and upset. You shut down a lot easier than you used to, but that’s the price of trauma. “Are you okay?” The question was so silly, he felt like, but he needed some kind of response. 

You forced a small nod, knowing he could see through you without effort. “I will be.” Your gaze drifted to the dock where your brother was sitting across from Sarah, the two of them conversing. “I wish I could fix it,” You admitted. “I hate for people I love to… to be in pain. It hurts me. I don’t like it, J.” Brushing over your nose with your sleeve, you couldn’t stop the tears from forming in your eyes again. “I feel horrible for her and what she’s dealing with.”

“I know, I know. But baby, you can’t fix it. As much as you want it all to go away, it’s up to the universe right now. You can’t put this on yourself.” JJ’s hand was warm on your skin, preventing you from curling into the ball he knew you would do. 

“They don’t deserve this.”

“And you don’t deserve to have the weight of everyone else’s pain on your shoulders.” You snapped your gaze back to him in shock that he had even said it. “I’m serious, don’t look at me like that. You know I’m right.”

You let out a small huff and flopped back fully against the netting on your back. You loved all the Pogues with your entire heart, but John B was your brother. He was always going to be your best friend, and as much as he pissed you off at times, you would be his biggest annoyance and his greatest supporter. Knowing he was struggling without Sarah made you sad, and even though JJ was right, you would crumble for any of them if it meant the slightest bit of relief. 

“You cannot keep doing this, Y/N. Seriously.” When JJ finally got your eyes back on his, he could finally see how tired you were. You kept this family together on your own much more than you should, and holy shit, someone had to help you. He could only do his best, but they all needed to look out for each other a little more. “You’re exhausted, sweetheart.”

The nickname shattered your resolve and you finally caved into his touch, crawling across the hammock as best as possible to collapse onto his chest in a puddle of tears. “I’m sorry.” He was right. He was so right in many ways but you hated admitting you needed help. 

“Don’t you ever apologize, not to me,” He responded quietly before pressing a kiss to your forehead. His hand splayed across your back in comfort. JJ just wanted to hold you the way you had held all of them for so many years. He was beginning to realize how fragile everything could be if you let it wither down and he refused to let you even come close to breaking in front of him.

Taking a deep breath, you remained in his embrace and willed yourself to stop crying. The shit your group was going through was unimaginable and you feared how long you could keep going before someone got seriously hurt. 

Your train of thought was interrupted as Sarah’s form began walking up the dock, leaving John B alone. Taking one glance at the blonde girl, you could tell their conversation was anything but happy. JJ already knew your next move and planted his foot on the ground to stabilize the hammock before you were out of his arms, rushing towards your brother. 

Conversing slipping on the worn wood, John B lost it the second you collided with his side. His chest heaved with sobs as the two of you slid to the floor in a puddle of tears. His life felt like it was crumbling apart with one thing after another.

“It’s okay,” You mumbled as you gripped his t-shirt tightly in your fingers, terrified that if you let go for a second he would disappear. “It’s gonna be okay.”

You could barely believe your own words at this point, but you had to try for him, for everyone, for yourself. JJ didn’t hesitate to pile himself between the two of you with the knowledge that the three of you only had each other to lean on at the end of the day. 

The blond boy held tightly to both of you, his own chest in pain at the thought of the two strongest people he’d known his whole life unable to keep it together. JJ just hoped he could manage to keep everything together and get you back on your feet before something else tried to tear your group apart.

--

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tags: @strawberryfolks @jinxfirebolt18902 @lnnlove @itsmytimetoodream @dazzlingnights

[thecameronchronicles]

Let's play a game: I give you 3 pair-ups and you tell me what types of scenes they would have together in season 3.

1. JJ & Sarah

2. Rafe & Barry

3. Big John & Ward

Oooh, okay!

1.) JJ and Sarah

I think that with Kie being separated from the group, they may lean on each other unintentionally. Sibling, style banter in continuation and maybe even learning they have more in common. But definitely nothing romantic.

I saw a post a while back about them possibly being related, so if this turns out to be true, definitely some adjustment there but a comfort in having some family they can actually get along with and stand.

2.) Rafe and Barry.

I think that there will be obvious altercations because of Barry helping get him arrested. But with how few allies Rafe has, I think he will need his help once again so he won't have a choice but to temporarily forgive him..

Possible overdose storyline and massive tension. Riding bikes and having more arguments.

3.)Big John and Ward

Obviously death stares and massive tension. Hatred palpable when they see each other. But I think it will be a lot of near misses of being in the same place like with the John B and Sarah on the boat in Charleston and the remaining pogues crossing over the bridge just above them. And one final blow out resulting on one of them being gravelly injured.

Lots of arguing and I think John B will keep his dad from killing Ward because of Sarah, but if not, I can see them keeping Big Johns death believable so he doesn't have to stand court for killing Ward...but i also don't think he will die. He's like a cockroach 🪳

[instructionsnotincluded]

Okay, so one of the things I love most about your OBX fics is that you actually let the characters be flawed in a realistic sense:

Take John B. for example, in the show he’s quickly established to the viewers as a leader of the Pogues and is very noble and unselfish. But in your stories, he shows times and instances when he’s ungrateful, selfish, arrogant, and overly impulsive — AND THAT’S OKAY!

John B is 17, a teenager! Yeah, it’s kind of crappy how he didn’t want to tell Audrey of the money in the beginning of the first part of the series, and because it can’t all be work and no fun, but that’s a very normal teenage mindset. You can see very early how Audrey gave up a lot of her goals to care for him, and him having negative qualities gives an extremely realistic sibling relationship where the older sibling’s hardships go unnoticed and often unthanked.

As for Kie, I LOVE the love triangle plot you added. Once again, they’re teenagers. Kie and John B have a very casual outlook on emotional intimacy and how it can be connected to sex. They don’t see if as a big deal (this isn’t a con but just being real) as opposed to Sarah, who values intimacy deeply. It makes sense that John B and Kie would fool around with each other because of how they view sex and how they would think it’s so not a big deal, despite it having huge consequences on the group dynamics.

Once again, very typical teenager behavior! It’s a large part why I prefer your Kiara to the show’s canon Kiara. I feel like the show wants to push onto the idea that she’s this tough girl who takes charge and doesn’t take shit, but there are a lot of cases where her impulsiveness has consequences and her “no shit” attitude can come across as unsympathetic or not very empathetic.

(Her claiming Pope was selfish for caring about his scholarship interview in S1 always gets me mad -I’m sorry)

I think that’s also why in my story, I changed her character a bit. I think if there was another female friend in her group before the show’s events had started, it would have rounded out more of her character. There’s nothing wrong with being brash and abrasive, but it can get to a point where it’s downright rude and hurtful.

I think it’s partly why I’m so reluctant to get on the Jiara ship (sorry if you ship, I’m not trying to be a hater, but just hear me out) because yes, it’s shitty planning on the writer’s part by passing her around for all the boys in the group. But it’s also because JJ is someone with a lot of baggage and I feel like someone with a lot of empathy would really help him. He’s also extremely loyal, almost to a fault, so how he wanted to with Kiara after how she lowkey dumped Pope after Pope PINED after her doesn’t really make sense to me (she was under no obligation to like him back, but it was a bit callous on her part)

Sorry, I didn’t mean to word vomit all of this onto your page. I love the show and all the characters, but these are irks that just stood out to me the most pleasedontbemadatme

This means so much. You have no idea! I really wanted them to seem realistic when I set out to write the Pogues, and I wanted Audrey to fit in seamlessly and also realistically. So you thinking I did that means so much! Truly! They all have their terrible moments, sometimes they say and do the wrong thing, but they're SUPPOSED TO! And I love that you agree.

That scene from season one gets me every time too. I think that's a good example of why I think there was originally supposed to be a John B/Kiara/Sarah love triangle, because she's so concerned about him and where he is that she thinks the most important thing for all of them is finding out where he went. When Pope has a life changing interview that next morning.

I'm not huge on the Jiara ship either, maybe if they wrote Kiara differently, I'd be more into it, but I think you make some really valid points. JJ has so much baggage, more than Kiara probably realizes, and I feel like he's better suited with someone that he has both known for a long time, and therefore trusts, and one who understands where he's coming from. JJ literally has nothing at the height of season three. No family, no where to live, no job, no money, and, arguably, no friends who are actively concerned/thinking about him or wondering if he's even ok. Dude hasn't eaten in days, and according to the show it seems like he's only consumed beer since leaving the island.

Ok, rant over, hahahahahaha. Thank you for enjoying the story!!!

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Seeing a lot of theories about jj having some sort of heart condition and possibly dying bcos he touched his chest in some scenes like,, babes no he has anxiety xoxo