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justabigassnerd · 2 days ago

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'Till The End pt. 1

Pairing - JJ Maybank x reader

Word Count - 4,597

Series Warnings - swearing, smoking, angst, fluff, violence, weapons, blood, injuries, death, some canon divergence, drugs, alcohol, mentions of physical abuse

Summary - After coming back from your adventures discovering El Dorado with the Pogues, you thought your treasure-hunting days were behind you. However, soon enough, you and your friends are dragged into another race for a priceless treasure with twists and turns you never could’ve anticipated.

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A/N - hey y'all! it's time for the first part of one of my two JJ Maybank series and I'm super excited to be giving this out into the tumblr world! this is a little birthday gift from me to y'all so I truly hope you guys enjoy this because I have been working on it for a couple of months now and I never want to let y'all down or disappoint you. as per y'all please send in requests, feedback, and enjoy!!!

You couldn’t help but smile as you followed behind JJ as he took in every inch of the newly built ‘Poguelandia’, it was like watching a puppy discover his new home. Everyone followed JJ as he excitedly led them through the house, designating rooms for everyone before excitedly dragging you into what he had dubbed as your shared room.

“I can see it now. The business takes off, and then you and I can get a place of our own. Oh, maybe we could use some of our share of the gold money to put aside for a house.” JJ rambles, taking in the new room as your eyes widen slightly in shock at his words.

“Hey, Baby. Eyes on me for a second, okay?” You stay, smoothly stepping in front of JJ and cupping his face in your hands, his eyes struggling to focus on you for more than a millisecond.

“My eyes are here JJ, just look right here.” You say softly, gently coaxing JJ into looking you in the eyes.

“Sorry. I’m getting too ahead of myself aren’t I?” JJ says apologetically, his eyes flicking down to the floor as you brush your thumbs over his cheeks softly, a small smile on your face.

“No, Baby. You’re excited and that’s okay. But we don’t need to worry too much about that stuff at the moment. Let’s focus on getting the business up on its feet with the others first, huh? I’m so unbelievably happy with you and that’s not going to change even if we live in a house with the others.” You say softly, smiling as you shake your head. At your words, JJ gets the courage to look back up at you and offers you a weak smile.

“You sure?” JJ asks quietly, and your heart sinks at his words. You knew about the damage his dad had done to him over the years which had an everlasting impact on his attachment issues. He clung to his found family like they were his lifeline and you knew he would burn down all of society if it meant you and the other Pogues were safe.

“I’m positive, JJ. All I want is to be by your side.” You assure him softly, your smile refusing to falter for even a second. At your words, JJ’s shoulders sag slightly in his relief before he carefully manoeuvres closer, silently asking for permission to kiss you. Without even answering his question verbally, you lean closer, pressing your lips against his in a delicate kiss, your hands traversing up to his hair, messing with the fluffy strands as he deepens the kiss, his hands drifting to your waist as he pulls you impossibly closer. The two of you continued the soft kiss until the need for air became too much and you pulled away slightly, immediately resting your foreheads against each other as you gazed lovingly into each other's eyes.

“I love you so much,” JJ mumbles gently, his smile boyish and lovestruck as his eyes refuse to break the gaze.

“I love you too.” You reply, your voice matching JJ’s in softness as you smile back before he pulls you back in for another kiss. You didn’t know it was possible to love a person as much as you loved JJ.

Both of you had been part of John B’s friendship group for years and as you grew up, your crush on JJ hit you like a giant wave all at once. At first, you thought you could ride it out, act as if it was nothing more than the waves you so regularly surfed on but it soon pulled you under. You often found yourself searching for JJ in a crowd, longing to be near him as much as possible. For the longest time, you thought your crush was unrequited and that JJ would never look at you the way you looked at him. But by some miracle, JJ did reciprocate your feelings, and after a particularly close call, you and JJ had been separated from the rest of the Pogues and while you hid, JJ hurriedly confessed his feelings, both of you terrified that it was going to be your last few moments alive.

Hearing JJ confess that he had feelings for you made your heart flutter, a feeling you’re sure you weren’t supposed to be feeling when your life was at risk. All you could do at the moment was stare, wide-eyed before the sound of footsteps approached nearby and instinctively, JJ wrapped an arm around you, tugging you as far back against the wall as he could, making sure he was shielding you from any potential harm. You both waited anxiously with bated breath, swearing you could feel his heart pounding strongly against your side. You heard the people mingling nearby, their footsteps scuffling along the concrete as they called for you to come out from wherever you were hiding, their voices growing angrier by the second. When one of the men suddenly shouted, you let out a slight whimper which made JJ suddenly press a hand over your mouth to keep you quiet when the men thought they heard something. Your eyes had flicked over to JJ’s in a panic, your shaky breaths now muffled by his hand. Yet somehow, JJ looked calmer than you did. He still carried the tension of a prey animal listening out for a predator, but his eyes were ever gentle, like he was convincing you that everything was going to be okay. When the men began to grow frustrated and walk off, JJ carefully removed his hand from your mouth and apologised quietly. Sensing that the coast was now clear, JJ helped you to your feet and with your hand in his, quickly rushed you back to the Chateau where you discovered that you were alone, giving you the chance to finally confess your feelings to him after his sudden confession. This led you to where you are now, both of you insanely happy and in love.

You were shaken from your thoughts when you heard someone's fist slamming against your closed bedroom door, making you and JJ jump apart in shock.

“Are you guys done sucking face in there? We want to make some food and then set up a campfire or something.” You hear John B call through the door before hearing the unmistakable sound of Sarah giggling outside as well, making you roll your eyes at your friends.

“I’m going to kick his ass,” JJ mumbles as you chuckle at his faux annoyance at his best friend.

“Come on, we should probably eat, it’s been a long day.” You say with a smile, getting ready to exit the room, grabbing one of JJ’s stray hoodies and tugging it on, smiling at the faint scent of his cologne that still clung to the fabric. Just as you moved towards the door, you felt your phone buzz in the pocket of your shorts and you pulled it out without a second thought, turning it on and eyebrows furrowing when you saw the text displayed across the screen.

“What is it?” JJ asks, picking up on your change in mood and instantly wanting to protect you.

“It’s Mom and Dad. They know we’re back from the Oricono and they want me to go over for dinner.” You say with a sigh.

You didn’t have the worst relationship with your parents. They just constantly pushed you to do things that they wanted you to do as opposed to letting you pick your own path. Your family was an outlier in the Outer Banks. You had enough money to get by, so most of the Pogues considered you a Kook. But you weren’t rich enough to own a yacht or a membership to a country club, so the Kooks all considered you a Pogue. It didn’t help your family’s reputation that you were constantly hanging out with the most troublemaking group of Pogues and it definitely added to the tension between your family. And with the way your dad’s business was going, your family was inching closer and closer to becoming Kooks and you knew it was only a matter of time before they bought a house on Figure Eight so the last thing they wanted was a daughter who associated with the Pogues as much as you did.

“Do you want to go? You know you don’t have to if you don’t want to.” JJ says softly, instinctively taking your hand in his and squeezing it softly. He knew about the growing tension between you and your parents. JJ had been witness to a lot of arguments and it broke his heart to see the hurt on your face when your parents tried to convince you to leave behind the Pogues and dubbed it ‘silly’ that you hung out with them.

“I owe it to them to go. It’s just dinner and I can come back home after. I don’t want to miss out on a campfire.” You say, seeing the smallest of smiles crossing JJ’s face when he realised that you had referred to Poguelandia as ‘home’.

“I’ll drive you over. I’m not letting you head over alone.” JJ says, ever the protective boyfriend as you sigh softly before nodding, knowing you’ve lost the battle before you even tried.

“Okay.” You reply softly, opening your phone so you can reply to the message, letting your parents know that you’ll be coming over.

“Let’s go then. John B will let us use the Twinkie.” JJ decides, already leading you by the hand towards the door, quickly locating John B the moment the two of you leave the room and whistling quickly to get his attention.

“Yo, John B! I need the keys to the Twinkie,” JJ says as the two of you approach John B.

“You need the keys to the Twinkie? What if I need the keys to the Twinkie?” John B says, placing a hand on his chest as if he was scandalised by JJ’s demand.

“You boys are ridiculous,” Sarah murmurs with a roll of the eyes and an amused smirk on her face at the antics of JJ and John B.

“It’ll be for a few minutes max. JJ is just dropping me off at my parent's house for dinner. He’ll come straight back after.” You say quickly, conscious of the time and what your parents could be like and at your words, John B was instantly digging in his pocket for the keys to the Twinkie, handing the keys to JJ before offering you a friendly smile.

“You’ll be back for the campfire, right?” John B asks with a raised eyebrow as you nod.

“I’m planning on coming back as soon as I can but also no promises.” You say as John B and Sarah nod.

“Well, we’ll keep stuff aside for you just in case,” Sarah says, her smile ever-friendly as you nod, grateful for your friends.

“Hey, tell the others I haven’t ditched them and I’ll make dinner next time, promise.” You say as you and JJ make your way out of the house to head for the Twinkie, smiling as John B offers you a salute and a friendly wink.

“I won’t have anything to drink tonight. You can text me when you want me to come pick you up.” JJ says, opening the driver's side door and getting behind the wheel while you clamber into the passenger seat.

“You don’t need to do that J, I can make my own way back.” You say with a smile, not wanting him to miss out on the fun.

“I want to. I’m not letting you walk home in the dark. Especially if those damn Kooks decide to roam around.” JJ says, his eyes narrowing at the thought of any Kooks trying to seek out and hurt Pogues and finding you in the process.

“JJ…” You mumble, thinking of another fighting point but just seeing the look on his face was enough to get you to back down. He had made his decision and you knew there was no way you’d be able to talk him out of his choice.

It took no more than ten minutes for JJ to drive you over to your house, and when you saw the all-familiar Jeep parked in the driveway you couldn’t help but tense up slightly, a movement that JJ noticed instantly.

“Is that…?”

“Leo’s car.” You confirm, feeling your stomach twist as your anxiety takes hold. You had a much more tense relationship with your older brother. Leo had always tried to fit in with the Kooks while you were happy and felt much more at home with the Pogues which helped to aid the tension between the two of you.

“Do you want me to come with you? The others won’t miss me.” JJ offers, resting his forearms on the wheel as he looks over at you with a soft gaze that was reserved for you only.

“It’s best you head back to Poguelandia. The last thing I need is a fight breaking out.” You say, looking over at JJ who fights back a frown.

“I’ll be on my best behaviour.” JJ tries bargaining, not wanting you to be alone.

“I love you, JJ. But it’s best I go in alone.” You say softly. JJ was very vocal in his hatred towards your brother, he often enjoyed pushing his buttons to get a rise out of him and there had been multiple occasions where you’d had to step in when it grew physical. You knew JJ’s heart was in the right place, it always was, but you didn’t want him getting hurt on your behalf.

“If you need me, call me. I’ll be there as quickly as I can.” JJ says, his gaze focused solely on you as you lean forward to press a tender kiss to his lips, the moment gentle before you pull away offering JJ a small smile to convince him you’ll be okay.

“I’ll be okay. I’ll come home before it gets too late.” You vow quietly, giving JJ one final soft kiss before turning to get out of the vehicle, offering him one final wave before approaching the front door of the house, knocking tenderly and waiting for the door to open.

“y/n, it’s good to see you.” Your dad says as he opens the door, his smile faltering when he catches sight of the Twinkie, his glare hardening when he sees JJ behind the wheel, studying the interaction carefully.

“Is JJ staying?” Your dad then asks, his tone sharp as he continues to glare.

“No, he just wanted to drop me off. He didn’t like the idea of me walking over alone.” You explain, looking over your shoulder, smiling and waving at JJ to let him know you are okay.

“He better not be hanging out here the whole time. I don’t need people thinking I tolerate that boy.” Your mom then says, sidling up alongside your father as they both watch JJ carefully.

“He’s not staying I just said that. He’ll move on in a minute.” You insist, navigating your way into the house just so your parents would stop glaring at JJ. The moment you were in the house, the door was slammed behind you and you made your way through to the living room where Leo was lounging on the sofa, watching some tv show you knew most Kooks loved.

“y/n. Didn’t think I’d see you around here.” Leo says snarkily as he rises to his feet, the tv show now forgotten as he stares down at you.

“Mom and Dad are my parents too in case you forgot. I could be asking you why you’re here.” You snap back, glaring at your older brother.

“Figured I earned myself a break. I wasn’t going to spend all my time at college was I?” Leo says with the roll of his eyes as he folds his arms across his chest.

“I wish you did.” You mutter under your breath as you turn around, already beginning to make your way through to the dining room.

“What did you just say?” You hear Leo ask as you leave, beginning to trail behind you.

“It doesn’t matter Leo. I was just thinking out loud.” You say, annoyed by your brother bothering you.

“You’ve gotten real mouthy because of those Pogues. Why do you hang out with those assholes?” Leo asks, goading you.

“Those assholes are my best friends and one of them is my boyfriend. I don’t give a shit about what you think of me but don’t you say a fucking word about any of them.” You growl angrily, turning to face Leo.

“Language y/n. What have those Pogues taught you? To disrespect your family?” Your dad interrupts, a steaming dish of food in his hands as he enters the hallway to make his way to the dining room. You couldn’t help but roll your eyes at your dad’s comment, he always took Leo’s side.

“I wasn’t- you know what? Let’s just eat dinner. I’ll help bring food out.” You say, throwing up your hands in exasperation as you move to the kitchen where your mom is organising the food into separate dishes.

“I’ll take the vegetables through, Mom.” You say, forcing a smile as you pick up the dish of steaming vegetables.

“Thank you.” Your mom says, barely glancing over at you, her focus staying on what she was doing. You take the dish through to the dining room, fighting the urge to roll your eyes when you see Leo sitting at the table, already plating up his own food while no one is sitting at the table. When all the food was brought through, you and your parents finally settled down at the table and plated up your meals. At first, the silence was welcomed, nothing more than the sounds of cutlery against plates. And then Leo decided to open his mouth.

“So, how well did that supposed ‘treasure hunt’ go?” Leo says with a smirk, convinced he was going to embarrass you.

“It went well enough that we were able to get a business starting soon.” You answer nonchalantly, bringing another forkful of food to your mouth.

“What do you mean?” Your mother enquires, all eyes suddenly on you.

“We bought the Maybank plot. Did up the house and built a little shack out the back, a little waterside surf shop. We’re going to sell live bait, snacks, drinks, all that stuff.” You shrug, watching as Leo’s eyebrows furrow in annoyance.

“You Pogues think you’re actually going to get anywhere with that? No one will want to buy from you guys. Especially using the Maybank plot as your home. No one wants to go near land associated with Luke or JJ, they’re both as bad as each other.” Leo says, raising an eyebrow as you clench your jaw.

“Don’t say that about JJ. He’s nothing like Luke.” You say firmly, fighting the urge to slam your fists down. You’d seen the damage Luke had done to JJ over the years. You had been the one cleaning his wounds and hugging him even when he insisted he was okay. JJ was nothing like his pathetic excuse of a father and you told him as much.

“We all know JJ has a temper to match his old man’s. It’s only a matter of time.” Leo taunts, smirking as he senses your growing anger.

“JJ is ten times the man you’ll ever be. You look down on the Pogues because you’re so damn desperate for the Kooks to notice you. News flash, the Kooks think our family are Pogues. They don’t give a shit about you. Just because you splashed Mom and Dad’s money on a fancy Jeep, people aren’t suddenly going to accept you. Going to college is the best thing you’re ever going to achieve so use it. Get the fuck out of OBX.” You say angrily, your eyes narrowing as you stare at your brother, his shit-eating grin only angering you further.

“Enough of the language, y/n.” Your father snaps, his glare cold as he looks over at you.

“That’s a good point you mentioned, y/n. When are you planning to go to college? Have you looked at any?” Your mother changes the subject, looking pointedly over at you.

“No, Mom. I don’t want to go to college.” You say, exasperated by the question you had been on the receiving end of for years.

“y/n, you can’t throw your whole life away for a silly group of friends. This treasure hunting isn’t a career and neither is that silly surf shop. You can’t make a life like that. You’re only eighteen years old.” Your father says, his voice gruff and firm.

“Dad, they’re not a silly group of friends. They’re my family. I don’t recall many silly groups of friends becoming millionaires the way we have.” You say firmly.

“No. We are your family, not those Pogues. That money will run out sooner or later. You lot don’t know what to do with it.” Your father then says, his fist pounding against the wooden table loudly.

“My bet is JJ will waste it all. Just like his dad.” Leo mutters, making you fight the urge to throw something at him.

“Look, what we’re trying to say is that you’re not going to stay friends with those Pogues forever. And your relationship with JJ won’t last forever either. You’re on a time limit and we don’t want you throwing your life away just for a boy and his friends.” Your mom says, painting on her faux kind voice as you feel your eyes building with tears. Without warning, you push your chair back and get to your feet, darting for the front door and ignoring the annoyed calls of your parents as you exit the house. As you stepped into the cool night air, you debated on texting JJ, but you didn’t want to bother him, he deserved to have a good night with his family. You could make your own way back to Poguelandia.

You tugged JJ’s hoodie further around you as the cool night air settled around you. You couldn’t stop the tears from falling as you relive the comments your family made about your friends and your boyfriend. The walk wasn’t one that would take you too long, but JJ’s concerns about the potential of Kooks roaming around just to bother Pogues rattled you slightly. Every time a car drove past, you felt yourself tense up, worrying about whether you needed to get ready to protect yourself from anyone. When you were about halfway back to Poguelandia, you heard a car pull up alongside you, and your head whipped around, ready to come face to face with a Kook and instead seeing the Twinkie and JJ sticking his head out the window.

“y/n, you gave me a damn heart attack when I saw you were walking home. I said you could text me.” JJ says, holding his phone up and showing you the screen where it displayed your location.

“I’m sorry.” You whisper, your voice thick with tears as you look at JJ, seeing his whole demeanour shift when he notices your glassy eyes.

“What’s going on? Are you okay?” JJ asks, his eyes growing wide in shock as you shake your head, crossing to the Twinkie and climbing in, tugging the hoodie sleeves over your hand so you can furiously wipe at your eyes.

“Can we just go home?” You ask before JJ can begin asking more questions.

“Yeah, of course. We’ll head home and go to our room, call it a night.” JJ says, looking over at you as a tear rolls down your cheeks despite you trying to conceal your tears.

“No, I want to hang out with the others. I need to take my mind off everything.” You mumble thickly, not wanting to ruin the mood.

“You sure?” JJ asks, briefly removing his gaze from the road to look at you, concerned.

“I’m sure.” You confirm with a nod, your focus on the world going by. Wordlessly, JJ reaches over and rests his right hand on your thigh, squeezing lightly which brings a small smile to your face. Without even trying, JJ was always able to bring the smallest of smiles to your face. It took practically no time to get back to Poguelandia and you were greeted happily by the Pogues who were all sat by the campfire, waving you over.

“You were gone too long, y/n. You could’ve saved us from John B’s cooking.” Kiara teases as you approach the group, turning down the offer of beer from Cleo.

“Sorry guys. Tomorrow, I’ll make the food.” You reply, trying to sound as upbeat as normal but your parent's words were plaguing you. Hovering over you like a cloud. Instead of joining the others by the campfire, you beeline for the hammock, climbing into it and curling up.

“Room for one more?” JJ asks quietly, asking for permission to join you.

“Always.” You mumble in response, waiting patiently for JJ to clamber in alongside you, settling in the hammock alongside you as it sways gently. JJ soon tucks you against his side, his warmth inviting and comforting as you curl into him, resting your head on his chest and watching the others at the campfire whistle and hoot.

“You two lovebirds.” Cleo teases as Pope laughs, wrapping his arm around Cleo.

“I mean come on, Baby, we’re just as bad,” Pope says teasingly, pressing kisses to Cleo’s cheek as she laughs but leans into the embrace. You laughed quietly at their antics, feeling JJ press a soft kiss to the top of your head as his hand tightened around your waist in an attempt to hold you closer.

“You doing, okay?” You hear JJ ask quietly, wanting to check in on you.

“Better. We’ll talk about it tomorrow.” You mutter in response, curling impossibly further into JJ, his cologne and his natural warmth comforting and making your eyelids flutter shut, the exhaustion of the day sneaking up on you. JJ seemed to sense your exhaustion, and so his hand moved from your waist to play with your hair, setting his free hand near yours so you could tiredly reach out and fiddle with the rings that sat proudly on his fingers. It had become a nightly routine for you to play with his rings as you dozed off, it helped you relax and take your mind off anything that might’ve bothered you during the day. You were vaguely aware of JJ whispering over at someone but you didn’t bother to strain your ears to try and listen. All you heard was hushed voices and then the sounds of footsteps and twigs crunching before a blanket was placed over you. It was one of the fluffy blankets you and the others used when sat around the campfire. The smell of smoke clung to the blanket after nights of use and it helped to provide even more comfort to you as you pulled the blanket up to your nose, making sure it covered JJ enough too.

“I love you, y/n.” You hear JJ whisper softly as you begin to drift off to sleep, only able to cuddle closer to JJ before you finally slip under the comfort of sleep with JJ’s steady heartbeat pounding beneath your head.

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