𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 {𝚓𝚓 𝚖𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚔}

𝚜.𝟷 𝚎𝚙.𝟼 -𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛-

"let me kiss you hard in the pouring rain / you like your girls insane so / choose your last words, this is the last time / 'cause you and I / we were born to die."

Living at the Carrera's turned out to be a lot less stressful than Tate had expected it to be. She'd worked out a deal with Mr. Carrera where she could work at The Wreck to pay rent and in return was given her own room complete with a TV and a comfortable bed that Tate felt sleeping in would never get old. Better yet- Kiara's parents were rarely home. They had a constant stream of Kook functions, dinner parties, and other rich-people things to do that brought them out of the house pretty much every weekend, leaving Tate and Kiara alone in the big, beach-side mini-mansion on the rich side of town. It was heavenly. About a week after Tate moved in, both of Kiara's parents went to the mainland for the weekend for a short vacation.

The girls had planned on spending the weekend scheming against Sarah Cameron and getting high, but then Pope had called Kiara to tell her they needed her urgent help with something and she left Tate by herself. Tate thought about going with Kiara, but she sort of wanted a break from all of the action that came with hanging out around the Pogues all the time.

Instead of going with Kiara, Tate swiped one of the Carrera's expensive bottles of wine from downstairs and brought it to her bedroom. Then, she took a long, hot shower, not having to worry about the water bill or the hot water tank breaking, and changed into comfortable shorts and an enormous t-shirt when she got out.

The sun had set by the time she opened the window of the spare bedroom and climbed out cat-like onto the roof of the house, a wine glass in one hand, her other supporting herself on the window sill. When she settled herself on the still-hot shingles of the roof overlooking what Kiara liked to call Kook-street and leaned up against the brick wall of the house, she let out a deep sigh. Then, she opened the bottle of wine with an expert hand and poured herself a glass, setting the bottle on the windowsill without a care for who saw it.

She was just starting to relax and staring up at the starry night sky, listening to the sound of waves breaking on the beach on the other side of the house, when a shout came from the street below. "Don't fall!" JJ called up to her, a goofy grin covering his face.

Tate smiled when she saw him, unable to stop herself if she tried. "Door's unlocked," she called down to him. "Let yourself in, grab a glass, and come up!"

Without another word, JJ ducked out of sight and seconds later was climbing through her bedroom window, glass in hand. "Not gonna let you drink all by yourself," he said, pouring himself a glass full. "What are you doing, anyway?"

"Hanging out," Tate said with a shrug. "What are you doing? Thought you had some big emergency earlier?"

JJ laughed softly and leaned up against the wall next to her. "That was a ploy- all my idea, too. We wanted to get Kie and Sarah Cameron to get along for the sake of the G game, you know? Like-" he backtracked at one look from Tate, "-I'm not here for it either, but we don't have much of a choice. Sarah helped us, man. And as long as her cut is coming out of John B's, I think it's fine." Tate nodded slowly, still not responding. JJ leaned his shoulder lightly into hers. "Anyways, Sarah and Kie are stuck on Heyward's boat all night with a broken engine in the marsh."

"Why was I not included in this?" Tate asked, surprising herself. She hated Sarah Cameron as much as anybody, but she felt like she should be there for Kiara.

At this, JJ's smile only grew. "Well, I figured you've been through enough this week and probably needed a break, so I cut a deal with Pope and John B- on your behalf."

"What was the deal?"

"You'll at least cooperate with Sarah Cameron as long as you get left out of the boat thing."

Tate smiled softly at the proud expression on JJ's face and sipped her wine. "That's the most romantic thing anyone's ever done for me."

"I know."

Tate gave a short laugh and then leaned her head down to rest it on JJ's shoulder. They were quiet for a long time, which was unusual for both of them, but there seemed to be some sort of silent trance cast over both of them- allowing them to just enjoy the night sky and the sea breeze blow drying Tate's hair. At last, she stirred, lifting her head slightly from JJ's shoulder. "Hey," she said lightly.

"Hey," said JJ, his voice just slightly hoarse after the long moments of silence.

"What did you mean?" Tate asked.

JJ lifted his head and gave her a curious look. "What?"

"The other day, when you said we have 'bigger things to worry about," she said like it was obvious. "What did you mean?"

In the low light illuminating from Tate's opened bedroom window, she could see the corners of JJ's mouth turn upwards as he reached to pour himself another glass of wine, then refilled Tate's glass. She was starting to feel tipsy, but in a good way. "I meant that we have bigger things to worry about than John B and Sarah and your parents or my parents or any of the shit happening here. I-" he paused, took a deep breath, and shifted so he was sitting cross-legged across from her, "-I've been thinking a lot recently- especially since you went to jail and all that shit went down and- to hell with going full Kook." The words came out in a rush as JJ got more and more excited with what he was saying. "Fuck it all, Tate. Once we get this money, I'm gonna get you out of the Outer Banks. Look- we're both gonna be eighteen in, like, a year, and then we can do whatever we want anyways, so why not run away? We'll leave this shit hole and we'll go wherever you want and it'll be fine 'cause we'll be together. Right? We'll be together."

"We'll be together," Tate echoed, a far-off look in her eyes. It was all she wanted, what JJ was saying. To be somewhere- anywhere else and to have JJ at her side the whole time. She snapped out of her daze and, staring JJ in the eyes, suddenly felt stone cold sober. "We'll be together," she said more definitely. "You and me. Let's fucking do it."

JJ's crazy, stupid grin grew wider and her reached out and took her hands in both of his. "Exactly. Let's do it." And before Tate could say anything else, he leaned forward, took her by the waist, and practically tackled her backwards, kissing her all over her face before finally landing on her lips and lightly trailing his hand down her body to the hem of her shirt. Tate let him tug it upwards, knowing it was a bad idea to take her shirt off in broad view on a roof, but at the same time not caring the slightest bit. She wanted JJ, and she wanted him now. Her own fingers nimbly grasped the fabric of his tank-top and he helped her take it off before bending down over her again and kissing her like she was his only source of oxygen. "Do you wanna move inside?" JJ asked, mumbling the words into her lips.

"No," Tate said, her voice breathy.

JJ drew back and gave her a quizzical look. "You know what I was getting at, right?"

Tate laughed and moved a hand to cover her stomach. "Yeah, and I never said no to that. Let's just- let's stay out here." She looked up at him sweetly, more affection in her gaze than JJ had ever seen on her. It looked good on her; soft and warm.

"Okay," he said softly before leaning down again to gently kiss her, gradually getting faster as his lips travelled to her neck and her chest, his fingers playing at the waistband of her shorts. He was feeling frantic and calm at the same time. He wanted her so badly, but he wanted it to be just right at the same time.

Tate had never felt this way about having sex. It was far from her first time, but somehow this felt new. It felt like something. It was the first time she understood what people meant when they talked about sex being a commitment, a connection, an emotional bond. It was real, it was special. She let out a little gasp when JJ's hand slipped into her shorts from sheer anticipation. They were moving slow and fast at the same time. Their movements went together perfectly, but were at the same time independent. It was an oxymoron, but it worked. Tate thought back to when she'd laid on the beach with JJ. When she'd realized this was what she wanted, and she couldn't stop the thought from coming back now. This was what she wanted.

This was all she wanted.